Turning my gaze back to my hand covered in brown fmes, I reabsorbed that ‘fire’ with some reluctance and decided to postpone my tests for another time.

  I didn't really like doing that, as it interrupted my flow of ideas, and it wasn't like I could just jot down the results without pen and paper, leaving me with only my unreliable memory to remember where I left off st time, but my friends took priority over my weird experiments. Always.

  On the other hand, I was beginning to suspect that my speed at achieving gains was faster than it should be, especially when I was forced to ‘experiment’ in the middle of a fight. Sure, I wasn't an idiot and I was actively researching unconventional ways to improve, not limiting my progress to just hitting faster and harder, but I didn't believe I'd reached Cap's level (before he evolved) in just over two weeks without something weird going on here.

  It was also undeniable that if I came up with one of my ideas in the heart of the battle, the odds of pulling it off on the first try skyrocketed compared to my more… introspective training sessions, allowing me to do things that would take a few days of hard work in seconds thanks to the heat of the moment.

  Thinking about it a little more, that particur point was perhaps something ‘normal’ in this world. An instinctive response rooted in all of us magical creatures, Pokemon, one that allows us to improve more when we find ourselves in stressful situations in general, not just combat… Or maybe it was the almighty Cosmic Lma, Pokemon nonsense at its finest, loaded with some of that ‘nekketsu energy’ so characteristic of Japanese entertainment products.

  I'd have to check it out ter… If I remembered.

  "Good morning, Mr. Krabs," I greeted the now Crawdaunt when he came close enough, standing on the sand. "I didn't expect to see you so early today, to be honest. Not after everything that happened yesterday."

  "Good afternoon, Sandy," he replied, pointing at the sun high in the sky with a cw while letting out one of his ughs. Was it already past noon? Time really flies when you're doing something fun. "I wasn't pnning on coming today either, and I'm really sorry to bother you, but I'd like to ask for your help once again."

  Squinting, I barely registered Cap sitting on my head before saying, “Let me guess… Kingler and his group have escaped?”

  "What? No, of course not. We're not that incompetent," the crustacean stated, making me slightly embarrassed for assuming the worst and prompting a ugh from the bird on my head. "Although I can't deny that my visit today is reted to them, since what I want to ask is that you act as their judge."

  “Hmm… I’m not sure, hermano, that’s a bit of a burden you’re putting on me,” I replied half-jokingly before adopting a more serious air. “To be honest, I don't think I'm the best choice for that role; I'm too biased to be ‘fair’ with them. If I hadn't managed to control myself at the st second, at least Kingler would have met Giratina st night, paying for what he did to Pincitas and Cap.

  “One of the few things that kept me from nding the final blow, aside from a basic reluctance to kill, is my faith in what appears to be a decent set of rules established on this isnd, so please, don't ask me to take justice into my own hands. That's so far above my pay grade that it's not even funny…”

  "I agree with Sandy that most of those ruffians deserve a sweet walk on the pnk…" Cap added in a dry, desert-like tone from his seat above my head, barely contained anger bubbling in the ectopsm that covered and protected his body.

  “Holly Cap, you can really be tough when you want, too,” I thought, my fatuous eyes wide open.

  The way he infused aura into his words was simir to the one I had used the day before, though the energy itself was more… nuanced; deeper, if I had to put it in words. He hadn't focused it on anyone in particur (thankfully), but that aura wasn't just typeless energy imbued with a hint of fair wrath, no; it was charged to the max with the resentment of having nearly died and honed by the experience gained in countless battles throughout his long life.

  We'd have to work on that ‘aspect’ of being Ghosts at some point, seriously.

  Aside from the small outburst of anger that caused (or allowed, I wasn't sure yet) my evolution, I was handling quite well being one of the most temperamental types in the Pokemon world, but if someone as seasoned as Cap slipped like that, it didn't bode well for our long-term mental health.

  Another point for Tha List, I guess…

  The ‘things to do when I get back to civilization’ list was starting to get too long for my liking. I doubted I'd remember half of the things I'd jot down if I had a pen and paper when I finally got off the isnd, but I could only try my best, as always.

  "…Though I also agree that I don't think any of us are being impartial in this, which prevents us from delivering a fair punishment to those freshwater cabin crabs," the frigate admitted after a few tense moments, pulling me out of my thoughts. He had regained his composure, but not his usual lighthearted humor, contenting himself with being a grumpy old birb sulking over my head.

  "I thought so, but I had to ask anyway," the lobster sighed. "Pn B is to simply exile the group from the isnd, but I'm not sure that will please everyone… Besides, it might cause some problems with the rest of our ‘companions’ on the beach."

  Raising an eyebrow at Mr. Krabs' unusually dismissive tone, I decided to file it away for ter.

  "Why not call Yezalel?" Cap asked, being the voice of reason. I bet he had also raised an eyebrow, even though I couldn't see his face. "So far, she's solved every problem, no matter how small. I still remember how a couple of stations ago she stopped a ‘conflict’ in Pan's group, and they just couldn't decide what tea to make!

  “With something as serious as what happened yesterday, she should have intervened, so I'm surprised she only showed up at the very end. Not to mention that dealing with the aftermath and the culprits is literally her job if she wants to keep the title of Guardian.”

  "I'm not entirely sure what Yezalel is up to either, though I have some theories that I hope aren't true…" Mr. Krabs replied, more resigned than frustrated, before deciding to tell us a bit of lore. "Perhaps you both don't know this, since you are foreigners after all, but we Corphish are a bit discriminated against for something that happened generations ago and that no one really remembers. The Ghosts are also quite frowned upon around here, since they are the cause of the two biggest catastrophes that have ever pgued this isnd.”

  "It's true that, on my travels collecting wood, I've noticed that my presence isn't very welcome to the other Pokemon," I added, drawing the attention of the bird and the crustacean. "They're not directly hostile, but they are very territorial, and the few times I've accidentally ventured too far, their fear was palpable."

  "Do you think Yezalel has been swayed by prejudices?" Cap asked, curious and somewhat morbid, like someone observing a disaster from afar.

  "She wasn't antagonistic toward me yesterday, quite the opposite, so I don't think that's the case," I replied. "Although it's also worth mentioning that I only spoke with her for a short while, and she must have been involved in those catastrophes personally, so I have no idea."

  “I'd also like to believe that our Guardian is not influenced by those things, but reality is based on facts, and it seems we're alone in this,” Mr. Krabs muttered. “It's not a bad idea to contact her anyway. Some expnations would be helpful, but we should at least find a short-term solution. My cave isn't big enough to keep all the Krabbys for long, and although digging a room would be an option, I don't want to have to live with them after what happened yesterday. The risk of fights is very high.”

  "That's true," I said, rubbing my chin. "I guess I can go find her. She still owes me a date…"

  “A what?”

  “Nothing. However, when I get back, you'll have to expin to me what happened yesterday, since I joined the battle when the conflict had already escated to its peak… Seriously, how did things escate so much so quickly? I still don't understand.”

  My question/compint seemed to be a super effective blow, as they both flinched a little as if they had swallowed a lemon, peel and all. I could have sworn that I heard a ugh from my shadow too, but I was too busy analyzing Cap and Mr. Krabs’ reaction to pay attention.

  It was clear that Kingler and his group were the main instigators, but it seemed that my friends were not entirely free of bme. I doubted they had acted hostile from the start, but knowing them, it was more likely that they had reacted to something the rger crab had said or done, although the ‘what’ question remained.

  Narrowing my eyes, I gave one of my smiles and started to think.

  I already had some theories about what had happened the day before, and while I could wait for a detailed resume to confirm them, that wouldn't be as fun as trying to solve this mystery on my own. I was pretty sure I had most of the pieces of the puzzle, after all. I just needed to take a little time to put it together.

  Focusing my thoughts with a brief pulse of Calm Mind, everything seemed to slow down and I began to shape those pieces, trying to put them together into a picture that made sense.

  The first thing I needed to figure out was Mr. Stupid's, a.k.a. Kingler's, original pn, since that's where all the trouble was coming from. I knew that he and his group had a favorable retionship with the Corphish colony before this incident, even being considered ‘cousins’. That led me to think that their main objective was to have a conversation or a negotiation of some kind, since they were not enemies a priori, although it was worth highlight that Kingler was aware that a confrontation was a possibility, since he brought his entire entourage.

  It could be that the crab was being overly cautious (or perhaps a little paranoid), but I remember there being an obscene amount of Krabbys’ on the beach, and you don't bring such a rge group of people together for a ‘friendly chat’ unless you think things might go wrong.

  Therefore, the topic to be discussed was delicate, delicate enough to anticipate a certain degree of violent response from beings who consider you almost like family, and Mr. Stupid was aware of that. I also couldn't forget the fact that he didn't want me there, otherwise he wouldn't have come up with that whole pn to rob the pantry to keep me busy…

  That limited the options quite a bit.

  Maybe he wanted to convince my friends to ‘exorcise’ me, as he had mentioned in our battle, for… some reason that surely made perfect sense in his head? I remembered the giant crab having a deep, irrational hatred for Ghost-type Pokemon, a hatred that he seemed to share with his entire group to some extent, but I hadn't fully realized how much until I heard his comments during our fight/one-sided beating while he just hid behind his Protect.

  That kind of hatred toward a person you've never interacted with was almost beyond my understanding, but it could be the cornerstone that made sense of all that nonsense. Entire wars had been fought in my old world under the same premise, after all, and I had no reason to suspect that in the Poke-world things would be any different. Especially considering some spin-offs…

  Anyway. With the ‘casus belli’ resolved, all I needed to do was imagine how that fateful afternoon had gone.

  Mr. Krabs and Pincitas sure were busy testing the capabilities of their newly evolved body, and Cap must have been lounging on my skull while joking with the rest of Corphish. Pale Feathers must have joined in at some point, witnessing her unrequited lover's new form and drooling for a while until Kingler's group arrived on the beach.

  From the outset, such a rge group must have aroused some suspicions in The 24 Cws, making them a little tense. Mr. Krabs wouldn't give it much thought, though he would be the most prepared of them all, and would start talking to Mr. Stupid about why he had come to our side of the beach without warning, or something simir.

  That's when things would go to shit.

  It was impossible for me to imagine the exact scenario, but I doubt any member of The 24 Cws would be pleased with Kingler's ‘proposal’, and it was practically a given that Cap wouldn't sit idly by while they literally plotted to murder his friend. The already tense situation must have been intensified by the colorful nguage the bird is capable of unleashing, and the conflict began.

  That would expin Cap's reaction, but not Mr. Krabs' one…

  I figured that would be enough for now. 1 out of 2 was a pass for me, and I wasn't going to waste any more of my nonexistent brain cells when I could just ask. Shrugging, I deactivated my Calm Mind and returned to thinking at a normal pace, realizing that only a few seconds of real time had passed.

  Good heavens, what a broken move. I had to perfect it ter.

  "So.." I began, focusing on Cap as my smile changed to a slightly more normal one. "Guess you couldn't help but defend your best friend forever, huh~. Though I still don't know how a Guillotine got you, of all things."

  "That was to protect Pale Feathers from her carelessness, just before she evolved," he replied, somewhat impressed by my deductions and looking upside down, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say you have no idea what happened?"

  "She actually said she doesn't know how things got so bad, something I've been wondering about all day," Mr. Krabs joined in, letting out one of his deep ughs, now imbued with a somewhat dark undertone.

  “I'm mostly winging it, but I'm pretty sure Mr. Stupid came to the beach with a proposition to help him to ‘exorcise’ me or something like that. I don't have many pieces on the rest, but at least I know how Cap would react to something like that~.”

  "Ugh, you literally gave your potential for me right after. Don't act like you haven't done the same or worse," the old bird snorted, levitating out of my head with mock indignation.

  "Mr. Stupid?" the lobster asked, somewhat confused by the name, so simir to his own.

  "Kingler," Cap and I replied in tandem.

  "I guess that makes sense," he agreed, smiling. "It's a good name for him."

  Just as I was about to py along a little longer, I thought I heard a ugh from my shadow again.

  While I was focused I had missed it, but now it was loud and clear, and, although the tone was not very recognizable, I could only think of one person. Looking at the sun for a moment, I realized it was already getting te, and yesterday I had arranged to meet a certain fox to train…