Chapter 12: The Best of Times
Saltriv's Home
Gen
As I walked into Saltriv's room, I instantly saw how different it was from how I'd remembered it this morning.
There were a lot more pillows and blankets in here than before. There was a whole pile of them heaped up near the beds that was twice as tall as I was, filled with a bunch of different colors and designs. I saw one that was orange with leaf designs, and another that was turquoise with bubble designs. Near them were a couple stools, some of them stacked on top of each other, while others had stacks of books on them.
Strewn across the floor I could see a bunch of what appeared to be board games. Some, like a checkers set, I could recognize. Ohers, like one with 18 different colored pieces with different symbols on them, were completely foreign to me. I could also see a deck of cards, with a Squirtle, Chikorita, and Absol drawn onto the back of one of the cards.
Where there used to be two beds, there were now three, one for each of us. Mine and Saltriv's were where they were before, but now there was a bed for Burhalla to the right of mine. There was a pen and a blue book sitting right next to mine near where I normally rested my head, with writing on the cover that I couldn't read. Or at least I was
pretty sure it was writing. I assumed it was from the neat organization, but it oddly seemed to resemble… Pokemon footprints?
And off on the wall on the far side of the room from the door, there was a drawing that'd been hung up on a small hook. A Chikorita with a red leaf, a Charmander with a pink scarf, and an Oshawott with a red hood all together. Saltriv, Burhalla, and…me. It took me a second to recognize that as myself.
That…was pretty cute. Did Saltriv make this for us to see tonight? I opened my mouth to ask, only to see Burhalla gape up at the picture and around at the room's furnishings, before shooting an awed stare at our Chikorita teammate.
"You really went all out with this!" Burhalla exclaimed.
"Yep! I spent all day working with mom and dad to get everything perfect!" Saltriv answered, curling their mouth up into a bright smile as they adjusted their vines' grip on the platter of cookies they held. "I wanted this to be the best sleepover ever!"
"Well it certainly shows! Thank you, Saltriv!" I said. I could feel myself beginning to shake… for once it wasn't from worry or fear, but with...
excitement. It'd been so long since I'd been at a sleepover… even if I wasn't quite the way I'd hoped I'd be, this was going to be fun!
"Let the sleepover begin!" Saltriv exclaimed, setting the platter of cookies down. Immediately, my attention was focused on the chocolatey goodness.
"Can I have one of those now?" I asked, already beginning to walk towards the platter.
I'd been waiting since the moment I smelled them to have a chance to have one of those chocolate chip cookies. And it took all of my willpower to not just dig into the platter in front of Saltriv and Burhalla. Fortunately Saltriv seemed to pick up on my eagerness, and gave a playful smile before reaching for the platter with a vine.
"Yep! Have as many as you want!" they said, before picking a cookie up and taking a bite out of it.
Yes! Even if everything else about this place that was different from what I knew, at least there were still chocolate chip cookies here. Why, with how good it smelled, I'm sure it tasted every bit as good as I remembered.
I quickly picked up a cookie and bit into it, excited to savor that sweet chocolatey delight. It was still warm, and I could feel the cookie break up into crumbs over my tongue when I suddenly froze.
Something was wrong. Saltriv was insistent these were chocolate chip cookies, but this didn't taste like chocolate at all! Instead of that rich and sweet flavor I remembered with a hint of bitterness, it was…almost fruity, sweet with a hint of dryness.
I mean, it wasn't
bad, but… it wasn't chocolate.
Was the chocolate here different from the chocolate I remembered? I remember there were fruit-flavored chocolates back in my world, but I couldn't remember the last time anyone had used those in cookies. Had Saltriv done that here? Or was this just some sort of weird, otherworldly chocolate?
I took another bite. I wasn't just imagining things, it really did taste different from real chocolate. I…could actually faintly feel the taste of real chocolate now that I was focusing so much on the taste of this, but it was so warped it was almost unrecognizable.
Actually, now that I think about it, it wasn't just the chocolate that tasted off. The berries I'd been eating tasted a bit different from what I remembered how they should taste like. But why? They looked just like the ones that I remembered!
Is… Is it because I'm an Oshawott now? Do things just taste different to Pokemon?
… actually that made sense. I never tried to eat Pokémon food back home, but it didn't exactly look appetizing to me. They're so different from humans, so even if we ate the exact same food, why wouldn't the way they tasted be different, too?
So then as long as I was stuck like this, I couldn't even taste things like how I used to anymore...
I really, really hoped I could go back soon.
"What do you think? Are the cookies good?" Burhalla asked, taking a bite out of a cookie of his own.
"Yeah!" I said, before taking another bite out of my cookie. It really was good, just…not what I was hoping for.
Soon, we had all eaten a couple cookies each. Saltriv's leaf began drooping, and Burhalla's tail flame flickered as he fidgeted with his scarf. "What now?" I asked, glancing across the room.
"Let's make that blanket fort!" Saltriv suggested, swaying their leaf towards the pile of blankets and pillows. "That's one of the things I want to do first for this sleepover! As soon as we get that fort built, then we can play games inside it!"
"Sure! Let's do it!" Burhalla said, his tail flame brightening.
"Uh, yeah!" I said, smiling a little bit. Though was it really a good idea to build a pillow fort with Burhalla's tail flame swishing around like that? It wouldn't set fire to the fort or anything like that, right?
…nobody I've seen had been even slightly worried about him setting fire to things, though. And there's other fire-type Pokemon living in this town. I'm probably overthinking it, since surely the villagers here make things in mind for their own bodies. Everything's probably fireproof, so it should be fine.
"Everything we need is right over here!" Saltriv said. They were already walking towards the pile of pillows and blankets, giving it a brief glance before grabbing a stool with their vines. "Let's move the stools first, then we can put the blankets on and then the pillows inside!"
"Sounds good!" Burhalla said. He took a stool of his own and dragged it behind the beds. I took one soon after, and began dragging it next to my bed. It was surprisingly difficult to move it, though with my current body, it probably weighed as much as me now.
Before long, all the stools were in place, and we began moving the pillows and blankets. Saltriv was the only one of us who could reach the tops of the stools to drape the blankets onto them, so me and Burhalla just focused on carrying the pillows inside.
"And there!" Saltriv said, as they draped the last blanket over the stools. "It's done!"
I stepped back from the fort to see our handiwork.
Blankets of many different colors were draped around five stools positioned around our beds, covering them from almost all sides. There was a small opening between two orange blankets in the front, from which I could see pillows of a similar range of colors as the blankets all around the inside, as well as our beds.
Even if it was more work than I expected, it looked pretty nice, and really cozy to boot!
"I think it turned out really great!" Saltriv said, their tail rapidly wagging. "Thanks for helping me!"
"Not a problem. It was fun!" Burhalla said with a bright smile. "Now, let's go in and get back to having fun!"
"Sounds great! But, um... what are we going to do next?" I asked, beginning to walk inside the fort.
"Well, we could play a game or two… how about One Night Ultimate Human?" Burhalla suggested, following me inside. My eyes widened at the name. 'O-One Night Ultimate Human'? Wh-What the-? Did Burhalla
know somehow? Was this game going to reveal that I'd been lying to my teammates all this time?
"We'd need more people for it," Saltriv replied. They shook their head, before joining us inside the blanket fort. "And I don't want to play it without Acacia, since his team is the focus of the game. It wouldn't be the same without him playing."
Before I could ask what Saltriv meant by that, they spoke up with a counter-suggestion, "Hm... How about playing Quick Moves instead?"
Burhalla's tail flame flared up, and he smiled. "Yeah! Let's do it!" Burhalla said, before pausing, then turning towards me. "Actually, wait. Gen, did you learn Water Gun yet?"
I looked down guiltily, dreading what might come next after what I was about to say.
"No. I tried, but…I could only do a Water Sport."
Burhalla's smile disappeared and his tail flame dimmed briefly. He gave a small sigh and looked back at Saltriv with a small shake of his head.
"Oh. I don't think we can play Quick Moves like that, then. We can't do it without an attacking move of your type," he murmured. "Sorry, Saltriv."
I gripped tightly onto my reunion cape. I can't even do a simple Water Gun. The one, single thing that would have been fun about me being like this, and I can't even do that. And I couldn't play that game with Saltriv and Burhalla because of that, either…
Agh! I was ruining everything here! Did they even still want me at the sleepover now? Ever since we'd finished the pillow fort, all I'd done was just get in the way of their fun!
"I'm sorry," I said, trembling. "I shouldn't have—"
Before I could finish, I felt a pair of scaly hands wrap around me. I looked up, seeing Burhalla hugging me.
"It's ok," he said, softly smiling at me. "You didn't do anything wrong. As long as you're trying, I'm sure you'll get it eventually. And it's just one game we can't do, anyways."
"Yep! There's plenty of others we can still do!" Saltriv said, waving their leaf. "How about charades?"
"I'd be down for that! I love charades!" Burhalla said, his tail flame burning brightly as he looked towards Saltriv before turning back to me with an insistent smile. "What do you think? You ok with that, Gen?"
Not quite prepared for the sudden question, I stumbled over my words. This
was the charades I was thinking of, right? I wasn't about to join a game that was really something completely different, was I?
"I, uh—"
Before I could get a chance to fully answer, he said, "Oh, right. I should explain what it is. It's a game where you pretend to be something, and everyone else has to guess what that something is! It's really fun!"
I already knew what charades were. I'd even played it a couple times with my family. But I appreciated Burhalla's thoughtfulness nonetheless, guess he really wasn't upset about not being able to play Quick Moves.
"Sounds fun!" I said, smiling as I sat down on a pillow, before making some adjustments so my tail wasn't uncomfortable. "Let's do it!"
The game was simple enough, not that Burhalla's explanation left much room for confusion. Except… I had no idea how I'd play it with an Oshawott body.
"Alright! I'll start!" Burhalla said, before letting go of me and stepping a bit away. He moved his head forward, and his tail flame grew large. He held his arms to his sides, and began moving them up and down methodically, almost like flapping.
A large fire…and flapping…could it be…
"Moltres?" I guessed, and Burhalla smiled, stopping his flapping.
"Was it really that obvious? But yeah, that's right!" Burhalla said, walking back to a pillow. "I guess I should have gone with something more difficult. Who wants to go next?"
"Me!" Saltriv said, waving their leaf. They stepped back from their pillow, and swayed their leaf so it was over one of their eyes. An Ancient Power rock formed in midair next to their midsection.
…I had no clue what that was supposed to be.
"Uh, Magcargo?" I said. The guess was probably wrong, but it was the closest thing I could think of. I just couldn't think of any Pokémon that'd have one eye covered that'd also have rocks or something by their midsection.
"Nope!" they said, adjusting their leaf slightly.
Burhalla stared inquisitively for a few seconds, before his eyes widened. "Amaura!" he exclaimed, and Saltriv nodded.
"Yep! It was tricky to make it work, but you got it!" Saltriv said, going back to their pillow.
'Amaura'? I'd never heard of a Pokémon by that name before.. Was it a Pokemon from a region I didn't know a lot about? Or were there Pokémon that only lived in this world but not in mine? Maybe it'd make sense to ask—?
"Your turn, Gen!" Saltriv said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Oh, right, I was next.
What should I even try to be…Xatu? No, my arms were now too short for that. Mr. Mime? I didn't exactly have proper hands anymore… At this rate, maybe I ought to be a Magikarp. Since I was about as useless as one right now. Though then again, I don't think I'd even be able to flop like one with how my limbs are.
Let's back up a bit. What can I do with two nubs for arms and a tail… Psyduck? That might be possible. I just need to put my paws to my head and pretend I have a really bad headache.
I stood up, stepped back from my pillow, and put my arms on my head, before beginning to waddle back and forth, a pained expression on my face.
Burhalla and Saltriv stared at me, looking completely bewildered. That meant I was doing well and making them think hard, right? Or... had my charade somehow come out wrong?
"A very sick Piplup?" Saltriv said, trying to stifle a giggle.
"Uh, no," I answered, before beginning to shake my head as I waddled.
"A Psyduck that went days without darkness soothing?" Burhalla said, looking straight at my head.
Well, my charade had come out good enough if Burhalla could figure it out.
"Yeah, that's right! Though it was just supposed to be a Psyduck," I said, walking back to my seat, sitting down, and adjusting my position. "Um, what's darkness soothing?"
"It's a type of treatment where Topsy-turvy is used on a Pokemon who's having trouble with psychic powers," Burhalla answered. "It really helps if their powers are causing them pain."
Huh, interesting. I never heard of anyone doing that back home. It sounds like something that'd be useful, especially for a Pokémon like Psyduck. Maybe I can tell others about it when I get back home!
… I really hope I can go home soon.
"Uh, who should go next?" I asked, looking between my teammates as I began to smell…pecha muffins?
"I ca—" Saltriv began, but before she could finish, Meganium's head peeked inside the blanket fort.
"I brought more snacks for you all! Come and take some!" she said with a smile. "Also, Lidequir stopped by to visit. Why don't you take a break from that pillow fort to spend some time with her?"
Lidequir? Who was that? I saw Saltriv's eyes widen at the mention of that name. Was that another friend of theirs from here in Overcast Village? If so, how come they hadn't introduced me yet?
"Yay! Thanks, mom!" Saltriv said, their tail wagging as they hurried out of the blanket fort. Me and Burhalla soon followed, and I caught a look of awe on his face as we exited the fort.
I was greeted with Meganium holding a wooden platter of pink muffins with a vine just outside the fort's entrance, along with a Wartortle wearing a red scarf.
"Heya!" the Wartortle said, grinning at us.
"Hi Lidequir!" Saltriv said, running up to her. The Wartortle gave a hearty laugh, and pat Saltriv's leaf. She seemed awfully close to Saltriv for a Pokémon that I was just finding out about... what on earth was her story?
"Good to see you again, sprout! I missed ya!" she said. "You holding up alright?"
Saltriv smiled brightly, and gave Lidequir a brief hug with a vine. "Yep! I'm part of a search party now! Team Searchlights! It was Burhalla's idea!" they replied, pointing with their leaf towards Burhalla.
"Well, how 'bout that!" Lidequir said, before walking over to Burhalla and giving him a pat on the back. "Thanks for keeping them safe."
"Not a problem!" Burhalla replied, beaming.
I just stood there, wondering who this person was and how she knew Saltriv, before she turned towards me. "Gen! It's nice to meet you!"
Wh-Wha-? H-How does she know my
name? I began trembling, clutching onto my reunion cape. "How—?"
"Aw, don't sweat it too much. I used my human powers to read your mind and figure out your name!" she said with another hearty laugh.
My eyes widened, and my grip on my reunion cape tightened. Human powers? Since when did humans have special powers? Did that mean she was human too? Did she see that I was human? Was she going to tell everyone? Was—?
"Just joking! Acacia told me about you. He's my partner," she said, giving a soft smile. I saw Meganium give her a disappointed look, and Saltriv giggling quietly.
That wasn't funny… Lidequir really scared me there! … Not that she would know, and frankly it was for the best that she didn't.
I slowly let go of my reunion cape, and looked up at Lidequir. "Uh, hi. So you're also on Team Seedlings with him?"
"That's right!" she said. "We saved the world together and all that jazz."
"How's the sleepover been going?" Meganium asked, stepping closer. "Are you all having fun?"
"Yep! We're all having lots of fun! We were just playing Charades!" Saltriv said, walking up to their mom.
"We also made a blanket fort! Though I guess you could already see that," Burhalla added, glancing at the fort.
"Glad you're having a good time," Meganium replied, giving them a brief hug with their vines.
I smiled at the sight, before feeling a clawed hand on my arm. I looked up, and saw Lidequir standing over me.
"Hey, why don't we go talk for a bit?" she asked, giving me a gentle smile. Before I could say anything, she added, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad, and it won't be long."
I hesitated, trying to figure out what to say in reply. If I said yes, then she might figure out that I'm human, and then tell everyone, and Burhalla would hate me for lying to him, and remove me from the team, and then I'd be away from Saltriv most of the time, and I'd be all alone. But if I say no, I'd put more suspicion on myself, and saying 'no' might not even be an option anyways. I hesitated a couple of seconds, before making a decision that I was sure I was going to regret...
"…ok."
Lidequir grinned. "Let's go, then! Follow me," she said, before walking out of Saltriv's room. I took a brief glance at my teammates, hoping that they'd speak up in protest and reel me back in so that way I'd have an excuse to not go with Lidequir.
"We'll wait for you!" they said, smiling back at me.
...No luck. Looks like I was going to have to make it through this talk on my own.
"Thanks," I said, before following after Lidequir.
We went through the hallway and back to the main room of Saltriv's house. After we entered and got to the table, Lidequir turned around towards me. "Sorry to pull you aside in the middle of your fun with your pals like this. There's a few things I gotta ask you about, and they're best brought up in private."
I nodded, my ears flattening against my head as I trembled. My mind raced with possibilities of what this could be about, almost all of them terrifying. I hesitated, then said, "Ok."
"I know you have amnesia, but what does the word 'human' bring to mind for you?" Lidequir asked, giving me an inquisitive look.
My family and everyone I knew back in Goldenrod. Having hands, no fur, and no tail. Having my food taste the way I expected it to. Watching TV at home with my family. Trying to cook something new. Doing the things that I love.
"Pokemon pretending to be one, and that Gengar Acacia told me about," I lied, looking up at Lidequir. Her ears twitched, and her eyes narrowed slightly in response.
"That's all? No idea what they look like?" Lidequir asked, and I nodded. Her eyes narrowed further.
"And you've never met a real human? One that became a Pokemon?" she added, laying a hand on my shoulder.
Acacia's words from yesterday ran through my head, all the info about my world he couldn't have known if he was just a normal Pokemon.
"I…don't think so," I said, beginning to tremble.
Lidequir's tail twitched, and she gave me a look of reassurance. "Hey, it's ok. There's no need to be scared. We don't bite. Well
I do, but that's because I know the move and I'm good at it," she said, giving a small laugh at the end.
I tried to step away, but Lidequir's hand was still on my shoulder. I looked up at her, eyes wide with fear.
"Hey, lighten up a bit," she said, smiling softly at me. "It's just a joke."
I breathed a small sigh of relief, my tail flopping back onto the floor from being tensed up. "That wasn't funny…"
"Sorry 'bout that. Just couldn't resist," Lidequir replied, moving her hand from my shoulder to my head.
"Back to the point. You don't know? So you think you might have met one?" Lidequir asked, looking me in the eyes.
I- I really didn't want to be here right now. Terrified thoughts of what would happen if Lidequir found me out rushed through my head, screaming at me to just run away. But that'd just make things worse, and I'd be all alone.
"…I don't know," I answered, shrinking back against Lidequir's gaze.
She frowned at me, and said, "If it helps, I used to be human myself. Whoever your partner is, I'll be on their side."
My eyes widened. So she was human, too? Was that how Acacia knew all that stuff about my world? Because Lidequir told her? Nevermind that, how on earth did she become a Pokemon in the first place?
My mind raced with question after question after Lidequir's explanation. Did she wake up in that same weird place I did? Does she know how to go back? But if she knew, why wouldn't she have gone back already? And if she did and chose to stay here for whatever reason, would she even
tell me? Would she still tell me even if she knew I'd been lying?
And 'partner'? What was she talking about!? What partn—
"Hey, hey, it's ok," Lidequir said with another soft smile, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You can trust me. I promise, whatever's going on, I won't judge you for it."
Maybe I should just try to stick to my story.
"I…don't know. I don't remember anything," I lied, looking down. "I might have met one of those humans, I might not have, but… I just don't remember right now."
"I see. Well, thanks for telling me, you've been a good sport for all of this," Lidequir said, taking her arm off of me. "And good luck with your search party! I'm sure you and Saltriv will do great on it!"
"Yeah…you're welcome," I said, looking back up at Lidequir. Thank goodness she bought that. I dunno what I'd have done if she found out my secret and blurted it out in the middle of my team's sleepover. I felt something scaly brush my head and looked up to see Lidequir patting me with a reassuring smile.
"I'll let you get back to your sleepover. That's all I wanted to ask," Lidequir said. "It was nice meeting you, Gen!"
"…nice meeting you too, Lidequir," I said, as I walked back to Saltriv's room.
I hurried off and let out a relieved sigh once I was confident Lidequir couldn't see me. That entire episode could've ended a lot worse than it did. I tried not to think too hard about it and came back to see Burhalla in the middle of chowing down on a muffin, and Saltriv having just finished one. Meganium was smiling at them.
"Gen! You need to try a muffin! They're really good!" Saltriv said, pushing the platter towards me with a vine. Honestly, I could go for one right now, I needed something to get my mind off that interrogation Lidequir put me through.
"Uh, sure!" I said, before picking one up and biting into it. Like the cookies…it wasn't how I remembered them tasting. Still good, but…
"I'll let you three get back to your sleepover," Meganium said, before beginning to walk out of the room. "Have fun, and stay safe!"
"We will!" Saltriv replied, just as Meganium disappeared from view.
"It's been a while since I've had a muffin this good!" Burhalla said, after taking another bite of his. "What do you think of them, Gen?"
It was more bitter than I remembered. Not enough to ruin it, but still noticeable. Burhalla didn't need to know about that though, not when it'd risk him and Saltriv asking questions. I tried to think of something to say back but kept drawing blanks until I finally forced out the first words that came to my tongue.
"…it's tasty," I said, taking another bite out of mine.
"Good!" Saltriv said, their tail wagging a bit.
"Hard to believe it's only been two days since we met you, Gen. Feels like it's been so much longer," Burhalla said, finishing his muffin.
"Yeah…same here," I said, setting my muffin down.
Had it really only been two days since I ended up like this? I could've
sworn it'd been longer…
"It's just hard for me to wrap my mind around sometimes," I said. "There's so much that happened over the past couple days."
"Yep! Going through Twig Woodland, forming Team Searchlights, finding and purifying Flapple," Saltriv said with a bright smile. "We've already done so much together!"
Burhalla also seemed to be in high spirits, and I could see him smiling at me too. You'd never know from that expression that I almost killed him the other day, or that we went into that creepy shrine with all the… statues. Place makes me shudder still just thinking about it.
"I'm really glad you joined our team, Gen," he insisted. "It wouldn't be the same without you."
"…thank you, Burhalla," I said, smiling back. "I…I'm so glad you let me join the team. I don't know what I would have done if I couldn't."
Being all alone for hours on end, with nobody I truly knew to turn to…I really don't know what I'd have done without these two. And I didn't want to imagine what having to go through that would've been like.
"It's a pleasure, really," Burhalla said. "After all, it's not every day that you get to put a search party together with friends!"
I felt my eyes widen. He thought of me as a friend already? Even after what happened in Blistering Shore? I considered him one, but…
I…
"Gen?"
I looked up to see Burhalla staring at me. He was quiet and looked somewhat concerned at me. Had my reaction really been that visible?
"Is something wrong about that?" Burhalla asked. "You…
are ok with us being friends, right?"
… My eyes felt damp. I could feel a few tears streaming down from my face. But, for the first time in these two long days, they weren't tears of sadness, or pain, or fear... but ones of happiness.
"…yeah. Yeah, I really am," I said.
"I'm glad to hear that! " Saltriv said with a wave of their leaf. "Since I see you as my friend, too!"
I hesitated, then stood up, and walked over to Saltriv and hugging them, before doing the same to Burhalla.
"Thank you…thank you…" I said, my tears splashing onto the floor. I felt a pair of scaly arms wrap around me, followed by a pair of vines wiping away my tears.
For the first time since I arrived here, I didn't feel alone at all.
After a few seconds, I felt my friends relinquish their grasp on me. I looked up to see Burhalla and Saltriv smiling brightly at me.
"Feeling alright, Gen? If so, how about we go back inside and get back to having fun?" Burhalla said, his tail flame burning brightly.
"Yeah. I'd love that," I said, wiping away the remaining tears on my face.
We all walked back into the blanket fort, and I sat back down on my pillow. Right, we'd been playing charades… where did we leave off at?
"Whose turn is it now?"
"I'll go!" Saltriv said, before swaying their leaf to the side of their head. "Just you two wait, I'll be sure to beat you two with my next charade!"
Saltriv's Home, 1 hour later
I flopped back onto my pillow with a quiet sigh. Burhalla had correctly guessed that I was pretending to be an Axew. Not sure if I felt more disappointed that my charade got figured out so fast, or relieved that I was still pulling it off well in this Oshawott body. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Saltriv beginning to yawn.
"Tired already?" Burhalla asked, laying a hand on the Chikorita. I felt myself start yawning.
"Yep…" Saltriv said, eyes half-lidded. "Still tired from yesterday."
"Yeah…" I said. "There was…so much that happened. And training…was exhausting, too."
Burhalla was yawning now himself. Guess yawns really were contagious, either that or it was much later than I thought it was. I watched as Burhalla laid down on his bedding, carefully slipping his tail flame away from it as he shifted and tried to get comfortable.
"Come to think of it, I'm starting to feel a bit tired, too," Burhalla said. "Was there anything else we still wanted to do right now?"
"Maybe…we should sleep, and do more in the morning," I suggested, starting to have trouble keeping my eyes open."
"Sounds good…" Saltriv said, curling up in their bed. "Goodnight, Burhalla. Goodnight, Gen."
"Night," Burhalla said, closing his eyes.
"Goodnight," I said.
I laid down and rested my head against my pillow, and pulled my blanket over me. I must be getting used to this bed quicker than I thought, since it felt strangely comfortable. Not as comfortable as my human bed, but it was comfortable nonetheless. Before I could close my eyes, though, I heard Burhalla speak up.
"Hey, Gen? Why don't you sleep against your scalchop?" I heard him ask. I looked over towards him, to see him with his eyes just barely open. "Don't Oshawotts normally do that?"
Crap. I didn't know that about Oshawotts. What do I say?
"Um…I…didn't remember that that's a thing Oshawotts do," I said. It wasn't entirely a lie. "Am I supposed to be doing that? It's not unhealthy for me to sleep differently, is it?"
"Dunno. Just found it a bit odd," Burhalla said, closing his eyes again. "Though come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you use your scalchop at all. You should probably start relearning how to use it again. It'd be really handy in dungeons."
"Uh, ok," I said, gripping onto my blanket. "I'll, um, start on that tomorrow."
"Night, Gen," he said, his tail flame beginning to dim.
I lifted my blanket up, to look at the shell on my belly. It was such a weird thing, it felt like both a clothing accessory and a part of my body at the same time. It wasn't as weird as the fur, or the ears, or the tail, or my arms and legs, but still.
I couldn't wait to be human again and be rid of it all.
Until then, though, maybe it
was a good idea to try to start learning how to use my scalchop. I didn't know how long it'd be until I could find a way back home, and it could be useful until then.
I definitely don't want to start sleeping against it, though. That didn't sound comfortable at all.
None of this was comfortable.
I had lost so much. My home, my family, my ability to do many things, even my body. All I really had left right now was my memories.
…I didn't want to imagine losing those, too.
But that wasn't entirely true, was it? I had Saltriv and Burhalla. I was happy to have them, at least. I couldn't imagine having to go through this all without them.
But what if they find out about my lies? For all I knew, there was some way they could put two and two together that I didn't know about. And if they did, wouldn't they want nothing to do with me afterwards? And then…I'd be all alone.
I just…need to keep up this lie, just until I find a way home. Then I can go home, return to my life, and put this all behind me.
But then I'd lose Saltriv and Burhalla, wouldn't I?
It'd be worth it, though. I'd be home again, with my family again, and be human again.
Even if I missed them, it'd be worth it.
It'd still be nice not to choose, though.
Maybe…they could even come with me somehow. As disorienting and unpleasant as things had gotten since I became a Pokemon, the two had been genuinely nice to hang around. Who knows? Maybe they would find my world interesting since it was full of beings they'd never seen before.
Yeah. That'd be nice.
===================================================================
Blanket Fort, 6 Hours Later
Burhalla
My eyes began to open, and I yawned. That was such a fun sleepover! Such a great time!
Huh, it looked like it was still dark. I couldn't see very far, but my tail flame helped illuminate things a bit.
I began to stand up, and walk over towards where Saltriv was. "Morning, Saltriv!" I said.
Except I couldn't find them. I looked where I remembered their bed being, but there was just empty space on the floor.
Where did they go?
Ah, they must have gotten uncomfortable sleeping in the pillow fort, and moved their bed outside. I didn't see Saltriv as the type to do that, but they
are quite a bit bigger than me or Gen.
I guess I'll just greet Gen, then. The pillow fort shouldn't have been any less comfortable for him than it was for me.
I walked over to his spot, but... wasn't here either.
"…Gen?" I asked.
I held my tail flame out to look around in the darkness. No sign of him either. Guess he must have gone outside with Saltriv. … or at least I
think he did.
I began walking towards where the exit of the blanket fort was, but after several seconds of walking, I still hadn't reached it.
Alright, this was getting weird. Something was definitely up. There was no way the blanket fort was this big. What had happened while I was asleep?
I continued walking, until I came to a wall of blankets. I lifted my tail up to try to illuminate the top, but there didn't seem to be any top to the blankets.
No… no, it
couldn't be…
Out of the corner of my vision I spotted something lavender. I didn't hesitate to walk over towards it. There on the ground, near the blanket wall, was a sleep seed.
Berry crackers!
This was a mystery dungeon.