Chapter 26: Inanimate Connection

The sun still laid quietly over the horizon, its rays barely peeking over the treetops. Wild pokemon began to bustle as the morning dew spread a pleasant smell throughout the air. Ceailean and Marie were asleep inside the tent they shared, Marie making extra sure to sleep as far away as possible from each other. Ceailean smelled the air in his slumber and stirred for a moment, noticing a fully awake Noibat next to him watching anime on his pokédex.

“You serious Noibat? Did you not sleep at all?” asked Ceailean groggily. Noibat looked away slightly guiltily. Ceailean grabbed the pokédex and turned it off, much to the slight protest of Noibat. “You shoulda slept. Now you’re gonna feel sleepy all day. Try and get some sleep now.” Ceailean rolled back over and went back to sleep. Noibat yawned and climbed on top of him and flopped face down, sending a warm feeling throughout.

Outside, they had set up camp just outside the outskirts of Camphrier town. The small buildings shone beautifully in the winter sun.

However, their camp got the attention of a passerby. A butler of sorts walking along the path. He wore a simple black two-piece suit with fancy shoes. His physical appearance contrasted his wear, sporting a disorganized and greasy blonde head. Slight bags under his eyes made him seem like he hadn’t slept for a significant amount of time. He stopped his walk and eyed the camp and sighed, moving towards it reluctantly.

When he was about 50 feet away, an arrow landed just in front of his feet. He stopped walking but remained unfazed, seemingly too tired to care.

“I suggest you stay right where you are, stranger.” said a voice from atop the trees. Crisis jumped down between the butler and the tent, crossing his arms. “Until I can confirm your intentions are pure, this is the farthest you’ll go.”

The butler sighed, “Listen, I’m just here to warn you all of a little incident that may occur on your way to Camphrier.”

Marie then also began to stir as she heard the voices outside. She listened in, feeling a bit bored of just laying inside.

“I am the butler of-” Marie then shot awake. Quickly downing the tent flap to look at who Crisis was talking to. “-his Majesty Vertant.” Marie took a big sigh of relief as she flopped back down onto her side of the tent, not recognizing this butler.

“What was that about?” asked Ceailean drowsily.

“N-Nothing.” sighed Marie. “Crisis is just talking to some guy.”

“Oh. Could you close the flap then? It’s getting cold.”

“You do it.”

“You’re the one that opened it though…”

“I would expect as much. Camphrier usually has royalty running around.” said Crisis. “Just what is this warning you wish to tell us about?”

The butler scratched the back of his head, “You see, a huge delegation of royalty is gathering in nearby Camphrier and his majesty Vertant will be in attendance.”

“We’re not interested in such delegations.”

“That’s fine, I’m not here to invite you. I’ll inform you that Vertant is one of the few gifted individuals that can see into the future. But the power is only granted to him through the power of a magic crown passed down throughout the generations. This would obviously make that crown a highly sought after possession. One person thought it would be their time to take a chance. They had sent threatening letters full of snippets of magazine text stating that they were going to steal it on the night of the delegation.”

“Why would this concern us? Clearly this is a problem that is exclusive to you. Simply increase security if you’re so worried.”

“If only doing so brought any comfort. His majesty had enough of the letters and ordered them to be burned should they ever appear again. But somehow, that miscreant figured out how to deliver such letters directly to the side of Vertant’s bed. No matter how much we increased security, we only shrank the frequency by margins at a time. No one could find out who it was.” The butler bowed down, “So I ask the residents of this camp to please keep a lookout tonight for any suspicious characters.”

“You’re asking civilians?”

“We had considered bringing troops, but that would probably go down as a show of force to other royalty. We wouldn’t like to make this a bigger deal than this might actually be.”

“Have you any other message to tell?”

“That will be all. I must continue my patrol around Camphrier to inform as many people as I can. My name is Kaust and should anyone else on patrol try to warn you, speak my name and they will understand.”

“My name is Crisis, third admin of Team Harmonious. I will ensure that if any conflict heads our way, I will try everything in my power to stop them.”

Kaust raised his eyebrow. “A Team Harmonious admin? His majesty would think very highly of you for your organization's efforts at Tuviere. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will be on my way.” He turned around and continued up the path.

Crisis looked back at the tent and decided not to wake Ceailean and Marie, believing the news to be insignificant. He returned to the treetops to keep watch as the sun began to turn the sky blue.

An hour passed. Marie stirred again to an alluring smell. She noticed that her and Ceailean must’ve drifted away again before sealing the tent. Going over to close it, a sight caught her eye. Crisis was preparing breakfast.

He stood over the stove droning on with the process and didn’t notice that Marie had walked up to him in a disheveled state, wearing the blanket she slept in like a cloak. “Marie? I suggest you make yourself presentable at least.”

Marie only looked at the food with a mix of drowsiness and hunger. “I want food first.”

Crisis sighed. “I suppose. Wake up Ceailean while you wait, I have something to discuss with the both of you.”

Once both Ceailean and Marie were awake and attentive, Crisis told them about his conversation with Kaust.

“Who cares about some wannabe thief. We’re probably gonna be chilling inside our hotel room in Camphrier by then.” said Ceailean, also disheveled.

“I find it intriguing that this royal is able to see into the future. Perhaps we can have our future looked into if we catch that thief.” said Crisis.

“That’s if they could even walk the walk.”

“Plus, we already know Olympia can see into the future too.” hopped in Marie, “Without the use of a magic crown no less.”

“She’s halfway across the region. We could get a reading here and now.” said Crisis.

“Don’t care. Don’t need it.” Ceailean said quickly.

“Aren’t you at least the least bit curious?”

“I’d rather live in the here and now.”

“Hmph, suit yourself. Eat up. If we leave early, we could possibly reach Camphrier by noon. Plenty of time to explore if that interests you.”

“Of course!” said Marie excitedly.

“You never buy anything though.” pointed out Ceailean.

“Why do I always have to buy things?”

“You don’t, it’s just that usually you buy things at Snowbelle. I’d thought you’d be excited to get things from Camphrier.”

“Hm, maybe you don’t know me as much as you think you do.”

“I guess.”

The group had their food and got ready for travel. Scorbunny, Fennekin, and Noibat were let out to play as Ceailean and Marie tidied themselves up. After a while of lounging around, Ceailean packed up the tent and called for all the pokemon to follow.

The walk towards Camphrier remained mostly uneventful, until a slight rustle in the bushes caught Ceailean’s attention. At first he perceived it as just a wild pokemon moving around, but the rustles continued on. Eventually he felt like they were being followed.

“Hey Crisis, did you notice that?” he asked.

“Quite impressive that you have.”

“I keep continuing to surprise you huh? Shall we address them?”

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“Surely.” The conversation had gone over Marie’s head, who was happily humming along the trail. Crisis held her back and said, “Wait here a moment.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Something’s here.”

Marie looked around, “Is there a Pokémon stalking us?”

Ceailean widened his stance, “Don’t know yet. Scorbunny, Noibat, keep your guard up-. Noibat?!” Noibat had been drowsily flying ahead. Ceailean grabbed it from mid air and pulled it back towards the group. “Like I said Noibat, you shoulda got some sleep. We’re being followed, can you hear anything?” Noibat yawned and listened. A snap of a twig was enough for Noibat to hear and it pointed in the direction of it. “There.”

Crisis released Decidueye, “Spirit Shackle.” It shot an arrow where Noibat pointed and a girlish scream came back in return. The group loosened their guard a bit. A boy came out from the bushes sporting a full white suit, matching shoes and gloves. His hair was neatly combed back, orange, and he had black eyes. He came out of the bushes wildly swatting away at his suit trying to get the dust off of it.

“You know how hard it is to wear all white while traveling through the forest, or even in general?!” he complained.

“We perceived you as a threat.” answered Crisis.

“Me? Threatening? You’re all out of your mind!”

“Says the one creeping around in bushes.” remarked Marie.

“Let’s just say me and a friend are playing a really competitive game of hide and seek. That’s why I was in the bushes.”

Ceailean put his hands on his hips, “Yeah, whatever man. Who are you anyway?”

“Oh me? I’m only but a simple person named Solga!” he bowed, “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Ceailean was clearly disinterested in talking. “Okay well, we’re just gonna go then.”

“But wait! Since I am already here, it would be a waste if our interaction didn’t lead anywhere. Hows about a battle to make things exciting?”

“I not really-”

“Heck yeah!” said Marie excitedly. She pumped her arms ready to go, “Of course I’ll have a battle!”

“Very good! I assume you’re the most driven and experienced one of the bunch here.”

Marie rubbed her nose, “Well I’m not one to brag.”

“Sure Marie,” said Ceailean.

Marie fastened her beanie to her head and stepped forward, unknowingly getting the attention of Solga. “My name’s Marie, and I plan to be one of the greatest trainers in the world! Grouchy over here is Ceailean and Mr. Silent is Crisis.”

“Hmph! Pleasure! For your great introduction, I shall grant you the honor of facing my ace in a one on one battle for glory!” Solga tossed out a pokeball. “Come on out and dance! Sewaddle!” Sewaddle appeared, seemingly only happy to see new potential friends rather than excited for a battle.

Ceailean looked down at the meager Pokémon. “Yeah okay.” He walked away to lean on a nearby tree, his Pokémon following. Crisis joined him as well. Both went on their pokédexes to pass the time.

“You could at least root for me, C!” called out Marie.

“Woo, you can do it.” said Ceailean halfheartedly.

Marie hung her head disappointingly. “Ugh, why am I the only one that likes battling.”

“I feel your pain Marie.” said Solga. “For far too long I’ve never been able to use my battle instincts to their fullest potential! It is out here in the real world I am able to freely go all out with whoever I want!”

Marie pointed to herself, “Yeah, that’s just like me!”

“We do not need others to understand us! We need only to understand each other! In the heat of battle, may our greatest persona arise!”

Marie could barely contain her excitement. “Yeah! Let’s do it! Fennekin, let’s fight the good fight!” Ceailean looked away from his pokedex, interested in the energy that Marie was projecting. Fennekin came out with a shine and huffed embers from its ear fur.

Solga gasped. “No way! That’s actually very impressive! You have a shiny Fennekin?”

“I’m battling with it so obviously.”

“Ooh, may I take a look? It’s not every day that you see such a special Pokémon.”

“But what about our battle?”

“Of course, I promise to battle to my greatest content. But that battle would have poor Fennekin’s beautiful fur all messed up. It would be better to see now than after.”

Marie looked at Fennekin, it gave her a slightly uncomfortable look. “Um, you can look. No touchy though.”

“Excellent!” Solga zipped past Sewaddle and crouched right in front of Fennekin, discomforting it. “Look at it, grayish-black fur with scarlet red ear puffs. You look so majestic.” Solga reached out his hand hoping Fennekin would let him pet it, but it backed away slightly. Solga sighed slightly disappointed. “I must say though, it’s fur looks a little rough around the edges. Have you been properly grooming it?”

“Um, not really. Fennekin never really wanted to be groomed before.”

“How unfortunate.” Solga slowly stood up and smiled mischievously. Marie felt like something was going to happen, but it was too late. “Sewaddle, now!” Sewaddle had snuck onto Solga’s back and shot sticky string at Marie’s beanie. It reeled it in and Solga took it saying, “Mine!” He ran off cackling.

“What?! Hey!” shouted Marie. “That’s mine!”

“Not anymore it ain’t!”

Ceailean noticed what happened. “He stole Marie’s beanie! What the heck?!”

Crisis casually put away his pokedex and said, “Use phantom force.” Decidueye became a purple apparition and disappeared.

Solga kept running and laughing until Decidueye appeared in a purple flash, causing him to run into it stunned. Decidueye then held Solga in a choke hold, letting the rest of the group catch up.

“Come on, all that for a hat? Just buy one that looks like it.” said Ceailean, annoyed.

Solga struggled within Decidueye’s wings. “My reasons are beyond your understanding.” he said, licking his teeth maddeningly.

“Well, you're immobilized now.” said Crisis, “Give it up so we do not have to escalate this conflict any further.”

“Alright, alright, you got me.” said Solga, raising his hands innocently. Crisis squinted suspiciously, but still signaled to Decidueye to let him go. “Hmph! Pocket stun spore!” he said quickly, pulling orange spores from his pocket and throwing into Decidueye’s eyes, causing it to reel back.

Marie quickly advanced, “Hey! What’re you-” Solga turned round and fake sneezed into the powder, spewing it all over the group. Ceailean thought fast and threw Noibat into the air, sparing it from the numbing stun spore as it flew above.

Crisis fell to his knee and released Gurdurr and Farfetched. “Stop them!” he coughed. The two pokemon swung at the air, blowing all the stun spore away and charged at Solga.

Swing as they might, however, Solga was quick on his feet and dodged every attack flawlessly. As they did so, he and Sewaddle taunted them the entire time. “Whoops, missed me! Hahahaha! Woop woop woop woop woop woop woop!” Solga then found himself in between two attacks that he could dodge. He only smirked and said, “Sewaddle! Let’s get outta here!” Sewaddle had crawled to Solga’s forearm and he pointed it to the treetops. It held tight and shot a string, carrying Solga right out of the coordinated attack.

“Ha! See ya nerds later! Another hat to my collection!”

“No! You bring that back right now!” shouted Marie with a hint of desperation in her voice. She powered through her paralysis and ran after him in a rather janky manner.

“Give it up, girly girl! Before you hurt yourself!” said Solga, swinging from tree to tree.

“That’s...mine....!” she heaved. Eventually, the lack of feeling in her legs made them trip on themselves and she fell over into the dirt.

Solga winced, “Ooooooh.” Marie tried her best to get up again but couldn’t.

Ceailean, coughing and on his butt, looked up and shouted, “Noibat! Follow him and don't let him get away!” Noibat nodded and went on the pursuit.

Solga looked up and noticed Noibat. “Is this going to be a problem?” Noibat tried its best to focus, but its vision began to get blurry. Its eyes were heavy and its head began to nod. Eventually falling asleep and descending rapidly. “Ha! I suppose not!” Solga laughed and disappeared down the trail.

Ceailean groaned in disappointment. “Noibat, return!” Ceailean held out his pokeball and sniped Noibat with its beam, recalling it. He looked around at all the Pokémon around him, all of which suffering from paralysis evident by the small crackling electricity emanating from them. “We gotta get them all to a Pokémon center, Crisis.”

“Agreed. Gurdurr, you assist Decidueye. Farfetched, check up on Marie. And Ceailean, can you walk alright?”

Ceailean wobbled to his feet. “Can’t feel anything, but I think so. I’ll take Scorbunny and Fennekin.”

“Understood.” Crisis got up with a lot less effort. “Let us make haste.” Ceailean nodded and waddled over to Fennekin and Scorbunny and picked them up, doing his best to keep up with Crisis.

They caught up to Marie who was a little ways down the path. “Marie, are you in need of assistance?” asked Crisis.

“We have to get him.” she said angrily into the ground. She stood up again and tried to run, only to stumble.

Ceailean caught her before she fell and said, “Whoa there, you may not be able to feel your bad leg but that doesn’t mean it’s not bad anymore. Don’t exert yourself or you might hurt yourself.”

Marie grit her teeth. “Don’t care. We have to get that beanie back!”

“Marie?”

“That beanie…” she looked away from Ceailean in shame, “He said exactly what I wanted to hear in order to get close, just like...ugh. And in the end, they took something very important to me away.”

“Just like-” Ceailean thought it best not to pry on that specific subject, he could probably guess who. “What did that beanie mean to you?”

“It… was one of the last things my mom gave to me.”

Ceailean was surprised. A whole new wave of conviction boiled within him. But then a thought came across his mind. “Hey Marie, where’s Snom?”

Marie’s heart sank. She felt the top of her head to see that it wasn’t there. “No… nonononononono!” She pushed herself away from Ceailean in an effort to give chase, this time falling onto the ground again.

“Marie! That’s enough!” said Ceailean sternly. He crouched next to Marie as she lifted herself up. “We have to save what we have now!” Marie looked over and saw Fennekin limped over in Ceailean’s arm, making an effort in order to make eye contact.

“Oh Fennekin.” she said sadly as she gently scratched the back of its ear.

“We’ll figure out what to do once we get to the Pokémon center and have our Pokémon back in fighting condition. Okay?”

“Alright, let’s go.” she said with determination. Ceailean handed her Fennekin for her to carry. Crisis walked over and offered his hand to help her up, which she ignored by letting herself up and running on ahead.

Crisis inhaled through his teeth, “Okay then.”

“Come on.” urged Ceailean.

They all moved as fast as they could towards Camphrier.