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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Worlds

Chapter 10

Lance glares at the sloth, watching as he sets Moto down on the ground and leans him against the tree trunk inside the shelter. He looks back and forth from the sleeping crocodile and Viggy, finally locking eyes with the sloth. "What happened?"

Viggy shakes his head and motions to the wounds on Moto's chest. He'd received them from Sceptile during their escape two days ago, but they've been reopened and crudely patched.

"What...happened..?" Lance asks again, growling as the rain starts to pick up outside. Water leaks in through the shelter, and Lance goes the spot he'd dug out under the propped up log to keep himself and his cast dry.

The sloth holds up a pair of claws, then makes a slow slashing motion, and finishes by pointing off toward the east.

"Attacked by Sceptile? They found us?"

Viggy shakes his head, holding his palm facing downward.

"Grunts then."

Viggy nods.

"Does that mean they know where we are?"

Shaking his head, the sloth makes a wide motion with his hands, then nods.

"So they know the area, but not where specifically." Lance looks over at Moto. "Which means we should get moving soon before they find us."

Again the sloth shakes his head. He points at the small crocodile. The wounds in his chest have stopped bleeding for the moment, but he is still unconscious. With a sigh, Viggy turns back to face Lance and makes a series of motions with his hands.

"All right, go," Lance says, waving him off. "I'm stuck here until the rain stops anyway. And I wouldn't know what supplies to look for. The only other time I've seen wounds or bones get wrapped was on myself," he taps his cast on the floor, "and my father."

Viggy smiles and motions that he'll be back soon, and then leaves through the bush hiding the entrance. Lance stares after him for a few moments before letting out a huff. "Damn it!" he growls, slamming his paw on the floor.

---

"All right. So is there anything particular you want to do?" Moto asks. The blue and gold colored Pokemon settles in a little more and presses back against him. Moto knows something is on his Pokemon's mind. Something unsettling enough to throw off his concentration during training. As much as Moto wants to talk about it now, he knows Nicky will bring it up when he's ready. The Pokemon leans his head back and Moto tightens his hug around him before continuing. "Or do I get to decide again like always?"

The sun bares down around them in the forest clearing. Even the ground beneath him feels warm despite being in the shade of the single tree in the center. He is sweating, and his shirt soaked from their training just moments ago.

Nicky shrugs. "Let's go swimming. It's hot out here," he says without words. Moto agrees with a nod of his head, and the pair stand up and start the walk home.

The heat rising from the concrete roads and sidewalks of Moto's neighborhood distorts the air making the ground seem like water, only for it to harden as they draw near it. When they turn the corner to their street, they can see his parents pulling out of the driveway.

"They're leaving already?" Moto starts to run, his Pokemon keeping pace with him. They are unable to catch his parents' attention before they disappear around the next street corner. "Huh..." Standing in the driveway to his house, Moto stares in silence.

The blue and gold canine places a paw on Moto's shoulder and smiles. "They probably left a note. Got called into work early again."

"Yeah probably. C'mon, let's get out back before you fry," Moto says, hopping from foot to foot before giving a light jab to his Pokemon's arm and making a hissing sound as he holds his fist against him.

Nicky grins then pushes the hand away from him. "Beat you there!" In an instant, he starts running. He goes for the side of the house and instead of going through the gate, simply leaps over the fence.

"No fair, you got a head start!"

Moto runs up to the gate and fumbles for his keys. He huffs, and then climbs over the fence. By the time he reaches the backyard, his Pokemon is standing beside the pool tapping his foot with his crossed.

"If you didn't stop and just jumped, you could've made it over more easily."

"Yeah, yeah, always training me." Moto goes to one of the chairs and removes his shirt and pants, leaving only his boxers. "And you forgot one thing too, y'know."

Nicky lifts an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Not to let your guard down." Moto throws his socks in the air and tackles his Pokemon into the pool with a tremendous splash.

When they surface, Nicky dunks Moto back under the water.

Moto splutters as he comes back up. "So I got you for once, don't be such a Krabby."

Nicky smirks. Their gazes meet and they stare into each others eyes for a moment. The Pokemon grins. Before Moto can react, Nicky is on top of him and dunks him under the water again.

For hours the two play together. Splashing, dunking, having contests to see who can make the biggest splash while jumping in, and taking a break as needed to catch their breath. Moto knows that through all of this, his parents would normally be telling them to settle down. But this is their weekend, their time to do as they please, and they are going to take full advantage of it.

It isn't until Nicky climbs out of the pool and walks toward the house that they stop playing. He shakes, his ears slapping against the sides of his head. His tail gives one final flick when he stops, the droplets landing on Moto's nose. Finally the Pokemon sits down in one of the chairs. "It seems like forever since we played like that." He smiles, and Moto can see his Pokemon's gaze slowly turning toward the horizon.

"I guess so." Moto gets out of the pool and follows Nicky's gaze. With their house on the edge of the neighborhood, he can see the mountains off in the distance. The trees covering them glisten with varying shades of green and yellow. A flock of Pidgey fly overhead toward the mountains, cooing as they pass by.

Along the base of the mountain is the city where Moto's parents work. They should already be in their laboratories by now, doing whatever it is they do. His parents don't talk about their work much. They moved out of the city not long after Moto found Nicky, still in his pre-evolved state. His parents said it would be better for an aspiring Pokemon Trainer to be near the woods rather than surrounded by buildings. Moto didn't care where they lived, so long as he and his Pokemon were together.

"Nicky, what's wrong..?" Moto says after a long silence as he scoots a chair over and sits down beside him.

The Pokemon jumps, shakes his head, then offers a small smile. "It's nothing to worry about I'm sure." Standing up, Nicky straightens up his shorts. His shaking did nothing to get them dry, and the extra weight forces him to hold them up with both paws. "Door please," he says, his shorts making squishing sounds as he walks toward the door.

Moto gathers his clothes and then stands by the door. "You know mom would kill us if she saw you walking through the house with dripping wet pants on," he says as though he were scolding. Seeing the frustration in his Pokemon's face, he grins and leans forward. "So guess you'd better keep it a secret then, huh?" When he opens the door, the air conditioning immediately sends him into shivers. "Wow it's cold in here! Let's get changed."

Heading upstairs, Nicky goes into the bathroom with the wet clothes while Moto heads to his bedroom. As he is changing, Moto realizes he never heard the bathroom door shut. "He always shuts it. Weird." He goes to investigate, and sure enough the bathroom door is wide open and Nicky is still inside. Nicky stands by the shower rod, smoothing out his shorts as neat as possible like it were a precious item.

Something really IS wrong... Moto watches his Pokemon a short time longer before finally removing his boxers, and hanging them up beside Nicky's shorts. "There. Now our clothes can dry together too," Moto says, and sits down on the toilet lid. Instead of passing Nicky a towel, he pulls his Pokemon into his lap, the wet fur sticking to his bare skin as the smell of wet dog tickles his nose. He fights away the coming sneeze and begins drying his Pokemon.

Nicky doesn't fight being pulled in or rubbed down with the towel. Drying each other off is normal for the two of them, though doing so while sitting down is new.

"So," Moto starts, rubbing the cloth around the spike of Nicky's chest, "what do you wanna do next?" Moto can't help but look down when he rests his chin on the Pokemon's shoulder. His eyes flow along the length of the gold fur of his torso, down to where the gold meets the black stripe that is his waist line. They continue to look farther down to between his Pokemon's legs. Moto swallows.

Nicky turns around in Moto's lap and looks at him. "What's wrong? You seem nervous."

Moto's cheeks turn red with blush. What am I thinking? I almost... "I'm ah...just getting a bit hungry I suppose. Got distracted. What uhh...what would you like for lunch? Anything you want."

Nicky lowers his nose, but continues looking into Moto's eyes. "What's wrong? You're not this tense when you dry me off usually. And you're blushing," he adds, reaching toward Moto's cheeks.

"I-it's nothing, I swear." Moto stands up suddenly "I'm...gonna go get some clothes." He heads back to his bedroom and hastily finds a set of mismatched clothes. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he mumbles. "You almost touched his... He would Aura Sphere you into orbit, you stupid idiot, Moto!" Flopping down on the bed, Moto lets out a forced huff.

"Moto?" Nicky stands in the doorway tilting his head. "You said you were hungry?"

Moto didn't hear his Pokemon projecting his thoughts to him, and it's not until Nicky gives a short yip that Moto finally responds. Even though Nicky is a Pokemon, Moto finds it strange to see him essentially nude outside of the bathtub. "Er, yeah. Umm..." He clears his throat and stands up, avoiding looking toward the blue and gold canine. "Anything you want," he asks as he squeezes by the Pokemon and starts downstairs.

Nicky runs passed him on the way down and reaches the kitchen first. Moto enters the room to see his tail poking out from behind the refrigerator door. It shuts a moment later, and the canine goes into the pantry.

Nicky's tail lifts and stiffens behind him. "Perfect!" He spins around holding a jar of spaghetti sauce. "Pasta!"

"Pasta it is then!" Moto motions for Nicky to set the jar on the counter and then grabs some noodles. As he passes by the table, he spots a hand written letter on the table signed Mom and Dad. "Must be the letter saying why they left."

---

Moto groans and touches his hand to his chest where there's a stabbing pain.

"Welcome back," a voice says nearby.

Moto opens his eyes to a blurry world of brown and green with a single yellow and white blob moving about close by. Moto wipes his eyes and blinks, bringing his vision back into focus. "Lance..?"

The Jolteon nods. "How are you feeli-oof!"

Moto jumps forward and squeezes the electric fox tightly. "I'm sorry, Lance! I was just so confused and scared and-"

"It's all right," Lance says as he wraps his good paw around Moto's shoulder. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Viggy. Where is he?"

Lance motions toward the opening in the shelter as they separate. "He went to get supplies to bandage you up properly. Apparently you met some of Sceptile's goons?"

Moto nods. "Yeah. Two ground types."

"Goody."

"They're something else, Lance. They...I dunno. They were on a whole different level." Moto shakes his head. "The big one shrugged off my Water Gun like it was nothing. If it weren't for Viggy, I'd be..."

"Moto..."

Moto looks up.

"I'm glad you're safe." The electric fox leans in and holds Moto tightly once more and rests his head on the his shoulder.

Moto's breathing stops as he is hugged. He lets it out a moment later as he returns the embrace and closes his eyes. "Me too, Lance..."

They remain holding each other in silence for several long moments before Lance finally pulls out of the hug.

"Is something wrong?" Moto asks, tilting his head at his friend.

The fox hangs his head, looking away. "I..."

"Lance?"

"I owe you an apology," the fox says at last.

Moto tilts his head again. "What do you mean?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you about something." Lance breathes in a heavy sigh. "It's my fault you got hurt.

"No it's not, Lance. I-"

"Yes it is!" Lance snaps, causing Moto to jump

"But-"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. Forget I said anything."

"Lance, you didn't cause this." Moto starts to stand. "I jumped in to help you by my own choice. This isn't your fault."

The fox shakes his head. "You're wrong, Moto."

Moto's breath catches again as Lance's eyes pierce through him.

The electric fox blinks away tears forming in his eyes as he turns away again. "Moto, I..." He sucks in another long breath. "You remember when we first met, the question you asked me?"

"I think so." Moto rubs his chin between two fingers, looking up at nothing. "Something about asking if you were some kind of criminal, right?"

Lance nods. "That's right." Turning around, Lance squares himself up with Moto and faces him directly, then sits down on his haunches. "I told you that I wasn't, and that's not entirely true."

Moto swallows hard. "What do you mean?" Lance gulps as well, and Moto can see the fox trembling. "Lance, you can tell me. I haven't hidden anything from you, and I'd like the same treatment in return."

Again the fox hangs his head. "You're right, I'm sorry...I..." He gives a short huff through his nose, closing his eyes. "The day you saved me, I knew who was chasing me all along."

"You knew?"

It was Sceptile's gang. I...but it's not for a reason you might think."

Moto folds his arms in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me? I mean...I may not have been able to change anything, but I could have at least been more prepared." Moto shakes his head. Sceptile's gang has always attacked Pokemon without a reason. It's why the forest is so empty. "Why? Why were they chasing you?" Moto asks at last.

Lance still doesn't make eye contact. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew you wouldn't trust me if I did. But I was desperate for help," he says, his head hanging even lower. "You're the first Pokemon I've met in years, other than my own family that actually seemed to care about others. So when you asked if I was some kind of criminal, I lied to you. I didn't want to be alone...Not with them hunting me..." A single tear rolls down the fox's cheek and absorbs into his fur, his body starting to tremble. "I...I'm terrified of water, you know that. I did some research and found out about an item called a Weather Band. I told you before that it negates the effects of weather, which is why I stay dry in the rain.

"I happened to see Sceptile wearing one one day, and I...I had to have it. As soon as I had the chance, I snuck in and I took it. Probably the worst Pokemon to piss off, and I did it anyway. Against my family's advice, against my own judgment, and all it did was get me into trouble and get you hurt. And if Sceptile gets his claws on me, or you, or even my family..." He looks up into Moto's eyes finally, tears starting to fall freely from his eyes as he talks. "I'm sorry, Moto...I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt anyone. I...Please don't..." He clenches his eyes shut and grits his teeth. "I wouldn't blame you if you did, but please...don't leave me, Moto... You're the only Pokemon I've ever trusted or cared about other than my family...I love you, Moto..."

Moto listened in silence, his eyes shifting from the scarf back to the fox. He opened and closed his mouth several times to speak, but held back as Lance continued. So that's why he seemed so distant since he saved me... This was what started everything in motion. A deep anger rises up from his stomach, his hands clenching into fists. He wants to be angry with the fox. He wants to lash out, to tell him how hurt he is by not being told the truth. And yet... Lance didn't drag me into this, I did. He wasn't entirely truthful, but I can't say I blame him when he was being hunted by Sceptile.

After a long pause, Lance's breaths start to come in short stutters as he looks back up at Moto. "Say something, please. Say you forgive me! You hate me! Yell at me! Something..!"

"Lance, I..." Moto sighs and shakes his head, then steps forward toward Lance. The fox flinches as Moto turns around and plops down in front of him, then leans back against him.

"Wha-?"

"I'm gonna get you used to water, and get you over that fear of yours." Moto can feel the fox freeze behind him.

"Moto, I.." Lance swallows again, pauses, and then finally nuzzles into Moto's neck. "Thank you...and...I'm sorry...I wanted to tell you, I...I was just too afraid..."

Moto pulls away and turns around to face the fox. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Lance. I'm angry. Not because you stole from Scpetile, but because you didn't tell me the truth. It really hurts hearing you say you lied to me about it."

"I won't ever do that to you again, I promise..."

Moto scoots forward and hugs Lance once more. "I hope there are no more secrets, Lance. I don't like secrets."

"No more secrets. Paw to Arceus," Lance says, raising his paw.

The second promise makes Moto cringe. I'm sorry too, Lance. Now that I know the truth, I have one secret that I have to keep as well. But you'll try to stop me if I tell you. If I succeed, then we won't have to worry about any of this ever again.

"I am...so sorry..." Lance says with a whimper. "I was just so afraid you wouldn't talk to me again, and...after everything that happened, I was going to wait until you were better to tell you. I wanted to wait until I knew you'd be safe if you left me." Lance shakes his head again. "Viggy even tried to get me to tell you before you left earlier, and I told him I couldn't yet."

The Jolteon nuzzles against Moto's cheek. "You truly are amazing, Moto. I'm glad...honored, to be your friend." With a large, tongue curling yawn, Lance moves to lay down in his dry spot and stretches.

Moto tenses at the fox's words. A knot forms in his stomach as he follows Lance and sits back down, leaning against him like the he leaned against the wall in his bed when he couldn't sleep.

"I'll always be there for you Moto," Lance says, reaching out with his paw and resting it on Moto's thigh. "No matter what."

"I'll be there for you too, Lance." He turns to give the fox one final hug, but the fox has already fallen asleep. Moto shakes his head, reaching out to gently pet him. "You must've been awake this whole time waiting for me..."

Moto sighs and turns in place. "I'm sorry, Lance." He reaches out and carefully unties the Weather Band around Lance's neck, and slips it off. He then gets back on his feet and stares down at the Jolteon, sleeping soundly with a small smile on his lips. "When I get back, this will all be over." Moto gives Lance another short pet between his ears and then goes outside.

When he steps out, he instinctively covers his head to protect him from the rain, only to realize that he is still dry. "Wow, this thing really works." Shrugging, Moto starts walking, headed in the direction of his cabin. I'm going to give Sceptile what he wants, and then everything will stop.