PMD - Cost of time

The Names

The team safely got back to the base, where Bayleef was introduced to Wave and shown around the place. They mentally adjusted to the situation they found themself in as much as they could in so little time, and tried their best to look forward to the hopefully good times ahead of them.

Everyone was in relatively high spirits. Tierra and Scarlet worked on making medicine out of the flowers they got, as the rest of the team hung out in the main room.

"I think we need some drinks!" said Cole.

"Hardly disagree," Tyke said.

"Ugh, why do you have to be so boring?"

"At least I'm not an alcohol addict."

"I'm not an addict, I can stop anytime. I just don't want to." Cole took a sip from a drink.

"How the fuck?"

"Oh, sorry, you want one too?"

"... sure."

The same was true for the others, and everyone got their own drinks; various different cocktails based on various different berries.

"So, like, you want to stay with us, right?" Cole asked Bayleef, already having a few drinks in him.

"Yeah, of course. It's not like there's that much else I can do."

"Well, we should get ya a name then! You don't want us to call you 'Bayleef' for the rest of time, do you?"

"Uhm… sure?"

"Well then, what kinda name do you want? I was thinking of something unique, like, uhh… Shaz… mik? Yeah, Shazmik!"

"What the fuck kind of name is that supposed to be?" asked Tyke, before turning to Bayleef. "Do you have any name in mind?"

Bayleef shook their head.

"Well, alright, let's think about this then. Most pokemon choose names related to their type, species, or personality. Let's start with your type, there has to be some good grass or plant related names-"

"I'm sorry, but choosing a name based on your type sounds incredibly cheesy," Bayleef interrupted.

"I'm not cheesy, you are!" Cole downed the rest of his drink and curled up into a ball.

"... That of course doesn't mean that those names are necessarily bad," Bayleef continued.

"Well, there are basically infinite possibilities, so we should probably try to narrow it down a little. Would you prefer a more masculine or feminine name?"

"I genuinely couldn't care less."

"... Fair enough, that doesn't really help us though."

"Shazmik would fit into neither of these categories. Maybe Cole was onto something," Blastoise joked.

"Let's just start collecting some ideas," Cole said, "like uh… Leaf... Ivy… Forest…"

"That's exactly the kind of name I don't want."

"Maybe we can find something that's important to you. Something you have some kind of connection to," suggested Blastoise.

"I've lost all my memories, I have no idea what things I have connections to."

"Sometimes, if there was something very important to you in your past, you might be able to find it somewhere in your subconscious. Just think about it."

And so Bayleef did. They thought hard about whatever they could muster from their past, any emotions, feelings, thoughts they felt like they had some kind of attachment to.

"... I got nothing."

"Oh well, it was worth a try," said Cole, "anyone else got any ideas?"

That's when Tierra and Scarlet returned, with a few small bottles and other things in hand.

Tierra put the things down in front of Wave and gave instructions for each: "rub this on your forehead, drink this, drip five drops of this in your working eye, and four drops of this in your empty eye socket."

Bayleef visibly cringed. "That doesn't sound very comfortable."

"Kiddo, I've just lost my eye, life in general aint very comfortable right now."

Tierra continued, "you have to do all of this twice a day, and also avoid stress and physical exhaustion. Did I forget anything?" She looked at Scarlet.

"No, that was all," she said and sat down. "So, what are you all talking about?"

"They're trying to find me a name," Bayleef said.

"You don't need to worry about that yet," said Tierra, "I recommend you take a few days to find yourself before making a decision like that."

Bayleef nodded. "Right… or, I could just go with Shazmik."

"What?" everyone exclaimed in either surprise or confusion. Or both. Mostly both.

"It has a nice ring to it," they explained, " and it's pretty unique. I like it."

Everyone took a few seconds to process what just happened, before Cole stood up, raising his fist in the air. "I knew it! Told you it was a good name!"

"... Are you sure you're not just drunk?" Blastoise asked.

"Pretty sure. And if I don't like that name anymore at any point I can just change it any time. It's not like it's suddenly written in stone or anything."

Cole fell back down in his chair. "Ugh, why do I have a headache all of a sudden?"

"... Go to bed," Tyke told him, and Cole immediately stood up and did as he was told. It was at that time that Wave also decided to leave the room.

"Talking of names," Tyke now looked over at Blastoise, "I've been thinking about one for you."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Blastoise asked, "Shelly? Tank?"

"Haban."

Blastoise raised an eyebrow. "... Like the berry?"

"Yeah."

"Seems kind of random, doesn't it?"

"Well, it's very… bittersweet. And I think that fits you."

Shazmik leaned towards Tyke. "Is this you trying to flirt? Because I don't think you're good at it."

"What? No! That wasn't-"

"I'll take it," Blastoise said.

"W-wait, what?"

"The name I mean. Has a nice ring to it. And it's pretty unique." Blastoise chuckled. "I don't see why not to go with it."

"Oh… A-alright, great! That's awesome!" Tyke fell silent. And the more he thought, the more reassured he felt. It always felt unclear how much longer the blastoise would stick around or if he'd decide to part ways any moment, but now it seemed much more clear that Haban was here to stay.

"Tierra," Wave's voice rang out from the other room, "could you come over please?"

Tierra got up and walked up to the small hallway where Wave waited for her. "What is it?"

Wave put a hand on Tierra's shoulder, which she pushed off. "I have to talk to you about something."

"Then why don't you tell me?"

He paused for a moment. "You'll be taking the role of the leader while I'm unable to, right?"

"Of course."

"And you think you can do that?"

"I'd like to think I've done a good job so far."

"Right… And would you be ready to take over for good when I'm gone?"