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Luz shook the restlessness out of her hands by checking her map for the sixth time. There weren’t any other buildings this far into the Safari Zone, so yep, that rickety tower down the way had to be it. The Owl House was both larger and quainter than Luz expected. It was so infamous back home, she’d half-expected it to be constantly on fire, or covered in evil plants, or at least have a bizarre sense of architecture. From this far away it was just a series of colorful windows joined together with chipping stucco, capped off by a faded, but cheerful blue roof.
It was a good color. It reminded her of her mom’s scrubs, the way the seams were stitched with a little highlight on the edges and pockets, the way she still made such an effort to be present in Luz’s life despite how tired she was all the time, and all that reminded her of the shiny new phone carefully tucked into her backpack. She should call home later to tell her how things were going, impress her with how smooth her sailing was so far.
Day one, total novice. Day one hundred, well, who knew what she’d be? She hummed, flush with the thrill of Starting Something Wild and New. Then again, there was nothing stopping her from being as loud as she wanted here. She upgraded herself to a huge whoop and a leap like she was in a movie. She picked up speed, imagining she was racing a Rattata rustling through the grass, or a Dragonite winding its way through the skies, or a Lickitung using its tongue to propel itself like an extra limb. The Johto outside her hometown was absolutely beautiful and she couldn’t wait to see the rest of it, the rest of Kanto, heck, why not the rest of the world!
The path was a little winding and made the house look closer than it was, so she was out of breath by the time she actually reached it. The silo tower that looked so rickety from down the way was bigger than it seemed; it must have been a later addition because it was a totally different material. The stained glass windows were surprisingly vibrant. They looked better maintained than the rest of the house and featured more birds than just owls, despite the name of the place; there was a Hoothoot, but also another kind, and a big orange one, and what she thought maybe was supposed to be the evolution of Hoothoot but she forgot its name, and all their colors popped in the late afternoon sunlight. Luz nodded. Clearly the person who lived here was a person of taste.
She didn’t hesitate to knock ‘shave-and-a-haircut’ right at the door. Day one, step one: make a good impression!
While she waited, she took the opportunity to take the house in properly. Now she could see that it was surrounded not by tall grass, but something of an unkempt garden; among the fruit bushes and aggressive patches of mint she recognized yarrow and motherwort, like her mom grew. The garden sprawled a ways away from the house. That was sort of impressive, and Luz wondered if the owner had needed permission from whoever ran the Safari Zone to keep it. It was much less organized than the farm back home, but it had its own charm for that. Wait, was that a pokemon weaving through those tall stalks?
She peered intently into the tangle of bushes. Nothing but berries.
Luz frowned. “Hmm.”
She craned her neck to look at the windows again. Come to think of it, maybe the smallest one was a Rowlet, and the evolved form was Hoothoot? That sounded like it could be right.
Would it be rude to knock again? Maybe the owner was out. Maybe she should look around the back to see if they were still around. Or would that be more rude...? Okay, probably knocking again was fine. But she was curious about the silo and looking wouldn't hurt.
There were a couple chairs stacked up in a little clearing behind the house. It was a nice spot, actually, overlooking the river that marked this edge of the Safari Zone. She could imagine water pokemon making their way up the slope and taking a break up here in the shadow of the silo, enjoying a sit-down berry snack.
A Lotad would offer its friends berries from its lilypad top like a maître d’ with hors-d’oeuvres.
Please, my good sir, have another.
Oh, no no, I couldn’t possibly impose.
They’d demure at each other with increasing formality until a Psyduck waddled along and snapped up the lot while they were too busy oh you-ing and it would be absolutely adorable so
Wait. Food was a great way to make friends. Maybe she’d be able to lure a new friend over and make a head start on her journey herself! She scrambled to the edge of the embankment, fresh berries in hand and eyes trained for movement in the water.
There — something was moving in the water, something that was not a fish. She patted her jacket for a pokeball.
“And what do you think you’re doing with those, kid?”
Luz yelped, squishing the berries and losing her footing in a full body flinch. She threw her hands out in a frantic attempt to right herself, but she’d dug the balls of her feet too deep in the mud when she shifted forward; she overbalanced, falling toward the water. No — she hadn’t even caught a Pidgey yet! She was too plucky and cute to fall to her death maiming or inconvenient injury now!
A sudden jerk pulled Luz’s backpack, and her by extension, back onto the embankment. She twisted to avoid landing on her bag or the precious cargo inside, falling on her side instead with a soft grunt.
She sprawled on the ground, recovering her breath. There was a tall shadow looming over her.
“Hi,” Luz squinted. "Sorry, are you the owner of these berries?"
“Look, I don’t know why you would even try to catch something from that far away, but you should know that you can’t catch anything in the Safari Zone without a Safari Ball.” The owner of the voice that had spooked her was indeed the owner of the Owl House, as well as all the berries, herbs, and sundry surrounding it. Her name was Eda, the Owl Lady (“You mean, you’re an Owl Trainer?” “...No.”), and she was both incredibly cool and incredibly intimidating.
“I actually did not know that.” Luz didn’t know most things. It was pretty much the default state of her life up to this point. “That’s helpful, thank you.”
She was washing her hands of berry residue in the kitchen/sunroom addition. It turned out the rustling she noticed earlier really had been a pokemon, who had alerted Eda to possible shenanigans. Eda’s fine-tuned sense of hooliganship (hootliganship?) had led her to startle, and then save Luz with perfect timing. As a one-time aspiring thespian, Luz admired her sense of the dramatic (also, wow could she pull off a cape).
Luz summoned her own sense of flair, running a damp hand through her hair. It was still a little sticky but the sentiment was more important than the effect, anyway. She cleared her throat. “Miss Eda—”
“Just Eda.”
“—fate has brought me here for an important reason. I’m here to ask you to give me a pokemon so that I can start my epic journey!” She shut the faucet off just in time to turn and see Eda’s unimpressed expression crack up into incredulous laughter.
“What? Kid. What on this slimy green earth makes you think I’d just have Pokemon lying around to give to random brats wandering onto my property? I’m the Owl Lady, not some professor nerd from the League. How did you even get this far into the Safari Zone if you don’t have any pokemon already? They shouldn’t have let you past the entrance!”
“Oh, I just... walked.”
“From Cianwood City? That’s at least a full day away if you’re going through Cliff Cave, you’ve gotta be kidding—”
“No, no, from Dunsparce Town! It’s not really that far, just a bit of a hike.”
Eda blinked, last traces of good humor slipping from her face. “From Dunsparce Town?” Her eyes gleamed.
“Uh,” Luz took a step back. “Yes?”
“Ah, well, in that case.” Eda rolled her neck, cracking her knuckles and stretching like she was about to deal out cards. “Let’s talk business.”
She led Luz through to another room. It was a stunning space, and she almost couldn’t believe how huge it felt compared to how normal the house’s proportions seemed on the outside; its vaulted ceiling extended all the way to the second floor, with little open windows where birds flew in and out. The walls were covered in all kinds of pictures, posters, and travel miscellany; the furniture looked worn and squashy as heck.
Eda waved her hand in invitation at a baroque chair which Luz had almost missed for the nest of mismatched pillows piled on top. Luz stifled a little squeal as she shrugged her bag off and plopped onto it. This was exactly the kind of place she’d want to live in someday.
Eda took a seat on the arm of the sofa, leaning forward on interlocked fingers. She paused for a moment, humming thoughtfully as she looked at Luz.
Luz gamely put on her best interview face, straightening in her chair and dislodging some of the pillows. Bring it, Owl Lady. From staging full one-man musicals to making surprisingly healthy breakfast food, she’d try her best at whatever quest Eda had in mind. Enthusiastic, energetic, totally and completely trustworthy: there was nothing Luz Noceda couldn’t do!
Eda spoke, finally. “There's somebody I’d like you to deliver something to. Goes by the name of Grimmjaw. If you get my delivery to him safely, I’ll see what I can do about getting you a first pokemon." A slow grin spread across her face. "And in the meantime, you can travel with my assistant.”
“Deal!” Luz thrummed with excitement. Wait, assistant? Maybe the multiple birds on the stained glass stood for more bird themed ladies. If so, she really wanted to meet Orange Bird Lady.
“He’s been complaining about being cooped up here anyway, so at least it’ll give him a chance to stretch his legs.” Eda leaned back on the sofa. “King! Get down here, we’ve got company.”
Ah... not an Orange Bird Lady then.
Luz was still caught up in her half-thought out hopes about a bird-themed crime fighting team when grumpy footsteps came stomping down another hallway. She shifted apprehensively in her pillow nest.
Eda shot her an amused glance. “He’s feisty, but I think you can probably handle him.”
“No one handles me but me!”
Luz heard the retort before she saw a little dog peek around the corner. She waited a beat, expecting someone else to walk through.
They made eye contact. The dog’s eyes were… yellow? It was glaring at her. Oh... that was not a dog. That was definitely not a dog.
Luz’s eyes were doing the anime sparkle thing, she just knew it. She made a dash for the not-dog, scooping it up and grinning like a fool. “Hello!! I’m Luz, who are you, you little cutie pie?”
“Agh!” He wriggled in her grasp, violently flailing his little legs in a futile attempt to escape her snuggly embrace. “Eda! Who is this mannerless charlatan accosting me and why aren’t you stopping her!”
Eda rolled her eyes. “Really? I just said both your — okay, King, meet Luz; Luz, King. You’ll be traveling together to make sure this trinket here gets to our good friend Grimmjaw.” She pulled a brown paper package from under the couch with her foot, kicking it over to where Luz had King encircled.
Luz let her grip on King slacken a little bit, curious about the package. He slipped out of her arms and immediately climbed onto her shoulders, making her lean forward with a surprised grunt. She picked the box up. “What’s in this?”
“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, Grimmjaw lives in Blackthorn City. Usually I’d just ask Owlbert to fly this over for me, but everything I’ve tried to send him has been coming back return to sender—”
“I can’t imagine why,” King scoffed into Luz’s hair.
“—so I’m hoping this’ll work if somebody actually walks in and brings it to him. He could never pass up a mystery box like this.”
King pawed at Luz’s shoulders; she held the box higher for him to inspect. “Is this what I think it is?” He sounded a little doubtful.
“It’s just a little token of appreciation, if that’s what you’re asking.” Eda sounded dismissive, but even Luz could tell she was feigning nonchalance.
“Well, okay,” Luz said, trying to be cool about this box that she absolutely did not need to know the contents of. “I wanted to travel across all of Johto anyway, so I can definitely make sure to just deliver this to him when I get to Blackthorn City. Don’t worry, Owl Lady, I won’t let you down!” It seemed like King knew what was inside anyway, so she could probably ask him if it came to it.
“It’s a little more time-sensitive than eventually, kid. Get it to him before the Silver League starts up again — that gives you almost a month, which should be plenty of time.” She narrowed her eyes. “King knows how to get in touch with me, so if anything comes up, he’d better.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be fine. With her height and my keen intelligence, might, and generally fearsome nature, we’ll crush anybody who gets in our way.” King waved an imperious paw and straightened to his full height on Luz’s shoulders, claws in her hair to steer her like a warrior with their chariot. His claws were tickling her a little, which was cute. He was also leaning away and causing her to pitch backward though, which was not as cute. “You can just await my owl, got it?”
A low rumble from outside shook the room, distracting King and Eda from their banter and causing Luz to give a start. Losing the fight to regain her balance, she tipped backwards onto the floor with a whuff of air. King leapt clear with an affronted “weh!” — more like a clingy cat than a dog, then — but the house kept shaking.
Eda groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ugh, again?” She slid gracelessly off the sofa and made her way to the door.
Luz rushed back to her feet and followed her outside, with King grumbling behind them.
There was something stirring in the garden.
Her first thought was that this must be the longest creature in the world. It was gigantic, and came from the ground like a Diglett — even just its head was huge, big enough for her to wrap her arms around and not reach the sides. It moved with a deft smoothness defiant of its size. Watching it was like seeing a statue carving itself out of the air.
Luz struggled to find words, practically vibrating in place. “King, look! Look, look, look!”
King sniffed a little. He was pointedly facing away, still a bit offended by Luz’s carelessness. He took his sweet time before deigning to turn and look. “Yeah, believe it or not, people actually consider this one a legendary.”
Eda rolled her eyes and scoffed. “A legendary pain in my ass, sure.” She started to slouch her way back inside. “King, just make sure he doesn’t tear up my Pinab berries again. You kids be safe out there, I’ve got elixirs to brew.” The door clattered shut. Belatedly, Luz heard her shout, muffled as it was through the weathered wood. “You got one month, kid!”
Luz blinked, nodded absently. She was still looking up. The pokemon just… kept going. It was taller than the Owl House now, taller than the weathervane with Owlbert perched on top even as it stooped over to keep looking at them. The weight of its gaze made her shiver. She felt acutely aware of the placement of her feet, the breath she’d been holding since she saw it emerge, her hands hanging loose at her sides. Was this what wild pokemon encounters were usually like?
“King,” she started. She paused, surprised at how faint her voice sounded. “What is that?”
King perked up a little, happy to be taken seriously as a fount of Pokemon-related knowledge. He smoothed tufts of dark fur on his snout with the air of a professor adjusting a pair of glasses. “Well, he’s pretty rare. Maybe even the only one of his kind? I don’t think the world could handle another Hooty, so that’s probably for the best. From the look of him he’s a Ground type. Hmm, probably got something else floating around in there too, though. He’s really strong, but also a weirdo. Eda’s always grumpy when he comes around because he’s always messing up her plants and causing minor earthquakes when she’s trying to concentrate….”
Luz relaxed as King went on. This was still a pokemon. It was just a pokemon who happened to be a bit of a weirdo! Well, she was a human who happened to be a bit of a weirdo, so this just made sense. This was fine. This was great, even. She felt a sudden surge of protectiveness. While her initial reaction was fair considering she'd rarely ever seen any pokemon more interesting than a Dunsparce, being a big weirdo didn’t make someone scary. She knew what it was like to feel like an outsider, always messing up people’s plans when you only meant to help and be a part of something.
“Don’t you see?” The murmur slipped unbidden from her mouth, a quote from one of her favorite torrid dramas that she loved to repeat at the slightest provocation. “We’re the same, you and I.” She clutched her jacket to her heart with feeling.
Right, King had kept on talking. “...just exploded everywhere and that’s why none of us are allowed in the shed without Eda anymore. So we need to get a move on right now because otherwise—”
“Oh, hi King! I didn’t see you there!” Oh wow okay it could also talk, okay. It was opening and closing its beak, but there were no clacking sounds — only a shrill and almost painfully enthusiastic voice emanating from nowhere in particular. It seemed to be pretending it hadn’t been staring directly at them for a couple minutes already. “And who are you ?” It swept forward, cocking its head.
The sunset played on the edges of its form, making it feel like the rest of the garden was framed with a wavery vignette. Luz felt her heartbeat in her eyes, somehow, straining hard to look at it in the light.
“I’m Luz Noceda, and I’m going on a Pokemon Journey!” Reciting the words she'd practiced a million times restored some of her confidence. “And King’s coming too, to teach me about Pokemon.”
"More like to get out of the house," he corrected, "but sure. That too. "
It twitched — happily? — and cooed. “Ooh, that sounds like fun! Can I come?” It craned still closer to Luz, unconcerned about the dull thump of its head against the dirt as it bent to eye level.
King crossed his arms. “No,” he said flatly.
“I can catch bugs!” it wheedled (Weedle-d?), as if that would convince him. “I can catch so many bugs,” it repeated, turning to Luz. “I can catch flies, and beetles, and moths, and bees, worms, spiders, Shedinja, flies, and all the different types of bugs there are!” Its attempts at fluttery blinks were accompanied by a soft creaking noise, like an old windmill turning.
Luz swallowed. This close and she still couldn’t see any light entering the fathomless holes its eyes cut into its face. “Well, I — can’t think of a reason why not?" If King was saying something, she could not hear it. It felt like its eyes occupied her whole field of vision as she plowed on. "The more the merrier, is what they say, and you know, weirdos like us should stick together!”
“I’ve never been so happy in my life! Hoot, hoot.” It pulled back a little to spin, now, rotating smoothly while maintaining eye contact with her. She managed a shaky grin. The hoots were endearing, really.
King slapped a weary paw to his forehead. “You’re going to regret this, Luz," he muttered darkly. "I know I already do."
Fully ignoring him, Luz willed all the courage she could into her sweaty fingers, grasping for one of the new pokeballs in her jacket’s inside pocket before she lost her nerve. With a quick roll of her shoulders, she fell into a loose pitcher’s stance, stepping back on one foot and winding her arm back to throw her first pokeball.
Its short arc seemed to last forever, momentous and weighty in the last vestiges of the fading dusk. Luz drew in a slow breath as she watched it fly. Day one, go…!
Finally, the ball activated and burst into light. It was the first time she’d ever seen it this close before and she lifted an arm up involuntarily to protect her weak eyes, dazzled by the rainbow glare, but it was over before she could consciously think to stop blinking. The ball landed with a light bounce on the dirt path once, twice.
It chimed once — Luz chanced a glance at King, who was narrowing his eyes at the ball, leaning closer just like she was — it chimed twice, still wobbling — they took a step closer — and the red light disappeared.
Luz struck a victory pose.
All right! Hooty let himself be caught.
