Many Songbats

The lines of redwood trees slowly thinned as the little, makeshift trail turned into a dirt road, then gravel. Zane was stumbling forward, what had been the excitement of traveling before the sunrise now turning into a pressure in the backs of his legs and his feet. He almost fell over when he saw the first little, wooden homes of another town appearing before us.

The highway curved around the outside of Frond Town, and it would continue through the westward mountains to the coast. The next gym was nestled in the redwoods within a march of the shore. That was Jubilee City, our most natural target. From there our route would nip southward along the Ocean Crest and finally east into the Maestro Desert. In all that we’d reach the first six gyms, then we’d have to backtrack to the last two.

I’d only been once, in my life, to this Frond Town. It was a stopover between stopovers. Chii made a point of not going to the same restaurant as the rest of us. She excused herself that Nyaro couldn’t carry in her half-a-Wizzel. I doubted she could bring that in the other establishment, either. Zane, of course, chose the little, orange-and-yellow Clownstar Burger. It had been one of my guilty pleasures when I was able to eat meat.

“See!” Zane pulled a flimsy piece of green-and-gold plastic from the bag. It was vaguely racecar-shaped. “It comes with a toy!”

I nodded slowly. “Why do you think I want that?” I mumbled.

“W-well, it’s cool, isn’t it!” His cheeks went red. I blinked, unsure if he was talking to himself or if he’d really understood what I was saying. He watched me, “I-I mean… It’s free if you buy the combo, and I don’t really want it or anything… but it is free!”

I silently returned to my salad, making a point to chew as loudly as a rake while looking out the window like I was stargazing within the morning clouds. I gulped, then lay back and put my paw against the fur on my stomach. Finally, I pretended to notice him again, “It’s just a stupid toy.”

“Here.” He rolled its squeaking wheels toward me. I flicked it back with my tail, twirling it through the air until it clattered back down against the table, somersaulting toward the edge. Zane snatched it, “No! It’s for you!”

“Bianca, are you mad at me?”

“What?”

Zane’s words spilled out of his mouth in a dreadful, unarticulated slurry, “Oh, you’re confused… I think… Well- I mean, I mean… You ran away that one time, and now you don’t… Well, you…” I rolled my eyes. He flinched, “Is it because of that one fight you lost? Is it because of the battle with Pebble? I’m confused!”

I hopped up onto the windowsill and softly yawned until a little squeak shook out of my throat, “You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“I won’t what? I didn’t have…” He mumbled, trying to interpret what I was saying. My ears perked up. Even when I was a trainer, it took me much longer than a couple of weeks to understand what my Capmon were saying.

My fur bristled, “You have a long way to go, Zane.”

He slammed the toy car back down in front of me, “I order you to take it, Bianca.” I shook my head and pushed it away again. He rolled it back, “Because I’m always trying to get better. Because we’re friends.” The badge Pebble gave him was pinned to his chest, sparkling in the sunlight.

The gravel footpath continued past the edge of town and toward a cave tunnel that would slowly drag us out to the opposite side by the highway. The last barrier before Jubilee City. Signs outside of the cave were marked with skulls and crossbones. “Apply Songbat Repel before entry!” and “Weak Trainers Beware!” and “Keep small Capmon within Capture Balls,” I tried pointing them out to Zane who pleasantly ignored them.

“Come on, it’s just the speed limit or something. See, that one says Jubilee City on it… somewhere. Skulls? Do you think there are pirates in here?” He started skipping.

“La laa lala!” Echoed from deep within, squeaking and plinking around the walls in a faraway aria. Zane’s eyes widened as he heard it. Mine slumped down slightly. I tried plugging my ears. Songbats could put other Capmon to sleep with their singing voices.

Zane poked me, “Doesn’t it sound beautiful?”

“Uh-huh…” My head spun. My claws fell out of my ears as another note carried around me. Songbats could get as large as Zane’s torso. Soarbats, their evolved form, as tall as his whole body.

His feet crackled against something on the ground. I could barely make out a faded gray in the cave. I felt Zane leaning down, “B-bones!” He screeched, hopping backward. Human bones would have been too hard to snap under his boots.

There wasn’t a cave here at all. A beautiful opera singer was sitting just behind the curtains of a stage. Sweet, warm berries hung down from vines where there should have been spotlights. Dark shadows hid over the proscenium, with wide, curled wingspans. I hopped down from somewhere and dawdled toward them. My head was ringing, and the sugary smell of the berries tickled in my nostrils.

My eyes jolted awake as I felt Zane’s hands clasp around my sides, his fingers digging deep into my fur. “Where are you going!” He breathed heavily, “You were just snoring a moment ago… Sleepwalking?” The lyrics of that strange song kept circling behind my ears, petting me gently. They beckoned and demanded that I come closer.

I pressed the point of my claw into my fur, almost enough to draw blood. Zane placed me back up on his shoulder, my eyes were fighting against me to calmly shut and sleep some more. The early start through the forest was tiring, but I wasn’t half this exhausted. I’d heard plenty of stories about the ways Songbats hunted in the wild. I’d even captured my own at one point, though I never used it for anything.

The longer I fought, the harsher the song became. Zane’s feet splished through little puddles on the rocky floor. A line of electric lights buzzed overhead, more than half of them were flickering or entirely dead, leaving some patches of cave as… gorgeous groves of nice smelling plants with someone watching in the middle of them. He was fully evolved, a powerful Rachi, and he was surrounded by a sharp, natural scent. He flexed his muscles, and flashing electricity casually surrounded him. He winked at me. I stuck my tongue out at him for more reasons than one. But the berries, I wandered toward them.

Zane pulled me back again, “Bianca!” He pulled on my ear, “Come on, stay awake!”

“R-right…” I wanted to fall asleep less than anyone.

“It’s only a little…” Zane’s voice trailed off.

“Cyan!” Fire waved from under a tree. The orange leaves swirled in the wind over him, and he had a steaming teacup in his hand. He held it up to me with a smile on his face. A spread of little pastries with white and pink frosting and cherries and chocolate cookies and cream sat on a porcelain platter. I ran over to him, to think he was in a place like this…

My eyes shot open in the middle of the cave. That idiot hated tea. Zane was far behind me somewhere, but I could hear his footsteps racing through the darkness. A single light flickered overhead, revealing a dark shadow passing against the ceiling of the cave. The Songbat screeched as it swooped down toward me.

I stumbled to the side far more slowly than I expected. There was a hissing bite on the back of my leg. The cave floor turned into a quiet grassy field before I could slam into it. The stems of flowers caressed me on the other side as a breeze whisked through my fur. I screamed as two pointed teeth dug into my back.

The cave swirled around in a dark circle. The ground didn’t hold me, and yet I was standing, I was upright, so I must have been. The Songbat dipped down just in front of me. I swung my paw out wildly. My claws sunk through warm fur and trickled with blood. I blinked again, my claws were following three red streaks down the side of my face. I was swinging at a Songbat…

The blood was nectar dripping into my mouth, toxically sweet like honey with lemon juice and milk. The pollen in the trees caught in my throat, and I began coughing wildly. I must have swallowed wrong, that nectar getting stuck between my lungs. No, my breaths were calm and metered. The sun was high between soft clouds. A Songbat darted past me, slashing my side with the claws near the end of its wing.

I sparkled with electricity, but as I blinked I was sitting on the ground. The Songbats were all around me, dashing toward me. The thundering surge that escaped me tried to intercept their attack, surrounding me in a calm field. It drove back into me with a loud crack. I twitched as the jolt grabbed my nerves like little puppets, thrashing my limbs about in different orders.

Now, at least, blood was blood. There was enough of it staining my fur, down my belly, and back. I was dangling down from the Songbat’s legs. What had been a dozen a moment ago was only one. I winced, one… I couldn’t tell which was the illusion, the many or the few, or whether reality existed somewhere between. I couldn’t remember where I was, what was assailing me for more than a few seconds at a time. My back was stinging. What now? If I could hit it strongly enough, a Songbat would be… The clouds themselves were the ones lifting me up. These were just nature, unassailable. No, I was wrapped up in a bramble bush, but the thorns were just there to help me reach the berries, the sweet berries. The sand on the beach arranged itself into a castle for me. I blinked. What was my plan? Plan? Why did I need one anyway?

I fell, my back hitting the stone ground firmly. I blinked. Squirm was high in the air, his teeth sinking into the side of a Songbat. Venom. Good enough. I tried forcing myself to my feet, but just stumbled back, unable to stand. I didn’t even hear them coming.

The Songbat shook free of Squirm, reeling as it flew back up toward the ceiling. Zane snatched a Capture Ball out of his bag. He stomped as he wound up a throw and hurled the ball at the wounded enemy. The metal ball slammed into the side of the Songbat’s wing, and it quickly absorbed the creature. The ball zipped back into Zane’s hand with a loud click. He stuffed the ball in his bag hastily and ran to me. He picked me up and embraced me, “Bianca!”

“Y-yeah…” I mumbled. Squirm froze in place as a brilliant white aura, like a lamp of pure moonlight, absorbed him. I blinked as I watched the light recede. Squirm the Cattalett was gone, and what was left behind was a thick pupa of green-and-orange chitin. He had evolved into a Cacoolett.