Chapter Text
It wasn’t fair that we got sent out to the coastlands and couldn’t even bring Iscan or Etta with us. Iscan needed his friends, and I didn’t care what anyone said to the contrary. It wasn’t healthy to ruminate alone for so long. Etta said that everyone grieves differently, and I got it, really, but forcing us away couldn’t be a good thing.
It was beyond too bad that they couldn’t come, too, because the ocean was Beautiful with a capital B. There were fewer storms, secret beaches, and neat rock formations. Cute Spheals rolled through the sand like oversized balls, and they didn’t even care if you got right up next to them and pet them. My parents cared if I pet them, of course, because I should leave them alone unless they came to me first and asked for pets, but Spheal basically always asked for pets and they were playful and perfect. It was too bad the trip was absolutely ruined by the absence of my GRIEVING FRIEND who NEEDED ME.
***
“There hasn’t been a distortion, so I say we set up here!”
“This is a cliffside. We’re not setting up on a cliffside, dear,” Mom replied.
**
“No distortions! I’ve found the perfect spot.”
The nearby Walrein roared at us.
“Lucky! Get us out here!” Dad yelled.
***
“Look at that view! Excellent for look outs!”
Mom forcibly rotated me from the great view at the top of the cliff after our very long walk up to the distortion that was forming just down the way we were avoiding.
“Well, we’re not in the distortion,” I argued.
Dad crossed his arms.
“Not here.” Mom’s voice had that note of finality in it she used in all her arguments.
***
“Thank you so much for your hospitality! Ransa, say thank you,” Dad said, hissing the last part at me from between his teeth.
“I still don’t want my future read. Lucky doesn’t like you, and that’s enough of a character witness for me.” I stared at Warden Enid in the eye, daring her to disagree.
Mom’s sigh could barely be heard over Warden Enid’s cackling.
“You’ve got guts, kid!” Warden Enid choked out after she was done laughing at me.
“There are plenty of awesome spots here, do we have to suggest right next to her house?” I asked my parents.
The longer the conversation went on, the more Dad looked like he wanted to sink deep into the earth, never to be seen again. Mom just looked tired.
Lucky, like the absolute best boy he was, nodded and crossed his arms to mimic my stance. I smiled at him briefly before turning my attention back to Warden Enid.
I knew I was being rude, but really, who greets someone for the first time ever by saying they were surprised to see you alive? Warden Enid, that’s who. The entire time we’d been working with her, she was insistent that I was actually a ghost but, at the same time, not a ghost, which was creepy and unnerving and other unpleasant adjectives. Lucky was also not particularly happy with her, and, despite his general fear of confrontation, had taken to standing between her and me.
Warden Enid was short, shorter than Etta’s mom even, but with the longest hair I’d ever seen falling in gray waves around her body like a robe. Despite her walking cane, she was fast, and in her hands, her cane was a weapon as much as it was a mobility aid. She didn’t have a partner Pokemon other than her charge, Lord Basculegion, but I doubted she needed the protection. Her uniform was dyed black and gray, to “better reflect the majesty of ghost types.” Anyone who dared to say that perhaps ghost type Pokemon weren’t the greatest got an hour long lecture on the subject, one that I was not keen to hear again.
“Ransa,” Dad said despairingly.
“Set up the settlement on the pirate ship like the girl asked. I’d be very happy to visit,” Warden Enid said, grinning all the while.
“Please don’t encourage this,” Mom replied.
“I’ll tell you what! Why do you two rest here and little Ransa and I will infuse Lord Basculegion’s snacks with a dark pulse. We can get to know each other better, and I’m sure she’ll come around. We’ll be back right after sunset.” Warden Enid looked far too pleased with herself at the offer.
“What?” I demanded. Lucky cried out in a similar tone.
Mom looked between us consideringly. Dad was a little less sure looking, so I turned to him and made my biggest, saddest eyes.I could even make myself tear up a little on command.
Before Dad could cut in with what I knew would be a polite rejection based on his expression, Mom agreed with Warden Enid. “That sounds like a splendid idea. Honey, we can work on putting together our proposal for this location while Ransa is with the Warden.”
Dad looked between me and Mom before asking Warden Enid, “And she’ll be safe?”
“Of course!” It was the first time Warden Enid had actually looked offended.
Mom smiled at Warden Enid and said, “We thank you for looking after her in your task.”
Warden Enid scrunched her nose and waved in front of it as if the thanks were a bad smell. “Don’t; it’s more for me than you anyway.”
And that was how I ended up creeping through shipwrecks with Warden Enid, Lucky, and a very loud Chatot named Kid.
“Kid, go make some noise over there!”
Kid was very good at making noise. Normally, I’d approve of exploring shipwrecks and pretending to be pirates and entertaining Chatots that apparently weren’t necessarily Warden Enid’s partners but were friendly anyway, but I was determined to dislike Warden Enid. No cool adventures could sway my opinion.
“Is that an actual treasure chest?” I stared as the last rays of the sunset gleamed off something shiny on the wreckage across the sand from us like a flash of golden Magikarp scales in a river.
“Why don’t you and Lucky go find out while Kid and I provide a distraction?” Warden Enid was grinning conspiratorially.
I grinned back before catching myself and glaring at her. “I will, but only because I wanted to anyway and not because you told me to.”
“Of course,” she replied.
I narrowed my eyes before turning to meet Lucky’s watchful gaze. “What do you say, buddy?” I reached out my hand, and Lucky reached back immediately.
Teleporting was a strange feeling, but one that was easy enough to get used to if you did it often enough. It was a little like having Yanma crawling all over you; it felt like their wings sounded. And then it was over and you were somewhere else. With the ease of practice, I crouched and landed in the new location without stumbling. Lucky floated slightly above the ground before setting down soundlessly.
The crate that had caught my eye was right in front of us, and our backs were covered by the high sides of the shipwreck. I braced myself as I crawled forward and was rewarded with a splinter in my hand.
“Ow,” I complained.
Lucky, wonderful best partner that he was, pulled my hand over to take a look. I paused while I felt a brush of his psychic energy against my skin. Then the splinter gently pulled itself out and was incinerated; the ashes wafted dramatically to the planks below.
“Thanks!” I chirped.
Lucky smiled up at me, so I patted his head affectionately. Apparently psychic types were known to sometimes communicate directly with their partners once they better developed their powers; I looked forward to being able to chat with Lucky. As if sensing my thoughts, something that was very possible, he floated up and near my arm expectantly.
“You’re spoiled,” I told him, not meaning it at all. I wrapped my free arm around him, feeling the shift as he stopped floating and let me carry him instead. I nuzzled the top of his head. “And you deserve it.”
“Now,” I said while refocusing, “time for treasure.”
The crate was weak, and with Lucky’s help, I pried off one of the boards to find the sparkly thing within.
“Pretty,” I mumbled. There was a rock within that seemed to glow from within. I showed it to Lucky, who chimed in response; I imagined he was remarking on how pretty it was as well. It fit into my pocket with a couple other nice rocks and feathers I’d found. I traded a grin with Lucky. “Success!”
There was a rumbling from behind us.
“That didn’t sound good.”
We turned slowly to face a Duskull floating, its red eye/spirit/whatever moving behind the skull that made its face. Even smaller than Lucky, it was tiny for a Duskull. It tilted sideways as it floated, as if cocking its head. Apparently tilting too far, it tipped all the way around in a circle, the red light spinning within as it did so.
“Uh, hello,” I said.
It considered me for a moment before suddenly swelling in size and yelling something that sounded like a scream of a Carnivine as it lost a fight against a mountain. It was low pitched, but not less startling for it. The force of the scream blew against my hair despite the distance between it and us.
“Time to go!”
Lucky wasted no time in teleporting us back to Warden Enid. She was leaning casually on her walking stick as she watched us phase into sight. “I hear you’ve made a friend,” she teased.
“Are we done?”
“Nope!” Warden Enid cheerfully pulled out a small cloth warped pouch from somewhere within her coat and handed it to me.
I looked up at her in confusion and mistrust. “What’s that?”
“That,” she said while grabbing the hand not carrying Lucky and placing the pouch in it, “is Lord Basculegion’s snack. Get that Duskull to use Dark Pulse on it, will you?” There was no plan of attack or warnings attached to the request, something I wasn’t quite used to after Iscan and Etta’s constant beseeching to be careful.
I looked back at the shipwreck we’d just been on. The Duskull floated casually up from it and was looking around. When it spotted us, it was almost like seeing a fire light in its eyes. It floated in a lazily curve toward us.
I felt Lucky push down, and set him on the ground. He was watching the Duskull approaching us.
I could feel his determination and nodded. “If you’re sure,” I told him.
Most people tried to reply to me, as if I wasn’t obviously speaking to Lucky. Warden Enid did not. It was a reluctant point in her favor.
I looked down at the pouch in my hand. If the Duskull was smart about it, it’d probably use a dark pulse on Lucky since Lucky’d be weak to it. And this pouch had to be infused with a dark pulse, which had to mean using the attack on it.
“Got it. Lucky, right before a hit, switch with this.”
He didn’t even turn to make a confirming chime.
The Duskull was upon us. It did its scream thing again, and I tensed at the same time Lucky did. That was an unsettling sound. It disappeared momentarily before reappearing directly next to Lucky.
“Hold,” I told him.
Lucky pivoted to keep the Duskull in sight, but otherwise stayed exactly in place.
The Duskull dipped while floating, almost as if it were sulking. Then it pulled itself back together and puffed up. Shadows started to gather around it, making it appear larger than it was.
“Hold.”
The shadows congregated in front of the Duskull.
“Hold.”
The Duskull unleashed the dark pulse aimed point blank at Lucky.
“Now!”
Then Lucky was in my arms and the pouch was in the direct path of the pulse.
“Ha!”
The Duskull looked around and saw Lucky back in my arms. It tilted side to side and then spun around again.
I couldn’t help pointing at it and teasing, “Got you!”
Lucky teleported the bag on top of my pointing finger, and I had to scramble to grab it. Then he pushed down again and stood in front of me prepared for battle.
“Right,” I said and tensed my legs, ready to move if needed.
The Duskull swelled again, but instead of launching an attack, it started laughing, a wheezing sound that was slightly like a bad cough.
Warden Enid’s own cackling laugh accompanied it in a moment. “Excellent work!”
She hadn’t moved from leaning against her walking stick, apparently unconcerned about the fight blooming in front of her.
“And all without even launching an attack. You two work well together.”
The Duskull floated idly over to Warden Enid. She smiled at it. “Of course, you did well too.”
My shoulders slumped. “You know each other.”
“Well, I did promise your parents you’d come to no harm, didn’t I?”
I pouted.
“Oh, don’t be like that. That was still a clever way to get Lord Basculegion’s snack. I do appreciate a good trick. What were you going to do next?” She pushed against her walking stick and slowly made her way over next to us.
“Lucky would’ve gotten the snack, like he did, and then we would’ve run over to you and teleported away.”
Warden Enid nodded. “That would work. Though, you know, teleporting won’t solve every problem.”
“I know.” I scooped Lucky back up and into my arms, and he snuggled in immediately. After all, though we’d been able to help a lot during the distortion back home, we hadn’t been able to save nearly enough people. Lucky chimed sadly. “Not your fault,” I whispered to him.
Warden Enid’s face dropped to something serious. “Of course you do. My apologies.”
Most adults didn’t apologize to me. They’d make excuses or explain why they did something, but seldom did they really say sorry. I begrudgingly accepted that maybe I’d judged Warden Enid a little harshly.
She nodded at the Duskull floating next to her. “This here’s Monster.”
Monster bowed midair, something that flung him into a spiral that he struggled to stabilize.
“That seems like a mean name,” I said. Then I nodded. “But hello Monster, it’s nice to meet you.”
Monster swelled in size and let out one of those upsetting screams again. I barely held onto my smile.
“It’s the name he prefers,” Warden Enid said, a laugh hidden in her words.
“Then it’s a fitting name.”
Lucky chimed at Monster, who quickly floated down to Lucky’s level and started making crackling noises back. I shuffled the snack pouch into the same arm that held Lucky and tentatively held a hand out.
Petting a ghost was a little like petting the wind. Monster was definitely there, but I could pass right through him. The exception was his skull mask, which was sold and oddly warm. I scratched lightly at it, which he seemed to like.
“Reading futures has become fraught lately.” Warden Enid’s words snapped my attention away and back to her.
“I told you, I don’t want to hear my future.”
Warden Enid nodded understandingly. “And far be it for me to be tell you against your will. I’m not telling you that.”
I narrowed my eyes before nodding back at her to continue.
“What I’m saying is that more than a few people have come to me with two futures, if not more. You’re one of those people who seem to have many futures woven into one tapestry that I can’t quite picture. It’s like someone is changing the weave on purpose.”
I shrugged. “So? I’ll make my own future. Nothing new to me.”
Warden Enid blinked before grinning. “I suppose so.” She clapped me on the back, and Lucky braced me psychically before I could stumble.
After playing with Monster for a little bit, as he disappeared and Lucky teleported around in a complicated game of hide and seek, we started to head back for Warden Enid’s house.
She had been mostly silent until she asked, “Have you ever considered training to become a Warden?”
I stumbled. Lucky blearily opened his eyes from where he rested in my arms. “It’s nothing, back to sleep,” I whispered to him. He closed his eyes again and was back asleep quickly.
“I’ve never thought about it.” I knew that there were a few kids around the village training with various Wardens for the possible privilege, but I had never been one of them. I had other training to do and adventures to go on. “I want to travel the world,” I told Warden Enid. I had never considered voicing my dream, but I realized it was my dream. “I want to see all of it and meet people and pet Pokemon no one here has ever seen.”
Then I worried that I sounded silly. It was a grandiose dream, and it wasn’t something that would necessarily contribute to the clan or help me get by. I didn’t know how I’d travel or even if I’d really be able to leave Hisui. It sounded like something that would be teased. I braced myself.
Instead of teasing, Warden Enid nodded as if that was the most reasonable thing I’d said all day. “Fair enough. If you change your mind, though, well, you know where to find me. I have a feeling Lord Basculegion would like you.”
I looked over at her consideringly. “Maybe,” I finally allowed.
Then we were back at what would be the future settlement site. Her house was only a little further up the hill.
“We’re going to travel the world,” I whispered to the sleeping Lucky while Warden Enid went to greet my parents.