Buizel woke up early with last night’s promise in the back of his mind.
He slid out of his bed and stretched. It felt good after the tension of yesterday, and it left Buizel feeling much refreshed. It was the weekend, meaning he didn’t have to go to school today. Usually he slept in, but he had a tour to guide today, and he wasn’t about to miss it.
He opened his dresser and pulled out the bag of Poke from yesterday. He held it up and considered it. 1,000 Poke was a lot of money to just give someone.
Buizel continued rummaging through the drawer before pulling out a belt. It was old and a bit too small for him now, but Shaun didn’t have any hands to carry things with, so this was the best compromise that he could think of on such short notice.
He tiptoed down the stairs to the living room and looked around. It was still relatively dark, but the sun would be rising soon and the town would awaken alongside it. Opening the front door, he slipped outside.
It was a quieter morning than most. Buizel took the time to inhale the cool morning air that still smelled faintly of rain and sea breeze. Dawn’s glow was just starting to peek over the horizon, casting the sky in shades of cyan. A few silvery lines of clouds reflected the morning light, making the sky seem brighter than it actually was.
An ocean breaker crashed against the cliff the lighthouse was on, making Buizel jump with the noise. He hurried along the dirt path that led into town as the sun continued to rise.
The air felt cool and damp as he ran on the cobbles toward the clinic. There were already a few ‘mons out and about, setting up shop for the day or just generally enjoying the morning. Buizel didn’t blame them. Mornings like this were few and far between, and he wished he could savor it more.
As he approached the clinic, he cursed himself for having run the entire way there. He was panting, and more than a little exhausted already. Arceus, a berry would be really nice right now. He’d probably buy something once the town’s general store opened.
Buizel entered the clinic, catching the attention of Cleffa. “Oh, hey Buizel! You’re here early.”
“Yeah,” Buizel nodded. “I told Shhhhhinx I was going to take him on a tour of the town today and I wanted to get started early.”
“Just as well,” Cleffa said. “He’s been bouncing off the walls since I arrived.”
Buizel walked into the sick ward and over to Shaun’s bed. Cleffa hadn’t been wrong. The bed’s covers were thrown haphazardly to the side, and a curtain had been opened for some reason. Shaun, however, was absent.
Buizel looked around for a moment before he heard a faint snicker from above. He looked up and saw Shaun perched on the beam that supported the curtain, tail swinging to keep his balance. “Aw, that gave it away.”
“How in the world did you even get up there?” Buizel was flabbergasted, much to Shaun’s amusement.
“Parkour, my dear Buizel,” he replied with a massive grin on his face. “I’ve been waiting for what feels like hours for you to get here.”
“Well, I’m here to pick you up from the clinic,” Buizel said hesitantly. “If you’re jumping around like a maniac, you’re probably well.”
“No kidding.” Shaun semi-gracefully tumbled onto his bed, disturbing the sheets even more. “I still need to get discharged, but I was waiting for you to get here so I wouldn’t immediately be turned out onto the street with no idea where to go.”
Buizel blinked. “Smart.”
Shaun leapt to the floorboards. “Shall we get going? I’m eager to figure out where I am.”
They walked out of the sick ward and over to Cleffa’s desk, which had papers Buizel hadn’t noticed. “Ah, just the Pokemon I wanted to see,” she said. “We’re currently in the process of discharging you from our care. Sign here, please.” She grabbed a few papers off the counter to file them away, leaving one in front of them. Shaun cast a panicked look at Buizel, who returned it. “Uh, Cleffa? Shau- Shinx can’t read or write.”
“Oh, that’s no problem at all!” Cleffa smiled pleasantly as he whisked a pot of ink from underneath the counter and placed it down with a clink. “Just write down his name for him and have him stamp his paw print by it.”
Buizel wrote down “Shinx” as Shaun’s name, and Shaun stamped his ink-covered paw next to it. He held his paw slightly above the floor with a slight look of consternation.
Cleffa collected the form and looked it over with a professional eye before nodding. “Alright, everything seems to be in order. Enjoy the rest of your stay on Fifty Island, Shinx!”
Shaun took a second to process that she was talking to him. “Oh! Yeah, thanks.” They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Buizel abruptly turned to Shaun. “Let’s go outside.”
Shaun nodded, obviously relieved. They left the building, with Shaun limping to keep his inky paw off of the floor.
Outside, the sun had finally risen above the ocean. The glare was almost directly in their eyes, causing Shaun some discomfort. “No matter where I turn, it gets into my eyes,” he complained.
“Not a morning person?” Buizel teased lightly.
“No,” Shaun grumpily replied.
They walked up the bend that led to the rest of the town, and thankfully it turned their backs to the sun. It was at this point that Buizel remembered that he was carrying things for Shaun. He cleared his throat. “So I actually have a few things for you.”
“Oh, is that why you’ve been carrying those?” Shaun peered at the items he was holding. “I was wondering what they were.”
Buizel displayed the belt first. “This is a belt. I can’t wear it, and you don’t have opposable thumbs, so it’s probably more useful on you than me.”
Shaun nodded. “It does sound like it’d be useful.” He looked at himself appraisingly for a second. “How am I gonna put it on?”
“I’ll put it on for you,” Buizel offered. “You can adjust it to your liking later, I can just put it on.”
“Sure,” said Shaun, a tad noncommittally.
Buizel walked around Shaun, wrapping the belt around his waist. He stepped back and admired his work. “You look made for it.”
He did. It was slightly loose, as Buizel didn’t want to hurt Shaun, but the tan brown leather of the belt accentuated Shaun’s form very nicely.
Shaun looked over his shoulder at the belt. “I would love to agree, but I don’t exactly have a third-person view of myself at the moment.” He put his paw down and shook himself. “Feels a little loose,” he remarked.
“I was afraid of over-tightening,” Buizel admitted. “You can adjust it, if you want.”
Shaun did, grabbing the end of the belt with his teeth and pulling until he felt satisfied with its tightness. “Now it doesn’t feel like it’s gonna fall off if I run too fast,” he said confidently.
Buizel reached over and hooked the bag of money securely onto the belt. “And this is our payment for the translation we did yesterday.”
“Oh sweet.” His neck hurt from turning his head so much, so he chose to look at Buizel. “How much is it?”
“One thousand Poke,” Buizel replied.
He didn’t know what reaction he was expecting, but it wasn’t Shaun staring at him blankly. “…Is that a lot? I have almost no frame of reference.”
Buizel smiled. “Let’s head into town. We’ll find out how much it’s worth really fast.”
As they walked into town, Shaun took everything in like a half-dead plant in desert soil takes in a monsoon rain.
There were buildings everywhere, made of stucco and painted various pastel shades. Potted plants dotted the outsides of various shops, and the occasional palm tree’s shadow loomed across buildings. It was a very pleasant aesthetic that Shaun really enjoyed.
Buizel took him down to a little circular plaza, where a curve of shops lined one part of it. A dirt path branched off into some mostly leafless trees, and another paved path led its way down to what Shaun assumed was the coast.
Buizel stopped in the approximate middle of the plaza and began to point out buildings. “General store, restaurant, library,” he listed them off as he pointed to them. Shaun noted with amusement that the library was made out of wood, while the other buildings were made out of the same colorful stucco.
“…Grocer’s, never gone there, never gone there, tourist trap.”
Shaun looked at Buizel again. “Tourist trap?”
“Cheap knick knacks that are just made to look pretty,” Buizel clarified. “Not much reason to go there.”
Shaun was already walking towards the store. “I just want to look,” he said to a consternated Buizel who ran to catch up with him. “Besides, I technically am a tourist right now.”
The store was still closed, due to it being early in the morning, but Buizel and Shaun were still able to look in through the windows. Gaudy little trinkets and figures lined the shelves, made up to look as enticing as possible. Shaun winced as they walked past a particularly reflective one that reflected the morning sun directly into his eyes. “Yeah, looks cheap alright.”
“I told you,” Buizel muttered. Louder, he asked, “Can we stop by the general store? I haven’t had breakfast yet and would really like something to eat.”
Shaun opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a particularly loud rumble from his own stomach. He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”
They walked around the curve of shops to get to the general store. Shaun looked around at the various Pokemon that were out and about. A few of them seemed to be shopkeepers setting up for the day, but the rest were other denizens of the village out and about as well. They waved to Buizel politely, who waved back as a matter of course, but a lot of them seemed to do it to have an excuse to stare at Shaun. He wasn’t used to the attention, so he just looked straight ahead out of embarrassment and followed Buizel.
They stood outside the general store. In front, a sign that vaguely resembled a chameleon’s tail wrapped around various goods; food, tools, and something else Shaun didn’t quite recognize. Buizel opened the door and poked his head around it, and asked a question Shaun couldn’t quite catch. After a moment, there was a response from inside, and Buizel waved Shaun in.
The inside of the general store was very welcoming. The floor was made out of wooden planks, artfully arranged in a herringbone pattern. The walls were also made of wood, but it was much brighter than the floor. Shaun found himself wishing that he lived here as he glanced around.
Shelves filled the room similar to the library, but instead of books, various items lined them. Shaun looked around in awe at the sheer amount of things there were on offer.
Buizel walked straight over to the counter and engaged with the shopkeeper, some sort of green chameleon with yellow highlights who seemed to be about a foot taller than Buizel. Shaun, having nothing better to do, followed.
“Morning, Kecleon,” Buizel said. “Any chance you still sell berry smoothies?”
“We sure do,” the thing that Shaun thought was Kecleon replied. “There’s even a special, currently; two for the price of one.”
Shaun suspected that the special was invented as soon as he and Buizel walked through the door, but he kept his peace. Buizel, amusingly, also seemed to know this, but he took the deal anyway. “How much does it cost?”
“One-hundred and twenty Poke,” came the reply.
Buizel turned to Shaun and grabbed a handful of coins out of the bag that had been attached to his belt. He placed them onto the counter where the Kecleon surveyed them with a keen eye before nodding and stowing them away somewhere. “I’ll be right out with your smoothies, sirs.” He whisked into a back room, presumably to prepare them.
Shaun took the opportunity to look around the store. He wandered down the aisles, looking at the various goods on display. There was a selection of bright blue berries, and a wall lined with orbs. Shaun wanted to investigate the orbs closer, but he was interrupted by the Kecleon loudly returning and placing the glasses onto the counter. Shaun conveniently made his way back over to the counter where Buizel had just collected the two smoothies, one pink and one blue. “Thank you, sir,” Buizel nodded to the shopkeeper.
“Any time, Buizel!” Kecleon watched them leave with professional interest before shrugging and returning to whatever he had been doing before they had come in.
Stepping out into the plaza again, a wave of cool sea air hit Shaun’s face. It was pleasant, relaxing even. He turned to Buizel and asked, “Is there anywhere to sit?”
Buizel nodded and set off towards the dirt path, surprising Shaun. He hurried after him, his stomach growing more unruly by the minute.
They turned down the dirt path and walked a little ways before coming across three rocks. Two of them were sitting side-by-side and were smaller than the third, which was long and flat in nature’s imitation of a table.
Buizel turned off the path and sat down on one of the smaller rocks, placing the two smoothies there. Shaun walked over and sat on the other rock. It gave him a nice view of the dirt path and the smoothies that Buizel had placed down. They looked very pretty, both of them having flecks of fruit inside of the clear glass. Buizel automatically took the pink one and started to drink it. Shaun assumed that meant he was to take the blue smoothie, so he awkwardly maneuvered the glass with his paws until he was able to drink from it without spilling it on himself.
The taste of the smoothie was different from what he had been expecting. It was cold and sweet, but with faint sour undertones that accentuated the sweetness even more. He looked at the glass in his hands before turning to Buizel. “What flavor is this?” His voice sounded more bewildered than he had meant it to.
Buizel had drained half his glass already and was coming up for air. “Oh, that’s Oran flavor. It’s good, but a bit bland.” He returned to drinking his smoothie, and Shaun stared at his own. If he thought that this cacophony of flavors was “bland”, Shaun was afraid of what he thought was flavorful.
Shaun managed to drink the rest of his smoothie without incident. It left him feeling satiated, which was something he hadn’t expected. “Man, that was good! Thanks.”
Buizel had set his glass down and was staring off into space, but Shaun’s words made him jump a little and turn to look at him. “Oh, uh, you’re welcome?”
There was an awkward silence for a moment that was broken by a sudden commotion in the distant town square. Shaun turned to look as some sort of shaggy dog thing with what looked like a saw blade embedded in its head seemed to be making an announcement of some kind.
“What in the world is an Absol doing here?” Buizel mused, also gazing at it. “They hardly leave their clans up in the mountains.”
“Why?” Shaun asked.
“They’re pretty isolationist,” Buizel replied. “Something to do with being seen as harbingers of doom or something.”
Shaun glanced at the town square again, where a small gaggle of Pokemon were already gathering around it. “Uh, is this reputation undeserved, or…?”
“They claim they can sense disasters, I think.” Buizel was staring contemplatively at the empty smoothie glasses. “If we return these, we can get some Poke back.”
Shaun laughed. “If you want to go eavesdrop, then you can just say so.”
Buizel collected the glasses off the rock with a clinking sound. “It’s good practice to at least have an excuse, my dad says.”
They walked back into the town and conveniently slipped into the muttering crowd as it grew larger due to more and more interested Pokemon. Shaun could hardly see anything from the ground, as the crowd’s height varied wildly. He looked at Buizel, who was also trying to see into the center of the crowd. “I didn’t know this many people lived here,” Shaun remarked.
“It’s a lot more populated than it looks,” Buizel replied distractedly.
Shaun gazed at Buizel for a second before leaping onto his head. “Ow! Hey!” Buizel hadn’t been expecting it and nearly fell over. “You almost made me drop these!”
“Sorry not sorry,” Shaun said from his new vantage point. He could just barely make out the Absol in the middle of the crowd by standing on Buizel’s shoulders.
The crowd suddenly hushed as it began to speak. “My friends, I realize my sudden appearance here may be cause for concern.” Its voice carried easily throughout the square. “But I have come to warn you of a great disaster that is fast approaching this island.”
Buizel and Shaun exchanged horrified looks as the crowd around them muttered in shock and confusion. “I will not advise any action,” the Absol continued, “as that is your choice of what to do. I am merely a messenger.”
“Yeah, right,” something that Shaun had thought was just a boulder muttered to their side. “More likely you’re causing it for your own twisted, personal reasons.”
Shaun glanced down at Buizel, who silently shook his head in confusion. Shaun looked up just in time to see the Absol leaving, with the crowd reverently parting in its wake.
He slid off Buizel’s head, much to his evident relief, and they dodged around departing Pokemon to get to Kecleon’s store. “Well, that just happened,” he quipped.
“Uh huh,” Buizel muttered. “It worries me that he used the same phrasing as that book.” He looked a little bleak.
“Maybe he was just trying to stir up trouble?” Shaun said, trying to cheer Buizel up. “You never know, he could’ve been talking out of his ass.”
Buizel snorted a little at the vulgarity. “I mean, technically anything’s possible.” He did seem to cheer up a little bit, though, which relieved Shaun.
They entered the shop and returned the glasses to Kecleon, who was pleased to have them back. “Most ‘mons don’t actually return these,” he said as he whisked away to serve another customer. The shop had grown much busier since that morning.
Shaun felt uncomfortable in the crowded building and slipped outside as soon as he was able. As he took deep breaths of the fresh air and looked around, he noticed that the town was still bustling with activity, but there was now a slight air of trepidation hanging over it.
Buizel exited the shop behind Shaun and took a cursory glance around before sighing in relief.
“What are you looking for?” Shaun asked in curiosity.
Buizel started a little. “Oh, uh, nothing.”
“Why, we all know that’s a lie,” A condescending voice said from out of view.
They turned to see what looked like a spiky purple ghost with floating hands in a position closely resembling folded arms, “leaning” against a decorative palm tree. Buizel drew in a breath and let it out slowly.
“Who are you?” Shaun was slightly taken aback at its sudden appearance.
It smiled in a way Shaun didn’t like. “Oh, I’m just a compatriot of Buizel, here. I’m personally surprised that a celebrity such as yourself would… condescend to hang out with him.”
Buizel just looked vaguely confused. “Celebrity?”
“Surely you’ve heard the talk by now,” the ghost replied. “The first Electric-type to set foot on the island since your father.”
The last word was filled with a malice that Shaun didn’t understand, but it certainly affected Buizel. His paws clenched and unclenched, as if he was considering punching it. “Don’t talk about him that way,” he said very quietly.
The ghost grinned. “Oh ho! Struck a nerve, did I?” It seemed immensely pleased with itself for having done so. It advanced on them, causing Shaun to take a step back.
This seemed to please the ghost even more. “Why, even your ‘friend’ is afraid of me!”
Buizel didn’t respond or move. Shaun glanced at him, but his expression was unreadable. He quickly racked his brains. If he didn’t do something, it was likely to turn into a scrap, and he was worried about the ghost’s claws. But trying to defuse the situation seemed hopeless. The ghost had crossed a sacred line, and Buizel was liable to do something stupid. The worst part was that the ghost seemed to know this as well.
One pitiful little idea occurred to him. He took a deep breath and acted on it. “I swear, you have the ugliest grin of anyone I have ever seen.”
Buizel and the ghost turned to stare at Shaun. “Pardon?” The ghost asked, its grin fading a little.
“Not to mention the lack of arms,” Shaun continued uncontrollably. “Like seriously, did you cheap out at the arm store or something?”
They continued to stare at Shaun, but the corners of Buizel’s mouth began to twitch. The ghost’s grin began to look less mean and more nonplussed.
“And good job on your vocabulary! Too bad it’s larger than your brain.” Oh help! Shaun thought. I can’t stop! “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had spent time at the library. Oh wait! Your ego is so big that it can’t fit in most doorways.”
The ghost’s grin was still plastered to its face. “Really now.”
“Yes, and another thing- you’re trying too hard to piss off Buizel. Anyone with half a brain would think that you had a crush on him.”
Buizel seemed to be trying very hard not to laugh. The ghost opened its mouth to try and reply, but no sound came out.
“In conclusion, you have a really nasty face, and we would all appreciate it if you showed it less often,” Shaun said decisively.
This brought an end to his tirade as Buizel let out a guffaw. He fell over and started laughing so hard that Shaun immediately worried that he would hurt himself.
The ghost stared at Shaun for a moment, still with the confused grin on its face, before abruptly turning and floating away, where it disappeared into thin air. Shaun blinked and then shook his head. That was one less issue to deal with.
He turned to Buizel, who’s laughing had gone from uncontrollable to hysterical. Shaun sat and waited for the laughing to die down.
It did, by degrees. “Arceus!” Buizel gasped. “I never thought that an encounter with Haunter would leave me laughing!”
“I take it you two have a long and storied history,” Shaun said dryly.
Buizel was calming down by now, but was still giggling occasionally. “You have no idea. He seems to bully me- and only me- for no apparent reason. No clue why.”
“People are just like that sometimes,” Shaun replied. “Not much you can really do about them but ignore them.”
“Easier said than done,” Buizel remarked. He stared up into the sky for a while. “You’ve just marked yourself, by the way. Humiliating Haunter, especially in front of me- of all Pokemon- was a great way for him to form a grudge against you.”
“Hooray,” said Shaun, deadpan. “My first day out and about and I’m already forming enemies.”
“Oh, don’t be like that.” Buizel sat up. “I think you’re the first ‘mon I’ve seen that’s actually stood up to him bullying me.” He looked down at the paving stones. “I’ve told the adults, but they can’t do anything about him because no one knows who his parents are. And he certainly won’t tell anyone.”
“That sucks,” Shaun said empathetically. He stood up and stretched. “Shall we continue the tour?”
“Oh, yeah, we were doing that.” Buizel stood up with a grin. “I should probably show you where you’re staying, huh?”
Shaun blinked. “Oh good, you remembered to do that. I, uh, might’ve forgotten entirely about that.”
“Pfft.” Buizel rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you have amnesia, just really bad short term memory.”
“I take offense to that,” Shaun replied good-naturedly. “Besides, amnesia only really affects long-term memory…” He trailed off as a strange sight caught his attention.
A few small Pokemon were tagging along after a larger green one that looked vaguely like a lizard. The lizard, to his amusement, looked resigned to his fate as the children bothered him incessantly with questions in high-pitched voices.
Buizel was watching too. “Huh. That Grovyle has a bag. Wonder if he’s from the Explorer’s Society.”
They stood and watched the Grovyle aimlessly wander around the town square, always seeming to walk into the thickest part of the activity. “Oh,” Shaun noted with amusement. “He’s trying to shake them off in the crowd. Smart.”
After a while, it seemed to work. They saw the Grovyle look around and then sigh in relief before ducking into an alleyway. Shaun glanced at Buizel, who was still staring after the alleyway the Grovyle had gone into with consternation. “Weren’t you going to show me where I’m gonna be staying?”
“Oh, yeah!” Buizel started to walk towards the edge of the town square where a path wiggled its way among the landscape. “It’s a short walk from here, actually.”
Shaun followed him out of the town and up a winding road that wobbled its way up a hill. He heard the ocean much more clearly now, which surprised him. “I don’t think I’ve been near the ocean since I washed up here,” he said conversationally.
Buizel looked at him with confusion. “But you weren’t near the ocean when I found you? You were in the woods that you struggled to walk out of.”
“I’m still holding that against you, by the way,” complained Shaun tangentially. “You could’ve carried me the entire time, but you didn’t until I physically couldn’t walk anymore.”
“Look, I didn’t think of it until then,” Buizel defensively replied. “I’m a bit scatterbrained, if you haven’t noticed.”
Shaun laughed. “Buddy, if I hadn’t noticed by now, I’d be even more scatterbrained than you are!”
This set Buizel to grinning as they approached a large building overlooking the ocean. Shaun looked up at what was undeniably a lighthouse.
It was a massive white stone pillar, with the appearance of having been erected out of the ground using some force he couldn’t understand. At the very top was a reflective area that hurt his eyes just to look at, so he glanced around at the rest of the building. A wooden house seemed to have been built around the pillar, painted white to match the lighthouse. It had two stories, and a blue shingle roof accentuated the whole building very pleasantly.
Buizel went straight up to the door and opened it, beckoning Shaun in. “Come in. Just be a bit quiet, okay?”
As he walked into the building, Shaun saw a large living room to his left, complete with an armchair and a couch in front of a fireplace. A stairway led up to the second floor on his right, and he thought he saw a kitchen behind the wall the stair was bolted to. A closed door was across from the entrance, and further back into the room was a large circular room carved out of white stone that Shaun assumed was the base of the lighthouse proper.
The interior of the house was very cozy. It wasn’t entirely tidy, but it was clean enough that it wasn’t a detriment to the surroundings. A stack of books stood at the door, which Buizel cast a regretful look at before moving on.
“Wow, it’s very pleasant here,” Shaun remarked. “Is this where I’m staying?”
“Yup,” Buizel nodded. “For the time being, at least.” He started up the stairs with practiced ease, with Shaun following after him. They lead to a relatively sparse bedroom, containing a rug, a bed, and a dresser.
“It’s a bit barren in here,” Shaun said. “Shouldn’t there be more furniture?”
Buizel shrugged. “It’s comfortable enough.” He perked up as they heard a door open and shut downstairs. “Oh! She’s awake! I’d better introduce you.” He went galloping down the stairs before Shaun could ask who “she” was.
This led Shaun to discovering that going down stairs on all fours was not easy. He slowly descended each stair one at a time back into the living room.
There was Buizel, excitedly chattering to a new Pokemon who was nodding attentively with its paws folded in front of it. Shaun blinked. She looked almost exactly like Buizel, but she was about a foot taller and with a larger floatation ring. She turned to him as he climbed down the stairs. “Oh, you must be Shaun. Welcome to Island Village’s lighthouse!”
Shaun waited until all his paws were securely on the floor before responding. He turned to her and nodded. “Thank you. It feels like a very nice place to live.”
“Well, we do try to keep it that way,” she replied. “My name is Floatzel. I hear that you don’t have a place to stay, is that correct?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shaun said. He almost added that he had amnesia, but decided against it. “I apologize for asking for shelter on such short notice.”
“It’s fine.” She waved him off. “Buizel has told us a lot about you already, and we would love to have you here for a while.”
Shaun glanced at Buizel in surprise, but nodded and smiled at Floatzel. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
She bowed, returning the smile. “It’s the least we can do. I haven’t seen Buizel this happy in months.”
“Mom…” Buizel protested. His face had gone an uncharacteristic red.
“He deserves to know,” Floatzel said gently. “I need to go start preparing your father’s breakfast, so I’ll excuse myself for now.” She went into the kitchen and various noises started to manifest themselves as a consequence.
Shaun realized with dawning comprehension that this was Buizel’s house. “How is it that you have never once mentioned that you live in a lighthouse?”
“Wait. You didn’t know that I lived here?” Buizel was genuinely surprised. “Did I not ever tell you?”
“Nope!” Shaun looked around the house with new appreciation. “Nice place. Uh, does that mean that the bed in that room is yours?”
“Yeah…” Buizel dragged the word out. “I think we’re gonna have to bring in a new bed so you aren’t sleeping on the floor.”
Shaun didn’t respond. Instead, he walked over to a bookshelf that he had noticed over by the living room seating. It towered over him, haphazardly crammed with books that threatened to tip the entire thing over. Buizel followed him and looked at the bookshelf as well. “Our family likes to read a lot,” he supplied conversationally.
“I can tell,” Shaun replied dryly. “What do you have on here?”
“Oh, the regular suspects,” said Buizel. “History books, fiction, repair manuals…”
“Repair manuals?” Shaun scanned the bookshelf. “What for?”
“Oh, we have an elevator that goes up to the lantern room,” Buizel said airily.
Shaun spun around to look at him. “An elevator?!” Buizel tried and failed to keep a straight face. Shaun assumed this was the reaction that he was hoping for. “Where is it?” he continued.
Buizel walked wordlessly into the circular room, with Shaun following. Embedded in the floor was an unassuming wooden platform, which Buizel stood on. He pressed a button on the wall and waited with a grin.
The platform shuddered and remained in place. His grin fell off his face and was replaced with intense disgust. “Oh. It would be broken right now. Hold on.” He stepped off the platform and manually pulled it out of the floor using a handle that Shaun hadn’t noticed. Below was a cavity wide enough for Buizel to slip into, which he did. After a moment, he poked his head back out. “Do you wanna see how it works?”
Shaun grinned. “Hell yeah!” He wriggled his way into the cavity underneath the platform.
It was a lot bigger inside than he had expected. The walls were all covered with brass gears and pulleys, with a large piston in the middle of it which supported the platform. There was still enough room to walk around the space, which Buizel was doing, inspecting various gears on the walls. “This is some incredible engineering,” Shaun remarked in awe.
“I know. Unfortunately, it has a really bad habit of breaking down every few weeks, and then I have to fix it.” Buizel tugged on a pulley to see that it was in working order. “It’s really cool when it works, though.”
Shaun surveyed the room with a layman’s eye. “Is that gear supposed to be moving?”
A single brass gear was spinning all on its own, without anything seemingly powering it. Buizel turned and looked. “Oh, that would explain it.” He took a gear out of the wall seemingly at random and slotted it next to the gear.
The gear stopped for a moment, before starting to turn the other way. Shaun watched in fascination as the entire room of gears began to spin, indicating that power had been restored to the elevator.
“Funny thing about gears,” Buizel remarked. “They only turn one way. It takes a second gear to make them move in reverse.” He went around the room and moved more gears around to connect to areas that weren’t turning. “I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that someone actively comes down here and messes with these.”
With the last gear slotted into place, the entire room was filled with a slow and steady ticking. Shaun felt himself relax subconsciously. The noise was almost hypnotic.
Buizel startled him out of his reverie by loudly pushing up the platform. “Come on, I wanna show you the elevator.”
“Oh, right.” Shaun climbed out of the room, casting a backwards glance at it.
Back in the stone room, Buizel stepped back onto the wooden platform and pressed the button again. This time, the wooden platform shot up with a loud ticking of mechanics. Shaun gaped at the elevator as Buizel was sent up to the top of the lighthouse with a single button press. It loudly rattled to a stop, signifying that it had reached the top. After a second, it started retracting, bringing down a grinning Buizel, who grinned wider upon seeing Shaun’s face.
“Dude,” Shaun said. “That is so cool.”
“Isn’t it?!” Buizel was still grinning, a really genuine smile. “I hardly ever get to use it, though. I usually have to repair it because I’m the only ‘mon small enough to fit down there.”
“Oh good, you fixed the elevator,” Floatzel said, walking up to them. “Your father told me to tell you last night, but I entirely forgot with all the excitement of a guest arriving.” She turned to Shaun. “Speaking of, Ampharos would very much like to meet you. He’s currently in the kitchen having breakfast, if you’d like to talk to him. I need to run errands, so I’ll be out of the house for a while.”
“Okay!” Buizel ran up to Floatzel and hugged her. “See you soon!”
She returned the hug, making Shaun uncomfortably feel like he was witnessing something private before she broke away and left the room.
After a moment, Buizel began fidgeting nervously with the fins under his arms. “Well, I guess you should go meet my dad now.”
“Is he particularly scary?” Shaun didn’t think he was, but he was still wary.
“Not really?” Buizel fidgeted some more. “Just… he can be intimidating sometimes. Especially when he’s just woken up.”
“Might as well bite the bullet and talk to him, then,” said Shaun. “No use putting it off.”
Buizel gazed at Shaun with a confused expression for a second before shaking it off. “Alright. Let’s go see my dad.”
The kitchen was a very homey room, with a row of countertops at the far end with cabinets above them. A window peeked above an empty basin, letting in bright daylight that lit up the room. The floor was paved with white tiles, which looked like they had just been cleaned. Shaun felt like he was committing sacrilege by stepping on them. In the middle of the kitchen was a rectangular dining table with three chairs around it, one of them occupied by Ampharos.
Shaun almost instantly knew what Buizel meant by “intimidating”. The yellow giraffe-sheep was easily three times taller than him, and loomed over its breakfast of assorted berries with a wooden spoon and hardly any expression. It took a second for it to notice them, giving time for Shaun to observe the red orbs on its long tail and forehead. When it did, it turned its head to look at them. “Good morning to the both of you.” He pointed to Buizel with the spoon. “I assume you two have already had breakfast?”
Buizel nodded. “Yeah, got us both a berry smoothie from Kecleon’s shop.” Shaun heard the faint nervousness in his voice as he spoke.
“Good.” Ampharos nodded and looked at Shaun. “Well met. I hear that my son saved your life out in the woods.”
Shaun nodded. “That’s pretty much what happened, sir. I was sick in the town clinic for about a week and just got discharged this morning.” He made direct eye contact with Ampharos.
There was a still moment between the two as Shaun looked into Ampharos’ eyes. A spark of recognition flashed in them, but it passed so quickly that Shaun wondered if he had really seen anything.
“Well, you’re welcome to stay in our home while you gain your bearings,” Ampharos said, breaking eye contact. He took a bite of his food and chewed for a while before swallowing and returning his attention to Shaun. “Where are you from?”
“Oh. Um.” Shaun looked to Buizel for help, but he just shook his head, wide-eyed. “I don’t exactly remember at the moment, sir.”
If Ampharos had eyebrows, they would’ve gone halfway up his forehead. “Oh. A shame, really.” He made as though to ask something else, but he stopped himself and glanced at his breakfast again. “Do you have a preferred name?” he asked.
Shaun felt a little surprised. “Um, ‘Shaun’ works.”
Ampharos hummed, causing Shaun to start shifting his weight from side to side uneasily. “Interesting. I’ll keep that in mind, Shaun.”
Buizel, who seemed keen on ending the conversation, coughed and said, “I’m gonna head outside.”
“Me too,” Shaun said with relief.
“Alright,” Ampharos said, seemingly unaware of their discomfort. “Be back soon.”