CHAPTER 176

In front of us, a small leaf was being kept afloat by Hatterene’s psychic powers. Princess kept squinting at it, groaning as the entire family— excluding Sunshine— silently encouraged her. We’d been loud at first, but both fairy types immediately glared at us. They needed us to be quiet so that Princess could concentrate.

You are doing it all wrong. There is belief, and there is belief, Hatterene scolded. You do not truly believe. Your emotions are too muted.

Togetic sighed, suddenly feeling like she wasn’t having that much fun any longer. The goal of the exercise was not to destroy the leaf. Apparently, even that would have been too advanced for a beginner, which meant that Sylveon was just ridiculously talented at shaping the world around him.

There were limits to what they’d both be able to do without staying in one place for years like Shiftry and Hatterene—

Again with this Shiftry nonsense. Do not compare me to the Emptyfolk. I am glad that he is dead. He was a weakling that did so little when he had so much. A pity.

And of course, Hatterene was a psychic type as well, so she could multitask and complain to me whenever I did something she disliked. And she knew Shiftry too, somehow. They were technically neighbors, so that did make some sense. Getting back on track, the goal of the exercise was to make the leaf tremble without psychic powers or wind. Hatterene’s companion, who had remained hidden, could apparently stop the wind as well, and he was completely quiet without it. At this level of silence, I could only hear my breath, the slight shifts of my skin against my clothes and the sound of my other Pokemon.

Princess let out a frustrated cry and suddenly crumpled the leaf with Psychic. She couldn’t figure out how to do it, and I couldn’t exactly blame her. Hatterene just kept saying that she didn’t feel enough, but what the hell did that even mean? That wasn’t how we usually trained! We used real concepts and—

It is real, the fairy type interrupted. The leaf suddenly uncrumpled and appeared as good as new, or perhaps in an even better condition than before.

Glamour is not a science, nor a concept that is easy to grasp. It is a belief that you are more. That you can cast aside the rules set by our creator and forge your own path.

Jellicent was suddenly more interested now, and he asked how long did it take for her to learn.

I am always learning, ghost, she answered. But this exercise should not be that complicated. Perhaps there is a mental block somewhere.

Mental block… oh! “Princess, remember when you struggled to use Wish when we were first using it?” I excitedly asked. “You had the same problem, where you just couldn’t bring out real emotions unless the situation was real.”

Her face lit up, and she nodded. We had a lead. She needed to feel threatened at least once, and then she would grow past her mental block.

An inability to properly tap into emotion? A crippling weakness, but the potential to grow once the lid finally bursts is massive. We can work on glamour at a later hour, since we are taking a detour. For now, show me how you execute fairy type moves.

——

How terribly weak. You call that a Dazzling Gleam? It would barely tickle that wyrm you seem to like so much.

“Well, that’s because he’s also a fire type…” I said, trying to defend Princess.

You think too rigidly. You humans and your types, she lamented.

Her voice was very emotive, which was usually unheard of with telepathy, but she was a fairy. I wondered if Mira’s Kirlia sounded as expressive as she was.

Exploding energy outward is good, but you lack a decent amount to deal any real harm to any but the weakest of foes. Your control with Fairy Wind is excellent, but it is nigh time gathering it grows as easy as breathing to you. I suggest you imbibe the wind to elevate your Dazzling Gleam into something new. Uniqueness is power. Conforming is stagnation. Then, we can move on to more advanced concepts. Perhaps start dabbling in Moonblast.

“You’re right that her being able to throw out super strong Fairy Winds while moving around would be a boon,” I muttered. “But we’ve tried, and it requires too much concentration.”

So? Will you let a mere bump in the road hinder your path? Belief is the key to all improvements, dear sisters. She shall overcome.

She had not offered any concrete strategy, yet somehow, I believed her.

——

It was late at night, and I’d just finished studying for the day. My Pokemon hadn’t slacked off either, of course. Angel almost had Giga Drain down, and he, Buddy, Sweetheart, and Honey had trained against Sunshine. We’d lost again, which brought the score to 4-0 in his favor, but now that Pupitar was joining in the fights, we were getting closer. She was basically his perfect counter. Her cocoon was too resistant to heat for it to matter, and she could easily take most of his attacks, although we’d been surprised by Scorching Sands. Every time it seemed like we were coming anywhere close to beating him, he suddenly pulled a trick out of his sleeve and finished us off quickly. Sweetheart had already been out of air to propel herself, so I started to wonder if he hadn’t baited her all those times she rammed into his shell.

Turtonator had been on his best behavior, despite sending angry looks to Hatterene sometimes. He knew the risks of getting into a fight with an opponent that powerful, especially when a fairy type that strong would probably destroy any kind of protection my team could place on me. I had no idea how I’d even go about fighting her, to be honest. Her weak point must have been her thin body within, but the hair covering it acted like impenetrable armor. She was slow, but I doubted that she’d let us get far away enough to run.

Electabuzz grunted, and my head turned to my left. He handed me a bowl of chicken and pasta.

“Thank you. You’re sweet,” I said, gently caressing his arm. “Don’t forget to give some to the others.”

Princess was still training hard with Hatterene, who was being followed by a few admiring wild Pokemon. The entire time we traveled together, she was a magnet for attention. A Wooper had come to ask her something, while a group of Ducklett flew overhead. A Simisage with huge, round eyes hung from the treetops and sometimes chimed in. I could not understand any of it, especially since Hatterene seemed to only speak through telepathy. In fact, I hadn’t heard her let out a single sound the entire time we’d been together. She was completely silent, just like Angel.

I’d never seen her this tired, but she was still going, gathering up a Fairy Wind as she flew forward as fast as possible. Hatterene wasn’t one for small incremental increases in training. She was all about big, meaningful gestures. Since Princess could keep a very small Fairy Wind going throughout the arena every battle, we decided to build up from there and she was slowly improving. Once she got good enough, then she’d be able to power up her Dazzling Gleam.

The point was, it felt like we were all working harder than we ever had.

Hatterene was having a conversation with Buddy. He seemed to really enjoy speaking to older Pokemon. He’d been the first to really get to know Sunshine, and now he was among the first to try to understand the Keeper too.

My exact age will remain hidden, but know this, dear ghost: we stand as peers, she said before turning toward me. You have a question.

I did have one. “Well, I figured now would be a good time to ask about you. How did you end up… leading this route? Do all the other routes have a system like this?”

No. My fief is unique in our coordination, although all routes have more history than a human would know. Much more, Hatterene explained. The reason I am here is simple. It is where I killed my trainer, so I made it my home.

Everyone tensed, but I did not panic. All of my time spent with Hatterene so far told me that she was a reasonable being, but maybe she’d been different when she was young. Or maybe it was something else. The fact that she had dropped that fact like it was nothing showed that even if I’d been influenced by the fae, I was nowhere near her mentality.

I was captured in my young age by a human who did not care for hospitality or the rules. He kept accruing debt by forcing me to do things I did not want and inflicted pain upon me with his stronger Pokemon when I dared to resist. I bid my time until an opportunity presented itself.

I audibly swallowed. That was basically a few steps from what Cecilia had done with Scyther, except I assumed that it went on for much longer.

Oh, it was lengthy, she confirmed. Of course, I eventually acted like I had joined his gathering and was a part of them. I could easily play the role of a willing companion to bide my time. I have to admit that I had plenty of enjoyable times with them, and I even grew to somewhat appreciate the human's good qualities when he apologized for his past transgressions after his youth had flown by and afforded him newfound maturity.

Her face twisted into a terrifying grin, and her tentacle flexed.

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But know this, sister. A fairy always comes to collect. Eleven years after he'd caught me, I killed him. For his small attempt at reconciliation, I made it quick. I never lied to him. I even vowed that I would murder him a few days after he’d caught me, but he had forgotten. The fae do not forgive, nor do we forget, and our prices are paid long.

Her prices were paid long… was that where the concept of the long price had come from? The words had somehow wormed their way into my brain right before my battle with Harry, and I had been unable to stop myself from saying them. I couldn’t imagine waiting eleven years to have my revenge on someone.

“Is there anything he could have done to repay you before you killed him?” I asked.

There comes a tipping point when there is no escaping debt. His came before he matured, unfortunately for him. Perhaps if he had released me or started treating me correctly and like an equal sooner, he would have lived.

“But he was just a kid when he did that stuff to you. You said so yourself!”

Should children be absolved of consequences? Do you think that someone of your age cannot tell right from wrong? Are two years of relatively peaceful times enough to offset nine years of hell, slowly building up my strength until I could rebel?

“I don’t know the full extent of what he did to you, so I can’t say, but from the way you described the situation, he was legitimately regretful. You could have told him and left.”

But I did tell him. In fact, I explained it to him in excruciating detail, reciting each time he had wronged me as he begged for his life. I do not account for forgetfulness. That is a human way of thinking, sister. The ghost agrees, but is too shy to say. Even the wyrm believes that side of you holds you back.

I stared at Jellicent and sighed. We’d gone over the fact that we were allowed to disagree on things. I disliked the fact that Hatterene seemed to criticize me for thinking like a human when I was one.

In the flesh, perhaps, but your mind oscillates between the two. No human would theorize on how to systematically take me down when they knew that I can read their every thought. Violence is in your very nature. There is potential within you, and as I said, I could imbue you with enough energy to turn you fully, but I shall not. It is clearly a fate you would despise.

“I would despise it because it’d be against my will,” I added. “I assume that you started building up your domain afterward?”

Well, I had to fight off my trainer’s entire gathering first. I did not kill any, but I did force them to run. Isn’t it pathetic that after eleven years together, none of them wanted to fight to the death for their dear trainer? He was a rotten man, and they all disliked him. None of them had the guts to take that final step. It took me months to heal properly, but when I did, I began to alter this place to my liking, and it slowly turned into what you see today.

“And your companion?” I asked, glancing at the sky.

He is the only one that did not run after the battle and did not offer them any aid, Hatterene specified with a sly grin.

So he’d belonged to her trainer too. Had he been mistreated and wanted to rebel as well? I fiddled nervously and began to eat, but the food had already gone cold. I didn’t know of any flying type capable of living that long.

Any more inquiries? Otherwise, I will return to helping Togetic.

“One last question. Are you just a leader? What else do you do on the route?” I said, observing the wild Pokemon around her.

Solve disputes that have gotten out of hand and keep the area clear of outside threats, the Keeper said. I make an excellent mediator.

“So trainers?”

No. What you call route 215 belongs to you humans. Everything around it belongs to me. What do they call it again?

Simisage grunted, and then snickered.

Ah, yes. Off-route. Such a narrow-minded term.

Amidst a few laughs, Hatterene returned to support Princess, and I finished my meal. She had revealed something horrifying to me, and yet something told me it had been just.

——

I woke up the next day to Hatterene staring overhead with her body hunched over mine and Tangrowth. I’d slept on Angel’s vines, and he seemed to be awake already, just caressing her soft but durable hair. The rest of my team slept in their Pokeballs because they were either tired or wouldn’t get along with her or the wild Pokemon constantly following her. Jellicent was the notable exception, of course.

“Good morning?” I asked confusedly.

Good morrow. The ghost has brought your prowess for understanding Pokemon to my attention, and I have decided to inquire further.

I shot Buddy a look, and he anxiously nodded. They must have spoken all night while the rest of us were asleep.

“So? Inquire, then,” I said after a yawn. I tiredly looked through my bag and grabbed at the first edible thing I saw, a pack of cookies. Since we’d be spending more time than planned with the Keeper, I had to save food that could be cooked.

He has told me that this is not just limited to your gathering, but that you can still quickly pick up what a stranger Pokemon means in a few days. Noble Simisage will be staying with us to prove this, but if it is true… I have never heard of such a gift. Only the hushed whispers of stories of old.

Stories? I was suddenly very interested in her knowledge. Even Cynthia hadn’t known anything about it.

“What do you mean by stories?”

A smug smile stretched across Hatterene’s face.

“Don’t try to sell those to me. You want to know about my gift just like I do.”

When a Pokemon you are not familiar with speaks, how does your mind interpret the words?

I hummed, pondering with a hand on my chin and pausing to consider how to answer. The truth of it was complicated, to say the least. For my Pokemon, I did understand their words individually, but with Pokemon I didn’t know, it was different. I couldn’t get their words, but it was as if I could feel what they were feeling to some extent, and the same applied to my family. It was how I’d been convinced that nothing would happen to us when we were sleeping under that overhang with all those wild Pokemon a few days ago or shortly after Hatterene had first approached us and I got the time to look at her properly and think. It wasn’t perfect, but it was there, and all I had to do was stare at a Pokemon long enough and want to know what it felt.

And the nudging feeling I got every time, telling me that I’d be able to fully understand them after a few days? That was a part of it too. It hadn’t always been this way. Back when it was just me and Princess in Jubilife, I hadn’t been able to understand fully formed sentences. A few words and some of her body language, yes, but that was nothing to how I was now.

And I was getting better at it. Slowly but surely.

Your thoughts are enough to answer, Hatterene said. An empath as I am, then? But again, to prove this, Simisage will accompany us. The myths surrounding your gift will come after.

“I wouldn’t lie about this! Can’t you tell by reading my thoughts? And Fairies don’t—”

But you are no full-fledged fairy, sister. There could be many more explanations for this. I have no doubt that you fully comprehend what your companions are saying and that you learned to do so in a short amount of time, but you would not be the first human to do so. A unique ability, but not a gift. What interests me is you learning to understand what strangers would say in a few days. I do not think you are lying, but it could be a delusion of the mind.

I clicked my tongue. “Fine. Just know that this offends me.”

I know.

I finished eating my cookies, stewing on my frustration while Angel gently petted my head with a vine to soothe my anger. Buddy bowed his head in apology, but it wasn’t his fault. I stared at Hatterene, who silently looked into the sky, no doubt talking to her companion that kept the rain away from us.

I squinted at her and focused. What was she feeling right now? Unlike with most Pokemon, her emotions were blurry. It didn’t make sense, but it was the best way I had of describing it. There was a bit of happiness— or was it pride? Maybe it was because she’d found a person like me. I almost expected her to turn toward me, her usual calm face marred with anger as she asked me to stop analyzing her, but nothing of the sort came. It was as if she wasn’t able to tell.

Even while being able to read thoughts.

After a few minutes, she turned back to to me and Simisage and asked us to interact. The green monkey hopped off his vine and jumped next to me, landing on the soft grass, still slightly wet from the rain that had practically drowned it before we settled here.

“We’ve met, but we haven’t introduced ourselves properly. Hi.”

Simisage spoke in a flurry of words that I didn’t understand and then looked at the fairy type. She was staring at and analyzing me so strongly that I felt naked.

I couldn’t understand what he said, but I felt like he’d told me about something he looked back upon fondly. A past experience, maybe? One thing was for sure, he felt good about what he’d said.

Why can I not delve into your mind? Hatterene asked, emotion slipping into her tone. You have no psychic types capable of shielding it, and I am experienced enough to dissolve any paltry protection one of your friends’ gathering could come up with within a few minutes. With you, it is like an impenetrable barrier, layer, upon layer… I would have no idea how to even begin to tackle this. The sheer depth of it shatters my understanding…

“Wait, what?” I had never had anything put a shield on me!

And now it is gone, the fairy type said. And there are no traces of it even being there. How is this possible? I do not understand. Is it only active when… but still, how? I curse this lack of knowledge.

“Your psychic type is coming out,” I sighed.

Silence! She telepathically yelled, but it came as a furious hiss.

The headache momentarily came back, and I hissed. Jellicent clamored at her to stop, and Tangrowth’s vines shook in a panicked frenzy.

The headache left as fast as it came, and Hatterene anxiously tapped her feet appendages on the floor.

My apologies. I have never— It is the first time I have lost my composure like this.

“That’s okay. I kind of pushed your buttons,” I said. “Just try to be less trigger-happy?”

I will. It appears there is a hint of truth to the stories after all. I shall tell you about them. Nightstalker? This might be of interest to you, so I assume you want to join us.

A Pokemon fell from the sky so quickly that the force from the impact nearly took my coat off, and it hooked its sharp talons into the soft dirt. It was a tall, avian Pokemon that was almost six feet in height. Its feathers were beige on its torso, stretching down to its legs, but brown everywhere else, and a hood made out of bright, green leaves hid its face. A few dead leaves decorated its body as well, but the most notable ones were laid in an ‘X’ shape at the center of its hood.

The Decidueye’s red eyes stared at me from within its cowl, and the rain slowly began to patter all around us. Nothing about this route made any damn sense. I thought a water type would be stopping the rain, but it had been the opposite.

Meet Nightstalker. My only companion and the one who aided in my rebellion against my old trainer by simply standing by as I tore through six Pokemon on my own, but also the one who beat me to enforce my subservience. He helped me to pay off his debt and clear his conscience, Hatterene said with a mad grin stretching across her face.