Oddyseus Adrift Chapter 3: Driftwood Blues

I hummed as I sat in the cell cross-legged, doing my best to meditate. Right now, Baba and the rest were talking about what I had told them. It hadn’t been everything: just enough for them to understand the basics of my situation. While they did so, I was under arrest, held in the villages sole jail, consisting of a single room building with a dirt floor and a single cell with rusty metal bars. Outside the barred windows, the earliest moments of dawn were finally arriving.

With me, on the other side of the wood-walled room, Tellah sat. The archer frowned as he watched me, sitting in a folding metal chair. My pokemon were all out among the people, helping how they could. Medical aid, rebuilding, pulling people out of the wreckage. Faust and Salty had set up an ad hoc pokecenter they were using to treat people using what potion they were able brew. Thundaga was working as a generator, helping power some of the village: the battle had knocked most of Keahous electricity out. Everyone else on my A team was on wreckage searching duty except Sam, leaving me alone with Tellah, who for some reason had been left out of the deliberation.

Finally, the man gave a sigh, stroking his reddish beard. “Alright, look, I’ve got something I need to get off my chest. For what it’s worth I’m…sorry, I yelled at you: without your help we probably would have been up a creek,” He said, awkwardly, causing me to cringe and softly inhale through the gap of my teeth. Crap. Sincerity. I wasn’t good with sincerity: I was good with humor, I was good with energy, I was good with sincerity. Nothing made me feel more awkward. .

“Oh, uh, no problem man,” I mumbled out, scratching my chin. “Look, for what it’s worth, I get it. Big disaster just after a weird suspicious guy rolls into town, one who detonates half your village using an unknown move…” Yeah, I wasn’t gonna say I liked it, but I got it: if I was in his shoes I…probably wouldn’t have done the same thing, but still. Plus, honestly, I was feeling guilty a little: while their town was under attack I grandstanded. Sure, at the time it had seemed fine, but now that they were pulling bodies out from houses showboating like I had felt extremely crass. That alone had probably earned me a yell, honestly: might have been fun in the moment, but learning that (at least) twelve people were dead made it a lot less fun.

Tellah let out a breath, mouth in a frown, giving a nod of acceptance: I couldn’t read his expression, but it felt...like relief, almost. For a little while longer, silence passed between us, and I found myself lost in thought. I hadn’t managed to get much from Baba and the others during my…debriefing, but apparently those things, those grimm were…

The best comparison was shadow pokemon, but worse. These Grimm…they were empty, soulless. The worst possible parts of the mind given a vessel, a nightmare given shape. They had no capacity for empathy, no capacity for joy or happiness, a complete lack of free will or even any desire outside of hurting humanity. They were almost like anti-pokemon, in a way, which was a concept that was just...

I just…couldn’t wrap my head around it, honestly: even back home, my original home, that sort of unthinking, instinctual malice didn’t actually exist. Things might not have been great in the state of the union, but you didn’t have to worry about getting attacked by shadow-monsters, just jerks, weirdos, and bigots. And on some level, I couldn’t help but think how miserable that sort of existence must have been: Grimm didn’t seem mindless, nor had they came across like unfeeling automata. Possessed of a mind and enough emotional capacity to understand hatred, frustration, anger, and fear, but without the ability to experience joy, love, empathy, or any of the other million feelings that made life worth living.

What kind of world WAS this?

A little while later, I heard the door to the building open, just out of sight from where my cell is. “Uh, Tellah, Baba wants you,” Came a voice, causing the guard to give a grumble, the short, stocky man standing up.

“You aren’t going to make an escape attempt are you?” He asked, hesitantly, gazing at me with reticence.

“Nah,” I admitted, willing to accept my sentence. “You’re good: maybe just send somebody by with my camping roll from my tent if I’m going to be here for awhile.” Tellah gave a grunt of acknowledgement, nodding.

“Yeah, I can probably manage that,” He agreed. “Rico, get the man his bedding please,” He barked, causing the other person to give a bark of acknowledgement.

“Yes sir!” They said, shuffling away, still riiiiiight beyond where I was able to see: the cell was larger than I would have thought but it was still positioned in such a way that you couldn’t see the entrance. Giving a huff of acknowledgement, Tellah quickly turned and followed him, boots trudging out of Keahou Jail, leaving me alone. I don’t think he liked me: probably wouldn’t ever, I mused. Sucks, but fair enough, nobody was obligated to like me, and he had at least been a big enough man to apologize despite his antipathy, and frankly, that was what counted.

Still thought he was kind of a prick though. I heard a rustling noise, and turning my head, I saw Sam float in, passing between the bars which had been sized to deal with occupants the size of a unruly teenager at most, not a Kartana. “Ah, Sam, Alola,” I greeted. “How goes detective work?”

“Alola, Doowtfird, gnihtemuos dnuof evah I,” He said, flicking something at me fast enough I was only barely able to catch it before it past past my head. “TsuD ti llac yeht,” he said as I brought the item to my face: dust, huh? It was a…crystal? A black gem, small enough to fit in my hand, that hummed with strange energies. Rolling it over my knuckles, I noted that it almost felt like an evolution stone, one of the absolutely most basic crystalizations of ambient energy. Focusing, I grasped the stone with telekinesis, lifting it, finding the gesture far easier than it should have been. Psychic energy was something I had trouble utilizing: anything heavier than a pokeball and I had to actually focus, and the heavier it got, the harder manipulating it got. I genuinely couldn’t lift anything heavier than a moderately full handbag, and while the star shaped crystal wasn’t the heaviest thing, I found it far too easy to make it levitate: and yet, it didn’t FEEL like psychic energy. It felt closer to…flying type, almost?

“Good job Sam,” I complimented: positive reinforcement, when your pokemon did good, you made sure to acknowledge it. Never let a job well done go underappreciated, and you’ll help cultivate a drive for excellence in your team. “You find anything else?”

“Eci kniht I ,cirtcele ,erif was I .sdnik rehto era ereht,,” He said, landing on my shoulder, and with my free hand I pulled out an emergency snake cake from my coat, handing it to the Kartana as an award, my faithful partner joyfully beginning to devour the treat. Interesting: fire, electric, ice. A local phenomenon? Some quirk of exotic energy crystallization, ala Terrestalization?

Frowning, I squeezed it gently, noting that it seemed to be…fragile: I could feel the energies inside ready to burst out if only a little more pressure was applied. Which was…also fairly similar to an evolution stone, funnily enough, though this felt way more volatile like a bubble just waiting to pop, and as far as I’m aware there wasn’t not a psychic evolution stone: the closest were dawn and dusk stones, and those were just as much normal and dark as psychic. Letting it fall, the stone fell to my hand, and I brought it to my nose, giving a sniff, before putting it in my mouth, biting it.

“...Did you just try to eat a piece of gravity dust?” Glancing to the side, I saw Baba, Tellah, and Vladi, all three of them staring at me in disbelief.

_________________________________

Driftwoods face was entirely blank for a moment, and Tellah was about to ask if he was okay before the man finally reacted, mouth sliding into a cheesy, relaxed grin. “I was actually doing important research. To understand the science, you must lick the science,” He drawled, removing the chunk of crystal, which was surprisingly un-damaged.

Tellah huffed: this guy was going to get himself killed. “Don’t…don’t do that. Don’t lick the science,” He said, raising his hand to his temple and rubbing it. “That is gravity dust. When broken, it causes a strong gravitic or anti-gravitic force.It is not for biting.”

The man blinked, eyebrows raising a bit as he realized how close he just came to death. “Duly noted friendo,” He responded placidly.

“Don’t call me friendo,” Tellah said, increasingly annoyed.

“Amigo?”

“No,” He said flatly, eye twitching.

“Brosef.”

“You are an ALIEN how do you even KNOW THESE WORDS?” Tellah finally exclaimed, exasperated. Seriously, did Driftwood go out of his way to be a clown?

Driftwood gave a casual chuckle, confirming the thought, and immediately Tellah realized that the alien scientist was going to be the biggest possible pain in the ass. “I am gifted with the blessing of comprehension by the Guardian of Knowledge. Metaphorically. So, Baba, what can I do you for?” He said, redirecting the flow of the conversation to the elderly frog faunus, who was currently seated in a wheelchair pushed by Vladdi, punishment for doing something as reckless as try to fight a Dagon head-on without backup: his daughter was assigned to help the woman with everything she required help with, which considering how bad her injuries were was a lot.

The village elder stared at him pensively, yellow eyes lost in thought for a moment. “Driftwood. You say you aren’t from this world?” She asked, and immediately Tellah watched as the energy drained from the man, who only sighed.

“Yup,” He admitted, voice lacking the easy tone he typically utilized. “I was working on improving our portal technology: it isn’t reliable enough yet for m- our purposes,” He explained, picking at his oddly callused hand for a moment before the tiny paper-man on his shoulder said something, causing him to give an awkward cough and place them in his pocket. “I’ll answer your questions within reason about the topic but please keep in mind that there is a LOT I can’t for reasons I really, really hope I don’t need to explain,” He pleaded, the first genuine moment of…vulnerability, almost.

Baba gave a hum. “This world and it’s mythical creatures, these…pokemon. How many do you have? Are they all as powerful?” She queried, causing Driftwoods face to shift the nature of its frown, a brief bit of puzzlement, before SOMETHING dawned on the man, causing his face to shift back to an easy grin.

“Oh, you thought when I said mythical creatures, I meant-” He explained, before cutting himself off with a cough. “Actually no, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Uh. Yeah, pretty much? I have a few starters and research ‘mons with me, but they aren’t going to see battle without a very good reason, and about the least battle capable one on my A team is Lucy. None of them except Destroyorah I’d say are championship winners on holistically in strategic terms my team composition is all over the place but…yeah.”

“Wait, the walking aura bomb is your weakest member?” Tellah responded, incredulous. THAT was the bottom of his monsters firepower? He MELTED a Dagon in one hit! He glanced at the paper-man, realizing the implication: that the tiny person he was looking at was, in the estimation of Driftwood, MORE dangerous than a lizard whose semblance had destroyed a chunk of town.

“The benefits of having a functional Z power-ring!” The man chirped, holding up his wrist to display what looked like a watch, almost. “This little baby lets even the weakest pokemon pull out some BIG moves!” He said, widening his arms out and bending over backward a bit to provide a physical demonstration of what he meant by ‘big’ before straightening out. “Much like my glasses and mega-phone, I never leave home without it.”

“Hey, could I-”

“No, Vladdi, you cannot have one,” Tellah said, flatly, interrupting his daughter, who huffed, put out, her ears folding backward in a display of annoyance. Okay, Tellah thought. That was…better and worse. Driftwood wasn’t walking around with a team of aura nukes, no, he just had the ability to turn them into one at will. Glancing towards Baba, he noted the elder likely shared the same thought.

“And…you have no way home?” The frog faunus croaked, clearly trying to feel out the situation before she informed him of the villages decision. “You are stranded then?”

“More or less, yeah,” Driftwood said, frowning briefly, before returning to his sunny disposition, placing his hands in his coat pockets. “Of course, my bosses, the Aether Foundation, are probably looking for me,” He claimed, doing his best to sound confident, but Tellah knew enough to recognize a man trying to put on a brave face. “If I’m lucky, they’ll be here in a few days.”

The unspoken alternative lingered for a bit: they might not be coming, at least not soon. Baba stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Well. If that is the case, we will deal with it when they arrive,” She said, having finally heard enough. “As it is, I’m afraid I have to inform you that you have been found guilty for destruction of Keahou property, both public and personal.”

The paperman let out a cry of anger, rapidly saying something in their strange, incomprehensible speech, even as Driftwood exhaled. “Y’know, fair enough. I did absolutely wreck half your town, and I’m a big boy who can take his lumps. What’s the sentence?”

“Community service. This town needs defenders and those willing to help it rebuild, and you and your…pokemon,” Baba said, voice stumbling over the unfamiliar word. “No doubt have useful skills for that. Now, we can discuss what exactly you are most comfortable- Why are you grinning?” She asked, caught off guard, alongside Tellah, at the sight of Driftwood positively beaming.

“Hot damn! I accept! Sam, bars.” The paperman briefly flickered, and a moment later the bars of the cell clattered to the ground, Driftwood stepping out of it to shake the surprised Baba’s hand even as Tellah’s jaw dropped at the casualness with which the man had ignored the bars. .

“If you could do that any time, why didn’t you?” He asked incredulous, causing the Professor to give him an odd look.

“Accountability, Tellah. I’m a guest in this world, and a firm believer in taking responsibility for my actions. I blew up a lot of buildings that could have been repaired,” Driftwood admitted, shrugging. “Frankly, I’m just thanking the Tapu’s that my little stunt didn’t hit a building anyone was IN,” The pokemon professor admitted, causing Tellah to examine him in a new light. Sure, he might have been a clown…but he didn’t seem like a bad person at least. The man clapped, sunny disposition returning. “So, let’s talk deets- You probably want to know my resume. I have a background in both childrens edutainment and broadcast television, worked as a teacher at Naranja, my specialty is special types and transformation effects, I know a decent amount of programming, I took a night class certifying me as a nurse joy though I think that expired last month, I won the gold at the annual Johto bug catching championship awhile back-”

“Uh, wait, did you say you once worked as a teacher?” Vladdi piped up, interrupting the man to Tellah’s relief: he understood exactly half of what Driftwood was saying, and the barrage of contextless information didn’t help. “Because one of Keahou’s teachers…” She was silent for a moment. “...Didn’t make it.” The group of adults in the room winced. Yeah, that was unfortunate.

“Yeah: technically speaking education is part of my day job as a pokemon professor,” Driftwood admitted, shrugging. “I do monthly lectures at Aether University, and- Well, like I said, also worked in Childrens Edutainment.”

“Seems like kinda a waste of talent,” Tellah admitted: all that firepower, wasted on teaching a bunch of kids? He flinched when this earned a glare from the professor, who apparently didn’t like the implication that learning wasn’t particularly useful.

“Hmm. Well, it isn’t like we would require him stand on watch all day,” Baba admitted. “Nor do we likely require his entire team. And my semblance has told me: good fortune if we take this path.Very well, Driftwood, until such a time as we find a better use for you or you pay back your debt to the village, you will be taking the place of the fallen school-teacher.”

The man gave a nod, clapping his hands together in an expression of glee, and suddenly Tellah felt a growing sense of dread. “Excellent. When can I start?”

_______________________________

Billy looked around the class; Keahou Schoolhouse, a collection of twenty one or so children and teenagers of various ages from the Village: they didn’t have the numbers or resources to do more than one classroom. Each of them were sat in the various wickerbound desks, the small student body listless, quiet. In the corner, Razzie was playing with a puzzle, the already gloomy looking rat faunus looking miserable, while Chick kept glancing to the windows, nervously, as if they were worrying the sky was going to fall on them at any moment. The mood was…bad. Some people hadn’t…

Well. Hadn’t made it. Nobody had really liked school, sure, but Mrs. Gooz hadn’t deserved to die, and while Jackie hadn’t been very funny, without him it was just…quieter. A lot of people didn’t deserve to die, Billy Gruff thought darkly, the teenager still having thoughts of last night replay through his mind. Only two people were gone from the school-house, but their absence still cast a shadow over the group. About the only one who looked excited was Vladdi, who had decided to attend Keahou’s one room school-house, the bat faunus practically vibrating in her chair.

“What’s got you so exited?” Billy snarked, finally growing annoyed with the energy the hunter was exhibiting. Why was she even here?

“OhmanohmanohmanYouwon’tbelievewhothey’vegotteaching-”

“”Jeez, calm down,” Chick said, the lanky teenager looking particularly low energy: he was, after all, currently homeless. “You got way too much energy,” He said tiredly. “What, is it Tellah? One of the other guards?”

Vladdi scoffed. “No, this guy is WAY cooler! Baba managed to get the guy who helped save the town working here, and-”

“Wait,” Interrupted Billy, flabbergasted. “Are you telling me the jerk who wrecked the village is-”

The door to the school slammed open. “Boom, baby!” A moment later, a short, somewhat huskier fellow literally rolled into the room, sliding forward on the heels of their shoes before coming to a halt. “Howdy, kids, my name is Professor Driftwood! I’ll be teaching your class for the next forever!” The man said, flicking out a pair of sunglasses and sliding them on, giving a wide grin Billy couldn’t help but describe as ‘painfully cheesy’, before snapping their fingers and making an extremely dramatic pointing gesture even as a flurry of small fireworks shot off behind him, exploding in a rainbow of colors. “Now, how would you all like to learn about the wild whacky world of Pokemon?”

…

“Did you just set off fireworks indoors?”