[After your earlier suspicions, you tried asking Irida if sothing had happened in the Pearl Clan.]
[But every ti, her answer was the sa—everything was fine.]
"Everything's normal in the Pearl Clan. Why?"
Irida tilted her head, puzzled.
"It's nothing. I just thought, with you running over here all the ti, maybe you had a fight with the chief."
Elias shook his head, offering an explanation.
At that, Irida pouted, visibly displeased.
"I do not co here all the ti! I only visit when I want to hang out with you, okay?"
She clearly felt wronged.
The distance between the two settlents was long, and she also had her own training to keep up with. In truth, she barely had much free ti in a month—how could she be coming over every day?
"Really?"
Elias frowned, uncertain. She didn't seem like she was lying.
But then he rembered how, sotis, the Irida who visited him behaved completely unlike her usual self. Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.
Don't tell I was being watched by sothing… unclean?
---
[You decided that next ti the unusually quiet "Irida" showed up, you'd get to the bottom of it.]
[But strangely enough, after having that thought, nothing like it happened again—for over a year.]
[During that ti, your abilities advanced significantly.]
[You'd even reached the point where you could race wild Kirlia in short-range teleportation.]
[Thanks to your psychic powers and your knack for completing tasks no ordinary human could manage, you beca well-liked—deeply respected, even—by many mbers of the Pearl Clan.]
[So had even suggested making you the next chief.]
[anwhile, with Irida's visits becoming few and far between, Cogita's mood steadily improved.]
"Not bad. It's been so quiet around the house lately."
Cogita nodded with satisfaction, the look on her face one of contentnt.
Ever since she'd brought it up that last ti, Irida's visits had dropped off sharply.
As expected, Elias still listens best to the one who raised him.
Hearing her remark, Elias—sitting not far away—could only smile wryly.
Truth was, he hadn't done anything. Irida had just stopped showing up so often on her own.
But the most important part…
The one who vanished seed to be the quiet version of Irida—just as he had suspected back then.
So…
That ti… was there really sothing pretending to be Irida, interacting with ?
Even coming at the sa ti every day, just to nap on top of ?
"Ugh..."
A chill ran down Elias's spine.
In a remote, untad place like Hisui, sothing like that was genuinely unsettling.
What if soday Cogita got replaced too, and I couldn't even tell?
"Cogita."
With that thought, Elias turned to her with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
"Hmm?"
Cogita, who had been arranging fresh flowers, paused and looked over curiously.
"What is it? You look so serious all of a sudden."
"Talk to more, even when there's nothing going on," Elias said.
"Why?"
Now it was Cogita's turn to be surprised—Elias had never actively sought out her attention before.
So… does this count as a milestone in their bond?
For so reason, she suddenly felt a little flutter of excitent.
But that feeling quickly gave way to deeper confusion.
Elias thought for a mont, then said,
"That way, if you ever get replaced, I'll notice right away."
Just like with Irida.
If Irida hadn't been so naturally chatty and energetic, he never would've noticed anything was off.
Cogita: ?
---
[You chose not to explain further, not wanting to scare her.]
[But not long after that… the events from a year ago seed to repeat themselves...]
---
...
...
...
As a Pokémon who survived in the wild by using illusions, Zorua's life had never been easy.
No Pokémon wanted to hang around a "liar" who could disguise itself as its own kind.
And it wasn't just Pokémon—humans who knew of her kind would drive them off just as quickly.
In this desolate land, Zorua were practically synonymous with misfortune—considered little different from "disaster beasts."
Even so, among her kind, this Zorua thought she was one of the lucky ones.
—Because she'd found a long-term al ticket.
It had happened by chance, back in the Alabaster Icelands. She had taken the form of a Sneasler and was crouched atop a cliff, scouting for opportunities to scavenge.
She hadn't found any scraps that day—but she had seen a human she would never forget.
From what she could tell, he was still young by human standards.
But he gave off an aura that felt oddly familiar—strangely comforting.
The sa kind of feeling she used to have when nestled among her kin as a cub.
And then there was his power—he could wield telekinesis, sothing only Psychic-type Pokémon should be capable of.
Sothing about him pulled her in, beyond reason.
On impulse, Zorua decided to approach.
Using her illusions, she took the form of a girl nad "Irida," soone who stayed close to him.
And with that, she managed to draw near—again and again—without being discovered.
Each ti she visited, she was able to snag plenty of delicious food for free.
Sotis, she even left behind little lists for him—requests for what to prepare next ti she ca.
She didn't trust him, of course.
But that didn't stop her from slowly fattening herself up using this trick.
Unfortunately…
A little over a year ago, because of that detestable human nad "Cogita," it seed Elias began to suspect sothing.
Zorua could only mimic appearances—she couldn't speak like humans.
Out of caution, she decided to stop visiting and returned to surviving alone in the Alabaster Icelands.
Between humans and Pokémon, it was the humans she feared more.
Still, she wasn't weak.
Even though she hadn't evolved, her keen instincts and nimble reflexes were enough to keep her from starving—barely.
But now, another winter had co. Without her clan, and constantly harassed by stronger predators, she had finally reached a point where she couldn't find enough food.
If she couldn't stock up before the freeze fully set in, she would end up as just another frozen statue on the tundra.
Driven half-mad by hunger, she sprinted blindly across the snow.
And when her mind cleared—
She realized she had sohow returned to the edges of the Crimson Mirelands.
Should she go in?
Zorua hesitated.
She had no love for humans, and didn't dare imagine what might happen if she were caught.
Back when she still lived with her kin, she'd heard countless terrifying stories about the upright apes of Hisui.
But... if she didn't go...
She'd likely starve.
Torn between fear and desperation, Zorua found herself unable to decide.
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