Chapter 21: Settling in, part I
In Area Zero, and really most of his life lately, Turo had solved the problem of not being able to fall asleep by simply exhausting himself until he collapsed.
Now, with nothing to do, he tossed and turned on the couch-improvised-bed Clavell had given them. He hadn't heard the man come back yet, but that wasn't the reason he couldn't sleep. It was the fact that everything felt familiar yet wrong. The lights outside the window, the noise of the city... those were similar enough to trick him into thinking he was actually home, which made the one detail that was noticeably missing sting even more painfully; he knew perfectly well what it was, and it pained him just to think about... the familiar, reassuring form of Miraidon sleeping right next to him, his long tail curled up around his body.
Without him, everything was just too quiet. He couldn't handle it. With a frustrated grunt, he got up and, resisting the instinctive urge to wave his hand to summon some light, stumbled towards the wall in the almost completely dark living room.
Dumb primitive technology... every time he found himself unable to do the simplest thing he felt like he was being slapped in the face by the reality of the situation he was in. Sure, not being able to turn on some light with a gesture wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things, he could live without it... didn't mean he had to like it.
Turo headed towards the tv, fumbling for the remote controller until he managed to find it and push the right button.
He rapidly switched channels, blinking his eyes at the sudden brightness of the screen -didn't people of this time know about dimming screen brightness? This hurt -. This late at night, not much seemed to be on. News, movies, reruns of random gym matches... he stopped briefly on a weather broadcast, glancing at the date in a corner of the screen.
2 October 2005.
2005. Just early 21th century. Barely started. Did they even have like... internet access? Probably...? That time was all a confused mess for him, it's not like you studied exact dates at school, just... "in those period, this and this and this were being invented".
Not really useful when you suddenly found yourself in it.
He took a long breath, tiredly rubbing his face. The date nagged at him, feeling like it was important somehow, but his mind was drawing a blank at the moment. He resumed channel jumping until he found one that showed nothing but static, the low droning sound typical of electric devices filling the room.
He sat back on the couch for a moment, remote in hand. The sound was not quite what he was used to, but... he sighed; it was the best he was going to get anyway. He sniffled, turning around to put the tv remote on the floor besides the couch and try to go back to sleep, and met Sada's eyes, also wide awake.
« Can't sleep?» He asked, and she shook her head.
---
Sada had listened to Turo toss and turn around, unable to fall asleep herself. She, on the contrary, had been laying perfectly still: it was just her instinct, to not move and make as little noise as possible. When you slept away from the village and out in the open, with only a campfire to protect you from creatures approaching, it was the sensible thing to do. She was used to bolting awake at the slightest unknown noise; but here, everything sounded new. The crater had been incredibly quiet compared to "Mesagoza", almost reassuringly so. Familiar.
This was unnerving.
Turo got up and turned on the strange box that showed pictures, sitting silent in the dark. She didn't quite understand why he had done it at first, until she recognized the low noise that filled the room. It was everywhere in his home, thanks to his dragon, and she realized he was probably used to sleeping with it.
« Can't sleep?»
She shook her head.
« Too much noise. » She answered, and he chuckled.
« ... eh. It's too little noise for me. » He replied as he laid back down near her. For a while, there was complete silence, as each of them listened for anything familiar to fall asleep to.
« We also need to get new clothes, right?» she asked after a while, after making sure that he was still awake.
« Yes, but we need money for that. We can't have Clavell keep paying for us.» He answered.
« I can just sew them -»
« We still need money for the... fabric. I'm sure they don't use pelts anymore.» He interrupted her, and Sada grumbled unhappily.
The food here was amazing, and they had wondrous things she couldn't even imagine... but there seemed to be so many strange rules you had to obey to be part of the community. She had noticed people looking at them weird while they ate, and she had hated it.
It made her feel wrong just because she didn't know about these rules.
There was so much she had to learn. But first of all, she had to choose a name. A normal one, that wouldn't make her stand out... but she didn't even know what people here were usually called.
Maybe she could look for some... place that had a list of normal sounding names.
---
Early in the morning, Clavell carefully adjusted his glasses, giving one last look at his image in the mirror before heading out. As he passed in front of the living room, he hesitated in front of the door left ajar, before hazarding a look inside.
There, still asleep on the couch, curled up against each other, were the man and woman he had offered a place to stay just the night before.
The two paradoxes from Area Zero.
Yesterday in the afternoon, he had gone back to the Academy, but he had struggled to concentrate on actually teaching anything as he kept thinking about the riddle those two presented.
They had just come out of nowhere... and then there were all the little details about them that were just off, like Sada apparently having no idea how to use eating utensils. She had tried to camouflage it, but it had been obvious that she had never seen them before as Turo had tried to show her how to use them. And her clothes... they looked haphazardly put together.
His theories about the two just kept getting wilder: "Just" Sada had been... I don't know, raised by Lycanroc or something, and Turo had found her and they had ended up in Paldea together...?
Who knows, maybe the poor girl had been kidnapped by some criminal organization in Kalos and Turo had helped her escape... it would explain her lack of people skills, at least.
And... it would also somewhat explain the fact that she had apparently been more than capable of hunting Pokémon with a bow and arrows to survive.
But it wasn't only the woman that was strange; Turo had done his share of weird things himself during that lunch. From thinking that they still had Pokémon Centers to the way he seemed to look at every little thing with a mix of sadness and frustration. He also seemed to have a weird tic with his arm, because Clavell had noticed him make little gestures with his left hand, just to look crestfallen immediately after.
And that weird accent he had never heard before was driving him crazy.
He had even considered the idea that they were actually really smart Zoroark just messing with him, just briefly, but no optical illusion could be that good.
Clavell was about to close the door on the sleeping couple when he noticed something that made him pause: the tv had been left on an empty channel, for some reason. He furrowed his eyebrows, then opted to quietly step in and turn it off.
They immediately bolted awake, if in completely different ways.
Sada straight up jumped awake, her hand grasping for something to her side, eyes narrowing at him, while Turo gasped loudly and tried to scramble backwards, before blinking slowly once.
It seemed to take them both a long moment to recognize where they were, or even who he was. Understandable.
« I'm sorry for waking you up, I... err, just wanted to turn the tv off. I'll be on my way... take whatever you want from the kitchen for breakfast! » He quickly exited the room again, leaving the still confused couple on their own, only to stop with his hand already on the door and turn around again.
« One last thing: I suppose you were planning to go out? » He asked.
« Y-yes... we wanted to look for a job...» Turo answered, still blinking sleep out of his eyes.
« ...Dressed like that? » He couldn't help but comment, and the man winced.
Clavell looked at his watch; he liked to arrive at the Academy early to review the material to cover in the day's lessons before officially starting the day. They still had quite some time.
« Why don't you come to the Academy with me for today? We can discuss things better there.»
« What is the "Academy"?» Sada asked, sounding confused. Turo whispered something in her ear, and her eyes widened, a little smile coming to her face.
« ... oh! Yes! I want to see it!» She exclaimed, suddenly looking like a completely different person, her whole face glowing with excitement.
Clavell noticed Turo looking at her with a stunned expression on his face, and the other man nodded after a moment, apparently immediately convinced by the woman's enthusiasm.
« Allright. We'll come.»
Good. This way he could both keep an eye on them, and honestly get to know them better. It was going to be an interesting day.
« But first... I guess you should both change into something less... noticeable.» he politely suggested.
---
Turo had been extremely unhappy about having to get out of his bodysuit, Sada noticed. Then again, it would have been impossible to not notice with how much he had been grumbling about it.
In a way, she could understand him; it was not just that they were used to wearing them. Those clothes were literally the only thing they still had of their respective times.
Getting out of them was... like resigning themselves to the fact that this wasn't temporary. Another step in getting away from their respective lives forever. They had both put some special care in folding them after getting something else to wear from Clavell, she had noticed. Turo had also stealthily removed the broken time anchor from his wrist, slipping it into the pocket of the black pants he had put on instead. On top of those, he had worn something that was apparently called a "shirt" with a square motive.
Hanging from his neck she had seen a glimpse of the necklace made from Winged King's feathers she had given him, and it had made her happy as she looked at the bracelet she had received from him just before they had ended up here.
At least... they still had something from each other's time that they could still wear.
Sada had to admit the variety of clothes had impressed her, and for a couple of minutes, she had admired every piece of clothing that Clavell seemed to have. There were so many! And even of the same type, just in different colors! Could people in this time really have this many clothes for one person? And the colors! She had seen a lot of colors even in Turo's time, but here there seemed to be so many different types of fabric, and... and there were even pictures or words on them! How did you do that?
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
« Are these clothes all "cotton"?» She asked Turo in an excited whisper after she finished putting on a light blue "shirt".
« They are itchy, that's what they are.» Turo answered, looking uncomfortable and fiddling with the collar of his shirt. Sada realized that he had always worn the clothes she had made for him over his own; he probably wasn't used to feeling anything else on his skin.
He then turned around, and fell silent, quietly staring at her.
« You look... good. » He said after a moment, and she smiled.
« You also look good.» She replied, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, before exiting Clavell's room that they had entered to get dressed. The man had been waiting for them in the living room, and looked them briefly up and down.
« I apologize for not having clothes that are more appropriate, Sada.» He said, leaving her confused.
She wasn't quite sure what "appropriate" meant, but she got the idea that there seemed to be some problem with the clothes she had been offered. She didn't really understand why. Apart from not fitting quite right, they seemed fine to her.
« Oh no, I love them! » She smiled, apparently leaving Clavell even more confused. Had she said something wrong...?
She decided to leave it be, excited to go back out.
---
They exited Clavell's home and made their way towards the Academy, the great, shining building that stood as the highest point of the city... in this time, at least. By force of habit, Turo found his eyes wandering to the horizon, expecting to see tall skyscrapers and more modern buildings surrounding Mesagoza's historical city center, or teleporting stations, Miraidon and other Pokémon zipping around... instead, he found himself looking at nothing but the sky. Pain twisted in his gut as he looked back down with a sigh, away from the spot where his apartment complex wouldn't exist for millennia to come, looking towards Sada.
Just yesterday evening she had shown him a little moment of vulnerability, crying weekly in his arms at accepting that everything that had made up her life right now had been lost forever in the blink of an eye... but looking at her now, you would never believe it. Her eyes shone as she curiously looked around, trying to take in everything the city had to offer at once.
He couldn't help but admire her strength.
Maybe it was because for her, everything was new and exciting, so it was easier to genuinely get lost in it all. To him, it was frustrating.
It was as if he had been thrown in one of those historical reenactments where you had fun dressing like people of the time for a couple of hours, and then took the ridiculous costumes off and went home, laughing about the experience.
Except he was stuck here.
The Academy, at least, looked the same as ever; it was actually strange how little it had changed in so much time, at least from the exterior. It was... strangely comforting.
« You mentioned being a member of the staff at the Academy... what do you teach?» He asked Clavell as he was walking beside them after a moment.
« I have a couple of courses, actually. I mostly teach basics of Pokémon biology to grade schoolers and a bit more advanced courses in the later grades for people interested in a career in the sciences. » He answered, and Turo nodded. So at least it looked like it hadn't really changed in how it worked in his time, offering courses for pretty much all levels of education.
« And... was the radio where we sent the message to...?»
« In an old laboratory at the Academy, yes. If I didn't have the habit of going there for grading papers, well...» Clavell cleared his throat, looking a bit embarrassed. They kept walking, and as they got closer and closer Turo noticed something that made him slow down until he had to stop, craning his neck upward.
The famed Mesagoza staircases, in all its 150 plus steps glory.
He had climbed it just a couple of times in his life, before giving up on it and using a teleporter ever since.
Except that there weren't any around now.
« Are we ... going to climb that...?» He asked, feeling the blood drain from his face a little at the prospect.
« How else do you want to get over there? Flying?» Clavell chuckled.
Well... he did have a Gyarados, but Clavell seemed to read his thoughts.
« ... yesterday's situation was highly unusual. Flying your own Pokemon over populated areas is mostly forbidden.» He explained, and Turo had to raise a single eyebrow at that. What?
Why?
« Then... how do you get around? » He had to ask, only for Clavell to look at him oddly. Turo kept his face neutral, wincing internally; he felt like every little thing he said or did was being carefully analyzed by this man.
« We can ride other types of Pokémon, obviously. Or you can take a Flying Taxi, but do you really want to pay just to avoid climbing some stairs?» He laughed.
... well, no. Turo sighed, resigning himself to starting to climb. It couldn't be worse than scaling a hillside in Prehistoric Kalos, after all.
---
Sada was the first to start ascending, her gaze fixed on the great sphere on the top of the building. Clavell and Turo were behind her, the latter having a bit more difficulty. She slowed down when she saw him double down in pain, gasping for breath, offering him her shoulder to grab on to.
« Is everything all right?» Clavell asked, looking worried.
« Yes, he...» Sada hesitated, not quite sure how to put it. Would "He's not great at moving around" sound strange? She also didn't want to put him down, because it wasn't his fault. In his time, people didn't seem to walk around much from the little she had seen; they didn't need to.
« He does not walk much.» She said at the end. She was used by now having to wait for him when they did something slightly more strenuous than walking on plain ground, and after a couple of moments, Turo straightened himself up with one last gasp.
« I'm fine. Let's... let's go.» He said, resuming to walk.
They had to stop another three times along the way before they reached the top, Clavell looking increasingly worried at every stop.
« Are you sure everything's fine? We have an infirmary at the Academy, you could lay down-»
« I'm good.» Turo repeated, now with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. A couple of children all dressed in the same orange or purple clothes had surpassed them as they went up, and their giggles while looking at Turo sitting down on one of the steps seemed to have irked him.
Especially as Clavell, who looked a bit older than both of them, still looked only a bit fatigued. The man looked a bit taken aback, but didn't comment on Turo's tone, deciding to simply walk ahead instead.
As she helped Turo clear those last few steps, she couldn't help but be a little excited. So this "Academy "was the place where people went to learn things! She could see anyone from little children to adults walking around, all dressed in the same clothes with some slight variations. Maybe every type of clothing had a special meaning, or indicated your role? Or how much you knew?
« Is dressing like that part of some ritual?» She asked. Clavell turned around to look at her strangely.
« It's the school uniform.» He added after a moment.
She didn't knew what a uniform was, but she understood that it was something that everyone here was supposed to know, so she simply nodded with a little "I see" half said to herself.
The building only looked more and more beautiful as they approached the doors, and when Clavell opened them and walked inside, Sada couldn't help but hold her breath. By her side, she quietly registered Turo stopping in his tracks and do the same, stunned into silence.
It was the building with the tallest ceiling she had ever seen, it didn't actually feel like being inside at all. The light of the sun streaming in from the windows illuminated the great hall; the whole room felt like a great open space, full of people reading.
Hundreds and hundreds of books, covering the shelves for the floor to the ceiling, leaving Sada completely mesmerized. In her time the only "writing" she had ever seen was what she or someone else had written themselves. But here, in this time... there had to be so many books here that you couldn't read them all in your whole life! These had to be all the books that had ever been written!
In a daze, she turned towards Turo at her side, eyes shining.
« Look Turo! It's all paper!» She whispered, in awe, grabbing his arm.
---
Turo stared at the wooden shelves that lined three whole floors of the academy, holding hundreds and hundreds of books.
« It's all paper...» He quietly despaired, in complete disbelief, looking around in search of even a single digital screen.
This was completely different from the Academy in his time. He could understand not having teleportation, but... where were the terminals for students?
Were they seriously still using paper for everything? Didn't they have digitalized books already in this era?
He couldn't believe it.
Not even the lady at the reception had a single old computer. Or any piece of technology newer than pen and paper, really.
Arceus... he didn't think it would be that bad. Sada shook him out of his daze, beaming, and he had to smile a little bit at her enthusiasm.
Well... at least one of the two between them was taking this well.
« Let's go to the cafeteria. We can have breakfast there.» Clavell led them along a couple corridors that Turo couldn't help but find familiar.
The general layout of the Academy didn't seem to have changed much from when he had attented as a kid... or, to be more correct, wouldn't change in the centuries to come. He held Sada's hand, leading her away from the bookshelves with a little pang of guilt. She frowned a bit, evidently disappointed in not getting to examine anything, but silently followed the two men in the cafeteria. It was early morning, and they were evidently still serving breakfast.
Quite a number of students and teachers were still sitting down, both probably thinking about the coming day's lessons from two opposites point of views. A couple of people looked at them as they entered, and Turo immediately stiffened, feeling their gaze on him.
It lasted only an instant before no one else paid them any mind anymore, and he relaxed.
Right. They were dressed in completely "normal" clothes now, of course no one would stare. Turo hated them, from the rigid pants to the rough (to him, at least) flannel checkered shirt in red and white he had borrowed from Clavell.
They were itchy, fell completely wrong, and their ability to regulate body temperature was absolute shit. He had never been too cold or too hot in his bodysuit; he had been out of it for not even an hour and already missed it dearly.
He was really starting to realize how many insignificant details of his life he had taken for granted.
However, as soon as he got near the long table that offered all manner of drinks, he was hit with a familiar scent, one single thing he had been desperately craving for days in Area Zero, a fragrance that almost made him tear up.
Thank Arceus, they had coffee: the day already looked so much better.
He drifted towards the table and took two big mugs, filling them to the brim before offering one to Sada. She sniffed it curiously as they sat down at a table with Clavell after grabbing a couple slices of toasted bread each, looking a bit taken aback by the color.
« Is this fruit juice?» She whispered to him in her language, and he had to quirk an eyebrow. Honestly, he had no idea. Was coffee a fruit? Not really...?
« Something like that.» He answered, before feeling Clavell's eyes on them both. It made him uncomfortable, how he was watching their every move, and he had to wonder what the other man thought they had just said.
« So... I kind of want to talk about what you want to do from now on, and your... situation.» Clavell said as Turo took a sip from his own mug.
« I had to explain what prompted me to storm out of the school to the director and other chosen members of the faculty, obviously.» The man said after a moment, and Turo almost choked on the coffee. He what?
« I'm afraid I was forced to do it. Obviously, everyone is extremely interested in what you were doing in Area Zero and how you got there. You both became a bit of a... curiosity yesterday afternoon as the story spread. People in the city also have seen you. » Clavell added as Turo felt a wave of nausea hit him. Suddenly he felt the stares of every single staff member in the room on his back, and even a couple of the students. They had to be staring at him. Looking away as they entered had to have been a way to not make it look obvious. They were all watching, scrutinizing, waiting to see when they would do something weird. Right at that moment, Sada gagged and stuck her tongue out as she tried the coffee he had poured for her.
« You drink this?» She asked incredulously, and he almost wanted to laugh. Clavell looked at her and wordlessly slid the little box full of sugar packets in front of her.
« Then... what do you want to do with us?» He asked, as Sada noticed his nervousness and snapped her attention back to Clavell, who raised both hands in the air.
« No reason to be so nervous! Look, I admit to being curious about you two... but I also respect that you don't want to talk about whatever it is you have to hide. But, if you don't want people snooping around and making you Paldea's newest gossip story, you both are going to need help. Someone that has your back and can help you...» He hesitated for a second, adjusting his glasses.
« ... cover your tracks. Help you settle down. »
There was a little moment of silence as Sada picked one sugar packet and opened it up, then stuck a finger inside and licked it to taste the content.
« ... you want to help us... what?» Turo lowered his voice. « Forge fake identities? Give us some cover-story to use? Why go that far for two strangers?»
Clavell looked at them both for a moment as Sada's eyes lit up and she dumped the entire content of the packet into her mug, eyes flitting between the two men.
« ... because I have the feeling you two are hiding something big. Something incredible. And you are one of the few people in the region that have entered Area Zero. » He said.
« ... you want to... "examine" us. » Sada unexpectedly spoke up after taking a sip of the now practically sugary drink, and Turo nodded.
« So you want to keep us near.» He chuckled, as Clavell shrugged while taking a bite out of his toast with jam.
« I'm a scientist after all. Being curious is what we're all about.» He answered, and Turo noticed Sada brighten up a bit at that, eyes shining.
« You're a scientist?» She asked, and Turo had to smile a little bit at that. The word had always had a little special meaning between them.
« Yes...? And so are you. I don't know of what, but... » Clavell added, looking back at them both.
« There were opened books you two were obviously reading on the table in Research Station 2 where I found you yesterday. »
« ... well, it's not like we had anything better to do under there-» Turo muttered in his defense, trying to divert the attention away from anything that could point the conversation towards their "job" or whatever they did before coming here. Luckily, Clavell didn't insist.
... for now.
« ... anyway, I have an idea for helping you settle here. You could enroll here at the Academy.» Clavell waited a moment to study their reactions, before continuing.
« It would help you both with the language, and you could stay here in the dormitory so you wouldn't have to worry about rent for now. Once you graduate, you will have something to show to people asking for some official documents about you. »
Going to school... again? Here?
By impulse, it sounded stupid, but... it actually wasn't half bad as an idea. It would help them both tremendously, Sada in particular. She could use the basic courses as a way to learn the language and get herself... up to date with things, so to speak.
While it would help him get... down to date, in a sense. Make sure he didn't accidentally blab about stuff that hadn't even been invented yet. There was just a little problem about that...
« What's "enroll"?» Sada asked him in a hushed whisper, in her language.
« He wants us to study here. To learn things... and to train Pokémon.» He answered in the same way.
All of Sada's enthusiasm at his words evaporated in an instant.
« We need... a "Pokémon"?» She turned towards Clavell, asking again just to be sure. The man nodded.
« Yes, at least one Pokémon is necessary to follow most courses. Our Academy has always prided itself in helping develop the bond between human and Pokemon along with their minds-»
Sada's face fell, and Turo was sure he knew exactly what she was thinking about.
... he missed Miraidon so much. He couldn't contemplate having any other Pokémon by his side.
« We... we had Pokémon. They are... lost now. They're not with us anymore.» She said in a low voice after a moment, and Clavell's eyes widened.
« I'm so sorry... when you said you had no Pokémon, I thought you meant you never -» He stammered. « W-well, in that case... I can see why you wouldn't want to... I'm really sorry, that must have been terrible. Did you perhaps... lose them in the Crater...?» He asked.
« ... yeah. Give us... a bit of time to think about it. » Turo replied, looking towards Sada, who had been chewing on her toast with little enthusiasm now.
« Y-yes, of course. W-well, I can give you a tour of the Academy anyway, if you want to...» Clavell offered, to a cold response from both of them.
The rest of the breakfast was spent in an uncomfortable silence; Turo could barely enjoy the coffee, which now only reminded him of how Miraidon would put his head in his lap as they had breakfast, hoping to get a little extra snack from him.
« Can we still work here and live in the dormitory anyway? There has to be... something you wouldn't mind having two extra people help with.» Turo mumbled as they were done.
« Well... I remember hearing that they actually needed some help in the kitchen. Or with cleaning. We've had an influx of more students than usual these past couple of years...» Clavell commented.
Sada whispered for him to translate "kitchen", and when he did, there was a little, hastily hidden frown on the woman's face, before she nodded and tried to cover it with a smile.
He couldn't blame her and say that he was thrilled. He would accept anything, their position was desperate enough that they couldn't afford to be picky.
Still... not how he imagined his life to go, and it was probably the same for Sada.
« Sure... whatever is fine. » Turo sighed.
It's not like they were in any rush. They had the rest of their lives to figure out what to do in this time, after all. He felt Sada slowly take his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze, looking up at him. Her eyes stopped for a moment on his necklace, and she raised her other hand to touch the bright feathers.
« If we are together... it will be fine.» She smiled, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as him.
He smiled softly in response after a long moment, and together they followed Clavell out of the room.