“Evolution in general?” Weaver asks, thoughtfully. “I’m not really sure what to tell you. You’ll know when it’s coming, but specific things are really, really different between pokemon.”

  “…Or even different evolutions,” Leaf quietly adds. “I chose to be a leafeon.”

  Given the tastes of guilt and uncertainty, he’s probably wondering if it was the wrong choice. I doubt it’s the first time.

  Weaver shrugs, “You would know. Although I don’t think Smokey here can do that.” She then inspects Leaf more closely. “It works for you,” She says approvingly. “Very verdant.”

  Smooth, Weaver. But the emotions coming off Leaf shift, so I suppose he did like hearing that.

  Of course, that’s all off-track from what I wanted to know, “What’s it actually like, though?” I ask. “When it happens, I mean.”

  That’s a new taste. Espeon is certainly trying to let me know what it’s like directly, but it’s… really hard to parse, actually.

  Ah. I see. And Onaga got some of that, too. She looks a bit nauseous. ”What was that?” The woman asks, holding her head still with one hand.

  “What was what?” Weaver asks, glancing at Leaf and me before eying Espeon.

  “E– Evolution,” Leaf says, looking at the lighter-colored cat, “It feels about like that.”

  Weaver blinks at the rosebush before focusing on Onaga, shrugging. She holds a set of claws lower on her torso, then brings both hands up and out in an expanding motion. The ranger nods, still confused, but seeming to put at least part of that together. “Feels about like what?” The weavile asks, turning back to us.

  “A lot,” Leaf and I both say. Leaf’s ears go down slightly, embarrassed.

  “…No?” The dark cat denies, slowly shaking her head. “Not for me. I mean, it was a rush, sure, but mostly it just felt nice.”

  “What about before, then. How did you know it was going to happen?” I query.

  Weaver glances at Leaf before deciding to go first. “My claws started itching all the time,” She shrugs. “I had a lot more energy to throw around, controlling my emotions became easier, and keeping myself cold stopped taking any effort. I got a lot stronger in about six months. Which I think is supposed to be normal?”

  Leaf flicks his tail, “I’d built up a lot of power, so if I was going to evolve, I had to choose while I had it.” Leaf frowns, his ears going back up. He’s curious. “You said until you evolved just a moment ago. That’s why you’re asking, then. You think you can feel it?”

  “No,” I sigh. “I just don’t know what I should be watching out for.”

  “Power, like I was saying,” Weaver immediately answers. “Not the way to use it like you’ve been doing. Just pure strength.”

  Leaf nods, “Yeah. And you don’t even need to…” He trails off, thinking. After a moment, he continues, “I think you wouldn’t need to put it towards evolving. You could just use the extra energy for what it is. Evolution shouldn’t happen if you don’t let it, outside of–” He briefly glances at Espeon, “–Certain circumstances. I know my mother put hers off for years.”

  Weaver shakes her head again, “That’s not how it works for sneasel. Although… that’s because they’re children.”

  “And Charlie isn’t,” Leaf points out. “It should have happened already if that’s how it works for them, so I’m fairly sure they’ll get to choose,” He says, Weaver now nodding along.

  See, that’s the kind of thing I wanted to hear. Knowing that it shouldn’t just happen is nice. If we assume he’s right.

  Which we can’t since my probing earlier proves that my body–

  Huh. My ‘body’ isn’t real, but it’s still getting bigger. Of course, it’s pretty similar in shape to my real body, so it might just be that it matches my real size. Hmm, but my ‘body’s’ total weight was less than the difference between now and when Onaga weighed me.

  I glance down at the red orbs that are always there, the ones that have led to several revelations as of late. Have they gotten bigger? It’ll be easy to check. Let’s see, all the way back to the first time I saw them.

  ‘–what looks like a ring of perfectly round, crimson gems of diminishing sizes floating above–’

  They are bigger, as well as a whole lot more vibrant and probably heavier than just their size would imply. Neat.

  Of course, I’ve been quiet for a moment, so I should actually respond to what Leaf said. Positively. “Thanks, Leaf,” I tell him. “I needed to hear that.”

  “What about me?” Weaver asks, putting claws on hips. “I helped.”

  I hum noncommittally. “I mean, maybe a little?” I say, bringing an arm up to rub my chin as I start side-eying her. “Thank you?”

  “That sounded a lot like a question,” Weaver states, tone blank.

  “That’s because it was,” I reply, innocently.

  The bipedal cat snickers, but I don’t miss how she’s watching me now. “What part were you worried about, anyway?”

  “Most of it?” I admit. “Less worry than uncertainty, honestly.”

  “And the worry part is gone now?” She asks, apparently having seen through however long I was still a moment ago.

  “Uncertainty has been pretty certain for me lately,” I say, kneading an arm against my head. “But it’s getting better. Mostly. Things keep happening.”

  No one says anything for an unknowable span of time before Leaf speaks up. “Could I ask…” He says, pulling my focus to him. There’s– He feels awkward about something. “You were human, right?”

  “I haven’t made any real attempt to hide that,” I shrug. “From you, at least,” I add, as one of Weaver’s eyebrows goes up.

  “That makes so much sense,” The rosebush sighs. “I’d been wondering what you were before–” He points at me with his nose, ears, and tail, “–This. It felt rude to ask, though.”

  “It’s fine,” I assure him. “There are a few parts of that I’d rather not talk about, but you don’t need to feel bad about asking.”

  Leaf’s interest is piqued. It would be obvious even if I couldn’t taste it, with how his over-large ears go all the way forward. Uh oh.

  “What was it like?” He asks. Of course.

  ▲▲▲

  ▼▼▼

  Misdreavus’ let’s out a harsh-sounding sigh. Although a fairly soft one, for them. I’m not sure I could be that close when they do that and not react, but Leaf doesn’t seem bothered.

  I’d asked them if I could be here, and they were okay with it, but as usual, Misdreavus seems disinterested in me when they have someone else to talk to. I can’t say it doesn’t make sense, but I would like to spend time engaging with them that isn’t work. That’s why I’m here right now.

  Well, it wasn’t the only reason, of course, just a large one.

  Harmony.

  Hmm? Espeon? I move my gaze from Misdreavus to the underweight feline currently resting close to the ghost. He’s staring at the floating pokemon, waiting for something.

  Misdreavus seems to lose steam mid-sentence, and Leaf’s attention has moved as well. The ghost obviously holds in another sigh as their attention falls on me.

  “Dreave… misdreavus misser?” They say after a few seconds.

  I didn’t mean I wanted you to push them. They’ve already been more social than ever today. I think it might be time for boundaries right now.

  Disappointment. Understanding.

  While Espeon and I are communicating, Weaver snickers at the floating pokemon before gesturing at some of the things Misdreavus has scattered around, “Wea, wea, vile, weave weavile.”

  Misdreavus rolls their eyes, saying something apologetic to the leafeon. The eeveelution slowly blinks in response, giving a dismissive flick of his tail. He’s not at all hiding how comfortable he is around the ghost-type. There wouldn’t really be a point.

  Misdreavus’ attention moves back to me, the pokemon rising slightly. “Vus misdreavus mis?” They ask, multiple limbs forming to point around vaguely before rejoining the ghost’s mane.

  I consider that. It’s a question directed at me, spurred on by Espeon. They also used much the same gesture that Weaver did. “You want to know if there’s something I’d like to talk about? A question I might have?” I ask. The hovering pokemon bobs.

  I glance at Weaver, but she only grins back. She probably wants Misdreavus and me to communicate even more than I do, since it’s a friction point in her pack. “I noticed earlier,” I say, refocusing on the ghost again, “Your gemstones are glowing? I’ve only seen that once before.”

  Misdreavus looks thoughtful for a moment as the other three pokemon’s attention shift to them.

  “Eafeon leafeon. Leaf eon?” The verdant eevee queries, cocking his head at the ghost.

  “Mis… Misdreavus dreave mis vus,” The glowing ghost replies before frowning at me. They seem to have an answer at least, although not one they can get across. The ghost floats a decent distance upward, glancing around before gesturing at an arbitrary spot away from everyone else, focusing their attention. “Dreave.”

  Or maybe they can answer.

  “Hello, Onaga?” Francois’ uncertain voice says, interrupting. “I’ve been asked to let you know, Maya’s buying a whole stack of pizzas and some drinks from a place called Paoulo’s. Apparently she’s upholding a tradition.” He’s quiet for a second before asking, “What does that mean?”

  I close my eyes, taking them off Misdreavus for a moment as I rub my forehead. Clicking my radio’s broadcast on, I reply, “Maya accidentally said something she shouldn’t have sometime around lunch, so now she has to get food for everyone. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll be headed back soon.”

  When I open my eyes again, I see three pokemon now looking at me curiously, the fourth still watching Misdreavus. “You were going to show me something?” I prompt.

  The floating pokemon blinks twice before turning to where they’d been focused. They go still for an instant as their gems shine. I see, they must be conducting energy with them. Similar to–

  FascinationConfusionEntreatment. S__P_. FascinationEntreatment. _H__E. Confus–

  I do my best to shut Espeon out. My head is ringing. That hurt.

  I take a few seconds to center myself before cracking my eyes open again. My hands have apparently found my temples at some point. Lowering them, I slowly look over at the young pokemon, currently under the gaze of everyone else already. He’s hunched, ears flat, tail tucked. I stop trying to keep psychic out–

  Contrition. Panic. Contrition. Fear. Contrition. Panic.

  –And get about what I expected. As well as renewing the pounding in my head.

  Contrition. Horror. Contrition. Anxiety. Contrition. Panic.

  “I know, Espeon,” I sigh, bringing a hand back up to massage the bridge of my nose. “You didn’t mean to hurt me. It’s okay.” This was only a matter of time. He bombards me with information whenever he gets excited.

  Fear. Contrition. Uncertainty. Panic. Contrition. Doubt. Panic.

  He’s too close to Misdreavus to truly start spiraling, but it’s pretty obvious he’s taking this badly. I start to say something again, but snap my mouth shut at the dusty cloud that bursts off the larger, canine eeveelution.

  Pani–

  Anyone who spends any amount of time outdoors at all knows that ability. Weaver’s backing off, covering her mouth and nose, Espeon is already unconscious, and Misdreavus… swooped down to once more envelope the feline in their psychic technique.

  I had been expecting them to react to spores like a true steel or rock-type, in any case. Too different of a biology to be affected. And it seems I was right, Misdreavus really doesn’t breathe at all.

  “Mi– Misdreavus,” The ghost says, glancing at Leaf. The leafeon silently nods in response, still watching the small cat.

  “Thank you for that, Leaf. Espeon…” I don’t really know what to say, really.

  Leaf looks up at me, head cocked. His ears flick a few times before he responds. “Eon, eaf leafeon,” He says, nodding down at Espeon.

  “Is it safe already?” I query. If the spores were short-lived but powerful, that would explain Espeon going out like a light. I receive a nod from the grass-type.

  “He hasn’t had a panic attack in a while,” I say, doing my best to keep my tone neutral as I move closer. “Are his emotions more stable now?” I ask, looking at Misdreavus as I bend down to pick Espeon up. I can’t feel the psychic in my head right now. He’s fully sedated.

  The nervously hovering pokemon slowly starts bobbing, growing more confident as they do so. “Dreavus,” They say, looking a bit guilty.

  “It’s not your fault,” I say, standing. “It’s not anyone’s, I think.” Misdreavus doesn’t look convinced at first, but does seem to accept that. “I’m headed home, I suppose,” I say, glancing around to find Weaver right next to me. “You don’t have to, but I’d appreciate it if you came, too,” I tell the ghost-type. After a second of thought, the misdreavus starts exchanging a few quick words with the eeveelution before nodding at me.

  ***

  “Maya’s still out?” I ask, stepping into the kitchenette after putting the still sleeping Espeon to bed.

  “She went to grab a whole big stack of pizza,” Barry says, holding his hands to indicate how tall. “As is tradition. I doubt she’ll be too much longer. Although I imagine Paoulo has more orders than usual tonight, so who really knows.”

  “Emil?”

  The man shrugs, “He went to help carry the drinks. And keep an eye on his partner.”

  “Mmm. Karlos is still at the meeting?”

  “Yeah,” Barry replies. “He’ll probably be there all night, apparently. How are you holding up? I note that your entourage isn’t here.”

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  “Pretty bad headache,” I admit. “Espeon got a little too excited, started sending me way more information than I can handle,” I say, waving a hand at my head. “He started panicking after he realized, and Maya’s favorite leafeon spored him. They’re in the barracks right now.”

  “I take it you’re ready to be done for the day, then?” Barry asks, half-smiling. “Where did you go, anyway?”

  “A bit, yeah, although it hasn’t been all bad today. And I went out to Misdreavus’ cabin.” At Barry’s raised eyebrow, I continue, “I’ve made real progress with them. A couple of full conversations, and I even got a whole monologue out of them. They don’t like the language gap.”

  “Most pokemon don’t,” The man points out. “Or at least the ones that live in the city, from what I’ve seen.”

  “I think it’s more than that,” I say, aborting a shake of the head. “Misdreavus finished the entire literacy course in a week and a half, remember? And they’re probably ready to take the certification.”

  Barry nods, understanding dawning in his expression. “And even if you assume– No, especially since you know they get bored easily, that’s a heavy amount of focus to put into one thing.” The blue-haired man frowns slightly, “But that’s problem solved, isn’t it?”

  “They can’t write,” I shrug, going back to rubbing my forehead. “Or at least they haven’t figured out a good way to do it yet.” The operator's skepticism is rather plain. I sigh. “Their limbs aren’t built for dexterity, and while they are telekinetic–”

  “Misdreavus isn’t a psychic-type,” Barry finishes the thought, nodding again.

  “Exactly. They showed me what trying to move a pen is like for them, and they could move it well enough. Too well, even. I think their lowest force output is ‘high.’”

  “Like a venomoth, or a dustox…” The operator mutters. “Could you get them a spelling board?”

  I think about that. “Maybe in the short term,” I muse. “I think we might even have a paper one in storage. Even then, those are rather large and slow, and it won’t help any more than just asking Weaver to translate.”

  “What if you ask Karlos to use the computer?” Barry asks, then waves that thought away. “But then you’d only be able to do it during off hours, and need to teach Misdreavus how to use a keyboard,” He shakes his head. “What about– Hmm, I suppose pre-made messages aren’t much better,” He says, thinking out loud. “Does Misdreavus need to be able to carry whatever it is with them?”

  “I’m not asking you to solve this, Barry,” I chuckle. “Just sharing some observations. Complaining.”

  Barry blanks for a second before chuckling as well. “Yeah, sorry. I’m sure you two will figure it out.”

  Before I can say anything to that, I hear the lobby door bang open.

  “I HAVE RESTORED MY HONOR!” Maya yells. “MAKE WAY DOWN THE HALL!”

  “Right on time,” Barry quips as Maya steps into the room. She really did get a stack as tall as Barry had said. “How busy was it?”

  “I’m pretty sure the police and firefighters were ordering as well,” Maya says, dropping the cardboard boxes onto the table. “Although from what he told me, he’d been getting ready for it once news got out that the fire was under control. All his staff were there.”

  “They were extremely busy,” Emil confirms, having followed Maya in. Setting his crate of various juices, soft drinks, creams, and alcohols down, he shakes his head, “It reminded me a bit of home.” Looking around, he frowns slightly. “It seems rather empty, for this occasion,” He comments. The man sighs, “I may have purchased too many drinks.”

  We all share looks. The last time this happened, we had more than twice the people on duty.

  “I’ll go wake Katie back up,” Barry decides, standing. “Could someone else go see if Fran wants anything?”

  “Sure,” Maya nods.

  Emil and I share a glance, both nodding. We’ll be tracking down our partners.

  ▲▲▲

  ▼▼▼

  “You don’t like pizza?” I ask Weaver, looking at the one Barry just opened.

  “No, I don’t like that pizza,” She corrects, sniffing the air. “One of these is for carnivores, though…”

  “Save some for Gabite and Espeon,” Emil tiredly says, handing a box off to Weaver. “That goes for you as well,” He adds, turning a full-on glare at Prinplup.

  “Yes dad,” The now larger penguin says, sounding a lot like a moody teen. He also avoids my gaze, since he knows he isn’t fooling me. He is moody, sure, but there’s affection there.

  The carnivore pizza looks very different from the others. The crust is probably not made of bread, the sauce isn’t tomato-based, and it’s covered in fish. Whole anchovies. It’s not as unappealing as it once might have been, but the others still look better to me.

  Maya catches me looking. “Hey, Ryuko,” She says, catching the other woman’s attention. She points me out, raising an eyebrow.

  Onaga glances at the massive pile of food, thoughtful. “I don’t think any of these will make you sick,” She says after a moment. “You can go ahead and have some. I wasn’t going to stop you.”

  All veggie pizzas. I don’t think I’ve ever had one like that before. Granted, these also have a whole different spread of sauces and cheeses than I’m used to. Although I probably won't have any more than a taste of one or two, honestly. They look good, yeah, but it’s not like they’ll be filling.

  I wonder if I’ll start missing the feeling of being hungry, the way I used to feel it? Mmm, that’s a depressing thought. Let’s ignore that for now.

  “Why did Onaga call this a tradition, anyway?” I ask, pointing at a pie that looks a lot like a classic supreme, bringing two arms together to show I want a small piece. “What’s it about?”

  “Maya said quiet,” Lerp of all people answers. “Bad.”

  “Yep,” Weaver confirms, crunching into her baked protein. “If anyone does that, and then something happens, they have to get dinner for the base. I think I once heard it goes all the way back to when the rangers started.”

  “Fair enough,” I admit, grasping the small plate Onaga offers me very carefully with three arms.

  I try my slice. It’s good pizza.

  “You aren’t going to have any?” I ask the small tortoise once I’m done appreciating the flavor. He’s just sitting there.

  “Not hungry,” He says, simply. Amazingly, he elaborates a moment later, “No roots. No bugs. No berries. Bread okay.”

  “So, if you can eat things like noodles and tofu,” I lead, turning my attention back to Weaver.

  “It’s about quantity, and what we would normally be eating, from what I understand,” She shrugs, inconspicuously pointing a claw at Prinplup. He’s slipping a piece off of Emil’s plate. “Also self-control and appetite.”

  And Prinplup doesn’t have a lot of self-control, unlike a certain cat-weasel. I can’t comment on his appetite, though, since I don’t know what his diet should be. Berries, probably. Although I think every pokemon eats those. Berries are weird.

  I still don’t get how I manage to eat things now. Stuff like this doesn’t fill me anymore, and I think anything that goes inside my ‘body’ is destroyed.

  I need a better word for my ‘body.’ Puppet, maybe? Mmm, that doesn’t feel right. Avatar…? Nope. I’ve suddenly realized I hate that one. It’s probably accurate, but also not, and regardless, I don’t like the sound of it.

  Hmm? I bat away Weaver’s hand, glancing at her. She points at Onaga, “I think Patches might have woken up.” Following her claw, Onaga is looking a lot more tired than a moment ago.

  I phase out, glancing over at where the cat had been sleeping. He’s still there, but he’s moving now. And of course he’s working himself up again, so I should probably get some real dinner by drifting over to help.

  ▲▲▲

  ▼▼▼

  “Well, you aren’t who I expected,” I say, startling the tiny leafeon. It never gets old. Everyone always thinks they should hear me coming.

  I’ll give the boy credit, his first reaction is to get distance, bouncing from where he was resting to face me. I see the kid go from shock to horror to dread. “M– Marshal,” He nervously greets. Saying it as a title instead of a name.

  “Charlie isn’t here?” I wonder out loud, taking in the whole space. There have been some changes. Lots of stuff is scattered around in an uncomfortable reminder of the past. Even a new crater. I enhance my senses to look for the spook, but they're still absent.

  “They were…” The small sprout says, hackles still up, eyes darting around. “They went back to the city with a ranger.”

  “Would have loved to see her too,” I muse, turning my full focus back on Leafeon. He doesn’t miss that fact. “What are you doing here, then?”

  I may have my suspicions already. The kid has talked about a sprout more than once.

  “Charlie said they’d be back at some point. Probably late,” Leafeon informs me, side-stepping a bit to have a better angle at escape. I hold in a grimace. The older I get, the more intimidated the young ones are by me. Comes with all the stories, I suppose.

  “You don’t need to be so worried,” I chuckle. “Even if I thought you weren’t supposed to be here, I’m not going to defend the spook’s place for them.” That relaxes the sprout slightly. “But you didn’t exactly answer my question,” I point out, making him go still again.

  Leafeon stays silent, although I can see embarrassment breaking across his features. So, this must be ‘Leaf,’ the one Charlie’s told me about. The kid could do far worse. Of course, they’ve admitted they aren’t ready or looking for anyone.

  I give the sprout a pointed look. “You know that’s not going to work out anytime soon, don’t you?”

  The leafeon finally takes his eyes off me, looking down and nodding. “We’ve talked about it,” He admits. “I– I know Charlie won't– can’t reciprocate right now, but they’re still nice to be around.” I see the sprout firm himself for a moment. Looking back up at me, he loses a bit of confidence. “What about you?” He nervously asks. “W– Why are you here?”

  I raise an eyebrow at that. “That’s between myself and Charlie.”

  The boy goes to speak again, probably to object. He thinks better before anything comes out. “I should leave,” He says, backing off before darting away.

  He did a good job, sticking around as long as he did when he was nervous and scared the whole time. Shows he’s got some spine.

  Yeah, Charlie could certainly do worse. Might even side-step some of the longevity issues they’ll have if they’re one of the single-partner types, with leafeon able to live so long. Good mix, too, could probably hold a decent chunk of the forest together if they tried.

  Best to entertain myself otherwise, though. I shouldn’t try to meddle too much there. Charlie, for as young as they are, can be too observant for that to work. And, if I’m being less rosy about it, the kid was smart when they realized they couldn’t hold a partner like that right now.

  Let’s see what they were up to instead. Cut trees, ‘lumber.’ Nothing on the order of what the humans were once doing, at least. And it’s all Charlie’s anyway. I mosey over to where even more stuff has been cleared out of the kid’s home, looking at the sign the rangers put up to warn other humans away. It’s still standing.

  I wander back over to the smoothly cut tree-slices. They look to be almost exactly the same thickness as some of the splintered wood scattered around. I give them a sniff, curious. Smells like hardwood, freshly regrown leafeon, and the green thorn of the sprouts. The boy must have cut these.

  Easy to see what the spook is trying to do here. And what’s going on with them and Leafeon. Good thing they’ve already talked about it, or I’d have to talk some sense into Charlie so they wouldn’t lead the poor boy on too long. Might still need to, thinking about it, but I’ll give it time to see how it works out first.

  I wonder how much longer the kid will be? It’s all too late, and I’d like to sleep soon. And since I’ve thought that, I expect they’ll appear right… about…

  A slight change in the ambient flow of things tells me I was right. “Charlie,” I say, turning to see them slowly approaching.

  “Marshal? What’s up?” They ask, glancing around as they come to a stop. “Was Leaf here?”

  “I scared him off,” I inform them. They get a look, so I preempt the next question, “Not on purpose, mind. It’s just what happens.”

  Charlie bobs, understanding. “You intimidate him. Actually, you intimidate most people I’ve met out here. Except the vespiquen?” The kid asks, glancing South. “I think they put up with me a bit more because of you, though.”

  “We’re old friends,” I smile. “Though it can be a bit hard to tell who I’m talking to sometimes.”

  “Yeah. I can track who’s talking for the most part, but their emotions are all tangled,” The kid agrees. They look around again before sighing, “So, why did you come to see me? Just checking in?”

  “Of course,” I easily nod. “Been a bit, now that you’re with the rangers. I know they try their best, but sometimes you just need someone to listen.” I spear Charlie with a look, they don’t flinch, “Anything on your mind?”

  It’s good to see them taking the time to think about my question. They’re doing significantly better than when I first met them, and it’s nice to know I made the right choices.

  “A couple of things, I guess,” They eventually admit. “I’ve finally figured out how I’m supposed to be manipulating… I think energy in general, but I also get the feeling that most of it will have to wait.”

  I could probably help my snort, but don’t bother. “Do we need to have that talk? I’d have figured you were experienced enough not to need it.”

  The look Charlie gives me is full of disbelief. I can see them trying to think of what I mean before they grimace, “…I really hope you don’t mean the ‘where kids come from’ talk.”

  Now I truly can’t help but guffaw, “I wouldn’t think there’s any need for a long talk about that. It should be obvious enough. I can still try to give you one, though.” The look on the spook’s face tells me exactly what they think of that idea, so I relent, “Nah. The change talk.”

  “I think I’ve mostly figured the basics of evolution out, even if only recently,” The spook tells me, plainly holding in an eye-roll. “Either you’re the kind of pokemon who evolves as part of growing up, or as a choice once you’re strong enough. It’ll change your body, obviously, along with your powers and instincts. I assume it also usually makes you stronger?”

  “Strength is a funny thing,” I say, deciding to sit down rather than keep standing. “Although that’s the broad strokes of it. I don’t think you’d get much stronger, for instance, just more capable. If you understand?” I take a better look at Charlie. Not much has changed about them. “Can you feel it creeping up on you?”

  “No,” They rotate. “It’s more– The feeling around my powers is different, I suppose? I can tell I’ve hit my limit on how to control ghost-stuff, but only because I’m… not capable enough. Like you said.”

  “Nervous about the idea?” I ask, holding in a yawn as I hazard an informed guess.

  “Less now, after talking to Leaf and Weaver about it,” They shrug. “I don’t know if I will once I get the chance, but the idea of being able to really start messing with–” The spook cuts themself off. “Part of me wants to,” They finish.

  It’s not lost on me that I’ve never seen a spook actually master their powers, and Charlie was already as destructive as many older people. That’s not even the kid’s strong point.

  “You still doing control exercises?” I ask. “That’s going to be important for you.”

  “Yeah,” They nod. “I… don’t know how well the ones you showed me apply anymore. Ghost-stuff isn’t really meant to be used the same way.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, resting my head in my hands. I’ve never managed to talk to a spook enough to learn how their power works.

  They think about their answer for several seconds. “It can’t exist, normally. I think?” They inform me, twisting their limbs around to gesture in different directions. “Trying to use it the same way I do my others worked, but it was all wrong. Most of the power just went into sustaining it.”

  “That’s normal,” I say, carefully not making it a question. I do elaborate, though, “You save committing the energy until you need to.”

  “Not to the degree I had to pour it on,” They say, rotating. “It’s what my instincts had been trying to tell me, that I’m supposed to use it differently. I didn’t realize why until I finally let myself admit that this–” They point four arms at themself, “–Isn’t real. That I’m barely real.”

  I don’t know where they’re going with this, so I simply nod that I think I’m following so far. I do take note of that comment about their realness, though.

  “I’ve told you about where I go when I’m invisible,” Charlie says, not as a question. “I called it the not space then, but recently I’ve been thinking of it as unreality. And that’s where I always am, even if you can see me here.”

  I hum, now getting it. “And that’s what you mean, cause you should be using the energy there, not here. How big a difference is it?”

  “There are a lot of differences in how I need to set the power up, but…” They look over at the fresh wound in the earth. “That crater over there took the same amount of energy that my voice does,” They say in a near whisper.

  Impressive. It’s no small wonder Leafeon likes them. “Not too sure I can help you at all with that,” I admit. “I’ve never managed to use your kind of power.”

  “I was afraid you’d say that,” Charlie sighs. “But it doesn’t hurt to ask.” The kid keeps looking at the crater for a bit, caught up in thought. “Did you hear about the fire today?” They eventually ask.

  “Uh-huh,” I confirm, unable to hold in a yawn this time. “Rangers had you helping, I take it?”

  “Yeah,” They nod. “I didn’t panic as much as I thought I would. Or at all, really.”

  “Why did you think you would?”

  They giggle, then sigh, “I don’t know. Maybe just because I’ve never been through that before. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I wasn’t in any danger. Weaver answered enough of my questions that I realized the fire wasn’t the real problem. I think it made me more stressed but less anxious, if that makes sense.”

  I nod. “I’m not a ranger, but I can understand.”

  The kid nods back, thinking for another second. “Hey, um,” They begin, actually looking me in the eye on their own, “Have you ever met a celebi?”

  “I have,” I slowly confirm, narrowing my eyes. “And I’m guessing you have too, now. Did they say anything concerning?”

  “I don’t think so,” The spooks says. “They were just… weirdly focused on me. They said I was new before vanishing.” The kid’s still focused on me. “And now Onaga wants to find a shrine to them, so I’m thinking about all the different gods again.”

  I think about that. Might as well help them both before I drift off. “Celebi is mostly concerned with the forest. Every time I’ve seen them, it’s because something’s gone wrong,” I tell Charlie, standing. “I know there was a place somewhere in the city the humans would go to try and get the gods’ favor, back when the place was just being built.” Not that many of them ever did, with how much damage they were doing. Charlie gives me a look I’m familiar with, although not quite as fearful. “I might not have been there in a long time,” I laugh, “But I did live in that city once. I think the place was somewhere South, didn’t have a lot of stuff around it back then. Can’t say much more at this point.”

  “Thanks. But where are you going?” The spook asks, turning to track me.

  “To sleep, it’s late. Don’t make too much noise, alright?”

  Discord. I'm decently active on there and usually post about progress fairly regularly.