Turning my gaze back to my hand covered in brown flames, I reabsorbed that 'fire' with some reluctance and decided to postpone my tests for another time.
I didn't really like doing that, as it interrupted my flow of ideas, and it wasn't like I could just jot down the results without pen and paper. That leave me only with my unreliable memory to remember where I left off last time, but my friends took priority over my weird experiments. Always.
On another vaguely related topic, I was beginning to suspect that my speed achieving gains was faster than it should be, especially when I was forced to 'experiment' in the middle of a fight. Sure, I wasn't an idiot and I was actively researching unconventional ways to improve, not limiting my progress to just hitting harder, better, faster, stronger, but I couldn't believe I'd reached Cap's level (before he evolved) in just over two weeks without something weird going on here.
It was also undeniable that if I came up with one of my ideas in the middle of the battle, the odds of pulling it off on the first try skyrocketed compared to my more… introspective training sessions, allowing me to do things that would take a few days of hard work in seconds thanks to the heat of the moment.
Thinking about it a little more, that particular point was perhaps something 'normal' in this world. An instinctive response rooted in all of us, magical creatures, Pokemon. One that allows us to improve more when we find ourselves in stressful situations in general, not just combat…
Or maybe not.
Maybe it's because yes, or because the almighty Cosmic Llama decided it. Perhaps it's just Pokemon nonsense at its finest, loaded with some of that 'nekketsu energy' so characteristic of Japanese entertainment products. It could be anything, or nothing, and while messing with 'fundamental laws of reality' for the lols sounded entertaining, it could be a waste of time.
I'd have to check it out later anyway, if I remembered.
"Good morning, Mr. Krabs," I greeted the now Crawdaunt when he came close enough, standing on the sand. "I didn't expect to see you so early today, to be honest. Not after everything that happened yesterday."
"Good afternoon, Sandy," he replied, pointing at the sun high in the sky with a claw while letting out one of his laughs. Was it already past noon? Time really flies when you're doing something fun. "I wasn't planning on coming today either, and I'm really sorry to bother you, but I'd like to ask for your help once again."
Squinting, I barely registered Cap sitting on my head before saying, "Let me guess… Kingler and his group have escaped?"
"What? No, of course not. We're not that incompetent," the crustacean stated, making me slightly embarrassed for assuming the worst and prompting a laugh from the bird on my head. "Although I can't deny that my visit today is related to them, since what I want to ask you is if you could act as their judge."
"Hmm… I'm not sure, hermano, that's a rather heavy burden you're throwing at me right now," I replied, half-jokingly before adopting a more serious air. "To be honest, I don't think I'm the best choice for that role; I'm too biased to be 'fair' with them. If I hadn't managed to control myself at the last second, at least Kingler would have met Giratina last night, paying for what he did to Pincitas and Cap.
"The only thing that kept me from landing the final blow, aside from a basic reluctance to kill, is my faith in what appears to be a decent set of rules established on this island, so please, don't ask me to take justice with my own hands. That's so far above my pay grade that it's not even funny."
"I agree with Sandy that most of those ruffians deserve a sweet walk on the plank…" Cap added in a dry, desert-like tone from his seat above my head, barely contained anger bubbling in the ectoplasm that covered and protected his body.
"Holly Cap, you can really be tough when you want, too," I thought, my fatuous eyes wide open.
The way he infused aura into his voice was similar to the one I'd used the day before, though the energy itself was more… nuanced; deeper, if I had to put it in words.
He hadn't focused it on anyone in particular (thankfully), but that aura wasn't just typeless energy imbued with a hint of fair wrath, no. It was soaked with the resentment of having nearly died, and honed by the experience gained in countless battles throughout his long life, making it seem almost like a move in itself.
We'd have to work on that 'aspect' of being Ghosts at some point, seriously. Aside from the small outburst of anger that caused (or allowed, I wasn't sure yet) my evolution, I was handling quite well being one of the most temperamental types in the 'Pokemon World™', but if someone as seasoned as Cap slipped like that, it didn't bode well for our long-term mental health.
Another point for Tha List, I guess…
"…Though I also agree that I don't think any of us are being impartial in this, which prevents us from delivering a fair punishment to those freshwater cabin crabs," the frigate admitted after a few tense moments, pulling me out of my thoughts. He had regained his composure, but not his usual lighthearted humor, contenting himself with being a grumpy old birb sulking over my head.
"I thought so, but I had to ask anyway," the lobster sighed. "Plan B is simply to exile the group from the island, but I'm not sure that will please everyone, apart from the fact that I don't think they are all equally to blame. It's a fact that, without Kingler, none of this would have happened after all. Although exiling only him may cause some problems with the rest of our 'companions' on the beach…"
Raising an eyebrow at Mr. Krabs' unusually dismissive tone, I decided to file it away for later. There seemed to be some history there, and I wasn't going to poke my none-existing nose into something that seemed personal.
"Why not call Yezalel?" Cap asked, being the voice of reason. I bet he had also raised an eyebrow, even though I couldn't see his face. "So far, she has solved every problem in this land, no matter how small they were. I still remember how a couple of years ago she stopped a 'conflict' in Pan's group, and they just couldn't decide what tea to make!
"With something as serious as what happened yesterday, she should have intervened, so I'm surprised she only showed up at the very end. Not to mention that dealing with the aftermath and the culprits is literally her job if she wants to keep the title of Guardian."
"I'm not entirely sure what Yezalel is up to either, though I have some theories that I hope aren't true…" Mr. Krabs replied, more resigned than frustrated, before deciding to tell us a bit of lore. "Perhaps you both don't know this, but we, the Corphish line, are a bit discriminated against for something that happened decades ago and no one really remembers. The Ghosts are also quite frowned upon around here, since they are the cause of the two biggest catastrophes that have ever plagued this island."
"It's true that, on my travels collecting wood, I've noticed that my presence isn't very welcome to the other Pokemon," I added, drawing the attention of the bird and the crustacean. "They're not directly hostile, but they seem to ignore me until I venture too far into their territory. At those moments, their fear was palpable… and quite delicious, I might add."
"Do you think Yezalel has been swayed by prejudices?" Cap asked ignoring my last comment, curious and somewhat morbid, like someone observing a disaster from afar… which is a pretty accurate description of his position on this matter, to be honest, being more of a visitor than an inhabitant of this island himself.
"She wasn't antagonistic toward me yesterday, quite the opposite, so I don't think that's the case," I replied. "Although it's also worth mentioning that I only spoke with her for a short while, and she must have been personally involved in the catastrophes you mentioned, so I have no idea."
"I'd also like to believe that our Guardian is not influenced by those things, but reality is based on facts, and it seems we're alone in this," Mr. Krabs muttered. "It's not a bad idea to contact her, anyway. Some explanations would be appreciated, although we still need to find a short-term solution. My cave isn't big enough to keep all the Krabbys for long, and although digging a new room would be an option, I don't want to have to live with them after what happened yesterday. The risk of fights is very high."
"That's true," I said, rubbing my chin. "I still don't feel comfortable being a judge, but finding a temporary arrangement should be fine. For anything more definitive I think we'll need her help anyway, since she has more experience with these things."
"I agree," the phantom bird nodded. "A dubious boss is still a boss; her opinion should be valued. Not taking advantage of her wisdom when we can just go and ask would be a stupid move."
"Yeah. I guess I can visit her tomorrow, when we've sorted this out a bit. She still owes me a date after all…"
"A what now?"
"Nothing. However, you two have to explain me what happened yesterday, since I joined into the rumble when the conflict had already escalated to its peak… Seriously, how did things escalate so much so quickly? I still don't understand."
My question/complaint seemed to be a super effective blow, as they both flinched a little as if they had swallowed a lemon, peel and all. I could have sworn that I heard a laugh from my shadow too, but I was too busy analyzing Cap and Mr. Krabs' reaction to pay attention.
It was clear that Kingler and his group were the main instigators, but it seemed that my friends were not entirely free of blame. I doubted they had acted hostile from the start, but knowing them, it was more likely that they had reacted to something the larger crab had said or done, although the 'what' question remained.
Narrowing my eyes, I gave one of my smiles and started to think. I already had some theories about what had happened the day before, and while I could wait for a detailed resume to confirm them, that wouldn't be as fun as trying to solve this mystery on my own. I was pretty sure I had most of the pieces of the puzzle, after all.
I just needed to take a little time to put them together.
Focusing my thoughts with a brief pulse of Calm Mind, everything seemed to slow down and I began to shape those pieces, trying to fit them into a picture that made sense.
The first thing I needed to figure out was Mr. Stupid's (a.k.a. Kingler) original plan, since that's where all the trouble was coming from.
I knew that he and his group had a favorable relationship with the Corphish colony before this incident, even being considered 'cousins'. That led me to think that their main objective was to have a conversation or a negotiation of some kind, since they were not enemies a priori, although it was worth highlight that Kingler was aware that a confrontation was a possibility, since he brought his entire entourage.
It could be that the crab was being overly cautious (or perhaps a little paranoid), but I remember there being an obscene amount of Krabbys' on the beach, and you don't bring such a large group of people together for a 'friendly chat' unless you think things might go wrong… or you want to throw a surprise party.
That would have been great, but it wasn't the case, unfortunately.
Therefore, that only left the other option. The topic to be discussed was delicate, delicate enough to anticipate a certain degree of violent response from beings who consider you almost like family, and Mr. Stupid was aware of that. I also couldn't forget the fact that he didn't want me there, otherwise he wouldn't have come up with that whole plan to rob the pantry to keep me busy…
If you put it all together, that greatly limited the possible objectives.
Maybe he wanted to convince my friends to 'exorcise' me, as he had mentioned in our battle, for… some reason that surely made perfect sense in his head? It wasn't unreasonable to think so.
Thanks to my conversation with GM in the pantry, I already knew that the giant crab had a deep, irrational hatred for Ghost-type Pokemon, a hatred that he seemed to share with his entire group to some extent. However, I hadn't fully realized how much until I heard his comments during our fight/one-sided beating while he just hid behind his Protect.
That kind of hatred toward a person you've never interacted with was almost beyond my understanding, but it could be the cornerstone that made sense of all that nonsense. Entire wars had been fought in my old world under the same premise, after all, and I had no reason to suspect that in the Poke-world things would be any different.
Especially considering some spin-offs…
Anyway. With the 'casus belli' resolved, all I needed to do was imagine how that fateful afternoon had gone, which was a little easier 'thought' than done.
Mr. Krabs and Pincitas sure were busy testing the capabilities of their newly evolved body, and Cap must have been lounging on my skull while joking with the rest of Corphish. Pale Feathers must have joined in at some point, witnessing her unrequited lover's new form and drooling for a while until Kingler's group arrived on the beach.
From the outset, such a large group must have aroused some suspicions in The 24 Claws, making them a little tense. Mr. Krabs would also be on the lookout, though he would pretend not to care, hoping that they had simply found out somehow that he and Pincitas had evolved. When they got closer, he would start talking to Mr. Stupid about what they were doing there and joking about whether they were going to have a party with so many people.
That's when things would go to shit.
It was impossible for me to imagine the exact scenario, but I doubt any member of The 24 Claws would be pleased with Kingler's 'proposal', and it was practically a given that Cap wouldn't sit idly by while they literally plotted to murder his friend. The already tense situation must have been intensified by the colorful language the bird is capable of unleashing when he was upset, and the conflict began.
That would explain Cap's reaction, but not Mr. Krabs' one… I guess it didn't matter that much.
It had been fun; I didn't need all the details anyway. If I failed on that, one out of two was still a pass for me, and I wasn't going to waste any more of my nonexistent brain cells when I could just ask. Shrugging, I deactivated my Calm Mind and returned to thinking at a normal pace.
Like a stopwatch that had been wound up, time began to tick again, and then I realized that, in reality, only a few seconds had passed. Good heavens, what a broken move. I had to practice using it later.
"So…" I began, focusing on Cap as my smile changed to a slightly more normal one. "Guess you couldn't help but defend your best friend forever, huh~. Though I still don't know how a Guillotine got you, of all things."
"That was to protect Pale Feathers from her carelessness, just before she evolved," he replied, somewhat impressed by my deductions and looking me upside down, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say you have no idea what happened?"
"She actually said she doesn't know how things got so bad, something I've been wondering about all day too," Mr. Krabs joined in, letting out one of his deep laughs, now imbued with a somewhat dark undertone.
"I'm mostly winging it, but I'm pretty sure Mr. Stupid came to the beach with a proposition to help him to 'exorcise' me or something like that. I don't have many pieces on the rest, but at least I know how Cap would react to something like that~."
"Ugh, you literally gave me part of your essence right after, which I could argue is almost like giving me a piece of your soul. Don't act like you haven't done the same or worse," the old bird snorted, levitating out of my head with mock indignation.
"Mr. Stupid?" the lobster asked almost at the same time, somewhat confused by the name, so similar to his own.
"Kingler," Cap and I replied in tandem.
"Ah. I guess that makes sense," he agreed, smiling. "It's a good name for him."
Just as I was about to play along a little longer, I heard a laugh from my shadow again.
While I was focused I'd missed it, but now it was loud and clear, and although the tone wasn't very recognizable, I could only think in one adorable creature capable of hiding in my shade. Looking at the sun for a moment, I realized it was already getting late, and yesterday I had arranged to meet a certain fox to train…