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A beloved nature show host perishes in a freak accident during an undersea filming expedition, shocking the world. Knowing the public will call for the tragic culprit's blood against the host's wishes, his producer appeals to the Officials to have Pokemon Rehabilitator Nori Carino train and 'cure' her in attempt to save her life. With a new assignment cast upon him weeks after his first and word quickly spreading, Nori finds his friends splintering, and his foes using the moment to come after him. But those problems pale in comparison to his crippling fear of water and her not being used to being out of it. What does it take to care for a Pokemon?
Welcome to the sixth fic in a metaseries! Reading any of the previous fics won't be necessary to enjoy this one, I intentionally break them up so the whole thing is not absurdly long and intimidating, and to write shorter stories in general. Speaking of, expect this one to have shorter chapters, but it'll have a comparable if not longer overall wordcount to the previous two. Simply experimenting with different styles because some of my previous chapters tended to have details in them get glossed over.
I wasn't planning on posting this so soon. I wanted to make sure the first twenty chapters were finished (about two-thirds) before I started posting; I only have up to 17 (sans 16 which is only mostly finished) and sporadic stuff beyond drafted. But I figured it was a good day for this, and who knows, maybe this will spur me into action?
Studies have shown trigger warnings don't work. Not only can the trigger warning itself be triggering, but they can increase the effect and even induce a "forbidden fruit" lure. There is little consensus as to whether or not they are effective. So I'll conceal them behind this spoiler.
You can expect strong language, a single use of a slur in another language, violence, meetings getting interrupted, people being jerks, characters angsting (teenagers, you know?), flashbacks to 2006 (actually might be serious), and teenagers hugging, kissing, and holding hands.
It was a Monday morning like any other for a traveling trainer. Waking up in the Pokemon Center – thank goodness for free lodgings – and getting ready for the rest of the day. The next step on her journey lay ahead of her.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Julia had something of a wait on her hands. The local Gym Leader was going to be occupied (in a sense) until around the end of the month. It was just something she had to make the most of. Her friends weren’t up yet, so she was just enjoying the morning quietly with her Pokemon.
Until the peace was shattered by a screaming boy with spiky, fiery hair.
“Pete Stephens is here! He’s in Johto, filming live!”
Julia hated loud noises! Why was he screaming indoors? “Who’s here?” she asked, amidst gasps of surprise from the people around her.
“The Krookodile Tracker! He’s on TV, right now!”
Oh, that guy. Julia knew him by that name. Her sister used to like him back in the day. But she hated him. She could understand the Pokemon languages like they were English or Japanese. He was not only the kind of person who would poke the Ursaring, but would do a lot more to them as well. And she would hear every complaint the poor Pokemon made about his antics.
More gasps. The other kids around her, and even some adults, reacted with surprise. They asked questions one after another.
“Wow!”
“Where in Johto?”
“What channel?!”
“The TV in the lobby’s showing him now!” Everyone but Julia hurried away with that. The boy did so too, but paused and glanced back. “Come on, you too!” he urged.
“I don’t care about that!” she shouted, perhaps louder than she wanted.
More than a few people took pause. “What?!” an older teenage girl yelled, making Julia’s hands fly to her ears again. “How could you not like Pete Stephens?!”
“I…” There was no good way to explain why. “I don’t mean I hate him, I just…never saw his show.” She tried to make up a lie to get out of it, even though she felt lying was wrong. It would be better than telling the truth. She quickly regretted it.
“Then come watch!” the excited boy urged. “It’s great, you’ll love it! And he’s here! In Johto! It’s once in a lifetime!”
Everyone else still in the room waited for her answer. All the questioning and even hateful eyes on her were making her buckle to the pressure. She wished so much that her friends were awake right now to tell them to leave her alone. She looked over her shoulder just in case, but no such luck.
“Okay…” she mumbled, wandering over to the television in the lobby of the Pokemon Center like a lost Growlithe. Her Pikachu followed idly at her side. She didn’t like this at all, but anything to get these people off her back. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? That was probably just wishful thinking, though.
“G’day, mates! Pete Stephens, here!”
She arrived just in time to see the program return from commercial. To Julia’s surprise, the Tracker was underwater. He was dressed in a diving suit that looked like a suit of armor, and was wearing goggles with a face mask that had a microphone built into it. His dusty blond hair flowed freely in the depths of the lake he was beneath.
In the background were countless blue and yellow pufferfish. The man verbally set the scene, “We’re here in a lake on Route 32 in Johto. Right smack in the middle of a swarm-a Qwilfish!”
That was from the part of her journey where she was sort of rushing through. She didn’t really remember much about it, other than catching her Ledyba (now a mighty Ledian) there. The fact that it was an uneventful trip, and that it was sandwiched between two major milestones on her journey, didn’t help.
The camera panned across the scene. Julia shuddered at the sight of the Pokemon. She was something of a toxiphobe when it came to Poison-types. Moreover, the murmuring of the countless Qwilfish was like the crowd at a baseball game on TV. It was just as headache-inducing, too.
A few swam over to the man out of curiosity. The Tracker showed them no fear, actually reaching out and patting a few between their spines. The reactions ranged from annoyance to indifference. One of them stuck around until he was poked on the lips. He promptly and involuntarily puffed up. The crew and other people watching had a laugh about it.
The Qwilfish, who up to that point had been interested in the strangers and appreciating the attention, fussed that the Tracker was a jerk and swam away in a tizzy. Julia had to agree with the Pokemon on that one.
“Ain’t he a beaut?” Stephens asked as the Qwilfish swam away. “They huff and puff when you give’em a fright. But believe you me, they’re super sweet Pokemon like any other.”
The man turned his head to the left. Something must have caught his attention, because his eyes widened. “Crikey!” he gasped. “Justy! Point the camera over there, mate!”
The cameraperson did as instructed. Floating alone in the lake was a lone Qwilfish that looked different from the others. Its upper body was black with purple spine tips, and its lips were a different color. The girl would have believed she was looking at a shiny Pokemon on the television, if not for the different tail pattern. Julia had to confess that she was actually interested. Just a little.
That was, until the Tracker swam back into the picture and flashed a thumbs up. She was immediately reminded why she didn’t like the show when he started talking. “That there’s a Sinnohian Qwilfish, all by their lonesome! Little fella’s far from home! Why don’t we swim on over and say hi to 'em?”
Stephens and the filming crew grew closer. As they did, the hollow murmuring of the Pokemon became clearly audible to Julia.
“Alone. Abandoned.” Her words rang with an empty sorrow. “Why, Elle? I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”
She scrunched her hands. What?! Who would abandon their Pokemon like that?! She almost thought of saying that out loud, before remembering it was unlikely that anyone would believe some random girl could understand Pokemon languages. Heck, even she and her parents couldn’t explain how, she just could.
“Hey, little guy!” The Qwilfish puffed up in surprise when the Tracker suddenly spoke to it. “Whatcha doin’ out here?”
“Wh-who are you?!” she asked, recoiling and trying to look intimidating with a shake of her body. But even Julia could tell from the tone in her voice it was just posturing.
“It’s a’right, fella. Here, lemme give ya a pat.”
“Stay away!” cried the Qwilfish.
“Showin’ fear,” the Tracker mused. “Loner type, are we? Or were ya just left here by someone?”
“Yes, and no one here likes me!” cried the black Qwilfish. “They say I’m weird and evil and to leave! How am I supposed to?!”
“Ohh…” Julia’s Pikachu, Hikaru, groaned. “I understood a bit of that. She’s like me.”
Her starter Pokemon’s family had abandoned her just because she looked different. Julia wished she could rush over there and do something for this poor Pokemon! She may have had a fear of Poison-type Pokemon, but even so, this one instantly won her sympathy. No Pokemon deserved to be treated this way!
Stephens didn’t understand, of course. “It’ll all be fine, fella,” he consoled, only aware enough to see her discomfort. “Jus’ come here for a sec, so I can check somethin’.”
“No, stop! Leave me alone!” she screamed, desperately swimming backwards to escape the man. She was flailed and thrashed, but the Krookodile Tracker grew ever closer, oblivious or indifferent to the Pokemon’s growing discomfort, if not abject terror.
Suddenly, the screen went to darkness. After ten seconds, a commercial came on. A bald, shirtless guy with a trimmed beard started screaming about men’s deodorant while flexing his oversized muscles. Julia had to turn away in revulsion. She hated commercials like that!
“What the HELL?!” cursed the boy who drew her into watching this, stomping a foot on the floor. “Just when it was getting good, too!”
It was weird, yes. Maybe something had damaged the camera? Something felt off about the whole thing. But it didn’t matter, Julia was going to use any excuse she could to get the heck away while she could.
##########
“This is why you film live on delay, people!”
Manna Schrader had immediately taken control of the situation as soon as it happened. She had security shoo the gawkers away and told them all they needed to know. At least they were easy to deal with. She had her hands full keeping the crew calm. She had to threaten more than one intern not to post about it on social media, else she would make sure they got blackballed from the industry forever. It was a threat she could and would make good on, given her family’s influence.
The situation was utter chaos. Pete Stephens was dead. He had been struck by a Barb Barrage attack that went right through a weak spot in the diving suit and pierced an artery. It was nothing short of a freak accident. He survived just long enough to carry him out of the water and hear his last words. He might have wanted to get a shot of the Qwilfish swimming away after checking for injuries.
When she woke up in the morning, Manna had an eerie feeling about the day. It only got worse when Pete thanked everyone for everything they’ve done before he went in. She didn’t act on anything, since the show had to go on. A gut instinct certainly wasn’t a valid reason to stop it even if that wasn’t the case. She expected an accident, but not this.
People were hurling all sorts of questions at her, and she answered them all one right after another.
“Ambulance is on the way, should I go with?”
“No, I will.”
“There’s this one persistent fisher, Ralph–”
“Keep. Him. Away.”
“You need coffee, ma’am?”
“Black.”
“Should we tell the family, auntie?”
“If you mean ours, absolutely not. Take charge and keep the others in line for me.” She walked away to deal with pressing business.
Although the Schrader family were traditionally reporters or news anchors, she had graduated from that role into a producer. She always felt more comfortable behind the lens rather than in front of it. She had met Pete Stephens on a trip to a region in Australia. When he offered her the chance to produce his new show, she accepted on the spot.
“Mrs. Schrader,” said the camerawoman who had accompanied Pete underwater. Justine Hailey, the best they had. She sprang into action while everyone else was stunned with shock, capturing Pete’s killer with help of her Whiscash.
“We’re back from commercial in one,” she said. “What should we say?”
“Same thing we told the gawkers, he suffered a poison injury while filming,” Manna answered at once. They didn’t need to let people know the extent of what had happened. “Have Phil deliver it over a panning shot of the lake. Go to the footage we’d planned after.”
Her phone started to buzz. She took it out of her pocket and saw it was Nadia calling, from way over in Mahogany. Nosy as always. Manna promptly put it away and let it ring.
“All right,” Justine said, muttering a prayer under her breath. “What about the Qwilfish?”
“Give me some time to think about that.”
She pulled out the Dive Ball that the camerawoman had used to capture the Qwilfish and gave it a thoughtful glance. It was easy to speculate that the pufferfish had been released into the lake. Whoever did it better pray they weren’t found out. There were laws about being responsible for the actions of released Pokemon, but in this case, the court of public opinion would be far harsher than any court of law.
Pete loved Pokemon. He did countless things to help them and preserve their habitats. He always made sure they got the respect they deserved, from their rights to insisting that the P should be capitalized out of respect in response to the strange folk who thought otherwise. As the Krookodile Tracker, he went on record before saying that he’d gladly give his life if it meant saving one Magikarp. He died doing what he loved most. Regardless, the public was going to be out for blood. Especially for this lost, frightened Pokemon. The last thing he would want is for this Qwilfish to be condemned, even if they had taken his life.
She went into her tent to think about the situation. That’s when she saw it sitting on the table. A stapled together set of pages from a web blog. It gave her an idea, a means of salvation.
She picked up the copy of a report written by a far-removed cousin of hers, Arumi Schrader. It documented events that took place at the Sunyshore Gym over in Sinnoh during the first eight months of the year, involving a certain Pokemon Rehabilitator. Someone who could handle Pokemon that no one else could – or would. It struck like a bolt of lightning called down by Raikou. Yes, this was a perfect idea. They could use him. If anyone could turn public opinion around, it was the Demon Tamer Nori Carino.
Julia comes from the fic of @Juliko , Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey. Used with permission plus with input, partially as a mythology gag in how this series technically started as alternate history (noncanon to this too), and to help set the stage.
If you're wondering about my use of a real world country name, it's just my way of futureproofing. I don't want to spend hours making up a region name only to have it potentially be invalidated by canon, so I sidestep it by not mentioning those and having countries exist as basically-superregions. Which, kinda got screwed up anyway by Paldea encompassing two countries, but I managed a patchjob there. Though it also validated my use of real-world language names (which the games use anyway), so.
And yes. This is a crazy concept I had. Hopefully it's enjoyable for/in spite of it.
“Hey, guys,” Nori Carino announced his arrival as he strutted through the door to the miniature computer lab which served as a clubroom. The thirteen-year-old was around 140 centimeters tall with chestnut-colored hair and soft red eyes. Besides his job with the Officials, he was the president of the newsletter club at Tobari Central Junior High. Taiiku no hi was today, and they needed to cover the school’s festivities!
He glanced around the room and noticed that there was only one other person present besides him. He considered everyone in the club a friend, although there was only one person he was close to in the traditional sense. She was sitting alone in front of one of the many computers in the room.
“What’s up, Yumi?” he addressed her personally.
His words did not appear to register with her. Yumi Takao was not wearing headphones of any kind and there was no sound coming from the speakers. Her short beige hair was in perfect order, styled in a cute bob cut. Her clothes were as fashionable as always: a long pleated flannel skirt and designer shirt, pink and white respectively. She was staring blankly at the monitor with her chocolate brown eyes. Was she reading something?
“Yumi?” he called to her again, a little louder. She was a lot of different things, but she wasn’t the type of person to suddenly ignore someone. Was she?
“Oh, ah. Nori.” Her hand jerked forward and to the right. Whatever was on the screen quickly disappeared. Nori didn’t get a good look at it, but it seemed like she had been reading an email.
“What’s up?” he repeated.
“Nothing, really,” she told him unconvincingly. He’d learned to read body language as part of his training with the Officials, but he didn’t need to see her twitching and unnaturally rigid posture to know that it was hardly nothing. “What about you?”
“Well, I’m getting close on teaching the Demon something new,” he said. She was one of his Pokemon and where he got his moniker ‘The Demon Tamer’ from. Specifically, she was a battle-crazy Nidorina who had terrorized Veilstone with hit-and-run attacks for many months. “Mostly for her battles and to see if I can. It’s not much, but it’ll be cool if it works.”
“Uh-huh.” She was looking his way, but not at him. Her eyes were elsewhere. Maybe nowhere.
He carefully sat to the left of her. “Is something wrong?” he prodded, leaning in slightly.
She shook it off with a gesture. “Don’t worry about it,” she dismissed, albeit in a hasty fashion that made Nori worry even more.
All he could do was shrug and say, “If you say so.” Forcing it wouldn’t do him any good.
Yumi exhaled, turned away, and lowered her head. There was something wrong. She didn’t want to talk about it right now, that much was clear. Maybe someone said something mean to her, or she found out about some bad news? He could only speculate, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it overmuch.
The young official turned to the computer before him, switched the machine on, and brought up the web browser. He went to his favorite world news site. Nori never had the internet while growing up, or much of anything, really. But he did have the radio in his mom’s trailer. The news was what he listened to the second most. That was how he became so interested in it.
The top headline jutted out like a tall tree in an open prairie. He didn’t normally care for celebrity news, but this one was something big and meaningful. He couldn’t help but read it aloud.
“The Krookodile Tracker, Pete Stephens, passes away at 49?!”
“What?!” Yumi’s reverie broke as she jumped to attention. She leaned over his shoulder. “When?!”
“Five minutes ago!”
“What happened?!”
“I’m bringing it up now!”
Things like radio dramas were what Nori listened to the most on the radio. There was one he had fond memories of which featured a retelling of one of Stephens’ adventures where he encountered a Legendary Pokemon from his home region. Plus, there was that interview on Natureworld with Nami. He had even seen a few episodes of the guy’s TV show, mostly at school. Nori may not have known much removed from popular culture, but even he knew Pete Stephens, the Krookodile Tracker.
Yumi peered over as he scrolled through the pages. He read fast, and thankfully, she read faster. That didn’t surprise him. She liked to read and even went with him to the library on a couple of occasions.
The article explained that he was in Johto to document a mass outbreak of Qwilfish. There was a stray Sinnohian specimen which investigators speculated was released there. It panicked and attacked him when he tried to approach, piercing a weak spot in his diving suit, which was designed to withstand even things like a Sharpedo’s bite. It was nothing short of a freak accident. Attempts to resuscitate him on the scene failed, and he was pronounced dead on arrival to Violet City General.
“You were just in Johto yesterday, weren’t you?” Yumi inquired.
“Yeah, but I didn’t want to stay there longer than I had to.” He could’ve stayed a week, but he decided to fly back on Sunday night, so he wouldn’t miss any school. It was a mandatory vacation that he didn’t get the point of. Something to do with the policy of the Officials. He would have gone to Sunyshore to visit his mentor Volkner and his bestie Arumi, but it had to be out of region. “Even if I hadn’t, I was up near Mahogany and Ecruteak. Not anywhere close to where it happened.”
“Yo.”
At that moment, Reiko Azuma entered the room, followed closely by Terrance Lee. The two of them were in the same grade as Nori.
“Wh-what are you two doing?” Terrance stammered, his chocolate brown eyes darting between them. He wore baggy black sweatpants with an equally loose shirt of the same color.
Nori and Yumi exchanged glances. It was the latter who broke the news. “The Krookodile Hunter passed…”
Reiko stamped a foot. “What?!” she exclaimed with a flick of her fiery orange hair. She had on jeans and a blue jacket. Reiko was short and had a bit of weight on her, though not an unhealthy amount. “Lemme see!”
Nori scrolled to the top of the article. Reiko sat down to his left, while Terrance shuffled up and tried to look over his shoulder. He went through it again.
“Scroll slower!” Reiko snapped.
“Read it up yourself, then!” Nori fired back, getting out of the seat to allow her to do so. It was the best way, anyway.
She took him up on it. When he turned away with a huff, Nori noticed Terrance’s expression. His eyes were watery, not to mention distant. His mouth was hanging open.
“What’s up?” he asked, with a bit of concern.
“That was my favorite show…” he spoke flatly. He shook his head and took a step away from the computer.
“The Krookodile Tracker?” he said. “Wasn’t my favorite, but I liked it too.”
Reiko grumbled. “Hard to find someone who didn’t,” she remarked as she continued to slowly make her way through the article. “You’d have to be a bigot or a freak to hate the show.”
“That’s taking it too far,” Nori commented. “Not everything’s for everyone.” He was pretty sure just about everyone disliked at least one thing most people loved. Like for him, it was Pokemon journeys. A lot of people wanted to experience one at least once, like Reiko or his former friend Claris, but he never had any interest.
Yumi looked between them. “I think most would like Pete Stephens himself, at least.”
Nori couldn’t disagree there. As he was about to speak up, a faint sob came from a table behind them.
Reiko stood up immediately, maybe reflexively. “Terrance, you okay?” she said, placing a hand on his shouder.
He and Yumi exchanged a smirk. Those two had been friends since they were little, and the only ones at the club not aware of Reiko’s feelings was Terrance himself. Or if he was, he did a good job of ignoring them.
“No,” came a huff. “I…I don’t know what…” He laid his head on the table, burying it under his arms.
The two waited. When Reiko remained silent with uncertainty, Nori spoke.
“It’ll be fine, Terrance,” he assured him.
Yumi concurred. “I’m sorry. I know, it hurts me too. But we can’t…” She trailed off, uncertain of how to put it to him.
Nori sat up straighter as a realization struck. “Actually, we can do something.”
“What, necromancy?” Reiko spat.
“I meant, write an article.”
“Oh.” She slapped herself and smirked. “Yeah, we could. And you know him best, Terrance.”
“It’d be a good way to honor him,” Yumi agreed, nodding at the idea. “You know?”
Still using his arms as a chin rest, he peered up at them. Nori maintained that it was a good idea anyway. They would technically need the others to agree, but he was sure they would like it too. That is, if Terrance was comfortable writing about it so soon.
He finally sat up. It took a few seconds longer to give his reply. “Okay…”
##########
The atmosphere at school changed with the news of the sudden passing of a beloved celebrity. It was a subtle shift, yet it was not lost on Nori. Aside from the talk about it that he overheard in the halls, there were fewer smiles on faces and people were moving slower. It was clear to him that the Krookodile Tracker meant a lot to almost everyone in the school. The others unanimously agreed to write an article about him. Their weekly newsletter always had one global story anyway.
After what they managed yesterday, they had one day to hammer it out and get it to print, since they published on Wednesday. Their two fieldworkers were out getting quotes from their peers for the article. Adelle and Yasmin were ninth-years who tended to be inseparable. Saqid, an eighth-year like Yumi, was in the school library looking for some books that might be relevant. That left the rest of them to begin the brainstorming portion.
It took Terrance several minutes to compose himself after sitting down. He fidgeted and inhaled. Three of them were looking at him with expectant encouragement. The other, Mitsu Chisaka, was hunched over a monitor as usual.
“I think, well.” Terrance huffed again. He spoke with slow uncertainty. “We should open with a biography of him and what happened.”
Even before Nori had come to the club, Terrance was only in it because his friend was. His contributions were minimal and limited to only small additions. That didn’t mean they didn’t appreciate him, of course. He was one of them, and every little bit helped. This was the first time he was taking on a leading role, and as far as Nori was concerned, he was doing fine. Reiko beamed. Yumi couldn’t help smiling either. Nori opened his mouth to say something, when a sneeze interrupted his train of thought.
They turned to the source, Mitsu. The teal-haired teenager let out a sheepish chuckle as he wiped his nose with his hand.
“Did you really have to come in here when you’re sick?” Reiko snapped. She turned away with a grimace, but kept her narrow eyes leering at him.
“I’m not that sick…” Mitsu replied with a sniff as he wiped his left eye. “Some of this is from crying.”
Nori had to agree with the orange-haired girl. “You could at least wear a mask,” he said. He respected that Mitsu came to school anyway, but that was just common courtesy.
He reached for the roll of toilet paper in front and to the right of him, next to his green water bottle. “It’ll be fine.” He blew his nose.
“I don’t want to catch your damn cold, dumbass!” Reiko shouted the thing that was on everyone’s mind, but only Nori himself would’ve said it to him outright too.
In fact, he said so too. “Yeah, no one does. And put that rag in your bag.”
Yumi giggled at his unwitting rhyme. Reiko continued to glower. Mitsu eventually groaned and put the tissue where he was asked, instead of the wastebin. He was a good person and a hard worker, but sometimes he seemed off in his own world.
“Sorry. It works,” Nori confirmed. Stupid interruptions. “It’s simple, but simple is best sometimes.”
“Then after that we can put some of the stuff others said,” Terrance continued. “Like their memories about him.”
“I’m not sure if we can print some of it,” Yumi said grimly. Nori glanced at her as she elaborated. “I overheard some people in the halls saying they felt like going out and beating up Qwilfish.”
Reiko snorted, giving her head a toss. “That’s stupid. They should be blaming the one who killed him, not all of them.”
An uncomfortable silence drew over them. Even Reiko, realizing what she had just said, crossed her arms and turned away with a frown. But the fact remained that a lot of people were going to demand justice. And at the most extreme, some might take matters into their own hands and exact it upon proxies. Nori hoped those people were outliers and not the norm. No, he hoped people weren’t stupid enough to do that.
“I wonder what’s going to happen to that Qwilfish,” Terrance mused the question on everyone’s mind.
Yumi turned to him. “You would know, Nori. Right?”
“Yeah. It’s case by case,” he told them. He had to extensively learn Pokemon-related law as part of his studies to become an official. “Typically, a wild Pokemon that kills a human is sent to assessment, and if deemed necessary, put down. But there’s two things complicating this case. The first is the argument that he provoked the Qwilfish. The other is that it may have been a released Pokemon. That changes things.”
“Wait, it does?” asked Mitsu.
He confirmed. “Trainers who release a Pokemon into the wild are responsible for its actions for at least six months afterward.”
“So they just need to find the bastard that did this!” Reiko declared. She rubbed her hands together.
“Right!” agreed Mitsu with a sniff. It wasn’t clear if it was from his grief or the cold. Maybe it was both.
But Nori had to burst their bubble. “I don’t think they’re gonna find whoever did this.” They were looking, but no one had seen anything. Time would tell if whoever did it would come forward out of guilt or be exposed because of it. “Even if they do, the first thing I said, the provoking aspect, might be their defense like the Qwilfish’s.”
“That’s dumb!” snapped Reiko, slamming a palm on the desk. “And why don’t they like, get someone to ask the thing who its trainer was?”
“There’s a lot of reasons why they don’t often do that.” On paper, getting someone who could talk to Pokemon was simple and obvious. But it wasn’t that simple from a legal perspective. “Most of the reasons why were because of a high-profile case from the 1960s. An interpreter – Kentaro Kannagi – got accused of fabricating Pokemon testimony.”
His fellow club members all reacted with varying degrees of surprise. But he’d caught all of their interest. Especially with the part about the Kannagis. “What happened?” Terrance asked.
“A real mess happened,” Nori said. “They eventually found out that the Pokemon was the one who lied, but not before a media fiasco nearly destroyed Kentaro. He left the Kannagi Shrine anyway despite getting cleared. It ended up exposing a lot of the flaws with Pokemon witnesses. It wasn’t used much before, but there’s been more restrictions put upon it since then, like special permission and multiple interpreters being needed.”
There was much more to Pokemon-related law than one might expect. It wasn’t like, super restrictive or anything like that. A little kid could still own Pokemon, and once they turned ten, they could get a license to participate in officially sanctioned activities throughout most of the world. But there were still rules, both obvious and obscure. If someone didn’t follow them, they could get put on a blacklist and be legally barred from ownership.
“You’re really smart, Nori,” Yumi said, leaning in with a soft beam.
“Oh, uh,” He could feel the heat rising in his face. “It’s nothing special, really.”
Reiko, Terrance, and Mitsu only laughed a little. It wasn’t clear if it was at him or what. The point became moot when a buzzing sound from his pocket interrupted them. Nori reached in and retrieved his radio. A small rectangular earpiece that worked as a very limited phone, could tune into emergency scanners, and served as identification.
“What kind of ringtone’s that?” Reiko snorted.
“I think it’s supposed to be some kind of alarmy noise?” It was annoying, but maybe that was supposed to be the point. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.”
He grumbled. What was he getting a call now for?! It was Tuesday, not Sunday! He stepped into the office at the back of the room and shut the door behind him. Nori put the device in his ear and pressed a button on the side to answer.
“—lo? Sir? Hello? You there?” came the voice of a man with a thick European accent.
“I’m here,” Nori answered.
“Ah, it is good that you had answered! I am right that it is lunch hour at your school, yes?”
“It is, but I’m busy with my club.” He didn’t hide his impatience. This guy liked to ramble a lot.
“Oh, sorry sir!” the man said. He didn’t sound very apologetic, but that was just how he spoke. “Okay, briefly. I was just calling to say to you, a new assignment is on the way!”
“What?! Already?” He hadn’t had his first one for a month yet! He got Pawniard on the 21st of September, and it was the 13th of October!
“It was a surprising matter for me too! Sorting out will need to happen. But two days! Friday! In the usual place! Prepare yourself.”
“But Friday is three days from now?”
“I mean Friday!” he quickly spoke. “Three days! Be pre–”
“Fine. See you then.” He hung up, pocketed it, and went outside.
“That your handler?” Reiko quipped with a smarmy smirk.
“It feels like the opposite sometimes,” he answered, returning her expression. “But yeah. I’m getting a new assignment.”
Reiko arched an eyebrow. Mitsu, as usual, was too engrossed to react. But Terrance and Yumi both recoiled. The latter’s hands flew to her mouth.
“Another one?!” she shuddered. “But Pawniard’s… You’re still…”
Terrance was able to speak. “Has he been rehabilitated yet? Pawniard, that is?”
“No, not yet.” He was comfortable enough to have him battle random trainers like he did on that vacation, but not enough to say he had finished his job. Actually, he wasn't sure what counted as being done.
Nori was a Pokemon Rehabilitator, or rather, the only one. He worked with highly problematic Pokemon that no one else could or would; ones that even the best conventional trainers couldn’t (or had no time/obligation to) train and care facilities couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do anything for. His job was to rein in the nastier parts of their personalities to acceptable standards.
Reiko crossed her arms. “Well, hopefully you don’t let this one almost kill anything.”
“Hey!” He appreciated her criticism, but she took it too far sometimes. “Not going to let that happen again! Not after that! But I’m hoping this isn’t the usual pace I get assignments.” He paused, then added, “I better ask about that.” It seemed it wasn’t the case from the man’s reaction, but who could say?
“But we should get back to work,” said Terrance. “I’ll start…trying to make a draft. Points to hit on, and…stuff.”
“Right,” concurred Reiko. “I’ll help if you need it.”
“Mhm.” Nori had to agree. Whatever this was, it wouldn’t be a thing to worry about until the weekend. Not that he was going to let it get in the way of the article anyway.
Yumi fidgeted in her seat, drumming her fingers together. “Yeah,” she said, although she was glancing at him instead of Terrance. He could only nod at her in assurance for now.
As Terrance dug into his bag to find a pen and some paper, Nori thought a bit more about his impending assignment. Whatever it was, it was hard to be worse than a serial killer’s Pokemon. And he was up to the task! Not like he had a say in the matter. So, as he always liked to say, there was nothing to do but do it!
A small building sat at the top of a tall hill on the northeast side of Veilstone City, the first branch location of the revered Kannagi Shrine. It originated in Celestic Town over fifteen hundred years ago, and actually provided the traditional Japanese name of the settlement. It was not hyperbole to say that they were a major influence on Kodo beliefs, and that many modern sentiments toward Pokemon could be traced back to the Kannagi clan. Though not as prominent as they once were, they were still of the most highly respected families in Japan.
A small and empty knoll sat in the shadow of the cliff. That was where the sole heir to the shrine, Prema Kannagi, stood on a makeshift wooden stage before a crowd of over two hundred people that was rapidly growing. It had been two days since the world had lost one of the greatest Pokemon conservationists of the modern era. All the priests and priestesses agreed that the shrine should do something; they and Pete Stephens stood for much the same things, and honoring the deceased was a large part of their faith. This was the best they could arrange on such short notice.
Two others were on either side of her. Acolyte Jirou Jinnai wore a kasa on his head and a jacket over his violet robe to shield himself from the rain. The man held a large umbrella over Prema. To her right, a tall elderly woman with silvery-green eyes stood proudly as drops fell on her face and body. Prema might have feared that someone her age would catch pneumonia, but it was Priestess Satomi Kurusu. One who had served four generations of Masters and showed no signs of slowing down even in her nineties.
So many people had come by despite the fact that their only advertisement for this was word of mouth. There were even several unfamiliar faces that she had never seen on the shrine grounds. It was evidence that he had touched the lives of so many people, and that they were looking for any form of closure they could find. Prema was unable to help herself from scanning the crowd. There was a person that she was hoping to see there. There was no chance Prema would have missed her given her height, her fashion, and her face. The only reason she was not disappointed was that it was a long shot to begin with.
She felt an elbow brush against her. Her mentor was smiling. “When you are ready, Lady Kannagi. Just don’t keep’em waiting too long!” The elderly woman chuckled.
Prema nodded. “Yes, Priestess Satomi.”
Ordinarily, it would be Father who would address an audience under these circumstances. Instead, he had given her the task and was standing somewhere in the crowd. Prema was no stranger to such speeches, and she fully intended to see it through. She took a deep breath and began.
##########
The rest of the week sped by like a Ninjask for Nori. Their article turned out to be a smash hit, receiving praise from both peers and teachers for its quality. The immensely positive response left them all with huge smiles, but none more than Terrance.
The news club often stayed after school on Friday to talk about the newsletter for the week and continue work on the next edition. The meetings usually lasted no more than two hours, and not everyone could attend every week. This was one of the rare times Nori could not make it, but he stopped by after the last bell to check in on everyone regardless. The guy who handled his Official’s stuff had asked him to meet after school in the usual spot in order to pick up his next assignment, as soon as possible. He already knew of one other person who would be absent as usual, but he was surprised to find only four people in the room.
“Hey,” he announced his presence. Mitsu was at his usual computer, while the other three sat around a table that they had seemingly moved further away from him. “Where’s Adelle and Yasmin? They’re usually here first thing.”
Reiko rolled her eyes. She had on a light blue shirt and her usual jeans. “They think they caught Chisaka’s cold.” She looked towards the culprit with an ‘I told you so’ expression before shaking her head and turning to Nori. “So they went home early.”
“Don’t friggin’ blame me,” Mitsu uncharacteristically fired back, slamming a fist on the desk and jostling his green metal water bottle.
Before Reiko could open her mouth to retaliate, Nori shouted, “Whoa!” He usually let the older girls play peacekeeper. But they were sick. So he instinctively sprang into action without much thought despite him being the one to get angry half the time. “What was that for?”
Mitsu held his head high. It was a relief when he sighed through pinched lips. “Sorry, I’m just still mad,” he admitted. “I grew up on the Krookodile Tracker! And some bastard releases a Qwilfish that kills him? Why haven’t they found them yet?”
“Mitsu.” The orange-haired girl stood to address him. Her fingers curled. She exchanged a glance with Nori before speaking with a blunt edge. “He’s gone. Staying pissed about it isn’t going to help.”
“Ah.” Terrance turned to face the wall. After some hesitation, he made an uncharacteristic remark. “That’s coming from the great Reiko Azuma.”
Reiko recoiled, her mouth falling open as she took a step back. “T-Terrance!” she stammered, turning faintly red.
Nori couldn’t help but laugh. Everyone actually laughed at least a little, except Mitsu, who gave a false smile given away by resting his arms on his legs and the cold, distant look in his eyes.
Saqid had laughed the hardest, a hardy guffaw. He actually had to wipe a tear from his black-tinted eyes. “Okay,” he said, adjusting his thick black sweatshirt. “If you are cracking jokes Terrance, you are over it.”
Reiko sat down next to her close friend and gave him a light pat on the back. He looked away again as she made physical content. “Not really,” he forced out, squinting tightly as he did so. “I hope they find who did this, too. Just so we can get a bit of closure.”
“I know, right?” Mitsu said, “It’d be one thing if this was an accident, but it wasn’t.”
“They’re actually saying it was a freak accident,” Nori spoke up. That’s what was being reported, and that’s what they had reported. “The Qwilfish attacked in panic and hit in just the right spot.”
“But if it wasn’t released…” Terrance squeaked.
“Yeah.” Mitsu stomped a foot. “Doesn’t matter. If it wasn’t there in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened. I don’t even think it was an accident. The Dark-type is traditionally known as the Evil-type, after all.”
Reiko nearly leapt out of her seat again. She gripped the side of the table, her arm shaking. She turned to Nori with a twitching lip and empty retinas. It was a look that pleaded, ‘Please get him to shut up before I say something that might make Terrance upset by proxy.’
The Evil-type thing wasn’t even true; it was much more nuanced. But pointing that out wouldn’t do any good. Instead, he took the most basic approach to the problem. “All right, enough about him,” he ordered, in the sternest tone of voice he could. He stood tall and put his hands on his hips like his mom would. “Just focus, people.”
“Agree,” Reiko instantly chimed in. Mitsu and Terrance reluctantly nodded. She changed the subject. “Hope those two get over their cold on the weekend.”
Everyone had to agree there. Their skills at getting info from the student body were unparalleled. “Speaking of, I’m still surprised they got an interview with the battling club,” Nori made a random remark, rolling his right ankle. “No one else could’ve gotten that. I didn’t think those guys would want anything to do with me after what happened with Pawniard and Anthony.”
“They apparently volunteered,” Saqid said with a shrug. “That Emi chick really liked the Tracker. Besides, you kept it in editing.”
He smirked. He hadn’t interacted with Emi Pikaru in any meaningful way during or after the incident, but he knew who she was from reputation and research. “Yeah, I guess.” It hit a lot of people hard. That much was clear from the response to their newsletter. In fact, they had so many statements from people that many of them had to be cut. “Anyway, gotta get going. Saqid, you’re in charge.”
The tan-skinned teenager saluted. “I will not let you down.”
“Later.” Reiko gave an idle wave without looking up. She momentarily glanced in his direction. “Good luck with whatever the hell they’re throwing at you this time.”
“Thanks. See you guys next week.”
Nori walked powerfully through the halls until he reached the front doors of the school. He shoved them apart and stepped out into the brisk autumn air. He zippered up his earth-brown jacket with black sleeves and approached the person sitting on a bench near the flagpole.
She was lightly slumped, not noticing him at first due to looking down. Her hands were folded between her knees and her ankles were crossed. She wore knee-length purple shorts, warm black leggings, and a nylon jacket which was pink on the outside and white on the inside, as well as her usual white sneakers. Her hair swayed gently in the breeze.
“Hey, Yumi,” he called to her.
She uncrossed her arms and legs at the sound of his voice. The teenager rested her hands on the cement beside her as she looked up at him with somewhat distant eyes. “Hi.”
They had made plans to go for a walk together after school, since Nori’s destination and Yumi’s home were in the same direction up to a point. “Ready to get going?”
She stood. “Okay.”
They set out together, wordlessly enjoying spending time together for the first couple of blocks. After that, when they were further away from the noise of the schoolyard, Nori started speaking. “Another week, another newsletter in the books.”
“Yeah.”
“Woo!” Nori pumped both of his fists, resting them at chest level. “That was our best yet, I think. Only problem now is, how do we follow up from that? We need to put 110% into next week now that we got a lot more people’s attention. Any thoughts?”
“I don’t know.”
Nori took momentary pause. Yumi wasn’t looking at him while she was speaking. She was staring at the ground and gradually falling behind.
He slowed to keep pace and segued into something related, but even more positive. “You notice how Terrance has, like, been on his toes about it the whole time?” The conversation they just had was the only time all week Nori hadn’t seen him either happy or nervous due to the pressure.
“I know…”
Five terse responses in a row was too much. Nori felt a light quiver in his stomach. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Was it something he said or did? Or if not, what was bothering her?
Her response was to stop in place. She clasped her hands together, pressing them against her upper body. “You’re getting another assignment,” she elaborated, her voice shaky, “That’s what’s wrong.”
“Hey, it’ll be fine!” he assured her. It wasn’t the first time she’d been worried about one of the Pokemon he’d been rehabilitating. “I really appreciate that you’re worried about me! But whatever it is can’t be any worse than Pawniard, right?”
“Those are famous last words,” she replied, her unsteady legs slightly swaying.
Nori snorted. “Maybe,” he giggled.
Okay, point taken. That was a pretty funny way of putting it. But she didn’t laugh with him, only huffing and fidgeting. Her concern was totally real.
“Hey. I think I’m right about this,” he said, squatting down in front of her, so he could look her right in the eyes. He flashed the best smile he could muster.
“Why’s that?” she asked, her voice monotonous but curious.
He had several days to think about it and finally came to a conclusion. “I dunno.” He stood and shrugged. Nori could admit, part of it was just instinct. But that was a big thing. “It’s just weird I’m getting another this quick. It’s like something just came up, and they needed me for it.”
Yumi shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good sign,” she said while rubbing her arms.
“Uh, maybe?”
Okay, that was also right. It could also be a very bad sign. It was one of the two. The thing that stood out was his handler’s (as Reiko had eloquently put it) surprise. He gave the kooky man enough credit to be aware of the usual tempo of assignments and all signs pointed towards this being abnormal. Whatever the case, Nori was sure about one thing: whatever this was needed immediate attention. For some reason, it couldn’t be held off until later.
Yumi started to walk again, mumbling dreadfully to herself in Japanese. He followed her while thinking about the situation. He would get his answers soon enough. But maybe Yumi getting answers would at least put her mind at ease? She was worrying about all the different possibilities, maybe to an irrational degree.
It came to him in a flash. “Do you want to come with me?”
Yumi stood up straight so quickly that Nori thought for a moment that she would leave her feet altogether. She again stopped dead in her tracks and whirled to face him. Her eyes were round as Voltorbs and her hands were in front of her defensively. “W-what?!”
“I was allowed to bring others last time I got a Pokemon.” The guy hadn’t complained at all when he showed up with his friends Prema and Maylene. “I don’t see why not this time. It might help you if you know.”
Yumi’s tongue nearly tied itself into a knot as she sputtered. “No, I don’t…” She winced and waved her palms wildly. “I mean, I can’t!”
She was about to say she didn’t want to. But she said she couldn’t? “Even if you wanted to?”
“Yeah.” She huffed and took a deep breath to compose herself. “You know how my parents are.”
“Really strict, right.”
He’d forgotten about that. Everything had to be planned out well in advance when it came to Yumi’s parents. They even needed to get permission for this walk! If she was late because they went and did something different, well. Nothing good could come of it, that was for certain. If he could get away with giving them a piece of his mind, he would in a heartbeat. He might anyway even if he couldn’t, knowing himself.
“I guess I could come by and show you later,” he instead offered. He was sure if he phrased it right, they’d give him a few minutes.
“It’s okay. I’m not in any rush to know.” Yumi exhaled deeply. She shuffled forward vaguely and looked skyward. “I’ll find out eventually.”
He gave her a clap on the shoulder. She stiffened at the sudden physical contact. “Whatever it is, Yumi, I’m sure I can handle it.”
She nodded lightly, face flushed. “I hope so,” she said, leaning toward him. The faintest smile was on her lips. She was fearful to the point of anxiety, sure. But deep down, she had faith. And he was going to prove it was not misplaced.
After a few silent moments between them, Nori gave her a pat and let go. They started out again. They walked another block without speaking to one another. Yumi kept fidgeting, but their talk had improved her mood. She was walking a little closer, her steps were more lively, and she was smiling softly.
“I guess my weekend’s set,” Nori mused aloud. “But what about yours?”
“My grandfather has family activities planned for us.” She gave her shoulders a roll. “No, it’s more like a big family gathering. A few of my aunts and uncles, and…” She paused for three whole seconds. “Even great-grandma is coming to visit. I won’t have time for anything else.” Her tone faltered for a moment, but otherwise it was matter-of-fact.
It sounded like he wasn’t going to be able to show her his next assignment after, even if she wanted to see it. Not before the weekend was over, at least. “Well, I hope they’re fun,” he said.
“I hope so too.” She chuckled lightly. “And please. Be careful, Nori.”
“I will be, I promise!” Even if it did turn out to be a dangerous Pokemon, he wasn’t going to let it get the better of him. Nor would any of his other Pokemon let it.
They walked on. Nori lightly tilted his head, looking at her as they walked. He was glad to have a friend like her. Actually, he was glad to have friends at all, but that was another facet altogether. All her worrying meant that she cared. Maybe others were worried too, but they never spoke their minds like she did. It was a nice contrast to simple trust and encouragement.
Yumi stopped abruptly again and turned, her feet and body pointed at him. “Nori?” she said slowly.
He paused and faced her. “What’s up?”
“I…” she squeaked, but her voice left her. Her tongue flitted out from her closed lips as her eyes darted away. “Sorry, it’s nothing.”
He blinked. “Oh, okay.”
What was that about? It could have been any number of things. Nori had an idea, but like on Monday, he wasn’t going to stress too much. Worst case, it was wanting to vent about her family and thinking better of it.
Yumi wore a contented smile, the type one has when happy to be with someone. Nori sort of felt the same. It would be several more blocks before he would have to head up Crescent Hills. The questions about what kind of Pokemon he would be receiving burned at the back of his mind. But until that time came, he was going to enjoy this walk.
After parting ways with Yumi, Nori sent out his Pachirisu, Pachi, to walk with him. Unlike his other Pokemon, Pachi was a gift from Volkner. He usually had the Electric-type squirrel Pokemon out of his ball, but Nori didn’t want him spoiling the mood. He’d been sick last week and couldn’t come along on the forced trip, but had now fully recovered. The squirrel was eager for some fresh air, and practically led the way.
Tomas Martins – codename Studd – was Nori’s senior official, to whom he reported into every Sunday to give updates on his active assignments. He came from the Portuguese part of Paldea and was fluent in the region’s two official languages, but somehow not the global one. Some of what Nori saw made him wonder how the guy became an official at all. Even if he was a low-ranking official, there had to be something. Right?
Their meetings took place in the park near Crescent Hills Elementary. It was a good twenty-minute to half-hour skateboard ride and walk from Nori’s home at the Veilstone City trailer park. The young official’s attempts to meet closer to where he lived were always brushed aside by Mr. Martins. Even going inside the school itself like they did the first time would be better.
He spotted the man easily enough. His dark gray coat with rips was unmistakable. As was his hair, which was like an unkempt ginger-brown bush. He was approaching a woman Nori didn’t recognize.
“Children, am I right?” the man struck up conversation.
“They’re just having fun,” she commented without even looking, instead keeping a watchful eye on her kids. She wore dark blue jeans, a padded jacket the same color, and a hair-covering gray cap with ear flaps and a puffball on top.
“I am waiting for one myself.” Nori almost opened his mouth to yell at him. He wasn’t a kid. He was thirteen! That’s a teenager. “The name’s Studd.”
She spun around. “Excuse me?” She quivered, eyes wide yet narrow.
“Agent Studd.” He flashed an attempt at a charming grin, sabotaged by him forcing it too wide. “It is, of course, a fitting nickname for one such as myself.”
The man received a slap that nearly took him off his feet. Nori’s hand flew to his mouth to suppress the burst of laughter that flew out.
“Agent Creep would fit you better!” the woman snorted. She stomped off to the opposite side of the park, muttering to herself.
Nori took that moment to approach the man. He contained the amusement he had. “Hey,” he said.
“What is the smile for, sir?!” Agent Studd seethed, trying to stand with an air of authority.
“Just a smile.”
“Do not be lying! You were laughing!”
He shrugged. He wasn’t going to bring it up to be polite, but Studd had done so himself. “Okay, but only a little.”
He felt a tugging at his pants and glanced down. Pachi was gesturing. Nori made a motion, go ahead and play. The squirrel dashed off into the field between the swings and the woods.
“Pish-posh!” The man raised his right hand and wiggled his fingers. “You have no right to laugh! It is not as if your luck has seen as being better! Do you get what I am saying, you never had a chance with women like me!”
He actually almost did, several times. He even attracted the interest of at least a couple boys. True, nothing had actually started for various reasons, like screwing it up badly or the other person moving away abruptly. But he could have a girlfriend tomorrow if he really wanted. He decided to only tilt his head and smirk in reply.
Studd’s lip curled. He crossed his arms. “Now what is that smile for?”
“Oh, nothing.” Nori waved it off. He didn’t want to make the guy feel worse.
The man grumbled. “Fine then. We do have business to be getting down to. So I will let that go.”
There were a number of benches and picnic tables in and around the park. The agent made a beeline for one of the latter between a tall, fenced-in tree and the swings. Nori was going to sit down, but the man stretched out across the whole thing, propping his head and legs on the armrests.
“Ah, comfy!” he sighed, much to the boy’s surprise. Even he wouldn’t consider a wooden bench to be comfortable. What was he comparing it to? “Tell me, sir! Have you been paying attention to the news?”
Nori could only stare blankly. He was never the snarky type, but Mr. Martins sometimes made him want to be. He gave a simple answer. “I work on my school’s newsletter. I’m the president of the club! Knowing the news is sort of my job there.”
“So you have paid attention!” Studd folded his hands and rested them over his hips. “That makes things easier!”
Agent Studd reached into his pocket and retrieved a black jewel case. A simple container that prevented a Poke Ball from opening accidentally or by internal means. When Nori had received Pawniard, the sadistic Pokemon not only had one of these, but Studd had a cage for him as well. The absence of anything like the latter came as a sign that this one wasn’t as dangerous.
The scruffy man sat up and opened it without care, revealing a sea-blue Poke Ball with a wave pattern on the upper half. “I need not tell you what this is, yes?”
“Um, you kind of need to,” he replied. “You implied it’s related to the news, but that’s it.” There was a lot of news in the world. Which news specifically was he talking about?
“The Krookodile Finder!” he said wrongly. The man threw up his arms and raised them to the sky. “It is all anyone has been speaking of!”
First of all, that was an exaggeration. Maybe for the first two days, but after that, it tapered off. Secondly, Nori instantly picked up where it was going. “Oh no, don’t tell me,” he said, his legs feeling like they were stuck in a snowbank.
“Don’t tell you what?” he asked, continuing without giving him the slightest chance to answer. “Anyhoo, you’ll be rehabilitating the Qwilfish that killed him!”
He said that so loudly that anyone in the park could have heard him. Nori stamped a foot. “I knew it.” He looked down and brushed some dirt aside with his foot.
An aquatic Pokemon. One that would have to be in the water sometimes. Meaning he would have to be near the water. Meaning the water–
He jolted upright. What was that white and blue thing rushing over?! It took a second to register that it was only Pachi. The squirrel’s tail was swishing in concern. Nori shakily exhaled. “Why am I getting another one so soon? Pawniard’s not done yet.”
“I know, right?!” Studd actually agreed. “I was told it would be months between, but a thing came up!”
So he was right about the odd timing! And that thing that came up was Pete Stephens’ untimely passing. And they were expecting him to help the Qwilfish?! How was he qualified to handle this? No, no, never mind that. How could he handle a Qwilfish?
“Isn’t there another Rehabilitator to handle this?” he protested, maybe pleaded. Pachi stood in front of him, leering at the man before them.
The agent shook his head. “No, sir!” If Nori hadn’t already expected that answer, it would’ve hit harder. Yet it still felt like getting struck in the face. “It’ll be a while before any more like you get found!”
The young official could only wince and shut his eyes tight. “Why this?” he asked no one in particular.
“What is the matter, if I can ask?” came the reply, in a tone that nearly sounded like a childish taunt. “Are you being the scaredy-Sprigatto all of a sudden-like? Is it the hate you might get?”
Pachi growled lightly. Even he could be as fearsome as his other Pokemon when he was angry. But Studd was oblivious. Nori bit down on his lower lip, shaking his head. His limbs quivered. Ostracism wasn’t what he feared. He’d been through so much of it at one point in the past that it meant little. But he was afraid of something else.
His voice eventually came to him. “Not really, but–”
“Then there should be no problem!” Studd chimed in before he could speak up about his discomfort. He lunged his arm out, almost a punch right into Nori’s gut, although it sure felt like he was getting one anyway. The man dropped the ball into his palms.
The young official initially cradled the capsule, making sure he couldn’t fumble it. He took it in both hands and raised it to eye level. Pokemon were conscious to some degree while in their Poke Balls. As he stared at the button, he wondered if the Qwilfish was looking back at him, and if so, what was going through its mind.
He remembered something an old adversary had once told him. That he might need to rehabilitate a Pokemon like this one day. Now, that prospect was staring him in the face, sooner than he expected. Between this and the murderous Pokemon of a serial killer, he had more doubts about being able to rehabilitate the former.
Because this was an aquatic Pokemon. And he had a fear of water. He clutched at his ribs. Just so much as thinking of it could make him squeamish. Seeing it was worse, even if it was in a Pokemon battle. And being near lakes and rivers and pools and–
“Are you fine, sir?”
He blinked out of his reverie to see Studd waving an open palm in front of his face.
“Not really…” he openly admitted.
“Well, buck up, blossom,” he said, giving a goofy, tooth-filled grin. “You have striden well on rehabilitating the Blackout Killer’s Pokemon! This should be no worries!”
No worries. He chuckled bitterly. Even if he wasn’t an aquaphobe, there was still a lot to worry about with this Pokemon. He could name three more things! Like what if it wasn’t already trained to be out of water?
“Now this is a scoop!” came a woman’s voice.
Four more things. He was sure the news would spread anyway, but he thought he’d have a bit of time before that happened. He glanced at the source, just in time to see a woman with wine-red hair and eyes climbing down a tree in the bushes. She was wearing a green and brown trenchcoat as makeshift camouflage. She pulled a handheld video camera from her outfit.
“No interviews,” Nori said as she was hurrying over. He grabbed his Pokemon, glared at Studd and said, “I told you so,” and walked away. He wasn’t in a mind to talk to a reporter, least of all Akari Schrader. Especially with what she’d done to his friend Prema.
“Mr. Carino,” she ignored his declaration. She ran to catch up and pointed the camera in his face, walking in front like the paparazzi would. “What are your thoughts on the Officials giving you this Pokemon?”
“No comment.”
She stopped and scoffed. To her credit, she immediately realized that it was going to be futile. “Damn. Arumi taught you well.”
No, saying that was just basic common sense. But yes, Arumi had explicitly told him not to accept an interview with her aunt. He trusted his bestie on that one.
“Excuse me!” the scruffy man called to her, a hint of excitement in his tone. Nori slowed down a little, so he could listen in, although he continued to leave the park. “Agent Studd, International Police! If it’s a private interview you wish for, I can give you it!”
He heard Akari sniffing the air. She let out a loud, maybe exaggerated grimace. “Put on some cologne, then I’ll see if I can make room for you. I have a busy schedule.”
Nori couldn’t even crack a smile at that. It was almost sad. But not as dreadful as his situation. There were times when he was lost with Pawniard’s rehabilitation, but at least he had direction with him. With this new assignment, he had no idea what to do or where even to begin.
"just a normal day" never stays normal for long... I mean in the 'mon verse its legends, Teams, rivals and stuff... So brownie points on having a streamer mosy over... But you think somone would warm these kids about that line and its dreaded sib "what could go wrong".
Looks like Julie is not a fan. Or inclined to fangirl. My first question is if this is a steve irwin nod. Because with a name like that you do not want to bother them at work.
Something i suspect these kids are not going to think of.
Oh he's just on tv. Nevermind my assumption that he's setting up shop by thier Center. Oh she made a critical mistake with that decision. The masses and thier peer pressure will glue her to a seat and make her watch now.
Maybe play the sick card?
Or just get dragged along. Yep we are jumping straight to final day event... Minimal build up... This is going to go swimingly...
I might of laughed at the mighty ladien line. Theyre cute but still...
Peter's going to be offed by the rarest thing in the lake, isn't he? And as julie is a tox-phobe i suspect this is not going to help her issues.
So shes a child of viridian? Aka a pokemon speaker? This is going to make things infinitly worse i imagine...
Well at least it wasnt televised. Freak accident he was doing the mon equivulant of offering to do free dental work for mightyenna and not expecting to be crunched?
So manna is a director? Love how the first reacrion is... His death is causing issues. Then muzzling the underlings.
Then realizing i think peter precoged this a bit... And that reaction has to be muffled bwcause for the next x months they are brushing imgoing to be stuck muting the coming media storm. I'm surprised the critter got caught right now, and thrown at the masses becayse anyone who gets that fish is going to have rabid fans aftet them and then some.
"just a normal day" never stays normal for long... I mean in the 'mon verse.its legends, Teams, rivals and stuff... So brownie points on havong a streamer mosy over... But ypu think somone would warm these kids about that line and ita dreaded sib "what could go wrong".
Looks like julie is not a fan. Or inclined to fangirl. My first question isnis this steve irwin nod is working. Because with a name like that you do not want to bother them at work.
Oh he's just on tv. Nevermind my assumption that he's setting up shop by thier Center. Oh she made a critical mistake with that decision. Tjey will.glue her to a seat and make her watch now.
I'm not sure. Literally, not sure. It hasn't been brought up in the fic source she's from and it's only going to be addressed in the sequel after the unwritten sequel, apparently. That said, the idea of a Child of Viridian is brought up in this fic and it's my running theory since Yellow is one of the author's favorite characters, but I don't commit to anything here. Of course, they're not the only Pokemon talkers...
That said, next chapter goes into it a bit more. This POV at the start is to set up part of the drama that this Qwilfish is absolutely not a bad Pokemon in any way.
Well at least it wasnt televised. Freak accident he was doing the mon equivulant of offering to do free dental work for mightyenna and not expecting to be crunched?
Barb Barraged. As explained shortly, the diving suit is made with the expectation to resist attacks, but the fact that it went through AND happened to hit something vital was the freak accident.
Manna is a producer. Speaking a bit from experience, this can actually happen. When my mother was passing away, my instinct was to buckle down and be strong for my brother and father. She feels she has time to grieve later, but for now, she has to take control and keep everyone calm and in order.
Then realizing i think peter precoged this a bit... And brushing it off to mute the coming media storm. I'm.surprised tje critter got caught right now.amd thrown at the masses.
The former part was based off Irwin's passing. I forget where I found it, but he apparently thanked everyone that day out of nowhere. It felt like a spooky little detail to include as part of this. Among the others as well. There's differences too of course, like Stephens' filming here being more of a public spectacle rather than how it played out with Irwin.
Nori skateboarded through the streets of Veilstone City with purpose. He had forgotten what brand the green and black board was, but he got it since it suited his needs, and it could be disassembled to fit in a bag. It was good for getting around quicker, and technically, he didn’t need a helmet. Pachi ran alongside him, easily keeping up and stopping at a crosswalk whenever they needed to.
He wasn’t too miffed about what had happened. He was sure that word would eventually get out that his next assignment was another infamous Pokemon. Still, as a newshound, he knew this one would be different. The Demon was infamous locally, but she’d never actually killed anyone. Pawniard was a sadistic killer, but he was from across the ocean and old news. This Qwilfish had slain a beloved celebrity less than a week ago. He would have kept it quiet if he could. Why they were giving it to him so soon after the incident was beyond him.
But he was an optimist at heart. Akari Schrader was going to publish a report soon that was going to complicate things. That much was a fact. But after a bit of thought, that inevitability had given him some immediate direction.
Nori slowed down as he approached a small shotengai. It was the closest one to the trailer park where he lived with his mom. He had known about it since he was a little kid who liked exploring the city, but he had never been able to visit any of the stores until he became an official and had money to spend.
The young official flipped up the board, took it apart, and placed it in his bag as he stepped into the plaza. He ignored the people gawking at him and walked up to Daikatsu, a manga café. The sign was decorated with half a dozen different characters, but he only recognized the muscular guy with spiky golden hair. He wasn’t interested in reading, though. The place had internet, and that’s what he needed to use.
He opened the door, held it for his Pokemon, and stepped inside. The entrance was modest, a simple carpeted lobby decorated with posters of anime and manga characters. There were a few tables and seats for hanging out at. A hallway to the right led to the common areas. The one to the left had restrooms, lockers that could be rented, and the staff facilities.
There was no line, so Nori was able to walk to the front desk unimpeded. The teenager sitting there had slicked-back cream-colored hair and teal eyes. He was wearing a wrestling shirt instead of an anime one, though Nori knew even less about that. But he had picked up enough from anime fans from his periodic visits to the café to understand the shirt’s possible appeal. It had a golden design depicting two bare-chested guys in an embrace, saying they were lovers.
The clerk called out to Nori before he had made it in front of the desk. “Konnichiwa, Carino-sama!” he greeted warmly.
“Oss,” he replied. It was weird to be welcomed like a friend and not as a customer. The clerk was familiar with him, but not vice versa. Maybe he could? No, now was not the time to get to know people. “I’d like a private computer room, please.”
“O-of course!” he replied, fumbling around on his messy desk to find the right papers. “As usual, it’s 200P for 30 minutes at the VIP price.”
Nori didn’t actually have a membership to the place. They just considered him a VIP because of his fame. He wasn’t going to complain about getting a lower price though! The crazy thing about it was that cafés across the country had low prices.
He reached for his wallet and retrieved the necessary amount. “Here ya go,” he said, handing it over.
“And here’s your pass,” the clerk said. When he placed it in Nori’s palm and held his hand there for a second too long, the young official wondered. He attracted a lot of people, and given that shirt, was this one of them? Well, there was no use making assumptions. “I'm always happy to serve,” the clerk declared with a light bow. “So what’s the occasion?”
He smiled and shrugged. “Just need to check my email, maybe browse a little.”
“EEEEEEEEEE!!” someone shrieked with joy. “It’s Nori Carino!”
With that, a bunch of people came hurrying over from the hall. Even some of the people who had been sitting idly at the tables in the lobby rose and approached him, albeit not as hastily. Judging by how loud that person yelled, Nori had no doubt that more people were on their way.
“Wow, I never thought I’d get to meet you in person!” said an adult otaku with thick glasses.
A thin teenage boy who was maybe a little older than him grinned. “It’s always good to see you!”
“Hi, Pachi!” They even knew his Pokemon by name. The little squirrel waved back to the admiring crowd.
“I…I really like you!” a younger girl he didn’t even know straight-up confessed to him.
“Um, er…” No matter how many times this happened, he doubted he’d get used to it. “Sorry, sorry. I really have things to do here, and I already paid.” He was sure they’d let him stay a little longer if he needed to, but still. It was an excuse.
“What about after you’re done?” one of them pleaded.
“Can we at least talk after?” the girl who was in love with him asked. She was cute, but he didn’t know her at all!
“Sorry!” He tried not to yell. “I’m going to see Prema Kannagi right after this!”
It wasn’t technically a lie. After he finished his business, he planned to head straight to the Kannagi Shrine to speak with the future head priestess. It wasn’t planned in advance or anything, but they didn’t need to know that.
Saying her name and his intent was enough to make everyone understand. They wished him well and got on their way. The girl in love with him hung her head as she walked away. Only two teenagers stayed behind, a guy and a girl, leering coldly and hotly respectively.
“Carino,” the male huffed, rubbing a hand along his teal crew cut while slipping the other into his black dress pants. Accompanying him was a slender girl with crimson hair done up in a ponytail. She wore a navy blue dress shirt that matched her friend’s polo and feminine knee-length denim shorts.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you guys here,” he commented, genuinely. Something clicked, and he defensively added, “Or were you somehow waiting to yell at me?” His muscles tensed a little.
“Don’t flatter yourself!” Mariko Urusai snapped. “You’re one of the last people we want to see!”
“Not here, Mari.” Louis Trussel placed a hand on her shoulder. They were the same as always, levelheaded and hotheaded. He leaned into her slightly. “This isn’t the place, and he’s not worth our time right now.”
She grumbled and shook her head before she walked off without waiting for him. Louis opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something more, but Nori whistled for Pachi and left the lobby. He did not bother to look back.
Louis and Mariko had once formed an activist/protest group called Youths Against Mistaken Society. It was actually how Nori had met several of his friends. As far as he knew, it was just the two of them left. They had driven everyone else away. It was something of a shame too, because there had been a time when Nori had greatly respected Louis.
Now was not the time to reminisce, he thought to himself. He had come here to send some emails.
He entered his booth, slid the screen shut, latched it, and sat down at the computer. Pachi, for his part, plopped on a cushion that was designed for small Pokemon and began nestling into it. He opened the browser and brought up the ElectronMail site. He typed in his address and password and loaded it.
There were a bunch of messages from someone he had met at his news club in Sunyshore, but he pushed them to the back of his mind. No, not now. As much as he needed someone like that right now. He composed one new message, and then another.
He kept them short, simple, and to the point. For Arumi Schrader, he told her what her aunt had done and asked for advice and help in handling the fallout. She was his bestie, she would help in any way she could. For Volkner Denzi, the one who the Officials had him train under, he briefly explained the situation and asked for advice on training aquatic Pokemon out of water. The Sunyshore Gym Leader had a few of those, like his Lanturn and Octillery. He was an experienced trainer who would’ve been in the Sinnoh Elite Four if it wasn’t for a scandal. If anyone Nori knew could help with Pokemon, it was him.
After sending the last one, he crossed his fingers. If he was lucky, he would get a reply from one or both of them before his allotted time was up. Only then did he check his inbox. Nori figured he might as well do so while he was there.
It was a simple ‘how are you?’, the words having a still-affectionate tone despite Nori’s rejection of him. He sent a similar message to what he had sent to the others: “Bad. I just got a new assignment not even an hour ago. The Qwilfish that killed Pete Stephens. Going to be tough. Not much time to say much more. Hope you’re doing okay.”
He hit send, and kept the email page open as he went to the search engine. He had done research on his last two assignments, and this time he needed to do that more than ever. News articles, species information, and so on. There was little time to waste. Once his time was up, it was straight to the Kannagi Shrine.
###########
Louis calmly walked out of Daikatsu, Mariko leading the way with powerful strides. They had known that Nori Carino was a regular at the manga café. For his part, he was glad that Mariko had grown enough not to cause a major scene there. However, he was greatly concerned about what she ended up doing.
“Mariko, slow down,” he urged, jogging to catch up. She was peering down at the ground while grumbling, walking with a swift and rigid gait.
“Seeing him pisses me off.” She did not look up.
“Just the sight of him shouldn’t be triggering to you.” The encounter was admittedly unexpected and unpleasant for him as well, yet he was not about to let that drag down his mood.
She slowed, but kept her sneer and clenched fists. “I’m sorry,” she stood her ground, giving her head a firm shake as she squinted her eyes shut. “I know you feel different. But to me, he’s where it all went wrong.”
He had to take pause at that. She had always blamed Nori Carino for convincing the Takao twins to leave their now defunct protest group. Louis felt he was only a catalyst at best; disagreements, if not the twins’ parents, would have caused it in time regardless. He still had a negative opinion of the Pokemon Rehabilitator, but it was nothing personal, like Mariko had a habit of taking things.
Yet this was new. She had previously blamed a variety of people for each instance of their dwindling numbers. Nori Carino for Yumi and Touya. Prema Kannagi for Nariya’s departure, until she reflected and blamed herself. Arnie for not having the courage to continue.
“For the sake of clarity,” he started to ask, preparing himself for a blow to the heart. It would be best to clear this up for relationship purposes. “Do you blame me for inviting him to that meeting in the first place?”
“No. You couldn’t have known,” she assured him, albeit with a bitter edge. She leaned in a little closer, her eyes dropping as she lamented. “None of us could’ve. Gods.”
They walked on in silence. There was an irony as bitter as a cup of coffee that both were well aware of. Nori had befriended everyone else there that day. The Takao twins, Nariya Yaznik, and the other person they had invited. He had at no point expected the future head priestess of the Kannagi Shrine to join YAMS. It was a shock that she even agreed to observe their meeting. Louis did not believe in destiny, but he could not think of any other explanation for their meeting that day.
“And he’s headed to see her after,” she spat, placing emphasis on the pronoun. “The fuck does she even see in him?”
Louis stood upright. She must have been thinking the same thing as him. Although she had jumped to a strange conclusion in the process. “I don’t think it’s how you’re thinking between those two.”
“Not that I care.” She waved a wrist. “Just thinking that if it weren’t for us…”
“They never would’ve met,” he finished her sentence. Louis had to restrain a laugh in case it was misinterpreted. That’s why he fell for Mariko. As different as they seemed on the surface, they were often on the same page. They thought the same things, they liked the same things, and they wanted to do the same thing: make the world a better place. They had their differences, sure, but it was in a way that complemented each other.
“Can’t do much about her, though.” She grumbled. “Much as I wish we could.”
“We shouldn’t.” Not just because of the futility – they had attempted it before; it only ended in humiliation and Nariya’s frustrations with their treatment of her boiling over. But Prema Kannagi truly was a good person, as far as he could see.
“Yeah,” Mariko sighed. That incident had shaken her badly. But it also led to a lot of personal growth for both of them. She suddenly stopped and gave a frank look. “Hey. Is it wrong I want to see him go down?”
“Not at all.” There were plenty who disliked Nori Carino for far worse reasons. “I would just be disappointed to see it happen. I know how it might happen, too.”
Her gorgeous sapphire eyes lit up, sparkling in the sunlight peeking through the clouds. “Oh yeah?” She rubbed her hands together. “Do you have something in mind?”
He crossed his arms. There was a tightness in his chest. “Just one thing,” he admitted. “I’m hoping I don’t have to be the one to point it out, however.”
“What is it?”
He paused in place. After a second to think about it, he shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it here. Or in public at all.”
Mariko nudged arms with him. “All right. My parents aren’t coming back for another hour.” She compounded this with a wink.
He felt himself twitch below. “Let’s go, then.” Her apartment was in sight, towering over the other buildings in the area.
Louis instinctively reached for her hand, only for her to playfully bat it away with a giggle. Affectionate, just never in public. If only people knew this side of her. But before they got to any of that, they had plans to go over.
He had heard about an incident with Carino’s previous assignment. They had critically wounded another Pokemon in a battle. The opposing trainer had signed a waiver absolving Carino and the Officials from any legal liability. But therein lied the means of attack. The Pokemon hadn’t agreed to fighting a homicidal monster. They were the one who suffered a permanent, crippling injury as a result of their trainer’s ill-advised decision. Louis was somewhat surprised that Pokemon rights activists weren’t all over it already. Or perhaps some of them had, but didn’t have the courage to speak out.
He already knew what Mariko would want to do. Personally, Louis wanted to leave that part of his life in the past. There were better ways of making a stir than loudly and in public. But if they were the only ones who could make a difference, he’d gladly bear the burden that came with it.
Nori skateboarded his way to the northeastern part of Veilstone City. He didn’t care about religion one way or another, but he was close friends with the sole heir to the Kannagi Shrine. It did not take him long to reach his destination, whereupon he was forced to dismount and disassemble his ride before continuing up the hill.
They had evidently been making sure to superbly maintain the path. Autumn was in full swing, but there were only a few stray leaves scattered along the lightly forested path. Nori speculated they cleaned it daily if not more often. He slowed his ascent as he reached the apex of the stone staircase. It was more caution than necessary, but he wanted to ascertain something before he passed under the red arch. Torii, was that what it was called?
A fair number of visitors and members (some of whom apparently lived there) were in front of and to the side of the large building which was now a place for the gods. The only way you would know it used to be the JSPR station was if you had seen it before. Or maybe you could piece it together if you saw the gated off radio dish on the left side. On the right was the place you washed yourself at before you could go inside. Nori never had, not since it became the shrine anyway. The back had some open space, a place to battle, and a trail through the woods that wasn’t open to the public.
He was in luck! A bright-eyed woman in the shrine’s long-sleeved violet robe was standing watch near the front entrance; her outfit had elaborate silver trim (especially along the shoulders) which served as a denotation of her rank. She was in her nineties, but she hardly looked it. She had wrinkles, but not as many as one would expect from a woman her age. Her dark hair was only faintly gray. Granted, the middle-aged man with ragged black hair and brown eyes did make him worry a bit – his robe had simple and plain white trim – but Priestess Satomi Kurusu was here. Him being here didn’t mean a thing because of it.
She greeted Nori when he was halfway to them. “Well, look who it is!” she said, giving Acolyte Jirou a nudge.
“Someone who should not keep coming here,” the man snarked in reply.
This guy had always had it out for him. Nori reflexively leaned forward to shout back. He would have too, if Priestess Satomi hadn’t preemptively intervened.
“Now, now, Acolyte Jirou,” Priestess Satomi wagged a finger at him teasingly. “Remember what Master Haruto said about Nori here.”
Jirou stiffened. “To treat him properly,” he grumbled through clenched teeth.
“Well, close enough.” Mrs. Kurusu rolled her shoulders before turning back to him. “So, what brings you here today?”
He didn’t even try to hide his light smile over Jirou getting shut down. It felt like there were too many people at the shrine who didn’t like him. It was a relief that the people in charge thought otherwise, at least enough to allow him to visit despite not worshiping. “I got a new Pokemon,” he explained to them, keeping a cool head. “And I really need Prema’s opinion on something!”
Jirou crossed his moderate-sized arms. He lowered his gaze and moved in front of the door. “Didn’t you just get one?” he lowly inquired.
“I did,” he replied. For a moment, he thought about showing the ball as proof, but he didn’t want to chance that just in case. “This was like, something imminent. It’s way different, too.”
“How so?”
“That’s not your concern,” Nori harshly replied. Then he giggled. He had been waiting to throw that one back at him. From how Jirou turned away, it seemed he had no good response for it either. “Sorry. But I can say I need a bit of help on this one.”
Jirou turned back and seethed. “Lady Kannagi is not your personal assistant.”
“I know that!” he argued. “I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think I’d need her help!”
Priestess Satomi was about to speak before he cut in, and did so after he finished. “Now Acolyte Jirou,” she said, before pausing and tapping her chin with her palm. “Well. I’m sure you know. We’re always willing to help trainers connect with their Pokemon. No matter who they are!”
“This might not be connecting, but…” Nori said under his breath.
“But it doesn’t matter.” She started her sentence where he stopped and snapped her fingers. “If not as a diviner, then as a friend!”
He slowly blinked. Yes. Him and Prema were friends. He was actually her only real friend at this point. They trusted each other more than anyone else in the world. That was why he was here. If he could share this with anyone before it got out, if there was anyone who would never ever judge him over it, it was Prema Kannagi.
“I’ll let her know you’re here,” Mrs. Kurusu said. “She’ll be out to join you shortly.”
The elderly priestess left, leaving Nori with a man whose lip had curled so far back into his mouth that he was sucking on part of his five-o-clock shadow. The bitter acolyte turned his nose up and glared, as if daring him to try to make conversation.
Nori did want to. He rubbed the nape of his suddenly prickly neck. “Mr. Kannagi said that?” he inquired. He supposed it was a bit of a rhetorical question to ask, given the man’s response and the fact that Priestess Satomi would not lie about such a thing, but he was curious.
Jirou turned his head away. “Unfortunately,” he snorted, without giving any details.
“Do you know why?” That was why Nori was asking. There were signs that Prema’s dad was a silent supporter of their friendship, but he had never taken any action against their detractors. Until now, it seemed.
“All he said is because you are Lady Kannagi’s friend,” Jirou answered. “If he had a deeper reason, and I trust that he does, he didn’t tell us.”
Nori silently nodded. Was it just a matter of being utilitarian? He supposed he could only speculate along with the others, but it was not something he was going to question. There was a saying about not looking a gift horse in the mouth. With some of the trouble he had in the past, he was glad about it.
“Well, thanks,” he said with a tiny nod. “It helps put my mind at ease about being here.”
“I am just doing my duty.” Acolyte Jirou shook his head with utter derision. “Even if I disagree with it.”
“But why?” he decided to prod. “Is it because I’m not a worshiper?” This guy had given him flak in the past for that reason, although the fact that he was chatting with him was a step up from before. “The way I’m treated sometimes doesn’t really make me want to be a part of it.”
Jirou’s arms and face dropped. He recoiled a little, as if in realization. However, he stiffened and forced himself to glower.
“Not that you ever would,” he growled.
Nori could only smile a little. The guy felt a little bad about it. “Yeah, probably not,” he confessed. It’s not that he wasn’t interested in learning about the teachings of the Kannagi Shrine, especially considering their mark upon the world. He just didn’t believe in the rigidity that came with religion. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
Jirou harrumphed. “I just don’t like you.”
Nori shrugged. It was personal, and the guy didn’t feel like sharing. He got that sometimes. But he could gather enough from the context in this case. It probably had something to do with his personality and thinking he was a bad influence on Prema.
The young official glanced at the door, pacing a couple steps. A sharp exhale escaped him. He was hoping it would be quick, and evidently, so was Jirou.
“So how was taiiku no hi?” he decided to make some idle banter in the meantime. “I was thinking of coming by, but I had to cover it at my school.” Of course, it was overshadowed by world news, but still.
“Health and Sports Day?” the man asked, rolling his head and crossing his arms again. He gave a furtive scowl. “That isn’t something we celebrate.”
“Oh. I thought you would. I know you hold festivals around holidays.”
“That shows your ignorance of our faith. We don’t throw a festival for every holiday,” the man smugly quipped. He turned up his nose and looked down at him with a smirk thin enough to cut vegetables on.
“I guess not,” Nori shrugged off. Most of what he had learned about the shrine had come from his law textbooks. Apart from that, he knew that they were polytheistic and of their general beliefs in respecting all Pokemon, just not specific nuances. He had to laugh a bit. “Would’ve been so embarrassing if I came by without knowing!”
Jirou’s eyes darted away with his next words. “Not that it would have mattered.”
“Why not?”
The guard leered. He heaved through his pinched lips. It turned into a sharp sigh as he conceded. “We had someone pass on Monday,” he explained, his gaze dropping to the ground for a moment. “We held an informal sosai for him a couple of days ago.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear. That had to be hard.” That was not something he expected to hear. Odd coincidence they had someone significant pass away as well. “Who died? Um, if I might ask?”
Jirou furrowed his brow and took a step closer. He took a deep breath. “Who else?” the man slowly asked. Nori only stared blankly. It was a valid question. Was it something he was supposed to know? Jirou eventually gave the answer, “Pete Stephens!”
Before he could even begin to process that, the door opened. His friend was standing there, but nothing was registering. They were mourning the Krookodile Tracker? Was he one of them?! Was coming here a mistake?!?!!
“Nori?” Prema asked, leaning towards him. “Are you well?”
“Did Acolyte Jirou cause you any trouble?” came the voice of Satomi. He heard her, but he couldn’t see her. His head was spinning too much! He was probably going pale too. And it felt like bile was about to rise out of his throat.
“No, no! I mean yes, he did fine. I mean, he’s…” He clapped his hands against his face. “Focus, Nori!” He vigorously shook his head and did a double fist pump. “I need to talk and Mr…whoever did fine.”
For a moment, he thought about brushing it off and leaving. But no, it was too late. Doing that now would just make things worse.
Prema smiled gently at him as their eyes met. “Let us go behind the shrine,” she said, offering for him to lead the way. “It seems that you are unwell, so I will prepare tea for you.”
It felt like a bit of the weight lifted off his back. It was weird how just a look and an offer of hospitality helped put his mind at ease. He quietly nodded, returning her expression as he started to walk to the back. Things were going to turn out fine. She would help him.
##########
The thing that Nori liked most about Prema Kannagi – at least at that particular moment – was her empathy.
Through rigorous training and some kind of inherent powers in her blood, Prema had abilities that normal people didn’t have. But she certainly didn’t need any to tell that he was on edge. He was rarely one to hide how he was feeling from others. He accepted her offer of tea to buy himself a little more time to think about what he wanted to say to her and how he wanted to say it.
The two were on an outdoor sitting mat with a tea table set up between them; Pachi and Shu (her Spritzee) were off playing together in the nearby field. Prema had a cup of her own, but she had not drank much from it. She was dressed in the traditional attire of the Kannagi family: the same kind of robes Priestess Satomi and Acolyte Kirou wore, except with elegant gold trim with a vague floral pattern to indicate her position as heir. A tiara made of wood and metal bound together was in her shoulder-length hair, which was a forest green color. Her retinas were a deep cyan.
“How is it, Nori?” she asked. She had a gentle if flat tone, although Nori knew she could be emotive.
“It’s really good,” he replied, taking another sip. He carefully placed the cup on the tray on the table before them, making sure not to drop it or spill any. There were no handles to hold, but he could put it down at least. “The temperature’s just right, and it’s really helping me relax. What’s in it?”
“I prepared it using chamomile and peppermint. Both are herbs renowned for their calming effects. I added lemon to balance the flavor.”
“Wow.” He’d made tea before, but this wasn’t something you’d be able to get from a bag of tea. “I know what peppermint tastes like, but I didn’t taste like, the minty flavor. You’re great at making tea.”
“Thank you,” was her response, in a polite fashion that told him that she got that compliment all the time to the point of where it didn’t mean much, even coming from him.
Nori rested his hands on his legs. There was still some tea left in his cup; he was keeping it in case he needed it. He leaned back and wiggled into the cushion to get a bit more comfortable.
“How’s the situation with Nariya? Have you heard anything from her?” he inquired. She was a mutual friend of theirs. However, Nariya’s parents had forbidden her from visiting the shrine after she had gotten hurt helping Prema.
She sighed, taking a sip of her tea before she answered. “I have heard nothing.”
“That figures.” He moved his hands to his knees. He could relate to Nariya in a weird way. Both of them had trouble making friends. For different reasons, but still. If he knew where she lived, he would go say hi faster than a Pidgeot diving on its prey! “Have you tried reaching out to her?”
“Reaching out?”
“That is, have you tried to contact her?” He chuckled softly yet with reassurance. It always amused him how Prema failed to understand colloquialisms sometimes.
“Father has written a letter commending her performance that night. We do not know if she received it.” Prema sat fairly still as she spoke, evidently suppressing any emotions she might have had.
“Maybe she might come by on Halloween?” he put forth, folding a palm outward. His arm suddenly dropped. “Uh, if you celebrate Halloween. If not, maybe some festival. It could be they're waiting for a good moment.”
Prema closed her eyes. “Yes, perhaps then. We can only pray,” she said, a palpable touch of regret in her tone.
A thought occurred. Maybe Yumi would know how things might go with the parents? She and Nariya used to be friends too before things went crazy with YAMS, and there was an indication they still could be. Actually! He clapped his hands. “Maybe she doesn't know how to approach and mend things. It’s like that between her and Yumi.”
Prema remained stone-faced. “Regardless, we will find out in time.”
“Yeah. Oh!” He snapped upright as he remembered what he had come by for. He paused before he could speak about it, better judgment taking over. There was something he needed to get clarified first. “So I heard you had a…” What did they call it again? “Um, some sort of funeral? For Pete Stephens on Wednesday?”
“We call them sosai,” she clarified to him in a gentle tone. “They are rituals to help souls reach the other side in peace. It was not a proper one, but we chose to honor him all the same.”
So that guard didn’t make it up. “I guess I did kinda the same thing in a way, since we wrote about him in the school newsletter. It hit a lot of people hard.”
Prema nodded slowly. “Truly, it did.”
Nori suddenly felt a vice on his heart. “What did you think of him?” Was he reading that right? Did it hit her hard too?
“I met him once, when I was very young.” A neutral tone. No, rather one of quiet admiration. “Even then, I could sense he was a wise and wonderful soul. He created his television program with the intent of spreading awareness of Pokemon and animal conservationism to the masses. That was his life. It is unfortunate that he is no longer with us.” She sighed heavily and took a sip of her tea. “He had planned to visit the shrine here as part of his tour, before his passing.”
Nori put a hand on his hip. He couldn’t help but crack a grin as he felt a tingle in his chest. “I knew those convert claims were made up.”
“Convert claims?” Prema asked, leaning in while blinking.
“Nothing much, just people spreading rumors.” He snorted, reveling in the minuscule bit of joy. The young official elaborated, “When we were doing research, we found some people online saying he became a Ceutholic two weeks before he died. We didn’t print it, and if he was planning on coming here, we were right not to!”
She chuckled softly. “As far as I know, Mr. Stephens did not adhere to any one faith. It was his way of appealing to more people. But our values aligned, and he was a friend of my father’s.” She surveyed their surroundings, leaned closer, and spoke quietly to him. “Do not tell, but the sosai was partly a way for Father to get closure.”
Nori made a lip-zipping motion. Prema fully trusted him, which is why she confided that. He wasn’t going to betray her trust. “I can get that,” he chuckled nervously. “Not getting a chance to say goodbye to someone is hard.” He knew that well, namely with his friend Lux Blomgren. Lux only moved away abruptly, but still.
Reality came crashing down on him. He glanced over at the shrine’s battlefield, a currently unoccupied area cordoned off by a tall chain-link fence. This was bad. He couldn’t help but wince at the predicament he had thrown himself into. If the head of the shrine was fricking friends with the guy, they’d hate this Qwilfish no matter what! He let out a small wheeze and sniffed.
“Is something troubling you, Nori?”
Prema shuffled a bit closer as he turned back. Her posture was open, and her eyes were soft.
“Yeah, something is,” he admitted.
She sat up taller. “Priestess Satomi has told me you have received a new Pokemon in need of rehabilitation, and that you require my assistance.”
It hit him like a slap to the face. So much for avoiding the subject. He gave her a blank stare, yet her radiant smile softened his guise. She silently and patiently waited for him. He brushed his hair behind his ears and straightened it.
It wasn’t just she who trusted him. He trusted her completely as well. She hadn’t told anyone about how his Pawniard had killed a Ninetales to protect him, he hadn’t spoken about her self-doubts that she felt were unbecoming of her position. They could talk to each other about anything, as long as they understood the subject. Prema wouldn’t judge him, he knew that at the back of his mind. The problem was everyone else here, especially her dad. But they were going to find out anyway! No, he was going to talk about it here and now!
He gulped down the rest of his tea, hoping it would help get him through this. Silently, he reached into his pocket and took out Qwilfish’s capsule. He liked the design of it. The whole thing was blue except for a wavy pattern on top like foam. Apparently, it was called a Dive Ball, which was weighted specially to be thrown underwater.
After staring at it with a thoughtful expression for several seconds, Prema frowned and nodded with understanding. “I see,” her words echoed with kindness. “An aquatic Pokemon would be difficult for you.”
Nori felt a slight tingle in his feet. Prema remembered? It had only come up once in passing. “That’s just part of the problem,” he said, rubbing his cheek with his free hand.
“Is it one that could be considered dangerous?”
“I really don’t know, but I, well.” Nori had seen the video of the Krookodile Tracker’s final moments. His initial impression was no, it wasn’t dangerous or anything like that. But that was just going to make things worse. Pawniard reveled in his infamy, but this…
The young official shut his eyes and clutched the capsule tighter. He knew in his heart that Prema wasn’t going to think ill of him, so why was he so worried? Did his subconscious know something that he didn’t? “No, no, get it out of the way, so you know, Nori,” he mumbled to himself. “Just say it. It’ll be fine.”
The self-encouragement worked to invigorate himself, and he powerfully scooted next to her. Prema blinked rapidly and tilted her head.
“It’s the Qwilfish,” he whispered close to her ear. “You know.” He didn’t need to say which one.
Prema’s reaction was quick and instant. Her eyes shot open, she recoiled backwards, and she covered her mouth. When she stood and didn’t respond verbally, Nori smacked himself. Had he made a terrible mistake coming here and telling her? Prema glanced around. Her expression and body language gave no indication as to her true feelings, but the initial expression of shock was not a good sign.
He opened his mouth to protest in anguish, but the words were choked away from him.
It was thirteen months ago when Prema Kannagi met Nori Carino. There were a number of disgruntled members of the shrine who would say that he had barged into her life. Those who found favor in him, including Prema herself, would say something to the same effect. However, they would use a more positive term and place the emphasis upon the curtains he opened. Moreover, the circumstances behind their first meeting as well as their second could be called nothing short of fate. There was no one in her life quite like Nori, and she was as thankful for him as he was for her.
It was obvious from the moment she saw her friend standing before the door of the shrine that something was troubling him. He was tense, wary, and not direct as he often was. Her reaction to the reason behind this had been reflexive. She had not intended to show her shock so overtly, let alone worry him further. With haste, she folded her hands and lightly bowed.
“Forgive me,” she beseeched, albeit in a hushed tone. He only contracted further, wincing in dread, before she scooted closer and reassured him, “It is okay, Nori.” It was all she could think to say.
“Nothing about this is okay,” he fussed, clutching at himself and gripping the capsule tighter. He was wearing an orange and white t-shirt with beige-colored cargo pants. “I have a Pokemon that everyone is going to hate, and it’s aquatic on top of that!”
That was true. His phobia aside, Prema knew that it was an ordeal to train water-dwelling Pokemon to adapt out of water. The shrine’s own Priest Warutsu – one of her battling instructors and the former Gym Leader of Celestic Town before he was given the duty of heading the original shrine – had a number of such Pokemon, including an Overqwil.
“Did you want my help with training?” she speculated, albeit with a measure of unease. For all intents and purposes, he was more skilled and learned than she was. But if he needed support, she would be willing to do her best. After all, part of her duties were to help Pokemon and trainers in need.
“I…guess if you can? Want?” With a hum, he rubbed his chestnut-colored hair with the tips of his fingers. He was as uncertain of it as she. He leaned toward her. “Actually, I wanted you to be there when I meet her for the first time.”
For her to perform an assessment, no doubt. However, there were a few visitors scattered about. Truth be told, Prema had been keeping an eye on them to make sure they were not prying. “Perhaps doing so here would not be best.”
“I know,” he replied, shuffling his hands. “What about our spot?” He glanced over his shoulder at the tree line.
Their spot? It took her a moment to realize what he meant. There was a forested trail behind the shrine where Prema often went to get quiet and fresh air. It was off limits to most individuals. The first time they went there together was when their bond deepened, and when they learned they could trust each other with anything. It was effectively a private place for them to speak, in lieu of Nori entering the shrine.
“It could work,” she admitted. “However…” She made a sidelong glance at the shrine. There was a problem which made it not ideal.
“But what?” he asked, apparently none the wiser about the flaw in his plan.
Prema cleared her throat. Nori fidgeted with uncertainty over her hesitation. She opened her mouth, stopping when she felt a prickle on her neck. This should have been easy to explain, so why was she faltering? She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and attempted to address him as if she were giving a speech to a crowd. “When we raise and bond with Pokemon, we must be aware of their preferred habitats.”
“Yeah, that’s going to be a problem,” he cut in. So he had already realized. Prema looked up at him, the tension in her loosening. “I don’t know if they’re trained out of water, and they’ll probably be more comfortable in it anyway. But I…you know how I do there.”
“Yes. Forgive me. I did not mean to imply pressuring you.” Prema could not claim to have a phobia, but she was aware of many who did. She was aware that it was not necessarily simple to overcome them. Even hypnotherapy had flaws and limitations, not to mention that suppressing traumatic memories (if they were the root cause) was not an avenue some wished to pursue.
“I didn’t think you were.” He tilted his head back and eyed over his shoulder. “Besides, the only water I see here is back there, and well. It’s too small and that’d ruin the purifying stuff.” He chuckled.
She could not help but frown. There was nothing funny about using the chōzu-ya. Besides the issues he was aware of, he would be in all sorts of trouble if he were to do so. Why even consider something as that?
“It was a joke.” He shrugged and smirked. Prema could admit she had trouble with those. “If I can avoid it, I’d like to try. If not…”
He trailed off. Prema guessed what his next words would be. “There will be nothing to do but do it?” It was a mantra of his.
Nori raised a thumb. “Exactly,” he said with a grin before standing. He stretched his arms over his head, placed his hands together, and cracked his knuckles. “We should get moving if we want to get this done.”
Prema did so as well. “Yes, let us go.” Visiting their spot would no doubt attract attention in itself, but it would only be a matter of time before word of his assignment spread. He had not explicitly said so, yet Prema inferred he wished to enjoy these moments of peace before that happened. “We will simply need to let our Pokemon know.”
“So they don’t get worried, right.” He turned to them and shouted, “Hey, Pachi!”
The pair halted their play at once. Pachi hurried over after a short exchange, with Shu not that far behind. Her Pokemon was quick for his species, even if he was not deft.
“Me and Prema are gonna go see You-Know-Who,” Nori told Pachi as the squirrel sat wagging his tail before them. “Just letting you know, so you don’t worry.”
Pachi looked back at Shu, and Shu at Pachi. The two nodded in unison and widened their eyes. The former put his paws together while the latter batted his eyelashes. Together, they made a plea.
Nori rubbed his head. “What?”
Although Prema could not understand the words of Pokemon without the use of her abilities, which involved focus and meditation, theirs were clear enough given the context. “It appears that they wish to accompany us.” It was of little surprise that they had an interest in meeting Qwilfish as well.
Her friend scratched his left cheek and adjusted his hair. “Yeah, it’s a good idea,” he admitted as he stretched to the tips of his feet. He suddenly dropped. “I think. Right?” He spun to her for answers.
She folded her hands. “The presence of other Pokemon would more than likely be beneficial. In particular, since you are this Qwilfish’s new trainer, meeting a Pokemon that is attached to you might help put her mind at ease.”
“Then that’s even better.” He clenched his fists and threw his elbows back. “Let’s go!”
Nori started off with swagger. Prema could not help but giggle a little, especially as the two Pokemon marched right in behind him. Despite what others might believe, she felt that deep down, he had a certain purity of heart. It was a little endearing, actually. She dutifully followed behind him and the Pokemon.
If taming a Pokemon was as simple as throwing a Poke Ball, being compassionate, and having talent at raising them, Nori’s position would not be necessary. The truth was that there were ones who required a more specialized or creative touch. Evidently, the Officials had thought that this Qwilfish was such a Pokemon. Prema had to admit that she was curious as to how they had come to that conclusion.
---
Their spot, as Nori had referred to it, was a small grove in the trail behind the shrine. Since it was the middle of October, the forest floor had red and yellow leaves scattered about. Many more were periodically drifting down from the canopy. Prema was uncertain who had been cleaning them up prior, but if it was not by the Pokemon of the forest, it would be something for them to do later on into the season.
The only notable feature of their spot was a fallen tree along one side, which provided a place to sit. There were a few chutes of grass and some small stones in the dirt of the semicircular clearing. It was otherwise nondescript.
“Well, we’re here,” said Nori as he glanced all around them. “I guess we shouldn’t waste any time getting ready.”
Prema nodded her approval. “When you are prepared for it, Nori. There is no need to rush yourself.”
He looked at her, then at their Pokemon. Both Pachi and Shu nodded at him. Shu even chirped a short tune. It was of little surprise to Prema. Shu was always the type to care for others, particularly those close enough that he could call them a friend.
It brought a light beam to the Pokemon Rehabilitator’s lips. “Thanks, guys,” he said. Nori retrieved Qwilfish’s capsule. His gaze momentarily went to a dip in the ground. “Puddle, no, won’t work,” he mumbled. Prema had considered the possibility. As he had realized as quickly as he thought of it, none of their Pokemon could use a Water-type move to do so. With no more hesitation besides a whisper of, “Here we go, Nori,” to himself, he gave the ball a gentle underhand toss.
As the ball sailed to the ground, Prema readied herself. As a diviner, she was familiar with the dilemma before them. All aquatic Pokemon are capable of breathing oxygen. Some believed this was a gift by the master of the ocean, if not the Original One so that they might live on the surface with humanity. Yet much as one born above the surface needed to learn to swim, they needed to learn to move on dry land. It was an ordeal for both the Pokemon and their trusted trainers (if they had one), with no single solution even among members of the same species.
It was one of those Pokemon that emerged before them. Qwilfish immediately flopped to the forest floor like a falling Cherubi. She was a female, judging from the length of her spines. As she desperately wriggled in attempt to move, squealing all the while, Nori’s mouth fell agape and his chest caved inward. He looked helplessly at the sight before them. His cherry-like retinas were clouded over. Prema felt her pulse start to quicken. Before either of them could react or say anything, their Pokemon sprang into action.
With a crescendoing chirp, Shu flew to the side of Qwilfish. Pachi was following until Nori shouted, “Wait, it could be dangerous!” His Pokemon stopped instantly and shouted to hers, and before Prema could think about doing the same, Shu was over there.
The pink bird squawked concern as Qwilfish tried to right herself. When she saw the Spritzee right beside her, she let out a gurgle. Her body stiffened and she sucked in air. She let it out almost instantly with a cry, the force making her bump into the Fairy-type.
When her friend began to falter and sputter, Prema took a step forward. “Shu!” she shouted.
Nori threw out an arm, aimed the Dive Ball, and fired the beam to recall his Pokemon. His reaction was swift and likely instinctive. His aim was precise, even while Qwilfish was flopping as if she was using Splash. He cut a striking figure before rushing to the aid of the injured Pokemon; Prema was only a half-step behind.
Pachi was the first to reach Shu, but they were there less than two seconds later. Prema scooped her Pokemon into her arms. “He is suffering from poison. Only a minor case,” she assessed. It was most likely the Poison Point ability that had caused it. Shu was tougher than he appeared, but that did not mean it was a pleasant feeling.
“Do you have an Antidote?” Nori asked.
She shook her head. “No. I have Pecha Berries, however.”
Her friend nodded and pulled a small vial of yellow fluid from his right pocket. “I’ll use mine anyway, since my assignment did this.”
Prema reached into the inner pockets of her robe. “No, it was my suggestion that our Pokemon be out.” She had considered the possibility of injury, and surely Nori did as well. However, she should have warned Shu sooner.
While still cradling Shu, she held the pink berry in front of his beak. He wasted no time leaning forward and snapping it down in one bite. It took about eight seconds for the effects to take hold, first easing the pain, then neutralizing the toxins as the enzymes rapidly broke them down.
“Jeez,” Nori muttered. “What you were thinking, rushing in there like that?” Pachi seemed to echo the same sentiment, although he expressed it with far more compassion. He came running to her and looked up at Shu.
“Shu, I know you were only trying to help,” Prema consoled, patting him on his tuft. “I am relieved that your injury was minor. Yet it might have been far worse if she had chosen to do something more drastic.”
Shu groaned and turned his gaze away. He quietly chirped an apology.
“That being said,” she said, gently lowering him to the ground to see his friend. “I am relieved that you are okay.”
Pachi patted Shu on the beak, while giving what sounded like advice. The two Pokemon hugged, with the squirrel giving the Fairy-type a hearty clap on the back. It made Prema smile, but Nori had turned off to the side. He was staring vacantly at the sea-blue ball, which he held in front of his face.
“Nori?” She approached him. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. But I recalled her on impulse,” Nori admitted what Prema had expected as he pocketed the capsule. He rolled an ankle and sighed. “Probably not good to send her out again right away. So much for meeting her. A girl, you said?”
“Yes, she is female. I believe recalling her was the correct decision.” It was to her understanding that he had been trained to recall his assignments at the first sign that they might endanger innocents.
Shu repeated his chirps. Prema understood what he was attempting to convey from hearing the pattern before and his languid posture. She translated. “Shu apologizes, as do I. I should have warned him as you did Pachi.”
Her friend shrugged and smiled. “I guess having them out did hurt after all,” he found a bit of humor in the situation.
Prema chuckled. “I suppose so. Again, I apologize.” She folded her hands and bowed lightly.
“It’s fine, no use stressing. Anyway, what did you think?” he inquired, putting his hands together. “Even if it was like, for fifteen seconds.”
It was brief, but more than enough for her to go on. “I sensed no malice from her,” Prema stated. The priestess was uncertain of how else to put it but simply, “She was frightened and confused.”
He straightened his posture and put his hands on his hips. “I thought she would be,” he boasted with a broad smile on his lips.
Prema blinked slowly. “You did?”
Nori nodded. “Prema, I’m trained in reading Pokemon too. Not like you, but still. I saw the video, she looked scared and lost even then, and being abandoned would hit anyone hard.” He placed a hand on the back of his head and glanced up at the canopy. “Glad to know I was right.”
The video, yes. Prema had not watched the program in question, but she had heard of the events. So he knew what to expect from this meeting based on logic and instinct. Was she mistaken about why he had asked for her aid? What was with his sudden confidence and boisterous demeanor?
“Nori,” she asked, again folding her hands and pressing them against her stomach. “Forgive my asking, and I would like to make clear that I do not mind if there is no practical reason for your showing me her. But I am curious as to your intentions in coming here to do so.”
“Hey, there’s a couple reasons!” He raised a thumb and winked. “It wasn’t just to come see you. Even though that was part of it.”
“As I thought you had,” she paraphrased his earlier words. He had implied as such. “If I may help in any way, please do not hesitate to ask.” It was her duty not just to a Pokemon in need, but as a friend.
Nori’s arms went slack. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Like with helping me train her if I really need it.” That was an idle supposition on her behalf, although one she was willing to commit herself to if requested. Nori thought for a few moments before asking, “I guess I should, since you’re offering. Did you sense anything peculiar from her? Anything that stood out?”
Prema gently closed her eyes. “I was unable to get enough of a read on her.” If there were any intricacies to the emotions of Qwilfish, they were being drowned out by her panic. “Anything I say would be speculation.”
“Well, what’s your speculation?”
She shook her head. “It would be unbecoming of me to make too many assumptions about an individual.” Prema was not about to judge this Qwilfish based off one meeting when she was not of sound mind. “That said, I will say that I believe the cause of her distress was due to the circumstances. Shu exacerbated the issue, but did not change the result.”
Nori turned away. “Yeah,” he conceded. “A middle of a forest with two people and two Pokemon, far away from where she was. I at least hope they talked to her before sending her to me, but I don’t know their protocol with that. All I know is she was caught in the lake by the camerawoman, so if she went from there to here…”
Prema did not respond as quickly as she wished. It was difficult to tell Nori this. She did not want to offend him, so she chose her words carefully. “When you next meet with her, it would be for the best if it was in an environment more suited for her.”
He hung his head. “I know,” he said quietly, folding his hands over his sternum.
She walked in front of him, a meter apart. “I understand that it will be difficult for you.”
“It will be, it will be. But!” he chimed in, waving his right hand in tune with his words. He paused for two seconds, a finger raised before he dropped it and turned away. “I’ll…figure something out that’ll work for us both.”
The priestess smiled and nodded. “I know you will, Nori.”
The encouragement brightened his face. “Thanks, Prema,” he said, giving a light bow of his own. “Appreciate you doing this.”
“You are welcome, although I believe my presence caused more harm than good for the reasons we discussed.” She had yet to actually do anything to help besides give positive reinforcement. Granted, sometimes that was the best thing you could do for someone.
“Don’t be silly, you did plenty good,” he told her. “I wanted someone around just in case anything bad happened, and you’re the only one I can ask to do this stuff.”
“In case anything bad happened to you, I see.” That was sensible. He asked her for a second opinion as well as a safeguard. It was now all in perspective. “Then I am glad to have helped.”
He looked down the trail. “I guess we should head back, now that we’re done.”
“Yes,” she concurred. “Shu, let us go.”
The four of them set out once more. The Pokemon chattered excitedly. As they went back onto the trail, Nori had a question for her.
“Do you think she’ll be fine?” He pressed his index fingers together. “Qwilfish with me, that is.”
Prema again did not reply straight away. That was difficult to answer. There was no guarantee. He was certainly aware that not every Pokemon would accept anyone. Just because he had tamed the Nidorina known as the Demon and made significant steps with the Pawniard once owned by the Blackout Killer did not mean he could gain the trust of anything. That was not what she was worried about, however.
“Prema?” Nori paused in his tracks, his widening gaze locked on her.
“I was thinking of how to word it,” she made it clear. “I believe that she should be if you put in the necessary effort. But will you be able to care for an aquatic Pokemon like her?” Would he be fine with Qwilfish, in other words?
“I don’t know,” he quickly and openly admitted. “I’ll just have to try.”
Prema approved. Sometimes, that was all a Pokemon Trainer could do.
---
“Do you think he will, friend?” Shu asked Pachi.
“Of course!” the squirrel boasted. Nori was a great trainer, even if he, or a ton of other people really, didn’t seem to think so. But there was something else. “Eee, by the way. Did you understand what the spiny sphere was saying?”
Shu flapped his wings in front of him. “It sounded like hums and screams to me.”
“I thought it was kind of like bipping and booping.”
“It did sound like it now that you say it!” Shu squeaked a giggle
Pachi twitched his tail. It wasn’t like Pokemon all spoke the same language; they had four common ones in fact. So Shu didn’t know hers either? It was a long shot anyway. Pachi would’ve loved to help Nori out with some words to their new Fenadh, but would he be able to? Did she know any of theirs?
Yumi Takao came from a traditionalist, if not a very strict family. They lived with their paternal grandparents, ate and did things as a family, spoke the country’s language at home, and were expected to follow Japanese values to a certain degree. They also always needed permission to go out or bring friends home. If they did go out, they were expected back by 5pm, or earlier if asked. Anyone staying over was out of the question.
This made it difficult to hold friends, at least in the sense that most people consider friends to be. It was not like these values were uncommon, but it was rare for them to be so heavily enforced in this day and age.
It was because of this that she understood her twin brother’s motives. But what he wanted to do was crazy. She first heard about it on Tuesday, and only now did she muster the courage to speak to him about it.
“Touya,” she started. “About what you–”
His right hand flew forward and caught her lips, preventing her from saying more. “Ailmay atyay oolschay,” he said.
Yumi tried to protest. She raised her arm and counted the days. Tonight, tomorrow, the day after, then Monday. That was too long. But Touya gave his head a firm shake. Not now, he mouthed in plain English before glancing at the door. She had unwittingly closed it, which made them look secretive.
She had told them that she wanted to show him a video as the pretext for stepping away. She needed to convince their grandpa it wasn’t anything he’d enjoy. Yumi didn’t think their family would try to listen in, but…there was the time they understood them talking Babigo.
Another example of how traditional their family was had to do with the fact that she was born nine minutes before her brother. Their parents expected her to behave like the older sibling because of it. They only did so if needing to put on an air. In practice, they were always equals to each other. Yet she wanted to be the older sister now. She wanted to tell Touya that what he and his girlfriend were planning was a bad idea. But would he listen to her pleas?
Yumi shifted the subject. “Sanae-chan is a great girl,” she remarked. As she did so, she staggered over to the desk where her tablet was resting. She wasn’t sure what she would look up, but it had to be something. Their parents’ filters limited the options at home.
“She is great,” Touya happily sighed. She heard the bedsprings squeak as he jumped onto the bed.
“You’re lucky to have found her.” She was glad, but also worried. She had been with her brother since conception, but if they went through with their plan… “I wish…”
She only mumbled her thoughts aloud, but Touya answered. “It is because you never acted on your crushes in any way, big sister,” he teased. “Like with Carino-sama.”
The blood flew to Yumi’s face, bringing with it a heat that made her worry she was going to start sweating. “Well I…there was…” she stumbled over the words. It was so embarrassing to think about now. “There was never a good moment back then. It was just passing, too!”
“Yes. Things went wrong because of Louis-san and Mariko-san.” He sighed. “But you got over it. Now you’re friends, right?”
“Y-yeah…” She bit down on her lip hard. It was a good thing she had her back turned as she browsed. She still liked him, just for different reasons. But she wasn’t going to admit that. Not to anyone. Maybe she had a chance with him back then, but she’d just get laughed at now. At best. She was almost stupid enough to confess during their walk earlier, but she managed to internally talk herself out of it.
“Just don’t be afraid of rejection,” Touya consoled.
“Like you’re one to talk,” she snipped back playfully. Her fingers flowed idly as she browsed.
He smirked. Sanae was the one who had confessed to him. “Well, the right person will find you someday, big sister.”
Yumi doubted that would ever happen. There was still that quiet stigma from being in Youths Against Mistaken Society. Plus, she wasn’t anything special. That was the other problem with making friends. Few people, let alone boys, wanted to give her the time of day. It was not that she had any regrets. She still owed a lot to YAMS, especially Louis. She met Nori–
She blinked. That wasn’t the thought she had intended to jump to. But his name was on the screen. In her reverie, she had opened a news site. He was in the news!
“Touya, look!” she gasped, clutching at her heart. Her brother was on his feet and over her shoulder in a flash.
“Eh!?” he vocalized as she raised the tablet, so he could see better.
The sensationalist title screamed out to the world in big bold letters: KROOKODILE TRACKER’S KILLER GIVEN TO CONTROVERSIAL OFFICIAL NORI CARINO
“No, no, no…” she whispered. Her throat felt like it was being squeezed, and her heart seemed to stop. That was the Pokemon he was rehabilitating?!
“Click in!” Touya said, unwittingly in English.
She tried, missing the link the first two times. Not only were her thoughts elsewhere, her fingers had started to cramp. She eventually managed it. The article was in plain English, but it was like reading a foreign language. She couldn’t process any of it. How could this happen? What was happening?!
Nori said that he was getting a new Pokemon to rehabilitate, but why did it have to be this one?! What were the Officials thinking?! Were they thinking at all?! And that news article! And all the–
“Yumi-kun! Touya-kun! What are you doing?!” came the impatient holler of their father from downstairs.
“Oh, we had better get going,” grumbled Touya. This was how their parents were. It was only going to get worse once the rest of the family arrived tomorrow. Yumi had no choice but to close up the tablet and go back to the family room.
She needed to talk with Nori about it. She had to, no matter what! She would go over to his place tomorrow, but that was when the rest of the family was coming over. And Sunday was when they had family activities planned, namely picnicking and boating at Shiroisuna Beach. No getting out of it. So first thing in the morning at school on Monday. Two and a half whole painful days to wait. Until that time, she could only pray nothing bad happened.
##########
It was just after 8pm and Nori Carino found himself alone with his thoughts.
He lived in the trailer park on the east side of Veilstone City. His friend Rashid had told him that his mom was out getting groceries, so he had the vehicle to himself. It was just the two of them; there had never been any other human male in the house for any extended duration. Which he liked. His mom managed what little money they got from the government well. Even though Nori had his own income now, he was saving a lot of it on her advice.
The trailer was not necessarily a quiet place, which was something he sorely missed from having his own room in the Sunyshore Gym. However, it was nevertheless a private place. People sometimes yelled outside (or loud enough to be heard through their own trailers) or come to the door, but he could tune them out. There were drapes for every window, even the windshield. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had to make use of them soon.
His first meeting with the Qwilfish had been brief, but he had learned a lot from it. None of it looked promising. Never mind the fact that he was going to have to take her…to her natural environment. The Officials had assigned him a scared and confused Pokemon dealing with severe trauma. How could he handle this?! Wasn’t mental health stuff something that special facilities were supposed to take care of? Between his first assignment and now this, it almost felt like they were trying to set him up to fail!
The boy huffed. “No, no. No, Nori,” he said to himself. They wouldn’t do that. They spent a lot on his training. Unless it was because of the problems he caused during it? He put his elbows on the table he was sitting at (which folded into his bed). His head fell into his hands, covering his squinted eyes. That might be possible…
“But no. Even if it’s true, you have to try.”
Try. Maybe he was overthinking things and worrying about things that weren’t there. One thing was for sure. If he didn’t try, this Qwilfish wouldn’t have any hope at all.
He felt a tiny paw on his leg. He looked at the floor to see Pachi beside him. The squirrel squeaked and gestured to the capsule on the table.
Nori gave a blank stare in reply. “Wha…?” he let out, involuntarily. His worries were making it difficult to process the meaning. Not that it was ever straightforward when speaking with Pokemon. At least they had a knack for getting people’s intent, but it didn’t work the other way around for some stupid reason.
Pachi stood tall. He motioned with his tiny arms. To himself, to Nori, to the capsule while speaking. When the boy still didn’t understand, he started chittering something in a loop. Three syllables. He pointed at himself at the first syllable and at Nori with the last. Words? Nori knew you could tell by syllables sometimes, but Pokemon had their own words for the most part.
“You’ll help me?” he guessed. Maybe that was not exactly what it was. But it was the only thing he could think of that made sense in the context.
The worst that could have happened was Pachi saying no and going into further charades to try to get his point across. But the squirrel seemed to say yes, and besides that, confirmed with his body language. Reading others was actually part of Nori’s studies, but he didn’t need it to understand the squirrel’s eyes lighting up and a nod.
“Thanks. I could use all the help I can get.”
Pachi leaped onto his lap and wrapped his tiny arms around Nori as best he could. He returned the hug. The Demon might be willing to assist as well, come to think of it. Definitely not Pawniard. The sadistic Pokemon would just make things worse.
It was at that moment that he heard the lock slide open. Nori got his guard up in panicked instinct, only lowering it upon seeing his mom. He could spot her flowing black hair and dress anywhere.
“Hey, ma.” He often called her that out of habit, even though he’d outgrown his rural accent.
She was stooped and rigid, and she stamped lightly with each step. Her brow was wrinkled, and she had her lips pursed – maybe biting them in her mouth. His mom locked the door behind her and turned to him. Her brown eyes were somewhat reddened. She cleared her throat roughly. “I heard what they threw on you this time,” she said, tossing her gaze at the new Poke Ball.
He could see it from the moment she walked in. Worry and frustration. “Yeah. Stupid reporter. I guess that saves needing to explain, at least.” Hearing it on the news wasn’t how he wanted her – or anyone – to find out.
Pachi hopped off Nori to greet her. She gave the electric squirrel a pat before sitting across from her son. She crossed her arms and leaned back as Pachi climbed over and sat to her left. “Figured it was something like that.” After a moment, she tilted her head. “You didn’t say anything to her?” she asked for clarification.
“No, she was hiding up a tree when I met with Mr. Martins.” That was not where he was expecting someone to conceal themselves. He would have to start paying closer attention to stuff like that from now on. That and/or get the meeting place moved. “I just said I had no comment and walked away.”
“Good,” she huffed. “This is bad enough with that twisted report. We don’t need them twisting your words.”
He thought it would be a good idea to put out a statement, just not at the time. Nori had been aware of the gravity of the situation from the moment he was told of his assignment. But it was only now starting to sink in.
“I don’t like this.”
“Me neither,” said his mom. She leaned over the table. “Damn Officials. Are you sure you can handle this, Nori?”
She picked up on the big problem. A lot of people knew about his phobia, courtesy of several incidents where it was exposed. But only two others in the world knew why he felt that way. His mom was there when he fell overboard on that cruise ship. He would have drowned if it wasn’t for that wild Pokemon. He only told the story to one other person after another incident where he nearly drowned. Lux Blomgren. A very, very good friend of his who was torn from his life. Arumi was his best friend, Prema was his most trusted, and the news club were the ones he saw most regularly, but Lux would be all three if he was still around. Maybe even more than friends, considering something he noticed in a birthday letter Lux had sent him.
But there was no point in thinking about hypotheticals or things beyond his control at the moment. She asked a question, so he answered honestly. When he shook his head slightly, his mom’s hands flew to her hips. “Then you should have said no.”
“I tried. They wouldn’t let me.”
“Shit,” she cursed under her breath. “Is it fine out of water?” His mom held her breath.
“I tried checking when I went to see Prema earlier,” he confirmed. “It wasn’t good. She started gasping and panicking right away. I had to recall her fast because she hurt Prema’s Pokemon. It was an accident when she puffed up and touched her Spritzee.”
She repeated her curse, this time louder and accompanied by striking the table with a palm. Pachi actually jumped at the sudden sound. “So what now?” she said, throwing up her arms and shaking her head.
“I…” He swallowed. “I’ll manage, I think.” Hope. “But…”
“But what?”
He had been thinking about it, and dealing with his phobia wasn’t what he was dreading the most. No, there was something worse. He knew what to expect with that, but not with this. The mere thought of it made his throat tighten and his skin itch.
His voice got caught in his mouth at first. He grunted and groaned before explaining. “A few people in the news club are big fans of the Tracker. I’m worried what they’re going to think. And others.” Prema was just one person. And it wasn’t like he could use the shrine as a haven even if everyone there supported him. And there was a chance the most important person there wouldn’t, though he wasn’t going to tell his mom that part yet. He just hoped that it wouldn’t get in the way of him and Prema’s friendship.
“Nori, if they think poorly of you because you’re doing your job, it proves they aren’t really your friends.” She got up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been through worse. You can make it through this.”
He stood up and into a hug from her, although he felt so physically drained all of a sudden that he could barely return it. She was right: he could handle the worst-case scenario better than Qwilfish’s natural environment. But she was missing the point.
“I know, I just don’t want to lose them,” he remarked as Pachi hopped down and joined in on hugging them. Nori had always found it hard to make friends, so losing any for any reason always stung. And he’d lost way too many for stupid reasons. Some, like Lux, weren’t even his fault. It was like he was cursed, or had the worst luck ever, or both.
“Better you know now than later,” his mom said, clapping his back and releasing him.
He groaned, half in agreement and half in frustration, as he picked up Pachi. He wished school still happened on Saturdays in Japan like it did decades ago, just so he could find out sooner. Instead, he had two whole days to get through before he could see the club and see where they stood. Even though the young official wanted to make the most of the weekend, he was not confident about making much progress or changing anyone’s mind so soon.
It's the fourth birthday of this series! AIf you don't count Marvelous Journey Awry, but that's more like a noncanon prototype. Had to update for it when I noticed. Kind of a good chapter for a birthday update I feel given the callbacking and expositing here, as well as a new perspective.
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Before he went to sleep on Friday, Nori had considered his course of action for the weekend. He had come to two conclusions. The first was that he needed to take Qwilfish somewhere where she would feel comfortable. That meant…water. He didn’t want to. But the second thing he admitted to himself was that the sooner it was out of the way, the sooner he could stop dreading it.
After breakfast, he stepped out into the crisp morning air. It was a pleasant day, at least. The sun was out, and there were only a few scattered clouds in the sky.
“Greetings, Norcar!” He looked to see his next door neighbor, Rashid al-Bahar, who was taking out his garbage. The older tan-skinned teenager was clad in a white shirt and plain blue jeans. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he insisted for some reason. His reaction was somewhat spontaneous.
Luckily, Rashid wasn’t the type to push and ask questions. “Good!” He clapped heartily. “So how goes the rehabilitation?”
Nori winced at the logical follow-up question. Even Rashid, with all his airheadedness, would be able to see through that reflexive movement. He gave an honest answer. “Well, I’ve made good progress on Pawniard. I haven’t started on the new one yet.”
“I cannot blame you, friend.” Rashid patted him on the back. He was privy to Nori’s phobia despite not knowing the context. And if that was not a factor, even he would realize how screwy this was. “It is good you are fine because of it. I am hoping it stays that way.”
“I’m not confident. Oh!” Speaking of which, he had an idea! “Rashid, would you mind if I used your phone internet for a bit later on?”
Nori owned a laptop, which had been a birthday gift from Volkner back in July. He didn’t have any sort of internet, so at home, he could only use it for writing articles and playing some card or logic games. But his neighbor had shown him a trick that let him get internet from a phone. A hotspot?
Rashid rubbed his ragged black hair. He considered the question for far longer than Nori was expecting. “Well, okay,” he conceded. “But it must be quick. I have limits on data.”
“I’ll just need to check my email,” he assured. The site wasn’t that big. He would prefer to check it from the comfort of home, or as close to it as he could get, rather than going to a public place.
“Oh, that is easy then.” Rashid stood tall, proud to be of help to his famous friend. “Would you like to check now?”
“Later on,” he said, waving off the offer. He had a plan for today, one he had been thinking about all night, and he didn’t want to be tripped up by anything there. “I have to feed my Pokemon now.” It would be a good chance to brief the two on the situation as well.
Pachi already knew about Qwilfish, so there was no need to have him out for this. The squirrel was eating in the trailer anyway. It helped that he ate with his hands, so there wasn’t much of a mess to clean up. But the Demon was more sloppy and there was no way Nori would let Pawniard out inside. For all the progress he had made, he was not that confident the bladed Pokemon would cooperate.
The Demon Nidorina, as she used to be called and what Nori effectively adopted as her nickname, was a huge specimen. On top of that, her spines were more pronounced, her teal body was muscular, and she even had a prominent horn when most of her species wouldn’t even have a little one. By contrast, Pawniard was more average, aside from a chip in his horn. The red-and-black Pokemon almost always wore either a psychotic grin or an arrogant smirk, but it wasn’t uncommon for him to have a plain cold expression. Which is what he had upon emerging.
The Nidorina took a step away from her comrade and turned her nose up at him. Pawniard only chuckled and rolled a blade. Both had been infamous for their violence as a wild Pokemon and willful helper to a serial killer respectively, but their personalities and how far they would go set them apart.
“Well, we have a new teammate,” he said to the two.
Both turned to him with interest. Pawniard had a sick grin plastered on his face, whereas the Demon stood more neutrally.
“I can’t introduce you now, though. But she’s a Qwilfish who…” His throat dried up. “Probably accidentally killed a celebrity.”
Pawniard reacted by cackling and clanging his blades together in applause. It didn’t completely surprise Nori. What did was the Demon’s response. He was expecting her not to do much but give stoic acknowledgment, so it was disconcerting when she squinted and gave an aghast bark.
“She’s not like Pawniard here!” he sputtered in a desperate bid to clarify. The last thing he needed was having his Pokemon to turn against her. “She got abandoned in Johto and’s really scared!”
That got the Demon to tentatively ease up, but she muttered something while rolling her eyes and stamping a paw. Pawniard, however, huffed and shook his head while scraping his nails against the dirt.
“Just don’t scare her if and when you meet her, okay?” he requested of the two.
The Nidorina nodded and said something that was probably “yes,” before shooting a glare at Pawniard. With a chuckle, he half-turned away and flippantly waved at her. He then winked at Nori and added something more that made the Demon growl.
Well, he wasn’t planning on it, the latter especially, but it seemed they both agreed for the most part? “Anyway, time for breakfast.” He picked up the feed bag and poured some out for the Demon, then Pawniard. He also set out some nuts and lettuce; the red and black Pokemon wasted no time gobbling up the latter.
As he watched them eat, Rashid walked over. “So, how will you go from here?”
He glanced at his older friend, somewhat surprised he was taking an interest. “Well, Maylene has one of those little portable pools. I was thinking of borrowing it so Qwilfish has something to sit in.” He could handle that much. As long as he stood far enough back.
Rashid rolled an ankle and looked away. Nori turned around, only for Rashid to speak up. “Why do you not use the bathtub?”
Nori’s eyebrows lightly raised. He hadn’t thought of that! And that could work. It still wouldn’t be a lot, and it’d be way more convenient than trying to find their pool, dragging it out, and filling it up. Plus, it’d be way more private!
“That…” He spun back, at a loss for words. How did he not think of something so simple?! Sure, he didn’t have a bathtub in his trailer, but still! Maylene’s place should! He slapped both sides of his face. He needed to focus here! “Yeah, that’s easier. Ugh, why didn’t I think of that?! Thanks, man.”
Rashid made a goofy salute. “I am glad to help you!”
He nodded and smiled. Help. Nori knew he was going to need as much help as he could get for this one. So he’d take it from any source. He turned to see that the Demon had already finished eating. Pawniard looked over and shook his head while enjoying the rest of his meal.
Nori laughed a little. Food was food to the Demon, and she was often quick to finish so that she could get into training. “Well, we can get a bit of practice in. How’s that thing coming along?”
She answered by shrouding her front claws in a ghastly black aura. She swiped one and then the other, maintaining the typed effect for a few seconds after.
“A new move?” asked Rashid.
“An old one,” he said. “Just different.” She’d always known Shadow Claw since he caught her, but they’d been practicing to make it even better. She might not have had much move variety for her level of strength, but the Demon was very good at using the eight or nine moves she did regularly use.
“Well, I have to get back inside. Good luck today, my friend.” Rashid clapped him on the shoulders.
“Thanks, Rashid. I’ll be by tonight or tomorrow for the email thing.” He nodded and saw his friend off before turning back to the Demon with a hand on his hip. “Okay, once Pawniard’s done, we’ll run a bit around the trailer park before I leave to do that thing.”
The Demon stretched in anticipation and looked over at the Dark and Steel Pokemon. Pawniard visibly slowed down as her gaze fell upon him. He methodically pierced a kibble with his claws, traced it around his mouth, and flicked his tongue out to take a lick. She barked in annoyance, to which he shrugged and popped it in his mouth, chewing loudly with his mouth open.
The thought of just going despite Pawniard not being finished eating occurred, but Pachi would want to join in too. And he wasn’t about to leave Pawniard unattended under the watch of just Pachi or his mom. So he just patted the teal beast.
“Don’t let him get to you.” She huffed, but continued to shoot daggers at the Pokemon which once belonged to a serial killer. Pawniard snickered at her and continued to eat slowly. “And don’t waste too much time,” he mediated. There were limits. With a calm response, a nod, and a wave of his claws, Pawniard resumed eating at a normal pace. That made the Demon roll her eyes. She pointed, Nori gave a thumbs up, and she went off on her own. He trusted her, and he’d get his exercise later.
He watched her disappear around the bend. It was a good thing he wasn’t being graded on how well Pawniard got along with his other Pokemon, because they both hated him for different reasons. Though today was mostly going to be about his new assignment. How would his other Pokemon take to Qwilfish? And what would Qwilfish herself think of them once they finally got a chance to talk?
##########
It was a nice cool day. Pachi liked those. When it was too hot, he sometimes wished he could shed his fur. But it was nice. The sun wasn’t even in the sky.
When he heard they were running, he went out as fast as he could! It was good not just for training speed, but practicing moving quick too. The crimson blade didn’t join them, which didn’t rustle his tail at all. So Nori had to stay and keep watch. It was just him and his friend, two Akeresa having fun! Well, her friend was actually growling and grumbling. Not really having fun.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong, Demon?” he asked her.
Her harsh eyes glared at him for a fleeting second, but she kept her eyes on what was forward. “That epafasu pisses me off,” she explained. Demon spoke in a rough voice, but also a strong and regal one. It was strange comparing the two! They didn’t have a word, but people did. What was it, Jukatopes? “Don’t like calling things rekuradh, but that’s a damn rekuradh.”
“A what?” There were words in their languages that couldn’t be easily translated.
“rekuradh,” she repeated. Hey, fun little fact! Capitalization was important! Lack thereof was too!
“Rrr-ekk-uhr-add.” He sounded the word out. “What’s that? And what epafasu?” He didn’t see any animals around here that could be annoying her.
“Your species is from land, don’t you know anything?!” she snapped. “Didn’t your friends or family teach you the language before you got yourself caught by some greedy manh?”
“I was born from an egg in the Sunyshore Gym and raised there!” he bragged, trying not to puff out his chest too much because they were still running. “It’s the first I’m hearing that term!”
“I should’ve known from your verb order.” Pachi whined a bit, but mostly teasingly. Saying things like ‘Nori loves us!’ was accepted, even if the standard way was literally ‘Nori us loves!’ Demon explained, “It’s a term of familiarity that means one who is not welcome. And I mean that Pawniard thing!”
“Ohhhh. I learned a new word!” He liked learning new words, no matter what language they came from! “And I agree. He’s mean!” He wouldn’t go as far to call him epafasu though! That was too rude!
“He’s a psychopath.” Demon was always super blunt. “He’d fakynota things for the fun of it.”
“vv-ack-ein-oht-ah? What’s THAT?” That’s two words he didn’t recognize just now!
Demon was much less belligerent about explaining this one. In fact, she was a little angry. “The act of killing slowly and painfully. Often used as punishment for bad rekuradh no less.”
“That’s awful!” he cried. Who would do that?!
“The wild life can be hellish, Fenadh.” Pachi smiled a little on hearing that word. Not a friend, but the next best thing. It was nice to hear her openly say that to him. “Maybe you’re lucky you didn’t have to experience it.”
Pachi asked, “Did something happen to you?”
“You’re nosy.” She growled. Pachi always wondered about his friend. She had to have a big history before she became the Demon, right? But she wasn’t willing to talk about it. Instead, she changed the subject. “Carino’s got a new Akeresa.”
Pachi smiled that she called him that instead of leader or something. It was a start! Now she just needed to call him Nori! “Yes, I met her. She seems okay.”
Demon stopped so suddenly that Pachi almost crashed into a green metal cylinder while trying to react and stop too. “What?” Her tone was deadpan. “Are you sure your head’s okay?”
“It’s true!” Pachi insisted, clapping his paws. “She’s a spiny sphere, they called her a Qwilfish. But she’s very scared. Her trainer abandoned her, and she accidentally killed a famous manh.” That was all he got from their meeting and overhearing Nori and Prema. She was mostly screaming and wheezing when they met, and he couldn’t understand any of her words.
“Well, it better be a damn accident!” Demon loved to fight, but she hated murderers who do it on purpose. And well, a lot of other stuff. But she had a big problem with it for some reason.
“It’s true! It’s true!” He did a little dance. Nori repeated things for emphasis a lot! He could too!
Demon’s eyes rotated. “I’ll see for myself.” After a second, she stomped a paw. “And thought of something.”
“What did you think of?” he asked, swishing his tail.
“Carino fears water. Those spiny spheres are aquatic.” As expected from Demon, she knew what species he was talking about! “That’s a problem if she isn’t used to being out of it.”
Pachi knew that. But he’d come to change his mind after some thinking! “I’m sure he can handle it! He’s Nori! He can do anything!” He did get that crimson blade Pawniard thing a little under control! When he met that mean Akeresa, Pachi thought he was a goner for sure! He was still mean, and he still killed and hurt stuff, but he wasn’t hurting them. Physically, at least.
The big spiked beast turned her snout up. “If you’re trying to cheer me up with your naive optimism, it isn’t working.”
“But we gotta believe in and help and support Nori! He’s our friend! You agree, right, friend?” He leaned in. “Fffffffriend?” Demon called her friend at least once before! He wanted to hear it again!
She shoved him away with a paw. “Not saying it, you rodent.”
“Hee hee!” It was funny just how she could be sometimes. Didn’t they have a word in another human language for that too? Sundery? Anyway, he clapped his paws. “But if he needs help, we should help!”
“Already said I would. Now shut up and run.” She crouched and started running again without waiting.
Pachi was right behind her, using some of his super speed burst (Nori just called it Agility) to keep up and do some tricks. That was a nice talk. He hoped he cheered her up a little talking about stuff! It did for him, too! They were gonna do this!
##########
Louis knocked at the door of his girlfriend’s apartment. It opened after five seconds. She must have been waiting.
“Glad you’re here,” Mariko said. “We need to talk about Carino.”
Louis nodded as he stepped inside. Her parents were thankfully tolerant of their activism, so they could openly discuss it. “Yes, I’ve heard the news about his new Pokemon.”
“I think now’s going to be the best time to take action,” she said as they went to the living room. “Since you know as well as me that people are going to want to fight him.”
Louis did not answer straight away. He considered it as he sat down. “Yes, you’re right,” he admitted. “We’ll have to pay him a visit soon. And the sooner, the better.”
“Talking like me now,” Mariko snorted.
“As you are thinking like me.” He had to resist a quick kiss on the cheek because of her parents. Not because they did not accept it, but Mariko reserved intimacy for when they were alone. With that, they began discussing possible avenues of attack.
Maylene Gavali used to live in a nice house on the south end of town, until her dad lost the place due to gambling debts. They now lived in a two-storey danchi, and actually closer to where Nori lived. It was only fifteen or twenty minutes away by skateboard from the trailer park. The units had just enough living space to be comfortable, but there was no mistaking they were compact. They apparently had to get rid of a lot of their stuff and pack much of the rest into closets and storage rooms.
The small parking lot was fairly empty given the time of day. Nori stopped and looked over the brown and gray building. It wasn’t much, but he’d love to live in one of these. Though little could match living in the Sunyshore Gym, he had his own room and everything. It was like a special mansion!
Maylene resided in an upper floor unit, 205. It was actually the fourth unit down, because people were crazy superstitious about the number four. Nori chuckled to himself as he thought about that; Qwilfish was his fourth Pokemon, and he wasn’t scared! Well, not like that, anyway. He was about to pick up Pachi when the squirrel started to jump up the steps himself. With a nod of approval, he followed. Pachi already knew what the right door was, so he stood in front of it, his tail swishing as Nori knocked.
It took half a minute for him to get an answer. He heard the door unlatch, and as it opened, he was greeted by a balding man with unkempt pink hair. He was hairy and wearing a muscle shirt and sweatpants.
“Ah, it’s you. Didn’t say ya were comin’ by,” Mr. Gavali said, scratching his leg. Nori was never sure what to make of the guy. Maylene loved her dad a lot, and he did stuff like pay for her self-defense lessons. But other things like his hygiene made him wonder about the guy.
“Sorry, this was sort of thought up on the spot,” he admitted, shuffling his feet. He leaned forward. “But it’s okay if I can come in to see Maylene, right?”
“Yeah, sure,” he conceded. “Just make your rat don’t make a mess.” Pachi squeaked a word, probably confused by being called a rodent.
Mr. Gavali turned and went back inside, not holding the door. Nori caught it before it shut, held it open for Pachi, and entered before locking it behind him. He took off his shoes out of courtesy and hung his black and dark green jacket on the coat rack before entering the living area.
His younger friend was lounging on the couch in front of the television. Her hair was pulled back into a single ponytail that curved slightly to the left. She was too engrossed in the show to notice him, which, judging by the explosions and hot-blooded shouting, was probably a mecha anime.
“Maylene,” he called to get her attention.
She turned her head. “Nori!” she said, sitting up and slapping a palm beside her. “This is good, come watch!”
He did so, even though he didn’t understand a lick of what was happening besides it looking cool. The only reason he knew it was Gundam was because he saw it all the time at the manga cafe. He wasn’t that well versed in pop culture; most of what he knew about came from his friends or what he randomly picked up.
Eventually, the show shifted to commercials, after which Maylene leaned back. “This is a brand-new series! It just started a couple weeks ago!”
“I see,” he said. This was probably a rerun. He went to Daikatsu enough to know that new episodes of the series were out on Sundays.
“So what’re you here for?” she asked, swinging her legs. “Just came to say hi?”
“That’s part of it.” He rolled his shoulders. “Actually, besides just hanging out for a bit, I was hoping I could use your bathtub. Or your pool if you still have it.”
Maylene tilted her head. “Huh, don’t you got a shower at home?”
“I do, but I need a bath for my Pokemon. And don’t worry, it should be fine!”
“Oh, for your Qwilfish?” Nori felt the blood drain from his face and the air leave his lungs. She’d heard?! Mercifully, she nodded a second after. “Okay. But I gotta ask daddy. DADDY!” Nori winced at she shouted louder than the people on the show. “Can Nori use the bathtub?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled from his room. Nori arched an eyebrow, more than a little perturbed at the ease, until he said, “Just don’t make a mess.”
That was a given. He gave his friend a quick hug of appreciation. “Thanks. You guys eaten?” He glanced at the clock.
“Just breakfast at eight. Daddy hasn’t cooked yet.”
“Then I’ll make lunch when I’m done.” He was hungry too.
Maylene returned his gesture and hugged him right back. “Thanks! But be quick, Gundam’ll be back on soon!”
He laughed. “We’ll see.”
---
The bathroom in Maylene’s place was super compact. There was enough space in the beige-walled room for one person in the entrance room, two if you squeezed or sat on the sink counter. Sliding open the door to the tub itself revealed that it wasn’t much better. It was full size, but there was just over a meter of space beside it. Not a lot of room if Qwilfish decided to attack. But it would have to do.
He twisted the knob, and the tub started to slowly fill with cold water. Pachi pressed his paws to the wall and discharged. Then he jumped in. Nori flinched as stray droplets splashed his dark blue jeans.
“Was that really necessary?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips and talking like his mom did. Pachi usually cleaned himself like any common squirrel, with dirt baths, licking himself, or spitting into his hands and rubbing them over his body.
His Pokemon, who was rolling around to soak himself, stood at his scolding. He whined and bowed his head. He waded to the edge to climb out, though Nori stopped him.
“Fine, it’s fine,” he droned, waving a hand. “Not like you can take it back, just point to it to ask next time.” Now he’d have to dry Pachi off.
With a hop and a peculiar squeak that Nori had heard often enough to know it was a thank you, Pachi did his business as the tub filled. He was a great and loving Pokemon, but Nori could admit, he could be a bit impulsive. He went to the entrance room and opened a cabinet. Cleaning supplies were on one side and the towels were on the other, separated by the pipes. But no gloves.
The boy grabbed a white towel and returned. Half a minute later, his Pokemon climbed out. Nori knew that Pachi’s instinct was going to be to shake himself off, so he threw the towel over his Pokemon as he landed on the bath mat.
Pachi eeped. Nori said, “Dry yourself on that.”
He would’ve done it himself if there had been rubber gloves, but there weren’t. And he didn’t favor touching an Electric-type with something that could get staticy. Sure, it wouldn’t be dangerous, but it’d still be annoying to get zapped every few seconds.
As Nori expected, Pachi had enough dexterity to do so. When the squirrel was done, he looked up with a dopey buck-fanged grin. Nori laughed at the sight of him.
“Your fur’s a mess,” he pointed out. Pachi tilted his head in confusion. Nori tentatively pressed a palm against him. He flinched at the static, but was able to pick him up and take him over to the mirror.
His Pokemon’s jaw fell open and he screamed. His shiny white fur was all over the place! Nori laughed again as the squirrel wriggled free and began to frantically brush himself with his paws. That was way too adorable.
He checked the tub again, and it was full enough to do what he needed. He turned off the tapw and retrieved the capsules from his front left pocket. They were all different, so it was easy to tell which was which. Pachi’s was a normal Poke Ball, Pawniard’s was painted black on the bottom, the Demon had a Great Ball, and now Qwilfish with the Dive Ball. He put the other two away and held his new assignment to his cheek.
“Okay,” he whispered, more to himself than for her to potentially hear. “Water this time. Let’s do this.”
His arm shook as he held the capsule over the tub. It wasn’t his aquaphobia, he could handle this much. It might have been the cold. He had chosen to wear an old lime green shirt with a few holes in it, in case it got ruined. But no, it was mostly nerves. With a, “You have to do this. So nothing to do but do it, Nori!” to himself, he cracked open the capsule and released her into the water.
Qwilfish immediately went rigid upon materializing in the tub, though it was not a proper Harden like before. She looked down and fidgeted with her tail fin, maybe realizing she was in her environment this time. With this, she started to relax until the moment she noticed him. She swam to the far side of the tub and bumped the faucet. The pufferfish emitted a strange sound of panic, like a balloon deflating while you pinched and stretched the bottom of it.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He didn’t dare lean in to check; he actually took a step back. But he tried to sound as comforting to her as he could.
She stared at him. Then she started talking. It sounded like a series of rapid creaking noises.
“Sorry about earlier. I didn’t know you weren’t used to land,” he said, first things first. “I’m Nori Carino. I’m your new trainer, I guess.”
She interrupted with even more of those sounds, even faster. Her body expanded and contracted as she practically hyperventilated. Asking questions? Ranting? Having a panic attack?
“C-calm down!” he raised his palms and squatted a little in case he needed to take cover. Why did this room have to be so small?! Maybe he should’ve asked for the pool after all, but it was too late for that. “Just take a deep breath, try to relax.” He followed his own advice too, for that matter.
She shut her eyes and started to splash with her tail. Was she throwing a tantrum or something? Or panicking worse? He had no idea what to say or what to do about this! Who said you can learn to fully understand Pokemon in time, anyway? Even if that was true, it was time he didn’t have. Luckily, that’s why he had someone to vouch for him.
“Hold on.” He sprang for the entrance room, shutting the door behind him just in case. The electric squirrel had just finished drying himself off and seemed to have been too busy to pay attention to their conversation. “Hey, Pachi?”
The squirrel looked up at him and cast the towel aside. He squeaked and stood with his tail raised.
“Can you talk to her?” he asked. It was that simple. Let a Pokemon talk to a Pokemon. Nori was trained by the Officials enough to at least get what Qwilfish was feeling. Someone who could fully understand could do the rest.
But Pachi did something Nori wasn’t expecting. After a long blink, he turned away and shook his head.
“No?” That was pretty clear. “What do you mean no?!”
Pachi chittered away. He realized the problem with that after a second, and started pointing at his head.
“You?” Nori asked.
Pachi shook, no. He tilted his head as far as it would go and tried to point to the top of his head. Was his Pokemon playing charades with him? The only thing on top was…
“Your ears?” They jutted out from his head, the surrounding fur a sleek and bright blue. “I mean, she was speaking quiet. Is she, um, out of hearing range?” He was unsure of the technical term.
The squirrel hummed and put a paw on his chin. He then stood on his toes and stuck out his tongue. Nori thought he was about to do an akanbe gesture, but he didn’t pull down his eyelid. “Tongue? Mouth? I don’t get it.”
The squirrel huffed, pacing back and forth. The language barrier sucked. Eventually, Pachi stood in front of him. He squeaked two syllables and pointed at himself. He repeated what he said. From the way he held the squeak, it was like it had a long E sound at the end. But it wasn’t Nori’s name, since the first part wasn’t right. Come to think of it, it actually sounded like…
“You? Pachi?” The squirrel nodded. That was why the squirrel pointed at himself. He was saying his own name. “What about you?”
Pachi shook his head. “What do you mean, no?” He shook his head more vigorously. “Do you mean, no?” He nodded, yes, it was no.
Nori chuckled to himself. This had to look insane. It arguably actually was. If only Pachi could actually talk. Pronunciation was apparently the big problem when it came to Pokemon learning to do it. Their mouths and languages were simply too different and vice versa (with the added problem of hearing in people’s case).
Again, the squirrel gestured to his ears. “Ear.” That was easy. And he finished by sticking out his tongue. “Tongue,” he repeated.
Pachi nodded, then repeated his actions in a loop. Pointing and saying his name, shaking his head, pointing to his ears, then his tongue.
“Pachi no ear tongue.” Something about him and ears and tongues in the negative. He said the phrase out loud several times in hopes it would help. “Pachi no ear tongue, Pachi no ear tongue, Pachi no ear–wait!” Was that it? Hearing? Tongues? “Pachi does not hear tongue. Are you saying she’s speaking another language you don’t understand?”
The squirrel hopped, closed his eyes, and squealed with joy. He came forth and gave Nori a hug on the leg, patting it in a sort of congratulatory gesture. The language barrier sucked even more than he thought. This was the first he was hearing that Pokemon had different languages among themselves. But it made sense that they did. People had their own, and though the governments established a global language for cross-regional battling and business, things like Japanese and German still existed and saw use.
“Well, can you give it a try anyway?” he requested. “Like we say, you don’t know unless you try. Maybe she just isn’t talking in your language?”
It took only a second of thought before Pachi agreed. Knowing his Pokemon, the odds were that he really didn’t know and was just going to try his best.
---
Nori needed help! If he needed help, all Pachi could do was try! He wasn’t sure if he’d help or make things worse, but Nori was counting on him!
Having grown up around people, Pachi would call himself pretty fluent in their common language. So he heard and understood many of the words, even if he couldn’t speak them. That was the big problem with Pokemon speaking human language. Either way, they always understood words from people with their heart as long as it made sense in their language. Like when a person said Pokemon, a Pokemon like him would understand Akerasa. But it only worked that way for them hearing people, or manh as they sometimes called them in terrestrial. Not the other way around or between their languages. But Nori was right! Maybe she did know their common language and just wasn’t talking it!
Nori opened the door for him, and Pachi came face to face with the bathtub. He learned about something new today! It was a handy little water container for taking a swim and getting clean! But he couldn’t see over the side of it where he was. He waited for Nori to give permission this time.
His friend appeared to realize too from the way his eyes and feet went. “Sorry for leaving you,” he apologized to their new Fenadh. Pachi hoped she would turn out to be a friend like Demon was, and not like that killer. “I have someone who might be able to talk to you here.” He turned and raised his thumb.
Pachi hopped onto the ledge, causing the Akerasa to suck in water to increase in size and attempt to glare. But the spiny sphere which they called a Qwilfish shivered as their eyes met. She started talking, but the rhythmic sounds held no meaning to Pachi. His ears picked up six, maybe eight different syllables?
So Pachi did the only thing he could. He spoke a basic phrase that almost every species who lives above ground knows: Syl A'ruKo umt? Or literally translated word by word, “you this language speak?” Used as a polite greeting, especially with the aquatic and underground, sometimes as a formality with flying things. There were many replies to it from confirming fluency to knowing only basic words. But the spiny sphere only floated silently, looking like a ghost hit her with a light of mind delirium.
Once again, she said words in her language. The underwater language? He heard some of Volkner’s Pokemon at Sunyshore Gym speak it! Usually when they were making jokes between themselves from how they laughed after. All he knew about that was there were two main dialects.
Pachi looked up at Nori, who was standing in the door with his hand on the handle. With a shrug, Pachi tried waving and smiling. Those were universal, right? A friendly smile could tell anyone you were happy and friendly!
He nearly fell back when the spiny sphere grew to twice her usual size and let out a screech of distress. She sprayed out salty-smelling water from her lips, which missed him entirely. But it would hit–
Pachi heard Nori scream and that was all it took to make him act. He jumped off the ledge, moving backwards yet flipping forwards. As he was doing so, he focused his electricity and tucked his tail inward. He formed an orb infused with his swiftness, and as he spun, let his tail bat it directly at their attacker. “STOP!” he screeched with as much authority as he could.
There was a loud bang followed by the sound of crackling as the attack made direct contact and surged through the water. He didn’t bother to look back. He just turned around, pulled on the half-shut door, and went to check on his friend.
“Nori! Nori! Nori!” he called. His friend was standing, drying his head with the same towel he had given him. His breathing didn’t sound good. He was even coughing a bit.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” he insisted, peering at him from over the towel. His friend was shaking and Pachi even thought he saw his eyes were crying. Nori gave himself one last pat down before looking over at the bathtub. “What–AHHH!!”
Nori nearly accidentally kicked him as he dashed to the side. He picked up the spiny sphere called a Qwilfish. She was at her usual size and she wasn’t moving. The attack had beaten her just like that!
“Pachi, why did you do that?!” he cried out, trying to shake her awake. “I don’t have Potions. What now? What now, Nori? Ugh!”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t want her to hurt you, Nori!” Pachi squeaked, embracing his leg. He hoped that the gestures and the distress in his tone would carry his meaning to his friend. He didn’t mean to upset him! “I don’t know why she did that! I was just talking! And trying to protect you!” When that Pawniard tried to attack him he wanted to run, but Nori said to defend himself! So he did! Even if it was defending Nori!
“Hey!” came the shout of the pink-haired parent of Nori’s friend. He sounded funny, like how an Akeresa would hold a sound if they couldn’t make a long or hard consonant to represent the opposite one. “{Impolitely asking what is happening}” It was so bad, Pachi only got his intent.
“Nothing!” Nori yelped and put his arms up, accidentally dropping the spiny sphere into the water. “It’s fine! It’s under control!” he shouted.
“If you made a mess, {clean it}!” came the slurred reply. Pachi double-checked, it was only water. But his friend’s eyes were locked onto what was floating in the water. He had no words.
Pachi again jumped on the ledge and lowered his head in shame. “I’m sorry,” he said again, not just to Nori, but also to Qwilfish.
From his friend patting him on the head, at least he wasn’t too upset about it. Nori asked, “What are we going to do now?” It was a good question. If only they had the answer.
##########
Nori hung out with Maylene for a couple of hours after that disastrous meeting. He didn’t blame Pachi for attacking, he knew it was a protective instinct. But it was going to make things way worse with Qwilfish. Why did she try to attack?
He made Maylene and her dad lunch as promised – miso soup and tuna sandwiches. The thought of staying the whole day had occurred, and they would probably have let him. But no, he told himself. He needed to get going. First to a Pokemon Center, then he wasn’t sure where.
Maylene ran up and threw her arms around him as he went to leave. Nori gasped, not at the suddenness, but at how tight her grip was. He was only able to reciprocate with his hands; she was pinning his arms! “Bye, Nori! See ya later!”
“See ya…” he squeaked out. He knew she was taking self-defense courses. But that was like a martial artist’s death grip or something. Pachi looked up at them, tail slack and front teeth showing.
She released him with a giggle. Nori had to shake his head afterward, but there was warmth in his face and a sheepish smile on his lips that he was glad no one else was around to see. That was a good hug. Nori might have been an only child, but Maylene was like a little sister to him. She looked up to him, and it always felt good to know that someone did.
There was a spring in his step as he walked through the entrance hall with Pachi by his side. He grabbed his shoes and leaf-patterned coat and sat down to put them on. With that, he opened the door and stepped out into the fresh air.
His mood soured the second he stepped outside and saw who had been waiting for him in the parking lot.
He had only seen her a handful of times and had never met her in person, but he knew who she was. The auburn-haired teenager, who wore jet black jeans and a black-sleeved cyan jumper, certainly knew him as well. And from the icy blue eyes and colder sneer on the face of Emi Pikaru, it was clear she wasn’t here to talk pleasantries.
#########
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As a quick aside, the Pokemon language idea is recycled from an unwritten fic. Breaks canon in some ways but it just made sense to me. There's too much to go over in a notes section, I basically reused it here to make the easy solution not so easy - or so that I wouldn't have to force conflict to rule it out. Thus, why language barriers are one of the themes here.
Quick terrestrial premier: pronunciation is syllabic in vowel-consonant order (can have two consonants if it goes soft->hard). Soft consonants can start words, hold the sound. Capitalization is important and there's no start of sentence rule; i.e. lowercase p is a b-sound, A is like acorn and a is like apple. No strong syllables. Untranslated words are a stylistic choice or if they convey a complex meaning. And actually very technically, terrestrial has no standardized written language.
On Friday afternoon, the battling team at Tobari Central Junior High was practicing in the school’s indoor arena as usual. They were a subset of the battling club in the school handpicked by the captain, Chad Shosha. The blond teenager was wearing a uniform with SHOSHA 36 on the back. He sat next to a female with auburn hair. She never wore her PIKARU 25 jersey unless it was necessary.
Chad came from a prominent family of Pokemon Trainers. The coach of the team actually deferred to him on most things because of it. Their family name was written with the same kanji used in the Japanese term for League Champion; in fact, his great-grandmother was Sinnoh League Champion from 1925 to 1929. They expected the best from him in all things battling. It was true here as well. The middle schools in Sinnoh would be competing in a tournament at the beginning of February, and the qualifiers were coming up at the end of December. They needed to get their act together.
“So I spent this past week gathering information on our rival teams,” he mused to his closest confidant.
“Taking your mind off the Krookodile Tracker?” Emi droned without looking at him.
“I would’ve anyway,” Chad said. It did not shake him as much as it did others. “I shouldn’t have to mention Gama Memorial and its captain, Edward Hankstein.” A former Sunyshore Gym Trainer who trained with Nori Carino and Kallisto Keravnos, among others. “Same for South Kotobuki and Kei Kaneko. We should keep an eye on Hatōji Academy in Sandgem and their captain, Chris Foster. It’s private, but–”
“RICHARD!!” came a screech from a girl with flowing cobalt hair. Kiara’s Clefable hobbled to his feet after a particularly hard blow, scowling just like her trainer. “We’re sparring, not fighting!”
“This is sparring!” Richard countered, crossing his arms in sync with his Lucario. He twirled the cross he wore around his neck. “If you can’t take the heat, get off the battlefield!”
Before he could rise to his feet to play peacekeeper, another dispute broke out.
“Oh, what’s the use!” Aki cried out, dropping to their hands and knees. Their light pink hair rustled. “Forget it. I’ll never be good enough!”
“Not with that attitude!” Angel urged, flicking his white dreads. He beamed while his green eyes nearly lit up. “I’ve been working hard since Anthony left! What about you?”
“Don’t you DARE bring Tony into this!” Kiara fired off, narrowing her pink retinas.
Chad climbed atop the bench to stand a little higher. “CALM DOWN, EVERYONE!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “We can’t be fighting each other like this. We are a team! Some of you should know better! There will be battles where we will have to work as one in the future, and we cannot act like this when that happens!”
He received a mixture of frowns and glares. Those who didn’t outright apologize got back to training begrudgingly. With a grumble, he plopped down and leaned against the wall. This was not what they needed. There had been far too much negativity as of late.
Ever since Anthony Morris had taken an indefinite leave of absence from the club in the wake of his Quagsire’s career-ending (barely not life-threatening) injury at the claws of a murderous Pawniard, the atmosphere had changed. Maybe it was the cloud of the incident still hanging over them. Or it could have been how they had lost one of their best teammates. Or perhaps it was how Anthony was the ray of sunshine that brightened up the club with his upbeat and silly persona. Which Chad could empathize with, admittedly. He only outright said as such to Emi, but seeing the facade of his friend and other close confidant so thoroughly shattered had made his stomach twist into knots.
“Uh, Chad?” Two girls with black hair approached, Mia and Kate. Both in the same year as him. The latter bowed and asked, “This is taking forever. Do you mind if we practice outside?”
“Please don’t,” he urged. There was a reason they kept it indoors whenever possible. “We have had trouble with people watching our training.” He turned to the others. “There is a difference between research and spying, by the way.”
Emi crossed her arms. “You’re worried about our little stalker?”
He snorted, but shook his head. “We can’t take any chances.” There was always the odd chance that Nishigawa Middle School was going to catch someone who couldn’t adjust during the qualifiers. They could not risk that. Not at this point.
“Why can’t we return the favor?” Mia asked, her lips curling into a hook shape.
“We are above that!” he snapped with more force than he intended.
“Screw this,” Emi suddenly blurted out. She grabbed her bag and stormed towards the door.
“Emi?!” He was right behind her, but she did not stop until she was out in the hallway. “Emi, where are you going?!”
She stopped in place and whirled around. “Home,” she declared. “This is getting stupid.”
He grabbed at her shoulder firmly yet softly. “Emi, don’t do anything rash.”
“I won’t,” she said, pulling his arm away. “Talk to you next week. Maybe sooner.”
Chad knew what this was about. Emi was trying to be strong for everyone in the club. It helped a little. But it was all a front; in fact, her reaction after Anthony had quit may have been the strongest of all. Now the passing of the Krookodile Tracker had shaken her badly. It shook everyone badly. At least they would get some closure with that on the weekend. No doubt, news of what the Officials were planning to do was on its way.
#####
Nori silently gazed down at the parking lot below, baffled by the presence of the tomboyish teenager who had evidently been waiting for him. He had never interacted with Emi Pikaru personally, and even though he had a tumultuous history with his school’s battling club, that was weeks ago. Why was she here? No, there was something more pressing than that.
“Hi? What are you doing here?” he asked her directly, grasping the top of the railing.
Emi smirked, like a Mightyena that had just caught prey. “Is that how you greet your visitors?” she asked in a provocative tone. She flashed a toothless grin.
“How did you even know I was here?!” he snapped, getting to what he was really wondering about. “Were you, like, stalking me?”
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself,” she dismissed with a wave and disgusted snort. “I came by your house, but your mom wouldn’t tell me where you went. See where you get it from, at least.”
“Don’t talk that way about my mom!”
Ignoring his remark, she continued, “So I asked your neighbor, and he pointed me over this way. Nice guy. Didn’t even ask me why.” She flipped her short hair and laughed triumphantly. Then she pointed at her chest. “Staring at these the whole time.”
Nori groaned. He would need to have a stern chat with Rashid about this later. “Well, I appreciate you coming to see me,” he said slowly, loosening his grip on the railing. He took a deep breath and analyzed the situation. How best to approach it? “Is this something important?”
She arched an eyebrow and cracked a smile. “Well, I suppose it isn’t that much, but–”
“Then sorry, I’m kind of busy. I’m sure you know why.” He started heading for the stairs. “Bring it up at school on Monday.”
He found himself blocked by Emi standing in the way. She crossed her arms and smiled arrogantly. With a glare, he vaulted over the side and stomped off. Pachi just squeezed by, of course. It caught her off-guard, as she took two seconds to follow.
“Hey!” she growled, catching up and walking beside him. “I’m not done.”
“Well, I am,” he smoothly replied.
“You think you’re doing the right thing?” she kept going. “I’m talking about the new Pokemon you were given.”
Why did he not see that coming? Okay, he did, just not from her. “What about her?” Before she could open her mouth again, he snapped. “If you have a point, get to it!”
Emi smirked. “Fine, I’ll get to it. I think you should leave her to whatever she gets.”
He stopped in place and slowly turned to face her with a furrowed brow. Was she that full of herself?! “I’m not gonna give her up just because some jerk I barely know says so,” he said firmly, placing his hands on his hips. Pachi mimed his action. “It sounds like you’re just biased because you loved Pete Stephens.”
Emi scoffed. “Oh, that’s brilliant,” she said, the sarcasm dialed all the way up. “You think it’s just me who has something against that killer Pokemon.”
“I do know it’s not just you, and screw everyone else too!” He punctuated it with a stomp and started off again, faster. Pachi kept up.
Emi hustled to get in front of him. “Sure, like your clubmates?” She wore the face of a predator, narrowed eyes and a toothy grin.
“I know that! I knew that from the start, stupid!” What did she take him for?! Before she could open her mouth again, he said, “If you want something from me, say it already!”
“I thought it was obvious. I guess not for you.” She shrugged her shoulders and threw up her arms. She shook her head, eyes closed momentarily before glaring. “I want a piece of the person covering for the Qwilfish that murdered the Krookodile Tracker.”
Oh. “If it’s just that, then not now.” He went through the exact same thing before with her clubmate. Maybe this was just something trainers liked doing. “I have to start on Qwilfish’s training, so I don’t have time.”
“Why don’t you do the smart thing and train with me?” she offered, chuckling lowly under her breath. “Battle me with her. A Rock Slide to bring down two Starlys. I’ll even sign that little waiver you got.”
Nori stopped to consider her offer. A battle might help, and it would get them what they both wanted. He looked down at Pachi, who did a little flex. The squirrel’s tail squished vigorously. He was ready for a fight.
“Happy to. Or at least, I would be,” he admitted. His sudden calmness managed to have an unexpected disarming effect on her. “But I tried having her out before, and Qwilfish hasn’t been trained out of water yet. She like, started choking and flopping and panicking.” She sort of needed to be healed too. And he needed to sort out the situation with Pachi attacking her. Really, when he thought about it more, there was a lot he needed to do before him and Qwilfish had their first battle.
Emi did not miss a beat. “Then let’s go to a place where there is water. Mynwest Court has some battlefields like that.”
“Hell no!” Never! Never ever!
Emi slapped her forehead. Her eyes widened and she made a comical expression. “Oops. Riiiiight, I nearly forgot. You’re afraid of a little water.”
“And you’re afraid of…this…Pokemon…” That’s right, why wouldn’t she be here complaining? “Yeah, you’re afraid she’ll not be punished!”
The teenager rolled her eyes. “Good comeback. I’m so offended.”
“That’s it!” He didn’t even care at this point. He stepped up and got in her face. “You want a battle? Fine! It won’t be with Qwilfish, but I’m gonna shut you up!” Pachi jumped in front, sparks flying from his cheeks.
“I thought you said you didn’t have time for me?” she smugly prodded, standing tall.
“I was just saying that to get you to take a hint and go away,” he said. “Guess you didn’t get that!”
She smirked. “Of course I did. But I knew you’d come to see things my way eventually.” She reached out to mockingly pat him on the back, but he pulled away.
Was there any winning with this jerk? Yes, yes there would be. How full of herself would she be when he kicked her ass? Not very! He’d beaten trainers way better than her! Pachi snorted and squeaked at him while gesturing at the auburn-haired teenager. He wanted in.
They stopped before a traffic light. Emi looked up at the block numbers. “Well, if we’re not using your new little murderer, there’s a Fightopia about five blocks west from here.”
Nori also looked up at where they were. He countered, “There’s a battling cage way closer, I think like one block north and another east? It’ll save us some money and time.”
Emi’s eyebrows shot up for just a moment. “Oh, don’t be so cheap,” she brushed off, glancing aside. She smiled again, but there was something different about it from before – it was just in her lips. “Fightopia would be more private anyway,” she quickly said and began to walk off.
Her suppressed panic and uneasiness did not escape Nori’s notice. The light changed to blue. He glanced down at Pachi. It took no time to decide, and he started to cross. “Well, I want to go there!” he shouted so that she could hear. “What’s wrong with battling in public?”
There had to be a problem with the battling cages specifically, right? He glanced over his shoulder. Emi was frozen in indecision. Nori couldn’t even begin to guess why she wouldn’t be fine with this. It wasn’t enough to dissuade her as he was hoping, as she bolted from her reverie to catch up.
“Fine,” she grumbled. She lifted her chin and marched on ahead of him. It was apparent from taking the lead that she knew where it was. So she was avoiding it. Nori had many questions, and he was sure he’d get the answers shortly.
#####
Nori went over what he knew about Emi Pikaru in his mind along the way. As Volkner had taught him, knowing your opponent was important. She was the second-best trainer on their middle school’s battling team. A sarcastic tomboy, and evidently, a callous jerk. He expected some strategies to rile a person or Pokemon up. Which probably meant exploiting his phobia. He didn’t know much about her roster, just that she didn’t seem to have any specialties (otherwise he would’ve heard about it) and that her best was her Flareon. But he could make some educated guesses about what she might try to use against him.
He was uncertain if the place they were headed for had a formal name. There were many of them around, but these weren’t in a park or anything. If this was a park, it didn’t have a sign with its name or anything of the sort. In fact, it was just two battlefields and a tennis court, each surrounded by a tall chain-link fence. A ‘No Pokemon’ sign was in front of the latter. There was a lone garbage bin in the partition between them, and the only place to sit inside or outside was a children’s picnic table that someone had left there.
As they arrived, his gaze – and Emi's – was immediately drawn to the teenager observing a match, with his Noctowl perched above him. He had platinum blond hair styled into two flat layers and stood at about 170cm in height. Thin-framed glasses rested over his catlike yellow retinas.
He wasn’t sure why, but he waved an arm and called to him. “Chad!”
Emi’s face fell into her hands as she whirled away, muffling a frustrated wail. The captain of the battling team which she was on turned his head to look at them. “Nori?” he questioned, and it did not take long for him to notice his friend. He gasped and recoiled. “Emi?!”
As they walked over, Emi grumbling all the while, Chad snapped from his position. He almost crashed into his friend in his haste, managing to stop by grabbing hold of her jacket.
“Emi, you said you were just on a walk! Emi, what did you doooo?!” he cried, shaking her while gritting his teeth. His Noctowl swooped down, landing beside him. The bird craned its neck forty-five degrees.
“Calm down, it’s nothing,” she half assured and half dismissed, swatting his arm aside. She turned to him and gestured with a palm while smirking. “He was the one challenged me.”
Chad sputtered for a second. “Nori, is that true?” he questioned, shooting Emi a sideways glance. “If so, what is the context behind it?”
Nori glanced over at Pachi while considering his words, who had gone to say hello to Chad’s Pokemon. The Noctowl waved a wing and cooed, otherwise not really interested in speaking with the excitable squirrel.
He answered Chad. “Sort of. She stalked me outside my friend’s place and waited until I got out. She’s mad about the Krookodile Tracker and was talking crap.” He shrugged as the captain of the battling team frowned. “She wanted to fight Qwilfish, but she’s not trained out of water, and you know how I am with it, but she annoyed me into challenging her anyway.”
Chad dropped to his knees, placed his palms together, and bowed his head. “Nori, I cannot apologize enough for her behavior.”
Nori crinkled his nose and raised an eyebrow. “What are you apologizing about her for?” he asked with confusion and just a little irritation.
Chad, maybe realizing how ridiculous he looked, scrambled to his feet. He gave Nori a firm look. “I just want to let you know that the opinions of Emi Pikaru do not represent those of the battling team as a whole.”
Emi slapped her forehead, leaving her hand on it after. “This is why I didn’t want to come here.” She grumbled and shook her head. However, her eyes fell upon her teammate in an empty sneer. “And Chad? A lot of people think the same as me. But I’ll make it clear. This one’s all me.”
“I told you before, just don’t!” he cried.
Nori watched their argument. Pachi was just as curious, but the Noctowl didn’t answer when the squirrel queried him about it. “Am I…missing something?” he said, rubbing the nape of his neck.
“Oh, he’s worried I’ll ruin your little advice on the side thing.” His opponent exaggerated a shrug, shut her eyes, shook her head, and threw her outstretched arms and shoulders way up.
“Emi!” the blond wheezed.
Nori could only blink. “Well, if it’s just that, you don’t have to worry. I said I would, and I’ll do that no matter what.” He promised! Nori still felt a little guilty about what happened with their now former teammate, Anthony. So he wasn’t going back on that unless it turned out to be unwanted.
As Chad stuttered in disbelief, Emi clapped him on the shoulder; Nori was uncertain if it was in genuine comfort or if she was being sardonic. “See?” she said, tracing a finger along the shoulder blade. “You were worrying over nothing.”
“I…you’re right.” The captain of the battling team took a deep breath and bowed, managing to find his composure. “I appear to have underestimated your integrity, Carino. Greatly underestimated. Accept my apologies.”
“No problem.” A lot of people had misconceptions about him.
“I’m glad we got this sorted out. Now, let’s get this done.” Emi said this with toughness, doing a fantastic job of hiding her relief behind her attitude. Nori could tell from her initial reaction and behavior that it was a load off her mind. She powerwalked to the free cage.
“Looks like we got a crowd,” Chad remarked, and sure enough, their argument had attracted a lot of attention. Small wonder. He was Nori Carino, the Demon Tamer of Veilstone, and now the rehabilitator of the Qwilfish that killed Pete Stephens. And the junior battling teams had to be pretty popular, too.
“That’s fine,” he said as he headed into their cage. He was used to it after Sunyshore. It was a generic battlefield with no features. A little cramped, maybe like sixty square meters at most, but that was what you got with the cages.
“Should I be the judge?” Chad asked.
He rolled his eyes. “Judging is for self-important people and making jobs.” Volkner taught him that. Not like a battle needed someone to say a Pokemon couldn’t continue. Any proper trainer could do that themselves. And premature judgments were a problem, as they should know. “Stand with your friend.”
He raised his palms. “I do not want to influence this battle.”
“Then go wherever.”
Emi had already taken her spot, so Nori took his with Pachi by his side. Chad, with a sigh and eyeing some people who seemed to want to come in to get a better view, stood by the door in the middle. His Noctowl flew and perched above.
“All right, so have you decided on what sort of battle this will be?” he asked them.
Emi put a hand on her belt and twirled a finger with the other. “Standard fine? And yeah, I’ll sign your little agreement for your other murderer if you need me to. I’m sure you have him under control now.” She said this with a smirk, but otherwise with a modicum of respect.
“I said I didn’t really have time today, and I meant that, I wasn’t lying. So one-on-one for now,” Nori said. If she wanted standard, they could do so later. “Double-blind Pokemon choice. That is, we send them out at the same time.”
“Fair enough. Not that it’ll matter.” She had her chosen Pokemon in hand by the time he declared the kind of battle. His opponent grinned maliciously as she squeezed the capsule.
Pachi tugged at his legs and pointed at her. He wanted in. Without answering, Nori reached into his pocket. He made his selection in his mind and said, “Ready.”
“Set!” Emi said, lowering her head and smirking.
“Go!”
With Chad’s word, Emi threw her Pokemon out. Pachi preemptively dashed forth, only to nearly crash into the teal beast that materialized. The Demon was ready for battle! He’d chosen power over a possible type advantage.
It was the right call anyway. Nori was expecting a Water-type, so he was surprised to see her choose a gray dinosaur-like Pokemon instead. It had a rocky body with spikes on its back, a beige belly, three sharp nails on each hand. When the Demon roared in delighted challenge, it roared right back with even more fury, spinning its horn and whipping its thick tail.
“Your Rhydon, huh?” Chad asked. Neither of them noticed the Demon’s eyes light up as she turned back to him with a nostalgic grin. “I expected that you’d go with Anchorage, because of…” The blond shifted as he eyed Nori. His heart beat a little faster. Yeah, something part Water-type would be a smart choice against him. He hated to admit.
“Thought about it, but this was an obvious pick,” she replied, flicking her auburn bangs. “This stupid moron’s,” she mocked one of his favorite phrases, making a hand talking motion. “His team has a massive Ground weakness.”
“So what!?” he countered. “I can’t help that!” It never actually occurred until she mentioned it, but still. So what?
She scoffed. “Did you never?” she slowly began, her posture stiffening. “Ever? Think about catching something to fix that?”
“Well, for one, no. I don’t really care.” He never wanted to be a trainer. Any battling he did was for his Pokemon, not himself. Well, excepting times like this. “Secondly, any Pokemon I catch on my own is one I won’t be able to give full attention to because of my job.”
Chad did a double take and tilted his head slightly away. “I never thought about that. About the fact that you don’t get to pick your team,” he remarked. He tried to smile, but it was halfhearted with a twitched nose. “I see your point, though.”
Emi not only rolled her eyes, she rolled her entire head. “Yes, that’s really smart. You–”
“And third!” he shouted over her sarcasm, stomping a foot to punctuate. “We can show you how it doesn’t matter.” The Demon cackled and stood ready. Nori was trained by a type expert after all! Covering your Pokemon’s weaknesses was something Volkner taught him, and Gym Leaders were some of the best at it!
“Well, at least you’re both confident.” Emi gave a vulturous smirk, lowering her gaze. “Wonder how long that’ll last?”
“Guess we’ll see!” he answered with cheer, which only made her roll her eyes.
At least there was one good thing he could say about her: Emi was mostly accepting of the way he obtained Pokemon. When he first got the Demon, there were some jealous idiots saying it should have been them. There probably still were some actually, just not any saying it to his face.
Not that it mattered. He wasn’t going to say, but there was a reason they were so confident. That was because they’d beaten a Rhydon before. A really angry wild one was their first real battle as a proper Trainer-Pokemon team. Nori thought he saw a genuine smile on the Demon’s face for a moment. Sure, a trained one would be stronger, but they’d gotten stronger since then. It was time to show their stuff.
