Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Seasons of Heaven

Episode 15: Aseria's Ancient History

"Well if you wanna protect this place, then I'll make sure I don't touch anything," Esther said. "Seriously, before was an accident. I really wanna look around 'cos I'm super interested in this place, but once I'm done, I'll be outta here."

"But why do you want to protect this place? It's clearly seen better days," Lute asked. He flinched when Gen gave him a look. "I-I don't mean that to be rude or anything. I can understand appreciating history. My teacher at school is like this, too. But choosing to live in a place like this, driving out intruders, there has to be a big reason."

Gen stared at him until he looked away, and then sighed. "This place is Angard, an integral part of Aserian history. The country of Angard thrived off technology that was decades ahead of what we currently have. But with the power-hungry nature of the world at hand, it was forced into war and erased from the atlas."

"This place was destroyed by Pokémon? Who and why?" Lute said.

"I told you. For its technology. It was ruthlessly drained of all life and turned into the fragile wasteland you see before you," Gen closed her paws into fists. "I won't let the modern world just forget its mistake. And so I will protect these ruins. For as long as I live, Angard will remain as a scar in our planet, a scar of the Pokémon's sins."

A scar of the Pokémon's sins, Lute repeated to himself.

Despite that conversation and their intrusion to her home, Gen allowed the group to stay the night. Her home stood out in the dead lands of Angard as a giant tree stump, surprisingly functional as a habitat even for what Lute was used to. It had spacious rooms, warmth, and makeshift furniture that made room for storage, beds, and all else. The five of them were able to split up to sleep in three separate rooms, and in Lute and Sophitia's case, their room even had a window.

Well, he thought everything would be alright. Past midnight, the two were still awake and staring at the single bed in their room. He knew exactly what the problem was, but he didn't want to rush for it and look like a child, either.

"So uh, how're we doin' this? Heads or tails?" Sophitia snickered.

"Why does she even have multiple rooms if one of those rooms only has one bed?" Lute hung his head. "Forget it. You need it more. You're the one who's bandaged."

"Oh, how gentlemanly of you. I'll gladly accept," She skipped over to plonk herself down on it. "You er... gonna be okay there?"

"We don't really have a choice," he said as he settled down. He immediately regretted it, though. The stump's bumpy floor made for the worst possible place to sleep. He had a cushion at least, so he'd figure something out.

"There's enough space for both of us," Sophitia said quietly.

"H-huh?" he replied.

"Look I'm just giving you a choice to not sleep on the floor. Take it or leave it," She looked away. It looked like she had the slightest hint of a blush for a moment, but the thought only made his own face red.

"No. I can't be that useless, too. Don't worry about it," he said, and turned away. He slapped his head on the cushion and forced his eyes shut. "Goodnight, Sophitia."

There was a pause. "Useless?"

Another pause. The word began to repeat itself in his head, and he growled. "Yeah. Useless."

"What's so useless about not sleeping on the floor? Everybody needs to sleep in a bed," she said.

He growled harder. "That's not what I mean. I just- never mind."

There was quiet again, enough for him to hear her shuffle a little bit. He couldn't tell what she was doing until he felt the light touches of her feelers wrap around him, and all so suddenly that he flinched. He kicked his feet as he was picked up and brought over to her side, where he was surprised to meet a warm smile. "S-Sophitia, wha-what're you doing?"