Chương 24: Chapter 20

"Get some rest, I'll pick you up tomorrow. That's when the training really begins." Part of me, a large part of me even, wanted to go into my room and curl up in my bed and turn off all the lights and stay there until tomorrow. I ignored that part of me in favor of the one that told me I needed to care for my partners. The Pokémon Center wasn't too crowded at this time of day. It was a few hours yet until the dojos started letting out, so we didn't need to worry about the evening rush.

We got to the front of the very short line at the counter quickly, where, after the standard 'hello and welcome,' I handed Yowashi's ball over to the nurse (a Joy by the looks, but one I didn't know). She scanned them in, and then blinked a few times, staring at something on the screen set in her counter. She looked up at me, an odd expression on her face.

"I'm not familiar with this Pokémon, and neither is our system." I blinked a few times, surprised.

"Um, I was told they're called a Yowashi? They're a Water-type. I think?" The nurse wore a frown, as her brow creased in thought.

"I don't think I've ever heard of that species," she finally confirmed.

"Without baseline data, it'll be pretty tough to be sure how healthy she is."

"She?" I asked.

"Judging by these scans, definitely a she," the nurse informed me, after thanking another look at her screen.

"You are… sure this is a Pokémon?" That was an odd question. A very odd question.

"She's in a Poké Ball, isn't she?"

"That's— true I suppose…" The nurse trailed off.

"Why wouldn't you think she's a Pokémon?" I asked, confused.

"Well, according to the scan, her energy is so low, it could be a rounding error. There is a syn reading, but it's not too far away from the sort you'd see on a mundane fish species. Also she has certain… biological characteristics that are generally not associated with Pokémon species." Well that was a euphemism if I'd ever heard one. It didn't take a lot to put two and two together. My face colored.

"You don't mean…" The nurse coughed.

"Yes, I do. It's not completely unheard of. Vespiquen have the same, and I'm sure other species that are skipping my mind do as well, but it's a vanishingly small percentage of all Pokémon."

"Well like I said, she's in a ball and I've seen her use moves. She's definitely a Pokémon."

"I suppose you must be right," the nurse acknowledged, though her voice was still hesitant.

"Would you mind if we kept her here a few hours so we can do a full work-up? We can run her through the same battery of tests we do for most piscine species, and see how she reacts."

"Uh, sure?" I confirmed, eloquently.

"Sorry, I mean, I don't mind. That'll give me some time actually, to pick up the supplies I need to care for her. Do you just mind if I explain what's going on to her first?"

"Oh of course, no problem," she handed Yowashi's ball back to me, and gestured for me to follow her deeper into the facility. A Chansey deftly filled in for the Joy, helping the next person in line, as the two of us went behind the counter and through a door tucked away from the lobby's view. The nurse brought us into one of the treatment rooms, where I released Yowashi onto a table.

"Hey Yowashi," I smiled at her, which earned me a nod, and what I thought might have been a smile back. Any attention she might have directed at me, however, was quickly redirected to the environment. Her eyes darted back and forth, suddenly dilating. Apparently, the new place was not doing it for her.

"It's okay, we're safe here," I tried to reassure her, but I could tell she was still freaking out a bit. I reached out with a hand.

"Can I pick you up?" She nodded quickly, and I put word to action, pulling the scared little fish close in and gently running my hand over her scales.

"You're safe here, I promise. No one is out to get you." She tucked her head into my chest and slowly, gradually, I felt her relax.

"I caught her out in the ocean, in a kelp forest," I explained to Nurse Joy.

"I think all this open space is disturbing her." I gently stroked the Yowashi, and eventually, she mumbled something into my shirt. It sounded like she was doing better, so I turned her around so she could take in the environment again. She did better this time, and without the fear clouding her mind, my new partner instead expressed the same boundless curiosity she'd displayed when approaching Drake and I.

Her eyes flicked to and fro, taking in the sterile, gray walls and the whirring machines strewn about the treatment room.

"We're in a Pokémon Center," I explained to her, gently.

"It's a place where helpful people like Nurse Joy over here make sure that you're healthy, and well taken care of," I gestured at the quiet nurse, who offered a gentle nod. Yowashi nodded back, seemingly reassured, and went back to inspecting the room. I gave her a few more moments to finish checking things out, before continuing my explanation.

"Nurse Joy is going to do a few tests and procedures so we can learn more about you, and make sure you're okay. Sound good?" Yowashi flopped in my hands a bit, awkwardly wheeling to face me. Her big, watery eyes stared up at me, and I read the question in them.

"Of course, I'll be here with you the whole time," I reassured her, mentally reevaluating my plans, "and I'll make sure Nurse Joy explains everything she's doing so it's not scary, okay?" One advantage of having a nurse for a parent was plenty of opportunity to watch them work. Personally, I thought my mom's bedside manner was second to none, and I was doing my best to imitate her so I could keep Yowashi calm.

That limited experience ended up getting strained over the next couple of hours, as Nurse Joy ran my new partner through a truly exhaustive battery of tests. First were energy readings, which involved taping small conductors to her scales and hooking those up to a rather intimidating looking machine wheeled in by an industrious Chansey. I got the pink Pokémon to pick up a bucket and a sponge for me, and I made sure to keep Yowashi moist, periodically wiping her down while avoiding the attached sensors.

I'd been a bit worried about leaving her out in the open air for too long, but according to Nurse Joy, my new partner, like many piscine Water-Types, was more than capable of using Water-type energy to keep her gills oxygenated. Still, I could tell that she would dry out without help, and she seemed to enjoy the attention, so I kept up my ministrations.

Nurse Joy asked my new partner to fire off a few moves into a barrier created by Chansey, but the only things she could offer were a water gun that felt like it was coming out of a low-pressure faucet, and a growl so adorable, neither Nurse Joy or I thought it was a move until Chansey pointed out some very minor fluctuations on the energy reading machine. After that came an internal-imaging scan, which required my poor, brave fish to embark alone into an impressively intimidating steel tunnel.

She was teary-eyed, and particularly dry after Chansey rolled the bed out of the machine, so we took a small break for her to rest in the bucket for a brief while. I spent the time complimenting her on her bravery, and going over the results with Nurse Joy. Like the data analysis had posited earlier, my new partner possessed a fully-functioning reproductive system, which was an extreme outlier in Pokémon biology.

Her glowing eyes also had nothing to do with her nature as a Pokémon, and were actually natural photophores, using the same mechanics of bioluminescence found in some mundane animals. This also explained the tears, which were apparently overflow from the store of reactive enzyme housed behind her eyes. When she was in distress, her body would create more of the enzyme, and force the older stock out from behind her eyes, creating the appearance of tears.

She had some limited control over her lights, which, true to Drake's word, were phenomenally bright when looked at directly, but when she was lighting up consciously, her stores of the enzyme dried up fast, leaving the poor Water-Type rapidly blinking, trying to reaccumulate some of the fluid. The scan also thankfully confirmed that she had no internal parasites, news that Yowashi and I were both extremely gratified to hear.

The final test involved an in-depth conversation with Chansey, who used her flippers to type out Yowashi's answers onto an entry form. Unfortunately, I couldn't be privy to this exam, since it was a Ferrum League mandate that a Pokémon's trainer not be in the room while the interview was conducted. My poor fish didn't want to be separated, but Nurse Joy and I impressed the significance of the exam to her.

It was a chance for a recently acquired Pokémon to make any problems they might have with their trainers known in a safe environment. Reluctantly, she accepted, but I felt a definite pang as I watched Chansey wheel her tearful visage away. Normally the interview would only take twenty to thirty minutes, but with a first capture, and a whole new species at that, I figured things might take a bit longer, so I took a quick walk to the center's attached park space.

I found an empty bench to claim, and lowered myself into the seat, wincing a bit as I felt my ankle flex. For a few minutes, I just quietly looked around, watching human and Pokémon alike frolic around the idyllic garden. Just an hour or so ago, I'd been in a fight for my life. No, that wasn't right. There hadn't been any fight at all. If Drake had been just a few seconds slower, if one of my knights hadn't seen me going down, if Yowashi hadn't been so, so brave. I'd be dead right now. It crept up on me.

One moment, I was sitting peacefully on the bench, and the next I was bent over squeezing my head between my knees and desperately trying to breathe. I'm not sure how long I spent, hunched over, feeling like I was about to drown, but it probably wasn't too long, because with a snap-hiss, my knights were there, clambering all over the bench and me. I felt their hard, yet warm carapaces squashed in all around me, and then a concerned tongue, slapping my face.

Faced with both failing to breath, and having my mug covered in Falinks spit, my body reacted to the greater threat, and with practiced precision, my hands reached out, lifting the offending ball away from face-licking range. I heaved myself up, and found a pair of concerned eyes staring back at me. I finally recognized Kay, his soulful gaze piercing right through me.

"I'm fine," I tried to reassure him, "just had a short freak-out. No big deal." The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Those all-seeing, baby-blue eyes peered directly into my lying soul, so I spun him around and settled him on my lap.

"Really, I'm fine," I tried, my voice coming out a bit thick.

"More importantly, I bet you're the one who noticed me go under, aren't you?" Kay didn't say anything, but his brothers confirmed my suspicions with affirming chirrups.

"Thank you," I told him, gently massaging the place where his horn melded into the rest of his carapace. He was tense, at first, still wound up, hours after everything was said and done. I had a lot of sympathy for him. I felt the same way. I couldn't do anything about my own stress, but I could help Kay, and the rest of my knights as well. We spent the next bit of time together in the courtyard, preening.

They got special dispensation today to wash one another, though I resolved to get them into the bath tonight so they didn't get my bed smelling like Falinks spit. Each of my partners got their turn in my lap. I think they just wanted separate reassurances that I was still here, that I was okay. I wasn't, not really, but pampering my knights let me pretend I was, and that was good enough. At least, it was until I got to the end of the line.

Lance hopped onto my lap, like his brothers, but he brushed off my questing fingers in favor of looking me in the eye. I tried a couple of times to spin him around, or to distract him with the foot rubs he loved, but his attention was steadfast. He was watching me, probing me. I just wasn't sure for what. I fortified myself, and gave as good as I got, not breaking eye contact as the rest of my knights gradually fell silent, tuning themselves into our quiet test of wills.

We both stared, unblinking at one another for at least a minute, and then two. Whatever he was looking for, Lance wasn't finding it in my eyes, so I used my voice instead.

"If there's one thing to take away from today, it's that we have to get stronger. Like I told Drake," I reassured him, my voice still coming out a bit croaky, "and I'm all in. I always have been, and this hasn't changed that." The brass held my eyes for a few moments longer, before scoffing.

"Links," he said, turning around. For a delirious moment, I was worried that I'd screwed everything up somehow, that Lance was going to turn on me after months of working together. The worst part was, I didn't know why. To my immense relief, my absurd fears didn't manifest. The little battle ball had turned around in my lap, but he didn't make any move to hop off once he was facing away, and after I placed a few tentative fingers around his legs, he let me rub them in the way I knew he liked.

Still, he remained tense, where his brothers had not, and he kept making discontented noises that had me concerned. Eventually, something snapped.

"Fal, Falinks," Kay and Galad chimed in at Lance. The two of them let out a rapid-fire series of squeaks, double-teaming their leader. He barked out something harsh-sounding, and they both looked momentarily rebuked, but they worked up their resolve, and retorted in kind. That got Bers and Percy worked up as well, and pretty soon, all five of them were shouting back and forth at one another.

Lance hopped off my lap, and got up in Kay's face, but Bers pushed him back, and said something that made all of my Falinks pause, for a moment. Uncertain exactly what this argument was about, I was hesitant to intervene, but the shock and quiet that accompanied Bers' proclamation convinced me that discretion was not the better part of valor in this instance. Before I could get involved, however, someone else spoke up.

"Falinks!" Tristan's cry was loud, and loaded with so much intent, it almost made me rock back. It was a rebuke and a plea and a wail all at once. We all stared at my littlest knight, as tears welled in his eyes. Sure now that he had our attention, Tristan went on, launching into a full-on speech that I could only pick up the barest hints of.

The small Falinks abandoned any hint of our shared pidgin in favor of making his thoughts completely clear to his brothers, but what I did pick up was colored with so much raw concern and disbelief it almost made me start crying again. When he was spent, he sagged down, and broke out into full-on tears, in a way I'd never seen before. All of my knights looked chastened, but none more so than Lance, who stole a guilty glance in my direction, before approaching his wailing brother.

He whispered something to the crying Knight, and then called the rest of the Falinks over. Each of them gathered around Tristan, leaning into him and comforting him as best they could, making reassuring coos and chirrups. My littlest knight sniffled, and then called out to me. I could tell he wanted me to come over, and I almost stood up from the bench on reflex, but I hesitated, my mind going back to Lance's earlier dismissive sniff. At my reticence, Tristan barked out something that almost sounded like a command.

Lance looked at me with what again seemed like guilt, and called out as well, followed by Bers, and then the rest of my knights. Slowly, uncertainly, I made my way over to the little huddle, and then sat down next to them. Tristan broke from the group, and hopped up into my lap, and then called out another command. Quickly, my knights surrounded me, leaning against my knees, my back, and scrambling to get up into my lap as best they could.

"Links," I heard a muttered apology from someone behind me.

"It's okay," I choked out, "I'm sorry— I, I— I almost left you guys."

"Faaaaaaalinks," Tristan started up the waterworks again, and this time it was too much for me, and tears started falling onto my cheeks as well. I bent over, clutching my littlest knight to my chest, while all around me, my partners leaned in, some stoic, others leaking their own silent tears. Slowly, surely, I felt something in me unclench. The remaining tension drained out of me, and before I knew what was happening, I drifted off to sleep. - My nap was short-lived, according to my watch.

I was only out for forty minutes, before I felt someone shaking me awake. Groggily, I pulled myself upright, trying to resist the urge to scratch my itchy eyes. A quick scan revealed the culprit behind my awakening, a friendly looking Chansey wielding a clipboard in one hand.

"Chansey, Chanse!" She told me, from which I got the impression of readiness.

"Is Yowashi ready for pickup?" I asked her, to which I got an affirmative nod. I tried to stand up, and winced a bit as my legs protested. Napping on them for forty minutes had apparently put them quite asleep, and I gingerly rubbed the life back into them, with some help from my knights, until I could stand again.

We tramped back into the Pokémon Center together, and made our way to the treatment room, where Nurse Joy stopped me outside to reassure me that the interview had gone well, and I was free to take Yowashi home. Not before she had me describe the environment I'd captured my new partner in, however, and handed me a typed list of her self-described needs. The list was concerningly sparse, just 'Kelp (eating/sleeping)' and 'Water (salt/fresh).' with no further explanation.

A few more forms completed the discharge paperwork, all of which I tucked away into my bag. Heading inside the room, I found Yowashi waiting for me, tears barely held at bay behind her large, expressive eyes. They'd found a bowl for her from somewhere, probably so she could be comfortable while answering Chansey's questions, and her excited wiggles as she saw me turned to anxious wheeling as she saw my knights troop in behind me.

"Hey, sorry for the wait," I apologized.

"Thanks for answering Chansey's questions." She nodded, but her focus was clearly more on my knights, so I decided to address that.

"These are my knights, they're also my partners, like you. That's Lance, then Percy, Kay's over there, this is Galad, that's Bers, and Tristan's the one behind my leg here." I then gestured at the piscine Pokémon not-quite cowering in her bowl.

"Knights, this is Yowashi. You might have overheard Drake and I talking earlier, but she saved my life when that kelp monster attacked me," that seemed like an effective icebreaker, with my knights tramping forward to peer closer at my apparent savior. The introduction was cut short, however, by a muffled "What?!" from outside. Wincing, I quickly recalled my partners with a hurried, "Sorry all, we'll do more thorough introductions in a bit."

Nurse Joy came tramping into the room, but I was already bustling past her. Her "What were you saying young lady?" was countered by my, "Thanksforeverythinggottagobye!" I heard a, "Please, wait!" Behind me, but I didn't heed her, instead rushing out of the Pokémon Center, and making a break for the nearest Poké Mart. - Luckily, Nurse Joy didn't follow me to get the rest of the story, or send anyone to do the same, and she hadn't recognized me, so hopefully my careless words wouldn't make it back to my mom.

After the Pokémon Center, it was time for the promised shopping trip. For my knights, more of their favorite Pokémon food, our standard vitamin mix (now improved by the Zinc and Nickel supplements), and a new set of training mitts to replace my current pair, which were starting to look quite ragged. For Yowashi, a neat plastic sphere meant to keep water contained to make floating/hydrokinesis practice easier, a variety of aquatic Pokémon foods to try, and an aquarium for her to spend time in while resting.

The large glass enclosure and the various accouterments to fill it dug deep into my pocketbook, but I considered the expense more than worth it. I ended up needing to recruit my knights' help for carrying everything home, since there was no way I could carry the aquarium on my own, but they did a good job of it, four of them taking a corner each, Lance directing the little quartet, and Tristan helping me with the rest of the groceries.

We made it home safe, and the rest of the afternoon was spent getting Yowashi's new home up and running in my room. We tried a few different configurations, before we finally cleared most of my desk, and set it up there. Now that I wasn't in school, I hardly used it anyway. It warmed my heart to see my new partner do happy little turns around her new environment, even if cleaning up the water splashed out of the top of the enclosure was going to be an ongoing, and frequent effort.

Like the expense, well worth it for the comfort of our new friend. My parents were out for the night working, so I fixed us a quick dinner, and then settled in at the kitchen table for some chess games against my knights. I'd picked up another two sets so we could have three games going simultaneously, and Kay (with the occasional correction from Lance) got really into explaining the rules to Yowashi, who clearly didn't have the head for it, but seemed pretty happy just to bask in being around us.

I was worried that some jealousy might arise in my old partners with the introduction of this new one, but I think for once, Yowashi's apparent weakness ended up being a strength. It was hard to feel threatened by a twenty centimeter fish, after all. I did force my knights to take that bath, to their irritation and chagrin, but Yowashi enjoyed the time frolicking in the bathtub, so at least one of us was happy.

As my knights settled on various cushions, pillows, and in Tristan's case, the edges of my bed, I put Yowashi in her new habitat, and spent a few calm minutes watching her settle in. My pillow was calling to me, and after the day we'd had, it was so tempting, but there was one last piece of business I had to take care of before the night was over.

"I've been thinking about this all day, Yowashi, and now it's time to ask. Do you want a name?" My new partner blinked at me, some mix of quizzical and sleepy, so I continued to explain.

"You don't have to have one, if you would prefer I just call you Yowashi like I've been doing, but if you want, I can give you a name as well. Something that has meaning in human words. It's like— a gift, from me, to you." The little fish looked thoughtful, and I heard her cry reverberate softly through the tank.

"Washi?" I thought she was asking for some examples, so I explained.

"It's like with my knights. Their species are Falinks, but they all have individual names as well. They're based on legendary Galarian knights." I got up from my seat at the desk, and retrieved one of the few things that had survived my tirade a few months back, mostly because it had nothing to do with Ferrum battling. The rather beat-up looking picture book was obviously well-worn, and had been read cover to cover an uncountable number of times.

The front depicted a knight in resplendent armor bravely holding his shield aloft, defending against an attack by an unseen enemy, and was crowned with a lofty title: An Illustrated History of Great Heroes. I went over some of the legends the book contained, and my knights and I both appreciated the way my new partner' eyes sparkled, and her mouth gaped at the heroic escapades and dastardly deeds contained therein.

I made sure to tie each legend to one of my knights, who would preen mightily at the description of their namesake, as if the legendary knight's accomplishments were in some way also their own.

"So a name is like, an acknowledgement, of who I think you are, and who I think you can be. But it needs to be something we both agree on, something we both like." My newest partner nodded eagerly, her eyes glistening with expectations.

"Like I said earlier, I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think I finally landed on one I think fits you perfectly. Want to hear it?" More eager nods. I took a deep breath.

"Ok, here goes. You see, there's an old Ferrum legend, that in a time of great strife and drought, the children of the sea appeared, as if from a miracle, and saved the people of Ferrum. They're called the Phione, and my parents actually named me after them. Dad says mom had a hard time having kids, so it was like a miracle that I was born. So they called me their miracle child."

My mind called forth hazy images of a woman I'd barely known, of my dad, holding me, and weeping in front of a casket inside a somber hall, but with a shake of my head, I banished the faint memories. They weren't what mattered right now. My eyes focused on my new partner, who was watching me in turn with bated breath.

"Now, there's another legend about the Phione, that says they're protected by a great guardian. This benevolent spirit defends the children, and shepherds them across their endless journeys through the sea. The spirit is called Manafie, which means 'Ocean Warden.' I thought it would be appropriate to name you after that spirit, since you saved me, today. Would you be okay if I called you Mana, from now on?"

My new partner's eyes welled up with tears, visible even inside of the water of their tank, and they started blubbering. For a moment, I was worried, concerned that I'd somehow messed up, but the little Yowashi started nodding, and I realized her distorted cries had hints of acceptance and joy. She came up to the surface of the water, and then jumped out, forcing me to catch her out of the air with a shout of surprise, and then an unprompted laugh.

My pajamas were soaked, but as I held the weeping fish tight close to my chest, and whispered my thanks to her yet again, I knew for certain that the wet clothes, and all the other inconveniences I'd experienced today, we're well, well worth it.