Unbroken Disguise

As the trio walked through the entry gate, N found himself wondering just what sort of park this was. There seemed to be a good number of people milling about, and what looked to be an employee of the park standing near the exit, if her blue uniform and customer service smile were anything to go by.

But why would so many people be hanging around the entrance to the park, rather than actually going inside?

“I wonder if they’ll notice…” Mimikyu muttered from his shoulder, but a glance at the Fairy type didn’t prompt any further details.

Looking away from his friend revealed that Lucas had suddenly vanished.

That couldn’t be right.

“Lucas? Where did you-”

Ah. Despite the younger boy having shorter legs than N, it seemed that he was a bit quicker on his feet. N found him halfway across the gate already, talking to a man in some sort of karate outfit. Was there a dojo nearby, or did this guy just wear the thing everywhere? Curious, he made his way closer.

“...my poor Gyarados and Steelix! This is discrimination!” The man turned to glare at the employee, but she ignored him.

Interesting. “Is something wrong?” He asked as he stood next to Lucas.

The martial artist turned to him, a frown still on his face, but obviously eager to share his plight with another. “Yes! I came here because I heard it was a good place to unwind and take a stroll with your Pokemon, but they turned me away! Apparently they only allow cute Pokemon in the park, and even then the list is extremely limited! I’ll have you know that my Steelix won a Great Rank Cute Contest! She’s the cutest Steelix you’ll ever meet!”

N didn’t know what a Steelix was, but given the face that Lucas was making, he assumed that it wasn’t what one might consider traditionally cute. And he had no idea what a “great rank cute contest” was. It didn’t sound at all like what Dawn had been doing…

But even then, that didn’t excuse what he was hearing.

“Excuse me!” He called out to the park employee. “Is this true? You only let specific Pokemon into your park?” Lucas started walking over to her, and N joined the boy.

Her customer service smile strained. “Hello there! In Amity Square, you may go for a stroll with a cute Pokemon. The permitted Pokemon include Pikachu, Clefairy, Pachirisu, Psyduck, Drifloon, Buneary, Happiny, Jigglypuff, Torchic, Shroomish, Skitty, and recently, due to popular demand, the owner of Amity Square has decided to allow the starter Pokemon that Professor Rowan hands out along with their evolutions.”

Owner? So it wasn’t a League funded park then, but rather some single fool who would implement such a rule. “And what’s the reasoning for allowing only those Pokemon within the park?”

“Various structures within Amity Square could be easily damaged, so the owner of the park has limited the Pokemon allowed to wander within it to limit such a possibility.” She recited the obviously scripted response. “Not to worry though, sir. As I said, Pikachu are allowed within Amity Square, so your partner will be just fine.”

…was this woman really so blind that she couldn’t tell the difference between Mimikyu and a Pikachu at this distance? Or maybe she was trying to zone them out and hope that they went away.

Complaining to her probably wouldn’t be of any help. “Where can I find this owner you keep mentioning? I think I’d like to have a word with him.”

Her plastic smile didn’t change. “He can sometimes be found on the grounds, but I couldn’t tell you with certainty at the moment. He’s a very busy man.”

A noncommittal answer. Figures…

“I think I’ll see if I can’t hunt him down then,” N informed her with a smile just as fake as her own. “Would you care to join me Lucas?”

The boy nodded, following him out of the gate. A second employee eyed them up as they walked out onto the grass path, her body tense like she was ready for a fight. She relaxed a bit upon seeing Mimikyu, likely confusing him for a Pikachu like her coworker had, but then turned her eyes to Lucas.

The boy released his Pokemon in a flash of red light.

“A Grotle? So ‘e picked Turtwig then…” Mimikyu muttered.

N had never seen this Pokemon before, but he could definitely see the resemblance. He thought back to Ash’s Turtwig, comparing the differences in his head. Where before, the Grass type’s head had seemed too large for the rest of its small form, now its body seemed to have grown to match that size, roughly tripling its height in the process. The shell had grown, extending out to cover its head and tail, taking on a more sandy coloration rather than the deep, earthy brown it had been before. Though perhaps the most noticeable difference was the stem and leaves that had been on the forehead being replaced by two small shrubs growing on its shell. Or perhaps they were small trees? That would make more sense given what he’d seen of the Torterra in Alamos…

Lucas’ Pokemon slowly eyed up him and Mimikyu, before ever so slightly tilting his head towards Lucas. “We fighting?” A gravelly, baritone voice asked.

Lucas responded by patting his Pokemon on the head.

“Right.” Grotle turned away from them and began pawing at the ground.

N was curious, but he had other things to think about at the moment, like how the park employee relaxed, smiling at them and waving them along.

“I can’t believe these people,” N immediately took to complaining once they were out of earshot. “They’re going to restrict the kinds of Pokemon that can enter the park, and then fail to notice that the one on my shoulder isn’t a Pikachu?”

“I mean, they ain’ the first ta make that mistake. Even Elesa mistook me fer one when she first saw us.”

“She was only confused at a distance, it shouldn’t be hard to tell once they see the wooden tail!” N countered. “Wait a minute, is this what you meant when you were muttering about whether or not someone would notice?”

“Well… yeah.”

“So you knew about this ridiculous policy?” They walked up a set of steps, making their way out of the grass and onto a rocky outcropping. It seemed that the park was built into the base of a mountain, and the stone housed a few… well, he wasn’t quite sure what they were. Rudimentary houses carved from stone? They were far more basic than even the ruins of the Unovan Desert, and those things were ancient. How odd…

“I’d ‘eard a thing or two, but I figured my odds of gettin’ in were 50/50. I’m plenty cute, ain’ I?” His friend asked in a teasing tone.

N stopped, looking at Mimikyu. “...you’re not exhausted enough to be cute.”

“Rude!” the little ghost responded with mock anger. “Are ya tryna say I ain’ cute unless the Fairy influence outweighs the Ghost?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” N responded as he resumed his angry walk through the park.

Except Lucas had disappeared again.

“Seriously? How does he keep doing that? I take my eyes off him for one second and-”

“Over there.” A shadowy appendage pointed over to the crude rock house closest to them, where Lucas was waving at him from the entrance. Grotle was still hidden somewhere. Deeper in the house maybe?

N sighed as he made his way over. “Is there something interesting about this place?”

Lucas nodded before grabbing his hand and pulling him into the dark interior. For just a moment, something felt off… and then Lucas just as suddenly pulled him back outside.

“What was the point of that?” He asked as his eyes tried to readjust to the light. “It’s just dark in there.”

He felt Mimikyu shift on his shoulder. “Ya might wanna look again.”

When his vision finally adjusted properly, he found himself in front of Lucas’ Grotle… and a completely different part of the park.

“Weird, right?” The Grass type looked up at Mimikyu.

“A bit, yeah.” Mimikyu responded.

“What the… did we Teleport?” N looked around, realizing that he was now higher up into the mountain with the gate far off in the distance. An older woman was sitting with a Happiny at a nearby bench.

“Sure seems that way, don’ it?”

Grotle lumbered past them, and as N scanned the landscape he realized that Lucas and Grotle were now further down the mountain, having just walked out of a third stone building.

“How…” N warily stepped back towards the dark room he had exited from, peering inside. After a moment, he noticed a soft yellow glow in various parts of the flooring. “...could it be warp tiles?”

Warp tiles were rare and insanely expensive. This was the first one he’d seen in Sinnoh, and back home in Unova… the only locations he could think of that had any were the Big Stadium and Small Court, but those places were such big money makers that the show of wealth wasn’t a big deal. There had been talk about getting a few for Plasma, but…

What sort of person could afford so many? This wasn’t just one or two. There were three in this structure alone, and if that was true for every structure in the park… the owner of Amity Square must be absurdly rich and also insane.

Mimikyu brought him out of his thoughts. “Ya mean like those little pads that Teleport ya to a fixed location?”

“Yes, exactly…” Though once again, Mimikyu’s knowledge confused him. Were warp tiles common in… wherever he came from?

“Maybe one of ‘em leads to the owner yer lookin’ for then.”

That… was a possibility. He’d heard of eccentric rich people before, spending their fortunes on silly things like games and riddles. A “find the right path, and I’ll reward you” sort of thing that only someone with nothing to fill their days would find amusing.

“I suppose we’ll have to test it.”

N stepped on another tile.

Lucas may have agreed to join the green haired guy and his Mimikyu, but why would he stand there and listen to him complain about this park when he could explore it and pick up treasures?

Sure, the rule about what Pokemon could be roaming around was sort of annoying and didn’t make much sense. Togepi was cute, right? And he wasn’t allowed based on the list that lady gave them. So, dumb rule. But, he sort of understood. The doorways to the Teleport things weren’t super wide, after all. Grotle barely fit through them. So if that guy in the karategi was trying to bring a Steelix through here… well, it probably wouldn’t end well.

Although, if the Mimikyu’s trainer wanted to complain to a guy who owned a huge park like this… maybe that could mean a visit to his house. No… his mansion. The Old Chateau had been full of goodies, and that place had been abandoned for years. Imagine what a mansion actually in use might have!

But for now, he was content with raiding the guy’s park. A couple of TMs, some weird coin thing, another one of those weird plates… he wondered if they were part of a set or something. Each one had something different etched into it so far, so maybe they were like parts of a puzzle that would lead him to a really big treasure! Buuut, on the other hand, some nonsense about “beings of time and space” made him think more of the plaque for the statue he saw in Eterna.

He would hold out hope for the treasure idea, though.

As he stuffed the weird plate into his bag, a heavier guy walked up to him. “Hello, how do you do!”

Lucas stared at him blankly as he zipped his bag back up.

“I love this park, which is why I try to keep it neat and tidy. I don’t mind cleaning at all.”

Lucas couldn’t help but think that he very much did mind it, given the fact that he was pointing it out to him. Why say that though… had Lucas littered? Had he dropped one of his treasures when he opened his bag?! He frantically started looking around, giving Grotle a look that begged for his assistance. His partner rolled his eyes, but began digging around for whatever it might have been.

The tubby man ignored his plight. “I find all sorts of items doing so. It’s quite fun, even exciting!”

Lucas paused.

Could it be? Had he met someone else who truly understood?

“Oh, I know. Do you know what Durin berries are? I found some. Would you like them?” The man pulled out a large sack, filled to the brim with goodies. Potions, berries, Pokeballs and more… it was true! He couldn’t decide if he should be excited to find another of his kind, or jealous that this man had cleared out so much of the park before he could! The man pulled out a handful of berries, offering them up.

Lucas had never seen these spiky green berries in his life, but who was he to say no to free berries? He eagerly nodded in agreement.

The man handed them over with a smile, and Lucas stuffed them in his berry pouch. “Perhaps I’ll see you again tomorrow!”

He definitely would, if this is the treatment that Lucas could expect.

But for today… well, he should probably find that green haired guy. He had agreed to explore this place with him.

“He ditched us, didn’t he?” N asked after he grew tired of exploring the warp tiles.

“I dunno about that. He jus’ ‘as an… air of adventure abou’ ‘im.” Mimikyu replied.

“What does that even mean?”

“I dunno ‘ow else ta explain it.”

N sighed, giving Amity Square another look over. He hadn’t had any luck in finding the owner of the place, though he would be investigating so he could give the bastard a piece of his mind. Rich or not, the way he was running this place was unacceptable and N wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.

He hadn’t gotten many chances to do that lately, what with the constant conversations with people who could see him imprisoned if he didn’t toe the line…

“Found them.”

N turned toward the voice and found Lucas walking out of the nearby structure with Grotle at his side. “There you are. I was beginning to think you had ditched us.”

Lucas frowned, shaking his head no.

“Did ya really jus’ say that to ‘is face?” Mimikyu chided.

N ignored him, looking up to the sky to see where the sun was at. “We’ve been here a while, and I don’t think there’s really anything left to explore… would you like to have some lunch with us? I’ll buy.”

Lucas’ eager nodding led to them exiting Amity Square and exploring Hearthome properly, looking for a spot to eat after his Grotle had been returned. Sure, he was fully capable of cooking a meal for himself, and yes, it was cheaper to do it that way, but if you didn’t indulge and get a good meal prepared for you every once in a while, were you really living?

…he was already missing Brock’s cooking.

And on the topic of Brock’s cooking, it had meant that he hadn’t seen the need to learn the kanji one might see at a restaurant. “So, Lucas… my Lea- er, my spoken Sinnohian is passable, but reading and writing… not so much. Can you find us a decent place to eat?”

“Ah, damn… we’ll ‘ave ta work on that… stupid language….” Mimikyu complained.

Lucas gave him an odd look, one he couldn’t quite decipher, but nodded and took the lead.

As he followed behind the young boy, N couldn’t help but notice that there was something… peculiar about him. His head was on a constant swivel, looking between buildings, Pokemon, and people. Normally one might contribute this to some sort of nervousness or anxiety, on constant lookout for where the attack might come from. He’d seen it enough in a variety of the Pokemon he had grown up with. Escaping the abuse of a trainer didn’t mean that you suddenly stopped fearing it.

This though… wasn’t quite the same. There was less flinching and more… restraint? Lucas’ hands were clenching periodically, as if he were trying to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing something.

How odd.

Eventually Lucas brought them into a simple looking ramen shop, the two of them finding an empty table. The boy didn’t break his silence to order, instead pointing at the item he wanted, and N got through with his limited reading abilities by just telling the waitress “The same for me.”

He and Mimikyu were going to have to knuckle down on those lessons… but he did have perfect practical experience right in front of him. He handed over Mimikyu’s writing materials.

“So, Lucas…” he began, but floundered when it came to what to talk about.

The boy solved that problem for him, writing something out on his own.

“ポケモンを分かりますか？”

“I guess ya were a bit too obvious with it. Not like ‘e’ll be tellin’ anyone though.”

N made sure to give Mimikyu a harsh look for what he thought might have been a joke. His friend was right, though. Normally he’s better about hiding his ability to talk to Pokemon, but if Lucas was straight up asking him, he must have slipped up a few too many times to brush off.

“Yes, I can.”

Lucas’ eyes lit up. “すごいですよね！"

N smiled. It was pretty amazing…

“Don’ go gettin’ a big head cuz a kid told ya yer cool.”

N rolled his eyes. His amazing skill had helped Mimikyu out a lot, and here he was trying to downplay it…

Though, the topic of communication did bring one question to mind for Lucas.

“Thank you. That reminds me though… if you’re…. quiet like this,” N carefully tiptoed around why exactly that might be, “and I’m assuming you’re a trainer based on the belt full of Pokeballs, how exactly do you give out orders in battle?”

“ジェスチャーを使います。スナップ、手を叩くなど。"

“Jesucha would be… gesture, use, snap…uh… what’s this last bit… that’s the kanji for hand, ain’ it? But that bit after it…” Mimikyu asked as he tried to make sense of the writing.

N pointed to it, not understanding it either. “You use gestures like snapping, but we don’t understand this kanji.”

Instead of writing it out, Lucas gave them a demonstration by clapping his hands together.

“Ah. We shoulda guessed.” Mimikyu sounded a bit disappointed in himself, and N could relate. “I’m pretty sure that nado at the end there means et cetera, so that’s that sorted.”

Except it wasn’t quite sorted. He understood what the boy was trying to say, but he was struggling to visualize it.

The battles he had seen sometimes involved complex orders. How could Lucas accomplish these things with just snaps and claps?

It’s not that he was particularly interested in the battling itself, but… well, he very much doubted that people were going to start gaining the ability he had to communicate with Pokemon. And something simple like gesturing.. Most Pokemon were capable of that. Maybe this could be a way to help bridge the gap… a good stop gap until he was able to fulfill his goals properly.

He couldn’t believe he was asking this, but…

“When we’re done here… could you give me a demonstration?”

He wasn’t sure he liked the gleam in Lucas’ eyes.