Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

Chapter 25: An Educational Evening

"Seh! Sehr!" I called, bounding towards the river. As usual, the sun was just starting to dip down, casting an ever-dimming gold light on the area as I ran through the training grounds. Waving my good arm eagerly, I pushed past a pair of departing Pokémon to find Bert in the small Water-type arena, facing the river and preparing to dive in.

"Shah!" I called. Bert flinched, nearly falling into the river as he staggered in place. Once he regained his balance, he turned to face me, surprise clear on his face.

"Kid, hey... uh, I was just about to head on home, didn't think you were comin' after... uh, last night," he said, dropping his gaze shamefully. "Er, what brings you here?"

Giving a knowing smile, I started to concentrate within myself, letting the familiar sensation of energy in my gut flow up. Trying my hardest to repeat my success from earlier, I once more tried to imagine myself in equal union with my tide rather than above it, setting a course for the wave accordingly. Much to my relief, it complied to what I wanted, so I shot at the floor. The shallow mark it left was all it took to gobsmack Bert, though his astonishment quickly gave way to a dry but hearty laugh from the Wartortle.

"Well, I'll be damned! How'd you manage to figure it out? Took me weeks to get past discharge my first time!" he piped.

"Eh, Rye," I said. Bert cocked his head.

"Ain't he a Grass-type...? Ah, what in distortion. I'm proud of you, kid. From here, you should be able to branch off and get more techniques down. I, uh, managed to figure out Hydro Pump and Water Pulse by getting this down early on, and with enough practice with what I learned from it, I managed to make substitutes for Surf and Aqua Jet. I think you'll be able to get those down without too much issue; just bear with me from here, alright?" he requested.

'...Water Pulse, Surf, and Aqua Jet? Wow, that's... wait, I thought Pokémon could only know four moves at a time? I, uh... was that just a misconception or have things just really changed that much?'

Seeming to interpret my thoughtfulness as wonder, Bert continued.

"Er, what do you reckon we take tonight off so you can rest?" Bert offered. My grin faltered a bit.

"W-wha? Nah," I quickly declined. I had already come all the way out here, leaving without learning something just seemed... wrong to me. Bert raised an eyebrow, which looked rather strange from a Pokémon without any hair to speak of.

"No, kid, I insist. You've earned it," he said. I shook my head, prompting him to pause and think.

"Hm... I don't have anything planned, so... eh, what if we just sat down and talked?" he said as he took a seat at the arena's side, offering me a seat beside him. Figuring I wouldn't be able to sway him, I accepted and joined him as he ran his paw through his fluffy tail, sharing in an awkward silence between us. Soon enough, he looked up at me.

"I've, eh, been meaning to ask you about this. I know you're an impressed feral and all, but there's been something nagging at me. Like, you're smarter than most of them, I get it, but... um, from what I've heard, most of them shouldn't pick up this quickly on... y'know, speech, techniques, so on. Actually, it's a miracle you can even understand me, so I've been told," he said. "So... is there, like, some kinda weird plant you ate where you came from that made you like this? Were your parents like you and just passed it on?"

As I warily shrugged, Bert paused his tail-fidgeting, narrowing his eyes as something apparently clicked in his mind. After a minute, he snorted to himself and muttered something under his breath.

"Wha?" I asked.

"Eh, it's just some stupid idea I had about how you got like this," he said, prompting me to lean forward. Noticing my interest, he lightly bit his lip. "Uh... you've heard of humans by now, right?" he asked.