Chapter Text
When Rei woke up that morning, He had expected that today was the day he would muster up the courage to finally ask the guild to accept him. He never would expect he would run into this, however.
Out of all the pokemon who were out today, he was the one to find a singular Mudkip found curled up on the beach. The little Shinx wasn’t sure what to do. And then, The Mudkip woke up, and spoke two sentences to Rei.
“I am Emmet. I think there’s a verrrry big problem here.”
The Mudkip - Er, Emmet, Rei supposed his name was - was a weird one. Rei didn’t even have to hear anymore to know that. For one, The Mudkip didn’t seem good at standing on four legs. It would fall every time it would try to get up, Much to Rei’s worry and confusion.
“Are you okay? Is something broken?” Rei inquired, “There’s a guild nearby we can bring you there and-”
“I am fine. I have four legs, That is not normal.”
Rei fell into a confused silence. “Er, Seems perfectly normal for a Mudkip to me.”
“.... Excuse me?”
“Yes?”
Emmet sat up onto his hind legs, Rei thought it was quite silly. But then he started to inspect parts of his body and face, pinching and pulling with his small paws. Once he seemed satisfied with the results, he fell back to four legs with a blank look.
“I am a Mudkip.” He simply stated.
“Yes, You do seem to be one…” Rei simply smiled.
This pokemon was giving him very off vibes now, Perhaps it was time to return home…
“I am not supposed to be a Mudkip. I am Emmet, I am a Human. So why am I not human-shaped?”
“Wait what, Human?” Rei was even more confused now.
“I have a verrrry strong feeling that I am not supposed to be a pokemon. But I have no memories to back this information up.” Emmet’s grin turned at the corners slightly.
Yeah, This guy hit his head a bit too hard in the tide.
“... You’re a really strange Mudkip, you know that?” Rei commented with a hesitant laugh.
“But I am not a Mudkip.”
“Well, However you look at it, You are one now. I don’t quite believe that you are a human, Humans haven’t been alive for a long time now.” Rei sighed, “Look, Let’s get you to a doctor, okay? They can tell what’s wrong and help you with your injuries-”
Rei was interrupted by a Koffing slamming into him full force, Knocking the shinx into Emmet. A soft thud was heard nearby, Rei groaned with pain. He turned around, kicking up some sand behind him, to see a Zubat and the Koffing nearby cackling with laughter.
“What’s the big idea, you big jerks??” Rei’s fur sparked with static as he growled at the two pokemon.
“Aw, the wittle kitty has some static problems~!” Koffing cooed, floating up in Rei’s face.
The Shinx snapped at the gas pokemon, who simply floated quickly out of range of the pokemon.
“Lookie, Lookie what I found Koffing.” Zubat commented from behind the two other pokemon, “I found some treasure!”
Rei spun around, seeing Zubat holding his precious satchel. The cord around it was snapped in two, it must have fallen off when Koffing tackled him.
“No! That’s mine!” Rei charged at the Zubat, but there was little he could do against a pokemon with wings.
“Finder’s keepers, Losers weepers!” Koffing cackled, “Let’s get out of here before the baby decides to grow a pair.”
“Like that’ll happen.” Zubat snarled.
The two cackled once more at their jokes before ditching the two, heading into a nearby cave.
“No…” Rei muttered, “My… Treasure.”
“I am assuming those two are not your friends.” Emmet simply commented.
“N-no… They’re….” Rei fell short, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, “I’m going to go get it back. Can I ask for your assistance??”
“No.”
Rei blinked, “No?! But I can’t do this alone!”
“I can barely stand on my own. I cannot help you.”
Rei glanced back down at Emmet, who was managing to stand on all fours although his legs were threatening to give in at any second.
“... Fine, I’ll go alone.” Rei muttered as he turned his back on Emmet.
He heard Emmet call out to him, but ignored him as he entered the nearby cave.
—--
Rei knew it was a bad thing to enter a mystery dungeon by himself, He could have gone to the guild and put a request in! But… How would he become an explorer himself if he ran away from a small dungeon like the Beach Cave?!
The pokemon weren’t anything he couldn’t handle himself, he was able to take down most of the pokemon who chose to attack him with a well placed Tackle attack, well, before he would flee to the exit.
Finally, he caught up to Zubat and Koffing. He was exhausted from traversing the small dungeon, but he had to get his precious treasure back.
Koffing was the first to notice his arrival, seemingly surprised that Rei followed them all this way.
“Tch, You’re that desperate for this thing?” Koffing snarled, “Must be worth quite a lot then!”
“Why don’t we try our hand at selling it at the Kecleon Market? We might be raking in the big bucks with this thing!” Zubat chided with Koffing.
“Wait- No!” Rei took a small step forward, “That’s… That’s mine! You… have no right!”
Koffing glowered at Rei, A low laugh coming from his mouth. “Then take it from us, Wimp.”
Rei swallowed nervously, his paws instinctively falling back a step. He had to mentally stomp on that instinct down as he dug his heels into the ground.
“I-I will!” He snarled.
Rei charged at Koffing with all his might, jumping and knocking the floating gaseous pokemon out of the air. They both landed with a thud, Rei rolling to his paws as fast as he could muster.
“Lucky shot, Kid.” Koffing growled as he regained his altitude.
Rei didn’t notice as Zubat took advantage of the distraction, chomping down onto Rei’s back with his fangs. Rei squeaked in pain as he shook Zubat away, only to be met with a tackle from Koffing. He rolled a few feet away, flooding precious air into his lungs as he gasped for breath.
He couldn’t do this, Not alone. He just started training his body for arceus’ sake! There was no way he could handle a real fight.
“Do yourself a favor, brat.” Zubat said, “Stay down.”
“I… I…” Rei weakly muttered, tears once more threatening to flow from his eyes.
“Stay away from him!”
Rei’s eyes widened as something jumped over him, tackling Zubat to the ground.
It was Emmet, A white cap now propped precariously covering his fin on his head.
“Mr… Emmet?” Rei muttered, standing to his paws, “I thought you couldn’t move?”
“I figured it out soon enough. Now then,” Emmet turned to Zubat and Koffing, “I am Emmet. I do not have my memories at the moment. I know this. I love double battles. Two on one is not fair so as punishment for breaking the rules, you must be forced to forfeit. Or else.”
Zubat and Koffing glanced at each other with confusion. Rei raised an eyebrow as well, This guy was definitely weird.
“Forfeit? This isn’t some sports match or something!” Koffing argued, “Now get lost before you end up like your little buddy there.”
“Shinx, Can you move?” Emmet asked, offering a small paw to Rei.
Rei couldn’t help but sob slightly, wiping his tears as he took Emmet’s paw.
“My name is Rei.”
Emmet’s smile didn’t waiver as he turned back to their opponents. “Well then, Rei. Will you do me the honor of being my partner in this battle?”
“Of course!”
The two lowered themselves into a battle ready position, Rei could feel the static run through his fur as he glared at Koffing and Zubat.
“Well then, if it’s a battle you want,” Zubat bared his fangs.
“A battle is what you’re going to get!” Koffing snarled, a fair bit of noxious gas flowing from his body.
The four clashed, Teeth and claws digging into each other. Not once did Rei feel the same fear he did just a few moments ago, Not now that he had a… partner.
—---
The two wandered out of the Beach Cave, beat up and exhausted. But Emmet couldn’t help but smile as Rei proudly wore the satchel they retrieved around his neck. The sun had long since gone down, the stars and moon illuminating the ocean before them. Rei stopped in front of Emmet, pausing and looking at the ocean.
“... Thank you, Mr Emmet.”
“I was just assisting a passenger in need.” Emmet shook his head, “It was nothing.”
Rei smiled a toothed grin at Emmet. He reached into the satchel, pulling out a small rock engraved with a strange pattern.
“This is what was so precious to me. I just had to get it back at all costs. It’s… my entire motivation for leaving my clan.”
“Your clan?” Emmet tilted his head.
“All Shinx and their families live in clans. We travel around, never staying in one place for longer than needed. I found this one day and was intrigued by the pattern on it. I’ve… never seen anything like it before.”
Emmet peered at the engraving on the stone. It truly was unique, but Emmet didn’t know enough to say anything about it.
“I’ve always wanted to go adventuring, since I was a little pup. So I thought, ‘This is my chance! I can go on an adventure and investigate this!’ I think it came from some sort of ruins, perhaps someone picked it up and dropped it where our clan happened to roam and I found it! It’s destiny that I go and find out where it came from!”
“That is why you’re here instead of with your clan.”
Rei shuffled his front paws in the sand.
“Y-Yeah. There’s a guild here, I wanted to join. I’m… weak, on my own. I know this, I’m not unrealistic. But I thought I could join a team there! Someone would be bound to take me in, I hoped. But…”
“But..?”
“I couldn’t go through with it.” Rei sighed, “The guild is huge, imposing. I’m just so… small. They’d never take someone like me.”
Emmet remained silent, letting Rei take a breath of air.
“So I want to ask you a favor.”
“Go on.”
“Please form an exploration team with me, Mr Emmet!” Rei shouted, closing his eyes tight.
Emmet was stunned into silence, his smile unwavering. Rei wants him to form an exploration team? They just met after all, Rei doesn’t know anything about Emmet! … Nor does Emmet, for that matter. Maybe it would be good to form this team with Rei, it would give Emmet a chance to figure out his memories. Perhaps traveling with this young pokemon would even jog a few. Not to mention, The battle gave Emmet a familiar thrill, albeit it felt different visually. If there were more things like that, Then Rei could count him in for sure.
“Alright, I’ll do it.” Emmet nodded after a few moments of deliberation.
“You will?! Thank you!” Rei’s eyes literally lit up with excitement, “We can get registered in the morning, We’ll have to think of a team name and oh geez-”
Emmet couldn’t help but laugh as Rei rambled on with excitement. It felt verrrry familiar in a way.
“Oh I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Come on, I have a place we can sleep at for tonight.”
“Lead the way then,” Emmet nodded, “All aboard!”
“... You have some funny words there, Mr Emmet.”
“I am Emmet. I am not sure why I say these but they feel verrrry familiar. They feel… right in my mouth.”
“Fair enough, I suppose… You said you were human, Right?”
The two began to walk up the beach.
“Correct.”
“I’m… not entirely sure I believe you but I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. There’s a lot of weird things in our world, so I’ll believe anything really halfway at least.”
Emmet didn’t answer, continuing to follow the young shinx along the path leading from the beach.
“But I wonder if those words you use have to do with your past. Though I don’t recognize anything that would have to do with those words. We can start with what you do know though. Your name is Emmet, and you clearly enjoy battling. What else do you remember?”
Emmet closed his eyes and hummed.
“There is a motion in my mind that feels correct. However, my current cab does not allow it.”
“A motion?”
Emmet stopped and nodded. “It feels like…”
He slowly stood on his back legs, shaking as he held his balance. He then moved his left arm downward, and the other pointed at Rei.
“This. This is correc- Fuck!”
The Mudkip fell forwards, knocking the air from his lungs.
“Are you okay, Mr Emmet??”
“I am Emmet. I am a bit bruised.”
Rei sighed and shook his head, offering a paw to Emmet. The amnesiac pokemon accepted the paw, picking his hat from the ground where it had fallen. He dusted it off before placing it back on his head.
“Where did you get that hat, by the way. I didn’t notice it earlier on the beach.” Rei inquired.
“I found it nearby. It just feels correct to wear it. I am unsure why but I cannot bear the thought of losing it.”
“Well, It looks nice. It suits you.” Rei agreed.
Emmet’s smile grew as the two moved onwards.
Yeah. This is going to be an okay arrangement.
—--
Grovyle unrolled his map, frowning as he found the markings he had made with Emmet didn’t appear in this time period. He remembered where most of the gears were, one or two escaped his memory, however. He sighed, placing a claw on the map. This period was different, things didn’t look familiar and yet everything was exactly the same. But he knew where he was heading first.
“Treeshroud forest… That’s the first one I’ll get.”
He couldn’t rest, not until he had them all. Emmet was working towards the same goal, Their paths would cross eventually if fate wanted them to. Until then, he had to work as hard as he knew Emmet was.
Grovyle rolled the map back up, propping it the pocket of Emmet’s coat. The pokemon fell into Emmet’s usual pose, Emmet’s strange habit had rubbed off on him.
“All Aboard.” He muttered softly, before dashing towards his goal.