In the end, Ethan had to buy some more instruments for his little band of pokemon. He bought the steelpan, an acoustic guitar, a keyboard, and something Meloetta had found very intriguing—a stylophone.
The stylophone looked to be more of a gimmick instrument than a real one, as it was a digital, battery powered synthesiser. It had a small set of flat metallic piano keys which reacted to the stylus attached to it and created a retro sounding buzz. Ethan had to admit it was a novel and interesting instrument, but it was definitely just something to play around with rather than something you’d sit down and learn. It was cheap as well, only four thousand pokedollars, or forty USD.
The electric buzz danced up and down as Meloetta floated by his size, sliding the stylus across to keys to play music. While he’d never heard the songs she was playing now, it was clear just by the sound that they were songs indeed. Perhaps they were songs she’d learned through her lifetime and enjoyed. Songs born from within this world instead of Earth.
That thought brought a question to his mind. “Meloetta, how old are you?”
Meloetta didn’t pause in her playing, but she did turn her floating body to face him. “Mel?”
“Hmm… Right.” Ethan should have seen that coming. She couldn’t exactly tell him how old she was. He’d gotten used to having Chatot around. He took out his phone and passed it to her, which finally stopped her song. “Can you write how old you are? I am just curious. I am twent—” Ethan’s feet slowed, the sounds of his footfalls eventually ending, leaving only the silence of the small path and fields around him. “Well, I would be thirty now. I think I missed my birthday.”
Meloetta floated over and patted his head, consoling him in a humanizing way. Something stung deep down in his chest at having forgotten about his own birthday and she must have felt it. He’d wanted to celebrate it, as his last one was a very lonely affair in the middle of a forest, lost and afraid.
Her hands eventually pulled back, and tapped on the phone. She passed it back calmly. Ethan glanced at the phone and his eyebrows rose in surprise. “Twenty-two? You’re fairly young then.”
While he wasn’t sure how long Meloetta lived, he assumed that they could live a long, long, long time. And, she spent a year of her short life traveling across the world to meet him? They were a match, it seemed. It took everyone a year to find him.
Meloetta either didn’t care about his comment or just wanted to get back to her stylophone. She’d done her part to cheer him back up after realizing he’d missed his birthday and her job was done. Ethan let her have her fun, not wanting to interrupt his newest friend as she found something she really enjoyed. They’d have time to get to know each other during their little trip back home. There wasn’t a rush.
He looked around as he walked down Route 211, taking in the little thickets of trees and wide roving grassy plains that let him see for miles on end. Up ahead, the looming wall of Mt. Coronet rose into the sky like a monument. From what he could tell, Route 211 went right up into the mountain and through a relatively low portion of it. It’d leave giant walls on his left and right, as if it were a gorge.
Just the thought of being sandwiched between two towering walls of solid rock made him nervous, but being nervous or anxious was not an excuse to not do it. He needed to experience what the world to offer, hazards, beauty, and all that it entailed. If he copped out and just teleported back home, he wouldn’t grow. He knew deep down that if he didn’t do this, he never would. The time was right, business was slow, and he could just do it.
He walked for another two hours, listening to Meloetta as she played songs on her funny sounding stylophone, before she grew tired and asked to rest. He recalled her and brought out Pachirisu, who instantly clambered up his leg to take Chatot’s spot since she wasn’t around to dispute it. As always, Pachirisu wrapped his tail around Ethan’s neck like a neck-brace.
The sun had already crested over the massive mountains, leaving them both in its massive shadow. Night fell quickly when mountains literally blocked out the sun. It was about time for Ethan to stop for the night and prepare dinner for himself and his pokemon. Anywhere on the side of the road looked fine, as it was all flat grass. Even after walking for a few hours, Ethan guessed that he was only halfway towards the mountain in the distance.
Pachirisu chittered and launched off his shoulder, sending Ethan tumbling from his forceful dismount. He jumped and scampered off into the grass, seemingly finding their spot. “Pachi-Pach!” Like a beacon in the green grass, Pachirisu’s fluffy tail pinged his location.
Ethan stepped off the beaten path, joining his squirrel in the tall grass. Seeing as this was as good a spot as any, Ethan stuck a hand into his magic bag and pulled out a thick blanket. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a bright blue. It was something to lay down on and was durable enough for the outdoors. He’d actually never used it before either. It was one of the many supplies he’d bought when he realized he needed to be prepared in case he got lost again. He couldn’t fit a whole house or even a large tent in his smallish Silph Co. bag, but he could get some of the basics in there along with all his other supplies.
Next, he pulled out his pokemon’s meals. Thankfully, all of the pokemon he’d brought with him were fine with berries and a little bit of rice. He flicked his wrist, releasing Tinkatuff from her pokeball. As she formed, he asked a favor. “Tinkatuff, you see that small copse of trees over yonder?” Ethan pointed out into the darkness.
“Tinkah!” Tinkatuff squinted as she hefted her mighty hammer onto her pink shoulder, other hand held up to her brow in her search.
“Can you go gather some sticks or maybe even get me a branch for a fire? I can’t really pack too much firewood and would like to keep what I have in case things go wrong.” He asked, “I’ll get started on making dinner. Tomorrow, when we’re in the mountains, we can look for some metal together. Sounds good?”
“Tinkah! Tinkatuff!” And she was off, sprinting, chest low to the ground with her hammer offsetting her off-balanced pose as it hung behind her.
“Pachi!” Pachirisu scampered off after her, hopping and weaving through the tall grass that surrounded them. He was going to help as well.
Thirty minutes later, Ethan had a small fire going and cleared enough tall grass to make a wild fire a non issue. All of his pokemon were out and about, hanging and relaxing outside their pokeballs for the night. Shuckle was in between his legs as he sat crosslegged, while Meloetta floated and Smeargle sat by his side. Tinkatuff, Pachirisu, and Pichu were rough housing in the grass, fighting and making a ruckus in the night. They’d all finished eating already and had nothing else better to do.
For the second time in a long time, Ethan felt peaceful outside his ranch. It made him feel… good in a way that didn’t have words. Just watching his pokemon play with nothing requiring his attention other than the fire… This is what every night would have been like on a journey, he felt.
Meloetta was floating and relaxing, a slight smile on her face as she watched the fire burn and flicker. Ethan raised up a hand to tap her, grabbing her attention. Once he had it, he whipped out his new acoustic guitar. Afterall, there wasn’t a better instrument to play around a campfire. “Wanna help me learn to play this?”
“Etta!” Meloetta nodded and floated down closer to him, eyes roaming across the simple yet functional instrument. Ethan wasn’t made of money, so he bought one on the cheaper end of things. Arthur said it’d be just as good, if plain in appearance. Taking a minute, Ethan found some of the notes that he wanted to use for a song. A few times, Ethan had to hum the note he wanted while Meloetta grabbed his hands and placed his fingers on the correct frets. Somehow, she just knew how the instruments worked.
He decided he wouldn’t question it.
Once he got the notes down, he tried to play them in order. The song he was aiming for was simple, but being a total novice on an instrument and having a whopping ten minutes of total action time with it made the prospect dubious at best. Still, he got it working with a little help from the music pokemon.
“♫ There it is again, that funny feeling… ♫”“♫ That funny feeling… ♫”
Ethan slowly began That Funny Feeling by Bo Burnham. While it was a comedic song at times, the underlying problems in it were deep and uncomfortable. The song was also chalk full of Earth mentions, which were bound to confuse his pokemon. He chose this song because it was catchy, simple, and it felt a little funny to feel peace away from home.
Pachirisu, Pichu, and Tinkatuff kept playing in the grass as he sang, but Shuckle, Smeargle, and Meloetta listened closely. Meloetta especially, seemed to grasp the deeper meaning laid within the song. Her smile evened out as he continued onwards, even going so far as to frown.
“♫ The whole world at your fingertips… ♫”“♫ The ocean at your door… ♫”
That line in particular was a deep cut for him as well, as sometimes he felt like anything outside his ranch was a vast ocean of uncertainty. It definitely felt that way when he was lost. All these wonderful sights, pokemon, and people were out there somewhere, but he was afraid to leave.
“♪ That unapparent summer air in early fall... ♪”“♪ The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all… ♪”
And yes, that had crossed his mind in the past as well. The ending of it all, by his own choice as well. He could proudly say he would have regretted that choice, as it was a mistake you could only make once and it was irreversible. He liked his life now, though things weren’t the best they could be. He missed many things and especially people from Earth, but he’d come to accept it by now.
Still sucked sometimes, though.
When he finished the song, Shuckle cheered, having enjoyed it even without understanding many of the Earth jokes. Smeargle liked it as well, but did catch onto some of the deeper bits.
Meloetta loved all music, he could tell, but this song along with his empathy thingy must have been a double whammy onto her. She understood—truly understood what the song was aiming for and what the words entailed. Context didn’t seem to be needed either. That was something he learned from her reaction.
“Thanks for your help.” Ethan thanked Meloetta, who stared at the guitar with mild apprehension. She quickly nodded and waved her hand about to accept the thanks, but her heart wasn’t in it. Her thoughtful eyes never left the guitar.
“I’ll play something happier next time we camp.” Ethan promised quietly.
He put his guitar away as he laid down to stare at the stars. Tomorrow, he’d be in the mountains and his scenery would change. He’d have to see if the stars looked the same from so high up as well.