Chapter Text
It’s stormy. Horribly stormy. Lightning crashes down, broils waves and makes their eyes hurt. Why are they out here? It has to be important, right? There is no other way they’d be outside with weather like this. They curl up when the waves drag them under. A voice is swallowed by the ocean.
There is something coarse under them. It’s just about everywhere, and it makes them want to go back into the water. At least that wasn’t… itchy. Everything feels weird and raw, as if something… someone… roughed them up. A weak cough escapes them, and they fall unconscious once more.
“Hey! Hey, are you okay? Oh, please wake up!” Someone is nudging them. They cough, and something that can only be seawater spills out. They shake their head weakly, then turn their head to the one who woke them up. A Shuppet is floating in front of them, worry on their face.
“Hey, you! Do you feel a bit better now?” Did they? Yeah, they think they do. They give a tentative nod, and resist the urge to hold their head.
“I’m glad. I’m Smuppet.” There is a suspicious pause between the name and the start of the sentence. Did they just name themselves?”
“And who are you?” Who were they? Something rises to the front of their mind.
“I… I am a Human.” Did their voice always sound like this? Rough and deep, like something that your brain produced in a nightmare. Smuppet doesn’t seem to care much about their voice, but raise an eyebrow at their declaration.
“You don’t look like a human. You look like a Darkrai. I never saw one of yours before! I… I only know what you are because I like legends and myths.” Their cloths twirls a little faster and moves as if they are hiding a small grin.
“But… I…” They look down. Dark, nebulous skin, three-clawed hands, and the knowledge that they have a pair of legs they can extend if needed.
“How…”
“You’re weird. I like you.” Smuppet smiles at them.
“So, what’s your name? I can’t exactly call you, well, human. You’re not. You’re weird, but… you don’t seem to be bad.” What is their name? They don’t really remember. There is this word floating through their head though.
“Alb. I am Alb.” They will be, if they don’t remember anything else. They can always become Alb. They think they will have to. Across from them, Smuppet grins widely.
“It suits you. I’m glad you aren’t a bad Pokémon. There have been more and more of these lately…” Almost as if on cue, two Pokémon ram into the small Shuppet, making them drop something. In something that is far too much of a whirlwind rush for Alb, the Zubat and Koffing snatch it up and run. Did they just witness what amounts to highway robbery? (What is a highway anyways?)
“Are… Are you okay?” Alb asks carefully, beginning to float off the ground. They can do this. They won’t embarrass themselves.
“I… They… They stole my Treasure.” Tears are welling up in Smuppet’s eyes.
“Can you help me? I’m not strong, I can’t fight them in that dungeon.” Alb looks at their claws. Can they? They nod.
“I will.”
“Really? Thank you so much!” They don’t know much right now, but they won’t let this little Shuppet down. They deserve better than that. They look at the mouth of the cavern looming ahead. Well then, time to go dungeon diving.
The Beach Cave is… damp. Very damp. Smuppet gives Alb an apologetic look when they make a somewhat disgruntled noise at stepping into the moist sand.
“I’m sorry. Beach Cave is always a bit humid.” Their cloth swishes a bit.
“Do you know how to navigate a dungeon?” Do they?
“Find… find the stairs, yes?” It sounds right.
“They lead you to the next floor.”
“Exactly, yeah,” Smuppet nods.
“There are Pokémon in here too, but they prefer to fight more than talk. They don’t like the towns that much, so they stay in the dungeons.” That is interesting. Alb hums in thought, enters the next room. A suspiciously disembodied stairwell sits in the room.
“There!” Smuppet chirps in delight.
“Let’s go!” Traversing the stairs is weird, almost like getting teleported, but also not really. Alb carefully shakes their head when they are in the next floor. The stairwell they came from is gone.
“I am not sure if I like this feeling.”
“It is weird, yeah,” Smuppet agrees.
“Do you see these berries on the floor?” They point ahead to a small heap of blue berries. Oran, something in their head whispers. It also whispers that they should be grey, not blue.
“You can carry one of these, and then use them when needed. They are really, really handy. I have one with me right now, so you can take it!” Sure, why not. The fruit feels a bit firm, but not too firm. It's a funny feeling. Alb’s thoughts get interrupted when a small Shellos stares up at them mulishly.
“May we pass?” Alb rumbles, making the Shellos’ fins stand up in alarm. Not even a second later, a Mud-Slap impacts their face. They spit out the sludgy sand, before raking their claws down. Shellos squeaks, then hurries to the side.
“Thank you.” Behind them, Smuppet snickers a bit.
“You have mud in your plume. Thank you for handling this. I’m not good at battling. I only know two moves, Disable and Screech. And they’re not that helpful.” They pout a bit.
“I… I think I know only two moves as well,” Alb murmurs. Their throat hurts a bit.
“Or is it three?”
“Which ones are they?” Alb closes their eyes for a moment, and sift through the jumbled mess that is their memory.
“Disable too. And Ominous Wind. Maybe Night Shade.”
“Ooh, Ominous Wind is good! That can hit everyone in a room!” They’re reached the next stair case by now.
“Try using them before we get to the bottom, yeah? That way you know if you’re good with them.” The little ghost grins at them.
“By the way… I know your name is Alb, but are you a boy or a girl? I like books and legends, but they all disagree on Legendary and Mythical Pokémon like you.”
“I… I am just Alb. I don’t think I’m a girl. Or a boy. Are you?”
“I’m a girl,” Smuppet informs them happily.
“So you don’t have that, huh? That is pretty cool. I think Magneton doesn’t have that either. Back in Treasure Town we use they and them to talk about them. Are you okay with that?”
“I guess…” Another stairwell, right in the room they appeared in.
“Is this the end?”
“Looks so.” Smuppet cranes her head around, taking in the atmosphere of the pit of the cave. It’s beautiful in a way Alb can’t quite describe. And there, at the very end of the room they spot their targets. Smuppet hurries ahead, their face thunderous.
“HEY!”
“Whoa-ho! Look at that, the two wimps actually came here,” Koffing jeers. Alb’s eye narrows.
“What are you gonna do, hm?”
“Give… Give me back my Treasure!”
“So this lump is actually worth something then?” The Zubat flaps his wings a bit faster.
“Sorry, wimpy. We’re gonna get some good money for that then, I bet!”
“Not happy? Try and take it then.” They will. Alb stalks forward, eyes narrowed. The wisps on their shoulders begin to roil and twist, and they splay their claws.
“Very well.” Their voice makes the poison types flinch. What did Smuppet say earlier? Ominous Wind works on a whole room? Good.
“Can you use Screech on them?”
“I… Yes. I will.” The noise coming from Smuppet is grating and horrible, but for some reason it doesn’t affect Alb too much. Good. They stretch one arm out, then slash it downwards, simultaneously reaching into the well of energy inside them. Dusky, dark wind roars through the room, almost nauseating in feeling. Zubat screeches in pain, as does Koffing. The bat falls to the ground, unable to move, clearly fainted, and Alb turns a single baleful eye on Koffing. They raise their clawed hand.
“Hey, hey, no need to be drastic here!” They bring the claw down. They don’t puncture the Koffing’s membrane, but the poison type clearly goes down anyways, dizzy and unhappy. Alb stares down at the Pokémon, something roiling in their chest.
“Give it back.” There must be something in their expression. After groaning when moving, Koffing deposits the lump of stone, then carts off his partner. Besides Alb, Smuppet hovers in delight when picking up the lump of stone.
“Thank you so so much!” She twirls.
“Come, let’s go out. I’ll tell you about this thing then.” Alb nods and follows. It’s not as if they have anything better to do.
“I guess you’re wondering what this is, right?” Smuppet asks, then puts the stone lump down in the sand of the beach.
“This is my relic fragment. I’ve had it for as long as I could think. It’s my Treasure.” Something is sparkling in their eyes.
“I… Today was nice. Going on this small adventure with you is what I always wanted to do. I wanted to become an explorer, so I tried to apprentice at Wigglytuff’s guild today, but… I chickened out.” She looks away, clearly unhappy with herself.
“But today… Today I had fun.” She blinks up at Alb.
“So… what are you going to do? You say you don’t remember how you became a Pokémon, right?” Alb mutely shakes their head.
“That’s too bad…” She rustles her cloth carefully.
“Say… Would… would you contemplate maybe forming an exploration team with me? It could give you something to do while you search for your past.” Alb hums in thought, gingerly sitting down in the sand. Then they nod.
“Sure. We can try.” They give Smuppet a small eye-smile.
“Let’s do it.”
The Wigglytuff Guild is… interesting from the outside. Alb isn’t sure if they like the tent or not. Next to them, Smuppet mutters about it being creepy. Honestly, yeah. It is.
“Last time I had to go on the grate here. Deep breaths, you got this.” She takes said breath, then advances over the gate. Almost immediately, a voice echoes upwards.
“POKÉMON SPOTTED!”
“WHOSE FOOTPRINT IS IT?” A short pause.
“IT’S A CLOTH-PRINT. IT’S SHUPPET!” Another pause.
“YOU CAN ENTER. GET YOUR COMPANION TO GET ON THE GRATE!” Smuppet freezes halfway off the gate.
“I… I think they mean you, Alb.” Great. Sure. Why not. Legs already materialized, they step onto the grate, and hold their breath.
“WHOSE FOOTPRINT IS IT?” There is a suspicious silence afterwards.
“WELL?”
“I… I don’t know.” It sounds sheepish.
“WHAT?”
“I never saw that footprint before in my life. I don’t know what I don’t know.” This is awkward. Very awkward. Alb would like to get off the grate please. There is hushed talking from below, before there is yelling again.
“YOU GET TO ENTER.” On cue, the gate rattles and pulls up. Ahead, Smuppet grins at them.
“Awesome! Doesn’t really surprise me that they don’t know what Pokémon you are. I barely knew.” Alb hums in slight amusement as they hustle down the ladder in the entryway. The inside of the guild is warm and open, and also very well lit. Surprising, considering they are underground. While looking around, they don’t notice the Chatot coming up behind them.
“Excuse me? Are you the two Pokémon that just entered?” The bird tilts his head, and flaps his wings once.
“Yep! That’s us,” Smuppet replies with a bright, Cheery smile.
“Well, in that case, I must please ask for you to go. We do not have the time for surveys and salesmons.” Did that Chatot... yes, he did.
“We are no peddlers.” As usual, Alb’s voice freezes the addressee in their tracks.
“What Alb said! We’re here to become an Exploration Team! Not to sell stuff!” She sways in the air.
“You... You are?” A lot of mumbling follows, and Alb is very sure they hear something about people running from how hard the training is. They start to have a bad feeling about this.
“In that case, follow me, please! We are going to get you registered!”
The guildmaster is, well, a Wigglytuff. Alb should have expected it, to be honest. The guild tent is shaped like him after all, and also bears his name. He is also absurdly friendly, to a degree that it makes Alb’s skin crawl.
“Now, do you have a name for your team?” Chatot’s question brings them both up short. Alb looks at Smuppet, the one who initiated this all.
“A name… Do you have any ideas, Alb? I didn’t think I’d even get this far.” That’s fair, Alb supposes, and taps against the red ring around their neck. They were both not the conventional explorers, they suppose. After all, they did not look too heroic. A bit dark, really. An idea surfaces in their mind.
“How about Nightshade?” They keep their voice low, unwilling to make the guildmaster and assistant flinch away.
“Team Nightshade, hm? I like the sound of that, Alb,” Smuppet hums.
“That’s us. Team Nightshade!”
“Excellent! We would need your name, age and species on record as well if you could provide these, the same going for any wishes in how to be addressed.” Chatot is gesturing with some papers while talking.
“I’m Smuppet, and I’m fourteen now! I’m a Shuppet, and would prefer to be called by my name and as a girl.” Affirmative noises and scribbling follows that declaration.
“Very well. And you?” Alb blinks. Right.
“I… I am Alb. I am… an adult, I think. Smuppet called me a Darkrai, so that is what I am.” They click their claws, an unpleasant feeling in their gut.
“I would prefer to be addressed by name and without a gender.”
“As you say. I admit to never hearing of a Darkrai, but if that is what you say you are, I will put it down.” After a moment, Chatot handed the papers to the guildmaster.
“Guildmaster, if you would?” The Wigglytuff smiles at them, then does something with the papers, humming under his breath.
“Registering… registering…” He turns.
“There! You are now a fully fledged exploration team! You get this to start out!” He puts down a box in front of them.
“Go on! Open it!” Inside they find a map and a bag, as well as a shockingly pink bow.
“These are yours now. A Wonder Map and a Treasure Bag! You’ll use them a lot.” Wigglytuff spins around happily.
“Now, if you would follow me? I will show you two the room you will stay at while you are apprenticed here.” A room? Sleeping sounds nice, Alb has to admit. They feel exhausted.
“Ooh, look! We get beds, Alb!” Calling them beds was… well, it’s not as if Alb has much of a reference for what a bed even is. As long as they can lie down to sleep, it’s good enough. They give Chatot a relieved nod, and sink down with a low sigh that makes the shadows on the walls distort heavily.
“Well, this is all for today. You will be woken up tomorrow, bright and early, and introduced to the guild proceedings after assembly.” Chatot flutters once, then looks at them.
“Do you two have any questions for now?”
“Not yet, no. Oh, I am so excited!” Smuppet twirls around in the air once, pulling a small loop. Alb shakes their head at Chatot, before giving Smuppet a small round of applause for her maneuver.
“Then I bid you two a good night. Smuppet, was it? You have Insomnia as one of your abilities, so you do not require sleep. Still, please remain in the room for the night, and do not cause mischief.”
“Will do!” And off he hops. It feels as if all the exhaustion of the day suddenly crushes onto Alb, and they sigh as they make themselves comfortable.
“Today was… exiting. Thank you for doing this with me, Alb.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Something pulls inside them as the moon begins to rise and the noise in the guild peters out.
“Chatot said you don’t need sleep?”
“I don’t. I just kind of… meditate or something. It’s… how did Xatu describe it again… It’s zen.” She smiles at them.
“I don’t really need to do it, but it’s nice. I’ll make sure nothing happens at night. Nothing goes bump.” Something inside Alb nearly cackles at that idea. They don’t voice it.
“So… You must be exhausted, right?” A mute nod.
“Get some sleep then, yeah? I hope you have good dreams tonight. You deserve them.”