Memories Of Yesterday and Today

The mood quite and pensive for the most part as the group traveled. It had been a week or so since the group had arrived in the 'Radel' region it was called. To be frank Moses only knew a bit of details about it besides the information he had read while on the trip there. It was supposedly a chain of small connected islands around the same sea area, towards the center was a massive volcano. It was said it gave birth to these lands before splitting off due to fierce wars for resources long ago. Or so the legends said. Moses didn't care, he wasn't completely all there anyway.

His only focus was on his friends and keeping everyone safe in one piece. If not for that, knowing Luria was alive..Moses wasn't even sure he'd get this far. Losing Casey had done a number on the Sif leader, losing Yukine, Chelsa and Solomon both under the same day when he was tasked to look after them, officially or unofficially had been unacceptbale. Moses didn't even like thinking back to those days, doing so depressed him enough as is even if he tried not to show it.

During their trek to finding shelter, Lulu had found a Zigzagoon. It was tiny, weak and hungry when they found it. They couldn't just ignore the Pokemon, so Lulu had went to feed it and make sure they were okay. Unsurprisingly, it had taken a liking to Lulu and followed her from that point. Moses or no one else had a problem with that, and if it made Lulu happy all the better. The female Pokemon have been given the name 'Ruffle' which Karman had thought the name silly but if floated her boat. The only thing was, Lulu refused to put her in a Pokeball unless she absolutely had to. While she knew Ruffle wasn't truly confined, Lulu was something of a claustrophobic due to her past experiences in the lab so she was loathe to do it.

Moses and the others entered the Pokecenter, the rain having drenched their clothes a great deal from the walk in the rain. Ruffle had hopped from Lulu's shoulder, shaking almost like a dog to wring the water out of her fur. Amusingly it stood in place regardless soon after, almost as if the hair had some special jell to it.

"Excuse me." Moses said simply as he came to the front desk, seeing what looked like a nurse. "I was hoping to see if there was any place available. We're traveling trainers and we're a bit low on funds."

The nurse blinked, then smiled. "I don't think that's a problem. May I see your ID's?"

Nodding, Moses handed over his as did the others. Once everything checked out, they got a large room. It did have three seperate bedrooms, but in the 'middle' section was the largest. A  long couch, T.V. and a few other things Moses didn't really recognize.

"Who ever invented these Capsule things, I have to thank them. I wouldn't feel right leaving my spear behind. I miss my cloak though.." Karman muttered.

"We would have stood out too much." Irene reasoned. "Let's just be grateful we could have anything."

Moses placed his pack down on the ground, reaching by his belt where a few Pokeballs would be. He disliked them and what they stood for, but for practical reasons he needed them. Priming the ball by pressing a button, he tossed them, letting them be released to stretch their legs. No need to be inside of those things longer then needed. After he went to sit in a char chair by the window, quite and seeming to think.

"What the, hey give that back!" While distracted, Ruffle had snatched Karman's toothbrush and ran with it when he was trying to settle down for the night. They reasoned since they had left it on the counter, they weren't using it.

From the pokeballs Moses had tossed, a Quilava and Lopunny emerged. They looked around a bit, before suddenly changing shape with a flash, revealing their human forms. Keiko the Quilava stretched luxuriously, while Minako the Lopunny moved to explore their current surroundings. Of course, after stretching, Keiko proceeded to tackle Moses, wrapping her arms around his waist as she hugged him tightly. This is just what she did ever since Moses had rescued her from a rather angry wild Gyarados. She was very affectionate with him, and seemed rather dependent on him.

Minako, however, was one to quickly explore and survey her surroundings, and was generally rather cautious, albiet quite sweet.

Moses was distracted from his musings when he was tackled, quite literally out of his chair. It took him off guard and a moment to regain his bearings before he gently dislodged himself a bit so he could get up. Part of him was grateful for the distraction(slight annoyance of being tackled out of his chair aside). "It's good to see you too Keiko, just be careful not to tackle me so close by the window.."

"She's just happy to see you." Moses turned to his left to see Irene had left to go change into some more suitbale sleeping clothes. This turned out to be a pink t-shirt and some cotton pants they had gotten from the place. Amusingly, they did have Pokemon print on them which embarrassed her at first but she grew to like them. Irene made her way back where Umbra was, sitting back down.

Having caught his toothbrush finally, Karman shook his head. "You're going to be work aren't you?" The Pokemon in question simply looked at him before the young man headed back into the bathroom to finish what he started.

Lulu giggled as Ruffle came over, pulling her into a hug as she curled up. "That's okay. I bet Karman will like you in no time."

Ruffle enjoyed the attention, then sniffed the air. It smelled other Pokemon and not..at the same time? She didn't understand. Going to investigate, they squirmed out of Lulu's arms, tickling her a bit on accident in the process before bounding over where Minako was. Then they just stopped on seeing what it was, tilting their head to the side.

Keiko giggled, nodding a bit. "Sorry, Master.. er, Moses." She knew he didn't like when she called him 'Master', but it was what she wanted to call him, so it was difficult not to. At the same time, Minako stopped and looked at Ruffle, cocking her head to the side. Suddenly, she shifted back to her Lopunny form, and hopped around the little Zigzagoon for a moment before returning to human form and continuing to explore. She said nothing, but seemed to want to answer Ruffle's confusion.

Umbra glanced up at Irene when she came over, and cocked a brow. "Pokemon print. Cute."

Moses gave a small smile. "It's all right. I'm just not really comfortable with you calling me that. Maybe eventually though if that's what you really."

Ruffle gave a strange cry of surprise at what Minako did. Was she a ditto now? Confused but otherwise curious Ruffle took it upon herself to follow Minako around a bit as she explored.

Irene in the mean time blushed slightly, feeling a bit strange but happy at the comment. "Ah..glad you like it..."

Karman came in, dressed down in black pants and a white t-shirt. He crossed his arms, leaning against a wall. "Okay, so now what?"

"I really don't know." Moses answered honestly, hoping to save it for tomorrow but he supposed it was a good time as any. "Besides keeping a low profile, I did read a bit about a Pokemon trainer..I'm not really comfortable with the idea at all. I'll avoid fighting when I can but some can't be avoided or it'll start to look suspicious."

"You don't have to go with a trainer, you know." Karman saw Lulu from the corner of his eye doing something while digging through her bag but dismissed it.

Moses nodded slightly. "I know, but Graham already had most of the backstory planned out for us. If its not broke, don't fix it. I don't feel like taking a chance with something else. It might be a good idea for you have another Pokemon in some way Irene to make the story more belivebale."

"Ah..hm..I guess so.." Irene shifted. "I'm not..really comfortable with it either. Unless they come like Ruffle."

Keiko, of course, was still cuddling up to Moses. To 'keep him warm' if asked. "Mm, I learned a little bit about other Pokemon and Trainers while I was running around out there... I get the feeling that the whole situation is a lot nicer than it might sound... I think..."

Minako was seemingly playing tag with Ruffle now, and was bounding all over the room, giggling.

Umbra sighed, closing his eyes. "I can't say, one way or the other. I don't know what the relationship between Pokemon and Trainers is supposed to be like. The best bet would be finding a Trainer that can basically tutor on the subject, but finding one that can do that effectively, while also being able to trust them..."

"Maybe. I can't make a informed decision without knowing everything." Moses continued on as if Keiko was not cuddling up to him, he had gotten used to it. She'd just do it anyway and it wasn't hurting anyone. "If we don't reveal everything we should be fine regardless, which shouldn't be too hard. All we really need is to interact with some. I could go with the guise of learning the ropes or.."

Moses trailed off, something clicking as he turned to Irene. "Better yet, if Irene who only has one Pokemon which from what I gathered plausible for a beginner trainer ask to be shown the ropes. If asked why not me, going into my background I'm still relatively new to it."

Irene's brow furrowed, thinking then nodded. "I can do that. When do we start?"

"Soon as possible..maybe tomorrow.." Moses was still thinking. "We'll be traveling as is tomorrow anyway."

"I wonder if there's stuff besides being a trainer? I really don't want Ruffle to get hurt." Lulu had gotten some candy from her backpack which got the attention of Ruffle, who had been chasing Minako around before their attention was diverted.

Umbra frowned a bit. "If we could get a hold of Graham, he could probably better inform us, but he disappeared, and Solomon was our only connection to him..." There was a long pause. "...Why do you think he ran off like that? He had to have known what would happen..."

Moses sighed. "Love. It causes you to do wonderful things, but can also make you do things you normally wouldn't do. Solomon was in love with Yukine..I could tell. You'll understand if you ever fall in love with someone." He stood up, though a bit awkwardly with Keiko there. "I'm going to try to get some sleep, the rest of you feel free to do what you want. Good night." Moses had no intention of putting the others back in Pokeballs, so they could roam around or go where ever they wanted.

Lulu put her things away, going to the couch to sit while Ruffle followed her and curled up into a ball by her side. Karman gave his usual goodbye before heading to his own room for bed. Irene couldn't go to sleep right away, so she hung around Lulu; she'd probably fall asleep by her like old times back in the lab. It was usually the three of them in herself, Lulu and Umbra sleeping near each other so it felt comfortably familiar.

The youngest of the group was silent for a moment, then became curious, looking to Minako then Umbra. "Um..can you guys understand what Pokemon say?"

Umbra raised a brow, and Minako bounded over. "Um, yeah, in our Pokemon forms. In our human forms, we can only kinda vaguely understand. Why? Oh, you wanting to talk to Ruffle then?"

Keiko looked around a moment, then moved after Moses. "Ah, um, Mas- er, Moses.... can I sleep with you? Please? I promise I won't kick you, or snore, or set the bed on fire..."

Moses wasn't really comfortable with it..then again he had slept in close quarters by Luria and such. Not by choice, but it wasn't as if he was complaining. Still.

"..I guess that's all right. It's big enough for two people." Moses finally said as he made his way into his own bed room. The beg was close to king-sized so room wasn't exactly a problem.

* *

Lulu wondered why Umbra just raised a brow, but that thought was quickly forgotten as she turned to Minako. "Yeah. I mean, it would really cool to understand what she's thinking."

"There's a device that translate Pokemon speech." Karman interjected. "But its expensive. Guess because its new and all."

"Then we'll just have to earn it, won't we Ruffle?" Lulu had picked up Ruffle to look at her, who just blinked. She set the little Pokemon down. "..When I figure out how to get that money, I guess."

Keiko was clearly pleased, and quickly changed to her 'night clothes' that they had scavenged; it was really just a long t-shirt and some shorts. She also didn't bother going for privacy, simply changing with Moses right there in the room. Once changed, she flung herself onto the bed, giggling.

~~~~~

Minako blinked, then suddenly changed to her Lopunny form, and bounded over to Lulu and Ruffle. She looked at Lulu, and nodded to Ruffle, her nose twitching. Umbra just chuckled slightly. "If you have some questions for Ruffle, go ahead and ask them. Minako will get the answers for you. Best to ask them in one go, so Minako doesn't have to keep changing back and forth."

Moses turned away out of habit, sighing mentally before getting comfortable and trying to get some sleep. Sleep didn't come as easily these days due to the fact they often ended up with nightmares or past regrets he badly wished he could change...

* *

"Oh, oh!" Lulu had perked up excitedly and Irene couldn't help but giggle at the display. "I have a lot of questions, but I don't think I can get them all on the same go. Um.." She tried to think of what to say. "I'll just have one for now. Where do you come from Ruffle? And do you like it here?"

While Ruffle couldn't really speak, she did understand. Even if her words sounded like nothing Lulu or the others would be able to understand. (From the really big plains. I like it here! Everyone's really nice!)

Keiko, of course, cuddled up to Moses, wrapping her arms around his waists and pushing herself up under his arm so it was around her. She then just clung to him, and sighed contentedly. "Mm, goodnight, Master...... nn, Moses, sorry...." She was already out like a light.

~~~~~

Minako soon changed back, relaying the message happily. "Anytime you need to ask Ruffle something Lulu, or any other Pokemon, please, let any of us know, okay?"

Lulu just nodded a bit to that, Ruffle coming back to sit down on the couch. She turned to Karman for a bit. "Hey, do you know who invented that thing that lets people understand Pokemon?"

The other Sif shrugged slightly. "It's by some woman named Ayaka Katsura. Has a daughter named Koto something, kind of hard a hard time pronouncing it. Never been good with Japanese names. Anyway more of a add on to a Pokedex then anything else, like a..what are those things called for phones?"

"..A app?" Irene said partly paying attention.

"Yeah, that I guess." Karman held out a magazine for Lulu. "Knock yourself out. Its some extra info stuff. Figure you might like it."
Lulu happily took it, to go over the contents. "Hn. Think we can meet them?"

"Maybe? I don't know. It says they have homes in different places so who knows."

Umbra shrugged a bit. "Perhaps once things have calmed down and the hunting parties aren't as active and we can relax more, we can meet them."

Karman glanced at the clock. "I'm going to head to bed, you guys have fun."

Lulu watched him leave, she didn't really feel all that tired. She went to the T.V. with Ruffle in tow before flipping it on. There wasn't much on this time, but it did have a variety of special channels that caught her interest. Then curiously, she decided to ask the rest of the group present. "Hey. What do you guys want to do?"

Irene blinked at the question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do have things you want to do once everything is calmed down?" Lulu questioned. "Like a doctor or something?"

Irene wasn't sure. She had never thought about it too much really. The only thing she had wanted was see the outside world, and now she had that. "..I really don't know, Lulu. I would have to think about it. But, I want to have children and be a mother one day, so that's one thing I think."

Umbra didn't respond at all, seemingly thinking, since he wasn't one to just ignore someone. Minako, however, piped up. "I'm the same as Irene, I want to meet someone and have a family..."

Lulu nodded a bit to that, she let Umbra think of his response. "Me too, I think. When I'm older anyway. We'll, I like to help people but I don't know what I could do with that."

"Maybe a doctor?" Irene suggested.

At that, Lulu made a face. "Erh..I don't like the blood and guts..and stuff. Don't you have to cut people open?"

Umbra spoke up then. "You could work with Pokemon. Perhaps be a nurse at a Pokemon Center like this one?"

Lulu thought about it a bit. "Maybe so.." Ruffle had fallen asleep curled around Lulu while the young Sif drifted in and out before falling asleep.

Irene got a blanket to drap around them to let them sleep after shutting off the T.V. since no one else was watching it. "..Hm..this place only has three rooms, where are we going to sleep?" Minako could always turn into her Pokemon form to save space and sleep forever, Umbra to an extent as well(though his form was pretty big anyway).

Umbra shrugged a bit. "Don't feel like sleeping, so doesn't too much matter for me. You and Minako should get some rest though, so you two can figure that one out..." He closed his eyes, going silent. He did that more often than usual lately.

Irene seemed to think for a moment, turning to Minako. "Maybe it would be a good idea to sleep by Lulu on the couch in your Pokemoprh form? I'm not sure where you'd be most comfortable."  After that she got up, vanishing by the hallway before coming back with another blanket and pillow. From there she laid down to make herself comfortable, however she didn't go to sleep. She was more waiting a bit for Minako to go to sleep before talking to Umbra. It could be her imagination but it seemed something was on Umbra's mind.

Irene had always been more on the quite side, but it what allowed her to better process things and events to better respond. Being a introvert had its upsides, and one of them was allowing her to read body language or other signs when it was missed by others.

* *

Around the next morning Moses slowly woke up, a bit groggily. He gently tried to dislodge himself from Keiko without waking her up before getting out of bed. Moses wasn't sure what the plan was today besides moving around.

Unfortunately for Moses, Keiko woke up anyway. Not five seconds after he got out of bed, Keiko sat up, yawning and stretching. "Nnn... Master? Is it morning already?" For the moment, she'd forgotten about the 'don't call me Master' thing.

~~~~~

Minako was curled up near Lulu, still sleeping soundly, while Umbra was lounging against the wall. It wasn't known if he'd slept at all, but he didn't seem tired.

Moses paused, turning around to Keiko. The master thing briefly passed his mind but after mulling it over he responded. "Yes. And Keiko? If you really want to call me master that badly..I guess you can. I still don't like it but its obvious you want to call me that."

* *

Irene woke before Lulu did who was still in a coma along with Ruffle and Minako who was in her Pokemon form. "Morning Umbra..did you sleep at all?"