Chapter 2: Monsters

A walnut-sized marble was shoved in his face.

"This one is so cute!" the owner of said marble gushed, her tendrils methodical in their search for even the most paltry of orbs. No nook or cranny was left unturned, the cave practically ransacked as Mimi cobbled together her collection. "It's big," she continued, "but that makes it all the more interesting, right?"

It was mesmerizing, in a way, to watch Mimi's dextrous limbs work, how effortlessly they handled such fragile things. Each tendril meticulously carried out its task, feeling along the floor for one of numerous marbles scattered about. He wondered how Mimi kept track of them all. Surely it was exhausting to process that much information, right?

"You don't like it?"

He blinked and had to tear his gaze away from Mimi's tendrils. She was giving him an insistent look as she dangled a brown marble in front of him. He held back a sigh.

"It's nice," he said, and Mimi made a pleased sound in response.

Fascinating though Mimi's bizarre methods of manipulating the world were, this was not his idea of a good time, and definitely not how he expected his day to go. He wanted to move, explore, do something, anything to discover who he was. But instead, he was here, obediently playing audience to Mimi's show and tell, all while he cleaned up the mess she made.

In theory, she was helping. In practice, however...

His tail twitched. He still couldn't believe he was roped into this.

Mimi held up another marble, but this time his attention was piqued: it was quite the gorgeous specimen, infused with the vibrant pattern of a leaf. "This one is my favorite," she proclaimed.

He murmured his approval. "It really is—"

"Wait, no." She dropped the marble: it bounced with an accompanying ping upon impact with the ground. Each of her tendrils, about a dozen in all, held a marble at Mimi's eye-level. She scrutinized them, turning them this way and that, before releasing all but one. "I changed my mind, this is my favorite! Just look at how pink it is! Do you like it?"

"It's, uh, lovely," he said. The green one did more for him, honestly.

"I know, right?" Mimi was practically bouncing with excitement. "How could anyone not love it!" She then went back to combing through the collection she had cobbled up, her semi-corporeal limbs assisting in the task.

He sighed and returned to cleaning up. The chore was anything but riveting, but it did give him insight into the mimikyu. Perhaps too much insight.

Case in point: the battered male and female pikachu plushies he was currently in possession of. One was even missing an eye, a button clumsily sewed on as a replacement. But what stood out the most to Liam was how tightly wound their tails were to one another. They would not budge. It was if they were glued together.

He found himself subconsciously tucking his own tail between his legs.

"Uh, Mimi?" carefully began the pikachu, interrupting Mimi's tirade on the optimal way to sort marbles. "What is this?"

Mimi grew deathly silent as Liam held up the dolls, her tendrils releasing everything in their grasp. This meant marbles: dozens of marbles. The rapid ping, ping, ping of glass orbs against stone echoed throughout the cave.

With unexpected swiftness, Mimi snatched up the evidence and threw it across the room. Impressively, the intertwined pikachu dolls landed directly in the open chest.

Mimi blushed hotly through her cloth. "T-those aren't mine, I swear!"

Liam raised an eyebrow at the blatant lie. "Really?"

"Well, um, they are mine, yes," she admitted, "but I can explain! I was really, really… really weird when I was younger, and I thought it was romantic for two pikachu to be inseparable. So, I maybe, sorta, glued Mama's pikachu dolls together by their tails and pretended that was how pikachu were mated." She let out a nervous giggle. "Kids, right? The things they do."

"Are you sure that's a normal thing for kids to do?" Liam asked, honestly unsure of how children acted. This was apparently the wrong thing to say as Mimi slumped, her eyes growing misty. He backpedaled quickly. "Sorry! I didn't really mean it like that, I'm just… Sorry…"

Mimi sighed and looked away. "I know you didn't mean it," she said. "You're nothing like those other pokemon, the ones who judge me for who I am. Any other pikachu would have run off by now. But not you!"

He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, well, I kind of have nowhere else to go. Not that I wouldn't stay regardless!" he hastily added when Mimi's eyes widened. "I'm just overwhelmed, is all. I'm not used to talking with pokemon, let alone a mimikyu. On that note, do you think you could tell me a bit about your species so I don't have to, ah, fill in the gaps?"

"Um, w-what do you want to know?"

Liam shrugged. "I'm not sure. How about where you got your costume? Do all mimikyu have one?"

"Oh, this old rag?" Mimi caressed the edges of the cloth, seemingly lost in thought. "I've had this for as long as I can remember. Mama helped me make it, and her mama helped make her's, and so on. It's tradition, which I'll be continuing once I have an egg!" The mimikyu practically beamed as she revealed this. "I can't tell you how we make the costumes, though. Trade secret!" She finished by giving him a wink, giggling to herself.

With the origin of Mimi's pikachu costume out of way, Liam still had questions broiling under the surface. The most pressing of which being Mimi's obsession with pikachu. Was it a character trait of her species? Or, perhaps, something imprinted on young mimikyu by their parents?

Liam was itching to sate his curiosity, but was taken out of his musings by a sudden thirst, his throat parched. His grumbling stomach also made him uncomfortably aware that he was famished. "Hey, Mimi, could I have some water?" He licked his dry muzzle. "And something to eat?"

"Sure!" Mimi chimed. She sounded much too peppy for the mundane task at hand. "Be right back!"

Remind me again why I can't just climb the stairs?" Liam grumbled.

It had been a few hours since he'd awoken. Most of his time had been spent further conversing with Mimi, learning as much as he could about both her and the world at large. Some of what she said was truly enlightening, like the phenomenon of so-called mystery dungeons and the distinction between feral and civilized pokemon.

He'd also quenched his thirst, washing down his share of a delicious apple, while Mimi shyly excused herself to eat in a corner. Liam didn't understand, and Mimi didn't seem comfortable with explaining, so he let her be.

Now, though, it was just prior to sunset and Mimi wanted to get to the guild before it closed for the night. While hesitant to join an explorer's guild, even with Mimi's continued praise of the facility, there truly was nothing better for him to do. That should have been the end of it, except...

"Because," Mimi began, patronizingly slow, "you'd be walking into Treasure Town from the top of Sharpedo Bluff. It's a known dead-end. There is literally no possible way you could have gone up there without first entering the town from further below. Treasure Town is a small place. Pokemon will find this really strange."

His ears drooped at how much sense she made. "Yeah, but still, do we really need to do this? Won't it be… weird?" He twiddled his claws, nervous. "For the both of us?"

Mimi dismissively waved a tendril—he'd have to ask where they came from once he built up the courage. "Nah. Just close your eyes and let me do my thing. As long as you don't peek, or grab anything, it'll be fine. Promise." That did nothing to reassure him. At all. In fact, the thought of what kind of things might be grabbable under there made his fur stand on end.

"So many tentacles," Liam said under his breath.

"Hmm?" Mimi gave him a sidelong look. "Did you say something?"

"Just, uh, talking to myself."

Mimi was obviously suspicious, even if she thankfully chose not to acknowledge it. "Right, well, you better close your eyes. I want to get out of here before the guild closes." She placed a claw on his shoulder in a surprisingly comforting gesture. His reluctance must have been obvious. "Relax. I brought you up here when I found you, so we both know it works."

"Okay, do it." Burned into his mind was Mimi's cloth rippling in an unseen wind, darkness radiating outwards as if to consume all things. He quickly shut his eyes, the worry in her own the only thing keeping him from freaking out.

"Don't worry, I got this. Shadow Sneak is easy-peasy" And just like that, Mimi's entire cloth enveloped him, her warm—and bare—body flush against his side. The contact was kind of nice, actually. While it lasted.

Taste, touch, smell, sound; all ceased to function with the abruptness of jammed gears. Gravity switched off like a light. His first instinct was to scream, and scream like he never screamed before… if only he had a mouth to do so with.

But then it was over. His senses returned, the ground reappeared beneath his feet, and Mimi's warmth was there to greet him.

"See, that wasn't so bad, right?" Mimi extracted herself from his side and the weight of her cloth lifted from his shoulders. "You can open your eyes now." Liam obeyed and spotted Mimi basking in the evening shade of a small apple tree nearby. He couldn't bring himself to move toward her, the harrowing experience fresh in his mind. "Liam?"

"I— I— what—" He took a deep, shuddering breath. "It w-was as if the entire world vanished," he uttered, unable to stop the slight tremor in his delivery. "M-me included."

"Really?" Mimi's tone insinuated only mild confusion. "Hmm, that's odd. I've never had that happen to me. Does anything feel off?" She looked him over, a hint of worry in her voice. "Are you hurt?"

After some consideration, Liam shook his head. The memory was already fading. It was perplexing but welcome. "Other than having the strangest experience of my life, no. I'm fine." He couldn't help but crack a small smile at Mimi's sigh of relief.

"Then let's not worry about it right now," Mimi said, somewhat dismissively as she wobbled over to him. "We need to get to the guild before it shuts down for the night." She then merged with the shadows once more.

Unlike previous examples of Mimi's ability, Liam was able to track her as she traversed her domain. The subtle lump moved swiftly in his direction and in between his feet, settling directly underneath him.

"Come on, let's get moving," the shadow rasped in a mockery of Mimi's otherwise sweet voice. It became clear to him that Mimi's quirks would take some getting used to. "You should find the guild by going directly uphill and ignoring the fork in the road." Nodding in acknowledgment, Liam left the trees behind.

Loose soil replaced the gentle tickle of grass between his paws, and Liam closed his eyes to enjoy the sensation, if only for a moment. He took a deep breath, the sun's rays upon his back. The gentle warmth was soothing, a nice contrast to the evening breeze that caressed his fur.

A plenitude of new and interesting smells filled the air, each as distinct as the next. Some piqued his interest—like a hint of berries intermingling with fresh, delicious apples—while others made him scrunch up his muzzle, such as an unidentifiable, and faint, stench some distance away. He could even detect pokemon hiding in the trees, albeit limited in the direction the wind blew.

His ears twitched as a bird pokemon squawked nearby, others responding with equally unintelligible replies. Mimi did mention feral pokemon. Was that them?

Liam opened his eyes after the brief moment of self-indulgence and scanned his surroundings. Before him was the well-maintained path, nestled between clusters of wild trees in full bloom, their apples ripe for the picking. Gravity favored his right side, so he turned to his left and began walking uphill. Wordlessly, the ghost hitchhiking in his drawn-out shadow followed.

"Hey Mimi," Liam whispered after a minute of nothing but trees. "How far did you say the guild was?"

"Are you seriously asking me this? We just started moving!"

"I know, I know, it's—" He was then ambushed by a perverse odor as the wind abruptly reversed direction. "Ugh! Do you smell that?" Liam coughed and covered his flaring nostrils with a paw, but the unpleasant aroma was persistent. His ears snapped to attention, a sound coming from the trees to his right. "Wait, do you hear—"

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Liam jerked at the deep and unexpected voice. The unfriendly tone set off numerous warnings in his mind.

There, leaning against a tree with an apple in his mouth, was a hefty quadrupedal pokemon, his coat of fur as scruffy as it was purple. His tail retained the same colorings, although there was a white streak through the middle. For some reason or another, his large, bushy tail was draped over his back and ended at his strangely feline looking face.

A skuntank, his subconscious helpfully supplied.

After a loud, juicy crunch, the apple was unceremoniously dropped to the grassy floor, discarded after only a single bite. The stout beast released an obnoxiously loud burp before continuing, "A lone, electric rattata taking an evening stroll in these parts? And talking to himself, too! Clearly, he's deranged."

With a cackle, an eyeless pokemon flew out of the trees and began hovering around the putrid pokemon's head. "You said it, boss! Talking to yourself is not right!" He was apparently male as well, although it was hard to tell at first due to his squeaky voice.

"Move aside, Zubat! You're clogging up the airways!" a third pokemon butted in, looking even more absurd than the previous two. Noxious fumes spilled out of a multitude of holes cratering the creature's round and floating body. Its eyes appeared almost dead, and its huge mouth was stretched in an unnaturally wide grin.

Liam gagged.

"Oh, and that was a nice bit with the apple, boss! You really sold it this time."

"Quiet, Koffing!" Skuntank barked at his henchman, before turning back to Liam. "So, Pikachu. I make it my business to welcome new travelers to Treasure Town." He grinned, revealing two large, gleaming fangs. "Are you, perhaps, staying long?"

"Pssst, Liam." Mimi's voice was faint, barely perceivable despite Liam's large ears. "Ignore them and run. They are big trouble."

He agreed with her assessment, even if he didn't dare acknowledge it.

Liam forced a smile. "I'm, ah, just passing through."

Skuntank scrutinized him, the beast's roaming eyes making him backpedal slightly. This pokemon did not sit right with him.

"Strange. Traveling a bit light, are we?" The skuntank narrowed his eyes. "Where are your bags? No one can get far without supplies."

"Yeah!" Zubat added. "We need your bags!"

Skuntank let out a sigh, his breath further adding to the ever-present stench. "As my associate here oh-so-helpfully pointed out," he gave the zubat a glare, "the acquisition of any supplies would be much appreciated."

At some unseen signal, the threesome moved to surround him. He tensed at the obvious fight brewing, any fear he may have felt being washed away in a wave of adrenaline.

Whatever was coming, he was ready for it.

Skuntank lowered his voice to a dangerous growl. "Where are you hiding them?"

It was then that something peculiar happened. Skuntank and his lackeys hesitated, and their expressions did a complete flip. They were looking straight at him—no, above him. They were paralyzed.

But why?

Liam followed their gaze and felt his blood freeze at the sight of dozens of tentacles rising out of the ground behind him. Liam stood, helpless as each tip bloomed like a trilateral flower, exposing maws lined to the throat with numerous, saw-like teeth. Viscous drool seeped from the fleshy petals and oozed down the stalks, eventually pooling and mixing into the dirt below.

As if directed by a legion of maestros, the unholy ensemble performed a deranged symphony for their captivated audience, ringing ears, and chilling bones as the cacophony tore through the air.

Liam was nearly ready to faint right then and there until a voice, nearly imperceivable, spoke, "Shhh," the voice cooed. "Please don't panic. It's just me."

He slumped to the ground as fear changed to indescribable relief. It was Mimi. Just Mimi. His heart still raced and his fur continued to stand on end, but now that he knew he wasn't going to be the victim of some horrific attack, he could feel the adrenaline ease.

Liam had no idea what she was doing, or how in the name of Arceus she was accomplishing it, but it appeared to work wonders on the pokemon before him. It was also, without a doubt, the most terrifying spectacle he had ever witnessed... for how little that statement was worth.

The abomination quivered as the choir swelled to a discordant peak, seemingly with excitement for the coming feast. Even knowing that it was actually Mimi and not some beast out to devour him, Liam couldn't stop the tremors that wracked his body.

The scent of urine was heavy in the air as Zubat fainted. Moments later, the rest of the gang fled with their tails between their legs, in one case literally. Not a word was uttered as they abandoned one of their own. Presumably for dead, for all they knew.

Liam stood transfixed as Mimi's tentacles shriveled up like a dying tree. The towering husks were almost serene in their still, lifeless state. The branches withered away, further crumbling into dust and scattering with the wind.

As the obsidian ash rained down upon him, Liam was overcome with a strange emotion, something he had yet to experience thus far. He could not explain it. Melancholy, perhaps? No, that wasn't quite right.

Liam spotted Mimi, out of his shadow and barely remaining upright as her costume steamed and sizzled. A pit grew in his stomach.

"Mimi? Are you okay?" Her only response was to shake violently; once, twice, thrice. She then crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut, letting out a strangled cry as she collided with the ground. He was at her side in an instant, shoving aside any reservations about what he just witnessed to comfort his only friend.

Sobs wracked Mimi's petite form, her eyes clenched tightly shut. Liam moved to comfort her, only for her to shrink away and hiss at the lightest of pressure against her cloth.

"Mimi?" Liam tried. He knew this was all his fault. He should have run when Mimi told him to. "Mimi, please. I— I don't know what's wrong. Please, tell me what's wrong!"

"I'm a m-monster," Mimi stated in between hiccups. "They were— they were so scared! I-I just wanted to make them go away, to leave you alone. Not—" she choked and lifted an inflamed tendril at the unconscious zubat, "—not that!"

Liam was at a loss for words. What could he even say to that? That she wasn't a monster? That he wasn't scared of her? He couldn't say that.

It would be a lie.

Then again, was what he saw even real? The massive tendrils seemed tangible at the time, that much his senses agreed on. The noises alone would haunt him for the rest of his life. However, something of that size couldn't possibly fit under such a cramped rag.

The full picture was needed.

"Was that—" Thing, Liam was about to say, but caught himself just in time. There was no telling how Mimi would react to that. "Um, were those tentacles actually you?"

Mimi vehemently shook her body in denial. "N-no! I, uh, just made myself seem larger and scarier than I actually am. It's an illusion, something us ghost types are really good at! I still had to stretch my limbs for the full effect, though, exposing them to the sun. Mimikyu don't do well in the sun." She rubbed a raw tendril with one of her billowy claws and winced. "I'll live, but it really hurts."

Liam slumped in relief. "Oh, thank Arceus you're okay. It's also good that display wasn't real: I don't know what I'd do if that thing existed." Mimi flinched, and Liam gave her a sympathetic smile. "That really looks like it hurts. Is there any way to heal the burns?"

"Y-yeah," Mimi affirmed, still sniffling. "A rawst berry or a heal seed would work, but they're both kinda hard to find around here. I don't think the Kecleon brothers would have any." He didn't know who the Kecleon brothers were, but he got the gist of it.

Liam frowned. "What about the guild? Do you think they might have some?"

"M-maybe? But if they do, why would they give me any?" Mimi pulled herself upright with her injured tendrils, wincing in the process. She stumbled before gesturing to herself. "I'm just a monster. I should go home and forget about becoming an explorer. It'll never happen, anyway."

Liam sighed; he had to nip this self-pity in the bud, fast.

"No, you're a pokemon," he stated. "An injured pokemon." His gaze casually drifted to the passed out zubat." And aren't explorer teams obliged to help pokemon in need?"

"But—"

Liam put his foot down. "Don't even think of arguing! We are going to the guild like we planned, and they are going to help you."

"If you're sure…"

"I am." He paused. "We're also going to help Zubat ."

Mimi's eyes widened significantly. "What?! Eww! But he— he's a zubat! They're icky!" Mimi squinted as if she were chewing on a particularly sour fruit. "Just leave him, he'll be fine."

Liam was stunned by her hypocrisy. "How could you say that? We can't just leave him here! What if a pokemon takes advantage of his situation for an easy snack? What then?!" Mimi flinched. "Besides, weren't you just saying how unfair the perception of your species is?"

The mimikyu visibly hesitated. "I—fine," she grumbled. "We'll help… But don't expect me to touch him."

Liam didn't know how to respond to that. So he choose not to, and instead turned and made his way over to the unconscious zubat.

His thoughts were jumbled, scattered, his misgivings of Mimi growing. How could Mimi be so… selfish and inconsiderate? He never even considered it as a possibility until now. She was kind, caring, giving him a place to recover. Were his views tainted? Was he a poor judge of character?

Maybe Mimi is a monster.

He shook his head, chastising himself for such thoughts. Those pokemon did try and mug him; for all he knew, Mimi was upset for his sake. What she said still felt wrong, and he was convinced it was wrong, but perhaps he was being too harsh.

Thankfully, arriving at the downed zubat gave him an excuse to terminate his current line of thinking. Up close, the smell of unmentionable bodily fluids was nearly overwhelming. It took all of his willpower to refrain from gagging.

"You okay?" Liam nudged the zubat, getting a wing to unfurl; the pokemon otherwise remained unresponsive.

"Wait!" came Mimi's voice. "Please don't mention me! If he wakes up, just tell him you scared the… monster off and saved him. Bonus points for being a hero, right? He might even be grateful!"

Liam swiveled around to face her. "I can't do that!" he hissed. "That's lying!"

"But if you don't lie, then Team Skull will know I tricked them!" she retorted. "They'll be humiliated! And do you know what would happen next?" She smacked two tendrils together, wincing at the contact. "Bam! I'd be a goner. Just. Like. That."

He hesitated. "If this… Team Skull is as bad you claim, then fine. I'll lie."

Mimi let loose a heavy sigh. "Thanks, Liam. You won't regret it. Promise! Now, I'll be over here while you take care of the flying pest." She inched away to a nearby tree and pulled herself behind the trunk. "Good luck," the tree whispered.

Sighing to himself, but for a completely different reason, Liam tried yet again to wake the zubat up. If he didn't get up, then he'd have to carry him. The thought did not appeal to him. For obvious reasons.

"Hey, get—" that was as far as Liam got before the unconscious pokemon thrashed violently and lunged at him with fangs bared… and proceeded to fall flat on his face. The zubat squealed indignantly, his own massive wings tripping him up. It didn't take long for him to reorient himself, emitting high-pitched squeaks all the while. He then used his wings to, not fly, but crawl away.

Liam tried and failed to stifle a chuckle.

Zubat's flailings eventually ceased and he looked in his direction with an eyeless gaze.

"W-who're you!" the flying type demanded, his tiny voice allowing Liam to relax. He almost felt bad for finding the creature so utterly non-threatening. "Tell me or I'll bite you!"

Liam held up his paws. "Easy there," he said. "What are you doing?"

One of Zubat's ears twitched. "I'm threatening you, duh." He proudly puffed up his chest and hissed, once again showing off his fangs. "See? I'm scary!"

Liam decided to humor him. "I can see that. But why are you threatening me?"

"Um, so you'll do what I want?" Zubat sounded confused. "It's working, right?"

"No. It is not." It's official, he thought, this pokemon is an idiot. "Do you really not remember?" Zubat tilted his head, and Liam sighed. "You and your gang tried to rob me of bags I didn't have. Remember?"

"Oh yeah!" His ears swiveled around, sweeping this way and that. "Where'd they go? We were just about to take your stuff, when— w-when—" Zubat cut off with a screech and lunged at him, scurrying across the ground on ungainly wings. Liam was thrown off balance when, instead of an attack, the bat latched onto his right leg, trembling. "A m-monster! There was a monster! Don't let it eat me!"

The tips of Zubat's relatively large wings dug into his thigh, making him wince. "Hey! Cut that out!" Liam's cheeks began to tingle, and he shook his leg in an attempt to throw the zubat off. The grip only tightened. "I scared it off! The monster is gone! Stop!"

A spark.

"Seriously, let go!"

"No!" Zubat cried. "It'll get me!" Having had enough of the belligerent pest, Liam grabbed him by the head and tugged.

The zubat responded with a gift of fangs directly into Liam's leg.

Liam yelped. The bite was excruciating, but there was also a remarkable rush as Zubat's teeth pierced his skin. Curiously, it originated not in the wound itself, but rather his own cheeks. The sensation rapidly built under the surface, his fur crackling as it spread, permeating throughout his body. The alternating hum eventually reached his tail, before discharging with a brilliant flash.

Liam was stunned: he just flung a lightning bolt, at Zubat no less. Completely on reflex.

Zubat spasmed, then relaxed completely, relinquishing the hold on his leg. At first, Liam feared that he managed to actually kill him. He was, thankfully, proven wrong when Zubat squeaked once before taking to the air on unsteady wings and vanishing into the trees.

Why he didn't do that initially, Liam couldn't say.

"Liam!" Mimi cried out, waddling over to him. "What just happened?! Why did you zap—" She gasped once his injured leg came into view. "I'm going to murder that zubat," she declared simply.

He followed her gaze and beheld a patch of crimson-stained fur. "It's… not as bad as it looks." Curiously, he was telling her the truth; while an intense initial penetration, he could hardly feel it now. "I feel fine. Besides, I shocked him!"

"Seeing you jolt the idiot was pretty satisfying," she admitted. "But I'm still going to kill him! Seriously, you're bleeding a lot. What did he do to you?!" By the tone of her voice, it was less a question and more a demand.

Liam grimaced. "He bit me."

Mimi used a tendril—the inflamed flesh seemed more corporal than usual and was obviously still a source of discomfort given Mimi's sharp inhale—to part the fur around his injury, enough to reveal two tiny puncture marks seeping a steady flow of blood. It wasn't stopping. "We need to find you a pecha berry, now!"

Fear swelled at the urgency in her voice. "Wh-what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Mimi responded, already searching the nearby bushes for said berries, "but you really shouldn't be bleeding this much. Aha!" She seemingly found what she was looking for as she snatched up a decently sized, pink berry. "It's a good thing pecha berries are so common around here. Should be able to fix whatever that… thing did to you." Liam shuffled his feet; the way she said that made him uncomfortable.

"He's not a thing." She stared at him and he felt his ears fold back. "I mean, sure, he is an objectively terrible example of a zubat, but that doesn't give you the right to call him a thing. It makes you sound mean."

"Mean?" she repeated. "Are you serious right now? He tried to mug you! And then literally sunk his teeth into you!" Mimi's limbs curled at the tips. "That slimy excuse for a pokemon lost the right to be called anything else the moment— ugh!" She flung the berry at him, and in his surprise barely managed to catch it. "Take the berry and let's go."

Liam stared helplessly at the berry in his paws. "Do I… eat it?"

"...What?"

"I don't remember most things, let alone how pecha berries work," he reminded her flatly. "So, humor me, please."

"Right... Amnesia," she muttered, making him frown. "Really, though, how can someone without any memories be such a prude?" Mimi sighed and her tone softened. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Just squeeze the berry and rub the juice into the bite."

Liam nodded and glanced down at the berry. It was firmer than he expected, proving resistant to his relatively weak grip. So he bit into it, instantly causing it to pop and squirt a bitter, runny substance into his mouth. He made a face but didn't waste any time applying the juice to his wound. Trickling it on the bite was painless, washing away most of the blood in the process. It didn't take long for that to change.

"Is this supposed to sting?" he asked with some trepidation, making sure to apply pressure to the area. That much was important, he remembered. "It wasn't hurting before."

"That means it's working. I think. Move your paw, let me see." He did so and unveiled two red blotches, barely visible through his fur. "You're not bleeding anymore, that's a good sign! How much does it hurt?"

"As if a Zubat bit me," he grumbled, "so I guess like it should. How about you? Is the burn bothering you?"

"Yeah," Mimi confirmed. "Enough that shadow sneak will be difficult."

Liam had to resist a groan. "Do you really need to hide? It wouldn't hurt you to walk in after me."

Mimi humphed. "Says you. You're not the one everyone's scared of."

Maybe they wouldn't be so scared of you if you didn't give them a reason to be, he wanted to say but held back his tongue. He was not looking to start another argument. "How about you climb on my back and let me carry you in? They can't be scared of a poor, injured Pokemon, right?"

"I guess… Maybe it'll be fun? Riding on the back of a human! Oh!"

Liam clapped his paws together at her renewed excitement. "That's the spirit! I carry you in, ask if they can spare some rawst berries, and then we can apply for an explorer's team. Simple!"

I changed my mind!" the mimikyu on his back wailed once the guild came into view, increasing her grip on his neck. "Let's try again tomorrow!"

Liam snorted. "After nearly an hour of lugging your sorry behind around? No thanks."

"B-but I'm light as a feather!" Mimi insisted, pulling on his torso with a tendril as if to get him to turn around. "You can't complain about my weight!"

"Regardless, I'm going in."

Mimi increased her half-hearted efforts to get him to reconsider. "Noooo!"

Ignoring the pokemon weakly pounding on his back, Liam took in the view of the guild illuminated in the night by tall torches. It was… nothing like he expected.

His first impression was one of vanity; why else would the guild be named after and designed with the likeness of a wigglytuff? It was beyond bizarre. He admitted that it was possibly a convoluted joke to trick newcomers into underestimating the facility. If that was the case, it succeeded.

Regardless of the intent, it was exceedingly tacky.

Walking up the final steps of the tedious stairway, Liam made his way over to a conspicuous grate, planting his feet over it after a moment of hesitation. The cool, criss-cross pattern of metal tickled the pads of his hind-paws. Looking down greeted him with darkness, giving him a sense of vertigo.

He waited with bated breath for something to happen.

And waited.

Just as he was about to ask if anyone was there, his ears picked up the faintest hint of conversation down below. "...My shift is nearly over," the first voice grumbled. "That's cutting it too close if you ask me."

"Pish-posh. The sooner you get this over with, the sooner we can both sleep. Loudred being ill does not excuse a subpar performance. Get to it."

"Yes, sir."

The two pokemon were silent for a moment, and Liam strained his ears in an attempt to pick something up.

Mimi shifted on his back. "I don't think anyone's—"

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" blasted from below, causing them both to flinch. "Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" There was a pause, before, just on the edge of his hearing, the pokemon muttered, "hmm, don't get much pikachu around here. Nice tail, too." Liam choked. "Wouldn't mind getting a better—" There was an audible slap. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"No ogling the visitors, Diglett!" the second pokemon squawked. "We've talked about this! Now do your job!"

"Right, right. Sorry! Won't happen again."

Mimi tapped his shoulder. "Do you hear arguing? I think I hear arguing." Liam shrugged.

Raising his voice, Diglett continued, "The footprint is pikachu's! The footprint is pikachu's!" The wooden gate leading into the guild rose with a loud grind of hidden machinery. "You seem decent enough. Come on in! Try not to come so late next time..."

"See?" Liam whispered, trying to appease the jittery mimikyu. "It all worked out."

And with that, he and Mimi made their way to the entrance of Wigglytuff's Guild.