The Human Species Ch.107 - Reading (Epilogue XIV)

Although fairly big, it was an inconspicuous building in every way. Clad in grey walls, it had both a sloping ramp and a staircase leading up its humble entryway wearing a telltale sign reading "Two Essay", with a figure of a boy wearing glasses lying on top of the two S:es.

"A bookstore?" Lucario spoke up after a moment of silence, "… You do know I'm practically living in a fantasy novel, right?"

"That's exactly why! Pick a book about something you want to learn more about," Zerobi replied as she effortlessly walked up the ramp, "You have to stop relying on me for all your information, I never even graduated high school."

Lucario sighed as he followed her, but could not find any good footing on the slippery slope. Instead he sidetracked and went up the staircase.

"Besides, I need to practice my reading skills," Zerobi pointed out with a sigh as the doors in front of her opened automatically, "I went from reading every day to not reading ever. I don't want to forget everything and have to start over from scratch."

"Isn't it like riding a bike? You never forget how to do it?" Lucario asked while strenuously climbing the staircase, his misshapen feet finding it a bit difficult to accommodate the design clearly meant for humans. Zerobi looked back at him with an expression that suggested she did not agree that riding a bicycle was easy, and then they moved inside.

The air in the bookstore was stuffy and carried the telltale fragrance of paper. Apart from the two of them there were no Pokémon inside, but there were not that many humans either. Nothing but an old lady scouring the bookcases for something to read, a younger lady by the register twiddling a pencil and a man in his forties flipping through the pages of a book, all of them looking fairly bored.

Unsurprisingly, books were everywhere. Overflowing bookcases segregated into category and organized alphabetically, stacks of literature in bargain bins and multiple book-related accessories, one looking more superfluous than the next. Zerobi noticed they had rearranged the interior, and was busy searching for a particular section of the store that normally fancied her interests. Meanwhile, Lucario lazily perused their immediate vicinity, reading the titles and looking at the covers. Most looked pretty dull and generic, but even so there was one that caught his eye. A book called "The Islands Of Death," with a very familiar group of islands pictured on the cover.

"Oh, hey. A book on the great war," he said out loud while opening the book, immediately recognizing a legendary photograph of a blonde man in army fatigue leaning up against the ruins of a destroyed school in Striaton City, "Brings back memories…"

Zerobi looked at the book with mild interest, lifting it carefully with a clawed finger to catch a glimpse of the cover. She stared at it for a few moments before letting go.

"Wait… You weren't around for the great war, were you?" she asked with curiosity. She knew Lucario was older than he appeared, on account of living a long life as a human before even turning into a Pokémon. While his body was slightly younger than hers, he was definitely a few years older in terms of how long he had been alive.

"It happened 50 years before I was born, so no," Lucario replied with a snarky tone as he continued flipping through the pages, "They just taught us about it in school a lot."

"Hmm. They didn't teach us much history," Zerobi mumbled as she leaned up next to him to read the contents of the book, "What was it again, Kanto fought Unova and won?"

"Actually, it was a coalition between Kanto and Johto against Unova, who had an alliance with Sinnoh," Lucario explained, surprised to remember so much about history he had never revisited since the tedious lectures of schooldays long gone by. Zerobi nuzzled up affectingly against his shoulder which made him notice that everyone else in the store were staring at them, although he did not realize the people had been giving him odd looks for a while now simply for being a Pokémon with an open book in his hands.

"Uh, the dispute was regarding ownership on the Sevii Islands though, so technically it was just Kanto and Unova with anything to gain from it," he continued with a rapid pace as to shift her mind to other matters. Zerobi smiled and closed her eyes, unintentionally paying attention despite the subject of war not being very romantic.

"Sevii… You mean Navel Rock…?" she whispered dreamily before her eyes suddenly shot open in surprise, "Wait, what? Why would anyone fight a war over that tiny little island!?"

Lucario shrugged while scanning the book for relevant information.

"Resources, I think. No one's sure of who really owned them. Started with an embargo and things escalated," he muttered before looking at Zerobi hugging his side, "They really didn't teach you anything at school, huh?"

"They really only taught us about it from our point of view, I guess," Zerobi responded while staring blankly at the book, "We call it the Genealogy Wars, or 'Gen Wars' for short. You made it sound like it was only a war between human interests, why do you think Pokémon were in it?"

Lucario was about to make a condescending remark before stopping at a page, and indeed, there was a picture with both humans and Pokémon side by side in dirty conditions. The war he remembered did not involve Pokémon at all.

"Humans… Forced them?" he suggested, figuring it would only be logical to bring super powered beasts to a conflict between life and death, "What, you're saying they had their own reasons?"

Zerobi exhaled a puff of air as she tried to remember. History lessons about the great war took place during a time when most of her attention was focused on Evolution's Gate.

"Supposedly most Pokémon didn't particularly like the Pokémon heralding from other regions back then," she explained in a low tone, her neck starting to hurt from leaning so heavily on Lucario's shoulder, "Figured they had inferior genes. Kanto Pokémon thought Unova Pokémon looked weird and ridiculous, they said we were weak and had really simplistic appearances and so on."

"But… You all look weird," Lucario pointed out, not having detected any hierarchy of strangeness among Pokémon. Zerobi snickered as she separated from him and stood up, cracking her neck back into place.

"… Heh. Hehehe. That's a funny way to look at it," she said while feeling refreshed, "Anyway, the human conflict was a good chance to show supremacy. Very many died before we came to the conclusion that Kanto Pokémon were indeed better at killing than those from Unova."

Lucario stared at her with disbelief for a moment before putting the book back in the bookcase.

"Hey, it's a better reason for fighting than some useless island," Zerobi said while shrugging.

"Marginally," Lucario mumbled and started looking for something else to read. Zerobi went deeper into the store, having finally found the section she was looking for. They each tried reading a few random books before meeting up again five minutes later.

"Found anything good yet?" Zerobi asked, trying to catch a peek on whatever Lucario was reading.

"It's just a cookbook," Lucario muttered with disappointment before putting it back on the shelf.

"Hold on, don't you need that?" Zerobi asked while making a mental note of the book's title for future purchase, "You always complain about everything tasting bad. If someone close to you learned how to cook…"

"Cookbooks don't teach you how to cook," Lucario explained with disdain, "They just contain complicated recipes. Makes it more likely to screw things up."

"Oh…" Zerobi exclaimed sadly, realizing that learning how to cook just entered the realms of impossibility, "Surely it teaches you something?"

"Well… I did learn why humans are smarter than Pokémon," Lucario said. The corners of Zerobi's mouth quickly turned downwards and her expression demanded an explanation.

"See, you all eat berries, right?" Lucario relegated what he had just learned with a proud tone to his voice, "Well, that cookbook said cooked food makes it easier for the body to absorb nutrition. It's like a preemptive stage of digestion outside the stomach, which in return helps build neurons and leads to bigger brains."

"What? I don't get it," Zerobi said out loud, feeling a bit offended by the notion that humans were inherently smarter than Pokémon. Humans did have an easier time with a couple of skills that few Pokémon could appreciate such as complicated math and finer arts, but many Pokémon possessed unique senses that improved other cognitive functions.

"According to that book, it's because you eat everything raw and thus have no brain power," Lucario chided with a superior smile. Zerobi rolled her eyes in response. While humans excelled in things such as construction and music, writing and painting, Pokémon were generally better at remembering things correctly and processing new information. Hence why she could remember the name, type and footprint of almost every Pokémon in existence after only a year of study, whereas a human would need a Pokédex to keep track of things.

"Oh please," she scoffed, "It's not like berries are hard to digest."

"Says you!" Lucario shouted before suppressing a laugh, "Hehehaha, whatever. Bet it's smarter than your book."

"Bet it is," Zerobi replied bluntly, holding it up to show Lucario. On the cover was a very, very romanticized version of a Gardevoir held in the arms of a shirtless, muscled human with a confident expression on his face, the title 'Forbidden Sir Knight' hanging above them in a stylized font. Lucario still vividly remembered the Gardevoir he had seen at Brendan's side, wondering how this beautiful and attractive woman on the cover could ever be derived from that cancerous apprehension to aesthetics.

"I didn't know you liked romantic novels," Lucario said with mild distaste.

"I don't," Zerobi replied quickly before starting to read it again, "Well, I like some. But only the best."

"So, you've read quite a few?" Lucario asked, but Zerobi remained silent as she continued reading. Feeling bored, he looked around and realized they were in a very strange section of the store, if the covers around him were anything to go by. Most of the books had a scantily clad woman being held by a Pokémon, the latter very male and surprisingly human-like in appearance. Some were like the one Zerobi was reading and had the genders between the species reversed, but those were few and far between. Feeling a bit disgusted by the display, he was about to leave when he found a book that really caught his eye.

On the cover was a Lucario, one of his filthy paws caressing the thigh of a beautiful lady in regal, albeit almost fully removed clothing.

Lucario continued to stare at the picture. Despite each passing second filling him with revulsion, he could not turn away. Many a time he had seen his reflection in a lake or mirror, but no matter where or when, he had always recognized a certain spark of humanity within himself. His bipedal stature, his strong arms and his shorts all heralded to his former appearance.

Only when pictured in a romanticized manner could he see how wrong he had been. There was no comparison between the fair woman and the abominable beast that held her. Ears, nose and black lumps stuck out from his face like a whole hand of sore thumbs. Lucario caressed his own face, feeling every inch of his elongated nose, noting his ears involuntarily flicking from his touch and sensing minor nausea from squeezing the stuff that hung behind his head. He looked down at his legs – They did not feel too different, but boy did they look different. He himself was not sure where his legs ended and his feet began. Who would think to ruin a perfectly fine picture by forcing something like himself into it?

"Nope, not feeling it," Zerobi exclaimed as she slammed the book shut, "I guess I've gotten too picky. I'd kill to be able to erase my memory and read 'Nine Years of Flame, Nine Years of Shame' again for the first time."

She looked up at Lucario, who was looking back at her with a horrified expression.

"I mean, I wouldn't REALLY kill…" Zerobi corrected herself as she waved her big hand in front of the stunned Lucario, "… It's a joke? Hello?"

"Can we go now? I'm getting sick of this place," Lucario stated bluntly as he cast a glance around the area, trying not to let on that he was also getting sick from this place.

"I suppose. Did you find a book about Ethan yet?" Zerobi asked while putting Forbidden Sir Knight back where she had taken it.

"Huh?" Lucario exclaimed in confusion. Zerobi sighed as she reluctantly picked up a different book.

"To fill in the gaps in your memory?" she asked with a slightly annoyed tone. In an instant, Lucario's muddled expression cleared up.

"Th-They wrote books about me!?" he stammered in surprise.

"People write books about everything," Zerobi clarified as she started reading the back of the new book with a vacant expression, "Check out any encyclopedia about famous trainers, you're sure to be in it."

Happy with any excuse to get away from the sordid romantic section, Lucario scoured the store and finally found a book named 'How to Conquer the World of Pokémon', promising a detailed look on the lives and journeys of the four major champions; Red, Blue, Brendan and Ethan. Fifteen minutes later Zerobi had made her pick, buying two books of varying flavor; The first was named 'Debunking The Truth', a book exploring the many mysteries of the world through science and reason rather than superstition and subscription count, as Zerobi herself put it. She herself suggested Lucario not know much about the second book, an offer he gladly took her up on after his previous encounter with the horrors of romantic novels.

The sun was setting as they left the store, Lucario letting his only remaining coin fall into the bag where their books laid.

"Thanks for carrying," Zerobi expressed with gratitude, knowing no handle in the world was designed to accommodate her claws, "Where'd you get that money, anyway?"

"Whoops!" Lucario exclaimed as he froze up, remembering that the money was meant to bring him to Nomad's Land, "… Uh, do you know the way back? Did you come here on foot?"

"You didn't?" Zerobi responded with a hint of surprise, knowing how stingy the revolutionaries were with letting anyone hitch a ride.

"Nah, I teleported here with Blue," Lucario answered calmly.

"Blue…" Zerobi repeated in an equally calm manner, before her mouth fell open and she raised her voice, "… Blue!? Are you mad!? What if Brendan and Red-"

"Don't worry, don't worry! I already talked to them," Lucario interrupted her while waving his hands around. Zerobi stared at him in disbelief, not seeing any visible damage across his body.

"You're… Off the hook?" Zerobi drew the only conclusion she could think of, fairly certain the revolutionaries would not come to bat for Lucario against two legendary dogs.

"Kind of. At least for the time being, I think," Lucario admitted as he wondered which chapter of his new book he should start with. He was eager to know more about his life as Ethan, but knowing what makes the likes of Brendan tick might come to save his life one day.

A heavy weight suddenly lifted from Zerobi's heart, and she was forced to bite her tongue to keep herself from shouting out in joy. Victory, she thought to herself. The last obstacle before retiring to a nice, peaceful life was gone. At long last, the time had come to make a decisive move.

"Finally. No more running," she whispered innocently while nudging a little closer to Lucario, "We've had two pretty stressful years, huh?"

"For sure," Lucario agreed while not noticing her subtle approach, "I'm worn out as hell."

"Then let's go somewhere!" Zerobi exclaimed happily as her face lit up, "If we stick around with those revolutionaries, we're bound to get dragged into something else!"

"Go somewhere?" Lucario asked while scratching the back of his head, "Where? Another bookstore?"

"Anywhere but here!" Zerobi continued while letting her hand point towards the horizon where the sun was setting, "Come on, we deserve a vacation more than anyone. Let's sit back and watch the revolutionaries and legendaries wrap this whole thing on their own."

Surprised by this sudden request, Lucario could not help but be affected by Zerobi's peppy demeanor. It reminded him of the time they had been stuck with the rest of the legendaries, and she suggested they get out of there and go somewhere else. He wondered if maybe she had an issue with large crowds.

"I guess," Lucario replied with a shrug, not certain that he was in a position where he was even allowed to just ditch all of his responsibilities, "I think I can go on a little bit longer, though. It'd feel a bit pointless if I just gave up now when there's so much left to accomplish."

Lowering her arm, Zerobi looked at him as her smile suddenly began to vanish. It was a minor setback, but she had waited too long to be able to easily shrug it off. She was starting to feel tired, so very tired of this game.

"A little bit longer…" she repeated quietly before looking the other way, not sure on what to say next. She was tethered between pressing on, and just outright giving up here and now to spare herself pointless effort.

"Wh-What?" Lucario stuttered, surprised by the sudden shift in tone. He thought his statement would make her happy.

"… You're finally free, but you still want to keep going…?" Zerobi said with a questioning voice, trying to find out what he was thinking, "I don't get you. Haven't you already accomplished enough?"

"W… Well, I'm not really allowed to tell anyone about the virus," Lucario explained, trying to figure out what was wrong about what he was saying, "And Torana decided to cop out of admitting my victory. Come on, you can see why after all this I don't want to go down in history as a nobody, right?"

Zerobi couldn't, as she herself would have been perfectly happy going down in history as a nobody rather than a genocidal monster. It was definitively not a legitimate reason to see her golden chance to settle down with Lucario slipping away.

"You don't have to force yourself to live in constant peril just to accomplish things, you know…" she tried to negotiate, "If you're looking for recognition, there are other things we could do. You don't even want to try something different?"

Lucario crossed his arms, starting to realize that Zerobi was only worried about him getting hurt. For the first time in ages he was not under any direct threat, and he figured she wanted him to pull out before getting dragged into something else. However, at the same time it felt weird to give up right when he was finally free to do whatever he wanted. If things started to get dangerous again, he could always bail out then.

"Like I said, just let me try this a little while longer," Lucario said while putting his hand on Zerobi's shoulder, "Starting to feel like all my training was for nothing. If I haven't garnished some goddamn respect by the end of this, I'm going to feel very miserable."

Zerobi stared into his eyes, not detecting deception and not expecting it either. Her withheld hostility was starting to ebb away, and she wondered if she had overreacted. The fact that he was not entirely opposed to the idea was good news, after all. She would just have to be a little more patient.

"Wouldn't want that," she replied and felt herself cheer up, "Bet you're still only known around these parts as the guy who beat up six police officers."

Lucario smiled for a moment before the weight of her statement hit him. He looked around, the previously calming environment starting to feel less safe.

"Yeah… Uh, maybe we should get going already?" he said, trying to pick up the aura of four angry Mienfoo out to exact vengeance. Remembering their narrow escape, Zerobi snickered as she waved for Lucario to follow her, and they went on their way back to Nomad's Land.

Unnoticed by both, a minor tremor passed underneath their feet. The dying shakes of a mighty rumble originating from a place many miles away, far beneath the Earth's mantle. This seemingly unimportant event would come to baffle many dedicated geologists. A continent-wide tremble, but no earthquake or devastation anywhere. What had caused it? What did it mean? Complicated explanations and wild theories would fly around the science community for some time to come, but to the intended recipient this message was immediately obvious.

Rise to the surface
Let the destruction be eternal