~~~ Ch. 31 - Attention On Us ~~~

One world-tier tragedy avoided. Not twenty-four hours later, and a local research facility explodes. Now, I haven't been there and seen anything that's not been in the news already, but those parasites are already comin' out the woodwork.

- Clay, Driftveil City Gym Leader

~~~

All the humans standing around meant that attention was all on me. Or, well, all on us.

Is this really better? I mean…

Professor Juniper recovered, his pokemon releasing him from its telekinesis. Aurea, his daughter, and the lady in the actual labcoat talked back and forth. The guy that was dressed in nearly all-black, he had dark blue hair, and a kind of musty, casual confidence on him? His aura, it practically cut through the cacophony of the other humans. He spoke, pulling out his own tablet, pointing it at Oust and I, who were held in Lanky's arms. Lanky hiccupped, wiping his eye with a flannel sleeved shirt.

No pokemon were out except the professor's egg-headed alien. Unless you counted the swaddles, who didn't seem to have a trainer, who I didn't see, so they had to be out in the courtyard?

I held Oust close to my thorax, as literally everyone pulled out tablets, pointing them at us. Maybe coming back wasn't such a good idea? You could have made good friends with the Latias. I shuffled. And abandon Lanky? My own anxiety was apparent by the way my arms twitched, Oust squirming. The humans continued their chats. I shuffled a bit in Lanky's arms. Leaf's smell was nearby, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Probably in his pokeball.

The humans continued their conversation, entering into a back-and-forth. The dark-trainer-guy only occasionally piped up. He stood tall, shoulders slack, arms loose. I could smell the synthetics and starches on his clothes. He was rich and confident, against the others' wavering. Occasionally, my name was said, and I perked up.

Why are we sitting here? Because… I feel like we did something? Did you really do anything bad? I tapped Oust again, booping his fake little sewaddle snout. The answer to the question was, well, it was no. We didn't do anything bad.

Then why are we here, with the humans? Damnit. I just. I just want to live life and have fun? And, it's the Pokemon world, right? Isn't this supposed to be super cool and exciting and fun and awesome? How many humans randomly wake up one day as a pokemon?!? Even a shitty bug-type?

But ultimately, that still doesn't answer the question. Why WAS I here, with these humans? I squirmed, the group turning silent on the gym floor. At least the latias had teleported us inside the gym. As I hopped off, Lanky moved to grab my pokeball that was attached to his belt. I paused, watching to see if he was going to say anything. His smell turned to an earthy reassurance. Turning back, he addressed the group and let Oust and I go outside, through the open back door they were surrounding themselves in.

Arceus, this waiting's the worst part, I thought to myself, as I observed Oust.

It would be nice if you could speak, I thought at him, once again to no response but my own inner emotion. My left blade was missing a third of its leaf.

"Aaannneee," I moaned. Not this again. I set the sewaddle on my head, walking further out into the courtyard. None of the swadloon were out. Their smells were gone.

It was only a matter of time anyway.

I sat on a branch, picking up a leaf. The sky had turned dark. I dropped the leaf. It floated away from me, glinting from the outdoor lights of the gym building's outer lamps. illuminated enough that I could see. I didn't go after it.

Not even bugs should be living in a pokemon gym.

Still on the branch, Oust still on my head. I picked up another leaf. I put it in my mouth. I held it back out in front of me. It was chopped in two. I moaned again. The vibrations of the city had begun to quiet down, as it tends to.

Do you even know why you came to the humans?

I let the failure of a leaf fall to the ground again. I examined the patch that Tug had given me. It was integrating, being molded in well. I pulled off another leaf from the tree. Patching took longer, looked messier, and made for heavier leaves. And, well, instinct didn't like doing it that way.

Do you even remember your name?

I held the third leaf up in my right arm digit. I sprayed it in goopy silk, slapping it on to the broken left arm-blade. The humans in the other room continued to speak, though their voices were getting further. I picked up a fourth leaf.

You really could run away, at any time. Nothing's stopping you. You know that.

I didn't have to return. So why did I? A small flash of dark above me, some rustled branches, in silence; Oust and I's visitor, our new acquaintance, was gone. The speaking had stopped. Lanky crossed the doorway, practically sensing our hiding spot. I pinned the seventh leaf on my blade, out in a tree in our now-empty backyard courtyard. A metallic, steely confidence was on the boy.

You're caring for Giratina's kid.

Lanky looked up at me. I glued another leaf. His confidence gained a slight phosphoric tinge. I looked at my left blade. It was kind-of patched. Shadows from the door told me others were watching. Lanky held out his arms. I slid Oust off my head, into my right arm. Pulling him close into my thorax, I hopped off the branch, buffeted from the fall by my leaf-armor-blade-dress, and my trainer-in-training caught us.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

You have access to a sliver of a literal, actual god. This is what you choose?

I never did like the idea that Giratina was evil, anyway. Lanky carried us back into the gym, the dark trainer, the professor, and everyone else was quiet. Crossing the gym floor, through the halls, past the lockers, past the cafeteria room, we were at the entrance halls. We left the front doors. Lanky pulled out my purple shoes and helped me put them on. He didn't pull out the strapped leash.

He pulled the metal canister out of his backpack, and out folded a bike. One hand holding up the bike, the other around where my arms met my thorax, he set Oust and I in the basket, immediately turning us south. The city's air turned from slight hints of sea salt with the concrete, steel and oil, to salty sea air with the smell of rotting fish-fats, mixed with hints of concrete, steel, and oil.

Are you still here, lat? My name's Leah, by the way.

We hit the southernmost roads that led to the shipyards and marinas. Sitting in the basket with Oust, in my purple shoes, the salt of the city's ocean air was nice. We passed a few bikers and joggers along the way. A burst of brisk ocean air hit us midway through our short travels. Lanky slowed down when we hit the end of the road, practically stopping as he pulled into a turn to turn north, only a slight tremor in the steering indicated that he'd just learned how to ride a bike, compared to wobbling along the gym floor from earlier the other day.

In my arms, this is Oust. You met him earlier. And this is my trainer-in-training, Burgh. But I just call him Lanky.

Lanky pulled up to the pokecenter, a lady-nurse holding open the door for us when we arrived. No one was in the lobby except for the old professor, their eggheaded psychic, The lady-nurse, and the red-haired nurse from the cherry-conditioner incident and the battle with the electric sheep. Ampharos.

The door behind us clicked, and the professor spoke to Lanky and the nurses. Lanky handed Oust and I to the red-haired nurse. The red-haired nurse-guy took us behind the counter, to the stairs. The professor made to follow, but the nurse pointed at him, grunting. "Only nurses allowed in the backrooms, no exceptions," I could practically hear them say. We left before the professor's smelltaste could respond.

Upstairs, we went into their fluorescent hallways, the nurse opened the door, a large room not unlike the one I tried escaping in that first pokecenter, with a couple carts, some sinks, the fatty smell of soaps and possibly potions. Also, aluminum and other metallic tastes. He set Oust and I on a counter in the center of the room.

He went to the door, clicking it, and turned off the light, leaving us in pitch black. He emitted soft vibrations from his mouth. The nurse wiped their mouth. A large screen came out from the wall. The nurse turned away from us, pressing on the screen, dragging things around. It took a picture of me. It paused. The nurse turned away from us. Their face was covered in shadow, contrasted by the screen behind them, lit up only by the reflective light of the hallway behind the door or the screen itself. They pulled their hair back.

They swallowed, a drip falling on the floor. They reached their arm out, motioning to Oust. Right.

Your turn for pictures, kid. I set them down, on the center of the table, squeaking in my little booties. The nurse turned back to the screen, pushing another button. A flash of red was in my face, then gone. I positioned myself between Oust and the nurse. The camera slid around the fake sewaddle.

This room in the pokecenter was really well isolated from the sounds of the city. The external stimulations were nonexistent. The nurse continued moving things on the screen, as images of a sewaddle appeared. They continued tapping, humming. An incredibly sweet smell entered the room, delivered from some kind of miniature shaft.

Cherries. Oust squeaked at the smell of the food. My own saliva started working, too, sloshing around, unbidden. It was a small bowl, the nurse pulled one out, proffering one to me in this dark. I took it. I examined it. It tasted of pure sugar. I'd already eaten. Oust had not.

I gave the cherry to Oust. The nurse's image shifted, shimmering again. They probably have endless distortion to eat, just open up a portal and grab what you want.

I wasn't about to directly trade them off for berries. Oust immediately waddled back into my lap. I looked at the nurse, their unreadable expression taunting me. They set the cherries in front of Oust, who stuffed their face in. The nurse smiled, speaking more human nonsense. On the screen in front of us was the same image of Giratina as the pokedexes, but above that, was a perfect image of the wounded kid—three legs, the stub of a fourth growing in. Elongated body with black wings.

The nurse approached the child. I pulled Oust back. Separating them from chowing down on the overly-sugary meal, Oust squeaked, but did not resist. The equipment beeped. The nurse held a single finger to their chin. In the dark, their face pulled taut, the red hair grew longer, down to their ass, held together by multiple beads. I almost squeaked at the sudden shift, as the rustic iron of their ill-contained hunger slammed into me.

Their clothing shifted and changed into a gray fur. The human was gone. Instead, they just towered over us. A drop of hunger splashed onto the floor. I pushed the kid behind me, standing up on the table, holding up my blade arms, vibrating in anticipation, while a picture of Oust's true form rotated on the screen. They took a couple steps away from us, circling the table. Their human form returned, and the assault of smell and hunger on them disappeared. They spoke, keeping their tone soft, taunting.

They continued their circle, shifting back into zoroark, keeping their distance again, speaking. I adjusted my position, keeping myself in between them and Oust. They put a finger on their chin, then returned to being human, even their shadows shifting with their illusions in the dark.

Do they even know their own smell?

They paused, stopping their shifting, then turned back to the screen. They pulled up a video of a pidgey. Its brown and tan feathers then shifted blue and purple. Ditto. The Zoroark-nurse spoke again.

Transform? Illusion? They want Oust to return to their normal form. Can you trust them? The doors were pretty thick. I'd have to learn to get Oust to portal out, but the kid…was back to eating their sugar-cherries.

I clicked, annoyed. The nurse smiled, then spoke some words before going to the door and leaving us alone in the dark, accompanied only by the repeating video of a ditto returning to its "natural" form. They finished off the last cherry. This zoro-nurse could fuck off with that game, though. The video repeated a couple times, and Oust didn't respond. Instead, the zoro-nurse returned, bearing a thick spray bottle with a unique-smelling substance sloshing around. Potion. They turned the lights of the room back on, the arm and screen retracting. Then stood a couple feet away, out of arm's reach, spraying us both with it.

The nurse opened the door. Oust's little nose wiggled, sneezing. I stood back up on the table. I hopped down. Putting Oust in my left arm, I waved it around, flashing my good blade through air. I looked down at the floor. Another nurse entered the hallway, brown bag in hand, the smell-taste of iron and egg and sugar and mushroom and onion following them in the air, as I did some kicks.

An invisible weight I didn't know I was bearing had practically lifted off my body. I was free to move. We walked down the stairs, nurses following leisurely behind, speaking to each other.

Entering the lobby, we were greeted by Lanky. Professor mean-smiles was gone. The nurses and Lanky talked for a moment, then zoronurse handed Lanky the bottle we'd been sprayed with. "Spray once-daily so long as symptoms continue," I mimed. They looked at me, curious looks on their faces. Together, we rode on the bike, back to the gym. The swaddles were gone, as was Bonk. Returning to the gym, Lanky released Leaf from his pokeball, then brought out a couple bowls of veggies and fruits from the cafeteria.

I set Oust down on the ground of the tree, then looked at the lowest branch. The one my unfinished hammock rested on.

Free of the unseen weight, the unfelt physical weakness, I knelt, and jumped.