Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Tidings of Change.

As the morning rose, and the sobering cold of the morning hit the face of Costello, he felt as close to rested as he had felt in the past day of living he had experienced. It wasn't much of course. The inside of his brain still made as much sense as a splash of paint on a tie-dye canvas and there was still the aching sense of nothing that came from trying to find a solid memory. At the very least, he felt as though he was able to walk without feeling like he was going to collapse. A small improvement but better than nothing.  As he tried to move out the surprisingly comfy hammock given to him, he tried to avoid the mess of papers that lay on the floor. White sheets scattered among the floor like snow with the ink of various colors and intensity covering the pages. Some seemed to be drawings of a child skill level as the wax faded onto the page. Others were proper sentences and paragraphs went unfinished as they seemed either to end with no warning or they were scratched out by wild lines of black. Costello picked up one of the papers from the floor. The ink was still relatively fresh; he could guess that it was about 5-6 days years old.  It was some sort of letter addressed to someone. The bottom part of it was scratched and erased out but the top lines still left some sort of text readable.

"Dear Dad. Pop. Whatever you'd prefer me to call you. How are you? How's mum? I've been better. Still can't wait to meet you one day. The Lilligants just left and I...

Costello put the paper down. Something about the letter was...too personal. No reason to cross boundaries with someone who invited you into their own home. The thought of doing that was... conflicting to think about.  As he set the paper to the side, he saw that the vast majority of the papers had the same sort of tone. 

"Might as well do something for the guy", Costello muttered. Soon he went to work in organizing the papers, stacking them, and tying them with leftover fabric strings from long-forgotten balls of twine. As stacked and sorted the room, he noticed that all of the disordered sheets barring the drawings were addressed to this "father" figure. "Braviary wasn't the father," he mused. 

Costello looked up to the bed where Liam lay. They were asleep with the scarves around his neck and in his hands. Laying next to him in bed were letters in a clay container that was filled with bumps and edges with paint that was uneven in structure and brush length. It looked more befitting of a mace than as a mini shelf but the lagomorph slept next to it like it was a pillow. The treecko felt that it wouldn't be right to disturb him till he properly woke up. There wasn't any reason for him to be up at this hour anyway. As he slunk out of the room, he closed the door behind him and looked out properly into the house he was invited into.

As Costello moved outside the room, he saw the emptiness of the room from the elevated platform that was in front of the door. The marks of long replaced benches and pews still marred the floors., and the smell of old spirits wafted in the air. Dust shined in the sunlight that glowed through the windows.  There was no sign of Braviary anywhere. The only sounds across the town were the early risers. The gecko moved through the house. Right of the house lay a kitchen with a shelf stocked with jars, each a space used with different types of berries while the smell of burnt crust came through strongly.  From there was the living room leading outwards, and towards the north of the kitchen table was the patio. From the left-most part of the house was a set of stairs. Some leading towards a hallway, seeming lost in time as the dust had built up in all corners, as well as on the nameplates.  From where Costello stood, he could see a door, its lock deformed. Melted. The other side of the hallway led towards a door facing towards what could be assumed the pathway to the bell tower. That door as well was locked.  

As Costello moved down the stairs, the sound of wingbeats came closer and closer to the front door. As if like an alarm, a red streak rushed towards the door with energy undeserving of a... whatever year old this early in the morning.

"How old am I?"

 Old enough. 

The door moved open to reveal Braviary, pushing his way through. For an instant, Costello could swear that he saw a look in his eyes that wasn't a threat, more of an assurance of his will. A look on his face quickly vanished to be replaced by the same reserved look that usually showed itself.  Liam however was undeterred by the sight and quickly bounced over to the bird.

"How was your trip? Did anything happen? Good morning by the way", Liam blurted. The white rabbit bounced around Braviary like a ping pong ball, all the while however the bird's face remained grave and dire. As he turned to face Costello however, his mood was replaced from deep thought to the same reserved quality that they usually exhibit.   

"Glad to see the two of you are awake, and it was fine nothing happened.," responded the bird. The tone of his voice was pleasant however, at the mention of nothing happening, there seemed to be slight tensing of his muscles.  "Go out and play Liam, I need to get some things ready.  Take Costello with you as well."

Liam had already waved to him and put himself at the first sound of those words, leaving only Braviary and Costello alone once more. The two looked at each other with a mutual sense of unknowing. Braviary tried to look past the shoulder of the kid while the treecko stared right at him, the yellow eye unflinching as the gecko was pulled out the door. Their exit was accompanied by a quick but polite slam of the door. As the sound moved through the room, the feathery back was already turned. Braviary already knew he had to get to packing.

The air was filled with sounds and smells. A full breath of life within the neighborhood and wind moving through the trees that overlooked the houses. The scent could be felt throughout the town even behind the house and the looming bell tower that was attached to it. These sounds and smells were lost on the Treecko as his ears and nose were currently filled with remnants of soap. It was routine to bathe in this life as Costello soon found out when he was shoved into a shallow pool with no warning by his associate. It was only through a bar of soap that floated towards him that he saw the cheeky smile on Liam's face. As he got out of the pool, he proceeded to roll around in the grass, asserting to himself that Liam was going to get hit back one day.  He also found it nice that he at least had the amateur ability to float.  

"What am I supposed to be doing here? Was I supposed to live this long or maybe I was left for dead?"

You weren't left for dead, no one leaves a person for dead near a populated area.

"How do I know? Why do I even talk to myself so much?"

Most likely your way of coping for the fact that your experiences are either mixed nonsense or not there. The best assumption you have is that since your memories are all scattershot, you can't mentally handle having your thoughts go through the same random process of popping in and out. Now that you have no one left, you invented a voice to guide you. One that gives you uncomplicated answers and one that will not embellish or lie to you. It's also why this sounds like an older version of you.

"Fair, but I've met some reliable people. Braviary has been helpful, and Liam's been pretty reliable too."

Liam is young, inexperienced and he hasn't stepped foot outside this area. Braviary doesn't want you here.

"Wait, when'd we get that last part?"

Ever since you've gotten here, the majority of your conversations with him have either been for the point of interrogation or for the point of getting you away from him. No one asks an amnesiac something that specific unless they doubt them.

"We have no experience to base that off of though! How can we assume? And he has cause, I did lie to him!"

Best guess. And there is a chance you may know this person. There is also the chance that it was a false trigger brought upon by something else. Saying no was the truth. You don't "know" this person. By the way, you should get up now. It's been 10 minutes of rolling around in the grass and Liam's staring at you weirdly.  Out of the corner of Costello's eyes, he could see the bouncing ears of a figure that had clearly bitten the side of its cheek to keep from laughing.  

"Beautiful day eh old chap? Grass as green you like it?", stumbled Liam before he fell over laughing. Costello knew he was going to get him back eventually. 

After some continued chuckles and light kicks to the back by Costello, Liam dusted himself off and prepared to show the gecko around town.

 "The people here are really nice. First up on the list to meet would be... Maysi! We'd have to visit her eventually, she usually likes the company."  As the two moved forward, there seemed to be a grayish figure lying down on the roof.  Catlike,her ears were dark as soot. The 4 whiskers extending from her face were solid grey as well. Costello didn't know from where,but this was some type of Meowth.

"Oi! Maysi!", yelled Liam. The figure seemed to cringe in the distance. "Maysi! What are you doing on the roof? Shouldn't the bank be open by now?" The figure moved into a sitting position before facing towards the duo, putting her foot on the F that made up the sign, "Felicity Bank." 

"One. Kid, you are at a ten right now, I need you to take it down to a 3. Two. Bank is closed cause we're moving."

A look of shock took over Liam's face. "What do you mean moving?!  The A.E is still a pretty profitable place! If the Persians just wait- "

"That isn't the problem. I've had fun looking over your caretaker's money, of course, you white furry... thing."  Maysi sighed. "But the fact is, one mon's money does not a bank make. I'm more of a Grumpiggy bank than anything if I stick around. Besides the Persians had no influence on me, they've been begging me to move somewhere else for years anyway.  Besides didn't Bravi-

Liam shook his head. "Look, I'm sure in a few days someone will come, right? Besides, we just got Cos! Say hi, bloke!" Liam shoved the lizard towards the figure overlooking him.  

"Hey. It's Costello. No one calls me Cos."

The feline chuckled under her breath." And my name is Maya, which doesn't mean that nickname isn't gonna stick. Face it, kid, your friend just cursed you. Just accept it and it'll go over better."

Costello's eyes squinted at Liam before turning back up to Maysi. "I refuse the concept and will die on this hill."

"Then you better get to know the person prepping your tombstone. Liam! Go check out Mrs. Simisage's place. She's moving too and she might need help."

Liam was already facing the other way before Maya even finished the sentence. "Bloody hell, her too? What's with these people? That's 3/4ths of the town"

Costello tilted his head. "Shouldn't there be more people in town than that?"

"Nope, the Kecleons, Maysi, Mrs.Simisage, and us."

"Wait, that's it?"

Costello didn't receive a response due to the fact they were already outside a gate. There was also the fact that he was busy hunched over trying to catch his breath while Scorbunny pushed his way through. When the lizard finally caught his breath, he saw barren trees being plucked and moved with several vines and grass moving fruits as though they were conveyor belts. At the head of this citrus movement was a simian with a tail that resembled a flytrap and something resembling hair sticking up around the size of picked corn, with the yellow beads to match.

"Mrs. Simisage, what's happening? Why are you moving?"

The figure turned around to reveal a large pompadour of fur and eyebrows that stuck out in a bold look of tenacity that didn't match the soft eyes of age and the signs of experience near her eyes.

"Well Howdy little guy!" said the simisage. It felt like there was an apparent love of the work in her voice as she got those words out.

Liam seemed to lack the same lightness in response. "What. the heck. is going on!"

The simisage pushed her hand through the pompadour) Sorry, you had to find out this way but I reckon it's for the best. There wasn't much left for me anyway. Might as well reset. My cousins have a nice place set up around Rolling Meadows. Best for me to keep it moving at this point.

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"But there's no reason to! Embers is a perfectly fine place here! We're all family and we can all live here if we just give it some time. I'm sure that if we give it time and maybe just go out and see why people have stopped visiting, we can hold out.  

"Sonny, I've been grateful to Braviary for a lot of things, but if he's saying it's time to move, then maybe it's time to move."

Liam's face suddenly dropped as he struggled to get the words out.

"Braviary... he would never. We have to stay..."

"Did he not tell you? Oh my... maybe you should go talk to him."

Liam was already dashing towards the middle of town, back to the house. Costello looked over at Simisage and nodded. 

"Sorry for meeting under these circumstances.:

"It's all right, go meet up with your friend." Simisage nodded her head as the vines stopped filling fruit into the cart. Bless that one's heart, it's not going to be easy for him."

By the time Costello had moved back to the bell tower, he could already hear the sounds of fierce debate.

"Liam look, we were going to have to move eventually."

"No. If we just give it enough time, I'm sure that people will come  visit, and then everyone can live here."

"It's been 5 years, Liam. You have to admit that-"

"No! There's no reason to leave. We just need to wait, I'm sure that... that."

"Kid. I know it's hard and I know it's going to be a hard adjustment. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. And I'm sorry that I didn't get your input on this. "

"...We need to be here when they come back. I know that soon I'm going to change and I want them to still be able to see me before I become unrecognizable. Even if I do change, they'll know it's me if I just stay here."

"I'm sure they're gonna recognize you. No matter what you look like. Your soul stays the same, no matter what changes. 

"I think I need to take a walk, sir."

"...I understand."

As the Scorbunny stepped outside, the Treecko followed. In silence, they took a few steps to the guard booth.  Cos sat outside, hearing nothing but the rustle in the trees and the sounds of sobbing.  As Liam emerged from the booth, he held in his hands a package wrapped neatly.

"I'm sorry you had to see and I guess hear me like that." Liam wiped his eyes. " A bloke like me shouldn't be crying about a simple move."

"This place means a lot to you. You're free to feel whatever you want about it."

"Heh.  Sometimes you sound like you're teaching emotions rather than feeling them. You're a right oddity aren't cha?"

"This is just what I am. Oddity is to be expected from a Pokemon that woke up in the woods a day ago."

"Fair enough. " Liam sat down with his packages close to his chest. "I think I knew that eventually, we were going to leave. I just thought that there was bound to be more time. I've been here for 16 years. Waiting. To just see all our things packed and to be told that we're moving "

"Waiting for what?"

".... My parents. I'm sorry. I don't really wanna talk about them."

"Understandable. I have only been here for a day. Can't talk about your parents to a stranger."

"Are you that blunt on purpose or is that on accident??" 

"Nothing I do is on accident", responded Costello."

Liam's face couldn't resist curling up and laughing at that statement. 

"Thanks, Cos."

"No problem."

A few minutes went by as the stars slowly formed in the night sky before Costello ended up speaking.

"Were you going to wear those scarves for your Mystery Dungeon goal?"

"Never. They weren't mine to wear, just to keep. Braviary said that they left those there as a promise that they would come back and those scarves are proof that they can't forget."

"Got it. Do you want to go back to the house then? "

"Nah. Just tell Braviary I'll be back soon, I still need some time to get my head straight."

"Then I'll see you at your place."Cos pat Liam's back and went off to talk to Braviary.

It left Liam alone in the night, watching the stars shine in the sky, wondering aloud to himself.

"They're going to come back. They're going to come back. I know it.", he repeated himself. He looked down at the package in his hands. Slowly and deliberately, he unwrapped the paper and the wax sheets laid on top, revealing the letter and the drawing underneath. Contained within was a painting that showed creatures. One was a purple being with fur coming down from its arm, its hair spiked up on its ends. Their face was pushed into a smirk that could easily be mistaken for an invite for a fight, but within their eyes hid a story of both soft actions, soft words, and a big heart.   The other was of a white figure with a wide smile and eyes that yelled for activity.  A red crest atop their head and a blue fur covering their chest and spiking on their shoulders. Their entire figure was barely restraining themselves and looked as though multiple frames had been painted over each other, each a different position as if the picture was trying to burst out its frame.

Dear Liam or Jian. Happy Birthday. Your mother usually writes these letters since I apparently "express emotions like a bloody Magnezone." Don't believe her on this note. If any letter from her contains anything about Drampas and paint, don't believe that either. I had nothing to do with it and if anyone says anything different, their account of the story is flawed. Anyway, I have no way of predicting what or who you are and I have no way of telling who you will be. But I do want you to know that I'm sorry for all the time we've spent away from you. Your mother and I have some big missions to fulfill and there's a lot of responsibility on our shoulders. No matter what though, we will be coming back and once we do, I want to see you.  Whoever you are in the future, I am certain that you are someone who's going to be great. But even now, you are great. Always believe that, because I don't want to see a frown on your face when we meet properly. Family reunions should always be met with fond regards.

Forever with love. Yao Deng.

Never forget to keep on shining! Never forget your family no matter if you're connected through your Blood or Heart. 

Loving you always! Ada.

Small drops of water sparkled through the moonlight, each making sure they hit nothing but the ground leaving the canvas dry.

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