Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Free Fiction

[Arukona]

So this fic is one I’ve been meaning to read for a while now, but I’ve never gotten around to it. However, with the Review Blitz, now’s the perfect opportunity to get in on that.

So let’s get into it. This’ll be me noting down things that stick out to me while I read.

Chapter 1

So we start off with a quiz-esque scenario that PMD is known for. In it, we see the establishment of the kind of person our hero is. We can see that he’s a shy and timid one, while the asker of the questions is quite a contrast, being rather lively and energetic. It does make me wonder just who the quizmaster is. Are they a mythical Pokémon like Mew or Jirachi?

More intriguing is the abrupt end to the quiz. Seems our quizmaster’s in a bit of trouble. Just what’s going on on their end? And what crisis is in this world to make them summon the human in the first place? Many questions arise already, which is good for generating intrigue, something I always like to see in fics.

And now we get a glimpse at the partner, Ayza. I like her carefree, upbeat attitude, and her Salandit/Helioptile hybrid nature. (That’s certainly a unique concept.) Pretty ambitious too, given all her talk about going to the top of the Castle to meet the king.

“This definitely isn't the bridge I slept under…” has interesting implications for our human. Seems their life wasn’t exactly the sunniest before they came here. Maybe that has to do with their shyness as well?

Also, ouch. That’s gotta hurt for our human. And then figuring out he’s a lizard right after? Can’t blame him for going into a panic.

It seems this world is aware of humans that come in a time of crisis. And by Ayza’s reaction, that’s what’s going to get our whole story rolling. Interesting, though - there’s another human already. That’ll make for quite a rivalry down the road, possibly.

Ayza was smuggled in? Hmm. Why would that be? She doesn’t seem like a nefarious criminal…

Ah yes, the most horrifying realisation of all: nakedness. Probably the most realistic reaction if any of us were turned into a Pokémon.

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon!"

Thanks, Professor Ayza. Are you gonna tell Javier he can’t ride his bike indoors, too? (Joking aside, I do like this line drop.)

So this character’s an Ultra Being as opposed to an Ultra Beast? I suppose Beast does sound like a primitive designation…Ultra Beings are probably civilised ‘mons while Ultra Beasts are ferals.

And that about ends this first chapter. It’s definitely caught my interest, this fic.

Chapter 2

On we go.

Boy, those clothes are expensive. Not very cash money, is it?

Some issues of self-worth with Javier come to the fore. Something tells me that’s an issue that might resurface with him.

Interesting that literacy in feet script seems to be an issue. Guess this world has a problem with that, or is it just Javier and Ayza?

And the revelation of they/them pronouns, along with Javier’s realisation of “Maybe I could…” provides some interesting food for thought. In the future, there might possibly be a euphoric revelation for him, and realisation that he could lead a new identity in this world. It could make a good trans allegory when the time comes.

Ah, Charon has the goodwill merchant archetype: not caring about customers’ identities, only caring about whether they’re customers.

"Money runs the world, human," Charon answered simply.

Truer words were never spoken.

And he totally doesn’t care at all when the Ultra Being comes in. I rather like Charon and his uncaring attitude.

Hm, interesting. The Scrafty doesn’t seem to be completely a bad apple. A potential ally for our duo, perhaps?

Okay, so the Ultra Being’s a Poipole (good choice!) called Blight. Guess they had more relevance than I first thought, given they’re a part of the art for this story.

Blight talks about the Arclight a lot. Is that just him that says that, or is it a general term used by the inhabitants of this world?

Also, wow, Ayza sure has convenient timing with her materials.

I like the hint of teasing playfulness I get from Blight. It sorta feels almost…sinister in a way? But not the kind that would mark him off as a bad guy. I like those sorts of characters. Similar story with Charon.

Yep, that hunch about finding a new identity begins with Javier’s renaming of himself to Coral. And more evidence alluding to his unhappy life as a human, with parents that feel cold and unsupportive of him. Plus a lack of connection to the name ‘Javier’, and happiness in finding a new name…a euphoric transition is due at some point in the future, I bet.

So the other human’s name is Felix. Given that it’s the king announcing this, he’s evidently someone special. How’s the inevitable meeting between him and Coral going to go, though? Something tells me it’ll be a tense occasion…

Oh dear, a brotherly rivalry between princes squabbling over who should get the throne. This can’t end well…

And it seems Hope’s in a disadvantageous position right now. How will he get out of it? Find out next time on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Free Fiction Z!

(This was a good chapter; more development of the world and the characters we’ve seen thus far. The feud between the Calyrex royals has me intrigued most of all.)

Chapter 3

A spotlight on a Cramorant character? Sure, why not? Not too much of that around. I applaud you on the choice of unique 'mon.

Seems Iki’s a busy sort with no time for much beyond his work. Will that change, I wonder?

More elaboration on the Ultra Beasts this chapter, revealing they’re a closed-off civilisation, as opposed to being from another dimension. That’s certainly interesting - a different take to what we’d see normally.

Arriving in the city through illegal means is worthy of harsh punishment? Oh, that’s bad news for Ayza if they find out. She’s going to be confronted about that in the future, no doubt. (Another question, then: why is it illegal for her?)

"Team name? Is that a thing in what we're going to do? That shouldn't be too hard,"

Oh, Blight, you have no idea how hard it can be sometimes…

So things are getting better, and Coral’s adjusting well to his new body. This new deal seems to be working out for him right now.

And he can be a Waterbender too. Sweet!

Ayza has Dry Skin? That would be a pretty good ability for a Fire/Electric type due to her losing a weakness in the process. (All she’d need is an Air Balloon to evade that big weakness of Ground, and then she’d only have one weakness!)

To see someone ready to fight through any possible scrutiny… He wished to have the same conviction.

A want to be braver. Don’t we all wish for that?

And all hell breaks loose when Aster shows up on the scene. Not quite sure what the whole ‘zone around the Zoroark’ means, though. Seems like an odd move of the crowd to pull, or is that an ability of the Zoroark to keep others away from them?

And it appears the police are unhelpful in this setting, too. (Well, what’s new there?)

Ah, Hope: procrastinator-in-chief. Never a wise move, and it’s really biting him in the backside now. Though judging by what’s about to happen, he’s going to be the ticket that’ll get our heroes out of the mess they’re currently in.

I guess Reefly City doesn’t do a good cop, bad cop thing; only bad cops need apply.

Strange that Iki’s the one complimenting Blight while Aster’s the worried one. I would think it would be the other way around, no? Perhaps Aster being in a prison has lessened his bravado.

So it seems Hope isn’t the splitting image of his father, rather a much weaker and wilder-looking Calyrex. And with that, his princely attitude unravels. This ought to be an interesting change in character.

And that brings an end to this chapter. Another good one!

Chapter 4

The List sounds pretty exclusive. And yet Hope’s allowing these randomers to join it? That decision totally won’t be questioned by anyone at all, I’m sure.

Guess Hope can be grandiose when he wants to be. There still is some backhandedness, though, like when he threatens to leave them to Agaya. Though I do like how his facade all crumbles when he gets to the third reason.

Well, that secret of Coral being human didn’t last long. And by the looks of it, that’s info that won’t exactly be super hidden from here on…

Nice callback to the Sylveon and Leavanny, and Ayza one-upping them for their earlier snobbishness.

Note’s certainly different from the average Zoroark - a short haircut and buff as heck, as well as not being one for words. She sounds quite an interesting character - I’d like to learn more about her.

We certainly get a kingly intimidation in the meeting with Avenir, both regarding Hope and Coral. It’s fairly accurate, and captures well the fact that Avenir is quite fed up with his son’s antics. By the looks of it, Hope’s going to be one of the more dominant allies of the gang. Though I do wonder, given the mishmash ragtag nature of the six, and especially the likes of Note, whether his support for them will eventually become reluctant.

For first impressions, he only had negative opinions of King Avenir.

I wonder if this’ll continue beyond first impressions. Because the king, as well as Tempo, do seem to be among the most antagonistic of the characters we’ve come across so far.

Also, I’m with Coral on this one: Monday exists? The worst day of the week exists here too? Lame.

And that’s the end of this chapter.

Chapter 5

Onward we continue.

Ah, good to see that Atlas is willing to get in on this. So he’s not stuck up and doubting like the king is.

Alas, the king’s not so willing. And geez, poor Coral. Anyone would be like that before the king, but him? Good thing he was taken out of there quickly. And he wasn’t in Avenir’s vision, not meant to be in the Pokémon world? Hmm…what could this imply?

Also, something tells me that interference with the king would normally come with consequences. At the very least, I imagine Hope would get an earful for that.

And Coral’s getting those questions in his head again, over why. Still a very doubtful mind - perhaps it’ll take some more time for him to be more sure of himself.

The scene involving Hope and Note was pretty funny. I see Hope’s not one for realising his own incapabilities.

An evil spirit inhabits the abandoned docks? That’s a recipe for a side story if I ever heard one.

A bit more about Coral’s backstory, and it’s certainly a sad one. His parents treating him hatefully, enough to make him run away from home and sleep rough. Another new point is his old friend, whose name was Alice. Will that just be a name drop, or can we expect something more from that statement?

Poor Coral. I really feel for him during that outburst of his.

Okay, never mind about the side story. Looks like we’re having that match with the spectre here and now.

Hm. Guess I judged Avenir too quickly. Maybe he is a bit more gracious than he first let on.

The action scenes are pretty cool, as far as I can see. They do capture the intensity of the fight that goes on between Team Rogue and the Runerigus.

So Coral knows Aqua Ring? Interesting. That’s an ability under his belt that’ll come in handy.

And another new addition to the gang with Rune. Seems to be another soul (because they’re a Ghost-type, get it?) with an interesting personality.

I’m noting at this point that Coral doesn’t seem to have amnesia. Enough if he’s able to tell them about the human world. Cool - different from the norm.

And that’s the end of that chapter. We’re starting to see things develop now.

Chapter 6

This chapter opens with Javier back in his human form, and he’s…happy? Hm. What could this mean? A memory of his human life? One of the few happy ones?

Nice that Iki’s a bit different than the average Cramorant, with a good description of what’s different about him.

Note’s definitely a keep-to-herself type. I’ve a feeling she’ll open up, though.

So the group gets caps now? Now they have drip - and Coral, with his bowtie, now has SUPER DRIP.

Hm. Portmaster Nacht…weren’t they on The List that Hope was talking about in Chapter 4?

"Help them reform into an upstanding person?"

Doing a Persona 5 on them, are we, Aster? (Well, he does have a mask…Wouldn’t look out of place among the Phantom Thieves, tbh.)

I see this world is not against eating certain species of Pokémon. Interesting - so that's where this fic falls in the 'Do Pokémon eat Pokémon?' debate that rages endlessly among us fanfic writers.

Oh, Free returns. Still as crotchety as ever, I see.

The way Nacht talks about the Guild’s ‘supposed’ pristine record, I can’t help but wonder if that’s something that’ll come up later…

Nacht definitely gives off a dubious vibe. The question is: is this in good spirit, is she a dependable ally, or is this going to be a point that’ll crop up again? Something that might bite our heroes in the back?

Hm, it seems Avenir is slightly reluctant to apologise to Coral. I wonder what this could mean? Probably still grumpy over the whole ‘Coral not being in his vision’ thing.

Ah, so Nacht uses her Murkrow as spies. That would make sense.

And now we meet the fabled human and his partner who we’ve heard so much about by others. They seem to be fairly amicable, so perhaps things might not come to blows if he and Coral meet. If anything, Felix might well be relieved, if it means another human’s here to shoulder his burdens. This threat called ‘the Parasite’ - our first glimpse at a major antagonistic force. And Felix talks about ‘being whole’ again…perhaps wanting to get back to his human body?

The appearance of Felix and Newt really made this chapter interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing more of them in future.

Chapter 7

Ah, one of the peculiarities of being a lizard: camouflage. And being a Water-type would inspire some weird feelings at being in the water.

There’s still some uncertainty over Coral in his new body, it seems. And the fact that he still sees himself as Javier implies he hasn’t completely lost his human will. Will he want to go back, though, like Felix? There might be an interesting foil to be made between our two humans when they meet.

And back to Agaya, still a grump as always. It’s quite revealing about the last major crisis, though: the Frigid End. I wonder what that could possibly mean for the present crisis. And I see the other continents exist in this world, too. Neat.

Oh? Another human? Though it seems Nova’s a bit more of a bitter character from an older time. Not so much a hero as the other two we know of. But him demanding to keep a close eye on Note specifically makes me think that the two of them have a bit of history.

Each generation is mentioned in this individually as the ‘fourth’ and ‘fifth’ generation. I do wonder if this would make sense as in-universe logic, though. Why would certain Pokémon be divided into generational groups? I don’t quite get how that would work in a setting like this. Just a light nitpick.

Guess Coral and Note have more in common that we might’ve first thought: wanting to be free.

Glad the team agree that homework is lame.

Hm. I guess the meeting between Felix and Coral’s going to happen later than I expected.

Oh dear, Ayza’s getting ideas about making Coral into a hero. This’ll be a point of conflict in future…

Team Honor could make interesting foils to Team Rogue: rivals, perhaps. Even the names themselves bounce off each other. Given Team Honor’s high standing, though, it’s going to be a long while before Team Rogue begin to catch up to them, I suspect.

The end of another chapter.

Chapter 8

Onward we go, in this strange land.

Seems Coral’s not an early riser. Total mood right there.

Oh hey, they have more drip with their mailmon clothes! (Twilight Princess comes to mind for some reason, though I can hardly imagine Coral shouting “HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!” at recipients like a certain mailman in that game.)

Money rumours? Oh boy, there’s corruption afield…

Cool, Coral’s learning literacy. Wonder how long it’ll take for him to master it? And English is a ‘Lost Language’ in this world? …Fascinating.

Good to see Coral getting some backbone in him in defence of Blight. On that note, I’m beginning to notice the two seem to be getting closer to one another as people. A possible romance in future, perhaps?

Yep, they had their first kiss. Those two’ll definitely become partners.

And the humans meet at last. At first glance, it seems like things have hit off well. Although, Felix ‘the Human’ and Newt ‘the Partner’? They didn’t spend too much time thinking of those titles in-universe, did they? (Almost like they knew those titles alone would draw attention…)

(A slight nitpick I have is the description of Felix and Newt again. Even if this is Coral’s first time meeting them, I wouldn’t think hearing their descriptions again would be necessary.

And this chapter ends on a cliffhanger! I’m interested, so let’s keep going!

Chapter 9

Felix is coming off as a bit of a cocky sort. As well as that, he’s insistent on remaining human, as opposed to Coral who changed his identity almost immediately.

These peculiarities about Coral’s arrival in this world are interesting, particularly the established lore in which a human arrives. There’s a whole process and a ritual to how it happens, and a quiz, and the additional summoning of Coral implying the whole thing was botched. That begs the question of who summoned him, then?

Felix is beginning to enter face-punchable material for me, bullying Coral like that.

And so the duel begins. As it commences, more and more evidence to what I just said.

Oh boy. When someone starts shouting at you in their native language, that’s never a good thing. It’s also probably the angriest Coral’s been. Goodness, Felix really set him off (though given his attitude, I don’t blame Coral one bit.)

Oh, is this where he turns things around?

I must say, the use of Liquidation is innovative, having it burst upon his feet for him to leap into the air - that gets a kudos from me.

Inherited Abilities, eh? These sound interesting. Gives a bit more depth to our human cast.

"Stop moving, Note. I'm still healing you, you ass."

When did Coral develop such a snarky tongue?

So it’s not really a personal animosity of Coral that Felix has at this point, but more a kind of ‘fear that he’ll ruin everything.’ An interesting storyline’s beginning to develop from this, and I must say, I like this concept very much. I wonder how it’s going to shape the story going forward.

"… I see nothing. They just… have no future. All I see is pitch black…"

Well, that sure isn’t ominous as hell. Or is it a fault on Avenir’s part?

Huh. Avenir has a direct pipeline to Arceus himself. I suppose he is a Mythical…

I get the feeling Nacht’s an embarrassing auntie figure to Coral, if that letter’s anything to go by.

That ending, though…wow. I did not expect that slightly sinister turn from Ayza. She having her own prophecy book, foretelling a dark omen. It seems like it’s two conflicting prophecies that’s going to be a tug-of-war between Team Rogue and Team Honor. (Getting Super Paper Mario vibes from this, except obviously one side isn’t the absolute epitome of evil.)

Conclusion

I’m really excited where this could lead from here. The characters are all fascinating with a variety of personalities, and there’s not one character that feels uninspiring. While there’s not a huge amount of adventure outside of the city, this fic may not be geared for that, which is perfectly okay. Slice of life is cool. Maybe an adventuring side to it opens up later on, and if so, I'm curious as to where that could lead.

Keep up the good work! This was a great read!

 

[GumPlum]

Chapter 12: Beneath the Mask

A dreamless, but restless sleep had consumed Coral that night. God, he needed it after yesterday. They barely even talked while they were resting. And Aster… he was kind of sad for him, but it was just a mess. He didn't even know how he felt, really.

Though, in that troubled and uncomfortable slumber, he noticed a sound close to him, almost like shuffling. His eyes lazily opened as he caught a glimpse of their door closing with a purple tail flicking and exiting.

"Wha…" he mumbled as he looked around. The pale orange rays through the window suggested the crack of dawn, and he saw Ayza curled up in her bed of hay, sleeping away. Blight's bed was empty, though. His eyes trailed to the door, head lolling with a groan. It was easy enough to put together, even moments from waking up.

Coral slowly stood, letting his limbs stretch all the way, even the tail. All of it trembled and popped, but it was loose enough afterwards. There was a slight aching everywhere, though. Coral chalked it up to… well, what happened the day before. That much was obvious.

It only took a few moments to properly move, though. Coral glanced behind to see Ayza sleeping in bliss. She seemed especially peaceful after yesterday where she was shaking uncontrollably. She deserved the sleep. Nevertheless, he sighed and went to the door, his Poipole friend on the mind.

Where did Blight go?

There was nothing in the hall of rooms, so Coral strolled to the main room of Rune, looking around and finding nothing but silent air. He sighed to himself before noticing the door to the courtyard slightly ajar. It was the only light coming through, after all.

He gingerly opened the door and saw… nothing. No trace of Blight anywhere in the courtyard. It was still somewhat dark, with the dim light of a rising sun somewhere beyond.

Still, for as quiet and pretty as it was, there was no Blight. Not that they'd leave any traces as they floated, but still. His tired eyes wandered over to the stairs on the side leading to the roof. Maybe they were there? They wouldn't need to take the stairs if so.

Coral stumbled over to the stairs and slowly climbed them. It felt a bit weird climbing with his new feet, but he didn't think much of it. As he finished the steps, he stood on the roof and looked around. He could see similar rooftops and buildings extend far into the city. A few Pokémon were wandering the streets, but it was still early.

The distant view of the expanding ocean was shining in the dim light of dawn, but his gaze turned to the sitting figure of a Poipole sitting on the edge of the roof, facing the horizon. He tip-toed as close as he could, before reaching them on the edge.

"… Blight?" he asked with his eyes half closed.

"AH!" Blight screamed in surprise as they turned to look at Coral, to which he just winced at. "Wh-What are you doing here?!" they practically shrieked.

"I could ask you the same thing…" Coral answered with a yawn.

The Poipole looked around and then slumped as he stared up with a bluish blush. "I… I was doing my morning ritual…" they mumbled.

Morning ritual? Since when did they have a morning ritual? "… But why so early? The sun's barely up…" He wasn't a morning person, so this explanation better be good.

Blight's needles twitched before they looked out to the ocean, sighing and slouching. "It's… the way of the Arclight. We need to see the sunrise to bless a successful day," they said.

Coral slowly sat down beside them on the edge of the roof, letting his muscles relax. "You mentioned that name when we met… What is it?" he asked with more opened eyes.

Blight twiddled their limbs before answering. "The Arclight is the god of the Ultra Beings. They bring the light to every day so it's important to see that light come in."

Ah, so it was a religious thing. He wasn't very much religious in the human world and the concept of religions based on Pokémon made his head swirl, so he didn't need that this early in the day. He stayed silent as they looked out to the ocean. The sun was starting to rise it with everything growing a bit brighter.

"… You don't think it's weird?" Blight suddenly said as they turned their head at Coral. Their glowing eyes were dimmed and low, barely looking at him.

He gave a small sigh after rubbing his head. "… I think everything in this world is weird. Faith is at least something I can recognize," he said, chuckling.

"You followed a god in the human world?" Blight asked, now shifting to a more confused expression.

Coral's snout scrunched a bit. "I wouldn't say follow, haha… More like… I grew up with it, I guess." He didn't follow any religion specifically, but his mother certainly raised him within one, and it was all a big shrug for him. "It was mostly about being good to people, being honest, loving thy neighbor… stuff like that. What does The Arclight teach you guys?"

"They… They teach us to be honest and forthright. To live every day as best as you can…" Blight said as their head tilted back at the ocean. "But more than anything, they teach us to cherish what we have in the moment because we never know when we might lose it. That's why we value the light, because darkness exists."

Coral's mind wandered for a bit. Charon had told him that these gods were known as Legendary Pokémon. Seeing as how Avenir existed, he assumed these other gods were physically here as well, very much not like the human world he knew.

"… Have you seen them? Like, physically?" he absentmindedly asked.

"Well, yeah," Blight chuckled, their voice raising. "They live in the center of Ultra City, on the top of the Light Spire. We see them bring the light every day. Their golden wings spreading out from the top of the city as their warm light bathes us, sun and moon beside them… Ahh, I miss it." They hummed with a wide smile at their own words, but that soon snapped into an uncomfortable chuckle as they looked to Coral. "O-Oh, I probably rambled on too much, right…?"

"No, no! It's fine," Coral insisted, raising his mitten-hands to his chest. "I mean, I don't know half of what you're talking about, but you looked happy so go off as much as you'd like." It was nice to see them happy talking about their faith. He'd happily take their smile after yesterday.

But he did stop after processing all of that information. "Wait, did you say sun and moon?"

Blight raised a limb, keeping their smile. "Oh, it's simple. The Arclight is our god, and they're a dragon made out of pure light, kind of like a star. But they have two children that are always beside them. One, Solgaleo, represents the sun, and the other, Lunala, represents the moon. Star, sun, and moon. Pretty nice, right?"

Coral nodded at their beaming, but his thoughts were more scrambled. Beings that actually represented celestial bodies with oddly Spanish names? Never mind the language, they likely represented the sun and moon that appeared here, but would that count for the human world too?

Did they have the same celestial bodies, or were they entirely different? What was this world's relation to the human world? It all sent him down a spiral of tangential questions, frying his brain at dawn.

But Blight sighed as they looked at the now rising sun, snapping Coral back from impending insanity. "… Thank you. For letting me talk about this, I mean. I've been… afraid to do this because of how this city looks at me. Nova and Aster don't really help either," they admitted, looking down to the docks. More Pokémon were coming out by this point.

"A-Ah, it's fine, I think. We promised we were going to teach each other, right? So, talk all you want… I'll be here listening." It was about the best thing he could think of to support his friend in this case. Ayza probably would've had something more impactful.

It was all silent until Coral felt a sudden tight hug and a tail wrap around his form. He blushed and stammered, seeing Blight burying themselves into him, but ultimately said nothing as he froze. Resolving to watch the sunrise, Coral was left a blushing mess at the warm and scaled touch.

It was a moment of calm followed by a beautiful view with a friend. At this hour in the human world, Coral would either be studying or blearily staring at his phone without much thought when he should have been sleeping.

As much as he didn't like admitting it, this… this was better. An honest smile formed, and his tail started wagging as he unconsciously raised an arm to lightly embrace the Poipole that was endlessly hugging him. Their face was looking out to the ocean, satisfaction clear on it.

After a good while of staring out in silence, the warmth that Blight mentioned slowly washed over them, the sun rising bit by bit with waves of light coming through. Warm colors mixed with the still dim ocean, only making it shimmer more. There wasn't even a wind, just silent warmth all around for them to revel in…

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Blight teased, looking up with a grin.

"Yeah… it does… I get what you mean…" Coral whispered. Busy life back in the human world never allowed anything like this. He certainly didn't miss the noise.

Blight's head uncomfortably shuffled closer to his head and grinned even harder. He had gotten used to it, but that didn't mean he would be physically comfortable with it.

Well… it wasn't that bad…

"Maybe after I teach you everything about the Arclight, you'll become a follower too~" they mused as the blush reddened on the Drizzile.

"Alright, alright, it feels good, but don't get ahead of yourself, heh…" Coral chuckled, looking back to Blight with a smile. Their pupilless blue eyes only glowed brighter as they tightened their squeeze.

"We'll see soon enough~" they giggled, leaning off Coral and opting to just rest their head on his shoulder. Somehow, the needles inches from his face weren't really a concern. Blight gave a low sigh as both watched the sunrise.

"You know, this is one of the first times I've seen this," Blight said. "On my way to this city, I was rushing and never saw this much."

"What do you mean?" Coral asked, looking down and seeing Blight's eyes dim. One of their limbs squeezed his arm tight.

"Us Ultra Beings… we live inside of Hollow Mountain, closed off from the world. Only a select few go outside to scavenge, but everyone else… We never go out." Blight lowered their head as Coral stared intently at them. "Can you imagine that? Not having a sky for all your life, and ignoring the world beyond? Most of the world agrees with our position, even us. Ultra Beings don't want to leave."

"Inside of a mountain?" Coral echoed with wide eyes. It sounded like complete fantasy, but he soon remembered his own position. But living closed off like that… That was where Blight came from? "Wait, why are your people like that anyways?"

Blight's mouth pursed, but they just shook their head. "I suppose you wouldn't know. Us Ultra Beings aren't from this world. We were nomads who settled here a long while ago when the Arclight brought us, but we've been outcasted by all. Nobody trusts outsiders like us, so why be public?"

Coral tilted his head, fully woken up by his confusion. "Then what about humans? Isn't that kind of like a double standard?"

"Humans arrive and save the world," Blight answered, shrugging. "Ultra Beings arrived, claimed land, and didn't do much else. Can't really blame the preference."

"Sounds like a hoax," Coral grumbled, barely caring about not favoring his own species. They were both from different worlds, so it just sounded unfair. Never mind the idea that there were even more worlds out there. That infinite image seemed too big to understand, but he was focused on the rising anger for his friend.

"But wait," Coral said, glancing back to Blight's dim eyes as he connected easy thoughts, "if Ultra Beings aren't accepted, then why did you leave? Did you know you were going to be rejected here?"

"Our home's kind of a cage," Blight sighed, "or, at least that's how I saw it. Why be restricted when there was a whole world just outside? I… I never understood why my people never agreed, fear notwithstanding. They didn't have to make me the outcast over it."

Coral gingerly brought a mitten hand to the limb Blight had wrapped around his arm. He didn't know if the warmth was from them or the sun. "Blight… I-I didn't know you were thrown out, I'm sorry—"

"I wasn't thrown out," Blight interrupted. They looked up with a small smile, though it creaked at the edges. "I chose to leave. I had enough of their order and wanted something new… Though, it certainly did feel like I was thrown out." They gave a weak laugh, slouching a bit.

"Do you hate them for it?" Coral asked without thinking, his chest trembling.

The Poipole looked back to the rising sun growing inch by inch. "I… don't know. They're still my community, but it hurts to have your feelings ignored and rejected by that same community, you know?"

"Could you ever forgive them?" Coral asked again to satisfy his own curiosity. It hurt to keep questioning, but he just had to know.

Blight stayed silent for a few seconds. "I'm not so sure. Forgiveness is hard to even imagine when they never gave me a chance…"

They raised a limb against the sun beyond, but let it fall. "I just wanted to find somewhere I could fit in, so I left and came here…" Another hollow laugh escaped them as they glanced back to Coral with half-lid eyes.

"I thought this city would be better about that."

Coral watched with a hanging mouth as Blight said nothing else and stared off. Even when illuminated by the sun, Blight had never looked so… muted. There were the obvious events from yesterday, but he realized now that it was all moments. They got here and were chased, Aster attacked them the next day, they were living with Aster ever since, Boro's whole deal… To have that hope dimmed again and again was probably exhausting.

Ayza could probably cheer them up. She was incredibly bright like that, unlike him. All he could do most of the time was stand and watch while everyone else helped him. There was a slight wall impeding him, but Blight was in front of him right now. He wanted to stop being a distant observer for once.

"Y-You know, Blight," Coral started with a slight pitch that made both of them jolt slightly, "I'm sorry all of this happened to you… But you do have a place you fit in."

Blight simply turned their head, their tail waving slightly behind.

Embarrassing as it was, Coral spread his arms out with a puffed chest and a wide smile. "You're a part of Team Rogue! You fit perfectly with Ayza and me! She'd say so much more if she were here, but trust me… We're a team. We won't reject you."

In silence besides the lolling waves, Coral waited with a tense chest as Blight sat there. Their side needles twitched back and forth, and their tail noticeably swayed faster at times. And their face… At first it was plain, but after a few moments, the edges curled up.

"Heh, you're right about that. Thank you, Coral."

They said it low and without energy, so Coral stammered to cheer them up more. "O-Oh, I can bring Ayza if you want! She's much more convincing and exciting! All I gotta do is wake her up, a-and—"

Blight gave a single laugh, which shut up Coral in an instant. They grinned wider than before. "It's fine, Coral. I already accidentally dragged you out of your sleep for this, I don't want to intentionally do it to Ayza too." They smiled at the horizon, but their tail swayed back and curled next to Coral. They weren't touching, but he could see the proximity, and his flushed cheeks were inescapable.

"Humans are so weird… Caring about what an alien feels."

Coral teetered on comforting them more or leaving them be, which just ended up looking like him reaching out and reeling back continuously. He finally froze when Blight leaned their head onto his shoulder like before with a chuckle.

"I'm blessed to have met you and Azya. You're both great."

"A-Ah," Coral stammered, freezing up like usual. He didn't know if meeting him was a blessing, but if he somehow made Blight happy, then he would take it. It only happened a few times in his life, but they were moments and people to cherish.

Coral's chest beat a bit faster with that thought, breath leaving him for a moment. It came around plenty, but there was little to no use in denying it to himself now. In such little time, both Blight and Ayza already held so much weight in his heart…

Well, I don't really mind. It's nice to feel happy for once.

"What are we going to do?" Blight suddenly said. Coral looked to them and tilted his head, seeing their weary eyes. "I mean, I can't ignore it forever… but what are we going to do about Aster?"

Coral tried to hide his uncomfortable wince, but it didn't work much against Blight's own frown. The Poipole smiled briefly but it fell fast. "I don't really want to think about it to be honest. I don't even want to see him…"

Coral glanced away to the gently swaying trees of the forest just beyond the city walls. If he could, he'd be glad to stay here and feel nothing but the warmth and good feelings like before, but Blight had to bring Aster up. That said, if they brought him up, it was likely that they were trying to figure it out on their own.

For Coral himself? It was odd, and it wasn't like there was an easy solution to what to do with Aster, but he had reached a conclusion early on, at least to start. "I think… We should at least hear him out. That's the least we can do after he saved us…"

"I hope you know why I'm not for that," Blight grumbled.

"Yeah, I do… But if I can, I want to believe in the good of him. I don't want to have bad faith right from the start." He fiddled with his new ribbon bowtie, nodding his head to Blight. "That's… That's what you guys did for me…"

"Sure, but you weren't idolizing a lunatic," Blight scoffed.

"That's a fair point," he chuckled, but then shook his head with a slight groan. "… Sorry for that. We don't need to answer that now. We can go back to just watching the sun if you'd like…"

"I'm the one who brought it up, don't worry," Blight said, bumping Coral's side with an elbow. They didn't say anything after that; though, their embrace tightened a bit. The touch was soft, but Coral had to remind himself in stigma that it was also scaly. It had left his head lots of times now.

By this point, the sun was leaving the horizon line and was flying slightly high. It bathed the low sky in a warm peach while early clouds swirled above in a pale blue. There was a general chatter around now, with people in the nearby streets and docks coming out to start the day early. Some boats would come into port or leave with their masts raised, and all the while multiple Murkrow fluttered about the lighthouse, no doubt Nacht doing… whatever she did.

Coral stared at it all with wide eyes and the tension in his chest leaving. For what seemed like a society of animals and monsters, it had its own clear rhythm and way of going about. Everyone woke up the same as him, but went about their day in their own fashion. To think he was lucky enough to wake up in such a peaceful and beautiful place… Not to mention, lucky enough to meet such good friends.

Though, he didn't know where a human fit into that, and one that wasn't a hero like Felix. Considering Coral's arrival seemed like a mistake, he wouldn't really consider himself deserving of this, but it was nice regardless. It brought him a flushed smile just thinking about it.

"You know," Blight started again, both of them exchanging looks, "it's almost been a week since you arrived here. How are you faring?"

Coral could feel his face go blank. Oh god, has it almost been a week? Every morning he hoped that he would wake up in his own world, but it never happened. He didn't give up on it, but he had accepted it wouldn't be that simple. Still, to be here a week already, and he felt…

He raised his hands to count with a small grin. "Umm… It's been scary, frightening, tiring, annoying, embarrassing, mysterious…"

"Pfft! It's not that bad, you jerk!" they laughed and lightly slapped his shoulders.

"It is! It totally is!" he shouted, reeling back with outstretched arms. "It's been unpleasant, unfortunate, disappointing…"

Blight kept snickering as he went down the list. He continued, but he too caught the infectious laughter and they just stayed there, in the morning sunrise, laughing out loud for all to hear. Coral could occasionally see somebody on the docks look in their direction, but he didn't care.

Once they died down, they looked to each other with smiles under the warm, rising sun. "Haah… Though, I have to admit… It's also been kind of fun…" he mumbled as his chest went tight, but fluttery.

Blight gasped and hugged Coral tighter with a smug grin. "I knew it! You really suck at hiding your feelings, huh?"

"Alright, don't rub it in…" he laughed before looking back to the sunrise, basking in that warmth as his eyes dimmed. His hands went to cover and feel his beating chest. For once, it was strong. "You know, I'm not very tough, or very brave either… I doubt I could help much with finding a way back to my world… So… S-So…"

Blight looked up to him, noticing his growing smile as he did.

"So, while I can, I'm just going to try and enjoy my time in this world with you guys… All of you."

Coral barely felt Blight leaving his grasp, but he did see their body float in the air and stop in front of him. He opened his mouth to question their half-lid eyes, but was silenced as Blight brought their head in close and bumped it against his…

Coral stared into their closed eyes without a breath, but Blight kept their head connected for a while… It was lasting longer than the previous one…

A lot longer than the last one…

Coral didn't know how much time passed before Blight lifted their head and looked back at the Drizzile with those half-lid eyes and a satisfied smile. They were blocking the sun in his view, but that only lit their body against his. Their needles twitched slightly as they gave a light laugh.

"That… was a lot longer than last time…" Coral breathed out, his chest ready to explode with whatever that was. Oh, even his tail was sweeping the floor beneath him…

"Yeah, it was," Blight said.

Coral sat completely still while his heartbeat went frantic, his body telling him to stand up and run but was satisfied just staying next to Blight. That head bump… Agh— God— Just… Even thinking about it was sending him into more of a mess! He couldn't even hide his tail!

"… I'll try and listen to Aster," Blight said suddenly, floating down slightly.

"What?" Coral asked, snapping back to pay attention.

Blight's smile widened. "I want to enjoy my time with everyone too, so I guess we all have to do our part in living together… Even if that means giving others a second chance."

"O-Oh…" was all he could say.

"I thought I exchanged one cage for another, but I've never felt as free as I do when I'm with you and Ayza. I want to feel that way with everyone else." Blight sat next to Coral on the edge, making his heart skip a beat. "So, I'll try and listen, but for now…" They leaned into Coral's shoulder and sighed.

"… Let's just enjoy our time here with the sunrise."

"About that…" A familiar gravelly voice rang out, and with it the head of Rune sprouted out from beside them, grinning as always. "Some're waking up, and Ayza's wondering about you two. Want me to bring her up here?"

Coral looked to Blight, both exchanging growing smiles. Being here with Ayza's brightness adding to it? It wasn't even a question.

They nodded and laughed the same as Rune did in response. Aster and Nova be damned, Coral wouldn't reject this happiness in his heart.

He had no trouble admitting that to himself now.

---

Aster felt like trash. To be fair, he deserved it. There was no real reason for him to be here anyways. Everyone hated him, himself included.

He shifted in his bed to look at his window. Midday, huh… He hadn't left his room since the morning, and he barely touched the breakfast Rune delivered him. It just felt wrong… He knew Iki made it, so it wasn't to eat it. Not after yesterday…

Bleh, he should probably explain everything to his coworkers by now. Hope gave them the day off because of the incident and he knew they were all waiting on him. But how could he explain everything? He knew it was a lot to deliver, and they probably didn't even want to listen to him anyways…

Ugh, it's hopeless…

"I sense some dopey-down emotions!" Rune's voice and face came out of the roof, a rock with its weird grin lowering down to Aster's face.

"… What do you want, Rune?" he asked with a huff. He really didn't need this right now…

Another slab separated from the wall to form a hand and it tapped Rune's "chin" as its face warped to a pensive design.

"Well, you see… I feed on your spirits simply being here, but negative emotions are positively delicious! And you feel scrumptious right now!" Its face produced a tongue out of nowhere after talking about Aster's taste. All he did was sigh.

Its limbs slumped and the face shifted to an exaggerated frown. "Well, it's not delicious when you're not being fun…" Great, he made another one sad. Though, Rune's face soon went back to its usual grin as the head lowered to an uncomfortably close distance from his. "What's got you so down, Aster? You can confide in good 'ol Rune~"

… Eh, maybe this'd cheer him up.

"I assume you saw what happened yesterday in the hall, right?"

Rune snickered while looking to the side and seemingly nothing. "Yeah, I sure did! Though, that's not as interesting as other stuff that's happened inside me! All of you have some pretty interesting secrets!"

Huh. That's right… If anybody did anything in secret while inside Rune, then Rune would actually know what it was… It made sense, so he made a mental note for later things. Wasn't exactly the most positive of things to hear, though. He still valued his privacy.

Rune's singular eye shifted to look at Aster and it glowed brighter than normal. "Hey, ya wanna know what Blight said about ya this morning?"

Aster's frown worsened, the rest of his body wanting to curl into a crushed ball. He didn't want to pry into Blight any more than he shouldn't have already. Rune's grin grew more in response to Aster.

"Okay, I'll tell you anyway!" Aster quickly tried to bring his mask over his face even more than it already was, but that only served to block his vision, not his hearing.

"They said that they're willing to listen to Aster! Ain't that neat?!"

… What?

He quickly sat up from his mattress with eyes snapped wide. "B-Blight's willing…?" he sputtered. He couldn't believe it… Blight was willing to listen to him? But why? How? Did someone convince them? Did they decide on their own? Ohh, he couldn't mess this up— wait, who was he kidding? He knew his streak with Blight… He would mess this up in a heartbe—

His frantic thoughts were interrupted by Rune's hand falling onto his head, though not hard for being pure stone. "Stop thinking, it's annoying," it said with a droning voice. Aster instinctively soothed his head while wincing, but Rune didn't give him time to have a comeback.

"Are you going to talk to them with that mask on?" it said.

"Huh? Oh, um… I guess so," he said, touching his covered cheek, but Rune was not having it as it lightly bonked Aster again on the head. "Gah! Why do you keep doing that?! Give me some space!"

Rune waved its hands wildly with annoyed eyes. "Because you're being real dumb! Didn't you hear what I said? Blight wants to hear from Aster!"

Aster could feel his eye twitch in his own annoyance. "A-And?"

Rune slapped its own head with a heavy thunk. "Ugh, so difficult…" After a moment of gravelly groaning, its head perked up with the grin returning. "Oh, I got it! Okay, why do you wear that mask?"

"Oh…" Aster reached up to feel the wrinkled and weathered mask. Some of the blue point was smeared off from his crying the night before. "I… I wear it to hide my face when I'm out and about as a hero." He usually would've said that with much more enthusiasm.

Rune narrowed its eyes as it pushed its head closer. "Yeah, but you wear it all the time. Does that mean you're always hiding?"

Aster's face twisted, looking away. "That… isn't entirely wrong…" He wasn't particularly open about his appearance, but Rune was hitting it on the nail. Well, it did constantly observe them…

"So, the person beneath the mask is Aster, huh…" it whispered without success. Rune grinned again as its head went upward. "So let me ask you this: Right now, are you more Aster or the Aura Guardian?"

Huh? What kind of question was that? Of course, he was Aster… But he also was a hero. He could be both, right? That shouldn't be much of a problem. Though, that is where he got himself right now…

Apparently, his processing was enough to last a while of silence where Rune's grin only grew.

"I knew you wouldn't have an answer," Rune sneered. "I'mma cut to the chase. You can't go out there with that mask," it said, extending a claw and flicking the paper spike in Aster's chest, bending it.

Aster stumbled back to protect his own costume in danger, but it only took a few more moments for him to notice Rune's words. He squinted, turning to it. "What… do you mean by that?"

Rune's face shifted to a frown, its eye hanging low and dim. "Aster, from what I've seen around me, everyone is willing to give you a second chance, but I'm talking about you, not the Aura Guardian. Do you get me?" it said with a much calmer voice. It sounded weirder in a way.

Still, they wanted to hear from him? It was still a bit nebulous in his head. "Wait, so they just expect me to take it off just like that?"

Rune's expression shifted from calm to… disappointed? It wasn't exaggerated or anything, the design shifting a slight curl downwards. "Just like that, Aster. Though, in the end, it's your decision how you want to face them. Your choices, and your consequences."

A gloved hand of Aster's grasped the bed sheet under him hard, tearing it in places. Consequences, huh? He knew them frustratingly well; it was what brought him here, after all. He did see Rune's advice, but to help someone as worthless as him…

"Why… Why are you trying to help me?" Aster mumbled, still looking at his wrinkled bed sheets. "I'm a nobody who everybody hates, and I just live inside you… You shouldn't even be worrying about someone you don't know."

"You serious?" Rune chuckled with a high pitch. If it was meant to mock Aster, he didn't mind. Rune's head lowered to hang inches from Aster's, though he still couldn't look at it. "Helping someone who needs it is nice. I think you understand that, but you gotta apply it to yourself too. I don't care whether or not you're a good or bad person. I just want you to make amends, as everyone else does. It's what you and they deserve."

Rune's voice was still the high-pitched and eerie voice that was filtered through gravel, but its tone right now was solid and serious. It made Aster attentive, like the Runerigus was scolding him. He looked up to find the same grin it always had, but the eye was a dim pink rather than its usual bright.

"B-But…" Aster mumbled, trying to pry away his eyes from looking at Rune, but finding no energy. All he could do was fumble his first thoughts out of his mouth. "They won't care about a bad person like me. I shouldn't waste their time…"

Without being able to react, Rune brought a hand to Aster's forehead and flicked it, a small clinking sound ringing out from hitting his gem. Rune's grin widened, its flat teeth sharpening.

"Good or bad doesn't matter one bit. Trust me, don't miss your chances to do the right thing. They aren't infinite, but regret can be. Just face them honestly, no mask and no hiding. That's the most you can do."

And then its head shot back up with an eerie cackle. "But who knows?! I'm just a building! Rune's gonna be Rune, baby!" After that shout, all the floating stones retracted to the ceiling and its face disappeared, leaving the Scrafty alone in his room again with his mouth hanging.

Already spent, it didn't take long for Aster to drop back onto his back. With a heavy sigh, he rested and wasted away in the unkempt bed. Staring up at the ceiling while he watched dust pass through the air… Hustling voices and stuff rang outside his room, but he could never bring himself to listen. Iki's voice was the most present, likely running around serving everyone while they waited for Aster.

And here he was, decaying in the warm room he was stuck in, unable to even move after Rune schooled him. Rune was generally an eclectic and off-putting— though well meaning— Pokémon, but it seemed so deathly serious right now. He couldn't understand where that came from.

Though, really, what was it even talking about? It wasn't like he doubted Rune; it had apologized after attacking Team Rogue and they all accepted it. The advice was sound in theory but to just expose himself so bare and naked to be judged… It shook his core with a cold sweat.

And he was a hero! Did Rune just not want him to be one for this?

… Then again, he really wasn't much of a hero… And nobody liked it when he announced himself as one. But heroes were supposed to enrich people's lives, not detract from it! That's what a hero's purpose was!

… Did… Did he really fulfill that purpose?

The inherent doubt made him curl into a fetal position alone on his bed. If he could cover himself in his sheets forever, he would. Hero or not, he was just a mean joke. Everyone likely thought that about him.

Aster's mind drifted to recording every moment he had with his companions. The street fight… the jail… some training here and there. The parade was terrifying thanks to Nova… Truth be told, the first and last good moment he remembered was when they cheered for Coral on their first day of work. That didn't have anything to do with the Aura Guardian.

He had been happy with them and them with him, somehow. Ah… So that's how it was.

Aster's mouth moved on its own, though his hands squeezed the edges of his mask, claws digging in almost enough to rip through.

"The right thing only has so many chances, huh…"

---

There were few conversations in the main room of Rune as everyone was gathered there due to Rune's orders. Apparently, Aster was going to explain everything now, but he still hadn't appeared and it was already evening.

Blight had promised Coral to at least listen to Aster. He had some good points, but they had valid worries about the Scrafty, so judgment was still up in the air.

They looked to their teammates sitting down. Coral looked to be humming something, but his foot was thumping like a drum. Ayza looked deep in thought, glancing around with the corners of her snout creaking up. She had been especially distraught after one of her idolized humans attacked her yesterday, claiming that "he wasn't supposed to be like that." Whatever it meant, her unease from that and seeing Free and Charon hurt was enough reason for Coral and Blight to comfort her, even earlier on the roof.

She seemed to be in lighter spirits now, but she still wasn't at peak Ayza enthusiasm. Maybe this could somehow help.

Over to the side was Hope's real appearance having small conversation with Note. Both were the least affected by this whole thing, but it was nice to see they cared, even if only because they worked together.

Iki was in a corner, mumbling below his breath and his feathers looked messier than usual. He had been running around all day making sure everyone was okay and feeding them, so the exhaustion on his wavering eyes was clear to see.

They all looked anxious, though. Even on a technical free day of rest, the tense air never left. For Blight, personally, they just wanted to reach a conclusion to this and get back to Ayza and Coral, whatever that conclusion may be.

With a distant laugh that cut through the chatter, Rune's head appeared above the entrance to the room hall. "Okay, everyone! He's coming out now, so get ready…"

Blight's own chest tensed at the announcement as everyone else shut up. It didn't take long for Aster to come out of the hall with feeble steps, still wearing his painted mask. Just seeing the colors made Blight want to puke.

He walked slowly and with his head down. Blight could see his whole body trembling. As he got to the center of the room, he slowly dropped to his knees, his head still hanging low. He was breathing in and out slowly, seemingly to pace himself.

Long and winding seconds of silence grinded where everyone just breathed, staring at the Scrafty. The setup was a semicircle of judges against one person. Though much smaller in scale, it was familiar to Blight, and the memory made the knot inside them twist tighter.

But then, Aster raised his head slightly. "I'm going to start by saying what's most deserved and due. I'm sor—"

"Look at us when you're talking to us," Note interrupted with her arms crossed.

He flinched at that, but raised his head fully in compliance. From what was visible through the mask, his face was redder than before, though Blight couldn't tell why. Aster looked to all of them, but stayed on Blight for a few seconds more. It made them involuntarily huff.

Aster shook his head. "I'm sorry for everything. The fight, the 'hero' business, never thinking about your feelings at all… I attacked you so harshly when we met, and I never apologized… I understand if you don't forgive me, but I wanted to say what was overdue."

Nobody said anything, a signal he took to continue pleading. "There's a second thing, advice I received from Rune… I realize now that I have to talk to you as Aster, and I will… You don't deserve a fraud…" His gloved hands came up and grabbed his mask. There was seemingly no attempt to hide his trembling now.

Blight's eyes widened. Wait, is he really going to—

Their confusion was ended by Aster peeling his mask off for the first time. He did it swiftly, but he also recoiled at the action and closed his eyes.

Beneath the mask came out a weirder-looking Scrafty, the lack of a mask giving way to new features. The most notable one being the crest Scrafty were known for being made completely out of actual crimson and black interlaced hair rather than scales. It was kind of messy and extended to the sides unlike normal Scrafty, probably due to being below the mask for who knows how long.

Aside from the hair, he had well defined lashes to his eyes and a yellow diamond gem sat between and above them. Fangs now poked out clearly from his mouth as it shivered open and closed. He glanced around with eyes closing and a sigh.

"An undercut…" Coral mumbled with a small gasp, but everyone heard in the silence. They all looked to him staring in what looked like a blush-filled wonder, somewhat like earlier on the roof. He noticed the confused stares and covered up his face with a yelp. "A-Ah, d-don't mind me! It's just his hair and some human stuff— f-forget about it!"

Blight chuckled at the easy embarrassment Coral always suffered while Ayza just patted his back with a playful grin. Aster sighed again, raising his arms. "The hair's not the only thing…"

He reached over to the paper spike in his chest, gently ripping it off and tossing it aside, giving way to another gem like the one on his head. With a wince, he slipped his knitted gloves off one by one and set them close by. In the same effort, he unwound the painted bandages on his arm.

By the end of it, Blight could clearly see what was hidden beneath. Aster's arms went from orange scales to a similar black as his hair, with a wavy look connecting them. There was even a black spot to the side. And instead of normal hands at the end, Aster had slightly hooked, black claws that were lined with a thin red, almost like they recently gouged someone.

All the new details were oddly reminiscent to Blight's studies, but they were focused on everyone else's reactions. Their teammates had wide eyes and smiles, though Coral was still a blushing mess. Note simply had a raised brow, while Hope was giving a bright grin. Iki just seemed extremely concerned, if his body tilting forwards said anything.

As for Blight, they couldn't really hide their small smile, but they tried their best. It was an interesting development.

"Th-This is… m-me… Aster," he said. With a heavy breath, he raised his head and opened his eyes to look at everyone. He had a forced smile that Blight recognized. It was easy to tell when a smile was meant to appease others; after all, they lived with one for so long.

"Aster…" Iki muttered with a raised wing, but Aster put up a shaky hand.

"I-It's fine, Iki… I need to do this," he said and then looked back to everyone. His disposition was nothing like he usually was before. It reminded the Poipole of Coral's first days in this world. "S-So… Yeah. As you can see, I'm part Sneasler. This is who Aster is, no hero."

Curiosity wasn't lost on Blight. For as suddenly interesting Aster being a hybrid was, they were more interested in seeing him expose himself so openly. Readily wasn't the word they'd use, considering his clacking teeth, but he was willing. He was actually trying.

He shakily grabbed the black knitted gloves with a weak laugh. "Now that you've seen all what I am, can I um… put these back on?"

"Why's that?" Hope asked, tilting his head.

Aster strained a smile out to create levity for himself. "A-Ah, well, my claws are really poisonous from the Sneasler in me, and I can't control them… I can't even touch flowers without having them wither away, h-haha…" His own awkward laughs were shared by nobody, so it shut him up fast with a sigh. "E-Either way, I just don't want to accidentally hurt any of you. The gloves prevent that."

Blight raised a brow, staring at Aster's hooked claws. Certainly, even they knew how virulent Sneasler poison could be, and as a poison type themselves, it was a source of constant worry. They always had to watch out where their head was aimed at. It made sense to hide them if he could.

"Fine by me." Blight shrugged in mutual understanding, their side needles adjusting back and forth for emphasis. "It literally can't hurt."

Aster's eyes widened and marveled at Blight, but soon shut tight as he looked away and started putting on his gloves again. "Thanks, Blight…" Living with poison-tipped fingers meant it was no surprise to Blight when Aster effortlessly slipped on the gloves in one swipe. He was used to wearing them.

Aster took another deep breath with a smiling glance to the worry-filled Iki. After that, he nodded to everyone else. "Okay… Go ahead, I'll answer anything you want."

Wasting no time, Ayza raised her claw. "What was that thing that Nova did to us?" Nice to see she was getting straight to the point.

Aster's eyes lit up. "A-Ah, that's Subjugation Field, o-or at least what I call it… It's um… oh, how do I explain it…?" He gave an awkward laugh. "Okay, you know how Lucario are masters at controlling aura right?"

They all nodded, even Coral. Blight gave a mental laugh knowing that they gave Coral the most basic of explanations of what aura was when they were studying, so he probably nodded for the sake of not interrupting.

Aster continued. "Well, Nova's become so strong that he can…" He waved his hands to form an imaginary dome. "Well, he can expand his aura so that it crushes the aura of everyone else in it. That's probably the reason why it felt like everything was closing in on you…" he said with a passing glance to Blight.

The idea alone of that being possible was bewildering, but Blight's memory told them otherwise. The weight and cold on the back of their head was still there, even if faintly. Plus, Nova was a human who had saved the world some time ago. They could never compare to that.

"We weren't affected until we got close, though," Iki mentioned, unfurling a wing. His large eyes squinted at Aster, though it looked more worried than accusatory. "But you felt it from far away, when I couldn't. And when I felt it, you kept moving when I was crushed… What was that?"

"The first part is because Nova can target people with it, not just make an area," Aster said, and then started scratching the back of his head. Fangs poked out clear now as he nodded, and every part of his face looked a lot more expressive when not hidden by the mask.

"The second part is, and I suppose why I know the first… W-Well, it was because I'm… kind of used to it."

"Eh?" Hope asked with a flat and indignant tone. "Used to it? How?"

Aster gripped the baggy scales on his legs, looking away. "I've um… actively entered it a lot…"

His voice was drowned out by Iki gasping. "What?! How many times has he come for you?!" he shouted with no attempt to hide his frantic flapping and falling feathers.

"A-Ah! No, I said it wrong…" Aster put up his hands in defense, starting to tremble again. "When I was younger, I um… followed him a lot when he did his stuff…"

Ahh, that didn't explain much. Blight wanted to ask more but Iki didn't give them a chance. "W-Wait… So, when you would disappear into the city— and all those injuries you came back with…" His eyes went beady and settled on Aster with a clear realization.

Aster nodded. "Yeah… I was following and observing Nova in secret."

Iki shot up, eyes shifting weirdly from full and beady continuously. "Aster! That's incredibly dangerous! What if you got hurt?! What if—"

"I did," Aster interrupted with a plain voice, glancing over. "I got hurt plenty. Heh, I thought I was hidden, but he always knew I was there. I don't know why he lets me follow him, but now I'm one of the few people who can survive in the Subjugation Field…" The words sounded like gloating, but there was no smile to accompany it.

"But what's the point of following him and learning to survive this field?" Blight asked. To them, it just seemed like Aster was intentionally putting himself through pain. Was he a masochist or something? Fighting types did love… well, fighting.

Aster's eyes rolled upwards. "If… If I can move freely, I can fight him, right?" Blight almost wore a scowl at the insinuation of Aster fighting Nova, but he continued. "I guess what I'm saying is… I-I want to take him down."

Ah, there was the slight scowl.

Note gave a single, big laugh that made Aster shudder and shuffle back. "I-I know I can't take him down… but that's why I learned how to resist his aura and feel it from far away. I want to stop him from hurting others…" He avoided all their eyes and looked down to his knees, gripping them again. "… Stop him from hurting you guys…"

"Well, you succeeded in doing that at least," Note flatly said.

"If you followed him into the field, then does that mean he's done this to other people? H-How many…?" Iki asked with a gulp on his long neck.

Aster grimaced. "I've lost count… But I've done my best to help every person he's attacked in secret. It's part of why I'm—" He shook his head and squinted to the ground. "No… was a hero."

Was? Blight thought with an instinctual tilt of their head.

Aster shook his head. "He does his attacks in silence, so nobody knows when it happens, and it's not like anyone would speak up against him." He gave a long sigh, shoulders dropping. "Most move away for safety after they're attacked too. There's just word of mouth of his actions, but even that gets shut up eventually."

Blight narrowed their eyes at Aster seeming like a nervous wreck compared to what he was yesterday. They doubted he could "take down" Nova like that. But it was nice to help people wherever he could. Maybe it was the situation, but they felt their chest tremble…

Exposing yourself in your entirety to people scrutinizing you… They knew that feeling.

Note pointed to the Scrafty. "You keep saying you help these people, but you so blatantly attacked Blight and I out in the open. Doesn't sound very heroic to me."

That snapped Blight's chest back to normal. Seeing Aster every day reminded them of the dropkick to their head, but oddly enough, this didn't so much. Still, they frowned for the sake of following Note's suspicion.

"Ah, you're… you're definitely right about that," Aster chuckled faintly, glanced briefly to Blight, and then looked down, his face twisting. "When I chased and attacked you… I was going to help afterwards. I told myself attacking was because I needed to justify getting you out of the open, but that's a lie."

A long sigh escaped him as one hand went up and held the gem in his chest. "Being a hero was nothing but being ignored and treated like a kid for so long, and I never did anything either. Two years of nothing but putting on a smile and walking around without a purpose… Heh, I got antsy. I needed to have action. I obsessed over busting crime. Kinda lost perspective until after I caused pain."

He looked back up to Note and Blight with sunken eyes. "For that, I'm sorry too. Even if you hate me, you deserve that at least."

Blight grumbled and looked away, though they didn't know who it was aimed at as a pit in their stomach grew. It was shameful, really.

"Hey, Aster," Coral spoke up, "is your mask really supposed to be for you being a hero…?"

Hope gave a loud but ignored "Huh?" and Aster looked at Coral for a moment. His eyes flickered and watered as he turned his head down. "N-Not really… It's mostly to hide my face. I-I mean, I paint it like a Lucario to mock Nova, but… ugh."

There was some light sobbing from Aster as he stayed there, kneeling and covering his head with his hands. They kept staring at him in silence before Hope eventually spoke up. "You know, my family's aware of what Nova does, but they've never known why… Do you, Aster?"

He nodded while wiping his eyes. "I guess. He targets people he doesn't like or simply don't belong in this city, but it's not like he ever says why… He's a tyrant to be frank, mostly because nobody comes close to his strength. He's probably not invincible, but it's not as simple as that."

Hope grimaced, head reeling back. "Yeah, my dad gave him his position and privilege out of fear, from what I remember. That's um… pretty hard to do," he nervously laughed to only himself, continuing with the grimace worsening. "Though, the people who know this are usually the victims themselves. Were you…?"

Aster nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah. Specifically, my parents were attacked by Nova." Iki gasped again, but Aster continued with a wince. "Though, they were thieves, so they were arrested, and I haven't seen them since… That's how I ended up at the orphanage," he said with a look to his brother.

Ahh, so this went a lot deeper than just not liking Nova. Blight couldn't imagine what it would be like losing their parents like that. Not that they had any, but they could still imagine the pain, and they knew the adjacent pain of being left alone all too well.

A quick glance to Iki showed tears appearing from his eyes, similar to the other worried looks everyone was giving Aster, even themselves…

You know, why did they blame him yesterday? Blight was mad at him, but that was for the thought of Aster idolizing Nova and his attack. He seemed regretful about the attack, and he clearly didn't like Nova, or even talking about him…

But he still got in front of that freak to save them… And now he was in front of them being interrogated of his own volition. Blight knew the feeling and circumstance well, but they never went through with it like Aster was doing voluntarily.

It was a simultaneous envy and pity that filled them… More than anything, as much as they didn't like the Aura Guardian, they disliked seeing Aster like this even more. This environment of interrogation, distrust, and stares boring into a person. Air thick enough to suffocate on while everyone watches…

Blight grimaced with the knotted pit inside them stirring. I don't want to be here again… And much less on the other side.

They glanced to Coral and Ayza, their comfort, focused on the Scrafty… Coexistence required everybody. Somehow, Shiinotic's words came back to them. They didn't want to shut doors in their new life. Did that mean they could open new ones, even for others?

Blight flew up from their sitting position. "I think that's enough questioning. He can tell us more later when he feels better." Aster and everyone else looked at them with wide eyes, but they ignored the surprise. "But one last thing… What are you going to do after this?"

Aster's eyes drifted for a while, probably thinking. After a bit, he just looked up to the ceiling. "… I evolved two years ago, and that's when I decided to become a proper hero. I stuck to a code my parents gave me: A true friend shoulders the burden of their other friends. They enrich lives by being in them, not detract from it." He chuckled weakly. "I guess I just changed it to match a hero…"

Even staring up, Blight could see his eyes squint. "But I don't really know if it's working," he said, biting the edge of his mouth with a fang. "I mean, everything I've done as the Aura Guardian hasn't gone well. All it's done is hurt you guys and make you uncomfortable."

He finally stood up but closed his eyes. His gloved hands balled into trembling fists.

"I… I don't want that… But I still want to be a hero who helps people. I thought wanting to be one was enough, but it isn't. I know that now…" He opened his eyes to everyone, tears welling up with a blush on his face.

"I don't want to be a hero at the expense of others. So, I… I've decided to stop being one until I find a better way to be a hero… a hero who can honestly help others without making them suffer."

Aster gave a small smile. Blight felt one creeping up too.

"Until then… I'm fine with living just as Aster for you guys. Not a hero… just a friend you can hopefully trust."

The rest of them looked amongst each other in silence, but Blight kept staring at Aster. Honestly, how could he just give up something so important to him like that? It took all of Ultra City turning against Blight for them to change their name, but Aster did this so fast after seeing how it hurt all of them…

That kind of strength… Why did I never have it?

I'll be better than they ever were right now.

Aster brought up his hands and stammered. "I-I mean, only if you guys want to! I completely understand if you don't want me here anymore…"

Disregarding the tense and still air, Blight made their decision.

They flew to Aster until they were just inches away, though he stepped back a bit as they grinned. "I don't think I'll ever be able to give the Aura Guardian a second chance," they said, and Aster started to look down.

Blight's grin softened into a smile.

"But I don't think I ever gave Aster a single chance either. I ought to remedy that." Aster raised his head with tears flowing down his face as Blight extended their limb. "Let's start over. It's nice to meet you, Aster."

He looked at it with an open mouth, almost saying something. But he bit his mouth with his small fangs and took Blight's limb, a wide smile on his face.

"Y-Yeah!"

Their handshake didn't last long as Iki's bawling body barreled into Aster's, sending him to the ground. An excessive amount of tears came out of his big eyes as he forcefully hugged the floored Aster, his webbed talons kicking against the ground.

"A-Ashter! I'm sho sh-shorry!" he cried between hiccups. "Those things I said to you yesterday… I take it all back! How could I even say that to my BROTHER!?" He wasn't even letting Aster breathe at that point. The rushing tears were getting all over his hair…

Aster whined and struggled against the large bird on top of him. "IKI! Let go already…!"

The Cramorant only bawled more. "NEVER! You're perfect and I love you, Aster! I'm never letting you go!"

Iki was eventually forced to let go as Note effortlessly picked him up by the scruff. As she held the sobbing mess, she grinned at Aster, fangs flashing. "Not bad. I look forward to living with you, dude."

He returned the grin in favor while Hope popped above her short-maned head. "Look at all of us, man. We're all crazy in some way, so of course we still want you! We can't just throw out a founding member of GAD!" he cheered. "If this city doesn't like us, then we have to look out for each other, right?"

Alongside their teammates, Blight came up to Aster on the ground. Ayza grabbed his hands and raised him back up. For a moment, she held serious eyes, but they quickly returned to her usual excitable smile. "I wanna help you take down Nova one day! So, Aster, will you train me in preparation?"

Ohh, an interesting proposition~

"I-I think I can?" Aster said, almost laughing at the sudden ask from Ayza. She jumped and waved her claws in celebration, as she was one to do, while Coral smiled at him.

"If you ever want to talk about humans and such, I'm here for you!" He kept staring with something hanging in his mouth before he sighed and looked away with a blush. "If you could train me to fight, that'd be nice too…"

Aster gasped and wrapped Coral in for a tight hug as the Drizzile grunted with annoyance. "I knew you'd come around! I'll make both of you super strong, you'll see!" he said in the same vein as Iki did with him crying and Coral struggling to escape his grasp.

Ayza too leapt into them to join the hug… Aww, heck, why not. There was no point in resisting, and in this new chance that was opened, Blight wanted to explore every part of it.

Blight flew into the four-person hug with a smile. "I could use some training too, you know~" Maybe they shouldn't have said that because now Aster was absolutely destroying their spines with how hard he hugged them.

Separating from the hug, Blight and their team focused on the rest of GAD, sharing similar excitement in forgiving Aster. For the Scrafty himself, he could only stare in wonder, even at the slab in the wall behind everyone with a claw pointing up for approval.

Despite all he'd done… all he'd willingly ignored… They still wanted to be with him…

Oh, there they came…

He couldn't stop the rushing tears as he stood there, holding his trembling chest. He let it all out, though he couldn't help but laugh at the same time. He had never felt this much relief with people who actually accepted him, appearance and all.

"Ha… Haha! H-Heh! Thanks, you guys!" he cried out while laughing his stress away.

Eventually, Iki gave very loud sniffles as he managed to flail out of Note's grasp and turned to the dining hall. "I'm gonna make it up to you, Aster! I'll make whatever you want, just say!" Aster was about to answer before Iki shouted as he entered the kitchen. "Never mind! I already know!"

Everyone followed the Cramorant with giddy laughter and conversation. "Hey, Hope, have you done anything in regards to our hats?" Coral asked.

"Nope! I've been avoiding it like a plague! Just like most of my work…" he whispered as he entered the kitchen.

The festivities disappearing into the dining room, Aster hung back, still smiling. Seeing everyone accept him, and starting with Blight no less… He didn't know what would happen going forwards, but he did need to show his own gratitude.

"Hey, Rune…?" he whispered, and the grinning face of Rune soon appeared on a rock that separated from a wall and floated in front of him.

"Yes, you called~?"

Without any doubt or words, Aster grabbed the rock and pulled it into a hug close to his face. It was surprisingly weightless.

"Thank you, Rune. I couldn't have done this without your help… You're not just a building. You're my friend."

The Runerigus said nothing for a bit before making a coughing sound and a separate hand pushed Aster's body into the kitchen. The last thing he could see before joining his friends was Rune's face with a gentle smile and a chuckle.

"Have fun, you crazy kid."

---

With a blink, Avenir shut his sight away from the odd people at the General Assistance Department and focused on the matter in front of him.

Silence passed alongside the gentle waves as he watched Nova finishing his preparations on the ship he was given. Now knowing everything that connected him to the Scrafty, it only made him shudder seeing the human turned Lucario acting casually, as if he did nothing. Thankfully, at evening, these docks were empty, so nobody was close.

"Are your preparations done?" Avenir asked as Nova slung two bags over his shoulder.

"Enough, yes," he said simply, not even looking back. His ship wasn't particularly large, but it was enough for a crew to take care of it. But with Nova being Nova, he wanted to be alone, so it wasn't like he needed to prepare for many people.

And it was only worrying not knowing what Nova planned to do abroad. When he went to the castle after attacking GAD, he simply asked for passage to another continent and didn't explain anything else. Whatever he had planned, Avenir considered it plenty more worth it than keeping him here. He didn't even have a role in the future, so it was fine.

He had no more questions, and only relief letting him breathe again as the mast was hoisted up and let loose. Even in the evening, the wind was favorable as the ship drifted off with purpose. It took a few moments for Nova to clear the ports of Reefly City, though not once did he look back or say goodbye.

And Avenir silently prayed to Arceus above that whoever was at the end of Nova's sudden quest would meet a swift end.

"My my, sending him off while knowing he'll hurt more people?" A sultry and ever-annoying voice came from his side, where Nacht the Honchkrow stood suddenly with her usual grin. One red eye glanced to the king. "Gotta say, Avenir, that's cruel, even for you."

"I am not cruel," Avenir groaned, turning to meet her disrespectful gaze, "or at least not in that sense. Better to send him off than have him cause more problems here. Even you had to step in this time, right?"

Nacht flaunted a wing with a smirk. "That I did. If I didn't cover their head, Blight might've died. Can't have such an interesting piece out of the game that fast."

"This isn't a game, Nacht," Avenir countered with narrowed eyes.

But that only made Nacht grin even wider. "Oh, you're still convinced it isn't. Well, how blissful that must be~"

"Why are you here?" he asked, already wanting to leave.

"Not much," Nacht chuckled, "just wondering what you're going to do. I assume the GAD people have you in all sorts of a jumbled mess. Big noggin probably scrambling to do something about 'em."

He was about to counter that, but she cut him off with a sharp laugh and wide smile. "That little tattletail, Aster, even has my assistant interested in working with him again. I certainly never expected that. That whole group's heaps of unexpected fun, each and every one of them~"

Avenir groaned to himself. He was thankful the area was still and empty, for the audible frustration would be embarrassing enough. There was no point in hiding it from Nacht, who reveled in lording over information.

But the other annoying aspect was that she was right. In his assuring omniscience and future sight, this group of people, including a human and an Ultra Beast, appeared out of nowhere, and all helmed by his own son. He could imagine all kinds of possibilities as to what got them together, but it would only waste time.

"They are worrying enough alone and simply working," Avenir said with a sigh. "But they split my attention too much from Team Honor as well. I need to ensure everything goes according to what's been foretold."

"Oh? Worried, are we?" Nacht sneered, leaning in closer than anyone was socially allowed to be. "Don't you have that sweet, sweet future sight? Assurance from your boss? Hmm…" Nacht paced around Avenir, slowly clacking her talons on the old wood below. Eventually, after grinding seconds, she stopped with a sultry giggle, staring upwards.

"Let me guess. Arceus doesn't know, do they?"

His immediate unease was the only thing stopping him from lashing out at her words. His paws twitched at Nacht's smile widening. "Yes… You're right about that. I have not received any notification that they know yet, but that must be impossible…"

"Like that matters in any way," Nacht scoffed.

Avenir just stared at her incredulously, which made her feathers ruffle with a shiver like the freak she was. Nacht was already odd, to say the least. From how she bribed the previous port and postmaster to take over the position, knowing about Hope's secret, even knowing about the crisis but promising to not participate in it. It was all just… wrong.

But she also knew about Arceus entrusting him to keep the crisis on track with what was foretold. The suspicion only grew, but there was no feigning ignorance with her, so he let it slide as long as she stayed passive. Keeping her at arm's length was better than nothing.

"What do you mean?" Avenir asked with a grumble.

"But a simple question, my liege!" she announced with a haughty voice. "I asked you, what will you do? That stays true. You have all the power in the world to report them to Arceus and just see what happens. But… you can also stay silent, keeping them safe. But who knows what'll happen there? It's your choice in the end."

"Tempting me, huh?" Avenir said, raising his snout. For as much as he looked down on her, she did have a point. He could throw away all of his confusion and report them to his lord. His attention wouldn't be split, and there wouldn't be a risk of some odd chain reaction with them.

But when that thought came about, that meant also reporting Hope. For his own and Pan's sake, he wouldn't risk that. He regretted letting Hope take action when he was supposed to stay hidden all his life. Now he was involved with all those empty futures…

Rebellious… He remembered a time where that applied to him.

Avenir noticed his own worsening face as Nacht grinned. She waved a wing in front of him. "You won't report them now, I know. But you don't have to worry about them. I can watch over in your place."

"That's a terrible idea," Avenir said instinctively.

"But it's the only option you have," Nacht snickered. "That is, unless you want to split your head with worry and even more work. You saw them just now, right? How they pushed past their problems and grew together in mutual trust? Even a stick in the mud like you can see that happiness. You're really going to ruin that? Ruin your son's new happiness?"

"Nacht…" Avenir whispered strongly, eyes glowing slightly. "Watch your tongue, or I'll report you too."

"We'll see about that," Nacht chuckled once and then stopped with a simple face. "I don't mean any harm, Avenir. I want a peaceful future just like you. But we run the risk of too many sudden and unknown variables in play here. Both you and I don't know with what we're dealing with here."

Avenir groaned, putting a paw onto his temple. "Fine, Nacht, just stop rambling. Observe them all you want, and report to me their actions. But please, just stop trying to confuse me. I don't need it."

"That's my king," Nacht said, pointing to him indignantly. "Don't worry, I'll do my job efficiently. You'll find me to be an excellent multitasker." She took an elaborate bow, stepping away and presumably getting ready to leave.

Avenir finally took a breath of relief, turning around himself to float off into his castle and home. Even as a king, he needed his time to rest, and these days even more so. The entire reason he even accepted Nacht's proposal was because he was simply tired. Trustworthy would be a long shot, but Nacht tended to deliver on her claims. Just letting her do something harmless and getting out of his fur was all he wanted.

"Ah. Avenir, dear?"

Why did he have any hope of leaving peacefully?

He simply glanced back to find Nacht doing the same, both having their backs to each other. However, Nacht had an unusually still and serious expression wearing her beak down. She raised a wing, tipping her hat up.

"Those people at GAD seem to be living their best lives right now. I don't see them even interested in messing with your little crisis with Team Honor. But know this… This can't hide forever. You can't hide forever. At some point, you'll have to choose between your precious predicted path, and something else entirely."

Avenir stayed frustratingly silent as Nacht gave a small smile. It looked honest, which meant it was likely an insult— or worse, sincere.

"Dig up some of that old Avenir, why don't you? I know he's still in there. If he wasn't, those people at GAD would be long gone. Hell, even Hope. If you want the reins of your life back, I'd suggest stop being so willingly blind. You'll find a world that's much more colorful that way."

Avenir swung his head away with a huff. He couldn't do much but hear the golden bangles on Nacht's talons clang together as she gave a giant laugh. "HA! Be frustrated all you want, Avenir. But we all know you can't play every side forever! Chase your happiness, and we'll see where it leaves you!"

Avenir's chest steadied bit by bit, phasing Nacht's theatrical words out. After a bit, there was only silence. There was no flapping, but he still knew Nacht finally left, leaving him alone. She was still likely watching, but that didn't matter.

He floated in place, feeling the light air around him. Nova's boat was farther away by the second, Nacht disappeared, and he was left alone.

"The old Avenir…" he mumbled, eyes trailing over to the edge of the docks, where the General Assistance Department base stood on its lonesome. A blink let him see all the members eating and laughing, with the Scrafty messily trying to fix his hair with suggestions from Master Coral.

They certainly looked happy, and he couldn't help but focus on Hope, in his real form, flying around jauntily with a beaming grin. When was the last time he had been like that? Perhaps it was right before he was taken away to the city.

His throat bubbled as he blinked away and stared up at the orange sky with the sun falling, the light leaving. He remembered the lack of choice, a pressure right behind him sharply whispering to follow the rules. In the moment, he brought up his paw to hold his trembling chest.

Those odd people were all unexpected, and they seemed unknown to even Arceus. He didn't know of the effects they could have, but it wasn't like he was going to remove them from the city because of it. Really, that was all he knew; that he didn't know what to do with them.

The question rattled against his head endlessly. There had to be a way. To not anger Arceus, to keep the predicted path for Team Honor, and to leave the General Assistance Department safe. A way to live a life without rebelling…

Then again, that old Avenir peeked through occasionally. That was the entire reason the Hope's project existed. That wasn't in the predicted path of the crisis.

In fact, he was the one who consciously allowed it.

"The old Avenir," he mumbled again, squinting at the sky. "Is it really possible?"

Wrapped in worry, he was left there, alone and thinking, as a king usually was.

 

[GumPlum]

Chapter 13: A Sweet Lie and Sour Truth

"Nothing like a bath to start the day…" Coral mused as he finished drying himself in front of the mirror in Rune's washroom. Bowtie in hand, he inspected his body for any damp spaces, even uncurling the tail. With a satisfactory hum, he nodded to the unfamiliar reflection copying him.

The edge of his mouth curled down at the sight, but his focus was broken by slabs of the wall splitting off and floating around the mirror, forming Rune's persistent grin and hands.

"Refreshed and ready for the day?" it said.

Coral held back a cringe at the likely idea that Rune saw him bathing, nodding instead. "Yeah, yeah, I just… Uh, I don't know, still probably waking up a bit."

Rune's suspended head did an energetic bob. "Gotcha, but I can tell you're not ready! Here, lemme help!" For as chaotic as Rune was, its hands grabbing Coral's bowtie were gentle, gingerly coming around his neck and tying it on quickly where Coral's mitten-hands would've taken longer. He didn't mind the intrusion, though, especially when Rune finished tying the comfortable accessory to his neck.

"There we go… Feeling better?" Stone hands parting, Coral saw the Drizzile in the mirror once again, but now wearing the elegant and Mystic Water-infused bowtie that highlighted the figure. Bringing up his mitten-hand to the cloth, the reflection did the same, and both shared a smile.

The lizard staring back was unfamiliar, but Coral could be happy with this small accessory. It was his own little pleasure, and a gift from a friend too. That and an early bath were enough to put a smile on his face and the Drizzile's in the mirror. Plus, the weekend called for good vibes.

"Gracias, Rune. Aprecio cuanto nos ayudas." Coral patted Rune's hand as he turned and headed for the door, preemptively holding back a laugh.

"Don't use that human language with me! I hate being left out…" Rune whined as it disappeared into the walls in defeat. Spanish was another of his little pleasures, and an exclusively human one to boot~

With a stretch and a kick to close the washroom door behind, Coral sighed to his newly clean self. Breakfast was the last step in starting the day, and the sweet-smelling air in the hall promised good food from Iki, which was always something worth looking forward to. Nothing would stop him from enjoying his free weekend after the whole Nova business.

Although, that involuntary thought was a bit weird; for as rough as it started, the rest of the work week had gone even better than they started. Sure, they were behind due to missing a day, but Nacht seemed to be forgiving given the reason why. Even so, the job was easier than ever; maybe it was slowly getting used to the city, or maybe it was the reinvigoration Aster's apology gave them…

Nah, it was the money at the end of the week. Coin was a good motivator, especially when they appropriately planned to splurge today.

Each of them would be paid a plentiful amount every other week, unlike normal guildmembers who got their revenue from each job they took. Individually, it wasn't a ton, but the pool they created for GAD added up fast. Most of them were satisfied with the money, but Iki and Aster were practically frothing at it. Their only explanation was that it was "only natural for people like them."

With the lingering thought of last week's chaos, Coral strolled out of the hall, a refreshing oceanside breeze coming from the open windows as he made his way to the kitchen. He could already hear the cheery and noisy conversation from afar, the cacophony being the norm for the house when food was involved.

Coral crossed the threshold into the raucous kitchen, finding Iki darting his head as he stood next to the stoves and the rest of GAD talking amongst themselves on the table. He tried to wave to his teammates but a new wing on his shoulder swung him back to see a beaming Iki with a plate of roasted berries balanced on a wing.

"Good morning, Coral! Now that you're here, have some breakfast!" Still beaming, the messy Cramorant pushed the plate into Coral's hands, though he fumbled it a bit from the suddenness. Iki just nodded with a quick laugh. "Now, on with my day!"

"U-Uhh…" Coral muttered, eyes darting in confusion.

Iki's long neck craned back to a simple satchel behind and tossed it into the air so the strap would slip onto his form. With another nod, he took off toward the exit. "Don't mess up the place while I'm gone!"

Though startled, Coral watched the Cramorant skip away with another laugh. Iki's beaming smile and eyes dimmed at the edges as he swung the front door open and flew out with one last goodbye.

"Yeah, uhh… What was that?" Coral asked after hearing distant flapping fade away, turning to the rest of GAD. Most of them shrugged, though Ayza didn't seem particularly fazed as she kept eating like nothing happened.

"The guy's been running around all morning, and more than usual," Note said, twirling a single claw with a berry slice in it before letting it drop into her mouth. "He was pretty antsy waiting for you to arrive. Dunno what he was so anxious to get to, though."

"He wasn't talking to us much either," Aster added. He rested his head on a propped-up arm and sighed, almost whispering. "I just hope he's not overworking himself again. He already does so much…"

Coral replicated that sigh as he headed to his seat by his teammates. Even with the morning energy, the confusing Pokémon world always found a way to exhaust him. Still, sitting next to an already grinning Ayza and a smirking Blight was enough reason to put a smile on him again.

With a bump into Coral's shoulder, Blight snickered. "Was the bath nice?"

There went the smile. "Do you need to always ask that?"

"Of course!" Blight patted his back. "How else will I know why a human has to bathe so much? Seems more like a hassle to do it every day."

With a sigh, Coral lifted a berry slice to point at himself. "It's just hygiene and cleanliness. It's only normal."

Note tapped the table with a claw and a distant stare to the walls. "That's easy to say when you don't have fur. Grooming's better until you're really filled with gunk."

Coral grimaced at her jab, mostly out of the image it provided. He had to give unfamiliar scales that point in their favor. If he ended up as any Pokémon with fur, would he have to learn how to groom himself? Eugh… Shivers weren't needed in the warm morning.

"Don't worry, Coral," Ayza started, smiling at him, "I understand the importance of a good bath too! I'd take more too if I had the time."

"We have the same time." Coral squinted to her new dismissive grin as she waved his suspicion away.

"Well, I'm with Coral on this a bit," Aster said, bringing up a gloved hand to his hair. "If I want to maintain this, I probably can't go around without taking care of it. Spent two years covered in paint and disguises, so I'm keeping this nice look for once."

Now that put a prideful smile on Coral, who let his tail sway a bit. Over the week, he had been working with Aster's hair to figure out something nice for him after he kept it hidden for so long. When he took off his mask, it looked like a messy and tangled undercut, but after proper inspection, it was more of a mohawk that had grown fully out.

So, injecting a bit of passed on knowledge, Coral managed to keep it styled as a fluffy mohawk that pointed backwards into little natural tufts. For something so traditionally punk, it fit Aster's softer disposition after leaving his heroics, while not sacrificing the style that came with it. Honestly, with it he was pretty cu—

Nope, eating now!

Coral snapped out of his odd thoughts into taking a piece of a roasted berry which was a dirty yellow with brownish spots— which probably meant it was a sitrus… Probably. As he dug into the sweet and sour mix of warm berries, the lingering thoughts weren't particularly prone to leave, so he forced a different idea to the forefront of his mind as he looked to Note.

"Are we still on for today?" Coral asked between munches.

She flashed a grin that showed off proud fangs. "Oh, you bet. No way we're missing that sale." In sheer confidence, she leaned back on her chair and placed her feet on the table right in front of Aster, relaxing all the while.

Aster also leaned back, but in clear discomfort. "Can you not put those in front of me?"

"What are you gonna do about it?"

He glanced to his sides, his fluffy hair swaying with him slightly. "Leave?" he said with narrowed eyes before he focused on the rest of them. "W-Wait, what are you all doing?"

Blight took the question to float off their chair with a loud huff. "Hehe… It's time we treat ourselves! We're gonna go buy some sweets from a pastry shop Note found in the middle district a few days ago."

Aster's eyes trailed for a moment, but then they lit up. "O-Oh! Yeah, I know the one. Word on it is that they only go on sale every other week, but it's busiest then, so you should probably get going."

"Oh, then are we all ready?" Blight looked around as their needles shifted up and down, almost as if they were thinking about something themselves. Coral could tell they usually did that when the gears were turning.

Note nodded and stood up, Aster sighing in relief as she did. However, Ayza brought her sunhat down with a weak chuckle. "Ahh, a-about that… I was gonna stay and train with Aster, haha…"

Blight sank down with a pout. "Really?"

Aster leaned forwards into a normal position, though he wore weary eyes towards the Salandit. "Train you? I guess I can, but why so soon?"

Ayza gave a jittery laugh, waving her claws in defense. "Well, I want to get stronger as soon as possible if I want to beat Nova some day! The sooner the better! Plus, you can just bring back stuff for me, right?"

Even as he was eating and savoring the sweet and sour taste of his berries, Coral frowned at Ayza's reasoning. Honestly, it was a bummer that she wasn't going, especially given why. He asked for training too, but one day wouldn't make a difference for someone like Nova…

Blight grumbled and shifted in the air, eyeing Ayza all the while. "Mmm… Fine, you can train, but you won't escape so easily next time." Blight huffed and then turned to Coral. He glanced up at them, still chewing his food, while they narrowed their eyes.

"We gotta go. Stuff it in one or leave it."

Coral looked back at his plate. A bit less than half left… Welp, here goes.

One near-death choking experience later, they were at the door and ready to go! Note slung her bag over her broad shoulder and pointed to Ayza and Aster.

"When we're back, expect the food of your dreams."

"Isn't it just pastries?" Aster questioned back.

"Don't mess with me and food. I'll appreciate anything I can eat, but pastries are delights. Plus, we deserve 'em after this week." Aster relented with a chuckle and Note grinned, content. She clicked her tongue before pushing Blight and Coral to leave, the movement forcing Coral to let out the painful cough he was holding back.

Ayza kept her eyes trained on the trio as they walked off with Coral still heaving in the distance. Soon enough, they rounded the corner of the street and disappeared, giving Ayza the signal to burst out in sheer excitement. She whirled back with as big a smile as she could have, startling Aster a bit. He seemed a bit spineless ever since he took off his mask.

"So, let's get started! What's first, warmups!?"

The Scrafty scratched the edge of his neck, right where his hood connected. "A-Ah, yeah, I guess we can… But are you really fine leaving them just to train?"

"Pfft, yeah! That's no problem at all!" That was barely a question! After everything that happened, becoming stronger was what she needed the most and the fastest. With that, she could properly get started on becoming a proper adventurer!

Leaving them for a day wouldn't matter too much anyways. Her brimming excitement was purposefully shown off through every cheery movement she put her body through. Aster's weary smile was nothing to her self-assured beaming.

"I-If you say so…"

---

"Agh, there's still some in my mouth…" Coral whined while cleaning his small teeth with his long tongue. Though annoying, it was rather easy with the odd body part, so the flexibility didn't go unappreciated.

"Yeah, well, maybe if you hadn't bathed, we wouldn't have left late…" Blight mumbled.

"Hey! If I'm staying here for a while, I'm at least going to keep up my hygiene!"

"Keep it down, you two," Note commanded with a glare. They immediately clamped their mouths shut and so did the rest of the line to the pastry shop in front. Seeing the startled reactions of everyone, Note whistled. "What a nifty tool…"

Coral's breath left him, as usual in this world. That's what they get for staring at them… Still, he couldn't blame them. Even in the long and crowded line that curled around the shop in the small plaza, they stuck out like a sore thumb. However, he could appreciate that being last in line left them completely unbothered from behind, despite Blight's complaints.

He peeked to the side to look at the storefront a ways off. It was fairly pretty, a nice pink dominating most of the shop's outside. He could see the shop owners inside running around, though it seemed they knew what they were doing since the line was moving quickly for its length. Note told him it was owned by a Ninetales and an Al… Alcre… Something.

He really needed to get back to studying.

To that end, his eyes drifted to the hanging sign above the shop that had a painting of a sleeping small Pokémon shaped like a yellow dog with baked goods elements to it. Blight called it a Fidough, which was… certainly a name. Regardless of how this world somehow made an entire species name a pun, Blight had read the shop's name on the sign as "Fidough you think you can bake?"

So, this world really liked puns. He would appreciate them more if he could actually read, though. Not only that, but there seemed to be no Fidough in the actual bakery, so it seemed even a place like this knew the financial wonders of marketing. Somehow, this world seemed like a facsimile of his own home, just filled with a rainbow of monsters instead of humans. At least it wasn't boring that way.

Coral held his head with a slight groan. This was too much figuring out a world in the early morning. He resolved to just try and enjoy what he could, but he always wondered about the inconsistent parts of the odd world. Regardless, he just forced the thought out as he kept looking at the line in front.

"Still… I really hope they let us buy from here. You know, because of who we are…" Coral mumbled as he turned to his companions.

Blight straightened their scarf with a huff. "Yeah, I hope so too. I'd mess them up if they didn't, heh."

"You're not afraid of showing off anymore?"

Blight cocked a glowing eye and scoffed. "After our conversation and Melody? Nah, nobody gains anything from sheltering away. I'm going to stuff my face into theirs until they accept me!" They looked immensely proud to be saying that, though the increasing whispers from the rest of the line was kind of a bummer.

"That's a nice outlook. I'll take it into account."

A new voice, cold and sharp, rang from behind the three of them. No… It was familiar, and terrifyingly so.

They turned and saw a horrible sight. Chief Agaya the Gallade stood there, the same unimpressed expression still plastered on that fuzzy face. His posture was straight, with feet planted together and blade arms tucked back as if he was keeping himself away from being close to anyone else.

Though, in contrast, where he wore a simple scarf in the jail, now he donned a black blazer that connected below his chest blade but opened up before it. It tied to his form, making it come off more imposing than before. It even had holes on the elbows so that the blades stuck out without problem, though they looked more messily ripped than anything.

For as much as Coral marveled at the existence of a blazer here, it was quickly shut off when he refocused on Agaya's face staring directly at him.

Coral yelped and scurried behind Note, who was the only one comparable to Agaya's stature, and Blight followed closely. Behind her larger form, it was easy to tell Note's fur stood on edge.

"What are you doing here?" Note hissed out. Yeah, you tell him, Note!

After a moment of silence, Agaya huffed and lowered his arms. "… I have a life outside my job, you know. It's my free day, and I'm here for the same reason you are, I assume. It's only chance that I ran into you three here." His voice was still cold as glass, and he didn't pay them much mind as he glanced over them to the rest of the line.

"Yeah, but you know why we ask," Blight spoke up with a much less friendly voice than Coral was used to, almost like when they snapped at Aster.

I should probably learn how to be threatening too… Coral thought with a whimper coming out in the real world.

"Yes, I know how your group looks at me. I won't play dumb with you." After a bit, Agaya looked back at them. "Though, while I'm here, I should take the chance to apologize."

"… Huh?" the three of them said in unison. Agaya just rolled his eyes.

"Don't make this into some kind of grand performance." He turned to Note and Blight, leaving his hands behind his hips. "It was wrong of me to single you two out for your species. I will try to have better judgment on that for the future."

Coral was almost mortified at the sight. Seeing the chief of the guard apologize to them in the line to a bakery was something he wasn't ready for. It seemed like a completely random and bad apology, but Agaya also didn't seem disingenuous, just annoyed.…

No one dared speak a sound for a solid minute that ground on longer than it had to. It must've been uncomfortable even for Agaya because his solid gaze faltered for a moment and he looked to his side, coughing.

"… You three can ignore me. Just pretend this never happened."

For once, they agreed with him and without question, turning away from the Gallade, and catching up to the line that kept going without them. It was fine now, all they had to do was buy their food and leave. Just stay quiet while Agaya stood right behind them in equal silence…

…

… Oh boy. This started out as just a fun trip to buy pastries and now they were standing side by side with their captor from his second day in the city. It felt like silent torture, but the pursed mouth and shivering coming from Blight comforted the idea that he wasn't alone in it. Coral desperately tried to take his mind elsewhere.

… Nope. Nada. Cero porciento. No, it was fine, all they had to do was just ignore him. Eventually, they'd get their things, and they'd be on their way. It was all… peachy~

"… Is it true? Did you really warn Hope of Nova?" Note suddenly said, still looking forward. Coral had to stop himself from almost screaming because oh god, why did she start talking?!

There was a sigh behind them. "Yes, I did. Why do you ask?" Agaya said. Blight and Coral glanced to each other and silently agreed to stay out of the conversation as much as possible, though not hearing wasn't an option.

"Heh, I just wasn't expecting you to care about us weirdos."

"I don't, really. But as much as I don't like you people, I hate Nova so much more."

"And why would that be?"

"Don't be offended, but I absolutely hate humans."

Aaaand Coral's attention shot back to the conversation. He went stiff, but Blight was quick in taking his mitten-hand to calm him down. Despite thinking this was one of the worst possibilities with Agaya, it was nice to see his friend be supportive. He looked to them with a nervous smile. "I-I'm fine, thank you."

Though, it didn't seem like they cared about it that much as they pointed down to his feet with an uncomfortable grin. The fear of the unknown set in quick, but Coral relented and looked down. As he did, what was his own shadow seemed to silently shift and bubble, as if it was coming alive right beneath him. An odd shiver skittered through Coral, but he barely had time to process it before his shadow extended out and split into fragments dotting the pavement.

Okay. That wasn't concerning at all.

He wanted to panic, but the pieces kept shifting and reconfiguring, eventually forming… symbols? As they stopped moving and held a definitive shape, they now looked more like small feet script with a familiar image of a bird with a wide-brimmed hat on the head to the side…

"I-Is this…?" he mumbled before Blight got closer to it and squinted.

"I'll try and read it."

"Don't worry, he won't kill you if he finds out. And if he tries, I'm sure you can beat him, my star pupil~

Also, bring some of those treats you're getting next time we meet!

Your favorite friend, and by far biggest supporter, Nacht."

"Uhhh…"

Before he could react, the shadow script warped into a singular mass and then shot back into Coral's own shadow, jolting him backwards. With a shudder, the warmth he didn't know had left him returned. Regardless, he shook it off to glance at Blight, giving a nervous laugh.

"H-How did Nacht do… all that?"

All they did was shrug. "Don't know and, honestly, don't wanna know. Let's just go back to ignoring everything…" Coral had no objections to that, so they both dutifully kept their heads down, though Coral's attention waned back to Note and Agaya as they continued their conversation.

"Yes, I know, but it's clearly unfair how much favor humans get. What about us smaller Pokémon?" Agaya said with a voice that was much warmer— well, no, it was less cold, if anything. It was a big enough change for Coral to glance back at him.

They were talking face-to-face now, and though Agaya's face was more emotive, he still held the uptight stance that planted him firmly.

Note tilted her head and continued. "I agree with that, but they do save us. You don't think that's deserving of the praise?"

"Perhaps, but are we supposed to just roll over while they save our world in danger? Everyone knows this is what always happens." Agaya shook his head with a sigh. "It's a crutch. Please, I'd rather have more autonomy than that."

Note widened her eyes for a moment, the edge of her snout curling into a grin. "Heh, I can get behind that…"

Because of how stiff he stood, it was easy to tell when Agaya's posture softened into something less official, shifting his weight onto one leg. Coral shuddered at the sight.

"… I never thought I'd be agreeing with a Zoroark. It seems the world really is changing." He gave the smallest of smiles, before noticing Coral staring.

Ah, crap.

"Blight and Coral, correct?" he called out to them, sending Coral's spine crawling and wanting to die right there. He looked to his equally weary friend, and they counted together before turning. "You're both 19, right?"

Coral nodded rapidly and Blight just once.

"That means both of you haven't gone through a crisis yet…" Agaya's voice trailed as his eyes narrowed past them. "You're both fortunate then. You can stay blind until it happens again."

"Eh?"

The Gallade focused back on the two while Note just raised a brow. "Well, you two haven't died from a crisis yet. But now that human is here, so I suppose we'll be seeing the end of the world soon enough."

Coral gulped, but Blight just crossed their arms. "Positive message," the Poipole huffed.

"W-Wait, what about the end of the world?" Coral asked Blight so his friend could hopefully alleviate the new pit in his stomach.

They were about to answer, but Agaya spoke first. "Don't you know? Human comes around when some new threat arises, and the world ends in some way before the famed hero brings it back? Even if you haven't gone through one, you must know."

"O-Oh, well, uh, yeah," Coral stumbled over his words. He obviously didn't, though he couldn't help but think about it. The crisis and the role of humans had been thrown around him plenty, but he didn't know about the end of the world. Were Nova, Felix, and Newt dealing with that kind of stuff? Was that what inspired Ayza? It was all too instantly worrying for what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend.

But one thing stuck in his mind; Agaya must have known this from somewhere.

"Did you go through a crisis?" Coral found himself asking and then immediately regretting once he heard himself.

Agaya took a few moments to just stare at Coral, which was chilling enough before he broke the silence. "Yes. I died in the last crisis and was brought back just like everyone else. When the world was frozen over 25 years ago, all by the Frigid End— whatever that was…"

Somehow, Coral found his hand drifting to Blight, who took it without a word. Hearing something like that shook him to his core, and his mind only regrettably connected dots quickly as he glanced to Note.

"Y-You're 30, right? Then did you…?"

Note shrugged, passing a claw through her choppy mane. "Probably, but I don't remember it. Likely caught me while I was sleeping. When I came to, the supposed crisis already passed. I barely knew it was even a thing until then."

"The same here," Agaya added, his face changing to a small scowl, "but you won't see much talk about it past us here. People ostracize you all the same for bringing up negative memories. The world ends, and once it's saved, we're left to be burdened by the crisis."

Agaya took a moment to sigh, glancing away. "And yet we willingly forget it."

Coral had no way to answer that. If the world was frozen over and everyone came back, wouldn't that be traumatic? People didn't seem to mind or even talk much about it past praising humans, but were the crises that normal? And everyone was here, just buying pastries like nothing, and yet a new crisis was going on right now… It bordered on inspiring or terrifying.

It wasn't like they didn't know. The way Agaya talked about it, they were likely willingly ignorant and just waiting to die and be saved by Felix and Newt. Such an idea boggled him, but he had no other explanation.

It was like the world gave up, and there was simply no other option but to go along. On first thought, it didn't sound like a hopeful life, moreso their cold reality一 and one he intruded on by accident. Would he have to deal with all that soon? Did whoever summoned Coral expect him to save the world like this?

A shiver rattled Coral, and he gripped Blight tighter in response. They didn't seem to mind, though, as they were still glaring at Agaya. The Gallade noticed, glanced away for a moment, and then looked back at the two.

"On the subject, I'm curious," Agaya started, "what are your opinions on humans?"

Coral went first just to get it over with. "O-Oh! I don't know, really! I-I mean, they're kinda weird, you know? I'd have to, um, see one for myself…" he said while waving his mitten-hands in a gossipy manner.

Blight just sighed, and Coral fully agreed with their tiredness.

Agaya stayed still, but an eye trailed Coral in suspicion. "… Right, so you're stressed by me. And you, Blight?"

Their tail whipped the ground, and they crossed their stubby arms. "Pretty neutral. I mean, us Ultra Beings and humans are pretty similar, right? We're both different creatures that come from different worlds to 'invade' yours. Not hard to see why you hate both…"

The Gallade huffed and looked off. "When I warned Hope of Nova, he advised me to look past the bodies of people. I've been thinking about it and that's what led me to apologize earlier." He shook his head again. "… I don't care if you three hate me; frankly, I have many reasons to hate you. But it shouldn't be because you're an Ultra Being. I am sorry for that. Accept it or not, that's my truth."

… Man, they just wanted to buy pastries, how did they run into this? Blight seemed similarly at a loss for words, their brow wavering. Coral couldn't question their clear confusion at the weird sight, though. If Hope made Agaya apologize like this, it must've been one long and convincing speech. That didn't sound like Hope, but Coral doubted Agaya came to this position alone.

After a long minute of still air, Blight huffed and turned around, whipping their tail again. Coral instinctively turned to them, with Note following slightly with a glance. Agaya simply stood as if nothing happened.

"H-Hey, are you okay…?" Coral tried to comfort them, but as soon as he asked, he saw their deadpan face. Without saying anything, Blight simply pointed forwards and Coral followed.

… The line had completely left them.

Now far from them, Coral could even see some new Pokémon in the turn they originally held. The stares and whispers told Coral that the people in the line collectively decided to back away from the tension the four of them had, leaving them in the middle of the road, focused on each other.

"… Are you serious?" Coral let his arms fall and he sighed with a weary face. Without looking back, he could hear another sigh from Agaya and a chuckle from Note as she spoke.

"Yeah, we have that kind of effect on people."

---

"Urgh!" Ayza grunted as her body rolled on the ground after receiving a full-force High Jump Kick from Aster. Despite him being a lot more reserved, he still packed some great strength! His eyes were really excited too! Even though he was much more skittish now, he still retained that love of combat fighting-types had!

But that wasn't gonna stop her!

As Aster sped through the courtyard with the extra speed granted by Dragon Dance, Ayza flipped back up, frills flared, and brought her claws together. They prickled and crackled with excited energy as she slammed them down, a Shock Wave going through the ground. Aster leapt over it, but that was exactly what she wanted!

With the extra time from the jump, Ayza closed her eyes, preparing her secret move…

He landed back in front of her and reeled back for a straight and normal punch. She could just feel the rhythm of his movements and knew this was her chance. She shot her eyes open, connecting her sight directly with his intense eyes and the red glow on Aster's legs immediately disappeared with a simple puff.

Yes! Disable successful!

That didn't stop him from swinging hard and punching her straight in the face, though. Once again, she was sent flying back and she landed crumpled on the ground. Yep, that was enough…

"Eurgh… Stop, I give up…" she groaned from the ground, extending her weak claw in defeat. Immediately, Aster's eyes went soft, and he let go of his battle-ready stance, his hair swinging with the momentum leaving.

"A-Are you okay? Don't tell me I broke something…?" he asked, reaching out with a hand.

Ayza slumped onto her back, heaving the exhaustion away. "N-No, I'm fine… Just broken all over is all, hah…" After a moment of regaining her breath, she beamed at him. He deserved some praise after all! "Hey, you're really strong, even with the gloves! I can't wait to train more!"

A deep blush came to his orange face as he looked away. "Ahh, don't say that… Anyways, we should take a break and eat. You don't want to overexert yourself, okay?" She could continue all day if it meant getting stronger for her goal, but she had to admit, some berries sounded really nice, so she nodded. Aster gave a small smile and strolled into Rune to look for food, leaving Ayza alone in the courtyard.

… Bleh. This sucks.

She didn't fight much back home, never needed to, and wasn't allowed to anyways, but she didn't know she was this weak. At this point, she'd have to train a whole year if she wanted to change the prophecy! She knew past humans struggled— that was the emotional cornerstone of any good story— but this was something else…

Ayza picked up her sunhat from where it was resting and put it on with a sigh. She sat back down, letting her weight shift down to relax everything else. One claw came around the thin strap, feeling the softness she always had to comfort her. The sunhat was always there for her.

Her eyes dimmed, glaring at the bland ground.

… Coral and Blight must be having fun buying pastries… The leisurely parts of stories were always weird to her. They didn't serve much purpose, but they were stuffed full of them! Maybe it was just there to enjoy…

She looked up to the sky, letting her frills fan out slightly. She could always use the energy from the midday sun, though it stung a bit too. Her one way of getting energy back only hurt her in the end; she was used to how painfully ironic it was.

Her mind drifted as she rested with the stinging sun. Midday… At that point, the line at the bakery must've been really long if they still hadn't come back…

Gah! Why was she worrying so much about them?! They were fine and she should be completely focused on her training, no more and no less!

… Still, she had to admit, it was a bummer. They were probably having fun and eating good food while she sat beaten on the ground. Aster was nice enough, but the laughs from her teammates echoed in her head. And yet, she stayed behind, wanting to get strong enough to beat Nova, and hilariously failing.

She didn't even know why he was like that. It was surprising to learn he was still alive when reading the current story, but she never read the end of his crisis anyways. He seemed so cold and uncaring, ready to hurt everyone from what Aster said. That wasn't how her book described him when he met with Team Honor. Hell, he didn't even have his partner!

And he hurt Free too… Nacht had said that he was taking the week off to recover, and that felt all sorts of wrong. This never happened in stories. She knew characters went through strife and conflict, but she never expected it to hurt.

The thoughts clouded her head, but one word kept repeating all over. Partner… Was Coral like that? Was Blight included in that? They were teammates一 though, they hadn't done anything but deliver mail, so it never felt like they were a proper team ready to save the world. Her chest somehow always skittered at the idea of telling them, painfully so.

She was hiding her goal from them, but for how long? Aster revealed his secret a few days ago, Coral had his emotional outburst as well, and her teammates even had that morning talk without her… All this kind of stuff happened a lot later in the previous stories. Deep connections were formed after a long time, but they were happening now for some reason. Right now, they were just companions. Teammates. The development would come later.

But… Why am I so bored without them?

"Wow, I've never seen you with a face like that."

Ayza's frills shut closed as she snapped her head to the door, seeing Aster with his head tilted and Rune doing the same behind the Scrafty. He was holding a couple of oran berries in his hands.

"O-Oh… How long were you there?"

"Enough." Ayza's chest sunk at Aster's simple response. Did she say any of that out loud?

Rune's head curled close to hers. "Look, you were like this!" it said before the design on the stone warped around and changed to Ayza's face. Though… she looked pretty annoyed, with her eyes almost glaring at the sky and a full scowl on her snout. Did she really look like that when she was thinking?

Before she could really ask, though, Rune's face returned to normal. "What's got ya so mad, huh?"

Ayza looked away to not meet their judgmental and accusatory eyes. She was used to those eyes, but it didn't mean she had to entertain them. "I-I wasn't mad…"

"Ah! Was it me?! I didn't go too hard on you, did I?" Aster asked, almost dropping the berries in worry. She just shook her head. Soon, Aster sat right in front of her and handed her an oran berry. "Um, let's talk about it, okay?"

"… Fine," she grumbled and bit into the berry. A slow soothing wave filled her from within, the healing coming along nicely. She still felt a sting from the sunlight, but she could ignore the pain for a moment.

"Okay… Um, oh, I've never been on this side of the conversation…" Ayza almost smirked at Aster's fiddling about. "Wait, I got it! What's got you thinking so hard?" he asked with a somewhat proud face. She hated to admit it, but this might relieve her of her slump. At the very least, it would serve to air her intrusive thoughts.

Ayza looked down, letting her sunhat cover her expression. "How… How can you trust and care about people so easily?"

His face blanked at that, what a great therapist. She could clearly see him processing what he was going to say as his mouth opened slowly. "Uhhh… what do you mean by that?"

She sighed. "… Like, you and Coral. You share your secrets and develop emotionally… But we all just met a week ago! We can't be intimate friends that fast; we need to go through a lot more time together!" she shouted and flailed her arms.

Aster scratched the edge of his hair. "That's kinda loaded… Do you umm… Do you need a reason?"

"What?"

"I dunno, it's like being happy, I guess? If I'm happy, then I don't need to analyze why… Though, I guess there's our mutual situation too," he mumbled, and Ayza closed in for curiosity's sake.

"Mutual situation? You mean, like GAD?"

"Y-Yeah, but not exclusively. How do I say this…" He pondered for a moment, but then he nodded to himself. "Oh! S-So you know how we all took this job to not stay in jail and for the money?"

"… Somewhat?" Ayza joined as a roundabout way to join the Reefly Guild, but sure, go off.

"Well, because of that, and I guess knowing Hope's appearance, there's this mutual trust for GAD! We founded it, we work and live together… We all want it to go well, right? So, we all trust and wish the best for each other because of that mutual goal!" he exclaimed with his own outstretched arms. His excitement only lasted a second as he retracted his arms and blushed. "I-I mean, that's what I think…"

Huh. She never really thought of it that way. Trusting each other because of mutual goals… It made sense, but she never felt it much. GAD was the least of her worries, after all. Mail wasn't exactly something to feel enthusiastic about.

Then again, that was Free's whole life, and he seemed happy past the tiredness…

"Hey, why did you mention my secrets?" Aster interrupted her thoughts, waving a bit. "I'm sure you have your own, is that what you're worried about?

… Eh, she could spill something if it let her feel better.

She took a long breath in, laying out the right way to say her words. "I came to this city with a goal, but I haven't told Coral and Blight yet… I want to fulfill it with them, but I don't know if they'll agree to do it."

Silence surrounded them for a bit; that was all she was willing to say for now. It admittedly wasn't an easy subject or ask to go along with.

"… Why'd you think that?" Aster said. Ayza raised her sunhat to get a good look at his blushing face, trying to suss out what he meant. "They're your friends, right? Why wouldn't they go with you?"

Without a thought behind it, she looked away and scratched the side of her arm. "It's um… something pretty big. But they like to just hang around. Hell, even today, they went to buy pastries rather than train!" She managed to catch her sudden exaggeration, opting to cough down to a normal volume. "I don't know, I think they'll just look at me like I'm crazy. I don't need more stares like that."

Aster leaned in. "More?"

Ayza shut her snout. The scratching on her arm strengthened as the memories compulsively came back. The sun, the eyes… Sometimes, Reefly was just the same as her home. Her only safe haven was in Rune and with her teammates.

Shaking her head, she just grumbled. Part of coming here was to simply leave it all behind. She didn't need those memories.

Ayza was looking at the lone bite in her berry as she heard Aster sigh. "Okay. I won't harp on you, but… Why do you doubt your friends rather than trust them?"

Ayza's eyes fluttered as she glared at Aster without thought. "Hey, I trust them!" she hissed back and then recoiled, hearing her own words and winding back again. Why did she feel so volatile about them? "S-Sorry. It's just… it's impossible to not worry about it."

Aster didn't react much to her burst. He just looked concerned— which was a constant look for him now, but it felt more intentionally direct this time. "And you can't tell them yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's too big. I don't even know how to bring it up." She should stop soon; this was getting too close to where she didn't want to go.

"Well, well…" the familiar eerie voice of Rune rang out and, its head snaking over Ayza and curling around Aster's head with its persistent grin. "Gotta say, Ayza, love the negative feelings, but you can't hide the truth forever. Take it from Aster here."

Aster chuckled as Rune poked his cheek, brushing it off. "Y-Yeah… Rune's right. Don't hold it in, Ayza. I don't know how you'll say it, but you still have to tell them someday. And take it from me, the sooner the better."

Ayza wanted to counter that, but… he had a point there. Though she didn't understand how everyone got so connected so fast, it was still plain to see for her. All of them honestly enjoyed each other's company while she floundered and wore a fake smile… None of her dreams were being achieved, but everyone else was happy.

And yet, she found herself happy with them too, somehow. An odd flutter filled her entirety, like there wasn't a care in the world and smiles came naturally. It made her forget her pains, even for a moment; a feeling she wasn't used to much without Free or her stories.

I want that again…

With resolve to push past the nonsensical feelings, Ayza stood up and slapped her cheeks, letting the berry drop. "AHHH! What's wrong with me?! I'm peppy, I'm fun! I can't be like this!" she shouted out for everyone to hear, but Aster just winced at the volume.

Rune's head leaned in, the spectral tendril connecting it to its main body waving around. Their bright eye shifted into a design denoting doubt, almost judgmental. "Hmm… Are you just sad that you didn't go with the others?"

From bursting with energy, Ayza snapped to a blank stare. "… Probably," she admitted. She didn't know if it was the truth, but it was better than talking about her goal anymore, so she could play along.

Though, Aster started giggling while looking at her directly. "Ayza, that just means you really like them!" he said between laughs. "You don't need to have any other reason to like them other than that!"

"Huh?" Acting blank was one thing, but now she was thoroughly confused.

With a sigh to finish, Aster pulled on the edge of the mask around his neck. "You asked me how we're so willing to trust each other despite meeting so little time ago. But that's good enough! We just want to trust and like each other! You don't need any more reason than that!" He had a big smile on his face now, one that reminded her of her own… She should have that smile…

So, she took it.

"Yeah… Yeah! Thanks, Aster!" She leapt into him for a hug, one which he was not prepared for if his blush and stammering said anything. It was all a lie, of course.

And she was fine with that. She'd lie forever so she could be free and happy. She'd lie forever if it meant going against Genesis.

Well… she did want to feel good with Blight and Coral… Though necessary, she hated telling herself they could wait. And seeing Rune's face in a corner shift to clear doubt only made her laugh and smile more, though she scratched her shoulder at the same time. The thoughts raced back into her head, whether she wanted to or not.

Being happy… Is it fine to just feel happy?

Nevertheless, she was used to keep beaming despite it all.

"Sorry for bringing down the mood, let's finish the food and keep training!"

---

"He's still following us…" Coral whispered to Blight as they walked.

"Don't remind me…" they whispered back, but it was more like a grumble.

"I'm not following you; we're just headed the same direction and I will not deviate because you are uncomfortable," Agaya stated his position loud and clear.

"The sky's really nice today…" Note mumbled to herself.

Uncomfortable was an understatement for the trek back to Rune. They had finally gotten their sweets and pastries. It only took until around two in the afternoon, but they got it! It took a while to actually buy them, and the owner's trepidation didn't help either, but now they were walking back to Rune with a good haul in their possession. Sadly, Agaya took much less time than them and was walking right behind them.

The treats themselves looked really good, though. They were in cute, pink boxes which were spread out between the three of them. It looked pretty modern for this world, to be honest.

Aside from cupcakes, donuts, and the like, they also got stuff called "Poffins." Coral didn't know what they were, but they didn't look… totally horrible. He'd have to find out once they lost the Gallade.

After passing a few houses and grinding minutes of tense air, Blight snapped around with a flustered face. "By the Arclight, you never give up, do you?" they sneered as Coral and Note stopped beside them to look at Agaya, who was eating a donut.

He chewed with disinterested eyes and eventually swallowed it. "I assure you, I'm truly not doing this to rile you three up," he said flatly.

Blight's tail waved faster alongside their side needles twitching. "You say that, but why should I believe you? You tried to lock me up for existing, practically." Their voice was biting, almost like the slight and inherent static they held grew stronger. Coral's shoulders dropped at seeing Blight's anger, knowing why they felt that way, but Agaya did give an apology… If his awkward speech in front of a bakery counted as one, anyways.

"Hey, Blight…" Coral balanced a box on one mitten-hand and brought the other to the Poipole's side. "Maybe we should just let him be? He really isn't doing anything to us right now. Let's just go back…"

"Yeah, I know, but I can't let him win the argument…!" they hissed back. Coral was stunned at that, so he couldn't stop Blight from looking back to their foe. "Agaya, you apologized earlier, but why'd you target us in the first place? Why do you make lives worse? Or do you just hate Ultra Beings and Zoroark that much?"

Betraying the image of him carrying a bag of donuts, Agaya's glassy eyes dimmed while his mouth hung for a moment. It closed with a small fang biting the bottom of his mouth. "… What, you want me to state my entire philosophy to you?"

"It'd be appreciated," Note said with a grin. Were they really doing this? In the middle of the street? With pastries in their hands?

Agaya sighed and put away a donut into his paper bag. "… Zoroark are obvious, so you'd know why there, but I don't actually hate Ultra Beings. It's more about… chances."

"Chances?" Coral echoed.

"By that, I mean that you somehow entered this city without much problem and are wandering around without repercussions." His eyes drifted to his side, where nothing significant but the large Dragonite tarp of the guild stood above everything, almost framing Agaya from afar. "It's unfair when exceptions are made, because that leaves those who follow the rules in the dirt. It's the same with humans and GAD."

… Huh. That wasn't so out of this world. Opportunities for those who did nothing to deserve it… That kinda was GAD in a nutshell, though Coral regretted agreeing with Agaya. He glanced to Blight, expecting a frown like they usually had when Agaya came into the conversation, but… they just had a grimace and were looking away too.

"Very well then, you win," Agaya said, back to his usual cold voice. "You hate me, so you're no different than everyone else. I know my place in this world… And I'd advise you learn your place as well. It's useless to hope to change anything, but I'll leave you to your delusion."

And with that, as if nothing happened, Agaya shifted and disappeared into a different street, though he lacked his stern and commanding walk. His limbs swung in a new stride that stomped through the streets. It was silent after that, with even some other civilians stopping to stare.

"… Damn that posh prick! He got the last word in!" Blight spat, breaking the silence.

"H-Huh?" Coral looked back to Blight's flustered face. "That's what you cared about…?"

Note walked up to them with a grin. "Did we just get schooled? Wouldn't be the first time in my life, heh…"

"Whatever, let's just get back to Rune," Blight mumbled and started flying away, just as fast as Agaya did. Now hold on there; even Coral could tell this was wrong. Coral and Note caught up to Blight quickly and then he focused on the upset face they made no attempt in hiding. Their side needles were still twitching backwards.

"What did you think about Agaya? You looked pretty mad back there," Coral said, reaching a hand out.

There was only a slight glance as Blight kept moving. "I keep thinking things will get better, but then he shows up. And I just kept riling him up… I'm the same as before."

"What do you mean?"

Blight seemed to heartheir own words, hastily glancing back to Coral for a moment and stuttering. "I-It's nothing important… I just don't get how someone can be like him, above everyone else. I hate it, but it's not like I want to hate people."

With a long sigh, Blight just stared back to the road ahead, always being cleared because nobody wanted to deal with them. Everyone just stared as they walked, like spectators. It made Blight curl a bit inwards.

"I don't wanna talk about it anymore…" they mumbled.

Coral's chest tightened at seeing them like this, and on their weekend off no less. In hand were pastries to enjoy, yet Agaya came in and ruined it. At the same time, it was just a coincidence, and he was actively trying to not interact with them. He left mad too… Coral supposed it was just as likely they ruined his free day too.

But the focus was Blight. As much as he hated the thought of it, he could apologize to Agaya later in his time here. Right now, though, a pleasant idea came up to appease Blight— partly because he was meaning to ask anyway.

With a gentle hop and skip to not drop the pastries, Coral got in front of Blight and peeked his head over the box of poffins he was carrying, grinning. "That's fine, but I can't leave it like this. Why don't we talk about it in the morning?"

Their side needles went from slanting back to fully raised up, the same way their eyes lit up. "Do you mean… like the roof? Really?"

"Mmhm!" Coral tried to nod, but almost tipped everything over. "We can turn it into our morning routine! You promised me you were gonna teach me about The Arclight, right? Then we should make it a consistent thing! We'll get Ayza in on it too once we get back!"

Their needles adjusted upwards as a bluish blush rose on their cheeks. A small laugh accompanied their softer eyes. "… Yeah, I'd like that very much. Thanks, Coral. You always know how to cheer me up."

To stop himself from blushing at that, Coral just kept up the energy with a swinging tail. "No problem! What are friends for?"

The soft smile warped into a smarmy grin. "Okay, now you're just showing off."

"You're both being sappy, get a move on!" Note called out from the front, waving back as she walked off without them. Coral and Blight shared a laugh before they awkwardly sped off towards Note, almost dropping their food.

Before long, they had rounded the corner into the docks in front of Rune, finally back and finally ready to reap their rewards! As they got in front of the door, Rune's face apparated on top of it with its usual grin.

"Ah, you're back! I'll get the others!" it cheered and disappeared. With Note holding the door open, they entered with a great sigh coming from Coral and Blight.

"Haaah… we're back! Why was that so complicated?" Coral vented to the air.

"Seemed pretty simple and clean to me," Note sneered.

"Haha… maybe we can say that about dealing with Agaya one day," Blight retorted.

"AGAYA!?" Ayza's voice rang out from the door to the courtyard. They looked to the open door and saw a completely roughed up and dirty Salandit with a bright smile and blood coming out of her nostrils. Her sunhat hung back, held aloft by the thin strap on her neck. "Tell me all about— oh, wait, never mind that. Welcome back, guys!"

… Hoookay.

"Should we be worried about all… that?" Blight asked her while gesturing to her whole body.

Noticing her state, she licked the blood with one swipe of her tongue— yeah, uh, that's totally normal— and smiled again. "Not at all! Aster's just really strong, hehe!"

Almost as if on cue, Aster walked into view as well, with the complete opposite and clean appearance to Ayza. He waved his hands in defense. "Uhh, no, I just accidentally hit her really hard… Could you heal her, Coral?"

"Y-Yeah, sure. Let me just place down this stuff." The confectionary trio moved to the kitchen and put all the boxes on the table. All in all, it wasn't that much, but around four boxes of sweets seemed nice to treat themselves.

But before that, Coral and Blight nodded to each other at the sight of Ayza hopping over to gawk at the pastries. "Hey, give us a moment," the Poipole called out, "we wanna talk with Azya first, okay?"

"Hm?" Ayza perked up from her excitement. "Oh! Sure, just wait for us then!" She hopped back to her team, waving back to Note and Aster.

"Don't ramble on, or I'll eat them all," Note mentioned as they left.

"You can eat all of this…?" Aster gawked, his voice trailing alongside Note's as Team Rogue left the kitchen. They settled into Rune's main room, Ayza standing between her teammates.

Coral took a moment to look over Ayza, seeing bruises and scrapes all over her scales, with a weird focus on her shoulders. They looked scratched to hell, though Coral doubted Aster used his poisonous claws against her. "Hm… Hold still, Ayza. Aqua Ring will be too slow for this.

He let the water inside him bubble out into a simple Liquidation as he stood close to Ayza, passing his mitten-hands over the different bruises in her body. Some scrapes and injuries were slowly wiped off like nothing and vibrant yellows and blacks returned immediately, making Ayza sigh loudly.

"Gods, Coral, caress me more if it's gonna feel that good~" Ayza cooed with an odd trill that soon broke down into giggling, but that didn't stop Coral's cheeks from burning.

"A-Ayza, don't say it like that…" He kept going because she needed it, but she didn't have to send his tail into uncontrollable swinging. A quick huff escaped him as he held down a smile, but Ayza kept giggling. "Why do you always tease me?"

"Because I'm a fun person!" she cheered.

"Either way," Blight intervened between the two with a smirk of their own, "as much as I love teasing our dear Coral, we do have a question for you, Ayza."

Coral glared at them, but Ayza's smile only grew. "Sure! Ask away!"

Blight clasped their nubs together with a bright smile. "Remember how we had that morning ritual a few days ago? Well, Coral and I want to start doing it regularly, and we wanted you to accompany us. Would you like that?"

Though she kept smiling, Ayza didn't immediately answer. Coral looked up from his treatment to see her brow dim, the corners of her smile creaking but still holding. "I'm… I'm curious first, what brought this on? Was it Agaya?"

Blight's own grin worsened, but they kept it up too. "Ah… Sort of." They gave a glance to Coral, who responded with a thumbs up. That somehow brought back their energy with a proud huff. "Agaya isn't important. What is important is feeling good, and learning from each other like we promised, right?"

With a slight shift, Blight picked up Ayza's claws, holding them together. She stared at their connection with a hanging mouth. Blight, however, just wore the same expression Coral saw from their time at dawn, cheery and soft all around.

"I wanna show my practices to you two— and honestly? I also wanna just spend my time with you guys." They glanced to Coral which sent his tail sweeping faster, because of course it did. "That morning was special to me, and if I could feel that way every day, then I want to."

Blight nodded with a hum, beaming to Ayza. "Yeah, I just want to feel good with my friends and teammates. So, wanna join us?"

Ayza stood silent while Coral kept passing his soothing hands along her body, healing it bit by bit.

He gently poked and swept through her snout without bothering her, keeping his own thoughts about the action to himself. Pokémon didn't bathe every day, and they were always naked, so Coral assumed they weren't bothered by being cleaned like this. He didn't understand it much, but he didn't find himself complaining at the newfound intimacy he could indulge in.

The last spots to be healed were the scratched— almost gashed— shoulders. He had no idea how Ayza didn't seem to mind how serious it looked, but the healing was doing wonders, soothing over quickly. It was fascinating how well her sensitive scales lent itself to healing by water, but his worry was on the gravity of the injuries. Pain was still pain, and he only wondered why she kept smiling.

Though, almost as if she heard his own thoughts, her smile lessened until Ayza was left with a plain snout but wavering eyes. Coral and Blight exchanged concerned glances at the change before she spoke.

"You… You'd do that for me? You'd actually include me?"

"Of course we would, Ayza." Blight's answer was immediate, but their face still read as nothing but worry.

"Oh…" Ayza muttered, looking down and letting a claw come up to the shoulder Coral was touching. When her claw connected with his healing hand, she jolted, snapping her head to Coral with beady, almost distant eyes. He almost wanted to step back from the surprise, but something wasn't right. His suspicion and worry only grew as her shock warped into the same cheeriness as before.

"Ah, sorry, heh…" She swiveled to Blight still holding one of her claws. "That'd be great, thanks! Can't wait to learn as much as I can, haha! So, shall we get to eating the spoils of your adventure?"

Coral still had his hands on Ayza's shoulder, and he let a thumb caress it without a thought. Ayza glanced back to him, but his focus was on the scratches healing.

And she keeps smiling…

"Are… Are you okay, Ayza?" he asked.

A second passed where she didn't move.

"Oh, yeah, totally!" she laughed. "Man, Agaya must've bothered you tons!"

"Ayza," Blight leaned in, squeezing the claw they held and staring into her own growing confused expression. "With all due respect… You don't look okay. We care about you, our friend, just like everyone else. Don't hide from us."

"Care…" Ayza echoed, widening her eyes and stiffening. Only her head moved in glancing between Blight holding one claw, and Coral holding her shoulder. After a still moment, she let out a long sigh, her form drooping. "S-Sorry. I'm a bit tired… It's been a long day."

"It's okay," Blight said simply. "We're here if you need help. We won't pry if you don't want us to."

Ayza nodded without a word. Coral frowned at the notion that her infallible energy could be broken, but he supposed she was just like any other person in that way. He doubted Aster was the cause of any of this beyond maybe some bruises from training; he would've been apologizing to oblivion if that were the case.

But the cause wasn't important right now. Coral was trained on cheering her up, and the flutter in his chest told him to act, or feel ashamed forever.

"You know, Ayza," Coral chimed in with the best smile he could muster, "we missed you a lot while outside. Note's great and all, but your energy was missing. Maybe you missed us too. I don't know what happened, but we're back together, and that's what matters."

He found himself lifting his hand from her shoulder, revealing it to be completely healed, vibrant and normal as ever. The Drizzile brought his hands behind Ayza, grabbing her hanging sunhat and gingerly bringing it up to her head. Ayza stared at the accessory in weird wonder. Her full and normal image was restored completely.

Coral let out a small laugh of satisfaction. "There we go… And as for the morning rituals, it's like Blight said. Learning and all that is great, but we just want to spend time with each other. You, Blight, me… We're friends, and we help each other unconditionally, just like you said to me when we got here."

Knowing his tail was swaying and Blight was grinning at him, Coral couldn't stop his own smile. "I mean… Don't tell me you forgot who we are. Aren't we Team Rogue?"

Ayza's whole form lit up, with even her frills opening slightly. Her snout trembled open before she relented out a chuckle. Her usual grin came back, softer than ever. It wasn't end-to-end, nor was it brought out by force.

"You're… You're right. Us rogues rise and stand together. Thanks, you two." She shook her head, slowly swaying the rest of her body with renewed energy. "We're gonna have so much fun on the roof, you guys! I'll make sure of it!"

Coral looked to Blight who sighed in relief. They beamed at each other but were soon overtaken as Ayza turned the tables on them. Where Blight held her claw and Coral her shoulder, Ayza swiftly took Blight's nub and Coral's hand into her grasp. With the energy she was known for, Ayza bounded away to the kitchen, dragging Blight and Coral, who never attempted to resist.

"Now, time to reap our well-earned spoils from our hard works, dear friends!" Ayza announced in a haughty voice as Team rogue barged into the kitchen, interrupting a bickering Note and Aster. The Scrafty sighed but Note grinned at their arrival.

"Finally ready?" she asked.

"Yep, yep!" Ayza cheered as everyone got to different parts of the table, opening the boxes to reveal a rainbow of sweet delights. "Ooh, I've never had poffins before, gimme one of those!"

"These look so good… I-I don't know where to start!" Aster practically drooled at the sight of it all.

Blight handed him a cupcake with a smile. "Let's start simple, huh?"

Note lifted a chocolate donut and smiled. "Well, since it's the first, let's all take a bite together, sounds good?" They all nodded eagerly and picked their pieces. Coral studied the poffin in his hand; it was a deep pink, and it had a softish texture, almost like a more solid cotton ball. He had to admit, it looked fairly intriguing, maybe even tasty.

He glanced around to indulge in the collective excitement and caught Ayza with a down face as she stared into her own poffin. Her dimmed eyes connected with Coral's and her whole face snapped into a bright expression. Coral would've worried more if Note didn't raise her claw high, calling all to begin.

They all raised their food to the air and counted together. "This is the start of the sweet times!" Note cheered for the first time the rest of them had heard and they all took a big bite together!

… Hm.

It was sweet, and fluffy like expected. The taste itself was weirdly light and elating, though occasional bites were reminiscent of some pink berries Coral had before… But Iki's food was better. By no means was it bad, but he literally choked down better food earlier in the day.

To that miffed and middling feeling, he looked to the rest of his companions, who had varying faces.

"This is pretty weird," Blight said in between chewing. "Never had this kind of stuff back home, but it's much more different than I expected. I think I like it? Maybe? What an odd little thing."

"Well, I love it." Note raised her piece while flashing a smile. "Not the best food I've had, but damn if I don't appreciate it. I've got good food to indulge in, that's all I care about." Her slightly raised voice was a marvel to hear.

"Mmhm! Pretty good, and worth the trouble, haha!" Ayza added with a raucous laugh that sounded out of place.

Coral let his head down a bit. "We spent all that time with Agaya for passable food…" He gave a long sigh. It wasn't like he regretted any of it, and everyone else seemed to like it enough, but it did feel like they lost a day to buying from an overhyped spot of the city.

"Hey, it's not all bad!" Aster tried to steer back Coral. "Y-Yeah, it's still good food, no need to waste it! Heck, we haven't even given it to Hope and Iki!" Hope probably had better food in his castle, but he was right, nonetheless.

"Speaking of Iki… he's still not back, right? Where is he?" Blight asked while discreetly hiding away their cupcake back in the box of poffins where it didn't come from.

"He just said he was going to prepare… But I don't know what that meant, really," Aster admitted, taking another bite of his cupcake and smiling a bit. At the very least, he and Note clearly enjoyed the delicacies.

He was right, though. After he weirdly left in the morning, he was still missing and there was no clear reason why. Coral just assumed that he was doing something for the orphanage like he usually said he was, but still…

This world had a way with timing, though, and it came with the rising sound of rickety wood tumbling close to them. Their heads raised at the sudden oddity, and before they could really ask, Rune's head popped in from the ceiling with a weird grimace. "Uhhh, you guys gotta see this."

They followed Rune's directions to the door and left their pastries, though Note was still eating a donut with another one waiting in her other claw. As they exited their base, however, they all collectively saw a weird sight.

The sound of the rickety wheels was coming from a large wooden cart with many items on it. They looked to be mostly straw bags and such, but there were the occasional colorful… streamers? And at the front of the large cart, was the comparably small Iki holding the front handles with his beak and dragging the cart along the docks. His large eyes were beady and spent, but the cart was actually moving surprisingly quickly for its size and the single bird pulling it.

Iki noticed them and perked up. With a waving wing, he started walking faster to them, the cart effortlessly catching up to him.

"Aster… Do you know what this is?" Blight asked.

He nodded and gulped. "M-Maybe. And if I'm right… then we're in trouble." Eyes shifted to him in anticipation, but the Scrafty just stood silent and stiff.

Soon, the Cramorant arrived and stopped before them, lowering the handles and loosening his beak to freedom. "Ah, guys… perfect timing. I need your help with something tomorrow." He was putting on a weary smile, but then he brought his wings together and he pleaded with an even wearier voice.

"Please, help me make the perfect hatchday party!"

The only sounds that came after that were the brushing waves close by, but Coral just tilted his head at Iki's plea.

"… What's a hatchday?"

 

[GumPlum]

Chapter 14: Promise of Family

With morning rays beaming down on them, the six members of GAD trudged along a forest path outside of the city walls. Iki effortlessly pulled the cart filled with party materials, mumbling to himself while Ayza sat on the edge, kicking her feet in the air. Everyone else simply followed behind the leading Cramorant, mostly focused on just staring at their surroundings. Though, Coral was more wondering about why they were outside the city in the first place.

Like Iki pleaded yesterday, they were on their way to the orphanage he and Aster frequented, all to throw one of the kids named Hanabi a hatchday party… Which was just this world's way of birthdays. It was understandable since Pokémon apparently hatched from eggs, but that origin by itself made no sense. What about the mammalian ones…?

Coral sighed to his own thoughts, looking up at the dotted skyline through the dense canopy. If these hatchdays and dates coincided with the human world, then his own would be fairly soon… His gaze drifted back to get his mind off the subject, finding the city walls shrinking away by the step. Concerning as it was to leave the little familiarity he knew, it was his first time exploring the outside. The new quiet was appreciated, though he could do without the shame of the exiting process.

To enter and leave the city through one of its gates, one had to show proof of their purpose or living in the city, though paying a fee also worked for entry. Any kind of evidence seemed flimsy, but his companions said most who left the city consistently were merchants or adventurers from the guild; for them, a badge was enough.

Personally, and oh so gratefully, Coral didn't have a driver's license with a Drizzile on it. On the other hand, and oh so shamefully, GAD was the new suspicion and stigma of the city, so their groggy mugs were enough for the gatekeepers to begrudgingly let them through.

"Did anyone else think that was embarrassing?" Coral addressed the group.

"Yeah…" Aster sighed. His shoulders sagged. "I guess it's my fault for looking different without my mask on, but they didn't need to inspect me so thoroughly."

Note stepped up with a small grin. "I consider it a small honor. Having people recognize you like that means you made a splash. Good or not, we're kinda famous."

"And that's great!" Ayza cheered with a sudden brightness to her face, to which Coral exchanged a concerned glance with Blight overhead. Even after their talk and pastries, she still looked sullen whenever left to her own thoughts. When she did talk though, she was brighter than ever. "Sure, we may not be famous adventurers yet, but this could do pretty good for now! Those gatekeepers will smile for us one day!"

"What do those adventurers even do that they're so loved and leave the city so much?" Coral asked, putting a mitten-hand on his hips.

The question really made Ayza brighten, her frills flaring a bit. "Oh, they go into mystery dungeons to rescue Pokémon, explore new areas, uncover treasures, and all kinds of stuff! They even bust outlaws!"

Coral nodded, half expecting the answer. Adventurers and guilds already implied so much in a fantastical world, but one thing did make his head tilt. "Mystery… dungeons…?" he asked, and everyone turned their heads to him with blank faces. "… What did I say?"

"Oh, right, botched summoning," Iki said before they all gave an understanding nod and they were back to walking.

Coral tilted his head with a huff. Sure, just ignore me.

Ayza hopped down from the cart and walked beside him. "Don't worry, I gotcha! Mystery dungeons are weird locales scattered throughout this world that are ever-changing labyrinths full of danger, feral Pokémon, and LOADS of treasure! They're basically the cornerstone of this world's main business and economy." She gave a wave of her claw as she gloated, ending with a smug smirk.

Coral narrowed his eyes. "That seems like something I should've known a long time ago…"

"Guess it just never came up, heh," she chuckled and tapped the end of her snout. "Though, if I remember correctly, this forest contains one itself."

Iki looked back with his tired eyes, pushing the cart with his wings for a moment. "Yep, that's right. This forest and dungeon deeper within are known as the Cradle Forest. Though, we'll be fine as long as we keep on this path. Just don't stray too far from it."

Coral stepped away from the edge of the path where he was following the line out of boredom.

Mystery dungeons, huh? So that's what they would've been doing if they hadn't gotten arrested. He could see the appeal for someone like Ayza, but he would prefer to stay away completely from something like that. For once, he was glad GAD's glorified community service was his job. Being in the guild proper likely meant being surrounded by many more people, Felix included. Dungeon delving was just another worrying element added to that.

So instead of that, he just had to deal with an odd prince, a crimelord obsessed with him, and live inside a ghost that craved souls and negative emotions.

Coral huffed. There was no out to the madness of this world…

His thoughts were interrupted by Blight plopping themselves on his head. "How much left until we get there?" they yawned and lightly slapped their limbs against Coral's forehead. At this point, it didn't bother him much— it actually made him chuckle. He gave a cursory glance through his friends and companions walking with him, a flutter coming to his chest. The nice times and memories brought by living with them were apparent in his mind, and he was willing to admit they were likely better than most of his human life, despite the sheer weirdness of it all.

Maybe it isn't so bad, Coral thought while smiling and patting Blight's back draped behind him.

"Not much, the orphanage is at the next turn," Aster said and pointed a bit farther ahead. True to what he said, a crossroad came into view with a wooden signpost pointing to the left and to the front. It said… something, but Coral could guess the orphanage was to the left, considering the front path opened up into wide plains leading off to who knows where.

As they took the expected turn, they walked up a slightly raised space with Iki somehow effortlessly pulling the cart upwards. They cleared the tiny hill to find the orphanage finally coming into view at the end of a secluded grove.

It was… an undeniable ramshackle There stood a worn-down wooden house that still glowed with the dotted sunshine poking through the canopy. Parts were painted with simple yet washed out nursery colors. A few holes littered its roof and walls, some covered with planks of wood, and others left exposed. It was rather large, but that only exemplified its broken look.

There was a shabby sign in front with faded cutesy designs of Pokémon eggs in the sunlight. At the very least, everything surrounding it was lush grass and greenery, though some patches seemed burned, giving way to the dirt beneath. All in all, though the decrepit house still stood strong, it was kind of pitiful to Coral.

He looked to the trees surrounding them. There were occasionally flying figures in between the tangled branches and plenty of distant chittering from what seemed like feral Pokémon. The whole concept of them was weird to Coral. He supposed it would be easy to distinguish civilized and feral, but why were ferals even a thing? Were they animals while civilized just weren't? Did it have to do with these mystery dungeons? If so, why were they outside in this forest and probably beyond? Once again, too many questions. At this point, Coral found it more distressing when he did understand something.

Coral's attention was brought back to his companions as they stopped in the middle of the hidden grove and Iki turned to them, wings twitching for a second. "Okay, guys, remember, we're here to set up Hanabi's hatchday party. Don't try to rile up the kids, don't wander off far, and most importantly…" He let out a long sigh, almost deflating. "Please, don't mention anything about GAD. Ma already knows and is not happy about it."

They nodded, but it was mostly out of necessity. Coral didn't know what to expect. He was worried about how these kids might react to him, Ayza, Blight, Note, Aster… Well, everybody, really. They were an odd bunch, to say the least. Plus, all he knew about this Hanabi guy was that he was really hard to please and approach.

That's what led to Iki spending a whole day preparing for the party and the rest of them being brought along to this ordeal. He didn't even stop after pleading to them, and barely slept on account of the distant muttering in the night. It was no wonder why he looked so tired and was hiding his frantic twitches. Why would he go so far for just a birthday?

Iki let go of the cart, walking to the center of the grove and waving his wing overhead. His head craned back with a queasy smile. "This may take a bit, get ready all the same…" Though his tone was worrisome, Coral saw it as a chance to rest and sit down on the soil with his needle friend on top. Everyone else similarly stopped to stare around and wait.

Taking in his surroundings, it was all a weird kind of beautiful. The grass was lush, the wind was gentle, there were barely any sounds past the distant chatter… Off the normal path— away from the city, even— this place was isolated in its own pocket, and it stood still in silence. With his companions by his side, he took in that still peace with a long and drawn-out breath.

For once, he could revel in a new quiet he lacked for so long. Leaving everything behind, he was able to breathe again. His tail thumped against the ground, hands dug into the soil, and a smile came onto Coral's snout. He didn't know how fast he had been consumed by that peace, but he didn't think much of it. There were no worries, all that appeared in the Drizzile's mind was a faint buzzing and thrum, and with it a lowered beat in his heart.

The Drizzile knew it well as the thrumming grew louder, he could stay here forever.

Yeah… this was nice… Drizzile…

Or so he thought, before distant sounds of screaming and rumbling came from the orphanage. Coral's eyes snapped open with the sound, his body scrambling back up with a sudden gasp. Blight floated off his head, but his chest raced. Coral stared at the rumbling orphanage in front, a mitten hand covering his chest to relieve his heaving. It didn't take long to compose himself, but it was like all his senses rushed back into him, with no realization that they ever left.

What… What was that? Coral thought with a glance over to Ayza and Blight, the two giving him raised brows and wide eyes respectively for him snapping into panic. Coral gulped, his chest and shoulders tensing up again as focused back on the growing rumbling and shouts from the orphanage, shoving his worries way back into his mind.

From the front, Iki just sighed. "Get ready, guys…"

Soon, the front door burst open, and a multitude of different small Pokémon came running out to them. They were all screaming stuff like "Big Bro," or "Iki's back," but it all got lost in their own internal cacophony. Coral didn't even have much time to identify the Pokémon as they scrambled towards them.

"Oh, so this is how we die," Note flatly said.

Soon, the Pokémon barreled into Iki with a mess of laughs and cheers, the Cramorant joining the cacophony with his own laughter. Now getting a closer look at them, Coral tested his Pokémon knowledge.

Hmm… there was a Tyrogue— they're too human-like— a Gligar, an Archen, a Growlithe, some green cat, and… a Tropius?! Well, the Tropius was smaller than expected, but they were still plenty bigger than all the other children.

"Aww, that's so cute and terrifying," Blight mused at Iki laughing among the children roughhousing him.

"This is how it usually is with the kids, haha…" Aster chuckled, stepping back while scratching his weary face with a gloved claw.

"Alright, kids! Break it up! Give him some room to breathe!" A loud, but floaty voice came from behind them, enough to get the kids to scramble off Iki without question. Turning his head, Coral saw a wrinkled lizard of deep green, cyan, and red floating above them. They had a thick body with a flat and long tail that seemed to fade into white and then nothingness at the end. Their boomerang shaped head was striking, and it held odd pockets along the edges, where two smaller lizards peeked out. Both of them looked like smaller versions of the Pokémon they sat inside of; maybe they were earlier forms of the same species?

Ayza leaned next to Coral with her usual grin. "That's a Dragapult and the little ones are Dreepy…" she whispered.

… Yeah, okay, whatever. He was used to the odd names at this point.

The Dragapult held a warm and wide smile as they glanced through every member of GAD but stopped at Aster with a giggle. Their long claws came over their long cheeks, practically beaming at the Scrafty. "Oh… I haven't seen that face in quite a while, Aster. It's good to see it again."

All the kids snapped their heads to him and gasped at the revelation of Aster's appearance. A deep red came over Aster's face as he stiltedly looked away and crossed his arms. "I-It's not a big deal…" he mumbled with a not-so-subtle smile creeping up the edges of his face.

"I'll always treasure seeing it," the Dragapult giggled again. "And I assume these people will help us today?" they said, eyes trailing the rest of GAD. Their voice was especially soft and warm, if sounding a bit distant too for some reason.

Iki managed to tear himself away from the pile of kids, stumbling between everyone. After a low huff, he pointed a wing to the Dragapult. "Guys, this is Mavis, the caretaker at the orphanage. We mostly call her Ma."

They all gave their awkward greetings but were interrupted by Iki picking up the cart handles with his beak. "I'm gonna go start setting up, I'll see you guys there," he said muffled and walked towards the orphanage with the cart in tow. Aster followed to help but was stopped by incessant children clambering to him and pinning him to the ground just like Iki.

Mavis floated to the rest of them. Honestly, though she seemed warm and nice, her appearance only got more ridiculous up close. The two Dreepy on her didn't help either.

"It's nice to finally meet all of you. Iki certainly spoke highly of you. You can call me Ma, and these are…" she pointed to both Dreepy on her head. Up close, Coral noticed one of them had red markings and the other yellow. "Hiko and Tiko, respectively. They're my dear sons by blood."

The red one, Hiko, poked out of his pocket. "Yeah, and don't ever forget it, bub!" he practically shouted, and Coral winced at it.

The yellow one, Tiko, simply waved from his hole. "S-Sorry, Hiko's in a really intense fighting phase right now…" Ma chuckled at it all.

As eclectic as the members of GAD were, Coral thought these people might be weirder… Nah, GAD was still weirder; Hope was enough evidence. Still, seeing Mavis and all the kids somehow brought him a smile.

"What can we do to help?" Note asked.

Mavis studied Note for a moment. "Well… You can help with the heavy lifting, over where the tables are. Iki can show you." Almost immediately, Note saluted and walked off as if it were everyday work, but Mavis reached out a claw. "Oh, and don't mind the kids, will you, dear? They like new folk so they might crowd around you."

"I'm not that interesting." Note shrugged before continuing her way and then appropriately had the kids pounce on her without even a budge, the now free Aster stumbling to help her unbothered form.

With a chuckle, Mavis turned to the last three. "And you all are Team Rogue, correct?"

Ayza jumped ahead between them. "Yep! I'm Ayza, the Poipole is Blight, and the weird Drizzile is our leader, Coral!"

"I told you, Ayza, I'm no leader…" Coral mumbled, and she just answered with a wink and her lavender tongue poking out.

"But you're our friend~" Blight hummed before landing back on Coral's head. All he could do against that was blush and keep his slightly swaying tail in check.

"Well, you three are an interesting bunch." Mavis gave an exceedingly wide grin. "You'll be perfect for the job. I want you three to spend time with Hanabi. He can be a bit muted, but I'm sure you can bring out the excitable parts in him. Entertain him, will you? You'll find him by the well over there."

She nodded over to the edge of the grove, where a red and black rabbit-like Pokémon hopped around by his lonesome, a rudimentary stone well framing him. His low-hanging ears flowed as he kicked his feet up at the same time. From what Coral could tell, it was all the signs of some kind of soccer practice without any ball— at least from his limited knowledge of sports. He only knew one by heart.

"He'll like you," Mavis said. "All the kids love meeting new things. We don't get much out here, you know."

Coral glanced past Mavis to see the ramshackle inside the beautiful grove. It looked decrepit, but all these kids looked happy and healthy enough. It didn't really line up. "Why are you out here, anyways?" he asked. "Couldn't you be inside the city and not so disconnected?"

"That's obvious, but Iki told me you three were new in this area," Mavis chuckled, leaning into Coral and Blight. "The city is all too hectic and noisy. This orphanage is one where the kids are placed in by the city or the parents who leave them, egg or not. Being out here gives all parties the privacy needed to not experience the potential shame that can come from it."

"O-Oh, that makes sense," Coral mumbled. In retrospect, it seemed a bit mean to ask. He wasn't aware of the whole process, but it seemed all kinds of unofficial anyways.

"But the kids enjoy it here plenty," Mavis continued. "It's calm, spacious, and being out here lets the kids grow accustomed to their wild sense in a safe way." She waved her claw over the children in the grove, who were now stacking on top of an unbothered Note while Aster pleaded with them to get off her. "These young souls have a home here for as long as they want it. They grow up here, and they may be adopted if someone visits. And if they grow old enough, they may leave if they so choose. A good deal already have."

Her wide eyes dimmed. "Well, most leave. You've got my two current oldest ones living with you now."

"You mean Iki and Aster?" Ayza asked, perking up.

"Yes," Mavis nodded, "they lived here until all of you met. Aster played the little hero in the city, but Iki spent his days working various jobs to help sustain us. I can't do everything, so he's helped on every front since he arrived here." The Dragapult sighed and twisted back to Team Rogue, wearing a widely weary face. "Tell me… How has it been living with Iki? How has he treated you all?"

"Um, fine? I don't really know what you mean," Blight said, tilting their body in confusion and making Coral's head go along with them.

"Has he been cooking for you, cleaning the rooms, generally providing for you?"

"Oh, then yeah!" Ayza cheered. "His cooking's great!"

Mavis sighed. "I knew it…"

"He's doing it again…" Tiko mumbled and drooped from his pocket.

"Is there something wrong?" Coral asked.

Mavis kept looking at the distant Iki as she spoke. "… Iki was always one of the older kids here, so he's always helped with the little ones. But it's become a problem at this point. He can't help but worry for the people he cares about, so much that he forgets he exists…"

Hmm, Coral never thought about it, but he was kind of like that. He cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner, always cleaned Rune, and did anything one would need help with. Anything they needed, and Iki was on top of it… No wonder he always looked tired and messy. He was like that for a whole orphanage too?

The Dragapult shook her head. "Just… Just look after him, okay? With him living in the city now, I can't be there to care for him when he burns out. Don't let him overwork himself."

"S-Sure, we can do that," Coral assured with a fast nod. It only seemed fair to the person who took care of them all the time. He nodded alongside Blight and Ayza, though the Salandit wore a slightly sullen face.

"Thank you." Back to a smile, Mavis nodded and twirled in the air until she was behind them. "Now, go entertain Hanabi, already! You don't need to hear an old ghost ramble on like this! Have fun with the hatchday boy, alright?"

"Don't get too hurt now!" Hiko snickered while waving.

With the excited voices behind them, they all waved goodbye before directing themselves to the reclusive Hanabi. Coral didn't understand the red Dreepy's warning; but he had one mission for now, so he focused on that.

Getting closer, though Hanabi was separated from the rest of the kids, he didn't look lonely. Maybe he was typically alone? Iki, Aster, and Mavis did talk about how difficult he could be… The wondering about him came to an end with Ayza's wild theories about how his parents might have died and he was left here to survive. It was a bit much, but Ayza always liked her stories, so Blight and Coral humored her.

Now a few steps away, the Raboot— as Ayza mentioned— noticed them and stopped hopping around. A few pebbles flew in the air from where he stopped kicking before he caught them with his paws and tucked them into the tuft of fur on his belly. He stared with a narrow glare, taking a moment to cover his mouth with his red fur mask.

"… Who are you?" Hanabi said with almost a whisper.

Always the one to do all the talking, Ayza hopped up. "We're Team Rogue! We're coworkers of Iki and Aster, and we're here to do whatever you want for your oh so special day!"

His eyes slowly looked them over and then rolled. "Tch. More adults…"

… Did Pokémon go through puberty?

"Um, how old are you, Hanabi?" Coral chimed in with the friendliest face he could make.

Hanabi stayed silent, looking at Coral for a while. "… I'm fourteen today. Don't talk to me like I'm a child."

Ah, so they did go through puberty. All the more reason to help him out.

With a low sigh Hanabi walked up to them and his eyes went to a glare as he stopped right in front of Coral, who stepped back. "… You guys said you'd help me in whatever I want, right? Do whatever what I want for my hatchday?"

"Mmhm! Anything!" Blight enthusiastically nodded.

With a quick spin, Hanabi kicked Coral straight in the stomach.

The sudden impact sent him tumbling through the grass and dirt, disorienting him. His stomach burned, but Hanabi's attack was more forceful than painful, surprisingly. He could hear Ayza and Blight's gasps, and a small laugh that cut through them.

"Oh, what the hell…" Coral groaned as he stopped and stumbled back up. Quickly reoriented, his vision became clear again. Blight and Ayza were glaring at the Raboot, but he simply walked past them. Licks of flame sprouted from his feet, singing the grass he stepped on.

"You're a water-type and I'm a fire-type. I'm gonna prove to myself that I can beat somebody naturally stronger and older than me. So, we're gonna fight, right here and now."

Coral groaned more when he fully stood up, feeling his heated stomach cool down. "Are you serious?" he mumbled to himself. Was this Hanabi's way of gaining some kind of immature pride? He just seemed like someone who liked to rebel and fight. Regrettably, now he understood everyone's vague talks of Hanabi's difficulty.

Fighting a teenager seemed inane, but Pokémon were crazy already. Plus, Iki probably had to deal with this a lot. Coupled with taking care of GAD and Mavis' request, a pit of worry grew in him for the Cramorant.

"I-It's fine, guys… I'll fight him," Coral huffed.

"Really?" Blight countered with a laugh of disbelief. Next to them, Ayza wore a weird scowl as she watched and brought up a claw to scratch her shoulder. Was she worried? Oh, maybe it was just like yesterday—

Agh, it could wait a tiny bit! The worry never left, but he had to focus on the angsty rabbit ready to kick him again closing in. "We promised Iki to help him. If this can help him then it's fine…" He hunched forwards, water enveloping his hands and feet. He could see the curls of a smile in the corner of Hanabi's fur mask.

"… You're not that much of an adult, huh?"

---

"Always so dirty…"

Iki swept away some dust from the dining tables with a sigh. The orphanage was always dirty due to Ma always being pulled in all directions, so Iki never minded cleaning it, but it was cutting into his hatchday preparation time…

Well, Note was also cleaning so it wasn't that big of a deal. He glanced at the Zoroark who was dusting off a corner with a plain face while the Archen and Sprigatito endlessly questioned her. She always answered in vague and simple sentences, keeping their attention consistently on the hook. Honestly, it was impressive how little she minded it.

But Iki couldn't get distracted! He needed to get back on track, so what was next? Uhh… Oh, of course! Seeing Note's fur and his feathers matted in batter and flour from what they made beforehand easily reminded him of the next task.

"Keep cleaning, Note, I've got something to check!" She waved him off before going back to the children around her and talking about her muscles that they liked climbing. It made Iki chuckle as he went into the rudimentary kitchen of the orphanage, making his way to the small, closed oven where two familiar Dreepy were staring at it wide-eyed.

"Come on, Hiko and Tiko, didn't Ma tell you to not be so close to fire?"

The brothers snapped to his disapproving face, and Tiko came up with his usual shy face. "A-Ah, Iki! We were just watching, I promise! Cakes are c-cool!"

"It's fine, Tiko, just don't do it again, okay?" They were always rascals who dragged Iki all over the place, so the faster he could reassure them of not being punished, the better.

"Plus," Hiko pointed to the oven, "we were staring at the cake, there's no actual fire here, Tiko's just being weird like always."

"Am not!"

"Mmhm~"

No fire? Did it go out? Ough… Iki ignored the bickering of the brothers and stared at the oven… Yeah, there were a few embers, but it had largely gone out and the cake he prepared for Hanabi was sitting there, growing cold.

This couldn't and wouldn't stand. If the cake was ruined, the whole party was ruined! Making a cake with wings was frustrating enough, even with Aster and Note's help; he didn't need this!

Whatever, he just had to push past the old equipment and keep working. Thankfully, it was still a bit past afternoon so there was still time. Turning around to the bickering brothers, he coughed, immediately drawing their attention to the adult. "Both of you, can you bring me Ayza? She's the yellow Salandit with the sunhat."

"You got it, bub!" Hiko shouted and flew off, phasing through the walls.

"D-Don't leave me!" Tiko also shouted, following his big brother.

Left there in silence, Iki stared at the cake. He needed to believe he did a good job preparing it, so all that was left for it to bake completely. He was no baker, but this needed to be perfect.

Standing alone, he looked to his side and gave a somewhat loud yawn. He was well aware of his exhaustion. He ran around the city all day, carried back all the supplies for today, and stayed up a good while memorizing the process to bake a cake. He wouldn't let it stop him, though. Hanabi was in a moody phase, so if this hatchday party wasn't perfect, he didn't know what would happen…

Iki's eyes closed as he took a deep breath and felt his body relax. It was already almost evening, and his wings were heavy, so he let them unfurl down. Overwhelming himself helped nobody, so he just stood still, letting his mind wander.

If only… If only his hatchdays had this much care put into them. If he was special— if he was loved— then he would have a cake all to himself. Maybe even Mother would make it… No, he didn't deserve it anyways. If Mother couldn't keep her promise, then he'd at least keep it to Hanabi and his friends…

All he had to do was… prepare… and stay… up…

…

…

"Woah, I knew you were tired, but I didn't expect you to fall asleep."

The sudden voice of Ayza knocked his eyes and body awake, wings shooting up from the floor as he swiveled to her at his side. "A-Ah, Ayza! N-No, I'm not tired, don't worry about me."

She narrowed her eyes, but she didn't have her usual grin. "… Alright, what did you call me for?" Her voice wasn't as excitable as it usually was either. Was she mad at something? Confused? Ah, no, the cake came first.

"Oh, yeah, if you could start another fire? The last one went out and the cake's not ready yet."

She nodded and walked over to the oven, looking down. After a moment, she opened her snout, and a small plume of fire blew out into the pile of wood beneath the cake resting on the simple metal pan. It lit up with a respectfully large blaze, coating the room in a gentle warm glow. "There. Anything else?"

Iki shook his head and Ayza nodded, starting to walk away without looking at him. What was wrong with her? He could cheer her up, but the preparations… Hmm… She was his friend, he needed to help her in any way he could, that's why he was still alive right now. With an involuntary twitch of an eye and wing, he made up his mind.

"A-Ayza?"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around.

"Are… Are you okay? You look kind of confused, how can I help?"

Ayza stood still, but her eyes were visibly studying him. In moments, they wavered wildly and looked down. After a sigh, she looked straight at Iki.

"… Sure. It's about Coral."

Iki stiffened his posture at her serious voice. "What about him?"

She started scratching her arm. "Right now, he's… he's fighting that Hanabi kid. All for you, no less."

Oh, Hanabi was doing his usual fighting… That was normal, but something did stick out to Iki. "For me? Doesn't Coral avoid fighting at all costs?"

"That's what I thought. I thought I was going to have to train him if I wanted to get him stronger for um… when we eventually go through a mystery dungeon." Her eyes trailed the ground and narrowed into a weird scowl. "I just don't get it… How can he care so much about you to do that? And why do you care so much about us? Mavis said you do everything for us…"

Ma… She wasn't wrong about him taking care of all of them, but he needed to.

He gave a long sigh and looked back to the cake above the curling flames. "I don't know about Coral, but you guys are my coworkers… That's enough for me to take care of you, no matter our differences. I don't need any other reason to like and care about people— as long as I do, then I just do."

"That easily, though?" Ayza mumbled. "How can you trust us so much?"

Trust? Being together for the guild and everything that happened to them already warranted him caring and trusting them. That was natural of him, and thought he didn't presume to know about everyone else, hearing Ayza like this…

"Do you not trust Coral and Blight?"

She winced, the scratching intensifying for a moment. "N-No, I do… I think I do. I really like being around them, and they're my partners. We formed a team together because we bonded so well when we met. But I still get frozen. I still can't just… I don't know. They treat me so well, and I'm pathetically putting on a smile. They don't deserve that."

"Azya," Iki called out and took a step forward with an extended wing, making her look back to him. It looked like she hurt herself with her own words, and he wouldn't allow that. "I'm not sure what's going on, or how to solve it, but if you like them, then you just do. You don't need a reason to just enjoy people that treat you well. Friends and family… that's just something to indulge in. Trust me, tearing yourself apart won't help them."

"I-I know it won't…"

"Then stop it, or at least be honest with them if you're hurting. Seeing those two… I'm sure they'll do anything for you. They care about you immensely. You're just as much they're friend and partner as they are to you. I think that's something to cherish."

Ayza nodded but stood still. The scratching lessened until her arm dropped. She just nodded again and headed towards the door leading outside. "You don't need a reason… Aster said the same thing."

Iki tilted his head. "Aster? You talked to him about this?"

"Yeah, yesterday… Coral's getting literally kicked around, and all for you. I guess that's just what friends do for each other, huh?"

Still looking at the cake rising, Iki ticked his head to the other side. Ayza always seemed so excitable, to hear her sound and move so dejected and confused was weird. What could be wracking her head so much to break her unending positivity?

He didn't get an answer as he heard Ayza chuckle. "... Thanks, Iki. It's a bit clearer now." She looked back to him, returning to her wide grin and giddy voice. "I see those baggy eyes, though! Don't overwork yourself, alright? I'mma zap ya if ya pass out!"

As Iki watched her hop out of the room, he wondered briefly about that mood shift, and even his own words. Telling herself to not tear herself apart… What a hypocrite. The only thing that kept him working endlessly was his fool's dream. He knew it was impossible to return to his real family. To that end, he would just treat his current one as well as he could. He would be better than Mother.

Another sigh escaped him. How long had it been? He forgot he left Note alone. Helping Ayza more when he could was pushed back to the end of the task list. Help Aster and Note prepare the party, help deal with the kids who wouldn't get away from them, somehow get Hanabi off Coral, finish the cake, help Ayza… Maybe help Ayza and then the cake? Agh, whichever came first, but the party was the end goal. He shook and ruffled his body and feathers, effectively jumbling himself awake.

Considering all that was left, there was no time to rest.

---

Floating on the edge of his brother's room door, Hope took a deep breath in preparation. To try and hide his annoyance, he practiced mock smiles, though he was sure they wouldn't come up even as deflections against Tempo's jabs. For what he was going to ask, he shouldn't need this much preparation, but that was just his royal life. With one last slap against his cheeks, he floated out to the center of the pristine castle hall and flew back in for momentum to push the door open.

"Hey, Tempo? You got any quills I can borrow?" Hope called out as he drifted into his brother's abode. With his bed made as impeccably as ever, boxes neatly laid out, and his desk organized to a frustrating degree of tidiness, Tempo's room was just like himself: crafted to perfection. All of it was in a regal and opulent veil, marble and silk being the name of the game within Vassaltis castle's aesthetic, and Tempo's room was no different. In comparison, Hope's room was more of a joke that he hated, but the sheer sterility of Tempo's was equally infuriating. The only outlier was a familiar storybook from their childhood that stood out of place from a stack of philosophy books and whatnot.

The brother in question was sitting on his desk, waving his paw; and with it, a quill enveloped in pink psychic energy danced across a blank tome. He kept writing out whatever it was as he looked back with a smug face.

"Oh, Brother… You should have some if you want to be King," he snidely remarked as he usually did.

"They're quills, Tempo, just gimme one," Hope groaned, rolling his head back to a painful point. "If you want an explanation, then I spilled all the ink on the one I had so it's ruined."

He turned around with a sneer. "Then that means you also need some ink. You're asking for quite a lot." Ugh, gods. He knew coming to Tempo was a mistake, he would always try to annoy him like this. Avenir announcing he was first in line for the throne bit him back hard with Tempo's reaction. Ever since then, Tempo strove to make Hope's life hell, or at least an annoying mess.

Though, he shared Tempo's shock at the announcement. Like… Hope?! The weird one? "The mistake" as he was so lovingly called? He was the last person to deserve the throne, but it was a chance to impress his dad. It was a chance to make something of his life, for once. Plus, it ultimately led to forming GAD, and they were worth all the annoying paperwork and adulting being their boss came with.

Were they worth dealing with more of Tempo's teasing, though? Ehh, that was unavoidable, but he got more annoying after GAD didn't immediately flop dead on its first day.

Good and bad, I guess…

"Please, just say yes or no," Hope sighed.

Tempo floated off from his chair, the quill still writing behind him. Showing off his psychic abilities was one of the more consistent annoyances Hope had to deal with. Honestly, it was just something else he didn't share with his family, all thanks to his stupid dark-type genes cancelling it out.

His brother turned his head up. "You have been spending much more time at the base of your project recently, no? I've hardly seen you around here these days. Do you prefer them over us? Answer that, and maybe I'll give you what you need."

"No, Tempo. You're my family." His droning voice probably didn't sell it well, but whatever got him the quill at this point was enough. "You and dad are my rocks, my one and only. I could never imagine leaving you fully for simple subordinates."

Tempo clicked his tongue. "No, no, no, Brother… You have to at least try to be honest! You lie enough already; how can that make you a good ruler if you keep it up? Be truthful for once, and at least make sure your reign is a short and worthwhile one!"

Hope held back a long groan, almost wanting to pathetically punch his brother. "Tempo… Why do you need to do this? It's getting old, I'm tired, and I just want a damn quill. If you want me to leave, just tell me. Just because you weren't chosen to be king doesn't mean I have to suffer for it."

The edge of Tempo's mouth twitched with a scowl forming, the king subject always set him off. "Don't patronize me like that. For some reason, Father and Arceus above deemed you worthy for the throne, while you fly around like a lunatic. I study, train, and put in the effort to be a worthwhile ruler, and yet you're chosen… Honestly, why did they choose a joke?"

A joke? Yeah, that was probably right. It wasn't the first time he was called that, and it probably wouldn't be the last. He acted more like his mom than his dad, much to the annoyance of everyone. That attitude was the only thing he could call his own. Not even his appearance was his anymore, always forced to wear his illusion even in the castle. Three identical Calyrex… Everything he presented was a lie, and everything hidden beneath the facade was a certified joke.

He liked it, though. The illusion was certainly better than Tempo's descent into royal pompousness. The guy was a literal young copy of Avenir gifted to the old Calyrex to be the proper next in line; and yet, Avenir still decided to have them compete for his attention, love, and power. Pitting them against each other didn't work for a while.

Half to not look at the current frustrated Tempo, his eyes drifted back to the hallway outside. He could still remember the younger Tempo and him flying through the castle, playing wherever they could. Even away from his mom, Hope found fun in Tempo as a kid. They were just brothers. But slowly, through years of slogging through the same kingly pressure, his brother morphed closer and closer to Avenir.

All that was left of the fun younger brother was that odd book on Tempo's desk. It was a little old, illustrated storybook about a Riolu princess wielding a Honedge, fighting and vanquishing evil for their home until they became king and queen, Lucario and Aegislash together. It was a simple story, but it was always Tempo's favorite. Hope had read it plenty to cheer him up when he failed one of Avenir's tests.

To this day, Tempo always kept it near and dear. Aside from being 18 years old and harboring extreme pettiness, that was the last difference between him and Avenir. Even so, that didn't seem to matter for the prince scowling at him. Dealing with him was just plain exhausting, and even the fun memories of the two occasionally got hazy these days.

"Please, Tempo," Hope sighed, "I just want you to help me this once."

Tempo gave a sharp laugh, putting a paw to his snide face. "Oh? Giving up already? I thought your little lies and childish playing would last longer than this. I'm starting to think you really do like your subordinates more than us, how unfortunate~"

"Aren't you tired?" Hope spat back, shooting Tempo a glare.

"Huh?" Tempo's face went confused but Hope just sighed.

"Of all this. It's stupid to fight like this all the time. I remember the times when we were friends, don't you?"

Tempo's mouth pursed, and the quill behind him stopped writing. "You're going to be king. Don't think you don't deserve this after you took that away from me."

Hope's claws balled into small fists and his fangs grated against each other. Tired was an understatement. "If you're still stuck on grudges, then how will you ever be a good king? How will you ever care about anyone close to you, or even the city?"

Tempo stuttered something but was shut up by Hope floating right up to his face and undoing his illusion with a snap of his claws. Sometimes he forgot that he was bigger than his younger brother. Even with Tempo's confused and fearful face covering most of his sight, Hope could see the storybook in the corner. It was pulled apart from the rest of the neat stack, disrupting the order. Tempo probably read it again recently.

But… I have to say this, or I'll explode.

"You know what, I do prefer my friends over you and dad! They're a much better 'family' than you two are! At least they don't judge me for how I look or how I act! To them, I'm just their friend, and to you, I'm just a mistake!"

With each word, Tempo floated back until he hit the wall, just above his desk. Hope pressed further with a claw jabbing at Tempo's chest. A frantic heartbeat pulsed there, similar to the rush in Hope's heart that was finally spilling out.

"Have you ever thought about being called a mistake, huh? Of course you haven't! You're perfect Tempo! And here I am, just a mistake who was born from an illegitimate pairing where I haven't seen my mother in twenty years, because I was whisked away to become some fake prince! I hope it feels good to know you were born with a purpose— oh wait, you weren't born, Arceus made you to replace me and Dad! How does it feel, huh?! How does it feel to be so above everyone that you can't see anyone else?! Fuck me, how does it feel to be so perfect that you're the only one who should be here?!"

At some point, Tempo's quill dropped, knocking the ink canister beside it and spilling all of it onto the table. Maybe that was cathartic, but Hope was focused on his own heaving, and Tempo completely stunned in front of him. His mouth quivered, but only whimpers came out. Hope could feel Tempo's shivering paw hold his chest, but he pulled away, leaving his brother on the wall with an outstretched paw.

With a huff, Hope pointed to the storybook. "I know you're not a bad person. The brother I love is still in there, but I'm too tired. A damn quill, Tempo, that's all it was…" Feeling his own heartbeat slow down slightly, he slapped himself and the illusion bead, regaining both his energy and fake prince appearance.

"… There! Are you happy? I hope it was worth it." Hope flew away from the room and back to the never-changing halls. Tempo called out to him, but Hope didn't even look back, try to hear anything Tempo said, or care much, really. Maybe it was a bit harsh, but…

He had been craving to do that for a long while.

---

"Are the streamers done?" Iki asked as he set plates on the last of the weathered tables. He looked at the paper streamers lining the ceiling. It filled the decrepit home with bright colors all over, and the only corner that didn't have them had Note leaning on a ladder and finishing the job. She had the task all to herself and spent most of the evening on it.

After a final tie, Note hopped off the ladder and sighed. "Slowly and frustratingly, but yeah." She glanced back at Iki with a slightly annoyed scowl, all coupled with a rainbow of fallen streamers around her body. "Couldn't you or Mavis do this? We've got plenty of fliers to not snap their spines tying these."

"I'm not as dexterous as you," Iki said, "and Ma's with Aster keeping the kids away from you, remember?" He chuckled, somewhat relieving his tense chest. "They really love you for some reason, it's pretty cute."

"I could do with less climbing on top of me, though I'm definitely not telling them off. They've probably just never seen a Zoroark," Note huffed. With a long stretch of her back, she gave a long sigh, the annoyance giving way to her usual bored face. "So, what's left? Feels like we're done here and it's getting late anyways."

Iki looked around the small dining hall, his heart racing at the sight. Though the weathered orphanage was still visible beneath, they had managed to turn this space into a colorful and festive place ready for celebration. His beak curled into a smile at the dreamy sight. It took most of his energy to set this up, but, gods, was it a dream come true. It was all for Hanabi, but he couldn't hide his own excitement.

As his eyes trailed the space, they landed on the center table, decorated the same as all others, though it was missing the titular cake to really finish the party with a bow.

Wait… the cake? Even Note followed Iki's sight, to which she just blinked a few times. Iki's chest sank, though the beating of his heart only accelerated with new panic.

Note whistled. "Oh, the cake isn't done. Kinda excited to eat it, honestly."

"THE CAKE!" Iki squawked and shot into a stumbling sprint and frantic flapping towards the kitchen door, drowning Note's simple reaction. How did he forget about the cake?! The last he checked was hours ago! Was he too focused on setting up the party? Too many worries crowded his thoughts, turning his breathing haggard and rushed. Everything inside him pounded and screamed at him to save the cake.

Please, please, please… Please…!

Iki burst into the kitchen, light smoke billowing from the makeshift oven immediately catching his attention and sinking his chest even deeper. He slid his wing between the oven door handles and swung down to open it. Even with more smoke blowing past him, he spat a quick stream of water at the burning wood and cake, snuffing it out within moments. He coughed from deep in his chest while flapping to get rid of the smoke obscuring him. Peering through teary eyes, he could see it…

Eugh… It was an unsalvageable pile of burnt mush at this point… Ohhh gods… What was he gonna do?! Without the cake, the party was nothing! Hanabi would be so disappointed and mad— and so would everyone else!

Iki stepped back, chest heaving in pain while he shivered at all points. His feathers raised and pricked him all over, stiffening his body. He wanted to speak, cry, scream— anything, but all that came was a sickly glob in his throat, lodging itself in the middle and keeping him silent and stuttering. All of Iki was shivering, always on the edge of acting but completely locked.

And all the while, his eyes were stuck on the mess of the cake. A complete failure, his failure, and one that would crush everyone's festive spirit once found out.

I ruined it. I ruined it. They're going to hate me. Not again, not again… Please, not again…!

Right as the lack of air got to his head in a new dizziness, he felt by a claw slapping his top. He recoiled as the hit unlocked his body, doubling back to find Note standing in front of him staring with a raised brow in suspicion.

"Wha… Wh-Why'd you do that?!"

Note shrugged. "You were just kinda stuck here in a currently smoke-filled room, crying all the while. I took the liberty of opening the windows and snapping you out of your little moment." She glanced at the wrecked cake. "Aaaand… I assume that's the source of your craze?"

Finally feeling the tears trickling down, he looked away from his failure. "I-I messed up, and now the party's ruined!"

With a sigh, Note scratched her short mane. "Man, it's a cake. Is it that important? We can probably find more food somewhere."

"Of course it is!" Iki squawked, shaking his head. "Haven't you had any hatchday parties?!"

Note's eyes went wide as she stepped back, both her and Iki connecting their frozen sights for a moment. With a quick brush against her snout, Note composed herself. "… Y-Yeah. Plenty. No cakes, though."

Iki stared at her dismissal for about a second before he noticed the light smoke behind her still billowing. He started to flap the smoke away but kept talking. "W-Well, a cake is the cornerstone of any hatchday! It's the one promise you have to keep— a-and if I can't follow that, then what am I good for?! NOTHING!" He noticed his own shout and stopped to cover his shaking head with his wings. "A-All my work… th-they'll hate me…" He knew his voice was getting more erratic and the tears were flowing, but he couldn't stop it.

"You're… spiraling. Why would anybody hate you for this? Why is a damn cake splitting your head?" She stepped forwards, but Iki did the opposite, instinctively tucking into himself.

"E-Everybody knows why!" Iki managed to say through the glob rising back into his throat. He was still shivering all over as he stared into the Zoroark's suspicious eyes. The horrible pounding in his chest extended to the rest of his body, particularly in his head. It throbbed with each hoarse breath, echoing each and every insult he could throw at himself.

Note reached a claw out. "You're not saying anything."

He took another step back. "Y-Yes… Yes, I am! Because… Be… B-Because…"

"Dude, take a breath and be clear with me. Don't worry so一"

"Because it's the promise Mother never kept!" The words broke out of his lodged throat, interrupting and stunning Note. With the burst, he gasped and covered his beak. No… He said too much. Y-Yeah, she was staring now. He couldn't stay here…

But even as Iki swung back to run outside, his numb talons gave out completely. He barely got a few feet before he fell flat onto the weathered wood floor. Iki knew it then, from the sudden aching all over, his body was giving up on him. Had he worked too long and hard over the past few days? Did he deserve to pathetically fall to the floor in front of his colleague, unable to move, and sobbing after spilling his disgraceful secret?

Ashamedly, both were a resounding yes.

"I-I'm sorry… I'm sorry, please don't hate me…" Iki whimpered through weak hiccups and coughs.

He couldn't see her step around him, but Note's voice came from in front. "Oh shit… What's wrong, Iki? Can I… help?" Her voice had never sounded so soft and concerned, but Iki couldn't even focus on that. The echoing throbbing in his head made his body feel frozen and burning up at the same time.

"I-I… I-I'm… s-sorry…"

Note mumbled something and paced around him repeatedly. He had the faintest of wondering why she was worried about him, but that was interrupted by his limp body being picked up in wrapping arms. Was he being hugged? Cradled? Glancing up, a familiar Dragapult held him with a warm smile, while two Dreepy stared at him with worry. The recognition brought more sinking shame.

"Hiko, Tiko, go fetch the rest of Iki's friends," Ma said. Without much complaining, the brothers left together and phased through the walls. Ma's thin claws went through and caressed his head plumage, while Iki barely struggled to escape. "You're the oldest one here, but you're still a child all the same…"

He didn't even know how much time passed before the rest of GAD arrived. Aster immediately came close into a hug, more worried than anyone. Iki could feel the dirt on Aster's scales, no doubt from playing with the kids. Coral had some singe marks and was breathing heavily, Ayza and Blight sharing the same smears to a lesser degree. Relenting Iki to Aster's tight grasp, Ma flew to the center of the now smoke-less kitchen.

"I gathered you all here because you are all going to be living with Iki for the foreseeable future. I'm sure he's helped you all endlessly in the short time that you've been together, but for as much as he may not admit it, he needs all the help he can get as well."

Ma's head trailed all of GAD, but they settled on Iki with a long sigh. "… Around twenty years ago, Iki was found by Aster soon after he arrived in this orphanage. He was battered, beaten, and starved, and he won't say why. We know he is not from this city, and we know he had a family, but he won't say anything about that either. That's fine, we respect that, and you all will too. But…"

Please don't… Stop focusing on me…

"Ever since then, he's helped this orphanage stay afloat by any means necessary. Working multiple jobs, personally tending to the kids when I can't, cooking for everyone… All because he owes us, as he says. That he needs to be useful and loyal to his new family."

It's not the new family, it's the right family…

Ma drifted down to Iki and Aster, caressing his head again. "I was mad when he told me about GAD, but not because he took a job that separates him from us. It was because it meant adding more people he felt obligated to take care of… Iki, I want to see you thrive, not chain yourself down." He didn't even have time or energy to think of an answer before she turned to everyone else.

"… I want you all to make a promise to me. Promise me that all of you will help him when he's struggling. Be there to support and love him. It was surprising that he even asked you for help today… But I hate to see him like this." Ma wiped the tears stuck in Iki's eyes.

"Just promise me that all of you can be his new family."

Please… Who would want to be family with this disgusting, disgraceful heir…

They all nodded. Somehow, he could see that clearly.

… What?

Ma smiled. "See that, Iki? You've got quite the interesting new family. You don't have to worry about providing for them. All of you will provide for each other, isn't that right?" Her voice went low and grave, a threatening tone Iki recognized, and so did everyone else as they collectively said yes.

Aster shook him a bit, a few tears of the Scrafty falling on his feathers. "We're here for you, Iki… Anything you want, we're on top of it."

"… O-O… kay…" was all he could say. He couldn't think right now.

His eyes were getting heavy, and his neck was swaying. He felt so… so tired… How did they want to be with him…? Surely it was because they were working together… Or maybe… Or… or…

…

To everyone else in the kitchen they watched as Iki's large eyes slowly went down without a word from the Cramorant. Soon, Aster was holding the limp body of the passed-out Iki, who was gently breathing in and out. Ma gently smiled.

"Just like the child he is, he's finally exhausted himself…"

---

Weakly and slowly, Iki's eyes opened to wood and land beneath trailing past him. He lazily looked up and saw through his hazy vision countless trees passing by that transitioned into a skyward canopy. He could see stars glittering past them.

Stars…? He tried to get up but was swayed by the movement of what he stood on, and his burning ache all over didn't help with resisting. His weak body fell back but was held and steadied by familiar gloved hands to his side.

"Oh, you woke up. How're you feeling?" Aster asked.

"Fine… I think," Iki mumbled, slowly shaking his head. His words were dulled by a headache still spiking him, but it at least wasn't as bad as… before.

Getting a clearer version of his surroundings, he noticed they were on their wooden cart. Aster was next to Iki, and Team Rogue were opposite of them, talking amongst themselves. Note was dragging the cart through the forest path. Seeing everyone made the memories rush back in. His screaming, whimpering, crying, and all forms of pathetic behavior in front of them all… It was only fitting for him, but, for now, he decided to focus on something actually helpful.

"It's night…?" Iki asked, still looking around in a slight haze. "How long was I out? What happened to the party…?"

Aster's concern snapped into bright excitement. "Ahh, it all went well! Blight and Ma actually went to Rune and picked up the leftover pastries we got yesterday so the cake situation was solved." Aster sighed and looked away for a moment. "At least they served some purpose…"

Iki nodded. "And Hanabi? Was he happy?"

"Mmhm! You know when his ears go up all embarrassed? Yeah, that was him the whole time! You should've seen him when he opened that scarf you gave him!" Aster wrapped an arm and pulled Iki close. "… We all wanted you to be there, but you passed out pretty hard, heh. Note looked over you most of the time."

The Zoroark glanced back with a small grin, and Iki could only awkwardly nod in her direction as thanks. It felt all kinds of shameful to look at her after what happened, so Iki turned to Team Rogue. "… How are you all?"

"Tired, mostly," Coral said, his face drifting into a thousand-yard stare. "You can only go so far when an angsty fourteen-year-old is kicking you all day…" Blight was trying to hide their laughter at that, but Ayza was staring at Iki with wavering eyes of suspicion like Note before.

"Ah, Hanabi asked to fight you… He does that a lot. Did you win?"

Coral chuckled, though it sounded pained. "Out of the ten rounds… only twice, and Blight and Ayza helped in those." Blight let go of their contained laughter, to which Coral lightly punched their shoulder with a smile. "Don't laugh at it, I'm not strong, heh…"

Iki looked down. "I'm sorry you went through that… If it wasn't for me then—"

"It's the least I could do, Iki," Coral interrupted him. "You help us a lot and we should help you too. We promised that to Ma after all."

Ma… She was too kind to him…

Iki gently shook his head, glancing through all of GAD, where even Note was glancing back. He desperately hoped she didn't remember what he said earlier about Mother. "Still, I'm sorry you all saw that… Shameful doesn't even begin to describe it. I guess I took myself too far… Again…"

"It's okay," Aster said. "We'll be here to stop it from happening again." Iki only nodded without a word. There was no point in fighting back or excusing himself.

There was silence for a while, just the cart rolling through the dirt road. A few bumps here and there… Iki didn't know if it came from his apology, tiredness, or the memory of what happened before he passed out. The event played back in his head on loop, practically experiencing the panic all over again. It was a degrading display fitting for trash like him, so he was dead set on assuming his companions didn't want anything to do with him. At least Hope and Rune didn't see it.

But… they did make that promise. That too played back constantly. He didn't understand, past Aster. Why would they care? Why focus on him? Did they just want someone to care for them? If they wanted to, they could've banished him again, and if he really wanted to, he could fly deep into Cradle Forest, losing his mind all over again. At least then nobody would have to deal with him any more than they already did.

But they still promised. They were kind people— maybe too kind for someone like him— but would they really lie and keep him around on the pretence of helping him? The reality was that Iki was here with them, going back to their new collective home. They decided to stay with him, even after his tantrum. There had to be something there.

Iki let out a long sigh. He was too tired to find an answer now so just let his head hang in inherent shame. It let him see the dark wood and surroundings light up after a few moments. He glanced back up to see the rest of GAD doing the same, all directed to the break in the canopy. They had crossed the forest and were now on the short open road close to Reefly. Though the city walls were in view, everyone's attention was on the unobstructed sky past it all.

Countless stars flew above them, illuminating all but never clashing in their tiny and distant might. The sky was a swirling of deep blues and purples, almost like a drifting sea with a full moon behind it all. It was an entire world apart, unbothered by what happened down here, but shining down on them, nonetheless.

Iki knew the sight once. It was as beautiful as it was a painful memory. He'd never forget that sky.

"I've never seen stars like these…" Coral gasped.

"Do humans not have stars?" Blight asked and Coral shook his head.

"We do… But we lived with so much light that it blocked them out. Especially in the city…" Iki glanced at him smiling in awe, but he only stared above. "So many lights… So many distractions… You kinda forget they're even there."

"I'd never forget them," Blight said. "I'd never forget what I never had. But now… It's amazing. Can you believe that was my people's home? We lived so far away, between the stars once…" Blight giggled, slumping deeper into the cart. Their perpetually glowing face shone even brighter in the night with a big smile. "This isn't bad either. I get to be a lot closer to you all now…"

Note stopped the cart gently and looked back at them. "We're not far from the city, but we have no reason to get back right now. Wanna watch the stars for a bit?"

Iki nodded. "That'd be nice." Everyone else, except Ayza, nodded as well. Note let go of the handles and simply leaned on the cart looking up. They were all looking up, but Iki noticed Ayza twiddling her claws through her sunhat's strap. She wasn't looking at the stars. Was she still confused and down like earlier?

"Are you okay, Ayza…?" Iki asked. Blight and Coral glanced at their partner between them.

She looked away briefly before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking." She chuckled and looked up, her lavender and jade eyes reflecting the starlit sky. "I had lots of fun today, and none of it was fighting, or even exploring. It was just… nice. We just played, ate, and celebrated, and I loved it…"

She narrowed her eyes at the sky above, but a smile curled at the corner of her snout. "Family, huh? Is that what we are? After only knowing each other for a week?"

"… I guess?" Aster spoke up, tugging on his hood. "Maybe family's a strong word, but a lot's happened already, even just with me. After all we've gone through this week… We're here together, and we're happy, right?" A bit of silence came before Aster gave a weak chuckle, waving his hands in dismissal. "S-Sorry, I don't know what I'm saying… But a family doesn't sound bad, y'know?"

Iki smiled at his brother. It was nice to see him without the hero getup, but he never looked this much at peace. It was a weird sight for him, but Iki cherished it fully. If Aster was right, though, then Iki could certainly be happy here. He was still a disgrace, but if he could be useful and loved by these people… Then maybe there was still some value to himself.

Ayza took off her sunhat and set it against her chest, glancing back to the stars. "I guess that's enough, huh…?" Her voice was much calmer than usual. It wasn't as excited, and it had a weird down tone to it, but it wasn't dejected like before. With a small smile and closed eyes, she grabbed Blight and Coral's hands and nubs, bringing them closer and nestling into their shoulders.

"A happy family… I can take a break from the story for you guys…" And with that weird phrase, as far as Iki could tell, she fell asleep. Coral looked endlessly flustered, but Blight just reveled in the close touch. Iki doubted they'd let go of her.

The sheer ease she fell asleep with was almost enviable, and her form being so peaceful in between her partners only made sleeping more tempting. It made Iki yawn, unwillingly spreading to everyone else the realization of just how they were. The Cramorant still felt too weak to even stand, so he just spent his time looking at the stars with everyone else. They really were something special…

Maybe ten minutes passed, maybe it was thirty… He didn't care much about how lost he was just staring, but at some point, Blight and Coral fell asleep too, their entire team leaning on each other. Iki only noticed because Coral's tail wagged and thumped against the cart before calming down as he slept.

Iki looked to Aster, who was still lazily staring at the stars. "You know…" Iki started with half closed eyes and Aster turned to him with his own. "If this is our new family, then we're lucky you played hero that day. Thanks, Aster…" He could hear a distant and small laugh from Aster, before he let his body drop onto Aster's lap and gently sighed, a smile staying on his beak. For once, his chest felt relieved.

A family, huh? I'd… love that…

It didn't take long for Iki to drift to sleep, and Aster followed soon after by slumping forwards onto his brother's back.

… Well, it seemed that they forgot Note was the one carrying the cart. Left by herself, she kept looking at the stars. She didn't know what to think of them, what with them just being dots in the sky, but having personal opinions was still a relatively new concept to her. Pretty as they were in the night sky, it was something ordinary. The stars, morning breeze, soothing sun, good food all over, a home to sleep in… They were all new, and all ordinary.

She glanced back to her sleeping companions. An odd smile came to her snout. Though they weren't fully part of her repertoire yet, normal experiences seemed to come in droves within this "family." There was little she wanted more.

"Hopefully it lasts," she mumbled as she grabbed the cart handles and started trudging towards the city, her mind whirring. Family or not, these people clearly cared for each other, and Rune and Hope could probably be included in that too. Hell, she occasionally found herself worried for them, especially with Iki earlier. She didn't know what that feeling entirely meant, but they liked and accepted her more than most ever did. It wasn't a bad crowd to be with.

The gates were coming up soon and Note almost stopped moving— not to look at the stars, but because passing the gate was gonna be a bitch with her, the Zoroark, carrying a cart with five unconscious Pokémon. Still, it was better to just try anyway.

It was the least she could do for her second family in the two months she had been truly alive.

 

[lichhen]

Hola, just read the first chapter.

i'm already feeling very loyal to this story and these characters. I love the pokemon species used and the character traits.

it starts out with the usual beginning of the PMD games. i enjoyed this retelling of that story, sets up a cute main character and handled my expectations in a way that interested me personally haha. for example this sentence, referring to the main character: "No doubt the owner of this empty dream."

Then, the part when it asks about gender is really interesting to me. Makes me want to know more about who this voice is. full disclosure, i have never finished a PMD game so i'm not entirely familiar with how the story goes so that will affect my reading of it for sure. I don't think it will affect how much I enjoy it at all though! But I do not know what this voice really is so I'm wondering who this mysterious and suspicious personality belongs to.

Okay I love Free and Ayza VERY much. They obviously have a very strong and adventurous time together. Ayza's character description is striking and sounds like a very cool character design.

Um... then I get to this part:

"Free nodded. "Exactly what I said. You can't be a human because there's already a human who arrived a good number of months ago. Eight or nine months, if I'm correct."

and i'm very excited to see what this is all about because so far im loving all the characters. Like:

"Ayza seemed like a reliable source of information and a constant source of energy and positivity."

and

"I'm a Salandit, with a bit of Helioptile mixed in, but that's neither here nor there."

YEEESS Ayzaa that sounds so cool, a really smart passionate one. Ayza is entertaining and also deeply relatable. Love the friend chemistry already with Javier, lIZard squad!!

me: *sees the scrafty at the end of the chapter*
me: join.... the lizard squad... for the aesthetic... (jk!)

I'm so happy I have the second chapter to read later!

 

[lichhen]

I read chapter three and then just could not stop reading at that cliffhanger and went on through to chapter four. I love Hope!!!! He is such a fun character, so easy and entertaining to visualize. From the very beginning, Hope has been cool and mysterious. I love all of GAD tbh! Note is so cool, LOVE how she threw that rock at Hope. The whole scene was unexpected and full of chemistry between all the characters. I really like Aster, and how he says foolish things sometimes, but can also apologize and acknowledge when he says something harmful. I LOVE Iki!!! One of my faves!! A cramorant, omg. you have really great pokemon in this story.

 

[lichhen]

i just finished chapter 7, here are some thoughts i've been having:

Coral's human experience as a pokemon is just the most fun to read ever!!! The way the body is described, and how he interacts with water now, it's sooo interesting. i really wanna see what happens when he's up against an elemental weakness like a grass attack or something. but i also love how Coral doesn't believe he will be battling at all and will just be using his moves to support & help his friends. i really like when Coral just keeps asking more and more questions about what's going on with his body. He's not accepting just any ol easy answer. He's struggling for the TRUTH!

Also, Coral's switching between calling himself Javier and Coral is very interesting. Each time he does it really draws my attention and I get this feeling of confusion and struggle.

speaking of Coral's friends. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. i love how much they all cuddle together and have each others' backs. a huge element of their friendship seems to be the mutual respect and understanding they have for lifeforms besides themselves. Like they're so super respectful of Blight's experience as an Ultra Being. And they're also so caring about what Coral is going through, and ensuring he is feeling okay as he can in this strange world. Ayza brings them together so well. She feels like their leader. I love her a lot and I'm having a hard time keeping Clover the helioptile from sending paragraphs of fangirl button-mashing whenever Ayza's on-screen.

Also *screams at Coral's parents to stop being cissexist and transphobic *

And Note is just. the perfect foil for the main 3 lolll.

RUNEEEEE!!! RUUUNEEEE. the way you introduced Rune was super cool and creative?! it worked so well and even with all the drama it was still so believable and easy to follow what was going on. That's one thing i've been pleasantly surprised with this fic - even with plethora of different characters, i'm having a very easy time keeping track of everyone and what's going on with each character, even with my sporadic way of reading. i dunno how you do it, but wow!!

love the new characters Agaya and Nova, they are really fun and obviously there's so much going on between the lines in their own lives. And i like that they present a potential bit of danger to our MCs ehehe.

THIS SENTENCE:

Coral looked out to that beautiful sky and smiled. It felt so nice on him, especially now that he was resting. It was just so… open and free! Nothing to hold it back! Ahh… how it must feel to be in that sky… if only…

I REALLY WANT TO read how you write Coral experiencing something like flight for the first time. I want Blight to evolve and fly around with Coral....

another quote:

"If you're happy, then you're happy! No need to explain yourself!"

Yo, Blight. ;_; that's good advice. i should remember that more often.

Coral's smile grew a bit more as he looked to the window. "… I've always loved the sky and I've always wanted to be in it. That's the one dream that's stuck with me ever since I was a kid… It's just so open and beautiful…" He looked back at Note, a full-face smile now across his snout. "Like you said, I want to be free, and I think flying is exactly that!"

This is a really cool section to me. I like how Coral compares their different ideas of "free", but it's still the same desire. I feel like the narrative might be a lot about different characters experiencing their different ideas of freedom.

additionally, i admire how much you can write and pack into a single chapter. this story has come soooo far and i feel like Coral, Blight, and Ayza have already learned some cool things, as well as me as a reader learning about how this world works along with Coral.

 

[GumPlum]

i just finished chapter 7, here are some thoughts i've been having:

Coral's human experience as a pokemon is just the most fun to read ever!!! The way the body is described, and how he interacts with water now, it's sooo interesting. i really wanna see what happens when he's up against an elemental weakness like a grass attack or something. but i also love how Coral doesn't believe he will be battling at all and will just be using his moves to support & help his friends. i really like when Coral just keeps asking more and more questions about what's going on with his body. He's not accepting just any ol easy answer. He's struggling for the TRUTH!

Also, Coral's switching between calling himself Javier and Coral is very interesting. Each time he does it really draws my attention and I get this feeling of confusion and struggle.

speaking of Coral's friends. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. i love how much they all cuddle together and have each others' backs. a huge element of their friendship seems to be the mutual respect and understanding they have for lifeforms besides themselves. Like they're so super respectful of Blight's experience as an Ultra Being. And they're also so caring about what Coral is going through, and ensuring he is feeling okay as he can in this strange world. Ayza brings them together so well. She feels like their leader. I love her a lot and I'm having a hard time keeping Clover the helioptile from sending paragraphs of fangirl button-mashing whenever Ayza's on-screen.

Also *screams at Coral's parents to stop being cissexist and transphobic *

And Note is just. the perfect foil for the main 3 lolll.

RUNEEEEE!!! RUUUNEEEE. the way you introduced Rune was super cool and creative?! it worked so well and even with all the drama it was still so believable and easy to follow what was going on. That's one thing i've been pleasantly surprised with this fic - even with plethora of different characters, i'm having a very easy time keeping track of everyone and what's going on with each character, even with my sporadic way of reading. i dunno how you do it, but wow!!

love the new characters Agaya and Nova, they are really fun and obviously there's so much going on between the lines in their own lives. And i like that they present a potential bit of danger to our MCs ehehe.

THIS SENTENCE:

Coral looked out to that beautiful sky and smiled. It felt so nice on him, especially now that he was resting. It was just so… open and free! Nothing to hold it back! Ahh… how it must feel to be in that sky… if only…

I REALLY WANT TO read how you write Coral experiencing something like flight for the first time. I want Blight to evolve and fly around with Coral....

another quote:

"If you're happy, then you're happy! No need to explain yourself!"

Yo, Blight. ;_; that's good advice. i should remember that more often.

Coral's smile grew a bit more as he looked to the window. "… I've always loved the sky and I've always wanted to be in it. That's the one dream that's stuck with me ever since I was a kid… It's just so open and beautiful…" He looked back at Note, a full-face smile now across his snout. "Like you said, I want to be free, and I think flying is exactly that!"

This is a really cool section to me. I like how Coral compares their different ideas of "free", but it's still the same desire. I feel like the narrative might be a lot about different characters experiencing their different ideas of freedom.

additionally, i admire how much you can write and pack into a single chapter. this story has come soooo far and i feel like Coral, Blight, and Ayza have already learned some cool things, as well as me as a reader learning about how this world works along with Coral.

AAAAAAAHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'm really glad you're liking the story so far! Hearing your thoughts has really made my day already, and I am both excited for you to read the rest of what's published, but also worried that I might disappoint you, haha :v

And yes, you're right in that a lot of this early story is about learning the world through Coral's new eyes, both mixing with all these new people and them with him as they're thrust into being in each other's lives. I'm a character writer first and foremost, and this is very much a character driven story, so it's a relief that I'm somehow doing a decent job at them and their relationships lol. I was worried it wouldn't be very good, or that my prose wouldn't be able to keep up or support them. I generally have those rampant and extreme doubts about all I write, but if you like it then I can't deny that.

Oh, and you're definitely right about this story exploring the different interpretations of what is freedom for a person, and you'll be seeing more and more down the line. It's a big theme among many in the story, so I'm glad you caught it early! Similarly, Coral's body exploration is related to this theme and that of gender and sexuality exploration and flourishing, though it doesn't apply only to Coral, but that's for more characters to appear :v

Really, thank you so much for the review and support. In my extreme slump and failing as a writer, you've given me back a decent bit of my self-belief back, and I can't truly say how much I appreciate you for that. Now I feel like I can find the passion of my writing again, someday, but it is there waiting for me. Thank you so much!

 

[IFBench]

Here to review chapter 1 of this for our review exchange!

Seems like we're starting with the traditional PMD quiz! Interesting, not many fics do it from what I've seen!

Seems like our protagonist has not been having a very good time recently.

And seems like the quiz voice is in a big hurry...

Huh, neat! Seems like there might be some gender themes in this story!

Oh dear. Looks like something bad is happening with the quiz voice.

This Salandit is adorable.

Huh, so the Pelipper is named Free! Interesting name! Wonder if it has anything to do with the fic's title.

So there's a king in Reefly City...

Looks like there's our protagonist again! And...judging by how they apparently slept under a bridge, and hasn't been having a very good time recently going by the quiz scene...doesn't seem like they had a very good life as a human.

Nope, it's not a dream, not anymore.

Aaaand there's the moment of realization. Oh boy.

So humans coming to save the world from crises is well-known here...interesting.

...two humans, huh? That's definitely going to be very interesting.

...so Javier wished for this. Or at least something like this. Interesting!

Oh dear. Looks like someone else is trying to get into the city, and they got caught. That's probably not going to end well for them.

Overall, I'm liking this so far! It's building a lot of intrigue already, with the king, the second human, and this cloaked figure. I'm excited to see what this all means!

Thank you for writing this!

 

[canisaries]

Hey there! I'm here to look at Chapter 1 after your recommendation I check this out. Here are my thoughts.

"Final question: Are you male or female?"

"Oh… um… I'm male, I guess…"

"You guess? Are you sure about that answer? Are you being honest?" The booming voice inquired with a doubtful tone.

"Ah! Y-Yeah! I'm definitely male!" That answer was more blurted out than said honestly, but the dreamer felt the need to pass onto the next part, failing to hide his uncomfortableness at the dream getting too relevant.

"… Well then, I think we're done for the quiz. You did very well." It definitely didn't feel that way to the dreamer with the different reactions that the voice gave to his answers. Still, as weird as this dream was it seemed to be coming to a close with the voice continuing to speak. "Now, it's time for the verdict. You seem like a… a… oh, oh geez- wait, nonono!"

sorry, your repressed queer feelings broke the soul machine

"OOOHHHH! It's happening! I'm finally going to arrive in the famed Reefly City to start my legendary adventuring career!"

Mmmmm, this is a pet peeve of mine, characters speaking aloud things people really wouldn't in real life. Especially here it feels like she's stating something that's an obvious fact to herself to fit in exposition for the crowd. I think what comes later sufficiently sets this up anyway, so this could be concentrated into "I can't believe I'm finally here!" or something.

Anyways, now that they were closer, she got a much closer look at the crown jewel of the city, Vassaltis Castle. It was an ornate, marble castle right in the middle of the city where all the canals met. By itself, it was a relatively small castle, but the main attraction was the tower to the back of the castle that rose a bit more than a hundred feet above the city with a giant clock in the center and the royal throne at the very top in its own glass dome room looking down at all of its subjects. It almost looked like a mushroom cap in shape, and that made Ayza chuckle under her breath at actually seeing it rather than reading the words in her book.

It's not often that I see unique buildings in fanfic, but they definitely help make settings more memorable. Kudos for that. I could never do it, I can't describe or imagine buildings for shit.

"Uhhh, nope! This is real life, buddy! Are you sure you're okay?" the lizard asked, getting closer to him, its lavender and green eyes trailing his body.

a lizard with homophobia in her eyes...

"Oh, let me have this, Free! I stayed inside your bill for the first few days after we left and it was the worst experience in my life!"

i can't believe we're meeting Mr Free Fiction so soon!

You look like you saw a Ghastly when you looked at us.

Gastly has no H.

The pelican looked almost offended at that. "Animals? D'you mean ferals? We ain't ferals, kid, we're plain old civilized Pokemon. If anythin', you're the weird lookin' one here, I ain't ever seen a Drizzile like you."

This is a good thing to establish about the worldbuilding early on, and I think it comes across pretty smoothly here.

"That's an easy one," she beamed, throwing her arms out and exposing everything about her scaly body. "Pokémon are, well, what we are! Creatures that eventually grew to dominate and own this world. You know, like humans are to your world. Probably."

Her adding on a mention of their evolutionary origins (I think that's what she's doing?) is kind of weird. I don't think a human would add something like that when asked about humans. Then again, I don't know if their evolutionary origins are actually something really important in their culture / worldview and would indeed be something they brought up.

He could also ask why Ayza had this well-timed of a book,

ESL here, but fairly sure that's not an existing expression. "Well-timed book" would make more sense.

… Though, I guess I did wish for it before sleeping. But that was just desperation… I think.

ah he got the hidden genie

The sky was a perfect blue,

Though they didn't know how they'd react to an Ultra Being suddenly appearing in their city,

Ultra Being instead of Beast, I see! It does make sense for a sapient being to not want to refer to themselves as a beast. They must not be me.

"Hey you! Did you just cross the walls? Illegally?!"

these people HATE customs

It was a weird and almost lanky Scrafty with their hood up, but it was all smeared in blue and black paint, forming a "mask" of some sorts. They had what looked like black, knitted gloves covering their hands, and deep blue paint smattered bandages winding and covering their entire forearms past the gloves. The ends of their covered feet looked somewhat extended, as if there were claws, and there was a small and white spike that looked like it was made out of paper tied unto their chest, strapped on with a pale-yellow band. They looked like a Scrafty, but an incredibly odd one at that, and even their normal orange scales were slightly paler than what they had seen in their self-teaching.

Is that... a furry Scrafty...?

---

General Comments

I have ultimately read very few fics with the famous personality test intro of PMD, probably because people are aware that it's a cliche, but I think it comes across unique enough here. This is partly because it seems to start in the quiz-giver's POV, though it seems to be Javier for the rest of it, so I don't actually know if that's a mistake of some kind. Anyway, it knows to keep itself short enough, and something malfunctioning makes for a different impression, so I'd say (with my limited experience) that it's a good intro.

Another thing that is probably in danger of being cliche is the human character's freakout at their transformation. Now, I like a bit of xenofic in my life, so I have a higher resistance to getting bored by this sort of thing, but regardless of that, I think his reaction was engaging and interesting. It does double duty as a character moment, showing us that Javier is more anxious than normal, and character moments are always good.

And to continue on that point, I find myself liking the characters very early. Ayza is one of those character types that could be annoying if handled wrong, but I think you handled her right - she's a beacon of energy and positivity and fun to read. Javier's transformation woes are easy to relate to - no, not because it would have literally happened to me, but it's how I would react if I didn't go "yo this is cool as fuck". The third character we didn't really get enough of yet to gain a good hold on their personality, but it seems like the second chapter will handle it and I believe it will. You've got a good handle on writing personalities, so I trust that our Poipole will be a unique member of the cast.

That does it for my thoughts! If you wanna ask anything, my Discord DMs are always open. Good luck with writing, and see you around.

 

[canisaries]

Hey! I read Chapter 2 a while ago. Here are my thoughts.

While waiting for Azya to get back on track, he would poke and prod at his own body, and among all the weirdness, what stuck out to him was the constant moisture he could feel beneath it.

It wasn't sweat, that much was obvious to him… but the thin layer of water he could almost instinctually feel beneath the small scales was mind-boggling.

this almost sounds like body horror, really

Ayza only had around 50 dollars, or poké as she said, to spare for clothes and the lowest priced item landed at around 10,000.

It's kinda weird he assumes it's dollars when it's a foreign currency. Does it have the appearance of dollars?

Ayza gave a playful shrug. "Well, there's a bunch of types, really! I'm considered a fire and electric type so I can do moves of that nature, but you're a Drizzile, and they're considered water types, so think on it."

Ah, so she's straight up part electric. I guess that means there are more hybrids in the world.

With a gleeful smile, Ayza opened up pockets in her backpack and pulled out some strange-looking fruits. There was a very round blue one, one that looked like a beige misshapen flute, and another that had a plump and yellow appearance. Javier guessed they were some kind of unique food, but his curiosity got the best of him.

I think something else that could have been established here is the size of these fruit. It seems they're big enough to share and pass as dinner, so how big are they? Javier/Coral could have compared them to existing fruit in his world for us to have a better idea of the size.

This one was weirder than most of what he'd seen before. They looked like a small, anthropomorphic deer, but they had what looked to be a large bulb on their head with four antlers holding it tight and a ring of beads around their neck. They consistent mostly of green and silver fur and a diminutive frame with stubby arms, but very long and lithe legs. They had what looked to be a cape made of their own fur and connected to the arms flowing behind them as they looked out onto the city, their gaze giving Javier a gnawing sense of unnerve.

YES FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO THINKS CALYREX IS A DEER. i have people telling me he's a hare and i just don't buy it

There was seemingly no end to the celebrating city's clamoring, but that didn't stope the King from continuing with his final words

Typo in "stop", and the period at the end of the sentence seems to be missing.

Charon smirked as their eyes glowed a stronger crimson for a moment. "Pfft, yeah he is. He's a Legendary Pokémon, which is about the same as a god to us. They can tell who's a human and who isn't just by looking because they're the only ones who can bring them to this world," they said as they walked back to their bed and sat on it.

Again, I'm not sure if a denizen of the world would be so quick to explain Legendary Pokémon as gods to an outsider - at least not this fast. This is something that's a very natural part of her worldview, and I would expect her to take some time to think about how Coral's world would be different and how she should describe it. The fact that she can say they're like gods but only like gods makes me wonder what their actual gods are and why she wouldn't describe Legendary Pokémon as being gods.

Coral was stunned at this sudden display of blackmail from Ayza.

Same, tbh. Good to know she has a crafty streak.

He already knew their appearances

I think calling attention to this is the wrong choice. We know that the descriptions are for us rather than the king, but this brings it into focus that the king is apparently thinking about something that should be obvious to him.

"… Yep. Tomorrow's the day I die. Ough… How did I forget so easily?! What the hell's wrong with me?!" He started floating around the throne room aimlessly, slapping his cheeks as his mind panicked itself to near insanity at him having forgotten to recruit anyone for the project or even that tomorrow was the day of the reveal.

He narrowed his eyes and started sweating, multiple unfeasible ideas entering and leaving his head at the same speed. Guild people? No, too prideful. Normal people? No, that's too random… Hmm, there's that one weird guy, but I don't even know if he's in the city… But then, one final idea stuck in his head as he turned his head to look out towards the city, his mind made up and a desperate and anxious smile forming on his face. It was incredibly unlikely considering this city, but… He had to try.

"Alrighty, Hope, you have one last play in the book…"

what's he cooking

---

I didn't find myself with much in terms of general comments this time. The tone of the story continued to be comfy and the pacing slow, which admittedly is kind of turning me off personally, but it was established well in the author's notes and that that's the nature of the story, so it's not a blame on your part. I enjoy how Coral seems to be opening up to queer things slowly, and I like that the other characters are there to support him. Blight's personality seems a liiiittle similar to Ayza's at this point in time, but it's probably gonna diverge more as the story goes on.

Good luck with writing onward! I don't think I'll be continuing, but if anyone asks me for something slice-of-lifey and queer in PMD, I'll definitely point them towards this fic. See you around!

 

[GumPlum]

Chapter 15: A Thawing Heart

Red-stained white.

It was always the same sight; a depthless snowy land splattered with red. Small bodies, black and crimson with matted and tangled fur sinking into the tainted snowscape. They were familiar. She recognized their bodies; and yet, she knew none of them. There was no way of knowing who they were. Standing tall or buried beneath the snow, even if the same species, there was no difference. They were the same in body, mind, and purpose. They weren't people.

Was she one of them? The stained patch of red beneath her looked the same as the others'. She was the same, but she was better. She was stronger. It never hurt, did it? It shouldn't have ever hurt like it did now.

Snow from the overcast sky smothered all light, falling silently and relentlessly. Just white dots in the air that added to the white below, ready to be stained. Was she staring at the sky? She shouldn't have been. There was nothing but endless, unchanging gray, yet it drew her gaze.

A sharp cry rang beside her. It was another four-legged body of black and red. It stumbled before falling over, red spilling from the mouth and stomach and staining the snow. More red-stained white, and all because they were weak; she knew by the clear liquid dripping off its eyes and freezing into its fur. Whatever leaked out became a biting cold, digging into its flesh. Every drop that escaped meant surrendering to weakness. Keep it in. Stay strong. Stop feeling, stop caring.

She was better. The cold pricked all over, but she stood. She shivered, but she wasn't weak. She didn't want to stain the snow. What she wanted didn't matter, but it aligned with her purpose. Was it good to be on top? To be the last one standing? It didn't matter. She didn't care anymore, couldn't care anymore.

It hurt to care about them. She was still hurting. The cold within froze her; it seeped into her, to every hair and limb, stifling and prickling.

But she stood tall, and alone. It was all she knew, all she was allowed to. She wasn't allowed to care. It made her strong, just how they wanted her. She could serve well, fulfill that nameless purpose; the same purpose the bodies surrounding her couldn't. They weren't strong enough. They were too warm. If they weren't, they wouldn't have succumbed to the cold.

They wouldn't have been culled.

She let the cold in, bonded with it. It made her rigid, solid, able to survive. There was no need for warmth anymore. There was no purpose in wanting.

"… o… ot…"

Warm… How did it feel? Was that a question? She shouldn't wonder.

"no… not… no…"

Red-stained white. That's all she saw, her whole world. A blank space riddled with the crimson of others. They left her alone, as it should be. They were cold, but she was colder. She let go of the warmth to be stronger, to matter. To keep standing.

She didn't even know them. She couldn't care.

She shouldn't care.

"Not… No…?"

Her paw reached out to the expanse and the bodies leaving her alone. A hollow gasp escaped her tense chest. It all trembled.

Even if it wasn't allowed, she wanted them, she wanted warmth. It didn't matter anymore. She wanted it to matter. She wanted to matter.

"No… Not… No…!"

She was still weak.

---

"Note! Hey, Note? Is something wrong?"

Note turned to the voice calling her and found Aster waving his arms next to her. His worry-filled face softened with a sigh at her notice, but Note glanced back to what she was originally looking at. She had been staring at a prim white dress with rose patterns woven all over in the front display of a clothing shop. Its colors were mesmerizing, but now her attention was drawn to her dim reflection—a messily short-maned Zoroark staring back with wide eyes. Something had startled her, whether it was her own face, the dress, or something far from her emotional understanding. Nevertheless, her wondering only drew her attention upwards at the eye-catching new GAD hat she was wearing, a particularly dumb one at that.

And with that, the shock turned into plain disappointment in her flat expression. The new hat was an icy silver, like a Calyrex's fur, and the embroidery was less gaudy than the past design. But… it was just a hat, and a mandatory one. Even if she liked it, there really wasn't much to dig into there.

"Are you okay, Note?" Aster leaned in close. "You spaced out pretty hard there. Everyone's moved on."

"Yeah… Yeah, probably," Note answered. Though dishonest, she yawned and rubbed her eyes as she turned to Aster. "Probably just tired from staying up late yesterday; those entry guards were seriously annoying."

"Getting up extra early for Charon probably didn't help either," Aster chuckled.

"Don't remind me." Note rolled her eyes at that. She had it the worst by sleeping late, but Charon visiting way too early to give them the new hats was a real punch in the gut. She yawned again as she dragged her body back to follow Aster and her distant coworkers. The Scrafty came up beside her, twiddling his claws like he was still stuck on something, but a lazy glance from Note made him jolt a bit. "Gotta ask, are you okay?"

"O-Oh, I'm just worried about you, is all. Never saw you freeze like that before, much less stare at a dress…" Still holding his gloved claws close, he gave a glance back to the shop. "I mean, it was a pretty dress. I've seen Coral get stuck looking at them too. Did you want it?"

Note tipped her head to the side and hummed. Had she been staring at it that long? Why? Agh, it didn't really matter. "Nah, I don't really get clothes. It's just cloth and textiles covering you. Doesn't seem like it'd be useful in any way."

"That's not true, they make you look good!" Aster stepped in front of her and slid his claws down his sides to pull on his new red suspenders with a big toothy smile. "Look at me! I had Charon make these bad boys to celebrate me coming out to you guys! They're simple, but I feel great with them, and I bet you'll feel great too with something of your own!"

Note stifled a chuckle at Aster boasting about getting suspenders. They really were just for aesthetics, since his loose scales were already somehow grafted onto his chuckle just turned into a smirk as Aster spun and dashed off to the rest of GAD who were near and had stopped to wait, and all the while he still held and played with his suspenders. Note's companions all waved back at noticing her close by, seemingly happy to have her back at their side.

It was ridiculous, though she was aware of her own smirk. She couldn't deny how happy Aster, or even Coral, got when wearing nice clothes or looking better in general. If they got that cheerful from something so simple as clothes or her presence… Maybe she was missing something there.

Before long, Note rejoined everyone, behind and watching them all talk to each other. It was a familiar situation, and she wondered why they seemingly wanted her around when she was usually distant. Though, there was no point in wondering about any of that. She had no active choice in the matter, so it was better to hope, follow along, and minimize any trouble— even if her presence only drew them more stigma.

Though, her constant impulsive thinking probably wasn't any better than her lack of participation. It was something she had been trying to improve, but independent thoughts were still hard to balance for how recent they were to her. It only meant she was still an incomplete person compared to them all. Maybe that's what she needed to accept to get rid of the intrusive worries.

Thankfully, being around these people meant enough conversation to distract her from those worries.

"Man, I still can't get over how nice these hats are!" Hope almost shouted as they all turned a corner of the streets. "You were right, Coral! Charon really is good!" The sentiment seemed to be shared by everyone else, but not so much by Note. Charon tailored each hat to everyone, so they were at least comfortably fitting. Some like Blight and Iki's hats were hollowed out in the middle and snapped to connect at the back to account for their heads. Coral said they looked like "stereotypical accountant visors" so… Who knew, really.

"That'll show that Leavanny and Sylveon that we can't be messed with!" Ayza cheered while hopping around the group.

Aster shrugged while grimacing. "I'm pretty sure people will still try, though. After all, we're on our way to the guild right now. They're the people that probably dislike us the most…"

"Aww, don't be so down. Atlas and Team Honor have us covered if anything happens, heh…" Hope said with a big smile, though he then glanced away and whispered to himself what only Note's deft ears could catch. "Gods, I hope so…"

Ah yes, the Reefly City Guild. Note grinned to herself. It would've been her new home had Aster not kicked her in the street. In retrospect, it was a stretch that they'd allow her to join, so she supposed GAD was probably for the best. Less people to deal with daily, and a free possessed house were neat bonuses too.

Note let out a small sigh as she glanced up to the blue sky and warm sun above. She supposed she was lucky to be here, lucky to have been fearfully stuck in front of the Kecleon shop back then. Did she deserve that kind of luck? It wasn't like many got a chance like she did. Fought enough for a normal life, and here she was…

"Ooh, guys, look at that!"

"Ohh, yes, yes!"

Lost in thought again, Note bumped into Iki at the back of the group, the Cramorant squawking and turning. Note recognized his expression and lightly held his beak shut before he could start apologizing for the rest of the day. The poor guy was doing better today, but he still seemed spooked by yesterday's event, especially around Note, almost like he was looking for any way to please and make her happy. She didn't mind the special treatment in breakfast, but she wasn't gonna let yesterday repeat itself. He deserved better than that.

"Don't apologize, it's my fault I wasn't looking," Note said as she let go of his beak. She flashed a grin for extra reassurance.

Iki stared at her with those big worried eyes of his while his beak hung open. It took a moment before he shut his beak, shook his head, and then nodded. His worry never left his face, even as he joined everyone else. He looked like a child barely keeping in a secret he wanted to blurt out.

Note's own worry grew, but it was sidelined in favor of staring with the rest at what made them stop. Aster and Ayza were at the front, both pointing and hyping up a poster plastered on the side of a building. The giant Dragonite head of the guild was just in sight, so the poster had better been worth stopping for.

The advertisement was mildly interesting, on account of it seeming to announce some kind of battle. The top-half illustrations of the two participants were the real draw. One side had a confident Felix the Grovyle, ready for battle as he held his goggles with a grin. On the other was a Zangoose who looked deathly serious, glaring at the former human and holding one claw up. The Zangoose had a neckerchief that held some kind of necklaced orb in the middle. The weird part about them, though, was the large tuft of fur on the top of their head, their less stockier than normal build, and their four claws instead of the usual two. Probably a hybrid of some kind.

"What… is this?" Coral asked.

"I-It's an official match between two Pokémon," Iki answered with a slight rattle in his voice as he un-subtly stepped up and away from Note. He narrowed his eyes to read the small script on the poster. "Hmm…"

"The exciting rematch you've been waiting for! Felix the Fearless Hero versus Rhythm the Ruthless Monster! Come to the Shadow Dojo next Saturday to see who will win in the continuation of their roaring rivalry!"

… Huh. So that human really was some kind of celebrity here. It was enough reason for Note's dislike of him to grow ever so slightly more.

"Oh, we have to go see that!" Aster jumped in excitement, but Blight tilted their large head.

"I knew Pokemon fought for fun, but this spectacle seems like a bit much." Their mouth pursed alongside their eyes. "Why spend money to see people beat each other up when it might end in minutes?"

Aster scoffed, and Ayza copied him with a face twisted in exaggerated offense. The excitable ones seemed to be especially in sync today. "Because these fights are legendary, and Rhythm is incredible! She's one of the only Pokémon who can beat Felix in all-out combat! Imagine that, being strong enough to fight a human, and to have a perfect streak of beating him too!" Aster threw quick punches to the air to illustrate his point, which only fired up Ayza as her frills fanned out at the sight.

"I kinda beat him…" Coral mumbled with rolling eyes directed at the ground.

"On a very forgiving condition set by yours truly," Hope added with a bow and a smirk that earned a glare from Coral. The prince shrugged and eyed the poster again with a pursed mouth. "Still, these events get pretty hectic and crowded. I love 'em, but I'd prefer Dad not chewing me out again if I could."

Note gave him a side glance, furrowing her brow at his unusual less-than-ecstatic demeanor. Her, the Zoroark, standing here with him was proof enough of Hope not caring about what his father said, or at least still persevered in spite of it—why would he let that stop him now of all times? Did something happen? Maybe a joke could cheer him up.

"Come on, come on," Ayza cut in, "we HAVE to see it—we just gotta! Indulge in the local culture~" Ayza twirled before facing everyone else, wearing a wide smile as she clasped her claws together. Aster joined her side, copying the same expression. "Who else is with us? It'll be fun!"

Everyone else glanced between themselves, faces unimpressed.

"I'm not that interested," Iki started.

"I've got prince stuff, so can't," Hope continued.

"I've got princess stuff, so can't," Note finished.

Hope shot Note a raised brow, but she just grinned.

Ayza's head darted towards her teammates with a loud and pleading whimper. They exchanged weary looks and sighed. "… I didn't want to see Felix again, but I guess we can go—" Coral's whisper was cut by Ayza giving them both a diving hug that almost toppled them.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" she cheered as she shook her partners around.

By the end, Blight was giggling at the energy, but Coral heaved as he turned to the poster again. He grimaced at the Grovyle. "Still… Felix has some kind of rival, and their fight is some huge public event? I guess that's not too different from back home…"

Aster leaned in close to whisper with a pitch in his voice. "Humans like fighting?"

Coral chuckled. "Oh, they do, mostly for show. But it's more punching and kicking, and less…" He waved his hands around like he was trying to shape something nebulous. "Well, all the stuff that Pokémon can do. It feels like a bigger deal here, a whole lot more dramatic."

"Dramatic is an understatement, wait until you actually get there," Iki said as they continued and finally rounded the corner into the guild proper.

It stood tall as a sort of second centerpiece of the city, surrounded by a bustling plaza full of badge-clad guild members mixed with the general populace passing through or doing business. Each went about their day through talking, eating, or even the occasional haggling with street merchants. At the center of it all stood the real focus with no real way of ignoring it.

The Reefly City Guild, decorated in all its obnoxious Dragonite glory, was a large building mostly covered by the giant tarp modeled after Atlas, so it was hard to actually see anything about the structure itself. The only notable parts were the side buildings of significantly less grand appeal and the horn on the head of the tarp, the tip of it opening to reveal a large bell tower from within that stretched upwards to top the whole building off. The tarp itself was a big, dopey Dragonite head, with a smiling entrance that was equally inviting as it was harrowing.

"This looks… worse than I thought," Blight mumbled through Ayza's audible euphoria.

Sure can agree there, Note thought with a low huff. Just seeing it close now made her regret her original goal if it meant living somewhere so… pronounced.

Hope floated to the front of them and put on his prince voice. "Now, let us make our way in for what you will be doing this week. Don't mind the stares, of course." Just the reminder of the attention tensed most of their chests, but that didn't stop them from finishing their light journey into the guild. At some point, they should've just gotten used to it, Note sure had.

After crossing the gaping entrance, they found themselves in the center room of the guild. It was a large space with plenty of room to laze and sleep on its soft and earthy floor, if it wasn't begrudgingly filled by guild members planning work, receiving pay, or just talking amongst each other. The active scene was welcoming in a way, like they had stumbled into a tight-knit community just going about their day; and the guild itself reflected that, with its walls having multiple busy hallways leading to other parts of the guild and being lined above by railed wooden walkways on the upper levels connecting their halls on either side. Open, but connected on all fronts, it seemed like a home of sorts, and one Note missed out on.

Though, she would've been more comforted by the sight if it wasn't for the reminders that, yes, this was still a workplace, unlike Rune was. The key detractors were the two raised bulletin boards in the center standing apart from each other and facing the entrance, with one being clamored over by guild members on all sides inspecting and swiping job notices, and the other getting only a few stares with its comparably much lesser amount of notices. Past them on the far wall was a concierge desk built into the structure and manned by both kinds of Meowstic, each attending fervent guild members with job offers in hand. Seeing that wasn't as welcoming as the design of the guild made it out to be. Home or not, people were here to get paid, not relax with friends.

"Wow… It's everything I've dreamed of…" Ayza gawked with dilated eyes and twitching frills.

"Welcome to the Reefly City Guild, your second place of focus while working within GAD," Hope announced and extended his paws. "Every other week you will be alternating from here and the lighthouse, got it? Quite nice, no?"

They nodded, more focused on their surroundings. By now the guild had quieted somewhat at their arrival, though whispers were still in the air. She did notice one positive reaction by the bright flame that came from his tail. Newt the Charmeleon was staring at the full board from afar, but now he was sauntering over with a big smile, ignorant of the rest of the guild.

"Oh gosh, hi guys! How're ya doing?" Newt asked as he got close and looked over all of them with an innocent curiosity while he conversed, as if he knew them intimately. The guild continued on its energetic business at seeing one of their esteemed heroes be so close to GAD. Note assumed they just didn't want to get on his or Hope's bad side.

Note tuned back into the conversation once Newt got to her, offering a simple handshake with that same bright smile and waving flame-tail. She could only respond with a light grin at his overwhelming forwardness. After that, he stepped back and pointed to Coral with a wink. "Good to see y'all are well, but Coral here is shining! I love your new bowtie!"

The Drizzile fiddled with his cursed apparel and looked away. "A-Ah, thanks…"

He really does melt with any compliment, Note thought with a smirk.

Coral dismissed his embarrassment by sighing and focusing back on Newt. "It's nice to see you again, but uh… Where's Felix? Isn't he usually with you?"

"Ah, nah, I'm just going ahead and looking at what we can do today besides training while he's having breakfast. Some brief time to myself, is all."

Note gave a low grumble at the thought of nice and easy breakfast without any interruptions to walk through the city to get to work. Felix really was a privileged human, damned relaxed breakfast-eater. If it meant losing out on good food, she could agree with Agaya's view on humans, even if it was petty.

Newt waved away the topic with a chuckle. "Anywho, what're y'all doing here and how can I help? Newest part of the guild finally coming to our home's a big deal!"

Hope floated in front, still using his royal voice. "We're here to talk with Guildmaster Atlas so they could get started with the guild requests. Is he available?"

The Charmeleon's tail swayed with his head as he looked over to a close right hall where a plush purple door with the guild's badge emblazoned on it stood in all its gaudy majesty. "Ah, yeah, he's just in his office. I can call him, wait here!" He sauntered over and casually opened the door before entering. It almost bothered Note how free he seemed here, uncaring of any authority.

After about a minute of waiting in the judgmental hall, Newt came out with the familiar Dragonite keeping up with him, wearing small glasses this time. Thankfully, he wasn't as haunting as the tarp just on top of them. Hope directed them to meet Atlas halfway while Newt ran off, shouting that he'd "find Felix and get everyone back together."

"Hello, good to see you're all okay!" Atlas said with a smile and went to hug Hope, though the prince's image didn't properly connect. Separating, Atlas sighed and his shoulders bunched up. "I heard what happened with Nova, but it's a relief to see you all doing well. I didn't need all of you in danger while I couldn't do anything."

"Rest assured," Hope said, "The situation was resolved as well as it could have been, and we are all the better for it, some of us more than others." He chuckled and pointed back to Aster, who just whimpered at becoming the focus for a moment.

Atlas nodded at the newer Scrafty. "Well, it seems like you've all had an eventful week, hopefully I don't pile on too much stress, haha…" He gave a quick laugh nobody shared before clearing his throat and looking to the boards past them, putting on a weary smile. "E-Either way, we should get you all situated. Follow me!"

He went off with heavy steps, though Note inferred from his stilted stride and quick blinking that he was tired as hell. She had seen it too clearly with Iki. The Dragonite was a tightly wound spring holding himself back from releasing and collapsing. He didn't seem to have an assistant, which likely meant he had the sole privilege of watching over and directing the whole guild. Maybe he was sleeping in his office just before Newt called him? There was a fake vigor to him, so maybe he was used to a routine of napping whenever and being awoken for whatever. All that to hide thinly-veiled exhaustion.

Note huffed as she followed along. She was finding that people tried too hard to hide their faults. Though, she couldn't exactly criticize those people either, not without her new conscience shaming her for the obvious hypocrisy.

They arrived at the boards, thankfully directing themselves to the less crowded one. Despite Atlas talking, Note's attention was immediatelydrawn to the top request of the other board, ignored even through all the clamoring. It was a high-class bounty with a picturesque scene of a snarling and grinning Zoroark with a raised claw prowling in the shadows. They held an especially gaunt frame, and multiple jade beads lined their mane, like sick ornaments and trophies. Inscribed at the bottom was the dramatic title of 'Dizmel, The Dancing Death.'

Good old Dizmel. A notorious assassin who was almost myth by now, known for collecting Zoroark beads from those who crossed them. Not to mention the trail of bodies left in their wake, with a distinct claw marking engraved near them—their pride for all to see and fear. There were little to no notes on their actual behavior, only their mark and sightings, so the evil grin was an artistic touch oozing prejudice. The whole identity of Dizmel was played up by guilds and bounties, both as an attractive draw for someone with an all-too-common hero complex, and a simple way to divide Zoroark from the good-natured everyone else. Who Dizmel was—who any Zoroark was—never mattered. The standard was set a long time ago.

Note, however, knew thatDizmel was an especially detestable person. Her stomach churned at the drawing alone. It wasn't like a Zororark assassin was surprising, but an indiscriminate killer like them was sickening. What good was a life that just snuffed out others? No doubt it was an especially lonely life. Either way, the general hatred against Dizmel was all projection, a focus for distrust of Zoroark in general, even if they had been inactive for over five years. Note held a real disdain for them, though—after all, she knew them better than anyone else could have.

Her claws flexed, a snarl rising from her chest. She looked over to Atlas at the board in front, distracting herself by tuning in to his explanation. She had already missed part of his explanation, but she appreciated the boredom grounding her somewhat.

"—Be focusing on this side, so don't mind the other one. Here you'll find leftover general requests. You know, rescues, exploration, investigations, all that good stuff. But you six will be doing something else…" Atlas grabbed the edge of the board. With a gutsy laugh, he spun it until the backside came in front, a mess of papers plastered on top of each other appearing. A few of the members of GAD yelped in surprise at Atlas' force, but two smaller, yet louder voices joined in. Even Atlas looked startled at the noise.

"C-Careful! We're still looking!" a young and exasperated voice called out. Stepping from behind the board was a weary Ledian with a simple bandana and neckerchief clothing. As they placed their hands on the hinges of the board, Note could see black star prints on the back of each, oddly enough. Trailing behind was a Sliggoo wearing a zig-zag patterned scarf with orange on top and yellow below, folded and tucked into itself to not slip off their viscous body. Green spots speckled their sides, and their eyes were shaped almost like soft tears, not too dissimilar from Blight's own. The two looked particularly young, but their badge-emblazoned bags still denoted them as part of this prestigious place. They must have had some merit to be here, at least.

"Guildmaster, this isn't the first time…" The Sliggoo spoke in a wobbly voice that felt more like on the verge of crying at any point. "We're not as big as most, but please don't forget about us."

"Are you two okay?!" Atlas asked. He knelt down to check the Ledian for any injuries. He almost looked like a doting mother, another thing Note already learned and recognized from Iki. "The board didn't hit you too hard, did it?"

The Ledian looked stunned at the large dragon looming over, but they shook their head. "N-No, we're fine… Though I'd rather not have that or another door hit my head again." As Atlas was already stammering to apologize, the Ledian's antennae twitched. They glanced to the side and finally noticed the odd gaggle that was GAD staring at them, prince included. The Sliggoo noticed as well, and though they whimpered, all the Ledian did was raise two hands to their chest. "O-Oh, wow."

A few of them offered cursory waves, but Note was more distracted by Atlas' head darting between the two groups. He gave another jittery laugh. "A-Ah, well good timing, you two, haha! GAD, meet our newest recruits, Team Starry Smiles. They actually joined us the same day GAD was formed, so you're all fellow guildmates!"

"The same day…?" Ayza echoed with a slight smile as the Ledian and Sliggoo waved back awkwardly. Note almost chuckled at the idea of being guildmates. Team Rogue would be plenty close to Team Starry Smiles had she not been conveniently in kicking range from a wandering Aster. Then again, many things would be different had that not happened, for better or worse. For now, though, it meant a lucky—if uncomfortable and forceful—meeting with colleagues and an overcompensating guildmaster.

"I'm Kiho," the Ledian said, trying to smile, "it's, uh, nice to meet you all."

The Sliggoo wobbled as they shrunk backwards. "A-And I'm Algamade… But just call me Al, it's easier." Kiho pulled Al close with two arms, their attempt at a smile growing. It did make Al soften and less tense, but only until Atlas spoke up again.

"We're pretty lucky you two were here, actually; you can help our guests. See, Kiho and Al here not only joined as you all did, but they've also been specializing in what you'll be doing as well!" He pointed to the board. "These are the city requests, all submitted from the Reefly people. You'll find all sorts of stuff here, from helping in the docks to even assisting someone reorganizing their home. People ask for anything here, so like Prince Hope said, you'll be helping the people of the city directly."

"Why are there so many?" Iki asked.

"I think Kiho and Al can explain that," Atlas said with a wink towards the weary guildmates. They looked uncomfortable as it is, Note almost pitied them for being put on the spot.

"A-Ah, well… They're just not very popular from what I can tell." Kiho put three hands on their side, and one pointing at the requests. "They usually don't pay as much and they're not what the guild is known for. Some of it feels like stuff even the person themself can do, but they still call on us to do it for them."

Kiho pursed their mouth. "I don't think people feel much incentive to go for them."

They lack the fame and fortune, is what you wanna say, Note thought. It was obvious enough. Helping someone clean their house didn't carry the same spectacle as discovering a dungeon or busting an outlaw. People idolized the guild for a reason, and these requests were nobody's dream.

Note frowned. "So, we're picking up your slack."

Atlas' smile fell for a moment but it returned just as fast. "Kind of, but it's still a good cause! As the prince said, the public has been ignored far too often, and that's where you all come in. These requests might be ignored, but they're no less important. Whatever the people need, we should be there to help."

"Sounds like overdependence…" Coral muttered with a side eye. Atlas could only respond with more weary laughs.

"Anyways," Hope said and turned to the rookie team with a smile, "I assume your team chose to start with these requests since you are still quite new?"

Kiho—the apparent face of the team as Note was picking up now with Al behind them—froze a bit at being spoken to by a prince. Still, they relented with a sigh, rubbing the back of their head. "Actually, uh… We're just not very suited for usual guild work, I guess. We're not as fast or strong as lots of people here, probably even you all. We don't really measure up to anyone or what's required."

"I still like it, though," Al said, coming up beside Kiho and bumping them with her shell. "We're not good explorers or bounty hunters, but I'm happy knowing I can still do things here, even if they're small. We've even been helping in the medical ward in between jobs, and we've learned a lot. " Her body bobbed with how happy she looked saying that. "It's really nice. I don't regret coming here."

Now it was Kiho's turn to smile at Al's words. They beamed at Hope, puffing their chest out and putting all four hands on their hip. "You know what? She's right, as usual. We still have our place here, and damn if we don't deserve it."

Hope leaned in. His growing grin was similar to his real self. "Oh, I love that rebounding confidence; you two sound pretty cool in my book! Gotta prove everyone wrong, right?" His real, scrappy voice came through for once, much to the confusion of the rookies and Atlas' instant worry. Most of GAD just stared at the prince incredulously.

Note cleared her throat. It made Hope glance back before realizing the situation and righting his posture, face, and voice. "Hm, yes, yes, right. Well, as any guildmate under Guildmaster Atlas'... uh, tutelage, yes, I expect you two to grow favorably to these surroundings—wait, no. Circumstances, yes, that's better. Certainly." He finished with a smile that was a bit too wide for royal poshness.

Atlas looked downright horrified at Hope slipping up so much, but Kiho and Al were even more bewildered.

It almost made Note laugh at how just a slight show of rebellious confidence made Hope's real self peek through. It was a fun blunder, but she couldn't even blame Hope. She supposed there could be something inspiring in seeing two absolute rookies stand their ground. Despite their perceived weakness, that was something only strong people did. That was something she couldn't do.

Atlas stammered to keep the sinking ship of a conversation afloat. "W-Well, we all learned quite a bit, didn't we? Now, we really should be getting you all situated with this work. If you all could direct yourselves to the board—"

"Hold it right there!" A gruff voice shouted through the bustling guild.

Note already sighed at the prospect of trouble and absorbing more information.

Turning to see their newest problem of the day, a Golisopod and a Cacturne stood at the front of one of the halls. They had an armband and scarf respectively with intricate badges—the same kind Newt and Felix wore. They walked through the paused crowd, who whispered at their arrival. The Cacturne more awkwardly shuffled close behind their partner, but the Golisopod really dug into the attention they garnered if their heavy, swagger-filled stride said anything. Note wondered if they had been nearby for a while, waiting for the perfect timing to interrupt the meeting.

They came close to Atlas and the rookies standing in between, and the Golispod only chuckled as they looked down at the dwarfed Kiho and Al.

"Run along, you two, the adults are talking," the Golisopod said. They waved their large, guarded arm and pushed the rookies into stumbling away. It wasn't a hard shove, but they didn't compare to the Golisopod's size and strength and slid back easily and forcefully. Their yelps and the ensuing laugh at their expense made Atlas glare at his subordinate. Note's own claws flexed at the sight.

"Kymot, that's crossing a line," Atlas said. "We don't hurt our guildmates."

"Ah, don't mind that, Guildmaster, they're just rookies. You gotta pay attention to the real deal here!" Kymot swatted Atlas' warning away as he passed the Dragonite. Why Atlas didn't really intervene was beyond Note, but the more pressing matter was Kymot arriving in front of her and towering over the rest of GAD.

Ah, here we go again.

"We've got a problem with you, Zoroark…" the Golisopod leaned in with narrowed eyes. Forced to get a closer look, Kymot seemed like a typical member of their species, if a bit more battle-worn than usual. Thick, but gashed, plating all over, piercing eyes, and enough claws to shred someone with a twisted embrace. It wasn't anything particularly distinctive, but it was no less imposing to any normal person.

The Cacturne behind wasn't as scarred, but the usual hat they wore was tattered in places and had bits of pink on the edges of those tears, some fresher than others. Their bent and shivering form meant they weren't much of a concern, so Note glanced to Kiho and Al instead, who were picking each other up and glaring back at the team that just arrived. Her claw twitched again, like a spastic muscle.

"Hey, eyes over here!" Kymot said, leaning closer. Note settled her attention back on the Golisopod, but more so on the claws on their abdomen idly curling in and out. Every inch of him screamed a threat. "You really think you can just waltz into our guild? Our home?"

Note just raised a brow. She supposed it was high time she met someone with an inexplicable grudge that wasn't afraid of actually talking to her. It wasn't any less annoying than the usual stares, though.

"Team Vice, what are you doing?" Atlas asked with a sigh. "You guys are better than this. Especially you, Mekoro, don't be a bully."

The Cacturne whimpered. "A-Ah, that was Kymot's idea… We just wanna protect the city is all…"

"Did you need to push around your colleagues for it?" Atlas crossed his arms. Mekoro curled further inwards at the disappointment, but Kymot was more indignant about it.

"Guildmaster, that doesn't matter, look in front of you for once!" Kymot said, pointing to Note and then back to the Dragonite. "I don't care what the prince or king say about it, letting a Zoroark in here is crazy!"

"She's our colleague," Atlas grumbled. Him and Kymot kept exchanging pointless arguing for a bit. Note sighed at the situation. It was boring enough to make her eyes drift upwards, finding one of the walkways with people staring down at the encounter. In that crowd, though, was Newt again, but with Felix beside him now. Newt looked worried, but Felix seemed more focused on the side, Note tracking his stare to where Coral was. Guildmembers were apparently stupidly persistent in their suspicions.

She glanced back at the worried members of GAD and lightly waved to make them feel better. Were they really worried for her because of a petty guy? It really wasn't a big deal. The only reason she hadn't spoken against Kymot was because it'd likely cause problems for everyone else. It was all needless drama, and she was almost glad they weren't stepping in much either. Even if they wore the same badges, it always felt more like they were just guests to the guild, and speaking up like that would be unbecoming, or whatever. She imagined Kiho and Al wouldn't have that problem, ordinarily. She wasn't like them.

"Bah, we're wasting air here!" Kymot finished the argument and left Atlas more exhausted than ever as he twisted back to Note. "I dunno about your appearance, but a Zoroark is still a threat, no matter what they look like. I can't just let you walk around here like you're one of us. So…"

Kymot stepped back and lodged his badge between his thick claws. He flashed it to Note, wearing a thin smile all the while. "I, Kymot, challenge you to an official battle! Winner has the other do whatever they want, even leaving the guild!"

Hushed gasps and murmurs echoed through the guild. They really were enjoying the grilling of someone they didn't trust, huh? Note, however, took a few seconds to realize that she was finally allowed to speak. A fight, though? What a musclehead.

"Nah, I don't want to."

Kymot's multiple claws lowered, almost deflated. The same happened for the expectant crowd. Did the guild usually resolve conflicts by fighting, or did they just want to see a Zoroark get beaten up?

As Note rolled her eyes, Hope floated in front of her, obscuring Kymot. His brow furrowed, continually betraying his princely image. "Hey, hey, why aren't you accepting?" he whispered.

"Because I don't care," Note said. "I don't even know the guy; seems like a brute, though."

"You're probably right, and that's fair… But this is a nice chance, don't you think?" His usual grin returned as he leaned closer. "If you win, you can tell him to just bug off or even do something embarrassing. Plus, he's the leader of one of the top teams of the guild-beating him could make us look stronger, right? People won't mess with us as much then."

"Would that really matter?" she asked.

"Obviously. You're really strong, right? Then go ahead, prove that people can't just have their way with us."

Note's claw twitched. Stronger, leave us alone… There wasn't any chance to even talk. Nobody was interested in that. It was just a command to prove power, to win and stand at the top. That wasn't too surprising.

Hope nodded back to Kymot. "So, you think you can beat one of the strongest people in the guild?"

She peeked past him, studying the Golisopod from top to bottom. He was tapping his small foot and had lost his bravado from the silent waiting. "I'd say even you could beat him."

"I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment, but I'll run with it. Copy his declaration and the match will be on. Let's go, I know you'll win," Hope said. He twisted to the side and tried to push her forwards but ended up pushing himself backwards instead.

With all eyes on her, Note was left standing alone. The guild wanted her to fight and lose, though she was partially sure Atlas and Team Starry Smiles wanted Kymot to go down for his own insolence. She glanced back at GAD to see their own mix of reactions. Some, like Coral, Blight, Aster, and especially Iki looked wary about the whole situation, while Ayza and Hope seemed ever excited to see her fight. The worry was touching, if only because she didn't want to see it. She wanted to see them smile, she wanted to be eating good food and resting with them like yesterday. She wanted anything but this mindless conflict.

But what she wanted didn't matter. Weapons didn't want, they just did as told.

A sigh escaped her as she scratched beneath her thick chest fur, touching the cracked, scarred skin for a moment. She didn't linger on the feeling as she turned to Kymot. She took off her GAD visor and presented it in front. The sight of the token badge made her foe brighten up, and, curiously, Mekoro only shook his head. For once, she agreed.

"I, the Zoroark, accept your challenge."

---

Note could agree with Coral on this, people really made a spectacle out of a single fight. An "official match," as it were, was a small guild rule that said any grievances or conflict could be settled through a fight. The Guildmaster couldn't even intervene unless someone was in actual danger. Everyone was left to their own matters and grudges—a willing trial of survival and predation, maybe—which led to this. She wondered if this was the first of many fights, or if Hope was right in that her victory would intimidate others into not trying.

For now, though, she was a part of this spectacle where a strong and heroic guild member would take down the evil individual in their midst. There stood Note, on the dirt arena in the back of the guild, with Kymot on the other side of the large field. It was enclosed by a massive tarp with luminous orbs lining each crease of the roof. The sizable arena had plenty of stands by the side for spectators, all of which were staring intently at her. At least a few of them were in support.

Her GAD companions sat clustered between the multiple guild members that suddenly had time to blow off for watching a fight. They were mostly dealing with the cramped crowd, though Iki was doing nothing but worrying about her. Conversely, Ayza was shouting all kinds of cheers. Hope would probably join her, but keeping his image left him staring in fake serenity. Behind them were Kiho and Al, even more cramped between everyone, and Felix and Newt stood towards one of the exits, watching in private.

All eyes really were on her. It tensed her chest more than she'd ever dare to admit.

Without introduction, an Exploud stepped into the center and pumped his fist to the air. "ALRIGHT, ARE YOU REAAADY!" they screamed, everyone following along.

As annoying as it was, it did tear Note's attention away from the stares. She appreciated that and Atlas landing in the arena and guiding out the Exploud with a sigh.

"We don't need that much screaming…" Atlas said as the Exploud left with a massive pout. The guildmaster returned to the center and raised an arm to silence the crowd. "Alright, guildmates, you know the rules. No killing, no serious injuries, no ulterior motives. First one to faint loses," he announced while glancing at Kymot and Note.

"Ready to know your place, Zoroark?" Kymot sneered.

Note just blinked. She thought to counter with her name, but there was no point to. Demeaning as it was, it at least made him groan in annoyance.

Kymot waved his small claws in dismissal and scraped his larger claws against each other. A nasty grating sound rang from them. Normally it was an imposing act, but Note was already expecting it. Golisopod weren't a subtle species. They were hulking fortresses, and lacked much versatility in their offensive potential, stupidly strong though it was. That and their one-trick burst of speed they usually did before exerting their legs was enough to end most fights quickly. If that didn't work, they'd hunker down in their armor and wait for an opening to strike. Ranged offense was ideal against them, which unfortunately meant Note was in for a tougher time thanks to her own restraint.

There was a clear path to victory, though. Golisopod held an image of unstoppable force, and Kymot seemingly was no different. That visage of pure power was completely true, but that infallible guarded exterior was a lie. Images were as powerful as they were deceitful. They were illusions, and nobody needed a bead to project one. It meant instilling a favorable disposition onto others so that one could control their perception. But here, control was only needed to fix what wasn't in one's favor. It always concealed something that shouldn't be seen, something desperately hidden to feign power. It hid a weakness.

She, too, was no different.

Note scratched her short mane with a sigh. Fight preparation always got her thinking too much. Whether it was careful analysis or worrying of what could kill her—and maybe it was both—it was no less a headache. She'd pray for some good food from Iki and a chance to rest right about now. Sadly, that wasn't what was needed of the Zoroark.

"Are you two ready?" Atlas asked. They nodded, but Kymot's thin grin was dripping with the guildmaster stepped away from the center, Kymot shifted his weight back to one small foot. It was a small act, but Note's singular focus on him made it clear- he was aiming to finish her in one go with that burst of speed. She figured he'd go for the most flair anyways. To prepare, she widened her own stance and hunched slightly forwards, tensing her legs to react quickly.

Her chest tensed to the point of shivering. It was odd, she knew the tightness in her heart was anxiousness over the fight. Worries darted through her mind, all about losing and disappointing her companions, going too far, making things worse for everyone. It was nonsensical to think and feel all that about a simple fight. All that was needed were her claws, her body to take down another body. Nothing else but the objective mattered here, not even her own thoughts.

She caught a glimpse of her companions, who were cheering for her amidst the uproar making her eardrums throb. It made no sense. She was just doing this for them, but that sounded personal. She was anything but that at the moment. So why was she even here? Why was she worried over a fight seconds before starting? Why was she thinking so much?

"One!" Atlas shouted and spread his wings. Note's ears flicked at almost missing the countdown. Cheering grew all around her, drowning out her companions' support. She snapped back to Kymot's body leaning forwards, ready to strike. All she could do was tighten her stance before the noises around her climaxed.

"Fight!" Atlas took off upwards. A boom rang out, and through the sand Atlas kicked up flashed a glinting claw. Note leaned to the side, but was too late, as Kymot's claw already connected with her forehead. It only grazed her, but the sheer force was enough to throw her body out of sorts. She saw blood in the air, and Kymot's smile in between. She had been too careless, too caught up in her own thoughts, and was now forced to fall to the side.

But she caught herself, smashing her back foot onto the harsh ground. She raised her body back to move forwards, ignoring the jolt it sent through her spine. The pain didn't matter, not when her target was right in front of her. She forced her body to shift the balance and momentum forwards, carrying her claw from behind.

The arena's sounds were left in a void. All she focused on was her target.

Kymot only managed to glance down as Note's claws dug into her palm, balling into a tight fist. Wind blew past her as she drove her fist into the Golisopod's unguarded underside. The blow pushed deep into Kymot, and his body curled inwards; though whether it was from momentum or recoil didn't matter. Note pushed her hook further, and then swung to send Kymot skidding backwards. He stumbled and wheezed, his smaller claws grasping at the air for any solution. A slight imprint of her fist was left on him.

Note stood upright again, exhaling a long breath. It was supposed to relieve her chest, but she only rattled further. She shook her claw free of the tense fist; the adrenaline and tension releasing all over used to feel good. It was a sign of victory, and victory meant surviving another day. As she watched Kymot crumple and fall with a heavy thud, however, her eyes only dimmed. Now, victory just meant exhaustion.

Atlas hadn't even reached the top of his flight before having to land again, struck with a dumbfounded face as he looked over Kymot. For all his worry, it would realistically be fine. She just precisely struck his unguarded side, shocking his body into what looked to all but her like a limp corpse, but was really just a momentary fainting.

After slow, tense seconds, just as Note expected, Kymot gasped and coughed as he snapped awake, his body's senses returning. With that, Atlas sighed and raised his arm. "Kymot fainted, so as per the rules…" He pointed back to Note, though he grimaced at seeing her.

"Note… is the winner!"

Note's senses also returned as whispers rang through the arena. It filled the air, and Note could hear all of it. Something in her chest bottomed out to a deep pit. Still panting, she stared forwards at Kymot, who was still trying to get up. He only succeeded in glaring at Note. The stabbing stare wasn't dissimilar to the rest of the arena; all eyes were on her, but this time was different. It wasn't unwarranted suspicion or bias—she had shown off the danger they all expected of her.

Her eyes drifted through the crowd, confirming her fears. Everyone blurred into a judgmental mass, all digging daggers into her from afar. She was only slightly snapped out of it as something wet and cold dripped onto her claws. She glanced down to see blood on her arm, seeping into her fur. It was cold—just like her forehead, she was now realizing. She dreaded remembering the cold. A chill rose from the pit in her stomach into her chest, sending out shallow breaths as she stepped back.

What did any of this accomplish? Why did she do this? To get the heat off her and her companions? It was stupidly idyllic. She should have just let Kymot hit her, lose the fight, let herself be thrown out. Then GAD would be free of the stigma she burdened them with. It'd be a waste after finding her first home, her first life, but it would be easier. It wouldn't bring this.

But she needed to calm down, stop feeling, keep it in. Stop her shivering body and be rational. She needed to leave and think. Be alone and free. That was what she deserved after all this. After everything, she was still weak.

The Zoroark gave one last glance through the arena, seeing some of the blurred figures with raised arms. She dreaded giving it more thought, so she stumbled into a run to the exit behind her. Between her shallow breaths, all she could hear was a shout from somewhere behind her. She recognized her name being called out, but she couldn't stay to find out who it was. Who even cared about her or her name?

What a waste.

---

At least the wind wasn't judgmental…

The Zoroark shifted her position on top of the guild's bell tower, letting her feet dangle in the air. After she climbed it to get away from the crowd, she was just relaxing as much as she could. The privacy and the easy breeze flowing through her mane were enough to relieve her chest. Leaving entirely or hiding in alleys would draw too much attention anyways, so scaling a tower was her only real, if ridiculous, choice.

It was a pretty sight, at least. The water surrounding the city glittered with the sun, and the city itself looked like an intricate maze from her position, interwoven by that same water. People walked about their day like their public enemy hadn't just exposed herself. It was a peaceful, if ignorant, view. They didn't know who she really was, they probably didn't know the people of GAD—hell, none of them even knew Coral was a human.

But they likely knew about the Zoroark in their midst, and suspicions grew from that. Maybe it was her own bias, but she could only see the people below as silently panicking. Whether it was daily troubles, having a Zoroark and a Poipole in the public eye, or even the lingering thought of eventual death from the current crisis… They walked on, haunted by worries.

Actually, it was anything but ignorant; though that likely was their wish deep down, to not think about all that.

She could sympathize with that. It sounded like an easy and free life, one she was bound to never have because of her body. But even staring at them from above… She supposed some would see them as insignificant, that their natural hatred towards her warranted her harboring hatred over them. Those thoughts hung at the back of everyone's minds, how to keep up simple views that let them turn worries into fonts of hatred. They didn't have to think or discern that way.

And she was realizing that, despite wanting it and it being new for her, thinking was really exhausting. Yet even alone and resting with her mind to herself, her thoughts kept drifting back to everyone else, and they never stopped even if she wanted to. Somehow, her thoughts still weren't truly hers, and recent events showed her body still wasn't either.

… There I go again, thinking too much. She gave a low sigh to herself and the air. Granted, she was still stuck on what to do now and drawing a frustrating blank. Only the sight of the city and the warmth of the sun soothed her.

"What to do, what to do…" she mumbled. She kept staring out to the busy city beneath her. In an ideal world, she'd simply sleep and wake up to everything being fine, maybe with good food nearby. But here, leaving was an option, and not too far off. She'd have to leave more in her dreadful wake again, but she couldn't be so careless and stay somewhere she wouldn't be safe in. The reality was that this city didn't want her. Maybe a silent and private life in the wild would be better…

She'd be free then. Nobody to hold her down or judge her. Nobody to look at her the wrong way. Nobody to laugh at her or with her. Nobody to worry for her. Nobody to eat food with.

Simply put, she'd be alone. Again.

"Would you like that…?" Her words weren't meant for anyone here, just the first to leave her. Or was she the one who left? Both were true, and both were her fault. Just like today. At least this time nobody ended up strung up.

"Are you talking to yourself?"

The Zoroark jerked at the scrappy voice, but the immediate recognition restrained her instinct to claw at the danger. Now she saw an all too familiar Calyrex floating beside the tower, staring at her with a furrowed brow and a half-crumpled GAD hat held in his paws. How did he even find her all the way up here? Frustratingly, the sight produced equal parts soothing and shivering within her chest; though, she thankfully managed to put on her usual flat face.

"Hey, Boss."

Hope grimaced. "Ew, don't 'Hey, Boss' me—actually, don't ever call me boss. That's weird." His form lit up like he usually moved, all frantic. "Wait wait, forget that! I'm here for you! What are you doing here? What the hell happened back there?"

Her eyes shifted down to avoid him. Her chest sank, cold and hollow again. "Is this a conversation? You really want to know?" Had she really just said that? Since when were her lips so loose?

The prince scoffed, though it sounded more confused than haughty. "Obviously! We all wanna know!" he exclaimed. Hope drifted closer until he sat next to her, letting his own legs dangle in the wind and setting the hat on the floor next to him. She instinctively scooted a bit away from him, only noticing it when Hope sighed.

"You all?" she asked.

"Yeah, me, GAD, even that rookie team! You had that awesome win, and we all cheered for you! But then you just looked at us all weird and ran. I even called for you in my real voice! Well, I really just got caught up in the moment and forgot, but still!"

Everything he said stung, but she was more concerned with figuring out what happened. "You cheered for me? Didn't you see it? Everyone just hated what they saw, they hated me."

Hope chuckled. "Well, not us. We were the odd ones out. But you should've celebrated with us! You won in such a cool way! You avoided that blow and struck back, all in one fell swoop! Aggh, you even got Ayza all crazy from excitement!"

Did they react like that? The whole crowd blurred after her win. Looking back, none of it made sense, but the idea that she lost that support within her panic didn't sit well. She glanced back to Hope, seeing the prince stare at her with his usual grin. It faded as he seemed to notice something on her, making his face squirm before straightening into a small smile. He raised a paw and asked, "Can I touch your head?"

She blanked at the odd question, but eventually nodded. She doubted he would accept a refusal anyways. With that, Hope lightly floated over her, and though she didn't see his paw, she felt his thin claws touch her forehead. The touch stung for a second, before a dull warmth washed over the pain. A dim green glow rose, and she felt that warmth ripple and spread. With a tight feeling, like a suture, she realized the wound in her head was closing. It was even more embarrassing to know she forgot about it while being so wrapped up in her thoughts.

But it ended soon enough, Hope lifting his claw and putting it on his hip, though it never connected well on his image. Oddly, the warmth didn't leave. "There, that's better, heh. You really don't look out for your body much, you know? I'm glad the blood's mostly dried, but we'll have to clean your forehead when we get back to everyone."

When we get back, he says… As Hope sat back down beside her, she got stuck staring at the city again, replaying the possible reactions her companions could have to her return.

Hope noticed if his sudden cough meant anything. "So… you wanna talk about it? Something's clearly bothering you. I know you're usually silent and easygoing, but this is different. Come on, as your dear friend, how can good ol' Hope help?" he asked, leaning in.

She pursed her mouth and gripped the ledge. Keep it in, keep it closed, stay strong. Don't be weak. Between those thoughts were occasional bits of questioning why she was shutting down when being offered help. They were quiet, but she could hear them just as well. She wanted to listen to those thoughts more.

"... Come on, let me help. I'm not leaving until you do, Note."

Note. There it was, her supposed name. The generic name she chose, the one that made her chest light when others said it. She had been told that feeling was happiness. All she really knew was that it meant people saw her. Past the body, the stigma, everything—others respecting who she had chosen to try and be for this new life. Somehow, she had forgotten it, but here was a klutz prince reminding her who she wanted to be. Recognizing her.

Note let out a long, but low, sigh. She looked at Hope's worried face. For a moment, it sputtered out into his real wild visage, still wearing the same expression. His concern wasn't an image. It would be awful of her to not recognize that in kind.

"That fight… I think it just confirmed for the guild what they suspected of me, that I'm a threat and a menace. Winning didn't boost our reputation, I just made it worse."

"But you're none of that stuff."

"That's not what they think. I gave them the proof they need to drive me out." She glanced away for her next words. "It feels like I'm the public enemy. I feel like an idiot for thinking coming here would be different."

"Ah, the usual fear against Zoroark…" Hope leaned in, flashing a smirk. "But who cares about that? Let 'em be afraid, we're just hanging out and working here, and all for them!" He perked up in realization and waved his paw. "Oh, maybe that should be GAD's motto: We'll help you however we can, but we don't care in any way what you think about it! Ha! Sounds like a good way to tell them off!"

"... I can't do that." Note grumbled.

"Whaaat? But why?" Hope whined and swung his legs. "It's irreverent, and fun!"

"Yeah, yeah, stick it to the authorities, but…" Her claws balled together. A tight knot in her chest forced the words out. "How far can we push our luck before that brings something bad? Before I bring something bad? My species only makes it inevitable, so I can't be reckless. Kymot was just one example, who knows if more like him or Nova will come for us, and all because of me? I never even wanted to fight…"

Hope tilted his head. "You could have refused, you know. That might've been irreverent too, heh. I was expecting you to, actually, you usually ignore this kind of stuff and just go about your way."

"Being irreverent is easy when you're at the top, but could I really?" She turned to Hope, feeling the edge of her mouth curl down. "Kymot put me on the spot with everyone watching, and you wanted me to prove a point to the guild. I said I didn't want to, and you suggested otherwise. Everyone wanted a fight, to be above one another. You did too, because you saw my only use in my strength." By now, Hope was frowning hard, still staring right at her. "I only did it because you're my boss, and I saw some merit in what you said; maybe it could help all of us… But I never wanted to. I didn't have a voice back there. You didn't let me have one."

Hope winced at the words, turning to the floor. With twitching paws, his eyes traced something before settling back on Note, seeming exasperated. "Oh, fuck… I really did that, didn't I?" Without warning, he reeled his paws back, and then slapped his cheeks hard, hissing after the fact. The illusion sputtered and fell from the hit, revealing his real form with a deep red where he hit himself. "I'm such an idiot! What the hell, I really do need to grow up…"

Though a bit stunned at the action, Note reached out a claw. "U-Uh, your illusion, Hope—"

"That doesn't matter! I hurt you, Note. There's no taking that back…" He groaned and raked his claws over his cheeks before rapidly slapping himself with the sound of harsh, yet quiet pitter-patter. At times he ruffled his fur into more of a tangled mess and spouted complete babble and nonsense. The whole thing lasted a long minute.

And Note could only stare at it all. It was a dramatic display of frustration that took her off guard, the first time she had seen this kind of attitude from him. Was he usually this hard on himself? She imagined growing up as the next-in-line king might have given some anxieties, but not to beating himself this much… And all for her, no less. Her boss, a prince, was frustrated for seemingly failing her and making a show of it. Seeing someone of that stature do this made her view of him fall a bit.

But that was nice. It wasn't like Hope was the usual kind of person for his position, but here he seemed even stranger, lower. He was still a prince, still her boss, and all the while a person who looked frustrated at hurting her for even a moment. He cared.

And for that, her chest lightened. She even consciously smiled.

By the end, Hope was even more of a mess than usual, wheezing at his fluster and self-inflicted exhaustion. "Gods, you're so dumb, Hope…" He snapped to Note with those beady, ringed red eyes of his. "If I ever do that again, throw another rock at my head! Do whatever, just stop me from doing that horrible stuff to you again—wait, why are you smiling?"

"You look…" Note twirled a claw at Hope as her smile turned into a full grin. "... So much crazier than usual."

Hope straightened. "And that's funny?"

Just the word prompted a snicker to escape her. "Definitely. I didn't think you were capable of looking even worse."

A chuckle of his own came from Hope, his face going all smarmy. "Damn, you are so blunt. Thanks for pulling no punches today, you're fan-freaking-tastic at them, heh!" He looked off to the city and sighed. Had he not looked like he did, he might have seemed blissful. An eye glanced back to Note. "Seriously, though… I'm sorry for pushing you to fight, I should've listened to you more. How can I make it up to you? Name anything, I'll give it to you."

Her mind jumped at asking for food, but she stopped herself. Even if she didn't know how to handle this, being appropriate was more important. "I-It's fine, really," Note said, slightly raising her claws.

"I insist, Note," Hope said, tapping a jittery claw against the floor, though not of impatience.

"It's okay, Hope." Note sighed at the insistence. She knew it came from a good place, but it was still uncomfortable. "I don't need special treatment. An apology was fine enough."

Hope's eyes glanced away for a bit before his shoulders sagged and he shrunk into himself ever so slightly. "Well, if you say so, but then a better apology is in order." He smiled, keeping it wide even though it wavered. "I'm really sorry, Note. I won't trample over you ever again, I promise. You can trust me on that, royal sworn oath and all, if that helps."

Reminding her of her words wasn't great, though. In retrospect, maybe she was too harsh, even if Hope seemed to take it in stride. "I'm uh… sorry if that was too much. Things rose and… Snapped?" Scratching her chest and feeling its scar in discomfort made her approach all the worse. She really needed to learn how to talk outside of her inherent lax tone.

Hope waved a claw back. "Nah, nah, I needed to hear it. I'm no stranger to being reduced to a purpose. People with power tend to not look where they're stepping." He chuckled as his claws joined and kept tapping against each other. He inhaled deep. "I'm included in that. I've done a lot of reducing, both to you and others I care about, and I've only realized some of that recently. Once that guilt sets in, it doesn't go away."

His eyes dimmed at that last mention, though Note had no time to address it as he looked to her. "Can you keep me in check if I do this again? I mean it, don't let me hurt others like I hurt you."

Note nodded, though unsure of how comfortable she was about it. Seeing Hope be apologetic was appreciated, but she didn't like seeing this new nervousness. It wasn't undeserving, though. As far as she could tell, Hope was genuinely hurting for having hurt her. To dismiss that and say everything was fine just to get back his usual self wouldn't be fair. Nothing would be gained from resetting like nothing happened—Hope joking and Note grinning from the side—even if she missed that comfort. For as much as she didn't like it, she had to recognize that guilt of his, as much as he recognized her pain.

This was still Hope, and she was still Note.

"I'll try, Hope," she said, smiling faintly, "as long as I'm around, I won't let you run too wild."

A big sigh escaped Hope, his body drooping from the release of tension. "Ah, thanks a bunch, that's a big relief," he said. He shook his head and looked back at her, straightening his posture back into his smiling, jovial form, though less pronounced despite his frazzled look. Note almost grinned at that, the klutz was capable of picking himself back up, with a little help. "But, really," he said, "it's good to hear you air out your worries, even of what being a Zoroark brings to us. It knocked me out of the sky, but it was worth it. Confirms a lot about what I thought of you too."

Note shivered, though she couldn't blame the warm winds. "What do you mean?"

Hope flashed a fanged grin from end to end and leaned in just enough for Note to have to back away. "Face it, you care a ton about us, GAD and all~"

"Geh!" Note instinctively flinched at the forwardness, but mainly at the idea he proposed. It made no sense, her mind told her. Caring made people weak. Attachments drew in complications, chained one down… But even she couldn't deny the warmth that surrounded her entirety, like a soft embrace. It wasn't the wind. It was a memory, a dear one. There was no putting words to it, but one thing was sure.

She wouldn't reject this feeling. It was what brought her to this new life, after all.

But damn if it wasn't embarrassing. Here she was, reflecting with Hope, and he already returned to his ridiculous self—all to pick apart her walls with the embarrassing truth. She'd smile too much if she looked at his sly grin, so she settled on the bustling city below. Everyone marched without knowing that one of the biggest secrets here would be exposed if they just looked up and squinted. "What makes you say that?" she asked to fill the void.

"Oh, you think I don't see? You always hover around us; you look out for us even when we're resting. Hell, you just admitted that you're worried about being with us because of what you might bring to us. Those aren't thoughts people who don't care have."

Hope kicked off the floor and floated to reach her level, peeking into her view where she couldn't avoid him anymore. "Plus, I know about the weekend you all had. How can you go out for a pastry run, help set up a birthday in an orphanage, watch over Iki while he's passed out, and even return everyone while they were sleeping without caring about them?"

She looked at Hope then, her surprise beating her shame. "How do you know all of that? You weren't even there."

"Pfft, how else?" Hope threw his long arms open wide with his usual massive smile. "Everyone told me! They told me when they were worried about your shift earlier, since you were fine yesterday. Iki especially went on and on about how I shouldn't punish you or anything, the guy was almost in hysterics. It's not just me who sees you, Note. We all do, and guess what?" Hope drifted close to tap her forehead, something she didn't even try to stop.

"You care about us, and we care about you in return. Ask them all, they'll sing you praises. I'm not just your boss, and you're all not just my workers. We're friends, and that's something good to care about. Plus, I have solid proof that you'll do whatever if you don't care about something; you can thank tossing a rock to my forehead for that one, heh. If you really didn't care, we wouldn't be talking, and you'd probably be long gone. That you're still here gives me everything I need to trust you."

With that and another laugh, Hope floated off and landed next to her, dangling his legs again and looking out into the city with his bright smile. Note had no real words for any of it. It was piles of evidence she couldn't deny but was reluctant to accept. What she latched onto were things like the past weekend, and how much she enjoyed them, how she kept wanting to go back to those feelings. She thought about everyone, especially Iki, who seemingly latched onto her as well.

And she thought about that trust. Maybe even loyalty. They had somewhat pledged it just yesterday. If she forgot or let that be forsaken now, she never deserved it in the first place.

The wind blew again, warm and soothing her fur as it brushed past her. This wasn't a bad city. Maybe a bit too loud and judgmental at times, but there were good people and food in it. She didn't want to let go of this warmth. It would be good to let herself enjoy it.

"The… The caretaker of the orphanage, she declared all of us family." She had a thin smile, reminiscing as she felt the cracked skin beneath the fur in her chest. "I accepted because it helped Iki, but everyone seemed into it. I guess I'm late on the uptake."

Hope giggled. "Considering you did all that and more for Iki and for us today, I'd say you were the first."

She found no reason to counter that. Even she had to recognize the extent of which she went for these people. These random people, coworkers, friends… Family. It had a nice sound to it.

"But hey, uh…" Hope said and trailed off as his head lolled. He had a pursed mouth and was twiddling his claws. "I missed all of that stuff on the weekend, which sucks, and, well, I wasn't there for the moment, but… That idea of GAD being a family, do you think there's space for me too?"

Now that's nice to hear. At least she wasn't alone in the embarrassment of similar thoughts. "Well, I'm not the best person to answer that, clearly." With a grin of her own, she gave him a light shake on the shoulder, which made him yelp. "But I think you're a part of us. Wouldn't feel right without you involved, o merciful prince."

"Haha," Hope droned on while trying to shake her in return, to pitiful results. Still, he kept his claw on her shoulder for a while. "Glad to be of service as your Big Boss… That's a relief to hear, though. I'm kind of getting sick of my current family, especially my brother."

Her ears flicked as she focused on him. "You don't like your brother?

Hope snapped to movement, rolling his eyes with the loudest groan. "Oh, gods, I want to! I mean, I don't hate him, but he's just SO annoying! He tramples over everything I do just because I was selected to be the next king! What a petty, prim, and posh idiot!" He whirled to Note and swung a claw around haphazardly. "Just yesterday I needed a quill from him, and he went on this whole tirade about me instead of just, you know, giving me a simple quill! A quill! You have no idea how infuriating it sometimes is! And Dad isn't any better, he scolded me just for telling off Tempo and showing my real body at the time!"

Ah, so that's what was bothering him earlier, Note thought while watching him sigh and decompress after the sudden rant. Hope's situation with his family was no secret to GAD, but she was probably one of the few to actually hear about it in this much detail. She had no way of knowing how a real family was supposed to act, but growing up surrounded by expectations and glares was familiar to her. She wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"And you wanna know the worst part?" Hope continued. "It wasn't always like this. We were close when we were growing up. We helped each other and had fun; we were actual brothers. But Dad's tests forced us to compete non-stop. After a while, it's no wonder we just saw each other as obstacles. Like I said, reduced to a purpose." His frown dimmed and his shoulders sagged. Note knew the feeling well, and up to now she only knew of one solution.

"Why don't you just leave?" she asked.

"It's not like I can just do it." Hope swayed his body back and forth, same as his legs. "I mean, I've wanted to, but I still have things I care about here. I can't leave that behind, so I try to build on it. Make this a better place for myself."

"Ah, sorry for assuming," Note said, glancing away awkwardly. She wasn't experienced with apologies yet, but she still recognized the sensitivity of the subject. She tried to focus on the positive for once, giving Hope a small smile. "Still, that's a good goal. I ought to do the same."

He glanced at Note with a new smirk topped off with a wink. "But hey now, recent events gave me a new family, and I think they're pretty damn cool, so I consider myself, and you, winning~"

Now Note rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Gods, you ruined it. You're anything but subtle."

"Hey, I'm just being peachy, nothing wrong with that, haha!"

They shared a few soft laughs, but the elation and warmth of it all released Note's tenseness, so she descended into much louder laughing, even reeling her head back. It even drowned out Hope's laughter as he stared at her.

"Nyeh-heh-heh!" Note laughed, drawing in quick breaths.

"Woah, woah! I've never heard that one before!" Hope flew from his position and close to Note.

She snapped back to him, wearing her flat face again. "And you'll be the only one to hear it." Her bland voice returning made Hope whine, reaching a deathly pitch before it fell into more giggles. She failed to keep her usual expression, dipping into a smile. It was annoying, even if her whole being felt like it was in a flutter. Was this how Coral felt when he melted at compliments? Damn feelings, new and great, but so worrisome and intrusive.

Hope clapped one time with sigh, looking to Note with a real big smirk. "Well, Note, gotta ask the real question because, unfortunately, this is a workday and we're supposed to be functional adults… Will you come back to the guild and everyone else with me?"

Her smile only grew into a wide grin. "Sure, sure, you got me," Note said without missing a beat. For once, the reply didn't need cascades of thinking before it. It only brought more warmth to her being, almost making her shiver from the feeling alone. The breeze here was way too comfortable, she told herself.

"But new conditions first!" Hope barked before flitting across the air and stopping in front of Note. He extended one claw in a half-bow and kept the other hidden behind, though he grinned too. "As your reluctant boss, I'll give you one last order, 'kay? Speak your mind more, and we'll be solid. You're a part of GAD too, so I don't want you falling behind everyone. I want you to care for yourself more, because you look out for us already, so let us look out for you too. Screw people like Kymot, we've got your back. So, think you can do it?"

What an invitation, to just talk more, be more of a presence. It was open, ridiculous, and promising of good times—just like this city and the people she lived with. She should have expected it from Hope of all people, but everyone else would probably do it too. Remembering each of them made her smile. Eating Iki's food and calming him down, teasing Coral and Aster's shy selves, putting up with Ayza and Hope's energy, thinking she was the only sensible one alongside Blight, even listening to Rune's odd rambles…

A family, huh? Then there was no question.

Note raised her arm to meet Hope's, but she balled her claw into a fist instead. The prince got the message clear, making his own fist and bumping it against hers. Within that motion, Hope extended his hidden claw to hers, revealing and placing a familiar, crumpled GAD hat into Note's claws. She stared at it, wondering how she really forgot he came with that, and how she never noticed it likely fell during the fight.

But Hope shook her out of her thoughts with his usual fanged grin. "Then we're solid! I don't think I need to say this, but why the hell not…" He spread his arms wide, almost like he was hugging the open horizon of the sea and city that framed him from behind. "Note, welcome to GAD!"

He didn't even wait for her reaction, as he flipped through the air with a shout in celebration, but that just made Note cringe and grab his long arm to drag into the belltower. The forceful movement sent him spinning a bit, giggling all the while like a child.

"That's nice and all, but you can't do that so out in the open, you weirdo." Once he stopped spinning, Note tapped the jade bead on his neck. "I'm not gonna let you ruin your appearance over celebrating me. Get the prince back in here."

"Bleegh, you're right, and I hate it," he whined and deflated before grasping the bead. He focused on it for a little bit before a shimmer passed through him, and like a wave, his real appearance was replaced by a normal Calyrex. It always was a bit odd to see the bead, because it was some other Zoroark's at some point, but she wasn't particularly bothered. She had let go of her own, after all.

Hope huffed at seeing the illusion. "There, boring Hope is back. Now, can we go back? I'm frankly pretty tired of pausing our work as GAD because of people butting in."

Note nodded and stood up, taking a long stretch that ached all over. There was a release of tension through her body, begging her to get moving or to plop down and sleep, and she was ready for either at this point. She stared out to the vast city, seeing the sprawling sea and forest just nearby. Colorful, crowded, warm… and one day, maybe accepting of her. That was something to work on, though. She looked down at her GAD hat, crumpled and dirty from the fight. She chuckled as she placed it back onto her head, comfortably fitting as intended.

Maybe with them, it was possible.

"This is nice…" she whispered to herself, and her dear memory, her love. She would've loved this too, Note just knew it. It was worth making a new life for.

Note turned to Hope, who was checking his body to see if his illusion came out right. "Okay, let's go, but I gotta ask one last thing, it's been on my mind ever since you got here. How did you find me?"

Hope's eyes drifted. "Oh, well, call it a lucky guess, heh. Now I know I'm not the only person who goes to this belltower to be alone when they're upset." He winked and snapped his claws, though his illusory paws stood still. "Welcome to the outcast club! You're even looking snazzy with our exclusive cap!"

Note grinned. Of course it was that plain of an answer. It fit both of them, and maybe this entire haphazard family.

"Heh, glad to be here."

---

After Note deftly scaled down the belltower and Hope only floated and watched with a big smirk, the two made their way through the guild. Her worry only rose by the moment. Each step brought her closer to her companions, and to everyone's judgment. She knew it was irrational, Hope assured her safety, but that didn't stop the shudder inside her.

It was an anxious craving to find out everyone's thoughts, good or bad. Maybe she just ached to see them. She was the last person to know her heart in detail at this point. All she could do now was keep walking and psyching herself up.

But soon enough the main hall came into view, less filled than before, but the colorful people that were waiting for her there were all huddled together. Once she entered the main hall, the freer space made some figures stand out more, mainly Kiho and Algamade by the request boards with Atlas advising behind them. He seemed as forceful as ever, maybe he was making up for letting Kymot push them around. The rookies noticed them enter, though, and Kiho in particular waved a few hands at Note. She could only raise one of hers for not understanding why they'd wave at her.

That focus was only momentary, though, as the members of GAD talking among themselves noticed their arrival and stopped speaking, emptying the chatter in the air. Note's legs froze at the sight of them, and thoughts raced through her mind of what would happen next. To seem even at least a bit stable, she grinned and saluted.

"Hey, guys, I'm back."

The first to react was Iki, squawking as he broke from the group and messily flapped to her and Hope. Even as he landed, his webbed feet paced uncontrollably like his fluttering wings as he looked up to Note. She recognized this level of worry from yesterday.

"N-Note! Are you okay?! Did we do something—ah, did I do something to bother you? Maybe it was me yesterday? I-I'm so sorry, I'll do—"

Note clamped his beak shut with her claw, guiding it along before patting his head and ruffling its messy bed of feathers. It stunned him into silence. "I'm fine, mom. Thanks for the worry, but you didn't do anything wrong."

"M-Mom?" he stammered back with a bit of red rising in his face.

"You take care of us." Note shrugged and grinned at him. Iki did care. He cared a lot, both inspiringly and concerningly. She could learn from that. "Really, don't worry. If you wanna do anything for me, just make some nice dinner after today—gods know I need it."

By now, the rest of GAD were arriving, all but Ayza with worry. Iki, however, stared at Note for a bit before bringing his wings up to his chest and nodding. He shakily smiled, making her do the same. "I… I can do that. Trust me with the food."

"I always do," Note chuckled.

"Is everything alright, Note?" Aster asked as everyone reunited. Though all eyes were on her, this time they didn't seem antagonistic or hunting for an excuse to insult her. They were soft, as if she couldn't like them more.

Note passed a claw through her chest. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry for leaving earlier, I just let stuff unravel too much back there." She nodded to Hope. "This weirdo helped, though. Surprisingly wise, occasionally."

The prince puffed out his chest. "Hear that? I'm wise. Real wise, like a royal. One step closer to being a king, eh?"

"She also said you were weird," Blight mentioned.

Hope waved a paw at them and then flourished it over his head. "That's just another word for loveable. A charming king~"

"Anyways," Coral said, stepping forward and looking at Note, "it's good to have you back Note. We're sorry for not speaking up earlier, now we were just worried while you were away, clearly." He let out a weary laugh at that, his tail sweeping behind him.

That attached to me, huh? Note thought with a rising flutter in her chest as Ayza pulled her arm incessantly, swinging it up and down the same way as she jumped with too much energy.

"That's cool and all, but can we talk about that FIGHT?!" Her claws dug into Note, which didn't hurt much, but it was still a tight grip. "You were so COOL! So fast and strong, countering that strike with a swift and decisive one of your own! You gotta teach me how to fight like that immediately—no offense, Aster."

The Scrafty looked confused while Note smiled to follow along with Azya's energy. "Maybe someday, heh. I don't like it for as much as I'm good at it." The Salandit deflated at that, but she still looked all too happy to be with Note, to consider her. The same went for the others, no matter how much the doubts skittering in the back of her mind whispered otherwise.

"She's right," a young voice called out. They all turned to see Kiho coming up and speaking, with Algamade beside and an exasperated Atlas behind them. The Ledian stiffened at all of GAD turning to them but continued. "You really gave Kymot what he deserved, but you didn't get to see the shame on his face, heh! It was all kinds of cool to see you beat him so handedly."

"And more importantly…" Algamade said with a bump against Kiho. "We wanted to thank you. You probably didn't do it for us, but you kind of defended us from Kymot. He does nothing but push us around, so it's good to see it done back to him for once. Not saying I'm a revenge kind of gal, but you made both of us happy by fighting him. You kind of stuck out for us rookies, made it feel like we do belong here."

"I just wish it never escalated to that," Atlas sighed, as if his inaction wasn't what let it happen.

"Note, right? That's your name?" Kiho said. They smiled and put three hands on their sides, leaving one star-printed fist out for Note. Algamade did the same with her limb. "Hopefully this isn't stepping out of line, but thanks, Note. You don't get many mons willing to look out for us small ones when the big guys aren't watching where they step. This big city feels safer with people like you."

Her chest tightened at Kiho's words, but Hope jabbed an elbow into her shoulder. His knowing smirk only made her respond the same way. The guy had a way of being an opportunist she had never seen before. It was infectious, driving the others to feel similarly, if their intrusive "oohs" meant anything. And as she glanced back to the rookies, she couldn't contain her rising elation. While she preferred to not have them idolize her for her strength, the idea of helping them wasn't so bad either. Even if she hated the fight, it did bring these two smiles. She had no idea why these two rookies she knew for collective minutes felt strongly about her, but she could extend that to the rest of GAD.

It didn't make sense, but it felt good. Validating, maybe. Like she had been praised for her value, for being herself—something she never knew intimately for long.

Note leaned down to meet the two rookies and raised an open claw to them, trying to "high-five" them, as Coral once called it. And thinking about him now, she could see the slight gash she made to test his healing. Hope was correct there; her body wasn't supposed to be just a tool for the purpose of others. She wanted it to be hers.

"You two are pretty cool yourselves." She grinned from end to end. "Take it from me, you've got more of a spine than I do. Don't forget that strength."

Kiho and Algamade wasted no time in reciprocating, bringing their own hands and slapping hers in kind. The two beamed at the gesture, all giddy over being approved and praised by someone they deemed bigger and stronger. She wished she had the bravery to tell them to find better idols, but she could let go of that worry for this moment. They deserved this little time of feeling proud of their path, just like she wished for herself.

"Good to see you all making up," Atlas said, looming over and clasping his claws to seem jovial, "but we really should get to working. I think it's been delayed enou—"

"YOU! Zoroark!"

A palpable energy drained from everyone, especially Atlas who covered his face with a groan, and Note who huffed at the familiar, gruff voice of Kymot shouting again. She lazily glanced to the hall she came from, finding the Golisopod stepping closer while grimacing and holding his stomach. His Cacturne partner was holding him and pleading him to stop, but ended up just being dragged along. Kymot raised his free big claw to Note, almost like a full repeat of earlier. Was this where obsession and focus on hatred brought others, just an exhausting cycle?

"You beat me, sure, but that doesn't make this right!" Kymot shouted. A few guildmates turned to the noise, but some gave it little attention. Maybe even they were used to Kymot doing this. Regardless, the Golisopod seemed intent on this goal. "I can't believe you're all just fine with this! She's dangerous, but the guildmaster and prince let her just be around here? You're all just asking her to stab you in the back!"

Note moved to speak, but others were faster.

"And you're just full of pride," Blight announced loudly, flying overhead a bit. "Can you even back up all that talk with that strength and rank of yours?"

"Y-Yeah, don't even try to mess with Note again!" Aster shouted.

"And if you do, then we're just gonna beat you too!" Ayza followed up with a proud puff of flame.

"C-Can we do that…?" Coral mumbled before stuttering into slapping his chest a bit too hard. "I-I mean, we will do that!" He seemed to be holding in a wince.

Note's eyes widened at their display, but what really struck her was a soft wing covering her leg as Iki stepped in front of her. He looked all kinds of afraid, but he still interposed himself between her and Kymot. The Golisopod only stammered and grew more flustered at all the intervention.

To add to that, Hope flew in front of her and stared at Kymot directly. "I understand your concern, dear citizen," Hope said in his pristine royal voice, "but I want you to realize how ridiculous your claims sound. Note here has been nothing but helpful to our cause. She's as much a part of this guild as anyone else, and her species bears no influence on that. Should you pose more of a problem, then I will consider it an offense to royalty. Moreover…" He glanced back to Note and smirked before settling back on Kymot. A green glow rose from one paw as he raised it to Kymot.

"She's my friend," Hope said, now in his real voice with an obvious tint of pride, "and I trust her a ton, same as my other friends here. If you, or anyone else, has a problem with her, or any of us, then you're gonna have to go through me first." That green glow produced a small orb of similar color in his paw. The orb grew by the moment, shifting and pulsing through various shades as the glow brightened even more. Sparks crackled and crawled all over, even through his arm. The force blew a slight wind, and his paws changed to match his real claws curling against the charged orb.

Note felt a warm shiver trickle down her spine. She could recognize power and threats, it was a sense she was forced to develop; and currently, Hope was triggering that sense to alarming degrees. Her body was telling her to fear it, to run away from the danger, but she just stood with an anxious smile on her snout. She was excited. The fact that some like the Cacturne were scared, and how they were the absolute center of attention in the moment didn't matter.

Hope nodded back to the members of GAD. "If it's a fight this city wants, we'll give it to them. We're not leaving with your petty threats."

With that, Note peeked over Hope's side and pointed to Kymot and his partner. Her grin was fully conscious, holding nothing but spite and excitement. "I'd rather not fight again… But if you really want to, we're ready to take you on. It's your choice."

Kymot's eyes darted through all of them, and his arms skittered like he was actually trying to figure out how to fight them. That didn't last long, though, as Atlas almost barreled through and grabbed Kymot. "Okay! That's enough now! No more acting like children! No more complaining!" Note could see his muscles visibly tense as he started pushing him back, despite vocal and physical protests.

"Y-You can't be serious!" Kymot stuttered.

"Yes, I am! This ends now!" As they continued, Atlas glanced back to everyone. "Just get to work, okay? You all know what to do, you don't need me." He continued until Kymot's protests were only echoes from the hall, and only Mekoro was left standing alone. He noticed his position late, stammering and putting his arms together.

"S-Sorry, so sorry!" was all he said before running after Kymot and Atlas.

Laughs and cheers came from Ayza, Kiho, and Algamade from the side, Kiho especially clapping at what happened. Atlas finally put his foot down, so Note chuckled and sighed, relieving the anxious tenseness within the air alongside everyone else.

Hope just waved his paw, and the orb slowly fizzled out into green wisps through the air. He turned to everyone and winked. "Well, that was pretty neat!"

Aster glanced to Hope, brow raised. "I thought you were only good at healing."

"I'm all kinds of special, thank you very much," Hope countered.

"You're all kinds of crazy," Note sneered.

The lunatic prince drifted on his back like he was on a bed. "Aren't we all?" he wistfully sighed, smiling all the while.

"Did we just make bigger enemies of the guild?" Coral asked, glancing through the guild and rubbing his reddening chest. The small crowd either whispered from a distance or continued on with their day, pretending they didn't just see their prince threaten one of their higher-ups.

"Does it matter?" Ayza scoffed, holding up his arm and shaking it. Blight also joined in with his other arm and they both paraded him around, much to his smiling embarrassment. "We're awesome! GAD's here to stay!"

Everyone else either cheered along or looked weary about the declaration. For Note's part, she just couldn't stop smiling. It was all involuntary; she was learning that's what hearts and feelings were. They tugged people around without control or care, and though ignoring them could be easy for her, it would just mean she would return to how she was. Returning to not really living, just being a tool… So maybe feelings were worth the trouble, good or bad. She was willing to take that bet for this new warmth within her.

So, when she stared out to her friends—her family— the rookies talking among themselves, and Hope directing them to the request board to finally start working, one feeling pervaded through her entirety. Some of it was joy, and some of it was worry. She didn't know if her care for everyone here was something like love—she only knew the feeling once—or if it was her looking out for herself. Maybe it was an inherent need to be in their good graces for her own survival instilled deep in her core. Maybe it was there from the beginning, or it started since getting close to the others. But no matter what it was, and even if she craved one possibility over the other, one thing was clear to her.

She felt an intense drive to protect them. There was no ignoring that now.

Note followed them to the request board and stood alongside them. She saw them all, wanting to be with her, seeing her for who she wanted to be. Protect them, care for them, her mind kept repeating. Or was it her heart? It didn't matter. She was just happy for once and felt braver for it. So, when she saw a request about a daycare within the city asking for assistance with the kids, she pondered it and then grasped it. She needed to deal with others no matter what, and the kids from the orphanage loved her, so maybe she could get lucky one more time here. The thought excited her, building up anticipation for hopes of success, rather than fear of failure.

It was time to get to work, with everyone by her side.

---

Up on the rafters, Newt watched with Felix as GAD talked over the request board and took out jobs to select. His tail was swinging at seeing them so happy, and even more after Atlas drove off Kymot. That guy was too abrasive to newcomers in general, even to Newt and Felix when they first arrived. Those early days had people reassuring them that his behavior was a sort of rite of passage, but Newt always saw it as a particular envy of not being at the very top. Introducing a human into the mix made them the target for a while until they could properly fight back. At the end of it all, Newt wasn't particularly fond of the might makes right culture in the guild. Being one of the mighty never felt like a privilege or pleasure either.

"The General Assistance Department… I really like 'em." He spun to face Felix while he effortlessly swung to avoid the bright flame on his tail. "I can't wait to hang out with 'em a whole lot more!"

Felix glanced back down. "What do you mean? Didn't the king tell us to stay away from them? You meeting them was lucky but we probably shouldn't be tempting fate a ton. I only watched the fight because you insisted so much."

"Oh, come on, you just don't trust Coral." Newt stuck out his tongue at Felix as a tease, but he did understand the worry. Another human arriving in the middle of a crisis without the king's foresight was concerning. Who knew what it could spell for the crisis? Wariness was the right response, logically.

But Newt wasn't about that straight and narrow path.

"Don't they seem like fun to you, though?" Newt asked, leaning over the railing to see Ayza dancing around with a request while Coral worried about something, and Blight gently clapped. To their side, Note was patting Iki's head and Aster laughed at his brother's embarrassment. They were a really bright bunch. "They all came together by accident, and they hold so many secrets, but they look so attached already! And they still find time to rest and just have fun! Doesn't it remind you of us when we met?"

Felix leaned over as well, resting his head on his hands. "Mmm… I guess? I latched onto you so early because I was so scared of everything, heh."

"And we became the best of friends too~" Newt bumped shoulders with Felix, getting a laugh from him. "Seriously, man, I miss that time. We spent days just resting and having fun! Gods, it was the best."

"I miss them too, buddy. But we're just not there anymore." Felix sighed. "We're closer than ever to solving this crisis. We've got the allies, and we've got the motivation. We just gotta close in on the Parasite. There's no time to rest."

"I know, I know…" He wasn't wrong, he really couldn't be. The hero was just doing his part, and Felix became especially driven whenever the crisis was concerned. The end of it all meant him discovering who he was, after all. On a large scale, they were doing the right thing with the constant training and missions. They were right, and complaining about the hero life wouldn't lead to any good change for anyone.

But it wasn't really a life either. They barely rested or had fun. They lacked the time to think or feel much outside of the incoming danger and their enemy. Newt hadn't eaten something completely calmly in a good while, or even treated himself to any amenities. While he didn't regret this path, he missed the times where he felt like he was actually living. Being a hero rarely felt like being a person.

But seeing them just be able to enjoy their time together, and Coral being a human no less… There was a growing envy. Or more of a craving to be like that again. To feel like a person again, alongside Felix. It had to be with him too, he was doing all this with him and for him. Felix needed it the most in Newt's eyes.

"Well, no point in wasting the day!" Felix said and slapped Newt's back. "Come on, buddy, we got training today! Gotta prepare for Rhythm! This time, I'm gonna win!"

Newt giggled. "We'll do our best to prepare, heh. I just hope it'll be a fun fight to watch."

"You don't hope I win?"

"Of course I do, dummy," Newt said, sticking out his tongue again. "Just saying, have some fun with it too."

"Always about fun with you," Felix said. He had a bright smile as he wrapped an arm around Newt. "I love you for that, you make everything fun! Now, let's make this training as enjoyable as it can be, haha!" Just those few words made Newt's heat rise all over, especially in his brightening tail-flame and his cheeks. At the very least, he was always happy to be with Felix through it all, and Felix was happy to have him.

As the two walked off through the walkways, Felix was driven and excited to get to business, but Newt couldn't help but steal another glance at the request board below. The people of GAD were still talking among each other, with Hope above chiming in too, more chipper than he usually was. Every sight of them brought the same idea back: Spending time with them could relieve their stress. Being friends with them would brighten his days. Maybe it could make Felix happier too. The king's warning rang hollow in his mind.

Newt smiled to himself. Maybe it was overstepping, but thinking for himself about GAD felt good. For that purpose, he was willing to make his own decision about them.

---

Author's Note:

Heya, y'all! It's been too long, I know, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I apologize endlessly for how late this is, life's been really tough, but I've never given up on this story and still won't. I have my beta readers to thank for helping me so much with this chapter. But, in exchange for how long it's been, this chapter is the biggest one so far, and hopefully better for it! I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be finished, but hopefully it's sooner than later. Regardless, I still love this story and want to put it out there, so here I am.

As always, reviews and thoughts are appreciated! I hope you all enjoyed Note's perspective and look forward to the next one! Thanks for reading, and see you all in the future for more of these characters and story!

 

[Arukona]

Well, hello there! It has been an age and a half since I last reviewed this fic. More than a year, in fact. I would've loved to have caught up sooner, but alas so many fics have been vying for my attention that this one regrettably fell by the wayside. I haven't forgotten about this fic, though, and I've been waiting for the opportunity to pick it up again and catch up with it, even to go just a little further in it.

And now it seems the time is ripe to get back to reading this fic, with a review event going on over in PMDiner at the minute. I happen to recall that the chapter I left off on, Chapter 9, ended on quite the cliffhanger, with Ayza poring over a prophecy book in a way that reminded me a bit of Super Paper Mario, with how that story went about the tale of prophecies and following the path they set out. I'm a big fan of prophecies in stories, so let's see where the story goes from that surprising plot twist.

Chapter 10

An 'ultra' way of life? Calling it, Blight's gonna be the focus of this one.

There's a mention of King Avenir's order on forbidding battles within Reefly City, supported by Agaya, but I can't help but think this would've been better framed as a headline in big letters (for instance, 'KING ORDERS MORATORIUM ON CITY BATTLES') read out by someone on the team (perhaps Ayza), and the team's subsequent reactions to that in real time. For me, hearing that emotion of disapproval told through the characters would get it across better than through narration.

Blight's certainly taken to Coral quite well by this point. There's kinda an intriguing parallel between them, where both of them are outcasts in a city that would shun them both (Blight especially, given his Ultra Being status), but they both accept each other as normal, perhaps because of their common ground in their outlier status.

They talk about 'the majority' being reluctant to accept GAD's help, but I reckon that majority will warm up to them over time. Though between then and now, there's gonna need to be some goodwill building, and I bet that on more than one occasion, we're gonna have some friction between GAD and the locals, as proven with Boro. And that confrontation probably won't be the last time we see that kind of tension.

Blight's first delivery, and looks like their customer is a bit of an odd one. The unusual folks in this city do seem to come a dime a dozen, that's for sure. Granted, this Shiinotic might well be an exception, but damn are they out there with how they interact towards Blight in that unsettling manner. Though apparently Blight finds them familiar? I wonder what the story is there?

Also a mushroom eating a mushroom. Fascinating. This Shiinotic is unnerving in more ways than one. If that was the vibe you were going for with this character (are they gonna have a name in a bit, I wonder?), you have certainly nailed it.

The disappointment of the Shiinotic upon Blight revealing their name makes me wonder if our resident mushroom-eating mushroom knows of a Poipole not too unlike Blight, or even an Ultra Being. I guess I'll watch their space to see if this plot point crops up again. Given how this fic loves its cast, I imagine that'll probably be the case.

And now Coral's wanting to learn to do lizard things. He'll be a dab hand with invisibility and camouflage in time, no doubt. That could make for some cool combat scenarios if he learns to become invisible with his water.

Coral's certainly become a catch for some, now that both Nacht and Blight are enamoured by him. And somehow I get the feeling they won't be the only ones he'll catch the eyes of.

Ah, Coral's falling to the instincts of doing girl things. Embrace it, my dear Drizzile, for it may well bring to you a sense of unbelievable euphoria...

Oh hello, a Togekiss hybrid? I've been hearing about this character in passing - time to see just who they are as a character. And there's also a Rufflet named Kreely - another character who I've been hearing stuff about. And I can already tell that Kreely is one cute lil' birb.

At least this Togekiss is amicable towards GAD, and now they have a chance to impress these kiddos through their kindness and dexterity in their delivery duties. Maybe. If kids can be impressed by that.

The Togekiss's name is Melody. Ah yes, now I remember hearing that name before. The sweet smell emanating from them must mean they're a Togekiss-Aromatisse hybrid? From what I recall in discussions on the PMD Discords, that was the case.

Aww, cute to see the kids enamoured by Team Rogue and not caring at all about Blight being an Ultra Being or Coral being human. On the contrary, they really seem to like Blight and their quirky mannerisms. And same with Coral and his cool Liquidation moves. It's always nice to see when kids are cute as heck like the little innocent things they are.

Alas, all good things have to come to an end, with the kids do have to get back to class, and GAD having to get back to their delivery service. What a pity.

Oh hey, we're gonna get to see Charon again. Neat, I liked them as a character, and it's good to see they're not just gonna be left to the wayside.

their frown was a weirdly welcoming sight.

Kinda funny to think a frown could be described as 'welcoming', when pretty much every other instances of a frown is far from what one would call welcoming.

I see Charon has an issue with the drip because of the lack of soul put into it. Looks like the uniforms need a bit of spicing up, and they might well just get that with our resident Banette in critique of the outfits as they are. And with Team Rogue looking to get Hope in the loop with Charon, we could well have costume redesigns in time for our gang.

Huh, so the sunhat for Ayza was a Charon invention? Rather neat. And now that I'm reminded of the intro, I suddenly recall that Ayza was sneaking into Reefly and I don't think that's been answered yet. So when will her supposed fugitivity become an issue for her? Because I get the feeling that detail won't just suddenly disappear as the story goes on.

Rather cool to see Charon make a new bowtie altogether by infusing Coral's Mystic Water with it. And now Coral has cool new drip to show off to the world. Interesting way to use a tailor with mystical powers like Charon's into this setting - that, I approve of.

Though apparently that power stems from curses, which in turn stem from deep-seated hatred? Just what caused Charon's hatred, exactly? How interesting, that this supposed side character might well have a compelling backstory. Even the small ones get backstories, and that's honestly very nice to see.

Oh hey, it's Nova. Up to nothing good, I presume.

Is Nova using Gravity? Is that what the 'heavy weight on their entire beings' means? Either way, it seems that Nova's a big time threat with the grudge he seemingly has against them. Perhaps it's fear that they'll overshadow him and consign him to obscurity for the rest of time? Is that what he doesn't like about the rise of Team Rogue?

"THE AURA GUARDIAN IS HERE!"

ASTER TO THE RESCUE WOOOOOOOOOO-

Chapter 11

But before we leap directly into the action, a bit of a POV switch over to Aster and Iki to see what they got up to while Team Rogue entertained schoolchildren and did deliveries of their own.

Kinda funny imagining Quill, nesting on Aster's head. Then again, our resident Scrafty's head of hair wouldn't make too bad a nest and/or perch, I'd think.

Yeah, we're brothers from the orphanage outside the city." Thinking about it, would that be his origin story? Hmm… nah, that wouldn't be it. Though, he would prefer it over the real thing.

'The real thing', huh? Well, if that isn't indicative of a backstory Aster wouldn't want to dredge up, I don't know what is. Though that does beg the question of what exactly such a past might entail? If he did in fact end up in the orphanage, that can't be anything good...

So it seems they weren't adopted and either kept living their life at the orphanage or just became free spirits roaming the streets of Reefly City. Yet the topic of 'family' is still a touchy subject for them. Perhaps over the want to find a family, but never getting it in the end?

At the very least, you're not as pushy as that Nacht."

You can say that again, with how that Honchkrow's been throwing flirtations at Coral.

"No, Aster… Barely anything illegal happens in this city.

Pressing X to doubt hard here. Especially after the ending of last chapter. And I bet any money there's a lot more nefarious things happening under our gang's noses than most are willing to admit. It feels a bit too perfect and serene, this setting of Reefly City thus far. There has to be shady dealings of some sort going on here, surely?

Ah yes, the reminder of the rivalry (probably one-way, if I had to guess) between Aster and Nova. And looks like that's gonna come to a head soon.

Born in a body that was only harmful, poor, delusional, dumb… Hell, he wasn't even born a boy.

Oh hello? So that's what was behind his feelings from earlier...feelings about being born wrong? Raised female? So does that imply Aster's transmasc? Because that's what I'm guessing from what I'm hearing here.

Quill talking about heroes being self-important makes me wonder if he's talking with Nova in mind, or if he's just speaking generally. Or maybe with Felix in mind? Because our resident Grovyle seemed a tad self-important in his own right a few chapters back when he and Coral clashed.

All this criticism about the Aura Guardian must surely get to Aster, if he's suppressing those feelings. With how tirelessly he continues his claims of being the Aura Guardian, though, perhaps that's a moot point.

And now there's a Floatzel couple whose love showered upon their kid reminds Aster of his own past...Perhaps it's the longing to have wanted parents that loved him? As opposed to parents who clearly didn't respect his wishes, and could well have made him run away to the orphanage, away from them. I could see his backstory being like that.

Kinda tragic that even Iki doesn't really support Aster on his 'hero' whims. It's almost a pity Aster wasn't among Team Rogue's group last chapter when they encountered Melody and those kids; they would no doubt be in absolute awe at Aster's boasts about being the Aura Guardian. And he does feel like the kind that would get along swimmingly with kids, as well as Team Rogue got along with them.

Looks like Aster has his arc set out for him with Iki's question about how and why he wants to be a hero. And thanks to a certain bastard Lucario, he might well find his reason sooner than expected. Though Iki's talking about Aster apologising to Team Rogue as though it'll be a long drawn out process of forgiveness, when knowing them, they'll probably forgive him at the drop of a hat. Or just be like, "Wait, there was beef between us? When?"

Oop, looks like they got a criminal doing criminal things to chase. A silver Thievul - a shiny, by the sounds of it.

Aster knows Dragon Dance? Well, ain't that useful, especially now when he needs that burst of speed. Now I'm curious if there's dragon parentage with him for Aster to know that move, since I'm pretty sure Scrafty can't learn that normally. On a sidenote, I do like how it's depicted here, and I have enjoyed how moves generally are depicted in this fic thus far. So kudos for that.

Plus, this chase scene's honestly pretty well done, capturing the thrill of the chase, the tricksterish nature of the one being chased, and the dogged determination of Aster as he chases the Thievul.

Aaand now that we know more about said Thievul, suddenly they come across a lot more sympathetic, and as usual it's the lack of food that makes them (or him, at least) turn to thievery. Poor guy, I hope he finds something to get him by without having to resort to nefarious deeds. Though Aster, why are you using this Thievul's woes to compare yourself to? Looks like I'm gonna have to take out the self-deprecation bapping device. 🗞️

Well, looks that Thievul's gonna be good for the time being. I wonder: will we see them again?

Hopefully one of GAD happens to be a dab hand with patching things up, and thus this little problem of the bags' straps being torn off can be resolved. Or...maybe Charon could do it. I guess we'll see what happens there.

And now over to our resident shriveled Calyrex prince, who's looking not-so-shriveled thanks to his elaborate disguise.

It feels almost odd to see Agaya in a more happy and less stern than when we first encountered him in the prison. Around these trees, he seems to be more serene. Maybe that's where he wants to be, rather than be stuck monitoring dark, dank cells and the prisoners in them?

"… You and your little gang should stay clear of Nova. He's got all of you on his sight."

I think you might be too late with that warning there, Agaya, given how Team Rogue are currently suffering the brunt of a Nova-induced Gravity attack. Clearly King Avenir's decrees can only do so much when it comes to keeping Reefly's bad apples in check.

Returning to Aster and Iki, and a thought came to me regarding Aster and Nova's enmity: could there also be type dynamics in play, with how Nova's oppressive aura is partially hurting towards Aster because of his Dark-typing? Not sure if it is the case, just a thought that came to mind.

And as expected, Nova clearly cares little for Aster and doesn't see him as a threat, nor does he care for obeying King Avenir's order. Evidently, this punchdog is a lone wolf and a loose cannon.

Nice to see Aster standing up to Nova even in the face of his oppressive aura. Gotta love the dogged determination of a protagonist.

Nova to Aster was literally just like:
- "You're a mistake"
- Pushes Aster to the ground
- Refuses to elaborate further
- Leaves

I mean...the team survived? So win, I guess?

Oh no, Blight and Aster are getting into arguments. Guess the path to an apology's not gonna be as easy as I first thought.

Looks like there's an explanation behind why Aster idolises someone as ruthless as Nova. Maybe he was an understudy of our resident edgelord Lucario who was cast out by him? We'll find it out soon whether that's true or not.

But man. Gotta feel for Aster at the end of this chapter, to be an outcast among his friends like this. Hopefully he can patch things up with them and all will be right again.

Chapter 12

'Beneath the Mask'? Curious as to whether that title was an intentional reference to a certain Persona song.

Looks like the first one to have the stage in this chapter is Coral, who by the looks of it is gonna have a heart-to-heart with our resident Ultra Being.

Must be quite a view to see the city at dawn like this atop a set of stairs. That'd be a nice thing to have in a base like theirs.

The Arclight is the god of the Ultra Beings? Huh, I would've expected Necrozma to fulfil that role. And somehow I doubt Necrozma would have the title of the Arclight. It's been mentioned a few times so far in the story, and I know from stuff I've heard in passing on the PMD Discords that the Creator Themself plays a significant role in the story. So I look forward to seeing how that's gonna play out.

Also I like the allusion to religion in the human world, revealing a snippet of what Coral's human life was like. Though it doesn't sound like our resident Drizzile was too fond of it. And I bet any money that lack of fondness will carry over into this world when the Arclight starts revealing Themself to our gang.

Oh wait, the Arclight lives in Ultra City and is a light dragon? Looks like He could well be Necrozma. Unless this is only in the mythologies of the Ultra Beings. Now I'm curious where Arceus fits in regarding the hierarchy of gods in this world.

Kinda funny that Coral sees 'Solgaleo' and 'Lunala' in regards to their namesakes sounding very like Spanish. I like that little moment.

Blight and Coral are getting rather close to one another. I wonder how close this budding relationship between them will become?

So it seems Ultra Beings live like hermits, wanting to shut themselves off from the world forever because of how the world treats them. Looks like the folks in this world don't really care too much for change either, just like humans in the real world. Though that life must be suffocating, and clearly Blight saw it that way and that's why they're here and not with their kinsfolk. Now I'm curious if we'll see said kinsfolk at some point during the story. Blight must have relatives and Ultra Being friends that they left behind, surely? Maybe some that'll follow in their footsteps (or...whatever would substitute, given Blight's tendency to float as opposed to walk) and leave the Ultra Being nest too. I reckon there'll be an apology from them (the Ultra Beings, that is) at some point about not respecting Blight's wishes.

Sad to hear about Blight's plight. (Unintentional rhyme lmao) But at least they have a home and a firm place among Team Rogue's ranks. And it's cute to see them and Coral be close to each other in this scene.

Now onto Aster, where it's good that Coral at least wants to give our resident Scrafty a chance. The sooner that guilt of Aster's is abated and the less inter-team animus there is, the better.

Coral's musings about being a hero do make me wonder if there will come a time where he is lauded as a hero for his deeds (whatever those might be) and he chooses to push them all away, in contrast to Felix who embraced it and even got slightly big-headed over his fame.

More wholesome interactions between Coral and Blight. I like these two together. And aww, Coral being flustered over his partner is cute to see.

At least Blight's been convinced to talk to Aster. Here's hoping things work out between them.

Speaking of Aster, over to him, where he's still as miserable as he was last chapter. I can only hope things begin to look up for him, because he deserves it.

Rune's funny. I like their lackadaisical, nonchalant attitude as a building - something you really don't see too much of in PMD fanfiction. It's a neat application for a Runerigus, to make them a building, and now I'm curious if there are other 'mons in this world that are similar to Rune in that they're whole buildings. Might we see a Palossand with a similar existence as a building in some point at the future? Because there's a 'mon with similar application to Rune here.

Ah, the old 'wearing the mask when outside because I don't feel confident enough to show my true face.' Kinda fitting, with the little glimpse of backstory we have of Aster thus far, for him to wearing a mask, and learning not to wear it and show his true self is part of his character arc. I see what you're going for here, and I rather like it.

Aster will definitely have to learn to ditch that mask, now that he knows that Nova is no friend or idol of theirs. And that's a barrier standing between him and Blight, and even Iki to an extent. He'll definitely be better off for it in the long run.

… Then again, he really wasn't much of a hero… And nobody liked it when he announced himself as one.

That's because folks don't tend to like it as much when a self-proclaimed 'hero' comes onto the scene and claims they're there to do heroic things and then proceed to not really do heroic things. Kinda what's going on here. The true heroes are those who don't claim themselves as such and just get on with it. And looks like that's what Aster's gonna have to learn in this upcoming arc of his.

Apparently, Aster was going to explain everything now, but he still hadn't appeared and it was already evening.

Geez, already? Come on, Aster, pick up the pace! Time's a wastin' regarding your little apology that you have to fulfil.

Clear as day that everyone's still has ruffled feathers (quite literally, in Iki's case) from the encounter with Nova the other day. And oh yeah, almost forgot Note was here. What has she been doing in the last two chapters, exactly?

And it looks like Aster was brave enough to peel off the mask and reveal his true self. Good on him. Although I'm now curious as to what his parentage was, with those deviating details of his mentioned in the text, like the gemstones and the fangs. (I recall some of those details from that very nice art by Bograbbit of him and Iki you've shown off a few times.) I can definitely appreciate these design deviations with Aster, as I can with most other characters in this.

Oh, Aster's part Sneasler? Huh. I would've thought there would've been some dragon heritage in him because of the Dragon Dance he pulled off earlier, but I guess not. Must be inconvenient having poison-tipped hands, because flowers wilting at the slightest touch does not sound like a boon of any sort to have. (Well, unless Aster has an angry Floette after him, in which case it would be beneficial.)

Okay, interesting, so it wasn't Gravity that Nova was using. Once again, gotta approve of the move deviations and how they're used in this story.

The phrase 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' could certainly apply to Aster in regards to Nova's Subjugation Field. And with how he saved the group last chapter, one could definitely say it was beneficial for him in the end.

Damn, light's really being shed on Nova's deeds about attacking people. This guy is one hell of a prick and I for one wholeheartedly support Aster's intentions to take him down.

Oh, so Aster's mask was a mockery of Nova as opposed to an idolisation of him? I see, I see. So Aster never really idolised him at all. Good thing too - who'd look up to someone like him?

And it seems Nova got that position due to fear from the higher-ups in Reefly. Looks like we have a clear antagonist on our hands now, one who's not simply gonna move for anyone, by the looks of it.

Welp, that's a pretty heartfelt apology from Aster right there. Fingers crossed that Blight and the others can accept it.

They did! Complete with a tearful display from Iki and big hugs from everyone else. (Though, be careful, Aster - you did say you had poisonous claws...)

And now over to Avenir and the same punchdog who I now despise. What's all this about a mission to another continent? At least it means the citizens of Reefly City will be safe for another while. Although I'm gonna call it that he'll come back at the most inopportune time to get in our protagonists' way. That would certainly take the biscuit, alright...

Nacht being their surveying self as usual. Good for them, and interesting that they have ties with even the king himself.

"Let me guess. Arceus doesn't know, do they?"

Aaaaaaand there it is. I was expecting our dear Creator to come into the picture at some point. So Avenir has ties to Them, eh?

Seems Avenir actively doesn't want to report GAD to Arceus just yet. Does he want to see how they'll play a part in his prophecy? Or could it be because Hope's with them and he wants to give his son a flying chance?

That choice between a 'predicted path' and 'something else entirely' that Avenir's facing...I get the feeling that whether our king likes it or not, he'll be taken on a wild ride along the latter path.

And looks like he may well have to take out this 'old Avenir' persona that was more rebellious and presumably less beholden to the will of the Creator. He wants to find a solution that'll satisfy everyone, but honestly, I doubt he'll find it. Appeasing everyone is quite the Herculean task, especially when there's a Creator looming overhead with demands of a prophecy to be fulfilled.

But that does beg the question: just what role will Team Rogue and GAD play in the prophecy from here?

Conclusion

And that looks to be a good point on which to end off for now. I'll see to catching up on those last few chapters (including that more than sizable 18k one) at some point in the future.

Once again, it's another situation where I regret putting a fic off for so long because I forgot how engaging it was when I first read it a long time back. But it was well worth coming back here to see Team Rogue and GAD in action once again, with the previously sunny skies over this fic's plot darkening that bit more with Nova's aggression being revealed, along with Aster's backstory. (Would gladly give Aster a million hugs, no question. Poor guy, given the emotions he went through in this range of chapters. ) There's other factors I've praised extensively too, like the way moves are incorporated and used, as seen with Coral and Nova.

But the biggest praise for me has to do with the character interactions in these chapters, which I welcome. There's a great character arc with Aster, with him learning to take off his mask and accept who he is. I'd go as far as to say he's probably my favourite of the bunch now. There's also Blight having their own 'learning to forgive and accept' arc, as well as them and Coral getting closer to each other. The kids with Melody were also incredibly cute, especially Kreely.

Moving onto criticisms, and I'd say I would have a slight issue with how Chapter 10 ends on a cliffhanger, but we don't see the resolution of said cliffhanger until the end of Chapter 11, that chapter which has interactions between Iki and Aster. While that's nice and I wouldn't say it should be omitted, I feel there maybe could've been a way to divvy POV changes across Chapters 10 and 11 that would see action from the Team Rogue camp and Aster, Iki and Quill in both chapters, as opposed to only featuring one camp as the main focus of each chapter. My criticism is more that upon finishing Chapter 10, with the cliffhanger line, "THE AURA GUARDIAN IS HERE!" from Aster, I guess I was expecting the action to pick up again, but Chapter 11 instead backtracks to show what Aster and Iki did throughout the day, and we don't see the resolution before eventually converging with Nova the downed Team Rogue in Charon's shop. The way I see it, keeping the flow between chapters is an important thing, and that a chapter ending on fiery action should see said action immediately resumed in the next one. Just my thoughts and perhaps something to keep in mind for the future.

In spite of that criticism, these were very good chapters, there were great character arcs, especially with Aster, and I was very happy to pick this fic up again after so long away from it. Good job, and I look forward to catching up with the next few chapters of this fic.