Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Seasons of Heaven

Episode 19: How to Live

"You sure she's here?" Lute raised an eyebrow. Infia called out again, and finally got a reaction via the bushes that walled them into the area. They rustled for a moment, and out popped Esther's head, bows and all. "E-Esther?"

"Shh!" She signalled him to come closer. He was wary, so she yanked him through the bush the moment she could grab him.

They emerged on the very edge of the shopping centre's roof on top of the letters and logo of the place. The instant Lute realised how little floorspace he had, he freaked out and stood on his hind legs to lean back as far as he could.

"Geez, keep it calm, will ya? You're not gonna fall," Esther said as she slid to sit down. Just that gave him anxiety, and sweat covered his face.

"E-Esther. What're you doing here?" Lute managed to say, but Infia slid off him to walk over. "Infia, careful!"

"Oh, you're not good with heights? Sorry, I wouldn't have dragged you out if I knew." Esther smiled

Lute paused and gulped. He turned to face forward, but how high up he was began to become apparent. The Pokémon in the streets were blurry dots from here, and he couldn't even hear them. "Okay. Let's go back okay? The others are all worried about you."

"Of course they are. Then I get slammed with a million gald fine and another decade of media service. I know I can pay it off no sweat, but damn it man," Esther rested her head on her paws.

Infia took a deep breath. "Lute, do you mind if I talk to Infia alone for a minute, please?"

"I-I er," he glanced back. He could climb back into the bush, but one mistake on these shaky hind legs and he'd fall. He opted to shuffle away instead, but slipped and fell onto his belly. He took to hugging the metal instead. At least it was as cold as he wanted it to be.

"You're gonna ask me what's wrong. And all I'm gonna say is stuff you probably don't understand. Or maybe it just all sounds like sappy, made up Tauros-shit," Esther began.

"Please tell me anyway. I want to listen," Infia said. "When I first met you, I thought it would be a dream come true. But you turned out not to be the Pokémon I thought you would be. That really hurt me a lot. But I've had a lot of time to think too, and now I know that me hurting myself over that is just really selfish of me."

"Oh?" Esther smiled a little.

"You're not the Pokémon I thought you would be. But that's only because I never knew you – the real you. If we're going to travel together, I should get to know the real you. So I want to know why you got so upset about what Athens did to me."

Esther hesitated and leaned back with a sigh. Her eyes were shut, but her paws were relaxed. "When I first met Phoenix, it was the first time in my life where I'd seen a Pokémon and thought: I wanna be just like them. He was already an agent for King's Shield by then, but his looks still caught my eyes anyway."

"Oh, you have feelings for Phoenix?" Infia put her paws together. She blushed a little too, while Lute could only blink.

"The thing is, working for Brayen, I had been brought up to never want a romantic relationship. Well, like, he taught me that I never needed a romantic partner," Esther explained. "He used to kinda force that rule upon me, but because he's kinda my Dad, I always respected it. So it also felt like a sinful thought, you know?"

"Wait a minute. Brayen is your father?" Infia questioned.

"Oh right, I should've started from the top. Yeah, I come from a weird line of inbred Pikachu that are all talented in some way. My parents were doctors, wrestlers, rock stars, some weird talented history. Point is, all I ever did was my work as a pop star, and the reward I got was Brayen looking after me," Esther clarified. Her paws clenched into fists. "But I was his robot. I made him money by following his orders, and never got to know anyone. But when my career got him super famous and I started to play big shows in places like this, I got to see fans. Pokémon who looked up to me. Pokémon who lived terrible lives, where my fake smile and my music gave them genuine hope."