I slowly opened my eyes while grunting and groaning, surprised by my surroundings.

I was floating on the same black void from the last time I was unconscious. I remember drifting to somewhere before eventually waking up because of a whisper that suddenly turned into shouting. But here I was again, back in this void, with nothing to see, nowhere to go, and no one to hear my voice.

Except for one being whose voice was already engraved on my mind.

“My… quite the beating you took, didn’t you?”

I looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. I looked behind, seeing the god, deity, whatever, floating while his form stayed obscured with that pink light surrounding him. I assumed he was facing away from me since I couldn’t see his glowing yellow eyes this time. Since I had finally some light to see a bit clearly, I looked down at my body to see I was still a pawniard. Obviously, since I got my ass handed to me.

I raised my blade hands and looked at them. “Yeah… guess I did…” I put my blade on my side as I looked aside. “To be fair, do you know what the hell I was facing? You should know those things back in my world are feared-”

“Feared for what? For just sweeping through competition on those tournaments?” The shadow figure sighed. “You still haven’t learned your lesson even after the struggle you’ve been put through…” I was about to ask what he meant by that before he turned his head to face me, giving me a side-eye over the shoulder. “Tell me, do you know what’s the fastest time it took for a shapeshifter like you to transform in this world?”

I stared at the shadow figure dumbfoundedly before responding with uncertainty. “Uh… four seconds? Still, how did you know-”

He interrupted me when he raised a finger with a small paw. “One second, and that’s when they were moving while transforming. And how much time does it take you to transform? Exactly, ten times what the record could. You managing to surprise that excadrill was merely a stroke of luck that you won’t have again.” He sighed. “I’m disappointed in you, Lucas. I thought that transforming into a Suicune would be the spark you needed to reach your full potential. But alas… you still have much yet to learn.”

I crossed my arms, getting a little bit annoyed. “Okay Mr. Knows-A-Lot, what can you say to me to get better at transformations? Keep up the transformations? Like bro, I could’ve easily won that if I transformed into a bisharp, actually, way better, kingambit .” I tilted my head. “The hell do I need to do to get there anyway? Level up? Keep transforming until something snaps and I can transform into the big bad legendaries? What are the rules here?”

I could hear a growl mixed with the deity’s sigh as he fully turned to me, his yellow eyes shining brighter than ever. “When will you get it, kid? This is not a game nor this is a TV show where you are the protagonist and are saved by some script most of the time.” He started to approach me, taking in his features a little better. However, I felt a heavy weight being placed on my heart. “If that girl wasn’t acting out on orders, she wouldn’t have gone easy on you. She would’ve killed you and your allies on the spot. If that hasn’t sunk into your head, let me remind you. This is real life where you can and will die if you don’t take some situations like that one seriously.”

I took a reflexive step back, my eyes widening a little as the shadow being spoke. He wasn’t shouting nor was he speaking loudly, but the impact that his words had on me hit like a truck. He… he was right. I wasn’t taking that fight seriously, I thought that I had everything on my side to take that flutter mane on and win but… she outmatched me in every way. I wasn’t strong enough to beat her in the way that I was, and if Quartzo hadn’t come to save us, Evon and Ino would’ve been… they would’ve been…

My arms and legs limped, feeling like I was floating on the ocean with the water drifting my body to places. Thoughts started swirling around my head, repeating themselves loudly and getting engraved in the forefront of my mind.

I am weak.

I would’ve lost someone else to criminals because again I am weak… just like last time. Even with all these powers, I was still powerless to save the people around me because I was not strong enough…

“If you continue with those stupid thoughts, you will remain weak, you know?” Again, I looked at the figure before me, a bit surprised that he could still hear my thoughts like that.

I blinked for a moment before sighing and looking aside. “Y-yeah, right, my bad…” I frowned before asking. “Hey… just asking…” I looked at the shadow figure, it seemed to be crossing his arms again while his left eye was covered by something. “Is… is there a way to get stronger… besides the transformations and uh… the obvious training?”

“Hm… I’d suggest…” There was a pause, a sigh leaving the figure’s mouth. “I suggest finding yourself a mentor who can teach you how to fight properly without doing something like this again.”

The shadow raised an arm and, above his paw, a certain screen that wasn’t tied to an electronic of some kind appeared, almost like a hologram. It showed the memories seen from my POV of my fight with that staravia when I had turned into a charmander and curled into a ball and fought wildly with it, like two animals fighting for territory. I looked away in shame. “Uh… yeah, I was a super poopoo fighter and still am…” Suddenly, a thought popped into my mind, making me look back at the deity. “Do you know someone who can teach me?”

Silence echoed across the void as the deity continued staring. He then looked away, dropping the hold on my memory as his voice changed to something a bit more sad. “There is someone that comes to mind, however… I don’t know if he’s still around, especially after that… ”

I tilted my head in confusion. ‘’That”? Did something happen between those two?’ I avoided asking the deity about it, lest I would want divine wrath to rain down upon me. “Uh… can’t you use your god abilities to communicate with him? Ya know… telepathy like you’re doing with me right now?”

The figure fully turned away from me. “If it were only that easy…”

“Huh? What do you mean by-” Suddenly, the void started shaking again, like an earthquake in the middle of space with a low rumbling sound following it. “What the-”

“You’re waking up.” The deity said, motioning with a paw as he continued speaking. “We’ll meet another time once you have improved your general skills. After all, can’t steal your dreams every time you sleep.” He looked at me over his shoulders. “See you next time.”

With that, my body got covered in white glowing particles before my entire vision went white.

----------------------------------------

A wave of headaches was the first thing I felt when my consciousness finally returned to me; throbbing pain throughout my whole body was the next thing that made itself present afterwards. I grunted from the pain before slowly opening my eyes and regaining control of my heavy limbs.

I looked around, examining my surroundings and taking them in slowly. An earthly and sweet smell was present all around the rocky room I was in. White-painted walls surrounded the place, torches illuminated the room, drawers with some… very primitive medical tools on the side of the room, and, interestingly enough, a bowl of food next to me, filled with berries of all kinds.

I shifted my position slightly, feeling that I was in a pile of hay from the straws poking at my… hm…? I barely felt them…

Oh yeah! I was still in the body of a pawniard, even in my talk with the local Pokémon deity or something… after… I almost got captured and Evon…

I got up quickly, bonking my head with a blade hand. Thank goodness my head was fully coated in metal or else I would’ve received a small cut. “Don’t let those thoughts get to you! Not your fault. Not your fault…” I muttered to myself, trying to get those thoughts out of my head. I’ve already been through this, I don’t need to go over it again. Positivity, MEMES! “Welp, um… so that’s how it feels getting my ass swept by a flutter mane irl, huh? Never want to feel that again…”

I tried stretching my body before a few pangs of pain rang through my back and my arms. “Ngh…” I looked down at my body, seeing bandages wrapped all around it. Parts of my armor had been chipped away while some had dents in them, probably from my body being pressed on rocks too much. I rested a blade on my arm and sighed. “Yep… never again…”

“Thank Arceus, you’re awake.”

I looked to my other side to find Evon, curled on a nest of straws while poking his head out of his perfect loaf form. Bandages were wrapped around his body, mostly on his torso while some were on his right ear, which was obvious because of that ugly burnt wound he received from that Dazzling Gleam. Like, that attack was aimed to cause a lot of damage to those on the receiving end.

It was aimed to kill…

Evon sighed, adjusting his black eyepatch with a paw. “For a moment, I thought of the possibility of you never waking up again…”

I tried smirking but then realized that my mouth was covered by my natural armor. I just then raised my arm. “Well then, guess what, I lived!” I put my blade hands on my side, being careful to not cut the bandages. “I wouldn’t be kept down that easily, after all, that bitch only hit me with not effective attacks-”

“You’ve been knocked out cold for two days straight.”

I looked at Evon with my eyes widened. “TWO DAYS!? WHAT THE HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLL!!!!!????”

The eyepatch-wearing eevee folded his ears and covered them with his paws, gritting his teeth. “Geez, no so loud, dammit!”

I threw my arms in the air and asked in surprise and shock. “Evon, what the hell do you mean I’ve been knocked out for two days!? I thought I’d only be in bed for some hours, bro!”

Evon released his ears and scowled. “How should I know? I don’t know how humans work entirely, even in the body of Pokémon! Like, is it normal for you guys to black out for so long after you take a beating like that?”

“Of course not! I just…” I groaned a bit, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms. “It must’ve been that talk I had while knocked out…” I looked back at Evon, seeing his head tilted in confusion. “Oh, uh… while I was out cold, deity guy decided to pay me a visit again.”

“Really? What did he say this time?” Evon asked, looking a bit concerned and curious.

I sighed as the deity’s words ran through my head again, my mind highlighting the scolding I received. “Eh, just telling me off from how much I was a dumbass and not taking shit seriously when I was supposed to…”

I then looked down, curling my legs and reminiscing on a certain line that stuck out to me a lot.

“She would’ve killed you and your allies on the spot. If that hasn’t sunk on your head, let me remind you. This is real life where you can and will die if you don’t take some situations like that one seriously.”

I would’ve grimaced if my mouth wasn’t covered by armor, guilt sinking in. “Evon…” I looked back at the eyepatch-wearing eevee with a guilty look. “I’m… I’m sorry…”

Evon tilted his head and looked at me with an invisible raised eyebrow. “For what…?”

“I… I got too reckless. We’ve got what we wanted and could’ve just run out of there when we had the chance. But I got cocky with my own powers that I put you and Ino in danger thinking we could’ve beaten them.” I squirmed a bit as the sight of Evon in that near-death moment hit my mind like a truck. “I thought that I’d lose you…”

Evon looked aside, grimacing a little. He stared to the side for a moment before sighing. “Listen, Lucas.” He got up slowly, walking out of his hay bed towards me. “That entire thing that happened is not really your fault. We were assigned to face that excadrill one way or another, and we didn’t even know he had a partner with him.” He haunched next to my bed. “Even if the enemy was after you, you would be as much of a victim just like that pichu if you had surrendered to them.”

I snorted and looked away. “Oh, I know. But like… I feel like I should still be a bit responsible for some of it…”

“You’re starting to sound a bit like me, being honest…” Evon said as I could hear him scratching himself. “Hogging all the blame to yourself, thinking that you were responsible for not saving them…” He paused as I stared at him again. “Maybe… maybe we’re not so different after all…”

“Aside from all the memes and shit?” I asked, tilting my head.

A smile crept in on the eevee’s muzzle. “Yeah, aside from all of that human craziness of yours.”

“Hm…” I stared at the eevee for a moment before getting up as well. I decided to light the mood up, not wanting to be around a moody atmosphere for long. “Heh, just wait until I introduce you to every meme in my phone, then, you’d be exactly just like me!”

Evon playfully rolled his eyes. “I’ll not be converted to your human insanities anytime soon, so don’t even bother.”

We giggled a bit as I thought about Evon spouting countless memes to the Pokémon of the village. That would be a dream come true, and the memes of the internet would spread into a new world like it was destined to be! Although, that would remain a dream because lil’ eevee buddy over here probably wouldn’t be a new carrier.

Our giggles stopped when the door of the room opened, revealing a comfey floating into the room. They wore a nurse apron that wrapped itself around their head, and the vine that circled below them only had purple flowers, giving them a lavender scent.

They floated towards us, their scent intensifying around my nose. They spoke with a soft and boyish voice. “You’re awake, that’s good! How are you feeling? When you were brought here, your wounds were… pretty bad, shall I say.”

“Well, not in perfect shape, of course, I feel a bit sore in some places, but give it another day and I’ll be in top shape. Thanks for patching me up! What should I call you? Lifeline? Mercy? Medic?” I asked, putting a blade on my chin as I tried guessing the comfey’s name.

“Oh, uh… my name is Media, but well, you’re welcome.” He floated closer to me, putting a leafy nub over the bandages on my body. “Hm… wow, already healed.” He started unwrapping the bandages, being careful with the blades embedded in my armor. I looked at my own body, even if the armor was dented a bit, I felt no wounds like before. Media looked at me with a smile. “Alrighty, you’re good to go!”

“Heh, thanks Media!” ‘Why is that the same name as that one healing move in Persona games?’ I asked myself internally before turning away and moving my arms around. Even though the soreness was still there, it wasn’t as potent as it was when I woke up.

“I heard you were… a shapeshifter, is that correct?” I looked back at the fairy type and nodded. “I see… um… if that’s a part of your core’s abilities, then I recommend not transforming a whole lot just to not strain it that much.”

I hummed in thought. ‘When I gained these powers… does that mean I gained a core as well? Hm… probably, but it must be very small for me to feel it.’ I spoke to Media. “Can I at least transform to my main form though?”

“I… guess so? It doesn’t consume a lot of your stamina, right?” The comfey asked.

I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t.” With that, I started transforming back into my human form with my usual method. Armor turned into skin, helmet turned into hair, and the tip of my hand blades split and turned into fingertips, my entire body changing in size as well. After a few seconds, my body finally finished transforming, the pink disappearing from my vision. I was back to human. “We’re so back!” I said while doing a peace sign.

Media looked at me with an amazed expression. “Holy Arceus almighty…”

“Yeah, whenever he gets beat up badly, get used to this.” Evon remarked.

I turned to the eevee while crossing my arms. “Let me put a stop to that argument. I never want to be in this powerless situation again.” I looked at my hands. “Even if I seem really unserious about it, I’m so glad about having these powers, because, with it, I finally can help people in need.” I looked at Evon with a smile. “That has been one of my biggest dreams since I was a lil’ dummy kid. And now that I have it…” I clenched my hands into fists. “I don’t want it to go to waste. I’ll get stronger with it, no matter what!”

“Let’s see if you hold true to that, buddy. After all, Mystery Dungeons are no joke once you get to the hard ones, not only that, outlaws, as you could tell, get stronger every day.” Evon said, his tail swishing from side to side a little.

“Let them come! Imma whoop their asses whenever my training arc is done!” I grinned while putting my arms on the side.

I almost had forgotten about Media before he floated towards and turned to me. “I hope you can reach your full potential soon, Lucas the Shapeshifter!” He then turned to Evon, touching his bandages with a nub. “Hm… needs a bit more healing. Tomorrow you can take off those bandages.”

“Okay, thanks.” Evon said with a nod. “Do I need another dose of Floral Healing?”

“Yeah, just one more to be completely sure.” The comfey said before backing away a little from the eevee. Once he was at a certain distance, the fairy plant started glowing a bit green. He then did a little spin in the air as a bit of green energy left his body. Suddenly, purple flowers appeared out of the ground around Evon and shone green energy on the eevee. Once after the light show was over, the flowers dissipated into the air. “Okay, it’s over. Since you guys don’t have any more injuries to go over, you guys are free to go!”

‘As an American, this is a jumpscare and a half.’ I thought to myself before giving a thumbs up. “Thanks a bunch, bro! You rock!”

The comfey rubbed the back of his head. “Uh… thanks? What do you mean by “you rock”?”

“Ah, well, just an expression for saying: you’re awesome.” I explained, a sheepish smile on my face.

Media perked up. “Oh, I see! Alright then, thanks!” As the comfey was about to wave, the comfey seemed to remember something. “Wait, I almost forgot! The Guildmaster wanted to see you two once you were both out of the clinic.” He started fiddling with the tip of his vine. “I think you should go to the guild to see him to see what he wants.”

“Oh yeah, you’ve told me yesterday. He was the one that brought us here, right?” Evon tilted his head.

The comfey nodded. “Mhm. He might have something to talk to you about, probably about the incident that caused you to have those injuries. But anyways, if you get any more injuries, don’t be afraid to come to Mezuri’s clinic!”

As the comfey waved at us, I waved back as Evon and I left the room. “Alright, cya sometime, Media!”

As we walked through the clinic halls, I saw more nurses and doctor Pokémon running around, all wearing medical aprons wrapped around some part of their bodies. Heck, strangely enough, I even saw a metagross wearing one of those aprons. The variety was a bit wild to me, but it’s good to see that, even if they worked for basically free, they still did their jobs as efficiently as ever.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Once we were out of the building a thought of a certain someone struck me. “Wait, that’s right!” I looked at Evon and put my hands in my shorts’ pockets. “Do you know what happened to Ino? She did get caught in the whole mess with the ghost bitch, didn’t she?”

“Oh, yeah, about her… she was the one to receive fewer injuries of the three of us, from what I heard. She got dispatched out of the clinic yesterday.” Evon clarified, easing my worries a little.

“That’s a relief. Hope she’s not too mad about me throwing the fight. Like, bro, that was such a severe case of skill issue on my part…” I said a bit bitterly. I started to wonder: what if I had been stronger? Would that fight go differently?

Welp, whatever. Couldn’t stay thinking about the “what ifs”, the therapist recommended I focus on the future and how to improve myself.

Evon’s tail lowered as he responded with a frown. “I don’t think she’s that mad. We basically completed the mission, can’t be too mad about that.”

I sighed through my nose. “Hope you’re right about that-”

“MISTER!”

I turned in the direction of the shout and could barely see a blur before said blur attached itself to my leg, a fuzzy feeling lingering afterwards. I looked down at my leg to see Raina, the little pichu from that day, hugging my leg and rubbing her face on it. “I was so worried about you, Mister! They chose me over you and then you went to the doctor and then you were sleeping for too long and I thought- I thought…!”

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down! I’m alright, I’m alright, don’t worry!” I said hastily, trying to calm the pichu down a little bit. I could tell she was crying a little bit since my legs were starting to get a bit wet from tears and snot. I crouched a little and patted Raina on her head. “The true question should be different, tho. Are YOU alright?”

She looked up, letting me see her teary face. She sniffled a little bit and responded. “I-I’m alright! I was worried about you! You were sleeping when Mom and I came to visit yesterday, you looked super bad and hurt when you were in the armor ‘mon form. Your friend as well!”

“Aww, thanks for visiting me. You’re such a lil’ cutie and sweetheart, you know that? Your mom must be proud of you!” I said before tilting my head. “Speaking of her, where is she-”

“Finally caught up with you!” A voice shouted in the distance, approaching us quickly. I looked up and saw the Raina’s mom, who I believed was named Ramia, if I was not mistaken. She panted a bit before perking up once she looked at me. “Oh, you found him.” The psychic-type raichu crossed her arms. “Wow, um… you got out of there faster than expected…”

I got up again and grinned. “What can I say? I just don’t stay down for that long!”

“Did you forget the part where you were unconscious for two days straight?” Evon asked, smirking all the while.

I turned to Evon with one of my eyes twitching a bit. “Fluke, obviously! Just that time and that time alone! Never gonna go down for that long ever again! Getting stronger for that reason!” I said while pumping a fist in the air. I then turned my attention back to Ramia. “Anyways uh… were you guys perhaps looking for me? Your daughter sounded like she was.”

Raina responded, her small arms flailing a bit. “Yes, we were, Mister! We wanted to visit you again and I wanted to give a gift to you and your friend for saving me!”

The eevee tilted his head in confusion. “Oh, really? But we didn’t even take the mission for a reward.”

“Oh, don’t think of it as a reward, but as an actual gift for your kindness and bravery in rescuing my daughter.” Ramia said before taking two items off her bag with telekinesis. “She wanted to give you guys these.”

The items that were floating above the psychic mouse’s paw were two matching necklaces. The necklaces resembled two pieces of a strange crest. Both had a shape resembling the half of an indigo hexagon, and each vertex of the crest had a pointy end to it. Of course, by just looking at it, you could tell that if you combined both pieces, it would make a complete hexagon, like a friendship necklace.

The pichu went back to her mother as the raichu gave her the two necklaces. She then walked back to me, holding onto the necklaces before handing them out to me and Evon. “My grandma gave these friendship necklaces to me, but my best friend didn’t like them. So I’m giving it to you two so you can match!”

Evon got beside me as he grabbed his necklace while I grabbed my own. He haunched and held it in front of him with an analyzing glance. “Woah… it’s shinier than I was expecting.”

“Geez, back where I came from, the only people that could buy these are the book-smart, money-smart people.” I said as I inspected my half of the crest. By touching the surface, I could tell that this shit was made out of pure crystal. “How… did your grandma get this?”

Raina smiled and responded. “She said she found it next to a cave when she was an explorer. She had no friends anymore so she gave it to me!” The pichu put a paw on her chin. “Although, she said to give one of the halves to one of my most trust… trust… uh… trustworthy! Yeah, she said it to give it to one of my most trustworthy ‘mon! So I gave it to you since you are so kind and saved me!” She then looked at the eevee. “You too, Mister Eevee!”

“Thanks, Raina.” Evon said before putting the necklace on, the reflection of one of the cave torches making the crest gleam slightly. He looked back at the pichu and grinned toothly. “We’ll put it to good use.”

“Yep!” I took one last good look at it before putting it around my neck and tightening the hold. Suddenly, a small jolt of pain went through my head, making me twitch a little bit and support my head on a hand for a second. ‘Urgh, hope this isn’t the aftermath of the battle still lingering somehow.’ I then masked the pain with a grin, giving a thumbs up. “We’ll take good care of them, you can count on us!”

Raina’s eyes sparkled in glee. “I’m so glad you guys liked my gift!” She then hugged my leg, rubbing her face on it again. “With that, you’ll be the bestest of best friends forever!”

“Let’s see about that- YEAAAOUUU-!!!!” As I was about to respond, an electrical shock ran throughout my body, making me spazz for a bit from the pain. Raina rubbed a lot more than she should…

Ramia levitated her daughter away from me as the electricity dissipated from my body. While that did hurt like any shock I took from any electrical outlet, the pain didn’t linger for that long, even though my hair was all messed up now. “Ramia, watch out when rubbing your heads on others! You still can’t fully control your electricity!”

As I straightened my hair again with a hand, Raina grimaced and looked at me guiltily. Her eyes looked like they were about to water again. “I-I’m sorry, Mister! I didn’t mean to!”

While I responded, I finished brushing my hair. “No worries, it didn’t hurt as much as the as- I mean, butt whooping from two days ago. Also, by the way…” I did a peace sign. “Call me Lucas, you’re making me look ancient by calling me Mister.”

Fortunately, that was enough for the little pichu not to cry. She perked up, small tail included. “Oh, okay then!” She smiled, the tears in her eyes instantly vanishing. “Hope you enjoy the gift, Mister Lucas!”

My smile faltered a little. Oh fuck, I can feel my skin becoming sagged and old and my hair turning white . “T-that’s not… you know what? Real recognize real, you can call me that.”

“Been meaning to ask, how old are you anyway? You act so immature and kidly most of the time that it’s hard seeing you as an adult.” Evon asked, tilting his head.

I bent down with a smug smile, putting my hands on my knees as I looked at the eevee. “Wouldn’t you like to know, furry boy?”

Evon’s tail dropped as he looked at me unamused. “Yes, I would like to know. At this point, I might even believe you were literally born a week ago.”

I tried to imitate the incorrect buzzer sound. “Wrong! I’m fifteen years old!”

The eyepatch-wearing eevee’s eye widened a bit before looking aside. “What a coincidence…” He muttered before looking back at me. “A-anyways, I’m still your senior since I’m sixteen.” He looked at me, stomping a paw on the ground. “Meaning more authority over you and your insane human actions!”

I wagged my finger. “Nuh-uh!”

“What do you mean “nuh-uh”!?” Evon asked with his fur rising a little.

Childish laughter erupted from the side, coming from Raina who was sitting on her mom’s tail. “You guys are so funny! Hehehe!” Once she managed to recover from her laughing fit, she continued. “I knew it was right to give the friendship necklace to you two!” She grinned happily.

Ramia nodded and smiled warmly. “Yeah, you all deserved it! After all, your kindness and courage must be rewarded somehow.”

I turned to the electric mouse family, and without knowing how to properly thank people in this world, I did the anime isekai way. I bowed. “Thank you for the gift, we promise we shall cherish them.” ‘They’re pleased, right? I didn’t step over any rules or break any cultural tradition, right?’

“My, no need for the formalities. Just you appreciating the gift is enough for me and my daughter.” Ramia said with a wave of her paw.

“Yeah, we will, miss Ramia.” Evon said politely. From a single glance, it reminded me a bit of those polite cat memes. It made me wonder if eevee were actually cats or not since his species was so bipolar on what to be.

I gave them both a thumbs up. “Yep!” I then remembered something we had to do. “Oh yeah, that’s right! We need to talk to the Guildmaster!” I started walking before motioning for the eevee to follow me. “C’mon dude, can’t keep water noodle waiting! Bye Raina, bye Miss Ramia!”

The pichu waved energetically at me while her mother waved gently. “Bye Mister Lucas, bye Mister Evon!”

“Bye, guys.” Evon replied before catching up to me. Once we and the two mice parted ways, Evon spoke up. “So… do you even know where the guild is?”

I stopped in my tracks once that realization came over me. My arms limped a little as I stared ahead for a moment. I facepalmed. “Resident dumbass Lucas strikes again!” I said with fake enthusiasm.

----------------------------------------

“... Bruh, are you actually sure this is the guild?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“I don’t know, I expected it to be uh… like another one of those buildings combined with the stones and dirt of the cave, not uh… this .” I said as I motioned exaggeratedly to the cave structure in front of me.

Talk about an underground luxury. The guild straight-up looks like one of those superhero underground bases like the Bat Cave but way less technological.

Instead of being a building like any other structure I’ve seen in this village, it was a bit like the bathhouse, meaning that it was a gigantic open area for everyone who passed through to see the work that the guild did. The room was separated into four floors on its sides that were connected by small primordial elevators, leading to different segments and parts of the guild. On the ceiling, there was even a hole where sunrays peeked through, lighting the area in a majestic way like a certain part of the building was getting called to heaven or something like that.

From what I could see from the first floor, it was basically the main hub of the area, with furniture for Pokémon to relax and talk with each other, a bulletin board with posters about wanted and missing Pokémon along with treasure sketched images of treasure chests on some of them, and the last thing that stood out, was a golden version of the same statue in the center of the village, the one difference is that the zeraora was wearing a cloak that obscured their upper torso. The statue itself was in the middle of the floor, getting bathed by the sunlight that peeked through the hole in the ceiling.

To be honest, it reminded me of the Goddess statues from Zelda games.

“Well, Lucas…” Evon smirked as he walked forward a bit and stopped in front of me, turning his head in my direction. “Welcome to the Stalacta Guild.”

I looked around a bit more before putting my hands on my side. “Yep, I decided. This guild is peak cave architecture for me.”

Evon tilted his head and asked. “By peak, you mean uh… a compliment or…”

“Basically saying something like: ‘holy shit, this place is amazing’.” I responded before I inspected around a bit more. Pokémon of all kinds were walking around the guild and chilling in the “lounge” of the place. I could see an aggron and gardevoir talking to each other (the latter looking a bit annoyed), a spinda and an archen looking at the bulletin board looking for a mission, a duo of espurr being playful with a fletchling, an alolan vulpix, and a shiny jangmo-o were cuddled together, and a riolu, archen, zangoose, and a toxtricity were looking at a map before heading out the area.

There was even a strange-looking blue scorpion Pokémon with a singular red eye that looked like the lens of one of those red goggles, not only that, it had the tip of the tail shaped like the tip of a sniper rifle. ‘The heck is that? That ain’t a Pokémon in any of the games-... fuck, that’s right, not a game, so uh… species that I don’t know about.’

The scorpion passed by me, giving me a suspicious side-eye before leaving the guild. Before I could muster the courage to ask what species was that, Evon called my attention. “So you liked it, good. You’ll probably get used to this place quickly so we can fool around less while you adapt.” He began walking again, going towards the elevator. I reluctantly followed him as he said. “Come, I’ll show you to the Guildmaster’s office.”

I followed the eevee to the office, going through the elevator and ascending to the fourth floor. While on the elevator, I shot a glance at the statue again before asking Evon. “I’m curious… who’s the Pokémon in the statue? Saw there was a statue of them at the center of the village too.”

“Oh yeah, you wouldn’t know about him.” Evon said before he looked at the statue. “300 years ago a great calamity fell into the world. Pokémon and deities across the world suddenly went berserk, causing natural disasters all around the world. Time and space almost collapsed as well because the deities over it also got caught in the mass frenzy pandemic. No one knew how it started, it just happened out of nowhere.”

The elevator stopped, leaving us on the fourth floor. We thanked the elevator operator who appeared to be a rather young makuhita handling the mechanisms. When we continued walking, I thought. ‘Huh, what’s worse? A pandemic of a virus that kills millions of people or a pandemic of people going mad and crazy out of nowhere but still killing millions in the process? Hm… at least the first option had a cure… wait, was this some kind of virus?’ I then asked. “So… um… if the world still standing fine and dandy how in the fuck did the world survive all of that?”

Evon hummed in thought. “From what I remember from history class… some Pokémon who went berserk could be quelled and others… had to be put down, including some of the deities. And the only one who managed to defeat all of them was the ‘mon in the statue.” As he walked, he turned his head to face the statue. “Zariel the Zeraora.”

“First of all, fucking sick name. Second, how the hell did they manage to beat literal gods all on their own?” I asked while crossing my arms.

“Nah, of course, he had partners. Their statues were built in their hometown. He had four partners I believe. But Zariel was, by far, the strongest of them all. He was even the one who founded the Stalacta Guild too.”

Damn, history lessons in the Pokémon world went crazy. This was honestly the first time I paid that much attention to one and was excited to hear more. “I’m surprised that a village as important as this one is not as advanced as I expected it to be.”

“I don’t know, you can ask the elder that. She was around when that calamity happened anyway.” Evon said nonchalantly, not bothered by the fact that Basidian was more than 300 years old!?!?

“What the heeeeellll!?!? Was she alive for that long? How long can she live for!?” I asked, utterly flabbergasted by the fact that the person I was living with temporarily was literally ancient. Speaking of her, I should go back to her house to talk to her and grab my stuff as well. Hopefully, she didn’t break my phone.

“Heatran can live for a long time, can tell you that much.” The eevee then stopped in front of a bigger door of the guild, making me stop as well. “We’re here.”

At the end of the fourth floor, we stood in front of a unique door, with the word “Guildmaster” above it. The archway was colored yellow while the door itself was colored blue. In the middle of the door, there was the same emblem as the badges I saw Chozo and Ino wearing. The same singular eye and four wings coming out of it. Since it was bigger, it was a bit more unsettling. Why the emblem had to be like this instead of anything else? Makes this place have the look of a cult more than anything

‘Wait a sec, that creepy third eye that Quartzo has. Was that a fuckin’ Sharingan or something? Wait, or is it the Rinnegan that warps space? Can’t remember, it's been a bit since I watched Naruto.’ I rubbed my cheek as I looked at the emblem. “Questionable design choice for the emblem. Does bro want to be feared or something?”

“I never questioned it since I wasn’t really unnerved by it. But I did hear from someone that it was meant to represent a watchful eye of justice or something like that.” Evon knocked on the door with a paw.

We waited for a few seconds before the door opened, revealing… nothing?

I tilted my head before I heard a voice saying “Down here” making me look down at the floor. The small Pokémon I saw was a mimikyu with the normal ragged pikachu cloth, however, the cloth had a white body and red eyes, looking more akin to a ghost version of a pikachu. “Oops, expected someone uh… bigger.” ‘At least their cloth can be different and not just two slightly different colored ones for every mimikyu.’

The mimikyu didn’t comment on it and asked something else, a raspy female voice emerging from them. “So you’re the shapeshifter Quartzo has been expecting, huh? Hm… tame form you have for a being that can reshape its entire core manifestation in a matter of seconds. I thought you’d be something more… incomprehensible.”

“Um, I’m not an eldritch-”

The obscured Pokémon interrupted me. “Whatever, we’re wasting time and I hate wasting time. Come with me, we can’t keep the Guildmaster waiting any longer.” She motioned with a black claw coming from underneath the cloth and turned around, waddling further into the office.

I stared for a moment before commenting. “She reminds me of a teacher, a hated one from my middle school class.” I looked at Evon. “You’ve worked here before, is she always like that?”

“Yeah, she is. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it once you’ve been around her long enough.” Evon then entered the room before I followed him inside.

The office itself was very unique. Like the rest of the guild, the walls and the floor were made of cave rocks, but polished enough to not be rough around their edges and not pointy on people’s feet. The middle was covered by a velvet blue carpet and a yellow banner with the same unnerving emblem from before at the end of the room between two torches. The side of the room had a short table that the mimikyu was on, signing paperwork with a feather pen.

In the middle of the office, coiled around himself, Quartzo stood there dusting his scales with his eyebrow limbs. For some reason, at the sight of the milotic, I started to feel a bit uneasy. I didn’t know if it was for the power he held or for the possibility of him knowing that the Dark Rebellion dudes were after me. Either way, I was a bit nervous.

Of course, I masked it off.

“Yo Quartz noodle bro, how uh- how you doing-?” Before I had the opportunity to say something else, I felt something wrapping up against my torso and tightening its hold on me. “Nrk!”

I looked down to see shadowy limbs constricting me, and the source was coming from the side of the room. “When you are in the presence of our beloved guildmaster, it is demanded uttermost respect and formality, or else-”

The white mimikyu got interrupted when Quartzo sighed and spoke to the clothed specter. “Kina, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t care how others address me so that finally sinks into your head?”

Kina looked away, her limbs loosening up around my torso before retracting them. “I’m sorry, Guildmaster Quartzo.”

I coughed a bit before adjusting my posture. “Geez, sis plays COD or what, the aggression…” I said mostly to myself.

“That’s what you get for not acting normally and formally around authority.” Evon said unamused, his ears dropping as well.

“Normal is cringe, casual is based. That’s how I roll.” I said while shrugging.

The eevee frowned before shaking his head in disappointment. “Your head will roll if you have an audience with our king…”

Quartzo cleared his throat, dragging our attention towards him again. “So, before we get to the point of why I called you two here, let me ask. How are you two feeling? It’s been two days since then, and I must say, I expected you to be in the clinic for a little longer.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Sure, I took quite a beating, but I heal fast!” I said while spinning my arm slowly. I noticed the cramps were mostly gone too.

The milotic nodded before turning his head to Evon. “How about you, Evon? I remember you had an ugly wound on you.”

The eevee shifted his tail to the side as he sat on the ground. “Well, it still stings a bit if I do some specific movements, but I’m fine otherwise. I’ll take off these bandages tomorrow.”

Quartzo smiled. “That’s good to hear.” The water serpent adjusted his position, uncoiling himself a little. “So… I called you here to discuss a few things with you two. Let’s go over the most important topic. About the mission two days ago, I’d first like to congratulate you on managing to rescue Ramia’s daughter. Even if you got hurt in the process, you managed to succeed on the mission, and you two should be proud of that.”

I looked to the side and thought. ‘I would’ve been proud of myself even more if I beat that crazy bitch, but oh well, I’ll prepare myself real nicely before running it back. Prepare yourself, ghostie, I’m comin’ for that ass later to whoop it real nicely!’

While in my mental rambling, the Guildmaster continued speaking. “Anyway, since I’ve arrived a bit late, I missed a bit of the context.”

I raised my finger. “Sorry to interrupt, but can I ask something?”

Quartzo gave a single nod. “Go ahead.”

I put my hands in my shorts pockets. “How did you even find us anyway? You figured out as well and came after us or…?”

Kina grunted. “Such a meaningless question. Of course not! Chozo informed the Guildmaster as quickly as possible.”

I clasped my hands and looked at the mimikyu with a fake smile. “Thanks for the very kind and very respectable answer, Miss Kina.” Before she had a chance to shoot me a death glare, I looked back at Quartzo. “Please continue, Quartzo.”

The milotic stared at us for a moment before sighing. “Anyway, since I missed some context, I went and asked Ino for any info you guys gained from Marina and her excadrill teammate.” He paused before looking back at me, pity forming in his expression. “So… they wanted you, huh?”

I sighed before scratching the top of my head. “Honestly tho, makes sense they’d want me in their ranks. I may be inexperienced in my abilities now, but bro, I’d fear myself if I were to reach my prime.”

“Hm… tell me, what is your strongest form so far?” He asked, tilting his head.

I crossed my arms, humming as I thought about it. “I dunno, dude. I transformed a few times, but I think I can’t even transform into middle-stage evolutions yet…’

The milotic put an eyebrow limb in front of him and looked away before saying. “I see… still a bit weak then.” He then coiled himself a bit. “Alright, it goes without saying that you need to get stronger so you can fend for yourself so your power won’t fall into the wrong hands.”

I frowned and looked down. “Yeah, I know… the last thing I’d want is to get used by criminal scum…” I sighed. “But don’t worry, getting stronger is, just like a certain purple man, inevitable. And being in an exploration team will help a lot.”

Quartzo smiled. “I’m glad to know.” His tail shifted to the side. “Speaking of an exploration team, that’s the next thing I wanted to discuss with you two.” He turned his head to the eevee beside me. “Evon, since you’ll be making a new team, your rank will be reset to accommodate your new teammate and because of your inactivity. Is that okay with you?”

Evon nodded slowly. “Yeah, understandable. It has been a while since I’ve gone on a mission.”

The water serpent nodded and turned his attention to the mimikyu (supposed) assistant. “Kina, the form, please.”

The mimikyu nodded under the cloth and waddled to the edge of the table. She searched in the drawers of the table for a moment before pulling out a piece of paper and another pen. She put the form on the table and dipped the tip of the feather in ink. Evon and I walked over to the table before I took the pen from Kina’s claw. “Don’t waste ink writing useless things…”

I waved her off in dismissal. “Yeah, yeah, gotcha.” I took a look at the paper and it was with the stuff I was expecting. Names, ages, sex, all of that stuff when filling out a form. I was about to write my name on it before a thought struck me and I paused. I pressed the pen on the paper before looking at Evon. “Uh… I… I forgot I don’t know how to write in your language…”

Evon tilted his head. “You can understand us and read our language and you still can’t write it? How?”

“Um… like, there’s this sort of translation thingy in my head or something. I can hear you guys and read everything in my language. It doesn’t work when writing stuff… I think.”

The eyepatch-wearing eevee sighed and took the pen from me. He supported himself on the table and started writing with a paw. He filled out every box in the form until he paused suddenly, hitting a roadblock. “Hm…” He looked at me as his tail started moving slowly. “Any ideas for a new team name?”

I crossed my arms. “Won’t we use your old team name?”

Evon grimaced. “I… I don’t want to use a name that’ll remind me of… her. Just anything else, please.”

I sighed in understanding before humming. I was so bad with decisions. I needed to think about the best name possible. It was gonna stick with us until we disbanded the team so until that happened, we needed to make a good first name. Possibly funny too. ‘Hm… it’d be funny if there was an Among Us reference… nah, it wouldn’t sit right. Goofy Goobers maybe? Has potential but like… I wouldn’t want lil’ furry bro over here to bite off my arm for choosing a silly name. Hm… what do we want to be…’

Wait a sec, if the games don’t bind this world, then imagine the possibilities of what form Evon could evolve to, and imagine what kind of Pokémon I could turn to. If that cool-looking scorpion Pokémon was anything to go by, there are endless possibilities of what we could become!

“Alright, I decided. Possibly the only idea that doesn’t make me seem like a dumbass.” I said with a dorky grin.

“And that is, mister smart guy?”

I grinned and struck the Jotaro pose, pointing at the form. “How about we go by… Team Infinity!”