Like No One Ever Was

The Gligar incident threw off our plans for the afternoon. While we had just as much if not more time after getting a ride on their Flying Taxi (which used Noctowls, not Squawkabillys) that time was taken up fretting beside the Pokemon… stand? It had most of the basic machines needed to heal a Pokemon and a Chansey standing by the Nurse Joy, but it was a small mobile setup, not a proper building.

No one is in the mood to continue with the sign tour today, anyway. Kieran has barely said a word since. As we dispersed I quickly said “We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” to which I got a non-committal but vaguely agreeing sound from the two kids.

“This was an exciting start to our trip!” Billy chirped, but I could see that the big smile on his face was a little forced at the corners of his lips. My family had gathered back at the inn, deciding where to go for dinner.

He’s trying for me though, so I can try to look a little less glum too. “Definitely wasn’t what I expected. Hope Carmine and Kieran are ok with what I did. We got into a small argument over Gligar.”

Cyan cut in, holding three menus in her hands. “Carmine seems to have a problem with everything. Also, we narrowed it down to these three places, where do you want to go?”

Skimming over the menus I pointed to the middle one. “Kitakami Kuisine. It’s not Carmine I’m worried about. She’s not a bad girl, just bad at expressing herself.” Expressing herself politely, that is.

My sister made a disbelieving sound, but I ignored it, forging ahead. “No, it’s Kieran. I helped push him to catch the Applin, but then I helped the Pokemon that attacked him.”

Our dad looked over at the menus “Fantastic choice my dears! What drew your eye to this restaurant?” He just sounded curious, not judging my choice.

“It served a bunch of food you guys will like and fries and nuggets for me.” My answer elicited a groan from my sister.

“You’re so plain. How can someone so adventurous be so timid when it comes to food? You don’t even like sandwiches.” She uttered the last word like it was blasphemy.

“All the rest of me is adventurous, my taste buds are not. Besides, sandwiches are just fine, I eat most of the same ingredients you guys do.”

“Eating a loaf of bread, then a separate pile of meat does not count as eating a sandwich.” My sister deadpanned before our mother cleared her throat and we stopped arguing.

“Well, I think it’s lovely that you’re so concerned for the well-being of all Pokemon. Even ones as… scary as that one,” Mom mentioned and my sister looked at my face and sighed.

“You aren’t going to catch it, are you?” Cyan asked nervously. “Like, you had to use a Pokeball to get it to the center, that’s fine and noble and all, but… it tried to attack you.”

“Hmm, it depends. I don’t know enough about her or her situation yet, or even if she’d want to join my team.”

That’s the issue, isn’t it? Gligar are generally viewed as a pretty aggressive species, and the Pokedex tends to agree with that. ‘It flies straight at its target’s face, then clamps down on the startled victim to inject poison.’ ‘It sails on the winds with its limbs extended to strike from the sky. It aims for the prey’s face.’, etc. But I feel there’s more to the story here than that. That Gligar had traveled a fair distance from home, which could have just been it searching for weak prey, but then there was the Toxic Orb it was holding…

“Seriously? Poison Types are pretty vicious. If you want to keep her, I trust you but…” My big sister trailed off. Poison is an odd type for trainers. Most only catch a Pokemon with a secondary Typing of Poison, the kinds that don’t tend to be as naturally hazardous to one's health. Or they go the opposite way, being full-on specialists in the Type. Knowing how to deal with a Muk might not be the same as knowing how to deal with a Weezing, but there’s a lot of overlap that makes it easier. Not that any of this is an issue here.

“Actually, Gligar isn’t a Poison Type, though they can learn a bunch of Poison Moves. They’re Flying and Ground Type.”

“Huh, weird. I get the Flying, but they look kinda bug-like.” My sister commented as we headed out for dinner.

“They’re in the bug egg group, one of the few to not be that Type, and in that group, like Flygon and… hmm. Miles, take a note for me.” They dutifully floated up, opening a Note document on the phone. “Both Drapion and Gligar reside in the bug egg group while not having the Bug Typing. Skorupi has it but loses it upon evolving, and both lines have scorpion-like traits. While scorpions are part of the arachnida animal family, other arachnids tend to have the Bug Type. Perhaps there’s a connection between scorpion Pokemon and the bug egg group and Bug Typing.”

“Trying to be a champion, musician, and a Professor too?” Cyan teased as I put Miles away.

“I’m aiming to be a Champion, maybe a Pokemon Professor later.” Trying to hold both positions at once is technically possible, but even in a land like Paldea where they have multiple Champion rank trainers, it’s incredibly difficult. “Music is just a hobby, probably wouldn’t even be making that album if you guys weren’t pressuring me into doing so.”

“Oh, but we just want your lovely voice heard around the world!” Mom exclaimed.

“Yes, I don’t doubt that you’ll be at the top of the RoTunes charts when your first album comes out,” Dad declared.

“That better not be because you messed with the algorithm,” I muttered and he pretended not to hear me. Whatever, I’m not even halfway done with the album, still have a lot of kinks to work out in some songs, and a few are still undecided. Those are problems for later. For now, I have to focus on Gligar.

***

The sun was just starting to peak over the horizon when I got up in the morning. Yawning, I slipped out of my hotel room and down to the Pokemon stall. There was a different nurse on duty for the night, playing some games on her phone beside her Chansey who was doing the same.

“Oh hey, you’re the kid that dropped off that Gligar before. My sister mentioned you,” she said as I flashed her my Trainer ID card. “You can take her back, but you’ve got to be careful, she was Poisoned pretty badly. No battling with her for the next day or two if you can help it.” She pulled the Pokeball out of the machine, handing it to me.

“I'm not looking to do that, I only just caught her. I might even be releasing her back into the wild.” She didn’t seem interested anymore in the conversation, going back to her phone, so I marched off.

Some of the Pokemon in the early morning were a bit more disturbed by my passing than they had been the day before, but even the den of Ekans that hissed angrily backed off upon seeing Dun slithering beside me. One Mienfoo challenged us to a proper fight in the Wistful Fields, but we were prepared from all our training with Dendra. A Glare slowed him down and a flurry of Air Cutters took him out and had the Fighting Type surrendering.

The den that I assumed Gligar had been aiming for before crashing down was fairly close to the entrance of the Barrens, so it didn’t take long after leaving the fields to get there. Then, I released her from the Pokeball.

She immediately whipped around, looking confused at her situation, before realizing where she was and then locking on to me. Any relief on her face melted away when she saw me, backing away unsteadily on her one-clawed legs, hissing in warning.

“Yo,” I said, giving a slow wave to the Gligar to not spook her further. She narrowed her triangular eyes at me but stopped backing up (though that might have been because the cliff wall was only a meter behind her now).

Something interesting I noted was how several of the other Pokemon nearby turned away, looking upset at Gligar’s appearance. Guess she doesn’t have many friends here. But they don’t seem worried either.

“Hey, I want you to know that you’re safe now. You were hurt pretty bad- no, not by Dun!” She had started angrily jabbing her tail out at Dun, who just narrowed his eyes. “I was impressed by how well you weathered the blows he gave you, but what really hurt was the poison. Why were you carrying that Toxic orb?”

My words did not have the intended effect, as instead of getting any answer, it caused her to realize she no longer had the orb. Scrambling around, she began looking all over for it before scuttling rapidly up the cliff face to her den.

Dun looked eager to give chase, but I held out a hand, holding him back for a minute. She’s confused and scared, best to give her a minute. While we waited, I glanced around at the Pokemon nearby.

Many had left, uninterested in the spectacle, and of those that stayed, I noticed something odd. A Nosepass gathered some berries from the dirt and carried them as swiftly away as they could. Sentret gathering with a Furret in front, up on the lush clifftop, ready to defend themselves if need be.

Gligar left the cave gliding back down. “Gligar! Gli gli!” She shrieked, tail swishing about in the dusty ground.

“Hold on, you’re upset. Is this about me catching you?” She shook her head before the question was even out of my mouth, so fast that I can’t even rule it out as something that would upset her. Just not what she’s agitated about right now. “Is this about the Toxic orb?”

She looked confused, so I mime the shape of the orb with my hands causing her eyes to light up.

The flying scorpion nodded her head so rapidly that she needed to throw her arms out to the sides for a second to stop herself from unbalancing. “You dropped it over by Apple Hills. The place where you attacked us?” That gets recognition but not a hint of shame. “But it broke in the battle-”

Shrieking, I saw the instant denial on her face. More than that, I saw the worry behind it. That orb is important to her, even though it was killing her. Why?

I don’t have time to wonder any longer as she’s launching herself up into the air, propelling towards the site of our battle. “No, it’s broken!” My words are nothing more than a breeze on the wind as she ignores me, determined to see the truth with her own eyes. Which I could accept if she wasn’t likely to cause a disturbance flying back to a place where she already made a ruckus.

Pulling out her Pokeball, I pressed the button to call her back, only for her to notice the red beam and swoop down, agilely avoiding it. My next two attempts were avoided just as deftly as she twisted and turned through the air, and then she was out of range.

“Shit! We have to go after her!” I called out and Dun and I began racing up the Barrens and across the Wistful Fields. While the two of us could, theoretically fly, neither of us was faster in the air than we were on the ground, and she was much faster than even that, soon zipping out of sight.

“Dammit, Miles, can you go after her and keep her out of trouble? I know it’s a big ask-”

“Not a problem, bzzt,” they responded, leaving their phone and taking on their regular lightbulb-esque base form. It was the least defensive of their forms, but also the fastest, letting them zip through the air like a lightning bolt following Gligar.

“Hopefully that buys us a bit of time, but we still gotta hurry. Dun, can you give us a Tailwind?” My starter called his name out proudly and began flapping his wings hard, whipping up a stream of air behind us.

The Move wasn’t designed to work on humans, but with my Aura, I was able to use it to keep up with Dun’s rapid speed. I’d make a massive leap in the air, calling on my Aura to help me glide, and then with the Tailwind, get pushed far ahead, then repeat that every time I landed.

With that, and Dun having to stop every half a minute or so to create a new Tailwind, I was able to keep pace with him and both of us made record times across the fields. We also disturbed quite a few Pokemon that I had to call out apologies to as we whipped by, but thankfully none of them seemed willing to make something of our wild passage. This feels great, so free to soar across the ground. I have to try this again when things aren’t so tense in the future.

Winding up the paths that led down to the field, we found ourselves at the top of Apple Hills, looking down at the scene below. Gligar was just sitting beside the makeshift cordon, mournfully poking at it while Miles hovered nearby. The Pokemon in the orchards nearby were looking on warily, but it looked like no fights had been instigated.

Relieved, we hurried down at a brisk, but no longer breakneck pace until we stood over Gligar, who was cradling the cracked orb. Only a few dredges of vile poison remained in the leaking orb, so it looked like she hadn’t been too badly poisoned yet, but I still pulled out an antidote and sprayed it on her, eliciting an immediate sigh of relief from the Pokemon.

“Can’t you see how that thing is hurting you? And it’s broken now, so just… put it down.” My words hammered in the truth of the situation and caused her to start wailing, tears falling down her large eyes. At least she put it down and I don’t need to use up more Antidote.

I gave her a few pats, which she didn’t seem opposed to but didn’t seem overly comforted by either, and I waited for her tears to die down. When they did, I asked again “So, this was obviously very important to you. Why were you keeping it if it was hurting you?”

She hissed lightly, disagreeing with that. From there she began to hop around, puffing herself up, and then mimed getting hit and holding the orb but being happy. It was confusing but I tried to break it down.

“So you’re saying the orb made you happy?”

“Gar.”

“No, not that it made you happy, that it was helping you take hits? No, helping you get better when hit? But you don’t even have the Immunity ability.” My research on the Pokedex did reveal that Gligar could have the Hidden Ability of Immunity and thus not be hurt by a Toxic Orb, but she didn’t have that one. Probably Hyper Cutter, the way Poochyena’s Growl didn’t diminish her fighting strength one bit.

She was shaking her head again, pointing to herself then crossing her arms in front of her then pulling them aside. “Cross Poison!” She gave me the most deadpan look and I corrected myself.

“Uhh, not you?” That got a nod from her. “It wasn’t you holding the Toxic Orb, it was someone bigger. One of your parents?”

“Gli gli!” She eagerly affirmed. A bigger Gligar, when she’s already pretty big… or a Gliscor…

The pieces were clicking into place, but I drew out my Pokedex to confirm, flipping through to her evolution’s page. “Gliscor… Fang Scorp Pokemon, learns some fang Moves naturally and others through TMs, abilities… there we go.” I muttered out loud.

Gliscor has the same regular Abilities as Gligar, but its Hidden Ability upgrades Immunity to Poison Heal! She must have had a Gliscor for a parent that had that Ability and used the Toxic Orb they somehow got to be pretty much invincible! Poison will eventually leave a Pokemon’s system, but the orb would keep on reapplying it, and a really strong Poison at that, which kept on being flipped to very strong regeneration. But… there were no signs of any parents at the den we were at and Gligar had the orb.

“Did one of your parents give you this orb? Are they still around?” My direct questions elicited a whole new round of tears, and as I tried to console her, I spotted a couple of familiar people walking up the hill toward us. Best hurry this up before they make a scene. I can probably assume that there’s no family she has left, and it looked like most of the Barren weren’t fans of her sticky fingers? Sticky pincers? In any case, I've got a good enough picture now.

“I’m sorry that things are rough for you, but that doesn’t justify trying to attack or steal from others.” She whipped her head around, gnashing her teeth away. I pulled my hand back quickly, giving her an unimpressed look. “Stuff like that.” Not sure if she was ‘out of her mind’ from the pain of Poison, or she was just irritable and looking for a snack, but I can’t have her trying to eat Applin again.

Continuing, I said “I could help you. Train you to become strong- stronger,” I amended at her glare, which seemed to mollify her a little. “You took those hits pretty well, but there’s more to battling than that. Using Moves, positioning and maneuverability, strategy… I teach Dun and Miles all that and more, and I’d like to teach you too. It’s even possible for me to get you another Toxic Orb.” That got her undivided attention and she froze as still as a statue, staring at me with wide eyes.

“It might not have the same sentimental value as your first one, but I can also provide all the antidotes you need to train up that Ability.” Even a Razor Fang too, when she’s ready. I didn’t want to mention that as she already seemed excited enough, leaping into the air and swooping around my head.

“Alright, alright, I’m glad you’re happy. However, there will be some stipulations for this. If I give you a Toxic Orb, I expect you to listen to me. Especially in battles and when it comes to how much you’re Poisoning yourself.”

“Gligar, ar!” She said, pivoting on a dime and dropping down in front of me. Shaking her head, she held a pincer out and then flapped her wings without rising.

“You… you want me to just give you a Toxic Orb then let you leave?! No, absolutely not!” I shouted, moving closer to her. She shoved her head forward, butting her hard exoskeleton against my head. Oww.

Backing off a step (out of a desire not to be overly confrontational and not just because that hurt a lot), I said: “Do you know how reckless it would be to give you a Toxic Orb after what happened last time? You’d die.” She made a disbelieving sound, so I pressed on. “You’d piss off the wrong Pokemon, probably hurt a lot of them, and still have no way to deal with constantly Poisoning yourself, so you’d perish.”

Gligar didn’t look happy about it, but she had stopped arguing with me. “If you want to go, then I’ll let you go. I won’t give you a Toxic Orb if you’re on your own, but I’m not going to keep you with me if you don’t want to.” I heard her scuffing her feet against the dirt ground, not moving away, still waiting.

Keeping my eyes fixed on her, I finished my spiel. “I know it’ll be an adjustment working with a Trainer, and I’ll do my best to understand and work with you. And I hope you’ll understand that what I say will just be to make you the best you can be, and can work with me. But it’s your choice, either way.” I held a hand out to her.

She gingerly shook it with her sharp pincers. Physically, it hurt just a little, her claws sharp. In her eyes, however, I saw the same tentative hope mirrored in my own.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had us both turn our attention to Kieran and Carmine, who were standing patiently just down the hill from us. “Thanks for waiting for us. I know you didn’t have a good first impression with Gligar here and-”

“We want to battle you!” Kieran suddenly said, face screwed up in effort. It must have taken a lot of courage for a shy guy like him to say that.

Not to be outdone, his Applin also popped out of the ball at his side, saying their name in support of this plan. “Applin!” Gligar looked a little confused at first before recognizing the Applin and puffing herself up.

“Hold on,” I said to my Pokemon before turning to Kieran and his. “What’s this all about?”

Carmine answered on her brother’s behalf. “Kiki was talking it up with Applin all night and they said they wanted to ‘prove themselves,’ or whatever.”

He bobbed his head up and down in agreement. “Yeah. Applin wants to show off his courage too, so… let’s battle!” Gligar eagerly grinned, causing Applin to flinch, but move defensively in front of his trainer.

“Let’s… not,” I countered, getting a crestfallen look from the young boy and an angry one from Gligar. “The Nurse Joy said you’re in no shape to battle,” I told her.

It was our first real test of her listening to me, and while she grumbled out parts of her name, she stood down. “At least, not right now.” That got all of them to perk up. “Why don’t we have a battle in a few days from now, before I leave? Gives you time to train up Applin and Gligar time to rest up.”

“Wowzers!” Kieran said, the kid jumping up and punching his fist in the air. Cute kid. Nice to see him smiling like this, not like he was at the end of the DLC. Hopefully, things worked out in the second half of that. The thought had my mind drifting back to Blueberry Academy, wondering what it would have been like in the games - and what it was actually like here.

“You better win Kiki!”

“Ye-yeah, you got it, sis.” He stammered out, looking slightly more nervous as he saw Gligar clacking her pincers and cackling menacingly. Alright, think this is a good place to wrap that chapter up.

“You better rest up for your battle,” I threw out a semi-convincing reason for her to stop tormenting Kieran and Applin before returning my newest Pokemon to her Pokeball. “Since we’ve got some time, would you mind finishing up that tour?”

Carmine smiled brightly before wiping it away with a superior smirk. A shame, she has a nice smile. “Of course we can! I could hardly leave your education of Kitakami half done, could I? Let’s go!” She turned and started marching back.

“Wait, we need to get my family first!”

***

After finding my parents and sister we had a quick brunch before beginning our trek up the hill to Kitakami Hall. While much closer in distance than the Barrens, most of the walk was uphill and I was getting pretty tired from racing around in the morning.

There were a ton of Pokemon crisscrossing on our path from the grassy hills around. Most seemed wary of bothering a large group like ourselves, but one Heracross flew over, ready for a battle.

“Mind if I take this one?” I asked the group but mostly directed toward Kieran since he was the one who needed to train Applin the most. Luckily, he eagerly agreed, likely happy to try and see how I would train my Pokemon. They’re pretty smart, so it’s easy to forget how young they are, but Carmine and Kieran are only eight and seven years old. They both get nervous easily, Carmine just hides it more with her bluster.

I released Dun and Gligar at the same time. “Gligar, hang back, I just want you to watch right now. Dun, get ready.” He nodded, taking his place in front of me.

The Heracross began the fight, not waiting for a countdown or the like, eager to battle. She charged forward, lowering her horn (and the rest of her body by default), low to the ground, looking to impale or scoop up my starter.

“Leap over it and pick up the pace!” With a massive jump, he soared well above Heracross’ seeking horn, landing on the other side of her. She looked around in confusion, having missed the dodge with her eyes pointed at the ground. Heracross is a strong Pokemon, but there’s only so much a wild one can do to make up for not having a trainer.

The time she spent searching for Dun was put to good use, he covered himself in psychic energy and sped up, zipping along the ground as he slithered from side to side. She whirled around, running at him and raising an arm that grew bright as Fighting Type energy infused it.

“Air Slash and retreat, don’t let her hit you.” The second half of the command didn’t need to be given out, as he rapidly backed up all while firing scythes of sharp air with every beat of his wings as he propelled backward. The Move hit Heracross, stunning her for a few seconds which Dun used to slice her with even more blades of air.

Collapsing to one knee, she held her thin chitinous arms up in surrender and I called Dun off.

Gligar looked at the battle from the side, seeming unimpressed. “I know it might not be the most riveting battle, but it demonstrates the importance of avoiding hits you don’t need to take. Heracross is quite strong, so if she had managed to connect with Dun, that would have hurt a lot. Dun was weak to her Moves, but she was affected even worse by his.”

Before I could finish up my chat with Gligar, Heracross had already taken off and begun flying away. Ah darn, should have offered her some Potions. Oh well, if she’s good to fly, she’s probably good enough that she doesn't need the Potions.

The others got in a few battles as well against some of the wild Pokemon, my parents cheering especially hard as Cyan & Popplio managed to defeat a Sentret. By the time we made it to the foot of the stairs, we were all feeling pretty tired but accomplished.

“Welcome to Kitakami Hall!” Carmine proudly declared, throwing her hands up as if to frame a picture. The ‘hall’ was mostly a set of large tiled flat sections connected by stairs constructed onto the mountainside. There were a few stalls set up on the flat sections, and we eagerly availed ourselves of the overpriced drinks and snacks they sold.

“This is where we have our Festival of Masks every year, and it gets packed then,” Carmine commented as we walked up, waving at some of the other townsfolk. Indeed, it does feel kinda empty compared to the games, at least at the moment. “Too bad you guys are going to miss it though, Kiki has his favorite mask that he thinks makes him look like the Ogre!” She laughed, and her brother’s face grew crimson.

“Sissssss,” He groaned. “What are you telling her that for, dummy!”

“Oh come on, it’s ridiculous you think someone as cute and small as you could be mistaken for the Ogre.” She shot back, and I had to bite my tongue not to say ‘You bet?’ They can’t realize just how adorable Ogerpon is without seeing her.

As we made our way to the only proper building in this structure, I noticed another sign and monument on the other side of it, away from the final signpost. Reading it from afar, I saw that it was the ‘Mossened Boulder’ and how people thought it had been ‘the Ogre’ raining down vengeance on them before they realized it was just a fragment of Fallen Horn.

I wonder how many tales are told about the Ogre here? And what do the townsfolk actually think of her? With so few sightings and how she hides herself, I wouldn’t be surprised if many didn’t believe the legends were real, just using her as a scary bedtime story for kids. Perhaps people running off for adventure or romance get euphemized as ‘being taken by the Ogre’. In any case, the townsfolk certainly changed their tune quickly after getting the truth.

“Why is the Hall built here and not, y’know, part of the town?” I asked as we stood in front of the large red triangular building.

“Uhmm, uhh,” the taller girl thought on it for a minute before brightening up. “Oh right! It’s because this is the easiest path up the mountain. We gotta look after it, and if we’re doing that anyway…”

“...might as well use the space for festivals too,” I finished for her. And tourist traps and the like. I almost wonder why the town hasn’t expanded out this way, but it probably has to do with the Pokemon in the area and the understanding they and the townsfolk have.

“Within this hall are the three masks the Loyal Trio took from the Ogre,” Carmine declared, swinging open the red doors of the hall to reveal the inside, which looked halfway between a museum and a shrine. Muramasa was inside helping tidy and idly setting up some of the decorations of the various cultural artifacts and exhibits that needed to be ready a month from now for the festival. At the end of the hall, we could see the three glittering masks, sitting in a glass case.

“What masks are you talking about?” Cyan asked. Carmine turned to look at her silently for a moment. The Kitakami girl was silent for a minute, her expression never changing even as her face grew redder until she slammed the door to the hall closed and began marching to the last sign nearby.

I did my best to hold in my chuckles as Carmine read out the sign for us, which meant I missed most of it, but I remembered the general gist anyway. Cornerstone Mask gives Ogerpon the Rock Typing, Wellspring gives Water, and Hearthflame gives Fire. The sign told the tale of how ‘before being defeated, the Loyal Trio had taken those masks from Ogerpon.’

The story was suitably impressive for Cyan and my parents, especially after being shown (once again) the beautiful masks in the hall. I’d seen them a thousand times in the games, but there was something more to them here. The way the crystals shine, perhaps, or just the precision and elegance of the carvings… I can see how the Trio coveted the masks. Or maybe it was just Pecharunt who did and was manipulating them? I don’t know, I never got to the second half of the DLC where it would be revealed, but it’s a shame that Ogerpon got robbed and lost her friend.

Part of me was tempted to steal them, or at least suggest it to Kieran, but two things held me back. The first was that as sad as he looked, teaching him ‘stealing is ok’, probably wasn’t the best lesson. The other was… Why hasn’t Ogerpon ever taken them back herself? She goes down to the festival, and I don’t think that the game happened to have been the first time she’d ever done that. So she must know they’re here. Is it still too painful to see the reminders of her dear friend and she just acted because she didn’t want to see them in the hands of the Trio before? Or is it that she doesn’t want to create a stir?

Even though I hadn’t said anything, hadn’t made any move towards the masks, I noticed Muramasa stop to face me, a hand subconsciously drifting down to the Pokeballs on his belt. Shivering, I averted my gaze. Looks like the town has its protectors too. I wonder how strong this guy is? It’s not like I have a scouter that can tell me someone’s power level, but he feels almost more frightening than Hassel when he’s mad, somehow.

Whatever the case, I decided to leave well enough alone there, and so we finished up our tour without incident. Carmine seemed to be floundering, not sure of what to do next, so I suggested “Why don’t we go up to the top of the mountain?”

Kieran latched onto this idea. “We can check out the Ogre’s Den!”

“Kiki! You’re not supposed to be exploring up there on your own.”

“What? It’s not like we’ll be on our own. Probably scare the Ogre away, not that she’s usually there anyway.” He mumbled the last part to himself, which could barely be heard over the sounds of Billy and O’Nare clapping their hands together eagerly at the idea of exploring such a mysterious, ‘dangerous,’ place.

“Don’t blame me if we all get eaten by the Ogre,” Carmine muttered, and I laughed.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to blame you if we’re dead,” I pointed out, to which she crossed her arms and pouted.

“Maybe we’ll all come back as Ghost Types!” Her words caused Poltchageist to pop out of his ball, giving a big yawn, and looking around, wondering what was up. Wonder how much and how precisely they can hear things inside the balls. Miles and Dun have trained to pay attention to their names and if I use our emergency codeword ‘Kumquat’ if I need them out but can’t release them, but otherwise they mention that it’s just kinda ‘fuzzier’ in there, but I don’t know to what degree.

We began the climb up the mountain, finding oodles more Pokemon in this section of the land unclaimed by humans. While there was a bit of greenery on the hill directly preceding Kitakami Colonies of Noibats fluttered around between the rocky ‘teeth’ of the mountain, with Geodudes rolling about the ground floor, Salandits scampering out of the rocky Pokemon’s paths. Young Growlithe tumbled across a small wooden bridge, their puppy-like paws still a little too big for them as they looked for adventure, and I even saw the rare Pichu and Clefairy lingering on the edges of the trails, nervous of our passing, but not enough so to completely overwhelm their curiosity.

Part of me was tempted to catch more Pokemon again, to catch them all! However, that part of me was tempered by the knowledge that I probably shouldn’t look to be adding more Pokemon to my team at the moment… and the fact that none of them seemed too interested in joining us, despite how cool they were.

When we reached a sign, Kieran directed us to almost double back, going up a narrow, steep incline that led above from the way we came. Water fell from the top of the mountain, the spray lightly misting us as we crossed the rugged terrain.

Nearing the final easily scalable portion, we saw the cave, set into the side of the mountain and across a very narrow rocky passway. The cave was pitch-black from this angle, with moss and vines surrounding the entrance and dotting the rocks nearby.

“Is it… safe to cross here?” My sister asked. I guess that’s a reasonable concern - the walkway is wide enough to go single file with ease, but there are no railings and it’s a long way down. Still, I would kinda like to make it to the cave proper.

“Well, we have Rotoms, just keep your phone on hand as we cross and we should be fine,” I pointed out.

“Uh, what about us?” Carmine stopped giving her brother the stink eye (likely from him having been here dozens of times before on his own) to ask.

“... Stick close to me?” I offered. “Miles will help you if anything happens, and we’ll take it slow. Or you can stick back if you want.” The idea of staying behind while we, ‘outsiders’ forged ahead, was all the convincing she needed and she immediately started marching ahead. “Wait up!” Kieran and I ran after her.

Despite the potential danger, we made it to the other side without incident. Standing there we saw the cave, potential danger and adventure lurking inside, paralyzing everyone else as they stared at it as if it was the Oni’s Maw itself and would snap tight on anyone foolish enough to enter.

Not holding any such worries, I poked my head in, knocking on the side of the wall. “Hello? Oh, no one’s here.” The light played weird tricks on the cave, so it was hard to see the inside from outside, but what I said was more for my companion’s benefit than my own - I could already tell there was no one there. Don’t think many people could sneak up on Ogerpon after living here so long, and she’s insanely fast. Must have dozens of hidey holes in this mountain.

I could see why the legend persisted that this was the Ogre’s den, despite likely having been visited by countless youth over the generations. The hole in the wall made a small circular space, with a flat raised slab jutting out of one side, like a crude facsimile of a bed or couch. On the ground in the center was a blackened spot on the ground, sticking out against the gray stones, as if they had been burnt or something else had eaten away at the floor.

“Huh, is this all there is?” Cyan asked, even as Mom and Dad were snapping photos of themselves beside the cave, any trepidation forgotten. “Like no offense, this just doesn’t look like an Ogre’s den.”

Kieran spoke up “I- I don’t know. I’ve never seen her but… I swear I heard something once or twice. Maybe…”

“I think this is where she lives. Or maybe where she lived once, can’t say for certain,” I tossed in my two cents. Carmine narrowed her eyes at me, wondering where I was pulling this from, but she didn’t say anything to counter me, so I continued. “Look at the rocks outside?”

“And?”

“Look at the moss and vines growing around. It was said that the Teal Mask had the power to bring plants to life, and in the hall-”

“We only saw a gray, blue, and red mask!” Dad said, finally drawing together the same pieces I had.

Mother was more critical. “That’s a good idea, but how do you know it’s not just from the waterfall? Moss grows everywhere near damp surfaces.” She had experience with that in covering some property deals, where nearby water was both a boon and a curse in how it made selling different plots of land and possibly water-damaged buildings.

“But we didn’t see any down below when we crossed the bridge.” I pointed out, causing her to smile with pride. Nowhere near as wide a smile as Kieran was sporting when he found ‘proof’ that the Ogre lived here.

“Yes! I knew it!”

“Shut up Kiki! It still doesn’t mean anything. The Ogre could have helped these plants grow ages ago. It’s not like anyone has seen her here.” His big sister pointed out, only slightly tempering his joy.

“It’s true that no one’s seen her here, so if she was around, she doesn’t want to get found. And I get it, everyone in town seems afraid of her.”

“How can I help her know I’m not afraid of her?” The young boy asked, and I had just the answer ready.

“Well, why don’t we make her a mask?” Kieran perked up at my suggestion and even Carmine looked intrigued. I have a feeling this is gonna be good.