Moonlit Chat (July Tasks pt. 9)

Psst, here's a song to go along with the story: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bSsmy…
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Farthing sat down on the balcony, staring out at the lights and still awake Pokémon bustling down below. He wondered how any Pokémon got any sleep around this town, or if they didn’t need to sleep. He stared up in the sky and felt slightly sad that he couldn’t see the stars he could back at home. Only the brightest stars could shed any light.

The young Spinda didn’t mean to say he hated the city; he just wasn’t used to it yet. He didn’t know if he really needed to get used to it either. Surely this set of tasks would be like the others in Gambitville: help out, gain points, and then go back to Tao.

“I wouldn’t suggest sitting out on the balcony. It’s always problematic to be out after dark for us kids.” The monotone voice of the Croagunk came from behind the young Spinda.

He turned around and stared at her in surprise. “How’d you find me? Are you following us?”
The poisonous frog Pokémon gave a small shrug. “You’re white and easy to spot at night. And I don’t want another sleazy Pokémon offering you any more deals.”

Farthing gave her a smile. “You’re very nice, June. Thanks for your concern.” She had already helped them out once today and seemed so generous. Farthing was glad he didn’t see her teammate with her, since that Shellos seemed a little off…

“So… what are you doing up in the first place?” June asked in her same low tone.

The Spinda shrugged and stared back out at the city. “Thinking I guess… I couldn’t sleep. This place is so different from my hometown that it’s hard to understand how a place like this works. I mean, electricity outside of storms powering things? Pacha and I tried, but we have no idea of how those machines run after getting taught by Wind and Eve.”

“Yeah, took me a while to get used to this place too…” June croaked amiably.

“Do you live here? Do you have family?” Farthing asked brightly.

The bright blue croagunk grinned ever so slightly back. “Do you want to see where I live? It’s not far away.”

The Spinda lowered his ears and stared at the room Florin was sleeping in. “I would, but I don’t know if Pacha… if he’d wake up and worry that I was gone. I…” he wanted to say more about his apprehensions but held back. She didn’t need to know everything about Florin and how unstable he was in the past. They had barely met this Pokémon anyway.

“You could leave a quick note. I’ve got some paper…” She opened up one of the stripes on her belly to reveal it to be a sort of pocket. She took out a paper and pencil and gave them to him expectantly. She noticed his confusion and said, “I don’t meet many other friendly Pokémon like you… I always enjoy company.”

Farthing stared for a long time at the sleeping Florin, and then quickly scribbled down where he would be. Sticking the paper near the door to the balcony, he nodded to June. “Ok, I’m kind of curious about…” He stopped himself before he said ‘you’. Would that sound too weird? He still offered a smile to her and asked, “So, how far away is it?”

June blinked and tapped her back. “Hop on and I’ll take you there. You’re pretty light, aren’t you?” Farthing nodded and jumped on her back, fighting to get a firm hold on her smooth skin.

After he was secure, June gave a great leap into the air. Farthing yelped, but June had proved powerful enough to make it to the next building. June kept up a fast pace and vaulted to the next building and the next. Only five minutes passed before they arrived at a small cloth tent that was hung up on drooping wires and tacked down to the top of a flat building.

June let the Spinda off and said quietly, “This is home.”
The Spinda frowned. “But… I thought you lived here with your family. You live up here all alone?”

June gave a small croak. “Nah, I work with what I’ve got. And Altima’s a bit of company, right?”

“So where is your family?” Farthing asked. In response, the light blue Croagunk hopped over to the edge of the rooftop and sat down. Farthing followed her and sat down a little ways from her. He was still curious to how a Pokémon could live without a family. Was it even possible? He himself had been raised in a clan with everyone helping each other.

June puffed out her cheeks and said, “I hope you don’t mind me telling you about my life, but since you’re curious I don’t want to lie to you. It wouldn’t be very nice to do to a possible friend.” She paused and said quietly, “I wasn’t born here… I lived in Tao Woods for a while. I didn’t know my mom. My dad… kind of wanted me out of his life.”

“What? How can you be so calm? What kind of father…!” Farthing huffed, completely outraged. “How could a dad not love his child?”

June shrugged nonchalantly. “He was a Kadabra and just… hated raising me. When I was about ten, he gave me a bag of Poké and told me to take care of myself, dumping me in this city. It wasn’t easy, but I think what I’ve done so far is good… and now that Altima and I are rescuers things might look better for us.”

Farthing just stared at her, confounded by how passive she could be about abandonment. “But… how could he leave you alone? Didn’t…? Someone should have helped you!”

“I’ve made some friends, run odd jobs, teamed up with Altima. Life’s not all that bad.” She said passively. “I’m sorry if I’m concerning you. You probably don’t know what it feels like to have a father abandon you. That one with the bowtie… he’s nice.”

Farthing stopped and said quietly, “No, Pacha isn’t my daddy. He’s sorta like Daddy… maybe better…” He held his head in his paws and said quietly, “Then again, I think I know where you are coming from, June… you know, about a father who leaves…”

The croagunk croaked back casually, “The bow-tied one isn’t your dad? You certainly seem to act like father and son to me. Then… what happened between you and your dad?”

Farthing frowned and hugged his knees to his chest. He never talked about Talent anymore. For the most part the boy had tried to forget and suppress any memories of the Spinda clan leader. His throat threatened to close up as he fought to tell her. She had spoken frankly with him, why couldn’t he return the favor?

“Was it bad? You can stay quiet you know… I’m used to quiet…” She croaked.

“You’re so… calm when talking about your dad… how do you do it?” Farthing choked out quietly. No, he had to think happy thoughts, distract himself and try to act as strong as June was.

The poisonous frog stared at the moon. “I guess… I don’t think about it much. And when I do, I just tell myself that I couldn’t do anything different than what I did… So the past is in the past so to speak…” She changed the subject, “So… that little sableye you have with you is really cute. How old is she?”

“A few days…” Farthing muttered, and then inhaled deeply. He hadn’t talked about Talent to anyone because his choices of confidants were Florin, who wanted to not think at all about that event, and the cheery merchant team who didn’t know tragedy from a storybook. But could he really unload all of his feelings on this lonely frog?

“I’m sure you’re going to be a good big brother.” The croagunk offered a thin smile.

“My dad was selfish…” Farthing said quietly.

The two of them sat in relative silence for a while, taking in Farthing’s words. The Spinda spoke up again, “My dad… he loved me and singled me out… he let me draw with crayons… no other Spinda kids got crayons…

“And yet… there was something wrong with him.” Farthing hazarded a look over at the frog Pokémon and found her staring intently and yet calmly at him. It was kind of comforting to be listened to and not interrupted or have any fear that she’d be offended. He looked back down at his feet and said, “Daddy went to Kroon, our doctor, several times and had to take daily medicines. Kroon said it was because Daddy was always sad. But Daddy was the leader of our clan and couldn’t be sad, so he took medicines to help him. Every Spinda loved him…

“And then he started going on little trips, wandering around the village and into the Prismatic Jungle… I didn’t want to think anything was wrong… but at nighttime he’d be staring off into space talking about hanging out like a berry on a tree… Sometimes he told me or my siblings, and sometimes I caught him saying the same things to himself. He always liked oran berries… All he wanted was to hang like a berry day in and day out…” At this his throat swelled with emotion. “So he did just that… I should have seen it and warned Pacha and his friends or even Kroon, but I wanted everything to be normal. I thought that day was just going to be like usual and that dad would return to his work…” The Spinda took the scarf from around his neck and wiped at his swirled eyes.

The light blue Croagunk stared at Farthing for a while, letting him cry softly into his scarf. She was a little confused though as to what made him sad. His dad just wanted to hang out like the berries on a tree? Did he climb and refuse to leave a tree? Had he run away? June waited a little bit before asking, “I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

Choking, Farthing replied, “He hung himself… and what’s worse, Pacha blames himself for it! Daddy was so selfish that he left us without a thought to how we’d feel…” He twisted the scarf up in frustration. “It’s all thanks to him that Pacha’s the way he is now… and… I hate daddy for it…”

At this, June came up beside the Spinda and laid her hand on his shoulder. Farthing accepted her comfort and leaned against her chest.

Sniffing and rubbing at his swirled eyes, he asked, “I shouldn’t hate my dad… he loved me and the clan… but what he did was unforgivable. He destroyed Pacha’s life and mine. And now I’ve got to do everything in my power to help Pacha get better… but I can’t talk about this to him…

“I’m scared for Florin-pacha; I’m scared that even after we left the clan for a guild that he’ll never get better. I’m scared that we’ll never go back home and that he’ll just break down… and that nothing I can do will help him.” He snuggled closer and admitted, “I started calling Florin ‘pacha’ to cheer him up. I have to call him that forever now, but if it helps even a little it’ll be worth it. Then maybe he won’t have a breakdown and everything will be fine again.”

“Shhh…” She shushed him and held him close. Patting his fuzzy head, she said quietly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you say all that… I’m sorry…” For a young Spinda he seemed to have such a terrible burden on his shoulders. Farthing was trying to carry his own grief and his partner’s as well, all while keeping a usually cheerful face.

Farthing forced himself a small smile. “You know, I miss calling Pacha ‘Florin’ sometimes. I should call him ‘Pacha’ most times, but ‘Florin’… the name was a nice ring to it, you know? His name is kind of reflective of who he was, who he’s trying to act like. Florin the suave… And my name matches me well too, it sounds exactly like who I am: young, happy, naïve… That’s what I think of when I hear the word ‘farthing’.”

“And… what does my name seem to mean?” The croagunk asked in a rather timid tone. “Junko I mean, not my nickname.”

The Spinda thought for a moment. “Junko? Well June sounds like summer and happiness. But Junko sounds kind of foreign and rare maybe? Like something you don’t hear every day. Something set apart and special…”

June gave a thoughtful smile and patted the Spinda’s head again. “Sorry again for that. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“No, it’s kind of nice to talk about it… freeing, you know?” Farthing sniffed. Trying to cheer himself up, he said, “These aren’t part of my fake tear attack. My fake tears are way more impressive.” He laughed and hiccupped a little.

June chuckled lightly back, still holding him close. “What do you mean by the term ‘pacha’?”

“It’s a nickname we Spinda give to only one other Spinda. It means they are very special to us and we call them ‘pacha’ until we die. But that’s fine with me. I want to help Florin and every time I call him that, I can see it in his eyes that he’s happy.”

“How old are you anyway? You seem to act young, and yet hearing your thoughts makes me think you’re older than ten.” She didn’t say it, but she was surprised time and time again with how much Farthing emphasized Florin’s importance and not his own. How could he be so kind and selfless? Weren’t most Pokémon selfish?

Farthing wiped his eyes dry and sat up. Giving a smile, he said, “You caught me! I’m not much older than ten: about 14 years old.”

“Me too.” June said happily. “I act older because I’ve had to grow up in a hurry… but yeah.”

The young Spinda stared happily at the Croagunk. She had listened to him and taken him seriously, even supported him. Maybe telling her about Talent was a good thing after all. They both seemed to have their share of hardships; maybe this was the start of a fantastic friendship. “So, we both are about the same age and have stupid dads.” Farthing remarked. “I make friends rather easy, but… could I consider you a best friend, June? I mean, we have a lot in common.”

“Of course you can, Farthing!” The Croagunk broke into a wide grin and gave him a tight hug. “I would never turn down a friend.”

The two Pokémon sat there for a while, hugging and enjoying each other’s company. June released him and said quietly, “I suppose I shouldn’t keep you longer from your Pacha. And you should probably get some sleep too.”

Farthing nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” The two quickly made their way back to the motel Farthing was staying at. Once Farthing had confirmed that Florin was still safe and asleep, the Spinda said quietly to his newest friend, “Thanks for that, June. Pacha looks safe and everything.”

“You can call me Junko…” She said evenly, though she offered a smile. “You make it sound like a more special name anyway.”

The Spinda grinned back. “Ok, Junko! I guess we will see you tomorrow completing tasks with us, right?”

“I plan to.” The Croagunk gave a low ribbit and leapt away back into the city scape.

Farthing stared after her, his heart a little lighter than before. She was certainly going to be a good friend. Hopefully the rescuers and rogues didn’t have any problems with each other in the future. Or perhaps they could still be friends despite things their guilds did to each other. “I think Pacha would like her too.” Farthing said to himself. Cheered and tired, Farthing went back inside and curled up in the soft bed.