Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation

Chapter 26 - Isolation

"Enet... that's your name. Right?" Owen said, careful to not speak too loudly. The Electric Guardian, feral? A wild Pokémon? How was he supposed to work with that?!

The Zoroark stared uneasily at Owen. The Charmander was never good at reading wild expressions. Was she afraid? Happy? Defensive? Angry? It could be anything. Their culture was entirely alien to him, if he could call it a culture... Maybe it was just instincts. Oh, if only his perception wasn't so dulled as a Charmander. Maybe he'd get a better clue. He just had to guess. How would wild Pokémon normally behave?

Owen took a careful step forward. Perhaps not the best move, Owen considered. He saw the Zoroark tense and he reversed. "Sorry," he said. "Enet?"

Her ears flicked.

"I'm... I'm a friend. Oh, um..." Owen carefully moved his arms. Enet watched every movement, especially when he put them into his pouch. Slowly, making sure he made no sudden movements, he pulled out an apple. Enet lost her tension when she saw the red fruit, but still stared uneasily.

"Here." Gently, he rolled the apple toward her. It stopped a few inches from her feet. Without taking her eyes off of him, she reached down and held the apple, tentatively sniffing it. She took a bite and lost sight of Owen for only a split second. Immediately, she looked back at him; Owen sensed her aura flare with panic at just that moment. When Owen didn't do anything, Enet's tension faded, but not as much as before.

He took another step back, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. But what would she be afraid of? She was at least thrice his size... Maybe it was his flame. But if he transformed now, it would just startle her.

"I—I'm not gonna hurt you," he said. "I'm here to help. Okay? Enet?"

"Enet," the Zoroark finally repeated.

Oh, thank goodness, she can actually talk! Owen tried not to look too excited.

"Yeah, Enet," Owen said. "Do... do you know that's your name? Enet—if you know that, and you can say your name—does that mean you can actually talk?" It wasn't so helpless after all. Still, she was definitely wild to an extent...

The Zoroark took a long time to answer. She was halfway done with the apple. "Talk," she said. "No."

"I—I mean, you can kinda talk," Owen said.

Enet growled.

"S-sorry, I didn't want to patronize or anything..."

Enet growled more.

"What?" Owen squeaked. "I—I'm sorry!"

Enet chomped on the last of the apple and turned around in a huff. She started to walk away.

"Enet?"

She wasn't watching him anymore—did she feel safer?

"Wait!" he called, walking after her, just fast enough to keep up, but not get closer.

The walk was surprisingly long. The Zoroark made specific turns; they seemed random, but Owen had a feeling she knew where she was going. Every so often, Owen spoke up, but Enet would usually only reply with a huff or a growl. It wasn't until at least several turns that he actually got a meaningful response.

"Um... so you're the Guardian? Electric?"

Enet huffed and flicked her tail. Little sparks flew from her fur.

"Wow! Yeah, that's it alright... Cool... I'm the Grass Guardian," Owen said. "See?" He waved his hand, turning it green.

Enet wasn't even watching, and more silence ensued between them.