Pokémon Places We Call Home

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, going to be pulling a late-night special on this one with a bit of an intermission in between since my flight's nearing its end. But I figured that it was as good an opportunity to get in another PWCH chapter under my belt, since it was a goal of mine to get caught up before Review Blitz ended. The next chapter seemed like it was a bit shorter than normal for this story, so it felt like as good a reason as any to just dive into…

Chapter 33

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

"Are you sure about this?"

Nip sat in front of a low table in one of the upper tavern rooms, his back to a window. The rain had finally stopped, rays of setting sunlight dappling the floor. Haru sat at the window, looking out to the empty square below.

Nip: "Honestly, no. But it's not like I can trust Tempest to give me a straight answer right now, and I can at least count on Umbra to do that out of spite." >_>;

Across from Nip, Whisper stood with her wings crossed, expression guarded. She looked him over, then eyed Haru.

"Yes," Nip said, bowing his head submissively. "I think… If what Tempest told me is true, then I want answers. This may be my last opportunity to get any."

Nip, I realize that you've had a bit of a loss of trust of Tempest lately, but surely you can appreciate how there are multiple things that could go very wrong from trying to get answers about your life story from Umbra of all people.

Whisper exhaled slowly. "Alright. Well, if you're certain. But I'm staying in the room while you talk. We don't want to take any unnecessary risks here." The hawlucha turned, briskly walking out and down the hall. A moment of silence passed before Haru found her voice.

Which, considering how both of Umbra's types are supereffective against you... uh... yeah. Not hard to imagine Nip getting a fast trip to Lecha's again considering how many times she's literally been at his throat in this story.

"I'm not sure how much you're going to get out of Umbra." Nip acknowledged her with a twitch of his ear, so she continued. "Think about it. Don't you think she would have used this against you if she knew?"

Nip: "I mean, she stayed behind at my tribe after she bailed, so there's at least a chance that she found out?" ^^;

He tensed his shoulders but didn't turn around. "Probably. But I just need to know for sure. I need to kill that part of my life so I can move on. And if that means speaking with her…. I'll do what I must."

Haru didn't respond, turning her attention back to the window.

Haru: "... I don't know why you're doing this to yourself, Nip, but if you're sure about this..."

When Whisper returned, she nudged Umbra along in front of her, the mawile's hands bound together in front and her back jaw tied shut with a second length of rope. A third piece connected the two, limiting her range of motion and preventing her from bludgeoning anyone with her second jaws. She narrowed her eyes as she spotted Nip, but reluctantly complied with Whisper's instructions to take a seat across the table.

So just how obviously is she seething at the moment, anyways? ^^;

"Okay," Whisper began, "We want to keep things quick and simple. Nip has a few questions that he'd like you to answer. We're asking you to cooperate here. No funny business."

Umbra scoffed. "What is there to say? I have no desire to speak with him or anyone else here."

I mean... yeah. Should've seen that one coming, Nip.

Whisper gave Nip a look that screamed "You're wasting your time." He took a deep breath. Remember, she can't hurt you here. You're the one in control. For once.

Huh. It didn't occur to me that Nip would outright fear Umbra, but I suppose that it makes sense given that he was the abused one in their relationship and she does have a natural advantage for smacking him around.

Out loud, he said, "You're about a cycle older than me, correct? How much do you know? About myself and Tempest."

The mawile scoffed, glaring at him. "What is there to know? You two are uncomfortably close. That is all I need to know."

Nip: "Umbra. Stop beating around the bush. I know you were there when I was hatched." >:|
Umbra: "Nip, I was crecheing at the time you hatched. Do you expect me to have paid attention to whatever Tempest was doing back then?" >_>;

"Did you know he was my father? Did you know my mother was a Tribe exile? Did anyone tell you that?"

A genuine look of surprise crossed Umbra's features. Nip caught a brief quickening of her breath before her scowl returned. "Preposterous. Yes, you were both outsiders, but… he came first and then…" She knit her brows together, trailing off. "Yveltal above, he was not padding after you like a lovesick pup."

Haru: "Yeeeeah, this questioning isn't going to go anywhere, Nip. Cut your losses and bail here." >_>;

Nip scrunched his nose. It would have been one thing to hear that before (though he'd never come close to viewing Tempest that way) but to say it now that they knew the truth about his connection with Tempest… "Gross."

"It was gross enough to imagine before this wrinkle," Umbra said. "The elders never would have allowed it. Two males as mates? It goes against the prosperity of the tribe."

Um... given that Tempest was an adult at the time, that makes Umbra's interpretation of things gross indeed.

Though just filing it away that Nip's tribe doesn't view LGBT pairings highly, which makes a certain logic to it considering how it's structured under the explicit logic of "get more kids to replace the ones that die, do their assigned roles in life, and keep the tribe healthy and growing".

"Wow," Haru interjected. "I knew you were awful, Umbra, but this is the cheri on top."

[ ]

Nip ignored that, trying to circle around back to the subject at hand.

Kinda wonder if it'd have been worth showing a bit more off of Haru's revulsion here a bit more in the narration before Nip keeps going.

"So you knew nothing?"

"Very little. I knew your egg was brought in within a day of Tempest's arrival. I knew the adults spoke about you in hushed whispers, but I never had the full context."

Nip watched her closely, judging her body language. He wouldn't put it past her to lie, but at the moment she seemed honest enough.

Nip: "... I really should've just gone back to Tempest and asked him to be honest with me, huh?"

The corners of her lips turned into a thin smile, a dangerous look that Nip was all too familiar with. "It certainly explains a lot, though, does it not? The shunning. The decision to make you a lorekeeper. It clearly was supposed to keep you away from anything important."

Well, I see someone doesn't really care about the history or culture of her tribe to just dismiss a lorekeeper as a profession for Pokémon that couldn't be trusted not to screw things up. I wonder how common that was among their peers.

Nip narrowed his eyes, pupils shrinking to slits. He recognized Umbra's tone; it was the one she used when she was going to say something back-handed. When she was trying to goad a reaction so that she could justify her malice. And yet, he couldn't help but take the bait.

"What are you trying to imply?"

"Nothing," Umbra replied with mock innocence. "But do you not find it strange, especially now? They clearly did not want you. It is a wonder they let you and Tempest return at all." She made a show of checking her claws, then running them through the thick fur on her ears.

I mean, didn't you even realize that yourself last chapter, Nip?

Nip: "I suspected it, but that doesn't mean that I wanted to just hear that get confirmed!"

"No wonder everyone was so willing to ignore your incompetence. They were probably hoping you would just get the message and scram. Or wishing they never let you come in the first place. Of course, you could not even do that right, could you? Look at the pain you caused your old tribe mates. Look at the mess you left me to clean up. Honestly—"

Okay, that's where I don't believe you. Since clearly they valued having Nip around enough to at least keep as a proverbial whipping boy. Since every hierarchy has that one guy at the bottom and they clearly felt they were getting enough out of Nip to tolerate his presence.

At this point Nip, who had begun to growl, hackles raising at her insinuations, finally snapped. He lunged forward, teeth bared in a snarl, and was only stopped by the table between them. But the interruption was enough to bring him back to his senses. He knew what she would do if he fought back. How could he be so careless? And as quick as the anger came, fear replaced it. He pulled away, eyes wide.

Okay, yeah. Umbra clearly messed Nip up quite a bit given that he's reacting that way even while she's restrained.

But just as he did, Whisper yanked Umbra back by the rope binding her jaw, giving it a rough shake. "Hey! That's enough out of you."

At the same time, Haru took a few steps toward Nip, hesitating behind him. "Stars above, is she always like that?"

Nip: "Trust me, Haru. You have no idea..."

"Only privately," Nip answered, surprised to see her show her true colors in front of others. Or had she always shown them, and everyone ignored it? A seed of doubt sprouted in his mind. The more he tried to remember, the more the memories blurred together, falling through his claws like grains of sand. He couldn't make sense of them all.

I mean, I'm willing to hazard that it was the second given that based on what we found out about Nip from the last chapter, it sounds like he was always behind the 8-ball from the start in his old tribe.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, catching Umbra's voice as she addressed Whisper with a raised brow. "Why do you stop me? He is the one that made move to attack. I only speak the truth. You, out of everyone in this accursed village, should know that."

A flash of something crossed Whisper's face. "You do not speak for me. Only I can decide how I handle what happened. Around here, we don't take kindly to pokemon telling us how to feel or how to handle things."

"Even if they murder your child?"

Umbra, I'm pretty sure that you're speedrunning your way to getting decked right now, and Whisper at least has moves that can do neutral damage to you.

In one swift motion, Whisper grabbed Umbra by the joint connecting her second jaw to her head and hurled her to the ground. She planted a foot on the mawile's chest, breathing heavily.

"My feelings on Nip. Are none of your business. And I do not appreciate. Your attempts to manipulate me. You had your chance to handle things in a civilized manner and you blew it. So I suggest you cut it out before you make things even worse for yourself."

Well, that was fast there. Though time to see how Umbra reacts to this, since she's always vibed as being unused to getting proverbially or literally punched in the mouth.

[ ] The hawlucha took several more deep breaths before snapping her attention to Nip. "Anything else you want to ask her? Or are we through here?"

Might have been worth noting what Umbra's reaction here was in the narration. (I assume that it was basically glaring back defiantly since that's what she did with Jhorlo, but still.)

Nip's gaze bounced between Whisper's intense glare and Umbra. In a matter of heartbeats, the hawlucha had done what the elders never had. She'd… just shut Umbra down. Refused to let her play mind games. He blinked once. Twice. Three times. And for the first time in cycles, Umbra looked pathetic instead of threatening.

"No," he breathed out. "No, I think we're done."

Oh, well. Scratch that then.

Haru: "Wait, really? I was kinda expecting you to just linger here and get in some catharsis about how your ex-"
Nip: "No, I'm good, Haru. Let's just get out of here." >_>;

Whisper stiffly bobbed her head, stepping back and reaching down to lift Umbra by the arm. "Good. I'll be back in a moment to wrap up after I take her back." Then she turned, dragging Umbra away.

Haru waited for a heartbeat or two after Whisper left to approach. "Well. That was eventful. Did it help any?"

Nip: "Obviously not, no." >_>;

"Not really," Nip answered honestly, his body feeling drained like he'd fought a herd of mamoswine. All it told him was that Umbra wasn't in on the ruse. But instead of relief, he only had more questions. New doubts about his place in the tribe. "I'm not sure why you stuck around."

"Not like I have much better to do until it's close to dinner time," the bibarel said, slowly stretching.

Nip: "I mean, you could've gone drinking."
Haru: "Yeah, but then I'd have to deal with mom and dad yelling at me afterwards, and boy is that a miserable experience with a hangover." >_>;

Before Nip could say something more, Whisper returned. Her eyes drooped, exhaustion showing. "I've got the room key. If you two are done, then I'll take it back to Meaad. I need to check in with Phoel, anyway, then finish gathering the rest of the village."

[ ]

"Sounds like you're pretty busy," Haru commented.

Whisper chuckled dryly. "Of course. With Jhorlo out of commission and all the chaos that Susana brought, running the day-to-day has fallen on Anu and myself. I've run the guards ragged just trying to keep up with the guarding and the needs of the village."

That... is a terrible omen for what's going to become of Whisper and Anu down the road.

Though I kinda wonder if it would've been worth noting some reaction from some combination of characters at around the highlighted part in this block.

"Something is going to go wrong if you're not careful," Nip pointed out. "If you continue to exhaust yourself."

"Of course it is," she snapped. "But what am I supposed to do? The enforcers still won't help. We're running out of food. Everyone's low on sleep. And we still have no idea how dangerous things might get."

Haru: "Um... is this a bad time to remind everyone that Celebi gave a prophecy of doom and Muse had premonitions of some sort of disaster involving our village-?"

Whisper: "Yes!" >v<;

Nip flinched and averted his gaze. "I don't mean to criticize."

Whisper sighed. "You have a point. It's just not helpful without a solution."

"We know whatever it is isn't good, though," Haru interjected. "I mean, if Celebi's nonsense meant anything."

Nip: "And your Absol friend's premonition?"

Haru: "Uh... we don't know if that will be accurate either?" ^^;

"True," Whisper said. "But outside of the couple of small things you were able to pick up, we still know nothing."

They lapsed into silence, frustration palpable. Then Nip spoke.

"Do you think there's any way you could get more information out of Susana, Haru?"

"Me?" she squeaked. "What do you mean?"

"Susana was initially friendly with you, even if it was mostly a ruse. She thought you'd agree with her. If anyone could get more information out of her, it's you."

The bibarel's face scrunched as she concentrated, considering. "I don't think I'll be able to get anything out of her, but perhaps it's worth a try."

"I suppose we can spare a little more time," Whisper said, glancing at the door. "If there's a chance it might help."

This feels more like a recipe to get taunted about how Theran Village is about to become a skidmark than getting anything actually useful out of things, just saying.

"I'd appreciate it," Haru said. She exchanged places with Nip, giving him a chance to look out over the square. The berry farmers, Ruffle and Roselei, had hauled a basket of oran berries to their stand and were conversing. Nip couldn't be sure what they were discussing, but the conversation seemed heated, the roserade gesticulating sharply at the stand and at one of the paths out of the village.

Well, looks like we're about to lose another villager at this rate.

The sound of the door clicking brought his attention back to the room. The zoroark was with them now, towering over Whisper, who led her to the table by her bound arms. She checked to make sure the looplet was still secure before seating her across from Haru. Then she moved to stand in front of the door, opening it briefly to whisper something to a pokemon outside.

Susana sneered. "So first you want to talk to Umbra, and now me? Wow, aren't we lucky."

Haru: "Gee, whatever happened to the 'mon who was trying to recruit me to your side?" >_>;
Susana: "One: you got in the way of our mission. Two: after your guards threatened to turn us into lunchmeat, I frankly could care less if you and your entire village just dropped dead."

"We just have a few questions," Whisper said, her eyes narrow.

The zoroark drew her lips back in a snarl, ears pinned back against her skull. "And why should I do anything to help you? Remer is dead because of you."

Haru: "You were going to kill us!"

Susana: "Yeah, well that sounds like a 'you' problem, now doesn't it? Remer biting it is a 'me' problem, and I say it's big enough that I don't feel like playing 20 Questions with you." >:|

Haru took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her forepaws. But then forced an expression that was equal parts friendly and icy.

"Well, Susana, let's look at it this way. The four of you attacked pokemon from the village, set fire to our jail, and kidnapped and threatened to kill me when I backed down after finding all that out. What did you expect to happen?"

To that, Susana said nothing. Haru's beady eyes narrowed, all while still keeping that faux-friendly expression. "Do we understand each other now?" she asked, her tone mockingly sweet like she was talking to a clueless kit. "Great, then maybe we can have a civil conversation."

Well damn. If Theran Village's days weren't obviously numbered, Haru likely would've had a career as a guard/Enforcer ahead of her.

Haru sat back on her haunches, taking a deep breath. "So when we met, you told me you were a team dedicated to seeking out benevolent gods to get their help. Obviously, some of that was a lie. But how much?"

"Oh, it's true," Susana replied. "Well… mostly. Some of it is… a matter of perspective."

Haru: "I'll just take that as a 'it was all a lie' answer there." >_>;
Susana: "Look, do you want me to keep talking here, or what?"

"What do you mean?" Susana flashed her teeth.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Haru: "(Stars above, there's literal whelps at the Day Care that are more mature than this...)" >.<

Yes, we would, Nip thought, though he didn't voice it out loud. Especially since Haru kept plowing on.

"I heard your team mention a boss of sorts. Our Lady, I believe. Who is she?"

"Oh, her?" Susana asked. "Yeah, she's the pokemon in charge. I guarantee you've never seen anyone like her, though. Same with the majority of us."

Wait, that's that Pheremosa from the special, isn't it?

It was a hint, but hardly useful. Nip wasn't even the one interrogating Susana, and yet following her conversation felt like yanking teeth.

The door creaked open, catching both Nip's and Whisper's attention. The hawlucha approached, taking something from the guard outside, then approached the table.

"I have a question, if you don't mind my interruption, Haru," Whisper said. She slung a bag onto the desk. Nip recognized it as the one Susana had been wearing before. The hawlucha reached a wing inside, pulling out a strange, white and pink object, then another one. Then what seemed to be a clear container with a yellow liquid sloshing around inside. "What are these?"

Ah yes, I see that Whisper's found Susana's potion/medicine stash.

Susana looked the objects over, before leaning back. "I'm not giving away all my secrets."

"I saw her use something like this," Haru said, pulling one of the pink and white things to her side. "She did something to it and it sprayed some sort of mist that near-instantly healed a bite wound."

Susana:

Haru: "What? It's not as if you were giving a straight answer there?"

"I see," Whisper said, picking one up. She turned it over in her hands, scratching at it and knocking it against her beak before hitting it against the table.

"Hey, quit that!" Susana yelped, finally eliciting some sort of response other than hostility or nonchalance. "I can't replace those if you break them!"

"Oh?" Haru asked. "Why not?"

Haru: "And more importantly, why do you care given that you're clearly not going to be able to use them anytime soon?"

The zoroark gritted her teeth and hesitated before responding, "Because there's nowhere on this backwards pla — backwards continent with the capability of replicating the materials. At least as far as I've seen."

Just filing that one away that Betamon Continent apparently views the residents of Haru's continents as backwards savages. Also, she apparently doesn't know how to fashion remedies from berries/herbs given how panicked she's getting over getting cut off from her team's med stash.

Susana let out a low growl. "You want to know what's going on? Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. I don't know how long it will be before Our Lady's forces arrive, but we outnumber the pokemon of this backwater village by at least double. And you've already proved yourself useless and uncooperative in our quest to find Regigigas. After that and what you did to Remer, I doubt Our Lady will let you live."

Ah yes, just bluntly threatening Theran Village with death. That's definitely going to move hearts and minds there. /s

She flashed her teeth, mimicking Haru's faux-friendly expression. "If I were you, little bibarel, I'd run while I still had the chance."

Haru swallowed thickly. And Nip did the same. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was: they had barely beaten Susana before, and it had mostly come down to Remer's untimely demise. If they had more than a village's worth of skilled pokemon…

Yeeeeeeeah, just saying, between what her, Celebi, and Muse have had to say, don't hold your breath on being able to fend them off.

"Okay," Haru said, taking a deep breath. "Let's go back to these strange things again for a moment." She wiggled the object next to her paw. "What are they?"

"…Potions," the zoroark finally said. "A common sight where I'm from, but unknown here. At least at this concentration." "Potions…" Haru repeated, eying the object.

Aaaaand there it is in terms of an explicit namedrop. Though I have to wonder how on earth the Betamon Continent is able to even fashion these things.

Susana seemed to consider something for a moment. "You seem to think yourself smart. Superior after defeating my little party. But you wouldn't survive where I come from. At best, you would be Bound, subservient to Man."

U wot, m8. Though I suppose that that explains how Susana and her buddies got their hands on out-and-out mainline setting gear.

Haru tilted her head, eyes narrow. "What's that supposed to mean? Who is Man?"

"Who indeed? Or what, perhaps. I'll leave you with this, Haru. Man had technology to bend pokemon like you and me to their will, and all sorts of other wonders that have sprung from their Bonds. Like these potions. Our Lady only has a small fraction of that technology. Fragments that we stowed away when we came together. But it's enough to crush your little village and render it a burning husk."

Wait, wait, wait. I'm confused. Didn't Susana's dialogue imply earlier that there were still humans around in the present day? Since her dialogue here implies that they're either extinct or else are around but have had major technological regression.

Haru slammed her paws on the table and leaned forward. "What are you talking about? What kind of technology?"

But Susana was clearly done talking. She leaned back, closing her eyes. Further probing proved useless. Eventually, Whisper took her back, ordering Haru to put the potions back in the bag and bring them with her once they left.

I suppose that that explains why this chapter is called 'Inconclusive Investigations', but boy was that some wild stuff that just came out from that interrogation.

And then she was gone, leaving Haru and Nip alone.

"Well," Haru began after a few moments. "I suppose that's that, then. I guess we got something out of it, at least. Though not much."

"I suppose." Nip agreed. "I… wasn't expecting that out of you. How did you keep your calm?"

"Simple, I just pretended she was an unruly customer."

I... can definitely see how that would help. Even if I'll admit that I wouldn't have expected Haru to be super great at handling bad customers from what we've seen of her earlier in the story. ^^;

Nip wasn't fully sure he understood, but he twitched his ear anyway.

Haru pulled the potions together, the bottles clacking against each other. "I wasn't hearing things, was I? Susana was definitely going to say something else other than continent, right?"

- Peeks back up at Susana's line about where she came from -

Oh. Oh. So they're just straight-up aliens. I mean, I suppose that it checks out given that they apparently have Ultra Beasts in their ranks. It does make me wonder where the humans live in the broader setting in that case.

Nip thought back. "I think so. And then all that talk of Man… Whoever that is."

Haru bobbed her head. "I think Topaz nearly did something similar, back on the mountain. There's still something they're hiding. Something's really off about them. Like…." She gestured to the bottles. "We have medicinal salves, sure. Different mixes of herbs and medicinal berries. But this stuff… It was a near-instantaneous heal."

[ ]

"Something is very wrong."

I kinda feel like the "Something is very wrong" would work better separated out after a moment for some sort of tense / pensive expression. Though to answer your question, Haru, the thing they're hiding is that they can be basically summed up with song related:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a8b2jgPtY8

Nip took a step closer. It was hard to tell from a distance, but he realized Haru was shivering. More obvious was the scent of fear.

"How are we supposed to stand up to these kinds of pokemon?"

"I don't know," Nip admitted after a moment. "You would have to be skilled. Tricky. You couldn't face them head-on."

[ ]

"Is that it, then?" Haru whispered, more to herself than Nip. "Is Theran village… doomed?"

Another spot where IMO, it'd have been worth slipping in some character reaction here, especially to show things weighing on Haru here.

Nip didn't answer. He thought instead of Celebi's cryptic message. He had a feeling Haru was doing the same.

Well, he knew from experience that wallowing in defeatist feelings would do no good.

"I don't know what the future brings," he said. "But the only way to change it is to take action. What action should that be? I don't know."

Nip: "Even if 'run away' is admittedly sounding really, really appealing right about now."

Haru didn't answer for a while, staring blankly at the table. Finally, she heaved a great sigh. "I guess you're right. I don't know what to do but… we should get going. Staying here isn't helping."

She pulled the potions back into Susana's bag. Then, with some finagling, she got it over her back. She tilted her head in the direction of the key. "Mind grabbing that for me?"

Nip followed her gaze. "Oh, sure." He picked up the strange metal bit and then followed her out the door.

They ran into Whisper in the hall.

"Are you two only just leaving?" Whisper asked. The feathers around her neck puffed up. "Never mind that. I think we need to accelerate this village meeting, given what we heard. Haru, would you run along and fetch your family and any others you run into? I'm going to make my rounds and get everyone else."

Haru: "... Oh yeah, that's going to be fun to explain to everybody. Assuming that they even believe us." .-.

"O-of course," Haru stammered. Turning away, she addressed Nip with her back turned.. "I'll see you soon." Then she started off down the hall faster than Nip expected, leaving him alone with the hawlucha.

Whisper ran her claws through her crest before addressing Nip. "You… you should at least stay for the meeting, so we can make sure everything and everyone is addressed. Tempest, too. Even though you're leaving soon, you know what's going on. So this affects you, too."

Then she was gone, hurrying down the hall and leaving Nip by himself, wondering just how much trouble they had gotten themselves into.

Nip: "I don't even want to know, do I?"

Alright, I think that I'll leave things off here, though boy did a surprising amount happen in just the span of 3500-ish words. Like I was expecting Umbra's questioning to basically crash and burn, but I definitely wasn't expecting Susana to enter the chat. Much less for her to out that there's humans out and about in PWCH's universe and that she and her faction are out-and-out aliens to Haru's world. Like that definitely made me sit up, and I can already tell that things will wind up getting wild in this story since the potential scope involved is much, much bigger than anything I imagined in the earlier chapters.

On the more critical end, I do wonder if you had room to add a bit more proverbial meat on the bones of this chapter. Since I found myself coming across different parts of it where I thought that taking some time to slow down and show off more of the characters' reactions or thought processes would've helped sell the mood a bit better.

I do think that what's there is ultimately serviceable, since we just had a lot of big reveals with big implications come down and I'm honestly still processing the enormity of it all. Though I feel like that was a pretty good way to send off my night. Hope the feedback was fun and helpful, @windskull , and time permitting, I'll be looking forward to getting current with this story during Review Blitz and seeing where you take things from here.