"What's an 'aspirin'?" the confused Crawdaunt asked, to my utter disappointment.
"It's a medicine, I think," Cap answered for me, as knowledgeable as ever, before adopting a more sarcastic tone. "It treats headaches, but I'm afraid it'll be a bit tricky to find one of those things around here. Besides, I doubt it works very well in Pokemon either, even less in Ghosts."
"I guess that was too much to ask…" I muttered, holding my head with one hand and applying a brief Heal Pulse without much success. I really had to improve that move at some point… "Perhaps a berry might help?"
"That's not a bad idea," the bird said, rubbing his beak with one wing as he spun in the air like a damn fidget spinner, completely ignoring the concept of gravity. "A Persim Berry would be perfect, though those are somewhat rare around here, and a good old Oran Berry should work pretty well too."
Seeing my puppy dog eyes (which were a bit hard to make with literal fireballs as eyes), Mr. Krabs took pity on me and tossed an Oran Berry from his extra-dimensional hidden pocket. I'd long since stopped questioning where he kept all that food, since he always seemed to have some berry on hand to share with others.
I guess there were some mysteries that were better left unexplored…
Shrugging, I bit into the magical fruit and could instantly feel my headache lessen. It didn't completely erase it, unfortunately, but it went from 'OH GOD MY HEAD' to 'tolerable', and that was enough. After devouring the rest of the berry, I gave the crustacean my best grateful smile and braced myself for the inevitable 'what the heck' question.
"So… what happened?" my chitinous friend asked, raising an eyebrow and tensing slightly. "The thing you warned us about in your shadow has done this? Are we under attack?"
Tilting my head, I wondered where he'd gotten that idea, but after half a second's thought, the situation must have seemed a bit odd. From his perspective, I'd pointed at my shadow and, after lying still and doing nothing for a few seconds, I'd nearly collapsed to the ground with a pounding headache.
The assumption of being 'under attack' wasn't far-fetched at all, especially considering everything that happened yesterday, which only reinforced the feeling of being a little paranoid. I had to clear up the misunderstanding before things escalated.
"No, no, calm down," I said quickly, waving my hands. "My migraine has nothing to do with it. I just learned a new move, and after a series of questionable decisions, I ended up using Calm Mind for too long."
"Oh, that explains a few things," Cap muttered, stopping spinning like an idiot and looking a little serious. "From what I known Calm Mind is incredibly demanding, though not in terms of energy, but in MP."
"MP?" Mr. Krabs and I asked at the same time, although I already had an idea of what he meant.
"Yeah. It's a human-made acronym for 'Mental Power', a thing that seems to indicate the number of times we Pokemon can use moves without our brains turning to mush. It's not an exact science and I've only heard it a few times in passing, so take it with a grain of salt, but for what I understand, Ghost-type Pokemon have a bit of an advantage in that department, as do Psychic-type Pokemon and a few others."
"That fits with part of what I call 'Special Defense', though it seems to overlap with what I knew as 'Power Points' and what I've begun to associate with 'Mental Energy'…" I half-whispered after hearing the sailor bird's explanation, rubbing my chin. "Perhaps they're the same thing with a different name? Or something different but sharing some characteristics? I guess I'll have to wait to investigate…"
"Anyway, what did you do to burn out so quickly?" the exited lobster asked, cutting short my usual ramblings. "You usually train all day, and I’ve never seen you this bad. As exhausting as this Calm Mind is, I doubt it was enough to leave you like this. That new move you learned must be crazy."
"I don't know; I haven't tried it yet. Maybe the little trip into my soul also had something to do with my fatigue, although I'm pretty sure I just overused Calm Mind. It wasn't so bad last time, after all."
That stunned them a little, but they were already somewhat used to my nonsense, so it didn't affect them too much.
"Trip to your soul? What the fu—" I guess my estimation was wrong, since Cap seemed about to rant for a while before stopping, rolling his eyes, and changing the subject. "No. Look, you know what? I'm not even going to ask anymore. Just take out whoever's in your shadow and let's get this over with."
"Oh, right."
Without waiting another second, I wrapped my arm in a layer of Ghost-type aura and submerged it in my shade, as if it were water. After a bit of searching, I grabbed the intruder and pulled it out of the darkness, revealing to the world the wonderful and super adorable… Shedinja?
"What the heck were you doing there?" I asked calmly, narrowing my fatuous eyes.
"Uh… Hello?" said what sounded like 'she', blinking slowly.
"Hi, I guess. Talk to you later."
Before anyone could react, I plunged the ghostly exuvia back into the gloom and brought out the other intruder, who was none other than the Hisuian Zorua.
"Hello kiddo. Ready for your training?" I greeted, ignoring the looks everyone was giving me.
The fox's eyes kept darting from my shadow to me, and I could almost see the question marks floating from the red lock on his head… Oh, never mind. He was literally forming question marks with his spectral smoke. Adorable.
"Not really," he replied after composing himself, with that deep voice that didn't fit his appearance at all. "Something tells me I won't enjoy it very much. And for what it's worth, I wasn't aware of her presence either," he muttered the last part, pointing with his snout at the Shedinja, which had re-emerged from the darkness on her own.
She hovered over the sand, completely motionless. Her closed eyes were unreadable, though she seemed to be observing us with curiosity, and the aura she emanated was barely distinguishable from the surrounding environment, making her very difficult to read or even perceive.
"So, how long have you been in Sandy's shadow?" Cap inquired for me, practically teleporting between me and the Pokemon of unknown intentions. After his evolution he seemed to have become stupidly fast, almost doubling his previous speed, and I was unable to keep track of him without him even having to use Agility.
"I don't know," she replied in a dry, paper-like tone, completely expressionless. "I was just curious…"
After those few words, she turned to look at the sun about to set over the horizon and said nothing else. There was still an hour or so before nightfall, more or less. We had to hurry a little if we didn't want the Corphish to spend another night with the Krabby…
"Well, that doesn't really answer much," I said as I set the fox down in the sand and walked past Cap, who was giving our unexpected guest an appraising gaze. "Let's start from the beginning. My name is Sandy. Do you have a name?"
"No," she replied without looking away, apparently very captivated by the sun.
"Okay," I nodded. "I don't know what you were doing in my shadow or what you want, but I don't have much time to chat right now, to be honest. That said, friends?"
"Yes."
"Excellent!" I exclaimed, holding out my hand, which, to my surprise, she tried to grab with her little paw. "Oh, nice~. Okay, the thing is I have to go and take care of something. Would you rather stay here watching the sunset, or crawl back into my shade and join me?"
"…I prefer to stay here," she said after a few moments, without taking her eyes off the sun.
"Perfect. See you later then."
With that, I walked away with a wave and joined the rest of my friends a couple of steps ahead.
It had been a brief and weird conversation, but not a bad one. New friends were always welcome, no matter how strange they were, and as long as they weren't actively malicious, they were fine in my book.
"Well, that was awkward," Cap commented, reclaiming his seat on my head.
"Nah; just weird, not awkward," I rectified, nodding back to the crustacean and the fox. "She don't seem like a bad person, although her expressionlessness makes it difficult to judge her intentions."
"At least she shook your hand back. I guess you're right."
"You can't and shouldn't judge people by appearances; nothing is what it seems, after all," added the local Reynard, a master of illusions, before stopping imitating what I assumed was Yezalel's tone to ask me a question. "By the way, weren't you going to train me today, Sandy? I came all the way here just for that, you know…"
"Sorry kiddo, plans change," I replied, bending down and patting him on the head, which, to my delight and his embarrassment, made him purr a little. "You've probably heard it from your hiding place, but it seems that the Krabby problem isn't as solved as I thought last night."
"It's okay, I understand," he said, stepping away and looking at my patting hand with some fear. "Something like what happened yesterday can't be solved in a day."
"You can also join us on this little trip," Mr. Krabs mentioned, joining back in the conversation. "The walk from here to my cave is a bit long; I think that will give you enough time to train a little."
"Right! Unless we start running, I'm estimating at least a good fifteen minutes. That's more than enough for what I had planned for today."
"That sounds good," the fox agreed. "Shall we go then?"
"Sure," I nodded, causing Cap to lose his balance and begin levitating on his own. "Are you joining me this time, Captain? It'll be fun."
"I'd really love to, but I haven't met with the flock in over a day, and they must be worried," he replied with a sad smile. "Pale Feathers should have already reported things, but it's not a bad idea to stop by to confirm them, and I also have to explain to Big Peak about leaving the flock to join you on your future travels."
"You're a busy bird," I said, letting out a laugh.
"Says the girl who can't even take a day off after realizing literal miracles the day before," he returned the barb, letting out a sarcastic snort before getting a little serious. "Just be careful, okay?"
"I'm always careful," I replied to the bird's unimpressed eyes, making me throw my hands up to the sky. "Okay, okay, I will be careful. Just try not to die again, too."
After that, I bumped my fist into his wing, we shared a smile and I watched him fly away.
It was a shame he couldn't join us this time either, but I also understood he had his own life to sort out. Priorities had to… well, take priority (duh). Shaking my head, I let out a small snort and headed down the path I had taken with the speedy Corphish, feeling a slight weight settle on my shoulder.
It seems I had become the official coat rack of my friends. Nice.
"So, how do we start this training?" the Zorua asked, getting comfortable around my collarbone.
"Before we start anything, I need to ask you a few questions," I replied, slipping into my instructor mode, which made Mr. Krabs back away a little.
"Sure. I'll do my best."
"Perfect. I just need you to answer three things," I held up three fingers with an unusually serious expression. "The first is: what is your goal in doing this training?"
"I want to… get stronger, I guess?" he answered hesitantly, his voice sharpening slightly before speaking more decisively. "If the question is 'why', it's so that I can have the strength I'll need when the time comes to take up the mantle as the Guardian of this island."
Raising an eyebrow, I had the feeling I really shouldn't have heard that, but I shrugged and continued.
"A noble goal, I see. Well, my second question is: what aspects of yourself do you want to strengthen in this training?"
"What do you mean by aspects?" the vulpine asked, tilting his head and brushing his reddish locks against my cheek.
"As you know, my time on this island is limited. That means general training won't gain you much, not to mention that this is something you can do for yourself once I'm gone. I'll give you some basics to build on, of course, but I think prioritizing certain things where you really need my help will be a better use of our time."
Seeing that he didn't quite understand it yet, I decided to elaborate a little more.
"Well, let's take Mr. Krabs here as an example. I'm not sure about his capabilities now that he's evolved into a Crawdaunt, but before that, he excelled at raw power," I explained, winking at the crustacean and adjusting my imaginary glasses. "He wasn't very fast, but he had more than decent stamina and solid defenses, as well as impressive strength. Hence, to prevent the short range of his attacks from becoming a weakness, I focused his training on the use of special moves and on further polishing his physical aspect, turning him into a true monster in close combat and giving him options in case the enemy decided to simply not approach."
"Oh, that explains a few things," the lobster commented. "I was actually wondering why you made us all train differently after the first day. I mean, the results are obvious, but the doubt was still there."
"Yes," I nodded, turning my head without moving my neck toward the Ghost on my shoulder. "In case you're not entirely sure about the answer, don't worry. This was more of an excuse to let you know this information and better deal with the third and final question: what role do you want to perform?"
"Ah, that's easier. I'm a mixed fighter…"
Without a second hesitation, the little Zorua began to share his impressive skills (without sarcasm… not too much, at least) in great detail.
Apparently, despite Yezalel's claims the night before, she'd indeed spent some time teaching the adolescent Pokemon a few things, as he was quite aware of his own limitations. However, it was also evident that they had focused more on philosophical lessons than proper training… which wasn't entirely a bad thing.
I wasn't sure how the Fairy had managed to fit 'infiltrating the opponent's shade to attack them from behind' into the little fox's concept of being an 'honorable combatant', but she deserved my applause. It was a weight off my shoulders if her intentions with the Hisuian Zurua were what I believed. Our pact wasn't just about training him, after all…
Anyway.
After his lengthy explanation, I was able to form more or less a general idea of his attributes. From what I managed to glean, the young master of illusions didn't differ much from my initial impression extrapolated from the games: high mobility, both physical and special attack more than decent, and defenses built with his hopes and dreams, as well as a bit of wet cardboard.
Well, that's what's colloquially known as a 'glass cannon'. It wasn't a bad base to work from, too, and I already had some experience working with glass cannons from fighting so many times against Cap.
There were two clear angles I could take with his training, but I wasn't sure which would suit him best until I saw him fight a bit. Trusting his words was one thing, and seeing him in action was another, after all. Still, I was pretty sure that 'the shinobi path' would suit him better than the second option…
"Ha ha ha! I didn't know you were such a talkative, boy," Mr. Krabs's trademark laugh brought me out of my thoughts, allowing me to get a close-up look at the fox on my shoulder blushing a little. "Anyway, I hope you're done with whatever you were thinking, Sandy, because we're already here."