A dull, dead ache pervaded Poppy’s muscles; she felt like a corpse. She caught a whiff of yarrow as she slowly opened her eyes, almost scared to try to move lest she find she couldn’t. Before her was a patch of black fur with a metallic, powder-blue trim. A moment later Xerneas lowered its head, and Poppy found herself looking into its royal blue eyes.
Are you in pain? it asked.
“Some,” Poppy muttered. Her throat felt like she had swallowed sand, and her voice reflected that.
Xerneas moved out of view for a moment, then returned with a familiar-looking pouch, which it dropped in front of Poppy. Lavender left this for you. It has some water in it.
Poppy raised her leaden head, feebly grabbed the pouch with her mouth, and accessed the water pouch inside it. While the fluid felt good in her throat and stomach, she felt a sort of uncomfortable nostalgia as she drank; the pouch had Lavender’s scent all over it, mixed awkwardly with the bitterness of the old leather. She noticed, too, that Lavender’s guild badge remained pinned to the front—had she not thought to take it with her? Or—
Xerneas interrupted Poppy’s thoughts. Lavender helped treat your injuries while I was unconscious. Before she left, she told me to relay something to you. She said she would tell the guild that your power is overwhelming and that there is no point in trying to fight you.
Poppy rested her head on the ground once more. “I see… Then I suppose we win.” She closed her eyes for a moment, but she couldn’t stop seeing the patterns beneath her eyelids as pools of blood. “Did she say anything else?”
That was all she wanted me to tell you.
Poppy grunted. The evasive answer stung, but she didn’t press the matter.
Is there anything I can get for you? Xerneas asked. Are you hungry?
“A little. If the clouds clear up, though, I should be fine.”
I will get you some food. It is the least I can do. Xerneas turned and walked away. I will only be gone for a moment. The feral pokemon stay away from this place, so you will be safe.
Poppy didn’t relish the thought of being left alone, but she supposed it was just as well. Though they were on the same side, she didn’t know Xerneas well enough to feel particularly comfortable around it.
Something about the thought of being alone seemed wrong. It took Poppy a moment to remember why. Ann? she thought.
No reply. Despite Poppy’s exhaustion, her heart began to beat faster, and a too-familiar dizziness pervaded her head.
Please don’t be gone, Ann. If you’re not there…
Poppy summoned her will and sent the most forceful transmission she could. Ann!
Ah… Our hero is awake, came Ann’s tired reply. And now I am too.
Ann! Poppy let out a breath and smiled. At least you’re still there… I was beginning to think you had forgotten about our promise.
Ann chuckled. Perish the thought, dear Poppy. I just had to rest for a while, so I couldn’t keep you company. I hope you’re feeling okay.
Well, I’m… I’m alive. Thank you for helping me earlier.
Ann laughed. That sure was a crazy stunt, huh? I’m glad everything worked out. I’ll be sure to help you take back your land soon, too; it’ll just be a little while before I get back in tip-top shape, is all. I hope you don’t mind.
No, to be honest, I’m not too worried about that right now. I just… I want to see Holly and the others again soon. I know they’ll be happy to see that I’m okay.
I’ll get you to them as soon as I can. For now though, we’ll just have to rest.
Right. Poppy sighed, relaxing. Something about having Ann around seemed to help assuage her guilt, she realized.
The sun shone through the clouds a moment later, and it made Poppy smile, if only because she had thought she would never feel its light on her fur again.
Poppy burst through the door to the guildmaster’s lavishly furnished office with his bodyguards wrapped up in her vines. She tossed the two pokemon—a makuhita and venasaur—onto his mahogany desk, and the wood split in half with a gruesome crack. Glass figurines fell to the ground and shattered like they had been waiting to for all their lives.
“Happy holidays, asshole.”
The guildmaster recoiled and almost backed into the windows behind him. Poppy looked into his wide, sickly looking yellow eyes, and though she hadn’t relished the thought of going through this trouble initially, the look of terror on his face brought a smile to hers. Oh, and he was already audibly hyperventilating.
Poppy’s laughter was dark, raven-like, and she was sure the pokemon on the other side of the hall could hear it. “So frightened! Oh, that’s precious. Precious.” She walked between the two halves of the guildmaster’s desk while he stood trembling. She wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped dead from a heart attack right now. “Listen, you miserable sack of lard. You should be thanking your lucky stars—I’m not even going to kill you. I do have a couple demands, but they should be easily met.” She smiled. “To begin with, guild fees are a little high. I say we lower them by ten percent, and maybe be more austere to compensate. Canceling construction of that new building would be a great place to start; I’ll even give you a head start on demolition.
“I would also demand that you put half of the guild’s income toward ecological restoration and land conservation—like that fund I used to manage. I put Daisy in charge of it—bayleef. She’s a member. Talk to her. Your first project will be to restore the land you stole from me.
“Oh, and of course, stay away from the island. That probably goes without saying.
“That is all for now. Any questions?”
“Er…” The guildmaster made a sort of strangled sound and nodded. His eyelids fluttered as though he were about to faint.
“Good. I’ll be in touch. If you fail to comply, you won’t get any second chances.”
Poppy turned around and walked a few steps away, but she stopped when she reached the doorway. Before proceeding, she lowered a vine and flicked a splinter into the guildmaster’s face. The way he stumbled backward, almost tripping over himself, made her smile.
Wooden crates larger than Poppy herself lined concrete walls, lit dimly by the bunker’s skylight. The air smelled of dust and old wood. A dreary place to die, Poppy thought.
In the center of the room, the guildmaster stood facing an abra. A moment ago the two had been talking about how they were going to blow Poppy up, but they were silent now. The guildmaster turned toward Poppy with a sort of frozen expression, a little different from their last meeting; his fear seemed muted by disbelief, and perhaps also by knowing that there was nothing he could do to change his fate. His eyes in the feeble light were the color of leaves long since fallen. The abra teleported away, which Poppy didn’t mind.
“You didn’t comply,” Poppy said.
She wrapped a vine around the guildmaster’s neck; he lost his footing trying to pull away and hit the ground with a dull thud. “Poppy—”
Poppy didn’t like hearing the guildmaster say her name, so she tightened her grip. He gurgled and widened his eyes, twisting to bite Poppy’s vine. Poppy let him. It didn’t hurt. She summoned two more vines and bound the guildmaster’s legs before approaching.
The guildmaster released the vine in his mouth and tilted his head, possibly to let more air into his throat, and possibly to look at Poppy. His abdomen shuddered as he fought to breathe, and his eyes were glassy. He might be blacking out already, Poppy thought.
Poppy needed something more sensitive than a vine, so she loosened her grip around the guildmaster’s neck slightly and slipped a paw underneath. His flesh yielded like rotting fruit as she probed with her paw. His pulse, when she found it, was rapid and feeble.
Poppy turned a little so that she could reach her tail to the guildmaster’s neck. He thrashed like a beached fish. His hip and shoulder slammed loudly against thick concrete, which looked painful. Poppy looked around briefly for something sturdy to bind him to, but she only saw crates. In the end, she simply cut him right then and there.
The guildmaster let out an infantile whimper, and Poppy felt warmth on her flank. She glanced down and saw bright red. Blood spurted from the guildmaster’s neck, saturating his fur and hers. It pooled quickly on the impervious floor and crept between Poppy’s toes and under her paw pads. The scent of iron filled her nose.
The guildmaster grimaced, baring antique-yellow teeth. His breath smelled like must and decay, and his tears stained his fur the color of wet pavement. He gently rocked his head back and forth as he sobbed, as though to try to comfort himself.
Poppy didn’t like what she was doing. She felt disgust. She felt pity. She felt sick. But despite her best efforts, there was something she didn’t feel, even as she watched the guildmaster rock and spasm and cry, and that was guilt.
The guildmaster was probably nauseous by now, Poppy thought. If he opened his eyes, he might find that his vision was fading. Poppy unwrapped her vines and stepped back. Then she raised a vine above the guildmaster’s head and struck.
Poppy had seen rodents run over by carriages, their flanks split open and organs squashed against the pavement. This wasn’t any more gruesome than that, she thought. Just a bigger rat than she was used to.
The stones to Poppy’s right had been carved into smooth, sculpturesque shapes by the force of the river. A fine mist floated slowly downstream; millet-sized droplets had formed on Poppy’s fur, glinting colorfully in the sun like gossamer. Red clouds swirled around her paws as she held them in the water. Ann, say the guildmaster got his way. He had that abra teleport the bomb to the island, and he blows it up in my face. Would it have killed me?
Months ago, when we were newer to this, it might have. Now, no. Your ears would have rung for a while, though. Bombs are unpleasant like that.
What of the island? The plants and animals?
Would have killed hundreds, maybe thousands.
Poppy shook her head. Then I can’t feel bad for him. He got what he deserved. She removed her paws from the water and inspected them—they were still tinged with reddish brown. She sneered. I shouldn’t have waited so long. Now I can’t get these stains out.
Why don’t you just use your tongue?
Poppy shivered with disgust. Ann…
Oh. I guess I can see how you wouldn’t want to.
Poppy sighed and stuck her paws back in the water. Anyway, I’ve been thinking, the guildmaster wouldn’t have gotten away with the things he did if there weren’t so many other depraved pokemon out there. I’d like to give them a similar ultimatum and see how they respond. Maybe make a movement out of it.
Ann chuckled. He he he. Well, if that’s what you want to do, then I would be happy to support you. Just let me know when you decide on our next target.
Poppy cocked her head. Really? That easily? You’re not going to say ‘on one condition…’
Ann laughed again. No, not at all. I’ve got nothing better to do, and frankly, this is a cause I can get behind. I’m all yours.
Poppy smiled as she shook her paws dry. In that case, I’ll be sure not to let your generosity go to waste.