I flashed a relieved grin in the Dedenne's direction. "This is Mable, my trainer." I began giving an introduction, though I realized it might be a bit rude to introduce myself in my non-natural form. I let myself revert to my natural state, which had the added benefit of putting me back at a more similar height to the mouse Pokémon. It was harder to seem friendly when you towered over someone's head during a conversation, particularly as a bird of prey. "And I'm Ditto! Nice to meet you."
The Dedenne only looked marginally surprised by my sudden shift, though perhaps it was because they were scarfing down the rest of their half-finished pastry as if they were still worried someone was going to take it away from them. Honestly, they still had a relatively normal appearance, but then I recalled that Dedenne were generally plump to the point of roundness, and this one was looking almost trim and slim in comparison. Maybe he had been starving. Once the food vanished, only then did I receive Dedenne's undivided attention again.
"Thanks for that, and it's nice to meet you, too! Those jerks were relentless! They spotted someone handing off food to me and immediately chased me down for it without even a second thought! I even offered to share, but they weren't satisfied with that, and demanded I give them all of it!" The tone of indignation was clear, and I was rather in agreement.
"I haven't run into a lot of Rattata before, are they usually that aggressive?" I asked, pondering back on the situation. Now that I had seen the signs on the Dedenne, those Rattata hadn't looked like they were in the best shape either. Maybe that was the risk of the territory for these urban-area Pokémon? Sure, there was the opportunity to beg for or steal food from humans, but less available natural resources to scrounge off of in comparison to the wilderness.
Dedenne shook his head, "They've always kind of been jerks who rely on running around as a group, but usually offering to share and let them have something for nothing, not having to fight or do any work... they'd have been content with that and left me alone. I've dealt with that sort of thing before. Things must be rough if they're actually willing to get into fights for even that much food."
At that point, Mable interrupted our little conversation. It made sense, as she had been standing there while I got acquainted to the little fairy-mouse. "Come on, we need to hurry up if you want to get something to eat before your appointment at the Pokémon Center, Ditto. Your new friend can tag along too." Mable shifted her attention from me toward the yellow mouse, speaking to him directly. "I can already tell that Ditto's trying to coax you along, so as long as you behave, I'm sure we'll figure out what to do with you. Only if you want to come along, that is."
Dedenne nodded emphatically, and the pair of us left the entrance of the alley and rejoined Mable on the main walking path. I chatted with Dedenne as I hopped along. "So, since you don't have a trainer or anything, where do you stay when you're here in the city? I mean, there can't be that many places for wild Pokémon to hide and make themselves at home around here."
"You'd be surprised! There's all sorts of places that the humans don't think to look that can make for a pretty nice little nest spot! I've been staying in a little nook on top of an electronics store. Easy access to their power grid when I need to recharge, and how often do humans go and check their circuit breakers unless there's a problem?" Dedenne replied, and I nodded in understanding. I suppose stray animals of my previous life would have had more luck if they had the intelligence and craftiness of Pokémon, too.
"I never thought of it like that. It makes sense, though. Oh, we're here!" It hadn't been much further to the café, and Mable only had to wait for a moment before she was handed two poffins and a large pastry of some kind. She handed one poffin to each of us, keeping the latter for herself. "You both get Bluk berry poffins. I know you like Oran, Ditto, but they don't have any Oran poffins, so you'll have to try something a little different."
Hey! Don't say it like I'm a fussy child, Mable! I just like Oran berries, it's not like they're the only thing I eat! Grumbling to myself, I took the offered poffin and took a bite out of it. A burst of sweetness vaguely akin to blackberry burst over my tongue, and I savored it with an expression of delight.
Mable laughed softly at the face I was making, "I see you approve. Good to know." She remarked, taking a bite out of her own snack. Dedenne dug in without hesitation as well, which was almost impressive. For a little mouse that was, what, maybe seven or eight inches tall who had just eaten a bit of pastry almost half their own size... he was scarfing down the poffin without any difficulty! They weren't small either, as I had to hold mine with both hands as I gnawed away at one end of the pastry, working it down.
I almost wanted to ask where he managed to put all that food, but it seemed like food had been scarce for the wild Pokémon in the city recently, or at least those in this area. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel bad for being hungry! Though, it did make me wonder if something was going on. After all, Pokémon were smart enough that they wouldn't stay in an area that couldn't support them, so something must have changed if they weren't getting as much food as they used to. It must have happened fairly recently, too, otherwise they would have relocated to somewhere else.
As much as my first instinct was to scream 'it's that group of weird trainers!' again, I resisted the urge. There are any number of things that could change in a city that could affect the Pokémon's ability to find food, it didn't necessarily mean that there was something nefarious going on right away.
"Alright, let's get to the Pokémon Center now, Ditto. It's better to be a little bit early than to show up late!" Mable finished off her snack and brushed her hands off each other, and I stuffed the last of my poffin into my mouth and headed off after her.
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Man, I hope there's some trainers getting their Pokémon treated at the same time, so I can get an easy look at them! I felt like I was opening a present or pulling a gacha, with high hopes but not knowing what I was going to get. It could be anything! Including disappointing, if I'm being realistic, but I mainly wanted a glimpse of the healing Pokémon in the first place. As long as I got that, anything else was just a bonus.
We approached the red-roofed building, a pair of automatic glass doors sliding apart to allow us entry, and I bounced inside and took a look around. The lobby didn't seem to be terribly busy. There were a pair of men that looked like your typical depiction of hikers. Tall figures of muscly, bearded mountain-men with tanned skin, dressed in dusty brown attire, standing next to a pair of hulking backpacks that looked like it contained enough supplies to tend to a small rural town entirely on its own. The pair was discussing something, though they didn't have any Pokémon out, the Pokéballs on their belt proclaimed their trainer status well enough.
There was a pair of younger people, one boy and one girl, presumably students based on the similarity in dress between them. It looked like some school's uniform. They were sitting on a couch in a back corner, next to a doorway with a sign that read 'Egg Facilities'. How vague and non-specific. I sure hope it was for storing and incubation of Pokémon eggs, not for the creation of them.
Finally, the main centerpiece of the room was a circular counter with a legendary existence! And no, I don't mean a Pokémon! In a pink dress and white apron of nurse's attire, with pink-hued hair styled into twin loops that stuck outward to either side... it was absolutely nurse Joy! Or, a nurse Joy? Hadn't the Joys been an actual family or something like that...? I couldn't remember. Regardless, after seeing how much of my knowledge was different than reality turned out to be, it was both a comfort and a huge blast of nostalgia to see someone that looked exactly as I expected them to!
"Good afternoon! How can I help you?" Nurse Joy spoke up as we approached, and I bubbled with excitement. Come on, it's actually nurse Joy! I almost expected Brock to burst in the door and profess his undying love for her at any moment! Of all the things that had happened to me thus far, this was the moment that I really felt like I had stepped straight into an episode from my memory.
"We're just here for a new team-member check-up and physical for my Ditto. The appointment is under trainer ID 2-1-2-3-5-8." Mable spoke up as she reached the counter, and nurse Joy began to type into her computer, waiting for a moment to read whatever result was displayed, then aimed a smile back across the counter.
"You're early, Miss Mason, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while until the previous appointments have finished. Audino will be along to alert you when things are ready, or to collect your Pokémon if you do not wish to be present for the appointment yourself." Miss Mason? Huh? I suppose it only made sense that Mable had a last name, but everyone had just called her 'Mable' for so long, that fact seemed to have slipped my mind entirely. Even at the Pokémon food store, the clerk had merely called her 'Miss Mable'. Well, at least I knew a little bit more about Mable now!
"That's not a problem! We'll go ahead and take a seat until then. Come along Ditto, Dedenne." Mable casually took on a demeanor of including Dedenne into our group without hesitation, acting so naturally that even I almost thought he was one of her Pokémon already. The fact that he obligingly followed along without complaint sold the illusion all the more. Not like any of the few trainers around were likely to want to catch them. It was just easier than having to explain to the Pokémon Center that we had brought in a stray, probably. I still didn't know how they reacted to wild Pokémon... but I wasn't in a hurry to find out.
We sat down on a spare couch near the pair of students, with Dedenne and I perched casually alongside Mable, and settled in to wait. A few minutes passed, slowly, and I began to fidget with restlessness. The anticipation was building, wanting to get to copy the Audino that had been discussed, but I was also feeling the excitement of visiting a Pokémon Center for the first time starting to wear off. Yeah, it was iconic, but I was realizing more and more that it was just a building for a public service.
A few more minutes passed, and I was tapping a rhythm off the couch, aimlessly recreating a song I half-remembered through thumping off the fabric of the seating. Nothing was happening. More and more, the thrill wore off and was replaced with the typical boredom of waiting at a doctor's office. Come on, hurry up! Or at least have something happen! Seriously, sitting here doing nothing, this is the most bored I've been in my life! Well, this one, at least.
As if responding to my wishes, it was at that moment that there was a resoundingly loud 'BZZT' sound that seemed to come from the room behind us and the student couple, through the doorway labeled 'Egg Facilities', followed by the lights momentarily going out through the lobby. The entire facility seemed to go dark for all of four or five seconds, before the power groaned as it flickered back on, likely through some form of back-up or generator. I was leaning toward the latter, as the lighting came back on, as well as the light of the computer on the front desk blinking back on as it began to boot back up, but the minor details like vending machines and the mounted televisions remained off.
Nurse Joy stood at the desk, calling out to the few lingering trainers. "Please remain calm, the situation is under control." She spoke the words out with the practiced ease of someone who had been specifically trained on how to react to a sudden, stressful situation in a public space. It did mean that the hikers stopped reaching for their Pokéballs, and the student pair looked a little less frightened.
That is, right up until the sounds of struggle started to emanate from the doorway behind us, the door bursting open as a large, horned and striped spider burst through the doorframe. It was an Ariados, looking wide-eyed and terrified, its purple and yellow striped limbs trembling as it scuttled toward the female student. She jumped up and began to pat the three-foot, terrifying spider on the head reassuringly, "Ari, Ari, calm down! What's wrong girl?" The Ariados carefully pushed its head against her, careful of the large spike on its forehead, trying to nudge the girl away from the seat and toward the front door.
Before the student had a chance to respond, arcing electricity sparked against the metal doorframe as a yellow-furred limb extended through it, followed by several more in rapid succession, a much fluffier spider crawling out of the battered-open doorway. A Galvantula, and it looked pissed, eyes narrowed into an aggressive glare at the cowering Ariados. It was the smaller Pokémon, but judging from the way the first spider had fled from it, likely more powerful.
I take back what I said earlier. Now I was feeling like I had stepped into an episode out of my memory, wishing for something exciting to happen and getting exactly what I wished for. Me and my big mouth.