It's dark.
The only thing I feel is the cold, hard floor.
I... hrrgh, what? No, wait, am I sleeping?
I try reaching out to my side, eyes still closed. My hand hits against the floor, still cold and hard.
No, wait, why am I on the floor? I jolt my eyes open, finally feeling the unnatural cold of the floor catch up to me.
Rubbing my eyes as I sit up and look around, questions begin popping up in my head. Where am I? Am I in my home? Where's the light switch to turn all this brightness off?
As my eyes adjusted and processed what was going on, I took in what could be seen as both the most boring and yet the most terrifying place I've ever been in.
A white void, devoid of color. I try looking behind me. There's only more of the neverending white.
I start flailing my left arm around, trying to find an alarm clock. I feel my hand over the floor, trying to feel that...
Wait, what does my alarm clock even look like? I put my hand over my mouth as I scramble my head to recall the appearance of the alarm clock.
I try remembering where the alarm clock was, but then that makes me realize I don't know if I ever had a nightstand or not, and that makes me...
No. Oh, no, no, nononono. Did I even have a bed? What does my mom or dad even look like? Did I even have parents at all?
I try recalling furniture, fond memories, faces, anything that could be familiar to me, and every single time I drew a blank.
"Wha- What the duck...?" I mutter under my breath, getting up to my feet as I do so.
What.
Duck? Hold on, what? Ducks?
"Duck!" I exclaim, and then immediately after I cover my mouth.
Okay, what. What the duck is- WHAT.
"Ship! Bass! Damp!" I flail my arms for absolutely no reason.
"Punt! Rick! Motherducker!" The flailing only keeps on going.
"Fork! Duck! Funk!"
After a few more words before I ran out of potential swears, I collapse back to the ground.
"What the actual fork...?" First I feel around my ears to see if there's anything on there... nothing. What's happened to me?
I feel around my cheeks, looking for anything around it that could be affecting me, such as a machine or a chip.
Nothing. Nothing, at all. Duck, duck, duck, duck, what the bell's going on?
I start desperately flinging my head from side to side, trying to notice anything that's NOT the white void.
Maybe there's an exit somewhere. I jolt up, lean forwards and start running as fast as I can.
I look to the left, I look to the right, I look straight ahead and--
*BUMP!*
I stumble backwards and land rear-first onto the floor. I look up, trying to grab anything remotely sharp or blunt from the floor to point at whatever I bumped into.
Of course, there was nothing, so I was left facing whatever I bumped into armed with nothing but a mixed look of confusion and fear.
"Wha..."
The thing I bumped into had a serpentine body, but that body wasn't touching the ground. It had a fluffy and hairy light blue tip at the end of its tail, yellow scales, a golden underbelly, and as I looked further up the serpentine thing's body, it's biology got weirder. It had the mane of a lion colored just like it's scales and a ponytail under it that had the same color as the tail tip. It had antlers out of wood and 2 front-facing eyes with golden irises that were staring right into me.
In short, it looked like the result of someone mixing and matching a lion and a snake together, and then gave it the ability to fly.
"Hi!" The lion-snake starts waving at me, showing off his claws.
I rub my eyes. This thing has arms? And legs, too... They have pointy claws on their end, and it seems like they only had 4 'fingers', so to speak. They seem pretty dextrous, especially for what I assume to be a reptile.
"What... What are you?" I nervously glance at the claws, before staring back into the lion-snake's eyes.
"I'm a dragon!" The so-called dragon jovially flies in a sideways 8 pattern, before looking back at me. I size him- he's a little shorter than me, but if I put him tail to head, he would definitely be taller.
"A-Aren't you guys from fairytales or something? Am I dreaming?" I get up on my feet again, taking the time to stretch and dust my clothes off. "Okay. Okay, you, uh... you dragon. Do you know a way out of here?"
"Oh, I do know a way out of here, and I do know why you're here too!"
"Come again?" My curiosity peaks, and so does a sense of relief.
"First things first, you're on your first steps of a magical journey across wondrous lands!"
That sense of relief immediately turns into confusion and disappointment.
"What...? A journey?"
"Yes! Think of yourself as a tourist, and me as a tour guide!" The dragon smiles, bright as sunshine.
Okay, maybe I should ask him a question that doesn't have such an insane answer. "Ooookay? Cool, yeah. Do you know why I don't remember anything though?"
"... Um." The dragon's smile fades away just as fast as my sense of relief.
My confusion and slight tint of fear from this lion-snake thing subsides, and I give a deathly cold glare at the dragon.
"What's your name."
"W-well, it's... complicated--"
"I'll call you Jack then."
"Anyways. Jack, why am I unable to remember anything?"
"U-Um, OK, Jack it is! It may have been something you asked for..."
"... WHAT"
"WHY WOULD I ASK FOR THAT?????" I throw my arms in front of Jack.
"I dunno! Some people want their memories blocked off or even wiped for some reason!" Jack does a motion that resembles a shrug.
"Wipe- WIPED. So you mean my memories can be gone? As in, there's nothing in here anymore? No repressed memories that I can probably recover with a few years of therapy if I'm lucky?" I tap the side of my head, biting my lip and looking off to the side.
"Mmmmmaybe?" Jack turns his head around, closing his eyes and wincing in embarrassment.
I look back at Jack.
"Jack, look at me."
"Yeah?"
I pull my arm back and
punch Jack in the face.
[=] WORLDWALKER [=]
"OWWWWW! Wha- /Why/ did you do that?!" The dragon does the flying equivalent of staggering backwards, trying to keep its balance.
"Jack, look at me. I'm this close to stop keeping myself together and lose my ship." I hold my palms close together, then clasp and SQUEEZE them.
"Alright, alright, okay, sheesh! We're going home, alright? Mrgg... hope that didn't break anything..." Jack lowers his head to cover his nose, which was the epicenter of my righteous fisticuff.
"I swear, I better have my name in here or else..." I look down to the floor and knock my head, trying to recall my name...
Oh.
There's nothing.
I'm more than a bit tempted to follow up by shoving Jack or something like that, but I'm not going to push the snake that knows where the exit is any further.
I glance back up. Jack had let go of his nose and is now surveying the place.
"This place is a bit emptier than I expected..."
"Well, duh." I groan at Jack's observational skills. What next? Is he going to note the brightness in here? Or maybe he's going to note the fact that it's cold in here... I'm definitely wearing some clothes, but still...
Jack frowned as he turned back to me. Upon doing so, his eyes immediately lighten up. "Oh, hey, what's that behind you?"
"HUH???" I turn around.
A door stood behind me. As I run my hand over it, I notice it's made out of wood. It's got just enough decoration to it to stop it from being plain, such as the metallic handle or the... weird creature that's carved on the front.
I step closer to it, attempting to examine the carving. It looks like a head with pointy ears, and what seems to be bolts of electricity crackling around where its cheeks would be. At least that's what I assume the carvings that look like as if someone just slashed wildly at the door are.
I step back before I get too focused on what I assume to be bolts of electricity. I lean to the side, trying to see through the door's gaps, but only seeing more of the door instead.
I then drop to the floor, trying to see beneath the door. Still nothing.
I get up, dusting off my clothes.
"Soooo, what's your diagnosis?" Jack eagerly asked.
"It's a door, Jack."
"Oh! Can you open it?"
"Look, why don't you wait after I finish investigating this door?"
Jack nods as I strafe around the door. I stand behind it, and I'm greeted with the door’s other side, which was identical to the front- metal handle, carving, all that stuff.
Is this really not a dream? The fact that I'm talking to a flying lion snake thing should be a dead ringer that it is...
"Why are you pinching yourself?"
"Oh cod dampit." I groan, firmly gripping the door's handle. This already wasn't a dream the moment I tried looking for the alarm, so why the bell did I bother pretending...
Ugh. Duck it. I turn the handle, and then kick the door open.
I'm greeted with... trees on the other side. I blink twice, circling around the door to see if I really missed a forest behind the door.
No matter which direction I looked through the door in, the doorway led to a field of trees.
"What the fork?"
"I think the door's leading to your home!"
What? No? What about the odds? The...
Cod dampit, he could have a point. I can't remember anything about back home, so maybe this forest really does lead to where I live.
Maybe it's worth a try. Maybe.
"Could be. Anyways, you should stay here."
"But why?" Jack puppy eyes me. Cod dampit.
"You're-" I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to process what Jack just said.
"Listen, Jack. My home doesn't have what I can only assume are PORTAL DOORS. That works BOTH WAYS. And it doesn't have lion-snake things that claim to be a dragon, that can FLY without any visible motion. I- I-"
I slump against the edge of the doorway.
"Hrrrggghhhh..."
"Fair point! You seem pretty upset though... any way I can help?"
"Well, you can start by staying behind. No way I'm learning to traffick a weird flying lion snake thing."
"Okay!" Jack beams a smile.
"Good." I sigh.
"At least this door leads back to Earth, right? As in, the planet."
"Well, only one way to find out!"
I scoff at Jack's remark as I put my hand on the metal handle and prepare to step through, intending to close the door behind me.
Jack murmurs something to himself, before approaching me. "Actually, can I come with you? I'll promise to... Look, um. I think it's best I show you."
"I already said you're going to STAY-"
I turn my head around to see only the white void.
Where did he...
My hand slipped from the door handle. Where did he go?
"Jack?" I begin walking back into the void. Oh, no no no no. Maybe I shouldn't have ordered him to stay. Maybe this place is just as agonizingly boring and terrifying to him as it is to me.
I walked away from the door, starting to regret some of my poor choice of words. I glance to the floor. Did it eat him? No, stop being so
"Boo!"
Next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor.
"... uh, are you ok?"
I push myself off the floor, now sitting. I try checking for the doorway, but something else catches my view.
It's Jack. What. Where was he, wh, wh. What.
"W-what the BELL was that?! You just... Disappeared. And now... you're here? Augh?"
"I went invisible!"
what.
My mouth tries saying something, but nothing comes out of it.
"I'm not even going to question it." I close my eyes and hold my forehead with my palm.
"Fine, you can come along. Just stay invisible all the time."
"YAY! I promise I won't be a nuisance!"
That's an impossible promise, alright.
I've wasted enough time in this void anyways. I get up and step out into the green beyond the doorway, ecstatic to leave the white void behind.
The foliage brushes against my shoes as I walk out of the forest. I look behind me, noticing Jack following behind me as he seems to... simply turn his invisibility 'on', like a switch. It took a few seconds as he gradually turned transparent, but there was almost no noise to the process. An amazed, yet quiet 'wow' slides out of my mouth.
I turn my head back, exiting the trees and stepping out into...
Huh. It really seems like Earth!... though, it doesn't seem like I ended up in a place with any civilization nearby. A bit annoying, but atleast I'm back here and not in that void.
As I start exiting the trees, I'm greeted with rocky walls too high to climb in front of me, and also to my right. I then turn to the left, noticing past a few trees... hey, what's that? It looks kinda gray, but I can't see it from here...
I start walking towards there, feeling the warm breeze pass by. I would have preferred a colder breeze, but it's better than that void's unnatural lack of wind.
What the bell was up with that place anyways...? It was so bright, yet my eyes didn't hurt at all, not to mention how that door back home just... appeared. I shrug these thoughts off and continue my path, leaving the trees.
I notice a pleasant lake to my side, also taking the moment to notice the barrier of rocks that the water flowed through. Huh...
The gray thing happens to be stairs! Seems like there's civilization's nearby, after all. As I climb up it, I... wait a minute.
What the bell are these birds singing? It's... unlike anything I've heard. I don't remember any bird calls, and I'm not sure if I was the kind of person to even bother remembering such a thing, but birds probably do not sound like that.
I squint my eyes, trying to spot where that singing could be coming from. Eventually, I gave up.
This place looks sorta pretty though, especially with that lake and that barrier-like rock formation. I sit down and take a look at the fishes and...
Huh. They look kind of weird, too. Atleast, I think so, judging from their silhouettes? I don't want to get my clothes wet, so...
"Hey, Jack?" I call out, hoping that he's still near me.
"Sir yes sir!" his voice called back, right beside me. I turn around, hopefully facing him, and then point at the lake.
"Do the fishes down there look kind of weird to you, or am I just seeing things?"
"Um... Maybe?"
"Wait, you can fly, right? Can you like... hover down to these fishes to get a closer look? See what they are exactly?"
There was silence, then I felt the tip of Jack's invisible tail lightly smack me- kinda like being slapped by a broom.
"Ow."
And then there was slightly more silence.
Jack flies back up. "Good news!"
"What?"
"We're in the world of Pokémon! Unova, to be specific. The fish in that lake are native to this region!" Jack looked at me while I just sat there in silence. "So that means we're doing the tour, right? Or well, the journey."
"... Jack. What the duck is a Pokémon."
"Oh, uh, right. Forgot you don't remember anything!"
"Something which I'm holding you responsible for." I give the best glare I could, but such deathliness can only be harnessed every once in a while.
"Anyways, uh... You see those weird fishes down there? That's a Pokémon. A fish one, to be specific."
"So... Pokémon are weird fishes."
"Kinda! They're like animals, but, uh..."
"But...?"
"But cooler! There's Pikachu! That little yellow rat that shoots off lightning bolts! Zoom! Zap!"
I look away from where Jack's voice is coming from and look back into the water again.
... world of Pokémon? So...
"Jack, did that door take me to YOUR home?"
"Oh, nonono! I'm not a Pokémon."
"I'm assuming this is not Earth?"
Silence.
"Are you shrugging?"
"Nope!"
"... are you shaking your head."
"Yes!"
"Which way."
"Up and down!"
And there was even more silence.
"Oh cod dammit, of course it isn't." I bury my head in my hands.
"... hey, look, it's gonna be alright, OK?"
"No, it's NOT alright. Jack. I'm still lost, except instead of a white void we're in a cod damn MOCKERY of my home, with weird animals that shoot lightning bolts?"
As I recall Jack's description of this 'Pikachu', I recall back to the carving on the door... Some of these carvings looked awfully like lightning bolts.
"Oh my cod. It never was the door back home, was it?"
"Eh?"
"Forget it, it's whatever. At least you don't have to be invisible, since I'm going to assume you will fit right in."
"I'd rather not..."
"Why not?"
"You already look kinda out of place, and I told you I wasn't a Pokémon, wasn't I? So I don't fit, and if I showed myself, then your weird and my weird combines together to make the Ultra Weird! And that could get some unwanted attention from the locals..."
"Wow, what a very helpful answer. Oh, I'm falling from how helpful it is. Ahh."
I slump down on the dirt road behind me, feet still dangling off the ledge.
It then hits me.
"Jack, can other people hear us?"
"It's probably just you, since I also have a spell that mutes my voice to anyone except a few other people!"
"You're telling me I've been looking like a lunatic the entire time?"
"Yes!"
I roll over, the many hands of embarrassment washing over me. Soon, I will breach into the fourth hand embarrassment and reach Embarrassment Nirvana.
I think of having Jack signal to me with tree branches, but I wonder if that would make me look even weirder to other people.
Wait, is anyone even here? I mean, I only see dark grass nearby, so...
Cod, what do I even do here?! I pull my legs away from the ledge and stand up.
"Jack, what do people do in this world?"
"Well, they train Pokémon!"
"Train?"
"Yes, they catch, and they train these Pokémon!"
"So you're telling me they just... grab something like these weird... fish... things, down there, and they train them?" I perform... uh, vague flaps with my hand to gesture at the fishies.
"Mhm."
"What are they trained for, exactly?"
"Fighting each other!"
"What" I look at Jack with a mix of confusion, concern and morbid curiosity.
"Yep." Jack nods.
"I... I think that's an underground sport? Isn't that illegal?"
"Nope!"
I stare down at the fishies, eyes still squinting from the seemingly endless confusion, now mixed with a flavor of... Actually, yeah, I'm just confused.
Questions aren't going to do me any good, though, so I just shake my head, fending off any attempts at making an argument on the morality of 'Pokémon Training'.
"Right. Whatever."
"Are... hm. Are there people around here that would go something like 'hey, let's fight' and then they sic a 'Pokémon' on me?"
"Yep!"
"So I should catch one."
"Mhm! They live in tall grass like that patch, over theeere!"
I glance at the dark grass, and start walking towards it. "Do I just shuffle in it?"
After a while, Jack replied. "Oh, sorry! I was just nodding, before realizing that, well..."
I grumble in annoyance, before taking my first step into the grass.
"Okay, just like this..."
Eugh, this grass is reaching up to my shoulders... I keep taking step after step, until-
"Watchog!!"
"AH!"
Amidst a clearing in the tall grass, I had spotted a... uh, a meekr- *meerkat*-like thingie. I'm going to assume it's a Pokémon- it's tail stands as upright as the meerkat itself. Its reddish-brown body is- why the bell is its yellow stripes glowing.
Either way, it looks agitated, so...
Wait. How do I...
I grimace. How do I catch a Pokémon, exactly? I check around my pants for my pockets, feeling around my body for anything that can help.
Nothing. Fear starts building up. I'm up against a meerkat that's glowing, and as I finish searching my clothes to look at it-
GH-
DUCK--
GET IT OFF! AUGH! I give this thing a shove and a kick, and that staggers the thingie whatever back, and-
I need to run. Now. I clutch my left arm, feeling... wait...
Oh, COD, I'M *BLEEDING*!!
Feeling the worst pain I have ever felt, I turn around and sprint as fast as I can. I rustle through the grass, running out of it. I turn back, hearing cries of 'Watchog!' getting closer. I glanced at the stairs I climbed up from, then to the water, and then I found my legs making the jump to the water.
SPLASH! I close my eyes, and immediately try swimming upwards. I flail my arms around, trying to...
I don't know how to swim. The weird fishes are getting closer, and the water surface slips farther and farther out of my reach.
I hold my breath, seeing the water around me turn red from my arm. I flail. I flail. The red only grows.
I close my eyes. They're getting closer.
... then suddenly, something sinks into my hands.
Claws. And they start pulling me up.
It's not long before I get pulled out of the water. I look left, right, then up.
It was Jack. Even though he was still invisible, I could hear him grunting out of exertion. His claws start sinking into my hands as he grips them with all of his strength. Owowowowowow-
Soon enough, I landed onto more grass. I look at my hand turning them around, noticing that... oh, cod, they're bleeding too. At least the wounds aren't so big- it was like being stabbed by a syringe to being stabbed by a knife.
I hold onto my bleeding arm with all I can, before turning around and shambling up the stairs.
Seems like there is nobody around... I look around at the tall grass patches around me, but most importantly, I notice a sign. I start walking towards it. Is there any help? Am I going to die here-
I hear a camera's snap.
I immediately look at the direction where that snap came from.
It was from a camera. I... oh, cod, cod, I feel...
"Are you... a trainer?" I spoke, recalling what Jack spoke about Pokémon and training.
"Yes!" replied a male voice. Atleast, I think it was. The water in my ears and eyes... it's all so blurry. I could only make out a hat from the silhouette, his voice no older than a late teen.
Before I knew it, I immediately sprinted away from that silhouette.
I hear them yelling something at me, but I only hear gibberish. I make a turn and run into the trees surrounding the path in an effort to lose him. I silently hoped that my blood wasn't leaving any trackable trail.
Is he... Is he gone? Can I finally stop-
... what happened?
I'm lying down, my body aches and the sleeve that's covering my left arm feels soaked...
Oh, oh cod, oh cod. I... feel so sleepy.
I think... I want to take a n-
"... HEY!"
OW! I-I'm smacked awake and-
"J-Jack? Hrrgh, where are..."
"L-Listen! Listen to me, OK? You tripped and... and... uh, um, keep talking! Just keep talking, OK? I'll... I'll get us out of here and then I'll try to find some help."
Jack grabbed my hand, as I winced from the jolt of pain and hoped he didn't tear through my skin again with these claws. He tugged me along as my legs shambled to keep up with him and my head throbbed in horrible pain.
I tightly hold onto Jack's hand as my feet stumble and scramble across the forest floor, as the surroundings around me turn into a blur.
"Try to keep-- Try to stay balanced, OK?! I think I see the exit..."
Still holding onto Jack, I continued my path. Despite my clothes, I started feeling cold. It's so cold.
... soon enough, I was out of the trees. I collapse into a sitting position, leaning against one of them. I'm so tired.
"O-Okay. We're out, we're in the middle of a path. I'll try and find something to help you. Just stay awake, bite onto your clothes, just... Just hang in there, OK? Do *NOT* go to sleep! I uh, I'll be quick!"
Jack flew off. I grit my teeth. It hurts so badly. It's so cold, it hurts, it hurts.
I want to go home. Do I even have a home? Maybe running away was a mistake? It's so tiring, just breathing. I want to sleep.
Why did I run away from...
... who's that? It looks like they have a ponytail...
"Oh shi... The hell happened to you?!" a female voice spoke.
"... aaugh..."
"Hey, look, let's get you some..." She grabs my hand, before recoiling as she felt the blood on my hand.
"H-huh? Are you... Oh no." And then, she looked like she adjusted something on her head.
"You're... H-Hey! You should look at this!" ... what? Who...
"I think he... doc..." ... huh?
What is she... talking abou-
"Merli... Mer mimemi..."
"W-we don't have enough time! Even with that napkin, he's still losing blood fast..."
"M-mer, memi! Merlimi!"
"..."
"Miii..."
"Mmer...!!"
"Mer-LIMI!!"
...
I feel... something soft under me.
I... No, am I sleeping on something soft? It certainly feels better than the void's floor...
Slowly, I open my eyes. "... eughhhh..."
"Y-You're alive! Oh thank goodness, Merlimi, it worked!" Wha? Who?
"M-merli?"
I scramble around, finding out I was covered with a blanket. I rose up, tossing it to the side and revealing I was in a bed, which likely was in a bedroom. I look to the side and see Jack, scales, antlers, ponytail and all.
I then roll over and spot yet another strange creature on my bedside.
It kind of looks like a somewhat small, pitch-black egg in a mage's robes and hat. Said robes were purple with yellow trims, and the hat was also purple, having a yellow star at its front. He's carrying a staff, and... are his limbs floating? The egg doesn't have arms, nor legs, with their shoes and gloves just floating in the air. It seems like whatever the egg is made out of is leaking out of the gloves, kind of just... falling out, floating for a little, then fading out, much like snowflakes.
I glance at the egg mage's staff. The staff is way taller than the egg thing, hat included. At the tip of the staff was... a rectangle? It had a purple color and it seemed to float mid-air, close to the tip of the staff. It moved to catch up with the staff, but it never seems to go too far from it, despite neither of them being visibly connected.
"What... are you?"
"Mer-mer? Merlimi!" replied the egg thing.
" 'Oh, my name is Merlimi!' " followed up Jack, with a higher-pitched voice.
"Jack, why are you making that voice?"
"O-oh, right! I was just translating for Merlimi... He can only really speak his name, so I kind of have to do that!"
"Makes sense." I mutter out. No it doesn't. Dogs don't go 'dog dog', do they?
"Memi, mer-mi-li. Lili, merli."
"You have a point... Hey, uh... green-jacket boy!"
"Yeah?" I replied.
"So, about your injuries... Merlimi over here should have healed you, but we couldn't get it properly done since... well, the whole dying thing and all that."
I look at my hands. It's true... They aren't bleeding, and they seem fine. I then check my arm, noticing a piece of fabric wrapped around it, stained with a deep red.
Whatever Merlimi did, it sure was effective. I still feel pain on my left arm, but I don't feel like I'm bleeding out. Whatever that feels like. "Huuuuh."
"Mer-mimi, merli. Memi." spoke Merlimi.
"Ah! Yeah! Your arm... probably will still hurt, a lot! But it's wounds are closed. Don't stress it too hard now, will you?" Jack strikes a smile at me, like a doctor dropping mildly good news to their patient.
"Right. Thank you." I then remember something- or rather, someone. "A-Ah! I also saw a girl approach me. Did you see her?"
"Memirli!"
"Oh, you mean Emily? Yeah, she's downstairs! I think you should thank her too, since that napkin on your arm belongs to her."
"... huh, I see." I get off the bed, my injured arm noticeably lagging behind. "Ugh, damp it." Hope I don't write or draw with that left arm.
"Be careful, OK?" Jack frowns.
"Trust me, being careful is my main priority here."
I force myself off from the bed, exercising special care in NOT using my injured arm. Cod, this hurts.
"... Mer, mermermi?"
"I guess? He said that my name is Jack, and..."
As the conversation fades away, I make my way down the stairs, leaving the apparent bedroom of this house.
I look around the room. It seems to be a living room of sorts, but it also kind of looks like a dining room, indicated by the 4 chairs around a dining table.
A quick glance down reveals that the floor is made out of wooden floorboards. Classic.
Behind me were the stairs I took to get to here in the first place, and in front of me was the door to where I assume was outside the house. There doesn't seem to be any windows, though...
"Oh, hey! You're up!" The female voice from before calls out to me.
"... Yeah." I rub my eyes, looking at the voice's direction.
The girl had messy, brown-ish short hair, alongside having that ponytail. She had a blue striped shirt, a very out of place biker glove that was on her right hand, and she was topped off with round glasses.
Also, she's got white socks with a red stripe on them. I hope she doesn't walk around outside like that... Judging by their cleanliness, I assume it's a no.
I start walking towards her, as suddenly I clutch my head. Great. A headache and an injured arm. Way to go, things.
"Hey, no need to push yourself so hard! Lie down on that couch and I'll take the chair."
"Thanks." I stumble my way to the couch and lie down, as Emily seats herself on one of the chairs in the room.
"... So you're Emily, right? Thanks for the uh, the whole napkin bandaging... thing."
"Hey, you're welcome! And yep, that's me. I'm Emily Rose. And you are...?"
Uh, how do I tell her... "... I don't know my name."
"Ehhh? Come again?" Emily raises her eyebrows.
"My name. I don't remember it."
"Well, it's going to get awkward if we don't have something to call you by."
I grumble and look off to the ceiling, trying to remember. Still nothing...
"... You mind if I come up with something for you? It's temporary, of course!"
"Sure, why not."
"Sweet!" Her eyes light up, and she immediately starts murmuring names to herself. Fantastic names such as "Lucky", "Bleedface Mcbleed", "John Doe"...
They suck. But given the shade of red on the napkin around my arm, maybe she's onto something with Bleedface McBleed.
"Selfie! How about that?"
I take a few seconds to process, before realizing that's the name she came up for me.
"That's it?"
"Well, if you'd like, I can throw in a last name." Yeah, no, Selfie is already bad enough.
"No thanks, I'll just take Selfie."
"Well then! Nice to meet you, Selfie."
"Where'd you even pull that out from? Selfie, as in..." Hey, wait a minute. "Do I look like a phone to you?!"
"Oh no no no no no, it's a shorthand for Self Insert!"
"A what."
"Take out the N, the S, the R and the T and you get Selfie!"
"Wouldn't that be Self-ie though...?"
"But the pausing makes it so awkward!" Emily huffs.
"Alright." I inhale. "Fair. I'll take Selfie."
I blink, before realizing I have no idea what my namesake is about exactly.
"What even is a 'Self Insert'?"
"You're from Earth like me, right? Like, the actual Earth. Not this Earth. If the world of Pokémon is even called Earth in the first place."
"So, it's like you insert-ed your-self into this world, like a fanfic come true! Simple as that, really."
"For your information, I did NOT choose to get stuck here on purpose. I'm still pointing fingers at that dragon."
I sigh. "... And you're from Earth... Earth... too? Earth-Earth. Real Earth. You get the point. Are you stuck here like me too?"
"Oh, no. Merlimi, that mage up there, told me I had chosen to arrive here on purpose to get the 8 Gym Badges, beat the Champion and become the Pokémon League master!" What the actual ship did she just say...?
"And he told me we can warp away back if I ever wanted to. But hey, we don't have Pokémon back home, do we?"
"Yeah, and I think it's a good thing." I point at my injured arm.
"Oh, that reminds me! I think that dragon and Merlimi's working on how to send you back home."
"Sheesh, finally Jack does something good for me."
"Hey, why be so mean to him?"
"Well, if he didn't get me stuck here, which led me to THIS..." I angrily gesture at my injury.
"Then I have plenty of reasons to blame him for my lack of memory. Or losing my ability to swear at all." I grumble, crossing my arms. Nuhnuhnuh, Selfie, you asked for it, nuhnuhnuh... Ugh.
"At... all?" Emily raises her eyebrows.
"*Technically* I can swear..."
"Well, let's see what you've got then! It can't be that bad, right?"
"Alright, brace yourself."
I cough.
"... Motherducker. Cod damp it. Ship."
"PFHA"
"PFAAAAHAHA HOLY SHIT"
"WHY DO *YOU* GET TO SWEAR???" I stand up from the couch, seething over the freedom of Emily's vocabulary.
"I... Oh god, excuse me... ohhhh my god, my sides..."
"I can't even say COD, Emily." I angrily flail and gesture at Emily's general direction while she's losing herself in maniacal laughter.
"Haaa... ohh god, okay, okay, I'm sorry."
"Good."
"So you can't say these words? Lemme guess, can't even *think* of them in the first place too?" Emily taps the side of her head.
I sigh. "Yeah."
"Alright, yeah, I can see how that sucks. Sorry about that earlier."
"At least you didn't get me into this situation in the first place." I glare towards the general direction of the stairs.
"Yeah... I can see why you'd be mad at him. But still, are you really sure that--"
"Merr, merMIMI!" And in comes Merlimi, angrily grabbing onto a floating outline of a rectangle, similar to the one that floats around his staff. I could make out numbers and text inside the outline, making it look quite similar to a computer's screen, but it faded away before I could really look at it any more.
Soon after Merlimi's outburst, Jack flew down the stairs. "So, um... As you can see, Emily and... Boy, there's a bit of a problem!"
"He's now called Selfie!" Emily objects against Jack's choice of name!
"O-oh!"Jack looks away in embarrassment, before turning back to face us. "S-sorry! Anyways... Emily and Selfie, there's a bit of a problem!"
"Of course there is." I try sinking into the couch in an effort to show my annoyance.
"Mermi, mimemi, meeeer. Mimi." "We're kind of having trouble setting up passage back home. First things first, not only is the teleportation spell not working, everything else is not working too!"
"Second things second, Merlimi can't draw enough power to activate the emergency warp spell he has." Jack mumbles something between him and Merlimi, before turning back to us.
"And... Well, given how things look right now, I think both of you should leave. The boy- I mean, Selfie's injured, and with most of me and Merlimi's spells not working, I... don't think staying here is safe anymore, to be exact. Back you go!"
Emily raises her hand as if she was about to protest, before glancing back at my injured arm. She lowers her hand shortly after.
"Why are they not working?" I squint at the odd duo.
"Well... hm... It's a bit complicated, but in layman's terms? Our spells draw from a power source that also supplies the instructions of how to cast a majority of our spells. We can't reach said source right now for some reason. Probably a very unfortunate error on our side, though."
"Hmmm..." Emily pondered. "Can you draw your power from another source?"
Jack and Merlimi speak between themselves, before replying with a nod. "Yep!"
Emily snaps her fingers. "Well, why don't we just replace this power source then? It may not bring your other spells back, but it should be good enough, right?"
"Oh! That's a good idea, but where do we find a power source in this 'Unova'?" I put my hand to my chin. "... This IS Unova, right?"
"Yeah, it is, and..." Emily lights up. "Ah! Yeah, we're in Unova! We're in Accumula Town, to be specific. Apparently I have a house in this town?... But anyways, here's my plan."
"Unova is one of the regions of the Pokémon world, but we can skip to the part that matters- the super strong Pokémon! Those are called Legendaries or Mythicals, with each region having a duo or trio of Legendaries and a few mythicals to them. Unova is no exception to that rule!"
"So if we could get one, we could theoretically have enough power to fuel the emergency teleport! Problem solved!" Emily fingerguns at us.
"Huh, nice idea. But they *are* super strong, right? How strong are we talking about?" I squint my eyes, skeptical of the true power of these fabled Pokémon.
"Well, there's one practically made to be an unstoppable killing machine, three of them can control the weather by either drying everything up or flooding everything up or stopping the first two things from happening."
"Oh okay yeah that sounds more than powerful enough." I wonder how the bell are we still on solid land if what Emily says is true.
"That aside, I've already set my eyes on one of them! They've made a movie about them, so they must be super strong and really powerful and so on!"
"We're going after... Victini!" Emily points to no direction in particular.
Rick tiny...? "What is a rick tiny?"
"VIC-TI-NI. It's uh, this... this... funny little dude who’s gimmick is literally having infinite power, which sounds like exactly what we need!"
"Merlimi! Mi!"
"Yeah! Tell us where this Victini is!" Jack joins in Merlimi's excited questioning.
"Victini's far away on an island called Liberty Garden!"
I glance at Merlimi, and instantly see the excitement in his eyes dry up.
"Er... Limi?"
"Awww..." Jack whimpered out.
"I know that going to an island sounds bad, but- and BUT! Our other options are probably in the hands of more important and thus more powerful people. Victini being stranded on an island means it's far away from any form of human life, and it's likely that Victini's not used to fighting too, since I bet there's no Pokémon in Liberty Garden either."
"Right. I see your point. Now how the bell are we supposed to go to Liberty Garden...?"
"..." Emily grimaces.
". . ."
"... uh. That part's a work in progress."
I sigh. "Well, we *need* something."
"Merli..."
"Hhhmm..." I take the moment to glance at my hands, and then quickly shoot my gaze at Jack.
"Jack! Can you lift us to Liberty Gar-"
"N-NO! Selfie, I- Okay, I don't mean to insult you in any way, but lifting you was WAY harder than it looked. My arms still feel a little sore, even! I'd break if I carried all of you guys!"
"Okay, fair. I was gonna suggest you carry us on your back, though."
Jack lowers his antlers, much like an upset dog. "I don't want my back broken either..."
"Fine. Emily, can you buy us a boat?"
"We're both minors, Selfie! We can't just... waltz in, go 'I want your biggest, sexiest boat' and drive off to Liberty Garden."
"Also, I don't think I even have enough Pokédollars to even afford one, so even if I was 18 or 21, I still would not be able to do anything."
"Laaaame..."
"I knooooow!" Emily throws her hands up, then slumps into her chair.
I groan and slump into my couch too.
"... Merlimi..."
"Wait!" Emily rockets up from her slump earlier.
"What if we MADE our own boat?"
I look at Merlimi and Jack to see if they like the idea. I could tell that Jack is relieved he doesn't have to carry us, atleast.
"It's something like... hmmmm... We head to a river, make a boat, sail down the river to the ocean and sail all the way to the island. Simple!"
"It sounds like a good idea, yeah, but how would we even make one? What if we run out of stuff like water, or food, or if the wind starts going the wrong way?"
"Well, it can't be rocket science to make a raft, right? We just grab enough wood, make a raft out of it, bam whap zoom pow, and we're sailing!"
"Besides, I already got this bad boy!" Emily whipped out what seemed like a DVD disc.
"A Hidden Machine. This one contains Cut!"
"That's called a DVD disc, Emily."
"A SPECIAL DVD disc, mind you!"
I bury my hands under my face. "I have so many questions..."
"You know how you like... teach dogs to do tricks and stuff? Basically, the DVD has a trick recorded in it, and you can teach that trick to your Pokémon."
"How does that even work?! Do you like... shove it in? Are Pokémon just wild robots that got way out of hand? How does data from the disc just... uh. *transfer* into the Pokémon? How does it go through their skin, scales, whatever, and somehow manage to teach what I assume to be weeks worth of training that move until they can be done when commanded to do so?"
"Look, I don't know either. All I know is that I just..."
Emily awkwardly grunts and gestures with her arms, trying to mime *something*. "... nrgh, eufh, eughfhrd it, you know what I'm getting at, until it taught my Pokémon how to cut stuff."
"What."
"But that's not the point, wasn't it? What I was trying to say is that well, we have a lumberjack at our disposal, since we can just Cut down any trees in our way!"
I nod, if only to get off the increasingly confusing nature of these so-called Hidden Machines.
"So, we have a plan?"
Emily nods. "Yep! Now, let's not waste any more time and get outta here!"
"Memi!" Merlimi raises his staff up to the air triumphantly!
"Yeah!" And so does Jack with his hand... claws... whatever.
I raise my own hand to the air too- the one attached to the HEALTHY arm, of course.
"... I just gotta put on my backpack and these sprinting shoes first, hold on."
"Oh." I spot Merlimi promptly lowering their staff.
"I thought you walked around in socks."
"Man, I wish I could! But God or geology made it so that there's rocks, even in what SEEMS to be clear paths."
"What?"
"I'm blaming God, because I think I can punch an old dude in the face rather than the natural processes of the Earth. Don't ya think so?"
I shrug. "I-I mean, maybe? I'm not a faithful kind of person. Even if I was, my memories are still gone."
"Taking that as a yes! Now let's get out of this house and head back to Route 3!"
"Huh? Route what?"
"Route 3. It's where I found you, all bleeding out."
"I don't think heading to the place I nearly bled out on is a good idea..."
"Do you have a better idea? Like going through these trees that surround all these routes?"
"..."
"... Yeah, duck that. Let's go to Route 3 or whatever it is called."
"Sweet! It should be a quick trip through Route 2, then the city, and then we can head to the city where the Gym is at. Up there, we should be at Route 3!""
"Wait... How-"
"How did you *carry me through an entire city?* How am I still..."
"I stuffed you in a bag and ran as fast as I could after Merlimi healed you. Cardio's the life-o, as I say!"
"Emily, I don't know how much I weigh, but you somehow made the sprint through what I assume to be two paths, a city and managed to get me in here. And what bag? Are you seriously carrying a body bag around, or..."
"Merlimi!... Mi."
"I think he's saying 'Magic!... at least for the bag part'."
The urge to simply give up on reality and lie down on the couch is strong and if I see one more violation of the laws of physics I'm going to do good on my word.
"Great. Is the backpack a portal to Whateverland or something?"
"Merlimi?! Mer li!"
"Oh man, Merlimi's going 'How did you know?!' and that stuff." Jack moves his arms around. "... Kinda wish I had that backpack when I had to lift you up now."
I collapse onto the couch. "It looked so normal..."
"Aaand all done. Don't worry, Selfie, I have a slight idea on what I'm doing! Like how I realized you would bleed out on the way here, so I tied that napkin and had Merlimi heal you BEFORE I made the trek back!"
"Memimi..."
"Yeah, but using the spell in the first place was my idea, wasn't it?" Jack smugly replies to Merlimi, and I swear I saw him shake the staff, probably in contemplation on whether to bonk it over Jack's head or not.
"That's not very reassuring."
"Well, too bad! Anyways, does your arm feel OK?"
I wave my napkin arm around. Wee. It still lags a bit.
"Eh. It's good enough."
"Alright, then! Just gotta tidy these shoes a bit aaaaand..."
"... there we go! C'mon, Selfie! Get up from there, we've got a whole new world to explore!"
"Hooraaay, I hope I don't die."
"Me and Merlimi are gonna go invisible, but you can count that we're following you!"
"Mer-mimi!"
I see Jack cloak and Merlimi surrounding themselves with one of these outlines and flipping the space within that outline, like a bookcase. After it flipped several times, Merlimi was nowhere to be seen.
I get up and take Emily's lead as she opens the door outside...
... to Accumula Town. Emily immediately takes a turn, waving her arm over to signal me over.
I sigh as we head out of Accumula Town and into Route 2, passing through a gate.
The sound of my steps goes from walking across a concrete floor to walking a path of dirt, as the artificial light of the home we were in was replaced by the natural sunlight.
So this is Route 2. It's rather pleasant.
"Here we are, Selfie! If anything makes you have a question, feel free to fire it off at me, I'll try my best to answer it, now that we're actually going somewhere."
I try my best to not deviously grin as I hatch my most evil action yet. "Well... What's with this breeze? What's the process behind this breeze? Where does it come from?"
"Oh my god..." Emily holds her forehead and hangs her head low, like if my words actually managed to cause some psychic damage.
"I still don't get it. Why are YOU allowed to say things like COD, DUCK or BASS and cod knows what else?"
"Eh, I dunno! Maybe I'm just a better person than you!" She nonchalantly shrugged.
I glare daggers at her. "Are we really going to debate who's a better person when one of them clearly doesn't remember ship?"
"And can't swear."
"I am so tempted to shove you right now..."
"Shh, we're gonna go through tall grass! Just try your best to not alert anything, OK?"
"Right..."
"Augh, don't tug on my ponytail!"
"It was the grass, not me!"
"Oh, the grass tugs at people's hairs now, does it?" Emily scoffs. "... Well, that jacket of yours IS as green as the grass around us, so maybe there's some truth to what you're saying, huh?"
"I doubt it. Must've been a wild porkyman."
"It's pronounced Pokémon!" Emily turns around while we shuffled through the grass and she immediately alerts an actual, wild Pokémon.
"PATRAT!" I freeze up. It looks way too similar to that other rodent Pokémon. It's got the eyes, it's got the tail, and it's probably gonna bite into my arm oh cod oh COD
"Uh oh." Emily doesn't look too phased by the encounter that has a *very* likely chance of having us BOTH die here.
"EMILYWHATDOIDO????" I flinch towards her direction, barely composing my ship enough to not tightly cling onto her out of sheer fear.
"Quick, send a Pokémon out! Defend yourself!"
"HOW???"
"You- You don't have a Pokémon?... Oh. OHHH! So that's how... Nevermind that! Selfie, take this!"
Suddenly, Emily put something into my hand (thankfully the one attached to the uninjured arm).
"Throw it, now!" Emily barks at me and I immediately find myself throwing... a ball with everything I could! The ball splits open midair and- AUGH THAT'S BRIGHT!
"Aaaugh, what's with the light?!" I start uncontrollably rubbing my eyes!
"You'll get used to it! Keep yourself together!" she replied. Okay, right. She has a point. I try to focus as I rub my eyes from the light.
I regain my vision, and the first thing I spot is a light brown dog infront of me. It looks ready to battle with that... chipmunk thingie.
"AEUGHH????" I freeze up, trying to not have a heart attack from all this shock.
"Alright, Toast! Help the green jacket kid out, and try your best to follow his orders!" Emily points to the dog. Who would name a dog Toast...?
The dog turns around to spot me. Toast has cream fur all over its face, with a red nose and round- more like oval, brown eyes sticking out of it. How the bell is it seeing in the first place...? Like- forget the short tail or the large, pointed ears with bits of fur sticking out of it's base, or even the patch of dark blue fur on its back, how the bell is it seeing me with all of that fur in front of it's face?
"Lilipup!" 'spoke' Toast.
"So- So you're telling me I have to make this dog attack that... chipmunk... rodent... thing in front of me??"
"Yeah! Tell it to tackle or bite, anything!"
"Just these two things? Doesn't he know anything else?"
"Tell him what to do already before I have to use another one of my napkins!"
"Alright, sheesh! Uh, Toast! Do the thing!"
"Lil?" Toast looks at me with confusion, before getting tackled by the enemy Pokémon.
"AH!" "LIL!" Emily cringes at my lackluster display of Pokémon skills. "Sheeeeesh..."
"Uh, okay, okay, this is bad, Lilipup, get it off--"
Emily facepalms. "Okay, yeah, it's not even been the second move and I can't bear to watch this anymore. Come on, let's Jam!"
Emily gears up and throws her Pokéball high up in the air as Toast desperately tries to get the chipmunk/rodent/whatever off it. It bursts in a flash of light and...
A purple, feline Pokémon thingie was in front of me. "PurrLOIN!"
"AH-"
"Jam, use Cut on the Patrat!"
"Purr!" The feline swipes and slices the Patrat with impressive speed, prompting me to start stepping away from the fight. Cod, that's quite the range on those claws.
"Now, Jam! Finish it off with Pursuit!"
"Purr... LOOOIN!" Jam then rushes at the Patrat, striking it ferociously right in the chest and knocking it over!
"... I-Is it over?" I murmur, stepping back to the fight scene.
Toast also was knocked over like the Patrat. "Are... Are they...?"
"Nah. They fainted. Still though... that was not a very good first battle."
"I thought we were going to, I dunno, run from it? Not whatever you and that cat did." I glance at the cat.
No offense, but the cat looks like it got covered in purple paint. Sure, there are a few cream-colored spots such as the shoulder or the neck, but it still looks like it barged into a paint factory. The cream color reminds me of Toast, who is currently lying on the ground unconscious.
"She's called Jam, and she's a Purrloin." Jam stood on its hind legs and struck a high-strung pose, flicking it's vaguely scythe shaped tail.
"Rrrrright." I'd like to think about the moral implications of the battle that just happened, with a knocked out wild animal and a pet, but at least the problem is over. Just focus on the posing cat.
"Are you not going to call Toast back to his Pokéball?" spoke Emily, recalling Jam as she pointed the ball that it came out of towards it.
"You mean that ball?" I pick it up, and give it a look. "I kind of think we're getting nowhere with that idea, given how this is a tiny ball and Toast is... Well, he's small, but not THAT small."
"Just grab the ball and point. Like this!" Emily pointed her Pokéball forwards, stretching out her arm.
I nod, picking up the ball that Toast came out from and pointing it towards Toast. A red beam fires from the ball, as Toast turns into energy. The energy then flew back into the ball, and soon Toast was nowhere to be seen. "Huh..." I was dumbfounded. How did this work?
Emily nods. "Yeah, like that."
"Oh! Right. So, do you want him back?" I hand the Pokéball back over to Emily.
"Nah, he's yours. I think you'll need someone in case I'm not here to save you with Jam."
"Oh. Ooookay then." I grimace at the fact that Emily just casually gave away a living being to my inexperienced care.
"... So! Now that Toast is yours, take good care of him, will ya?" Emily smiled at me, still holding confidence in me despite my lack of skills.
"Alright. I'll try my best to not get it hurt like me."
"So, let's keep on going! We're almost through this patch of tall grass." Emily pointed forwards as she and I resumed our pace.
"This? You mean there's..." Me and Emily finally shuffle out of the tall grass. It must be nice being like Jack and Merlimi, floating above and over this bothersome grass. "You mean we have to go across more tall grass?"
"Hey, don't worry. Now that you and I are both Basic Pokémon Training graduates, I can now finally reveal my secret weapon!"
"You have a gun?!" I mentally prepare myself to put my hands up in the air at any moment now.
"No, silly, I can't even begin to aim with eyesight like this." She sarcastically taps the frame of her glasses. "It's this!"
She whips out a green can with a Pokéball on its front from her backpack.
"A can."
"A /spray/can! It's full of repellent."
"Well, put it on me. I hope it doesn't irritate this too much."
I mandatorily wave my napkinned wound around. This must be the technique of 'show, not tell' that writers use.
To maximize my showing, I can move it way too close to Emily's glasses... and then I see Emily aiming the can at the wound.
Emily presses down on the spraycan, and soon, the feeling of a hundred syringes poking me immediately bathes over the wound.
"OW OW OKAY IT HURTS"
"Ah shoot. You okay?"
"OWOWOWOW. OW. OW." It was like tossing that piece of my arm into a bathtub of prickly cacti! This would REDEFINE the meaning of AGONY.
"Okay, right. I'm... not a medic, but I'm pretty sure there's a solid chance that won't infect your wound. In fact, maybe the bacteria are Pokémon, and so they will stay away! Out of your wound. Preventing it from being infected. Like bacteria Pokémon would."
"WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT???" THE CACTI ARE ON FIRE OH DEAR COD
"The best logic I can muster." Emily then sprayed herself with the repellent. "Now let's go before this wears off!"
I bit my lips and screamed internally as Emily and I waded across the now safe tall grass.
Soon enough, we emerge out of the grass.
As the sound of soft footsteps against grass give their way back to the sounds of concrete, the agonizing sensation around my wound fades away.
"Aaand here we are, Selfie!" Emily hops and skips in front of me. These shoes must also be for hopping...
"Striatoooon City!" She leaps in the air like a cheerleader, and she performs a 3 point landing with her fingerless glove hand.
"... ouugh, fuck, my knees." Emily grimaces as she squeezes her knees after standing back up.
"Oh, neat." I take a look around the city and spot a garden, sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the buildings. And amongst the buildings themselves, I have a feeling the important ones are the ones with a Pokéball shape built in front of them. Or the red-roofed building over there.
"We just pass through here and make our way to Route 3, right?"
"Mhm. It's through the garden. You can hang out there, since I need to get Toast and Jam healed up at the Pokémon Center." She points to the red roof building.
"Eh?" I take a closer look, noticing the blue windows and white highlights on the red roof building. "That one?" I point towards the building.
"Yeah, it's that building! It's where you can heal up your Pokémon, so I'm taking Toast and Jam there."
"Huh..." I nod.
"Toast's Pokéball, please!" So they are called Pokéballs... that fit Pokémon inside. I hand Toast's ball over to Emily.
"Can't I come with you to the center? I technically own Toast, so..."
"I mean, if you like waiting for your Pokémon to be healed, be my guest."
"Oh." That sounds... kinda boring, actually. "Eh... I'll pass. I guess I'll wait in that garden over there, then."
"Got it! See ya in the garden at... well, neither of us have clocks, do we?"
"No..." I pat my pants for anything in my pockets. There's nothing.
"Darn. Just wait there, okay? Don't go ahead and get bit by another wild Pokémon, you hear me?" She starts heading to the center as she waves back to me.
I prepare to head to the garden, and arrive there soon after. Well, soon after meaning 'I collapse on a bench for a solid minute out of exhaustion before continuing on my way'.
It's... actually kinda pretty. These bushes look like Pokémon, and the leaves make them look extra fluffy.
At the center of the park is a fountain, which I make my way to. I walk around the fountain, looking for any "no sitting" signs.
After looking around for a while, I find that there's nothing saying I can't sit here, so I seat myself on the fountain's edge.
...
... Man, I don't know if waiting at the center would have been more boring than this. I stretch, lean backwards and WOAHAOH-
My back lands not on the fountain, but on something soft. I then feel myself pushed back up.
"Sheesh, Cellphone! I think you should be more careful, you know?" Jack's voice calls out to me.
"It's Selfie."
"Ah, right! Sorry."
I glance at where Jack's voice is coming from, only for something to feel off. If they were following us, how does Jack and Merlimi not bump into each other?
It then dawns on me how little I knew about Jack and Merlimi. Maybe a few questions could pass the time.
"You did hear me and Emily talking, right?"
"Mhm!" Jack nods. That is forking creepy.
"... rrright. What is it with you and Merlimi?"
"Oh, like our relationship, or what our jobs are, or what species are we? I mean- there's a lot of things you could be asking about, really!"
"I mean." I carefully consider the options Jack suggested. "Can I ask you all of these?"
"Alright, we can do that! To start... Hmmm, we're co-workers for sure. I'd say we're friends, but I wonder if... Well, nevermind."
"Next up... Our jobs! Right. I was trying to say that I was your Tour Guide, but then you suddenly gave me the name of Jack and well..." Jack makes a punching motion with those silly arms of his.
"Mm. Yeah. I gave it some thought and... maybe you really didn't take my memories. Sorry about that. Still mad at being here though."
"Hey, it's okay! And besides, I... Well, to be frank, I wasn't... well..." Jack huffs at him tripping over his words. "I didn't really know my name either, so they just called me 'the dragon' or 'mememimimi'. Whatever worked for them, I suppose."
"That makes the two of us."
"It does! And lastly, species-wise... I'm a dragon. An eastern one, methinks. With those wooden antler-like things and the big stream of hair! I'd show myself so you can get a better look, but that would need me to cancel out my invisibility."
"And Merlimi? Um, well... I'm not sure what he *is* exactly, but he definitely isn't one of the Pokémon here!"
"Huh. How do you and Merlimi not bump into each other, anyways?"
"Oh, we can see each other. Our invisibility works to everyone but us and Merlimi- glamour spells don't work on Tour Guides. Since me and Merlimi stand out like sore thumbs compared to anyone in this world, even the Pokémon, it lets us identify each other!"
Jack seems to think... "And... hey, you and Emily could potentially see us too! I think I just need to tweak a few things in the spell, I think? Maybe? Lemme try a little..."
"What even is a 'tour guide'? You mentioned you being one earlier, and now you mention you both are Tour Guides."
There was a moment of silence.
"Oh. Ohhh! I... aha, um, I think I should have elaborated that a long time ago, but we didn't just have the time and... Well."
"I'm basically someone assigned to take people in adventure scenarios and ensure their safety!... which, um... as you can see with the napkin around your arm, I don't think I did a particularly good job at it."
I look at my arm. Still kinda hurts. I kind of wonder how badly it would sting if I did that little 3-point-landing Emily did. "Yeah, I can tell..."
"Are there any other tour guides around?"
"Plenty. We're all kinds of shapes and sizes, so we get pretty diverse."
"I see."
"..." I have already lost track of time. "Emily's taking a while."
"Mhm."
"Cod, it really was the same choice, huh? Just wait for you to finish doing whatever it is with your magic crab or wait for Emily and my Pokémon to get healed."
"Well, hey! I've been working on this for some time, and I think it's time for a break!"
"Wow, what convenient break timing."
"Mhm! It's almost like I'm deciding them myself! Any other questions you want answered?"
"You said Merlimi isn't a Pokémon, but he speaks like all the Pokémon I saw so far. Going 'lil lil pup' or 'pat pat', as if their names are a whole language."
"Still not a Pokémon!... could make for a pretty good fake one, though. He gets kinda touchy about being compared so... don't tell him! Please?"
"I won't. Probably because I wont be able to even see him."
"Good enough!"
"Aaaaand there we go!" Jack appears riiight in front of me. "AHHH WHAHAT THE FORK!?" I ALMOST fall into the water right then and there.
"B-be careful!" Jack pulls me up. His self-described big stream of hair reminds me of a ponytail, actually.
"Warn me before you just... appear like that!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Jack frowns and... he's trying to hide his face in his ponytail. He looks kinda cute doing that.
"Meh, it's fine." I shrug, before spotting Emily in the distance.
"Hey, over here." I spoke, lifting my hand up and waving towards Emily.
"Heeey! Sorry for being late!" I pat an area to my side, as Emily seats next to me on the fountain border.
"And- oh, I think Jack over there forgot to turn on his... invisibility thingie that he does with Merlimi."
"Mi!! Mermimi, memi!" Merlimi's voice calls out, in a definitely annoyed tone.
"Oh, I actually recycled some of the stuff for the "other people can't hear us speaking" spell. You know, that one! Here, lemme show you..." Jack heads towards Merlimi, and as he was turned away from me, I couldn't see what he did exactly.
"Mer... Memi?"
"Yeah, see? So if we just..."
Merlimi flips into view. "Mer mi memi!"
"Whaaaaa?" Emily takes off her glasses, rubbing her eyes at the sight.
"Jack figured out how to make himself visible for us, but not everyone else. Like the Pokémon." I nonchalantly wave my healthy arm around.
Jack nods, confirming my statement.
"Even to our own Pokémon? Since you know. They're ours, so..."
Merlimi nodded. Speaking of Pokémon, though...
"So, about the boat? You did mention that one of your Pokémon was basically a lumberjack."
"Yeah, what about it?" Emily turns her head towards me.
"Is it the Purrloid?"
"She's a Purrloin, her name is Jam and yes, she's our lumberjack!"
"Jam. Right. So what's our plan exactly? I know we are going to cut some trees with Jam's help and make a boat with the wood. Is there anything else?"
"Nah, that's pretty much it. What about it?"
"... Emily. Emily, please don't tell me you think we can actually make a boat with only wood."
"Well... I- Uh-"
"Euh-"
"FUCK." Emily buries her head in her hands. "FUUUCK you're right."
"Yeah, a boat can't work without a sail, or anything to keep the wood together. Assuming we only tie wooden logs together of course, because trying to make a wooden hull would be a whole another realm of complicated."
"I know, I know..." Emily groans. "Right. I think we can still salvage this. Our plan was to get back to Route 3 which is right through these flower arches, so we could keep on going to a nearby river."
"But I think we can catch Pokémon that we need on the way to the river too! How does that sound like?"
"Sounds good. Like a checklist?"
"Sorta. So, we need a raft, which needs someone to get the wood from- that being Jam."
"We need a sail, too."
"Simple! We catch a Sewaddle in Pinwheel Forest! It comes right after Route 3, so we can head there pretty quickly."
While Emily congratulates herself for solving two issues at once, I had a question. "What the duck is a Sewaddle."
"It's this... little caterpillar thing. With leaf clothing." Emily pointed at her shirt, then towards the bushes around the garden.
"They know String Shot, so we could use one to both tie the wood together and make the sail!"
"Do they know how to make a sail with the string?"
"I mean. If all fails, we can get one to make a big leaf sail or something."
"Right, I'll take that as reassurance. What if we went off course?"
"Oh, hm... Good question. Maybe we can catch a bird or something, and have it flap its wings to guide us around." Emily makes a bird shape with her hands and 'flaps' the wings. "And I think the bird Pokémon in this region are... Pidoves. Yeah, they're Pidoves! They're funny little pigeon dudes. Or doves. Not too bright, but they're lovable. You do remember what a pigeon is, right?"
"Mhm. Any plans on how we're gonna get the wood in place?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, after we chop them, we obviously need to carry them afterwards. Do you plan on doing that yourself?"
"It can't be that bad, right? All we need to do is to grab and drag a couple of them around, and then BOOM! We have a boat!"
"Emily, you're expecting us to carry something that's around THIS size." I walk up to one of the trees and exasperatedly gesture at it.
Emily squints her eyes, before she takes her glasses off to wipe them. After she puts them back on, she lets out a sigh. "Okay, I can see the problem. We'll... Oh! Actually, we could catch a Timburr! Problem solved!"
"That sounds like a TREE Pokémon, not a tree CARRYING Pokémon."
"Oh, hush! Anyways, once we finish our boat, we shall set sail to our destination, which is... uh..."
Emily looks down. She seems like she's trying to recall something. It's probably another thing that she missed, judging from her expression.
"Oh. Oh, god, how did I not..."
Emily turns towards me and sharply inhales, eyes closed.
"You know Liberty Garden? So, uh... We're basically on the other side of where Liberty Garden is."
"Merlimi?!" Merlimi prepares to face palm, but relents at the last second.
I groan, then try to lie dow WOAHWOAHWOAH FORGOT I WAS SITTING ON THE BORDER OF A FOUNTAIN. After intense flailing, I manage to balance myself back, spying Jack snickering a little.
"So you mean Liberty Garden is on the other side of this planet?"
"No, more like the other side of this region!"
"Oh, thank cod! It's just a SLIGHTLY less bad situation!" I wave my arms around in the air with the enthusiasm of a spilled cup of milk. "We're probably gonna starve before we make it if we just rely on the wind alone..."
"Well, I guess that's another use for Pidove!" Emily cheers up. "I think that's it! We have our list of Pokémon to catch!"
"First we need to catch a Timburr to move the logs we need for our boat around..."
"Then we need to catch a Sewaddle to make a sail out of its leaves or string, and to tie the logs together!"
"Lastly we get a Pidove, to both speed our journey up and navigate us properly if the wind doesn't wanna collaborate with us."
"And hey! I think we can actually find every single one of the Pokémon we need in Pinwheel Forest. Convenient, is it not?"
"Yeah. It's really sounding like a plan now."
She replied, nodding. "Mhm. Hell, if I remember correctly, you can even catch a Pidove on Route 3 too."
Emily then starts getting up from the fountain to head up to Route 3. I do so too, alongside Jack and Merlimi, but a quick glance at my injured arm pretty much fires up a question instantly.
"Wait, how do you catch a Pokémon?" Both I and Emily stop on our tracks, beneath the flower arches that lead to Route 3.
"Oh, it's simple. You just need a few of these Pokéballs, a target, and then you throw a Pokéball at the target. That's the basics!" Emily searched her backpack, and then handed me a few of these red & white balls.
"Huh..." I place all but one in my pocket, and begin tossing the one I left out up and down.
"Yeah, like that. But aimed at a Pokémon. Pidove can fly, though, so try to not scare it off!"
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." I stop playing with the b- The POKÉBALLS. And put them in my pocket. "Here's hoping I don't get maimed this time."
"And here's hoping you don't run into any lakes..." muttered Jack.
As the flower arches disappeared from our view, we found ourselves at Route 3. The ground beneath us is still out of concrete and whatever else they use to make roads, though instead of buildings was the greenery that every Route so far had.
"So, this is Route 3?" I take a good look at the trees... and the more trees... and even more trees. I spy a building of sorts in the distance, though I can't quite make it out.
"Yep! We just gotta get past the school, merrily move our way across the bridge nearby and then we're done with this place!"
"A school." I look at the building once more.
"Correct! What an excellent display of observational skills." replied Emily, adjusting her glasses.
"Mmrg." I grunt in minor annoyance. Emily seems amused at my lack of stoicism.
"Man, you look adorable when you pout like that." In response, I unleashed my ultimate attack of glaring daggers at her.
Emily just snickers in response to my display of fury. The urge to break down and cry on the pavement is oh so overwhelming.
"But anyways... You see those kids at the school? I already beat a few of them before I stumbled across you, so we hopefully don't have to fight them again?"
"Do they really want to fight you again for no other reason than 'wow you have another person with you'?"
Emily nodded dryly.
"Oh."
"You beat them once, right? They can't be that hard to beat again."
"... Assuming that beating is something like beating your enemy's Pokémon before they maul yours first."
"Yeah, that's a close enough idea." Emily shrugs. "Besides, I'm a blue belt, so I'd have the upper hand if it came to combat, but since we fight with Pokémon..."
"Does being near a school bring any memories back?" She then nods towards the school as we start walking away from it.
I shrug. "Not really. And besides..." We make the turn- seems like there's no Trainer around. Emily breathes a sigh of relief, and I almost do so too.
"School's kind of stupid when you think about it." The ground beneath us goes from concrete to dirt.
"Fair." Emily scratches her head as the school fades to the distance behind us. "You know, I don't really remember school that much either."
"I mean, I do remember how to do stuff like math." I follow her as she makes a turn.
"But... everything else is really vague to me. I think there were a few important moments here and there, like uh..." She closes her eyes, trying to recall...
[---]
"Like studying the field of the supernatural?!" WHAT
"WHO-" Emily yelps out!
"Eh?!" "MI!!" Jack and Merlimi also seem surprised- thank cods that whoever interrupted us is unable to hear them!
I almost trip to the floor as I outright whip towards the voice's direction, spotting a figure.
The figure was... was... wait, that hat...
My heart skips a beat. It can't be.
I get up, trying my best to not let my internal screaming surface.
A hat with one side red, one side black, with each of them sharing one half of a Pokéball.
Blonde, almost cream-like hair.
Square-ish glasses that gave him a somewhat smart-looking appearance despite his attitude, combined with the white jacket that reminded me of a lab coat.
A red shirt underneath, matching his shoes- and black pants, to top this figure's fashion off.
"Oh! Have I interrupted something?"
"Y-Yeah? Yes." Oh my cod, it is the figure. No amount of water in my ears could stop me from recognizing that voice.
"Ah! Ladies and gentlemen- or, well, lady and gentleman, I should apologize. My name is Walter- fan extraordinaire of the supernatural... What's with the girl over there?" Walter points towards Emily.
"Uh..." I look towards Emily, who's frozen in a ridiculous stance. It's not too different from a crab raising its arms as a threat.
Then I glance behind me. Merlimi and Jack are signaling towards both me and Emily.
"Hey, Emily?"
"yea" She replied in a low voice.
"Can I uh... Can I talk to you for a second?" I signal towards Jack and Merlimi.
"Oh! It appears I have truly caught you guys in a pickle, much like hitting a Psychic Pokémon with Pursuit!"
"Okay yeah, whatever. C'mon, Emily." I walk towards Jack and Merlimi, awkwardly waving at the weirdo who just popped in front of us. "It's just gonna take a few secs, alright?"
Emily quickly shifts to a stance that doesn't make her look like she's trying to be a crab, as she scurries over to me.
"Merlimiemri! Memi!"
I sigh. "Okay, everybody, calm down. What is Merlimi saying?"
"I think he's just freaking out..." Jack replied.
"Yeah, I can understand why. You OK, Emily?"
"What- WHO is that? I don't ever remember seeing a Walter in any of the games I played! Who in the hell is that?"
"Mermi. Memi. Mermimi, merli?"
" 'I'm with Emily on this one... Who even is he, and why is he onto us?' " Ah great, that voice is back again.
Jack seems to process something... "Wait... Ah!"
"I think that's the guy that you ran away from. I got a good glance at him, until you started running for some reason! And then you ended up falling and..."
"Yeah, I figured that out before you. I'm trying to not scream inside right now, so I'd appreciate it VERY MUCH if you didn't bother me about it."
"Okay, sheesh!"
"MERMIMI!"
"Oh my god, this is a clusterfuck." Emily covers her head.
"Wow, do we need a plan to talk to this person?" I grumble.
"... Mermi!"
"Oh, good idea!" Jack brightens up!
"Memi. Merlimimim."
"Okay, so, Merlimi *thinks* that you can get away by just lying, even if there's undeniable proof of the truth."
"Which I really hope so, since you did get a photo taken of you..."
"Oh my cod, he DID take a photo of me! How the bell am I or Emily supposed to... Ohhh cod we're scrubbed."
"Memi. Merlimi, mermi!"
"Right. Okay, that sounds like a plan. We- I mean, you two just lie and maybe engage in a Pokémon Battle if you two need to. Sounds good?" Jack tries making a thumbs up with his hand.
"It's better than nothing..." I sigh and begin walking towards Walter again.
"Right..." Emily reluctantly follows my lead.
"Ah, finally you guys decided to stop with whatever you were doing there!" Walter enthusiastically waves towards us as if in an effort to make us feel welcome. I feel the opposite of that, and I'm pretty sure Emily reciprocates.
"It wasn't anything you should worry about. So, uh... You. Yeah, you. Could you not pop up infront of us?"
"I will keep that in mind for if I ever see you guys again, yes yes! Anyways, I've come here to ask you about a certain something I saw!"
"Oh... Sure. What are you trying to uh... ask us about?"
"Heed my tale, then! Earlier this day, I stumbled upon quite the perplexing sight- a boy in a green jacket, flying across the air. But here's the catch, folks. That curious fellow had no Pokémon to make him fly! He was floating in mid-air, out of the waters of Route 1!"
"And then, he landed. I first took a photo of this boy..."
"Wow, really straight priorities you have there, huh?" snarks Emily.
"AHEM. Then, I approached him. He was injured, bleeding from his arm! It seems like a wild Pokémon had bitten him, and to top it all off, he obviously had taken a dip in the lake, what with his clothes being wetter than a Basculin!"
"And then, after he asked me when I was a trainer, he turned tail and ran away, like an Abra warping off to who knows where."
Oh my cod, it's really, actually, undoubtedly him. I clench my fist as I try to maintain my composure, while Emily is a few paces behind me- having taken to start wiping her glasses with her shirt. I can't help but wonder if it's an excuse to not engage in conversation.
"Oh. Shame. Maybe he didn't like you taking photos of him or something?" I force myself to not speak in a condescending tone.
"Well... I was thinking that if I found that boy, I could ask him about how he did that! Was he psychic? Or was it... dare I say, the interference of aliens?! There were so many questions, and yet so little answers! Makes me wish I could have photographed him while he was gracefully flying through the air..."
"(I wouldn't call it graceful...)" Jack whispered behind me and Emily.
"(M-merli.)"
"... Right. But this is Route 3. Shouldn't you be asking people around Route 1?"
"Well, I would, but everyone seems to hang around on the west side, with all the dark grass and all that. I would head there myself, but alas. I don't have a Pokémon capable of swimming me there, and I fear that the way, way stronger Pokémon over there would easily best mine in combat!"
My fists clench even harder, not in trying to resist the urge to panic, but in resisting to do a facepalm. Why did that door make me appear on the side with the so described "way, way stronger Pokémon"?
"So I had to look around myself. Luckily, the perp, the prime suspect, the person of interest had left a trail of blood from his arm! I quickly took off after him, but it was like trying to catch the fabled Regieleki- a feat only possible by the fastest."
"Right."
"I followed the trail for quite a while, but then it suddenly cut off! My investigation came to a crashing halt, but I began to theorize... He couldn't have gotten away that far, right? The way that boy flew... Anyone could know he was struggling to do so!"
Emily raises her eyebrows. "Didn't you say he was gracefully flying earlie-"
"Logically, that means his movement was impeded. Combine that with the fact that I just saw him a few hours ago, and the places he could've gone to become far, far smaller."
"So that's why I'm asking around. And ask around I will!" Walter whipped out a photo of me, bleeding out on the eastern edge of Route 1. "Have you seen the boy in THIS picture?!"
Emily glances at me and the photo, prompting her expression to sink. I myself start to lose my cool- how am I supposed to lie past something that clear? Sure, my eyes aren't visible, covered by my wet hair, but the green jacket... it's unmistakable! The red shoes, the pants, all unmistakably mine. Running away already isn't an option, because Walter will probably just follow whatever trail I leave behind.
I raise my finger. "Uhhhhhh....." Emily covers my mouth with her gloved hand. "MMFF!"
"NOPE. Totally not! Totally, absolutelydaisingly NOT! I totally have no idea what you're talking abooooout, and neither does my friend, who TOTALLY doesn't look like the person in the photo, from clothing to hair color! It's all a coincidence! A very lucky coincidence!"
"Hmmmmm. But I wonder..." Walter leans u n c o m f o r t a b l y close to us, seemingly checking for something on me. That stare of his must be specialized in the specific field of unnerving me, because it's doing a very good job at it.
Walter then leans back. I struggled to not let out a sigh of relief, while Emily had taken quite a few more paces away from Walter than before. "I really do wonder. I mean, the colors are indeed there, but given the state of their clothing, I'm not surprised if they're completely different."
Walter takes off his glasses to wipe them with his coat.
"And by the way, why do you have a napkin wrapped around your arm?"
"AAAH!" AH DUCK, THE NAPKIN ARM!
"Sheesh! Don't scream at me like you've seen a Dusclops or something!"
"I-I mean, aah, the sun's burning, aah!... yeah."
"..." Walter gives me that stare again.
"Yeah, I suppose it IS quite hot today. The hat helps, but I kinda wish I had a Pokémon that could use Rain Dance right now."
"M-Mhm! Sure, whatever that is."
"... Ah, you mean you don't know about the move Rain Dance?"
"What's a move?"
I hear Emily facepalming behind me.
"(Oh my god... Selfie, try to end the conversation as soon as possible!)"
I glare towards Emily and Jack. Gee, thanks, Ms. and Mr. Tutorial.
"Oh, you don't know about Moves? Is this, dare I say, your first day as a Trainer?"
"Yeah, you can call it that..."
"Alright! Impromptu lesson time! All of your Pokémon have moves that they can choose from. A... hmmmm. A Lilipup, for example, can learn things like Bite, Leer, Tackle, Work Up..." Walter counted with his fingers.
"They can learn up to four of them by training, and a lot of them, like Lilipup, can even evolve upon getting strong enough through said training. Fascinating, is it not?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Hmmmm... Here. Take this Pokédex. I obtained it from the lab at Nuvema Town using my Walter Techniques." Walter pulls out and shows me a Pokédex.
Emily seems amazed by it, almost that she starts pacing back to me, thus entering the range where she can be associated with me.
"I already have a Pokédex of my own, but I figured I could grab another to break it apart and see how it works." Walter adjusts his glasses.
"But after seeing you, I believe you need it more than I do. It can even tell you what moves a Pokémon has, so you can count on it to teach you about everything else."
I can't help but wonder what Walter means by Walter Techniqued... wait a minute. "Did you steal this?"
"Nope. Walter Techniqued it. Totally different things."
I squint my eyes at Walter. It seems like me and Emily aren't the only ones that are suspicious, so to speak.
He obviously stole it, and even basically admitted to it. Is everyone in the world of Pokémon a bad liar?... Well, I guess bad lies fool bad liars.
Still, I don't want this conversation to go any further, so I just take the Pokédex and not press him about it further.
"Right. Are you done with the questions?"
"... Nope."
"Come ON!" I throw my hands up, ALMOST letting go of the Pokédex. I shove it in my pocket after almost experiencing that disaster.
"Last one, I swear by Arceus!"
"Right..."
"Do you two have any idea about this dried stain in Route 3? It seems quite unlike water, don't you think?" Walter shows me a photo of a dry-red stain on a tree.
Emily bit her lips. She clearly knows where that is from.
"Uhhhh..."
"No...?"
"Ah, what a shame! I suppose I'll have to ask around the school."
I- What. "Do you understand that you're asking kids about someone who came out of a lake and flew like a ghost, all while he's bleeding?"
Walter takes a moment to process what he was about to do.
"... Okay, nevermind. I suppose I'll have to look elsewhere then."
Yeah, you better. "Right. And I suppose me and Emily have to be on my way, then."
"Oh! I didn't catch your name. I gave you mine, so why not be a buddy and return the favor?"
"(Don't give him your name!...)"
"(Mermimi!)"
"(Oh, right. Let him make less suspicious of you by giving him your name...)"
"It's Selfie."
"Right! See you around, Selfie! Off to ask not-children about this fellow, I go!"
Walter eagerly struts past us, his enthusiasm showing in his gait.
". . ."
I glance behind me. Walter's gone from my view.
"Emily?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I scream?"
"Go ahead."
And I do. "... oh my COD, we have SOMEONE on our trail!"
"And- And-" I facepalm. "He has PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE. We literally can't lie past that! Why did you guys think it would help?!"
"M-mermi! Merli!"
"Let's think positive, alright? He sounded fooled, he's not after us, all is well and good!" Jack forces an awkward thumbs up.
"O-Okay. Yeah. Let's just head to..."
"Nacrene. Pinwheel's just past it. So let's hurry up before anyone checks on us after that scream you just did!"
"Right. I sure hope we don't stumble into anyone like Walter on the way there..."
"I sure hope so..."
Soon we found ourselves at Nacrene City. I don't really bother to look around, mostly because we're quickly passing by to get to Pinwheel Forest to catch the Pokémon we need and... and...
Wait, I think we forgot something. I look back to Route 3's entrance.
... We definitely forgot something. I brake in my steps hard and turn towards Emily.
"Woah!" Jack also brakes mid-air, almost bumping into me!
"Huh?" And then, Emily turns around. Merlimi stayed quiet as he came to a stop too.
"We... uh. We forgot to catch the Pidove you mentioned that would appear in Route 3."
Emily squeaks, then holds the bridge of her nose. "Oh my god..." She sighs. "I think it's too late to go back though, with that Walter guy snooping around."
"Damp it, you're right! Well, what are we supposed to do now?"
"Hey, relax. We can still find a Pidove in Pinwheel Forest, remember?"
"Well, more reason to get to this forest." I shrug.
"While we're passing by, why don't you try testing that Pokédex out? For example, hmm... How about I send out Jam for you to scan?"
"Eh, I'd rather not--" Emily whips out a Pokéball and tosses it high up in the air!
I reflexively avert my eyes from the light that's about to ensue, and sure enough, light.
"Purrrrlooin!" A purple, feline Pokémon thingie was in front of me.
"Uh. So." I point towards the cat. "This is Jam." I glance at Jack, who seems barely capable of containing his glee. Merlimi's watching as always, but I do spy him shooting a look that says 'come on now, let's be professional about this' to Jack.
"Well, duh." Emily shrugs. "Anyways... Selfie! Call upon the power of..." A spin, a twirl and then a... thing where she leans her head into one of her arms and... extends the other diagonally? "... The Pokédex!"
I looked around nervously for any passersby that could have seen Emily's ridiculous pose. "... We're in the middle of a city, Emily. You uh, kind of look like an idiot."
"Hiss!" Okay, Jam did not like that.
Emily breaks the weird, unnecessarily dramatic stance she was making. "I mean, if people like Walter aren't in jail for popping up in front of random people like us..." Emily shrugs.
That doesn't make him any less of a weirdo... "Right. Whatever. Pokédex, Pokédex..."
I whip it out, taking a closer look at it. The best description I could come up with for this one is it's a colored brick with a screen on it's top half, with a pink and black palette to it, the Pokéball symbol on its front and displayed on the screen, with a white center and pink on both halves of it.
"Alright. So do I just point with this brick and-" WHIRR.
I try to scream as quietly as possible as the Pokédex seems to extend an upper part of it out. It's... another screen? The second screen was on top of the first screen, making it have two screens. It kind of looks redundant-
Then it makes even more machine-y, weird noises. The screens flare to life and oh my cod what the bell is happening. A picture of Jam appears on the top screen, and wacky, confusing info shows up on the bottom oh cod what is happening. I hear some laughter, presumably from Jam, but at this point-
And finally, a mechanical, male voice comes out of the Pokédex. I hold onto the Pokédex for dear life.
"Purrloin, the Devious Pokémon. They steal from people for fun, but their victim can't help but forgive them. Their deceptively cute act is perfect."
"WHAT." I still hold onto my Pokédex for dear life.
"Wait, what? Merlimi, quick, check your staff!" I hear Jack flailing around behind me.
"Mii!"
"Oh, right. Pokémon can't see us..."
"Ohhh, so that's how it works! I never thought it moved so fluidly..." Emily seems impressed with the Pokédex. I am not.
"Okay cool, can you send Jam back now?" I lower the 'Dex, pride mildly hurt by the cat.
"Alright, alright." Emily picks the ball back up and recalls Jam back into it.
I anxiously look side to side, once again looking for anyone that could have seen me freaking out. "Rrright. So that's how this Pokédex thing works, then. Let's keep going, I don't want either of us drawing attention anymore."
"Sure thing. I wonder if you had a bad accident with machines in the past, though?... And that left a scar on your memory-"
Emily pales. "Wait no, scratch that! I take it back!"
"Too late. My memories may be gone, but you're damp right I'm keeping what you said forever. I've got all the space in my head to contain it."
"Noooooooo...."
"That aside, what else can this brick do?"
"Well, it has a map and it can keep track of our Pokémon.
"Wait, a map?! Where?! HOW?!" I begin swaying it around, trying to point the Pokédex at things to activate it's map or Pokémon tracking function.
"Oh my god, calm down!... And to think you had the audacity to say that I looked stupid..."
"Right. Sorry. How do you activate the map on this brick?" I hand the brick over to Emily.
"Do you have a better word to call it than a 'brick'?" Emily starts fiddling with the brick.
"Well, do you?"
"... I call it a block." Emily holds the Pokédex out to me.
"These are the same things, Emily." I take the block back from Emily, noticing the map that's now appeared on the screen.
"What the- No it's not! You don't put BLOCKS together with cement!"
"Well, you wouldn't call an apartment block an apartment brick, would you?"
"But that just proves my point..."
We continue our brief stroll past the city, using the Pokédex's map function to point us towards the Pinwheel Forest that Emily talks so much about.
Some time after, we were out of the city. I look up to the sky, trying to judge the time of day... huh. That's a weird bird. It looks like its wings and tail are made out of a fork's end.
A few moments after, Emily tugged me on my shoulder.
"Are we there yet?"
"The brick says no."
Emily tugs my shoulder again. "... are we there yet?"
"You just asked me that a few seconds ago."
"Well yeah, but I like to *feel* like we're making progress!"
"Maybe the Pokédex has a more detailed map function. Does it?"
"No, It just shows where you generally are. That blue square there should be blinking if we're in the forest."
"It's not blinking yet."
"Duh, we're in the middle of a road." Emily shrugged... then tugs my shoulder again.
"Can we *please* pretend it's blinking?"
"You're shipping me."
"No, the fanfics I write are more on the action side."
"Ooh! What kind of action?" Jack perked up in curiosity.
"Superpowers. Standard stuff, really- just wanted to give my hand at that idea, you know?"
Oh, speaking of fanfics... "Huh. Say, Emily, what exactly is a 'self insert'? You mentioned it being like a fanfic come true."
"So given how you write them, why exactly did you name me after a 'self insert'? I'm just looking for an explanation here."
"Oh! Right, suit yourself then! I'll try to make the explanation as quick as possible, alright?" Emily takes a deep breath.
"So, self insert fics are one of the fairly common types of fanfiction, generally placing the author as the main character and giving him a prominent role in the story..." I feel something in my head pull.
"... personally believe that there's not really much reason in finding a 'reason' why people write them... deconstructionist lens by several... Lacking Spines, but a more thorough look on these tropes are given by works such as Diamond In... " It's a mental muscle.
"... blah blah blah... keyblades... magic powers... cats..." It is being pulled really hard. The tendons are starting to tear.
"Aaaand that concludes my explanation on how and why I gave you that name." Wha...
What- huh?
"What?" I turn around towards Emily, feeling like my head short circuited and blew up into a billion pieces. How much is a billion again?
"Hey, it's okay. Fanfics are like icebergs: the surface level looks small and normal, but the depths is where it gets wild."
"Wh..." What was she talking about again? Fanfics? "Uh, okay then."
Anyways, I glance at the Pokédex and holy shirt it's blinking. "Oh, nevermind that! The square's blinking!"
"Mermimi?!"
"'Wait, really?'" Jack coughs. "Wait, really?" repeated Jack, this time without the weird voice he's putting on for Merlimi.
"Oh HELL yeah! Come on, now!"
"Wait wait wait! Where would we even find the Pokémon we need? Like... Do you know how deep or how... un... deep we have to go into the forest?"
"I dunno! I know for certain that we can find Sewaddles in the deeper parts of this forest, but for the rest of them... Well, I've got the EMILY INSTIIINCT!" Emily points to the sky! "It knows for sure we'll stumble across them eventually!"
I sigh. "You're going to scare or attract a Pokémon with that shouting, you know."
"Well, it CAN attract a Pokémon we need... Actually?" Emily turns around to Merlimi. "Mi?"
"Merlimi! Calculate the odds of a Pokémon coming over to kick our asses instead of running away!"
Merlimi's stare makes him look like he's done, and done he is. He just looks around for a while to try and look like he's thinking. After a bit, he turns back to Emily. "Mer, mimi."
" 'It's not zero'!... well, yeah, I guess the chance is never zero." Jack then starts thinking too, but unlike Merlimi, he actually seems to be thinking about it.
"It has a zero in it, like how the number 10 or 100 has a 0, so I'll take it."
"Meh, suit yourself." I look around and take in the trees and grass around us.
Honestly, I'm tired of seeing all these green trees and grass. Sure, the breeze is nice, the colors are nice and being outside is good for your health, but there's only so many times you can look at trees and NOT want to just go back under a rooftop.
And I'm starting to get sick of this forest too, especially one that's this big. It's like eating a huge cake after having slices of cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"Miii, mermimi?"
"Oh, right! Good point, Merlimi. What if you attract some super strong Pokémon with that shouting?"
Emily nonchalantly shrugs at the risk. "Then that would suck, but hey. I got Jam, he's got the Toast. Nothing's stopping us from popping 2 Pokémon on a single wild Pokémon."
"Mer! Merli, memimi?" Merlimi turned towards Jack.
"Huh?... Huh, yeah, I think they can do that." Jack nods.
"Me- Memi! Me mi, mimi, merli!" Merlimi started making numbers with his fingers.
"I mean, I don't really care if it's in the 'rules' or something at this point... We're clearly in a dangerous situation, so..."
"Merlimi." The floating black mage crosses his arms. If his staff was a microphone, he'd likely drop it.
"You take that back!!!!!" Jack puffs up!
Emily sighs. "And they were concerned about us shouting... Well, they do have that silencing spell, but still!"
"Yeah..." I try rolling my eyes, but then I realize that I don't know how to do it. Do I... do it like this?
"The heck are you trying to do?" Emily snickers.
"Trying to roll my eyes."
"Nah, silly. You gotta do it like THIS, and then you gotta put in the drama, the MOTION, the- WOOAAOOAH--"
Emily landed back-first onto a patch of tall grass after twirling like an idiot.
"... I don't have time for this. I'll look for the... what was the bird's name again?"
"Oh, they're called Pidove. As I told you already, they look like pigeons."
"Looks like pigeons. Got it. See you around."
"So you're gonna leave me to look for a Pokémon I need by myself?"
"You seem to be already ahead of me in that area." I gesture to Emily, who's lying on the grass.
"Hmmm.. Yep, you'd be correct!"
"Mermi, merlimeemi?"
"He's saying something like 'Where are we going to go if you two are going to split then?'... Okay, yeah, fair point. Do we just nap on the trees or..."
"Jack, you're coming with me. To be perfectly honest, I don't trust you with Emily." I walk up to Jack and start tugging his hand, intending to drag him along with me.
"Mer... erli memi." Merlimi sighs, sounding as if he's somehow both surprised and unsurprised. I wonder how he carries that staff without getting tired?
"Don't-- Don't worry, Merlimi. I'm sure he's gonna warm up to me eventually!" Pfft, yeah, right.
"Alright, Emily. Me and Jack are gonna search at the outskirts of that patch of grass over there. You go into the patch of grass you just fell into."
"But I'm already in it! Look!" Emily waves her arms around. I can see them barely poke out from the grass.
"Doesn't count if just your upper body is in it."
"But- Okay, fine. Let's go, Merlimi!" Emily finally gets herself up and shuffles into the grass.
... Thinking about it, why did she put emphasis on the whole 'Let's go, Merlimi' part anyways? It's like putting in the title of a movie in a piece of dialogue.
I see her wade deeper into the grass. I guess that's my cue, then.
"Come on, Jack. We've got grass to explore." I whip out the Pokéballs I received from Emily earlier. I take a step forward-
"OHMYGOD SELFIE I FOUND A POKÉMON WE NEED!" -and immediately get interrupted by Emily's voice. I groan in annoyance, before hurrying back towards Emily.
After some awkward grass maneuvering, I meet up with Emily. "Right. Is it the Sewaddle-"
"Nope! It's... Timburrrr!" Emily gestures at the Pokémon she encountered.
"Timburr!" responded the wild Pokémon.
A gray bipedal sorta thing, with pink-colored... sorta rings around it's shoulders and thighs, with thingies that have the same color around the back of their head. Which look like veins...? They had a protrusion on their head that kinda resembles hair, and they carry a log aaand I'm whipping out the Pokédex, just to confirm what I'm already suspecting.
"Timburr, the Muscular Pokémon. Always carrying squared logs, they help out with construction. As they grow, they carry bigger logs."
Wow. WOW. They really couldn't have made it more obvious that's exactly the Pokémon we need to build a boat. Amazing job, Nature. Or... actually, makes me wonder where these things come from.
I put my Pokédex down. "Right, Emily. I suppose you got this."
"You bet I do! Come on, Jam!" Emily enthusiastically throws the Pokéball into the air! If only I had that much enthusiasm about this whole situation...
"Purrrrloin!" Jam appears from the ball, ready to serve it's trainer.
"Right. Jam, do the clap thing!"
Jam *dashes*, and I mean it. The Timburr tries to do a sweeping kick, but Jam leaps high above the kick and claps their paws together! The shockwave of air sent the Timburr stumbling back, knocking it off balance as it flinched!
"Alright! Now give it a Scratch!"
Jam then follows up on the flinch by swiping at Timburr! The Timburr manages to stand its ground, but it looks weakened...
"Right. Selfie. This is a big rule of thumb when catching Pokémon: you get better chances at catching one if you weaken it beforehand! Watch this!"
Emily then throws a Pokéball!...
... and she misses the target. The ball just bounces besides the Timburr. "Timb!"
"Whoops-"
"Are you... supposed to miss?"
"I'm TRYING, I'M TRYING!... Okay? Let me... Jam, just try to dodge!"
"Purr." Jam nods towards Emily. As the Timburr attempts to pound Jam's face in with its log, it just as easily outmaneuvers the attack by leaping on top of the log, then jumping off as Emily throws another Pokéball.
It misses. Jam is visibly annoyed.
Emily facepalms, as I place my hand on her shoulder. "Uh, look. It's okay, not everyone's a good thrower..."
"R-Right. Okay, Jam, keep dodging!"
Jam rolls their eyes as they dodge another Pound.
"I mean, for example? Uh..." I look around the forest, looking for any Wild Pokémon to catch... Oh, wait.
I whip out my Pokédex and scan the area until it... Aha! It's responding to what SEEMS like an empty branch, but it's doing the scanning thing!
"Pidove, the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon. Each follows its Trainer's orders as best it can, but they sometimes fail to understand complicated commands."
"Oh, so it is a pigeon..." My voice dies down as I realize the implications of what I just said. Are there actual pigeons in the world of Pokémon...?
I shake my head. No time to think about it. I glance towards the battle again and... to be fair, even a quick glance gives the impression that the battle really just died down after Emily's misses.
I then look towards the branch that the Pokédex responded to. Right... a Pidove's in there. Yeah, I can see it! It looks like a hard throw- perfect for showcasing my point.
I fumble around my pockets for the Pokéballs I stored earlier as I turn towards Emily. "Hey, Emily?"
Emily turns towards me. Her expression is a grimace of embarrassment. "Y-yeah?"
"I'm pretty sure you're doing your best... better than a guy who remembers nothing. Probably can't even hit that Pidove there. Watch."
I point my Pokéball at the Pidove to take aim, then wind my uninjured arm back.
I step forward... Then I throw! The Pokéball goes off to the side, clearly looking like it'll miss the target...
... and then it- It CURVED BACK? And what's with that whistling sound from the ball--
It nailed the Pidove right in the head! "PIDOV-" The Pidove is turned into energy as it's captured by the ball.
The ball falls onto the ground.
It shakes once.
And it clicks.
Everyone stood in silence. The battle had fully grinded to a halt, and for a moment, everything was still.
"Uh." I muttered, as I looked behind me.
The Pokémon, the flying dragon, the magician egg and the girl were all staring at me.
"... Ta-daaaa...?" I activate my jazz hands.
Emily acted upon the moment of peace to toss the Pokéball at the Timburr.
It shakes once, twice, then... thrice, as it clicks.
"Come back, Jam. I... uh. I need some time for myself."
"Purrloin." Emily recalls Jam back to her ball and promptly after curled into a ball of pity and shame.
"... Ooookay, yeah, not the best example." I grab to collect the ball that now had the Pidove in it, putting it in my pocket alongside Toast.
"(That's definitely a 'yikes' there.)" I then grab the ball that the Timburr was in and place it beside Emily.
"(Mii.)" Emily takes the ball and gets up. "Can we never speak of this again?"
"I'm more than willing to agree." I nod.
"So, I suppose that's Pidove and Timburr crossed off the list?" I give a quick, almost instinctive spin with my apparent throwing arm.
"Mhm. Now we need a Sewaddle, and we're sailing! Literally."
Jack brightens up! "Oh, awesome! So where's the Sewaddle, Captain Emily of the Captains?"
"HOLD IT THERE, FIRST MATEY JACK!" I freeze from Emily's sudden shouting. "First, now that we have new Pokémon in our teams, we should come up with nicknames for them!"
"O-oh, huh, okay. I guess I can try doing that."
"As I've already got a breakfast theme going on, I shall call my Timburr... Spoon!" Emily points in a grandiose manner up to the sky. Why did she do that...?
"Is the spoon an Italian breakfast?"
"No it's cutlery."
"I know."
Emily blankly stared at me, as she took a deep breath. "... ANYWAYS, what about you, Selfie?"
"Uhhhhhhhh..." I scratch the back of my head. "C.... oo? Coo."
"What."
"Coo, as in a pigeon's coo."
"Are you kidding me? If you're gonna call a Pokémon by the things it does, I should've called my Timburr 'LOG SMASH', with an exclamation point on the end."
"Or I should have called Jam 'Slash'... That sounds kinda cool, actually."
Jack frowns. "Slash sounds kinda... over the top, you know."
"Mm, fair point, me first matey." Emily sighs. "I suppose Coo is an OK enough name... Could be better, mind you, but it sounds good enough."
"Right. All we need is a Sewaddle now... But how do we go deeper into the forest? Is there a route we can take?"
"There definitely is one, but we sure as hell aren't on it. Guess we're gonna have to explore!"
As I think about the time it would take for us to get out of the forest, I look up at the sky. "... ah, cod, how long has it been?" The sky's still blue, but it's been a while since we set out of Accumula Town...
"We should hurry, then. I think night is coming."
"Oh, right! I think we just head towards... There!" Emily points in a random direction.
I grimace. Anyone could tell that she just picked a direction with no thought at all...
As we delved deeper into the forest, the leaves above us started to block the sunlight out little by little, until it looked like it was nighttime.
It probably is about to be nighttime anyways. Probably. Wish I had a clock.
"Hey, Merlimi, do you think these antlers are made out of the same wood as the trees around here?"
"Mer mimi."
"I guess that's true... But still, imagine! What if I could just pop these branches off my head and replace them with those BIG branches?!"
"Mi, mermimi."
I turn my head towards the duo. "... Do you have any idea what those two are talking about back there?"
Emily turns around and shrugs, while still continuing her pace. The whole talk about branches... oh. I stop to a halt.
She kept walking forward a little before realizing I had stopped. "Eh?"
"Okay, so, I just realized?"
"That uh, Pigdon..."
"Pidove." Emily adjusts her glasses. Somehow I have the feeling she timed that to be smug about her correction.
"Right, Pidove. It was sitting on a tree branch, right? Does that mean the Pokémon we encounter aren't limited to just... you know. Tall grass?"
"Like one could fall on us, right now. Or if we make a turn and step on the tail of one. You thought of that, right?" I point to the branches of the trees around us, then gesture at all the grass and bushes and oh my cod all this green is starting to blur together.
"Ehhhh, it probably can happen. Maybe." Emily nonchalantly shrugs it off.
"Because when you think about it, forests are really just bigger patches of tall grass, no?"
"Isn't grass flexible, unlike trees?" I raise an eyebrow.
"But they're still plants."
"And... when you think about it, if a giant stepped into a forest, what do you think it would look like?" Emily then puts her hand to her chin.
"Memi. Merli."
"Yeah... It'd probably be suuuuper unpleasant. Kinda like squeezing past a bunch of awkwardly placed pillars." Jack replied.
"So... A giant cat would have no trouble going through a forest?" spoke Emily.
"I think a giant cat wouldn't even want to go past the forest in the first place. It would be like 'WOAH, SCRATCHPOSTS EVERYWHERE!'." Jack's claws swipe the air infront of him!
Emily slips out a laugh. "Haha, yeah! And all the trees would be clawed and all that..."
I facepalm. "We need to keep going, remember? I don't want me or you to end up prey to whatever other Pokémon is in this forest.'
"Sheesh, okay! You're no fun... This is a tour, after all!" Jack huffs.
"One that I didn't sign up for... Anyways, all we need is a Sewaddle, yeah? And we're done."
"Mhm. It looks like hmmm... a caterpillar... wearing a leaf as its clothing!"
"Right. I'll note that. We catch the Sewaddle, and we sail off at the river near this forest that you talked about. Then we catch Victini."
A feeling of hope starts welling up in me, as I realize just how much our to-do list has shrunk.
"Oh, wow, maybe we can actually get back home--"
I end up getting a faceful of branch!
"OW! Ugh, dampit. The forest's getting a bit too dense..."
"Hey, Emily! Are you sure this really is the right way?" I look around at the trees... They kind of look like they're closing in on us.
"I mean..." Emily awkwardly shuffled through a particularly tight formation of trees. "We're getting somewhere, right? We just don't know where that somewhere is!"
I barely dodge getting my napkin arm poked by a branch before I process what Emily said.
"What?! Emily, getting to somewhere we don't know is the definition of being lost!"
"Mer... mimi?"
Jack nods. "Yeah! It really sounds more like wandering around rather than being lost, doesn't it?"
"Is it really any better...?" I grimace.
We finally end up somewhere open, and we're immediately stepping foot into tall grass. "Ah, great. Out of the branch pan and into the grassy pot."
"Wouldn't both of them end up burning up in a kitchen anyways?"
I consider what Emily had said for a moment and cod forking ship dampit I feel hungry.
"Ugh, now I'm hungry. Great. Did you pack something for food?"
"Uh..." Emily starts searching their backpack.
"Emily?" My heart sinks. "Emily, did you pack anything for food?"
"Uh oh." Emily cringes at her own lack of preparation.
"Oh. Great. Guess we're gonna have to... Start plucking this tall grass for food!" I sarcastically tug a handful of tall grass out of the ground and shove it in my pocket. The one without Coo and Toast in it. I'm pretty sure they're not the kind of Pokémon that grazes on grass.
"Hey, let's think positive! Maybe we can randomly get candy from a stranger! Or think about how I had a can of repellent on me, and how that let us cross a patch of grass safely!" Emily steps side to side, jiggling her backpack, which despite it's size and the noises it made, seemed quite empty of actually important stuff. I'd be not surprised if Emily literally stuffed her bag full of Pokéballs.
"Emily, I hate to tell this to you, but that's the first stage of a kidnapping. Also, to be honest? I think my wound still hurts from you spraying on it, and the only reason it stopped is because my mind stopped registering the pain at some point."
Emily rolls her eyes. "Can't you stop registering your hunger too?"
I begin wading out of the grass. "Oh, great point, Emily. Doesn't change the fact that I, or even worse, WE are hungry so if we get maimed by a Pokémon, we're not even gonna serve as quality food for them. What did I do wrong to deserve this?"
"Sheesh, Selfie. Don't you think that's a bit depressing?" Emily frowned.
"It's hard to not be depressing when one of the first things that happens to you is having your arm bitten and have it start bleeding." I look around, seeing Emily head off elsewhere into the grass.
"Nevermind that, Selfie! Look!" I jolt my head towards Emily. "There's fences around us!"
"Wait, what, really?" I follow Emily through the grass and start rocking on the fences, checking if they're real. "Oh my cod, civilization! We're at a place where people that aren't lost walk to!"
"Well, let's hop over it!" Emily easily vaults over the fence.
I grab onto the fence and struggle up it. "Yeah, sure, let's get out of this Pokémon infested grass, and back onto some..."
"Oh, Selfie! I found a Petilil!" Emily's sudden voice makes me fall over to the other side of the fence aaand ow my face.'
A plant-like Pokémon was waiting for us on the other side, having emerged from another patch of grass up ahead, standing on the clear path ahead of us.
I push myself back up, rubbing my forehead from the fall. "You have to be joking."
"We're OUT OF THE GRASS! This shouldn't count!" I frantically gesture (read: randomly wave my arms at the Petilil). "Shoo, uh, shoo! Get back to the grass and let us progress forward!"
Petilil pretended not to listen!... Oh my cod, this is ridiculous.
"Well, guess today's not your lucky day. Go, Jam!" Emily confidently winks at me before sending out Jam.
"Wow, I sure do love eating only jam for my breakfast, with a spoon too."
"Jam, use Cut to soften them up!" Jam twirls and slices the Petilil with a swipe of its claws!
"Really? Isn't weakening a wild Pokémon kind of putting in too much effort? The ones we fought got knocked out by two moves..."
I look towards Jack and Merlimi, who have taken to spectating Emily's fight. "Mer, memimi!" "Uhhh, uhhh, use... hm... Stuff! Do the thing! Yeah!"
I sit down against the fence as I grumble.
"Ah! Jam, try and dodge that... Augh! It's Sleep Powder!"
I point the Pokédex at the two combatants, but keep blocking the Pokédex's second screen from coming out as I try to amuse myself with the whirring noises. Is there a mute button on this thing?
"Jam, wake up! Ah! It's charging Giga Drain!"
I contemplate trying to eat the pocketed grass I have... then I remember I have stuffed the empty Pokéballs I was given earlier in that pocket too. I whip one out.
Jack notices me. "What are you doing?"
"Getting on with our journey." I start walking up to Emily.
"Hey, Emily?"
"Yeah? I'm in the middle of something... Come on, Jam, wake up!" Emliy holds her breath...
"Can I try catching that Petilil?"
"Eh? Why? I'm kind of fighting them right now."
"I uh, I mean, you're going to catch the Sewaddle, right? So that'd put you with 3 Pokémon and me with 2."
"... I don't think I'm following you." Emily scratches her head in confusion.
"Errrr... I just think that 3 Pokémon for each of us is a better and more satisfying number, okay?"
"Hm... Yeah, you know what? Symmetry is pretty valid. Give it a try." Emily shrugs.
Oh.
Well that was easy. I take my aim and throw a ball at the Petilil. It, of course, hits.
Shake one.
"Come on..." Emily starts shaking her fist.
Shake two.
"What's with the fist shaking?"
"Don't you even remember what you used to do when you really wanted to catch a Pokémon? No holding buttons, no anything?"
Shake three.
"No?" I tap the side of my head.
"Sheesh, you really forgot a lot of things, didn't you?"
Click.
"Heeey, nice, I'm taking it."
"Sweet! Let me just send Jam back in their ball and hopefully they'll be awake for the next bit of trouble we may encounter!" Emily quickly searches her backpack, looking for something. She doesn't seem to find it, judging from her disappointed expression.
"Aw, come on... Oh, by the way, have you thought of a nickname for Petilil?"
"Plant."
"P-"
Emily pauses.
"Plant. You're calling her Plant? And here I thought I was bad with names."
"Well, surprise surprise. This forest is big enough for two people with bad naming skills." I wave my hands.
"Hehe! I guess that's true. Maybe it's even been named by someone awful with names. I mean, what do you think of the name 'Pinwheel Forest'?"
"Hm. I've yet to see a single pinwheel, so... I suppose it's only inaccurate, all things considered." I look at the fences, looking for any sign of pinwheels on them. Nothing.
"Yeah, that's fair." Emily also looks around. I wonder if she's looking for pinwheels too.
Jack inspects the fences. "I wonder if the forest would be better with pinwheels across it? Like on this fence, for example?"
"Mermimi..."
"Let's keep going, I think we've had enough battles for one day. Hopefully we find the Sewaddle and I can finally see something that isn't forest, fence or anything along these lines."
Emily fist pumps! "Alright! I think the way forward is through that clear grass path. Come on, now!" Emily tugs my hand and starts dragging me along.
It's not too long after that Emily catches sight of something, pointing at it with all of her energy. "Holy crap, Selfie, look!"
"What's so special about..."
It's a rock covered in moss.
"... what's so special about that rock?"
"It's a mossy rock! Aside from weird evolutionary shenanigans, this rock is pretty mossy, don't you think so?"
"You stopped us just for a piece of stone that's mossy?"
"Yeah!"
I silently stare at Emily in sheer disbelief. We literally had no reason to see this mossy rock. It's a rock, it's green like the rest of this green forest and it's contributing nothing to our quest to get back home.
I sigh. I take the time to rip a piece of moss out of the stone and shove it in my pocket.
"Our dinner for tonight, thanks to a certain girl."
"It sure as hell fits the color of your jacket, doesn't it?"
"Hey..."
"You can't expect to give a jab and then expect to NOT get jabbed back. Thus is the law of equivalent exchange!" Emily smirks.
... and then her smile fades. "Actually? I think this rock's pretty near to where we need to go, because of the whole evolution thing I mentioned before."
"What's even an evolution...?"
"It's when your Pokémon transforms to get stronger."
"Isn't that just growing up?"
"But that doesn't roll off the tongue as well as evolution, does it?" I can almost imagine Emily sticking her tongue out with that response.
"Putting that aside, some Trainers come here to evolve a certain kind of Pokémon. So it has to be near the path leading to the bridge, right? It's like a little detour that doesn't go TOO far into the forest. So you can like, take a trip to this rock right here and make your Pokémon stronger with this rock's... power. "
"Ah." I stare at the mossy rock that is apparently magical. "That's actually a pretty good point, yeah. So we just keep following the grass path?"
"Yeah." Emily then looks at the missing patch of moss that I took and frowns. "I sure hope you didn't take any of the rock's power..."
"It'll grow back, I'm sure of that."
Emily's expression then sours even more. "Actually? I feel like you did the Evolution equivalent of messing with a public water fountain, now that I think about it?"
"Eh. Don't worry, I got this." I fumble in my moss-covered pocket and try slapping the moss I stole back on the rock.
It falls off.
"Well, guess we have no choice but to take it." I pick the moss back up and stuff it in my pocket.
"Wait! Can't you try again?"
"Look, I think we're trying to fix something that we already messed up beyond repair. Can we just... go?"
"Okay, fine. Shouldn't you at least leave an apology note or something?" Emily looks left to right, checking if anyone had seen our act of vandalism.
"Do you have any sheets of paper or pens inside your backpack?" I asked, to which Emily shook her head.
"I seriously hope we don't get in trouble for this..." Emily bites her lips and starts walking at such speeds that she gets away from the rock as fast as possible but not looking suspicious at the same time.
I follow after her, emulating her speed. I wonder if whistling would help.
Jack and Merlimi were following us, like always. "I wonder what moss tastes like?"
"Mi... Mermimi."
By cods, all this green is tiring me out. I can't wait to see the pathway to the bridge and river that Emily talks so much about.
And I really hope it isn't nighttime... Would we even be able to make it back to Emily's home?...
Some time after, we finally stumbled onto... Is this?... I tap my foot to hear not the noise of grass, but the rough sound of..
Concrete! Concrete, used for pavement! I could almost jump onto the floor and give it a hug! Or try to. But still...
"Oh, FINALLY we're stepping on something other than grass."
"What's with you hating nature, anyways?" Jack fiddles with the antler/branches on his head. What's up with Jack's antlers-branches-whatevers? They're unusually mobile for antlers, especially ones that are made out of wood. The way they move reminds me of a cat's ears. Speaking of ears, does he even have ears?
"Hello?" Oh, right. Jack's question.
"I don't hate it, I'm just super sick of seeing the trees and grass on the Routes, this forest, and probably where we need to go next. I mean, there was that fence, yeah, but still..."
"Wow, aren't you quite the indoors person? Might explain why you are so pale anyways." Emily snarks.
"Eh?" I inspect my hands, to little effect because the forest is so cod damped dark. "Ehh, seems like it. Not like I would have had much choice to stay as one anyways."
"AHA!" WHA-
Oh no, it's him again.
Walter.
I glance back at Emily, Jack and Merlimi who look just as excited about this encounter as I am.
"You there, my fellowicious fellows from all the way back at Route the Third!" Is that a real word?
"Uh, yeah, that's us." I scream internally at my own answer. We should have ignored him oh my COD HE'S STEPPING CLOSER TO US
"Indeed! It has been a while, has it not been? I assume you've been putting... ahem, my Pokédex to good use, yes?"
I feel for my Pokédex, which I put in the pocket that's not overflowing with moss and grass. "Actually? Yeah. It did show us to the forest, so there's that."
"Glad to hear it! Now, what could be the reason you two are doing here? Hmmm..."
"We're just passing by!" interjected Emily. "We're just going to the Skyarrow Bridge. Yeah." She nods awkwardly.
"Ah, the world-famous Skyarrow Bridge! I'd be glad to accompany you there, my fellow youngsters! We'll be there, as fast as a team boosted by Tailwind!"
"Eh." I take out the Pokédex. Ignoring the fact that Walter very likely stole it, this thing has been pretty useful.
"I mean, he did give us the Pokédex, so..." I turn my head towards Emily.
After some hesitation, Emily nods. "Right... I guess it can't hurt to tag along with you for a while."
"Don't tell him to not give you questions!"
"Memi!" Jack and Merlimi are back at it again with the coaching.
"Now, Skyarrow Bridge attracts a lot of trainers..." Walter struts and points ahead in the path.
"So we can't really just walk by without trouble. HOWEVER! I have devised an utmost grand plan to bypass these would-be challengers!" And then, he starts pointing at himself.
"Really?" Emily seems intrigued by the plan, and I have to admit that I am too.
"We're gonna FIGHT each other! Not in hand to hand combat, mind you. I would not want anyone breaking anything over my head, and I think it's likely I'd get arrested for that." Oh, so law enforcement DOES exist!... Maybe Walter's pretty good at not being a creep to the police, or something.
"... Can't we just walk by?"
"No. And the other people around here would say mean things about my style of clothing and aesthetics! Scary stuff, I tell you!"
"Pfft-" Jack snickers at Walter. It's at moments like these that their ability to make them be selectively heard really comes in handy...
"You're making us fight you just so you wouldn't have to hear other people's opinion on the way you present yourself?"
"Yes!"
"Emily, what about you?"
"Well, hey! I mean, he's a trainer for you to really get a feel for Pokémon battling. I'll let you handle things on your own for a while, so I guess I'll be PR?"
"And I'll be moral suppor-"
Merlimi shuts Jack's mouth and points at Walter.
"The girl is correct! Now, shall we?"
"Bring it." I search through my pocket and send out Toast. "Lilipup!"
"Oh, a Lilipup! A practical choice, I can respect that." Walter adjusts his glasses in an attempt to look cool and knowledgeable. Anyone could tell it's shallow.
"Thanks, I guess." Toast looks proud.
"In turn, I choose you! Wurtz!"
"Eh...?"
Walter had sent out... what the bell is- It looks like a floating, green ball out of gel or liquid, but inside that ball is... ehhh? A floating mass of jello? A cell-like thing? Whatever it is, it's got eyes and a mouth, so I guess Pokémon can be anything? Makes me wonder if there's one out of bricks.
I give it a scan with the Pokedéx from Wal- I mean, whoever's... Ah, funk it. Nobody will realize that it's not mine.
"Hold on, let me scan that Pokémon."
"Go on, my fellow Trainer! Now, allow me to reposition myself to better suit the battle, if you get what I'm saying. Wink wink." Walter starts stepping backwards and his Pokémon seems to understand the cue, floating backwards.
I start walking along with Walter, alongside Toast. "Yeah, we get the plan." I glance back at Emily, who's still walking with me. Jack's frantically cheering me on, while Merlimi is keeping an eye on him, with a look of second-hand embarrassment.
"Remember the moves, Selfie!" Emily gives me a thumbs up.
Oh, right. Valid point... ahh, crab. I don't remember what were the moves that Walter told me about... Wait!
"Actually? Walter, can I scan Toast first for any moves he may have? You did mention that this computer brick can tell me about a Pokémon's moves."
"Oh! Right, right, very right. Go on, It'll just be more time for me to reposition!"
Alright... I first pointed my Pokédex at Toast. Info shows up on my screen and... seems like Toast has Bite, Tackle, Leer and Odor Sleuth at his disposal.
I'm not going to lie, half of these don't sound very useful at all.
I then point at Walter's weird cell ball thing.
"Solosis, the Cell Pokémon. They drive away attackers by unleashing psychic power. They can use telepathy to talk with others."
"A 'Solsis', huh...? Alright, let's do this." I put the Pokédex away in my pocket and join in Walter's endless theatrics by pointing dramatically at him.
"Grandiose, my friend!" Walter twirls, and then points at Toast. "Wurtz, fire off a Psybeam!" Gah! His pose game is much stronger than mine!
Wurtz fires off a beam of energy directly at Toast, which connects, causing an explosion!
I cover my eyes from the ensuing dust. "Wha-what was that?!"
"A blast of concentrated psychic energy, my friend! Now, you seem new to the whole Pokémon battling thing, so I'd suggest you start giving orders now if you don't want to lose!"
"E-Eh, okay, okay, right. Toast, can you still hear me?!"
"Lil!" Toast shook the dust off itself. It seems a bit hurt, but it doesn't seem like it's been beaten down too badly. Seems like the beam hit as hard as a light punch...? By Pokémon standards, of course.
"Right. Use Bite on Wurtz!"
"Ah, good choice. Too bad I saw that coming from lightyears away! Wurtz, activate Reflect!"
"Solosis!" Wurtz surrounds itself with a blue energy that forms into a bubble-like barrier while Toast runs up to bite it!
Toast leaps up to bite Wurtz, but it ends up biting onto the barrier instead?!
"The bite was stopped...?" Toast lets go and hops back near me.
"Yep. Astute skills of observation, my fellow Trainer." Walter sarcastically claps as he goes ahead on the road. "See if you and Lilipup can catch me and Wurtz, can you?"
"Cod dampit!" I grit my teeth and clench my fist.
"Selfie?" Emily nudged at my shoulder.
"Uh, yeah? In a bit of trouble here, I would absolutely love any suggestions."
"Yeah, that's why I started talking to you. You have Coo, right? Get them to start flapping their wings like crazy, since I *think* that's how Pokémon use Gust?"
"Gust...?"
"Yeah, Gust. Reflect blocked Bite, which was all up and close and physical, right?"
"Huh...? Oh! Right, I think I get what you're on about. Let's not keep Walter waiting. Back to the ball, Toast!" I whip out the Pokéball to recall Toast back inside.
"Lil!" And they're back in. Right. Think I stand a chance now... I catch up to Walter, after we pass by a bridge in the middle of the road to the... bridge? Huh.
"Ah, I thought you had run away for a second. That's not allowed, see?"
"Never had the intention to." I whip out the Pokéball with Coo in it and toss it out. "Go, Coo!"
The ball opens mid-air, sending Coo out.
"A Pidove! I see. A good choice, but have you deduced why so?" I'll show you why, nerd.
"Coo, use Gust." I point at Wurtz.
Coo starts flapping their wings, sending a gust of air towards the Solosis! It pierces through Reflect, striking Wurtz.
"Impressive! So, any more Pokémon to show off, fellow Trainer?" Walter recalls the injured Solosis back to his Pokéball.
I scramble my pockets for that Petilil... called, uh... Plant! Plant.
"Uh, yeah. A Petilil, for one. I call them Plant."
"I see. So I shall use 2 Pokémon of mine, given how you just started your journey, hm? Although, you did just pass through the second gym... Have you forgotten to participate in it?"
"Oh, I'm... not interested. Just a casual enjoyer, you see?"
"Ah, I see! So 2 Pokémon it is. And I choose you, Voltz!" Walter throws a Pokéball and sends out...
That's just a yellow spider with blue eyes. Really. The man actually just sent out a spider to fight me. It's probably the shortest, tiniest, smallest thing I've seen all day! Toast could quite literally stomp on it, and he is a puppy...
"A spider?" I whip out the Pokédex to scan the spider.
"Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Since it can't generate its own electricity, it sticks onto large-bodie-"
"Spider that attaches onto stuff, cool, yeah." I push the second screen back in.
"So, shall we resume?"
"Yeah, whatever. Coo, use Gust agai-"
"Voltz, Thunderwave!"
Voltz is faster on the draw than Coo, firing a stream of electricity before Coo could do anything!
Electricity sparks out of Coo as it falls to the ground, falling face-flat.
"What the?!"
"Paralysis! Cuts your Pokémon's speed and stops it from acting!"
"Uh, use Gust again!"
Coo is paralyzed! It can't move! "FORK!"
"Actually, my Timburr is named Spoon." I stink eye at Emily for a moment.
"Well, Selfie? Any second thoughts about not doing the gyms? Once Coo's out of the picture, I'll steamroll your team flat! Voltz, ELECTROWEB!"
"Coo, get back!" I whip out the Pokéball with Plant in and send out Plant to take the blow! Plant ends up... actually absorbing the damage? It still looks like it hurts, but not as much...
I then recall Coo, as Walter once again adjusts his glasses.
"Clever! Sure makes me wonder if you aren't building your team to fight me off..."
"No, that's just a coincidence." And it genuinely is. Does Plant resist Voltz' attacks? If so, then...
"Plant, attack Voltz!" I point at Walter's Joltik, confidence renewed-
"Thunderwave." Petilil is immediately paralyzed just like Coo.
"OH COME ON!" I am MORE than half tempted to just throw the cod-accursed Pokédex at Walter.
"Should have done the gyms! Now, Voltz! Fury Cutter!"
Voltz jumps in front of Plant and starts swiping its legs at it! Plant collapses and faints from the attack!... Despite Voltz being... you know, as big as a spider.
"Ugh, okay. Okay. Toast, you got this. Use Bite." I send Toast out, and he eagerly jumps to bite at Voltz... only for Voltz to cover, pin it down and electrocute it with what I assume to be Electroweb.
"LILIPUP!"
"Oh my cod, this is a disaster..." I sit down and groan.
"Hmmm..." Walter analyzes the clusterfork that is the battlefield right now. "You're quite correct. I assume you surrender, then? The exit is quite nearby, so we're already done with the main reason why we're doing this." Walter confidently opens his arms wide, as he strikes another one of his poses.
"Yes..." I whimper out.
"Grandiose, my friend! You held pretty well against my Solosis, if that reassures you. Though I did catch a good portion of my team recently for Pokédex reasons, except for my Sigilyph."
"Yeah, whatever. Did you really have to beat my Pokémon down just to not get insulted for your 'aesthetic'?" I get up and prepare to recall Toast back into my ball, as Walter recalls Voltz back into his own ball.
"Nope. But as a rightful compensation, let me patch your Pokémon up."
"Yeah, you better." I send out Coo and Plant alongside Toast, the latter of which flops to the ground. Walter kneels down and starts searching his pockets.
Jack whimpers. "Awww... You had it in the bag, he just lucked out! Yeah! Merlimi, let's start a hashtag! It's gonna be called 'Justice for Selfie!'"
"Memi..."
I grumble as I cross my arms. Real helpful, guys.
Emily places her hand on my shoulder. "Eh, it's okay, Selfie. He's right- it's your first battle, and you held off pretty well against Walter's Solosis."
"It's Wurtz, mind you!"
"Right, yeah." Emily leans in to whisper to me. "(What kind of name is Wurtz anyways...?)"
"... meh, thanks." I stop crossing my arms. Though if I'll be honest, Emily's cat laughing at me still stings more than this loss, though.
"Aaand we're done! Now return to your righteous master, Selfie!"
"Oh, that was fast. Thanks." I recall Toast, Coo and Plant to their respective Pokéballs.
"Now, shall we? Skyarrow Bridge is right up ahead!"
"Sure. Come on, Emily and... Yeah." I start following Walter, alongside Emily.
"... Memi, merli memi mimi."
"R-Remember that he's still a liability! Or something!"
"Mmmrg." I let out a grumble. Why is he a liability, to be exact? He's a weirdo and probably a thief, yeah, but to be honest, aside from some occasional bits of annoying smugness, he seems to generally be trying his best to be a good person.
As we exit the forest and walk onto a balcony, we're greeted by the night sky and the silhouette of a massive bridge. So the forest was dark because of the night, after all...
"Ah, marvelous! The night sky has decided to show itself up to celebrate our combat!"
"Yeah, sure, if that helps you sleep at night." Emily responds, with a playful sarcasm.
"It does! The sun would be too bright to sleep under, afterall. But I suppose this is where we part ways! I believe you still have a gym or two to catch up to, while my journey must continue on, beyond this bridge!"
"Oh, see you around then."
"But I believe you will need aid to conquer these challenges... So here! I caught one of the Sewaddles around here earlier. Train it up, will you? Alongside some of the stuff I used to patch your Pokémon up! Because of course, I'd be spending my days adventuring beyond this marvelous bridge and thus, unable to help you! Obviously."
Walter pulls out a plastic bag with the word 'Evidence' marked into it.
I squint at the label of the bag. You know, this looks really suspicious.
He stuffs the Pokéball and the things he used to heal up my team, of which I can peek at things like spray bottles of various colors, alongside some herbs, before handing it over to us.
"Thanks. Is this goodbye, then?"
"You would be correct. Farewell, Selfie! And you, the girl! What's your name?"
"Oh, it's Emily. Nice to meet you, Walter. Or, well, not really since you're leaving, but..."
"Alright! Farewell to you too, Emily!" Walter leaves from the balcony to head towards the bridge...
"..." There was some silence after Walter had headed off.
"Is he gone?" Emily peers from the balcony. "I can't see anything..."
"Eh, pretty much?"
"Mer, mer mimi..."
"Free stuff for our troubles! HOORAY!" Jack cheers!
"Yeah, forget the gyms. And, hey, I do see the river you mentioned too..."
"Oh, yeah! So, we go there, build the boat, and go back home!"
"Well, where do we go then?" I gaze at the sky again. "I suppose we just follow where Walter went, except not go towards the bridge?"
"Good enough! Lead the way, captain!" Is Jack still doing the pirate bit?
"Hey, wasn't I the captain?" Emily puffs up.
"Well, it's time to commit mutiny! Who's with me?" Jack eagerly looks at me.
"Heh, yeah, down with the captain!" I raise my hand up.
"Nooooooo... Okay! I accept my mutiny. Lead the way, newly elected captain."
"Well, as you are no longer the captain, I promote you to cargo handler. This bag should fit in your backpack, shouldn't it?"
"Oh noooooooooo..... Can I take the mutiny back...?"
... eventually, we make it to the edge of the river, amidst a clearing surrounded by trees. It's kind of beautiful... almost as confusing as how I actually managed to get us here without getting lost.
"Oh, wow, we actually made it?" Emily looks into the river. Wonder if she's astounded at this stroke of luck, or at her reflection in the river.
"To be quite honest, I was expecting to end back up in the forest when we had to go through these trees."
"Well, this sure doesn't look like the forest now, does it?" Emily stretches, drops her backpack then flops down on the grass. "God, I'm tired..."
"Rrrr..." Jack flops down on the floor and stops floating. Merlimi also ceases to float and sits on top of Jack, seemingly treating him as a bench.
I guess floating is just as tiring as walking. I sat down next to Emily.
"We still don't have any food, too..."
"Check the bag, maybe Walter packed us a snack or two." I point at the backpack.
"Oh, right! Right. Hmm..." Emily gets up and starts scrambling her hand inside her backpack, pulling out the plastic bag that Walter prepared for us.
She places it down on the ground between the two of us, as we look inside it's contents.
"... Well, there's some potions, some of the herbs Walter used to patch your Pokémon up, some status heals, and... okay, yeah, he just packed Pokémon food inside this bag."
"Sweet! Now our Pokémon can also have lunch AND dinner to eat when we die of starvation!" I throw my arms up into the sky, before burying my face in them. "Ugh..."
"Yeah..." Emily lies back down, disappointed. "... Hey! What if we eat the moss and grass you took earlier?! You said it was dinner, yeah?"
"Wha- What moss?" I fumble in my pockets and take out the moss and grass. "You mean this?"
"Yeah, that!"
"Are we really eating this??" I squish the moss and grass. I mean, it *technically* is a vegetable...?
"Well, can't judge it until you try it." Emily shrugs.
"By that logic, we should be eating Pokémon food then..." I frown towards the moss and grass.
"I mean, at least we can pretend this is just a big helping of spaghetti." Emily pushes herself up.
"But the Pokémon food is labeled as food!"
"Well, yeah, animal food."
"What if we get sick from eating this?"
"Would we rather try to handle hungry Pokémon into helping us, or experience the finest cuisine that nature has handed over to us? All we need is a wooden plate, and we're having the vegan's dream~!"
"Are you vegan?" I stare blankly at Emily.
"No, but we're omnivores."
"Besides, I think Petilils learns a status curing move. If you do get food poisoning, maybe Plant can help you out?"
"Okay, fine, if it gets you to stop bugging me..." I 'split' the moss and grass into two, handing one half to Emily.
"Tonight we shall dine on the spaghetti of nature!" Emily raises her moss and grass up in the sky, like if she was toasting a glass of beer.
"I submit a toast, to hopefully never have to taste things like this ever again." I toast the moss to the sky as well.
"Well, no more delaying it. Here goes...!!" Emily quickly chomps down on the moss and grass. Her face puckers up into the kind of face that someone would make when sucking a lemon dry like a vampire.
"How is it?"
"great" Emily pitifully whimpers out in the voice of an agonized moss enjoyer.
Not like I'm about to be any different, though... I pinch my nose with my left hand and shove the moss and grass into my mouth so hard that some of it flicks onto my cheeks.
I then force myself to chew it with my now moss-covered right hand.
Oh. OHHH COD. I want to cry so badly. It tastes both peppery and sweet, with these two flavors combining into an... 'appetizing' taste of pain.
"ahhh... Ahhh, cod, this sucks-" I cry out in torment.
"I knooow..." Emily responds with a fellow cry of suffering.
"H-Hey, Selfie? Do you think that we can sleep this taste off?"
"I seriously hope so... I also hope that we can sleep off food poisoning if that whole healing thing doesn't work out."
"Can't judge it until you try it, right?"
"The last time you said that, we ended up in this very situation."
"Two times the charm, eh? Well, good night..." Emily flips onto her side, facing away from me.
... I lie down. Might as well.
I close my eyes, feeling the sweet breeze, the soft grass and the burning taste of moss festering in my mouth.
...
...
...
As my conscience fades back in, I'm greeted with sunlight.
"Eugh..." I turn over to the side to try and not let the sunlight in my eyes.
I feel something touch my back. "Emily?"
"How did you know?!" her voice replied. Yep. It's Emily.
"Because you just told me, glasses girl. Oh, and the fact that you're using your finger to poke me."
"Well, the original idea was to have Jam, Spoon or Spaghetti poke you. But with that whole 'almost died to the wild Pokémon thing you have going on, I... decided it wasn't such a good idea.
I look at my napkin arm. The pain kind of stopped registering at this point... Maybe it turned into a scar or something. I... honestly haven't really thought of it.
It still aches a little. Without anything else to really focus on, it kind of started to itch.
"That's pretty considerate of you." I look at Emily with gratitude.
"Hey, looking out for a fellow kid." Am I a kid, though? I'm definitely not an adult, as far as my voice tells me.
"So, you don't remember anything? You seem like you'd be the guy with a dark past, to be honest. Brooding, a bit of a weirdo..."
"Hey, for all I know, we both could have a dark past. What do you remember?"
"Well..." Emily starts scratching her head.
"Uh..." ... the scratching starts slowing down.
"Uh oh." Emily's eyes widened in realization.
"That didn't sound good."
"I-I mean, I do remember my first and last name, that I lived in a good, and okay-ish at worst home, alongside remembering enough to know that we're in Unova right now." Emily scratches her head. "But I don't... remember much else. Especially my personal details. It's kinda foggy, actually..."
"So, do I get to manage the 'Amnesiac people' club's logistics?"
"Wha- This is serious!"
"Right, yeah, sorry."
"... okay. Okay. Maybe we should ask Jack and Merlimi about this whole memory thing? Where are they, anyways? I mean, I saw them sleeping near us, but..."
"Memimi~!"
"Sorry for the absence! We were just..."
"Oh, Merlimi! Did you tell Emily about other Tour Guides?"
"Eh?"
"Mer!! Mer, mer li-mi..."
"I mean, this is clearly not really in our control anymore, is it? I can't really see the harm in telling Emily or Selfie more about us."
"... Mer, merli. Lili."
"The cat's out of the bag anyways, so might as well! We were trying to contact our fellow Tour Guides- basically our coworkers- but we didn't really have much success..."
"Oh. I think Merlimi showed me something about him being a Tour Guide when I first got here..."
"Guys, let's focus on the boat." I clap to get the group's attention. "So I assume this is where we build the boat? Though... this doesn't look like the most *legal* place to do so. Or if sailing without something like a permit is even legal in the first place. And I'm pretty sure cutting these trees down is very illegal, to top it off."
Jack hovers towards the trees. "Ehhh... Yeah, I can see that. But at least we can try to compensate by planting a few trees back!"
I look at the trees around us, who are about to suffer our wrath. "Yeah, you have a point. I think we can plant whatever fruit these trees may be carrying after we cut them down. How does that sound for a plan?"
"Memi."
"Sounds nice!" Emily gives me a thumbs up. "We won't leave a trail behind either, in case wwwwWWWWALTER still insists on following us."
I squint my eyes. "Why did you say Walter's name like he's your sitcom archnemesis?"
"I mean, the dude's kinda creepy and overly... uh, pretentious with his language. Like he's trying to sound like someone he isn't."
"Someone smart, maybe?" I shrug.
"Yeah, he's definitely trying to sound smart." Emily frowns.
"Why not trust him?"
"I don't know about you, but I think the guy's obsessed with us! Hell, I'd not be surprised if he faked the whole 'going past the bridge' thing to trail us even harder."
"So he's a stalker." I blink twice. "Yeah, I see the problem with that."
"Mhm." Emily nods. "Now, let's get to cutting! Come on out, Jam, Spoon!" Emily sends out Jam and Spoon.
"Purrrrloin!" "Timburr!"
"Alright, Jam! Cut down that tree. And Spoon, you carry the log after Jam cuts it down, OK?"
Jam nods, then prepares to slice down the tree! "Purr!"
A slash!... and then Jam gets their claws stuck on the tree.
"Eh?" Emily pulls back her hand in the ensuing interruption.
"Purrloiin!" Jam tries again!
"Mer-mimi~"
"But we don't have popcorn here..." Jack frowns.
And again!
... and again.
"Are you done yet?" I take the time to tug at my sleeves.
"Purrloinnn!!"
"Okay, sheesh."
After some struggling, the tree finally comes down. "Okay, that was... kinda awkward. But you, Spoon! You can do this, right? Place that log over... there!" She points at the shore.
"Timburr!" Spoon eagerly picks the tree up... then starts awkwardly waddling it around, clearly struggling with the weight of the log.
"Okay, uh, um, you can drop it now..."
"Tim!" Spoon drops the log down and sits down against it. "Burrr..."
"Yeah, this is still gonna be harder than we expected." I frown at the single log that we cut down, that isn't even halfway there to the shore.
"We just need to train our Pokémon, then!" Emily snaps her fingers, as if she came up with the greatest plan of all time.
"I see where you're going at, but won't that require a lot of time? And don't we need to know what we are doing either?"
"Nah! We just have our Pokémon battle each other, and it's as simple as that. It's you against me!"
"Besides, we have all of this stuff that we got from Walter, right? So we can just heal off any injuries our Pokémon get during our sparring! Sounds good?" Emily turns to her Pokémon, and the two nod.
"Eh. Sure." I might as well not be a complete embarrassment at Pokémon fighting while I'm here.
"Well, that settles it! I challenge you to a battle, Selfie! Come on out, Spaghetti!" Emily then sends out the Sewaddle that Walter gave to us, now creatively named Spaghetti.
"... Spaghetti isn't a breakfast food, though?"
"Not if you're a coward."
"A sane person, you mean?"
"Let's just fight already! Come on!"
"Yeah, fine."
I pull my Pokémon team out of the mossless pocket, and get ready to throw down.
"Go, Toast!"
"Plant, use Sleep Powder." I point at Emily to make a dramatic combination with my very enthusiastic voice. (It fails.)
Plant shakes around and tosses a powder at Jam. Shortly after, Jam fell asleep.
"Ahh, no!"
"Toast, use 'Odor Sleuth'. Why is it called that...? What does it even do?"
"Jam, come back! Go, Spoon!"
"A-Ah! Toast, they're getting away!"
"Spoon, Rock Throw!"
"Plant, use Stun Spore. No, Plant, that's Sleep Powder aaaaand the rock hit you."
"Jam, hone your claws and swwwwEEP TOAST!"
"Purrr!" Jam performs a low sweep with its tail, tripping Toast on their feet!
"But you told me you were going to hone your claws!"
"Spaghetti, use String Shot!"
"Coo, steer away then use Air Cutter."
The bag's contents start getting smaller...
"Huh? What's Plant doing?... Aromatherapy?"
"It's that healing move I told you about, silly!"
"Plant, use Magical Leaf."
Leaves lock onto Jam and strike the cat!
"Come ON! How are you supposed to dodge that?"
"Toast, use Work Up. Much more useful than that Odor Sleuth move, I'd say. Now... Tackle!"
"Ahh! Spoon!"
And smaller...
"Cod, I don't feel like it."
"Can't you just Aromatherapy that laziness away?"
"Oh, I totally tried... sheesh, what's with that look?"
"Jam, don't let him get away! Pursuit!"
"Toast, uhhh... Okay, cod dampit, you can have that one."
And even smaller... Hey, who's eating the food?
"Hey, Jam's evolving!" Emily points at Jam, who's enveloping itself in a bright light!
"They're what?" Why is *everything* in this world bright? There must be some eye damage going on here with the natives... Oh, the light's gone and SWEET FORKS THAT'S A BIG CAT
"Liepaaaard!"
"WHAT."
"Oh come ON. How was I supposed to know you were setting up for that?"
"Selfie, the setup was literally right there. You could have used Magical Leaf or Crunch."
"Coo, use Taunt. Stop Jam from honing their claws!"
"Jam, come back! Go, Spoon!"
Seriously, who's eating it? Is it Emily?
"There we go! Nice work, Plant."
"Nice! I think we're just about to run out of Paralyze Heals, too. Here, Spoon, let me help you up."
"Jam, use Assurance!"
"Coo, fly out of its range and then use Quick Attack."
"Toast, use Take Down!"
"LilliiPUP!"
"Liepar--!!"
"Oh, it's a double knockout! I think this is the last of our revival herbs, so... I think we can call it here!"
Oh, she was just feeding the Pokémon... Whoops.
Cod, I'm so hungry.
"Okay, Jam, try cutting the tree now!" Emily pointed, and the tree was felled at her command by a way bigger, almost panther-like cat, its cream colors replaced by a yellow coloration. I have no idea if handling this Pokémon is a bad idea or not.
"And now, Spoon, carry it near the shore!" Then, the log was placed on top of a larger and larger pile. Some were small enough to be picked up and swung around, some were way too big to even consider that for a normal human being.
"Then Selfie, have Coo, Plant and Toast bury these berries!"
"Mhm." I give off a hand signal that actually means nothing. "You heard her." And so, my Pokémon scurried off to plant said berries.
"Then, finally! Spaghetti!" Emily then points at Spaghetti.
"... Sewaddle?" Spaghetti looked at Emily in confusion.
"Oh! Right. The whole... tying together the raft thing. You know?" "Sew!"
"And just like that, we've got the wood, and we're about to tie the raft together!"
"Nice. Where's Jack and Merlimi?"
"WOOO YEAH SPAGHETTI GO WOOOOOO"
"Mermi." Merlimi awkwardly waves back to us. He's practically dripping wet in second hand embarassment.
"Right, there you guys are."
"Okay, what else? The berries are planted, the boat is almost ready and the sun's going down." I turn back to Emily.
"Everything looks up and ready- why not call it a day and relax for a while?"
"Emily, we're literally sustaining ourselves with all these berries from the trees. Honestly, I'm just glad that these even exist. Wish I ate them over the grass and moss yesterday."
"I also really want to get out before anything goes wrong, like someone else finding this questionably legal boat or us catching something thanks to eating these berries. You wonder what Pokémon do to these things?" I eye one of the berries on the trees with suspicion.
"Mm, fair, but we've also made our Pokémon fight each other all day. I think we should let them rest for today, and then we can go and get sailing after we apply the finishing touches!"
"And hey, if eating the berries isn't safe, we can just get Plant to use Aromatherapy."
"Alright, fine. Call a break then, but seriously, we really should be quicker about this. I don't want anyone finding out about our attempt to sail out, and I don't want to find out what happens after that."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Lemme just check my bag for stuff real quick, and then we're calling it a day." Emily frowns. "Huh. Guess we ran Walter's supply dry fast. The healing, the herbs, the food... Everything."
"Really?"
"Yep. Most of the space's just filled with berries now."
"Oh, nice. All this work and training made me feel hungry, so I'll take..." I grab one with a bright red color and munch on it. "This on-"
It's spicy.
Ffffffiretrucks, it's spicy.
"You feeling fine? I mean, you look like you're about to cry..."
"No." I replied. It's not as bad as the moss, though that doesn't change the fact that this really isn't a flavor for me.
"... aaand there we go. That's two logs together!" Emily smirked.
"Out of how many...?"
Emily shrugs. "Uh, I dunno, enough logs to hold the two of us? And any Pokémon, too!"
"I wish you were more specific." I grumble.
"Well that aside, try standing on it! I hope the string holds..."
I stand on the two bunched together logs.
Despite the frail look of the strings, the two logs hold together pretty well.
"Oh, nice! Can it fit the two of us too?" Jack eagerly looks at the two logs.
I look at the ground below the floating duo. "Can't you guys fly...?"
"But that would be like walking all the way to Liberty Garden..."
"Mer, limi." Merlimi nodded alongside Jack.
"Right! I think that's our raft's base, all set and done!"
"It looks nice at a glance, but can it really handle the two of us?" I walk around the boat.
"Hey, I'm no engineer, but I think this makes for a pretty sturdy raft."
I look towards Emily, then the boat in suspicion. "I don't know about that. It's still just string, right? Insect string."
"I specifically asked Spaghetti to make it as sturdy as possible, so maybe you should ask him or her instead if it's safe or not." Emily whips out the Pokéball containing Spaghetti.
"Sure, I guess I'll entertain you." Emily sends out Spaghetti, as I kneel down to Spaghetti's level. "Sew?"
"Hey, Spaghetti, Emily told me you made the raft's... keepy... together... thing. How'd you do that?"
"Sewaddle!"
"Ah, yes! Ah, I see now!" I stand up and twirl with sarcastic glee. "The secret engineering knowledge of Spaghetti has been revealed to me! I see it now, in the shapes of the trees and in the ripples of the ocean!"
"Sheesh, no need to act all haughty with your newfound big brain." Emily rolls her eyes (or tries to.)
The sun sets, and the light fades away as Emily finishes tying some string up.
"So, that's it, huh? We even have a 'log in the ground that stops the boat from going away'."
"Selfie, I'm pretty sure there was a word you could have used." Emily looks at the log in the ground.
"Well, do you know what's the word?"
"... no." Emily sighs. "Well, that asides, I think we're ready to go--"
"SURPRISE ATTACK!"
"What the-"
... It's Walter. Of course it's Walter. He smugly adjusts his glasses, as if we were cornered. And to be frank, we totally are.
"H... How did you find us?!" Emily points at Walter!
"I saw your boat from Skyarrow Bridge, you foolish fools of a foolish pair of trainers!"
"Yeah, fair, we'll give you that." ... then she lowers her finger.
"Anyways, what could you be doing with that boat? A smuggling operation? Perhaps you two are planning something more... violent?" Walter begins walking closer to the boat. "It's most suspicious of you two, I say! And you were about as covert as a Sudowoodo in the middle of a desert!"
"Nothing. We're doing nothing." I immediately try to deflect his suspicions, and start walking towards him, standing in his way towards the boat. Emily soon mustered her courage and walked up too.
"Really, now?" Walter tries to lift a single eyebrow, but he ends up lifting both of them.
"Why the bell did you even come back here? I thought you left for whatever's on the other side of the bridge!"
"That... was my COVER STORY! THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL!"
"Oh, fork, of COURSE it was."
"For you see, Selfie-boy, this photo I showed you?" Walter brandishes the photo of my bloodied, wet self. "I *knew* it was you, Selfie. All. The. Time."
I am SO tempted to glare at Merlimi and Jack. Of COURSE it wouldn't work.
"Listen here, fellow trainer! I may be stupid, but that does not mean I'm dumb! I've been trailing you, using my Sigilyph to fly around from spot to spot." Walter sent out his Sigilyph- the first thing I spotted are the wings and tail that look like a fork's end, connected to a body that looks like an ancient painting that came to life.
It clicks. "Ah, ship."
"And as a proud researcher of the supernatural, I've grown quite keen to the slightest behavior of abnormality! You, Selfie! And Emilia!"
"It's Emily."
"Emily! You two have a guardian with you, right? The way you talk to the air or glance at nothing..."
"HE KNOWS!" Jack squeals!
"M-memi, merl-li mi!"
"Wha..."
"See?! You did it again! Listening for something that *I* can't hear. Or are you not even aware you're doing so? Could it be alien signals?... Maybe you two are possessed?!" Alright, that's enough.
I try to steel myself and stand face-to-face with him. "Walter. What exactly are you gaining from telling us this?"
"Oh, that's quite simple. I just want you to tell me everything. About why you keep looking towards or seemingly hearing nothing, how you flew out of the lake, why you and Emily are traveling together, specifically..."
The realization of what's about to happen is beginning to sink in.
"You have something in case we say no, don't you?" I glare at Walter.
"Why, yes, I do!" Walter reaches into his pocket.
Emily reaches for her pocket with her gloved hand as if she was about to pull out a gun, and I find my hand shooting towards the pocket with my team in it too.
"A double battle? Very well!" Walter pulls out two Pokéballs, clutching them tightly.
"Let's see if you learned anything from our spar!"
Walter sends out two Pokémon. "Joltik!" It's the spider from before, as tiny and annoying as ever.
"Litwiii~" The other looked like a tiny candle, with yellow eyes, stubs for arms and a purplish flame topping it off. Scanning it says it's a Litwick.
Emily goes first, and sends out Jam. "Liepaaaard!"
I follow up by sending out Plant. "Petilil!"
Walter doesn't make any dramatic poses, opting towards surveying the two Pokémon that we sent out. "My real team may not be around, but with the strategy you showed before, I doubt I'll need them."
I scoff. "We'll see about that."
There was a moment of silence, before Walter cued the fight.
"Voltz, use Thunder Wave and shut down the Liepard." Voltz fires off a blue stream of electricity at Jam!
"Jam, move!" But it was too late- Jam gets struck and inflicted with paralysis, as sparks fly out of Jam. Jam glares daggers at Walter's team.
"Crab, crab, uh..." I glance at Walter, who's preparing to issue another command.
"Selfie, tell Plant to use Aromatherapy, now!"
"Ah-- Right! P-Plant, use Aromatherapy!"
"Peti!" Plant shakes off a light green powder that lands onto the Liepard, who's enveloped in a light of the same, pleasant color as the sparks stop coming off.
Walter gasps, then re-composes himself as he locks his gaze towards Plant. "Walls, use Ember on the Petilil!" Litwick's purplish flame starts growing, as it turns towards Plant.
"Pursuit!" Emily yells out, as Jam bolts and rams hard against Walls! The Litwick is sent flying into the trees, before any damage is dealt!
"Ah!" Walter recalls Walls back into its ball. "Well, I suppose it was on me to think you wouldn't heed my great advice. Might as well, then... Sigilyph! To battle!"
Walter's Sigilyph flies into the fight, letting out a ferocious cry!
"Sigilyph, use Whirlwind, and aim down!"
"Wait, what the-" Emily freezes in shock and surprise, before a flap from the Sigilyph's wings stirs up a cloud of dirt towards us--
"AAAUGH! DIRT IN MY EYES!" I stumble backwards, as I glimpse at Emily wiping her glasses before I collapse to the ground.
"SELFIE!" Emily squealed, before she composed herself. "Alright, Spoon! Cover for Plant while his trainer recovers!" I hear the sound of a Pokéball opening, as I desperately try to wipe the dirt out of my burning eyes.
"Jam, use Hone Claws!" I blindly stumble around, unable to see the now 1 on 1 fight against Emily and Walter.
"Voltz, fire off a Thunder Wave at Jam. Sigilyph, use Whirlwind and blow the Liepard away!" I stand back up, eyes still burning.
"Ugh, how annoying!" Another sound of a Pokéball opening. Okay, I think it's out. Forking bell...
"Peti, peti!" I feel Plant brushing up against me and nudging back to the fight. I nod, and rush back in the fray. "Emily!"
"Would really love some help here..." She grumbles, as she recalls a fainted Spoon back into its ball.
"Plant, heal up Jam's paralysis. I'll hold Walter off with Toast and Coo." Plant nods, as it scurries up to Emily. "Wait, Selfie! What's Plant doing here?"
I turn back to Walter and send out Coo and Toast up against Walter's Joltik and Sigilyph. "Pi-pidove!" "Liliii-pup!"
"Sigilyph, shoot the Pidove down with Air Slash. Voltz, pin the Lilipup down with Electroweb."
"Coo, dodge! Toast, throw dirt at Voltz!" Coo swiftly evades the slashes and even fires back an Air Cutter that strikes the Sigilyph to no visible effect, but Toast just looks at me confused, before being pinned down. "Oh, cod dampit."
As Coo and Sigilyph duke it out in the skies with the far more experienced Sigilyph slowly, but surely figuring out Coo, I look at the battle in the ground.
"Voltz, use Electroball! On the Lilipup!" The Joltik then leaps up and prepares to launch a yellow ball of electricity, before razor leaves slice through the air and Voltz, interrupting it!
"What the-" Walter steps back, and I turn to where the shot came from.
Emily had rejoined the fray with her Sewaddle, Spaghetti. "You should've told me that you were healing Jam with Plant!"
"Well, you figured it out, didn't you?" I shrug.
"Yeah, after you know, enough time for your Pokémon to get their ass kicked?"
"W-wait, crab, what about Coo?!" I look up to the skies, looking for the fight between Coo and Sigilyph. It's not going well, as a set of Air Slashes strike Coo! Coo still flies, but at a noticeably slower speed.
"Coo, that's enough! Come back!" I point my Pokéball to the air, as I recall Coo. The Sigilyph wastes no time landing back to ground level, as Spaghetti finishes off a Joltik wrapped in string with another use of Razor Leaf.
"Nice work, Spaghetti!" Emily recalled Spaghetti back to its ball, and sent out Jam in its stead. "Lieeepaarrrd!"
Walter sent out Wurtz, his Solosis, but Walter didn't even manage to issue an order before Jam rushed in and rammed into Wurtz with what looked like Pursuit, making it the second Pokémon that Jam has rammed into the forest and out of the battle.
Walter is taken aback, looking at where his Solosis could possibly have been blasted off to. "Ah!..."
... then he turns back, while Jam rushes back to Emily. "Hmph! Use Air Slash!" Walter dramatically points at Plant.
Sigilyph then swiftly launches the blade of air! Plant tries to get out of the way, but the blade is simply too fast for Plant to dodge!
It hits, as Plant is sent tumbling to my feet, unconscious.
"L-Lil!" Toast yelps out, still pinned down by the Electroweb!... Then, Toast began glowing blue!
Toast begins to grow in size as the electric web pinning it down starts snapping!
Walter points at the evolving Toast. "Sigilyph, quick! Use Air Slash before Lilipup finishes evolving!"
"Wh- No! You can't do that, that's not fair!" Emily yells out!... but Jam is far more direct in objecting against Walter's actions, jumping into the way of the razor wind, tanking the blow and... collapsing soon after.
This proves to be eonugh for Toast to finish evolving, as the light fades out in a burst, illuminating the now dark battlefield for a brief while. In the place of what once was Toast stood a larger dog, covered in what almost seemed like a dark blue cape of dense fur. The fur around its face turned into a 3 point crest and a mustache.
"HERDIIIEEEEERR!!!" Toast howls out into the night!
"Jam! H-How strong is that thing anyways?!" Emily recalls Jam and sends out Spaghetti, warily eyeing the Sigilyph.
"I've got 6 gyms under my belt. I suppose just my Sigilyph is more than a match for your remaining Pokémon, correct?" Walter chuckles smugly, before tipping his hat downwards, covering his eyes.
"Don't get cocky, you basspole. It's a 3 on 1." I send out Coo, accompanying the now evolved Toast and Spaghetti, up against Walter's Sigilyph.
"W-wasn't this a double battle?" asked a bewildered Emily. "Was this... N-nevermind. Yeah, it's a 3 on 1! You're a cheater, striking Pokémon while they're evolving!"
"Hmph! As if you were better, using that Petilil to heal up your Liepard! You had 3 or more Pokémon out on what was supposed to be a Double Battle!"
"But it doesn't matter. You, Emily only have two gym badges, compared to my 6, and Sigilyph's been with me for all of these badges."
I see Emily faltering in shock.
"So? What difference does it make? I don't even know what a gym badge is, for funks sake!" I yell out at Walter.
"Well, why don't I show you? Watch! Sigilyph, after the Sewaddle!"
Sigilyph bolts and rams onto Spaghetti, flying up high with the bug in tow and dropping it from the sky!
"A-AH! SPAGHETTI!" Emily yelps and recalls Spaghetti as it begins falling down from the sky, but then Sigilyph makes a tight turn and locks onto Coo! "COO, LOOK OUT!"
Sigilyph then glides close to the ground, which, combined with its speed, sends another burst of dirt onto Coo. "PIDOVE?!"
"Quick, while Pidove is blinded!"
Sigilyph seems to understand what Walter meant, and fires off a final Air Slash to finish off Coo while it blindly flies in a panic! The hit connects, as Coo falls down from the skies.
I recall Coo back into the Pokéball. That Sigilyph is an actual powerhouse- it's practically unscratched, even after the dogfight it had with Coo. The fight seems to have worn it down, but it still looks like it can easily overwhelm Toast.
"How's that for a 3 on 1?" Walter smugly poses once more.
I feel my heart sink, but then an idea hatches. "... Emily, I have a plan."
"You're Toast's actual trainer, right? As in, would he still obey you?"
"Mhm. Where are you getting at?"
"What are you two talking about?" interjected Walter, who looked ready to order Sigilyph to use another Air Slash.
"Ship, Emily, just try your best to hold Walter off with Toast! Go go go!" I point towards Walter.
"A-Alright, alright! It better be a good plan..."
I began running into the dark, heading towards the river the boat was parked at.
"S-Selfie?! What are you doing?" Jack's voice exclaimed.
"Memi?!"
"Just trust me for once... Alright, I think these are the logs."
Walter wears glasses, doesn't he? And it's getting so dark too. I hope he doesn't see me picking this up...
I rush into the woods, intending to take a detour. As I shamble through the trees and the bushes, I hear Toast and Emily duking it out against the Sigilyph... and it's looking grim from what I can hear.
I hurry my pace, hoping the rustling of the bushes won't alert the combatants...
I compose myself and take a breath, as I emerge out of the woods behind Walter, who seems too busy to notice me.
"Well, if this isn't quite the disadvantage! Your Herdier can keep dodging, but Sigilyph can just fly above any and all things you can throw at it. Air Slash!"
Sigilyph prepares to charge another Air Slash! "Siiigii--" ... it suddenly stops.
Even in the night sky, I could tell that Sigilyph was looking directly at me.
"SIGILYPH!" Uh oh.
"Sigilyph...?" Walter's voice wavers, as Sigilyph starts flying towards me. Now or never.
The log swings through the air, hitting the back of Walter's head. "RHG--" It shatters in two, the top half falling into the grass.
"A-ah-" Emily seizes up, but as she spots the Sigilyph diving down towards me, she quickly points at it. "NOW! TOAST, TAKE DOWN!"
"HERDI!" Toast rushes, and as I cower from Sigilyph, it bashes hard against the Sigilyph and slams it hard, propelling the both of them into a tree and knocking it down from the impact.
Both of them had fainted. I recall Toast back into his ball, as I stop and process what I had just done. "Wha... What did we just do?"
Walter was lying on the floor. Was he unconscious? Was he...
"M... Merli. Merlimi. Me-mi!"
"A-a-a-aaaAAIE! S-Selfie--"
"N... Nevermind that. Merlimi told us to get to the boat, fast. Let's get out of here!"
And so, we ran to the boat. Emily grabbed her backpack and we took the time to recall our Pokémon, jumping down onto the boat.
Emily tries tearing the string! "... Crap, I need some help with the string."
"I got this!" Jack swoops in, and with a swift slice of his claws, the string rope cleanly snapped in two, as the boat starts leaving the shore.
... so now we're officially sailors.
And probably fugitives. Yeah, if cutting the trees wasn't illegal, braining Walter definitely was.
Soon, it was night-time.
Jack and Merlimi have already dozed off, and I assume our Pokémon are doing the same in our Pokéballs. I can still see the skyline of a city in the distance, illuminated by the lights.
"... hey, Emily?"
"Huh?" Emily glances at me.
"You uh, seem awfully quiet."
"It's about Walter. I... I'm just thinking about Walter."
I can only reply with silence.
"I-I mean. You *swung* at him."
"And he just... fell."
"Like you turned him off or something. I really hope he's OK."
"Weren't you the one that brought him up the fact he's a stalker?"
"Y-Yeah, but I thought that we were supposed to beat him in a Pokémon battle and then blast him off, not... Not *break* something over his head. What if it was winter?! We would have doomed him to freeze out there! Or- Or..." Emily falls silent, but it's clear she's creating a list of what could have happened to Walter in her head. "He was just... a weirdo. A weirdo who might have creeped us out, but didn't deserve to get hurt."
I avert my eyes. It hurts to look at her. "I'm sorry."
Emily takes a deep breath, then sighs. "It's okay, really. It was in the heat of the moment and it... It probably was the only way we could have even won, really."
Emily lies down on the floor of the boat. "..."
"..."
We sailed for a while, and had Coo give us a boost in the right direction. The berries turned out to be a viable food supply, especially with Plant's Aromatherapy, just like Emily said.
The logs did indeed hold. Seems like Spaghetti knew what they were doing.
The skyline of the city was getting slowly farther and farther away as we kept sailing.
Honestly, I don't know what else to say here. It shouldn't come across as a surprise, but being in the middle of the ocean isn't very eventful.
After what happened yesterday though, I can't help but like this change of pace.
It's nice.
"Selfie! Selfie, get up!"
"Mh, huh?" I snap back to the world of living from Emily's voice.
"H... huh? Uh? Are we out of berries?!" I get up, frantically looking around.
"We're here, we're here!" Emily frantically searched her backpack for her glasses, as I looked at what was unmistakably land.
"Ah crab, we're here?! Emily, grab the bag and jump! Go go go!"
"Land at last, New Captain Selfie!"
"Memimi!"
We quickly disembark from surprisingly stable wood to comfy, actual land. Emily immediately assumes her crab stance, but lifts her arms up high in the air. "LIBERTY GARRRRRRRRRRDEN! We're here! The lighthouse, the benches! This is it!"
"Haha, yeah, Liberty Garden..." I chuckle. Finally, we're heading back to Earth. Might be a pain to get my memories back, might probably spend the rest of my days in an orphanage thanks to this, but...
Cod dampit, what's even up with that dragon and magician anyways? I keep seeing them observing us and nudging in the right direction, but... Hey, couldn't they have helped us with Walter too? Hm.
Aside from that, they look oddly... serious. Like they were discussing something heavy.
Soon, the lighthouse was getting closer in our view as we approached it. The seaside breeze is relaxing, and the rising sun makes for a pretty combination.
The walk was quiet, until Jack spoke up. "Hey, um, Selfie? And Emily, you too. Could we stop for a moment?"
"Eh? What's wrong, Jack?" Emily turns around, as I do so too.
"... well." Jack twiddles with his claws. "We haven't really spoken to you two much, haven't we?"
"That's on us... we're sorry. We were figuring out an issue with Emily's plan that I and Merlimi noticed, but haven't brought up yet."
"... what?" I squint my eyes.
Jack frowns. "So, we have the power source, right? Well... unless we get very, VERY lucky, we're not getting close to Earth anytime soon."
"Mer, mimi! Merli-mi."
"The logic behind it is that... Well, Earth is one world, right? And our teleportation thing lets us travel to other worlds. But!"
"Without proper coordinates back to Earth, the teleportation spell will resort to randomly throwing us into any world out there. Neither of us are going to throw exact numbers, but just know that landing back home is not something that's gonna happen anytime soon."
"Wait, wait, what? You mean we can open a portal, but not know where it is going?" Emily widens her eyes in realization.
"Memi!"
"BUT!"
"But, listen to us- the reason we avoided telling you this is that we were figuring a solution for that ourselves. You see..."
"We can track our fellow Tour Guides, including the world they're in. That gives us access to their coordinate data."
"So if we, say, used our fellow Tour Guides to warp from world to world... maybe we'll stumble across one in the real world, and we can warp there!"
"We'd be able to gather up with our other coworkers too- following these coordinates isn't gonna land us home anytime soon, but it's better than just winging it." Wait, what? We aren't going home?
"Oh! That's clever!" Emily spoke up.
"I- No, wait, what the fork? Are we not going back to our home?"
"No... But hey, maybe we can connect to a Tour Guide on Earth, like I said!"
"Oh my cod, are we stuck? Are we isolated?"
"We are, but this way, we're guaranteed to find other people! Safety in numbers, right?"
"And besides, we wouldn't risk teleporting into... I dunno, maybe the TENTACLE REALM! OOoooh, there's tentacles with GUNS everywhere!"
"Maybe we will even get to see a few new worlds before we go home, and maybe we can still salvage our tour!" Jack smiled!
"I really don't wanna know what's out there beyond this Unova place. Is this really our only option?"
Jack nods. I think my heart skipped a beat.
We soon find ourselves at the entrance of the lighthouse. Jack floats in front of us.
"Sorry, but could you stay here? Me and Merlimi are going to go on ahead."
"Eh? Why?" I look behind Jack, as Merlimi floats down into the lighthouse.
"Well, uh, we also made a plan!... yeah, not telling you THAT was not our best move."
"Just stay here, alright? We'll give you the signal when we need you to come down here as backup, or when we're done! Hopefully it's the latter."
Emily nods. "Okay!" Jack nods back. "And you, Selfie?"
"... OK." Jack beams a pleasant smile, as he joins Merlimi down in the lighthouse.
...
"I'm going down there." I look into the lighthouse, taking the first step.
"Hey, why the hurry? Merlimi and Jack told us to wait."
"Mh. Yeah, they did. But..." I facepalm. "Look, I'm just gonna go, alright? We're backup anyways- the sooner help arrives, the better it is, right?"
Emily frowns. "Right. Um. Just don't get yourself hurt like before."
"I'll try."
I pass through the entrance, and start descending down the lighthouse. Sunlight was replaced with artificial lights illuminating the way down, and soon I caught a glimpse of another entrance.
"Is this where Victini is-"
A blinding burst of light, but one far unlike any opening Pokéball. And then... a cry.
"VICTI--"
I had already started moving- caution was overridden with curiosity, as I started walking down the final steps to the basement.
The first thing I notice in the basement is the huge rip in reality that was on the wall. I couldn't help but gaze into what seemed to be the cosmos themselves-
"S-Selfie?!" Jack yelps out.
"Wha--"
"S-Selfie, I thought you were waiting up there!"
"I..."
"MER, MEMEMI!" Merlimi glances at me, before immediately snapping back his attention to the portal- he seems to be struggling a lot to just keep it open.
As I snap back to reality, I take in the room. What used to be a serene-looking bedroom with a nightstand, a bed, pictures and toys was now covered in an unnatural hue, no doubt from the portal. My eyes darted to the Victini, lying on the bed.
"Wha-What did you do to..."
"Selfie!" Emily's voice calls out to me.
"Emily?!"
"O-o-Oh! Emily! Great timing, we were just about to depart to another world!"
"Wha... What's going on here?" murmured out Emily as she stared into the portal.
"And- Ah! Is Victini OK?"
I try answering her, but Jack just nods at her as she takes it in. Wouldn't be wise to argue now, with this gaping wound in the fabric of reality in front of us.
Jack frowns, as he looks at the portal. "And, um... Your Pokémon."
"They have to go."
"What?!" yelled Emily.
"Emily, Selfie, I hate to say this, but... We’re already disrupting things in this world badly enough just by opening this portal, so bringing living beings from another world is… Well, you don’t want to see the result of that!"
"So please! Just put the Pokémon down on the floor. They'll be fine, I promise you."
"... Tch, whatever." I dig my pocket, and place the Pokéballs with Toast, Coo and Plant in them.
“What? No, we can’t just… We can’t just leave them here! How would they get out of this island?”
“MEMI! Merli, merlimimi--! MERMI!" Merlimi yells out,
“They have a boat, right? And you brought berries. So just place the berries across the floor, OK? You can keep the backpack though, it’ll be useful!”
“R... Right. Sorry, Jam, Spoon and Spaghetti...” Emily’s hand shakes as she scatters her Pokémon in their balls across the floor, alongside emptying the berries from her backpack, spreading them across the floor.
“Do we really have to...?”
"MERMIII!!" And suddenly, a thunderous noise sounds across the room, followed by a shockwave. The shelves are knocked over, and Victini is flung out of the bed, revealing that it's unconscious.
The rift seems to be pulling at my feet, almost like it was a blackhole.
"A-AH! Is Victini OK? Will our Pokémon be OK?" Emily anxiously looks back and forth at Victini and the dropped balls.
"mMEEEMI! MERRR--" Merlimi squeaks as the portal's edges starts wavering...
"We're running out of time! Get in!"
I can't help but notice Emily whispering something towards Victini and the Pokéballs, as she runs for it and leaps into the portal.
... Better follow after her.
I run for it and... jump.
I fall through the stars, the cosmos and the coldness of space itself. It felt as if I was sinking to the bottom of something. Countless lifetimes flashed by my eyes, as I felt my body lose feeling...
...
...
. . .
"O-Okay, Merlimi!" I yelped out, as I gazed into the cosmos.
I raise one of my claws in the 'counting' motion, trying to signal to my partner. "On the count of one... two... THREE!"
I leap into the portal, and as I look behind, Merlimi soon follows suit. "MER-MIMI!!"
"MIIiii... Mii, mer mimi..." Merlimi huffs, as he looks into my eyes.
"H-hey, it's OK. Take your time, get your air... well, as much air as we can get in whatever this place is anyways." I glance at the marvelous stars and lights around us. I can't imagine what it is to be like a human going through one of these, wildly flailing themselves into unconsciousness.
"... Mer, mermimi... (... Okay, okay, okay. I'm good.)"
"Sweet!" I flash my classic Jack Smile at Merlimi!... and then notice a worried look in his eyes.
"Memi, merli mimi? (Do you still think this is kind of weird?)"
I frown. "Yeah... I don't like where this is going. Our WFO spells were working for, what, years? It can't be a coincidence they're shorting out now."
"Me, memi? (Are you suggesting...)"
"Mhm. I wonder if it's an attack from one of those groups that are against what we're doing?"
"Merli. Me, mimi, mer-mim. (It *could* be that. But I think that we can only make assumptions at this point.)"
"Mimi, merlimi... (Though given this is a Vel-related issue, could it be the work of FLIP?)"
"Maybe... I-I just don't get a good feeling from any of this, you know?"
"Mii... (Me neither...)"
"Well, the exit's over there! Our Tourists should already be through- let's give them a wake up call!"
"Last tour guide to get there is a mischievous egg!"
"Mermi! (Why, you!)"
I rushed ahead of him, the bright light enveloping me as the stars and lights faded away.
[END OF CHAPTER 1]