Like No One Ever Was

“Woohoo!” I shouted for the umpteenth time, my voice hoarse as we landed down, descending on rich verdant land beneath.

Over my ride’s top fin, I could see the mountain that dominated the center of Kitakami, the stones on the side jutting up and down like a set of fanged teeth. Off to the sides were rolling hills with trees all about, and a large river that cut through the land. Kitakami Hall stood off from the town, in the shadow of the mountain beside it, and I could just barely make out the apple orchard and Loyalty Plaza. It’s magnificent. The games can’t do this world justice; and they did a pretty job, in my opinion.

Slowing down, we stopped well before Mosui village proper, which was not even close to their famed rice fields. Kitakami was technically its own region, so we needed to check in at the airport, even though we had taken… different means to get here.

As I got off my ride’s back, I looked back at my parents and sister, off in the distance. They were all on Dragonites, which, while incredibly fast, had paled in comparison to the Garchomp I had chosen as my ride. It’s incredible how she can fly, seemingly just shooting around like a jet plane.

“Thanks,” I said to her, patting her hide. I had been given gloves and thick gear, both for the wind chill and to help me keep my grip on her as we rode. She doesn’t have Rough Skin ability, but her scales are still fairly tough and sharp, at least by human standards.

“That was incredible, so glad I picked the fastest Dragon.” She gave a low growl of pride and from the way she puffed up, I knew she’d be bragging about this to her fellows.

It didn't take much time before my family joined me, my parents dropping down a little wobbly but looking delighted. My sister, however, took a minute to gingerly disentangle herself from the Dragonite she’d been gripping onto with four limbs for dear life.

She dropped to her knees when she finally touched the ground, and with a queasy look on her face, she stared dead into my eyes and uttered two words: “Never. Again.”

“Aww, c’mon, we were totally safe-” I tried only to be cut off by another glare, as well as the landing of the ‘captain’ of this trip.

Vance Hawthorn got off his Salamance, feeding the Pokemon a quick berry as the former Ace

Trainer checked us over. “Everyone doing good?” The mild-aged man asked, more out of politeness than anything, I imagined, since he’d been watching our flight over the past couple of hours with eyes almost as keen as mine. It was only in this final stretch that Garchomp (and myself) had been permitted to fly a bit ahead, something she had eagerly done.

“Oh don’t worry about Cyan, she’ll live.”

“Hate you…” She groaned, now clutching at the ground.

“Take it easy, takes a while to get used to being on the ground again. At least for most people,” he said, giving me an odd look. “Have you ever gone on a long-distance flight on a Pokemon before?”

“Uh nope, just take to it naturally, I guess.” In the sense that my Aura is naturally Flying aligned, yeah. I wasn’t actively using my Aura there, but it felt so natural gliding through the sky like that I was tempted to jump off and just start flying myself!

Which would have been fun, but while Tulip had given me the ok to use my Aura and play around with it a bit on the trip, she also advised me not to try full-on flying yet, just sticking to levitating and trying to conjure gusts of wind. Also, I doubt I’d be able to fly anywhere near as fast as Garchomp was going.

O’Nare, having regained herself a bit strode forward on unsteady legs and thanked Vance. “Thank you for taking us here, this was quite the experience. I think we’ll be taking a plane back home, however, so no need to wait for us.”

“Not a problem, you were quite generous with your payment,” Vance said. “I’ll probably stick around here for the plane ride though. When not flying VIPs like yourself I actually tend to fly protection duty for air travel.”

“Planes need protection?” I asked before realizing that it was probably protection from wild airborne Pokemon. “Wait, but don’t they have Rangers clearing the routes ahead of time?” A major part of why the International Pokemon League is so big as a political group is because of the cooperation it fosters for things like this. Big international tournaments are fun and get a lot of publicity, but having a central body to help facilitate travel, law enforcement, et. cetera is huge.

He gave a small guffaw. “They do, of course, but not everything goes according to plan. A lot of things can change up there and we help make sure a plane can steer clear of any unexpected dangers. Plus,” He said leaning down as if whispering some big trade secret to me “have you ever wondered why flights go so smoothly?”

“Actually, yeah, I have. There’s never any turbulence- oh! Because of Pokemon like yours! Is it just a general application of Flying Type energy, or do you use Moves like Tailwind consistently?”

“Haha wow, didn’t expect you to be such a little scholar.” Why is everyone so surprised at that? Aren’t kids supposed to be curious? “The Moves depend on the situation, and we only use them to get rid of inclement weather, not constantly.”

“I see. Oh, here, I should probably give you these gloves and gear back,” I said, taking off the thick pleather gloves, before he waved me off.

“Keep ‘em. Your folks paid more than enough for you to keep them, and who knows? Maybe they’ll come in handy someday. Does my old heart good to see a youngster that loves the sky almost as much as I do.”

Nodding, I thanked him again and then ran after my family who had begun trudging their way towards the customs station. This is going to be so much fun, I can’t wait to begin adventuring in Kitakami!

***

It turned out not only could I wait, I had to. Getting cleared by customs was easy enough, but then we had to sit patiently for the bus, which only came in and out from Mossui Town twice a day. I was tempted to just start walking over, but Billy pointed out ‘It’s a family vacation, we should stick together.’

To pass the time before the bus got there we played cards, something that both my parents informed me was ‘charming’ and ‘delightfully commoner’. Once we got on the bus, the driver proved to be quite an amicable fellow who acted almost like a tour guide. He chatted about the richness of the land and what sites we might want to see while we were there.

Already know about most of those, and have a few places in mind not on that list, but still interesting to hear about it from a local’s perspective. I wonder if I’ll run into Kieran and Carmine while I’m here?

Meeting them and possibly making things smoother for the future plot would be ideal, but I vowed not to let that consume me. This trip is about relaxation and enjoyment, first and foremost. This was technically 'my' birthday treat, getting to choose the destination for our vacation. I was already loving it, though I did still feel a little guilty about the fact that my big sister had been so discombobulated by the method of travel.

Luckily, she seemed to bounce back fairly quickly after our dragon ride over and was looking interested in the scenery as we passed by. “Oh! Check it out, those are the rice paddies,” I pointed out to her as we turned around a bend in the road and could now see the town and attached fields past the cliffs that surrounded this ‘pocket region.’

“Neat. Wow, there’s a lot of Pokemon here, huh?” Cyan commented as we took in the sights. In addition to the old-timey buildings (and the more modern Inn at the top of the hill) in the town, there was all manner of Pokemon wandering about. In the rice fields, atop the tiled roofs in the town, and even crossing freely through the road leading up to town. Maybe that’s part of why the bus stop is so far away from the town itself - no one wants to wait ten minutes for a slow Pokemon to choose to cross the road to move five meters ahead only to be halted by another one.

We reached the said stop shortly thereafter, getting off the bus and stretching our legs. Then we began a scenic walk up towards Mossui town, getting our first real experience of Kitakami. It was wonderful to take in the sights, sounds, and even scents; my sense of smell had been terrible in my first life but it was amazing here (possibly boosted by my Aura, though I had no real comparison). I can smell the candy apples from here. Applin isn’t my favorite Pokemon, but Dipplin is pretty cool, and I heard it gets an evolution beyond that.

“Whoa, what’s up with those Pokemon?” My sister’s exclamation drew me out of my thoughts. She was pointing out the river and down at the water. Is there something rare there? No?

“Uhh, the Woopers? Those aren’t that special. I mean any Pokemon can be special, but we see them all the time in Paldea-”

“Not Woopers like those!” She countered, and I remembered that Johtoan Woopers actually would be strange to her.

“Many Pokemon have regional variants, having different Types and slightly different bodies and even entirely different evolutions in different environments. Those Woopers will evolve into Quagsires, not Clodsires like we have back home. Kitakami is home to a bunch of different Pokemon than we have back in Paldea.”

She nodded slowly, gazing out at the Yanma flying above and Sewaddles crawling about on the ground and everything in between. “I can see why a Pokemaniac like you would like this place then,” she said as we walked by the rice paddies.

“That’s not why I wanted to go here,” I replied with a sigh. “Any region would have its own rich ecosystem of Pokemon. No, I’m interested in the history of Kitakami. There are some folktales here-”

“What would an outsider know about our history?” A new voice interrupted me as we stepped off the road and into the town proper. Glancing up, I saw the owner of that voice, a young girl almost as tall as Cyan pointing a finger straight out at me. She was standing in the middle of the main street, and out of the corners of my eyes I could catch a few adults shaking their heads.

“Huh? I mean, I’ve heard stories and read articles…” I mumbled on instinct, trying to think of a plausible cover for my knowledge before pausing as I caught sight of her bright yellow eyes.

“Carmine.”

“Wha-? How do you know my name!?” The young girl asked angrily, hands clenched in fists.

“Oh, that’s your name? I was just noticing the lovely shade of red your hair is.” Please let that excuse work, I really don’t want to explain I saw you in a video game in a past life.

It did something, as Carmine turned away, shaking her head slightly, inadvertently giving me a better look at her two-tone hair. I know this is an ‘anime world’ but it still feels weird that she can have hair that’s black in the front and red on the underside. What even is the biological explanation for that?

After a moment of mumbling something incoherent to herself, she whipped back to face me.

“Wh-whatever! I still don’t want to hear that some foreigner knows more about this land than we do!”

“That’s not what I said-”

“If you keep this up… I’ll have to Pokemon battle you!” She declared triumphantly, proudly showing off the Pokeball attached to the belt over her blue jinbei.

“C’mon sis, you don’t need to do this,” a small boy muttered, stepping out from behind her and tugging at her sleeve. Like his sibling, he was wearing a jinbei, though his was gray. His hair was also black on one side, but lilac underneath, and he had the same yellow eyes she had.

In terms of personality, however, they couldn’t be more different, the taller girl turning on him.

“Shut up Kiki!” She shouted, literally trembling with rage. “Don’t you see I have to defend our home?!”

There was a small chuckle, something even I only barely caught from an older teenager standing off behind the inn. He was wearing a casual black shirt and baseball cap with a gold chain around his neck, just seeming amused at the scene playing out in front of him. Several townsfolk are, so I wonder why from him I get a slight sense of… danger?

Turning back to the girl glaring at me, I attempted to defuse the situation. “I would never presume to know more about your culture than you. In fact, I’d love it if-”

“Oh, we’re going to get to see our little girl battle up close!” O’Nare clapped happily.

“Yes! You can do it Nemona, show us true Gliteratti pride!” Billy ‘helpfully’ added. Ugh, I forgot how 'supportive' they can be. Welp, no helping it now.

With that, it was pretty much settled and we took our places on the road, any wandering townsfolk giving us a wide berth and a few of them sticking around to watch. The guy in black introduced himself as Muramasa and stepped up to referee the match as well. Not sure what Pokemon Carmine will use, but she’s got a Sinistcha, right? Dun should be good against that, especially with his new Moves.

We both held up our Pokeballs and on the signal released them. As I expected, Carmine released what looked like a small clay jar with floating ‘hands’ of a green goopy liquid, one of which held a stirring stick. They had white eyes and a smile painted on the outside of the beige portion of the jar, but through the cracks in the container, I could see the green liquid and a yellow orb staring out from it.

Carmine’s smirk turned grim as she beheld my Pokemon. “A Dudunsparce? How’d you get an evolved Pokemon?!”

“Not many people recognize Dunsparce’s evolution, are they common here?” I asked, surprised by that. Even in regions like Paldea and Johto where Dunsparce is fairly plentiful (compared to others), Dudunsparce is practically unheard of, just because there are so few trainers or conditions to push them to evolve in the wild.

“I saw some up in the caves by the Crystal Pool- Ah! Stop trying to trick me into giving you our secrets!” Before I could respond to that she changed tracks. “We’ll beat you anyway. Welcome to Kitakami. For your first experience, get ready to eat dirt!”

Muramasa gave the countdown, and on the word ‘begin’, Carmine launched into her order.

“Poltchageist, use your special Move! Shadow Ball!” Poltchageist? I thought that was- oh right, Sinistcha is the evolved version.

The ghostly goop poked their head up, pushing the jar lid up as they gathered a small ball of dark purple energy between their hands. We weren’t about to let that go unpunished, however, as I called “Glare!”

Dun gave them a malicious stare and Carmine’s Pokemon winced, still managing to shoot out the Shadow Ball and even keep it on target. The ball grew, distorting and rippling as its size increased the farther it got until it collided with Dun, enveloping him… and doing nothing whatsoever because he was a Normal Type.

“Hex,” was the simple follow-up command I gave, but it was enough. Dark purple energies of Dun’s own surrounded the small Ghost Type, causing it to thrash around in pain for a moment before collapsing down to the ground. Carmine was fast enough on the draw to return her Pokemon instinctually before they could contact the concrete, but still seemed to be in shock, gaping at how fast the match ended.

That’s fair, I was kinda thinking this would go on longer too. This was gonna be our chance to see how Lunge and Ice Spinner worked in battle. Guess it was a bit unfair to expect a grueling contest from a kid though. The girl in question let out a question. “Who are you?”

Recalling Dun I replied, “Nemona Glitterati. It’s nice to meet you.” I held out a hand for her to shake, Carmine’s yellow eyes were full of water and I wasn’t sure if she would take my offer, yell, or start bawling.

As it turned out, none of those things happened, as a balding man with glasses in purple robes stepped out of the inn we had been battling in front of. “What’s going on here?” He asked before locking his gaze on Carmine. “Have you been bothering our guests? They’re very rich- they’re looking for rich experiences in our wonderful land. Please try not to disturb them.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Carmine just invited me to a friendly battle!” I said, throwing an arm up and around her shoulder. It was awkward due to the height difference, but also because she was glaring daggers at me.

She quickly adjusted to an incredibly saccharine smile as she turned to the innkeeper. “Yuuuup. Just love greeting outside- visitors.” The man quirked an eyebrow, but seeing no imminent disasters, turned to greet my parents, eagerly buttering them up.

“Alright, fine. I guess you can stay here, but only if you do everything I say and respect our land.” Carmine said, pushing off from me.

My big sister started marching toward us, clearly frustrated with how this girl was acting, but I waved her down. She stopped but was still frowning at Carmine until I spoke up. “I’d love to, but oh, how will I know how to properly respect your land if I don’t see it or know its history?”

The tall girl seemed confused by this, scrunching up her brow cutely as she thought about it before brightening up with a laugh. “We’ll just have to show you! Kiki and I will take you all over Kitakami!”

“Aw man, why am I getting roped into this?” Her younger brother questioned aloud and was promptly ignored by Carmine, the girl striding off back to their home.

Cyan shook her head beside me. “I know you can be stingy, but is it worth having them as tour guides, even if you tricked them into doing it for free?”

Flashing her a smile that said butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth I replied “No idea what you’re talking about. But I think this’ll be fun.”

***

We got situated in our rooms, which my parents referred to as ‘charmingly rustic’, something which the innkeeper twitched at, and I suspected was actually some of the most modern facilities here. The inn is quite comfortable, honestly, but I can see how it doesn’t compare to the five-star hotels we regularly stay at.

The next morning Billy asked me at breakfast “What do you want to do?”

“Well, there’s a lot of the land to see and explore, but I thought we might try fitting in with the locals and seeing about getting some of their clothes first. There’s a store right beside-”

“Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” Cyan accused me suspiciously.

With a heavy sigh, I said “I’m not against all clothing shopping, I just don’t feel like doing so every week.” Or month. Look, clothing shopping can probably be done like twice a year, excluding emergencies. “The outfits here look neat and they’ll make for fun souvenirs.” Getting keepsakes from a vacation was fine, but I didn’t see the point in buying stuff that would sit on a shelf for years, barely get looked at, and then thrown out.

“Mmhmm. Still not convinced you aren’t an alien who replaced my sister. But then again, you’re an alien who likes to shop, so I guess you can keep her.”

“Hey! I just said that this isn’t going to be a regular thing!!” My sister ignored my words as we headed off to Peachy’s, the main store just down from the inn.

I wonder if that has anything to do with Pecharunt, the legendary in the other half of the DLC, who was supposed to be the big bad behind the ‘Loyalty Trio’? Meh, probably not, this is just a small store run by a kindly old lady.

We all got jinbeis and were shown how best to wear them. While the store had a multitude of styles and colors, ultimately I ended up going for the golden one with white and blue highlights, much to my parents’ delight. It was the most expensive of the bunch, but also the most durable while still being lightweight and airy. Cyan got a bunch of outfits as well as one jinbei, remarking on the unique nature of the Spinarak silk clothes.

Still having a few hours to kill before Carmine and Kieran would show us around, Cyan and I went down to check out the river that wound around town (Mom and Dad took the time to quickly check work emails and deal with any urgent situations that cropped up at their jobs). Popplio loved splashing around there, and even practicing his singing, which drew quite a crowd.

The Woopers in particular loved the song, jumping up and down on the river bank and splashing around to his tunes. Cyan snapped dozens of photos. I even joined in, pulling my guitar out of my Sliph bag and playing ‘Unova’ alongside her starter.

“Slow down you crazy child, you’re so ambitious for a juvenile,

But then if you’re so smart, why are you still so afraid?

Where’s the fire? What’s the hurry about?

You gotta cool it off before you burn it out.

You got so much to do and only so many hours in the day.

But you know when the truth gets told,

You can get what you want or you can just get old.

You’re gonna kick off before you even get halfway through.

When will you realize that Unova waits for you?”

Something happened as we played, the notes Popplio was singing started bubbling out of his mouth forming musical symbols forged of water to float through the air. When they drifted down to the river, they’d erupt in an explosion of water, to even more cheers from our fans.

“What Move was that?” My sister asked, hugging Popplio tightly. “Was that Sparkling Aria? I heard his evolution can learn that but I never thought he’d master it so fast!”

“Ehh, I don’t think it was that Move, more an Ability,” I pointed out. At the sudden pout on both their faces, I added: “The Popplio line has a hidden ability called Liquid Voice which can turn all their sound-based Moves into Water Type. That’s super impressive, and even rarer and harder to train than a Move he’ll definitely learn when he evolves.”

Both of them brightened up at that and she twirled him in the air. “Awesome! I can’t wait to show him off to all my classmates.”

“Right, you’re heading to Uva Academy not long after this.”

“What about you?” She asked me after she finished playing with Popplio, setting him down and letting him sing to his heart’s content, conjuring more watery music.

“What about me? I’m still too young to go to school-”

“Uva’s minimum acceptance age is five, and I bet you already know that. We both know you’re smart enough to attend. Or maybe you’re thinking about Blueberry Academy, given your song? Is that one going on the album?”

Our parents had been pushing for me to take all my song ideas and turn them into an album, and I was slowly coming around to the idea, at least as a tool to get music from my past life out there. “That wasn’t what the song was about. I thought about it on our trip to Unova, where you told me I should chill out on training and studying a bit.”

She sat beside me on a large rock as we looked over at the river, where Popplio had been invited to a game of… tag? It was hard to tell what exactly the game was, but he and the other Pokemon were having a blast, splashing and swimming over each other.

A glance to the side showed me that my deflection hadn’t worked as she was still staring at me. “Ok, ok, I know. I know I could go, I just… don’t like rushing into things.” Can’t exactly say I’m waiting till I’m twelve or thirteen to avoid screwing up meta-knowledge of the games.

My big sister didn’t condemn me, nodding her head. “I get it. I had to go and check out a bunch of different schools recently before feeling settled on Uva.” She paused for a moment, frowning before turning to face me and saying “You work hard on trying to be ‘perfect.’ Honestly, it’s kinda frustrating, because I was supposed to be the big sis setting the example. Not sure if you remember, but I got kinda upset at you for that before.”

“Water under the bridge.” Then, as if conjured by my words (or more accurately, conjured by the Quagsire cannonballing into the river), a large wave swept up and we had to hurry to pull our legs up to avoid getting drenched.

“Just- I’m trying to say you can afford to take some risks. You’re my brilliant little sis, and I don’t want to see you hide that away from the world forever. You don’t know what you’ll find either.

Like, at first I thought I wanted a Sprigatito as my next Pokemon, but now…” her gaze wandered over to the Pokemon in the river. Her Popplio and a half dozen other Woopers had clambered onto the back of the Quagsire and were now proudly ‘sailing’ across the river.

“How touching,” a familiar voice said in a sarcastic tone. Carmine revealed herself standing atop the edge of the small cliff before the river, her brother looking nervously by her side. She jumped down with a small thud, bending her knees as she hit the loose stony river bank. “C’mon, we can’t wait forever for you guys, we have to get a move on if we’re exploring Kitakami.”

A quick glance at Miles showed me we were still half an hour early for the meet-up time. You were just too excited to wait, weren’t you? Someone who was not too excited was Kieran, standing nervously by the edge.

“C’mon Kiki, jump down! It’s only a dozen feet, you’ll be fine.” His sister ‘encouraged’ him.

“If he’s not comfortable, then leave him be, we can walk back up and around,” Cyan tried to point out, but Carmine was having none of it.

“No way! Like I said, we don’t want to waste time. So just stop being a baby and come down here!” She shouted back up to her brother.

Sighing softly, I asked Miles “Mind helping him down?”

“Not a problem, bzzt!” They said, zipping up through the air to hover before the boy. They exchanged a few words and Kieran grabbed onto Miles’ phone case before lowering his legs off the cliff. They dangled in the air for a moment before my Pokemon drifted down, letting the boy touch down easily.

“Wowzers! That was so cool!” Kieran exclaimed as he let go of Miles, rushing up to me. “I- do you think you can- no, I’m sorry, that’s dumb.” He started and stopped several times before Carmine marched forward.

“What Kiki is trying to say is that he wants your help. Today is the day my little brother is going to catch his first Pokemon!”

“Oh. Alright then, what Pokemon do you like?” I asked.

Taking a deep breath, the young boy answered as clearly as I had ever seen him, a fire burning in his bright yellow eyes. “Ogerpon!”

Cyan looked confused, while Carmine face-palmed. “Oh boy,” I muttered, and it was loud enough for my sister to hear it.

“Why ‘oh boy’? You love all Pokemon right? So what’s the deal with this ‘Ogre pom?’”

The poor boy looked on the verge of tears at our reactions, so I quickly swooped in. “Ogerpon is, from what I know,” I added, careful not to upset Carmine further. “A creature of near myth.

They clashed with the Loyalty Trio, the legendary guardians of this town many years ago, and haven’t ever been seen since.”

“You might think it’s dumb, wanting to catch a ‘monster’ like that, but I think Ogerpon is really-”

My sister cut off Kieran’s impassioned plea with surprising bluntness. “Nah, it’s fine. There’s always some kid who wants to own Darkrai or something.”

“Darkrai gets a bad rap,” I reflexively pointed out. My sister rolled her eyes but didn’t see the point in arguing.

“So… so you don’t think it’s wrong to want to be friends with Ogerpon?” Kieran asked, looking up as if we were All Might and had just told him ‘he too, could be a hero’.

“No, not at all. Honestly, that’s my method of catching Pokemon. To be friends with them well before throwing any Pokeballs. That being said, I don’t think you need to be fixated on catching Ogerpon first, or even at all. If you manage to find a Pokemon as rare as Ogerpon, you should just focus on being their friend, first and foremost.”

Carmine scoffed. “If you really knew the tales of this town, you wouldn’t be so quick to say that. That ogre… is a monster!” At my unimpressed face, she said “Seeing is believing though, so let's go to the three sign boards that tell the tale of the ogre!

With a goal in mind, we marched off, joining back with my parents at the inn before going up the hill to the west that curved around to the Loyalty Plaza. Our guide muttered something about ‘nice clothes’ before she led us up the dirt road.

It was clear to see that the innkeeper was not the only one focused on the tourism part of Kitakami, with there being a cardboard cutout of a pile of apples and an Applin for photo opportunities and a stand to sell very overpriced apples to visitors. I’ll bet my bottom dollar we could buy them for half the price in town. Not that we need to pay less for them, but still.

“These apples look just delicious, don’t they, dear?” Dad asked Mom as we passed by the apple orchards that stood on either side of the road.

“Indeed, they look ripe and large. What a fantastic showing of Glitterati discernment!” My mother responded. “We should grab some to take home with us.”

“You can’t just take our precious apples!” Carmine declared defensively, throwing her hands out wide as if she could somehow block off access to the open orchards.

“Pretty sure we can,” I countered. "We could just take seeds and plant them at home - or heck, I think I saw some small trees ready for sale down in town.”

“Well- they won’t taste the same if you don’t get them from here. Because of the… soil and stuff…” More reasonable than I expected from an eight-year-old. Still, an easy argument to turn around.

“So, if they aren’t going to be the same, there should be no problem with us planting some trees back home then, right?” My taunts had the desired effect of causing Carmine’s face to flush scarlet as she tried to stammer out a counterargument. Looking at that in turn had the unintended effect of causing me to glance up and see a dark shape whistling in from the sky.

“Look out!”

My cry of warning came just as it swooped down, and that was almost too late. Everyone in our group just stood there, squinting against the sun in their eyes, but it did startle the Applin on a branch beside us off, causing the winged beast to swish by, missing its target.

“Gliiii-gar!” The pink Pokemon cried as she pivoted in the air, turning to stare balefully at us. She looked very much like a scorpion crossed with a bat, having large webbing in between her arms which ended in pincer-like claws. One of her claws was holding a small glass sphere with a purple liquid sloshing about inside. Most distinctive was her long tail with a stinger on the end.

She made another pass at the Applin who was cowering on the ground, but this time, Kieran had regained himself enough to dive over top of Applin, shielding them with his body. While he was doing that, Carmine and I released our Pokemon. Dun appeared in a burst of red light alongside a new Pokemon, a hound with gray fur and a black face. Poochyena.

Carmine’s Pokemon gave a deeply unnerving growl, trying to intimidate Gligar, but the wild Pokemon cared not, rushing at the Applin, but finding herself stymied by Kieran. The small boy couldn’t protect the apple forever, though, especially with Gligar being quite large for their species. She was bigger than he was, picking Kieran up with her free claw and tossing him aside.

His efforts had bought us time, so before she could fly off with her meal, Dun landed a Hyper Drill at my command, slamming the Flying Type into a tree nearby. This had the unintended side effect of knocking down a bunch more apples, and likely a few Applins given the way some of them ‘bounced’ away.

The flying scorpion Pokemon was in no position to take advantage of that, however, dazed and confused by the blow. Not unconscious, though. That’s surprisingly resilient for most Pokemon around here.

“Pooch, Crunch!” Carmine shouted, and her Pokemon sprinted forward, latching his teeth into one of the segments of Gligar’s tail, trying to drag it around. Unfortunately, Gligar had teeth of her own, and when she bit the dog in turn, he yelped and let his quarry go. With a whack of her tail, she knocked Poochyena aside, sending him tumbling down beside Kieran.

“Ice Spinner,” I cooly called out. Dun executed it immediately, rising horizontally on his tail, stretching up nearly five meters tall. Spinning around like the world’s tallest, thinnest top, ice began swirling in the air around him. Since Gligar was right beside him, she was assaulted by a barrage of cold that had her howling out in pain.

Still not out of it however and recognizing that I was the real threat, she ran on her small legs and jumped onto my face. Latching on, I found myself blinded, her iced-over wings and body blocking my sight. I knew that wasn’t the most dangerous part of the situation, so lashing out on instinct, I grabbed a hold of her tail, stopping her from stabbing into me.

Tugging at her hard, I just barely managed to rip her off, earning a few scratches on one side of my head where her claw scraped by. I had no time to worry about that, however, and keeping the initiative, I whirled her around my head and onto the ground.

“Dun,” I panted, my starter waiting eagerly by my side for the chance I’d given him to hurt her, not that my own life wasn’t at risk. “Giga Impact.” Gligar was not aware of the danger headed her way, but must have sensed something and tried to dig underground, to no avail.

Surrounded by greenish energy, Dun smashed into our foe, ripping her out of the dirt and sending her flying down the hill. The blow knocked the odd orb she had been holding onto as well, falling on the path.

“What a surprising battle!” Billy exclaimed. Alright Captain Obvious, say something I don’t know. “And it’s not even done yet, the flying Pokemon is getting back up!” Wait what?

Turning back around, I saw the Gligar struggling back to her feet. She was clearly in worse shape than Dun, but for the moment, my Pokemon was too tired to stop her. But this isn’t an official battle.

Quickly pulling out the refrigerator form, I tossed it up and Miles flew into it, not even needing a command to know what to do. The Gligar that had been desperately racing towards me paused at this new icy foe, and despite the hatred in his triangular eyes, fear won out. She flew away, racing through the air and then gliding down far out of sight.

Once she was gone I called out “Is everyone alright?”

“Yeah.”

“That was incredible, bravo!”

“Oh, how marvelous!”

“Ha! As if something like that could take me down.”

“Aw man, that was rough.”

Dun slid back to me as I took stock of everyone. Poochyena was a little bruised but otherwise trying to stand proud by his trainer’s side. My family was just looking a bit shocked at all that hadgone down, and Kieran had the Applin held up in the palm of his hands, telling them that it was going to be fine.

“Gligar only hang around the Barren Wastelands, I wonder why that one would have attacked us so suddenly?” Carmine asked aloud.

“Maybe it had something to do with this?” Cyan asked reaching for the orb it had dropped.

“STOP!!!” My voice had her instantly freeze up, hand hovering an inch above the orb.

“What- what’s wrong?” She asked.

“Take your hand away and look at the ground around it,” I said, running over. There was already a small purple stain on the dirt around it. “That’s a Toxic Orb, highly poisonous. It can leave Pokemon badly poisoned even just by holding it, and I think the glass cracked.” Indeed, a few fractures were spider-webbing their way through the orb.

My sister gulped, looking a bit paler than usual as she wondered what would have happened if she touched it. Well, that’s an auspicious start to our trip. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

***

The toxic orb was dealt with fairly quickly by the farmers and some Spinnaraks and Sewaddles that put up some sticks and a small web barricade with leaves attached spelling ‘DANGER’. With any travelers or wandering Pokemon warded off, we were free to carry on our way.

“Hey, you can go back, you’re safe now,” Kieran tried telling the Applin, pointing back down at the orchard. The small Grass Type blinked, turning and hopping down a few steps. Out of my periphery, I saw as Kieran turned away, the Applin turned right back, hopping back and quickly being right behind him.

“You’ve got a tail,” I told him and he turned around to see the Pokemon looking up at him again.

“Aw man, he got freaked out by that attack, huh?”

“Yes, but I think more than that, he was impressed by you and your bravery.”

“Huh?! Me? But you’re the one that fought the Pokemon off.” The Kitakamai boy pointed out. “I wish I could be as brave as you, maybe then the Ogre would like me. You know I’ve searched the mountain a dozen times, but I’ve never found them?”

Ok, need to nip that in the bud. For now though, maybe get him focused on the Pokemon already following him. “Bravery isn’t not being afraid, it’s facing your fears. Your willingness to protect him, even when you had no Pokemon of your own… I bet that’s pretty impressive to a Dragon like Applin.” Then, I added: “I am assuming here, uhhh, you can just close your eyes hard if I’m off base?”

Applin’s eyes bulged a little, trying to stay as wide open as possible for a good quarter of a minute. “Haha, ok, I think I’m good then.”

“Wowzers, really?” Kieran asked and the Applin wobbled his whole body in the approximation of a nod.

“Do you want to catch him? I know it’s a big choice, but sometimes life happens in-” Before I could finish selling him on it, he had already taken out a Pokeball and pressed the button, absorbing the small red spherical Pokemon into the small red spherical container. It clicked almost immediately, showing the capture as successful.

“I did it!” He shouted, holding his Pokeball high above him. “Thanks, Nemona. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

I shook my head. “This was all on you. I’m really glad you were able to bond so fast, reminds me of how I met Dun.”

“Good job bro, now hurry up!” Carmine called to us, as we had lagged behind the rest of the group, now standing at the entrance to the plaza. A small wooden fence surrounded the large flat top of the hill, providing a barrier between it and the cliffs that led down to the orchard and town below. There were large trees interspersed between bright flower beds. Nearby the entrance was a very old sign, and then further back I could make out a stone monument.

“Behold, the Loyalty Trio Plaza! We used to call it the Loyalty Trio Park but then… we didn’t,” Carmine said, just as boisterously as ever. Ah, and there are the downsides of having an eight-year-old tour guide. “C’mon, you gotta see the sign.”

She led us over to it and began reading the tale of the Ogre and the Loyalty Trio, stopping and starting several times to read over it again. I tried to put on a good face, but it was hard to be super invested in it, knowing that the tale written on it was false. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to correct history here. The only people who know the truth are Kieran and Carmine’s grandparents, and they didn’t even tell their grandkids without Ogerpon around.

A lot of photos were taken there, and at the monument, keepsakes for when we looked back on this trip later. It’s funny how… normal, this all feels. Even with Pokemon all around and fantastic tales with hidden secrets, this moment, just standing here in the breeze as we look out at the wonders of a foreign land. It feels just like the vacations of my past life.

“Are- are you crying?” Carmine asked and I blinked any water out of my eyes.

“Just a bit of dust. Thanks for showing us this, it’s quite an interesting tale.”

“Of course it is, this is the story everyone here grows up with. Be careful with your eyes though, it gets pretty dusty in the Paradise Barrens.”

“Umm, excuse me,” Billy spoke up. “Aren’t the Paradise Barrens fairly far away?” I was confused for a second before I realized how much he was sweating. My mother and sister were also looking fairly tired.

“Yeah? There’s another sign out there, we gotta show you the next one too,” Carmine said stubbornly. “Then we go back to Kitakami Hall for the third sign.” She pointed out, at the other side of the mountain where the festival of masks took place annually.

At my family’s thousand-yard stare, I decided to cut in. “Maybe my parents and sister can go back to the inn and we’ll meet them there in a few hours to go to the Hall. The Barrens are where Pokemon like that Gligar came from? Might be a bit dangerous for them there.” To pre-empt any arguments from Carmine I assured her: “I’ll have Miles take a photo of the sign so they get the full experience.”

“That sounds wonderful, sis. We’ll see you later.” Cyan waved us off, far too relieved in not having to go on a much longer hike than anticipated to argue about having a Pokemon herself.

***

Before reaching the Paradise Barrens, we first had to cross the Wistful Fields, and looking at the splendor of greenery and the almost magical feeling in the air, I couldn’t argue with the name. It was a wide field of grass dotted with a few trees and boulders here and there. The towering mountain to one side and the cliffs to the other let it feel like its own private world.

There were also tons of interesting Pokemon running about and frolicking here. Kirlias were dancing around with Cutieflys while a Riolu sparred with a Mienfoo. Off in the distance, I saw Rockruff and Shinxes playing under the watchful eyes of Luxray pack leaders.

“This place is incredible!” I cheered as we ran across the sea of grass with only the kind of energy little kids have.

“It is! Grandpa said I couldn’t go here by myself without a Pokemon, but I don’t get why-” Kieran was saying before I turned suddenly and grabbed him, leaping and carrying us through the air, just a touch longer and landing more gently than would be naturally possible.

“Sorry about that!” I called out to the Charjabug Kieran had almost stepped on.

“Oh! Oh gosh.”

“You gotta keep an eye on those things!” Carmine turned her head back and said immediately before tripping on a rock. She tumbled head over heels before landing in a lump.

We stopped our run to stare at her for a good half minute as she lay there, a trembling ball of rage. “Not. A. Word.” Kieran started snickering uncontrollably and she yelled “Not a word, Kiki!”

“I- ahaha- didn’t- snerk - say anything!” He said as he took off, ostensibly just running towards the Paradise Barrens, but in actuality running away from his sister’s wrath. I ran after them, trying to guide them away from any troubles (which was fairly easy, because despite the Pokemon all having their own little lives here, none of them were particularly territorial or aggressive, to us at least).

***

Crossing the field wiped out a lot of the energy my ‘travel guides’ had, but I had a feeling they would be entering at a slower pace regardless. Something about this place just has a more somber feel to it. Not sure why though.

Feeling there was no harm, I asked. “Why is this place so, well, Barren? Everywhere else in Kitakami is lush and full of life.” Not that this place is exactly devoid of it, however. There are still a few spots of grass and a tree here or there, just, way less than anywhere else.

There were still plenty of Pokemon wandering around the spikey ridges and dusty valleys here. More Rock and Ground Types in general, and a little more standoffish around us, but otherwise fairly similar.

“Grandma said we tried to build something here, a long time ago. But then, something happened, some invader from beyond our shores. The people there had to leave and all the stuff they built got torn down over time. But not the sign! The Pokemon have always been respectful of it.”

Huh. Okay, a lot to unpack there. Don’t think everyone just ‘left’. Must have been quite a powerful Pokemon to destroy all this. Interesting that ‘the Ogre’ isn’t blamed for this one. Then again, I know Ogerpon is a Grass Type, and even if they don’t know enough about her to know her Type, the tales would probably let them know that this isn’t her style, not even when (rightfully) enraged. No, this would probably be the work of a Ground Type…

“Bloodmoon,” I whispered aloud as the pieces clicked into place. Carmine whipped around to face me.

“What did you say?”

“Bloodmoon. It’s- another of the legends I heard. Of a beast of tremendous might and strange origins,” Kieran had turned to face me as well, both the kid's eyes growing wide. So glad these kids can’t call me out on all my random knowledge.

“Back in ancient Sinnoh, when the land was called Hisui, they had ‘Noble Pokemon’, powerful guardians who worked alongside the tribes of those times. The tribes had discovered alternative evolutions, methods we’ve lost in modern times. One of those was how to evolve an Ursaring into an Ursaluna, using the power of the Moon.”

“The moon? What can the moon do?” Carmine scoffed.

“Plenty. Just ask yourself why some Pokemon can evolve with stones that are only found naturally on the moon? Why is the strongest Fairy Type Move called ‘Moonblast?’ The moon may be distant but it has a great influence on the world below."

“Ohh, so they used a Moonstone to evolve the Ursaring, like old lady Ingrid’s Clefable at the inn.” Kieran chimed in.

“No, they could only evolve them during the full moon, but through a different process lost to time. Now, without interruptions, I’ll continue.” Taking a deep breath, I began again.

“These Ursalunas were strong, gaining mastery over the earth beneath them as they evolved. Most stayed in Hisui and passed as time turned on and the land became known as Sinnoh. Over three centuries ago, however, one of them left. Was he abandoned as the tribes moved on and modernized? Was he exiled, for deeds too terrible to accept? Or was it just a sense of wanderlust that drove him onward?”

“Whatever his reason, he left, and swam across the ocean. Everyone knows the oceans are treacherous, and even more so for one of his Type. But Ursaluna are strong, their strength as great as any mountain, and so he felt he could face the perils of the ocean.”

“For all his might though, the waters were more than dangerous, they were vast. As the waves slowly chip away at the cliffs day by day, so too did the ocean sap at his strength. But the oceans move by force of the moon, and the moon was his ally. More than an ally, on one strange and fell night, it became his teacher. The crimson light of the blood moon gave him the power he needed to arrive on the shores of a distant land known as… Kitakami.”

That got a gasp from both of them and I knew they were hooked. Indeed, I saw even a few Pokemon coming around to listen. A Timburr carrying a boulder that just ‘happened’ to be walking back and forth nearby us, a Vullaby that landed some meters behind me, thinking I hadn’t noticed, and an Orthworm poking its red head out of the dirt nearby.

“These lessons left him with strange gifts, but also a transformation to his body. His fur had faded to a lighter brown than his kin, and the clay armor that grew over parts of their bodies expanded to cover half of his face. His battles had cost him an eye, but out of that empty socket would occasionally glow an eldritch green light that could peer through the world of Distortion and pierce any illusion or trickery. Finally, atop his brow, the yellow disk of a full moon had been dyed completely red. Blood red, like that of the ominous moon whose power he could now draw on. Fear the monster that even the ground trembles before. Fear, Bloodmoon Ursaluna!”

There was silence as I finished my tale, Kieran looked pale as a sheet and Carmine was trembling. “Is- is that story true?” She asked trepidatiously.

With a deep breath, I answered. “I… have no idea.” My anticlimactic statement was met with a moment of silence and then a chorus of ‘boos’ from humans and Pokemon alike, one of the Pokemon in the back even hucking a small stone very lightly at me, which I dodged while laughing.

“I’m sorry, but c’mon. I couldn’t have actually been there for all of that. And that doesn’t mean it can’t be true. It's just that the only things I know for sure are that there were Ursalunas in ancient Hisui and that there have supposedly been sightings of one here that doesn’t look quite right compared to the scrolls and murals of those times. As for the rest?” I shrugged. “Only Arceus knows. But I think it makes for a good tale.”

“It was alright, I guess,” Carmine begrudgingly said. I can tell she liked it because she’s not even getting mad at me for telling a tale about her home. “C’mon, let’s get going to the second sign.”

As we wandered over to the sign, Kieran asked me “Do you know how to make an Ursaring into a Bloodmoon Ursaluna?”

Chuckling, I answered, “Don’t know how to make a ‘Bloodmoon Ursaluna’, but I have some ideas about regular Ursaluna from the notes and studies I’ve read.” And more from playing a video game in another universe, but I probably won’t be putting that on my research paper when/if I unveil my discovery to the world.

“Huh. The Bloodmoon sounds sooo cool.” I could practically see the stars in Kieran's eyes and sighed, trying to divert him from that path.

“He is, but maybe a bit dangerous. You probably shouldn’t go looking for it unless you’re a bit stronger.” Honestly Bloodmoon doesn’t seem that angry in the games, but he does get easily startled by Perrin’s camera. Given the level of power the Ursaluna has, best if he doesn’t get hounded by an excitable kid.

He frowned at what I said. “How do you know he wants to hurt me? Maybe he just wants a friend,” the younger boy pointed out.

“Maybe. But what about all of this?” I said, gesturing a hand out to the Barrens. “If this was purposeful, or even worse, accidental, then think of the damage it might cause if surprised.”

“C-could a Pokemon really do all of this, by accident?”

“A legendary? Yeah, they could. That’s why we tell legends of them.” Ogerpon isn’t quite as focused on large-scale destruction, but her power is at least as great as Ursaluna’s. “That’s why I want to get stronger. So I can travel anywhere, explore any legend without fear because I’ll be just as strong as them.”

Kieran’s jaw dropped and I wasn’t sure if it was from my ideal or the confidence I expressed behind it.

“Wowzers.” He pulled up his Pokeball containing Applin. “Do- do you think I could be that strong one day too? That I could meet the Ogre and be their friend.”

I nodded and clasped my hand over his holding the Pokeball. “I think so, I truly do. Just, try not to fixate on the Ogre. Being her friend would be great, but you gotta focus on being this guy’s friend too. I’m sure he’ll be incredibly strong someday, with you by his side.”

“Aw-awesome,” he said quietly, his face a bit flush as he grinned from ear to ear. “He’s gonna be the strongest umm, what do Applins evolve into again?”

Laughing (mostly at Carmine stomping her feet for us to hurry up), I said “They have three different evolutions based on the special apples you give them. Appletun, Flapple, or Dipplin, the latter of which only come from the candy apples made here.”

“Which clearly makes Dipplin the best evolution, right?” Carmine more demanded than asked as we approached her standing by the sign.

“Sis…” Kiki groaned.

“Well, I don’t want to say any Pokemon is ‘better’ than any other Pokemon, but yes. Dipplin is probably the strongest.”

“What? I mean, of course they are,” Carmine huffed.

“Why?” Kieran asked more pertinently.

“Dipplin are theorized to have another evolution, though no one has discovered it yet.”

“How can you know it has an evolution if it hasn’t been discovered?” Carmine demanded.

“There are ways. Things like Eviolite. It's a special stone that when held by a Pokemon can give them massive boosts to their defenses, making them waaaaay tougher. It only works though, if held by a Pokemon capable of evolving. So some people have noticed that Dipplin gets tougher when it holds Eviolite, while Flapple and Appletun don’t. That all being said, pick whichever evolution suits them best - any Pokemon can be strong with enough time and training.”

Kieran nodded while Carmine impatiently cleared her throat. “Okay, enough of that now, we’re on to the next sign!”

She explained how this one told a tale of why the villagers wore masks, the story of strangers passing at night. How if the Ogre saw you with a mask, then it would pass you by alone, but your ‘soul would be forfeit’ if the Ogre saw you without it. So even strangers would wear masks out of fear.

“Do people carry masks here any time they go out at night?” I asked after Carmine was finished and she stumbled a bit.

“Well, no, not everyone. But that’s the reason why we have the big festival of Masks! It’s the biggest event in Kitakami and will be happening next month.”

“So the Ogre fights the Loyal Three, then just hangs around checking if people are wearing masks at night?

“Yeah. They say the Ogre’s den is supposed to be up on Oni Mountain, but I’ve checked a dozen times and found nothing.” Kieran chimed in, sounding a little subdued before continuing brightly. “Wasn’t the Ogre so strong? To take on all of the Loyal Three at once and win… What do you think of them?”

“Honestly? I think she’s kinda sad.”

“Sad?” Carmine looked befuddled at me.

“What else are you supposed to say about someone so strong that’s so alone? The Ogre is all by herself in the stories, right?” Both of the Kitakami kids nodded. “So, she has to know that there aren’t any other Ogres about. Especially after this long. Seeing the masks the humans wear is just a form of pretending, acting like there’s somebody like her.”

Not quite right, but I can’t come out right with the truth here. It’s pretty close though; why else would Ogerpon show up at the festival in the games? Because as much as people had hurt her and her friend, she wanted to experience the idea of being around people, and with everyone wearing masks at the festival, it gave her that excuse.

“Whoa, I never thought of it like that. That settles it, I’m definitely going to be her friend!” Kieran declared, hand clenched in a fist and an adorably serious look on his face.

“What? No, not settled at all! Stop chasing after her!” Then Carmine turned to me. “Why do you call the Ogre a ‘she’?”

Whoops. “Well, I dunno, she just feels like a girl to me. I’ll be happy to rescind that view if any evidence shows up to the contrary.” Except I know it won’t because in the games she’s always female.

“Ugh, why do you have to talk so weird? Now it’s making Kiki act weird too.” The tall girl complained. Pretty sure that weirdness had nothing to do with me. “We should head back to town now and get some food before we go up to the Hall.”

***

We walked back (thankfully Miles remembered to take a photo of the sign before we left) but our plans to quickly reach Mossui Town were derailed as I spotted a familiar form lying in the dirt in a shadowy corner of the Barrens.

“Nemona! Wait up!” Carmine called after me worriedly as I started to run away. Kieran and her couldn’t see it, but my eyes made out the form of a Gligar and a very familiar one at that.

At least I assume it's the same one, it looks a bit too big to be your average Gligar.

My suspicions were proven correct when I reached the fallen Pokemon, panting hard as I stood over her body. She was lying down right in front of the entrance to a small cave set on the edge of the cliff. I could see the bite marks on her tail and other injuries from our battle earlier today. Most worrying though was that she was on her back and wasn’t moving.

Immediately I dropped to the ground, kneeling beside her while also releasing Dun (just in case this was some sort of trap). Turning her over, I felt pretty confident it wasn’t as she just lay there, deathly pale. I had to feel for her pulse to determine she was still alive, and I could barely feel it under my fingertips. Or is that natural for Gligar? I don’t know, but she does look Poisoned, probably from that damn orb she had. Why was she carrying that thing? Why did she attack Applin?

Kieran and Carmine ran up behind me, out of breath as well. I could hear that they had both their Pokemon out too, especially Applin from his panicked cries as he saw the Pokemon I was attending to.

“What are you doing?” Carmine asked as I sprayed some Antidote directly into her mouth, and followed up with Hyper Potions on her wounds.

“Trying to save her life, what does it look like I’m doing?” I snapped before calming back down as I noticed the tall girl wince at my words.

“...Why?” Kieran eventually asked, eyes blazing as he glared down at the scorpion-esque Pokemon.

“What? Because she’s hurt-”

“And she tried to hurt Applin! Why should you help her-”

“Because we won’t know why she did that unless we save her life! No one knows why the Ogre rampaged one day because nobody asked!” That line seemed to work as Kieran snapped back, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

Shit. These two are just kids right now, gotta remember that. I’ll deal with that later. Turning back to the fallen Gligar, I could hear her breathing now and see a small rise and fall of her chest. That should help for the time being, but she needs proper care. We’ve got to take her back to the town, but will she be okay carried back? Can I even lift her all the way? No matter, I’ll have to try.

With a grunt, I slid my hands under her and began to hoist the Pokemon up. “Uhh, Nemona?” Carmine tentatively asked, and I had to remind myself not to take out my frustration with the situation out on her. I took a deep breath, nodding my head up and down as I tried to center myself before responding to the taller girl.

“Yes?”

“Why are you carrying her?”

“I need to get her to a Pokemon Center, or that little stand you have beside the inn and-”

“No, I mean why don’t you just catch her?”

There was a moment of silence before I gently put the Gligar back on the ground before I pulled out a spare Pokeball and caught her in it. "...Thanks," I mumbled sheepishly, while Carmine laughed her head off at me, and even Kieran chuckled a little at me.

With her in stasis and safe for the moment, we could afford to take a moment and think about our next move. “Miles, call up the Flying Taxi service for Kitakami.” Another thing I should have thought of sooner. I panicked and nearly made some dumb choices there. I’ve gotta keep a cooler head in a crisis.

“Sure thing, bzzt. It might take a bit longer here than Paldea, the network isn’t as large, but they’ll be here soon,” my stalwart Rotom assured me.

“That’s fine, we’ve got time now.” Hopefully, enough time to get to the bottom of whatever this situation is.