“This essay is dedicated to Palette, the artist who has given me the courage and the wisdom to write, and to all the remaining free spirits of this world.”
-The Modern Warden, Acknowledgements
The sound of the metal staircase clanging under their feet resonated throughout the whole underground entrance. Looking down, Renee could see that they were still far from entering the city, and that the stairs continued on for a good while. She noticed that Elise went ahead of them, which the misdreavus picked on as her having urgent things to do. Although there still seemed like a few stairs to climb down from, she felt like Matt had accomplished his goal; after all, they finally arrived in this city against all odds. Yet, the human didn't seem happy in the slightest.
“We've finally arrived, Matt!” she exclaimed, trying to cheer Matt up. “We did it! Isn't that great?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said dismissively, continuing on his way.
I know he rarely shows enthusiasm these days, but I can't believe that he's so indifferent to his own success. He just achieved what he had set out to do; shouldn't he be proud of that?
“Matt, is there something wrong?” she asked, worrying about him.
He stopped and turned to her. “I'm worrying about Guts. What if he doesn't come out of this alive? This will be my fault.”
“What are you trying to say, Matt? It's not your fault; you couldn't predict that Guts would jump in like that.”
“There's something I'm still confused about, Matt,” Aiden interjected, drawing everyone's attention. “Are we yours or not? It seems like everyone here has a different opinion on that one, and you've never really taken the time to explain all of this. And just so you know, if you don't want to take responsibility for us, that's your choice. If you do so, you're not our trainer and nobody here will consider you as an authority.”
Renee glanced back at Matt, waiting for him to answer. She wanted to give out her opinion on the matter, but since he decided to ask Matt specifically, the misdreavus decided to let him speak first.
“I... I don't see how I could consider myself superior to any of you,” the human conceded. “So there's no way I could be your trainer.”
“I'm glad you finally cleared that up. Quite frankly, you don't seem as arrogant as most humans. You're not trying to put yourself on a pedestal, above everyone else. I admire that, in a way. However, I'm sure Chen didn't see you in a similar light. When I talked with him, he seemed assured that you were his trainer, and that he had to protect you.”
He knitted his eyebrows. “What are you getting at?”
“Matt, your apathy is responsible for his death.”
Renee looked at the fennekin, shocked that Aiden would even suggest something like that. To her, it seemed like he had gone too far. Surprisingly enough for her, the man didn't seem shaken in the slightest by the fennekin's outrageous accusation.
How could Matt have known that Chen would do such a thing? All he's doing now is trying to guilt Matt for something he had no control over. Why is he doing that?
“Aiden, how can you say something like that?” she asked, still shocked. “There's no way Matt would have figured that out.”
“Well, I, for one, figured that out. Also, it was pretty obvious that Chen was extremely loyal to Matt. I had thought he would've picked up on that.”
“You didn't figure out anything, you liar!” she accused him. “If you did, you would've told Matt about this, and-”
“It doesn't matter anyway,” Matt interrupted her, visibly irritated. “It's not like we can change what happened.”
After he had done talking to Renee, the human turned left to face the fennekin, who was a few steps above him, “Now, could you remind me why you're still around? It seems pretty clear that you aren't happy to be here, and nobody is forcing you to stay here.”
“I have my own reasons,” Aiden answered.
Why does he have to be so vague? she wondered. Matt is right; there's no reason for him to stay with us. I could say the same for Kira. I have no idea why she's still with us. I can only guess that she gave her reasons to Matt.
Matt looked at him for a few seconds and shrugged, “Alright then,” he said, slightly irritated by Aiden's response. “Let's get going.”
He turned away from them and resumed climbing down the stairs. The others followed him down, wondering when they would finally be reaching the end of these stairs. Because of the very few light sources they had inside of the staircase, they still couldn't see when they would finally arrive to the city.
After a few minutes of walking, Renee saw something that took her completely off-guard. The lucario that she had seen earlier was there, in front of her, gesturing for her to follow him. Again, none of her companions seemed to have picked up on the pokémon's presence, so she started panicking. The misdreavus wondered if it would even be a good idea for her to follow him, since everybody else would wonder where she went. Should she tell them about his presence? She decided quickly against it, as she would clearly be seen as crazy. Matt was already doubting her sanity, so she thought it would be better to remain quiet about the whole situation.
Nonetheless, his sudden reappearance was unexpected, to say the least. The lucario had told her less than a few minutes ago that they would see each other if she didn't tell them about him. She had guessed he would have waited a while before coming back, since it would've been hard for her to break this promise in such a short amount of time. So why is he in such a hurry to see her again? Why would he change his mind so quickly? She had no idea.
The lucario turned around and walked into the wall, going through it. Beginning to calm down, Renee now thought following him wasn't such a bad idea. She was behind the whole group, so they would probably not notice her disappearance right away. Her own intuition also told her he wouldn't come back in a while if she decided not to go with him. Maybe this would break any sort of contact she had with the lucario, and she didn't want that to happen. After all, he could potentially help them in the long run.
She decided to follow the lucario through the wall, and she ended up in a room with walls made of marble. In the center, there was a torch burning ardently, lighting up the whole room. There was only one window giving a beautiful view of the cavern outside. This whole scenery seemed too surreal for her. Scanning the place, she didn't find the lucario anywhere.
“Where are you?” she asked out loud, growing suspicious of her own decision.
“I'm right behind you.”
Turning around, the misdreavus gasped as she saw the lucario. He was sitting against the wall they arrived from, grinning at her surprise. Renee quickly got herself together, and frowned at the lucario's little prank.
“Please, never do that again,” she requested.
“I will, milady,” he said apologetically, picking up on her uneasiness.
He really seems to act weirdly now. He doesn't act like the lucario I've talked with in the tunnel. He was keeping it mostly formal, and was really distant with me. Now, he just tricks me for no reason, and he then apologizes as soon as he found I didn't like it, going back to his formal manners from earlier. Why this sudden change in attitude?
She looked at him in the eyes, “What is the reason for this meeting?”
“I've brought you here to suggest that we play a little game,” he answered, standing up before her. “How about that?”
“What kinds of games are you talking about?”
“The kinds of games that will prove without a doubt that I'm not a fruit of your imagination,” the lucario explained to her as he leaned against the wall.
How could he know that I've been wondering about that in the past? I'm gonna guess that he picked up on that in some way.
“And how do you think you could prove that to me?”
“I'll show you something that you probably don't know at this point.” This detail piqued Renee's interest greatly, as she now had a clue as to why he was talking to her.
So that means that I'll learn something new by going with this game of his. It seems to me like this whole 'game' is a pretext of some sort, especially given how he presented the whole idea to me. I'll just play along for now, and see what this is all about.
“In that case, I have no problem taking part in this little game,” she affirmed.
“Well, I think it would be better for me to tell you the stakes of this game, as there will be,” he said, crossing his arms. “If you were to win, I would give you what you wanted when you were in the cavern. I'll give you my name. On the other hand, if you were to lose, I'll have you do something for me. Is that okay with you?”
I guess I must win this game now. I have no idea what he has in mind for me, but if I were to win, I could probably have a better idea of who he is and I might find out what his intentions are.
“I have no problem with any of that,” she asserted solemnly.
“Very well, milady. May I ask you a question?”
Upon hearing that question, she felt like something was wrong with all of this. She really wondered why he would ask for permission to ask some random question. “Umm… Yes, you can.”
“Do you know of any human in your group?”
Why is he asking me such obvious questions? Didn't he see Matt earlier? What is he trying to accomplish with this?
“Well, there's the one you've seen earlier,” she responded while backing off a bit. “His name is Matt.”
“Do you have anybody else in mind?” he questioned back.
This can't be real. It's not like there's any other human in our group. Is he insane?
“I thought that we were playing a game,” the misdreavus uttered, growing confused by the lucario's attitude. “What does this to do with any game?”
“This has everything to do with our game, Renee. There's another human among your group. This human has been turned into a pokémon, and all you have to do to win this game is to answer correctly when I'll ask you later on. I'll give you a few days to come up with your answer, as you clearly seem to have no idea who that could be right now. Until then, take care!”
On these last words, the lucario slipped through the wall and disappeared from her sight. As she processed his words, she quickly started freaking out, looking around her frantically for him.
I'm screwed now. How am I supposed to figure out such a secret from someone? It's clear that they won't give out such detail like it's nothing, so how am I supposed to guess who that is without any information? Worst thing is, I can't really take Matt's help on that one, or else he'll think I've gotten even crazier than before!
As she thought about Matt, another worrying idea surged in her mind.
Oh wait, Matt must be wondering where I've been at this point. I better go back to the staircase and tell him there's nothing to worry about.
When she goes back through the wall, she ends up at the same place they once were in the staircase. Due to the minimal light, there was no way for her to see any of her companions, so she was left to wonder for how long she had been in that room with the lucario. She went downstairs, guessing that they probably went that way if they didn't look around for her. The misdreavus found herself wondering who the other human could be.
Maybe it's Guts. After all, I don't know much about him at the moment. He seems to dislike that group called the PLF and he wasn't really fond of Matt, as far as I can tell. That group seems hostile to humans, for the most part, so that could explain why he's against them. He doesn't seem to like serving Matt though, which might be the reason why they aren't in good terms. However, they might share some interest, which could explain why they've been sticking together.
On the other hand, this human-turned-pokémon could be Aiden. He told Matt he had his own reasons for remaining there with him, and this could clearly be his reason for doing so. He also seems really secretive about anything relating to him. Maybe he already told the others about that, but didn't want me to know for some reason. However, why would he do such a thing? I really need to find out more about him. Right now, my guess would probably go to him if it wasn't for Kira.
Right now, she's more likely to be the one I'm looking for, but not by much. She seems to be as secretive as Aiden, but also seems to believe that humans-turned-pokémon could exist, as she talked to them about this. She joked about that, but there was no reason for her to bring up such random idea, so she's probably the one I'm looking for.
After all of this pondering, she finally noticed the group, a few metal floors down her current location. To her, it felt like a weight had been lifted off your chest, as she wouldn't be plagued by this crippling doubt of not seeing them ever again. She remained there, still surprised by that new feeling. Seeing them again gave her the idea that she could've so easily been left there alone. After all, anything could've happened to them, and her little self would've never been aware of it. If that had happened, what would she have done?
It felt like her optimistic nature had taken a toll, and she quickly realized how dear she held them in her heart. Despite having met some of them a few days ago, she already couldn't even think of anything bad happening to them.
Was that how Chen felt when he saw Matt in front of him? All of these pokémon seem to think of Matt as an equal, while I think of him as my master's son.
As she thought about her relation with Matt, he finally spotted her while looking around him. Taken off-guard, the misdreavus ended up staring back at Matt and hovered down to him. During that time, she wondered if Matt was treating her differently than any other pokémon he had, in some way. That could explain why she also treated him differently. She concluded that the gap between her and the other pokémon was caused by her seeing him grow up, which was something she had left out of the equation all of that time.
“Renee, where were you?” the man asked, drawing Aiden and Kira's attention to her.
Why does he always feel the need to question people right away? Sometimes, I really can't understand Matt. His father was never like this; he always tried to bring up conversation in a friendly manner. Matt, on the other hand, goes straight to the question, without any small talk. He didn't even tell me he was worried about me or anything of the sort. When he was a kid, he would've never done something like that. Sometimes, I really do wonder why he became so distant. Could this have something to do with-
“Renee, is everything alright?” Matthew questioned again, somewhat irritated by her absent-mindedness.
As soon as she heard her name again, she snapped out of her pondering once more, “Yeah… yeah, everything's alright. There's nothing to worry about, Matt.”
Despite his suspicious look, he turned away from the misdreavus, “Well, in that case, we better press on,” he said before continuing on his way.
Renee went to them and continued on her way with them, trying to look like nothing particular happened. Looking at the other pokémon, she thought that this whole scene might help her in the future. After all, if she were to ask them weird question, maybe they would think it's simply part of her condition, and would give her the information she needed. After thinking about this, they walked for a few other minutes before Matt stopped dead in his tracks. As she went by him, Renee glanced at the man.
On his face was one of the few genuine smiles he ever had in a long time.
Turning back to see more clearly what Matt was looking at, she found out that they finally were in front of a door. It was certainly leading to the ranger's headquarters, where Matt could finally have a rest. In a way, the misdreavus felt happy too. Despite all the bad things that might have happened in their journey, they had finally made it. For a moment, they could forget about the PLF, their deceased companion, and their wounded one, still in his poké ball.
Matthew walked towards the door with newfound confidence, the sort of confidence someone has when it seems like they would be able to triumph over any trials before them. The entrance was completely white, which contrasted with the walls made of concrete. Walking up to the door, it automatically opened, and they finally saw what the headquarters looked like.
The first thing Renee caught up on was that they were probably in some sort of lobby, since most of the rangers in the room were sitting on a couch, watching something on the screen. She also guessed that there was no such thing as a dressing code in their group, as every single one of them wore outfits that distinguished them from one another. This seemed to be fairly different from what she usually saw on the streets with Nathan, where most people would look alike. The walls were all painted white, with some decoration here and there, like a plant or what looked like some team's picture.
As soon as the door closed behind them, some of the rangers turned around, finally noticing the newcomer. One of them, wearing a black coat, stood up and walked up to him, his hands in his pockets.
“You're inside the rangers' headquarters, and you're not one of us,” he said harshly. “You're not welcome here.”
“I've been told that all I had to do was to travel here to become a ranger,” Matt explained, somewhat taken by surprise by the man's bluntness.
The man in front of them grinned and turned back to his fellow rangers. “Hey, look who's there! That's the kid who thought he could join us by going from Tradesburg all the way up to here. What a gullible idiot!”
Most rangers on the couch stopped doing what they were doing, and glanced at Matt, amused. A few of them laughed out loud, which made Matt clench his fist. Renee noticed that the man had picked up on Matthew's anger rather quickly.
So Matt had been lied to. Is he telling us that all that Matt has done so far served nothing? This can't be the case. I can't believe Matt will leave all of this empty-handed. What are we going to do now?
“Look, kid,” the man continued. “You might have felt like you were some really tough guy out there, but here, you're nothing.”
“I don't care what you think of me,” Matt replied in a much angrier tone of voice. “I've made a deal with Tristan, so I'm now part of your association, whether you like it or not.”
“This deal is worthless, kid. Nobody here cares about you going from one town to another. Doing this kind of crap is nothing but a warm-up compared to what you'll have to do as a ranger.”
“Keith, would you stop bullying newcomers for once?” a feminine voice spoke up. “Give him his ranger's license already, and we'll call it a day.”
Glancing at the source of the voice, Renee found out that it was Elise who had stood up for Matt in front of everyone. Wearing an emotionless expression, she walked up to the man, and waited for him to do something.
“I'm sure many here are afraid of you, but I'm not. He doesn't deserve his license, and we can't allow ourselves to train a loser like him in these conditions.”
In the blink of an eye, she drew her sword out of its sheath and placed it besides Keith's neck. Taking a look at her sword, Renee noticed that it was actually a honedge. Elise looked right into Keith's eyes.
“I'll take care of his training then. Now, give him his license.”
Looking at the woman, the ranger sighed before taking a card out of his pocket. He raised his hand, handing the license to her.
Everyone here seems pretty tense. I wonder how an organization can end up like this. Isn't there a leader around here?
“Fine,” he finally said. “Don't waste too much time on this kid though. We're going to need your help for the fight ahead.”
Elise grabbed Matt's license and motioned for him and his pokémon to follow him in the hallway. He goes with her without looking back. Glancing at the rangers, she finds out that most of them already went back to their occupations, as if this was a common occurance. Keith turned back and went up to the couch, where he started having a discussion with his fellow rangers quietly.
They passed by a few doors on each side of the hallway and turned left. The misdreavus started to wonder where Elise was leading them to. Since she helped them so many times, she must at least have a reason for doing so, but Renee had no idea why she would do so.
“Sorry for Keith's attitude,” she began, not looking at Matt. “When he isn't on duty, he often turns into an annoying brat like this.”
“It's fine, Lady Elise. After all, I've just joined the association, and he might have doubts about me.”
“That's not what's bothering me,” she told him. “It's that he's been even more so lately. That must have something to do with the recent failures we've had.”
“How so?” the man inquired, wondering how all of this was supposedly connected.
“Well, Keith is our spokesperson, so people consider him like he's our unofficial leader,” she explained to Matt, continuing on her way. “Lately, the government has been cutting funding to the ranger's association as a whole, which means we've got fewer resources to do more missions than before, due to the Fronters' arrival in the region. Unfortunately, the government and the public found out that we were having trouble managing the PLF in the way we see fit, and that gave us an even worse reputation in return. Since we have a worse reputation and less funding, we've been unable to recruit new people into the organization and to keep the ones we already have. All this became a vicious cycle we can't get out of, and we've only found one way to end this cycle.”
Elise finally stopped besides a door and turned back. She handed the ranger's license to Matt, which he slid through the detector besides the gate. A light above the detector turned green, and the man entered inside the room. Inside, there was practically everything he would need to stay there: a bathroom, a bedroom, a living room composed of a single couch, and a minimal kitchen.
“In order to survive, we now have to offer our services to companies whose values might not align with ours,” she continued, closing the door behind her, “and with the Fronters out there, pokémon are either running far away for a much safer home, or asking the PLF to accomplish their missions instead of us. Our goals might be noble, but it doesn't matter if we can't achieve them.”
“Sorry to ask such a question,” Aiden interjected, “but what is your ‘noble goal’?”
“Have you ever heard of the Wardens?” the woman questioned back.
“I might have read a bit about them in a book, but I didn't really understand their purpose.”
“The Wardens are our ancestors, in a way. In this new continent, the name has been changed not too long ago to comfort people, since they've been told that ‘Ranger’ wasn't a title that could be obtained by a pokémon. Most of these people out there would be outraged if they ever discovered that they were protected by them. The Wardens have been maintaining the balance between humans and pokémon for more than two thousand years, but these idiots couldn't care less about our legacy. We've suggested for the government to make a deal with the PLF, but they've refused, thinking it was some sort of trap. Now, we're caught in the middle with both sides stacked against us.”
“I hadn't thought of it that way,” the fennekin said genuinely. “Would it be possible for me to become a Warden? Could I work without having a ranger by my side?”
So he's trying to leave us now. Was it his reason for following Matt here in the first place? No, since he didn't really know why they were before we entered in the headquarters. However, if he was the other human, it might be better for him to leave us behind now. That way, he wouldn't have to give out his identity to us. Wait, is the human-turned-pokémon even aware that I know about his existence? If that's the case, then I must act fast before something happens. On the other hand, maybe he doesn't want to see Matthew anymore. This whole game is getting so complicated!
“Sadly, it might be hard for you to become one,” she answered. “In our current situation, I'm not sure we could accept another pokémon in our ranks, with the government breathing down our neck. That's not counting the fact that our tests are far from being easy.”
“I'm ready to do everything I can to succeed.”
Suddenly, it seemed like Elise didn't know what to say to the fennekin. Noding her head, she turned around and reached for the door's handle. As she was about to leave the room, Renee heard a voice behind her.
“Oh, I totally forgot!” Turning to the source of the voice, the misdreavus noticed that Matt had Guts' poké ball inside his right hand. He threw it at Elise, who caught it swiftly. Looking at the poké ball, she wore a confused expression, wondering why the man had done that.
“Could you take that poké ball to someone who could heal it, milady?” he added to clarify himself. “We're all tired, and I don't know my way around these headquarters.”
“I'll go do that. Sleep well; your training will start tomorrow, and I want to see you in the best shape you can possibly be in.”
“Alright, miss. Goodbye.”
“See you tomorrow, Matt,” she said before closing the door behind her, leaving the group to themselves.
They all turned at Matt, who continued looking inside his bag for something, even after he had scavenged Guts' poké ball. Discerning concern in Matthew's face, she was confused as to what Matt could be looking for inside his bag. After searching for a while and getting everything outside his bag, he raised his head to the three pokémon.
“Where's my book?” he asked, visibly worried. “Has anyone seen my book?”
Kira and Aiden glanced at each other with a look that Renee wasn't able to completely understand. At that particular moment, she guessed that it was one of surprise, as they probably knew about the book's existence, since the misdreavus saw Aiden, Kira, and Chen searching for things inside Matt's bag from afar. Before that moment, Renee had lost sight of Matthew, which was something she hadn't talked to them about. When she finally found him, the man had already caught four pokémon, which she thought to be quite an accomplishment. She had an idea about which book that might be, but wondered if she could've been wrong.
“Which book have you lost, Matt?” she inquired, hoping for some clarifications.
“It's The Modern Warden, that book Nate gave me when I was a kid. Has anyone here seen it?”
Oh yeah, this one. He never talked to me about it after he got it from his father. I still remember the promise he had made, and even years later, he didn't even bring it up. It's so unusual of him to do something like that.
“Sorry Matt, but I didn't know you even had a book in there,” the yanma answered, doing what looked like a shrug with her front arms. “So how would I know what happened to it?”
The man sighed in response. “Seems like this book's gone for good. In that case, I'll go to sleep.”
Matthew grabbed the bag carried it inside his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Left alone in the room, the three pokémon looked at each other, wondering what they could do now. Renee guessed that it was time for them to also go to sleep, since the misdreavus deduced that they would be part of the training session.
“So,” Aiden started, “I guess that means we're going to sleep too?”
I guess this is my chance to try getting them to talk about their past, she thought. Since Matt isn't around, they might get more talking, which could mean more potential clues for me. Since there also seems to be some sort of connivance going on, it might make them more eager to talk, although my presence might not help, in that case.
“Well, since we might be living together for a while, it would be nice if we were to present ourselves, wouldn't it?” she asked rhetorically.
“Sorry, but I'll be leaving this team as soon as I can,” Aiden said, “so I won't really be living with you two for a while.”
“You aren't leaving anytime soon, Aiden,” Kira affirmed bluntly, putting herself in front of Aiden. “Haven't you heard her? It would be hard for an incompetent like you to become a Warden; I mean, you can even breathe flames. And where would you go? There isn't any pokémon city around, and most of them are already sympathetic to the Fronters' cause. If there's something I can be certain of, it's that you aren't going anywhere for the time being. Why would they let you get away?”
She's right. Maybe Aiden is a double agent for the organization they've talked about so much. If they ever have suspicions about him, they'll never let him run away from here. Not with all of these humans mistrusting us.
“Um, sorry to interrupt,” the misdreavus began, “but what's the big deal with the PLF? I mean, I've heard you guys throw this word for quite a while, and I would like to know what you've been talking about.”
“They're a bunch of crazy pokémon that believes the only way for us to ever be free is by killing all humans,” she explained, irritation slowly growing in her voice.
“Oh, I see,” Renee said. “So, does anyone wants to share a bit of their past?
“Well, why don't you begin?” the yanma questioned. “After all, you're the one who asked us to talk about ourselves, and I'm sure you'll also be living with us for a while.”
Taken off-guard by Kira's reply, Renee thought for a bit, “Um… From what I can remember, I used to live in a forest before Master Nathan captured me, and well, I had been living with them since then. I spent most of my time helping them around the house, and looking after Matt. Last thing I know, Matt took me from my master, and here I am.”
“That sounds pretty boring,” she declared suspiciously. “What about you, Aiden?”
“Actually, my life is also pretty boring, and nothing is really worth mentioning.”
“Oh, really?” she said, hovering closer to the fennekin, which unsettled him a bit. “It's not that big of a deal. Just tell us about yourself.”
The misdreavus glanced from Kira to Aiden and back, trying to understand where the yanma's weird attitude came from. While they seemed to have some sort of complicity when Matt was there, it was as if there was something going on between them, especially with these last words she spoke. It seemed like Aiden was hiding something, but that she somehow had a clue what this secret of his was about.
“Well, I had been living with a quilava who acted as my caretaker for as far as I can remember. I've gotten tired of his rules, so I've left the place. I wanted to explore the world.”
That really doesn't tell me much, she thought, becoming a bit more desperate. This was a bad idea to begin with. I really should've tried something else, but I literally have no idea what I could do now. Trying to come up with something will take me some time, and I really have no time to think about that.
“That's funny, isn't it? You wanted to explore the world, probably under Matt's security, and now you end up stuck here with us. Looks like that idea backfired,” Kira pointed out, grinning at her pun.
Aiden sighed and walked away from the discussion. He went on the couch, his head resting on a warm cushion. On the other hand, Kira went on the other side of the room, in the open kitchen, and tried to land on top of the fridge. Renee watched her for a while, until she succeeded. A few seconds after her feat, she decided against sleeping on top of it, and the misdreavus guessed that it had something to do with the temperature that emanated from it. Once she found that observing Kira wasn't interesting for her anymore, she looked through the window, and what she saw piqued her curiosity.
The headquarters they were in was inside a gigantic cavern, whose walls surrounded the whole city, protecting it from the inside. It gave the misdreavus a sense of déja vu, as this city, despite its distinct architecture, was still underground, protecting the humans from any pokémon threat. She had heard from Matt's father that every single one of these cities were protected by a large steel wall that added a layer of protection to the city, alongside the rocky layers that protected it from most attacks. As a last resort, they always had an escape plan, which involved using a psychic pokémon to teleport them to the nearest city. That way, they were able to survive any type of attack that could come their way.
“So, Kira, what about you?” Renee inquired. “What was your life like before you met Matt?”
As soon as she saw Kira, the misdreavus noticed that she was now much calmer than when she started that whole conversation. However, she seemed a bit unsettled by Renee's decision to bring back this topic. Interested by this turn of events, Aiden turned his head towards them to hear her response.
“I want to begin this story of mine by saying that you actually both had interesting stories to tell, as far as I'm concerned,” she confessed to them, showing a tender side of her personality Renee had rarely seen coming from her. “You've both followed the wind where it led you, and the wind rewarded your trust by giving you a chance to follow your dreams. I never got such a chance; I was once caught into the maelstrom of my heart, and here's what's left of me.”
Upon saying these words, the yanma looked down to the floor. They both wondered if that was all she had to say about her past. Despite the bittersweet speech Kira gave, her words left the ghost puzzled.
How come she changed her mind about my story so fast? Did she just do that to get a reaction out of me? I have no idea where this might lead us. Maybe I shouldn't have brought that again. This whole thing seems to make her really uncomfortable. She probably didn't want to bring these memories back.
Kira let out a chuckle and raised her head, glancing at Aiden. Switching her focus onto Renee, she said with a mischievous smile, “Do you really want to know who I am? Do you really want to delve into the storm?”
For a second, Renee thought she really considered stopping this whole thing altogether. But then she remembered why she went through with this: she had to know where they came from, as this would give her precious information on the human-turned-pokémon. She was now certain that Kira had something to hide, but she wasn't so sure as to what she was trying to hide from them.
“Yes,” the misdreavus said with slight hesitation.
“Alright then,” she began with assurance, keeping her grin. “A long time ago, I was promised to be the heir of a kingdom far, far away in the south. At the time, my parents told me I had everything I could ever dream for. At first, I believed them. After all, there were always plenty of things to do in the castle, plenty of people to talk to. But then, I slowly but surely grew tired of it. I wanted danger, I wanted freedom, but more than all of this, I wanted truth. I knew the world all around me wasn't how people truly lived, and I wanted to see the outside world with my tiny eyes.”
Pausing for a moment, she started hovering to the middle of the room. “However, my family didn't want me to follow that path. They tried all they could to stop me, and my hatred for them grew stronger and stronger. For all this time, they never stopped lying to me. Later on, I found out that my older brother was actually the one who would inherit the throne. They told me he was what the kingdom needed: a warrior that could hold off his own and protect the kingdom. Him? A warrior? What a lie.”
“The day he finally evolved, I killed him in cold blood,” she admitted. “The other reason why they've kept me from the throne was due to my supposed stupidity. That was another lie; I've managed to cover up my brother's death and escape from this dreadful place. Now, I'm on a mission on my own terms, and if any of you says anything to Matt, I'll make sure every single one of you suffer a horrible, painful death.”
Renee couldn't believe what she'd just heard and began panicking. She couldn't believe that Matt had let someone like her follow them around. She wondered why Kira said they couldn't tell Matt about it. Maybe she's told Matt the reason of her presence here, but omitted to talk about where she came from.
But why would Matt hide her true intentions to the rest of the team? Maybe she doesn't want Aiden to know about these motives of hers. But then, would that mean that they weren't accomplices to begin with? All of this is so sudden. Does Matt know any of this, or are we the only one in the team to know about this?
“You've made it all up, haven't you?” Aiden said with assurance.
Wait, what?
At first, Kira looked just as surprised as the misdreavus was, but her surprise quickly changed to a witty smile. Turning her head, she noticed Renee and seemed to have found her surprise quite amusing.
“Oh come on, Renee. Did you seriously think I would tell two people I barely know anything about my whole life story, only to threaten them afterwards?”
“I... Umm...” she mumbled, stumbling over her words. “Well, I dunno. I've got no idea who you are! You could be a human-turned-pokémon, for all I know!”
“And that would be none of your business,” the yanma retorted. “I know there's something behind that fake friendliness of yours. I have no idea what you're looking for, but let me tell you this: you won't get that out of me.”
I... I've just completely ruined my chance at getting anything out of her. So now, if she was actually the human-turned-pokémon, there would be no way for me to be certain of that. I mean, it's clear now that she isn't actually against the idea, which is kinda weird, to be honest, but it's not like she outright said she was one!
In her own thoughts, Renee didn't notice Kira walking away from them. She settled herself at the corner of the living room, just besides the kitchen, and drifted off to sleep. Once the misdreavus was sure she wouldn't hear them, she turned her head back to Aiden, who was resting on a cushion. Glancing at Kira, she approached the fennekin silently.
“What are we going to do about this?” she whispered to him.
“I don't have a clue,” he murmured back. “This might not be the best moment to talk about this. She can probably hear us right now.”
“Oh,” she said, glancing back to Kira. “Well... Good night, Aiden.”
“Good night, Renee.”
She left the fennekin and wandered in the room for a while. She couldn't fathom how he had found out she was lying the whole time. Kira's lies, Chen's death, the lucario's game, Guts' current state, Matt's book, the PLF, the Rangers and the Wardens; it seemed to her like all of this happened at once.
Amongst all the thoughts spinning in her mind, one particular idea struck her mind. At first, it seemed so simple, yet so risky. But Renee knew this was worth a try, no matter how she looked at it. She stopped in front of Kira, who was deep into sleep.
If she doesn't want to tell us the truth, her dreams will.