Chapter 14: Humanity

Thirteen votes.

Just thirteen votes to decide between redemption and damnation of an innocent child, already spurned by life.

The topic refused to wash itself from Aria's mind as she ventured further away from the village, diverging heavily from her usual route. She had to see to something important before starting on her duties, someone important in fact. With just thirteen votes, seven would seal the deal in either direction- numbers weren't her strong suit, but she could figure that much out at least. Her, Marco, Sprout, and Cypress were shoe-ins for letting the girl stay, which just left three more. Just had to sway three more souls towards her side, and there wouldn't be anything to worry about anymore. Anne would be safe for certain, and they would both be able to rest easy.

At the same time, the three elders and Lumi were all but certain to vote the other way. They, too, needed just three more voices, and to Aria's despair, it felt like their task of finding said voices would end up being much easier than hers.

Lucere was almost certainly going to agree with them. She hadn't spoken much with the Altaria. Their scouting routes only very rarely intersected, but from the little she had, the deep distrust of humans as a whole was clear to sense. On the one hand, hard to blame her for perceiving humanity as a virulent plague when her day job was playing the proverbial medic and doing anything in her power to stave it off. On the other, they weren't dealing with the abstract, shapeless mass of humans and their constructs.

They were dealing with a lone, lost child.

Ruby gave Aria the impression of being generally on board with letting Anne stay, but she wished she could be as sure of that as she wanted to be. Shutting Lumi down and raising objections towards what the elders got up to back at their meeting was one thing; genuinely having no objections was another, and Aria was much less certain of the latter. Whichever points of contention she might have had, though, Aria was confident enough in the Weavile's level-headedness to be reasonably sure that they would get argued through.

Ori was... opaque, to put it bluntly. Even someone as deliberately logical as him was still driven by emotions, and it always peeved Aria a lot to have the Scizor almost never acknowledge his. It could be that he simply didn't know how to do it. It was a possibility that fundamentally confused the Gardevoir, but a possibility all the same. From what she sensed at their meeting, Ori was uncomfortable about the whole human mess, even if these emotions never breached the surface of his expression or words. Regardless of how well he could drape them with logical-sounding rhetoric, the underlying feelings were there all the same. Maybe bringing these up with him would help him sort through them and figure out how he really felt, deep down.

That left the other two scouts absent from the meeting. The idea of ever lowering their guard all the way down and withdrawing all patrols just to debate how cruel they'd be didn't sit right with Aria the more she thought about it. Still, if that's the procedure, then that's the procedure. She disagreed, but her energy was best spent elsewhere- such as on what she was heading towards.

Lariat... would be tricky to persuade, she feared. The Lucario wasn't dim, but he tended to be single-minded at times, and protecting his in-group was the sole transcendent motivation behind his becoming a scout. An in-group that a human was unlikely to ever be accepted into on an emotional level. Still, Aria could try to use Ember's predicament to appeal to his soul. She wanted to think that not even someone as stern as him would argue to repeat the misery the Braixen had been through, but it remained to be seen.

And he was the scout she was less worried about of the two.

How do you convince someone who had spent over a decade and a half of her life as a "trainer" pet to ever feel empathetic for a human? Aria had no idea how to answer that question, and thoughts in that direction threatened to start roasting her mind. The Skuntank might have been easygoing, but it's not like they ever had to deal with stakes this big before. She knew full well from experience how easy it was for smiles to be replaced with a cold focus on a whim if the situation called for it, and replacing smiles with seething anger fueled by one's own past was likely even easier.

Rose had a heart; Aria knew that full well, but... sigh... It remained to be seen if she could manage to pry it open even the slightest bit once she'd finally found her. Sensing other minds wouldn't help with that with Rose's Dark typing, but she still had her eyeballs and nose, and Rose was more than noticeable with that first sense. And exponentially more so with the second if anything was to go down, which, fortunately for the often downwind village, it rarely ever did.

Alright, here she is, unaware of the miserable discussion they were about to have.

"Rose!"

The Skuntank stopped mid-step before slowly turning her bulky body around in the direction of the verbal call, a grumpy resting expression replaced with a grin and a wave of her stout foreleg. She wasted no time before speaking up either, her voice its usual cheerful-

"Heya Aria, how're you doin' darlin'? Quite far from your route, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I wanted to talk to you about something, actually."

As the Gardevoir regained her bearings following her Agility-fueled jog, she watched Rose be taken aback just a bit before responding, head and tail nudging her in the direction of her patrol all the while-

"Oh, really? Somethin' popped up with Zephie, orrr~."

"No, no, don't worry, nothing of the sort; your son is as eager to help as ever."

"Damn right, he is."

"I... I wanted to talk about the human, actually."

"Ah, makes sense! Heard a buncha rumors about weird things happening with her last night. I really hope she's doing alright all in all."

Rose's unflinching compassion towards Anne stunned the Gardevoir, her steps pausing as she tried to process the information. It took the Skuntank more than a few moments to notice that hangup, body shape leaving her prone to accidental tunnel vision-

"Aria? What's wrong, darlin'?"

"Oh- nothing, nothing at all, I..."

Might as well speak Rose's language and be as honest as can be here.

"...I just didn't expect you'd have much goodwill for them."

The rapidly changing expressions on the Skuntank's end, once Aria had finished her response, conveyed a story in themselves. Eyes narrowing in offense, then relaxing in realization, and finally doing an impressive roll in exasperation accompanied by a drawn-out groan. Skuntank anatomy didn't lend itself towards facepalms particularly well, but that sure didn't mean that Rose didn't try.

"Oh, come the hell on, darlin'. I spent fifteen years with a human as my best friend; why the hell wouldn't I feel for them? And this kiddo ain't even a trainer, just a poor lil' scamp that ended up here against their will."

Human as her... best friend?

"I... figured your experiences as a trainer mon were traumatic enough to put you off humanity for good."

"Oh, I know, everybody in the village does! It's bloody annoying, frankly, but I gave up tryin' offering my version of the events since nobody listened. They all just heard what they wanted to hear, and I can only stand so much of bein' ignored like that."

Rose was annoyed, and it was the kind of annoyance that had been brewing for a while, aimless and with Aria only being its incidental recipient. The Gardevoir was unsure what to do with that information, expecting many possible responses but nothing like that.

"I apologize, Rose. I assumed, and I shouldn't have in hindsight."

"S'pose I can hardly blame ya. Talkin' with most folks in the village about humans is like discussing the night sky with peeps so scared of the dark they jump at their own shadow. Some of it ain't unearned, sure, but at least just as much is bein' silly and paranoid."

On second thought, there was one course of action that would simultaneously help endear Rose further to anything Aria would have to say, while filling in one of many knowledge gaps she had about the mysterious, terrifying humanity.

And that was simply listening.

"If you wouldn't mind... what was it like, then? Being... owned, and battling like that?"

The words felt incredibly stilted in the Gardevoir's mouth, sentences stopping and restarting at several points. It was downright dumbfounding to be asking about experiences as horrid as that with a straight face, without any underlying anger or comfort. The Skuntank didn't need either, not with her seeming cheerfulness about the whole thing, the emotion feeling impossible on a rational level.

Rose eyed her for a couple moments at that inquiry, eyebrows rising as she mulled it through. Suppose she very well could, especially now that it seemed that her coworker was open to actually listening to what she had to say there...

"Aight, I can recount how it all went down then. It started far, far away from here, in what humans call ~Sinnoh~."

"~Sinnoh?~"

"Yep~. It's an island, far, far away from here. Both my friend and I hail from there, and that's where our big ol' adventure started."

"What was their name?"

"Well... ~Adam~. I've no clue what it means, really, and I think I butchered the pronunciation a fair chunk, but that's what his name is. We'd... known each other since we were both little."

The shorter scout's voice grew noticeably quieter as she began to concentrate, an involuntary smile creeping onto her features as she replayed the images and visions in her head.

"Me and ma used to live rather deep in a human town, ya see. For the most part, they didn't treat us all too nicely, and I s'pose it makes sense from their end. We always made a hell of a mess when digging through the stuff they threw out- though it's only their fault for tossing out so much good food, ha!"

"Humans... throw out food?"

"Fair bit of it, even. Some of it moldy, which I get; not everyone got an immune stomach after all, but definitely not all. Anywho. Most humans gave Ma and me a wide berth, which is only smart of them, ha. Not all, though, and my friend was one of those fools that didn't. Though since I was a kid, and he was a kid, and Ma wasn't around at the moment, and he brought snacks... I let it slide and let go of the posturing Ma taught me I was s'posed to be doing. It's hard to be particularly hostile towards what feels like the only being that isn't scared of me to bits, especially if he also brought food."

Rose was well into walking on autopilot by now, with Aria picking up the slack and giving the immediate area a scan to thankfully find it empty of any dangers. Seems the Skuntank would be able to reminisce all she wanted~.

"And that was hardly a one-off thing either; eventually, he began to show up near our den daily with a berry, something sugary, or even one of his own sandwiches. Felt really sweet to see him taking the human treats his parents made for him and just sharin' those with me directly. He got me wrapped around his finger, and me being the ever-hungry kit loved it, ha. Got food, got pets, got affection, got... a friend. Why wouldn't I love it?"

"What about your mom?"

"She was understandably skittish at first, but eventually, she saw the error of her ways, especially once he'd brought her a snack or two, ha. Though still kept tryin' to drill into me to let myself be caught by none of them damnable balls since then I'd be gone for good. But honestly? Even then, I didn't really mind getting, eh, 'caught' by that friend of mine. Ma aside, he felt like the only bright light for me in that place, and it was hard to imagine having a future on my own. Had no idea whether it'd come down to that, but decided that if it did, I was going with him."

"And then it did come down to that?"

"Ha! Hold on, lemme do a bit of finessin'..."

Rose's response took Aria aback, especially as it was followed by the Skuntank stopping in place and beginning to move her tail around the top of her body. In truth, the Gardevoir had no idea the limb had anywhere near as much flexibility as Rose promptly demonstrated, its range of motion more like a furry tentacle than something affixed to the Dark-type's back. She didn't have the time to ponder on that too much, though, not once Rose was done grabbing the item she wanted to show off in the first place.

She'd heard these balls described plenty of times and never thought that an actual one would end up looking this... mundane. Less like a death trap or an unbreakable cage, and more like a mere object. A very, very human object, of course, its artificiality made determining its materials nigh impossible. The red and white hemispheres were smooth and mostly glossy, at least at a glance. However, the shining sun illuminated the many tiny scratches covering the surface. Other decorations didn't need assistance to be clear to see, even if their composition wasn't any easier to explain for the psychic. Mostly smooth, though occasionally creased artworks covered a few spots on the red half, worn at the edges and visibly bleached in places.

There was a flower, a simplified scribble of a Skuntank, and a red geometric shape Aria didn't know the significance of, a sharp point at the bottom stretching to two adjacent semicircles at the top. Probably plenty more too, but they were covered by the plume of Rose's tail holding the ball up in the air. The Skuntank spared her coworker no chuckles at her dumbfounded expression as the horrible abomination of a ball was slipped back into its previous spot, completely invisible to the outside eye when it was pinned between Rose's tail and back.

"Hahaha, darlin', you look like you got Licked by a ghost or somethin'!"

"How- why- when-"

"I'm gettin' to it, I'm gettin' to it~. So, one day, once the time came, it was the time for my friend's big ol' trainer adventure. I didn't know a whole lot of his language, but I could still figure the gist out, and boy, was he giddy. At the start, I was a bit sad, worried about him leaving for good... but then he showed me that ball and asked if I wanted to go with him. Most kids his age are given one of the mons they breed for this to start the whole trainer business with, but he wanted to go with me instead. And yes- he asked, he didn't just throw it at my face apropos of nothin', ha."

"What did your mom think?"

"She was... sigh, I think she was mostly just worried. Worried about what'd happen to me, whether I'd be treated well and all. I trusted my friend at that point, and so did she, but there was always that bit of doubt about how it'd all end up going in practice. But, eventually, she agreed, and we were both sooooooo happy. I remember scrambling forward onto a small patch of grass in their park, turning towards him, and him just smiling so wide it almost split his head open as he held that thing. Held, aimed, and threw, and in I went!"

Aria had to keep her confusion and revulsion in check throughout Rose's recollection. The evilness of these devices contrasted greatly with the borderline whimsical nature of Rose's tale, feeling impossible to resolve. And yet, the Skuntank continued to be doing just that, waddling on with a content smile as her memories reached that delightful moment. Though, this was one conundrum she had to ask about-

"That 'ball'. How did it feel? They make you disappear, right?"

"I think? Was never clear to me. As to how it felt... warm. Really, really warm. It was like, I'm already giddy to go out on this adventure with him, to be by his side, and then I see him throw that thing, it hits, and it's this wave of warmth all over me, and then the next thing I know he let me out again there and then. As much as I liked him before, it felt like I liked him ten times more afterward, somehow. It's mighty peculiar in hindsight, but it was pure bliss at the moment. It..."

A bitter chuckle left the Skuntank at one particular thought, the Gardevoir beside her left in the deeply unusual situation of having to actually wait for the source of her amusement to be verbally conveyed to her.

"It felt like I was meant for this. It felt right."

Rose lingered on that moment for a while longer, pensiveness eventually getting her to stop and look down at the snowy ground before her. She took a deep breath, and then another, before finally shaking it off and continuing with her patrol and recollection alike-

"And so, the big ol' journey began. Just me and him at the start, but that didn't last all that long. After all, he had to get his hands on the rest of the team, and I had to start my training. It was... gods, it was hard to get into it, in hindsight. The battles, the training, the practice. They were strenuous, especially starting out. Back where I grew up, all I really needed was a Scratch or two for any scrap to be decided; nobody was gonna die for a bit of human trash with how plentiful it was. But in these battles, with wildlings and especially with other trainers, it was combat for as long as I could keep standing. It's, uh, it's surprising how much pain we can tolerate before keeling over, especially with a bit of practice."

"How does practicing something that excruciating work?"

"The hard way, really. Pushing my body to its breaking point and back, trying moves so many times it felt like I was gonna throw up, fighting and fighting and fighting with teammates, up to the point of fainting and back. And again, and again, and again, day in and out. It's... it never really hurts less, is the thing. Taking a full-strength Body Slam now is just as excruciating as it was; the only difference is nowadays, I feel like I can take a lot more of that pain on. It feels like it should be enough to make me tumble over and break, but it's just not, not if I force myself to keep standing. Maybe it's even possible to get used to that pain with enough practice, but even after all my training, I didn't end up getting all the way there."

"That sounds nightmarish."

"It's..."

Part of Rose wanted to reflexively start saying that, no, it wasn't that bad; she managed it all well, after all. At the same time, she knew all too well that her experience wasn't the only one out there.

"With the right support, it's manageable. Constant torment, yes, but having my friend on hand made all the difference as far as motivation went. It felt like all that suffering was for a reason, like it wasn't just misery for misery's sake. I was doing it for him, and he was there for me throughout. And, like... after some time, when the differences first start showing themselves, it feels incredible for a while. Going from a single Starly Tackle almost knocking me out there and then to shrugging them off and sending them tumbling to the ground with one well-aimed Bite or Scratch. You don't really feel stronger at any point, but the results speak for themselves sooner or later, and the results sang."

"These Starly... did he order you to chase them into battle?"

"Sometimes, yep. Most of the time, they were territorial enough to try intimidating us off their turf, and that was as good an excuse for a scrap as it got. Eventually, they spread the word amongst themselves, and in time just stepping in was enough to send them scrambling, ha!"

"And did the human use that opportunity to 'catch' them?"

There was an accusatory undertone in Aria's words, one that could hardly be called undeserved either. It wasn't like she didn't have a point. Rose was forced to sigh and slowly nod, some of the enthusiasm in her voice deflating.

"Yeah. In fairness, it wasn't like he didn't try 'recruiting' more team members the same way he recruited me. I remember us settin' camp one day, myself exhausted after a day of training and glued to his lap, him fixin' us both some roasted snacks. It was so serene, so innocent. He made some extras, laid them on the opposite side of the campfire, and waited to see whether anything would bite and come warm itself. And sure enough~ a Shinx had made their way over, kept eying us down between bites, ha. Eventually, they downed the whole thing aaaaand scampered right off afterward. If my boy was anythin', he was persistent, so he tried again and again. That Shinx even made their way back at some point to grab another treat before running off again. Eventually, though, a single lil' Starly ended up staying even after finishin' their portion and waddled closer, over to the fire. And another snack later, closer still. And so it kept going for a while, the birdie eventually lowering their guard enough to rest by our side and snooze."

Aria found herself following Rose's recollection, imagination taking her for a pleasant ride. She couldn't help but smile at the adorable mental image of a lil' human offering a small mountain of snacks over to the local wildlife until something bit for good, and began trusting him. Such a lovely scene, a weary wild Starly dozing off beside them-

"And it was only then that he went for the ball and nabbed them."

Oh.

"I can't imagine that Starly felt anything but hatred after realizing what had happened to them..."

"You'd think, but there's somethin' weird to these balls, I tell ya. They came out of it even more affectionate, not mindin' coming along with us one bit. And so, the team expanded to the two of us, and we could start better practicin' against each other. He tried that again a couple nights later, but no catch this time."

"That sounds like a lot of food inadvertently going to the wildings..."

"Eeyup! Plenty of stores around the area and places to rest at though, there was always someplace to resupply around each corner."

"Didn't you say you were on these Starlys' territory?"

"Yeah, it's... I'm really unsure in hindsight. Like, it was wilderness; it was supposed to be wilderness, I'm quite sure. But there were a lot of human facilities along the big main path we were following. Stores like the ones inside their towns, spots for my friend to use to communicate back with his mom, even to recuperate at. I still don't remember how exactly the latter worked. Felt like we were never more than an hour's walk away from a human-made building."

"That's... odd."

"Won't catch me denying that, ha. Anywho, we kept going like that for a while. Training hurt, but camaraderie helped, having my friend on hand helped, and of course, victories helped. We had our first battle against another trainer a couple weeks in; gods I still remember it. Me and Starly versus their Turtwig and Bidoof, we smoked them. We were at the top of the world. All the pain in the world was worth it for these moments alone."

"Can't imagine they were all that eager to fight you two..."

"You'd be surprised~. At least... at least at the start. A few months later, we had our first big, really important battle, in a fancy stadium inside a cave and all. Still remember the other human wearing this silly red helmet, pfft. Didn't end up getting too good of a look before his Onix slammed right into me. Felt like I almost fainted there and then; it hurt that much. They took hit after hit and just wouldn't go down, and we both just had to keep on dodging their strikes; it was so overwhelming. We got some practice against Rock-types like that earlier, but nothing could've prepared us for all that. I even had to learn how to Dig fast enough to catch it off guard, but it was worth it once they finally fell. We won, we had won our first important match, a Stunky and a Staravia takin' on a team of Rock-types and comin' out on top! Take that, everyone!"

Even just retelling the story was enough to get Rose pumped, her walk gaining more of a spring to it and the tip of her tail waving from side to side.

"It was just the first step, but at that moment, I really, really wanted to see it all through to the end. To keep going and never stop, to keep winning and making my friend proud. Goodness, was he proud. We spent a good couple days afterward just lazing, celebrating, and napping, and it was the best feeling in the world."

"Sounds... idyllic."

"It... it was, at times, especially near the start. I had no idea what Ma had meant with her warnings. Not yet. Even all the pain was tolerable at that time, if barely. Of course… nothing good ever gets to last forever. We took the big trainer down, but we had to get back to training afterward. It was just the first step of so, so many, and all of them turned out to be harder than the previous one. We all got stronger and stronger, but all that meant was that the training hurt more and more. We lost sometimes, but it was worth it since we'd eventually come out on top, even if it took even more practice, even more days of every single fiber of my body screamin' in pain. The victories were worth it. Making him proud was worth it."

Rose's pace slowed down, and one paw began to shake more noticeably with each step. A wince accompanied it each time, one that Rose couldn't keep hiding forever despite her best efforts.

"It never got any easier. Not when we won our second important match, not when I had evolved into a Skuntank, not when our team grew to its full size of six. It hurt and kept hurting, and we kept pushing through that. I started figuring out ways of dealin' with the pain, was able to keep pushing day in and out, but some others weren't so lucky. They couldn't bear it anymore; it was too much. Sometimes he'd set them free, sometimes he'd stop bringing them out for weeks or months. I knew that as long as I was by his side I would be able to manage, but..."

Another painful step, another wince. This time, however, it was accompanied by more than just pain, a couple tears beginning to roll down the Skuntank's cheeks.

"He, too, began to change for the worse. We all started off so excited, but just a few years later, it was as if all the smiles had left him. I'd only ever catch him smiling or relaxing in the evenings; at all other times he'd get so serious. Kept reading strategies, devising plans, directing our practice in a more specific direction, managing diets. S'mores and sandwiches turned to flavorless paste and pills. Even if most of the day-to-day stuff wasn't all too pleasant for me, it was worth it as long as it remained a fun adventure for us. Eventually.. that stopped being the case. None of us were havin' fun anymore. None of our opponents were either. You can tell when someone's into this, y'know. There's that enthusiasm to their expression, that lightness to their moves. I felt like I had it in me for the longest time, like many of my opponents did too, but the further we went, the fewer of us, and the mons we fought against showed that kind of eagerness anymore. Eventually, it was just me, and then... not even me, anymore."

With a deep sigh, Rose finally paused, with Aria following in tow. The Gardevoir wasted no time before crouching beside her friend and coworker and wordlessly offering affection in the wintry cold. Her offer was gladly accepted, the Skuntank's soft fur tingling her legs and hands as the nuzzles were exchanged for light pets.

"I can't even blame him all that much, I don't think. It's either makin' it through the entire grueling circuit or giving up and realizing you've wasted years of your life on something that went nowhere. He was trapped in the system, and we were trapped with him. I think he always wanted the best for us, but all that stress, all that pressure... he didn't see; he couldn't see what was happening to us all. Just how much strain it was putting on us all, how much strain it was putting on him. There was no choice but to keep trainin', keep practicing, keep suffering in the pursuit of light at the end of an infinitely long tunnel."

Aria's affection kept coming; all of it was both needed and appreciated. The Skuntank didn't think that any of it would shake her anywhere near as much anymore, it's been years after all, but it did, all of it. Each tiny detail and tattered recollection of her friend's anxious expression and sunken eyes as he spent hours devising strategy or managing the little money the League provided them through their trip.

"Eventually, I couldn't take the training either. Pain is manageable as long as it's for a purpose, but once that purpose is gone? It just starts melting through you; each strike feels like it shatters your bones. I started to falter, couldn't complete my reps, couldn't put up as much practice as was necessary. Couldn't pull my weight. The team got stronger. We were a chain made out of ever-strengthening links, in which the weakest one had to be replaced from time to time. And, one time, that weakest link became me. I had to be shelved. It was days between each time he'd finally let me out of my ball. I felt physically rested each time, but mentally it was just a flash from one moment to another, none of it making any sense anymore. I had no idea what day it was, where I was, didn't even know most of my teammates anymore. We were in some other country entirely, and I had no idea. And then..."

Rose's expression scrunched up, much of her fur bristling out for a moment from the inner turmoil, the eventual relaxation leaving her even more tired-

"And then, I realized I had reached my limit. I couldn't continue. I had no idea how to tell that to him, how to tell that to the human that used to be my friend. One evening, I approached him as he was strategizing, reached for my ball, and swatted it well off into the distance before staring at him. I hoped he could figure it out, and he did. He just stared at me, showing any emotion that wasn't stressed for the first time in days, and... asked me if I wanted to go. All I could do was nod with all my strength."

"Was he angry?"

"Heartbroken. It was as if, for a brief moment, he finally saw what I felt, what we all felt. Like it all really got to him for the first time in years. He looked me in the eye, and began to weep. Held me tight, kept apologizing over it all. Over how much it hurt. Over failing us in one way or another. Kept blaming himself for our losses, for us having to hurt even more. Kept apologizing to me specifically, for ending up so far from home and with what felt like nowhere to go. Took one brief look at the fancy case with the colorful badges, the seven of them, and just tossed it off to the side, and it all rattled everywhere. I held him back; I held him close. His tears kept flowing, his apologies kept flowing. He said he didn't know what to do, that he wasted the last fifteen years of his life, of my life. He said... he said that he wanted me to be happy."

More tears, more affection, the latter helping only nominally.

"We spent one last evening the way we used to. He made a sandwich for us for the occasion, lightly toasted it, and shared it between us. I spent the night on his lap, crying. He held me tight all night long. Then, the next morning, he gave me my ball, and I was free to go. I didn't want to leave but knew I couldn't stay. I took one last look at him, and... left. And then, a few months later, ended up here, with y'all. Figured might as well put all my strength and practice to some actual use and settle down. I don't regret it one bit, but... I miss him. I miss ma. I hope they're both doing well."

Finally, the tears began to wane, composure returning to their spot instead. Each soggy strand of thought began to get shaken off, one after the other, until Rose was close to her former, cheerful-ish self. A couple more nuzzles on Aria's legs, and she'd had her fill, stepping away with deep breaths.

"I'm so sorry, Rose."

"He did many awful things in hindsight, but... none of it was intentionally cruel. It was only how things had to be, according to their system. There was no other way but misery, and misery is where we ended up despite him trying as hard as he did. He wasn't a bad person. I don't think most humans are. I don't even think most trainers are. Their world binds them just like it wants to bind us, and there's little any single person can do about it."

"Then why don't they change it?"

"I wish I knew. Maybe they just can't, for one reason or another. They have to realize it's bad for everyone, right? That much was obvious to me, but... maybe it's not obvious to them. Oh well. That was... a bit of an outpour on my end, wasn't it."

"It was, but it was very... elucidating. Thank you a lot, Rose."

"Anytime, darlin'. Though I take you didn't haul your whole self over here just to hear me whine and reminisce over the ol' days, good and bad, eh? Think you mentioned that human girl at the village?"

Aria nodded deeply as she picked herself back up to her feet, a quick glance skyward giving her a vague idea of how much time had passed. Her route had gone unwatched for a while now, time to wrap this up-

"Yes. She doesn't have anywhere in the human world to go to, and the Elders have settled on a vote to decide whether to let her stay here."

The Gardevoir wasn't sure what kind of reaction she was expecting from Rose when mentioning that, but the drawn-out groan wasn't it. Neither was another attempt at a facepalm that accompanied it, nor the array of grumbles that followed it up.

"Oh, come right on, really? Why is that even a question? Of course she should stay here if she has nowhere to go! Ughhh... these old farts, I swear. Oh well. I'll be there. I'll bring up just the right things to say to really convince them to let her stay. You can count on me, Aria."

Rose's words made Aria let out a breath she wasn't even aware she was consciously holding. So much of the tension released from her lithe frame all at once that it almost made her jump, the tiny motion making the Skuntank chuckle.

"Thank you so much, Rose, it's so, so appreciated."

"Don't fret it darlin', I've heard you've grown close to her. Just can't help but rush in to protect people, eh?"

"That's a stereotype..."

"A stereotype for a reason! Aight, I've fallen behind on my patrol somethin' mighty, and so have you probably, ha! See ya later, hun~."

"See you later, Rose."

"And don't ya worry about the girl- doubt the Elders will have the gall to say no to a loaded Skuntank inside their tent, ha!"

__________________________________________

"Sage?"

The ghostly murmur snapped the Phantump out of her idle thought, glowing eyes shrinking as they focused on the sight before her. And then, moments later, at the Banette beside her.

"Y-yes, M-Mr. Yaksha?"

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay."

Sage was always okay, even when she wasn't. It annoyed the Banette a great deal, in truth. One thing to look after a poor, lost hauntling, another still to have that lil' ghost never be as forward with him as he would have liked, about anything. It wasn't like Yaksha could blame her for that either, not with a fate like hers. The humans were bastards, one and all, and every single thing the ghost had seen of their actions only cemented that fact further for him.

"You know you don't have to pretend, Sage. We can pause for a moment. We're hardly rushing."

"Mmmm... o-okay."

Yaksha's zipper mouth opened a bit as he let out a heavy sigh. With an affirmative nod, he turned their attention away towards scanning for threats, letting the smaller ghost focus their attention inward once more. Hardly anything ever bothered them when they were making their way around, thankfully, especially not during the day when all the Dark-types were asleep. Humans, as always, were the negative exception. But, even they just needed a scare or two to scatter and leave them alone.

Or at least, when the Banette was there for the lil' one...

The thought involuntarily unraveled more of Yaksha's zipper, the tiniest bit of pink light escaping as he expressed his anger differently. Shadow Claw left no immediately noticeable scars on wood aside from slight discoloration. Give it a couple weeks, though, and the dying, dry bark would fall off along the three parallel cuts, permanently scarring the oak trying its best to endure the bitter cold.

For a while, he thought his grudge about humanity would be enough to keep him going forever. Being driven away from his long-time home, home for him and others like him. It's been decades since then, but he still remembered it so well, being forced to leave his dwelling after human machinery showed up, ending up with nothing and nobody. Not even memories of the good times that he had. As much as it hurt him to say, though, he didn't need them, not anymore. Neither did Sage, but she deserved them, deserved them so much more than her Banette wreck of a guardian.

A quick glance over Yaksha's shoulder revealed that Sage had only floated over a bit, the Phantump's attention affixed to a tiny, frozen puddle. He'd seen this enough times to not even have to look anymore, knowing almost exactly what would happen afterward.

And a part of Sage... knew too, to an extent.

Still, she went through the motions time and again. An inky black tendril reached down to swipe the fresh dusting of snow off the ice, the revealed surface as reflective as it gets this time of the year. She stared at the ghost in the reflection, its wooden face and spectral body mimicking her motions. Sage remembered enough to know that it wasn't her, but... what 'her' even was anymore was becoming harder to tell by the day. The occasional glances at the denizens of the woods provided inspiration but no concrete answers. A bird? A rodent? Maybe even a bug? Something small enough for humans to beat up...

Her eyes clenched shut as she partially withdrew into her wooden shell, the pained whimper catching Yaksha's attention. Each time she tried to think back for any real amount of time, she only ever arrived at the same half-formed memory. The cursed capstone of her existence. Three humans cornered her, tall bodies towering over her. Their faces were erased from recollection, but not the sounds they made. The cruel laughter, the shouts, the screams. She remembered hurting so much. She remembered her head hurting so much.

And that wasn't even the last time they'd go out of their way to torment her-

"Sage, I'm here. You're safe now."

Yaksha's hug and the accompanying whisper shook Sage out of her recollection with a flinch, bringing her back to the reality of her surroundings. Snow-covered woods, just like for the past however long. So uniform that if not for her friend's guidance, she wouldn't have thought they were making any progress through the forest at all. Once the Phantump had gathered her attention, she glanced at the other voice beside her, flinching slightly. The Banette's pink eyes were still as unnerving as when she'd first seen him all these weeks ago, and the knowledge that there was no malice in them at the moment didn't help much.

"Reminiscing won't help you much, kid, trust me. I know the allure all too well."

"Mh-mhm."

"It was just what you told me, right?"

"Y-yeah, and-"

"And what?"

There was a focused keenness to Yaksha's voice, its attentiveness making Sage flinch a bit. Why did she have to bring it up, he'd just be even more worried...

"Sage, what happened?"

"N-nothing..."

"Was it this morning when I left for recon, and you stayed at that ruined building?"

"Mmm... y-yes."

Another sigh, Yaksha's patient hug continued. Sage was a rough kid, but he knew the right tricks to make her spill what was truly gnawing at her.

"What happened then, Sage?"

"Th-there were a c-couple humans, and they saw me a-and they threw things at me, l-like pebbles and b-bricks..."

Sage felt Yaksha's grasp on her briefly tighten to painful levels before the other ghost let go. He turned his head towards the woods as if to scream, but no words came out, nothing but full-body writhing. She briefly saw pinkish light shine on whatever shrubbery was in front of the Banette, wilting whatever it touched before disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Beasts, one and all. Next time I see one of them, I will not resort to just some idle scares..."

"Y-Yaksha-"

"Shush, kid, leave it to me. I promised to keep you safe, and I will, but these things have got to pay-"

caw, caw!

The repeated caws coming from some ways away firmly captured the attention of both ghosts, Yaksha's glare immediately narrowing at the approaching human murmurs that accompanied it. A peek into the small trail they were previously following confirmed the ghost's worst fears. Two humans walking in their direction. A taller, darker-skinned one with a Murkrow on their shoulder, and a shorter, lighter-built one, the pink color of their hair unusual for their species.

Wanted to hurt Sage while she was down, no doubt.

"Bastards, beasts, I'll show them. I'll show them good."

"Yaksha-"

He wasn't listening, mind so overtaken by fury that all he could do was express it to the world in one way or another. In a split second, he was in the two humans' path, the scream that followed overflowing with seething hatred, something deep inside the ghost unraveling by the moment.

RAAAHHHH!

CAW!

His entrance was nothing if not successful, the human duo stuck in place as if ingrained. The Murkrow stared daggers into the ghost, but he didn't see or care- they had to pay, humans had to pay, what would end up happening to him was a very distant concern. His care burned bright,

But his grudge burned brighter.

"Yaksha, th-these weren't-"

The Banette didn't hear. He couldn't hear. His curses and fury reverberated in his mind loud enough to drown out all other sound, all other thought.

This has been a long time coming.

Yaksha's Shadow Ball came out in a split second, aimed at the weaker of the two humans, the one without their little Murkrow slave. A seething sphere of dark energy rocketed through the air, the monster on the collision course only able to stare at their impending death-

"~IZZY, WATCH OUT!~"

And then, with a loud shout, his target was tackled to the ground. Yaksha's Shadow Ball left careening into the distance before inevitably striking and collapsing a distant tree. A tiny, momentary setback, especially now that both of these vermin were down and immobilized. This was his chance to follow up and nail them this time, another projectile beginning to form between his hands-

CAW, CAAAAW!

And then, the next thing he knew was utter pain overflowing his body, tearing it apart. His own spectral hands tore his body up, pink light shining through the gashes all over its gray surface. The cloth body tattered in spots as the dark and pink energy ravaged him. He hurt. If he had any blood, he'd be bleeding to death.

Sage could only stare in horror, stare at their guardian, stare at the Murkrow that had almost banished them in a single strike, utter fear freezing her tiny body. It was only after a long while, once the two humans had started picking themselves back up, that she'd managed to force herself to float over to the knocked-out Banette. Seeing him still moving brought immeasurable relief.

"~Holy shit, Chucky-~"

caw, caw!

"~C'mon Lee, let's dip outta here...~"

"~But we still haven't found-~"

"~LEE!~"

"~Fine, fine!~"

The Phantump whimpered in fear when she looked up at the exchange between the two humans and a Murkrow. One of them had gotten so much closer to them. His lower voice instantly clouded the spectral girl's mind with fear. Sage hyperventilated with nonexistent lungs as she hovered backward and away, the human only sparing her the minimum of attention as he walked over closer to her guardian-

crr-cr-crrr-crr-CRACK-CRACK!

Suddenly, something on the back of the darker-skinned human began to rattle loudly, the piercing sound further freezing everyone gathered. Sage had no idea what that sound implied, but it sure seemed that the humans did, and they were none too happy about it. The pink-haired one that had since tried walking away turned on a whim, dashing over to the other one and reaching over to pull him backward, him and the Murkrow on his shoulders-

An instant later, something appeared in front of them.

Tall, white, and green-haired. The air itself cracked with energy as it hovered a couple inches above the snowy dirt, facing away from the hauntling. For a few moments, there was just silence, thick, choking, and deafening. And then, before Sage knew it, both humans were screaming at the top of their lungs and running away as fast as their legs could carry them. The Dark-type reluctantly followed in tow, chasing after their human's increasingly distant shrieks, its own caws contributing to the fading cacophony.

The white being remained in its pose until the humans were out of earshot. Only then did it slowly descend onto the snowy ground and turn around, its red eyes piercing through Yaksha.

And then, it spoke.

__________________________________________

Not the stealthiest of ways of getting rid of a couple humans, Aria had to admit that. Though with how dedicated to finding her that darker-skinned one was, it's not like she had too much of a choice on that front either. The awareness that they'd been aware of her for an unknown amount of time was terrifying, but she could figure out how to adjust her patrol route later. Right now, there was yet another mess for her to take care of. Or rather, two ghostly messes.

"^Are you alright? Why did you attack them!?^"

The Banette tried to pick himself up for a few more moments before giving up and finally accepting his temporary resting spot. A stream of grumbles continued to flow out of his slightly unzipped mouth, eventually coalescing into a more coherent response that Aria could translate-

"They kept harassing Sage..."

"B-but they didn't..."

The Phantump's comment finally caught the other ghost's focus, pink gaze making the little hauntling jump a bit, even with just confusion and no malice behind it. It hurt to see, admittedly, especially with all the time he's been looking out for her, but... oh well.

"What do you mean, Sage? "

"I-it wasn't them... it was th-the other humans earlier..."

"Why didn't you tell me? "

"I-I tried to, b-but you weren't listening!"

Sage's voice was girly and shrill, pleading and, especially right now, also worried. She kept floating closer to her guardian as the fear of seeing these humans began to leave her system, her pinprick eyes looking over the Banette's raggedy body with concern. Off to the side, Aria just sighed at the mess of a situation, though at least nobody got hurt.

"^Do you need help?^"

"And who are you to ask? "

"^Someone who knows a medic or two and hails from a settlement for mons. You two look like you could use a hand.^"

"I'll be fine..."

"M-Mr. Y-Yaksha, I've never seen you this hurt..."

"You've only known me for a couple months, kid."

"Please!"

"^You hear her~.^"

"Fine, fine..."

"Th-thank you..."

Sage's quiet, squeaked response finally managed to tug a spectral heartstring or two, much to the Phantump's relief. Slowly, Yaksha picked himself back up into the air. Aria was left curiously watching the two as they turned towards her.

"So, where is that 'settlement' you mentioned, oh stranger? "

"^It's for the best if I guide you over. My name's Aria, and yours?^"

"M-my name is Sage, Mrs. Aria!"

"Yaksha."

With a tilt of her head, Aria set a direction for the group. The lil' Grass-type followed her close, floating almost right next to her as they got going, the Banette keeping his distance behind the two.

"^What brings you here?^"

It didn't take too long after she'd asked her question for Aria to realize that she'd made something of a faux pas. Yaksha's glare was unnerving, but it paled when compared to Sage's freezing in place and beginning to shake, unfocused eyes staring into the distance.

"Not the best of questions. I've been around this wider area for longer than I can remember, kept moving from place to place while avoiding humans' spread, the lot of them. Sage... Sage, come here. You're safe now."

As grumpy as he was previously, the Banette's mannerisms changed immediately at seeing the Phantump be as terrified as she was. Even his hug didn't help right away, Sage momentarily withdrawing into her stump before slowly re-emerging. Her fear was crystal clear to sense for the Gardevoir, as was it gradually dimming once they were held, even if slowly.

"I'll say this once, and I best not have to again. Sage was murdered by humans. If she never sees one again, it'll be too soon."

...oh no.