Ripple had barely finished grooming himself before a new pokemon greeted us, their head peeking around the corner of the room to see if we were awake. Their blue eyes widened when they saw me and the head disappeared. There was some coughing and then the pokemon walked out, doing his best to look confident. I think this one is called Aron, his round head reminding me of a shield. The metallic steel looks white, different than any metal we’d have on Earth, reflecting grey in certain areas.

“Ripple, and guest,” the little pokemon spoke, his voice high pitched but gravelly, “the guildmaster has requested to meet you before breakfast. Please follow me.” Glancing at me again, I give him a friendly smile and the aron does an odd little toe tap while looking away, as though embarrassed or bashful.

“T-This way,” he says, darting into the hallway before I can say anything.

“What was that about?” I ask Ripple as he passes and he laughs, a little chittering noise.

“You used your Cute Charm, didn’t you? Little Ore wasn’t quite ready for that, you really got him with it,” Ripple laughs and follows the pokemon out into the hall. I go to reply as I follow before I belatedly realize he meant the move ‘Cute charm’. Did I really? Or was it just a phrase among pokemon? I didn’t feel like I’d used the move, but I didn’t know much about being a Pokemon.

“Hmm,” I grumble to myself as we head through the halls. The mudkip and aron are chatting away in front of me, their conversation mostly being Ripple talking and Ore replying occasionally. The tunnels look mostly the same as they did yesterday, but I took them in with a new perspective today. I thought that Ore would lead us into another room, but instead brought us to the elevator.

“I’m on guard duty while Granite gets some sleep,” Ore tells us as we step onto the platform. “Let me know how it goes with the guildmaster, Ripple. And, uh,” the little pokemon gulps, tapping his feet a few times as he spoke to me, “Nice to meet you, um, Skitty. I hope you enjoy your stay.” With the words said, the pokemon darted away, into a dark hallway I hadn’t even noticed. I hear Ripple chitter again and I can’t help but smirk myself. How silly.

“He’ll operate the lift from there,” Ripple tells me, tapping a paw against the wood platform. “Hop on and it’ll take us up.” He looks less nervous than he did last night and I wonder how much of his fear had to do with the dark and how much had to do with the elevator.

At the top, I squint my eyes against the bright morning sun. Even though it had crossed the horizon not long ago, it was already beginning to heat up, the air losing its crisp feel and the dew evaporating from the rocks and plants. I don’t see anyone, but Ripple seems to know where to go, following a worn path to the right. I prance after him, my nose twitching as the wind draws in new smells. I can smell smoke from a campfire, as well as fish being roasted. I can smell cloth and sweat, reminding me of the smell of a school gym; I could smell different pokemon, mingling together with the scent of the salty sea. All of it made me feel dizzy and a bit overwhelmed, so I stopped focusing on it, keeping my eyes ahead on Ripple. I supposed there would be parts of this I would have to get used to with time.

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We turned a corner around the tent the elevator was in to see a small ledge, stretched out above the sea and trees. Guildmaster Eyla is there, sitting in the sunrays with her eyes closed peacefully. Her purple pelt glistens in the light, almost sparkling, and I would think she was asleep if I didn’t know better. Magnemite was there as well, hovering nearby and muttering to themselves about the weather. When it spots us with its oversized eye, the screw on the top of its head starts spinning.

“Guildmaster Eyla, they have arrived,” it informs the Espeon, who lazily opens one eye. The red jewel on her forehead glimmers, much brighter than it had last night. With a yawn and a very cat-like stretch, the Guildmaster rose to her paws, padding over to greet us.

“Good morning, Guildmaster Eyla,” Ripple says with a dip of his head. While he’s less nervous than the night before, the mudkip’s tail still quivers slightly.

“Good morning Ripple,” Eyla dips her head. “Thank you for arriving quickly.” Her dark violet eyes turn to me and I feel my fur stand on end; it’s almost as though she’s seeing right through me. But I refuse to be intimidated, and I keep my eyes firmly on hers.

“I don’t believe I asked your name last night,” Eyla tells me after a moment. “I apologize for that. I am not at my best once the sun goes down.”

I find it odd; wasn’t Espeon a psychic type? I liked the Eevee evolutions, but I didn’t know much about the ones after the original three. But now wasn’t the time to ponder my sparse knowledge.

“My name is Violet,” I reply. “And I appreciate you letting me stay last night.”

“You’re not the first guest that Ripple has brought home unexpectedly,” Eyla tells me wryly, smirking at the mudkip as he bashfully shook his head. Magnemite rolled their eye and buzzed slightly. “The last one was…not a pokemon of good character.”

“I said sorry, didn’t I?” Ripple pouted, scratching lines into the ground with his paws as he avoided looking at us. I couldn’t help but chuckle at his behavior. I’m sure it would be an amusing story.

“Ripple said they found you, collapsed on the beach,” Magnemite’s voice vibrated as it spoke, and it hovered a little closer to me, it’s large eye examining me closely. “Do you know how you ended up there?”

Ahh, this was where things got dicey. What was I supposed to say here? Yeah, I’m actually a human and I thought last night was a fever dream. I ended up being sucked into your world.

Well, maybe it wouldn’t sound so crazy? Hadn’t it happened before?

My tail bobs as I contemplate what to say, unsure of how much to reveal. Well, I did have a small idea. Maybe they could help me get to a town with other humans? They’d probably have a better idea of what to do. If there was anything to do.

“I don’t really remember,” I lie. “I just remember Ripple waking me up on the beach.”

“Hmm,” Eyla says, contemplating. “Where are you from? We are an Adventurer’s Guild, so I’m sure one of our Explorers can lead you back home.”

“Well, actually,” I shuffle my paws, “I was wondering if you could take me to one of the human towns? Whichever is closest will work.”

“The ruins?” Magnemite asks. “Why would you want to go there?”

“No,” I try again. “I need to speak to an actual human, so even a small village would…” My sentence trails off as each of them stare at me as though I’d grown a second head.

“W-what? What’s wrong?” I take a step back, suddenly unsure.

“Where are you from?” This time, when Eyla asks the question, her voice is more serious and her eyes are narrowed in suspicion. Oh, great. Now I’ve really done it.

“I…” I begin, but falter. Is honesty the best policy? Should I try to bluff? No, I’m not a good enough liar and I don’t remember the game well enough to try and navigate this on my own. I just had to hope that since it had happened before, they wouldn’t think I’m insane, or try to attack me.

“Violet…” Ripple’s voice pipes up, trembling slightly, “There are no humans. What do you mean?” The sentence makes my heart drop like a stone.

Wait, there’s no…people?