Messengengar:
"—Geeta, Geeta. Champion Geeta." Linh grumbled under his breath. The leaves on the side of the road crunched under his boots. "National figurehead, major administrator of the League. Responsible for responding to major Pokémon-related incidents, encourage the growth of a strong bond between humans and Pokémon, and promoting the cultural growth of Paldea as Champion of the League. And as Chairwomen of the League, responsible for managing the budget, investing in cival infrastructure, and diplomatic endeavours to other countries.
"It's a merging of two very different positions," Linh continued, more thoughtfully. Cars and trucks passed him, exhausts puttering and engines rumbling. "Two fulltime jobs meant for two people. That she's managed to keep up with the workload is impressive, but it's a concerning amount of consolidation."
Linh stopped under a tree, one who's branches curled and leaned over the pavement and over to the road. He leaned against it. "Question is, how can I help Poppy? Do I need to help Poppy?"
He paused, working the sleeve of his sweater. "I want to. She's a child working a job with both significant public presence and the potential of dangerous tasks. It doesn't matter how much she wants it or how safe her boss and co-workers make it. There's the potential there,
"They say all safety rules were written in someone's blood. I hope I can make the first that isn't." He stopped speaking, and leaned back against the bark. Thoughts circling imagined scenarios.
"Bah." He continued walking, but this time drawing a Pokéball from his pockets. "Not even my kid. And Pokémon exist—no reason to be sour."
A flash of light, and Casket, his Greavard stood boldly. Her tail wagging. She focused, and the candle atop her extinguished.
"Hey Casket!" Linh put on a baby voice, "We're nearly there, yeah? Let's run there—go go go—"
'There' was an offshoot off of the road—one that cut through the bushes and left city limits to show a grass field. One battle-scarred with scorched plants and scattered dirt holes. A place for Pokémon training. Early Pokémon training, where you're less concerned about others knowing what your teaching and more about having something out of the way to avoid interruptions.
The grass crunched under his feet. Casket zoomed around the clearing. Tongue panting, head whipping around, and her gait at a full gallop. The simple zest of life in her. Linh let her have her fun, as he moved to the centre of the area, and pulled out a blanket to lay on the ground—to sit without getting dirt anywhere. He watched her frolic for a moment more, before calling out. "Casket! Casket—here girl!"
She slowed, and padded over.
"So. Training—getting stronger." Linh told her. "You want to be stronger?"
Casket barked.
"I want to be stronger." He agreed. "Because strength is nice, strength is useful, and strength is respected." He paused. "This culture respects and follows strong trainers—the position of Champion proves it. I don't know if we'll ever get there, but I want to try. Agree?"
Casket barked. Tail wagging and tippy tapping her excitement.
"Yeah. So." Linh looked around, aimless looking. "The first thing we need to do is figure out what you have—what your moves do, and what they can do. So, I know you know: Growl, Tackle, and Shadow Sneak. Do you know any other moves?"
Casket paused, thinking. She opened her mouth, then closed it slowly. Then she opened it purposefully, and her tongue stuck out. Except...
It wasn't her tongue—the shape was wrong. It wasn't wide enough, it wasn't shaped almost spade like. It was rounder, and almost looked...
It grew bigger, to Casket's size itself, and it swiped the air with a trail of slightly yellowed spit hanging in place.
... Human.
"Lick." Linh sucked in air between his teeth. "Eugh. Thanks for not hitting me with it.
Casket, with the tongue shrinking back into her mouth, barked. The trail in the air hung there, moist slobber shiny in the daylight. Looking closer, Linh saw little yellow arcs between the snail trails. The beads and tubes were slowly breaking apart, fading away.
"That'd be the paralytic effect. I wonder if... NO! Not going any further. I don't want to know, I don't want to experiment." Linh shuffled away, and watched as the ectoplasmic spit faded.
Linh sat there, a little shiver in his spine. "So! Let's start with Tackle. Can you—show me Tackle, please. Just run around while under it."
Casket did so, and ran a lap. It took a few steps for her to be coated in that white glow. And Linh noticed that her steps parted the grass, flattened them down. And all behind her an unbroken line of smushed grass slowly unflattened. All of it, instead of the two thinner trails her feet should have carved.
"Actually..." As a thought to him, he pointed to a point in front of him. "Casket, run towards this patch, and then stop just before, yeah?" Linh knelt down, then lied down, so he was eye-level with the strand of grass he pointed out.
There! As Casket approached, the grass started falling down—right as the glow reached the strand. But as Casket stopped before it, the glow of the Tackle faded and the grass sprung right back up. Tackle's shroud extends her reach. Or, perhaps, is a form of 'shield' or 'ram', which builds up thickly around her.
But how could Linh test which one? Perhaps... Make contact while Casket is running by. Linh reached down, and picked up some rocks from the grass. "Okay, so, here's what will happen. You will run by me while using Tackle, and as you pass I'm going to throw rocks at you, just tell me if it feels—weaker, or doesn't feel like rocks. You willing to try that?"
Casket tilted her head, but she didn't show any hesitation as she ran away, and then back towards Linh.
Linhh threw the rocks. He missed a lot of them, but some did land on her back and get stuck in her fur, or bounced off easily. "Feel that?"
Casket nodded, then shook the rocks off like water.
"Not something protective—just extended reach. About a few centimetres... I wonder if we can extend that out—or change the shape. But that sounds like a lot of effort." Linh stood up. "We should try for the low-hanging fruit first. Tackle, how easily can you change your trajectory with it? Run, and then Tackle in a different direction."
Casket ran in a straight line, a white light starting to spread around her form, but before it could snap fully around her, she twisted her feet and leapt in a different direction—the Tackle forming and—
—she tripped and fell into a pothole. Tackle dragging her along her initial path instead of allowing her to change course. Linh laughed as he dug between the grass and picked Casket up.
"Good try—but it seems that wouldn't work. C'mon, lets brush you down." She wriggled in his grasp. Yipping and griping.
Sitting back on the blanket, Linh kept Casket in his lap as he brushed her down—with a firm grip so she couldn't get out and try again. "C'mon." Linh said, the thick double coat raked heavily with the slicker brush. "I watched you do it throughout— Tackle seems to need momentum to start building up, and once it snaps in place it'll force you in that direction—no flash-stepping dodges allowed. So let's move on. Also, extinguish your candle again."
Linh made one last rake across her fur, down to the tips of her fur, then pushed her out of his lap. Shaking the dust off of his legs, he followed her off the blanket. "Let's look at Growl next.
"Growl's—it's those shock waves, when you, well, growl, you release these sound waves that spread in every direction. And those you select get debuffed—weakened. The problem here was, the one you showed be before, it affected me as well as the Skwovet. It shouldn't have, it should only have affected them."
Linh paced in front of Casket. "So let's try it, use Growl, but don't hit me with it."
Casket growled, as the sound waves passed through Linh, he felt a weakness in his arms, and a spine-chilling fear lurking in the back of his mind. That's the debuff—fear fit to make one's sword arm weak.
"Nope, that didn't work. Try it again, but in a different way—maybe, see if growling quieter makes it travel less, so it doesn't hit me."
Casket tried again, her head dipping low and stance wide. Her growls were imperceptible, more a rumbling. But the light in her throat spilled out as visible sound waves regardless. And seemed neither slower nor shorter travelling for the effort.
"No, that sucked." Linh grimaced, and reaffirmed to himself that Casket was his friend, and not something to fear. "Um, this time, try to... think very hard about not hitting me. Or think very hard about targeting something different—like that big stone over there."
Casket barked chipper-like, then jumped and spun to the pointed rock. She stared at it all angry-like and growled. The sound waves spilling out from every side of her mouth, spreading like ripples in a pond. Despite Linh being behind Casket, he still felt his bowels unsettle from the vibrations.
"I know it's possible, but I suppose neither of us know what to look for, huh?" Linh paced aimlessly. "That's... fine. We can focus on other things. Another variant of Growl is one where the sound waves get tightly focused. And this time, I actually know how it's done! This time around, seal your lips, only let the sound escape from a small gap at the front of your teeth."
Casket seemed to struggle with getting the right reverberations while keeping her mouth closed, and Linh had to both remind her 'mouth closed' and 'candle'. But before a half-hour could have passed, she was able to growl with her mouth closed entirely. The glow in her throat catching on the teeth and lips, and spreading no further. And her body reverberating like an engine.
"Good! Very good! Now, just keep this up, and open the front of your mouth just a little." Linh crouched down behind her, his hand reaching out and pointing to the big rock, "Aim right there..."
The growls increased in volume, and Casket peeled her lips back, and a small sound wave—looking like a smoke ring—shot out. With actual force behind it. A lot of force, actually; Casket was flung into Linh's leg unexpectedly, and her yelp was aimed upwards, sending a great and loud Growl into the sky.
"Oof!" Linh caught Casket. "That's some unexpected recoil. Maybe because we held it for so long? But you did it! That was a perfect example of the other variant of Growl. A nice directed shot. Now—Ooer hang on—we've got a guest. Seems your aim is good Casket." Linh and Casket looked up, and watched as a small robin sized bird descended, with a fiery red coat and a nasty gleam to his eye. Casket barked at him and the Fletchling chirped back angrily.
"Hello Fletchling," Linh began politely, his hand keeping Casket from running at the perched bird. "Sorry to bother you, did we hit you?"
Fletchling tweeted. Like the app, it was probably toxic.
"Well—I'm sorry, would some berries be an apology? I do have some in my—" Linh looked down to his pockets, which is why he didn't see Fletchling fly at him, and didn't see Casket rip herself out of his grasp.
"Wha—ah, fight now." Linh scooted back, scrambling to stand back up as Casket Tackled Fletchling mid fight. "Right—Fletchling's Normal Flying. Casket, Tackle and Growl's only." He called out as they separated—Fletchling by taking flight, Casket by gravity's claim.
Casket barked affirmative, even as she hit the dirt with a dense thud. Fletchling circled around Casket, clearly disregarding Linh in favour of the Pokémon. It's a part of the 'culture', attack the Pokémon, scare off the human.
Casket watched carefully—waiting for Fletchling to approach. Fletchling did not, aggravated he may be, he knew how well Casket out-massed him.
"If the bird doesn't commit, then debuff until they have to—or they no longer can." Linh commanded, "Growl!"
Fletchling, seeing the dog start to reverberate with that god-awful sound, dove. Around his tiny body, a white glow formed.
"Stop! Prepare Tackle, and hold—hold!"
Fletchling dove without concern, there was no way the Greavard could hit him, not while he was focused entirely and not surprised. He could easily hit and fly away before the dog could react.
Which was why it was really surprising when he passed right through her undead flesh, glimpsed the insides of the dog, and hit the dirt on the other side instead. A squawk spilled from his beak as he bounced off the ground.
"Now!" Casket sprinted towards the flailing bird. One step built momentum, two steps and the light of power started shining. Three steps it snapped into place, and Casket Tackled Fletchling.
He bounced like a beach ball. "Damn fine shot! Again!"
Casket followed up the Tackle with a Tackle, paws thudding against the ground and the grass parting, but she was too slow—Fletchling soars again! Casket's leap missed by metres.
And she was bopped on the head by a Peck for the trouble. The Flying type move having no trouble touching the Ghost.
This scene played out, as Linh thought furiously. Casket kept on chasing the bird, leaping but never making it. And every time Fletchling agilely turned around, and pecked at her head. A defeat by a thousand beaks.
What can Casket do? She's not fast enough, nor agile enough to hit the bird. The only move that could reach him would be Shadow Sneak, but it's Ghost.
... Does Fletchling know that?
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"Casket, Shadow Sneak, but don't try to hit it! Just reach up and hem it in!"
Casket's shadow grew five spans wide and five spans out, a massive circle under Fletchling, and paws started rising up. Shadowy spikes that shot through the air and stayed there—utterly harmless, but Fletchling arced and veered away from them. And soon enough Fletchling was surrounded on every side by long thin paws made entirely of shadows. His gaze darted from side to side, not looking at Casket, but at the thin streaks of sunlight between each inky paw.
"Now—Tackle! Catch him in your mouth!"
Fletchling's eyes widened, but in those tight confines, he could not dodge as Casket leapt, a mouth full of slavering teeth opening wide!
A spit-sodden and soggy shell-shocked bird stood on the blanket, shivering. By his side, Casket lay down, her chin on Linh's leg.
Linh, cross-legged, rifled through his bag and came out with a bag of treats and some berries. He lay them down before Fletchling.
"Sorry about trapping you in her mouth Fletchling," Linh said to the unresponsive bird. "And sorry that Casket ran around for four minutes while I failed to get her to spit you back out." He turned to Casket. "You've obeyed 'drop' commands before, what changed?"
Casket ignored him, her head crawling up his leg, towards the dog treats.
"Mm." Linh dismissed her, and leaned over to poke Fletching in the breast. "You awake tweety?"
Fletchling's head snapped towards Linh at the contact, and he visibly rebooted. Before ruffling up, sending a remarkable glare at Casket for someone that has definitely lost the fight, and flew off without touching the berries Linh gave him.
Linh snorted, and rolled them over to Casket. He watched as she devoured them, "Y'know, I was thinking to explore Shadow Sneaks ability to move through shadows first—but that trick you pulled at the end there was fascinating. How many paws can you make from the shadow?"
With her maw a bit discoloured with Oran Berry juice, Casket barked.
"You done?" Linh glanced down at the crumbs, "Well, let's get practising—no point waiting now."
Linh bade Casket up with a clasp on her collar, and he crossed the field with her, to the edge line where the hedge line cast jagged shadows. She stood at the edge of the line and cast her shadow against the sun—where it mixed with the hedge and formed darker darks.
Small paws peeled off of floor, like paint peeling off an old coat. Inky dinky black paws on inky dinky black legs extending tall and taller. Climbing up above the hedge line. One, two, three, four.
... Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Casket was heaving, huffing. Heavy breathing like she was haunted.
"Thank you Casket—just hold them there, yeah?" Linh stepped further, up to each paw pillar. He rap tapped tapped one, and it broke. "Oh. Doesn't seem very sturdy, 's strange for a move meant to harm."
Linh lightly brushed another, it snapped like paper. "Oh. It's really good Fletchling didn't test them, wasn't it Casket? But then, how could it even damage anything? Just hold them there Casket."
Casket barked behind him, with time, she seemed to hold the move easier. Each instant Linh touched turned weak and crumbly under his grip, bar number five, which felt solid and resistant under his grip. "Hm. More durable, I can see this one as something that can hurt."
Yet he snapped it still—the face freshly found, the wound, a sort of jagged black. Four went similar, yet three was near un-breaking. And two and one felt like steel. "Hmm, perhaps age hardens these spikes. Or the first one is stronger, and every one after is weaker. Or perhaps the strength of each spike is split between each one that exists? We can find out, with one more use of Shadow Sneak."
Linh turned, and Casket let the shadowy extrusions slip and fall back down. Shadow Sneak ended. "Casket? Would you? Or do you want no more—a break. I know we've been indulging my interest more then investing in your strength."
Casket sneezed, and shook her head of the snot. She barked indignant at the idea that she would want to stop. Barked!
"Okay." Linh smiled, the word shifting tones playfully. He stepped sideways for a clear sight-line, "On your own time, Casket."
Caskets shadow slid, and more paws peeled off the ground. One, two, three, four, five, six—
"Stop!" Linh held up his hand, "That's good. We can test which way it goes now—this one is the youngest, and this is the oldest. If the oldest breaks easily then that rules out the second interpretation, then we break the youngest, and if that has any durability it is the third—if not, the first. Ready Casket?" He lashed out, hand holding each gestured spike, and with a quiet muted crack, he broke each in turn.
"... Third interpretation. Even if Fletching was not Normal, and could not phase through the spikes. It could have just broken them by simply breathing a bit harshly." Linh turned and gave Casket a sly smile, "Wouldn't that have been a sight?"
Casket grumbled and growled, remembering the bird. But then she stuck her tongue out, panting to show relaxation.
"Okay. The only thing to really test now is how flexible—how dextrous—the limbs, the Shadow Limbs, are. Question is, how do we test that?" Linh stepped back, and picked up Casket. "Any ideas girl?"
Casket thought, and then barked something—it sounded a bit like 'no idea!'
"... And I want to move onto the other variant, wanna do that instead?"
Casket tilted her head and tried to wriggle around to look up at him.
"Oh yes. In particular, I want to see how things like items interact with your ability to walk in shadows. Can you hold things and carry them through? What things, biological things or large things? What about things too large for you to even hold—what about things that are tied to you? And what happens if you let go of those things inside the shadow. Do they stay there? Do they pop out? Do they linger there in perfect stasis or age or decay and deteriorate? Can you carry me through the shadows? How far can you travel in shadows? Can you do it through walls—through floors? Through gaps in the seams? If you put something in another's shadow, does that impact them? Hurt them? Give them an itch they can't scratch or something else?"
Casket made a somewhat worried sound, from how manic her man's voice turned near the end.
"OH I have so many questions!" Linh grinned, this did nothing but unnerve Casket. She whimpered.
Linh and Casket padded back home, with the sun setting orange-red behind them.
On the side of the road, there was a stopped truck. Big and boxy and white, one for deliveries. A typical depiction of something broken down, to be towed towards a lot at some point later. The only thing different was with how the driver was crouched near the exhaust, instead of swearing at the engine.
The driver was squatting before the exhaust, grunting, his hands were clad in thick work gloves, and he had a solid grip on the exhaust itself. He was tugging on it. More yanking, with thick arms flabbing at the force.
"Problem Sir?" Linh asked, kneeling with him. Casket made herself busy by turning around, and sniffing at the bushes.
The driver let go, and glanced at Linh, "Ah? No no. It's nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing—it looks like a clogged exhaust. What is that, twigs?"
The driver grimaced, and held up his gloves, the fabric seemed a bit frayed. "Thorns more like. Don't know how it happened but it got all real stuck in there. And it won't get out." He snorted loudly, "Bastard thing's stinkin' up my truck."
"Mm, may I?" Linh held his hand towards the exhaust, close to the woody dessicated bundle shoved in there. The driver sent an incredulous look at Linh's far thinner frame, but he let Linh try.
Linh started by gently grasping the twigs, feeling them—and the thorns against his palm. Pinpoint sharp, but not enough to draw blood, not unless he grips hard. A light tug and Linh felt the resistance, and maybe he imagined it—but did it draw back? Or, was there something else tugging?
"Casket, candle." Linh turned back to the exhaust, and lightly touched the woody bundle again. There! A slight tugging on something inside him, the thin hairs on his arm raising, a drain on his life-force unfamiliar and different to a Greavards.
"Well, I found your problem. This isn't just detritus—it's some sorta Ghost Pokémon. I can feel it draining my life when I touch it."
"Eh?"
"Yeah..." Linh pulled out his phone, made a search, and tapped on the screen. "Was your truck coming from... about West province, near Asado."
"Yes, actually." The driver frowned, "From Porta Marinada. How'd you know?"
Linh flipped the phone around, showing a photo of a tumble weed, with dried desiccated twiggy branches, and two floating eyes in the hollow. "Meet Bramblin, the Tumbleweed Pokémon, it lives in Asado Desert. And as with all Ghosts, it eats life force—when something touches them, usually. Fella' must'a gotten stuck inside the pipe, and when you try to pull it out it just grips harder. Dunno how the poor bugger got stuck so badly inside though."
"Co?o! I've been yanking at it for hours!" The driver looked alarmed, "Will I be okay? I don't want my fuggin' soul eaten!"
"Hm? Yeah," Linh waved his hand negligently, "It's just one Pokémon, they can't eat life-force that fast. You'd have to be carrying the bush around for a while to be really hurt. Just have a big meal later and you'll be fine."
"Oh."
"Like take my dog," Linh leaned backwards, grabbed Casket before she could do more then nibble at a stick on the ground, and held her towards the driver. "She's a Greavard, they draw out life force when their candle is lit. But it's not fast—it can't be, not with how small the flame is. I have her out and about for about six hour's a day, and no issues on my end. And I'm not the healthiest person around. You're a full grown adult man—it'd take twenty Greavards feeding off of you before you felt anything." The driver took the offered dog.
"Okay." The driver held Casket in one meaty hand, the other patting the base of her candle. He ignored how she wriggled to try to lick his hand. "That makes sense. Thanks. But—this 'Bramblin' 's still here. And I'm late as it is. How do we get it out?"
Linh hummed, head tilting. "You have any Pokéballs? If we hit him with one, that'll do it I reckon."
"But wouldn't Bramblin be able to break out—since it's not damaged or anything."
"I'm not sure huffing car fumes for a long time will keep anything healthy," Linh countered, "But that's what our Pokémon are for." He gestured to Casket, "You got any on you?"
"Jus' Judo—but he's tired. So we poke Bramblin with a ball, and if it breaks out, use our Pokémon to scare them off?" The driver stood up, and looked at the road and the passing cars. "Will need to be careful, make sure it doesn't get run over."
Linh blinked, realising he forgot about the road. "Ah, yes. But we'll need to capture, I think. They're not native here, so turn over to the rangers or keep. And maybe a Pokécentre visit. Truck fumes, y'know?"
The driver nodded. "Sound's like a plan. I've some ball's in my glovebox, we can do this now."
Linh stood up and nodded back. "Ready when you are."
The driver came back with two Pokéballs, one for him, one for Linh "Right, other side of this hedge is a decently flat field we can keep Bramblin in to try to capture it. Head on to the other side, and when I get the Bramblin inside the ball I'll toss it over. If it breaks out it'll be up to you."
"Of course—" Linh was already walking, seeking a gap in the hedges to squeeze through. "I'll shout you when I'm ready!"
The gap Linh found was particularly narrow, it left loose leaves on him, and a scratch on his cheek from a sharp branch. But he managed all the same, and stood on the grassy field with Casket at the ready. "Here! Throw at will!"
A moment later, the sound of a Pokémon getting caught in a ball, and then the sound of a man exhaling 'hup!' and the ball came over the tall plants.
It hit the ground once, shook twice, and then broke as Bramblin broke free. He swayed in place woozily, floating eye's spinning and twirling like puppet's dangling from strings. Before he snapped into reality, and the Bramblin took in Casket and Linh.
"Casket—Start with—no that may scare it." Linh paused, "Just sit, let's see how Bramblin reacts."
Bramblin reacted by snarling, desiccated plant branch rasping against root, and a green glowing translucent vine shot out at the speed of fast, and swung left to right. It swayed in the air and lunged towards Casket—vaguely, it lurched side to side, as if Bramblin's vision was swaying.
Casket dodged with a leap, and then it came around again and stopped inside Casket, instead of passing through or smacking her down.
An opaque patch of realer looker green flowed down the vine, from Casket to Bramblin, then it popped off, rotting in the air.
"You hurt?" Linh shouted at Casket, she barked no.
"You weaker?" Casket barked yes, head bobbing. Linh assessed Bramblin—his branches seemed sturdier, somehow. More life to wood long dried. Strength Sap. Drain the Pokémon's strength to heal. "Okay, it's aggressive, Shadow Sneak—limbs!"
Paws peeled up from Casket's shadow, and dove forwards—three disjointed forelegs, with claws extending out from them. Bramblin rolled away from one with unsteady gait—perhaps poisoned? Then another hit a glancing blow and Bramblin bounced away with a rattle of seeds inside the hollow branches. This caused the last to miss—Bramblin threw himself with the attack.
Bramblin responded with a Spiteful look, his eyes spun and a most baleful glare slammed into Casket. The roughage at the base of the bush rasped and creaked, and it somehow came off as a scathing insult. Croaked from a smoker's lungs.
Casket growled, and then slumped—Spite. A move to induce unnatural exhaustion in a foe. Linh frowned, Casket was weakened and drained—not ideal. He needed to end this. Fast.
Bramblin turned a gimlet eye to Linh, and rasped at him too. Hisses from a pissy bush. A bush that has been trapped in exhaust fumes—with toxins and off-gasses building up until it backed all the way to the engine.
... Actually, it won't take much, one Lick for paralysis and the tumbleweed should be caught easily. "Casket, go for Sneak—walk this time, and then once you're in, Lick."
Casket dove into her shadow, but this presented a potential problem—with a disorientated Bramblin losing track of the Greavard, he could instead target the other creature, noisy and moving. He did, with a spray of Bullet Seeds. Badly aimed, but each one could knock a tooth out.
Linh yelped and ducked as the salvo landed in the bush behind him—and then paused, as he heard a crackling screech. Looking up, he saw Casket slapping the Bramblin with her tongue. Yellow lightning arcing over the plant like static.
"Well done—Casket! Just in time too!" He stood up, and threw a Pokéball.
It rocked twice, but clicked at the end.