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As the story goes…
…it was a fine morning for a presentation. Of course, by “fine,” I mean it in a rather literal sense—it was decent. Could have been much better. For example, we could have had much more coffee. Not to say we were out, but rather that we just had the same amount we would typically have every morning. For a day like this was about to be, I believe we needed a few nif more milligrams of caffeine.
Grams, maybe…
A few nif grams more caffeine. Surely that wouldn’t kill us. Coffee may as well run through my veins, at this point. Of course, it does in a quite literal sense, as the caffeine has to make its way into my bloodstream in order to get it into my brain to act as a stimulant, but I’m trying to create a metaphor to emphasize how much coffee I drink. As in, if someone were to cut me open and look inside, the blood would be replaced with pure coffee. That one could theoretically pour in a cup. You could do that with my regular blood as well, I suppose, but it probably wouldn’t taste nearly as good, or be a stimulant in the same way as caff—
Hhyyaaawwnn… I think you’ve gone a little off track, Raine…
This is narration! I’m recounting the story with all the necessary detail! My love for coffee cannot be overstated. It’s an integral part of understanding who I am.
Mmnbrrhgghh… just… gimme a sec to wake up, ’n I’ll… do it…
I can handle it. Ahem… the weather was clear and cool—a humid mist coated the skies and a cold dew washed over the grass. The sky was a grayish blue—the sun hadn’t yet made its way above the horizon to bring daylight in, which was probably for the best, as Kamille was still not up yet.
Alriiight, alright!
I grabbed a cup in my mouth and shoved the door to our room open. I placed the cup down on the nightstand, and waved in the smell of freshly brewing coffee through the door.
Arceus, that smell… it’s enough to drive a… me… insane. I could feel myself drooling already. I rubbed my eyes, shielding them from the light from the door. I turned to the side just to find Raine sitting there next to the bed, staring down at me. Those damn eyes. They never change, do they?
“You realize what time it is, right?”
I frowned. “Do I look like I know what time it is?..”
“You look like someone with eyes.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment.”
“If your standards are very low, I suppose it is.”
“They are.” I rolled onto my side and grabbed the cup off the nightstand. I held it, gingerly, and put it up to my mouth to give it a slurp. When nothing came out, I tilted it back further. When still nothing came out, I lowered the cup and looked inside. When the cup was completely empty, I frowned at Raine.
“I wouldn’t make it easy on you, would I? Then you wouldn’t see any reason to get up. If you want coffee, you’ll have to come get it yourself.” She yoinked the cup out of my paw and placed it in her mouth, coyly. As coy as Raine can be, at least. I groaned, flopped back onto the bed, and she meandered out.
Sometimes, I wish I could stay mad at her. She’s right, obviously—we have shit to do today. But I was having such a nice time in here, doing… nothing…
“Kamille. If you’re too tired to remember your parts, I’m not doing them for you like last time.”
Last time! The audacity.
…
Ugh, she’s right.
…
“Kamille. I know you’re more capable than this. Remember all the all-nighters?”
Yeah, I remember ‘em. I remember how horrible I felt the day after and how little work we got done. At least– how little work I got done… maybe not you.
“Kamille—“
“Alright, okay…” I do really want that coffee. She managed to successfully tempt me. Am I that shallow?
I groaned, cleared my throat, and rolled onto my face. Three, two, one… and pushed myself up, walking out into the light. Raine greeted me with a stare, nodding toward a steaming cup on the desk next to her. She was sitting in front of one of our many whiteboards, probably giving our notes one-last-of-many read-throughs. She picked up a cup of her own and downed the contents in one gulp. She placed it back down on the desk, cleared her throat, and gestured to the whiteboard as I gingerly picked up my cup, giving it a hesitant sip.
Sweet salvation… the bitter, earthy ichor warmed my soul. Never could I comprehend a better invention of Pokémonkind than coffee. I sat on the floor, holding the cup gingerly with both paws, closing my eyes and lowering my ears as I allowed myself to be overtaken by silky bliss…
“Did that help?”
“Gwuahah! Y– yeah, I’m– I’m awake.” I frantically grasped the cup. I wasn’t about to lose a single drop of this deliverance.
“Good. Yet again, coffee continues to solve all of the world’s problems.” Raine looked back at the whiteboard, gesturing to it again with her cup. “Except this one.” She took a sip.
I gave the whiteboard a solid once-over, failing to gleam any information from it due to the still-waking-up haze over my vision. “Ppffsshshh… we can do it.”
“What makes you so confident? Typically you’re the nervous one.”
How do I tell her I’m just not awake enough to consider the severity of the situation yet? “Iiii don’t think I’m awake enough to consider the severity of the situation yet.” Honestly. If I’ve learned anything about Raine, it’s that she’s gonna figure out what I really mean one way or another. Even if she has to claw her way into my psyche to get it out—
“Maybe I should ask again once you’re at the bottom of that cup.”
“You should.”
“Fine.” She put down her own cup and opened a nearby drawer. “Take this once you’re done.” She grabbed out a comb and slid it to me across the floor.
I looked down at it, and back up at her. “What, is it that bad?” Sluuuurrrp.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten who the pretty face is. I need to have you looking presentable.” She squinted at me, looking me over. I posed. “Mm-hmm. Which does not look like ‘just rolled out of bed.’ Even if it’s true.”
“Yeahh, yeah, I know…” She’s right. I’m really not on top of it this morning, am I? I chugged down the rest of my coffee, grabbed the comb, and meandered over to the bathroom. I sat down in front of the mirror and looked at my reflection. The most frazzled wreck of an Umbreon I had ever seen stared right back at me.
Jeez. Yeesh. Whuff. Yeowch. Other onomatopoeia. That guy does not look like somebody I’d trust to talk about ley lines. I frowned at my reflection and tilted my head to the side, as if I expected my reflection’s to go the other way. Nope. That was definitely me! I looked down, grasped the comb, and got to work. I dunno how something as simple as sleeping could create this many knots, but I swear I had them in every place I didn’t want them. I guess I never really learned how to properly comb out knots, either, because every next one just felt like I was ripping it out. I’m gonna show up to this presentation sore and half as fluffy…
I gingerly combed through the last knot I could see and gave my fur one last brush, and looked back in the mirror. There’s a guy I’d believe about predicate logic. I plopped the comb into the sink—no time to deal with the aftermath of that right now—and headed back out to Raine. She was already organizing our papers and putting everything into her bag. I grabbed my lanyard off the hanger on the wall, slipped it around my neck, and huffed. Raine glanced over at me.
“I couldn’t find your Entercards.”
“They were in my bag, last I checked.”
“Were you planning on bringing said bag?”
“Yeah, I was hoping to.” Your bag is too full of stuff to be able to fit any snacks in there. Kami need snacky. Why the fuck did I just think that? Definitely don’t say that out lou— “Kami need snacky.” Why??
“Fine. Having them separate is probably for the best anyway.”
“Seeee? I know what I’m doing.”
“I would hope so. Otherwise I wouldn’t exactly trust you to join me for this presentation.”
“But you do.”
Raine sighed. “Yes, I do. Shall we go?”
“What, I don’t get an extra cup of coffee first? I saw you refill yours!”
“I’d wager we don’t have the time for that, if you look outside.”
I looked outside. I didn’t see much of anything in particular… looked like a gray, cloudy morning. I shrugged at her and slung my bag over my shoulder. “Lead the way.”
She slung her own bag over her shoulder, opened the door, and headed out. I caught the door and followed, closing it behind me. A humid, overcast day—Spring was definitely here. It was pretty warm, for how far North we were. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes bustled around the academy, scattering in any number of different directions. Reminds me of when I first got here. I had no idea where I was going, and it was a miracle I even ran into Raine in the first place. It was even more of a miracle I managed to intrigue her enough to get her on my side.
Raine kept the pace fast. I’d assumed we had a decent amount of time left, but then again, I hadn’t looked at a clock yet. We pushed through crowds of students and researchers over to the Northern end of campus, slipped into the building, and made our way into the room. To my horror, the audience had already gathered in the seats. I grimaced, cursing under my breath—I don’t think we’d ever been that late before.
Before I even had a chance to process just how late we were, Raine was already on stage unpacking her bag and placing things onto the podium. “Do excuse the delay. Lucky for you, the lost time wasn’t necessary to begin with—we only need a few minutes.”
I hoped she was right. She’s almost always right, but sometimes that “almost” rears its ugly head. At ti—
“Where’s your partner?” asked a raspy voice from the crowd.
Raine glanced over her shoulder at me, where I was apparently still standing just outside the door. I jumped and ran inside, behind the podium. I plopped my paws down onto it. “R– uhh– right here!”
Raine hopped up next to me. “Introductions are unnecessary. You know us well enough by now, and if you still haven’t given us the courtesy of remembering our names, then clearly you won’t bother to remember them this time.”
Woooaahh! Little strong to hit right off the start, don’t you think?? Is that a good idea??
“Now. Shall we get started?” She cleared her throat, pulled down the projector screen behind her, and placed a paper onto the podium so it showed up on the screen.
Magnagates are regarded by many, especially the general public, as both pseudoscientific and generally magic. The concept is obviously not well-understood, and as a result, the average laymon has likely never even heard of them, and if they were to hear of them, would assume they were either supernatural or a myth. With such a small breadth of knowledge out there in the world about them, they remain niche and underutilized, even by subject matter experts who seemingly deem them unsafe. Of course, most of the superstition around Magnagates is simply that. Had we any proof they were truly dangerous beyond improper Entercard alignment, then we wouldn’t be standing here before you today. Scientifically, Magnagates are not strictly teleportation, which exists typobiologically only among certain Psychic-type Pokémon, but rather a system of transit along invisible-to-the-eye paths embedded in the magnetic field of the planet that are referred to as…
This had to be the millionth time we were standing here in front of this crowd. It was barely even a crowd—it was basically just a single row of Pokémon, here to judge us on our research to see if we even got to keep our funding. Imagine what would happen if they just decided they didn’t like us anymore one day? If we showed up late one too many times and lost our entire livelihoods? Where do we go from there? They’d probably still keep us afloat for a little bit after that—I’m sure they wouldn’t just up and cut us off, but… we’ve been doing this for years, already. I don’t think I can even fathom what life would be like without Decamark anymore. What, I’d have to go back to the Water Continent? I’d have to go back and live with Plais, be an artist or something… I– would I just… lose Raine? I can’t lose Raine, I– what would she do? I’d– I could just go back home with her, right? Or– would she even want me to do that? I’m probably only here with her because I’m her research partner, right? If we lost this… we’d.. probably just go our separate ways, and I’d never see—
…ley lines.
…oh shit— that’s my cue. Ahem.
Ley lines are measurable sources of magnetism that emanate from deep beneath the planet’s crust, and their fields expand upward and into the atmosphere where they can be measured with specialized equipment. Using those pieces of equipment, we can measure where the magnetism is strongest, and using the data we collect, we can craft these. We use Entercards to enable travel along ley lines so that– y’know, we don’t have to walk everywhere, or spend a ton of money on carriages, or… I dunno, Liner passes from the Society…
Feels like everything is off this morning. Between us being late and the way that Toxicroak is whispering to the Purugly next to them… very rarely would I be suspicious of audience members, but after all this time, I feel I’m allowed. Especially given I’ve never seen them before. I usually recognize every face who shows up to these. But they are an exception… I suppose the important part is finishing the rest of our presentation. Especially given those two seem to have noticed they’ve caught my attention. And they don’t seem happy about it.
“…but to avoid long-term costs that build up over time—”
“Kamille.” Raine leaned in close, lowering her voice.
“…over… time– what?” I whispered back.
She continued staring at two of the audience members, silently. I followed her gaze. Seemed she’d been staring at them for a bit, as they did not look like anything nice was about to come out the next time they opened their mouths.
Raine sat back up straight. “Is there a problem with the technology we’re presenting?”
The Toxicroak looked at the Purugly. They both laughed. Toxicroak looked back up at the stage… “Yeah. Yeah, I guess there is!” …and stood up. That is not a good face for a Pokémon to be walking at you making.
Raine quickly shoved the Entercards that she’d taken out to present back into her bag, and picked the other two up off the floor and shoved them into my chest. I grabbed them, frantically.
“Guess she was right about you two.” Toxicroak loomed over us, stepping up onto the stage and shoving the podium out of the way. It fell to the floor with a loud crash.
In a moment I could easily describe as not my brightest, I shoved the Entercards into my bag, grabbed Raine by the ear, and ran out of the room. Apparently she didn’t see any problem with this plan, because I didn’t exactly have to put much force into dragging her. Before I knew it, we were sprinting down the hall toward the exit waayy faster than any scientist should ever have to run.
I checked over my shoulder to make sure we weren’t running for no reason. Thankfully, we weren’t. I looked at Raine. “What the hell did you say to them?!”
She didn’t respond. Instead, she grabbed my ear in her mouth and yanked me out the door with her. I stumbled along after her, desperately avoiding the threshold with my head. I guess it makes sense she’d wanna go out a back door—it’d look a little weird if we had to sprint out the door through campus—but then wouldn’t somebody be there to help??
We seem to have chosen dignity over help. We ran out the back, toward the Southern hills. Perfect time to be running for your life, when the overcast morning seems to have turned into a pouring rain.
Come to think of it, what the hell would we even tell somebody if we did ask for help? Hey, we were giving a presentation and some of the audience members were a little too enthusiastic about what we were presenting. Why are we even running??
“Kamille!”
Oh, right. “Yeah??”
“Lead them away! I’ll head for Post Town!”
“Fuckin’– what?? You wanna split up??”
“Do you not trust me?!”
“Okaayyy, fuck! Good luck!”
“If I’m lucky, you won’t need it!” She nudged me onto a path to the right… and turned left. I stumbled, secured the bag on my shoulder, peeked behind me to see the two chasing us split up as well, cursed under my breath, and pushed on.
………
Trust you to do what?? I– I still don’t even know why they’re chasing us. Why are they chasing us?? What do they want with the Entercards? What do they want with us?? All these questions ran through my head, but remained woefully unanswered—the more important thing to be running was… my.. paws. Because I was running. Away?
Yeah. I took a sharp left out of the valley I’d run into—the squelch of the mud forming under my paws gave me a solid drift as I stumbled up the hill out of the valley. This was not a great position to be in, when my enemy was a frog. I was already losing steam. My breaths were sharp, my heart banged against my ribs like a rowdy prisoner, and my legs were starting to feel like one with the mud beneath them. I hobbled to the top of the hill and behind a tree at the edge of a forest—I swore I’d been here before, but I couldn’t remember the name of the forest at this point. I collapsed onto the mushy grass and leaned back against the bark, holding a paw on my chest and keeping my breaths quiet.
The squishes of the wet grass were unmistakable—Toxicroak was still there. Looking for me. That, or he already knew where I was, and just wanted to be a little drama queen. I kept as quiet as possible, poked at my bag to make sure I still had the Entercards, and—
…
Where’s the– there’s… I– they’ve gotta be in there, right? I couldn’t’a just dropped ‘em on my way here—
“Time’s up, twink.”
I yelped, scrambling back away from the tree through the mud. “Tahh– hhhah– time— huh?? Time?? Time’s?? What’s– ti–”
“Hand ‘em over.”
I ran into another tree backing up. “Whhffh– ow– yhh… y– what… the fuck are– hhwhat– what are you even DOING?! What the hell is your problem!?”
He clicked his tongue, tilted his head, and shrugged. “Boss’s orders.” He held out his hand. “Let’s see ‘em.”
“Yhhouu… gghhohh fuck. At least lemme catch my breath—”
He flicked a purple goop off his fingers, reeled back, and tossed it at me.
Toxicroak used Poison Sting!
I saw this coming.
Kamille used Mirror Coat!
I flung it back at him, scrambled up, ignored the mud and rainwater caking my fur, and ran off past him. I heard him snarl behind me, presumably flicking his own poison off his face. Without so much as a word, he pursued.
I dashed through the forest, trying to use the mud to my advantage to drift around the trees, but mostly just ended up sliding around like a dumbass. However, crucially: like an alive dumbass. I escaped the forest, continued on atop the hill, and looked down as the path I ran on narrowed. I don’t know what kind of a land formation I climbed onto, but it clearly wasn’t infinite. I couldn’t even see it taper down, so there’s no way I could slide down the side.
I glanced over my shoulder. Toxicroak was only getting closer. I huffed, hunkered down, and kept sprinting as quick as I could. As soon as I turned my head to look back in the direction I was running, I saw the edge of a cliff rapidly approaching.
Okay. Here’s the plan. I use the mud to drift and turn around, zip past him, and by the time he’s realized what’s happening he’ll slip and fall off the edge of the cliff, and then I’m home free. Maybe he’ll even get a bit of coyote time in the air as he looks back at me, bewildered by my… escaping.. prowess.
I dug my paws into the ground, skidded forward… tried to pull them out of the mud to turn, but found them only dragging themselves deeper into the mud as I kept sliding toward the cliff… and managed to lodge them free. With no ground left to grab onto.
Ohhh no.
I grasped at the air around me, tossing and turning through the air trying to find anything to hold onto at any cost—there’s gotta be some branch on the cliff or something—
I hope I didn’t tell him I had a plan. These legs were not built for sprinting. But, with no other option, I kept up the pace—that Purugly didn’t look any more in-shape than me. I had one destination in mind: Post Town. There’s a hill between here and there—if I can throw Purugly off my trail just long enough to hide the Entercards, they won’t see any use for me. If it turns out the Entercards aren’t what they’re after, then at the very least our research will be protected. Something like this cannot end up in the wrong pair of paws. It’s a revolutionary invention, you see. We’ve spent months—
“Get your ass BACK HERE!” screeched Purugly from behind.
I rolled my eyes and turned the corner. The muddy grass seemed to feel the need to actively sabotage me, and I could see the hill before Post Town just ahead. I don’t like getting my claws dirty, but they seem to be the only option here. I latched onto the grass as best I could, and clawed my way up the hill. With every step I took, I ripped a chunk out of the mud and tossed it behind me. Miraculously, I heard one hit its mark. I continued up to the top of the hill, paused to catch my breath and steel myself, and hobbled into Post Town.
I don’t know who I expected to be out here in the pouring rain this early in the morning, but just as you’d probably expect, it was mostly just shop owners setting up under their awnings, keeping their merchandise under the tables. I didn’t trust any of them not to try to buy them off me, so I groaned, running off into the forest behind town.
It was particularly dark in this little forest—the leaves of the trees seemed to serve as an awning for the forest floor. The mud on the ground wasn’t as much of a sludge as it had turned to outside. Of course, in a moment I could easily describe as not my brightest, I determined that it would eventually turn back into dirt, dug a hole, and buried two of the Entercards in it. The other two, which I had made a show of giving to Kamille so I could swipe them back, I stared at, holding them in my mud-caked claws. My plan started at “keep them separate so they can’t be found all at once,” and ended at “hole.” As the throbbing in my ears finally died down, I heard… giggling, accompanied by splashing in the mud. Children? Having fun? Not on my watch.
I quietly shuffled over to the location of the sounds. Two children—a Swadloon and a Lillipup—were playing in the rain just next to the forest. One of their school bags was sitting up against a tree out of the rain. I took the opportunity to reeeach out, to drop the Entercards into the bag—
“Waahh! A weirdo!”
I sighed, pulling the Entercards back. My ear twitched. Steel yourself, Raine. “Yes, I’m very weird.” I looked back at the Swadloon. “Here, take these.” I handed him the Entercards.
He looked back at me. For some reason, I feel inclined to call this look a “gen Z stare,” but I’m not sure what that means.
I sighed again. “Just.. keep them safe. Whatever that means to you.”
…………
After an amount of time I’d consider far too long, he nodded. I nodded back, and ran off.
Did I just entrust our foremost research project to a child? Hm. Nothing to be done about it now, I suppose. I ran around behind the back of Post Town, back out into the pouring rain, and leaned back against a building, finally catching my breath proper. It was only then that I realized I was shivering. Me! Shivering! It’s like all the extra insulation is for nothing! I stood back up, still leaning against the building, and hobbled around it.
Can’t believe I’m stuck narrating this. What’s Kamille doing, anyway? He’s not the one with the Entercards. Surely he knows I took them, right?
I found the door and stumbled into the building. There was a wooden floor, tables scattered around, the smell of food in the air… the loss of consciousness rapidly approaching.
………
Could I really smell that last part?