Chapter 59 - Blessings

227 14 10
                                    

Using the Badge to find Owen had been a bad idea: Eon had warped right to the Central Waypoint of Kilo Village.

His tail-flame erupted, and he realized that he had to put his blindfold on before he lost his shape. Sure, he would be fine if he transformed now, but it was so inconvenient and disorienting. No other Ditto in the world had the same overactive Imposter ability that he did—so active that even his Mystic abilities had trouble suppressing it, somehow.

He generally preferred the Charizard body, anyway.

Digging into his pouch, he pulled out his scarf and wrapped it around his eyes, careful that the little lucky charm he liked to keep with it remained between his eyes once the blindfold was tied tight.

He took a single step, and a new thought crossed his mind.

Wait. Should I be looking like Owen right now?

As a Charmander, Owen had the weakest sense of Perceive that Eon was able to tap into masterfully to see where he was going. But as a Charizard, it was almost overwhelming.

If he used Owen's Perceive—which he still struggled with fully processing when he tried—he would accidentally transform into someone that he 'saw' with the ability. That would've made the blindfold useless to begin with! He usually had Owen to concentrate on to retain his form if he didn't have the blindfold on, but even then...

He didn't think this though.

And why was it so cold? They weren't deep in autumn yet.

Wait. Was being Owen a good idea? In the middle of Kilo Village, Step and the others would surely spot him. They'd think he was Owen, and then—that was bad.

He really didn't think this through.

New plan. Act natural. Suppress your aura.

Perhaps having Perceive would be useful after all. He could sense that Step and the others were in a hospital nearby. Powerful Guardian auras that perhaps only Lucario and skilled Psychics would notice. They wouldn't find him if he kept his aura low and suppressed; they seemed distracted anyway.

Tip-toeing his way through the streets, he earned a few uneasy looks by passerby Pokémon. What were they so afraid of? It wasn't as if he—

He was a mutant. And he was sneaking around town, and apparently Step had clashed with Rim right in this very street, given how everything was overrun with melting snow. He did it again. He made a rash decision, and now he was in one of the most precarious positions he could have put himself in. A mutant body, with a Hunter aura, in the capitol of the world, filled with Guardians and Hearts alike.

If Nevren found out about this, Eon could imagine the amused smirk he'd give. No, Nevren never smirked. But he would for this, wouldn't he? First time for everything.

He glanced to his right; he saw a southern Vulpix trying to tug a Riolu out from a huge mound of snow that had collapsed over her.

Eon winced, huffing out a strong plume of fire. Keep the form. He had to make sure Step and the others were still there, and his Perceive was the best way to do that. It was hard to miss a Guardian's aura and their strange bodies. The strain—reading his Perceive and maintaining the body that could use it—was like holding his breath. He had been holding it for minutes by now.

"S-so... c-cold..." Riolu tried to squirm out, but Vulpix just wasn't strong enough.

"Stupid snow... why can't I be the cool Fire version of me, huh?" Vulpix lamented.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of CreationWhere stories live. Discover now