"Hey, Sandy, are you done motivating the kid?"
Looking up, I saw Mr. Krabs approaching with a rather large chest, dragging it with one claw and waving at me with the other.
I'm not sure how long Howdy and I had been silent, but at some point I'd gone to raid the pantry for some berries, also hoping to relieve the slight headache I still had with a Persim Berry. The tunnel to the chamber filled with 'Elemental Gems' was still there, reminding me that I'd have to go and claim my rewards before some random Sableye spawned via Pokemon magic and ate them.
I had also stopped by the dormitory to say hi to the rest of Corphish and see what Pincitas was up to, but the amount of insults per second was too much even for me, so I turned around in the tunnel and went back to the main room, settling next to the young fox and starting to brush his pale locks with my magical fingers.
"Something like that," I replied to the lobster as I undid another knot in Howdy's fur, making sure not to pull too hard or leave sand behind. His hair stayed surprisingly clean (benefits of being able to turn intangible at will, I suppose), but it was still a tangled mess that required my immediate attention.
"Rather than motivating me, I'd say she discharged all her trauma on me, and being the benevolent being that I am, I empathized with her situation and now we get along better," the fox said petulantly, only to put it aside and emit a satisfied purr when I scratched the back of his neck; his 'critical point'.
"I see, I see," the crustacean laughed, lifting the chest and placing it before me with a wink. "Then perhaps this will cheer you up a little, Sandy."
"And what is this?" Raising an eyebrow, I carefully moved the fox on my lap to the side and got up.
Once stood in front of the big chest, I opened it with anticipation and the contents didn't disappoint me, as it was filled with clothes. The sizes varied, and some of them were in better condition than others, but the important thing was that I wouldn't be walking around naked anymore.
It was just what I wanted.
"Looks like I hit the nail on the head, hohoho," my chitinous friend laughed again, snapping his claws with satisfaction. "When you mentioned you were 'tired of walking around with your ass in the air', I remembered I had a whole chest full of clothes lying around, so I went to get it. These things are practically useless to us, so feel free to keep all the pieces you want. You've earned them."
"I… You… Thank you very much!"
Before he could even react, I'd already moved to his side, wrapped him in a hug and started to spin around the main chamber, ignoring the amused looks of some Corphish and being careful not to crash into any wall this time.
"You're… You're welcome," he mumbled as I put him back on the floor, with his eyes spinning like spirals. I also thought I heard Howdy's laugh behind me, but I ignored it and went back to focusing on the chest.
Forgetting everything else, I began to unpack the clothes and I organized them according to their condition. Sorting through ripped pants and ruined shirts, I managed to form a pile of clothes that was somewhat presentable, and it was considerably larger than I'd initially expected.
Unfortunately, the pile was filled with sailor uniforms and the classic, tacky floral t-shirts, which I set aside for now with a small snort. I wasn't exactly in a mall, beggars can't be choosers and all that, but the clothes were varied enough to allow me to rule out options, and I preferred wearing almost anything rather than those divorced-dad-looking-for-a-quick-on-the-high-seas t-shirts…
At least in a not ironical way.
On the other hand, the sailor uniforms weren't bad at all. They were made of a much more durable fabric than the rest of the clothing, which is why so many of them were in good condition, and aesthetically they were also quite pleasing, but I was forced to discard them because they were all stupidly big on me. The curse of barely being over five feet tall had struck again, I suppose.
I was tempted to keep a sailor cap for the laughs, at least, but I imagined Cap's indignant face upon discovering 'his seat had been stolen' and gave up. Now that I thought about it, I could play a joke on him with that…
Hehehe~.
Turning my attention back to the clothes, I saw how the initial pile had been drastically reduced after eliminating those options, and among the garments that remained, there was only one thing that really caught my eye. The garnet-red jacket with black squares and the first-generation GHOST sprite embroidered on the back was simply perfect, and while it was a little too big for me, since it was a jacket, it didn't matter too much. The extra roominess just gave me more style points, anyway.
Carefully placing it aside, I reached my hand into the small pile of clothes and randomly selected the rest of my outfit, since nothing else really stood out. Fate decided to bless me with a pair of baggy jeans that reached my calf and a white tank top that, surprisingly, was of my… small size, if you know what I mean.
Shrugging, I placed the two pieces next to the jacket and dug back into the pile for some spare clothes, taking out… a pair of pants and a shirt exactly identical to the ones before? Raising an eyebrow, naturally curious, I dug back into the pile and pulled out the same pair of baggy jeans and white tank top.
Okay. That was weird.
Letting out a nervous laugh, I decided to ignore 'fate' being a complete troll and focused on the clothes I'd obtained. They were a little dirty, but nothing that a Water Gun and a couple of shakes couldn't fix, so it wasn't too bad. It was pretty decent, at least.
Most of the shoes and flip-flops were a lost cause, and underwear was a luxury that didn't seem to have survived a shipwreck combined with the passage of time. Luckily, I didn't really need any of those things, since I literally had no genitals and I preferred to go barefoot anyway, being more grounded and all that…
"Not bad, although they're a little dirty," Howdy said from my shoulder, having teleported there at some point and cutting short my usual ramblings. "They could use a wash before you put them on, Sandy."
"Yeah, I was thinking about cleaning them up a bit with a Water Gun and drying them with my 'special fire™'," I replied, one of my ideas starting to form in my head.
"Wouldn't that burn them?" Mr. Krabs asked as he began spraying my clothes with a small stream of water.
"Not really," I began to explain. "Even though I call it 'fire', it doesn't burn at all, and I can control it at will. I still need to run some tests on it, but I feel pretty capable of at least using it to remove dirt from clothes. It will be good practice too."
"If you say so… Just try not to set my cave on fire."
Ignoring the crustacean's sarcastic comment, I grabbed one of the wet tank tops and wrapped it in my brown flames.
The sensation was a little strange, but not unfamiliar. It reminded me of when I first started wrapping my sand around my bones, only the feedback was a little more… muffled? It wasn't exactly the same, my mastery over those mysterious flames was still pretty poor after all, but that feeling was just what I needed to finally understand their true nature.
Just as I suspected, my 'fire' wasn't Fire, but Earth.
They were more like clouds made of sand, so fine that the slightest breeze could blow them around… if they weren't under my passive and active control, of course. I was also starting to suspect they must be related to some new ability I may or may not have gained upon evolving, since I had a sneaky hunch that I was capable of infusing the flames into the shirt, just as I had done with my sand in my bones.
Interesting.
The truth was, aside from Water Compaction, I'd pretty much neglected my abilities. I didn't even bother to check Sandygast's hidden ability, Sand Veil, which I somewhat regretted. Given how unique my evolution had been, there was a good chance I'd acquired new ones, so I'd have to investigate them later.
Great, more work. Just what I needed, heh.
Rolling my eyes, I tore my attention away from my near-hypnotic flames and returned to reality, turning off the Calm Mind I didn't even remember activating. With a slight pulse of my will, I infused the sand cloud with a bit of a Ghost-type aura, and somehow that caused it to absorb the dirt-laden moisture on the shirt and consume it, driving it into the Distortion World… literally.
Probably.
To be honest, I had no idea where the dirty water had gone, and I didn't really care.
"I guess that's one way to do it," Howdy commented, climbing off my shoulder so I could put on the now pristine tank top. "A funny way to do it, at least."
"As long as it works," I shrugged, blasting a jet of fizzy sand onto the rest of my clothes to repeat the process. "Easy and quick, what more could you ask for?"
"Detergent and fabric softener, perhaps," replied the fox, giving a small snort. "I'm pretty sure that that, whatever it is, is incredibly unhygienic and can't possibly be good for clothes. I hope you know how to sew, because if you do that often enough, you'll soon be naked again."
"Nah, it will hold up. If fate has decided to give me three exactly identical outfits, there must be a reason."
"Yeah, I have to admit, that was a little weird," Mr. Krabs added as I finished dressing and put on my fabulous jacket. "I don't even remember there being three of tho—."
"Shh, don't question it. Just nod and go with the flow," I interrupted with conspiratorially tone, looking at the remaining pieces of clothing thoughtfully. "By the way, one more thing. Howdy, does the shadow crawling thing also work with objects?"
Tilting his head, the vulpine thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"It shouldn't, since you need to become immaterial to travel through the Umbral Realm, and an inanimate object isn't capable of that. However, I've seen you do some questionable things before, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to figure out something I'm missing."
"You flatter me, foxy~. I don't know if I will have a lightbulb moment this time, but I have to try…" I sighed, rolling up my arm, wrapping it in Ghost-type energy and sinking it into my shadow, just like I'd done to take out Howdyni and Shedinja earlier.
I hadn't given it much thought when I first did it, but the sensation, now that I took the time to analyze it, was truly strange. My arm was still solid, I hadn't lost the sense of touch at all, and I found it somewhat ironic that the texture of the 'Umbral Realm' was identical to sinking my hand up to the elbow into a bucket of molten chocolate.
On the other hand, feeling the penetrating cold of a heatless Realm trying to pierce the thin membrane of energy covering my limb was far less enjoyable. The shivers running along the skin of my submerged arm increased with every second I kept it there, and touches of whatever was on the other side constantly probed my fragile protective layer, forcing me outward.
I needed to discover something better than this, something less rough.
Frowning, wondering what I could do to improve the security this strange shadowy cloak offered me, a flash of inspiration struck me, and concentrating, I channeled the usual mix of Harden and Iron Defense into my darkness-engulfed limb, fusing it with the cloak. Once the defenses were established, I began feeding them with Ghost-type aura instead of Normal and Steel, and the result accidentally turned into its own move.
The chills and the force repelling me stopped instantly. Surprised, I pulled my arm out of the shadow and stared at the thin mantle of pure spectral energy surrounding it, somewhat puzzled as to how I kept getting new moves out of my ass.
That couldn't be normal. It was obvious something was wrong, and I had no idea what it was, which bothered me. Unfortunately, I'd done similar things so many times in the past that I was beginning to doubt what was even considered normal, so I could only resign myself and continue.
Shrugging, I tried wrapping one of the shirts in the pile of discarded clothes with that 'mantle', managing to do it at the first try as if it were no big deal. Blinking slowly, I sighed and proceeded to make the ultimate test: dip the shirt in my shadow.
At first, it seemed reluctant to go in. That same repulsive force that had been pushing my arm outward now acted as a barrier, preventing me from completing my goal. Unfortunately, its resistance was useless, as after intensifying the energy flow a bit and focusing more on the Harden aspects of the move, the shirt went in without a problem, leaving me stunned by how effortless it all was.
There was something fishy going on here…
"Looks like you've thought of something, hohoho," the Crawdaunt laughed, delighted to see me defy common sense once again. "Problem solved, I guess."
"Not quite," I muttered, dissipating my focus on my new move and smiling as I watched the partially frozen shirt fly out from under my shadow, crashing into the ceiling. "This seems like a viable alternative to what the kiddo said, and it works well enough for my own use, but the problem is the same as always: maintaining focus. Or more specifically, a stable, sustained flow of energy that doesn't require my intervention…"
Scratching my chin, I considered the root of the matter. What I'd decided to name as 'Shadow Mantle' didn't consume much energy, and if I stopped feeding it, it would probably last a couple of minutes on its own before dissipating, like Shadow Bone. The bad thing was that wouldn't help if I wanted to tuck the clothes into my shadow and forget about it…
"A continuous, independent power supply? Like an auxiliary battery?" my Zorua-shaped lifeline asked after thinking for a while, preventing me from getting too far into my ramblings.
"A battery… You're a genius, Howdyni!" I shouted, hugging the little fox and spinning around a couple of times, with a huge, satisfied grin on my face. "You're right; I just need a battery…"
…
"You have no idea how to make that battery thing, right?" Mr. Krabs said when the silence stretched too far.
"Nope~. Although figuring it out is the fun part," I replied, my eyes wandering in all directions in search of another spark of inspiration.
"I think you're too restless," the wise crustacean sighed. "Relax, Sandy. You're not in a life-or-death situation. You know better than anyone that ideas develop best when you're calm, not when you feel like you're about to start climbing the walls."
"Maybe you're right. I'm getting too motivated…"
Taking a deep breath (even though I didn't really need to), I lowered my revolutionized brain a gear and took a moment to clear my head. A few seconds later, with my mind calmer (without the move, this time), I began to think from a different perspective.
The problem itself was not complex, simply unprecedented. I needed to not only find something capable of storing an energy as strange as aura for more than a few minutes, but also something that would fuel the Shadow Mantle without my intervention. Was there an item like that in Pokemon, or would I have to invent it?
Perhaps…
"…Oh, gosh. I'm such an idiot sometimes," I muttered, slapping my forehead. "Ghost Gems. I literally just thought of them before… I'll be back in no time, guys."
"Be careful," the two synchronized, making themselves comfortable next to the chest.
And so, without further ado, I set off in search of the object that would solve my closet problems.