Chapter Text
...
......
...Drifting.
They were drifting once again.
Another life, another death.
Over and over again.
...What's the point anymore? They didn't even get to watch their child hatch. They didn't get to raise a family this time.
What was the point of trying? To keep going and saving and protecting pokemon? There was no reward at the end of it all. It just didn't matter anymore. Why fall in love anymore? Why care about others? If they were going to be taken away from them in the end? And like this...
Even though they had no body right now, they still felt something. A very faint and numb pain. The pain was deep in their soul. It was a part of them.
...They're so tired of this. They don't want to do this anymore.
They gave it another chance. She stood out. They wanted to try once more. And look where that got them.
A new feeling overcame them. A strange feeling. Something...numb. A sort of dull pain. The pain was shifting into something else though. Apathy. Numb but strong feeling of apathy.
They felt their soul shift. Like flipping to the next page of a book.
Faintly, they began to feel something. A new body was beginning to form. As the shape became more solid, they thought they heard something. A low rumble in the distance. Like a distant earthquake of some nature.
Slowly, they opened their eyes. They were in the middle of the ocean. They moved their body a little, looking over themselves. They were a skrelp.
They took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
...Well, time to move on.
~~~~~
They struggle in the ocean. Some pokemon swim towards them, but the skrelp glares in their direction and they swim away. They don't want help. Their fins are too small and too weak to swim properly and they aren't getting very far. A dhelmise slowly floats up from beneath them, catching them in it's seaweed. The skrelp struggles for a moment, looking over at the dhelmise in confusion and they're about to tell the pokemon off.
"Hey, easy there kiddo," the dhelmise speaks first in a gentle voice. "It's ok to need help, alright?"
The skrelp looks over this pokemon and then looks away, not saying a word. They wanted to get away from this pokemon, but they wouldn't be able to if they tried. Their body was simply too weak and they wouldn't get very far on their own.
"Where are you trying to go? Where's your family?" The dhelmise asks.
They're still quiet for another moment before finally saying a few words quietly. "I don't have any." The only reason the dhelmise heard the words at all was because it was right next to them.
The ghost pokemon looks taken aback for a moment. "I see." It says simply. They expect it to ask more questions about that, but it doesn't. "Is there somewhere you'd like to go?"
The skrelp looks around. Nothing but the ocean around them. "Where are we? Where's the closest continent?"
"Well, the desert continent is closest, but that's not one a little one like yourself should go to," the dhelmise hums thoughtfully. "The other one isn't much further out though, and there's forests and mountains and all kinds of other stuff on it. You want to go there?"
Ah, they know exactly where they are. While they had no real destination in mind, their first choice would be land over ocean. They knew what lurks in these waters, and it's not something they want to deal with. The sooner they leave the ocean and don't come back, the better. "Yes."
"Alright, I'll take you there." The ghost pokemon pauses. "I'm Captain, by the way. What's your name?"
Every time they wake up in a new body to live a new life, a name appears in their mind. The name that was given to them for this life. "Amara," they say softly.
"Ok then. It'll take a bit of time to get there, but I'll get you there." Captain swings it's anchor back and forth a couple times and then begins swimming, not going too fast and Amara tightens their grip on the seaweed they're attached to.
The journey is mostly quiet, the dhelmise speaking up every now and then to ask a question or make an observation of their surroundings. The ocean overall right now is quiet, some pokemon swim by and mind their own business for the most part. Once they approach the continent, Captain rises closer to the surface of the water, just barely breaching the waves to look out towards the land. There's a beach in front of them, with a forest not far from the shore and a large hill nearby with a lot of rocks piled up on the side of it, making a small cliff side.
"I don't believe there's a village or town that close," Captain spoke up. "You'd have to go further into the forest to find someone, I believe there's a guild somewhere in there."
Amara narrowed their eyes. Of course a guild was the closest thing they could get to.
....They're tired of this.
"I'll go there then."
The ghost pokemon drifted a bit closer to the shore, and stopped before they were forced to get out of the water. "Are you sure you're ok on your own?"
The skrelp slowly let go of the seaweed, lifting themselves into the air out of the water. Their body wobbled a little as they adjusted and found their balance. "I'll be fine," they sighed.
Captain seemed unsure. "If you say so, kiddo. And hey, if you ever want to come back into the ocean, I'll be around, ok?"
Amara nodded. "Sure." They had no intention of returning to the ocean. They looked over the beach and then back down towards the dhelmise. "Thank you, Captain."
The dhelmise's wheel spun around, clearly pleased. "You're welcome, Amara. Take care."
The skrelp floated a bit higher from the water and towards the land. Reaching the shore, they looked around at the forest in front of them. There wasn't a sign of a pokemon being nearby, they were a little surprised how empty this beach was. They looked back to the ocean, seeing the dhelmise still there. It turned, swinging the anchor briefly out of the water in a wave.
Amara waved their small fin back, and then turned around and floated into the forest.
~~~~~
The skrelp felt small floating by the trees in this forest. They usually start out so small, sometimes they get much bigger with evolution, but other times they only get a little bit bigger. Depending on the species. They knew what they would evolve into in this life. A dragalge. They can be quite large. Not often seen on land, usually a species found mainly in the ocean.
But they already decided to stay out of the ocean. They didn't feel like dealing with those types of pokemon.
...They didn't feel like doing much of anything. They were tired.
They floated through the forest silently, not really paying attention to where they were going. If they kept going far enough, they would reach that area. Where their last life was.
...That was the last time they really felt something.
They had wanted to stay. To raise their family. To see their child hatch and grow up. But instead, they died.
It was too soon to guess how much time had passed. Was that child already gone? Never to be seen by one of their parents? Only raised by one and with whatever stories she had of their father? She would tell the child good stories. That was for sure at least.
Amara slowly stopped floating, looking down at the ground. They felt so small and helpless. Not just because they were a skrelp. But because they truly had no control over their life. It felt like even if they tried to turn around and go somewhere else, it didn't matter. Someone would find them. Someone would help them. No matter how much they try to isolate themselves completely, there was going to be someone finding them eventually.
Another partner of some sort would show up. Refuse to leave them alone.
Then something happens, usually. A legendary goes out of control. A criminal shows up that needs to be taken care of. An adventure of some nature is taken.
Just the same thing.
Over and over.
...How are they supposed to care about anything anymore?
"Hey, you alright?"
Amara flinched, looking up to see a bagon walking towards them. He had a bag attached to him full of some berries. He looked concerned.
...So this is the one, huh? We would eventually become two dragons working together?
"I've never seen you around here before. Are you lost?"
The skrelp sighed. They could barely bring themselves to put up an act. They were just so tired.
"No, I'm not lost," Amara spoke up softly. "Just wandering."
The bagon looked more concerned and a bit confused. "Oh," he mumbled, thinking over how to respond. "Well, do you want to come back to town with me? Maybe the guild can help you out if you need anything."
A town with a guild. No matter which direction they go, eventually they would run into a guild. They were hard to avoid. "Sure."
"Alright," the bagon perked up a bit and he lightly patted his chest. "I'm Ivan. What's your name?"
The only reason Amara thought to remember his name was so they could talk to him easily. Other than that, they didn't care. "Amara."
"Cool, let's go!" Ivan turned around and walked away.
The skrelp hesitated a moment before following along.
~~~~~
They barely heard a word he said as they both walked into town. But they picked up enough words to get the basics. The town was not too big, and plenty of pokemon living here worked for the guild in some manner. Ivan was thinking about working at the guild as well. Of course he did. He never found someone that was able to join with him though. So he was training on his own until he was able to join. And then Amara came along. Of course.
Since Amara was new to the area, Ivan offered to let them stay with him at his home. It was small, but there was enough room for both of them. The bagon gave them a quick tour of the town, but the skrelp didn't really pay much attention. Once they were done, Amara agreed to stay with him. They had no money or items, and only just arrived in this life this morning.
...Was it morning when they woke up in the ocean? It was hard to say. Time, like everything else, held little meaning now.
They settled into Ivan's home and ate some food. It barely tasted like anything. They only ate because they had to. Ivan talked a lot. Asked a lot of questions. The easiest way to get him to stop trying was to go with the amnesia excuse. The only thing they know for sure is that they have no family. Ivan felt bad for them. He said something about his family being from the desert. He said some other things, but Amara didn't listen too closely. The words held no meaning to them.
Night came. Ivan went to sleep on his bed. Amara floated over by the window, looking out to the stars.
Something about looking out at the night sky always calmed them. The darkness felt soothing compared to the bright light of the day. Maybe they should've stayed in the ocean. Easier to stay in the dark down there. But was it worth it to go back? That's something they had to think over. If they ever changed their mind, it would be easier to leave here in the middle of the night. So Ivan wouldn't try to stop them or question them.
Eventually they grew too tired and floated back over to their bed, settling down on it and falling asleep.
~~~~~
Some days have passed. Amara spent most of that time just floating about town. Picked up on the gossip from other pokemon to get a sense of how things were around here. Potential clues to whatever might come up later that they needed to do. Ivan joined them sometimes, talking to the other pokemon and introducing Amara to them. Amara only exchanged simple pleasant conversation, and didn't speak much more than that. There was no need. They had no desire to connect with any of these pokemon.
Ivan didn't seem to mind how quiet Amara was being. He would only push a little bit to talk more, but once it was clear that they didn't want to, he stopped. That was nice at least. He was fine with being the talkative one. Which was both nice and not. Hearing his voice became annoying. The words turning more to just...noise. A grating sound echoing in their head. Sometimes it was more quiet and bearable, but other times it was loud and piercing.
So many times they wanted to tell him to just shut up. But they held back. Why? They wanted to keep up the facade of being generally nice and grateful to him. Not because they cared about him or his feelings.
He felt like the others. Their previous partners. He had that same aura that they did. It was hard to describe exactly. Just something about him that separated him from other pokemon. Their old partners had that feeling as well. But even with that aura, they couldn't bring themselves to really care about him. They wanted to stay for a few days to test it out. Maybe they'd warm up to him or something.
But no, nothing changed.
If anything, they began to hate him.
~~~~~
Amara agreed to try to join the guild with Ivan. At the very least, the perks of a badge were worth it. Doing all that hard work to get a high enough rank wasn't all that fun, but it would be worth it eventually. As they were signing up and Ivan was talking with a guild member, Amara looked around. Same all over. Guilds rarely changed over the years. Even if they were around for different purposes, they all had the same feeling inside. The same types of pokemon going back and forth from different rooms and hallways.
They felt eyes on them.
The skrelp turned, seeing a lunatone and solrock floating near the entrance. The both of them are looking at Amara. The way they were staring...it was different. These two were powerful psychics, weren't they? Were they trying to read their mind? Well, good luck. Even in new bodies, it didn't matter. Amara was able to block anyone's efforts. Mental training carried over into all of their lives. It was originally something they did to prevent a criminal from reading their mind in order to properly take him by surprise. And they've only honed it over many years.
The two rocks seemed to look at each other. Maybe communicating with telepathy. A grovyle stepped over to them and began speaking, and then all three of them left the guild. They were a team. Interesting.
~~~~~
A whole week passed. Amara was tired. Even more so than when they first woke up in this life, and they weren't sure that was possible.
They needed to do something different. Try something different. Make this exciting.
As Ivan and Amara went about town the next day, they put their plan into action. As Ivan spoke with other pokemon and the shopkeepers, Amara began stealing. Swiping a berry here, a coin there. Just small out of the way things that were easy to swipe with their small fin or tail and put into their bag. No one ever noticed. It was easy.
They began to feel something. A hint of excitement.
A member of a guild stealing from the town pokemon? Now that was a bit different. But they needed more. They needed to still be careful and not get too full of themselves. Keeping a level head was important.
They began to steal more. Sneaking out at night or random times of the day to swipe even more things.
They didn't do this to be rich. To steal the good food. Simply for the thrill of stealing. It didn't matter what the item was they were taking. It was the action in itself that they wanted.
Amara stole from the guild as well. Items and money stored away in the guild master's room. It was easy to figure out where it was hidden. To slip inside and swipe some things and go back out without anyone noticing. Quickly and silently. It helped that they were a pokemon that didn't need to step on the ground.
Keeping all of this was risky of course. And they couldn't keep it at Ivan's home, even though it was tempting to try to pin the blame on him. Maybe they would do that eventually. They began to avoid him more. Only going out to their missions with him and then leaving to do something else. Maybe if they felt like it, they would greet him when he arrived home, but that rarely happened. It was clear he noticed. He was sad and confused. It wasn't like they were super close before and this was a sudden change, but it was still enough to be noticeable.
They didn't care and continued what they were doing.
~~~~~
The guild was starting to pick up on something being wrong. Reports of missing items and money on the rise, and even from the guild itself. Now Amara would have to be really careful.
The skrelp floated out of town, to a small area not far from Ivan's home. There was a tree here that was leaning heavily to one side, the roots just barely holding onto the dirt. It was just enough space to hide things away. Not the most perfect and hidden spot, but it worked so far. Amara looked over their stash, bags and bags full of items and money they swiped. Being so small and fragile, they had to use several bags to carry everything.
Maybe now was the time. To start planting these bags in Ivan's home. Hidden enough from him, but could be found by a pokemon coming in to investigate. Maybe underneath the-
"Amara!"
Amara's whole body flinched, quickly turning around and seeing the bagon walk towards them.
...Oh, great.
"What," Ivan mumbled, looking behind them at the stash of bags and back into their eyes. He was distraught. "Was it really you? Why? If you needed money or items, you could've asked!"
Amara's mind raced. They didn't consider getting caught. Ivan must've been worried about them and followed them here. And now...
"Why?" The bagon asked again, looking more upset. "I thought something was wrong! I thought I did something wrong! You weren't acting right and...and didn't want anything to do with me! I thought I hurt you somehow! But you're actually the one going around stealing from everyone? Why??"
The skrelp winced. His voice grated their ears. "Shut up!" They yelled.
Ivan flinched, taking a step back and his eyes were wide. Amara never yelled before now, their voice was always low and soft up to this point.
"You've been nothing but a pain from the start!" Amara kept going, they finally had enough. "I never cared about you! Or anyone else in this stupid town! I don't care about any of this!" They moved their fins up, tugging and pulling at the scarf on their neck until they ripped it off and tossed it on the ground. "I want nothing to do with any of this!"
The bagon looked down at the torn scarf and his body began to shake. He looked back up at them. "Why?" He repeated, much softer this time. "We're supposed to be the good ones, Amara. We stop other pokemon from doing bad things. You didn't have to do this."
Amara scoffed. "This isn't about the money, Ivan. If I just wanted money, I'd be doing all of the jobs possible in town in order to get it. You don't understand, and you never will."
"Help me understand!" Ivan took a couple steps forward. "Let me help you out! You know this isn't right! If you at least turn yourself in, I'll do what I can to help!"
The skrelp floated backwards a bit, their body beginning to tremble. "Stop it," they mumbled. Even getting caught, he still wanted to help them? Of course he did. Of course he thinks that he can turn this around somehow. His hope is strong. Strong for someone that he knows nothing about.
"Please, Amara," Ivan took more steps forward. He was close to them now. "Let me help you! We can work this out, I'm sure of it!"
The noise was getting so loud. So grating and piercing as his voice echoed in their mind. It was painful, overwhelmingly so. Amara shut their eyes and their body trembled more. Their anger was boiling. They wanted to do something to make him shut up. To stop this pain.
"Please," the bagon took another step closer, and they felt him reach out and touch their fin-
Amara opened their eyes, flinching and backing away from him. They glared at him, the anger inside them now turning into energy. Their mouth began to glow a faint purple color and they felt the power building up in their body.
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
The skrelp screamed, twisting their body and launching a beam out of their mouth, hitting the bagon right in the face. He was so close to them at that moment, and his body lifted off the ground as it went flying a few feet, landing with a thud nearby.
Silence.
Amara panted, staring at Ivan. The anger slowly disappearing as what just happened began to process in their mind. They just used a new move, they weren't even aware they could do that one yet. But more important than that...
Ivan wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. He was completely still.
He...
He was dead.
I killed my partner.
There was yelling nearby and they only scarcely noticed some pokemon coming over and grabbing them. Their eyes were wide and staring at the body. Amara slowly began to smile.
I killed my partner.
That thought kept repeating in their mind. A brand new glee unlike anything they ever felt before consuming them.
I killed someone. They're dead. Gone. Murdered.
I killed my partner.
~~~~~
Amara barely registered anything else after that. They were grabbed by a team and brought into the guild. They heard a couple pokemon trying to talk to them, ask them questions, but they didn't hear any of the words. It was all muffled. Amara's eyes remained wide, staring at nothing. Their smile staying on their face. They didn't fight back at all, physically or verbally. It didn't matter. None of it mattered.
They did something they never thought was possible. They never considered it before.
Murder was such a rare occurrence in this world. And even in the event it happens, the story of it very rarely goes anywhere. Pokemon are too scared to talk about it, so it all goes quiet immediately. So the thought never came up in their mind.
...They can just kill someone.
Ivan was different from the others. He had that aura their previous partners had. They always felt that their partners were special. Nothing seriously bad could happen to them. Sure, they'd get in trouble or get hurt in some manner, but their partners usually lived long enough lives.
And now, he was dead. Thanks to them.
They killed their partner.
They didn't regret it at all. Only wishing they thought of it sooner.
~~~~~
It wasn't until later that night that they finally came back to themselves. They were locked up in the guild's basement. In one of the cells down here. No doubt they sent word out to gray island about this incident. Possibly by tomorrow night, a group of pokemon would come here to teleport them to gray island.
...Yeah, that wasn't happening.
Amara giggled, looking at their surroundings. The walls were solid and the bars were strong. It was dark down here, just a single torch on the wall nearby giving them light. The skrelp floated around, examining over their cell carefully. They stopped by the bars, lowering to the floor and looking at the space underneath. It wasn't a lot, but there was more room here than the space between the bars. Amara looked towards the ceiling, shooting some water up so then they became soaked as it dropped down over them. Carefully they began to wedge themselves underneath the lowest bar, moving around and slowly making their way out of the cell. Pushing and pulling their body to escape.
Ever so carefully squirming their way to freedom.
Complete freedom. To do whatever they wanted, to whoever they wanted.