Altered Bonds Extras
Omake 9 — Put the Gun Down
(Best read after Chapter 17)
(Canon? — Maybe)
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"Put it down, Eevee!"
Those were the words that made Togetic cancel her Ancient Power mid-cast, the energized rocks crumbling into dust. Shaymin likewise dropped the Air Slash she was about to fling, letting it disperse into mere gusts of wind. Their fight interrupted, they turned as one to the cottage, where a panicky Eira the Vulpix was sliding down its hillside.
She dashed past, toward the edge of the forest where a bemused Eevee and Espeon were. "Put the metal weapon down!" she yelled at them.
Espeon slowly dropped the strange object she'd been holding with telekinesis down. Shaymin rushed to take a good look at it, oohing all the whole, and although Togetic tried to make a point of being the more proper of the two, she found herself coming over with nearly just as much haste.
For a weapon, it certainly looked unique. Togetic knew of the blades a Samurott wielded, had seen the lance-like leek of a Sirfetch'd, and of course, Lucario sometimes used a club-like bone of aura. But this object?
It's like a mini cannon.
A long iron rod, a little like the pipe-like fingers of a Garbodor and yet much sleeker and nicer-looking, protruded from its metallic shape, attached to a wooden handle. It seemed to have a few levers, probably to trigger it, and it clearly seemed built for larger, dexterous hands. Ones with actual fingers.
Sometimes Togetic wished she had proper fingers. But then again, at least she had arms to begin with, unlike some Pokemon.
Shaymin was hovering over the weapon with keen interest. She peered into the opening of its metal rod, before Eira shoved her away. "Why do you have that?" the disguised human said, pale-faced.
Eevee and Espeon eyed each other. "What is it?" said the former.
Eira pursed her vulpine lips, clearly not sure how to say its name in the Pokemon tongue. Much to her convenience, however—
"Why do you have a rifle?"
—Lucario did, Eira jumping as he appeared right beside her. Further away, Gabite was leisurely strolling down the cottage hillside to see the commotion. His gaze steered toward the 'rifle', then briefly to Eira, before he shook himself and raised a brow at Eevee.
As did Lucario, and Shaymin. Togetic too found herself doing the same, leaving Eira as the odd one out, her expression far more distressed. "It was at the beach," Eevee slowly said. "I was checking to see if Lugia was still hanging around, and I found it on the shores. This weapon, is it dangerous?"
Lucario waved dismissively. "It's only a rifle," he said. "I'm no expert on guns, but—"
"Just a rifle?" Eira yelled, whirling upon him as if he'd said something incredibly silly. "It's a gun! Guns are deadly!"
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Gabite squinted. "How deadly?"
"How deadly? Like a crossbow, but with metal bullets that explode out at lethal speeds! It's especially dangerous if you don't know how to use it correctly!" The vixen was beginning to pace, sweat coating her face. "W-was this from my ship? Hardly anyone keeps guns around, Pokemon are good enough for protection anyway—"
"Might've been an extra precaution for the sailors," muttered Lucario. "Just enough to knock down a hostile Pokemon if needed."
Togetic didn't miss the undertones of his word choice. Eira thought of the rifle as a killer weapon, but for Lucario, it was more of an inconvenience. Maybe because humans had naturally frail bodies? Perhaps guns like these could do enough serious damage to maim a Pokemon or make them fall faint, but not prove fatal in most cases, unlike with a human?
Regardless, strange human technology wasn't something to mess with, she reckoned. And seeing Eira so worked up over the weapon tugged at Togetic's sympathies. She didn't like seeing the poor thing in such distress.
Shaymin looked like she still wanted to mess with the rifle anyway, but a stern look kept her best friend in line. Scarcely had Togetic done so, however, did Gabite snatch the weapon up, eliciting a gasp of horror from Eira. "G-Gabite—"
"I know what I'm doing." And astonishingly, Gabite did seem to know what he was doing, his claws feeling around the ridge of the rifle with movements so smooth it almost seemed mechanical. "Like a crossbow, huh? There appears to be a safety switch to this thing, and a trigger too. And you said it's loaded with bullets of metal inside — like tiny cannonballs?"
Exactly the comparison that Togetic had made. Watching Gabite mess with the rifle amazed her, the dragon-shark's uncanny skill in tinkering with objects despite his lack of digits showing. How did he do that? How could she ever do the same?
"And I suppose another one of these triggers on the bottom opens it up, so you can reload it?" Gabite felt around the aforementioned levers, and Togetic's intrigue jumped right back to apprehension. Gabite really, really shouldn't be doing that.
Even Lucario shared that sentiment. "I wouldn't recommend messing with those," he warned.
"I'm not going to," was Gabite's curt reply. He shook his head at the gun, finding a strange mirth in it. "Odd thing, this weapon. Might actually make Aerodactyl stagger, if the user had a good aim. Perhaps it could also prove a serious threat to less armored Pokemon?"
"I—" Eira sucked in a mouthful of air. "P-please put the gun down."
Shaymin began to frown as well, as did Eevee. Espeon, mouthless as she was, managed the same expression with her eyes alone. "Listen to the human, Gabite, and leave that thing alone," said Togetic.
"It's fine, I know how to be careful." Gabite tilted the gun, Togetic's discomfort spiking when it wobbled a little in his digitless grasp. "When you have claws like mine, you learn how to not make accidents with—"
His claw shifted a little too quickly, making the gun slip off. Gabite hurried to reclaim it mid-air, placing his claws underneath and pressing against a lever—
The gun did not fire. No noises, no flying bullets, nothing. Everyone's aghast expressions as Gabite somehow clasped the gun with both claws slowly melted away into relief, the kind that burned holes through throbbing hearts.
The dragon-shark scoffed. "The safety's on," he said. "That, or the trigger's meant to be stiff, and you have to intentionally put a lot of force to activate this thing."
Togetic caught Eira covering her mouth with her tails and exhaling loudly into them. Her forehead was glowing a slight pink.
"Put the gun down," the angelic demanded.
Gabite put the weapon down.
An awkward quiet claimed the field for a good while, the group finding no words to be said. Well, considering the frazzled looks Eevee and Espeon threw at each other, they seemed to be communicating through their telepathy — perhaps in concern over the weapon they'd come across. Lucario rubbed his eyes, and Eira busied herself with recuperating.
Shaymin raised a shaky paw. "Any, uh, chance you guys would mind if I tested—"
Togetic clamped her mouth shut.
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Porygon-Z blinked several times as Togetic plopped down her Treasure Bag onto his desk, then reached in with both arms to gingerly pull out the wooden groove of the rifle, avoiding the levers as she did so. The lopsided weight made the affair a tad difficult, but she got it placed flat on the desk, snatching her Treasure Bag right after and floating several feet back.
He tapped the rifle once, then stared at her. And then at the Lucario and disguised Vulpix behind her, and the Shaymin and Gabite naturally tagging along too. Porygon-Z stared on and on, the behavior uncannily out of place even for him.
His antenna flashed, displaying a message. ~Ah.~
He slowly tugged the rifle behind his desk.
~Memory found: faint recollections of a human fanatically attached to firearms. Relation to self-unit: unknown. I am not sure I appreciate having to remember this.~
"You knew a human fanatically attached to guns?" asked Lucario.
~Please do not remind me.~