11 | UNCHARTED TERRITORY
Cold, it was cold.
As August roused to consciousness, her body felt as if it were encased in ice. Wintry crystals dug into her exposed skin. Freezing mists slowed her thinking process. Her limbs were numb. Chills raced down her spine. How could she be so cold?
A deep voice called out to her, "Gold? Are you awake?"
What... d'ya think? she wanted to snap.
"Shay!"
The rolling clouds of haze clogging August's mind began to dissolve. Concentrating, she managed to wiggle her toes. Next, her fingertips. She frowned; she couldn't move her right arm.
"How does she feel?"
"Shay, Shaymin."
A wet nose sniffed August's temple. Her teeth gritted. The pest sneezed in excitement, spraying snot onto her cheek. August's body launched into action to push the nuisance away. The moment her right shoulder moved, a thousand needles pierced her muscles, and a gasp burned her raw throat.
August's eyes snapped open. The area was dark, musty, and rock-filled; she realized they were inside the cave. Omar sat in front of her with glass vials and herbs surrounding him. Cyryl stood off to the side, busy tending to all the Pokémon except Nuri. The Magmar waited beside Omar, using the light cast from her flaming tail to illuminate August.
The pirate inspected herself. She lied still atop her coat, vest, and tunic, her top half stripped down to her chest binding. Bandages reeking of earthy medicines stretched from her shoulder to her elbow. The dim lighting exposed the sweat gleaming on her battered skin.
"Please, be careful," Omar cautioned. "My nana's medicine won't heal you all the way, but it'll last you until we get back. I swear it." He handed her good arm a dainty, glass bottle. "Here, drink this."
Her hand trembled as she grabbed the medicine. She sniffed it, and her nose wrinkled at the sugary scent. "What is this?"
"Cyryl won a pain relief..."
Omar quieted as August downed the potion. Her head swam. Craning her neck had triggered a whole new wave of nausea. She groaned in misery, clenching her jaw as she waited for it to pass. Moments later, her burp echoed throughout the cavern.
"Ew!" Gracie giggled.
August's heart skipped a beat hearing the sound of Gracie's leaves rustling as she laughed. She turned around to see the Shaymin sprawled out on her resting place.
Gracie had exposed herself to Cyryl and Omar. Gracie had exposed herself to Cyryl and Omar.
A fire sparked to life inside of August and melted her icy exterior. She hissed, "You can't follow one order, can you?"
August snatched Gracie by her scruff, eliciting a squeak from the Pokémon. Her sharp movements lit her right side aflame. Nausea flooded her brain. The cavern spun. She released Gracie with a curse.
"Gold, you can't move like that," Omar scolded, adopting a firmer tone August had heard him use on his siblings.
She ignored his chiding, demanding as she cringed, "How'd we get here? What happened? Why do you know Gracie?"
"Slow down." He reached out to her, and she jerked away from his touch. "I'll tell you what happened, yeah?"
"Then do it," she huffed, bristling. Her glare stayed steady despite Gracie acting cute as she rolled onto her back to expose her underside for belly rubs.
Omar glanced at Cyryl in a silent plea for the teen to answer her, but zie failed to notice and continued applying ointments onto Marley's blistered skin.
He explained, "You fainted after Entei used Fire Fang on you, and your Shaymin got out of your bag. She tried to wake you up, but then Entei saw her. When Entei saw Shaymin, he started chasing her. Marley and Nuri stopped Entei together. They pushed him against the wall by a big pile of rocks, and Pidge used Gust. The rocks fell and trapped Entei under them.
"After that, we came into the cave. Nuri used a big rock to block the entrance. We've been healing everyone for the past hour and a half." He gestured to her arm and explained, "I put your shoulder back in place and treated your wound. You have deep cuts and serious burns where Entei bit you."
August narrowed her eyes. "You didn't fight?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh, no. I didn't. I was too scared to."
"Aren't you going to say 'thank you?'" Gracie asked, tilting her head.
August snarked, Don't be bold. You're still in trouble.
Gracie hid her face in her paws.
August grabbed her bag and dug the compass out of it. She squinted and adjusted her hold. The needle was furiously trembling beneath the glass casing, pointing deeper into the cave.
"Pack up," she ordered, struggling to dress. "We're not done."
"It's time to leave already?" Cyryl called from zir corner, disappointed.
"Aye. Let's go."
⚔️
The winding, downslope tunnel seemed to go on forever; the darkness lying ahead never ceased. If they looked over their shoulders, they couldn't see the entrance anymore. Even worse, the cave was unnervingly quiet. Save for the sound of fire crackling and footsteps scuffling, the crisp air was noiseless.
Cyryl spoke up, mentioning, "In all the history books I've ever read, they stated that Shaymin went extinct due to poaching. How did you manage to find one, Gold?"
The entire company flinched. After such a long silence, zir normal speaking volume sounded deafening.
August frowned. She'd anticipated the question and prepared an altered truth in advance, but she still hadn't expected it to come so soon. Her tightened muscles relaxed; this act was nothing compared to the ones she'd performed in years past.
She feigned sorrow as she lied, "I saw a ship raided by pirates an' went to help. It was a ghost town. I went to every room, an' in the very back was the one person alive."
Gracie stirred from her resting spot inside August's bag, having been taking a nap as the long hike had worn her out. August ignored her.
She continued, "The woman was a scientist with bad blood loss. She told me she wanted to save the world, talking about how Shaymin are important. Before she died, she gave me Gracie, a book, an' a compass to keep 'em safe."
"How could a Shaymin save the world?" Cyryl queried, brows furrowing.
"I don't know. She died when telling me things."
"What about that book she gifted you?"
"I haven't read all o' it."
"If you don't mind, may I read it?" Cyryl scratched zir cheek. "When we get the chance to rest, that is."
August suppressed a grin, smug that her plan to have Cyryl do the reading for her had worked. "Aye."
Finally, something up ahead shone radiantly. August swore it was an illusion until Gracie squealed in excitement. The Shaymin wriggled her haunches then darted off, sprinting straight towards the mysterious light.
"Oi!" August tried to yell, but her voice came out as a croak. Get back here!
"Look, look, look!" Gracie exclaimed.
August balled her fists and hurried. As she stalked forward, she shielded her gaze from the incoming rays. Reaching the end of the tunnel, she dropped her hand. The glaring light blinded her akin to a Flash attack. She recoiled with a curse. Once her eyes adjusted, August gaped at the scene before her.
It was an underground meadow. The bowed walls, masked with flaky vines and ivy, gave off amber-colored lights; the area was illuminated in a fantastical, golden sheen. Down below, hundreds of thousands of wilted blossoms dressed the earth in tangled thickets of flowers. The withered terrain gave way at a wide ditch surrounding a piece of land detached from the rest.
A single flower sprouted above the others; it towered as high as centuries-old oak trees. The leafless stem holding it upright was a dark brown and seemingly one gust away from folding in on itself. Its shriveled petals were no better off, sagging limply and miserably. Most shockingly of all, the all-but-dead plant exuded an unforgettable floral scent.
"Gracideas," August whispered in disbelief.
Gracie pawed at her boots. "Let's get one!"
August agreed and skidded down the hill. She envied Pidge who flew past her with ease, circling the gigantic Gracidea and hooting. At the bottom of the slope, August crouched by Gracie and plucked a Gracidea with a gentle snap. The blossom crumbled in her fingers.
"The flowers are sad," Gracie said, watching August shake the debris off herself.
"They're dead," the pirate muttered. "Everything here is."
Cyryl walked onward, crunching zir way to the ditch. Zie peered over then called, "This is a dried riverbed; water used to flow through here."
Omar offered his hand to August. She hesitantly accepted it, letting him help her to her feet.
As they crossed to Cyryl, Omar questioned, "Why did the compass lead us here? Are there Shaymin?"
Gracie pouted. "No, I don't hear them."
August translated, "No, she can't sense them. I don't know why." She fished Tuyen's book out of her knapsack and tossed it to Cyryl. "Read it."
"I'd love to," zie said.
Omar told August, "Let me check your shoulder."
The group sat next to the riverbed, fixing a makeshift camp identical to their one before. Cyryl sat near Omar as he redressed August's wounds. The pirate groaned and tore the Gracideas from their roots; the pain relief potion's effects were subsiding.
"Read it out loud," Omar suggested as he sorted his herbs. "Give her, uh, him—"
"Her," August supplied; there was no use in hiding her identity anymore.
"—her something to focus on," he finished.
Cyryl flipped through pages, explaining, "I've yet to read anything mildly important, truth be told. This is a Pokéology journal analyzing Shaymin. A number of these pages are dedicated to taking notes on Gracie's egg."
A cluster of flowers rustled, and Gracie popped out at the sound of her name. She scurried to Cyryl who grinned in return.
"Skip to the end," August directed only to curse as Omar applied medicine to her shredded shoulder.
Cyryl obliged. "Oh, the second half of the book is empty." Zie flipped through pages. "It... it drops off when they're examining Gracie's infant behavior."
"Tauros shit," August grumbled. "That's how far I read. There's no more after it?"
"No, I'm afraid not," zie confirmed.
"So the book doesn't say why we're here?" Omar checked, the tone of his voice hoping to be proven wrong.
August sighed out a defeated, "Aye."
She stared at the dead Gracideas surrounding her; they were useless in this state. There were tales of Pokémon called Meganium who could heal any plant simply by breathing on it. The rare species had been owned by the Vere monarchs alone... until they went extinct. Enraged by the past king's unjust rulings, peasants had set the royal garden which homed the Meganium ablaze; the fire destroyed everything and everyone inside of it.
Her eyes narrowed in determination. There had to be at least one live Gracidea in here.
"Gracie," she called out to the Shaymin, "want to play a game?"
Gracie sprung off of Cyryl and bounded to the pirate. "Yes, yes, yes! Let's play hide and seek!"
Memories of Gracie terrorizing August by going missing in her cabin on the Zoroark's Deceit haunted the pirate. "No. Let's play I spy."
The Shaymin started to prance in place. "A new game! How do we play?"
"I see something, an' you have to get it for me," August said. "Understand?" Gracie nodded excitedly. "Aye. I spy a living Gracidea; go get it."
"I will!"
Gracie spun in a circle, sniffing the air. She cheeped in delight and sped into the dead flowers, the sound of rustling leaves indicating her location. August took this as a good sign.
She turned back her attention to Omar as he finished tending to her arm. As he wrapped the last bandage, he commented, "I know I understand my Pokémon well, but you're something else. How can you understand Gracie's babbling?"
"She talks to me through my head," August answered, realizing how strange it sounded aloud.
Cyryl butted in, "Telepathy? That's amazing. I thought Psychic-type Pokémon were the only ones capable of such a feat."
August clarified, "She only talks to me."
"I see." Cyryl cleared zir throat. "I apologize for changing the subject so suddenly, but I found some insightful text which can aid our cause."
Insightful? Sight... Of course, the text is visible, cottonhead, August thought.
Cyryl revealed, "The final page describes the scientists' research center where all of their data is stored. It's located in Primrose City's esteemed Lotus Library." Zie muttered more to zirself than them, "Imagine discovering something so great your work is permitted into a royal library."
"So we're going there next," Omar guessed, looking at the giant Gracidea as he thought. "I'll need to get more resources for White Lightning then. Our last trip used half of my fuel."
"I'm not going anywhere near Primrose," August scoffed.
"What, why?" Omar asked in confusion. "You said you were helping that lady."
She frowned. "I never agreed to anything."
"Why wouldn't you want to visit Primrose?" Cyryl prodded. "It's the most incredible city in all of Caelum. It's full of endless libraries and unique philosophies a—"
"An' more guards than you can count," August interrupted. "You're a magician; you know you'll be killed if they suspect you o' anything."
"Actually, they would assign you to a jail cell where you'd await trial then execute you if you're found guilty. Their court systems are just," zie corrected.
"I don't care what their courts are like. I'm not going to any damn capital," she swore.
For a moment in time, August wasn't in this bizarre plant room, but in a ship cabin full of loose parchment and smeared ink. A petite woman stood before her with her hands clasped together, trembling as she begged for the pirate to save her research and deliver it to Primrose. August blinked, and Tuyen disintegrated into dust.
"I think we should pursue this mystery," Cyryl was saying, moving zir hands as zie spoke. "What if this research team was on the verge of a breakthrough? Their work must be of great significance if they were supported by the Vere monarchs themselves. If we were to complete their experiments, we would be heralded as heroes in the scientific field."
Omar pointed out for August, "Scientists are paid well in Verelum."
Now they had her attention. She demanded, "How much?"
"If this research is as life-changing as I believe it is, we could easily be paid a hundred thousand incos," Cyryl said. "Truth be told, simply returning this book to the Lotus Library could garner us half a thousand incos per person as a reward for our valiant efforts. The Vere are nothing short of wealthy, to have you know."
August drummed her fingers on her leg. It was worth sneaking into the capital and completing a small series of tasks if it meant she earned a grand fortune of her own. Scientific studies couldn't possibly be as difficult as her normal jobs. However, the quest required the utmost secrecy. She'd failed more stealth missions than she liked.
Her thoughts backtracked. Who was she to let her fears control her?
"Fine," August agreed, hoping this path led to greatness instead of defeat. "We'll go to Primrose."
⚔️
Lieutenant Shannon Gold of the Royal Rubre Navy believed she was living her best life. She'd broken every boundary set in her way from graduating an all-male academy at the top of her class to becoming the Rubre prince's personal guard. The latter achievement had relied more on chance than she'd care to admit.
Prince Dedan, the heir to the Rubre throne, was unlike the men Shannon had grown up with. Unlike the typical Rubre noble, he had a cool head and open mind. He'd happened to spectate a dueling tournament at the academy years ago and selected her to be his guard when she won. Still, it was an accomplishment nonetheless.
Earlier this week, the ever-so-curious Prince Dedan learned of a magician sighting along the southern coast in Ashwind Town. It was for this reason why Shannon found herself standing in a shoddy tavern coaxing information out of whiny drunkards.
"There's no way that someone could win that much money fairly," a man with a thick, western Rubre accent argued, spit flying from his mouth. "That stranger was a cheat! Magic had to be involved, sir."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't the first time and would be far from the last when a man ignored her for her male counterpart. Her sailor knew this and stepped back in a way to emphasize she was the one the drunk was supposed to talk to.
Shannon then cautioned, "Sir, are you certain that your opponent wasn't but a skilled poker player? False magician accusations are a serious crime."
The man frowned. "I wouldn't file a report over something stupid. I'm telling you a magician was right here in Ashwind cheating people outta their money!"
She continued, "Then please describe this alleged magician in as much detail as possible."
"I don't know what zie looked like. Zie covered zir whole body with scarves and cloaks."
"I see. Would you have any idea of where zie might be then?"
"No, I wouldn't. How would I know that?"
Shannon donned a fake, polite grin. "Thank you for your time, sir. We appreciate your help in this investigation."
"You're welcome." He sniffed. "I hope you find the jinx-flinger and teach 'em a lesson."
Shannon recollected her patience as the man exited the tavern, smoothening her features into an impassive mask while she adjusted her cuff links. That conversation was useless. She folded her hands behind her back and strode to where Prince Dedan was speaking with the final witness: the barman who'd worked the night of the incident.
The moment she reached them, the doors to the tavern opened. This time Shannon did roll her eyes and failed to glimpse the newcomer's face due to it. She wondered how people could stomach alcohol so early in the day; it wasn't even noon yet.
From behind her, she heard the newcomer's gruff voice say, "Three o' your oldest bottles to go."
The barman on-duty replied, "Sir, that's a mighty expensive order."
Shannon watched the newcomer reach into zir pocket then slam a gigantic, overflowing inco pouch onto the counter. "I can pay," zie snapped.
The barman speaking to Prince Dedan gasped. "That man! He came in with the magician. They were partners."
"I'll speak with him," she assured.
Shannon crossed the tavern and sat on a stool beside the suspect. He adjusted his chin-length hair, creating a barrier to conceal his face.
"Good morning, sir," Shannon greeted. "You may call me Lieutenant Gold."
He tensed immediately, his knuckles around his coin pouch turning bone white.
She went on, "Currently, my crew is inspecting a case following the events of last Wednesday. The barman identified you as one of the customers that night, so I would appreciate your cooperation in answering my questions for the investigation."
"The dotard's mistaken. I haven't been here in months."
The suspect pocketed his pouch. Shannon shifted in her seat, prepared to spring. He was about to run.
She countered, "If you're innocent, then you won't mind my questions."
"This is a waste o' time."
Shannon's iron grip latched onto his shoulder as he moved. His head snapped towards her, revealing his face. Her face. Two identical sets of blazing gold eyes morphed into shock. Time halted. Shannon's jaw slackened. Impossible.
"August?" she whispered.
The woman wrenched her hand off of her. "Leave me be."
Shannon's throat tightened, choking her into stunned silence. The longer she stared, the more certain she became. Sharp eyes, strong nose, narrowed lips. Shannon mentally erased the scar on her cheek and lengthened her tresses. Her doubt vanished—this was August.
"Wait!" Shannon strode towards her, and August walked backward in the direction of the doors. "How are you alive? You've been missing for over ten years, August. Mother and Father thought you were dead. I thought you were dead. Now you appear and you want to leave again?"
As she spoke, her sailors gathered close. Prince Dedan neared her. Shannon inwardly bristled. This was none of their business.
August shook her head. "Forget this happened. I will."
Shannon wanted to laugh; if she could forget things that easily, she would've long forgotten the painful mess August had left behind when she disappeared the first time.
"I'm not letting you walk away."
"Then—"
Shannon's heart skipped a beat.
"—I'll run."
August spun heel and dashed. The sailors reacted too late, grasping air as she dodged past them. Out the door, she went, gone.
Shannon gnashed her teeth; she'd let her guard down. She yelled, "Get her!"
‒‒‒‒‒
⚔️ TERMS ⚔️
Pokéology (poh-kee-all-oh-gee)
noun
The scientific study of the behavior, structure, physiology, classification, and distribution of Pokémon.