(TW: very minor gore)

What a lovely day to be in the Cobalt Coastlands. Especially for a merchant like Volo, who’s come to the beach near Ginkgo Landing to search for interesting knickknacks and other items he might be able to study for himself or sell off to the people of Jubilife Village or the Diamond and Pearl clan members (although the “looking for rare items to sell” may or may not have been an excuse to get out of going on a business trip with Ginter and Tuli again—those two drive him nuts).

The East Sea reflects the light of the dying sun beautifully as it lowers beyond the horizon for the night, and the breeze is rather refreshing. There are far fewer Pokémon around than usual, though their cries linger in the air to create a soothing symphony of chirps, squeaks, purrs and the like. It isn’t often that the people of Hisui find time to relax at this hour, so the merchant makes sure to savor it as much as possible.

As the sun finally falls into slumber for the night, Volo lets out a sigh, speaking to no one in particular when he mutters,

“Perhaps it’d be best to turn in for the night…”

However, he’s stopped in his tracks when he catches sight of something peculiar: a person, their lower half in the water, their upper half on land. The sand around them is stained grey with a substance oddly like blood.

As much as he’d prefer to turn a blind eye, he feels somehow compelled to help. So, that’s exactly what he does.

Volo rushes to the person’s aid, only to be stunned at the sight of what seems to be a tail in place of the typical human feet. He’d heard countless stories about sirens and had done buckets of research on the topic, but after a while, he deemed searching for one “not worth his time”. Now, however, with one in front of him? He’s rather shocked.

But, he doesn’t have time to think about that now!

The question is: where can he take the creature? Certainly not to Jubilife Village, they’ll kill this person. The Ginkgo merchants would likely pull off scales and cut off fins to sell, and he’d rather not explain your situation to the Diamond or Pearl Clans.

Aha! Cogita! She won’t mind, surely (and if she does, he’ll just ignore her and do this anyway)!

————————

When you wake up, you quickly realize that you haven’t the faintest idea where you are. This place certainly isn’t the coastlands, no. It looks more like the home of one of those… what are they called? Humans? Yes, humans. You’ve heard stories about the creatures, how they kill your kind, how they believe that you sing them to their dooms when really, they’re all simply foolish enough to get too close.

At the realization, panic begins to set in. You immediately start to flail about, sending water (you seem to be in a shallow pool or tank of sorts) splashing across the ground with your tail. Moments later, someone runs up to you, and you let out a hiss, teeth bared and webbed, clawed hands at the ready to fight.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, clam down, calm down! I won’t hurt you!”

The human in front of you smiles pleasantly and moves closer despite your warnings. You growl, but the blonde-haired man only continues to smile, his hands held out to show that he isn’t armed. Your shoulders relax to some degree, and you look up at him, studying him intensely. His hair is tied back into a bun (rather odd), one of his eyes covered by the hair that doesn’t quite reach whatever may be holding it in place. His visible eye is a soft grey. It reminds you of sirens’ blood, but less gruesome. Another, seemingly-older human with grey hair and a calm demeanor watches from afar. She lets out a sigh, as if frustrated, but does not speak up.

“Well, you seem to be feeling better! You had quite the head injury when I found you washed up in Ginkgo Landing, didn’t you? Not to worry! I’ve brought you here to the Ancient Retreat to rest and recover!”

The Ancient Retreat? But where’s the sea? The fish, the Pokémon, your brothers and sisters?