Like No One Ever Was

Dust and wind blew at my back, from the canyon and mines of the East Province I knew to be behind. At my side was Amethio, the young boy clutching onto Charcadet’s Pokeball tightly. Above us loomed the massive Glaseado Mountain, the peaks of Paldea.

But our test, a tangled tangle of grass, shrubs, and colorful trees, was right in front of us. This was the Tagtree Thicket.

Hamber cleared his throat behind me, and I turned to face him before shielding my face from the small rock particles blowing about.

"You have been on small outings before, and you have learned the basics from us Explorers, but today and tonight will be the first time that you will be tested on your own." Drolly, he began to go over our mission again like we were little children, before thankfully being interrupted by the girl next to him.

“Yeah, yeah, they got it already. Did fine before, you just havta not screw up. All alone, in the spooky forest,” the bubblegum-pink-haired girl leered at us. She was short, only a bit taller than me despite being almost double my age, wearing a black skirt with gold stripes on one side. She also had on the oddest top I’d ever seen, a crop top with long sleeves, but bare shoulders, held up by thin strips of fabric connecting to a choker.

“Thank you, Coral,” Hamber said, in a tone drier than the rocky wasteland behind us. “I am certain that you will be fine, but in case anything arises, you have flares and can call us on Nemona’s phone. We will be staying at Zapico off not too far to the West, and will arrive with all haste if you need us.” Coral looked like she would chime in again, but was cut off with a glance from Hamber. She shrugged, leaning back, putting her hands behind her head, and blowing out a bubble from the gum she was chewing.

Coral has to be my least favorite person in this organization, after Spinel of course. Spinel seemed to personally dislike myself and Amethio, but Coral wasn’t much better, being abrasive and blowing up at anyone, save Hamber and Gibeon. Still, her taunts were more generic, and she’d get easily distracted, so she still cleared the low, low bar Spinel set.

“We won’t need any help,” Amethio said, a determined look on his cute little face. He’s confident. Then again, I am too.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine!” I gave them a thumbs up and shifted my shoulders, adjusting the backpack on them. While I could have stored everything inside my Sliph bag, they wanted to see what we could do with more limited resources. That still meant that we both had tents, ropes, first aid kits, flares, and a few other supplies in our bags.

"Very well, we'll leave you alone. Please come back tomorrow at noon if you don't need any help during your stay." Right, we’ll be in the forest for almost twenty-four hours, as it’s just after noon.

The two Explorers released their Pokemon, a Dusknoir for Hamber and a Glalie for Coral, and had them carry their trainers away. I watched them float away for a second before turning back to the forest in front of us.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said and Amethio took off almost instantly, eager to prove himself. He rushed through the wilderness, slipping between the bushes and over the gnarly roots. I followed after, curious as to where he’d lead. It became clear though that he didn’t have a destination in mind, and wasn’t exactly paying attention to where he was going.

“Stop!” I yelled at him suddenly, causing him to immediately arrest his movement and nearly fall over.

Waving his arms in circles to rebalance himself he shouted back “What was that about?”

My answer was to point at his feet and the Foongus he had nearly trampled over. The mushroom-like Pokemon was still woken up by our shouting, and let out a cloud full of spores into Amethio’s face, causing the boy to fall backwards while the Pokemon shuffled off.

I ran forward to check on him, opening up my bag. “Are you alright? Can you move? Do you feel nauseous? Drowsy?” I asked while pulling out a cloth to wipe at his face, careful to not let any of the spores touch my skin.

“I- I’m fine. It’s just itchy and irritating. I can’t believe that Pokemon would do that, I didn’t even touch them!” He complained.

Probably the only reason they didn’t try to Poison or Paralyze you was because you hadn’t hit them. The spores appeared to not be a Move, and just a regular irritant to the eyes, so easily cleaned without any lasting effects. “We have to remember it’s their world here, we can’t just march all over it without a care.”

The boy grumbled without any coherency, pushing himself back up. “Fine, but we still need to find a place to make camp here.”

"That's true." I looked around, trying to find a good place to rest. The forest is much wilder than I remembered from the games. Is that just something that they didn't show us, or is it going to be cleared out a little bit over time? Team Star hasn't set up a base here yet–though even in the games, it’s more a camp.

"Huh," I said aloud, causing Amethio to turn to me.

“What is it?” He must be impatient, I guess.

“Why are these trees painted? Who would have made these… colorful patterns?” The paint was slathered on tree trunks in many colors and shades, in rings and other shapes like bullseyes. Not every tree is painted, and all of them are painted in slightly different patterns.

“Who cares?” Amethio asked rhetorically and I sighed. The clock’s a bit overwound on that one. “Let’s just find a place to set up camp. There’s some water running over there.” He started walking off, a tad slower and more cautiously than he had been going before.

Following him, we eventually came across the river that flowed down from the mountaintop and cut through the Thicket. There was a bit of space from the heavier vegetation and the steep drop that led to the river’s edge, enough space that we could set up camp here. Personally, I wasn’t sure it was the greatest place to do so and said as much.

“What’s wrong with it? It’s clear and we have easy access to water,” Amethio pointed out.

“Perhaps too easy,” I countered, pointing at a battle about to happen a few hundred meters away. “Our neighbors seem a little rowdy.”

Amethio had to squint his eyes to make out the small teal shape drifting down to the waters, looking for a drink. I hadn’t expected to find a Dreepy here of all places. Just like I don’t think the Dreepy is expecting the Basculin in the water. Indeed, they were not, giving a sharp, strangled cry and turning tail as the green-scaled fish erupted out of the water, sharp teeth snapping towards it.

While it avoided most of them, one of the fish managed to sink a nasty Bite into the Ghost Type, eliciting a moan of pain from them. Amethio jumped up at that. “We have to help them!”

“We do? Uh, ok!” I responded, running after Amethio who was already going after the Dreepy.

Not holding back this time, I soon outpaced him and made it to the area where the incident happened. The Dragon was long gone, but the fish that had chased it off were still churning about, agitated.

They tried to shoot a few weak bursts of water my way, but I took a step back from the edge to make it harder to hit me and released Dun. “Hyper Voice,” I called out, and he unleashed a raucous noise that had the fish swimming back beneath the water’s surface.

“Did you find them?” Amethio asked, panting slightly as he approached, then took in Dun’s new form. “Whoa, when did he get so…?”

“Big? Unova, had a trip there recently. No sign, but let’s look around, they went on this side of the river,” I said rapidly, keeping my eyes peeled. Here my enhanced senses were both a boon and bane because I could see more, but every slight twitch of movement from a passing Pasimian troop, or a Combee floating by, had me fixate on that for a moment before trying to refocus.

A minute or two later, I heard the same ghostly moan, and while the foliage blocked my line of sight, I knew where the Dreepy generally was. “I hear it over there, c’mon!”

We made our way, quickly but carefully through the forest til we found the dragon being angrily yelled at and accosted by a group of black and gray creatures. Most of them were quite small, barely bigger than my foot with four legs. The leader, the evolved version of them, was about half as tall as I was, and stood on two legs, with two gangly arms reaching down to the ground. Each of its hands had three fingers, the middle ones extremely long and dripping with paint. It was the main agitator, shrieking at Dreepy and flinging nasty purple balls of ooze at them that sizzled where they hit. Mostly the ground as the ghostly Dragon dodged around, but I could already see some of the gunk was stuck to Dreepy’s scales.

Amethio rushed in, releasing Charcadet. “Stop it!” He called out, and the Grafaiai turned to sneer at him with their bulbous eyes. Don’t know much about Shroodle or Grafaiai other than the fact that they’re Normal and Poison Types, so I don’t know why they’re doing this. The Dreepy scurry-floated behind Amethio’s legs further prompting anger from the pack. Grafaiai stepped forward and began to battle Charcadet.

“Fire Spin, then Flame Charge!” The boy commanded, and his starter began burning up. The Poison Type howled in pain as the flames surrounded them, but rushed in to meet the charge, scratching viciously at Charcadet.

“Charcadet!” Amethio called out in shock. Hmm, he hasn’t had much experience with wild battles, has he? I don’t want to backseat Train, but I could probably offer a pointer or two.

“Wild Pokemon aren’t going to call out their attacks ahead of time, you have to be ready for anything!” I offered. Amethio clicked his tongue, more in frustration at the monkey-like creature he was fighting rather than me.

“Flame Charge, strike it again, and speed up!” Amethio called out, and Charcadet loyally wrapped itself in flames, once more rushing the Grafaiai. This time the monkey took the hit and tried to sink its fangs dripping with poison into Charcadet, but the fiery little guy dodged at the last second.

That poison is dangerous. If Charcadet gets Poisoned… Thankfully, Amethio anticipated the dangers as well. “Keep your distance and Ember,” the boy called out, and Charcadet did so, spinning around Grafaiai and spitting more flames at them even as the Fire Spin died down.

Grafaiai proved itself to be quite fast as well, keeping up with the enhanced Charcadet and letting loose sprays of thick poison through the air, often impacting the Fire Type. Each time they landed I heard the slightly unnatural sizzling sound coming from his armor. Each shot weakens him, so each further shot does more damage. What will Amethio do?

“Destiny-”

“STOP!” I interrupted my sudden shout not only throwing Amethio off-guard, but also the Grafaiai and the Shroodle, everyone stopping to turn and stare at me. “Uhh, don’t knock out your only Pokemon while we’re in this forest, ok?”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?!” He called out in exasperation as Grafaiai renewed their assault and Charcadet barely dodged a few more Acid Sprays.

“Clear Smog!” I snapped my fingers excitedly, which Amethio got the meaning of instantly. He remembers our first battle just as well as I do.

“Yeah, Clear Smog on them, then rush into it yourself!” Dutifully, Charcadet unleashed a white smoke cloud that only mildly irritated the monkey-like Pokemon, before running into it headlong himself. It did more damage to him than his foe, but I heard the sizzling stop instantly, the acid neutralized by the smoky Move.

Grafaiai launched a quick series of claw attacks as their foe was up close again, but recoiled from the scorching heat as they hit the wrong part of the Fire Type’s body. With a final Flame Charge, the leader was taken down.

This sent the smaller, more mouse-like Shroodle into a panicking, scurrying about without any direction. This panic was only exacerbated by the fact that this small corner of the forest was on fire.

“Go, Miles!” I said, releasing them from their Pokeball, already in Wash Form. “Put out these fires.”

“Ro-to-to!” They eagerly agreed, but something went off when they tried. At first, only a small dribble of water came out of their open, washing machine door. Then the water would pour out in fits and bursts, rather than the usual high-powered stream Hydro Pump made. Still, after a minute or so, it was enough to put out all the flames, leaving the Shroodle huddled around their fallen leader.

“Relax, we’re not going to hurt you, we’re just going to take the Dreepy to safety, okay?” I asked them, but they seemed a little too frightened to give a proper response.

“We have a problem,” Amethio said, and turning to him, I saw him leaning over the small dragon which was coughing and looked quite pale.

“Miles, can you clear the acid off of her?” I asked, pointing at the fallen Dragon. My Pokemon then unleashed quite a powerful blast of water, eliciting a small cry of pain from the Dreepy.

“What was that for?” Amethio angrily yelled at me. Miles themselves looked shocked and sad.

“I don’t know, something seems off with Miles,” I responded, walking briskly over and scooping up the now clean, if a bit more battered, Dreepy. They gave out a few weak coughs, still looking pale. Poisoned, and pretty badly at that. Looks like it got bit before we got there. “The Dreepy is Poisoned, can you find a Pecha Berry? I’ll look after them and check what’s up with Miles.” For some reason, Amethio looked hesitant so I added “Just go! We need to get them an antidote fast.”

He turned and ran off, searching for the berry among the trees and on the forest ground, while I turned to face Miles. “Alright, what’s up with you today? Is your Aura alright?”

They dropped down to the ground, unpossessing the washing machine and floating back into their phone. “I am uncertain, bzzt. My electrical control appears to be fine, but when I tried using the Water Type energy, there were issues.”

“Hmm…” We aren’t close enough to, nor so devoid of ambient Water energies for the environment to be a problem here, so it’s probably something else. “Run a diagnostic on the machine,” I offered slowly, as an idea as to the cause came to me.

They did so, and I held the Dreepy close while we waited. It twitched a little, looking weak, and I wished there was something else I could do. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything I had on hand to help the triangular-headed Pokemon. As part of the ‘self-sufficiency’ training we were doing, I didn’t have my usual bevy of Potions and healing items on hand.

“So, why did you attack this guy?” I asked the Shroodle, getting a few squeaks and some odd tilting motions, but little substantive. Understanding a Pokemon can be hard. I’ve had years to help with Dun, but I can’t even perfectly tell what he wants all of the time. Aside from the fact that this Dreepy is a girl, I’m not getting anything they’re saying.

Miles finished their diagnostic, returning to their phone to tell me the results. “Something in the inner workings of my Water Drive engine is broken, that’s why it’s not making the proper amount of water, gathering too much or too little when I try to use it, bzzt.”

“Must have been damaged in our fight with Clay and we didn’t notice till after.” Strange, usually Rotom Forms are pretty resistant to permanent damage because they rely on the possesser’s Aura. Maybe the fact that an Earthquake hit them when they should usually be immune played a role in the damages?

It was hard to say, but I didn’t have time to think about that as Amethio raced back, he and Charcadet had their hands full of berries.

“Ididn’tknowwhichonewasaPechasoIjustpickedabunch!” He shouted breathlessly at me.

“Ah, that’s not good. Sorry about that. They look like… well none of those are Pechas.” He groaned, and I added, “Wait, there’s a Lum berry there, that’ll do!” Picking out the green orb-shaped berry, he slowly fed it to Dreepy. With agonized effort, she chewed and swallowed it, then blinked her eyes open, looking still tired but already somewhat better.

“Very good. When she’s ready, give her some of those Oran berries too, as a little pick-me-up. I’ll give the rest to the Shroodle.”

“Why are we feeding the Pokemon that attacked us?” He asked, seeming upset even as he was careful to hold Dreepy gently when I passed her over.

“Because we don’t know what happened. Plus, they’re going to be in rough shape with their leader out of commission for a bit, so might as well help.”

Amethio dumped the berries off near the wild Pokemon and we left, heading out just to leave the general area. The Dreepy had started perk up, floating around and chirping happily.

“What were you doing here?”

“Dreep, Dree.” She responded, zipping around as she did so.

“You came here looking to prove yourself?” Amethio asked and Dreepy wobbled for a moment before nodding her head. “Something like that,” he muttered, more to himself as his hand drifted down to his belt, before pausing.

“Are you thinking about catching her?” I whispered as she zipped around, exploring the forest. Dun slithered ahead to make sure she didn’t get into any more trouble. “Dreepy are tough to train.” Like most Pseudo Legendaries, there’s a reason why few trainers have their final stages on their teams, and why those few that do are considered some of the best.

That, if anything, lit a fire in his eyes. “I can do it.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, was just informing you. You don’t have to take everything as a challenge, you know?” Rather than respond to me he stomped off to Dreepy.

“Dreepy, I want- no, I need to be strong. Will you join me?” He asked bluntly, holding out a Pokeball he had enlarged and pulled off his belt. Barely were the words out of his mouth and she had darted towards it, connecting with the central button and disappearing inside in a red flash.

“Congrats on your second Pokemon,” I said easily, refusing to let his irritation from before get to me. He looked to the side and mumbled something like ‘thanks’ before moving on.

***

We explored a fair bit of the forest before we reached a spot I thought was good. “We should rest there for the night,” I said, pointing at the top of the hill. Amethio was strangely quiet ever since the Dreepy incident, but I decided to explain my reasoning anyway. “Being at the top of the hill gives us a good vantage point, with the tree in front giving some cover. There’s a pool of water down at the bottom of the hill, and it’s got a more peaceful bunch of Woopers in it rather than Basculin.”

“Fine,” Amethio clipped out, walking towards it before stopping and sighing. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, low enough that without my super hearing, I probably wouldn’t have caught the words.

“For?” I asked, not trying to draw things out, but curious as to why exactly he had been upset.

“For being upset with you. I didn’t like the fact that I needed your help to beat that Grafaiai.”

“Hey, it’s not a big deal. Charcadet hasn’t evolved yet, that was always going to be a challenge. Besides, you handled the other battles on our way here pretty well.” He had fought off a Komala and even drove off a small hive of Combees. Dun had only fought once so far, against a

Passimian, and easily outclassed the lemur-like Pokemon, being much stronger than most of the creatures in this forest. Evolution has done wonders for his strength overall, but I think he would have been strong enough to handle anything sent our way even before.

“But you could have handled it easily,” he shot out bitterly as we began hiking up the hill. Be calm Nemona, he’s just a kid. They still get emotional and act out, even when trying to apologize.

“Possibly. But I’ll still want your help on this trip. It’s why I didn’t want you to win with Destiny Bond, or you’d be stuck without a Pokemon and we’re in this together.”

“Are we?” He said, turning to stare down at me. “I know you’re leaving after this. I heard what you said to Hamber.”

Part of me wants to point out that I never said I was leaving, I just told Hamber I was thinking I might come to the Explorers less often. Not slamming the door shut, just... closing it most of the way. But I'm indeed pulling back, and Amethio is a smart enough kid to realize that.

Suppressing a groan I said: “Yes, I’m leaving. The base is creepy, and everyone is hiding something from me. I don’t get what you guys are up to.”

“You might if you actually joined us! You’re keeping secrets too,” he petulantly pointed out. As much as he isn’t being mature about this, he does have a point.

“What if I didn’t like whatever it was the Explorers were up to? What if you didn’t like me once my secrets were revealed?” Because once you walk through that door, you can’t go back. We’ve been hanging in an uneasy balance right now, but the equilibrium can’t last. Sooner or later, I’d have to come down on one side.

Amethio looked frustrated at that, not having an answer there. We finished our hike up the hill, finding a nice spot in the shade of the large tree to set up our tents. “... I don’t want you to leave,” He finally said.

“You could leave, too. You don’t have to stay there,” I tried gently pointing out, but he locked his jaw and shook his head.

“I have to. Have to prove that I can choose right, that I’m better than my father.” Well, looks like that option won’t work. I’m curious about the father angle, but I don’t think asking any questions about that is going to help right now.

With a long stretch, I said “You know, me leaving doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” He gave me a skeptical look and one that I inwardly understood. It does mean we’ll see each other a lot less, and more than that, if I do find out someday that all that creepiness was linked to something nefarious, I’ll have to stop them. But still. “I’m serious, we can stay in touch and talk, even if I’m busy with other stuff.”

“What other stuff?”

“Taking on the Pokemon League, becoming a Pokemon Professor, writing world-famous songs, running a bajillion start-up companies, you know, little stuff like that.” He gave a small huff at my grandiose juxtaposition, trying to hide his laughter.

“I don’t have a phone,” Amethio pointed out. I seamlessly suppressed a glare at that. Yet another way The Explorers have kept him cut off from the world. Not out of purposeful malice they'd ever admit, if asked they would probably say Amethio never asked for a phone, but- ugh just focus on the present.

“Luckily, I think my dad can fix that. He runs the Rotom Phone company, they can do amazing things.” His oddly shaped pupils widened at that. “You should come to the headquarters with me. I need to get Miles’ Washing Machine fixed. Plus, I have some ideas for a few upgrades.”

Hardly an amazing engineer yet, but I think the study of machinery has helped improve my technical skills a tad. I might be able to at least describe a reasonable idea to the scientists who work for my dad such that they could fine-tune and make what I’m looking for.

“Really?” The boy sounded surprised as if there was a seed of unexpected hope he couldn’t quite squash.

“Yeah, of course. We can still be friends and stay in touch, even if we aren’t going to share everything. I’m sure we’ll be able to meet up and hang out sometimes too.” Less sure on that point, but I think by being the one to say it, the Explorers will be less inclined to act so cult-y. Is that even a word here, or do they just call things ‘Team-y’?

I was brought back to the moment by hearing Amethio start to pull out his tent. “Let’s get set up. And… thank you.”

With a big grin, I began doing the same. Alright, we had a rough start, but things are looking up.

***

I forgot how used I was to the comforts of society I thought as I shifted around, trying to find a less hard spot to lie on, to no avail. Sleeping on a luxurious four-poster bed for the past two years had not prepared me for the rigors of camping. The area we picked wasn’t even that bad compared to others, with no jagged rocks or roots beneath our tents, but the hard dirt, even with an airbag and sleeping mattress in the way, was still unpleasant to lie on.

What was more troubling for my sleep however were the noises. Murkrows would caw in the night and the trees would rustle without any wind, Pokemon lurking about. Just calm down, everything is fine. Dreepy and Miles don’t need sleep, so they’re watching over us, they’d let us know if anything got close.

It wasn’t even a super likely fear, I knew. Most Pokemon knew better than to go bother humans at night. Pokemon in general were not as vicious and predatory as animals could be. Territorial, sure, but we had paid off this area’s band of Grafaiai with some more harvested berries, and even if anything did want to cause a problem it would likely be to drive us out, not hurt us. But there are always exceptions. At least Dun is warm. I cuddled closer to my starter and closed my eyes again, trying to push out all the outside noises.

Sleep didn’t come easily because of those reasons, but I figured it did eventually come, as at some point I could suddenly see the pale light of dawn peeking in. With a yawn and a stretch, I got up, leaving Dun to rest a bit longer within the tent as I exited. The first thing I saw was Amethio sitting down on the hill beside Charcadet. “Oh hello. Did you get much sleep last night?”

He grunted. “I got enough.” So macho. Why does he feel he needs to always act like things are fin- oh right, people like Spinel and Coral. I wasn’t going to ‘win’ that argument though, so I didn’t bring it up, just sitting down beside him in the peaceable early morning quiet. Most of the nocturnal Pokemon had gone back to their dens and nests to rest for the day, but the diurnal Pokemon were still slowly waking up and not very active yet.

After a few minutes, he added: “I was talking with Charcadet, about evolution. You said it was impressive that he did as well as he did against an evolved Pokemon, but how much stronger would he be with it?”

“That… depends. Plenty of Pokemon can be strong without evolution. Some Pokemon never evolve and can still be major powerhouses. So first off decide if evolution is what you both want.” Amethio looked contemplative, but it was Charcadet who jumped up, nodding his head eagerly, the fires in his eyes blazing bright. “Alright then, looks like someone is keen on it.”

“Char! Har, adet!”

I continued. “Evolution will be an immediate boost of power. For Pokemon like Charcadet that use an item to evolve, you’ll have to consider when you want to evolve. It’s a big choice, and even if you want to do so eventually, there are advantages to spending some time in the base stage and getting a good grasp on the energies you can handle there.”

“We’ve already spent plenty of time training here. I might have jumped the Bullet Punch on Destiny Bond there, but Charcadet was able to beat Grafaiai already.” He had his arms crossed, ready to defend his case further.

“Yeah, that could be.” At his disbelieving look, I added “Honest, it’s really your guys’ choice. You’re his trainer, so you can best guide him for what he wants.”

“What he wants…” Amethio repeated, a flash of guilt on his face, barely catchable. A lot of trainers sort of skim past that part. Not that I think that Amethio has been cruel to his starter, or doesn’t love them. He’s still a kid though, and one with big, nebulous, goals he feels pressured by, so it’s easy for him to be a little unknowingly selfish.

Charcadet placed a hand on Amethio’s shoulder, to reassure the boy that he stood beside him and all he wanted was to assist his trainer. Amethio turned away from me to face his Pokemon, and if he had to wipe a tear from his eyes, I didn’t comment on it.

“So, ah, what item would we need to evolve him?” He asked me a minute later.

“Well, that’s the thing; Charcadet has a split evolution path. Two sets of specialized armor can help him change, though it might be possible, if incredibly difficult without.” Mela evolved the Team Star Charcadets without even knowing about the armor stuff, somehow. “I don’t know how that would be done without the armors though, or if you’d be leaving the type of evolution up to chance.”

Charcadet seemed very curious at that, walking around to get a better look at me. “The two evolutions are Ceruledge and Armarogue- actually, let me pull up some pictures.” Taking out my Pokedex, I scrolled through it before finding the pages and holding it up for them to see.

“Ceruledge needs the Malicious armor, and will gain the Ghost Typing, while Armarouge needs the… Auspicious armor? I think. It will gain the Psychic Typing. Both retain the Fire Type.” Charcadet nodded his head, pleased with that, while gazing in awe at what he could look like in each of his evolved forms.

“Which is better?” Amethio asked bluntly, eliciting a sharp laugh from me.

“I wouldn’t call either of them ‘better’ than the other, just different. Armarouge focuses more on range and energy attacks, while Ceruledge is better at up-close, physical attacks. As far as Typing goes, Dreepy is a Ghost Type, so you might get more mono-focus benefits by adding another Ghost Type, or you could diversify your team and have Psychic. Those are just minor details, I’m sure you’ll be strong whichever way you two decide.”

The pale boy blushed a bit, looking away. “Thanks. Do- do you know where I could get those armors?”

“Sorry, I don’t.” I never actually caught a Charcadet in my runs, and from what I remember having read online, you need to give items to some lady in… Medali maybe? I can’t recall the items clearly, and that might have just been a gaming abstraction anyway. “I can look into it though-” He waved me off before I could finish.

“It’s fine, you’ve helped me- helped us out enough. We’ll have to discuss it more, but The Explorers have plenty of resources too,” he boasted. Don’t I know it. Creepy mega-complex bases, holograph projectors, and uniforms don’t make themselves after all. I just don’t know where those resources come from. It was another factor that was creepy, but I couldn’t outright declare it as ‘evil’ or ‘bad’. My parents are weird in their own ways, but if they wanted to build some ominous base hidden away from the world, they could do so as well. That thought put some truly disturbing images in my head that I shoved deep down to the bottom recesses of my mind.

“Alright, while you’re busy daydreaming, I’ll get a fire started. Since we’re both up we might as well get an early start on breakfast.”

The boy gave me an odd look, pointing a hand over at his starter. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know we have Pokemon that can do it, but this is good training.”

“Training for what?”

“If I’m stuck in the wilderness and my Pokemon are too injured or weak to help me with the basic things. I like being self-sufficient.”

This time it was his turn to roll his eyes. “I’ll give you ten minutes,” he deadpanned, hopping up to scout around.

I made a small circle in the ground ringed by rocks. Gathering the twigs and making wood shavings for kindling wasn’t hard with the multi-tool in my pack, but striking the flint took many, many attempts before I finally succeeded.

“Yes!” I pumped my fist in the air before a burst of flame from the side engulfed the logs. “Wha-!”

“Congrats, you did it in like nine minutes,” Amethio said, having returned.

“Why did you have Charcadet do that?” I asked.

“You lit it on fire, isn’t that what you wanted?” He pointed out and I crossed my arms in a totally-not-petulant manner.

“Lighting it on fire isn’t the end, you need to carefully tend to the flames to make sure they don’t go out.” He didn’t look swayed by my argument, and honestly, I wasn’t either. I guess I probably had it from there, but still. I like practicing these skills, but I would like to get a move on with breakfast too.

We had a bit of oatmeal mix and a pan, which I used to make ourselves breakfast. It was not the most delicious of meals I had ever had - in fact, it was probably objectively the worst I ever had in this lifetime. Subjectively, however, it made the top ten, because all we’d had before were some nuts and berries we had been able to scavenge (and determine were not poisonous).

The scent of our meal must have wafted over a bit because soon enough I saw a Pineco shuffling up the hill to our camp. I don’t think Pineco moves like that…

When it reached us it let out a deep growl of warning, somewhat interrupted by my words. “Would you like some of our food, little Zorua?” That caused them to jump backward, eyeing me warily before saying, or rather, making me think they said:

“Pine! Eco.”

“Sorry, that bluff won’t work when your shadow is that of a Zorua’s,” I pointed out, one of my hands pointing at their fox-like shadow. They gave a ‘yip’ of shock and embarrassment, letting the illusion fade and revealing the red and black-furred Pokemon they truly were. There were a bunch of other tells as well, like their scent and the paw prints left in the grass. I wonder how difficult it was for Director Z to make her illusions as complete as she did?

“Zor?” He asked cautiously, approaching closer.

“I think we can let them clean off the pot, right Amethio?” The boy nodded, both of us having eaten our full. “And in exchange, maybe you can give us a battle?” I asked the Zorua who bared his teeth in a fierce grin. “You ready to give Dreepy their first battle?”

“Me? Oh, yeah, we can do this,” Amethio quickly recovered, resolving himself to fight. The Zorua finished his meal… and then promptly ran away, multiplying and dodging among the trees and underbrush before we could catch them. I can still make out which one is the real one, but they’re way too far away now to catch, not without a Move like Earthquake bringing the whole forest down on us.

“Stop laughing!” Amethio hissed at me, clearly not finding the same amusement I did in this.

“Sorry,” I apologized without much sincerity. “I just didn’t think they’d go and do that. Guess that shows me; gotta offer the food after, not before.” It is a good lesson. I’d been getting complacent with the wild Pokemon around my home, the ones who have gotten used to me. Each time I explore a new area, I’ll find there are different social structures to deal with, and they won’t know me.

With that little misstep over with, we packed up our tent and began hiking back to the entrance of this little valley. That was somewhat skill testing, tracking our footprints and trail from the day before, using landmarks to determine where the right way out of the twisted forest was… or at least it was for half an hour until Amethio pointed out we both had Pokemon that could float. Miles and Dreepy were easily able to rise above the treeline and point us in a straight line to the exit.

As we approached the edge of the forest Amethio told me “It might take a few weeks, but I want to get that phone and stay in contact with you. Thanks for that, and for helping me. You’re younger than I am, but you seem to know so much.”

I quickly smoothed over the small twitch at what he said. Just another secret I’ll be keeping.

“Perfect! Just tell Hamber when you’re ready and we can take a trip to the factory. There they are!” Pointing at the Explorers waiting at the edge of the canyon border we raced ahead, eager to tell them about our exciting adventure.