Author Note: I think I will dismiss the Arceus case for now, it to much sooner than really needed right now, take it like a tease or a big spoil for the future.
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The explosion didn't stop at the sound.
It rolled.
A deep, lingering tremor that passed through the ground a second after the blast, like the world itself had taken a breath—and decided it didn't like what it just saw.
I stayed where I was for a moment, one knee still pressed into the dirt, eyes fixed on the rising column of smoke in the distance.
"…Yeah. No. I'm not walking into that blindly."
"Raa…"
Rex pressed closer against my side, his earlier energy completely gone, replaced by a low, uneasy rumble in his chest. His eyes were locked on the mushroom cloud, unblinking.
Even Exe had gone still.
"…So we all agree that a dangerous place."
No response.
"…Great."
I pushed myself back up to my feet, dusting off my knee slowly, buying myself a few extra seconds to think.
(Alright… big town, with an Explosion, now I surely in Axel Town.)
(Which means…)
"—MY GARBAGE—"
Suddenly I heard one of the most hurtful voice that I heard in my entire life.
I precipitately look back at the road— wide, open, a old man Horse-dart who seem to have a accident, and some garbage that despend the slope of the road.
I make a pause at how strangely the situation looks familiar.
"…Well, it don't take much to take a look at the situation."
"Scree…"
Strangely Exe looks at me like it was something not worth the trouble.
"Don't give me that look. Actually, we need information, supplies, and I think a merchant will be one of the best people to gather information."
" And accessories I'm really tired of this constant walk during, I think a ride towards the city will not be exaggerated for a help, right?"
Rex huffed, then lightly bumped his head against my leg, as if agreeing.
After that we walk towards the old man who looked quite devastated by the situation.
The old man didn't notice me at first.
He was too busy grieving.
"My wares… my poor wares… all gone, all gone…"
His voice cracked as he crouched beside the scattered goods, picking up a broken crate only for it to fall apart further in his hands.
"Why today of all days…?
"…Excuse me."
(…Well it seems he didn't hear me through.)
"What kind of cursed luck is this…"
"…Old man, you don't hear me."
(Seriously, isn't it a bit exaggerated.)
"Should I really stop being merchant—"
"OLD MANNN!!"
He froze.
Slowly, he turned.
His eyes landed on me—and stayed there.
"…Ah."
A pause.
Then a longer one.
"…Ah?!"
His entire posture shifted, back straightening as if someone had just poured life back into him.
"W-Well now…! Silly..me … I didn't expect—ah—such a… refined young lady to appear in a situation like this…"
His gaze flicked from me for a moment and after… to Rex who just growled at him … and to Exe who just stared back at him.
"…And… creatures I have absolutely no words for."
I muttered. "Are you alright?"
"A catastrophe beyond words! A thunderous explosion from the direction of the city! The ground shook, my horse panicked, and my cabbages—my precious cabbages—were thrown into chaos!"
"You have seen it too, yes? That… omen?"
"Yeah. I've seen it."
He stiffened.
"Then you understand the danger! This road is cursed! Or at the very least, extremely unsafe for produce transport!"
I crouched slightly, examining the cart.
One wheel was twisted at an awkward angle, the rim cracked and partially detached.
"The wheel don't seem in good shape, humm."
"Precisely!" he said, almost relieved I'd said it first.
"The axle held, thank the heavens, but the tire… completely unusable. And to make matters worse—my horse bolted from the huge noise earlier!"
(A huge noise?)
"The explosion, right?" I asked.
He shuddered. "A terrifying one! Nearly gave me a heart attack. The poor beast panicked and ran straight down the road."
"…Well it seems."
I look at the position where he pointed and I see the horse running around like he was headless.
I glanced sideways to look at Exe and Rex who looks at the horse like it was a long lost friend.
"Rex, Exe. Please go stop him quickly and Rex please don't hurt it, he looks already sufficiently stressed like that."
"Raa!"
"Scree!!"
They dashed off without hesitation.
…
I look at them further down the road.
I straightened and glanced at the wheel again, thinking.
"…I think we can patch it, even if it temporarily."
"Patch it?" he echoed.
I reached for the hem of my shirt. "Yeah. If I tear this into strips, we can probably—"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
I blinked.
"…What?"
The old man looked genuinely offended.
"My dear young lady, I may be unfortunate, but I am not a scoundrel! I will not allow a beautiful girl such as yourself to ruin her attire for my sake!"
"…It's just a shirt— wait I'm not a—."
"Just a—no! No, no, no. Presentation matters! No one buys from a merchant who travels with poorly dressed company! It reflects terribly on business!"
"…I'm not even part of your business."
"You would be associated!" he insisted.
I stared at him for a second.
"….You might not know that, and it obviously my fault if so.
I take a little pause to let the tension ease a bit.
" I'm a man."
Silence.
He looks at me up down for a while.
Then—
"—PFFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!"
The man doubled over, laughing harder than I thought physically possible.
"Ah—! Ahahaha—oh that's—! That's the best thing I've heard all year—!"
"…I'm serious."
"Yes—yes, of course you are—!" he wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes. "A fine sense of humor too—truly remarkable—!"
"I'm. Not. Joking."
"Of course not, of course not—!" Another burst of laughter. "Ah… oh, I needed that…"
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
( Well I've certainly choice to look like that, but it's not a bit exaggerated.)
"…Young miss, if it because you're insecure about something, you should have to worry about that, your obviously beautiful and quite gentle."
He talked even more passionately than before.
"There won't be a man who don't look at you in this world, and if it not the case, I can still present my son, although he a little young but you elf have the time so waiting on to him—"
I look at him with little and try to eject that idea of his head, but obviously it would be that easy.
"—Old man I'm really a man, and I also not interested in kids as well a boy."
He looked at me for a moment and suddenly like a idea stuck his head.
" Oh, I see, so you like the girl, no problem I also have a daughter to and she will it her 15 in 2 years so it also a good option."
I looked at him with a dead stare that eventually calm him down, still he was still smiling.
"But no, truly—no tearing clothes. We'll find another way. First, the horse needs to be retrieved, if it not here I couldn't drive the cart anywhere."
"Ohh, that we already on it."
And within seconds—
A loud, panicked neigh echoed in the distance.
"…They're really going to mess this up."
I exhaled, then started walking.
"Stay here, old man I come back quickly."
"Ah—wait—!"
I concentrate myself to spot where are Exe and the other two to see them not to far away.
And what I see is a little bit unsettling for any already frightened animal.
Rex was there cutting off the horse's path, crouched low like a predator, while Exe hovered nearby, emitting he really unsettling metallic screech.
The horse was really losing his mind.
"Yeah, this was my mistake."
I quickly rushed and quickly pulled out my pokeball to call back Rex and Exe, who looked pretty surprised by the turn of the event.
The horse looked around and see me walk towards him and begin to walk away.
So I stepped forward slowly, raising a hand.
"Hey twin, easy, easy…"
The horse jerked its head toward me, breathing heavily.
I kept my movements steady. No sudden steps. No pressure.
"Relax… no one's chasing you anymore."
And he stopped in the spot.
(Good.)
I moved closer.
Step by step.
The horse's breathing slowed, just a little.
"That's it… you're fine."
I reached out carefully, letting it see my hand before touching its neck.
A tense second.
Then—
It didn't pull away.
"Good."
A let's him take a little moment to rest a little before, with a smooth motion, pulled myself up onto its back.
No resistance.
"…Nice."
The sensation of riding the horse makes me a little sentimental about the past.
(It be a while now right ?)
"Easy twin, now we need to go back to your old man.
We take our for the return, but the old man looked like he'd just witnessed a miracle.
"Y-You…! You brought him back?! Already?!"
I guided the horse to a stop in front of him.
"Your runaway problem is there."
And I just get off the horse before caressing him valiantly for his courage.
The old man stared, speechless.
Then shook his head slowly.
"I must say… between your beauty, your generosity, and now this… I truly have no idea what to believe anymore."
I slid off the horse.
"Not really a problem but the explosion spooked the horse, the reaction breaks the cart, the cabbage fagoods spill. That about sum it up?"
"Yes… yes, exactly that…" he sighed, though some relief had finally returned to his face. "A disastrous chain of events…"
I glanced back toward the distant smoke.
"…Yeah. Sounds like it."
The old man wasted no time once the horse was back, he quickly drag me towards his cart and proceed to guide me through the repair of it.
"Ah—careful, careful—no, not like that—yes, hold it steady!"
"I am holding it steady."
He hovered around the cart like a man trying to save a sinking ship with his bare hands, gathering what little could still be salvaged. A cracked crate here, a sack half-spilled there—each item inspected like it might personally apologize for its condition.
I crouched near the wheel again.
"Still think tearing cloth is the fastest solution."
"And I still think dignity matters even though my cabbage is precious!" he shot back without even looking at me.
"…You're really committed to that, huh."
"Absolutely."
I let out a quiet breath, then shifted my approach.
"Fine. Then we improvise."
Well now the wheel wasn't completely destroyed—just unstable. The rim had split, but the structure was still mostly intact.
"If we reinforce the weak point and reduce the load, it'll hold long enough to reach the town."
"Reduce the load…?" he echoed, glancing at the scattered cabbage like I'd just suggested abandoning children.
"Temporarily," I added "Or redistribute."
His expression tightened.
"…I see."
He didn't like it.
Didn't have much of a choice either.
Before he could spiral back into lamenting, I stood and take out Exe and Rex.
"Rex."
"Raa?"
"Good job back then, can you help me gather what's still usable."
He perked up immediately, trotting over with renewed purpose.
"Exe, I need you to check the area for anything that rolled off the road and for some monsters."
"Scree!!"
Between the three of us, the mess started to shrink.
Not clean—but manageable.
The old man was the first to work in.
"Ah—careful with that one,—yes, thank you little one—oh! That one can still be sold, don't eat it…ok now you ca —maybe at a discount, but still—don't eat—now you can."
Minutes passed and while Rex eat a good portion of the cabbage, and with a little manoeuvre with rope made of some vine that I see around,the cart look…kinda less tragic.
(Not really good but at less tragic, and functional.)
I stepped back, hands on my hips.
"…That'll do for now."
The old man exhaled deeply, like he'd just survived something far worse than a broken cart.
"You have my gratitude miss," he said, more quietly this time. "Truly. I was certain today was entirely lost."
"Not entirely."
He gave a small nod… then glanced at the wheel again.
"…And this?"
"Will hold," I said. "If we're careful."
"My cabbage might fall again?"
I met his gaze.
"Or we stay here and wait for another explosion."
"…It will certainly hold," he corrected immediately.
"Thought so."
He let out a weak chuckle, then moved to secure the last of the cargo.
There was a brief silence.
Then—
"…You're heading to the city, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
I just looked toward the distant smoke again, thinner now but still very much there.
"…That's the plan."
He studied me for a second, then nodded as if confirming something to himself.
"Well then," he said, straightening up. "It would seem fate has arranged a mutually beneficial encounter."
Here we go.
"I cannot offer much," he continued, "but if you are willing… I can take you there. A slow trip, given the circumstances—but safer than walking alone toward… whatever that was."
He gestured vaguely in the direction of the explosion.
I glanced at Rex.
At Exe.
Then back at the cart.
"…And in exchange?"
"Ah—nothing unreasonable!" he said quickly. "Merely… assistance along the way, should the cart decide to protest further. And perhaps—" he hesitated, then added with a hopeful smile, "—your continued presence."
"…My presence."
"A beautiful and reassuring one!" he insisted. "For business."
"…Right."
I stared at him for a second.
Then sighed.
"…Fine I don't want to convince anyone right now."
His relief was immediate.
"Excellent! Excellent—ah, today may yet turn around!"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
I moved toward the back of the cart, climbing up and settling among the secured cabbage.
Rex followed without hesitation, curling up near my side.
Exe hovered just behind us.
The old man took his place at the front, reins in hand.
"Alright… nice and easy…" he murmured to the horse.
The cart creaked.
The wheel protested a little.
But—
It moved.
Slowly, carefully, we started down the road toward Axel.
For a while, no one spoke.
Just the rhythmic sound of hooves against dirt… and the occasional creak of wood threatening to give up on life.
Which is still pretty concerning.
Then—
"…You've said that explosion came from near the city, right old man merchant cabbage?"
The old man stiffened slightly.
"…Well if my gess I correct, yes but what about the sudden change of nominally?"
A pause.
I just look at him for the answer.
Then he sighed.
"Well… there is a certain… individual… known for such incidents."
I already confirm my guess.
Didn't mean I liked it.
"…Go on."
He glanced back at me, expression caught somewhere between fear and resignation.
"…A mage, a very… enthusiastic one."