[Pokémon] A Smell of Petroleum Pervades Throughout

No evil laughs or evilness, Just ask him how he got here and how long he's been here and if he knows what that white thing is up ahead

Offer to throw a rock at the white thing if he does not know what it is, whether this is a bad idea or not.

> Correct me if I'm wrong but can't you just carry Vesta on a torch (e.g. a piece of coracle or something)?

Well, it all depends on how much a fire weighs. Ooh, now there's something for all the Zen Buddhists to meditate on. What is the weight of a fire? Deep, man.

Also, yes. This would be possible, if you were willing to go all the way back up to the beach to get a piece of wood – and right now, you aren't; you're more interested in Elm.

Then again, would a piece of wood hold for long? Vesta burns everything she touches at a constant rate loosely tied to the object's flammability; you don't think a torch with her on the end of it would last more than a few minutes. If that.

> Threaten him with Vesta to make him reveal everything he knows. Also do an evil laugh while you do it. In fact, do an evil laugh even if he tells you everything willingly. You can always say a voice in your head told you to do it; I will gladly take the blame.
> No evil laughs or evilness, Just ask him how he got here and how long he's been here and if he knows what that white thing is up ahead
> Ask Elm how he got there and what he knows about the Eldritch world.
> Ask elm about the eldritch pokemon, what happened to the storage system and how he ended up here.
> Offer to throw a rock at the white thing if he does not know what it is, whether this is a bad idea or not.

You have a brief urge to threaten Elm with death by fire, but decide swiftly that this is not the best course of action. You are then beset by an urge to ask Elm what happened to the storage network, but then you remember that you already know about that. Where are these ideas coming from?

"How the hell did you end up down here?" you ask.

Elm gives you a look.

"How do you think? Helicopter out to the islands, then walk down here. I'd heard rumours from a Trainer named Gold that the legendary Pokémon Lugia had re-established a nest here –and, you know, it hadn't been seen in Johto for close to a hundred years; half the scientific community thought it was extinct! So I came down here to see for myself." He nods in the direction of the distant white thing. "As you can see, it is here."

"So that is...?"

"Lugia, yes. What's left of it." Elm sighs. "I'm really not sure how it happened. It's like a spontaneous forced evolution occurred all over the world – but not forwards to the next evolutionary line, more... sideways, to an alternate line." He shakes his head. "It happened on our way down here. We were attacked; I got down to the camp our scout had established earlier, just over there" – he points over to a nearby wall – "but no one else made it."

"How come you survived?" you ask. It's a fair question; Elm doesn't look like he'd be much use in a fight against a prawn cracker, let alone against an Eldritch Pokémon. Although that is a bit rich coming from you.

"Where's the safest place to be in the ocean?" he asks in return.

"Uh..." You glance at Vesta, but she doesn't even know what an ocean is; she makes that little twitch that might be a shrug again, and leaves you to it. "I don't know," you admit. "Where?"

"Right behind the shark," Elm informs you, and the light dawns.

"They're too scared to come down here, aren't they?"

"Exactly," he says. "Nothing dares come this close to Lugia. They didn't before, and they definitely don't now – did you see what it did earlier? The storm?"

"Yeah," you reply. "We were caught in the middle of that."

Yes, says Vesta. It was cold.

Elm appears to accept your six-foot talking fire as normal; you can't even begin to fathom why this is, but it probably has something to do with the fact that he's been living in close proximity to Eldritch Lugia for so long.

"I see," he says. "You're lucky to be here, then. If I hadn't sealed the door to the camp, I'd have been drowned – as it was, I think the whole cave network was flooded."

It's at about this time that your brain catches up with his words.

"Wait," you say, "helicopter? Does it still work?"

"Hell if I know." Elm shrugs. "I haven't left this cave in... oh, I don't know. A long, long time now. I'd be amazed if the storms haven't broken it, but I don't know for sure."

"OK." You scratch your head. "Uh... I'm Othodox, by the way."

"All right. Hello, Othodox."

I'm Vesta, says Vesta, eager to be included.

"Hello, Vesta," replies Elm with perfect equanimity. "Ah! Dear me, I haven't even invited you in. Please, come with me."

He leads you over to the wall, and moves a large slab of rock out of the way – and then you realise that it isn't rock, it's some kind of reinforced fibreglass patterned to look like rock.

"So as not to disturb the Pokémon," explains Elm. "Or at least, that was what it was originally for. Now, it's more so they don't disturb me."

Beyond the fibreglass partition is a small cave lit by the fitful glow of a cluster of bluish light bulbs; somewhere in the darkness at the back, a portable generator is coughing and humming away to itself like a consumptive bear. Folding chairs sprout from surfaces like unusual canvas fungi, and some rugged-looking laptops stand idle on a natural table of rock in one corner.

Elm seats himself contentedly by a large cooking pot and waits for you to lead Vesta in and settle her on a pile of seaweed, then replaces the fibreglass panel and dims the lights.

"No sense in wasting electricity with Vesta here," he observes pragmatically; Vesta glows more brightly with a burst of happiness. She likes to be useful, you can tell; she's so happy to be able to help. A little bubble of pride swells in your heart and sits there, hidden from everyone – your secret treasure.

You sit down, and Elm asks:

"Would you like some tea? It's not real tea, I'm afraid, but if you close your eyes and imagine very hard, it's almost like tea."

You're not sure. Would you like tea? And do you have more to ask Elm?

Try some tea, then ask Elm if he knows where the helicopter landed and where it might be. Metal isn't the most flammable thing ever, though it's slightly so, so if you can find the helicopter, you can carry Vesta on scrap metal if it's broken, or you can potentially fly around on the helicopter if it works. Hopefully without too much crashing.
Also, ask if he has somehow figured out how to keep pokeballs from doing that melty thing when an Eldritch pokemon is caught in them.

I know we're not one to pass up free food or drink, so yes please ask for some tea. Also, Ask him if any of his technology still works, If he's had the dreams, See if he has any master balls left on him, Also ask about Gold, I mean I always though you were Gold being the PC but it seems another you or another PC existed before you did in the times before the dreaming.

Stay for some tea, ask about the pokemon storage system and pokemon capture, and whether or not it will still work with Eldritch Pokemon, and ask about his opinion of what exactly Vesta is. All we know for sure right now is that she is a big flammable ball of our pride and joy.

Slap him. Drinking something that is not tea but pretending to be drinking tea is too much to ask, after all that we've been through. Still, accept the tea. Who knows when is the next time we get to drink such a lavish beverage.

Try the 'tea' and ask elm more stuff. Hold on.....maybe the tea has side effects like the moomoo milk !

After you have some "tea" investigate one of the laptops.

> Slap him. Drinking something that is not tea but pretending to be drinking tea is too much to ask, after all that we've been through. Still, accept the tea. Who knows when is the next time we get to drink such a lavish beverage.

I can't believe I have to tell you how bad an idea this is. You aren't even sure you could find your way back onto the beach where you were washed up; if you want to get anywhere, slapping around the only person who might be able to help is not a good idea.

> Before you accept the tea, ask first what it was made out of, and then decide if it's safe to drink it.
> Try the 'tea' and ask elm more stuff. Hold on.....maybe the tea has side effects like the moomoo milk !

It doesn't. It's a metal cup of warm water with a piece of seaweed at the bottom. Nutritious, maybe; tasty, definitely not.

Actually, it makes you want to vomit out your own spleen, but you smile and thank Elm anyway. It seems to please him.

> After you have some "tea" investigate one of the laptops.

You poke one of the laptops, and the screen lights up. It seems Elm has been keeping a journal, but you don't get to read more than a word or two before he speaks to you.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asks.

You don't have an adequate answer for that, do you? Nah, didn't think so.

> Try some tea, then ask Elm if he knows where the helicopter landed and where it might be. Metal isn't the most flammable thing ever, though it's slightly so, so if you can find the helicopter, you can carry Vesta on scrap metal if it's broken, or you can potentially fly around on the helicopter if it works. Hopefully without too much crashing.
Also, ask if he has somehow figured out how to keep pokeballs from doing that melty thing when an Eldritch pokemon is caught in them.

"Where exactly is the helicopter?" you ask.
"Up there," replies Elm. "I know the way back, you know, but I don't really see why I should leave. In case you hadn't noticed, the world has gone to hell in a fairly major way."

You stare. He seems so... unflappable. Falkner, the Ghosts, the thing that might have been Jasmine... everyone else has gone insane from the pain and isolation. Elm, who lives practically balanced on the back of an explosive sea god, appears almost completely unaffected.

"Well, yeah," you say, "but I'm not too keen on spending the rest of my life down here. I'm trying to save the world."

Elm looks at you with polite incredulity.

"Seriously?" he asks. "You and your fire, you think you're going to fix all this?"

Yes, says Vesta. Othodox can do it.

"Well, yeah," you say. "I mean... I'm going to try, anyway."

Elm sighs, and sets his 'tea' carefully down on a nearby rock. He takes off his glasses, polishes them, and places them back on his nose.

"You don't seem to get it," he says. "What do you think you're going to achieve?"

"What?"

"How many people have you met?" he asks. "On your journey so far."

"Uh... Including you?"

"No."

"Then... one and a half," you reply, uncertain exactly what the steel thing counts as.

"OK. So, let's say you break whatever curse has fallen over the world. Let's say you make everything better, all the Pokémon go back to normal." Elm allows himself a little ironic smile. "What happens next?"

You open your mouth to reply, but can't think of anything.

For the first time, you realise that there is, quite simply, no one left.

"The human race is in the middle of an extinction event," Elm goes on. "How many people are left in Johto? Six? Seven? Not enough to establish a healthy population. Even if we somehow collect together everyone from all over the world – how many people are we left with? Fifty? Granted, those are tough people, those are survivors – but we could never get them all in one place. Countries will die, one by one, simply through lack of numbers." He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter if you save the world," he says. "You still can't save humanity."

For a long time, the only sound is the distant pound of the surf, and the crackle of Vesta on her bed of seaweed.

"Well," you say. "Have you at least found any way to contain these Eldritch Pokémon in Poké Balls?"

Elm stares.

"Didn't you listen to anything I said?"

"I listened," you reply. "But I'm not going to stop."

"You can't win!"

He can do anything.

"Not quite, Vesta," you say, "but I can do this. I'm the player character, Professor. If I save the world... it will stay saved. I know that."

"The player character?" He sighs. "Do you really think that makes you any different? You can still die. You just do it again, and again, and again... This can't be your first iteration, can it?"

You shake your head.

"No..."

"It's the only way out, you know," Elm tells you. "Giving up is the only way to stop the endless cycle of death and rebirth." He chuckles. "There's a joke to be made in there somewhere about how it's kind of reverse Buddhism, but I can't get the words right. Annoying when that happens, isn't it?"

"I'm not going to stop," you insist, but he's shaken you. What exactly can you do? Nothing, you guess, except try and hope that it all turns out right. "Just... have you found a way to contain those things in Poké Balls?"

"Jesus, you're persistent." Elm sighs. "No, as it happens, I've had other things than performing insanely risky experiments on my mind."

Fair enough. Just thought you'd ask.

> I know we're not one to pass up free food or drink, so yes please ask for some tea. Also, Ask him if any of his technology still works, If he's had the dreams, See if he has any master balls left on him, Also ask about Gold, I mean I always though you were Gold being the PC but it seems another you or another PC existed before you did in the times before the dreaming.

You gesture at the laptops.

"Do these work?"

"Yes. They don't do anything, but they work." He gulps some tea. "There isn't much for them to connect to. I've got a generator, but all the servers, all the people who run the Internet – they're all gone. They're not much use, except for playing Minesweeper. I've got pretty good at it, I have to say."

"Minesweeper?"

"You've got to pass the time somehow," he replies with a shrug. "One of my grad students had BioShock on one of these, but I didn't much care for the splicers after seeing the beasts out there."

"Right." You pause. "You don't happen to have any Master Balls on you, do you?"

Elm blinks incredulously.

"Are you thinking of trying to catch Lugia?"

"Uh... maybe..."

He snorts.

"Some things you'd better not even dream about, Othodox," he tells you. "I'm guessing it hasn't escaped your notice that with the Eldritch Forms, the rules of Pokémon Training aren't exactly clear-cut any more."

"Dreams," you say. "Speaking of dreams, have you been having the dreams about the city?"

He looks at you askance.

"City? What city?"

That's a no, then. You suspect he may be having those strange, chaotic dreams that you had earlier – the ones about being trapped in the dark. The ones that must come from Lugia.

"Uh... never mind." Some things are easier not to explain. "Forget it. Who's this Gold guy you mentioned?"

Elm waves a hand.

"No one, really. Just a kid. A Trainer, presumably like you. He was a player character too – I guess that's his only claim to fame. He shut down a Rocket scheme, although that's really nothing to write home about."

He's right. The Rockets couldn't criminal their way out of a paper bag; at least the other villainous Teams who've been thwarted over the last few years actually managed to accomplish something. What kind of an organised crime syndicate disbands because their leader lost a Pokémon battle to a ten-year-old? Most people at least

"I see," you say. "OK."

> Stay for some tea, ask about the pokemon storage system and pokemon capture, and whether or not it will still work with Eldritch Pokemon, and ask about his opinion of what exactly Vesta is. All we know for sure right now is that she is a big flammable ball of our pride and joy.

"Elm," you ask, "do you know what that is?"

You indicate Vesta.

"Yes," he replies with great firmness. "That is a six-foot talking emerald bonfire named Vesta. I thought we'd established that?"

"Yeah," you say, "but I wanted to know if you had any idea what she actually is. She's the remnant of a fire started by an Eldritch Cyndaquil – but why is she alive? Why is she sentient?"

Elm shrugged.

"These are all very good questions," he replies, "but I'm sure I don't have the answer. I suspect someone does, but it definitely isn't me. More tea?"

"Uh... no. No thanks."

"You don't like it, do you?"

"Uh... It's not the best I've ever had," you say carefully.

He sighs.

"It's crap, that's what it is," he tells you gloomily. "Only I've been drinking it too long now to know the difference. Stops your teeth rotting, though. At least, I presume it does, because my teeth haven't rotted."

Man, this guy is on a constant downer. It's going to take some work to get anything useful out of him at all.

See if he needs anything he hasn't been able to do himself maybe if you can do something he thought was impossible you can get him to be less of a debby downer. Tell him about the radar you 'borrowed' see if he can fix it, also inform him of the infinate space of your pouch. If at all possible try to convince him to let you check out his journal

On the heels of the prior conversation with Elm, ask Vesta if she knows precisely what she is. But try not to be rude about the question. We don't want getting Vesta angry.

Jesus, you're persistent." Elm sighs. "No, as it happens, I've had other things than performing insanely risky experiments on my mind."

Click to expand...

Ask Elm what he has on his mind

Ask about something you could do for him and as a return we could squeeze some info out of elm .

If my memory serves correctly, we picked up Elm's key we found in his abandoned laboratory. Perhaps Elm would like it back if Orthodox still has it on his person.

Ask Elm if he has anything to eat, or if he's just been living off cups of warm water with seaweed all this time.
Also, see if Elm knows where the rest of your stuff went. Ask him about the Bad Egg too, maybe he can help you figure out when it will hatch, and what it might hatch into- hopefully not including a massive even-more-world-ending glitch. If the Bad Egg has no chance of actually hatching into anything particularly useful, make an omelette. Ask Elm about the usefulness of prodding wild creatures with your Horrifically Dangerous Stabby Thing.

> On the heels of the prior conversation with Elm, ask Vesta if she knows precisely what she is. But try not to be rude about the question. We don't want getting Vesta angry.

"Vesta," you say, trying a different angle of attack, "do you know what you are?"

You're 98% sure she won't be offended; she seems to regard pretty much everything you do as The Will Of The Gods.

Yes, she says, with all the eagerness of a schoolgirl that knows the right answer. I'm Vesta.

"Oh. Uh, thanks."

Not exactly what you were expecting, but you suppose that such philosophical abstracts as 'what are we?' may be slightly beyond a green bonfire who was born about a week ago.

> Ask Elm if he has anything to eat, or if he's just been living off cups of warm water with seaweed all this time.
Also, see if Elm knows where the rest of your stuff went. Ask him about the Bad Egg too, maybe he can help you figure out when it will hatch, and what it might hatch into- hopefully not including a massive even-more-world-ending glitch. If the Bad Egg has no chance of actually hatching into anything particularly useful, make an omelette. Ask Elm about the usefulness of prodding wild creatures with your Horrifically Dangerous Stabby Thing.

"What've you been living off all this time?" you ask Elm, changing the subject.

"Limpets, mostly," he said. "And seaweed, and fish. Mostly raw."

Ew. All right. That's not a meal you want to share.

"OK," you say, moving on again, "what do you know about this?"

You show him the Bad Egg, which he regards with some interest.

"That," he says, with singular accuracy, "is a Bad Egg."

"I know that much, but do you know what it might hatch into?"

He shrugs.

"Anything," he replies. "Could be any species of Pokémon at all, and even a few that don't actually exist. It could even hatch into another Egg."

It's as you thought, then: the Bad Egg is an unknown quantity. You suspect it will hatch just in time for a particularly climactic showdown; it's a plot thing.

You do not, however, ask Elm what stabbing things with the Hideously Dangerous Stabby Thing will do. You already know exactly what it will do; it will kill them, if you can get it under their skin. Although that's what it would do to normal Pokémon; you're not sure about Eldritch things. Given what Elm's told you so far, you don't think he'd know either.

> Ask Elm what he has on his mind

"You said you had things on your mind," you remind Elm. "What were those things, exactly?"

He gives you the sort of look you usually reserve for someone who absent-mindedly defecates on your dining-table.

"What the hell do you think?" he asks, with a kind of shocked incredulity. "Life here isn't exactly easy, in case you hadn't noticed. Even without the damn monsters. And – and," he says, voice suddenly quietening, "I had a wife and a child, remember."

Memories snap across your head like whips: a young woman with brown hair, a smile, a laughing child. Something you thought was a little stone in the grass outside Elm's lab. You realise now that it was a tooth.

"Christ," you whisper.

Elm does not say anything.

"I'm sorry," you say, after a while.

"It was a long time ago," he replies. His cup of 'tea' is on the verge of falling from his fingers, but he doesn't seem to notice. "It's over now. They're not coming back."

You realise now exactly why it is that Elm doesn't think it matters if the world is saved or not. Whatever happens, however many people survive... his wife and child are not coming back.

That does sound like the sort of thing that would be on your mind.

> If my memory serves correctly, we picked up Elm's key we found in his abandoned laboratory. Perhaps Elm would like it back if Orthodox still has it on his person.

It takes a while for you to pluck up the courage to say anything, but when Elm seems calm again you broach the subject.

"Uh... I found this back in your lab," you say, taking the key from your pouch. "I don't know if you want it."

He glances at it.

"The key to my safe?" he asks. "Huh. No, thanks. It isn't much good to me now; the safe's in New Bark Town, if it's still there at all."

Damn, looks like you missed out on a prime looting opportunity there.

> See if he needs anything he hasn't been able to do himself maybe if you can do something he thought was impossible you can get him to be less of a debby downer. Tell him about the radar you 'borrowed' see if he can fix it, also inform him of the infinate space of your pouch. If at all possible try to convince him to let you check out his journal
> Ask about something you could do for him and as a return we could squeeze some info out of elm.

"Right," you say uncomfortably, pocketing the key again. "I found this as well. I guess it probably belongs to you."

You show him the Long-Range Scanner Attachment on your Pokedex, but he doesn't display much interest.

"Keep it," he replies. "I think it's probably more useful to you than to me, don't you think? There's only one Pokémon down here, and I already know what it is."

"OK, thanks. Uh... Is there any chance you could fix it?"

He locks a gimlet eye on you.

"You broke it?"

"Only a little bit. It works, but all the text comes through scrambled."

Elm sighs and takes the Pokedex from you; a minute later, he hands it back. Experimentally, you push the radar button, and the screen lights up:

Results:
One and a half (1.5) Pokémon found!
One (1) Eldritch Lugia found!
Half (0.5) an Eldritch Cyndaquil found!

OK, so Vesta seems to be confusing it a bit, but hey! It's working!

"Hey, you fixed it!" you cry happily. "How'd you manage that?"

"I turned it off and on again," he tells you. "Did you even think of that?"

You fall silent.

"I thought so," he says.

Eager to change the subject, you move on – not to the subject of the Pouch, which is pretty normal considering that everyone has a Bag like that, or to that of his journal, since it's almost certainly a mixture of raw grief at the loss of his family and interminably dull descriptions of prising limpets off rocks, but to the subject of quests. Specifically, if he has any for you.

"Right," you say. "Well, uh, is there anything that needs doing around here? I mean... anything I could do for you?"

He gives you a look.

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know. For a reward?" you hazard. "For information? For being guided to the surface where the helicopter is?"

"I've told you everything I know," he says. "And, well, I have nothing to reward you with."

"Except showing me up to where the helicopter is," you remind him.

"Yes. I'm not too keen on that one, you know." He scratches his head. "Given that 'up', over the last few years, has been quite strongly associated with 'death by monster'."

"Vesta and I will protect you," you tell him. "We just need a guide. Right, Vesta?"

Yes, she agrees. We can do it!

"Yeah," you say. "I have a gnarled Beedrill stinger on a stick, you know. It's still poisonous; I can poke the hell out of anything that comes at you, and then Vesta will burn them."

Elm stares.

"Jesus Christ," he says. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

He shakes his head.

"Never mind. Look, Othodox, I don't think—"

"Remember," you tell him, "I came here all the way from the house next to yours in New Bark Town. I've survived most of Johto to get here. If anyone can get you up there safely, then it's probably me."

Elm frowns.

"I see... yes, but how do I get back? If the helicopter is still functional – which is highly unlikely, I tell you – then you'll leave and I'll be stuck up there, on my own."

"Then come with us," you say. "We're heading south to Cianwood at the moment to follow up a lead we got on what happened to the world. And we could always use some help."

Yes, agrees Vesta. A band of fearsome warriors, burning all in their path!

Both you and Elm turn to stare at her, and she gives off a puff or two of apologetic smoke.

What?

"Nothing, Vesta," you say uncertainly, remembering the fearsome creature she was birthed from and belatedly wondering if she's inherited any of her father's more violent character traits. "Nothing... Anyway. Elm. What do you say?"

"I don't know," he replies. "I need – I need time. Do you know how long I've been down here? Five years, according to the clock... it's – I need some time, I need to—"

Abruptly he gets up and walks out, throwing the fibreglass wall aside; you make no attempt to follow. Let him work this out for himself.

You wait.

After a time, Elm comes back. There does not appear to be very much different about him – there are no signs of tears, no emotions visibly struggling on his face. He's not obeying any of the standard movie clichés, which, perhaps because of the metafictional nature of your existence, annoys you slightly on an ontological level. However, you are not a philosopher, and are thus able to put this from your mind with the minimum of fuss.

"First," he says, "you tell me everything you know. Everything that's happened, and everything you've done. Everything that you've learned. Then I'll tell you if I'm coming or not."

All right. You can do that – and you do, from the start in New Bark to the end in the storm on Route 41. Elm takes notes carefully on a laptop, and by the end has compiled them into a list of questions that you only wish you had the academic rigour to come up with earlier.

"You said that voice on the Pokégear told you that 'a smell of petroleum pervades throughout'. So did the Ghosts, through Morty. The only thing is, that's not the line – the line goes 'prevails', not 'pervades'."

"So? I misremembered it, then."

"The player character never misremembers," he tells you. "You have perfect recall, except when the plot calls for it." He pauses for a moment. "Say the line for me."

"A smell of petroleum pervades throughout." You blink in surprise. "No, that's not right. It's A smell of petroleum pervades through— what the hell?"

Elm nods sagaciously; he seems to be really getting into this.

"You can't say it correctly," he says. "Interesting. Let me see... The difference is a matter of letters..." He starts. "Letters. That could mean... These shrivelled black things," he says abruptly. "Have you attempted to identify them in any way other than visual analysis?"

"Uh, no, but how—?"

"Did you scan them with the Pokédex at all? They're obviously not a normal animal, so perhaps they're a dead Pokémon of some sort."

You gape. Why didn't you think of that?

No, seriously. Why didn't you?

Elm rolls his eyes and snatches one off you; he turns it over in his hands, and then gives a grunt of surprise.

"I see," he said. "Look at that."

He holds it out to you, peeling back two flaps of skin in the middle to reveal a shrunken, desiccated eyeball.

"It's a dead Unown," he tells you. "Shrivelled up from exposure; they're basically full of psychic energy, and it dissipates on death to leave them wrinkled like this."

"A dead Unown?" you ask, puzzled. "But they can't stop time, can they?"

"No," he replies. "But something about what that Gengar said to you, and the way someone seems to have been trying to give you hints about the relevance of letters – i.e. Unown – by the misquotation..." Elm strokes his chin thoughtfully. "I'll get back to you on that one. It needs just a little more thought."

"OK..." Your head is spinning. Has the Narrator actually been trying to help you? Admittedly he's gone about doing so in the most cryptic way you could imagine, by scattering dead Unown around and misquoting a line about the nature of the universe, but he has left you a clue – and with Elm's superior Pokézoological knowledge, you might just be able to solve it. At last.

"Another thing," he said. "This 'starter Pokémon' business. If they come after you no matter what, why didn't Jasmine, or the person you thought was Jasmine, have one?"

"I guess it was probably the Steelix," you reply after a while. "It ate her and thought she was dead, so it left her alone. I don't know. That's my guess."

Elm nods.

"I thought so, but I wanted to see if you would think the same way... in that case, there might be a way to get that Quilava off your back. That doesn't," he adds hastily, "involve you being eaten alive. I just need to think about it..."

"That would be fantastic," you reply, thinking of how many deus ex machina moments you've had to pull to get away from that fiery bastard.

Yes, agrees Vesta. It's Othodox's nemesis.

She seems very proud of this word – it's quite a long one – and she repeats it happily to herself for a while, just to show it wasn't a one-off.

Nemesis... nemesis... nemesis...

"Speaking of which," you say to Elm, "isn't there a starter Pokémon waiting for you out there somewhere?"

"I imagine it doesn't want to come down here," he replies. "What with Lugia and all. It may not even be on this island – or perhaps it's been killed and eaten by another Pokémon." He shrugs. "We won't know until we leave."

You raise an eyebrow.

"'Until we leave'? You're coming, then?"

"Five years is far too long to have been sitting around in a cave," Elm tells you abruptly. "The rules of biology and physics have changed entirely, and someone really needs to start applying some scientific analysis to this situation. Everything seems irrational, but I'm sure there must be some underlying logic..." He catches himself hurriedly. "Well," he says, looking slightly embarrassed. "What I mean is... yes. I'm coming."

You grin. This is the best news you've had since you've got here. Allies. Now, if you could somehow recruit Jasmine and Falkner too, you'd have a small army at your disposal, ready to take on any Eldrich Pokémon that dares cross your—

OK, perhaps that's wishful thinking. But still, you have Elm, and he's probably the most useful thing you could wish for right now.

Against all odds, you actually seem to be doing pretty well.

(Once Othodox has left the Whirl Islands, he will not be able to return. If there is anything left to do here, make sure to do it now.)

Before actually leaving, search for your remaining items which you have not yet re-obtained. They'll probably come in handy later. Also, try to gather up other loot from the remaining caves. Since there's no chance of defeating or catching Eldritch Lugia (right?) don't bother with it. Try to find something not-particularly-flammable in case you need to carry Vesta around, like a large rock maybe.

The Narrator wouldn't have brought Lugia down here if not to have him be relevant in some way to the immediate plot. Be prepared for any eventuality. Also, on the subject of letters, and as you have perfect recall, ask about some of the names that were scrambled before the Poke Radar was fixed to see if they have any relevance.