~~~ Chapter 18 - Indignant Swadlies ~~~

Dear Lyra,

I hear you had fun reading the images and scans I sent you! Don’t let the archaeology department’s stodginess get to you. That old dean and the stick up his ass will be proven the fool they are.

Don’t read too much into the text. You know this, but we must be careful not to project our views on the past. We are prone to do it, even when we only understand a slim part of the greater story. Even if the text means what it says, it doesn't mean that’s what really happened. I’ve seen otherwise rational people lose reality to their own biases this way. Don’t be one of them.

Soon, I will be joining the forward archaeology group to progress through Mount Coronet. The strong magnetic field of the mountain is already being felt, and while our pokedexes and equipment are all hardened, getting a signal is becoming more and more difficult. We're not even inside the ruins themselves, and we can already feel the distortion in the air.

Though we will be accompanied by many trainers, it is getting dangerous. I'm sure you of all people already know this, but wild ghosts are drawn to the distortion like durants are to sugar. There’s no knowing what’s waiting inside or at the top, but as Colress likes to say, "at all costs, I must learn."

Your friend and mentor,

Doctor Hanlay

p.s. - The last pictures I took are attached. Don’t share until I return. Happy translating!

p.p.s. - I’ve sent my recommendation for you to Dr. Lenora in Nacrene city. As much as ever, field archaeologists need to be trainers. I urge you to leave Opelucid city and begin tutelage under her as soon as possible.

~~~

While Lanky, Alder and Professor Cedric talked. Well, mostly Alder and the Professor talked as Lanky nodded. I tuned them out, soaking in the sheer size of the room. The arena was quite large: more than ten trees scattered about the edges of the room, plotted around in the hardened clay and dirt, sunroofs providing myself and the plants plenty of natural light. Evidence of Swadly's long-term stay here was hard to miss. Little plants were sprouting from between the trees.

The ceiling had to be at least four stories high, walls made of thick concrete. Paradoxically, the walls seemed to absorb vibrations, scents and tastes, even with the vaulted ceiling which seemed to run up for hundreds of feet. At least, it went up until everything but the most bright or most dark objects were blurry. With magic walls muffling the outside world, coupled with the trees on the very edges of the arena, the noise of the outside city was present, but just a dull hum.

In this room, it was spartan. Just a clay floor, a large arena in the center that was approximately the size of a football field. There was no place for a crowd or onlookers, either. No stands or places to watch the fights. Across from us on a row of trees, I could see the splashes of the various swadlies’ yellows, watching us. I approached their perches.

A single hose of water was running, hooked to a line that ran until it blurred into the roof. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t an automated watering system, but the fact the swadlies sat on this particular tree was probably no coincidence. I bent over to take a drink, when a force hit my back, toppling me over.

The swadloon were all sitting on top of me, hopping up and down, chirping and pushing one another over. They played around, excited but also sombre, with not a little indignancy. I rolled over, letting them bounce on the leaf covering the underside of my abdomen. They clicked, chirping more, as if to accuse me—"You left us!"

They wouldn't have been wrong, either.

"Elleee aaa," I moaned out loud, letting them continue grumping. I pulled one up to my thorax in a hug. It struggled, not knowing what I was doing. A red flash, and Leaf walked over, four of the swadlies deciding to bully him now too. He didn’t take as kindly to it as I did, though. Their leaf coverings were thinning, holes and pockmarks, presumably from fights, or just general wear and tear.

They clearly weren’t getting the same exercise Leaf had, and were much smaller than he had been, even a week ago. I let the one I was holding in my arms go, and it just sat on my thorax, rubbing their arms together, not unlike how I rubbed my blades. Its coat was in shambles, and a part of me practically screamed they needed new leaf-blankets to wear, patches, necklaces, and leaf-stickers were on the menu for my little nest-mates, apparently.

I clicked, a new plan beginning to form. First, they needed new leaf-capes. The professor had left, Alder taking Lanky through a hallway, showing my inexperienced trainer around and through the rest of the building as I pulled down leaves off the trees to take care of the forgotten swadlies. Leaf took the cue as well, and together, we got to work. A couple of hours of sewing and patching later, the swadlies were all patched up and their leaf-blankets good as new, integrating with their bodies.

Leafy was looking at me, then back at himself, trying to build the leaves around his thorax. He had the right idea, but the chunks were too small. My plan, if I hadn’t met Cebi and received my armor for free, was to craft big leaf-sheets, and wrap them around each section, attaching them to my carapace nearest to the joints as much as I could.

So, for him, that’s what I did. I pulled leaves off a nearby tree, gluing them together in one big sheet. He and the rest of the swadlies gathered into a clump under the light of the high-above sunroof, observing my process. It took a lot of leaves just to cover his thorax. To cover the underside of his abdomen like mine would need a lot more leaves, so he’d have to wait a bit. It was probably a bad idea to strip all the leaves off of the indoor trees.

When Lanky came back, Alder had gone, and the two of us were alone. The kid stood for a minute watching us work, before fiddling with his metal jar again. Leafy’s thorax-armor plate front and back sewn together and attached, he stretched, moving this way and that, pushing on me again. Not able to say no to a challenge, I pushed back. He was lasting longer through each tussle, but it was still only moments before he fell again.

Lanky had given up on whatever that container had been and called us over, setting ten bowls of berries out as he pulled out a sandwich of his own. The swadlies practically ran at the smell. Unfortunately, their stubby legs weren’t faster than mine or Leaf’s, even walking. I took the end, Leafy took my left, and we all ate, the berries spilling about.

I speared mine. Swadlies slopped theirs. I smelled, however, Leafy’s growing annoyance at their spilling and waste. When a berry hit him in the face, he could take it no more, and bapped the one to his left on the head, who looked at him, confused and offended. Smells from bugs rolled a lot faster than humans.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Leaf looked at me, as if to say, "Look at how Leah does it!" To provide his own example, he took a slower, deliberate scoop. He was still sloppy, but more berries made it to his mouth than the ground, which was an improvement over the swadlies.

We’re dignified bugs! I could imagine him saying. Learn some manners! He had been a messy swadly himself. Perhaps he'd been picked by the professor because he was bigger and older?

The irritation exuded off him, and I could taste my own amusement. The swadly next to him, and even the one on the other end, got the clue and slowed down. The other six scooped spilled berries and fought over the ones that made it to the ground.

Lanky stood up then, and called for Leaf and I. The swadlies followed me, Leaf naturally falling in step in back. Lanky looked at them. "What?" I wanted to ask, clicking. They’re more our problem than yours! I clicked again.

We approached a pair of big metal doors, and lanky pushed on them, leading us into a backyard court. Cars in the distance, the call of a boat horn, the taste of salt. The general rumblings of human life. Here, however, was a small, private outdoor park. Surrounded by big buildings on three sides, we still had a private area approximately thrice the size of the inside of the gym to ourselves, layers of trees, protecting us from the noise and hustle and bustle of the greater concrete jungle.

image [https://i.imgur.com/7v4InEy.jpg]

Trees surrounded the edges, a bucket and a faucet by the building. A tall concrete fence surrounded it all. I was confident I could climb it if needed, but it seemed meant to keep intruders out more than occupants in. Or, perhaps, a protection of outsiders from stray hyper beams? Back here, there were a lot more trees than inside, soothing us from the vibrations of the world around us.

Lanky was talking, but he wasn’t saying anything specific, so it didn’t really matter. The door shut behind us, and we went out, exploring the trees. It had a good variety. In my past life, trees in cities were known to trigger allergies especially badly during pollination season, but the clear variety told me they had no such problem here.

Lanky moved to stand in the center, watching us roam about. He had eight pokeballs on his belt now, but he’d not used a single one. For emergencies? Were there catching limits? I know that Team Plasma from Black 2 had wanted to try and take away pokemon at one point. And well, catching and carrying limits would be one of the easiest places to limit trainers holding pokemon.

I hopped into one tree and pulled a bunch of leaves. Leaf saw what I was doing and joined. The swadlies watched us, content to nap and soak in the full summer sun. Leaves covering our backsides already meant half the armor for that was done. With two of us working, the new underside plating was done in no time at all, though the silk strained under the weight. I pushed on Leaf, who pushed back. "No, not like that," I clicked. I laid down and rolled over, my abdomen pointed up. I gestured with my leaf-arms, pointing, trying to show Leaf what I wanted him to do.

Leaf took the clue and did as I suggested. Like a blanket, I pulled it over his abdomen and sewed it onto the underside of the existing leaf, forming a soft shell and cutting slits in it to let air pass through. Next, all that was left of his armor was his own helmet and skirt. He could do that himself, and I was running out of silk, I could feel it.

I made to move to the faucet. Lanky saw where I was headed, and turned it on for me. So nice! He’d been getting a lot better at anticipating what I wanted. After I drank, he filled the bucket for us as well. As we relaxed out in the sun and Lanky looked at his pokedex, several ideas and plans began to form. The swadly Leaf had bonked at lunch walked up—I think I’ll call them Bonk, at least for now. Bonk looked at Lanky and I, then the water. Bonk was thirsty.

Lanky groaned, putting the pokedex away, lying on his back in the middle of the dirt and clay arena, his bangs covering his eyes from the sun. I picked up Bonk. Holding him on the flat of my blade, I bent down and let him drink from the bucket. When he was done, I continued holding him as we approached Lanky. The kid had left their midsection undefended, and that just would not do. I dropped Bonk right on his gut, and he heaved, gasping for air, eyes wide from the surprise.

Bonk ran off to the trees and their other siblings. It was good to have a rest day and just take care of ourselves, having a little fun. Swadlies were wrestling with Leaf, who, while much stronger than any one swadly, was having trouble standing with four of them hanging off him, being extremely careful not to slice them with his own blades.

Lanky was looking at me as I stood watching Leaf. He started heaving and laughing, grasping his own midsection in pain, he rolled over. Good. He got the joke. A boat horn sounded in the distance. Life was moving forward.

While looking at the strong tree branches, at Lanky, and back at the trees, I remembered the park. The first piece of territory I have ever fought for. I thought about being a human kid at a park. The pressure built. I would need thick, strong rope for this one, so I held it in as I approached the branch, Lanky recovering from his laughter.

I climbed the tree, pulling a piece of long, thick silk out. My silk stores weren’t full enough to go all the way down, but it was enough that a swadly could fit on it. I attached the first piece, looping it down. I let a couple meters more out, then when the stores ran dry, looped the end around, a few feet apart from the attachment point.

My two favorite pieces at the park had been the merry-go-rounds and the swings. And well, building a merry-go-round was out of my abilities. A swing though? Bug-type pokemon were MADE to make swings. So long as they could modulate their silk like I could. I gave it a test, poking my foot on it. It stretched. I rested more weight down on the new swing. It stretched some more, but it held. It was too small for Leaf and I, but a swadly?

Unfortunately, none of the other bugs seemed to know what I had made, so no one gave it a spin. So, I picked up Bonk, and didn’t give him a choice. He…didn’t get it, and promptly fell off, using his blanket like a parachute/glider to direct the fall. Internally, I sighed. This endeavor was going to be harder than I thought. We continued rolling around for a bit, playing and napping, and tending to the flowers as lanky threw his tennis ball at the wall, bouncing back and catching it.

His aim had most definitely gotten better over the last few weeks. The sun was going down, and Lanky called us inside, where we ate dinner. I sat at the end again. Leaf, guiding Bonk, in the art of the scoop, himself having figured out how to bend his foreblade into something that made less of a mess. Finished, and with the sun going down, Lanky pulled out his sleeping bag and pillow. They had no cots here?

Leaf and I guided the swadlies to their tree. As predicted, the water line had turned off. I tried to sleep in a tree. But the roar of the city finally eventually entered my senses again, the sound and vibrations, the motion around the ocean, begging for greater investigation. I waited, the light of the city sky filtering from the sunroofs above.

When Lanky had put away his pokedex for a good hour or so and seemed to be asleep, I crept down. "Thump" sounded behind me, followed by eight more. "Thumpthump thump thump-thumpthump-thumpump." I looked back at my followers, following me, single file toward the great metal doors. I glanced at Lanky, who was out like a light.

I pushed on the bar on the door, it creaked and clicked.

I glanced at Lanky, who was still sleeping.

I pushed on the door, another click.

Lanky was still sleeping.

I pushed harder.

Lanky was still sleeping.

I reduced my pressure on the door. It clicked shut once more.

I looked back to Lanky, who was still sleeping.

I let go of the bar on the door, it clicked one last time and slid back into place.

The door was locked.

Defeated, all ten of us went back to our tree and ruminated. When I finally drifted off to sleep, it was to visions of ten bugs marching down the street.

Buum buum buum bum-bum-bum.

~~~