With the dam completed and all the work that we could possibly do with what we had on hand done, the graveler and their gang of geodude had decided that it was time to move on. We said our goodbyes and offered our thanks for their contribution, and then they moved on, vanishing back into the rough and rocky environment of the mountain. It made me wonder how many colonies of Pokemon like that existed just out of sight, maybe living in some hidden cave or copse of trees, ready to spring into action if the need was great enough.
The last bit of tension disappeared with them, like some final hurdle had been crossed in the repair of the dam. It was just after noon, by this point, and so when we climbed back up to the shores of the artificial lake, there was more than enough time for whatever we intended to do.
The first one in the water, and a bit surprising from my perspective, was Jive. The newly minted biped appeared to be eager to figure out how to swim with entirely different anatomy, which seemed primarily composed of wildly flailing and trying different strategies. I supposed that there wasn’t much in the way of swimming techniques that crossed the divide between quadrupedal and bipedal. Devi, apparently, considered this absolutely painful to watch: he’d settled down on the lake shore close to Blake, obviously just looking for some quiet time, but eventually started shouting what I thought was either advice or admonishments to Jive. Going by Drake’s facial expressions, it was a mixture of both.
With the crisis fully passed, Blake seemed perfectly content to pull up something to read on his Nav, settling down against a tree and occasionally watching his Pokemon. Mika and Noble splashed through the shallows, chasing each other and playing games of tag. I noted that the Flying type remained close to the surface of the water, in a gesture of fairness to their non-Flying friend.
Ajax didn’t seem so eager to get wet, and I wondered if Devi also avoiding the water was a mutual Fire type thing, or if both of them just happened to not want to be wet. Still, I watched Mika and Noble call to him from the shallows, enticing him with the siren song of games as his paws patted the ground and he whined. I couldn’t help but smile, and had to cover my mouth with a hand and pretend not to be watching him when he looked in my direction.
I made the round trip to the camp, which wasn’t that far from the section of lakeshore that we’d settled in. Mostly, we’d wanted to be far enough away from the spillway to not have to deal with the current. I was pretty eager to retrieve my swim gear and make an attempt at the water, given how long it’d been since the last time I’d had a chance to do so. Drake followed me there and back, still keeping an eye on our surroundings, but a lot less on edge than he’d been the previous night.
When I’d returned, changed into something more appropriate for splashing about, Mika and Noble had successfully peer pressured Ajax into overcoming his dislike of water. The Fire type was splashing around with them, letting out excited barks as they chased each other around in the shallows. The water hissed and steamed a little when the houndour got a little too excited, but his playmates didn’t appear to mind it. Jive still hadn’t figured out how to swim properly, but was apparently having a blast. Looking out to where his head stuck above the waterline, he’d apparently discovered the fact that his new form made him tall enough that he could stand on the lake bottom and still stick out of the water. Devi, on the other hand, had entirely given up giving advice to the Dark type, and had retrieved a book from somewhere. He merely gave me a nod as I handed him my personal effects.
I stepped into the shallows, shivering slightly at the difference of temperature between the warmth of the afternoon sun and the water derived from a mountain stream. I had to wonder if the source of the water that flowed into this artificial lake was snowmelt or some kind of natural spring, honestly. It didn’t feel cold enough to be the former, but that could be explained by the sheer size of the body of water; a large amount of surface area to gather heat from the sun. Drake followed me in the shallows without hesitation, quickly getting out to where the water rose above his shoulders and swapping to lazily paddling around.
I walked out until the water was most of the way up my chest, wincing every so often at the cool water before I got used to it. Ducking below the clear water, I could feel at least some of the dirt and sweat that I’d accumulated washing away, and I rubbed my fingers through my hair, trying to get more of it out. I popped back above the water, inhaling deeply and wiping the water out of my eyes, blinking as Drake slowly circled me.
With a bit of soap and some scrubbing, I managed to get most of the remaining dirt out, and I felt a lot cleaner afterwards. I was used to showering every single night, and though I’d managed to mostly ignore the gross feeling of accumulated dirtiness over the course of a few days, it was a relief to finally be clean. When I felt I was clean enough, I shook and squeezed most of the water out of my hair, moving back towards shore. I settled down next to Blake, who didn’t even afford me a glance, focused on what he was reading through.
“Gonna get clean?” I asked, waving the soap at him. He raised a single eyebrow at me, apparently taking that as a statement on his general state of being.
“Nah, not like that.” He turned off his nav, shifting himself for a more comfortable seat against the tree. “I’ve got a camp shower. Hot water for me.”
I blinked in surprise, and felt a bit of jealousy at that. And I maybe felt a little stupid, for not considering something like that myself.
“How does that work, then?”
He shrugged. “We fill the water bladder, then Devi hugs it for a while. Easy hot showers in the field, and if we need to refill it, we’ve got an extra water bag that Devi can hug as well.” I huffed, though I had to admit I was impressed.
“You seem to have figured out a lot of utility for a Fire type on the road.” I observed.
“Long experience, and a lot of thinking about how things could be done easier.” He grinned. “And there’s whole forums about this sort of thing. Trainers compare notes on strategies to harness Pokemon abilities to make camping a little more comfortable.”
“Is that how you figured out the bread toasting thing?”
“No, actually. That was sort of an incidental thing. Making toast was actually a control exercise that I came up with when Devi and I first set out. It’s tough to get the right amount of focus, control, and time to make toast that isn’t raw or charred- especially the latter.” He nodded to where Ajax was chasing Mika through the water. “If it wasn’t for the fact that Ajax is quadrupedal, I would be suggesting the same exercise. Bread’s pretty cheap, and, if nothing else, wild Pokemon will eat the charred remains. Or you could just bury them; good for the plants.”
Yeah, I supposed that the primary advantage Blake held over everybody else was long experience. He’d had a lengthy career, so was bound to have a deep well of tricks and strategies, for training and camping both. Though I imagined that a lot of them had to do with having a Fire type: just off the top of my head, I could think of a lot of things that would be a lot easier with one. Boiling water, for example, and firestarting was reduced to just stacking up some wood and having the Fire type light it.
I wondered if it was possible to get some sort of rig running with a Fire and a Water type. If you had, say, a tube, and you wrapped the tube around the Fire type, and had the Water type manipulate water into the tube… ugh, but temperature. Too cold, and the water would come out lukewarm at best. Too warm, and the tubing would probably just melt. And it wouldn’t even be very efficient, because the surface area for temperature exchange would be too small…
I grabbed a stick, muttering to myself as I sketched in the dirt, trying to come up with a way to make it work. If you had, say, a small battery powered pump, you could do with just a Fire type. If you had a coil of copper piping, and then had the Fire type immerse themselves in a container of water- I shook my head, drawing a slash through the sketch. A container would be too hard to carry, and that large of a piece of copper tubing would be too inconvenient to carry around. A lot of weight and packing space devoted to what was, in all honesty, a frivolity.
Blake watched my pacing, sketching, and muttering with some amount of amusement, clearly entertained by my attempts to solve the self-imposed puzzle. Eventually, however, he folded his arms over his chest and slid a little farther down. Before long, he was breathing deeper, dozing in the soft warmth of the afternoon sun. Devi gave him a look, one that I only saw out of the corner of my eye, and that was gone by the time I turned around. Shrugging, I went back to my design work.
Eventually, I settled on the idea of having some kind of inflatable pool with one of those portable battery powered air pumps. Made out of temperature resistant canvas, a Fire type could just sit in it and warm the water up, and then a pump could form a perfectly functional shower. It assumed that the Fire type would be willing to get wet, but… unless they just warmed up some stones and dropped them in, of course. That could work. I nodded in satisfaction as I looked over my rough sketches and writing stretched out in the damp sand of the lake shore, then retrieved my nav and wrote down the best parts of the ideas. When we were in Oreburgh, I’d have to give it a look, see if there wasn’t a way to do it. Might be a fun little project, figuring out how to do this on the road.
Blake was still asleep, with Devi still involved completely in his book, so neither of them was up for anything. I noted that I’d just about dried out, and shrugged, resigning myself to having to dry out again as I walked towards where the water lapped gently at the sand.
Jive had mostly figured out swimming by this point, and was attempting some weird stroke maneuver where he practically clawed at the water to move himself forwards. I wasn’t sure how efficient it was, but he was absolutely strong enough to make it work, and was slowly getting better with his technique. Ajax, who had apparently had enough of splashing around for one day, climbed out of the water. I expected him to shake like most canines, but instead, he focused. After a moment, I could see the heat waves coming off of him as his fur steamed, water evaporating. More advantages to being a Fire type, I supposed.
Drake had apparently filled in for Ajax in Noble and Mika’s games, hopping around in the more shallow water as they chased each other back and forth. Occasionally, Dark energy would swirl around Drake, only to dissipate with a frustrated expression from him. Clearly, he was still trying to get Feint Attack right, especially after he’d been so close while fighting the Ghost types the night before last. Soon, he’d be managing it consistently, and they’d all have to watch out for him.
I scouted around, finding a nice rock that jutted out of the water. I waded over to it and sat on it, letting my legs hang down into the water and just enjoying it. On the other lakeshore, I could make out a stantler, approaching the point where the water met the land and lowering their head for a drink. Farther out, beyond them, Flying types were flitting around a rocky cliff, chasing themselves around. The side of Coronet made a backdrop for all of this, dappled gray rock rising into white as it was covered with snow higher up.
To the left, I could see where the mountain split a bit, leaving a lower area that didn’t climb nearly all the way to the summit. That would be the pass that we’d pass through, after the 208 turned into the 207. The 211 would branch off there, heading north-northeast along the side of the mountain range, but there was no reason to go that direction. Not yet.
I’d had one legendary’s attention already, as brief as it was. Would walking right up to whatever legendary-related thing was atop Coronet draw the attention of another? Mm, maybe. It was a question that I wasn’t sure if I was even eager to answer. Being that close to the shaymin had been scary enough, I didn’t know if I was ready to face another Pokemon that was about that strong or stronger. One of those dangerous sorts of questions that you’re not sure you ever want actually answered.
According to my nav, we were about a quarter of the way done with the journey to Oreburgh by distance. I figured that it would get easier when we hit the downside on the other side of the mountain, traveling a little faster over downslopes that we would climb up the side. Part of me had to acknowledge that all these things to do with the dam had happened, at least in part, because of a lack of Ranger patrols ensuring that the local Pokemon weren’t doing things that would have knock-on effects. I had to wonder if there was anything else like that ahead, problems just waiting for someone to come by and run face first into them.
I glanced around, noting, to my surprise, that the absol had vanished. Probably to go find more problems to herd us into solving, but I didn’t find myself opposed to that sort of thing. The dam thing had turned out okay in the end, despite how dangerous it all had been, and I’d seen a legendary Pokemon in the process. How many trainers could say that much?
While I didn’t think I’d enjoy whatever crisis the absol drew us into next, I couldn’t say that I was reluctant at the idea. Given everything I’d seen and encountered so far, this was just how a Pokemon journey went, and I was finding that I wasn’t really opposed to that.
I hummed, swinging my legs in the water, thinking about my experiences so far. Amending that, this wasn’t how a Pokemon journey went for your average person, but it was easily and exceedingly obvious that I wasn’t anything like normal. Just being an outside context person proved that easily enough, and everything else that I’d experienced so far just underlined the point. However, it all did establish a pattern, one that I hardly thought would be broken going forwards. I’d just have to make sure I was ready for it.
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As the day slowly wore down towards night, and I dried myself out, the Pokemon slowly left the water and shores of the lake. When everybody was out and dry, we collectively turned ourselves back in the direction of the camp and started walking. It wasn’t far, but we took our time, finding for the first time in days that urgency didn’t chase our every step. Everyone was obviously relieved that we didn’t have anything hanging over our heads, and showed that with a variety of behaviour.
Devi and Jive had set aside their rivalry completely over the course of the events, but now it was back at full force. The obstagoon flexed and moved and generally did everything he could to tease or mess with Devi, interspersed with chittered commentary that made the rabbit’s muzzle scrunch. Devi would answer haughtily, Jive would huff in offense, and the cycle would continue. I was swiftly coming to understand that this was just how they showed their friendship without something more pressing hanging over them.
I gently bumped Drake with my foot, the poochyena glancing upwards at me with curiosity. I simply smiled in return.
“I’m really glad that you can relax a little bit. I know this has all been really stressful for you, the constant paranoia about the ghosts lurking in the dark.”
He sent a worried glance around us, as if afraid that my words would jinx us into a ghost attack right this very moment, nodding when no attack was forthcoming. He retained his usual worry and protectiveness, to be sure, but the ever-present paranoia that had dogged his steps since the first ghost attack had mostly dissipated. I could see it in the lack of tension in the muscles of his legs, how he didn’t look like he was going to leap at anything that made too loud a sound.
“I think we needed today, after everything. Though, speaking of things we need… hey, Devi!” I spoke up, waving in the fire rabbit’s direction.
He’d been in the middle of a heated argument with Jive that I couldn’t begin to guess the content of, turning his head in my direction when he heard my call. He gave some parting shot to Jive that made the bipedal weasel snicker, then fell back towards me, giving a curious look. I smiled.
“I don’t suppose you have any meal plans, do you?”
“Fantastic idea!” Blake said from farther up the line, where he’d been throwing a stick for Mika to catch and bring back.
Devi lit up at my question, obviously and instantly buoyed by the idea that he’d be able to cook us a proper meal for the first time in days. I imagined that he was ecstatic at the idea of returning to one of his passions after far too long away from it. And I was definitely looking forwards to a freshly cooked, non-packaged meal. He gave me an excited nod, shared a look with Jive, who nodded, then bounded off in the direction of the camp.
“Hah! He’s sure eager, isn’t he?”
Blake nodded with a smile. “Determined to get on it soon as he can, I think. Great idea, I think.” He glanced in my direction, smile turning a little more apologetic. “No offense, Cam, but I think I’ve had about as much prepackaged meal as I can stand for now.”
“Don’t worry about me taking offense, I agree. As convenient as they are, I’d hate to be eating them for too long.” I shrugged. “Besides, I’ve been spoiled by Devi’s efforts, and now I don’t want to give them up.” Blake laughed, clear and pleased on behalf of his partner.
By the time we made it back to the camp, Devi had long reached it. It was nearly night now, the sky more purple than blue, the last lingering fingers of sunset spilling over the top of Coronet. The fading light outlined the peaks with gold and made them appear purple, intermixed with white and gray.
The camp was lit with flickering firelight from the campfire that Devi had stoked, and the entire area was filled with the delicious scents and sounds of his cooking. Behind the sizzling and hissing, and the crackle of the flame working its way through the wood, I could identify Devi humming happily to himself. I didn’t recognize the tune, but it was pleasant nonetheless, soothing to my ears. From what I could see, he was doing something with sausages and buns, gently toasting the buns before sliding a thoroughly fried sausage into them, cooked in a mix of fat, seasonings, and other flavours.
I accepted mine from him, feeling slightly dubious at the lack of any condiments. When I bit into it, however, I found out why: no condiments were necessary. After a long day, or a long week, I quickly devoured the first and accepted a second, and a third. Devi seemed to have a nearly infinite supply of the things, pulling them from Blake’s backpack when a new batch needed to go on. Everyone ate their fill, even Devi, who occasionally took one from a batch before distributing the rest. We had a good fire, plenty of warm food, and good company. If I drank alcohol, this is where I’d break out a bottle of the stuff.
Still, with the appetites of even the hungriest sated between sausages and a variety of grilled or fried berries, the Pokemon started lounging around the campsite. They stayed within the circle of warmth provided by the campfire, basking in it and the way that it pushed back the chill of a mountain night. I found my perfect balance between flame-induced heat and the chill of the night air, and settled there, closing my eyes and simply enjoying a comfortable, quiet moment.
There was quiet conversation between the Pokemon, but Blake didn’t seem inclined to break the silence, merely laying back along a flat rock close enough to the fire to enjoy it. When I eventually glanced over at him, I realized why: from the slow rise and fall of his chest and his closed eyes, he’d fallen asleep. Devi sat with the trainer’s head in his lap, having long cooked his last sausage and bun, hanging over his partner as he always did. Jive was standing nearby, but to my surprise, the two of them didn’t seem to have gone back to their usual bickering.
They discussed something among themselves in hushed tones. Jive had, after long experimentation, found that folding his arms was now a comfortable stance to take, and was now doing so, though I suspected that it was more thoughtful this time. None of the usual sniping and exchanges between the two of them, merely serious expressions as they discussed whatever they were talking about. As I watched, Devi sent a glance down at the trainer whose head was in his lap, brushing some of his hair out of his face with a paw and looking… concerned, maybe? I couldn’t quite make out the expression he bore in the glimpse that I’d had, shadowed in flickering firelight.
Before they could say anything else, Jive turned his head pointedly in my direction, and Devi glanced over to me, watching them curiously. Jive said something to Devi, then took his leave, lumbering off into the darkness. Devi glanced at me again, then turned his gaze back towards the fire, watching the logs slowly be transformed into charcoal.
I wonder what that had been about?
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The next day came about with no real fanfare. It seemed to be the general and unofficial agreement of the entire camp that today was the day of sleeping in, and it was nearly ten before I finally stirred and exited my tent, Ajax following me out and shaking himself. Drake was already out and about, and approached me as I stepped out. The complete lack of a ghost assault the previous night had apparently dispelled any remaining worry or tension that he’d hung onto, and he was now as relaxed as I suspected he’d ever get.
Jive and Devi, I noted, had apparently returned to their usual behaviour. Devi was attempting to cook breakfast, warding off his Dark companion with harsh words and brandishing of a spatula, while Jive grinned and tried his level best to sneak one of his claws past Devi and nab one of the things he was cooking. Looked like french toast from here. There wasn’t any evidence about them of the air that they’d had the previous night around the fire.
I stepped in to assist Devi with cooking the french toast, a recipe that I’d absolutely made myself in the past. This left the rabbit with more focus available to prevent Jive from making off with any of the french toast that was done or still being cooked, which got me a grateful look from the rabbit and a completely betrayed look from the obstagoon.
“Look,” I said lightly to Jive, “Take it up with your boss. If he doesn’t want me to stop you from stealing all the food that you can get your claws on, then you can get him to tell me yourself.”
Jive huffed, part feigned indignation that I would insinuate that he would steal food, and part amusement. Still, he shuffled off, presumably to find Blake and try to convince him to tell me exactly that. Well, I wished him luck. Devi seemed relieved that the thief had gone, and he could now focus entirely on his cooking in peace. He waved me off when I tried to help him more, apparently feeling that with his focus undivided and Jive gone, he had plenty of it to spend on actually cooking.
Still, with Jive gone and Devi focused… I crouched down and tapped Drake on the shoulder, making sure to make eye contact with Ajax as I did so. I nodded away from the camp, and in the opposite direction from where Jive had gone, then stood up and stretched. I walked out of camp, the two Pokemon trailing behind me, and stopped once I was certain we were beyond what I thought Devi’s hearing range was. Better than a human’s, I was certain of that much, but I’d still try to be quiet.
“So, hey. Last night, Devi and Jive were looking really worried about something, incredibly serious. Weren’t even fighting.” Drake made an expression of disbelief, tinged with interest. Ajax just had the latter. “Yeah, it struck me as weird as well. And it wasn’t the dam or anything. Devi had Blake’s head in his lap, and the two of them seemed reluctant to show that while I was watching.”
Ajax raised his eyebrows, and I didn’t need a translation device to get the ‘what do you want from us’ question his expression asked. I shrugged.
“I’m not sure. I don’t even know what they’re really worried about, just that it might have something to do with Blake. I wanted to ask you to keep an eye out for anything, maybe even ask a question if you see an opportunity.” I frowned, glancing in the direction of camp. “I dunno, it just struck me as…” I shrugged, helplessly. I couldn’t put the feeling into words, but it did feel like something that I should be concerned about.
If there was something wrong with Blake, I felt that I should know about it. Partly, I guess that I felt that I owed him for everything he’d done for me so far. The rest of it was just… Well, he was my friend. If there was something that was actively worrying his team, I wanted to do something about it, or at least indicate that I was willing to help if they wanted to explain it to me.
The two of them nodded, Drake seriously, Ajax thoughtfully. I ruffled their heads, though Ajax had to lean down for me to really get the top of his and his ears, given my crouched position. I couldn’t help but smile, recognizing that same concern that I felt in their expressions, despite how they enjoyed the petting I was giving them. Blake and his team were as much their friends as they were mine, and they obviously felt similar to how I did about this.
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With that, we made our way back to camp, just in time for Devi to start flipping the slices of french toast out of the pan. Blake came in from the other side of camp, Noble circling the entire camp before landing on Blake’s tent and beginning to preen. A panting and happy Mike trotted around Blake, then darted into camp proper when he smelled food, while Jive trailed behind. When he and Devi made eye contact, he immediately grinned and opened up with a sound that I could obviously tell was meant to rile the rabbit.
As they laid into one another, forming a background noise that I was quickly growing comfortable with, I served myself a couple slices of Devi’s french toast and a little bit of honey from my jars. Usually, powdered sugar would be a better accompaniment to such food, but honey would do in a pinch. There was syrup as well, and I had to indulge in a little bit of it, reflecting that the sheer amount of sugar on my plate was rapidly becoming a problem. If it wasn’t for the fact that we were constantly moving and keeping fit, I had no doubt that Blake’s team, and me and mine, would no doubt be gaining weight just from his cooking.
I plowed through my food happily, pleased to have such a nice breakfast, just as all present, human and Pokemon, did. I had to wonder how deep Blake’s reserves of food were, to keep us all fed like this, though I reflected that quite a bit of what Devi prepared were foods based on things that packed well or could be harvested from the land. For the rest, I’d seen the pack that Devi himself carried, and I could easily see most of the more fragile food being stored in there. If it had the same spatial compression tech that I’d seen in Blake’s bag, then he might be carrying an entire kitchen’s worth of food and pans with him. Now that I knew that Blake was a Champion, the owning of high-grade tech made a lot more sense.
Breakfast devoured by all present, there was an unspoken and collective agreement to wander away and find something to do. I observed Devi trailing Blake as his trainer walked off towards the lakeside, and I hummed to myself. It occurred to me that it had been a little while since the last time I’d been to a lake, and I wondered if I’d kept my decent skipping skills. With a slight surge of excitement, I realized that the shores of this lake wouldn’t be picked clean of perfectly flat stones as most of the places I’d skipped were. Skipping stones, everywhere! More than I could ever skip!
Maybe it was a bit of an odd thing to be excited about, but it was something that I’d always found calming, almost meditative. Your complete focus on the stone, on getting the maximum amount of skips out of it, no room for anything else in your mind but the calculation of angles and the slight waves of the lake. Plus, a good breakfast and a good rest had filled me with energy that I had to do something with, and I didn’t feel like training with my partners just yet.
The lake was nearly without waves, more like ripples caused by the gentle breezes that played across its surface. It lapped gently at the stony shore, which dipped rapidly down out of sight beneath the clear water. I wondered what the size of the bibarel colony had been, to undertake this level of terraforming. It was practically a megastructure, as far as something non-human was concerned, impressive for its sheer size if nothing else. It had to have really stung to lose it to their aggressors.
With the small waves, there was little to interfere with the flat rocks that I sent bouncing across the surface of the water. Occasionally, I’d get a dud, bad angles or bad throws that knifed into the water without a single skip. Mostly, though, I was getting more than ten skips at a time; a good amount, I thought.
At some point, I turned slightly to my right, seeking more stones to throw. Immediately, I noted the large figure out of the corner of my eye, and practically jumped straight out of my socks. And then immediately relaxed, feeling rather foolish, when I realized that the towering, dark figure that had appeared in my peripheral vision was an obstagoon- Jive. he gave a slightly embarrassed chitter that I read as an apology, then stared, pointedly and curiously, at the stones I was still holding.
“Oh, uh…” Huh. he hadn’t had roughly humanoid anatomy for more than a day and change at this point. Maybe he was curious about the physical motions I was making? “It’s just a little game. You know, seeing how many times you can skip the stone across the water? Can be competitive, with somebody else, I’m just playing against myself right now.”
He examined my hands, then stared at his own paws contemplatively. After a moment, he extended a paw, which I blinked at for a moment before realizing he was after one of my stones. Suppressing the urge to slap my forehead at not immediately putting it together, I handed him one of my larger flat stones, turning back towards the lake.
“Okay, so. Bend your legs. Hold the stone like this.” I held out my hand towards him, showing how I curved my fingers around the rock, holding it lengthwise against my palm. He leaned in curiously. “You want to try and hook it a little, to give it a better spin. The more spin, and the flatter the trajectory, the more times it’s going to skip before the weight and loss of momentum overcome the water’s surface tension.”
I took him through the throwing motion, sweeping the hand as close to the ground as possible, making sure that the trajectory of the stone was as close to parallel to the surface of the water as he could manage. The process of stepping into the throw, giving more force to the stone and its spin, encouraging it to bounce against the water.
His first try knifed into the water, sliding beneath the surface like a coin into a slot. I laughed, and he looked indignant, but finally broke into a chuffing sort of chuckle. I had him take the stance again, correcting him slightly with my hands, raising the outside edge of the stone to make it more parallel. He accepted the correction without complaint, something I suspected was the result of long hours spent training and honing under the tutelage of his partner and others.
It wasn’t Pokemon training. Getting better at skipping stones wasn’t going to make the obstagoon a better fighter, wasn’t going to increase the damage he could do to an opponent. Instead, it was just a way of bonding, of practicing a skill that wasn’t related to fighting. Everything that I’d seen from what I’d read, my dex and pamphlets, had indicated that Pokemon didn’t perform best in an environment that was all about training. Instead, the best Pokemon had balanced amounts of entertainment and training, a mixture of honing their skills in battle and practicing in a hobby that they chose for themselves.
I didn’t attach such high-minded intentions to what I was doing, though. Jive was a Pokemon whose company I’d enjoyed, who’d spent long hours training my partners, and now I was sharing something I enjoyed with him. I felt satisfaction when he whipped his first rock out over the lake that bounced, and cheered when it sank after three. Because, I realized in a foggily warm sort of way, we were friends. And I wasn’t surprised at how that made me feel warm.
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“Do you hear that?” I wondered aloud, turning away from what I was doing and glancing around.
Morning hadn’t quite turned into midday, a few hours yet before the sun completed its climb into the sky and hung directly above us. After we’d finished our session of training in an entirely useless skill, Jive had patted me on the head and gone his own way, which I suspected was his way of thanking me. I’d skipped for a while more before settling down with my nav, using my somewhat spotty wireless data connection to scout the Pokemon parallel of the Internet. I was, in a few words, looking for online fiction repositories.
I’d whiled away time like that, poking around the Internet and looking for another source of sweet, sweet reading material. I hadn’t properly fed my addiction in far too long, and I deeply desired the wonderful opiate that was crunching down thousands of words. In the middle of my search, however, something that made me perk up and listen closer.
With my head out of my search, which hadn’t turned up any online archives yet or I would’ve been far too oblivious to notice, I could now focus on what had ejected me. Focusing closer and turning my head right to left, I realized that it was a slow beating, regular and deep. The beats were a bare thrum in the air, barely detectable, and regular as a metronome. I pushed myself to my feet as the scattered Pokemon around me came alert. Jive, who seemed to have taken over Blake watching from Devi, gently shook his partner awake. Blake pulled the book off of his face, frowning at the Pokemon, before his eyes narrowed and he pushed himself up on his elbows.
Turning myself back and forth, I was able to somewhat locate the origin of the sound. It was coming from the rough north-northeast, if I was remembering my cardinal directions correctly, and was getting louder every moment. In a few moments, however, I didn’t have to wonder what it was anymore.
A number of different Flying types came soaring over the ridge, sweeping down and around. As I watched, they banked, circling the edge of the lake. I could see the lines and metalwork of saddles and bags attached to their backs and sides, and humans tied into them to prevent them from falling and splattering against the cold stone below. They flew in a rough sort of formation, despite being of several different species, and I could gather from here that they’d been trained in these sorts of flight patterns.
I could just make out the humans pointing at things, the dam, the lake, where we’d camped out close to the lakeshore. These, I realized in a flash, must be the civil engineers that Kevan had sent our way days ago. Even on the backs of flying types, it had taken this long to get them together and travel out here. I raised my arms and waved to them, and smiled to myself as one of them waved back. Realizing that this wasn’t something threatening, the tension that had suddenly appeared among the gathered Pokemon vanished as quickly as it had come, replaced by naked curiosity about the people that Kevan had sent our way.
I flagged them down in the rough direction of our camp, where there were plenty of relatively flat areas where their Flying types could land without trouble and they could start unpacking things. I could just make out how the lead flier gave me a thumbs up, before leaning closer to the head of the Flying type he was riding- a large pidgeotto. After a moment, the Pokemon nodded, banking slightly more to come into a spiral that took it over the water and slowly down towards where our camp was.
It took very little time for everyone there, human and Pokemon alike, to abandon the various positions they’d taken up along the lakeshore or in the lake itself. With the immediate crisis passed and nothing else to worry about with the cavalry here, there was merely an air of honest curiosity among them. I had to admit that I felt much the same way.
By the time we made it back to camp, the group had selected a suitably flat piece of ground and landed themselves. Now on the ground, they had, with the various Pokemon’s help, engaged in the task of unstrapping and unpacking a variety of bags and pouches. As I approached, I observed the group, a total of seven humans, sorting the bags and cases into various groups. One was unpacking anything that ended up in a specific pile, tripods and pieces of technology that I didn’t recognize. Surveying equipment, I guessed. Another was unpacking a variety of tents that looked a good deal more fancy than ours, while another was unpacking what appeared to be a series of compact stacks of solar cells and laying them out in the sun. Checking them for damage from the flight over here, I guessed. One of them was standing off to the side of the group, either uncertain of what they should be doing or not part of the rest of the group. As I approached, I realized that they were standing with a pidgeotto, and that this was the lead flier that had signaled to me.
The shuffle of two humans and a whole group of Pokemon not trying in the slightest bit to be stealthy was enough to attract the group's attention. They went on guard for a bare second, probably expecting some kind of trouble from the ghosts that I’d told Kevan about, but relaxed when they saw that it was us. Still, the tension didn’t completely slide off of them, and after a moment, it occurred to me that a bunch of skilled Ghost pokemon could probably whip up an illusion that looked stunningly like a bunch of friendly humans and Pokemon. However, I could think of something they couldn’t do.
I raised my hand with a smile and waved to them. “So, you’re the engineers that Kevan sent, right? Did you get a good look while you were coming down?”
They relaxed the rest of the way. It appeared that the combination of functional human speech and information had relaxed the rest of their reservations about me. The lead flier, whether actual leader or not I had no idea, turned towards me. They brought their hands up to their face, removing the mask that protected them from the biting winds. To my shock, I recognized the smiling face behind that mask and goggles, once they were removed.
“Kevan!” I called, returning the smile happily, jogging closer and grabbing his hand for a shake. “Been a month or so since I saw you in person at Vinewood, huh?”
He nodded, pleased. “Yeah. Been a few times we’ve talked, sure, but that’s nothing like a face to face meeting.” He gave me an amused and slightly exasperated look. “But you’ve been making all the use out of that connection that you can. And that probationary League affiliation I had issued to you.”
“Ah, well…” I said, somewhat awkwardly. “It’d just go to waste otherwise, right?”
He snorted, shaking his head. “I’d almost wish it did. Then I wouldn’t have to spend most of the last three days on my feet, running around and trying to put together enough League transport Pokemon and personnel to build this slapdash little team around.” He glanced past me, smile shifting from rueful to more friendly. “And this is Blake, right?”
The Galarian trainer stepped to my side, shrugging. “Yeah, heard about you, mate. Nice to finally meet the ranger that Cam puts so much trust in.”
Kevan preened at that, making something of a show of it, though I thought I could make out some genuine pleasure at the idea.
“Yeah, something like that. I just happened to be the hypercompetent ranger that was nearby, though.”
“Thanks for doing all this, though.” I said, a bit of seriousness bleeding into my tone. “I’m not exactly a trained engineer, and at this point, I’m afraid that anything else we could do might destabilize the thing without a clear idea of what we’re doing.”
“It’s a ranger’s duty.” He replied simply, and this time there wasn’t any of that affected pride, simply a statement of fact. “Though, now that I’m here, I wanted to thank you right back. You did good, calling us up like that and bringing us in as soon as possible. Without your call, it would've taken us a lot longer to put something together, though I have to admit that Jinnouchi Sakae had a large hand in it.”
“Really?” I asked, blinking.
“Oh, yeah, Right after you sent word out, my superiors got a call from the Jinnouchi’s. I didn’t hear their side of the conversation, and it was mostly one-sided. My boss, who’s an experienced ranger, I might add, looked like a kid that was being dressed down by a very disappointed grandmother.” He sighed wistfully, staring into the middle distance with longing. “If only I could figure out how to do something like that.” He paused, then slowly turned towards me, a smile stretching across his face. “Heeeeeyyy. You got inducted to the Jinnouchi clan, didn’t you? Maybe-?”
“No.”
He threw his arms up in the air. “I didn’t even ask yet!”
“I know where you’re going with that, and the answer is no.”
“Well, that’s disappointing.” He shrugged, still smiling. “But, yeah, they kicked the Rangers and the League into gear on this one. Had to scrape together whoever we could get access to on short notice, the teleporters are all exhausted after the terrible month we’ve had so we were limited to whatever professionals we had on hand.” He shrugged. “Teleporters can’t go where they haven’t been before, either, so we couldn’t even grab one and hop out here.”
“Explains the Flying types.” Blake mused, glancing over to where they were helping the engineers set up a camp that looked quite a bit more advanced than the couple of civilian grade tents we’d come with. “Well, anyway, I think I’m going to figure out where everybody is. We’ve lingered here long enough, and if we want to get to Oreburgh this month, we need to get a move on.”
I glanced around, realizing that once the mystery of our visitors had been solved to their satisfaction, most of our teams appeared to have spread themselves out again. He wandered off, Devi giving me a parting nod and following his partner. I gave them a wave, humming to myself and giving Kevan a curious look. The smiling Ranger either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
“So, you, what, figured that the engineers needed an escort? Came all the way out here to see little old me?” I asked. “I’m flattered, really, and I am glad to see you, but I don’t think a visit is the best expenditure of your time.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I figured that I needed to get the lay of the land anyway, to make sure that you weren’t in any more trouble with the local Pokemon. My superiors wanted the gengar you mentioned secured- you said that you have him sealed in a ball?”
I nodded. “Blake’s got it.” I let out an amused huff of air, looking in the direction that he’d just gone. “Probably should’ve asked him while he was here, now you’ll have to wait for him to come back around.”
“Fair enough. I brought another Ranger with me to secure that thing. Otherwise, you’re right, I didn’t just come here for a courtesy call.” He leaned against one of the larger boulders that sat just outside the camp area, raising his eyebrows. “You know, you’ve drawn quite a bit of attention.”
I frowned, eyebrows coming together at the sudden change of topic.
“I’m not sure what that has to do with anything?”
“It means that a bunch of people, people high up the chain, have observed how you tend to get into, ah…” He searched for a diplomatic way to phrase it for a moment. “Sticky situations.” He decided, nodding.
“... What is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I mean… you show up in Vinewood during that attack.” He ticked off a finger for that, and kept ticking for everyone he mentioned. “The onix in Emeragrove. Those Followers of Mew in hearthome.” I opened my mouth to ask what the hell a Follower of Mew was, but he just rode right over me. “You beat Fantina, which is always going to draw attention. You got inducted into the Jinnouchi clan, so all the clans are looking your way. And, finally, you get involved with this whole mess. Honestly, it would be stranger if you weren’t drawing attention to yourself, after all that.”
“Oh.” I said, voice somewhat small.
I really hadn’t thought about it that way. In the moment, they’d been things that I’d just encountered and gotten through. Blake had pointed out that I should acknowledge that I’d gotten through all those different obstacles, so I had to have some kind of capability. I hadn’t even spared a thought to how all of that would be perceived externally, though. Well, certainly, I realized that I had some kind of growing reputation with the League and the Rangers, half based on the friendships I’d made and half on the trouble I’d gotten into so far. I hadn’t realized, though, what the full consequences of that would be.
I chewed gently on a finger, turning it over in my head. There was a sensation that was something like falling in my stomach as I thought about the fact that people were, as strange as it was to picture. I’d never had a reputation like this before, and the sensation was both novel and somewhat worrying. Would… probably make it easier, going forwards, though, given all those comments I’d picked up about Dark types and their trainers. Unless, of course, the additional scrutiny was based in part on people’s expectations based on those self same stereotypes. I put my head in my hands and groaned.
Kevan came up and patted my back, and I could see through a gap between my fingers that the smile had turned a little more conciliatory.
“Yeah, it’s not hard to figure how that might feel like a bad thing.”
“Isn’t it?” I asked, voice flat.
He hesitated, glancing away, making a… complicated expression.
“Well.” He said, after a long moment of consideration. “It’s not totally bad.”
I groaned, flopping onto a relatively flat rock nearby, arms splayed. The warm stone against my back was a pleasant feeling, especially when contrasted against the chill of the mountain air. It took my mind off of it for a moment, my eyes closed, simply basking in the heat that I was soaking up. Still, this was an issue that wasn’t just going to go away. Had to deal with it now, when I had Kevan right in front of me to answer questions. At least I could trust the guy that had been there for me literally from day one to give it to me straight.
“Should I listen to what people have said and just ditch the hoodie?” I asked tiredly.
“Too late now.” He informed me, voice far too cheery. “You’ve got a brand. If you didn’t want to be tied to that thing, you should’ve tossed it weeks ago. Now?” He chuckled.
“Great.”
Not that ditching the hoodie was a serious option, of course. Like hell I was tossing what amounted to a good amount of material and a week and a half of careful hand stitching. Plus, I was just generally fond of the thing. And it was warm. I understood that I was mostly just attached and justifying keeping it around, sentimentality and all that, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. The fact that it was now tied into whatever reputation I’d been building, good or bad, just meant that keeping a hold of it was that much more important. And, hey, it certainly didn’t look like any kind of Team attire, no matter what two idiots in Hearthome thought, so it arguably had that going for it. I swept aside the memories that called up the glances people had given it.
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” I said.
“Ah, right. Well, I’ve been speaking to my superiors on and off, and I mentioned that they’ve been paying attention to your trip across Sinnoh. More and more, in fact, with every situation you get yourself into. Honestly, I think they think you’re cursed or something, because they assigned me to come over here.”
“What does that mean?”
“Would you be willing to let me come along?” I gave him an incredulous look, and he smiled innocently. “I only have two Pokemon, the pidgeotto and an arcanine. Promise we won’t be a burden, they can definitely feed themselves without issue. And, hey, if you run into something like this again, I’ll be right there to offer assistance instead of days away.”
Oh. So, what, his bosses had assigned him to follow me around, clean up any messes that I left behind? That felt vaguely- I didn’t have a word for it, but the idea came to mind of a troublesome and barely controlled animal. I didn’t know how I felt about it, but it wasn’t really positive.
Still, I had to admit, if it was anybody that was assigned to me like that, I was happy that it was Kevan. I’d end up dancing around anybody else, and the idea of having him at my back was comforting. Weighing my thoughts, I came to the conclusion that I definitely wasn’t against the idea. Maybe I didn’t like the implications of it, if I was reading it anything like correctly, but I could definitely admit that it was something that I welcomed.
“Well, if you want to waste your time following me around, I don’t really see a problem with it. Another thing that you probably have to ask Blake about.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s another thing. Where did you find a Galar Champion, anyway? Pick him out of a hole in a wall?” I gave him a side eye, and he chuckled. “I’m kidding, I remember the explanation you gave me. Incredible stroke of luck that you ran across somebody so strong and willing to teach you.” He stroked his chin. “Yeah, incredible luck.”
… Okay, yeah, I was now entirely at a loss as to what to think about this. I couldn’t even begin to guess what that meant, and while I trusted Kevan, I wasn’t sure that he knew, or that he’d even necessarily tell me what he meant. If he meant anything. Ugh, this entire thing was a headache. Why couldn’t I be like the usual Pokemon trainer, just somebody with a team on the side of one of the Routes? Not that I’d totally expected things to be calm and smooth, since I was first dumped in this world, but I don’t think I could’ve predicted any of this.
“So that’s a yes, right?”
“It’s a yes.” I confirmed.
He nodded happily, pushing himself off the boulder he was leaning against.
“‘Llright, I’ll get right on it. Figure you’ll want to get a move on today?” I nodded. “I’ll get my things in order, then, make sure we’re ready for a march.”
He waved and walked out of my peripheral vision. I continued laying there, feeling the heat soak into me through my hoodie, arms splayed wide. I closed my eyes against the brightness of the sun with a sigh. I supposed that it could’ve been a lot worse, as a way to keep an eye on me. Really, given the capabilities of Pokemon, they could’ve been spying on me without me ever knowing about it. I could easily imagine some Pokemon dodging all of my Pokemon and me, keeping tabs on us from a distance. I didn’t really like the thought; it sounded a little too much like what I suspected the gengar had done.
Something blotted out the light shining on my face, casting a cooler shadow over my head. I opened my eyes and blinked, finding Drake’s upside down face staring down at me. Despite the headache that I could practically feel forming in the back of my skull in real time, I managed a small smile at him.
“Hey, mate. Are you doing alright?” He shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Good enough, I supposed. “Did you overhear my conversation with Kevan, then?” Another nod.
I shifted and he withdrew his head, allowing me to sit up and stretch. As comfortably warm as the rock I’d been laying on was, it was still a rock, with all the rough texture and unyielding hardness that that implied. My joints cracked, and I turned my head in Drake’s direction.
“What’s your take on this, then?”
He hummed, like a soft and quiet growl in the back of his throat. He pushed himself to his paws, pacing back and forth a little as he thought, then sitting down again and looking at me. He glanced in the direction that Kevan had gone, and something in his eyes softened.
“You think we can trust him?”
Drake nodded without hesitation. That was something of a relief to me, that even my somewhat paranoid and protective partner trusted Kevan enough to say so when I asked. I’d generally gotten the sense that he was a good guy, but I struggled to effectively and consistently read people and I tended to be a pretty iffy judge of character. Getting a second opinion on this, especially one that I trusted just as much, or even more, than my own, was pretty vital to the process. If Drake thought he was on the up and up, then I agreed.
“Well, then, I guess we need to get started with the process of packing and getting everything ready to move, if we want to get on the road today.” I pushed myself to my feet with a small sound of exertion. “Go find Ajax, tell him we need him back here to buckle his harness on. I’ll fold up the tent if the two of you can handle packing stuff in the harness bags.”
Drake nodded dutifully, then leapt down from the stone and shot off in the direction that I presumed Ajax to be. I watched him go for a moment, then started walking towards where the tents were.
----------------------------------------
Campsite checked for any remaining detritus. We’d left the firepit and whatever leftover wood where it was, for the benefit of the engineers, who’d thanked us for it and saw us off. Tents all packed, anything left stuffed into the various harness carriers and bags that we had between the lot of us.
Blake had been surprised, but not opposed, to Kevan accompanying us. He’d handed the Pokeball that contained the gengar to Kevan, who’d carefully inspected the bindings it was wrapped in before handing it off to the other Ranger that had accompanied him here. She’d taken it with a salute, checking in with the engineers one more time before mounting a staraptor and taking off in the direction of Hearthome.
With everything double and triple checked, and all of our Pokemon gathered and properly carrying their various loads, we were good to go. I cast one last glance around the area, the place that I had spent the last few days and nights in frantic work and chaotic combat. I noted the various scars that it possessed, having gained them over the process of us living and fighting here.
I took a deep breath, then nodded to Drake, who stood at my right, patting the head of Ajax with my left. I turned towards where Blake and Kevan were making conversation, ready to begin the next leg of the journey.