Cheshire Toon

Nate swiftly pushed Peat aside and launched to his feet. “What was that? Is everyone alright?” he asked loudly, head whipping from side-to-side. People were starting to panic and push away from whatever had caused the commotion. Peat plodded forward to stand protectively in front of him. Nate ran forward and scooped him up under one arm, which the Bearble did not appreciate, if the rumbling was anything to go by. “Sorry bud! No time to let you walk right now! I’ll put you down at the first sign of danger, but we have to find Quinn and Bridget!” Peat stopped struggling against him after that. Nate sprinted in the direction that everyone else was fleeing from. It was hard to pick either of his friends out of the panicked crowd. Much easier to identify was the source of the attack; the guy who had stolen Arthur, some chick he didn’t know, and the girl who had thought he was a bodyguard. The three of them stood proudly in the smoking rubble of what used to be a wall. Nate set Peat on the ground and stepped forward. His fist was clenched so tight that it drained the blood from his knuckles, and his starter seemed to feed off his anger, hackles rising and teeth flashing. “What are you doing here? Trying to steal my friend’s Pokémon wasn’t enough?” He lifted his chin, his eyes flashing. “Or do you wanna try again? Because I promise I’ll do a lot more than tackle you this time if so.” He was outnumbered 3-to-1; probably worse once Pokémon came into play. That fact did nothing to tame his defiance. His eyes flicked toward Alicia. “Aren’t you the girl who thought I was a bodyguard?” His face fell. “I was excited to have a rival. Someone else shooting for the championship spot. It’s too bad.” His eyes sharpened into a glare. “No champion-level trainer ever had to resort to hurting other people to get what they want.” Peat rushed in front of him. Nate swelled with pride. His Pokémon was just like him. “Go ahead and send out your Pokémon so I can send you packing.” His focus landed on the bags they all had slung across their shoulders. “And put those bags down. You aren’t leaving with whatever you’re trying to steal.” The lady he didn’t recognize reached for a ball on her belt. Nate had half a mind to bounce an empty PokéBall off her head before she could release her first Pokémon. A Zubat materialized in a beam of red light in front of her. “What is with you lowlives and giving Zubat a bad name? They’re good Pokémon y’know, but all you lunatics catch them and make them help you break the law, so now everyone thinks they must be evil too.” “You talk too much kid!” the Phoenix grunt yelled. “Admin Alicia already gave me the go ahead to dispose of you, so the training wheels are off! Zubat, use Absorb!” The Zubat flapped its wings desperately and its fangs glowed with energy. A small bit of light was siphoned out of Peat, but the bear cub barely even flinched. Nate snorted. “Type effectiveness isn’t everything. Absorb isn’t a strong move and the Zubat line doesn’t use it well. Peat, use Bubble!” Peat opened his mouth like he was going to roar. A stream of soft bubbles flew out instead, pelting the Zubat and popping on contact. They left tiny welts wherever they hit. A thin, sticky residue clung to its wings, clearly making it harder for it to fly. The Phoenix grunt gasped. “Lucky shot kid! Zubat, use Supersonic!” Nate knew that there was no real way to dodge a sound-based attack. He just had to hope that Peat was able to tough the confusion out. “Peat, push through it and use Scratch!” The wave of sonic energy clearly hit Peat judging by the way his ears jerked and his eyes lost focus, but he managed to leap forward and smack the struggling Zubat out of the air with a meaty smack of his flipper. “Good job bud!” Nate glared past the grunt at Alicia. “Not so easy to dispose of a real future champ, is it?”

The hot water had washed away the worst of the funk Nate had been stuck in. The tension had melted from his muscles like wax under a flame, leaving him with the fresh feeling that only a shower and a change of clothes could bring. He had made the rare decision to leave his beanie at the Pokémon Center. Now he could—for what felt like the first time since he had stepped foot in the Korova region—feel the salty breeze tousling his still damp hair, and he smiled, breathing in the scent of the sea as deeply as he could. “Wooh! Smells like a good day to be fishing!” he declared. Nate laced his fingers together behind his head and followed Bridget through the crowd. She seemed to know where she was going, and he was busy day-dreaming. Today would be the day; he was going to add a second member to his team. “Nice outfit!” Nate grinned at Quinn, bringing his hands down to pat his own chest. He had changed into a red multi-pocket fisherman vest, a white undershirt, and loose-fitting black cargo shorts in preparation for the competition. “I brought my own! Fishing was one of the few things my Pops and I agreed about, so he got me this whole outfit for my last birthday. Look at this!” He pulled open the vest to reveal a long, thin interior pocket. “This is where the collapsible Good Rod goes! Well,” Nate laughed. “This is where it would go if I still had it! I tried to use it to train with Peat the first night on the boat, and we totally broke it.” He smiled proudly. “He snapped it clean in half. It was awesome!” Nate turned to Bridget. “Figure it kinda goes without saying after all that, but I’ve been fishing a bunch. It isn’t really that hard,” he said. “We won’t have the rods rated for the really big stuff, I checked, so any of the stuff we catch will be pretty low level. Any strong Pokémon would snap our line pretty quick.” He quickly ran through the basics of fishing for the two. His explanation was pretty great in his opinion; in reality it included a lot of “bam!” and “pow!” and one “and if they really give you trouble, Dad jumped into the ocean and wrestled them himself a few times!” which was said like it was the most normal thing in the world. Basically, to anyone who didn’t already know what they were doing, Nate was exactly zero help in learning how to fish. “Okay, I might not be cut out for teaching this,” Nate said after a minute. “How about we just go off and all get some practice, like Bridget said? That was basically how I learned anyway.” Nate wandered off and proceeded to not cast his pole a single time after that. He instead spent his time in conversation with anyone who looked local; he quizzed them on all the kinds of Pokémon that lived in the area and could be caught by the quality of rod they were using. Magikarp, Goldeen, Poliwag, a few Staryu, some kid claimed to have seen a Relicanth but followed it up with the assertion that it was “fifty feet long and could fwy!” so Nate added a few question marks beside that one on his notepad. Only one story really caught his interest. A local fisherman reported a small, purple creature that had been impossible to hook thus far. Too quick and too clever. Nate underlined and circled that one. He had found his goal. He walked to the spot that he had been told the purple flash had been spotted more often and picked up his fishing rod. The competition was about to start. Nate could feel his heart speeding up; it wasn’t very useful in something like fishing, but he lived for competition. He grabbed Peat’s ball off his belt and released the bear cub. “Hey bud. Wanna make a new friend today?” He crouched down so that Peat was able to press his cold, wet nose into his neck. The sea bear prodded into him excitedly. Nate smiled. “Thought so. Wanna help me out then? All I need you to do is swim on down to the bottom and hide nearby where this bait lands. Don’t even think about it bud,” he pushed Peat’s nose away from the bait. “I’ll feed you double treats tonight after this. For now, all I need you to do is hide nearby and chase off anything that isn’t really fast and purple. Can you do that?” Peat slapped his flippers against the dock and rumbled in his cute little way. Somewhere behind him, a whistle blew, indicating the contest had started. A dozen lines hit the water at once with a splash. Nate scratched the bear cub behind the ear. “Great. Lets get to it.” He casually cast his rod into the water. Peat dove in after it, his entrance to the water surprisingly graceful for how clumsy he was on land. Nate sat down on the edge of the dock and made himself comfortable. It was a game of patience. He pulled one leg close to his chest, propping his elbow on it, and supporting his head with the braced hand. He left the other leg dangling off the dock and kicking a few inches above the water. The fishing rod was gripped loosely in his other hand. People reeled in all kinds of Pokémon around him. Nate hummed a cartoon theme song to himself. A few times there was a commotion below the water, and then Peat would surface and rumble up at Nate, and Nate would give him a thumbs-up and a smile. The competition passed by quickly. The time limit was drawing near. There was no one left fishing in his area of the dock. Nate continued to hum to himself. He could have been mistaken for dozing off. Anyone who thought so would be disproven a moment later. The fishing line in his rod twitched. Once. Twice. Nate subtly adjusted his grip—and the fishing pole was suddenly bent in half! Nate was on his feet in a flash and yanked it back hard with one hand. Whatever was on the line fought and dove for the area beneath the dock, trying to snare the line around the wooden posts and force it to break. It was clever. Unfortunately, Peat was hiding there, and was quick to give chase. The Pokémon was forced to lose momentum as it tried to halt course and turn around. Nate reeled as quick as he could with one hand and, through sheer brute strength that belied his short height, swung the pole back hard enough that the Pokémon was torn completely from the water. It broke the surface and Nate felt a thrill as he saw bright purple scales a split second before he threw the Net Ball. The Pokémon vanished in a flash of light before Nate could even make out what it was. It fell into the water and floated on the surface, rocking once, twice, three times. It clicked. Nate jumped up and down and whooped. Peat surfaced and nosed the ball across the water, lifting it onto the dock with his flippers and then tackling his trainer to the ground to lick at his face. “That’s right, bud! We did it!” Nate laughed. He scratched his starter vigorously under the chin. “All thanks to you. You did so good! So many treats for you tonight, bud!”

Nate rubbed at his head as they walked into town. Things had been…strange, since the battle with the Malamar. Winning had felt great—the adrenaline rush from defeating such a powerful Pokémon as a team was indescribable—but once they were back on the road, it had been hard to focus. His head hurt, his body felt sluggish, and his eyelids were heavy. He felt like he was stuck in that strange state people were in after just waking up. His brain was functioning, but it hadn’t sent the signals to let the rest of his body know it was time to get a move on. Even the smell of fish, strong enough to be considered a scent-based attack, was barely enough to get a reaction out of him. He dutifully trudged beside them. One foot in front of the other… I’ll be able to rest soon. Maybe a hot shower will help. It felt like a longshot. Nate resolved to see a doctor if he still felt weird after his shower. These thoughts, coupled with his grogginess, were what occupied him for most of the conversation his team had been having with… someone. He had missed their greetings. If they had done any. She seemed to be leaving though. Which was good. He was normally very warm and welcoming, but he desperately wanted to get somewhere to shower and rest. At least until she said something about a competition. Nate’s reaction was visible. He stood up straight for the first time and forced his eyes fully open. There were heavy bags under them, and they were slightly bloodshot. He took a step toward the redheaded girl. “Did you say something about a fishing competition? Today? Where? Can we still sign-up?” He stared at her, waiting for an answer, before suddenly blinking and shaking his head. Having jumpstarted his brain awake for the time being, parts of the exchange he had missed flooded into his brain. "And uhh... I'm not a ghost. By the way. Or their bodyguard. I'm Nate. From Kanto."

A lot of things were going on. Too many things to keep track of. Not that Nikolaos was really trying; his thoughts were utterly consumed with staying away from the Crowdent on the way to Anna. Another one broke away from the pack and leapt at him. Nik yelped and swatted it out of the air with his flashlight. It sailed a few feet, but the impact of the blow had his flashlight flickering for a few terrifying seconds as he ran. “Stay away from me!” He screamed, his voice high-pitched and stretched. He nearly collapsed from the relief of reaching Anna. A cool wave swept across him from his head to his toes at the sight of the box that Anna was bravely holding out to him, in spite of the Crowdent crawling on her. Nik would not be proud of his next two actions when he laid down to go to bed that night. It would be something that he remembered for years to come. He wanted to be a brave trainer. Someone that went down in the history books as a hero among heroes. Someone whose bravery was never called into question. Plus he wanted to impress girls. That was a motivating factor. Nik believed that women liked bravery and all the other action hero traits he had grown up watching on television. His sister was brave like that. His role model above all others. His role models, his desire, the media that surrounded him, it all pointed to one course of action. So of course Nik did the only thing he could—he hesitated zero seconds when the chips were down and Anna needed help ridding herself of those gross, creepy, unsanitary little beasts. Nik grabbed the container and spun on his heels to heroically retreat back the direction he had come from. It made the most sense, some part of his brain rationalized. The quickest way to help Anna was to handle the crisis at hand. Which was the first thing that would stoke his anxiety. His cowardice. A few rats had him abandoning a defenseless girl. The second thing that would haunt him was… Something slammed into his back. Strong and furry and he could feel the nails digging into his back through his jacket. The force itself was enough to send him stumbling, but it probably wouldn’t have been enough to cause him to drop his precious cargo—at least if Nik was anyone else it wouldn’t have been. The scream he let out would be reported on later that evening by a local research team pursuing legends of the Banshee; none of them would ever discover it was just one very frightened teenage boy. Nik all but threw the container onto the ground in his panicked flailing. The beam of his flashlight swung around like a rave light as he desperately tried to rid himself of the little rodent hanging off his jacket. “GETOFFGETOFFGETOFFGETOFF!” His fear was so great that he mostly missed the Pokémon being released. He caught none of the Felight being claimed or joining the fight. He missed Calfin and Chigusa’s comically laidback introductions. He honestly missed the entirety of Anna explaining the names and origins of the Pokémon that had been released in front of him. All he could think about or focus on was the Crowdent hanging onto his back for dear life. Feeling the rodent’s cold nose pressing against his lower back where his jacket had started to ride up from his flailing nearly sent the boy into cardiac arrest. He was preparing to throw himself on the ground and roll like he was on fire when there was an unfamiliar noise. It pierced through his panicked haze. Tsst-tsst-tsst. It sounded like a pill bottle being shaken softly. It happened again. Then: hsssss. The Crowdent on his back stopped struggling. Nik was unable to move. There was a flash of green out of the corner of his eye, the Crowdent on his back yowled and spat and then let him go and scurried away. Nik turned around to face his savior. He was panting heavily. Adrenaline and fear were still coursing through his body with enough potency to kickstart the heart of a Snorlax. “Was that… was that you… Anna? I really owe you… on--AAAGH!” Nik screamed and stumbled backwards so fast he fell on his butt and was forced to continue scooting away with his hands. The creature behind him was a snake. A big, bright green snake, with an angular head and huge yellow eyes. A forked pink tongue slithered in and out of its mouth so fast that Nik struggled to identify it at first. “Where did you come from?! What even are you? Do you live in the warehouse too? Do you want me to turn the flashlight off? I’ll turn the friggin’ flashlight off!” The rest of his rambling slipped into full-blown Greek that only Anna would somewhat understand, a string of swears and panic that was only vaguely coherent. The snake slithered closer to him. Nik froze again, turning into a statue. Grissy slithered up his arm and coiled part of the way around it, head and neck dangling off and staring at him from an inverted angle. Another Crowdent approached. Grissy tensed coiled further up Nik’s arm so that his sharp, angular head was the right way up, and stared down the Crowdent with his huge piercing eyes. His tongue flickered out, and his tail rattled softly again. Once. Twice. The same way it had before. “Are you… are you protecting me?” he forced out through gritted teeth. He flinched when the snake turned to make eye contact with him. The piercing effect of the creature’s gaze faded immediately. Nik realized with a start what was going on. “You’re… you’re one of the professor’s Pokémon?” Grissy stared back with those huge unblinking, unnerving eyes. Nik shuddered. “I guess… I guess that means you’ll be my partner?” He tried to sound more excited than he was. Grissy was so… so… inhuman. Hard to read. It was nothing like the cute little creature his sister had brought home. Grissy flicked his tongue out across his nose and swayed his head from side-to-side. He coiled a little tighter around Nik’s arm. “Is that… is that a yes?” The sound of battle and Lini shouting a command brought Nik back to his surroundings. “Oh. Oh crap! We gotta help them! Quick, snake, use, uhh… Just help Anna!” Nik pointed the arm the creature wasn’t coiled around at the professor’s assistant. Grissy seemed to recognize the name. Long, leafy green appendages grew out of somewhere Nik couldn’t make out and reached across to swat at a handful of the rodents clinging to the girl. Nik smiled nervously at Grissy. “Good, uh, good job?”

The battle was turning in their favor. Nate could recognize the signs of a tired Pokémon; fatigue was surprisingly consistent across species. Even a human boxer expressed most of the same signs of being on their last legs. “He’s on the ropes, guys,” Nate shouted. “Just a bit more! We’ve got this!” A little green bubble he had never seen before slid between Normandie and the charging Malamar and used a Protect. The Tackle bounced harmlessly off of the barrier. Peat growled when he saw the Solosis. “Seems like he’s with Bridget bud. It’s alright,” Nate assured his companion. Peat stopped growling but his fur remained bristly and his eyes were focused on the Malamar. He had never been in such an extended fight with a powerful enemy. “Just a bit more,” Nate repeated. He turned his attention to the battle. “Good job Bridget!” Nate shouted loud enough to be heard over the melee. “Follow Normandie, Peat! Go in with a Scratch!” Peat sloshed through the water with ease and charged toward Malamar. His fur was still glossy and clean; Nate made a note somewhere in the back of his head that it must have some property that caused water and grime to not stick to it well. “Now! Go low!” Peat dove forward and scratched at the Malamar’s lower half. There was no way he could escape both attacks.

Nikolaos had decided that he was the stupidest person in Lemu. He was a complete and utter dunce. His spirit Pokémon was a Dunsparce—no, Dudunsparce—and even amongst his dopey kindred, he was particularly empty-headed. Stupid. Stupid. How could I miss a thing as obvious as that? What am I gonna tell Vasia? Sorry I couldn’t come and find you, I was dumb and failed my journey on my very first day. How? Oh I just ignored all of the stuff you ever taught me. A little kid would have done better. To understand what had caused such a revelation, though, one would have to turn the clock back a few minutes. “Chomper is awesome!” Nik crowed. He swooped in and leaned as close as he dared to the Totodile. “He looks tough. Is he native to Galar? Have you ever battled together before?” His amber eyes were alight with awe and, to a lesser degree, envy. “I hope my starter is half as cool as Chomper.” He had wanted to ask more questions about Chomper when one of the girls collapsed. She treated the whole ordeal like it was totally normal for her, not even bothering to roll over so that her face wasn’t smooshed against the floor. “Hey. Uh, Chi, Aki, uhh… is the desu part of your nickname? Or was that separate? Because you kinda paused between the two.” Nik used his flashlight to start rummaging in his backpack for some pre-packaged snacks he had tucked away. “Are you okay? Do you need help? Is it a blood sugar thing or something? I have some snacks with sugar in them. You can have them if you want.” His hand was still shoved into his backpack when Dahlia approached. Nik frowned. That was the girl that had jumped to blaming him for abandoning Anna. “I’m not causing her any trouble,” he said defensively. Even to his own ears it sounded petulant. “I’m being careful not to point it where it will blind anyone. The dark is a danger too, you know. Someone could trip and break an arm or a leg. But if it bothers you I can turn it down. It’s adjustable,” Nik twisted the cap near the end of the metal flashlight counter-clockwise and the light dimmed considerably. “Happy?” Dahlia gave him a thumbs-down and walked away. Nik rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and muttered something rude in Greek under his breath before he went back to rummaging through his bag, triumphantly pulling out a package of peanut butter crackers just as Dahlia started to introduce herself. She was apparently a performer. A street magician. Nik had questions he wanted to ask, but he was too stung by her attitude and repeated attempts to make him look bad to put voice to them. He was a performer too. He had made some of the money he used to put towards his journey by playing on street corners and singing popular songs. That was exactly where the money for his flashlight had come from. He would have assumed they had a lot in common, but she was more than happy to throw him to the Woofes. Did I do something to her? Was it some kind of cultural boundary I overstepped? Am I just being too sensitive? Nik was glad when Linni the psychic released a munna that she called Pinky. It was a welcome distraction. “A service Pokémon to help you master your powers?” He wasn’t a very learned person. School was hardly his favorite subject, and the feeling was mutual if his test scores were anything to go by, but even he knew that service Pokémon were hard to get. There was a whole process that involved proving to the government that one was needed and also that they were properly trained. Once the process was done, that Pokémon had a lot of privileges that a normal one lacked. Access to Pokémon resisted areas. A pass to travel through most international borders. Nik shook his head. “Being psychic must be a lot harder than I thought. I always figured it was just cool powers and no drawbacks. Glad to know the secret of my underwear is safe at least, I guess.” Chomper and Pinky tensed and moved in front of Shawn and Linni. Nik blinked, shocked. He recognized a danger response when he saw one. “What’s going o-” Anna sucked in a deep breath and then cut him off. Her tone was even, but he could still see how tense she was. Nik watched her leave and walk into the darkness. She started to talk to nothing. Again. She had done that several times on the trip to the city. Nik was beginning to wonder if she was crazy. She was saying something about not hurting… someone? It was hard to hear. Then something about the light. His irritation flared again, unsure why his flashlight of all things was such a contentious subject. The moment that made him realize he was such a dunce struck. He heard something the moment after Anna stopped talking. Faint, easy to miss, but when he really strained his ears he could make it out. Squeaking. Chittering. Nik gasped. He knew that noise. Crowdent. It was just a pest. They got into houses and had to be removed by traps or by being caught, but they weren’t a threat. They were scaredy-rats on their own. The only time Crowdent would pose a problem was if they had formed a swarm. Which never happened domestically. It only happened in… in… "Come on, listen to me. Wait, no, hey, turn off the light—" Something slammed into Anna and knocked her into the ground. That was the moment Nik decided he was a total dunce. Of course this warehouse has a Crowdent infestation. Anna tried to warn me. Even Dahlia realized something was wrong and she isn’t even from here. I’m supposed to be the one that knows this area, but all I did was make everything worse. Nik was frozen. His flashlight hung limply at his side, still casting a dim beam of light forward toward where Anna had fallen. The pack of crackers slipped from his grip. This is my fault. I have to fix this. I can’t let everyone else get hurt because I’m stupid. What would Vasia do? Dahlia tried to bludgeon a few Crowdent away with an umbrella. Several more leapt onto her and pulled her to the ground. Come on! Think! Vasia would say that all the best trainers would make the best of a bad situation. Know your environment so that you can avoid danger. Not like that helps now. I shoulda been paying attention. Nik growled and slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead hard enough that it broke skin. What else did she say? Improvise. Use what you have. All I have is this dumb flashlight. I don’t even have a Pokémon yet. Getting a Pokémon is why I came here. Gah! Why did Anna not hand them out yet?! Nik jolted like he had been hit by a super-effective Thunderbolt attack. “I’m so stupid! Anna, where are the Pokémon the professor promised to hand out? Please tell me you brought them!” “Oh! Yeah, they’re right here in my bag!” She shouted from somewhere in the darkness. “We have to get to them! Crowdent are cowards! They’ll run if you have enough Pokémon out!” Nik hadn’t wanted to admit before that part of the reason he had been so quick to pull out his flashlight was that the dark scared him. It wasn’t a phobia, but it made him uncomfortable. A lot of the Pokémon that dwelled in the dark did too. They were just so… different. Unlike any of the daytime Pokémon. They scurried and scavenged and hid. They were attracted to messes and superstition said they carried all kinds of diseases. He knew that had been disproved, but the connotation was still there. No time like the present to suck it up. I need to get over it anyways. Vasia always said that there were plenty of awesome nocturnal Pokémon. Nik shucked his bouzouki case off his back and put it on the ground between the two people with Pokémon. “Hey. Watch this please. It’s really important to me.” Nik said loud enough for Shawn and Linni to hear. He didn’t wait for a response. He turned and cranked his flashlight all the way up to max. The beam of light tripled in intensity, shining all the way to the other wall of the warehouse. It revealed a swarm of Crowdent rushing toward him. His hand shook, but he pointed it directly at the group. The bright light caused them to hiss and spit and stumble, freezing. “Cover me, if you can!” Nik shouted. His stomach churned. His skin prickled up into goosebumps. You caused this. Fix it. A good trainer cleans up his messes. He summoned all of his courage and rushed forward, toward the Crowdent swarm. At the last possible second he jumped and soared completely over the swarm he had stunned. A second later they recovered and turned to chase after him. One of them jumped for him and Nik swatted it away with his flashlight, sending it sailing across the warehouse. He kept moving toward Anna without stopping. He knew that if he stopped his legs would quit working.

Peat surged and convulsed from the unseen psychic assault. Nate grit his teeth and his hands balled into fists, a hot and unfamiliar feeling burning in his chest. He loved every Pokémon he had ever met. He thought they all looked awesome. He wanted to know the environment they lived in, the role they played in that environment, the mythology and all the rumors that circulated around their existence. Nate had never met a Pokémon he didn’t like. Watching his beloved starter seize from a mental attack had him awfully close to not liking this one though. “Peat! Nate shouted. The Bearble turned his head toward his trainer, tongue hanging out as he struggled for breath. “Hang tough buddy. This is almost over, I promise. Just give it one more good Bubble!” Nate knew that if Bubble slowed again it might be terrible for them, but he had run through the risk assessment already. Malamar was showing signs of pain and they needed to hit it with their strongest attacks, and Peat’s Bubble was far stronger than his Scratch. Peat sucked in a deep breath and then let out a high-pitched roar in the direction of the Malamar. A loosely packed stream of bubbles flowed from his mouth, moving toward the Malamar at an angle that would intercept it before it hit Normandie.

Anna doubled down on blaming him and accused him of leaving her behind in the rain. Which… isn’t… the furthest thing from the truth. Nikolaos looked away from her sheepishly. “I thought you were behind me. Honest.” He mustered his courage and met her gaze. “But that doesn’t mean this is my fault! There is no way you were two hours late because of me! You probably ran off after another Pokémon! And you never even said this is where you were going!” He was saved from the conversation by the fallen boy rejecting his hand and getting to his feet on his own. Nik frowned and let his hand drop back to his side. “Just trying to help, fílos,” he said. His amber eyes followed the grumpy boy’s frantic gestures to the now de-hinged door of the warehouse. “Huh? Of course it didn’t come off on its own. That sleepy-eyed girl from Borya Town used her psychic powers to knock it down.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Psychic powers were very rare, but they were far from the craziest thing someone could have. “She isn’t reading our minds though. At least as far as I can tell. She didn’t react when I thought about my underwear.” He smiled at said sleepy-eyed girl when she invited them inside. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” Nik followed Anna into the building. Most everyone else seemed to shuffle in not long after him, but it was too dark for him to be sure. “Well, I think I already told most of you, but my name is Nikolaos. I’m from Carpho Town nearby. And,” there was the sound of fabric ruffling in the darkness. Then… Light! Nik appeared at the center of it, holding a heavy-duty flashlight. “I brought a flashlight! I actually brought two, just in case, but the other one is a little keychain light. This one is supposed to be like 40,000 lumens or something and last for 12 hours.”

Nikolaos ran after the departing trio before they could get very far. “Hey! Wait up!” He stopped when he caught up to them and smiled. “You guys said you’re staying at Hotel Atlantica, right?” “Yeah,” Isaac replied with a smile. “What’s up?” "I'll try to send a message to the front desk for you when the professor finally gets here. Just in case you want to come back. It's only like an 8 minute trip if you hurry. The professor is a good guy. He wouldn't stand us up, I promise." Isaac cast him a look. “Man, I’ll be real with you. At this point, I don’t want anything to do with the professor. He can keep his reward. Thanks anyway, though.” The others nodded their agreement. “Ah, yeah,” Nik pushed his soaking hair back out of his face. “I don’t blame you. This rain really is something else, and, uh…” he looked back at the girl from Borya Town who was currently trying to bash the door down with her freaking mind. “Things are starting to get kind of crazy here.” Nik gave a farewell salute. “Was nice meeting you all! Order some avgolemono soup from the kitchen when you get back to your room. It’ll chase the chill out of your bones faster than a Fire-type.” “Yeeeah,” Isaac drawled the word out. “Not sure I want to stick around for that. I’ll try it though, thanks for the recommendation. Hope I see you around!” He waved before continuing to walk back. Reina gave one last glance at Selini and shook her head before leaving as well. Qadir just turned and left. Nikolaos shouldered his carrying case and walked back toward the waiting group. Most of his attention was on the girl from Borya Town he had spoken with before, who had not mentioned in their conversation she was apparently a PSYCHIC. Which to be honest he thought was fair. It wasn’t exactly something he would tell just anyone if he had been born a psychic. A lot of superstition surrounded the whole thing and people tended to treat psychics differently once they learned about them. Hey. Heeyyyyy. HEY! Can you hear this? Are you reading my mind? Helloooo! I’m wearing pink boxers with moons and little howling Woofes on them right now! Nikolaos watched the girl closely to see if she reacted, but if she had been reading his mind, she was a great actor. She continued to mentally rail against the warehouse door. The frame was giving way though. It was bending, and then, just as it was about to give way, Nik heard a familiar voice shouting. “Anna?” Nik spun around just in time to see the cotton-candy haired girl slam into the boy from Galar he had been talking with earlier, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Behind him he distantly heard the sound of the warehouse door slamming into the ground. The whole situation was rapidly devolving into chaos. It only got worse once the street magician from Kalos helped the girl up and the two quickly came to the conclusion that—”You’re gonna blame me?!” Flabbergasted was not a word that Nik used lightly. Mostly because he thought it was a very silly word, and he couldn’t say it with a straight face, but also because it was not an emotional state that came over him with any frequency. His day-to-day life was usually a very predictable thing. Nik was utterly flabbergasted. He was so shocked that when his hair fell past his bandana into his face and became a soggy red curtain that blocked his vision, he barely noticed. “What did I do?” His experience traveling with Anna had been confusing from start to finish. She had stopped them both to chat with wild Pokémon no less than three separate times. “I started running when the rain started and then when I looked back, you had disappeared! I thought—” Nikolaos shook his head like a wet dog and sent tiny drops of water scattering in every direction. “That isn’t important right now. Are you okay man?” Nik walked over and crouched down to offer Shawn his hand, his expression kind and concerned. “Here, take my hand. That was a nasty fall.”

Nikolaos stared up at the fat rainclouds above him with a smile. His jacket—one of a handful of things he had splurged on with his savings in preparation for his upcoming journey—was one of the expensive brands that marketed to trainers and was water-resistant and insulated. It did an admirable job of fighting off the chill that many of the other trainers were surely feeling, but water-resistant was not waterproof, and the rain had long since soaked through his jacket and into his t-shirt and jeans. He had styled his hair so that he would look cool when he met all the foreign trainers and travelers, but all the hair products had been washed out and now it hung over his bandana like the shaggy coat of a Stoutland. The only things not drenched were the sleek back carrying case that was slung across his back, protecting his beloved bouzouki from the elements, and his army green Pokémon League backpack. Those were the other two things he had splurged on for his journey, and they were waterproof. Still, his spirits were high. He continued to smile defiantly at the sky. Not even the Fates would rob him of his good mood that day. The world itself had been aligned against him starting his journey. His Mom’s car had broken down and forced him to make the three day journey to Khalk Harbor on foot. One of his neighbors had volunteered to escort him, since they had a Pokémon, but when they had been setting up camp at the halfway point between the two settlements they had received an emergency call and been forced to rush off. Nik made the rest of the journey by himself. Some of it was relaxing. He played his bouzouki and sang the first day, which had caught the attention of a pretty girl with two-toned hair and a smile that made his stomach flip. The nervous that came with being around pretty girls died not longer after she started talking, though. They traveled together for some time before they got separated. The third day it started to rain. He put away his bouzouki and ran the rest of the way into the city, making it to the meeting point the professor had given breathless with only a few minutes to spare. He had been worried that they would leave him behind. Two hours had passed since that point. His worry had faded. The ache in his side and his legs from his mad dash into town faded. Many people’s interest had faded and they had wandered off. Really, the only thing that hadn’t seemed to lose interest was the rain. Nikolaos had distracted himself by chatting with anyone and everyone that would listen. “Where are you from?” He asked anyone he thought was foreign. “Oh that’s awesome! I hear the weather there is a lot different. Is it true that—” What followed was a toss-up between a real, serious question about the environment, culture, or local Pokémon, or a completely insane question that to anyone local to whatever area they were discussing would sound totally absurd. The most recent person he had been talking with, a boy with dark skin and cropped hair that had been from Unova, had gotten bored and left not long before. Several of the people remaining were discussing doing the same. “I’m gonna stay,” Nik said firmly. His fingers drummed a tune against his thigh, a sign of his own restlessness. Still he smiled at the others. It looked somewhat comical with his wet hair hanging limply in his face and blocking his eyes. “It’s not like we can get anymore wet, right?”

Nate spotted the difference in speed instantly. Bubble should have slowed it down. Why did it get faster? Nate wracked his brain for any reason the effect of a move would have been reversed, but he was drawing a blank. His brain was cycling through battle strategies and plans to defeat the Malamar. There was no processing power left to dig through his memories and try to find the answer he was looking for. “Peat! Dodge to the left!” Just like the battle with the Rattata that had spammed Quick Attack, Nate’s familiarity with motion and movement let him warn Peat a moment before the Malamar was upon him. Peat threw himself to the side and the Malamar stumbled past where he had been a moment before. Nate grinned. “Good job bud! Now Tackle him before he can throw Artur off! We gotta keep the pressure up!” Peat glided through the murky water beneath him like he was on solid land, launching himself at the Malamar with a growl.

Jukebox Hero

hi 1. local but am fine with non-local too 2. fakemon 3. darker, but i don't love anything dark just for the sake of it

Psychic-type Pokémon had a presence that was distinct from any other type that Nate had met. His reaction time was fast. Trained. He had been slipping punches and returning jabs since he had first learned to walk—with no exaggeration—so it was only natural that his reflexes were as sharp as a Scyther’s arms. Yet something about the presence of a Psychic-type weighed on him. With something like an Abra it was very light, a gentle breeze in his head, but whatever creature he was facing now felt like a barbell crashing into his skull. He had barely registered what it was he was staring at before a battle had started. Artur and Casseopia charged into battle with the Malamar. That must have meant Bridget and Quinn were nearby. Nate knew they would need his help. Peat was strong. The three of them together could fend off the Malar. All he had to do was issue a command…but his mouth wasn’t working. In fact, his body felt very heavy. It was a struggle to keep his eyelids open. Must have… done… something… he realized. Psychic-attack… The boxer would have fallen asleep if a wet nose hadn’t suddenly pressed into his bare leg, cold and prodding. A sound between a growl and a bark followed it. Once. Twice. BAM! Something smacked into Nate. He stumbled and fell, the murky water completely covering his face. A second passed. Two, then three. Peat had just started to worriedly poke around in the bog when Nate exploded out of the water with a gasp. “Blegh! Thanks, bud! Really needed that!” He saw Quinn and Bridget and ran over to them, throwing water haphazardly. “I’m good now! Peat, we gotta pull our weight too! Bubble!” The little Bearble waddled up to his side and launched a thin barrage of bubbles at the charging Malamar.

Nate and Peat rushed into the water of the marsh without hesitation. The water went up to Nate’s ankles, soaking into his sneakers and socks. The mud beneath clung to his shoes like it was reluctant to relinquish him. Nate bulled forward. Peat, beside him, cut through the water with far more grace than he usually had on land. He barked and smiled and raced past Nate. “Oh no ya don’t!” the trainer shouted, pulling a burst of speed he hadn’t had a moment before. Wild Pokémon scattered into cover as the two raced by. Nathan was not a perceptive man on his best days, but even he might have noticed how the amount of Pokémon dropped severely the closer they got to the statue, if he hadn’t been so distracted. “Ha! Caught ya!” Nate was winded when he caught up to Peat. “Not as fast as ya thought, are ya, bud--bud? Peat?” Peat had stopped running. His teeth were bared and he was staring ahead at the statue in the marsh. It was probably only a few yards in front of them now. It was much more interesting up close; towering over the area and chiseled with the skill of someone that had obviously been a master of their craft. Nate felt the sudden urge to touch the statue. Which wasn’t that weird. His Mom had told him a thousand times throughout his life that he didn’t need to touch everything when he went to the store, but he lived in the physical world. His senses were driven by touch. He hadn’t ever felt the need to touch a statue though. He could guess how they felt. Smooth. Cold. Wet, in the case of the statue before him. Still, his Pokémon had stopped for a reason. Peat seemed unwilling to move even a step closer. “Wait right there, bud,” Nate said, moving toward the statue. “I won’t be long. I just… I just need to look. To get my hands on it. What if it has something to do with that rare Pokémon we heard about?” Peat gave him a look that he interpreted to be uncomfortable, skeptical, but he barked again and took a fighting stance. Nate usually trusted Peat. He trusted the instincts of Pokémon more than he did his own. They were connected to the world in a way that humans could never hope to be; more than one trainer had lost their lives by not listening to the Pokémon around them. But something was calling him forward. A tugging in his thoughts that demanded he investigate. “I’ll be right back.” Nate jogged toward the statue.