Pokémon Canis's Bingo Drabbles

[canisaries]

edit: this thread will now include bingos from the sixth anniversary as well (2025), and presumably future ones after that.

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hi! these are my drabbles for the fifth anniversary bingo! i specifically made myself take the challenge to practice casual, less-than-perfect writing, so they may be rough, but i do think they have neat ideas.

this first one's prompt was:

According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest. - Phantump, Pokemon X

it's also the most gruesome of these with... well, i can't say without spoiling it. i will call it mature, though, so be prepared. it is about 900 words, so i guess long for a "drabble", per se, but not long for a story at all. enjoy!

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Phantump

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Walking through the forest at night was always so invigorating for Stella. The darkness surrounding her and the calls of the nocturnal pokémon set off warnings signals in a primal part of her brain, something that was only thrilling to her higher self. It was the same as watching a horror movie, but better.

Of course, it helped to know she was safe. With her luxray Thundra by her side, no wild mon in this part of the woods would dare try anything funny. The large cat also took care of illuminating the ground underneath their feet with her yellow stripes, sparing them from any nasty trips on the roots snaking across the forest floor. Stella did still bring her flashlight along to be able to look at things further away in case she came across any wild murkrow or the like.

After a while of walking, Stella noticed Thundra slowing down.

“Ray…” the luxray growled. She stared at something a little to the left in the distance, her eyes lighting up as she used her special sight.

“What is it?” Stella asked, stopping. She tried pointing her flashlight at whatever Thundra was looking at, but she saw only trees and the forest path. Maybe whatever was there was hiding behind a trunk.

“Ray!” Thundra barked, her hackles raised.

Stella sighed, smiling. Thundra could get so serious about protecting her even when the threat was nothing but a murkrow. Though this probably wasn’t one, given how Thundra’s eyes were focused on something not too far off the ground. Maybe it was a buneary instead.

“It’s alright, you can come out,” Stella called out, not too loud, not too quiet. “We won’t hurt you.” Even if Thundra looked like she would.

It took a while, but eventually something peeked out from behind a tree. It looked like…

“That’s a… what was it? A phantump?” Stella said, her heart beating faster at the brand new discovery. “Don’t they live in Kalos? What’s one doing here?”

“Phan…” the little ghost wailed. And it was little indeed - Stella was sure the footage she’d seen of phantump had them be bigger than this, about forty centimeters in height. This one looked like it was only twenty. It must have been born recently.

“Don’t be afraid, little guy,” Stella said. “Come on. I wanna log you on my pokédex. Everyone will be jealous.”

The phantump hesitated, but soon found its confidence and began floating closer.

“Yes, that’s it,” Stella said, grinning. She slowly reached into her pocket with her free hand, pulled out a red device and opened it. The phantump paused, unsure of this development, but quickly continued.

“Aaalmost there…” said Stella as the pokédex’s camera flickered a frame around the phantump’s image, struggling to recognize it before it finally succeeded. It correctly identified it as a phantump, and the screen prompted the user to continue to see more information. “Yes!” she whisper-yelled and tucked the flashlight under her arm to free up a hand. She tapped on the screen to advance, and the summary of the species appeared.

Species: Phantump
Category: Stump Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Grass

According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest.

“Huh. Morbid,” said Stella, then shut the device and pocketed it to be able to hold her flashlight right again. “So what’s your story?” she asked the little ghost. “Did you get separated from your trainer?”

“Phan…” the mon wailed. It brought its nubby arms together and looked at the ground pensively.

“Do you… understand speech?”

“Phan…” the mon wailed again.

Stella didn’t get the impression that it understood. “Well… what should we do with you, then?”

The phantump started backing away. It turned around as it floated further, but it kept looking back, as if to say…

“You want us to follow you?” Stella asked. “Sure.”

She began to follow the phantump, and the phantump clapped its hands, though no sound came from it. Still, it seemed happy with the development. Stella was happy, too. This was exciting!

“Ray,” interjected Thundra. She took a few leaping steps forward, putting herself between her human and the phantump, and then continued walking. Stella snorted. Always so protective.

After a minute or so of silent walking, Stella noticed that Thundra was sniffing the air.

“Do you smell something?” she asked.

“Ray,” Thundra grunted. A ‘be on your guard’ kind of grunt. Huh.

Stella was, then, on her guard, though she saw or heard nothing out of the ordinary. It was only once they reached an opening with a worn-down shack that there was anything special to pay attention to.

“Is this where you live?” Stella asked. The phantump stared blankly at her, and she felt stupid. “Right. No point in asking questions if you can’t understand me.”

The ghost continued leading them through the opening, then around the shack. The moment Thundra turned the corner, though, she froze, eyes wide and focused on something on the ground.

“What?” asked Stella, the back of the shack still out of sight.

Thundra turned to her and barked. “Ray!”

“What is it?” Stella asked again, her heartbeat picking up. Thundra was clearly distressed. What could she have seen? The phantump seemed calmer, though… or was it… pensive?

Swallowing, Stella took the final steps and peeked behind the corner, illuminating the ground with her flashlight.

The light fell on the bloody, dismembered corpse of a child.

---

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, I was in the mood for some light reading tonight, so I decided to poke my head in for one of your shorter pieces, and figured that I’d give this one a shot. Which based on the description, uh… sounds like it goes places in the span of 900 words, so let’s see where that goes.

Phantump

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

Walking through the forest at night was always so invigorating for Stella. The darkness surrounding her and the calls of the nocturnal pokémon set off warnings signals in a primal part of her brain, something that was only thrilling to her higher self. It was the same as watching a horror movie, but better.

Which feels like a bad high to be chasing in a mature-rated work, but you do you, Stella.

Of course, it helped to know she was safe. With her luxray Thundra by her side, no wild mon in this part of the woods would dare try anything funny. The large cat also took care of illuminating the ground underneath their feet with her yellow stripes, sparing them from any nasty trips on the roots snaking across the forest floor. Stella did still bring her flashlight along to be able to look at things further away in case she came across any wild murkrow or the like.

Wait, Luxray can do that canonically with those yellow bits on its fur? TIL.

After a while of walking, Stella noticed Thundra slowing down.

“Ray…” the luxray growled. She stared at something a little to the left in the distance, her eyes lighting up as she used her special sight.

Oh, so Pokémon in this setting have anime-style speech. That’s a bit different than what i’m normally used to from your writings, but duly noted.

“What is it?” Stella asked, stopping. She tried pointing her flashlight at whatever Thundra was looking at, but she saw only trees and the forest path. Maybe whatever was there was hiding behind a trunk.

“Ray!” Thundra barked, her hackles raised.

Stella sighed, smiling. Thundra could get so serious about protecting her even when the threat was nothing but a murkrow. Though this probably wasn’t one, given how Thundra’s eyes were focused on something not too far off the ground. Maybe it was a buneary instead.

Ah yes, getting in a cute little nod at how Luxray use their X-Ray vision for hunting, I see.

“It’s alright, you can come out,” Stella called out, not too loud, not too quiet. “We won’t hurt you.” Even if Thundra looked like she would.

It took a while, but eventually something peeked out from behind a tree. It looked like…

“That’s a… what was it? A phantump?” Stella said, her heart beating faster at the brand new discovery. “Don’t they live in Kalos? What’s one doing here?”

Oh, well. There’s the titular ‘mon of this drabble.

“Phan…” the little ghost wailed. And it was little indeed - Stella was sure the footage she’d seen of phantump had them be bigger than this, about forty centimeters in height. This one looked like it was only twenty. It must have been born recently.

Um… considering the way that Ghostmons are born in some of your stories and the given rating…

“Don’t be afraid, little guy,” Stella said. “Come on. I wanna log you on my pokédex. Everyone will be jealous.”

The phantump hesitated, but soon found its confidence and began floating closer.

“Yes, that’s it,” Stella said, grinning. She slowly reached into her pocket with her free hand, pulled out a red device and opened it. The phantump paused, unsure of this development, but quickly continued.

Thundra is still

-ing at the Phantump the entire time, isn’t she?

“Aaalmost there…” said Stella as the pokédex’s camera flickered a frame around the phantump’s image, struggling to recognize it before it finally succeeded. It correctly identified it as a phantump, and the screen prompted the user to continue to see more information.

“Yes!” she whisper-yelled and tucked the flashlight under her arm to free up a hand. She tapped on the screen to advance, and the summary of the species appeared.

IMO, this paragraph is big enough that it should be cut up into at least two pieces, potentially three. I opted for 2 in my particular suggestion.

Species: Phantump
Category: Stump Pokémon
Type: Ghost/Grass

According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest.

Oh, well. I think I already am getting ideas of why this drabble is rated mature.

“Huh. Morbid,” said Stella, then shut the device and pocketed it to be able to hold her flashlight right again. “So what’s your story?” she asked the little ghost. “Did you get separated from your trainer?”

“Phan…” the mon wailed. It brought its nubby arms together and looked at the ground pensively.

“Do you… understand speech?”

“Phan…” the mon wailed again.

Stella: “... Is that a maybe?” ^^;

Stella didn’t get the impression that it understood. “Well… what should we do with you, then?”

The phantump started backing away. It turned around as it floated further, but it kept looking back, as if to say…

“You want us to follow you?” Stella asked. “Sure.”

She began to follow the phantump, and the phantump clapped its hands, though no sound came from it. Still, it seemed happy with the development. Stella was happy, too. This was exciting!

“Ray,” interjected Thundra. She took a few leaping steps forward, putting herself between her human and the phantump, and then continued walking. Stella snorted. Always so protective.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Stella. Especially considering the author’s notes for this drabble.

After a minute or so of silent walking, Stella noticed that Thundra was sniffing the air.

“Do you smell something?” she asked.

“Ray,” Thundra grunted. A ‘be on your guard’ kind of grunt. Huh.

Stella: “Thundra, what on earth’s gotten into you?”

Stella was, then, on her guard, though she saw or heard nothing out of the ordinary. It was only once they reached an opening with a worn-down shack that there was anything special to pay attention to.

“Is this where you live?” Stella asked. The phantump stared blankly at her, and she felt stupid. “Right. No point in asking questions if you can’t understand me.”

The ghost continued leading them through the opening, then around the shack. The moment Thundra turned the corner, though, she froze, eyes wide and focused on something on the ground.

Oh, that’s not a good sign there. .-.

“What?” asked Stella, the back of the shack still out of sight.

Thundra turned to her and barked. “Ray!”

“What is it?” Stella asked again, her heartbeat picking up. Thundra was clearly distressed. What could she have seen? The phantump seemed calmer, though… or was it… pensive?

Swallowing, Stella took the final steps and peeked behind the corner, illuminating the ground with her flashlight.

The light fell on the bloody, dismembered corpse of a child.

Well, then. Newly born Phantump indeed.

Well, that drabble certainly went places. Like it definitely deserved that mature rating, but it did a good job at building up to the reveal. I actually wonder if this is meant to tie in to another work of yours, since it certainly feels like you deal with similar themes and tone in some of your more well-known stories. I thought that you did a good job at playing around with Pokédex fluff, both for Phantump, and for Luxray through Thundra’s behavior and mannerisms, which felt true to what the ‘dex had to say to both while feeling natural.

For weaknesses, I admittedly don’t have too many since this story was written under the express aims of being short and to the point and it’s fairly well-put together, with the only mechanical quibble I had being one paragraph where I felt it might have worked better formatted as two smaller ones that can easily be brushed off as “my style, my rules”. I guess it’d have been nice to have the moment of tension as things start to take a darker turn in the story last a little longer, but I suppose that very well have defeated what you were aiming for for the story’s length, so I can’t knock it that hard.

Hope the feedback was helpful, @canisaries . I don’t know if you ever plan on uploading those other drabbles(?) you alluded to have writing since this thread was last bumped in May, but if they’re as put-together as this one, I’m sure that you’d get eyes on them.

 

[NebulaDreams]

So, this took quite the left turn. It was interesting to read more of your mainline Pokémon works after the contest one-shot, since your writing style translates nicely to that sort of worldbuilding. You play a lot of the concepts in that world straight while doing more with it and exploring those concepts further, which I like.

Same with this Phantump drabble. Despite being quite a short story, there was plenty to chew on in terms of its message, which seems to be ‘curiosity killed the cat’. I found the trainer to be quite in over her head, meddling in affairs she doesn’t understand against just because of her thrill-seeking tendencies. Her fascination with the Phantump is less concerned with the tragedy of its existence and more because she wants to experience this cool thing.

I felt for Thundra who was just trying to protect her trainer the whole time. And those fears are justified in the ending line.

The ending could’ve easily felt like a creepypasta-esque ass pull, but I like the twist because of how it stays true to Phantump’s Pokédex entry, and the implications that follow. The only thing that bothered me was that the ending line could’ve had more punch. It doesn’t give me much of an idea of how the kid died, and I wish there was more implied detail for me to draw my own conclusions as to how it happened. For all I know, a Ursaring could’ve pulled him apart like taffy, or the work of a serial killer, which seems like the edgiest conclusion to draw.

Maybe it was Red Akai all along.

Anyway, good job, and I hope you do more drabbles! I could see this being in an anthology of Pokémon stories with cautionary tales of trainers or Pokémon who meet unfortunate ends.

 

[canisaries]

hey hey hey! it seems that i did not end up writing more than one bingo drabble in 2024 despite having ideas for multiple, but that's okay. i have a much better feeling about the 2025 ones since i've been practicing writing with standards lower than the sky-high ones i usually have.

this one's prompt was "running free" on a prompt card with a theme of "mainline pokémon POV", and it's about 950 words. rating is teen with a content warning for pokémon abuse. enjoy!

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Free

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The night is like any other night - cramped, dark and painful with the occasional whimper.

They had taken me out of my cage again. To that table with the strong lights where they would sting me and put me into dreamless sleep. Where I would wake up hurting with another scar on my body.

Old Gray says that they're putting things in me. Old Brown says that they're taking things away. Old Brown makes a better case - she says stunky like me usually have scent glands in their rears. But I've also felt sometimes like there's something under my skin that didn't use to be there…

I like it better when the two elders talk about the Outside. Where the food they give to us when we've been good and obedient grows from the floor or crawls all around. Where the water they give us is pooled in large, large holes in the floor. Where there is no ceiling at all, but an endless blue expanse known as the sky. In the sky, a lamp second to no other, called the sun, travels from corner to corner and brings about darkness with another, dimmer lamp called the moon and countless tinier lamps known as the stars. Sometimes fluffy white things cover these lamps, be it day or night, and water falls from the sky.

In the Outside, everything is colorful instead of white and metallic gray. In the Outside, you are 'free'. That means you can go wherever you want, whenever you want, and there are no cages.

But such a place can't really exist. It's just a lie that the elders have thought of to cheer us younglings up.

I feel tears form in my eyes again. I welcome them. I always feel better after I cry, even if the elders tell me that crying means there's something wrong.

Having sniffled for a moment, though, I begin to hear noises. They are muffled, so they must be coming from the other side of the door.

"What's that?" asks Sixtail's voice.

I listen closer. It sounds like yelling. I have heard yelling before, though. The elders say it's because the ones keeping us here are being scolded by the ones keeping them here.

"It's just the humans arguing again," Bluefur says.

We continue to listen.

"No, no," Old Gray says. "They are… different."

Then, large bangs shake the whole building. There are grunts of pain.

"What is that?" Sixtail shouts, scared. "What's happening?"

"Quiet!" Bluefur hisses. "If they know we're here, they might hurt us, too!"

My heart has begun to beat rapidly. There is shouting again, and it's coming closer. We can hear their footsteps approach…

"Play dead!" someone shouts - I'm too on edge to tell who it was. I'm also too on edge to lie on my back and go limp.

The door's handle is shaken, but it's locked. Then someone says something - and then the door is blasted through with a deafening bang. Light pours in. I freeze.

A human walks in. He's wearing dark blue, nothing like the white or black the other humans have worn. He's holding some kind of black tool in his hands - I think that must be a 'gun'. But guns kill things. Are we going to die?

The human takes a look around, then lowers his tool and shouts. More humans wearing blue come in. They go up to the cages… and start to open them.

No one knows what to do. Should we jump out and run, or will they catch and punish us? Should we refuse to come out, or will they take us out by force and punish us?

One of the humans opens my cage. No. I won't go back to the table again. I will… I will run. I will find a place of safety, where no one can touch me.

I leap out and bolt for the door, surprised I even still know how to run. The humans make noise, and I think Old Gray yells something, but I don't listen. I don't have time to listen. I make it out of the door, into that room that's beyond it. There's another open door, the door that never opened when they were taking me to the table. I go there. There are more humans in blue and they try to catch me, but I'm too quick. I go through another door. The air begins to smell different, better. There are squares on the walls that show a large, dark room with lamps on tall sticks. I somehow understand that that's where I need to go. I find the door that leads there. I run through, deaf to the yelling behind me.

The air has so many smells. The floor is made up of strange, hard pellets that hurt my paws. The lamps illuminate a long stretch of that floor that curves behind the darkness. I keep running along it until I realize that I am probably safer in the darkness, where the humans cannot see me. I turn to the left and dash into the darkness.

The floor becomes soft. It smells like… plants, the green food they give to Longear and others like him. And there are other smells, like the bugs they gave me. It's mouthwatering.

Could this be…

I push through the darkness, weaving in between the towering structures around me, until I come upon an opening. The plants here are much taller. Squeezing my way between them, I feel more hidden, more at ease.

I finally have the time to properly look up.

At first, it's just darkness. Then, I start to see them. The little lamps. The stars.

This is the Outside.

I am free.

---​

 

[canisaries]

another drabble! this one i challenged myself to do in exactly 100 words. the theme was "wild life". rated teen with content warnings for blood, death and verbal child abuse.

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Wild

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The nighttime savannah is quiet. It mourns the six motionless mightyena lying against its ground.

Snakefang pants, her bloodied mane bristled. Her cub cowers behind an acacia tree.

"Ashtail!" Snakefang snaps. "We're going."

Ashtail whimpers and does not want to come out.

Snakefang groans. "Now, you whelp!"

With a yip, the poochyena forces himself into the open. He tries his best not to look at the corpses as he scuttles over to his mother.

"Why…" Ashtail whines. "Why?"

"Mutineers," Snakefang growls. "The pack does not need the likes of them."

Ashtail keeps quiet, but he thinks the words.

What pack?

---​

 

[canisaries]

and here's the final one (i have planned for, anyway) of 2025! theme was "captured!" rated everyone, no content warnings.

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The Great Karara

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The city scrolled underneath Karara as he flew. The park, the residential district, the commercial district. From up so high, he felt like a honchkrow. He was a honchkrow. Not physically, no, not yet, but he would be, wouldn't he? Someone as amazing as he was destined to become the new leader of the flock. Eventually, Rok would see it and yield that title. Sure, Rok always called him a lot of names, but he was just jealous. Jealous of Karara's genius!

Ah, no need to get worked up right now. Karara didn't want to ruin the best part of the day. The part of the day the humans were busiest, and the part of the day Marty, the owner of MartyMart, was busiest. It made it so easy. Really, Karara could do with a challenge!

Karara spotted the right block and descended, perching on top of a streetlight. There were, indeed, lots of people on the street. People entered and left MartyMart quite often, sometimes in groups. Karara waited until one such group was crossing the street, looking to be headed for the store, and then swooped down onto the street behind them. Between their legs, Karara craned his neck to see inside the store - and it looked like Marty wasn't at the counter, but Tim, the lazy teenager with no skills of perception. Perfect!

As the group of humans got close enough to open the automatic doors, Karara's heart beat faster. He didn't know when it would stop beating faster whenever he was stealing - that meant he was nervous, right? He shouldn't be nervous, he knew this was going to work!

Regardless, he pressed on, and the group turned elsewhere, properly revealing the little packages of chips on the low shelf. Karara quickly plunged in and grabbed one into his beak, then turned around and skittered out of the store. He kept going until he'd turned a corner into an alleyway, then cawed triumphantly. Another day, another successful theft!

But once he began pecking at the package to open it… a large bug net descended upon him in a flash. Karara squawked in alarm and tried to fly away on instinct, but it was to no avail.

"Gotcha now, you little thief!" Marty shouted. Karara turned around to see the stocky man grinning maliciously. "Betcha thought you were real smart, huh? Well, I got people interested in smart 'krows. You'll have fun with them!"

Karara understood maybe a fifth of that, but the fifth he understood didn't sound good. It was time for him to execute his secret contingency plan.

"Help!" he called out, mimicking the voice of a little girl in distress. "Bad man! Help!"

"Wh-what are you doing?" Marty said. "Cut that out!"

But Karara kept calling. This gathered an audience at the alleyway's entrance.

"What's that man doing to that bird?" someone asked.

"Hey, cut that out! You can't treat a living thing like that!" another yelled.

"Wh-" Marty turned around. "No, you don't understand! He's a thief!"

Karara took the chance to grab the net by its hard edge and lift it up to slip out. But now the chips were still inside. Oh, would he have time to go back and get them?

"Hey!" Marty shouted, facing Karara again. Apparently not. Karara stumbled into a flight and made his escape. He could hear the people on the ground clapping and Marty growing even angrier.

Once atop a roof, he let out a sigh of relief. No, not of relief. Of course he would escape! He was the Great Karara!

Oh, but wouldn't the Great Karara have managed to save those chips, too…?

Karara shook his head. No. It was on purpose. You see, he had already damaged the package. Marty would not be able to sell it anymore, so he would throw it away, and then Karara could fish it from the trash. Yes, what a genius Karara was!

He took flight again, feeling even more like a honchkrow than before.

---​

 

[JFought]

Hi, here for Catnip to review Free!

Poor stunky :(. The first few paragraphs do a lot to demonstrate the way Stunky struggles to understand the world around them, as well as the kind of small camaraderie between the captive Pokémon formed from their desire to be free. In that way, I think you did a good job with the Pokémon POV here: it's hard not to feel sympathetic with someone suffering horrible conditions for reasons they don't know or understand, and you leverage it well here to help immerse me in Stunky's perspective and trauma. The vagueness in Stunky's understanding keeps my own perspective close and prevents me from being able to put a distance between us. And of course, it all comes to a head in the second half when they get rescued (it looks like the operation got busted by cops?), and I felt happy for them and their freedom.

As for theories on the nature of Stunky's captors... Team Rocket? It definitely sounds like these are scientists being forced to experiment on Pokémon against their will (Team Rocket's favorite passtime), and the mention of "black" outfits does point towards that.

Good job! It was a nice little story and fit the prompt well.

 

[canisaries]

I'm back for 2026! This time, my prompt card was for "Pokémon types", and this particular oneshot's prompt was "The Long Memory of Ghosts". It's maybe not exactly 1:1 to the theme name, but I think it's close enough.

No content warnings for this one outside maybe implied Pokémon death (through predation). Enjoy!

---

Ancient Things​

Lowtide floated on a hill overlooking a museum.

The museum, yes. She was sure of it. This had to be the building she'd heard talk of, where ancient things were gathered and put on display. There were images of skeletons on the sign outside it, which was how she was told this place was marked. Outside the human scrawlings that probably told the humans even more, that was.

It was the dead of night, though like all ghosts, Lowtide could see just fine. The museum had no lights outside one that flashed every now and then. A guard, thought Lowtide, or maybe many. She would have to be careful not to be caught. Who knew what the humans would do with her if they found her.

Well, she couldn't let that deter her.

The dreepy floated down the hill and up to a window. No guard there at that moment. Quickly, she phased through and listened for steps. There were some, but they were receding. Relieved, she began to look around.

There certainly were skeletons. Though they weren't white. They were brown and looked like rock. Did skeletons turn into rock when they got old enough? Lowtide didn't know how, but she supposed there was still a lot for her to learn about the world.

None of these skeletons looked familiar, though. She floated on to another hallway.

Here… she saw something that made her pause.

In a raised platform covered by that human thing called glass, there were the remains-turned-rock of several pokémon that she swore she'd seen before. Before before, and not in her current life.

That convex carapace with two concavities on the back… yes, she was sure of it, these were those things that crawled on the ocean floor. They molted constantly, and when they were new and soft, they were easy to eat. But the things they became when they were older were feisty with sharp, chitinous scythes.

Lowtide opened and closed her mouth, imagining biting into one of the soft crawlers. Remembering it. It felt good. It made her feel alive.

After a while, she floated to another display. This one had spiral shells. She remembered those, too. The little ones always hid inside their shells, and they were too hard to bite into, though she was told that if one managed to catch them before they could recede, they were delicious.

The large ones, however, were the ones Lowtide had to be careful around. Get caught in their tentacles and you'd be up close and personal with their four-way beaks. Lowtide shuddered.

She moved on from display to display, not recognizing everything, but the remains that were familiar made those hazy memories so much more vivid. She remembered other things. She remembered the heart beating in her chest. She remembered the breath in her lungs. The scaly touch of her own skin.

She reached another display, where she saw a rock with a dark impression of a feather. She remembered playing with those. They were so smooth and gentle against her scales --

A cone of light fell on her from nowhere. She froze. She hadn't noticed the steps approaching.

"Hey!"

She turned to see a male human in dark clothes, flanked by a boltund. The boltund growled, and Lowtide flinched. She had to get away now.

She tried to fly away, but she was all too slow - golden rings of electricity caught her, and she felt her ethereal body lock up. She was left sliding through the air until she gradually came to a halt.

The guard clicked something and spoke. "Found a dreepy here. Be on the lookout for a trainer. Over."

"Understood. Over," answered a distorted voice, though Lowtide didn't know from where. And it wasn't as if she understood anything the voices said, either.

"Alright, you little rascal, time to see if you'll go in a ball or if Benji will have to drag you," said the guard. In moments' time, a red light overtook Lowtide, and she found herself somewhere completely new - a spherical space enclosed by red-and-white walls. This had to be one of those pokéballs she'd heard about. They could be escaped, right? But she still couldn't move…

"It went in the ball? Huh…" said the guard's voice from outside, though it was muffled. Another click. "The dreepy was catchable. So it could be wild, but could also be free-roaming. We'll need an interpreter. Over."

"I'll handle it. Over," answered yet another distorted voice.

That was the last thing Lowtide heard until the paralysis wore off. The moment it did, she bolted for the walls and rammed them with her head. The first couple of tries didn't yield any results, but eventually one part of the wall gave way and she was released. She looked around. She was in a lit white room with one glass wall looking out into a room closer to the rest of the rooms in the museum. The guard from before was sitting on a chair by the wall, watching her.

She let out a distressed wail.

"Don't worry," the guard said, and Lowtide got the feeling it was supposed to calm her down somehow. "You only need to stay here until we get an interpreter and find out if you're a thief or not."

Lowtide looked at the back wall. She had a feeling they would have done something to make it impossible for her to phase through, but she tried it anyway. Her first thought was correct.

She lowered herself onto the floor and curled up. She didn't know what would happen to her. She didn't know if she would ever be free again. She didn't know if they'd even let her continue this unlife she had.

One agonizing wait later, the door to the room with the guard opened. Another human, this one female, came in alongside a large insect with a red shell with dark blue spots - an orbeetle. Lowtide froze. Even as a psychic type weak to Lowtide's ghostly powers, she knew they were powerful.

The humans said something to each other, then to the orbeetle, and then the pokémon floated closer. Lowtide froze up, expecting an attack - but instead of attacking, the orbeetle spoke to her.

"Greetings, dreepy," he said, though his mouth didn't move. "You have gotten yourself into some trouble, it seems."

Lowtide blinked. "You can speak my language?" she asked.

"I can speak and understand any language through my telepathy," the orbeetle explained. "But enough about me. Do you have a trainer?"

"...No," Lowtide said. "I don't have any human friends."

"Why did you sneak into this museum?"

"I just wanted to see ancient things," Lowtide said. "To remember."

The orbeetle hummed, scratching its chin with a chitinous claw. "Some people do say dreepy have memories of a past life long lost… you really had another life from millions of years ago?"

"I must have. I don't know what else these memories could be. They're of things I've never experienced in this life, sensations I can no longer feel as I am now."

The orbeetle held a stare at Lowtide, then turned to the female human. After a while, the female human said something to the man. The man took a moment to think about things, then said something back. The orbeetle turned back to Lowtide.

"You will not be punished," the orbeetle said, and a boulder's weight rolled off of Lowtide's back. "In fact, the guard offers to let you look at the displays for the rest of the night. But if you want to come back later, you will have to do it with a human who can pay for it."

Pay. That was that thing where humans exchanged little flat pieces of metal to get things or be allowed to do things. It was far beyond Lowtide's understanding, but perhaps with a human friend, it could be possible…

"Okay," she said.

The orbeetle relayed her response, and the guard then pressed a button out of sight, opening a door in the glass wall. Lowtide floated out, and while she had a mind to bolt out of the building right then, her desire to see more of the museum kept her still.

The guard smiled at her. "Alright, let's go," he said, beckoning Lowtide as he was leaving. Lowtide floated after him, though paused once more to look at the orbeetle.

"Enjoy your tour," the orbeetle said. "And stay out of trouble."

"I will," said Lowtide, and hurried after the guard.

She'd make sure to memorize everything she saw.

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