Chapter 21. How Shine Got His Groove
“Excuse me.” Tony pressed the record button and looked between the two. Curio crossed her arms, while Shine stared longingly at her, with a certain heaviness in his heart. He remembered what she was talking about.
“
Um, why’d you stop? We’re still rolling, aren’t we?”
“I’m terribly sorry. You just brought it up suddenly, so I felt like we needed to take a moment.” Tony sighed. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your father?”
“
Hold on a sec.” Curio leaned back in her seat and yawned, stretching her legs.
“I’ll get there soon enough. It’s nothing that sinister, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Then why does Shine--”
“
It’s fine, Tony.” Shine shook his head and sat upright.
“Let her get on with it. I see where this is going.”
“Alright, if you wish.” Tony pressed the REC button again.
---
(Before that happened, Shine told me a little bit about how he got his name. He said it came from you, but he doesn’t remember the exact details.)
Oh, yeah. We had quite a bit of fun coming up with that.
(But this naming part interests me a lot, as you've only named the other subjects by their species, except for Basil. I remember you saying a while back that for most Pokemon, names have little importance, so the fact that the staff would make you name yourselves stands out to me. How did that come to be?)
Huh. Yeah, I guess I could talk about that. At that point, we'd grown fully used to hearing human speech. There were still certain long words we couldn't understand, but since we'd mastered listening to them, it wasn't long before we started actually speaking it for real, which was the focus of the lessons for that period, for the most part. At the end of our class, Azzy presented us with this:
"Alright, students. I'm pleased to announce you'll have homework for the rest of this month!"
While I didn't fully understand the concept of homework, from the groaning reactions of those in the domestic group, it didn’t seem to be very pleasant.
"Aw, really teach?" Sneasel said. "Are you gonna make us read a book or somethin'? Do you wanna bore us to death?"
"No, no," Azzy said, "Nothing like that. In fact, you can do this in your own time. I want you all to think of names for yourselves. You can ask a friend of yours to come up with suggestions, or do it completely on your own terms, just as long as it's something you're comfortable using for the rest of your time here. Take my name for example."
He spelled out his own name on the chalkboard and broke it down into each of the sounds used in that word.
"Azzy is a nickname my own partner, Mackenzie, used to call me. I like it because it's informal and easy-going, so it stuck with me, and now, it's my official name."
"Excuse me, professor," Abra said, "But I see little point in this exercise. Names are human constructs, so why should we stick with those conventions?"
"Good question. Yes, names are largely something humans came up with in their own language system. We take a lot of things we see at face value, rather than what it might mean. I remember the time when I was a little ball of blue energy, and..."
Yeah, you get the picture. He prattled on about his old self, and I almost let my snout hit the floor, until he finally got back to the point of the topic.
"But anyway, my name gives me a sense of belonging. It lets me know my life has meaning, and that I'm my own Pokemon rather than a faceless Azumarill among many others. It's around this time many of you are starting to develop your own interests, and so, naming yourselves will help you carve out your own paths from here. When you've decided on a name, please let me know and I'll write it down. It would be better to come up with a unique name, so choose wisely. Any questions?"
I looked to Basil, the Lickitung, who seemed settled on a name long before he came here, so I raised my paw.
"Yes, miss Riolu?"
"Yeah," I said, "Why is Basil the only one with a name – why not anybody else?"
"Hmm, another good question. In that case, Basil, would you like to tell everybody how your name came to be?"
"Sure thing," he said, and went to the front of the class. He took the chalk in his own paw and wrote his name down with ease.
"It's kind of a funny story, this one," he said with a wide grin that showed even through his large tongue. "Back when I was with my trainer, she was into cooking. Even when we rested at a campsite on one of our journeys, she'd haul out all her cooking equipment and ingredients and whatnot, and of course, it wasn't before long I got into it as well. She'd walk it through with me, so I trained my paws to hold all sorts of utensils and learnt all the cooking processes, from boiling to baking. At first, my food would come out really bland, yet her meals tasted wonderful, so I wondered how she did it.
Of course, I couldn't ask, which is partly why I came here to learn how to speak, but I could guess. Anyway, while I cooked some pasta, I dug into her bag of goodies while her back was turned and pulled out a bottle of basil leaves to spice things up a bit. While basil can be used for pasta, spices are only good in moderation. So, while it still boiled, I ended up emptying the whole bottle in there, thinking it would taste as good as her cooking. Not a good idea.
When me and her tried it together, we immediately spat it back out. She said I used enough basil to turn the whole thing green. That stuck with her, and since she hadn't decided on a name before, she started calling me Basil, and it stuck with me. So that's my story."
"Heh," Sneasel snickered, "So because you did something dumb, your trainer ended up calling you something dumb as well.
Shithead would've been a better name."
There were a few laughs behind us coming from the human students that watched. That was the first time we heard a swear. He said it in the human tongue as well, as it’s untranslatable in our own language, and even though we didn't know how harsh it was, it sounded cutting, like he just ripped Basil a new hole just by saying that one word. Azzy frowned and walked up to snatch the chalk off of Basil's paw, probably to fire another one of his trusty chalk bullets, when he pulled it away. Even when faced off with someone like Sneasel, the Lickitung kept that friendly smile.
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid, looking back at it. I truly was a
shithead then, as you call it. Even if my trainer called me that instead of Basil, I still would’ve worn it honourably.”
Sneasel crossed his arms, looking rather deflated. I don't think he got the reaction he wanted.
“Never mind the fact that titling Pokemon after obscenities is illegal under Sinnohan naming laws,” Azzy said, “but congratulations, Sneasel. You’ve just earned an extra hour with me after class.”
“Aww. Wait, so that means you can’t name a Metapod
Pe--”
“Two hours.”
I mean, don’t act like you’d never consider it if you had a Metapod. They can use harden, after all.
(
Um, I believe we’re getting off track.)
Alright, I’ll shut up. So after that, I thought about everything I'd experienced so far, and started coming up with a list of names in my head. Dawn was the first choice, since I liked the character from that show, but I didn't really feel like Dawn, or a rising sun in an early morning. I thought back to my art, and thought about naming myself Crayon, then realised what a goddamned stupid name that was and went back to square one. So for a while, I brainstormed and got nowhere, even when I asked my group about what name they thought suited me.
"Beats me," Aipom said, "What about Rio? That sounds catchy."
"Nah," I said, "Kind of seems a bit easy. don't you think? It's like if I named Ponyta Pony."
"I don't mind being called Pony," she said, "If you want to call me that."
"Nah, trust me," Aipom said, "You're better off with something a bit less tacky."
"Ooh, ooh!" Buizel said, rising out of the water, "Whaddya think I should be?"
"Spitz, maybe?" Aipom said. "That's how you attack isn't it?"
"Aw, come on. That name sucks."
"Well I dunno, I’m tryin’ my best here!"
"Hey," I said, "I'm sure we'll come up with them somehow. We've got time, right?"
That was something they could all agree on. So days must have passed until we got our first session where we interacted with the human students. They were older than a lot of trainers that started out, I'd guess, but still quite young, maybe approaching their 20s. Though I didn't know how involved they were at the time, they all studied something similar at many different universities.
The things they choose to study there are kinda funny, now I think about it. Pokemon Studies, as I'd later find out, is an actual course that you have to pay millions for, just like Film Studies or Politics or whatever other thing that probably pays very little. Then again, look at me. It ain't my place to judge what these humans do, I guess.
Anyway, our first session was held in a lounge room which had scratching posts and couches and chairs and whatnot, where everybody had a seat interacting with their chosen Pokemon. The goal was to find out more about each other and just chew the fat in general. We were taught to respond with yes or no questions, since we weren't quite at speaking level yet, so I just listened for the most part as I was buddied up with this punk-dude named Lexy with black hair that stuck up like a spike. Despite his edgy appearance, he looked nice, and that smile probably could've melted even a Glalie's heart. The fact his aura radiated a positive vibe in general meant I warmed up to him rather quickly. He introduced himself, and I repeated it, breaking it down into its basic sounds.
"Yeah, that's right!" he said. Lexy brought a hand to my face before pulling it away, looking shiftily from side to side. "Sorry, I probably should've asked first. I try to be mindful of everyone else’s personal space. So, do you mind being petted?"
I remembered how nice it felt when the first human came to our island, so I nodded, and let him scratch my chin, panting as he worked his magic. Nowadays, I don't really let my guard down so easily with strangers. Kids, maybe. They almost always have that sense of positivity for Pokemon, but with most people, I have to know them well enough to let them get to that level. If you can take the hint, Tony, this means you’re almost at that level, but not quite. No offense.
(That’s fine.)
But yeah, he went through a series of random topics; just the usual icebreaking stuff like whether or not I liked it there, or whether or not I felt smarter for being there. I shook my head to that second one, but he just gave me a reassuring tap on the chin.
"I'm sure your time will come soon. From what I've been told, they have a lot of great things planned for you."
I just hummed to myself, when I noticed the bag beside him and pawed out for it. His eyes dilated as he noticed what I was doing, and he clutched his belongings for safety.
"Woah there. You're nice and all, but I've got a lot of stuff there I need to keep safe, like all my notes and papers. Plus, it's not really polite to go through someone else's things."
That was kind of a blow for me. I wanted to look like I knew what I was doing in front of those humans, so to have one to show resistance like that sort of killed the mood. His reaction was really sudden and jarring as well, which made my heart skip a beat. He must've seen the sorry look on my face, since he frowned and rifled through his bag.
"Sorry, I know you're just curious, that's all. I’ll try to find something you might like."
I know what you're thinking, and no, that's not where my name comes from. Not yet, anyway. So he looked through his bag for a while, which must've been bottomless, since it took a while, until he scrunched up his face at something inside of it.
"What the hell's this doing in there?"
He pulled it out to reveal some sort of contraption, which had many moving parts with gears at the bottom in a box-shaped container. He held it close to me and let me inspect it. That piece of junk was interesting to look at, as it had all sorts of pieces like pins, scraps of metal and porcelain doll parts cobbled together, and in all sorts of colours. What purpose it had though, I couldn't say. I looked at the bottom and saw it had a button, so I pressed it and it moved, which made my heart race, so I dropped it by accident. Luckily, it didn't smash, and just kept moving on its own, vibrating against the floor like some sort of motor went haywire in that mess of parts. Lexy knelt down to pick it up and narrowed his eyes at the strange machine.
"You know, I think I actually paid money for this. Must've been the worst purchase I made. I went looking in an antique shop for some old electric guitars, and found this thing, which I thought would look good on my desk while I worked, but never did anything with it. I don't even know what to call it. It's just some sort of curio, I suppose."
I also know what you’re thinking there, and no, it’s not quite that either. It didn’t click immediately at first, but I liked the way it sounded, so I recited it several times in front of him. It just rolled off the tongue very easily.
“Yeah, that’s right, it’s a curio, or a doodad, or a thingamajig. Anything you’d like to call it. Honestly, I don’t think I have any use for it.” He tapped the top of the doll head. “If you want, you can have it. I know it ain’t much, but maybe you could show it to your friends.”
“
Than’-kyu!” I said, slowly. I dunno. K sounds in between words and phrases usually tripped me up, but it was still a learning process.
After the session was over, I took it back to the garden, turning the object over in my paws over and over again. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something about the way it was constructed that entranced me, even though it was practically useless. Just the fact that someone can take these random objects and make something different from them. But I’d rather not waffle on about it too much. There’s still the matter of how we came up with our names.
One day at the end of a particular week, we pretty much had the whole day to ourselves, so I lazed about in the garden, as usual, but couldn't drum up the energy to do much else. Everybody else slept behind a tree save for Cubone, who stared off into space as usual, and so, there wasn't much point in bothering any of them. Let sleeping mons lie, after all. But my paws itched to explore more of the facility, since I figured I'd only seen a fraction of how big it truly was, and so I paced around for a bit by the door, deciding what I wanted to do. I wanted to see Shine and show him this gifted curio.
The thing was, at least at the beginning, we were told not to mingle with the other subjects for whatever reason. I guess it made sense in the long run, as I'd find out later the purpose of it was to make sure each subject interacted with other Pokemon of their own background for a while before being allowed to socialise with them, which made it easier for the bigwigs to do research on. Of course, most of it flew over my head at the time, but the 'keep to your own pack' part I understood. But we were allowed to mingle with the other Pokemon anyway in class, for better or for worse, so I didn't see much point in enforcing that. I had a rough idea of where each of their rooms were, so I ventured through the corridors, doodad in hand, and tried my best to look natural in front of the wandering staff.
Oh yeah, the corridors. They weren't easy to navigate at all. They were pretty to look at as they were decorated with all sorts of patterns and decals, most likely painted to add colour to the grey background walls, but there were a lot of them with not enough landmarks to make each area distinct. After wandering around for what felt like forever, I stumbled across a corridor leading to a door that had paintings of skyscrapers and gym buildings adorning the walls, like the ones I'd see on that show. I checked both sides to make sure none of the staff had snooped behind me, and the two opposite hallways were both empty. With that, I padded gingerly to the domestic room.
Gingerly. Now that's a nice word if I've ever heard one. Shame you don't really hear that many people say it in a real conversation.
I nudged the door open and had to adjust my eyes to the many weird things inside that room. There were many contraptions and possessions inside it that I didn't know the purpose of at the time, but can remember clearly now. Little sandbags for the subjects to train with, a small TV with some sort of purple cube connected to it, a dusty bookshelf filled with old tomes, and other gizmos and gadgets aplenty. I wanted to find out what purpose they all had, so it didn't take me long to sneak into the room, only for Abra to teleport in front of me and stop me in my tracks.
"Oh, it is you," he said. "What in all blazes are you doing here?"
"Well, I--"
"Do not answer that." He raised his paw and pulled me back with an invisible force. "You are not allowed here, animal. Go back to urinating all over your trees and rocks."
"Wait a moment! I didn't wanna disturb you guys, I just wanted to--"
Before I could finish my sentence, he pushed me outside and slammed the door on my muzzle. My body could move itself again, and with that freedom, I found myself reluctantly walking out of the corridor, trying to keep myself from going back to kick the door down. That Abra had always made little slights whenever we were in class together, mostly to do with my lack of book smarts, but that time, he looked down at me as if I wasn't even a Pokemon, but like some bottom feeder. But he was a Pokemon too, so that just left me confused and enraged.
So, as if I haven't stressed this enough, Abra was a massive dick. At least at the beginning, but whatever.
Since I was so far away from my base already, I thought I might as well've gone the extra mile and visit the last group. Now, it was a weird case with them, as I'd soon find out. I went looking for a corridor with its walls painted like the other two bases, but with the similar looking hallways, it was hard to find one that stood out. The more I trekked through each passage, the more I noticed my presence, as I started getting weird looks from the mediators walking by. My pacing slowed, making sure to look as natural as natural can be, then, to my surprise and disappointment, I saw Azzy peeking out of one of the passages further down. Since I didn't want to give up the search just yet, I disappeared into the nearest corridor I could find, regardless of where I was actually headed.
The walls were painted with all sorts of coloured checkerboards, with a door at the end. It wasn't like the other two bases in design, so I really didn't know what to expect from this. But I advanced through there anyway, and when I opened the door, there was that same sort of gaudiness in the room. The floor was covered in cushions and stuffed toys, some of which the Pokemon, particularly Buneary, played with in one corner. The Munchlax was there too, with his chunky body lazing on a pile of cushions. And there was Shinx, lying down underneath the lamplight with a few books at his side, and a fluffy white tail poking out underneath the bed of pillows.
He looked so peaceful, so content in that moment, whilst every other time I saw him, he either cried or looked afraid in some other way. There was that glow of his as well, like a field around him that sparkled, as light shined directly above him from the lamp. It was like a halo, or something like that. I stood there, not bothering anyone until Buneary came up to me, clutching some sort of doll.
"Hi hi!" she said, ears twitching, "Are you a friend?"
"Yeah, I guess." She didn't seem to mind me being there, unlike that yellow asshat.
"Yay! Yay! Meet my other friend!" She presented the doll to me, which looked just like the spitting image of a Buneary, except it was white and wore all sorts of tiny clothes, all pastel coloured and the like. It wasn't really to my taste. "She's called Milly! I'm Milly! We're both Milly!"
I chuckled, really at a loss for what to say. "Well, good for you, I guess. For now, I’m, er, just Riolu."
"Just Riolu! Just Riolu! Love that name!"
“No, that’s not what I--”
“Shall we play, Just Riolu?”
That took me off guard. I glanced over to where she was before, which had all sorts of dolls seated around a table looking thing. I wasn't exactly in the mood for a pretend tea party or whatever. In fact, I found the whole thing kinda creepy. Milly seemed like she was in her own world, far removed from the presence of others beside the room, but from what I read from her aura, she was perfectly harmless. Just an innocent Pokemon, protected from all the world's horrors, raised in a place perfect for those of her kind.
I just shrugged and went along with whatever she planned for me, so she squealed with glee and dragged me over to that table so she could introduce me to her other friends. There were inanimate objects, just like her own named doll, and yet they all had personalities of their own, each having their own favourite sort of sweets, their own favourite colour, and blah, blah, blah. It was all playing pretend, which I just accepted as I wanted to please her. It was fine back then, but now, I get a diabetic shock just thinking about it. Why does anybody, particularly girls, enjoy playing dress up with toys?
(Why do you enjoy making figurines?)
Eh, point taken.
So an hour of menial cuteness passed, and thankfully, the Munchlax woke up and took over for me, as he enjoyed playing with the Buneary much more than I did. I eventually rose from my cushioned seat but not before saying goodbye to Milly. She was already occupied with Munchlax, stuck in her own bubble once more. By that time, Shinx had woken up, so I went up to him and scritched behind his ears again.
"So," I said, "This seems kinda nice. The Pokemon here look friendly, at least."
No response. No matter what I said, the aura of emptiness still emanated from him. Something about this base was off somehow, but I didn't think to press about it yet, so I changed the subject.
"They've asked us to come up with names. I haven’t really decided on mine, but I have a few ideas. What about you?"
No response, still. I kept trying to break the ice.
"So nobody's come to help, yet, or are you still undecided?"
No response, yet again. I sighed, trying to hold back my growing impatience. He was a quiet guy, sure. That was fine. But at a certain point, after many weeks of hanging around with him and class, yet not knowing anything about him at all, I started to get desperate. He was one tough nut to crack.
You want to weigh in on the situation there, Shine? You’ve been quiet whenever I mentioned you.
(I’m good, thanks.)
Alright, but remember, this is your story as much as it is mine. Well anyway, I was about to sit next to him when the Pachirisu woke up, emerged out of the cushions and scurried in front of him, knitting his imaginary eyebrows.
“Whaddya want with him?” he screeched. His sudden entry made me jump a little, but I kept my ground.
“I just wanna talk with him, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t talk, really. I haven’t heard one peep from him since we both hatched. Listen, he’s not like you and me. All he wants is to be left alone, and in your case, it’s best to leave it that way.”
“Now wait a sec!” I pointed at the tiny rodent. “That’s not fair. I’ve been trying to help him all this time, and now, you’re telling me to just walk away? Why don’t you let him decide for himself?”
Now that set him off. Sparks started flying from his cheeks. “Because he can’t think for himself! He needs someone that knows him well to get him through the day, and you’re just getting in the way!”
“That’s not true!” Shinx shouted, leaving us two in shock. “S-s-she’s been a massive help to me!”
Pachirisu was especially wide-eyed. Surprise. Happiness. Guilt. All those emotions flooded through him. And with Shinx, sadness, yet determination; a far cry from the emptiness in his heart before. The electric rodent skittered over to him, dragging his tail on the ground.
“Sorry about that. I just don’t know what your deal is, since you’re so hush-hush.”
Shinx sighed and glanced at the wall to his left. “S-s-sorry. I don’t know how to express myself with words.” He looked back to me with that same quiet anxiety. “You can s-s-sit with me. It’s not much. I’m s-sorry.”
I took a deep breath and joined him and Pachirisu on the cushioned floor. It felt nice and plush with a different texture to the soft grass, though it was still man-made. Shinx took an interest in the object I held in my paw. “Yeah, it’s a bit weird, isn’t it? This human gave it to me, since he mentioned something about not needing it anymore. I dunno what it does, but I kinda like the look of it. He said it was a curio, or somethin’.”
He cocked his head at that phrase. I laid the object on the floor and glanced at his stack of books by his side, the top of which had a flashy cover with a robed Pokemon, similar looking to the Gardevoir, featured in the centre.
“Whatcha readin’?”
“Oh, nothing much. It’s kind of s-s-silly.”
“Silly?” Pachirisu intervened. “That’s awesome. You’ve got a Gallade taking down an evil empire and stuff, how is that silly?!”
“Don’t know. It’s n-n-nerdy. That’s what the others say.”
“Never mind the others,” Curio said, patting his head, “You can read, that’s great! I don’t really get it, but Mama used to read to me and I loved it!”
Shinx frowned. That might’ve struck a nerve, or something. I pulled my paw away from him, trying to gauge his aura. There was that same sense of emptiness again.
“It must be nice, to have a family,” he said in a low tone. “I wonder what that’s like. I heard you get calls from them, is that right?”
“Yeah.” I crossed my arms, thinking back to the last conversation I had. “Sometimes, it’s hard. There’s a lot of baggage, y’know. But I love them all the same. I feel so lucky, being able to talk to them from so far away.” I sighed, putting two and two together, and tried to think of the right way to approach Shinx’s dilemma. “Sorry. Did something happen to them?”
Shinx didn’t answer, but Pachirisu poked his head between us and stroked the other’s head.
“We were born here, y’know. The guys asked for eggs from the great outdoors and raised us here.”
“Oh.” I tried to wrap my head around the concept, until I came to a realization and sympathetically leaned into both of them. The static didn’t bother me. “So, none of you have parents?”
“It ain’t that. As far as we know, they’re doin’ fine. Either out in the wild or at breedin’ centres, apparently. That’s what we were told. We got fair treatment here, so it’s fine, I guess. No skin off my nose.”
“Then why does Shinx feel so empty? I get this, you know, aching from inside him and it’s been bothering me all this time!” My heart started aching as well. I couldn’t fathom not having parents or having anyone of your blood to imprint on at birth.
“I dunno. My tutor fills the gap just fine. He’s the same type as us, a Manectric. He’s pretty cool, I guess.”
“B-b-but, he’s--” Shinx broke away from us and started tearing up again. “He doesn’t treat me the s-same way as you! He respects you! I’m just, just weak!”
There it was again; that same self hatred I saw in Aipom. That emptiness was replaced with a potent sadness once more. I got to my knees and bashed my fists on the floor. “Enough! I’ve had it with everyone callin’ themselves weak! I don’t care about that; you’re just fine as you are!”
Shinx sniffled and retreated to the corner. That sadness still didn’t subside.
“I d-don’t get it, w-w-why do you care about me s-so much? I can’t hold my own in battle, I can’t get along with others like everyone else can, it’s just, just...”
Before he could say any more, I crawled over and cuddled him.
“C’mon, don’t be silly. Everyone came here from different places; that’s what Basil said. You know him?”
“Y-yes. He seems nice.”
“Well, listen to what he says. Don’t beat yourself up for it, just do you, you know?”
“O-okay.” I pulled away from him, and he wiped his face. “S-s-sorry.”
“Now stop saying that,” I said, frowning, “Nothin’ to be sorry about.”
“Sorry.”
I laughed and flicked his head playfully. “Aw c’mon, now you’re diggin’ yourself a deeper hole, Shine.”
“Shine?” He cocked his head. “I-I’m a Shinx.”
I paused. I didn’t mean to say that; it just sort of came out. Then I remembered Azzy’s homework. “You still lookin’ for a name?”
He nodded.
“Well, why not choose Shine? I saw you shinin’ earlier. And, and--” I rubbed my head excitedly. “And that means ‘do well’ as well, that’s what teach said! So how about it?”
His mouth made an O shape. He turned around, repeating the word to himself over and over, before he looked back and smiled, for the first time ever.
“Yes. I’d love that. And how about you? Aren’t you decided, yet?”
I shrugged. To my surprise, he jolted out of his place and sorted through the stack of books until he found one marked ‘DICTIONARY’. He flicked through the pages until he put a paw on one word in the ‘C’ category: ‘curio.’
“It’s supposed to mean a rare, unusual, and intriguing object, like what you brought as well, and is rooted from the word curiosity as well, which means a strong desire to learn something.” He eyed me up and down and smiled wide, revealing a cute set of fangs. “That really suits you!”
I recited it as well, thinking back to the session with Lexy, and then it finally clicked with me. I’d call myself Curio from then on. I howled that name in the room, and Shine joined in as well, until we fell on our backs, laughing. We got a few weird looks from the others that watched, but we didn’t care. We were just happy to name ourselves at last.
To this day, even after all I went through to get here, I still wear that name like a badge of honour. Throughout my life, it ended up gaining more meaning as I went through each day and survived each hardship, from describing the sort of stuff I'd go on to create to the many questions of the world I wanted answers to, I never lost my sense of curiosity. Most Pokemon like me would be too jaded to care anymore, but I held onto that feeling of wanderlust and never let go.
I hope you do as well, Shine. Thanks a lot for naming me. It might seem silly now, but seriously, props to you, mon, it meant a lot to me.
(You’re welcome. And I’m glad you made me remember how I earned my name. Thank you.)
Of course, someone had to do a Rain Dance on our parade. Azzy let himself into the room, probably startled by the commotion, and gave me a stern look. When I realised he was probably looking all over for me, I stood up and went to leave. Before I went through the door, I saw Shine maintained that goofy smile, and I was pleased to have finally turned that frown upside down. Pachirisu waved back at us.
“I owe you one, mon,” he said, “Thanks for cheering this sourpuss up.”
“Wait!” Shine exclaimed. “I’m not a s-sourpuss!”
At last, I made my way down the hallway with that blue rabbit.
"Am I in trouble?" I said.
"Well, normally you would be, but I'll let it slide for now. Don't go sticking your snout into the other bases from now on, alright?"
"Yeah, but I don't understand. Why aren't we allowed to go there when we talk to them anyway in our lessons?"
"I shouldn't say, but it won't be forever. At some point, you'll be able to talk with them freely, but for now, just stay in your own base."
I opened my mouth to say something else, but couldn't find the right words for it, so I gave up. Again, they wanted pure data from the groups in the first year or so, and although I didn't know that part, I reckoned they probably were doing it for something important, so I didn't press further.
“That Shinx named me, you know. I’m settling on Curio. How do you think that sounds?”
He smiled. “I couldn’t think of anything better suited for a mon of your kind.”
So there you have Shine's origin story, now. Not that he didn't already tell you bits and pieces, I imagine, but still, that's something I like to think back on every now and then.
(I see. So, do you feel like talking about your father now?)
Well, it ties into the rest of my family as well, so I sort of hoped I wouldn't get into that, but oh well. We're already this far, plus I kind of left you with cold feet with that before, so I guess I owe it now to tell you. But let me set the scene.
So I continued my lessons with a new-found energy after being named. Me and Shine hung out a lot more in class, and we’d often participate together whenever we were assigned to a task. We weren’t allowed to go to each other’s base, but I heard stories from him about how the Pachirisu took an interest in Milly’s doll clothes, and how the Bidoof would often start fights with the Munchlax over which cushion they decided to keep. I think the Starly took interest in Shine’s books as well, which I was pleased with.
So a month passed since the last conversation, and I waited for the call in the garden, picking out blades of grass as I waited. It just felt right, after so much that happened, since I’d be able to tell my family I named myself as well as the fact I made a new friend. But the usual mediator that brought the cell phone never came. At that point, I started to feel pent up, but kept waiting. There was still time. By the point it reached dinner though, my anticipation curdled into anxiety. That couldn’t have been normal.
As the bell outside chimed and the others started lining up to exit the garden, someone swooped in. It was Lucy, the Gardevoir, floating into the area with a pained look on her face. The frills in her dress swayed behind her as she rushed over to me. Her aura was that of dread and fear. My blood turned to ice. This couldn’t have been good news.
“Curio,” Lucy said, “I apologize, but please, come with me quickly. I need to tell you something important.”
