Chapter Text
Hanna returned to us after giving the injured pokemon what treatment she could offer. I had offered up what I had in my bag, which wasn’t much either. They needed proper medical attention and not berries and seeds. But they accepted what we gave and scarfed down their portions with gusto. They had no doubt been starved by the braixen to keep them in a weak enough state that they couldn’t fight back. Our group had moved outside, leaving the injured to rest inside until rescue came. Brooke and I sat just outside the shack, watching the fainted form of the braixen and the painted ekans for any movement. Hanna was off to the side just out of my view. I didn’t want to let either of the two of them out of my sight till Dante’s rescue party arrived. I wanted to make sure the braixen answered for his crimes. And the ekans would be valuable to get information on where the Painted Pokemon’s base of operations was. Enough time had passed that the fog had subsided and the clouds above parted. The sky was a beautiful mixture of brilliant gold and vibrant orange.
Brooke was pressed against my side, actively switching between licking me and inhaling my scent. A few times I had to bat her paw away from my crotch. I knew she would be under the affect of the sylveon spunk she had been force fed for a considerable amount of time. She no doubt would need to be medically checked and probably isolated till she was clear of the vile stuff. She whined each time I stopped her advances, but she relented. Opting to instead hold on to me tighter and basically grind herself on my side. The air around me was full of her bakery sweet scent. It was driving me mad having a sex crazed eevee basically using me as a humping post, my body slowly stirring to her ministrations. But I fought the urge to indulge her. Now was not the time, nor the place. Nor did I want my first time to be sullied by the events of today and influenced by the pheromones playing with her mind. I wanted that event to occur naturally. My first time…
Those words felt weird to think about. To actually consider losing my virginity to her. I’ve thought about it back when I was human, but no person ever really peaked my interest to have a relationship with. Granted, I was sixteen and I still had time to find the one for me. But I never considered it could be my very own pokemon. And I wasn’t concerned about that at all. My family was gone. I was here with just Brooke. She was all the family I needed. I was not a human anymore. And I honestly didn’t feel like a human anymore. I preferred being a pokemon and I wanted to remain one.
But I was also concerned about Brooke’s mind in her current state. I know she professed her love for me, but I was afraid it was just the pheromones talking and she didn’t actually return the feelings. A nagging in the back of my mind that I messed up royally and I might scare her away once she was back to her normal self. Wishing not to let it eat me up further than it did already, I nudged Brooke with my shoulder, breaking her out of her stupor. She finally paused in her sex fueled actions. She asked, “What?”
“Do you love me?”
“Of course,” she said back with an almost hurt look, “I said I did.”
“But is that you, or the pheromones talking?” I pressed, “I want to believe that you have the same feelings I have for you.”
“This is me,” Brooke answered, “The pheromones haven’t changed my mind on that.”
“So,” I hesitantly asked, “You do love me?”
“Yes, you goof,” she answered with a role of her eyes. She returned to leaning against me. I felt a flutter in my chest at her confirmation. She added, “I’ve always loved you. Back when you were a human it was more like the simple devotion one has with their trainer. But since coming here,” she paused and ran a paw through the grass. I figured not to speak and let the words come to her. My frayed nerves didn’t dare intrude and make her backtrack with what she already said.
She let off a soft sigh. “But after that stunt with Lily and you putting that block in your mind, I felt something different. Like you would never see me for more than your pokemon, but I wanted to be more than that. I wanted you to have the same reaction to me as you did her.”
She shrugged. “Maybe it was because she was an eeveelution that I thought I could be that to you too. Some jealous part of my brain wishing it was me that got a rise out of you instead of her.”
“Not like I liked having those thoughts,” I murmured out.
That earned me shove from the eevee as she said, “Which is also why I didn’t do anything. Thinking we would return to simply being pokemon and trainer after all this and I didn’t want to make it weird. I didn’t want to mess up what we already had.”
She went back to playing with the grass. “I kept those thoughts aside because you were so uncomfortable about being a pokemon and all that.” She turned to lock eyes with me, “But the pheromones brought everything to the surface. My true feelings for you, Aster. You are a kind, devoted pokemon and I love you because of that. You are the only one I want to be with.”
She turned away. “Not physically, but just like this. Cuddling. Relaxing. Being with each other.”
“Me too,” I finally spoke up. My mouth was dry. My heart still beat rapidly. But I was relieved beyond relief that she did in fact harbor similar feelings for me. That this was mutual. That this wasn’t the product of artificial attraction.
“What about you?” The eevee asked jabbing me in the side.
“What about me?” I asked back with a cock of my head.
“When did you finally find feelings for me?” She asked with a sly smirk on her muzzle.
I turned away as my face felt warm. She let off a laugh as she poked my side. “I just dumped my feelings on you, it’s only fair that you do the same.”
I didn’t turn her way as I answered, “Today.”
“Today?” She repeated.
I nodded. “After you were knocked out I fell into a deep spiral.”
I hung my head, and it was my turn to play with the grass. “Like a deep darkness had taken root inside me. A hollow feeling when you were not by my side.”
“You going to cling to me like this then?” She asked rubbing her head against mine. I returned the affection.
“I just felt lost and alone without you. Like I was incomplete. I didn’t know what it was till I figured out that I wanted to stay a pokemon.”
“Stay a pokemon?” She repeated back a bit shocked. “You do?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I feel so much happier as a pokemon than I ever was as a human. I want to be a pokemon. And I want to do it with you.”
“Sappy,” she said poking me again.
“I’m your sap,” I said sticking my tongue out at her.
“Yes, yes you are,” she said removing herself from me. She jumped in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. She purred as she said, “You’re all mine.”
“Uhh, guys?”
I jolted upright and to my paws as Hanna made her way over to us. She gave us a hesitant look before she asked, “Are you two okay?”
“We’re good,” Brooke said nuzzling me.
“What’s going on?” She looked to me, then back to Brooke. She quickly asked, “Should I leave you two alone?”
The insinuation in her tone had me blushing and Brooke laughing. The eevee rolled on the floor, unable to form a word. A clearing throat stopped us. Standing in the doorframe was the collection of rescued pokemon, the riolu at the front with the rolycoly in his hands. The woopers right behind them. The sylveon had the fidough on his back. The paras brought up the rear. The riolu asked, “Is the Guild going to be here soon?”
“They should be,” I offered. I wasn’t sure how long it would take them to get here. I had no idea how far away they were to begin with. But I figured that was the best response. It had been a good long while since Dante vanished with Sam. I figured he must have told them about us the instant they appeared back in their Guildhall.
“We all just wanted to thank you for saving us, Aster,” the riolu added. The rest of the gathered pokemon shared the same sentiments. I felt a bit weirded out by the multitude of praise coming from so many pokemon all at once.
“It wasn’t just me,” I quickly said, trying to deflect some of the praise off of me.
“But you were the one that found and freed us,” the sylveon said.
“You’re the one who defeated the braixen,” one of the woopers added.
The more they pressed the more I realized their were right. But it still felt weird. I know I was a guild member, but all I’ve done up to now is collect items and fight ferals. This is the first criminal I actually faced. This is the first real heroic thing I’ve done in my life. And Guild members do this stuff for a living.
A small bit of pride welled up inside me as I realized that their praise was not placed wrong. That I was a part of the reason they were all free now. I saw no reason to fight them on the matter and let it be. It felt good to hear how happy they were to be liberated from the torturous life they thought they would endure for the rest of their days. And I played a major part in that. I couldn’t help but smile. I’m a hero.
A screeched piercing the air made the fur on my back bristle. I jumped to my paws as I quickly gathered the energy for a magical leaf. My eyes shot to the sky as the silhouette of a large bird circled overhead. The riolu rushed out and peered upwards. He asked, “Is that the Guild?”
“I hope,” I said, not dropping my attack as the bird spiraled down towards us. As it got closer I could easily make out it was a talonflame. But they also had a bag looped around their body and a bright teal scarf was wrapped around their neck. They made a few more circles before coming to a hover in the clearing. They silently analyzed each of us. Their eyes lingering on the fainted braixen and ekans. Their eyes settled on Hanna and asked, “Team Star?”
“Yes,” I answered stepping forward. “Did Dante send you?”
The bird nodded and came in for a landing. They pulled a small grey cylinder out of their bag. The scorching pokemon raised it up and a bright blue flare shot forth and high up in the sky. They then stowed the device away and turned to us. “The rest of my team will be here in a moment to take you all to the Guild.”
A subdued cheer rang out from the gathered pokemon as they exited the shack and congregated around the bird. Not even a minute later two more flying types quickly descended upon us. There was a noivern and a pitch black metallic bird that joined the talonflame. Both had the exact same bright teal scarves. The noivern pulled out a small chrome cube which faintly glowed blue. The dragon type ordered, “Everyone fall in, and we’ll get you all to the Guild.”
No one had to be told twice, and we did as he commanded. The metallic bird scooped up the ekans in their talons and the talonflame did the same with the braixen. Once we were all gathered, the bat held up the cube. Bright blue light consumed us, and the misty clearing and shack vanished. We appeared in a room where every inch was made out of wood. Not wooden planks or logs, but wood itself. Like we were inside of a tree. We were standing on a circular stone platform with glowing magenta runes.
A group of pokemon quickly descended upon us, startling me to the point I just barely begun to charge up a magical leaf before the one in the lead said, “Will all pokemon needing medical attention please follow me.”
The one that spoke was a towering figure with long cotton candy blue and pink locks that were modeled in the shape of a dress. They had a wide brimmed, almost witch like, hat on their head that had a long arm like tassel that ended in a three fingered hand. At their side was a chimecho and what seemed to be a floating lei. The tiny little ball with eyes the only indication the lei was an actual pokemon.
The next several seconds were a whirlwind of activity. All of the pokemon from the shack fell in line and followed the trio through the only archway out of the room. The trio of avians left as well, with the braixen and ekans in tow. Brooke refused to leave with the medical staff, remaining at my side clinging to me. She licked and nuzzled me as she said, “I’m fine, I don’t need medical attention.”
“You were force fed sylveon cum,” I deadpanned, “You need to get that stuff out of your system before we do anything else.”
“B-b-but,” she blubbered as she wrapped her paws tightly around my neck.
The lei floated over. They asked in a tiny squeaky voice, “What happened?”
“She.” I nodded my head at the eevee locking me in a death grip. “Was given a large amount of sylveon cum to induce a heightened sexual state.”
The lei nodded and then said to Brooke, “You need to come with me so we can get that gunk out of your system.”
Brooke gave me a pleading look. She was desperate to not be separated from me now that we were back together. But I knew it was for the better. She needed to get well, first and foremost. It was a bit humorous that she was now the one not wanting to be separated. Looks like the shoe is on the other foot.
I was okay with her leaving because I knew she would be safe and that it was only till she was back to her normal self. Hanna helped with extracting the shiny from my side. Brooke pouted, shooting me a hesitant glance as she followed the nurses out. I gave the eevee a smile and offered, “I won’t be far.”
That didn’t seem to make her feel all that better, but she did relent and followed the lei out of the room. I wanted to follow her and join her, to not be that far when she obviously wanted me by her side. But I also knew my presence would be counterintuitive to her getting the medical aid she needed. She did not need her focus of attraction around her when she was being cleaned of the aphrodisiac coursing through her system. It was best for us to separate till then. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too long.
After everyone left, it was just me and Hanna in the room. The only other pokemon with us was an elgyem, who had silently watched the whole arrival and departure of all of the pokemon. They weren’t facing us, nor did they ever speak up. I wasn’t sure what to do or where to go now. I knew we were in the guild chapter Dante and Sam called home, but I had no idea where this place was or the layout of this strange building. I doubted that all of the chapters were build the same and followed the same layout. Hanna seemed just as hesitant as she asked, “What do we do now?”
“Can you two please come with me,” a deep but timid voice sounded off as the towering form of a charizard lumbered their way in. The massive lizard shying away, unable to meet our eyes. His wings wrapped around his body like a protective blanket. I gave the fire type a raised brow. He scuffed the floor, somehow not scoring the wood with their clawed foot, and added, “The guildmaster would like to talk to you two.”
The lizard didn’t make to move, nor did we. He remained in the doorway tapping two of his claws together while he silently waited. I was a bit hesitant to follow the charizard willingly, not knowing who they were. I didn’t know anyone here, but I also knew this was another Guild chapter. I figured everyone here was trustworthy. It was just the events of the day that had me a bit on guard. I was curious about what the guildmaster would want with us. I figured we would stay here till Brooke was good and then we would leave. Not really involving ourselves with the goings on of this chapter. Cash out what krownes we still had and get ourselves prepped for going after the shard of the Star nearby.
“Why do they want to see us?”
“They would like to talk about what happened in the Lodestone River,” the fire type answered. He took a step out of the doorway. “Please follow me.”
That made perfect sense. I did want to avoid any interaction with a guildmaster I had no history with. Mostly because of our situation with the guard and the whole sanctuary thing. Dawn and Pip were at least informed and accommodated our special circumstances. Plus the penguin knew I was human. But I had no idea who the guildmaster here was. But, I also saw no reason not to trust the charizard, and did as he asked. I moved off the platform and towards the door with Hanna right behind me.
We followed the fire drake down a short hallway to a colossal room. Again everything was made of wood, and the room gave the impression we were inside a massive hollowed out tree. We were on what seemed to be the ground floor with several hallways leading off to other sections. A staircase carved out of the tree led upwards in a spiral to more floors up the entire length of the gargantuan tree. I counted four in total. The cavernous like hollow looking to be at least sixty or so feet tall and twenty wide at the ground floor. It did taper as it rose up. Holes bored through the trunk let amber light stream in and cast the interior in a warm glow. The ceiling at the top was dominated by a massive chandelier that resembled an upside down glowing white leaved tree.
The entire area was alive with activity, pokemon moving here and there. Bird pokemon were taking advantage of the large air space. There was a line of pokemon at a circular desk that sat in the center of the ground floor. A pair of indeedee, a male and female, were manning the station and dealing with the various teams turning in their completed jobs for the day. Off to the side was a large hole in the tree that led to the outside, pokemon going both ways through the gap. The sounds of an active city filtering in through. I saw none of the medical staff or any of the pokemon rescued from the braixen. Thus I had no hint of where Brooke was. Some pokemon were coming from a set of stairs leading even further down. They had crates and barrels in their arms or similar appendages. A large collection of pokemon were making their way down one particular pathway as well.
We ignored the desk and the crowd of pokemon as the charizard walked towards the staircase. I knew he could easily fly to where he was leading us, but since we were ground bound he no doubt was staying terrestrial. Some pokemon turned our way, but I ignored them. Hanna shuffled closer to me and used me as a shield to hide behind. The fact she was sans her typical zorua disguise did strike me as odd since she almost always had it on whenever we were around others. I couldn’t help but lean in and asked in a whisper, “Why don’t you have your illusion up?”
She gave me a timid look, then turned away. She softly answered, “I don’t want to hide behind it anymore.”
I know she wanted to hide the fact that she was a ghost type for obvious reasons that were still lost on me. I just saw that as a means to avoid persecution from the less openminded pokemon. I never saw it as her hiding behind a false mask. I know that was what zorua were know for, but it was more for playing tricks. Yet, she wasn’t all that much of a trickster. But there was still the racism towards ghost types that I never got a clear answer on. I wanted to press and ask her why, but I also felt like now was neither the time nor the place to do so. I felt it would be better when we were alone and not in the middle of the Guild to ask such questions.
We remained silent the rest of the way as the charizard led us up to the second floor and along the long balcony that ran the entire length of the tree. The lizard turned down a random hallway. This one was short and had only three doors. He went up to the one in the middle and knocked on it. The door opened from the inside, a large purple nidoking standing in the passage. I guess that’s the guildmaster.
They gave us a toothy grin as they said, “Well, hello there.”
“Hello,” I offered with a wave of a paw. Hanna mirrored the action, but remained silent.
“Ursula wanted to see these two,” the charizard said. The nidoking nodded and stepped aside.
Ursula? Then who is the nidoking? The charizard shuffled in, ducking his head under the lower doorframe. He moved off to the side and gave the nidoking a quick peck on the cheek. The poison type huffed and shoved the large lizard aside. The charizard just chuckled as the two moved off to the side and sat on a pale lavender couch. The two of them pressed closed together.
I shuffled in with Hanna. The room was a spitting image of Dawn’s back in Eldergrove, giving me a strange sense of déjà vu. There was a light stained desk with a black wing-back chair. The back of which was turned towards us. There was a bookshelf off to one side with a pair of purple armchairs. A pair of chests sat opposite that. One corner was dominated by a small garden of various sad looking plants in various states of decay. A plush black and purple rug ran the length of room. There was another armchair near the garden that a staraptor occupied. The large avian giving me flashbacks to the middle evolution we encountered back at the farm. I shied away from the meaning glare of the bird. Is that Ursula?
“So,” a voice echoed out from behind the chair at the desk. My attention snapped to it, as did everyone else’s. “You two are this…Team Star?”
“We actually have a third member,” I corrected whoever was speaking, “An eevee named Brooke, she’s currently being treated in your infirmary.”
“And you two are?”
“I’m Aster,” I answered tapping my chest with a paw. I waved at Hanna and said, “And this is Hanna, the other member of our team.”
“Now.” the speaker let off a heavy sigh. “Can you please recount to me the events that transpired in the Lodestone River mystery dungeon.”
The chair spun around, revealing who I assumed was Ursula. Sitting in the chair was a tiny pokemon in comparison to the three others gathered. Seated in the chair was a dedenne. I did a double take. Not expecting the tiny pokemon to be the guildmaster when the rest of, what I assumed was the lead team, were far larger than them.
I shook off the shock and squared my stance before answering her request, “We were spending the night at the Hearthstone Tavern when Sam, the leafeon, went missing. His partner, Dante, requested our assistance as we were the only other Guild team at the tavern at the time.”
“Which chapter are you from?” The dedenne asked.
“Eldergrove.” I answered.
Hanna added, “Yuletide.”
“Where are your bandana and badge?”
She was no doubt asking me that since Hanna was the only one with such items anymore. I started, “I…”
My words failed me, and I turned away from the intense look the rodent was giving me. How can such a tiny pokemon make me feel so terrified?
It was something about the aura radiating off her that made me fear her. The fact she was the leader of a team with much larger pokemon than her meant she had to be tough. I slowly continued, “Brooke and I had an…altercation with the guard. They confiscated my bag, bandana, and my badge.”
Ursula gave a small hum and nod of her head. She waved a paw. “Continue.”
I turned back to her and did as she commanded. “We were directed towards the mystery dungeon by a shiny braixen.”
“The same one that was the root of this whole issue?” Ursula cut in.
“Yes,” I answered with a nod.
She simply waved for me to continue, which I did. “The braixen said that Sam was taken by a toxicroak covered in blood red ink to the Lodestone River. We proceeded through the dungeon, getting separated by Brooke fainting and me falling through a pitfall trap. Upon my exit from the dungeon I found a shack in the middle of the woods that had a host of pokemon being tortured. I went about freeing them when the braixen arrived. A fight ensued. Sam was one of the pokemon being tortured and he saved me from a powerful fire attack from the braixen. Brooke and I then proceeded to defeat the fox and knock them out.”
I sighed having finished off my retelling of the events that transpired today. Ursula gave a small series of hums and a couple nods. She turned to the staraptor and asked, “What do you think, Irene?”
“What about you, fox?” The bird asked pointing a wing at Hanna. The zorsune stiffened at being called out and shuffled closer to me.
“Wha-what a-about me?” Hanna asked.
“As the sprigatito has said,” Irene explained, “He was separated by a pitfall trap and the one that fainted was the eevee. No?”
“Ye-yes,” Hanna answered with a small nod of her head.
“Then what happened with you and Dante while they were dealing with the braixen?”
I was curious myself about what had happened after I got separated. I hadn’t had the time to ask Hanna with all the hectic events going on after the braixen was defeated. Nor did I feel all that compelled to do it, figuring I could ask her later today. But now that the question was in the air, I listened with rapt attention as the ghostly fox answered, “After Aster fell down the pitfall trap, we made our way through the rest of the dungeon trying to find any hint of the Painted Pokemon. We scoured the rest of it as best we could, but didn’t find any hint of them. We came upon the realization that the braixen had lied to us and we then worked to get out of the dungeon.”
“How did you find Aster and the others,” Irene pressed.
“We saw a massive dark type attack shoot across the forest right after we exited,” she answered, “I figured it had to be either Aster. We headed straight for where it came from and that’s when we found Aster and everybody.”
The avian nodded and sat back down on her perch. The dedenne cleared her throat and drew our attention back to her. She gave a small smile as she said, “That checks out with what Dante had told us.”
In two quick jumps she hopped from her chair to the desk and then to the floor. As she walked she said, “I want to personally thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty in this matter.”
She came to a stop and gave us a small bow. “You didn’t need to involve yourselves in this matter, but you did all the same. Because of your actions several pokemon are now free, a bad pokemon will answer for their crimes, and we have a possible lead on the Painted Pokemon with one of them now in our custody.”
She smiled even wider as she continued, “I will see to it that your are rewarded for your efforts.”
“Thank you,” I said on instinct. I wasn’t expecting much of anything, but a reward for the trouble we went through would be nice. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I trusted the electric type would make good on her promise.
“I’ll have Sophia make you new bandanas if you’d like,” she offered, “It isn’t right going about as a guild team without the proper identification.”
She quickly added, “And I can have your badges replaced as well.”
“That would be greatly appreciated,” I said with a smile.
“Black and yellow?” The staraptor asked.
I took me a second to realize she was asking about our bandanas. I gave her a nod and added, “Argyle pattern.”
The bird returned the nod and made for the exit. Ursula then said, “We can have that ready for you by tomorrow.”
I thanked her again. She then pointed to the charizard and nidoking and said, “Riley and Francis can show you to the mess hall so you can have something for dinner. I’ll have a room set up for you while you stay here.”
She pointed to the charizard first and the nidoking second when she called out their names. We thanked her again as the large pokemon led us out of the room. I stopped and rushed back in as I realized the weight on my side. I slipped off the bag as I said, “Also, this does belong to Dante and Sam. I never got a chance to return it to them.”
“We’ll make sure it’s returned to them,” Ursula said before the avian retrieved it from me.
I bowed as I exited and followed the charizard and nidoking down the staircase. As we walked Francis asked, “So what brings you to Arcadia?”
“We were fleeing Eldergrove just like everyone else,” I answered.
“The black sphere thing mons are talking about?” Riley, the charizard, pressed.
“Yeah,” I answered with a nod of my head.
My focus shifted to the hollow tree when they didn’t ask any more questions. I still couldn’t believe we were inside of an actual living tree even with it hollowed out this much. Any normal tree would die from even a fraction of this evasiveness. I tried to find any hint that it was just a building made to look like a tree, but I couldn’t see anything to support that possibility. I then asked, “Are we actually inside a genuine tree?”
“Yes, we are,” the nidoking gleefully answered as we reached the ground floor and followed the river of pokemon heading to where I assumed the mess hall was.
The poison type continued with a flourishing wave of his arm, “This is the Great Tree of Arcadia, and the home of the Mystic chapter of the Royal Guild. This tree is one of the oldest in all of Kino. Believed to have been the mother tree to most of the ones in the Godwoods. A lot of the homes here are built out of hollowed out trees.”
“But,” I followed up, “How do you keep the trees alive if you hollow them out?”
“These are cernun trees,” the poison type answered, “Trees unique to Arcadia and the Godwoods. They can keep on living even when chopped down. They have been blessed by the grace of Xerneas. That is why they can survive in such a state.”
Hearing the name of a legendary pokemon from my home region was a bit surprising. But thinking about it for a few seconds, it also was not. Pokemon from every region back home seemed to live all around Kino and this world. There were even ones I had no idea where they came from. So it kinda made sense that all of the legendries and mythicals would also exist here. Does that mean Yveltal is here too?
We walked the rest of the way in silence till we arrived in a large oblong shaped room. The floor and walls were covered in stone and only the ceiling was made of the wood of the magical tree. Glowing white moss in the ceiling lit up the room as if we were in sunlight. A collection of diverse tables and chairs dotted the area in a loose splattering of controlled chaos, no two seeming to match. The room was pounding with activity as pokemon ate and conversed. The smells of several different meals filtered in the air and made my mouth water. It wasn’t as large or packed as the one back in Eldergrove, but it still had the same charm and relaxed environment.
We migrated towards a table in the center of the room that was empty of any occupants. A few pokemon glanced our way, quickly turning away the second my vision passed in their direction. I could make out a few hushed whispers amongst the cacophony of noise. My cat ears making it an easy task. I wouldn’t be able to do so if I was still human.
“Who are they?”
“Are those two a new team?”
“Do you think they’re part of those pokemon rescued today?”
“Why are they with Francis and Riley?”
“Is that a zorsune?”
I ignored them as Riley claimed the empty table, opting to sit on the ground than in one of the chairs that was a bit too small for the large lizard. The charizard turned to Francis and said, “I’ll stay here, you take them to the food line.”
Francis nodded and asked, “You want the usual?”
“Yes, please,” Riley said with a smile and nod.
Francis waved us forward and we moved towards the back of the room. As we walked, I took a bit more notice of the pokemon gathered here. They had just blended into a mess of faces and bodies as I was focused on other things when we first arrived here. Now that we had a moment of calm, I set about identifying what species I could. There was a butterfree, a snubbull, a durant, and a reddish brown bulldog looking pokemon sitting at one table. Another had a heart tailed pikachu, a buneary, a male eevee, and a furfrou. The poodle pokemon’s fur was done up in the debutante style. Only the accents were a smokey grey instead of yellow. Another table had a golduck, what seemed like a fire rabbit football player, a pink mantis made of petals, and a bipedal electric yellow feline.
The food line was a long stone counter with several stations manned by various pokemon. Those collecting food moving down the line with trays and selecting what they wanted from the options available. I got faint memories of the cafeteria back in school. I hope the food is actually edible.
We joined the line with Francis grabbing four trays and taking the lead. There was a spot for Hanna and I to jump up on so we could be level with the food behind the glass barrier. The nidoking kept the trays moving as we moved down the line and selected what we wanted.
There were six distinct stations in total. The first two were vegetables and fruit respectively. However, the options were lacking. The grumpig and xatu serving them sadly said it was due to the ongoing blight that they didn’t have much to offer. I opted out of anything, what they had didn’t attract my interest. Francis took a bowl of apple slices for both him and Riley. Hanna took a cluster of grapes and a scoop of corn.
The next two stations were meats and side dishes. Francis got two helpings of grilled chicken. I took one as well. The nidoking got a simple small salad; lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and dried cranberries. I opted for a scoop of mashed potatoes. Hanna took a helping of potatoes as well. We then moved on to the last two stations, which hosted a collection of premade sandwiches, a large pot of soup, and some baked goods. Hanna took a grilled cheese and a mini apple pie. Francis and I both took small blueberry tarts.
With our meals made, we then crossed the room back to the charizard. The nidoking easily held all four trays and brought them over. Riley stepped in to help dish them out when we arrived. We ate in relative silence. We made small talk about the matters going on and some tales of missions. We didn’t have much to offer up in the latter category, but the two of them had stories to spare. Being the lead team they had seen and done a lot. I was perfectly fine with letting them control the conversation, I was really just following the motions. I was drained and just wanted to get this day over with. I wanted Brooke to get better, and I wanted to be on our way towards the shard.
But I also knew we couldn’t be too hasty with our quest. I didn’t want us to jump headlong in without being properly prepared, and I knew we weren’t. Roland proved that he and his forces were powerful pokemon one shouldn’t take lightly. And that wasn’t even considering the enhancement, and mania, the shards gave them. Roland was powerful beyond belief and easily dispatched several pokemon with ease. I expected his minions would be just as powerful. And the Lodestone dungeon proved we also needed to get better. We needed to train. We needed to power up.
And that wasn’t even bringing up our limited supplies. We already lost a good chunk with what the guard confiscated. We lost even more helping the pokemon tortured by the braixen. We had no funds on hand either. We would need to find an Exchange and do some shopping before doing anything else. But that would also zero out our funds and leave us with nothing for the rest of our journey. There were seven other shards to get, and they were spread far and wide across Kino. We need to get some more money.
One positive was that we were now in an operating chapter of the Guild. It may not be the one we joined, but I figured we could do some jobs to make more funds to keep us going after we got this shard. Taking some time to do some smaller jobs, getting ourselves ready for our main quest, didn’t sound all that bad to me. But I also wanted to get Hanna and Brooke’s opinion on it to see if they felt the same. And with Brooke sequestered till she was no longer under the influence of the sylveon splooge that would have to wait till then. I didn’t expect either of them to say no to the plan, but I just wanted to make sure.
We finished dinner not that much later and Francis took the trays to return them. While the poison type was busy, Riley offered, “Let me show you to your room.”
We left the nidoking behind and followed the lizard back to the main room of the guildhall. We ascended the stairs once again, but this time to the third floor. A lot of pokemon were heading this way as they too retired for the night. We still got stares from those we passed and there were more hushed whispers. The ones I could make out innocently asked who we were and if we were a new team. I was a bit happy they weren’t any that went beyond that. I ignored the stares, but Hanna shied closer to my side.
Riley came to a stop at a random door and used his badge to unlock it. His crown was a brilliant sapphire blue. He turned to us with a smile and said, “This will be your room for your stay here. You won’t be able to lock and unlock it till you get your own badges.”
I nodded and gave him a quick thanks. He pointed down the walkway to the only open entryway, all the others were closed off by doors. He said, “The bathrooms are over there.”
He turned back and then asked, “Do you need anything else?”
A shared glance with Hanna proved we were good, and I said as much to the fire type. He gave us a nod in return and made to leave. He stopped midstride and quickly added, “I’m just down a floor if you ever need anything. Don’t hesitate to come find me.”
He waved us off and left us to our own devises. We returned the gesture. Hanna made for our room, but I didn’t. I said to Hanna, “I’m just gonna go to the bathroom real quick.”
She gave a silent nod and retired to our room. I made my way towards the bathroom, nature requesting I answer its call. I didn’t care for it being a communal bathroom. I much rather prefer the privacy of a solitary one. Beggers can’t be choosers.
Right at the entrance to the bathroom was a paper nailed to the wall with bright red text, ‘Please keep your water usage to a minimum’. I figured it was because of the ongoing blight affecting everything. We’ve been told repeatedly in passing the affects and seen some of the effected farms, but the true scope of the ongoing disaster had yet to be said or revealed. How bad is it truly?
I passed the sign and entered the pale blue room. The wood of the tree had been replaced with blue and white tiles with pale grey mortar between them. Every inch of the area was covered in them, leaving no hint of the tree exposed. Two partial walls, not running the full length of the room, split the space into three sections. The area in the middle was lined with cubbies and wooden benches.
Standing in the middle were two pokemon, a delcatty and a lucario. The two were engrossed in a conversation, and I gave them little attention. At least, that was until I spied something. Or the lack there of. The delcatty’s rear was turned towards me, giving me an unobstructed view of their backside. But there wasn’t anything. No slit, spade, balls, or sheath. It was just a flat field of cream colored fur. The lucario had a towel wrapped around their waist, so I couldn’t check them if I wanted to. This gave me pause, but I quickly adverted my gaze so they wouldn’t catch me staring.
Rather continue standing where I was and draw attention to myself, I quickly moved off to the left. But the fact I couldn’t see anything on the feline didn’t makes sense. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t see anything. I knew for a fact the block had been broken. I had seen Brooke and Hanna’s spades back in the Salty mystery dungeon. I hadn’t really focused on any other pokemon’s groins as I figured I somewhat adapted to the nude state of most pokemon. I had come to terms that I could see pokemon’s bits. I hadn’t willingly looked at anyone else since then out of disinterest as well as not wanting to creep on anyone. At least...I thought I did.
Now, I had no idea if the block was even still a thing. I thought it had been broken by the damn jolteon. I never double checked to see if that was the case for obvious reasons. But this delcatty had accidentally openly exposed themselves to me, yet I didn’t see a thing. A vague memory of Roland surfaced in my mind. Specifically that he lack any anatomy when he flashed himself at me back in the castle. I didn’t really thing about it at the time because of more pressing matters. But the memory resurfaced with a vengeance.
I rushed towards a shower stall, as that is what this side of the bathroom was dominated by. I needed some privacy and solitude, and the shower was the perfect place. I grabbed the curtain and drew myself shut in the tiled enclosure. I sat down as the memory of the mismatched maniac replayed in my head. Even if he had both male and female features, he was outwardly male. I was confident in that fact. So, I expected him to have the matching anatomy. As the fragmented memory played out in my head, I recalled there was nothing of the like. Nor was there anything to denote he was a she instead.
But that didn’t answer as to why I saw Brooke and Hanna and still no one else. The block would not work on pokemon I had an actual desire for. Which implied that I had feelings for the both of them. I now had such feelings for the eevee, but I didn’t have them back then. At least…I think so.
That was a can of worms I didn’t want to open, but the implications still did terrify me somewhat. Even though I loved her now, the fact the block knew me better than I did myself felt a bit wrong. Like I couldn’t trust myself. I was a bit relieved it was more or less water under the bridge after the events of today.
But then there was Hanna. I knew for a fact I didn’t have feelings for her, she was just a friend. And I didn’t want her to be more than that. And I only saw Brooke as a partner, my pokemon, back then. Unless I always loved her…
It still didn’t answer Hanna and the delcatty. Camille had to have broken the block. It was the only thing that made sense. Yet I had evidence to the contrary. I had proof that it was still functioning. I didn’t want to go out there and test it to be sure, I did not want to come off as a creep or a pervert. Yet I needed answers. I needed to know if the block was truly still in place and working as it should. And if it was, why I still saw Brooke and Hanna unblocked back then. Yet I knew I wasn’t going to get any answers sitting in a shower by myself. The only way would be to go back to my room and ask Hanna, but I did not want to do that. The idea of asking a friend to present themselves to me for science did not sit well in my stomach. I could ask Brooke…
We had professed our love for each other. But I didn’t want to ask her either. We had just told each other our feelings today. It still would feel weird to ask her to do such a thing. I didn’t want our relationship to jump immediately to something like that request might entail. That was for something well down the line when we wanted to take a step further. Nor did I want to try and sneak a peek to check. That feels even creepier.
I shook my head as I softly asked myself, “What the dis is wrong with you, Aster?”
I knew no one would answer me, but I just needed to voice the question. It was just too weird. Nothing made sense anymore. And I had no viable way to solve this without it being weird, awkward, creepy, or some combination of the three. The only other option I could think of was to ask Lily herself. She was the only one I trusted with digging in my mind to check if the block was still there and working properly. She was the only one I could go to. Yet she was miles away in the opposite direction of where we were headed. She was not an option either.
I resolved myself to not figuring out what was going on till I discussed it with someone I trusted, whether that was Brooke or Lily. I did not want to rope Hanna in on this whole situation. I let off a heavy sigh and hung my head. “What is wrong with me?”
Again, I didn’t expect an answer, I just wanted to voice it to the world that I was confused about my situation. The quirks of this pokemon body were still lost on me and I felt like I wouldn’t find out all the answers. At least, not for a long time. And not by myself.
I moved towards the curtain to exit the shower and get back to the main reason I came here. I didn’t see any toilets or such, so I figured they had to be on the other side of the bathroom. But my mind was still racing with questions on the state of the mental block. I figured it was gone, but with the possibility of it still being there had me concerned. It left far too many implications in the air.
I let off another sigh as I rounded the corner, passing by a white and blue rabbit with a long bushy striped tail wrapped around their waist like an innertube. Don’t dwell on it Aster. You’ll figure this out eventually.