[FP-004] Dev’s Discovery

The scorching desert sands threatened to bake Paradoxid’s paw pads off as he stumbled on, with Dev leading him by the paw. His dark fur, slick with sweat, clung to him like a sauna compressed into the form of a blanket. How long had they been walking again? He wasn’t sure anymore. Every second spent in the burning Terreria sun felt like an hour, and the melanistic Raichu doesn’t ever choose to endure it of his own free will.

“Arceus Dev, it’s like walking on a Magcargo’s shell out here… What’d you say was important enough to be out during the hottest damn part of the day again?”

“Luck twofold, bundled in the peel of a forgotten land’s fruit! Come on, you’ll see, Onie-Anne’s already waiting there for us!”

Paradoxid huffed, failing to disturb the strands of black hair stuck to his unbearably hot face. 

“…Right, another riddle. Of course. Is this… magic lucky fruit or whatever close at least?”

“As close as it can be, closer than it once was, and ever closer still!”

He almost didn’t mind the ache in his back, hunched for so long so the little Pikachu could take his hand, when he saw their beaming smile as they babbled out the vaguest answers possible to even the simplest of questions. There was a nostalgic quality to Dev’s grin, something his mind couldn’t quite place but his heart begged for more of, making his chest swell and ache as if it would burst at any second. 

Almost. The heat wormed its way under Paradoxid’s skin like bugs clawing for purchase, making his scales itch fiercely as if they were foreign parts just shoved into his flesh. The irritating tingling across his skin as the sun burned into it was second only to his swirling head, made no better than trying to make sense of his companion’s answers. How did Dev even convince him this was a good idea? At least he had an excuse for teetering side to side and wandering accidentally out here; he was convinced he’d collapse from heat stroke at any second. 

At least some magical fruit might be able to relieve a bit of the food scarcity struggles the Sun clan had been facing as of late.

There was something appealing in Dev’s fur color to him normally, something about it’s tan tones that made him want to bury his head in it’s softness and hide from the world despite the fact he was the older one, but currently all he could do was curse the fact that the far lighter Pikachu was only absorbing a fraction of the accursed sunlight beating down on the pair. He knew it wasn’t fair to begrudge the kid of it, or any of this for that matter; Dev might be a bit strange sometimes, but they’re an empathetic little one. They wouldn’t be dragging him through this stinging sandscape for nothing.

…Right?

He still couldn’t help feeling bitter over the fact he was relatively alone in his suffering. The twin ends of his tail waved up and down in a futile attempt to fan away the scorching heat.

“Are you ready for the reveal, Paradoxid? Here we are!”

“Finally.”

Paradoxid blinked, trying to drag some clarity back into his swimming vision as he took in Dev’s grand mystery. Onie-Anne was using her sandy shell and little tentacles to prop up the flap of Dev’s messenger back like a tent. His good eye widened as he saw what the shelter was for.

Cowering in its shade and shivering fiercely was a Bunneary, cupping water the Omanyte was summoning in her delicate paws and drinking as much as she could possibly gulp down. He tilted his head, antennae pricking up as he looked the lost beast up and down; it didn’t look like any Bunneary he’d seen before. He’s heard of them having pink fluff when they’re shiny, sure, but this one was fully bright pink! She looked like she’d been dyed in Pecha juice as a prank.

“…That’s… not a fruit, Dev.”

“I know, but look, she has pink fur! It’s incredible! My mother used to read to me myths about Pinkan Island; it was a mysterious place where apparently the fruit would turn the Pokémon who ate it pink! I’m not sure how a beast from a mythical island would turn up in the middle of a desert here in Terreria, but it’s fascinating, isn’t it?”

“So… she looks like she’s bundled in the peel of this Pinkan Island’s fruit? Right… And the part about luck twofold?”

“Well that’s simple! I know the phrase now is ‘lucky Raboot’s foot’, but it actually comes from old myths about Bunneary! Hence, two lucky Bunneary’s feet, luck twofold!”

Dev’s brown eyes shone as they explained each part of their surprise mystery to the Raichu.

“I get it now.” “…Good riddle kid”

Paradoxid ruffled Dev’s hair as the pikachu beamed at him. Onie-Anne made a joyous warbling noise, throwing her stubby tentacles up in joy at her companion’s happiness with such sudden force that she elicited a yelp from the Bunneary.

“Shoot, did you have any plans when it came to this little critter?”

Paradoxid knelt down, wincing at the singe of burning sand against his knees as he extended his hand towards the lost beast, quietly cooing to her. “Hey there, little lady… There there, it’s alright, she didn’t mean to spook you… You’re okay…”

Dev shifted from foot to foot, eyes turned to the ground as they stuttered out half formed plans, explanations and excuses. Their tail drooped into the sand and quickly jolted back up upon discovering it’s temperature, causing stilted praise for Paradoxid’s endurance kneeling to join everything they were trying and failing to say. 

“So, no.”

“Well- I um… I wanted to… T-the plan was to… Yeah. No, sorry. That’s why I wanted to bring you over here, I’m so sorry, I just really don’t know what to do. We can’t just leave her out here, b-but I know not everyone would like me bringing a random beast back to the clan- I don’t even know how she got here! It would be good to get her back to her family… but where would they- they might be way across the sea on some island we don’t even know the location of… Can you help me figure it out, please Paradoxid?”

“Right… What we’re gonna do is take this little one back with us, Arceus knows when the last time she had a meal was. If anyone’s got a problem with her, they’ll have to go through me to start whining. Then, once she’s fed and sheltered, we’ll figure out how to start looking for where she belongs. That okay, kid?”

The pikachu nodded their head vigorously, sending their splotch marked ears swinging violently up and down. As Paradoxid beckoned with a gentle curl of his paw, the Bunneary shuffled tentatively out from beneath her makeshift shelter to be scooped up and held next to Paradoxid’s hip. He was almost disappointed by the fact his scales adorned that area, wishing he could give the little beast a more comfortable ride.

Dev packed up their bag and slung back over Onie-Anne’s shell, into its normal resting place. They hopped up onto her after it, sighing with relief as the last point of contact between them and the sand was erased. 

“Tiny showoff.” The Raichu grunted, envious that Dev was small enough to ride an Omanyte. Even if he’d brought his companion, an Anorith would be far too small for an Alpha Raichu to hitch a ride on.

As they trudged back the way they had come, miles and miles of identical mounds of sand giving them little indication as to how much progress they were making, the lowering sun began to relieve at least part of Paradoxid’s discomfort while he staggered along. His gratitude at the dropping temperature was short lived, however, since he knew full well the blistering cold of the night would soon creep in to replace the blistering heat.

At least the sky, streaked with hues of pink and orange and studded with stars beginning to peek out, was beautiful. Alongside Dev’s endless chatter, it was easy to allow the ache of each step to drift off into a steady background rhythm of discomfort. 

“…How’d you even find her, anyways?”

“Some of the greatest archeological discoveries are made by mistake; you can stumble across evidence of myths and forgotten islands just by exploring for exploration’s sake!”

“You just… stumbled on her while you were taking a walk?”

“Well, ‘walk’ is a very unimpressive term for exploring, but yes! Would you look at that, proof of a legendary island just out on a stroll!”

Paradoxid huffed a small noise of affirmation, shifting his passenger up into his chest as the cold started to settle across his skin. The Bunneary tucked her peach-like head into the mass of fluff situated around his neck, cuddling in to conserve his warmth against the chill winds beginning to blow across the desert.

The trek felt like no time as they came across their current home; the sun clan settlement, with Dev’s constant stream of thoughts and comments earning grunts and the occasional word or two from Paradoxid. Perhaps this place could be Bunneary’s home too.