Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Seasons of Heaven

Episode 23: Rising Spirle

"Lute. C'mon, get up already," Naivie groaned. He didn't respond, so she growled and began to bash his head. "Get up dang you! Can the fate of Aseria really depend on such a lazy boy?"

Lute didn't say a word, but he did raise a paw. Without looking up from his slouched position on his bed, he caught her and tossed her aside. She hit the wall beside the door just as Esther tiptoed in. Naivie mumbled a curse as she sank to the floor.

"Naivie?" Esther said.

She looked around the room and downed her ears at the darkened tone. The curtains were closed, some belongings were scattered on the floor, and there were three bowls of untouched food. What was cooked had gone off, and what wasn't had gone hard from being left out in the open.

"Geez, you haven't eaten a thing in so long, Lute. You must be famished. Can't do anything if your tummy has the rumblies, can you?" Esther joked.

"Go away," Lute replied, his voice muffled by the bedsheets.

"Na-uh-uh. Not until you eat this freshly made—"

"I said go away," he raised his voice. He got up in a flash and kicked her, making her drop the plate in her paws. She fell backward, in shock and covered in sauce. He didn't bat an eye at it however, and went right back under his blanket.

"Lute, if you keep that up we're gonna run outta food," she said, a slight shudder in her voice. He didn't answer. His tail didn't even move. "I know you're hurt by everything that happened, but come on. You can't stay like this. Everyone's worried about you. We need you."

He was quiet for a while. "You don't."

"We do! We dunno where Kuri is. And he wouldn't help us even if we made him, you know he won't. So our legend's at a standstill until you decide to get up," she said. He still didn't move. "Those evolved Risen have been showing up all over the place now, too. They're doing all sorts of stuff. Stealing, breaking into shops, attacking Pokémon... and they're super tough to take down. Whatever Spirle are doing, they're making their moves now, ya'know?"

But he still didn't budge. Not a twitch. Even when she started to growl. "Alright. I've had enough of this. It's been two weeks, Lute. Two weeks of sulking alone in here. Not even Infia was this weak. And I sure as hell didn't fall in love with someone who'd get beaten down by something like this."

That got him to move, although it was only to roll over to face her. She was stern and stiff, with her paws curled into fists.

"Like, I get it. You're a literal product of society. All other Pokémon want from you is what you can do for them. And your reason for being created is nothing but gross, too," she said. She kept as still as she could while she spoke, but little shakes of tears came through her voice. "I've seen it all before. I could've stayed an idol until I was unpopular. Phoenix could've stayed as Spirle's test dummy. Infia could've been labelled Victoria's defect, too. But we all moved on, ya'know? None of us are gonna let others decide who we are. Only our feelings are allowed to choose that."

"All I care about right now is how much I hate how everything has turned out," he said, half lidded and empty. "I just want to destroy it all. I don't even want to be alive."

"Then why did you save Sophitia? Why didn't you let her die? Why didn't you destroy Marina?" She grit her fangs.

Lute had to think about that one, and turned away. Besides these regular visits from his friends, nothing else had happened since the reveal, so everything was still fresh in his memory. He remembered drowning and magically recovering from it. It felt like torture, deprived of breath until his body ached from head to toe.