"Sophitia, hey, uh," Lute said. The duo were back home following yesterday's busy travel. "I didn't really get the chance earlier, but I wanted to thank you properly."
"Me? What for? I mean I know I'm pretty great, but what for this time?" Sophitia replied, sitting up from under the covers.
"Oh ha ha. But seriously. I didn't think that when you made me battle Victoria like that, it'd grow into this," he began. He shifted to sit up and look at her, though he couldn't make out her figure in the dark. "It's honestly been my dream to join the Agents of King's Shield. I'm not exactly there yet, but thanks to you, I have a chance and stuff. And they even mentioned mystery dungeons."
"Mm hmm."
"At first I was upset about it, but life's going to start getting exciting now. I just know it," he said a little too loudly, so she hushed him. He sat back down and got comfy under his blankets. "Before I found you, everything was just quiet and routine. Nothing ever happens here in Everend. Now we're going to be having our own little adventure and stuff. We've got Esther's show in a few days, I have this cool badge that does all this stuff, and we're going to be helping take down Spirle. I'm still pretty scared about fighting them, but let's do our best, okay?"
"Listen to me and you'll be fine. No need to be scared of those louts," she yawned. "Though I'd be lying if I said I was surprised by how strong Victoria really is."
"You recovered from her attack well, though," he praised.
"That doesn't mean it didn't hurt a ton. I'm supposed to be super resilient, but that one really tore through me," she admitted. Lute was quiet, so she waved at him with a feeler. "Don't go telling Raiju and Cinder I admitted that. They'll never shut up about it."
"It's not that, it's... do you remember that about yourself?" he asked.
Sophitia went quiet. "I'll chalk that to common knowledge about Sylveon in general."
"Please tell me what you're thinking," he asked.
"I don't remember anything in particular. I just... look, when that was going on, I was getting really upset about it and all. When there's Pokémon that need beatin' up, it's like a candle in me just lights up, and I don't wanna stand around letting those Pokémon go. I guess I'm someone that enjoys fighting. Hope that's not too much of a problem for you," she explained.
"As long as we're only fighting bad guys and we're not hurting anyone," he replied.
"Good, 'cos I'll make you into a fighter if it kills me," she said.
"... Wait what?"
...
The next morning, things fell right back into that routine Lute mentioned. The duo got woken up by Marina, had their wash, Sophitia overate at breakfast, and then the two leisurely trotted to school. The usual stale weather was present, with its unmoving clouds and plain colours. All was quiet besides the sounds of morning chores and singing Pikipek.
When the school came into sight, that's when the noise of activity took over and Pokémon became visible. From this distance, everything was as it should have been. Lute snuck a worried look into his bag and pretended to search through it.
"Remember what they said. Stuff's gonna be normal for a while, and they're not putting us on anything dramatic right away," Sophitia said.
"Oh. Yeah, right," he tried not to look disappointed. Everything he needed for school was in there, and the badge was well hidden, but untouched.
"Hmm. You're so eager," Sophitia giggled. Heat rushed to his cheeks.
"No I'm not. I'm just making sure nobody will find it," he looked away. Sophitia giggled again, and then stopped with a sudden jolt. Lute got a jolt of his own in the form of a strong rumble close by. His bag was vibrating, and could only be heard with the surroundings this quiet. They exchanged glances and shared a sneaky look inside, and surely enough, the badge was vibrating, and its central button blinked red.
"I-it really is... gods, is this a joke?" She whispered, pulling her badge out.
Lute laughed eagerly and sprinted for the nearest cover beside a building. Holding the badge out before him, he pressed the button with a hearty shout, "browse!"
The map of Aseria appeared before them via a holographic projection. It was basic in terms of showing the land and sea, but was detailed in terms of labels and measurements, as well as being coloured in correctly. Part of the map blinked with a sonar pattern, then the screen zoomed into that location, showing a panoramic view of the exact area the signal was coming from.
"That's Den City. It looks like the nature reserve that Mum mentioned," Lute stated.
"Wow, you grasped that quick. But there's no message on the callout. Maybe they're just testing that it's working?" Sophitia said. She slipped her badge back into her bag. "Geez, right when school starts. What a joke."
"I would've thought you'd want to get away from school. It didn't seem like you enjoyed the place," Lute commented.
"Eh, I just think it's bad of them to go back on their word like this. We do have lives you know. C'mon, let's go sort this out," she looked around. "Uh, it'll take us a while to get there, right?"
"Not if we use the Deposit Box. There's one right here, right outside the school," Lute called out, already several steps ahead.
He was by the very tool they needed, a curious safe with odd, circular patterns of purple and gold decorating it. With gears on all four sides and a small, touch-sensitive screen on its side, it was the definition of out of place. It was out of the way of the school's entrance, off to the side and away from the eyes of the obvious.
"They said we just have it scan our badges, and it'll take us to the nearest agent base," he recalled.
"How didn't I see this thing before? And somehow, I was expecting the box to look different. But they're the same as ever," she smiled as she joined him. Lute continued to fiddle with the screen for a moment, froze, and then snapped to look up at her. "What?"
"What you just said."
"What about it?"
"You know what a Deposit Box is? You said that as if you've seen one before," he gasped.
"Oh c'mon, everyone knows what a Deposit Box is. It's just something that's jogging my memory of small details, nothing important," she rolled her eyes.
"I don't think so. Maybe where you come from, there are lots of Deposit Boxes. This is the only one in Everend, so barely anyone uses it besides travellers. I don't even have anything stored in it," Lute explained and returned to the screen. "Here we are, user sign-in via pawprint. If I just press the badge onto it now..."
Sophitia tilted her head as she warily stepped around him. She knew what the box was: a convenient storage for travellers that was placed in various locations all over the world, particularly outside of mystery dungeons. If you put something important inside one, you can take it out from any of the boxes in the world, and only you could do that, like some sort of digital storage for real-world items. It was a magical piece of tech that was a godsend to everyone.
But a screen? Pawprint scanning? Despite the box looking as she remembered, that was all new to her, so she refused to touch it. She was surprised when the box reacted to whatever Lute did to it, opening up to reveal a transparent, rainbow light from within. She was frightened, but Lute's excitement seemed to explode.
"That's the same portal as a Warp Orb. It worked!" he cheered. "C'mon Sophitia, let's jump in."
"We have to jump in that?" she squeaked.
"We already know where it'll take us. C'mon, let's go!" he said, backing up. She gulped and moaned but backed up with him anyway, and then they leapt together, disappearing into the light of the box. It sealed itself up and returned to normal as soon as they were in, leaving no evidence of its use at all.
...
Travelling through the warp was weird. It was like they were carried by an underwater stream, only it didn't hurt or irritate and their bodies felt under control. The rainbow colours spiralled around them to their sides, while their destination was a white light that grew bigger as they approached. It took seconds, yet it had the duo focused. They faced forward with intense glares while their paws were linked.
They were thrown back into the real world once they passed through the white light. Lute was surprised to find himself up in the air, but thanks to Sophitia holding his paw, the duo floated to the ground safely. The moment they did, his face went red and he leaned away, not knowing whether to retract or keep his paw there.
"U-uh, um, So-Sophitia?" he said. She was oblivious until he spoke.
"What? Is there- oh, you stupid kid!" she cried, pulling her paw away and slapping him with a feeler.
"What do you mean? You're the one that held me first," he cried and rubbed his face.
"Why would I hold- ugh, forget it, we don't have time for this," she shook her head to focus. "It looks like we can warp between Deposit Boxes. This one took us to Den City, just like the badge showed us."
Lute couldn't help but stumble forwards to check. Once again, the Deposit Box was off to the side of the main road, well away from public view. After just a few moments of walking, he could confirm that they were back in the populated, urban roads of Densan City's main district. Not far from Silver's nursery or the Ministry of Science, at that. The Deposit Box itself was on a ledge amongst some back-alley houses, so they'd have to climb down onto the road where they could blend right into the crowd.
"We really are. That was so fast," she remarked. "If everyone could travel the world that fast..."
"C'mon, let's go! Whoever called for help, they may not have that much time," Lute led the way. Sophitia frowned at him and took the lead, using her feelers to push him back.
Their bickering didn't get in the way of them admiring the area they were going to. As the two fought for who walked in front, they followed the signs and directions until they were inside the nature reserve. The closer they got, the more the population decreased and everything returned to familiar quiet. There was still a sense of urban advancement even though woodland, hedges, and flowers took the place of the buildings, as things like metal poles topped with wires and electronic devices, gondola rails, and manholes dotted the area.
What was expected of a nature reserve actually resembled a museum instead, Sophitia thought. A museum that was outside. The paths were smoothly paved and hard, but all square and rigid as they made a maze around all the artefacts and displays. Said displays were no greater than various types of flowers, aged trees, and even a Combee hive. At least it reeked of soil wherever they went.
She couldn't help but slow down as she passed that last one. They even had boards with information on them, as if they were ancient relics with lore and mystery surrounding them. It was unsettling, being surrounded by all of this basic, familiar nature and having it be treated this way. Everend wasn't lacking in green, so why did this place treat it all so carefully?
"Sunflower fields, Gracidea, berry trees... they're not even rare berries, just basic Pinap and Chesto. If those are rare, then what the heck have I really been eating?" she whispered to herself.
"Whoa," Lute gasped. His cry came from a distance, so she shook herself off and jogged around a few corners to find him.
At the very edge of the reserve was a barrier that ran along the coastline as far as the eye could see, but the ocean was too far below them to hear. A huge, aged structure made entirely of rusted stone was smack bang in the corner of the area. It had an arch shaped entrance, enormous pillars to keep its ceiling held up, and the surface of every single side was engraved with dozens of markings and hieroglyphs.
"Well at least they're looking after it all," Sophitia blinked at it.
"I wanna go inside," Lute whispered.
"The S.O.S didn't show this, though. We need to keep looking—" she replied, turning around. "Never mind. Found the problem."
"You hav- wah!" he joined her and immediately flinched. "What're those things?"
She couldn't answer. She wanted to ask the same thing. Stood before them were sludgy monsters with murky, grimy substances that oozed off of bulky bodies. This sewage-coloured ooze shrouded most of their features, leaving just their general shape and the fabric head masks to distinguish them. There were three in total, two with long bodies and thin arms while the last was tall and wide with sharp scythes coming from both hands. Their masks were identical, mysteriously dry and textured like sandbags. Only their glowing red eyes peeked through the eyeholes, and they all groaned like monstrous zombies.
"Get ready to fight, Lute. That's our enemy for sure," Sophitia stretched her feet apart.
"Wait what? Those things?" he cried even louder. "I can't fight those things. I don't even know how to fight! What about you?"
"I still don't remember my moves. It's up to you," she warned.
"What? No, I can't do anything—"
"Well we're gonna have to do something. Look, just trust me. Follow my orders and you'll be okay," she said with growing angst. The monsters had spotted them and roared. They raised their arms like weapons and made low, gurgled cries. "Quick, remind me of your moves!"
"Quick Attack and Swift. And maybe Bite. That's all I know. And I don't normally use them for battle," he replied. The panic on his face turned her mind upside-down.
"How the heck do you use those moves not for- look forget it, here comes one!" she shouted and locked her eyes onto the enemy. Just like that, her mind righted itself, and she formulated fast. The biggest monster had come running first, sword-like arms raised and an excited growl coming from it. "Lute, use Quick Attack to get away to the side!"
The Eevee cried out a petty squeal, but knowing the order was to get away gave him the strength to act. He shook himself to bring up that strength, surrounding his body in white, and then leapt toward the plants. He dodged the first' monster's approach and had to skid to a stop. The monsters turned on him, and the one that came towards him had stopped to reconsider.
"Now use Swift. Aim for the head!" Sophitia swiped a feeler aside.
He had many questions, but the enthusiasm in her voice was infectious. It made him act on it without much thought. He raised his front legs briefly. White stars formed below his front paws, which he threw by crossing both paws with a cry of effort. The two stars spun through the air like paper planes, swerving and curling until they hit their target, where they hit its bulky chest and blew up into tiny blasts.
"Wah, no effect!" Lute cried and leaned away.
"You gotta put effort into it. And I said aim for the head!" Sophitia shouted and leapt over to him. The monster roared and raised its arms as it stomped toward him again. "It's slow, so move!"
Lute cried like a baby but obeyed, just about escaping those arms as they smashed into the ground. Dents were left where the monster just was, dents so deep it was difficult to pull its arms out of it. It still turned to him though, fury drooling from its deep, low growl.
"Now's your chance, aim for the head with Quick Attack!" she commanded, still on her way over to him.
"But Sophitia, I'm not strong enough," he cried.
"Just trust me, give it your all!"
Lute still hesitated, even though the monster was bent over with its arms in the floor. He gulped on heavy, frantic breaths. This thing must have been ten times Sophitia's size, making it dozens of times his own. Could he really beat it just because she said he could?
Of course he could. He was an Agent of King's Shield now.
Whether he wanted to or not, he had to. The thought echoed through his mind repeatedly, and he stretched his feet apart. He strained with all his might and tensed up his body, putting his all into the best Quick Attack he could muster. With a cry of might, he charged into it, hitting its head so hard that the monster leaned right back and its arms were freed from the floor.
"That's it! Now Swift, from point blank!" Sophitia shouted, an excited smile on her face.
Lute's eagerness let him respond to the command right away, and he repeated his actions from earlier to throw his Swift attack. He could feel the force of the blasts from how close he was to the creature's face. Smoke and light muffled his sight and hearing for a while.
For the first time in his life, he felt a thrill, a triumphant thrill that made him smile goofily at his achievement. He'd attacked well and shown that monster who was boss, and it was all thanks to Sophitia.
Or so he thought. Those feelings shrivelled away into regret, and anxiety when the smoke cleared to reveal the monster's face. The whole moment took seconds, yet it felt like minutes to Lute, minutes where he told himself he shouldn't have believed Sophitia. Minutes where he desperately searched for a way to avoid getting hit, but couldn't find a solution besides bracing for the worst. The monster's sharp arms were raised, and they moved faster than Lute was falling back to the ground. It raised them high, roared, and then slammed both down into him, smashing him into the cold pavement below.
"Lute!" Sophitia shrieked.
The monster didn't respond to her at all. All combatants watched the dust clear until Lute was revealed to be in a crater, his body covered in bruises and dirt. Even still, the monster raised its arms again, throwing Sophitia into a panic.
Her instincts exploded and she threw herself into that crater. She practically tripped over and rolled across the ground to reach him in time. Her paws hugged him tight while her feelers rose high and whipped, and then the next thing she knew, she was straining against that giant's arms. She was on her back so she could only roll away at this point, but not with Lute's harmed body cradled by her stomach. One feeler was held high above her face with a giant shield made of pink light formed around the tip. The shield was strong enough to hold back both of the monster's arms.
"Urgh, get the heck off me!" she shouted as she whipped with one of her free feelers. A sword made of the same light as that shield formed at the tip, giving her whip motion that much more force. The monster recoiled hard enough to make the ground rumble.
"S-Sophitia!" Lute gasped. He didn't care about how much his body hurt right now. All he was interested in was the glowing shield and Sword Sophitia held.
"You good to go?" she rolled over to set him down. He cringed as his feet burnt, but a moan and a shiver and he was standing fine. "Okay. Let's finish this."
"Wait what? But what about- you just- aren't we gonna talk about this? This, this is awesome! What is that attack?" he said, laughing maniacally. "You really are that great, Sophitia!"
"Will you focus? There's three of them," she replied, baring her fangs. The three sludgy monsters had sided with one another, but the centre one had a huge cut in its centre. The other two looked as though they were fretting as they exchanged growls and groans. Before either Eeveelution could ask, the monsters shrunk down and melted their forms into sludgy puddles a fraction of their sizes.
"What?" lute whispered and leaning back.
"Come on ya big drip! Where ya goin'?" Sophitia said as she leapt after them. The three puddles slid away from her though, up the wall, over the barrier, and into the sea. She stopped at the edge and leapt up to look over the wall at them, where they faded into the ocean's colourless waves below.
"Hey, careful you don't fall," Lute wanted to pull her down. She frowned, groaned, and hopped back down.
"Got away. What weird monsters. Are they newly discovered Pokémon?" she wondered.
"I-I wish! Wait, no I don't wish, they were horrible things. But they're probably Pokémon," Lute shivered.
"They were abominations!" a duo of girls answered. Lute and Sophitia turned in surprise. A Flabébé and a Floette floated before the ruins.