The Ralts sighed, crouched uncomfortably inside a large, upside-down box made of thin pseudo-wood.

She peered out of one of the slits in the box’s walls, grimacing at both the ceaseless tide of humanity walking the city’s streets, and the hard stones digging into her knees and shins. Pedestrians had become more and more common as the Ralts had ventured into the city, and opportunities to advance further proportionally fewer. Currently she was trapped in a narrow, three-way alley, hiding from sight in a convenient box that had been abandoned next to one of those giant metal trash bins.

Ordinarily, she would’ve celebrated the sheer number of humans to glean knowledge from, but not only were there so many of them that their voices and emotions were garbling together into incoherence, but they barely stuck around for the time it took to cross the alley’s mouth! Simply moving elsewhere was looking less and less likely as well; the humans were too ever-present to simply dash across unseen, and she doubted trying to disguise herself as a moving box would work out that well.

Shaking her head, the Ralts slowly started backing up into the alley, taking care not to lift the box too high or move more than a few steps at once. Peeking back the way she’d come, she found the street outside the opposite end of the alley as well-traveled as the nearer one. And shuffling the box back toward the intersecting passage midway down, she let out an aggravated groan when she saw the same, equally dense congestion.

How was she supposed to move on from here? There was some sort of metal grate in the ground that looked to lead into a tunnel, but it was blocked off and smelled bad, and she had reservations about going underground in such a strange place anyway. Ugh, she was getting nowhere, and this rough ground was killing her legs. Maybe she could take a moment to hide and get off her feet, recuperate and look at things from a fresh perspective…

Turning towards the two giant trash bins, she maneuvered herself into the small gap between them. Now away from the sight of passersby, she flipped the box upright and pushed it against the wall, collapsing inside with a frustrated huff. While it wouldn’t beat out even the driest of grass, the pseudo-wood of the box was much better than the rocky surface the humans paved the alley with. Yet, what should she do now? The Ralts stared at the sliver of visible alleyway listlessly, pondering her options.

Teleportation was out of the question; she knew the theory, but Grandpa wouldn’t let her practice until she became a Kirlia—not that she had the power to even try as a Ralts. She doubted she could camouflage herself for more than a few moments, as she had neither the control nor the power for that—if it was a partial illusion, maybe, but she was dearly lacking in anything to aid the effort. Maybe she should just run over under the box after all? Find a place to hide on the other side and wait until the commotion died down? It was so risky, though...

The Ralts wrestled with her limited options for some time, daylight passing by in agonizing, indecisive slowness, until a sudden glare shone directly into the Ralts’s face. Jerking up, she rubbed her eyes and glared at the source of the light—then blinked, gazing at a folded metal ladder hanging from the rooftops, the sun having drifted far enough to reflect off the shiny surface. She grinned; now that was perfect! If she couldn’t go through, she’d just go over!

The Ralts got out of the box and peered at the ladder speculatively. There had to be a way to bring it down, right? Looking closely, she spotted a small latch at the top that seemed to be holding the mechanism closed; that should be easy enough to move. Concentrating, the Ralts delved into her latent energy, the comforting warmth of psychic power flowing through her body as she opened her mind.

A chaotic blend of emotion struck her as she began to pick up on the feelings of the people around her more acutely, but she ignored it as best as she was able, directing her attention to the release mechanism. Familiar purple energy enveloped the latch, clattering and clanking as she tugged it around. With one last yank she finally opened the latch, and the ladder descended to the ground with a roaring crash of metal.

The Ralts gasped, quickly flipping the box back over and hiding inside. That had been way louder than she had expected! She didn’t doubt for a moment that there were a dozen humans looking into the alley right now, and a careful glance through the gaps underneath the trash bins confirmed at least a few pairs of feet loitering around the alley entrance. She waited, heart pounding, as a few distant voices pondered the ladder’s sudden descent...before ultimately moving on, unconcerned.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The Ralts waited a moment more, before hesitantly poking her head out and looking around. It seemed nobody had come to investigate, and the streams of humans passing the alley mouth had continued, unchanged. The Ralts exhaled, slumping in relief. That had been nerve-wracking! Hopefully she wouldn’t have a close call like that again.

Underneath the box, the Ralts steadily crawled out toward the ladder and examined the metal device; its rungs looked awkwardly spaced, but she would manage. It was fairly tall, though, and what if it made noise as she climbed? Reaching out, she gave the base a decent shake as a test, and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of give. Maybe it was sturdier than she thought. Still, she could at least make herself a bit lighter to minimize risks…

A light purple haze covered the psychic's body as she reduced her own weight by a fourth. Taking a deep breath, the Ralts burst out from under her cover and threw herself at the ladder, climbing the rungs with a muffled haste. After a frantic moment she crested over the roof’s edge, panting.

The Ralts took a moment to breathe, then hesitantly peered back down into the alley, sighing in relief at the lack of reaction from either end. Right, step one accomplished. Now to figure out step two.

The roof was barren, except for odd bits of shaped metal here and there and a giant machine on a nearby corner, rumbling peacefully as it did whatever it was meant to do. Most of the other buildings she could see were on the same level of her current perch, aside from one area that seemed to spike upward into the skies, and all of them were partially obscured by the number of large trees on every street. Off in the distance, a rather distinguished building sat with giant flat constructs displayed proudly on top—they had the same blocky look of the symbols on the refuse container, and after a moment’s thought she recalled that these shapes were called ‘letters,’ and humans used them in their writing.

The Ralts considered the vista before her. That building with letters looked rather unique; maybe something interesting was over there. Path set, the Pokemon approached a nearby tree that grew taller than the roof and formed a bridge over the street with its fellows. Testing a likely branch for durability, the Ralts smirked as it held firm under her still-lightened weight. Brushing past the outer layer of leaves, she climbed off the roof and onto the bark. She spared a passing glance at the people moving below her, the hubbub slightly dulled by the masses of foliage, but none of them appeared to notice the commotion above them. And so, with a grin, she continued to navigate the leafy pass.

Traveling this way was both much easier and much more nerve wracking, the Ralts discovered. She didn’t have to heed the traffic below, but simultaneously she had to be extremely cautious about where she stepped, and how much noise she made as she pushed aside leaves and branches. It wouldn’t do for any of the humans below to look upward at an inopportune time after all.

She had made it through two iterations of roof-tree-roof hopping when she began to hear an odd sound, distinct from the hubbub below. It was melodic in nature, and altered pitch in slow, methodical ways. Curiosity piqued, the Ralts made a detour towards the sound and peered at the ground below in search of the melody.

There was a human on a bench across the street. Thin, silvery hair adorned his head, and he was dressed in a white shirt with a column of buttons running down the middle and smooth black pants. He held a rather strange wooden object shaped like an oval with a very narrow plank running off the tip; the wide base was pressed against his neck and chin, while he grasped the object’s own ‘neck’ with a wrinkled hand. His other hand held a long stick with a separate thin white band attached. The Ralts couldn't make out much more than that at such a distance, but as she looked, she saw him maneuvering his fingers along the neck of the object as he drew the rod over the middle of the wide area. Clear, airy melodies sang out as his hands moved, pitch changing with the movement of his fingers.

The music was one of the most beautiful things she had ever heard. The notes were long and solid, so unlike the familiar flickering of birdsong or the chorusing of the villagers. The song itself played slowly, many low notes echoing leisurely across the street and bringing to mind foggy days and a rather weary melancholy.

But...where was his audience? Across from her vantage point, the bench the man sat on was situated in front of an odd grove that took up as much ground as a half-dozen buildings. It was empty aside from him, and everyone on the street passed him by, like they couldn't even hear the music wafting in the street. A couple of humans slowed down or nodded at the man, but aside from brief moments of acknowledgement they just rushed onward, as if none of them could stay for longer than a second.

It was an absolute tragedy, she decided. Finding her way into some branches across the street, she came to rest in the crown of the tree behind the man and settled amongst the branches, hidden from view. She closed her eyes, listening to the strange, wonderful sounds emanating from below. Those humans passing by everywhere didn’t know what they were missing. If nobody else could stop to appreciate something like this, well, she’d just have to enjoy it in their stead.

The Ralts smiled, and listened to the old man's melody for a long, long time.