Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

[Sudmensch]

Summary: So, I woke up as an apparently feral Oshawott without any memories but being human in a world where humans are long gone, and now I have to join my ever-anxious Treecko friend, journey through this strange land without even being able to speak, and find answers or die trying, all while a mysterious group plots some dark path for me and this world. Yep, sounds reasonable to me.

Contains swearing, blood, and some dark themes.

-o-​

1 - Brave New World

Help me...

Please... someone, anyone...

It hurts...

It hurts so much...

...I can't hold on... the poison's setting in...

I'm so sorry...

...

-o-​

The sun beat down relentlessly on the dense forest, the only reprieve to those within being the occasional cloud obscuring the searing heat. Among the seemingly endless rows of trees the mystery dungeon boasted, an odd sight could be seen: a Quilava, hunched over digging through the tall grass quietly muttering to himself. Apparently unsuccessful in his search, he picked a single sticker from his paw as he groaned, sitting down to rest.

"Why does it always have to be a seed?" he groaned to himself. Swallowing the grit in his mouth, he set his pack down next to him, then dug for his canteen. It had been emptied about half an hour ago, but honestly, he wasn't complaining as long as he could get a few drops. Fire-types like him were known to be resistant towards heat, but even they could only take so much before they started to show their wear. Of course, for the Quilava, that wear meant his core literally burning him alive from the inside out. He preferred not to think about that.

Reviver Seeds were nothing anyone would want to lose, of course, especially an entire bag of them, but did it have to be Team Apex that had to find such things? Now, Quinite Forest was not exactly the most forgiving mystery dungeon to inexperienced explorers, as was the case with many of the dungeons in these lands, but still...

A sharp whistle rang through the dense forest. The Quilava perked up, a small excited spark escaping from the vents on his back. He trotted through a long, path-like clearing towards the source of the whistle: a Leafeon standing over a small, pale yellow seed. The Quilava picked it up gingerly, praying that this would be the start of what they were searching for. He looked it over for about a minute as the Leafeon waited, only for her to notice his eye beginning to twitch. She backed away as flames erupted from his back, his trembling paws clenched tightly around the seed. With a strangled yell, the Quilava threw it at the nearest tree, which promptly detonated with a loud bang. The Leafeon watched on, her eyes wide as the Quilava turned around panting, his paws clenched into tight fists.

"Another fucking Blast Seed," he said between clenched teeth.

The Quilava crumpled down and put his paws on his head, still seething as the Leafeon slowly approached him.

"Ardie, it's okay, you-" she began, only to be interrupted by her partner's exasperated sigh.

"Please, just don't, May," Arden whispered.

He had lost count of how many false positives the team had had over the day. Even May's usual demeanor was no match for the seemingly endless feral onslaughts, the scorching summer heat, and the maddeningly labyrinthine nature of Quinite Forest. He chuckled bitterly as he stood back up.

"Remember the good old days, back when Team Apex meant something? You know, when the most important thing we'd be doing at any given moment meant more than just finding some Pokémon's seeds? Victini as my witness, we've clocked a damn legendary between its eyes, and look where we are now..." May looked on as he continued to sulk. Arden knew that doing jobs like these was for the greater good, but still, there were moments like these where he wished for something more like the good old days...

"Honestly, I'm about ready to just pull out the Escape Orb. Sure, Arcanine wouldn't be very happy, but it can't be worse than another eight hours in here, right?" he said.

May let out a snort at his remark, her face relaxing as she turned to face one of the paths.

"Don't worry, Pike said that he'd look out for a staircase while he looked for Rye. Who knows, maybe it'll be up there and we won't have to listen to you whine anymore."

Arden was about to retort when a loud fluttering noise came from behind them. They spun around just in time to see a Swellow land and give a quick nod in acknowledgment of their presence.

"What've we got, Pike?" Arden inquired to the bird.

"I'd say the staircase's 'bout half a mile east. No sign of Lotad's seeds, though I did find the kid," he replied.

The two Pokémon perked up. The apprentice they had brought for the day's mission had been knocked into the river during an encounter with a particularly nasty feral, which had only continued to attack them when they tried to grab him. He had been missing for an hour now, and his survival in such an unforgiving dungeon had been doubtful at the time.

"Is he okay? Where is he?" May insisted. Pike shifted uncomfortably, the feathers on his chest flattening.

"That's the thing. He's around the area where that flock of Zubats attacked us."

The two's eyes widened as the information sank in. Dread-filled silence lingered for a moment before Arden spoke up.

"May, we do have any more Rollcall Orbs?"

May's face fell. She clutched the bag's strap between her teeth, tightening it around her as she replied, a hint of frustration in her voice.

"No, you used our only one when we ran into that warp trap."

Before Arden could do anything, May had begun bounding the way she had come, ignoring her partner's calls for her to come back. Pike sighed as Arden gritted his teeth and began picking up his things.

"Honestly, she's gonna get herself killed one day doin' that. You know as good as I do that those ferals... what is it ya say? Attack first, ask questions later? Get rid of that last bit and you're spot on. Little bastards," Pike said.

Arden gave a dry chuckle as the two hurriedly followed the path May had took. Pike couldn't help but stop to look back at the forestry behind them, which appeared to have caught ablaze by this point.

"I take it you found another Blast Seed?" the Swellow asked.

"What else?"

"Well, aren't ya gonna at least try to put that out?"

"Fuck it, just let the dungeon take care of it."

-o-​

"Hello?!"

On a tree on a riverbank about half a mile away, a Treecko clutched tightly to a branch, looking around desperately for his superiors as the sky above him began to darken with the coming of the evening.

"Mr. Arden? Ms. May? Anyone?!"

He was again met with silence. Letting out a defeated groan, he climbed down from the tree. Honestly, he had been expecting a lot less from this mission, as every mission before this in his apprenticeship with Team Apex mostly had him carrying bags and facing off against the occasional weaker Pokémon. The Treecko had been separated from the others when a troublesome Sawsbuck had knocked him into the river, knocking him out in the process. When he had finally came to, he had been washed up in an unfamiliar place with nothing but a curious school of Basculin for his troubles. He doubted that Team Apex would be able to hear him at this point, so the best he could hope for was to wait for Pike to see him. He headed over to the riverbank, catching a glimpse of his reflection. Staring at it, he gave a small, bitter sigh.

"S-so much for becoming a great explorer, huh? I just wish I had someone like Dill to help make me less... useless..."

As he sulked, an anomaly in the scenery entered his peripheral vision. The Treecko whipped his head up to find a strange object lazily floating down the river. Intrigued, he squinted to see it clearer, then recoiled slightly, beginning to panic. Floating on the river was what appeared to be an aqua-blue Pokémon, unconscious and face down in the water.

The Treecko swore to himself. What was he supposed to do here? Judging by the lack of any sort of supplies with it, he could assume that this was a feral. If that was the case, then would saving it be worth it? He recalled what Pike had told him time and again as he watched the Pokémon drift.

"Don't ever let ya guard down around a feral. It'll rip you apart the first chance it gets, and there is no negotiating with it. It will not listen, it will not care, it will only see you as prey."

The Treecko bit his lip and reluctantly turned his back to the shape, beginning to walk away. As he did, though, a thought occurred to him. This was the Serperior River, and Pokémon falling in and drifting into this dungeon was not unheard of. Most times, they never made it out... so what if...

He looked back to the shape, which had passed him by this point. It twitched in its unconsciousness, only inciting further emotion. What if this wasn't a feral? Would he be responsible for someone's death if it wasn't?

"...n-no. Not again."

The Treecko sharply inhaled, hoping this wouldn't prove a mistake, and dove into the river.

-o-​

Author's Note: Hoo, boy. First time posting here, here's hoping my little project here's up to standard. All I've really got to say is I hope you enjoy.

 

[Sudmensch]

2 - From The River

…

…

...wait, what? I'm alive?

No, human.

W-who said that?

That is not of concern right now.

...s-so I'm...

Yes.

...

…oh... is this heaven?

No. I would more describe it as the space in between.

Why am I here?

I am to send you back to the realm of the living. However, before I do that, I wish to ask you a question.

I... huh?

What is it that you desire most?

What?

Fortune, perhaps? Notoriety? Power?

What do y-

A way to cheat death? A weapon to conquer your enemies? A way to avenge your falling race?

I don't-

What do you seek?

I don't know, okay?! Just... I want the world to be a bit less of a shithole, I guess?

…

I see.

I suppose I should be sending you off.

We shall meet again, child. Until then, may fortune be on your side.

Wait, what?

Farewell.

No, wait...!

-o-​

'Everything hurts.'

That was all that ran through my head as I suddenly came to. I was vaguely aware of water running nearby and a pair of hands rhythmically pressing down on my chest, though I couldn't focus on those when my lungs felt like they were on fire. As the figure in front of me backed away, I hacked and coughed, water pouring from my mouth. The figure looked on as the last of the water dribbled from my mouth and I wheezed in much-needed air. Arms shaking, I pushed myself off the ground, only for my legs to betray me, sending me back to the ground. Panting, I looked around to take in my surroundings. As suspected, I looked to be in a clearing next to a river, and in front of me was a rather nervous-looking Pokémon slowly backing away from me.

'How... did I get here?' I thought as I tried to retrace my steps up to this point. I tried to dig for a minute before coming to a disturbing conclusion.

I couldn't remember anything.

Not even a name came to mind. All that came to mind was being attacked, getting poisoned, everything going black, a voice questioning me, and nothing more. Did I hit my head in the river? I... no, I died for sure. But how was I alive if that was the case...?

As I tried to keep myself calm, a voice brought me back to reality.

"A-are you okay?" it asked.

I jumped, looking around to try and find whoever was speaking.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you..." I snapped my head upwards as I realized that the voice was coming from the Pokémon above me, which I could now vaguely identify as a Treecko.

...wait, what?

Pokémon don't speak, do they?

'...what the...?'

I started trying to ask him how this was possible, but I quickly found the words couldn't come to me. In fact, I seemed to have forgotten how to even think in words, a series of frantic images and concepts replacing them. Instead of words coming out of my mouth, well...

"Shaaah?"

An animalistic cry escaped my lips. This only served to make the Treecko even more on edge, as he quickly backed away, swearing under his breath and looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice. I tried to hold my hand to my face in confusion, though I couldn't seem to manage it. As to why, a simple look down gave the answer: my arms weren't even long enough to reach my face. Rather, they had become short, stubby, and covered in white hair.

'...what? I... wh-what the f...?!'

Panicking, I tried to get up once again, only to fall over. Unfazed, I crawled over to the river to look at my reflection, then immediately stumbled back.

"S-sha?!" I yelped, terrified.

While I couldn't remember what exactly I looked like, I knew enough to say a white, furry, otter-like face should not have been looking back at me. I couldn't make myself out clearly in the water, but I could come to one conclusion.

Whatever I was, it wasn't human.

Watching me in my confused, scared state, the Treecko seemed to relent and started to slowly approach me.

"Um... y-you aren't gonna hurt me, are you?" he stammered. I looked up, my fearful expression slightly faltering. I couldn't even get myself off the ground and I could barely even tell what I was, and he thinks I could hurt him? Yeah, if only...

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed the Treecko's surprised look.

"Y-you can understand me?"

'Wait, I can? Come to think of it, I... uh...'

How could I process what this Pokémon was saying if I couldn't even think in words? Honestly, I wasn't quite sure if I should be surprised by this of all things...

The Treecko waited for a second before seemingly having an idea.

"This for yes, this for no," he explained while nodding and shaking his head respectively. Unsure of what else to do, I reluctantly nodded. He let out a sudden victorious laugh, making me jump and upsetting my burning lungs in doing so.

"I... I, this... I can't believe it! A-an intelligent feral! The guild's gonna love this! I... I can finally make my own team! I can..."

He slowed down, seemingly remembering my presence as I tried to cough the pain away. The Treecko, a tinge of red on his face, cleared his throat as I managed to resume breathing properly.

"Uh... I guess I should introduce myself. Name's Rye, and, er, I'm an explorer!"

He gave a weak smile.

"Or, at least, I'm gonna be soon... do you have a name?"

I slowly shook my head no, my face wilting. The now-named Rye began contemplating.

"Oh, uh, l-let's give you one, then... I found you in the river, right? Maybe we could use that...?"

He looked like he was about to come up with something when suddenly, a rustling noise came from behind him.

"Sha!" I cried fearfully. Rye spun around, looking unsure of what was happening. A silhouette made itself apparent in one of the paths leading out of the clearing. Rye tensed up as I crawled behind him. I couldn't quite see what had appeared, but I did feel Rye relax as a voice rang out.

"Rye?! Is that you?!"

"Ms. May!"

Rye ran over to a fox-like Pokémon covered with leaf-like attachments, wrapping his arms around her.

'A Leafeon,' my brain told me. At least it wasn't completely devoid of info, I guess.

The Leafeon noticed me as more rustling began sounding from the path. As I watched, unsure of what to do, a large blue and red bird flew in, followed by a blue badger-like Pokémon. The Swellow and Quilava gathered around Rye as the Leafeon approached me, looking curious.

"I see you made a new friend while you were gone?" she questioned.

"Er, yes, ma'am, I saved him from drowning in the river just now." Rye answered as the Leafeon looked me over. At this point, the Swellow had caught sight of me and had begun staring at me, head cocked.

"Drowning? Odd for an Oshawott to be drowning..." she observed.

'Oshawott? Is that what I am?'

I continued to examine my unfamiliar body as the two kept talking. As I suspected, I looked no different from an average Oshawott, save for the signature scalchop on my chest.

'How did this happen? Did that voice do this? Why...?'

As I looked over myself, the Swellow cut in.

"It's feral, ain't it?" the Swellow asked with an accented but steely voice, eyes narrowing. "Just look at its posture. Doesn't look like it knows jack about groomin', either. Only a feral could pull that look off with a straight face," he said, staring straight into me. Rye's eyes widened as he tore himself from the Quilava's paws and stepped beside me.

"No, Mr. Pike, B-Beck's different! He can understand me, he's not... uh..."

'Beck? Huh...'

If I remembered correctly, it was a word meaning a mountain stream. I liked it. However, the Swellow didn't quite seem to feel the same way.

"Ya fuckin' named it?" Pike spat, feathers now expanding.

Rye shrunk back as the bird approached us. "I told you that ferals ain't to be trusted no matter what, and you've gone and made one your damn pet?"

The Quilava warily stepped in, nervousness on his face. "Now, Pike, we can discuss this once we've found Lotad's seeds. Besides, look on the bright side! It's the kid's first real mission and he's impressed on a feral! I've taught him well, eh, May?"

May didn't respond, seemingly focused on something off to the side. Pike glared at the Quilava, whose weak grin had melted away.

"I don't care if it can grant us eternal life, Arden. That doesn't change the fact it's feral. It's gonna raid our bags the first chance it gets and book it, I guarantee it. I advise the kid throws it back where he found it before it eats our eyes out."

Before Rye could speak up, Arden seemed to notice something and and gestured to May, who had gone still, her ears perked up.

"What?" Arden inquired.

"No sudden movements or loud noises. We need to get to the staircase, now. Pike, lead the way," May whispered. With a final wary look at Rye and I, Pike gestured to the path they had come from and began silently walking off. Arden, seemingly understanding something we didn't, followed him.

"W-what's happening, Ms. May?" Rye stammered.

May turned to us, fear apparent on her face.

"Keep Beck close and don't say anything. It's the Zubats. They're out hunting."

-o-​

Quinite Forest

6F

"How much farther we got, Pike?" Arden whispered as we warily moved through the forest paths, occasionally pausing to listen for something.

"Half a mile, I'd say. Haven't seen any Zubats around, so we should be good for the time being."

Still trying to get walking down, I staggered along to follow the group, trying to not trip over myself. Rye, his hand clutching May as to not get separated from her, looked towards the trees nervously. Confused over the team's cautiousness, I pulled on his free hand.

"Sha?" I cried questioningly, hoping that would be enough.

"What's the matter?" Rye asked, clearly not getting my message. Trying to figure out how else to do this, I pointed to the ever-cautious adult Pokémon and gestured at the trees, giving a confused look as I did so. Rye cocked his head for a bit before his face flashed with recognition at my gesturing.

"Uh... Ms. May said there's a bunch of Zubats on this floor. The sun's going down, so they're all out hunting for prey. If they catch us, they'll-"

Rye stopped short as he realized the team had frozen, staring at a clearing up ahead. In said clearing, a bloated, purplish mass was lying on the grass, winged Pokémon covering it while chittering and making sickening slurping noises. May had her paw raised up gesturing us to keep still as Arden shook his head, obviously disturbed at the sight.

"It's the Sawsbuck from earlier. The fuckers poisoned it to death and now they're draining its blood. Poor bastard," he whispered.

'Wait, that thing's a Pokémon?!'

At that moment, I considered myself lucky to have not eaten anything. While I tried to keep my breathing steady as to not put my lungs through any more torture, May began to silently head into the clearing, much to Pike's horror.

"What are ya fuckin' doing?" he quietly demanded.

"The path on the other side is the only way to the staircase, right? Just stay close to the trees and keep quiet," she responded.

After much hesitation, the Swellow cursed to himself and followed. Watching them go, Arden turned to look at us, casting his uneasy glance onto me.

"Alright, Oshawott," he whispered, enunciating his words like he was talking down to a little kid. "You follow. You quiet. Yes?"

Although I was put off at his insistence to talk to me like that, I nodded, put my paw on him and followed him into the clearing, the slurps and gulps of the Zubats' meal not serving to ease the tension. About halfway to the path, a small yelp sounded from Arden. Lifting up his paw to find a small thorn in it, he then glanced back at the Zubats. They had stopped their slurping, and were now letting out high-pitched squeals and clicks, presumably to try and locate the source of the sudden noise. Panicking, I looked to Rye for advice, though all I needed was the Treecko's expression to figure it out for myself.

'Stay still if you want to live.'

A good few minutes passed, then the slurping resumed. Untold relief on his face, Arden gestured to us to keep moving. After that close call, it seemed all of us wanted out of this place as soon as possible, so it wasn't long before we had reached the path. As we hurriedly left the clearing, Arden let out a relieved chuckle. However, as we began to calm down, I stumbled, falling to the ground and snapping a few sticks.

'Shit.'

Looking up, I saw that one of the Zubats was now facing directly towards us, apparently having heard the noise. I tugged on Rye's arm, his looking back apparently alerting the others in the party. Their relief quickly turned into silent panic as the Zubat continued to stare.

'Please. Please, I'm begging you. Don't.'

Despite my mental pleas, the Zubat's face began to twitch...

...and it let out a long, bloodcurdling screech in our direction.

"RUN!" Arden screamed.

The dead Sawsbuck forgotten, the Zubats began to swarm towards us, drool pouring from their mouths in anticipation of their meal. We ran for our lives, not even bothering to keep quiet anymore. This only seemed to alert more of them, as dozens of the little demons started pouring out of the surrounding trees.

"Mr. Pike, can't you just fly us to the stairs?!" Rye screamed.

"I can't carry anyone but you, so unless ya want only the two of us to make it outta here, fuck no!" Pike replied breathlessly.

As they were talking, a large Zubat flock appeared out of the trees in front of us, diving in for the kill. May and Arden exchanged glances, quickly nodded, then began dashing ahead of us side-by-side.

"Alright, Team Apex, Point Forest tactic! Go!" Arden yelled. Pike perked up, then turned to the pursuing Zubats and flapped his wings, sending a blast of air at them and blowing them back through the path.

"That's only going to slow 'em down a bit, but that bit's all we need, I think," he hurriedly explained.

As the others charged, Arden's back burst into flames, which quickly covered the Quilava's body as he let out a battle cry. He jumped into the flock, distracting most of them as several leaf-like objects appeared around May and began to fly around her as she watched the flock warily. A burst of fire erupted from the blue mass as Arden ran out, bleeding in several places but still in fighting condition. Several of the Zubats, having caught on fire from his Flame Charge, flew away letting out horrific screeches. Seeing this, May sent the flying leaves at the remaining little demons. They began trying to flee, but the Magical Leaves seemed to follow them wherever they flew, quickly cutting them out of the air. Having finished her task, she ran over to tend to Arden's several bite wounds, despite his saying he was fine.

As I watched, I heard a scream from beside me. Quickly turning around, I saw that one of the Zubats had knocked Rye over and was now snapping at his neck. Eyes wide, I looked at the others. Arden and May were still busy up ahead, while Pike was still trying to hold back the approaching horde.

"Shaaah!", I cried fearfully, frozen in place at the sight.

'What do I do?! I... I can't let him die!'

Shaking my head, I watched Rye continue to struggle before coming to a decision: I charged towards him and tackled the Zubat. The good news was that my attack was able to knock the Zubat off Rye. The bad news was that I seemed to have angered it and it was now biting into my chest.

As my vision fogged, I saw a blur of green strike the Zubat, knocking it out as blood, presumably my own, dribbled from its mouth.

I weakly looked up as Rye, having dusted himself off after his Quick Attack, ran to my side, the others now gathered next to us. Pike was now panting, his energy spent by the Whirlwinds. It seemed that the Zubats were now closing in on us from both sides, their screeches growing louder by the second. It looked like we were out of options here, and judging by the glances Arden and May were giving each other, it seemed they agreed. The Quilava gave a final long look at the flocks before giving out a defeated sigh.

"Damn it all," he growled. He dug through his bag before pulling a glassy blue sphere out and holding it high above his head.

"Activate!" he yelled. The sphere let out a blinding light as I felt myself get lifted off the ground. This feeling continued for maybe five seconds before I was thrown onto solid ground.

'...are we out? Are we safe now?'

I didn't have time to reflect on those questions any further, unfortunately, as the taste of blood began to fill my mouth. As my vision further darkened, I could vaguely see the team gathering around me, the last thing I heard before blacking out being Rye's desperate voice.

"Mr. Arden, get help! A berry, a healer, anything! ...h-hang in there, Beck! Don't die on me..."

 

[Sudmensch]

3 - In It Together

"...poisoned..."

"...lost a lot of blood..."

"...trying our best..."

"...he's moving, I think..."

As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I could vaguely hear such discussions from the dark, fuzzy shapes standing over me. Often times I could vaguely make out Rye or one of the other Pokémon I'd met among the voices, though I usually fell unconscious again before I could actually make them out.

When I finally came to, the first thing that I noticed was that my throbbing chest appeared to have been tightly wrapped in gauze. I could still tell that it had been torn into, as was evident by the red staining the gauze, though it didn't feel as bad as it should have been. I mean, I was still alive, so I guess that should have been obvious. Allowing my eyes to adjust, I took a look at my surroundings. I was lying on an uncomfortably lumpy straw bed in a small room with a single window, twilight and the faint sound of talking seeping in. The only Pokémon in the room was Rye, who was sitting next to my little bed seemingly deep in thought.

"Sha?" I cried out weakly. Rye jumped slightly, snapping out of his contemplation. His slight panic was quickly replaced with relief once he noticed where the sound had come from.

"Oh! Uh... h-hey, uh, Beck. Good to see you're awake..."

With some difficulty, I managed to sit up as Rye sat down next to me.

"You were out for three days, we were starting to get worried. Uh, th-those bites were pretty deep, Ms. Audino said you're lucky to be alive..."

'Three days? Lucky to be alive? What?'

Rye, seemingly noticing my distress at the news, shifted in his seat.

"D-don't worry! M-Ms. Audino can help, you just need a few Heal Pulses, some Pechas, and a couple more days of rest, then..."

His enthusiasm wilted like a dying plant, for lack of a better word.

"...th-then we can send you back home..."

As he hung his head, a thought occurred to me. Rye didn't even know I didn't have a home. At least, not that I knew of. On that note, he didn't know of my being human... how would he respond to that? He had been so enthusiastic about me just being able to understand him, so what should I expect? Would he be excited? Upset? Angry? Before I could ponder on this, Rye looked up at me, sadness in his yellow eyes.

"Do you miss your family, Beck? A-are they smart like you?" he questioned.

A moment of silence hung in the air. The Treecko watched me, confused at my reluctance to answer.

"...is your family...?"

"Sh-shaah!" I cried out in frustration, pointing my tiny arms to my head in an 'I don't know' gesture. Thankfully, Rye seemed to understand this, at least.

"...uh, do you remember them?"

'Finally, we're getting somewhere.' I shook my head no as Rye's eyes widened.

"Do you remember... anything?"

Another shake no. Rye seemed to sink back into thought, now silently muttering to himself.

Another moment of silence passed as this continued, only to be interrupted by a large pink Pokémon walking in. The Audino seemed to light up at the sight of me.

"Ah, you're awake!" she exclaimed, approaching me with one of the feelers on her ears in hand. "I apologize for the suddenness of all this. You're in the infirmary of Arcanine's Guild in Impetus Town. Don't worry, it's not too far from Quinite Forest, we should be able to get you home once you're healed."

As I watched, unsure of what quite was happening, she pressed it against my chest. After keeping it there for a few seconds, she withdrew it, seemingly satisfied with whatever she had gotten from that, and turned to Rye.

"His heart rate and breathing are normal. The poison seems to have mostly worn off, and I expect that aside from the odd scar, he'll make a full recovery in the next week or so. Of course, there's the damage to his lungs from his near drowning, though he's a Water-type, I expect he'll shake it off. Are there any other anomalies I might not have picked up on?" Ms. Audino asked, picking up a pen and a piece of paper from a nearby table.

Rye swallowed, apparently nervous over having to play doctor for me.

"W-well, from what I've gathered, he doesn't remember anything from before I found him. Maybe he hit his head, that river was pretty rocky."

Ms. Audino cocked her head, still writing. "Amnesia, huh? Nothing we haven't dealt with before, all you need is a good Psychic and some patience."

With that, she placed her pen down and started towards the door.

"Right, I'll go and tell your teammates that they don't have a fatality on their paws. I advise you stay with him as much as you can, seeing as you're the one who impressed on him. He needs someone he can trust to heal properly," she told Rye. As she walked out, she stopped, seemingly having remembered something.

"Oh, and Guildmaster Arcanine says he's interested in seeing you two in the coming days," she said. Rye let out a small 'eep!' as I felt him tense up beside me.

"You're not in trouble, he simply wishes to talk to the two of you. I mean, it's not every day you find a feral that can understand speech right away, is it?" Ms. Audino added with a small smile before turning to leave. As the sound of footsteps grew fainter, Rye, his eyes wider than ever, crumpled next to me, this time only muttering one easily discernible phrase.

"Oh, dear Arceus."

-o-​

The world outside the hospital room's window had gone dark and quiet since Ms. Audino's visit. Rye was spread out on a bed that had been provided while I stared at the ceiling. For the first time since waking up by the river, I had time to think.

'Is there anyone that can help me? Are there any human cities near here? Do humans even exist in this world? Will I ever be able to remember my past? Will Rye still accept me if he finds out I'm human? What about Team Apex? What would Pike do? Who was that voice? Will I ever hear it again? What does it want from me?'

Such questions bounced around my mind until a voice cut into my contemplation.

"Hey, Beck. You awake?" Rye asked.

I shifted to face in his direction, wincing as my chest wound screamed in protest.

"I, uh... erm..."

He shifted in his bed, clearly tongue-tied.

"...t-thanks for saving me back there. Any longer and I... uh, you know. Guess we're, uh, equal now, huh? I... agh..."

Rye buried his face into his makeshift pillow, his hands on his head.

"Shaah..." I cried reassuringly. I reached to lay my paw on him, though found myself unable to. Finding Rye's eye on me, I found myself turning hot with embarrassment as well.

'Curse my stubby arms!'

Even through my limitations, Rye seemed to understand what I was going for, as I could make out a small smile coming from his mostly covered face. Another moment of silence passed before he spoke up.

"Beck? Since you can't remember where you came from, I was wondering... uh..."

I heard the Treecko shift.

"...you want to stay with me?" Rye asked quietly.

'...do I really have any other choice?'

So far, Rye was the only Pokémon I even really knew here, and judging from what I've seen, even if I did decide to run off on him, the world would probably be less than kind to a "feral" like me. The answer was obvious.

"Sha," I affirmed, giving a nod. Seeing this, Rye's face lit up.

"R-really? I... o-okay, alright..."

Rye steadied his breathing, giving a small laugh.

"I guess that makes us, uh, f-friends, right? ...ugh, l-look at me, trying to be friends with... heh."

I couldn't help but grin at the notion, giving another quick nod. I didn't know what I was like as a human, but I could assume I would have taken having someone by my side for granted. Here, having lost everything from my memory to my species, it felt good having something as simple as a friend.

"Hey, I have an idea. Since you're gonna be staying with me, I-I'm thinking I could try to teach you how to talk!" Rye piped.

"Sha?" I responded.

"Well, I mean, since you're understanding what I'm saying right now, you can't be too far off from it, right?" he reasoned.

He did have a point there, I must say.

I gave Rye another "Shaa!" and a nod. I couldn't tell if he was excited or nervous, but his smile at my response was enough to satisfy. As we noticed the chirps of Kricketots outside, though, our enthusiasm faltered as we realized just how late it was. After a moment, Rye straightened up.

"...uh, w-we can start tomorrow, I guess!"

With that, we quickly drifted off into sleep, hopeful and eager for whatever laid ahead.

 

[Sudmensch]

4 - Pests and Patriarchs

"Alright, Beck, you ready to start?" Rye asked me, a thin book in his hands.

"Sha!" I exclaimed.

The noon sun shone brightly through the sick bay's window, the now familiar sound of exploration teams going about their day piping through. Following our agreement the previous night, Rye had managed to convince Team Apex to lend him a notebook to help me out. Apparently, only more well-off Pokémon could afford actual paper, so we were both a little puzzled as to why they had decided to give us a notebook full of it. Apparently, in Arden's words, it isn't every day you get chummy with a feral, now is it?

Fair point, I guess.

"Let's start with your name, okay?" Rye asked me. Another nod prompted him to pause for a second before hanging his head.

"...uh, come to think of it, I'm not sure how exactly you can just learn it... sorry, I'm a bit new to this whole teaching thing..." he sighed. "J-just try to copy what I say, I guess."

'Okay, sounds easy enough.'

As it turns out, it wasn't. Instead, we found ourselves making bizarre noises at each other for twenty minutes straight in the hopes I would get it right at some point. What fun.

"No, no, try to touch the top of your mouth with your tongue. Beeeck," Rye explained, putting emphasis on the 'ck'.

"Sheaagh."

"No, don't, uh, put your voice into that last bit. Do it like this. Beck, not Begh."

"Sh-sheaak," I managed out. Despite my still rather limited vocabulary, Rye seemed to be pleased with our progress.

"All right, you look like you're getting the hang of it! Now, let's-"

He paused as a small snicker sounded from the door. Turning our heads, we found Ms. Audino with the amused Arden and May standing behind her.

"H-how long have you been standing there?!" Rye choked out, his face reddening.

"Long enough, kid. Long enough," Arden said, still grinning. I swore I could see years crumble off the Treecko's lifespan as the two veteran explorers straightened up.

"Don't worry, that's not what we're here for," May said, turning to Ms. Audino, who was giving her usual warm smile.

"Guildmaster Arcanine says he wants you two in his quarters," the nurse said.

-o-​

Seeing as I was still in no condition to actually walk, Arden had to carry me like a baby through Arcanine's Guild as our group, now including Pike, left the sick bay. Whatever dignity I had left from being spoonfed berry pulp that morning was lost right then and there, I think.

The Guild's headquarters was what I could best describe as a small village of its own. On the hill it was built upon, a grid of team housing, various utility buildings, a mess hall, and an amphitheater rested. From what I could tell, it was arranged in a hierarchy of sorts, the more important locations and teams being placed further up the hill, with an unassuming building I could only assume was Guildmaster Arcanine's quarters resting on the hilltop. The Pokémon I had only heard outside my window now walked beside me, heading out for lands unknown. Some looked at our little group oddly, exchanging whispers.

"Don't worry, it's just that Team Apex's a bit well-known, and, uh, that you're new here," Rye explained.

'Please let it be that.'

Thankfully, any unwanted attention was taken off my situation as an annoyingly high-pitched voice rang out.

"Hey-hey, if it ain't ol' Team Pixies!"

Rye immediately flared up, though was put down by a glare from May as we turned to find the source of the insult. Behind us, a Persian and Weavile sneered at our group, prompting an exasperated sigh from Pike.

"Glad you decided to show up, Team Asslick," Arden responded, a forced smile on his face. The Weavile snorted before... uh, what? One second, he was standing twenty feet away, the next he was standing next to Arden, clapping the annoyed Quilava on the back.

Okay, then.

"I see you've got the little squirt here with you, huh? Good to hear ya didn't get another one killed!" he hooted while gesturing to me. Rye and I recoiled as best we could while the Weavile laughed, his high-pitched tone still sending shivers down my spine.

The Persian, having caught up with the Weavile by now, gave a grin at Rye's confusion. "What, you surprised? Nothing goes on 'round here, news gets around fast, kid. Some little shit finding a feral and nearly getting its guts eaten out counts as good watering hole talk, I'd say!" he sneered. Rye's eye twitched as the two gathered around Team Apex, still laughing their ugly laughs.

Arden started trying to talk through the laughter. "Look, fellas, I'd love to talk, but we've kinda gotta get to Arcanine's and-"

"Ah, shit, Gold, ya hear that? They're still the old dog's little pets! Ain't that rich?" the Weavile wheezed. "Doesn't matter if they got fucked over in the woods, I guess, they're probably on their way over to compensate!"

"Yeah, one suck for each Zubat bite, eh? Where do you think the jizz goes, Mustie?" the Persian laughed.

By this point, May was summoning vines out of the ground to physically hold Rye back. I had never seen him actually angry before, and seeing the shy but good-natured Treecko I had come to know actively trying to attack Mustie the Weavile was... scary, to say the least.

"I advise y'all run along before the kid tears ya a new one," Pike said, watching the scene impassively.

"Yeah, what he said. Heck, we'll even let you know where we're going if you want to duke it out like the good old days. What do you say Bewilder Forest in three days, Mustie? You win, we buy you drinks; if we win, I don't think it matters. Arceus knows how many drinks you owe us by now," Arden offered, much to May's annoyance.

"Hah, you're on!" the Weavile snapped back as the two began weaving their way through the crowd, still laughing their heads off. A panting May finally let Rye go, who clawed at the air in the two's general direction. Pushing herself off the ground, May looked to me apologetically.

"Don't mind them, they're just Team Assail. Thorn in our side for fifteen years, let me tell you. They're all bark and no bite, so don't let them get to you, alright?" she told me. "...actually, thorn's too nice of a term. How about a massive, splintery stake?"

I let out a small laugh as Rye finally turned around to face us, having calmed down for the most part. We continued up the hill, Team Assail's cackling still echoing in the distance.

As it turned out, it wasn't the distance that made Arcanine's home seem small, it really was that small. I doubted it would be enough to house the powerful figure I had heard of, much less a regular Arcanine. Looking at Rye confusedly, he gave a nervous but reassuring nod as we went inside. Inside, several chairs and tables surrounded a ladder sticking out of the ground, presumably leading to the actual structure.

Climbing down, I found myself in a hallway with a large, circular room at the end. Many paintings hung along the walls of the hallway, depicting dozens of Pokémon standing in a row, which I guessed were the Guild's members throughout the years. I couldn't help but notice Rye looking in awe at one of the last twenty, depicting what looked to be a young Team Apex: a Cyndaquil and Eevee standing near the edges of the painting, the Eevee making Buneary-ears over the Cyndaquil. Standing center frame in all of the group pictures was Guildmaster Arcanine, wearing a confident smile.

'...wait, aren't Arcanines supposed to be orange?'

Either the pictures were faded somehow, or Arcanine was a golden-yellow color. Huh.

As we walked into the Guildmaster's room, I found myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of... stuff in the room. Littering the perimeter were piles of treasure and various unnatural-looking trinkets, most of which I could recognize as human artifacts. Among these seemed to be books, faded paintings, Pokéballs, shiny discs, strange metal hunks, and...

'Is... is that a human skeleton?'

Morbid, but sure, I guess.

"I see you like my humble collection?" a deep voice inquired. I jumped as a large shape stepped out of the shadows, looking at me curiously.

"G-Guildmaster Arcanine," Arden stammered, bowing his head.

The Arcanine, who, yes, did appear to be yellow, wore the same smile I had seen in all those group pictures as he sat down before us.

"I take it you've never seen a Shiny before, young Oshawott?" Arcanine asked.

"Sh-sha," I managed out. I honestly didn't know what to think. I mean, come on, piling his room up with all this had to occur to him as creepy at some point, right?

"Of course, I could say something along that line for you. A feral capable of linguistic understanding and higher thinking such as yours without prior teaching is rare, indeed," he responded. "Of course, that is beside the point, I should be getting to why I've summoned you all here."

His smile faltered.

"Firstly, I am rather disappointed. Given your past, I would assume retrieving a seed would be easy work for Team Apex. I can tell you, Mr. Lotad was not happy that no other teams would do it after your failure," he said. May began to speak up when Pike interrupted.

"Look, Sir Guildmaster, we would have done just fine if the damn feral didn't give us away!" he interjected, his feathers puffing out defensively.

"Sha?!" I replied, my paws twitching. He was pinning the whole blame on me? Talk about Tauros crap.

"I understand that, Pike. However, I do doubt the Oshawott was solely responsible for what happened. That does bring me to my next point, though. The feral... or Beck, as I've been told Mr. Rye here has named him, is of special interest to the Guild. As you know, the extension of knowledge is one of this Guild's primary goals, and having someone who could tell us what life within a mystery dungeon is like, or perhaps even share how ferals like him could gain such intelligence, would contribute to this goal greatly," Arcanine continued. As Pike tried to find a response, the golden dog turned to face Rye. "As such, I would like to ask the Treecko a question."

Rye, visibly shaking now, made a weak croak in response.

"Young Rye, how would you two like to form an exploration team on this Guild?"

The Guildmaster paused as the five of us all let out varying reactions, these ranging from surprise to shock to anger. Eventually, though, his gaze zeroed in on Rye as he regained his composure.

"W-why are you offering us... this?" Rye asked. Arcanine drew him close, inciting a small yelp from him.

"Young Treecko, I see potential in you and your friend. I have heard of your desire to officially work under my guild, and I think that if anything, it is worth trying. Besides, you wish to educate Beck here, do you not? I am an old Pokémon, and my best days of exploration are many years behind me, but even I can tell you that experience is the best teacher. So, will you take up my offer?"

"I... uh... y-yes, sir," Rye stammered, face pale.

With that, the Guildmaster turned to me, his intense eyes burning into mine.

"Sh-sha...?" I managed out as he approached me.

"What about you? If you were to accept, you would be dedicating your foreseeable future to exploration and helping others. Of course, this would mean most of your days on duty being spent in mystery dungeons. There is risk, but I have faith that you understand that, seeing as you likely grew up in one. Would you like to join Rye in this endeavor?" he questioned.

...did I really want to? I mean, here I am, in an unfamiliar body in an unfamiliar world with no memories to call my own, and before I know it, I'm being thrust into a life that, if past experience holds up, could very well mean my premature death. Images of having my chest torn open, the Zubat gazing through me with its eyeless face quickly began flashing through my head. Did I really want to go through that again, much less regularly?

As I winced at the painful memories, I caught a glimpse of Rye. Even through his fear, I swore I could see just the slightest bit of pleading as he looked back at me, as if begging me to say yes.

...did I really want to deny him his chance to follow his dream just because I was a bit scared I'd get hurt? Besides, if I came here for a reason, then if anyone's going to find it, it'd be an explorer...

'...alright then. Here goes nothing.'

I slowly nodded. Arcanine gave me another smile as Rye's eyes widened further.

"Very well, then. You two may go to Cinccino at the front desk in the coming days to register as a team. Tell her you have my blessing," he said.

"W-wait, what?!" Pike choked out. "I wasn't here to see Team Apex start, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't this easy! T-they need to prove themselves in the field, don't they?"

"As far as I'm concerned, they already have," Arcanine replied. Before Pike could respond, he turned to Arden, who promptly stood at attention. "I'd like to speak with you in private, Arden. The rest of you are dismissed."

I felt May pick me up by the scruff of my neck. Despite my protesting cries, she carried me towards the exit, a peeved Pike and a still shocked Rye following close behind.

-o-​

The whining shape of Beck was pulled up up the ladder as the two fire-types in the room watched on. Now sure that no one was listening, Arden let out a small sigh.

"Really? You believe in the kid? That's the best excuse you could come up with?" he said. Arcanine looked over, a small amount of surprise on his face.

"It was really that obvious?" he asked.

"Well, if I remember correctly, believing didn't do jack back when we were just the little shits just in from Walrein's Guild, and to be entirely honest, you still aren't exactly the most generous Pokémon in the world. So tell me: why are you really doing this?" Arden inquired.

Arcanine paused for a moment before straightening up, the atmosphere in the room growing colder. "What I am about to tell you is of utmost importance and secrecy, and I am only telling you this because of your past service to this Guild. If I find you have told anyone of what I am about to tell you, there will be consequences. Understand?" he asked.

Arden swallowed hard before nodding. Arcanine continued.

"Rye says he found Beck without memories in the wild, did he not?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Does that perhaps sound familiar to you?"

"No, sir, why should it?"

Arcanine sighed before gesturing to a stack of books along the wall. Unsure as to where he was going with this, Arden picked up the top book before reading the title.

"...The Journeys of Louie the Riolu? This is a kids' book, Guildmaster, what does that have to do with anything?"

Arcanine waited expectantly. After a minute, Arden paused.

"... w-wait. Wasn't Louie a..."

The Quilava threw the book aside to investigate the others, eyes getting progressively wider as he did so.

"Sai the Charmander... Lee the Shinx... Amber the Chikorita... G-Guildmaster, you're not actually saying the Oshawott's..."

"A human? It is only a theory, an unlikely one at that, but it is worth looking into," Arcanine said.

A moment of silence passed.

"W-why are you telling me this...?" Arden asked.

"If I am correct in my assumption, then an issue is very much present. Humans are only known to awaken as Pokémon during times of great peril for this world, as you know," Arcanine replied. "I want you to tell me should anything come up. Keep an eye on the two and pray that I am wrong. Understand?"

"...y-yes, sir, I will."

Arcanine's warm demeanor returned as he gave Arden a grateful grin.

"Thank you. You are dismissed. Forever forward."

The Quilava gave a shaky salute at the Guild's motto.

"Forever forward."

-o-​

"Ms. May, can't we do this tomorrow?" Rye asked pleadingly.

"No. There's a new wave of orders coming in tomorrow, you'd be a pile of bones before you made it through the line," the Leafeon snapped back. "Besides, might as well just rip the barb out."

Cinccino's office stood a couple Pokémon ahead of us. Sitting at the entrance to the Guild, there had been quite a line waiting for us when we had gotten here. Despite this, May had volunteered to stay and help us through, even when Arden had finally caught up with us. A half hour of waiting and complaining from both of us later, I wasn't sure she was very happy with herself about this decision.

"Next!" a voice called from the counter.

"About time," May muttered as we stepped up to the small shack. As would be expected from the Minccino line, there didn't seem to be a thing out of place through the window. Makes sense they'd put a Cinccino in charge of bureaucracy, I guess. Said Cinccino looked down at us with a cheerful smile.

"Good afternoon, what can I do for you?" she inquired.

"H-hi, Ms. Cinccino, w-we... uh, my friend and I would like to start a team," Rye stammered. Cinccino's smile faltered a bit, prompting May to step forward.

"Guildmaster's orders. I know they're young, but talk to him about that, I guess," she said.

Cinccino nodded before slipping a blank form out of the orderly stacks that adorned her desk.

"Alright, then, all I need is a team name," she said.

"Team Horizon," Rye said without hesitation, excitement eclipsing his nervous demeanor.

"Sorry, that's been taken," Cinccino said.

"W-what? Have you checked?" Rye asked.

"Darling, you have no idea how many new teams ask for Horizon."

As Rye's enthusiasm melted away, Cinccino pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over.

"Here's a list of available names. Take as long as you need," she said assuredly. Rye put the paper on the desk so we could both look it over. Unfortunately, any discernible text was just Torchic scratch to me.

...wow. Just wow. Whatever had sent me here hadn't even bothered to let me be able to read?

'...FFFFF-'

Letting out a frustrated cry, I pounded my paw into the desk, startling Rye. However, his alarm quickly melted away as he examined where my paw had landed: an apparent name sandwiched between scratched-out entries.

"Team Reach? N-no one's picked this?" Rye stammered.

"Chances are they have, it just looks like the last Team Reach didn't leave their mark," Cinccino explained. "If they had, it'd have been decommissioned so no one else could use it."

Rye brightened up. "Huh... I like it! N-nice job, Beck! You think we should take it?"

"Sha!" I exclaimed. In response, Cinccino took the list and began filling out the form. A couple of minutes went by before she suddenly slammed it down on the desk, sending the both of us jumping back and stumbling over May, who gave us a light Vine Whip in response. Seemingly ignorant of what had just happened in front of her, Cinccino set a large bag onto the counter.

"You're all set! Here's your Explorer's Bag! Hope to hear from you soon, Team Reach!" she piped. Rye, still rubbing where May had hit him, took the bag, uttered a quiet thanks to Cinccino, and joined us as May once again picked up by the scruff of my neck. I don't know why, but something about this made me deeply uncomfortable. Maybe it was because she was a grass-type carrying a water-type? Who knows.

Bag and me in hand, our little posse began the walk back to the sick bay. On the way, I couldn't help but notice Rye digging through our new bag and pulling out a small badge. He stared at it, mesmerized, as a small group of Pokémon bumped into him on their way across the pathway.

"Shaah?" I questioned. Rye didn't raise his head as he responded.

"It's an explorer's badge. Officially says you're part of a team... I still can't believe I'm actually holding one..."

His concentration broke as he looked up at me, giving me an earnest look.

"T-thank you, Beck. I don't think I'd be holding this without you..." he managed out.

There, even with my internal voice screaming common sense at me, even with my chest still throbbing, and even with the lingering fear that I would die before learning anything about myself, I knew I had made the right choice.

'Here's hoping I can act on it.'

 

[Sudmensch]

5 - Revelation

"Sha?" I concernedly called to Rye for what seemed like the tenth time that day.

Dusk had fallen over the Guild, and ever since we had returned from registration, Rye had been sitting on his bed, alternating between absentmindedly sifting through the contents of our new bag and staring off into space, deep in thought. In response to my cry, he looked up at me, his eyes still slightly glazed over.

"S-sorry, Beck... it's just I can't believe this is actually happening..." he said. "I asked Team Apex if I could apprentice for them six moons ago. All I wanted was a chance at being on a team, and look at us now..."

Another moment of his contemplation passed before he snapped out of his stupor and put his new badge down, standing up for the first time in hours.

"Alright, uh, h-how about we keep trying to get talking down?" he offered.

-o-​

"B... shaaak."

"N-no, don't hesitate, uh, make the two sounds as quickly as you can."

"B-b-sheeaak."

"T-try again!"

"B-shak,"

"Again!"

"B-beehak..."

Stressed over my repeated failures and Rye's increasingly persistent method of teaching, I groaned, putting my head on my bed. I was considering burying myself under the bed's straw before I realized something.

'Wait... I did it?'

As if to affirm, a whoop sounded from Rye as he pumped his fist into the air. Grinning, I joined in his enthusiasm with a small dance.

"Y-you did it! We're only gonna get better from here, I think! Let's try something else now, alright?"

With that, he pulled out Team Apex's notebook, handing it over to me.

"J-just draw whatever you want to know about... er, y-you know, if you can, and I can try to explain it! Maybe you'll pick up on a couple words!"

'Something I want explained? About time...'

I decided to start by drawing a crude, bipedal figure that vaguely resembled a human.

"Sha?" I asked, gesturing to the picture. Rye looked slightly confused, but seemed to get what I was going for.

"That's a human, I think...? Y-yeah, they used to rule this continent a long time ago, and the legends say they used to live side-by-side by Pokémon. They could apparently work together to take the world around them and do what a thousand Pokémon working together could only dream of doing. Mr. Arcanine says the ruins we'll be seeing once we start exploring were mostly made by humans. Mr. Pike once told me those legends about them visiting the moon were true, but I don't think..."

He trailed off as I pulled a map out of our bag. The map depicted two large landmasses sticking out from the bottom framing a single large island. Among the sea of writing, I noticed a star, seemingly showing the Guild's location. I gestured to said map, making a questioning cry.

"Are you asking where they live? Uh, humans haven't existed on the Gray Continent for a while. Mr. Arcanine says it's been centuries since the last ones left," Rye asked. "W-why are you asking?"

…

'Might as well tell him now and get it over with...'

As Rye watched, I pointed to my drawing, then at myself, repeating the process a few times for good measure. Around the fifth time, Rye seemed to understand.

"...Beck... are you saying you're...?"

I nodded. A look of fear and uncertainty quickly took hold of Rye's face, much like the one he had been wearing when we had first met, though whether this was because he believed me or just thought me as insane was unclear. Before I could say anything further, a presence in the door made itself known. Ms. Audino, carrying our dinners, stepped in, mild concern on her face. I could tell she had seen our exchange, though it seemed neither of us wanted to push it.

As the nurse left and we silently sat down to eat, I couldn't help but avert my gaze from Rye. I couldn't look him in the eye, not when he clearly wasn't sure what to think of me. I could tell he needed a while to think. I just hoped that that moment wouldn't end with my only bond in this world breaking.

-o-​

"Hrm..."

Pressing one of her feelers against my chest, Ms. Audino gave me an intent stare, only breaking it when she withdrew the thing from my chest.

"Your recovery is going as expected. The poison's been neutralized, though the damage to your organs is still too great to have you going about unchecked. All in all, I suppose it'll be another day before you can get back on your feet," she informed me. "Just continue as normal, Treecko here will keep you company until then."

I failed to hide my pained expression as Ms. Audino left the room. In the corner of the room, Rye gave me a wary look, jumping and averting his eyes when I looked to him.

"Sh-sha?" I asked, only getting a small grimace from Rye.

"I-I'm... just let me think, alright?" he asked. My face only growing more pitiful, I reached for the notebook and tried to pick it up.

"Sha..." I said. Rye stopped for a second, clenching his teeth.

"L-later," he said. Before I could try anything else, he turned his back to me, muttering to himself. I could only stare in his direction as he let out a shaky sigh and put his hands to his head.

'...just what have I done?'

-o-​

Rye didn't know what to do.

Six days had passed since he had accidentally stumbled upon Beck. Six days since he had made his first true rescue. Six days since he had met the first Pokémon willing to even consider him as a friend in a long time.

He had been nervous about the Oshawott at first, though once he had saved his life in Quinite Forest, he had concluded that the feral he now looked after would be a good partner, possibly even a good friend.

'Ha. There I go again, calling a feral of all things a friend. Isn't that pathetic? No wonder the other apprentices don't talk to me...'

Rye had been content once Guildmaster Arcanine himself had given the two his blessing. For the first time in years, he had been hopeful that he could begin to bury the past and finally look towards the future.

Then Beck had dropped the Blast Seed that he thought himself as a former human.

Rye had heard the stories: legends of the ancient race that once ruled this world, and those who would take on Pokémon form to save it. In a town like the one he had once called home, their legacy was hard to ignore; those same heroes had guided the world after their heroic deeds, leaving behind some of the core ideals of society. Although many dismissed the stories as mere myths, man was still respected, even feared among those Rye had known.

However, Rye had also heard the stories of those loose in the head, the normal Pokémon who were convinced they were human, the hundreds that had made a show of their apparent vision from a Legend and either ended up achieving nothing of their supposed grand goal or had gathered a following and led them to certain death in some dungeon.

Now, why Beck, a feral who would most likely have never heard of humans, would be one of them, he was unsure. Perhaps this was one of the tricks Pike had told him of?

"The only reason a feral will not immediately attack you is for the explicit purpose of lettin' your guard down. Do not fall for their shit, kid."

Beck was undeniably intelligent, something Rye was now unsure was a good thing. Perhaps this was a plot to take Ms. Audino's, nay, the Guild's supplies? Perhaps he was simply another pesky civilized 'mon that was to be left bleeding on the floor? Even now, could he drawing the weapon on his chest, rearing it back to gut him and-

His breathing now ragged, Rye snapped his head around. Beck still laid in his bed, looking at him pleadingly with his navy-blue eyes. Sighing in relief, Rye looked back towards the wall to keep thinking. What really nagged at Rye was that the possibility of Beck's humanity was more than zero. If he truly was what he claimed, then... what would that mean for him?

'Why me? Why would I be the one to help? There's a billion better Pokémon out there, why me?'

The more Rye thought, the more anxious he became. Eventually, he had to bury his contemplation in his mind, as he noticed he had done quite often in the past day. Not only did these thoughts simply stress him out no matter how he put them, they brought up painful memories of his childhood past.

'Dill was always so fascinated with humans...'

Biting back tears at the repressed memories, Rye stole another look at Beck. He didn't want this. Regardless of if Beck was a lunatic or a future hero, he didn't want this. Putting his hands on his head once more, Rye finally let the waterworks flow, quietly weeping as he tried to make sense of his situation. Through all of the paranoia and assumptions his overwhelmed mind mustered, he knew Beck only wanted someone to follow. He supposed that was the same for him, but he knew any confrontation would likely end in disaster. But he knew he would have to talk eventually...

'...I've paid enough for what happened, what more did I do to deserve this?!'

-o-​

"Easy, Beck, one step at a time," Ms. Audino cautioned me as I stumbled over myself, slowly ambling away from my straw bed. By this point, my wounds had healed to the point I could safely walk again. Steadying myself, I managed to make it to the other side of the room while she and Rye watched on. It had been two days since my confession to Rye, and true to Ms. Audino's word, it looked like all that was left from my near-death experience was a few ugly scars on my chest. Sure, I was excited to finally be walking again, but that was the least of my worries at the time.

In the day since Ms. Audino had last visited, things hadn't gotten any better. The few interactions we had were awkward and filled with paranoid looks; even his speech tutoring had taken a hit. I still learned a bit, but the energy was gone. Even if it got frustrating before, I'd at least have that frustration than whatever this was.

"It looks like you'll be able to walk unimpeded within a couple days' time. In that case, it seems my work here is done. You may leave tomorrow," Ms. Audino said.

"Sh-sha," I quietly thanked her.

As she left my room, I sighed, looking over at Rye. His face quickly shifted to that now-familiar uncomfortable look. A minute passed as he sifted through our bag, seemingly trying to occupy himself, much like he tended to do whenever I approached him now. Eventually, our gazes met.

"...w-what's up?" he asked slowly.

"Sha?" I questioned, a hint of sadness in my voice.

Rye shifted in his seat.

"...look, I-I'm not avoiding you, Beck. It's just..."

"Shaah?"

He turned to face me, his gaze darkening.

"I know what you're thinking. I just need another while to think. Just let me... agh..."

Rye's eye started twitching as I sat back down on my bed.

'Just say it. You don't trust me, you don't believe me, you're gonna throw me back into the river; whatever it is, just say it, please.'

"Sha, shaah..." I mumbled under my breath.

With that, Rye slammed his fist into the floor and quickly turned to face me.

"Look, just leave me alone for once, please!" he snapped.

A moment passed as he shakily panted, glaring at me.

"Sh-shrai..." I managed out. The Treecko's gaze softened at my attempted uttering of his name as I realized that I was trembling, my back pressed against the wall. As Rye seemingly began to recognize the extent of his outburst, I became vaguely aware of tears flowing down my face.

"B-Beck... I-I'm sorry, I..." Rye stammered out. He reached out to try to comfort me, but I winced back in response. Obviously hurt by this, he sat down and sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't believe you, I don't think you'd have any reason to lie about something like that. It's just... it's been a lot to process, you know? Finding you, getting accepted into the Guild, you saying you're human... It's just... I-I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, but... uh..."

I relaxed a little, still wary of my partner. He just sat there for a while, occasionally mouthing to himself. Eventually, he seemed to muster up the courage to open up.

"I can't keep doing this. I mean, we're due to be sent out into the field once Team Apex gets through their mission in Bewilder Forest in a few days, a-and here I am burning bridges over this, of all things!" he said, giving a bitter chuckle.

"Sh-sha..." I stammered, only for Rye to hold his hand up as he turned to face me.

"I-it's time we set things right, okay? I've obviously been a terrible friend, and I feel like I at least owe you this. It doesn't matter if you're human or an Oshawott; from this point on, we're equals in this team: no more secrets or looking down on one another. From now on, we'll hold each other up: no 'mon gets left behind. From now on, no matter how ugly whatever's ahead looks, let's go together. What do you say, Beck?" he said, a sort of determined fire in his eyes. He looked at me hopefully as his spiel sank in.

'...I... did that really just come from Rye...?

...doesn't matter. If he's sincere, then let's do it.'

Wiping my moist face off, I pushed myself off the ground.

"Sha!" I cried affirmatively, much to Rye's joy. With a relieved laugh, he clapped me on my back. However, the next thing I knew, I was on the floor in a daze, Rye panicking over me.

"Sorry! F-forgot you're a water-type..."

As he reached down to help me up, he stopped when he noticed I had started chuckling (or as close to a chuckle I could make, at least). As he watched on, this escalated into full-blown laughter. Honestly, I hadn't actually had a good-natured interaction with Rye in two days, even this was good enough for me. Slowly, he joined me in my laughter, confusing many a passerby as we sat there on the floor, clutching each other and savoring the moment.

If this was the fresh start that Rye had promised, then I'd say it was a pretty good one.

Still hurt, though.

-o-​

Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter's a bit... er, flimsy. When I go back to make changes later on, this'll be the first casualty for sure. Just bear with me here, these first fifteen or so chapters are a bit rough around the edges in my opinion. If you're enjoying this thing so far despite that, then, you know, that's nice to hear!

 

[Sudmensch]

6 - Setting Out

"Alright, kid, rise and shine."

Rye shifted in his bed, blinking the drowsiness out of his eyes. As he gained his composure, he realized that he and Beck were not alone in the room. The three Pokémon of Team Apex stood at the door, seemingly fully equipped for a long journey.

"Wh-what are you...?" Rye groaned.

"The Bewilder Forest dive's today," May said. "Don't you remember?"

As Rye blinked, he remembered the team's plans. He had been so eager to go on that trip before he had found Beck, but he had put that aside once this had all started. Even if he were planning on going anymore, it seemed like any hope of that had been snuffed out once the two of them had formed Team Reach.

Rye cocked his head confusedly. "W-why are you..."

A small murmur sounded from beside him. Beck had seemingly not been affected by the wake-up call and was still soundly sleeping, shifting occasionally in his dreams. Rye nudged the Oshawott, but to no avail. He turned to Team Apex for help, but noticed Arden and May now whispering to one another, mischievous grins growing on their faces as Pike shrunk back and watched interestedly, obviously knowing something Rye didn't. The two pulled a small seed out of their bag, then as Arden aimed to throw it at the room's center, May apologetically looked to Rye.

"I advise you run for cover right about now. Even a Blast Seed this small can get pretty loud."

-o-

…

W-wait... this place again...

I am glad to see you at least remember that much.

Y-you?

I do not have much time, child. Continue as usual, but when the time comes, the signs will show themselves. When they do, be ready to stand for what you believe in, no matter the cost.

What? What does that even mean? Who are you? Why am I here? Why did you-

I cannot remain. Farewell.

No, don't-

-o-​

BANG!

I shot out of my bed like a startled Pidgey, screaming as I landed on the floor and scampered backwards into the wall. As my head cleared, the sound of uproarious laughter made itself known. Looking up from my fetal position, I found three things: one, Arden, May, and Pike all busting a gut at me; two, Rye looking horrified at whatever had just happened; and three, a smoking crater in the middle of the wooden floor.

"D-did you see his face?" Arden wheezed. I shakily stood up, putting on as angry of a face as I could make. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to come across as very intimidating, as it only made the three laugh harder.

As they settled down, Rye cleared his throat, questioningly pointing at the hole in the floor. Stamping out the small fire started by the explosion, May began staring intently at the crater. As she focused, several thick vines burst from the sides of the hole, eventually weaving together to fill it, replacing the blown-away wood.

'Well, that's convenient.'

Arden turned to us, still looking quite amused.

"Sorry, it's just that now that you're officially on this Guild, you've gotta go by our schedule," he said. "Besides, it's good nature to mess with guildmates. You'll understand soon enough."

At that moment, Rye stepped forwards, dusting himself off.

"O-okay, Mr. Arden, why are you all in here if you're supposed to be going to Bewilder Forest?" he asked.

"Well, obviously, you're coming with us!" Arden piped.

"What?! R-really?!"

"...sha?"

Arden beamed, adjusting his bag on his shoulder while May cleared her throat.

"What he means to say is that you'll be accompanying us on our way to the forest. Bewilder Forest itself is too dangerous for rookies like you two, but the ride there should be more manageable. It'll be good training for the two of you before you start going on real missions," she reassured us.

"Th-the ride over there? How would flying...?" Rye asked after a moment.

"Haven't you been reading the notice board, Rye? There's a thunderstorm happening over the area. We don't have an Electric or Ground-type to be our lightning rod, and we don't plan on gambling our lives with Thundurus anytime soon," May responded.

We both looked on confusedly as Arden unfolded a map, tracing his finger along a long line snaking westward, only stopping to tap a small spot on the western half of the central island.

"That's Bewilder Forest there. As you can see, the Serperior River gets about a day's walk away from it there," he explained. Understanding dawned on us as the Quilava shivered.

"Never did like taking a boat."

-o-​

Panting heavily, I trudged along the worn path from Impetus Town towards an unclear destination. My chest had certainly healed by this point, but seeing as I hadn't actually walked in four days, not counting my down time, it was my legs' turn to scream in protest as I tried to keep up with the others. Arden and May walked on just up ahead, seemingly unfazed by the thirty-minute uphill climb, as Pike flew ahead, keeping lookout for any potential landmarks. Rye, meanwhile, was in a similar state as I, slowly climbing yet another hill in the road.

"M-Mr. Arden, why aren't we just g-going straight to the river?" Rye gasped, sweat beading on his head.

"If you have a way to send a boat over Bibarel Dam without blowing the thing up, I'd love to hear it," Arden responded. As I groaned exhaustedly, a call sounded from above. Pike was signaling to our group, pointing ahead to a coastline in the distance. Was it...?

'...yes! Finally!'

With newfound energy, I began bounding ahead. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far before falling flat on my face. Guess I still didn't entirely have walking down.

I ignored the looks the others gave me as I focused on the sight ahead: a tall lighthouse standing atop several docks, many of which had rafts and boats of varying sizes occupying them. As we approached the port, a fluttering noise sounded from overhead as a Pelipper flew over, giving a quick salute.

"Always a pleasure ta see you lot 'ere! What can oi do for ya, lassie?" he boomed while lightly nudging May, who rolled her eyes in response.

"We just want a boat to get us to Bewilder Forest, Cap'n Brine. Don't give me any of that," she said flatly.

"Bewilder, eh? Not exactly a walk in the meadow, there. Ye sure ya don't a guide or sumthin?" the Pelipper responded, giving a quick wink.

"We're fine, thank you," Pike quickly butted in, having landed just in time to see the captain's flirting. The Pelipper gave a jovial chortle.

"Confident as always, oi like it! Take the one in numbah 14. It'll be 200 Poké, 1,000 if ya lose her; just leave the payment before ya go. Be careful, now, there's a mighty nasty storm upstream, it'll do ya in if you aren't ready! Happy trails, an' don't be 'fraid to visit if ya ever feel it, lass!" he said before flying away, disappearing behind the lighthouse.

"Nice guy," Rye observed. May turned to him, exasperation clear on her face.

"You have no idea," she said through clenched teeth.

-o-​

"Alrighty, dock 14! Look at this beauty!" Arden exclaimed. We stared at the raft, unimpressed. Sure, it had enough room for all five of us and more, but that was about it. Whether it was worth 400 Poké, I couldn't tell.

"How are we supposed to go upstream with this thing?" Rye asked confusedly. Seemingly on cue, a Wartortle poked its head out of the water.

"Afternoon. I'll be pushing this thing today," he said before dipping his head back underwater. Rye and I exchanged glances as Team Apex loaded their bag onto the raft. As we did the same, I heard Pike exclaim.

"Ah, shit, I think I left my Sharpbeak over at payment. Mind if I go over and get it?" he asked.

"Go ahead," Arden said, still checking his bag.

"Thanks." The Swellow turned to me, narrowing his eyes. "Come on, kid, I can explain how it works to ya," he said.

His tone of voice implied that this wasn't a request, so I hesitantly followed. The two of us headed back into the port, walking for a couple minutes before stopping short. Sighing, Pike held up his talons, revealing a previously hidden necklace with a detached beak strung to it. Putting it around his neck, he turned to face me.

"Alright, look. I'm willin' to accept you've got some brains. I'm willin' to accept that the kid sees ya as a friend. I've been doin' a bit of thinking over the last few days, and I've decided. I ain't gonna stop ya from sticking with the kid," he said calmly. His demeanor quickly shifted as he glared at me.

"However, when it comes to it, you're still a feral. You're all the same. You'll go after a lost baby bird fresh outta the nest if it means a quick lunch for ya, won'tcha?"

"Sh-sha..." I fearfully managed out as he continued.

"Like I said, I ain't gonna try to throw ya back into the wild, but hear this."

He leaned in close, prompting me to fall over backward. He inhaled sharply, his loathing glare intensifying.

"You try and hurt any of my friends, I'll make sure you don't get to tell the tale. Understand?" he spat.

I was frozen in place, gaping at the bird.

'Did he really just...?!'

Presented with no other option, I gave a shaky nod, prompting Pike to back away, his air of anger dissipating. He gave a simple nod of acknowledgment and began back the way we came. Still shaken, I hurriedly followed.

-o-​

"H-hey, Beck, what's the matter?" Rye asked. Ever since we had returned, I had been sitting on our raft's side, staring blankly into the water and occasionally glancing at Pike, who had returned to his usual business, though he occasionally sent me a wary look.

"Sh-sha," I said, shaking my head. Rye's face grew more worried, but he obviously decided not to push it. As he sat beside me, a bell sounded from the dock, courtesy of a Wingull. With a quick Steel Wing, the Wingull sliced through the connecting rope, which was quickly followed by a sudden lurch as we embarked. With nothing else to do, Rye and I stayed on the raft's edge, watching the harbor as it slowly disappeared below the horizon.

"You nervous, Beck?" Rye asked after a while. I gave a quick nod, getting a small laugh out of Rye.

"Don't worry, so am I," he said sheepishly.

With that, we resigned ourselves to watching the calm waters as our raft lazily trailed along, slowly drifting into the unknown.

 

[Sudmensch]

7 - A Peaceful River Cruise

It was a hot day on the Serperior River as we glided along on our raft, thankful for the clouds now rolling in. With nothing more to do but listen to Team Apex talk and sing, Rye and I had decided to try and converse. Seeing as I now had time to think about the day's prior events, my dream in particular, I had decided to try to talk about that. However, I had found that trying to communicate via playing charades was easier said than done.

"Uh, you're hitting your head?", Rye asked as I tried to lay my head down. I shook no.

"Y-you're sleeping?"

I nodded before tapping my head.

"You're... uh, having dreams?"

"Shyaah," I affirmed. Rye glanced over at the others before leaning close.

"You think they have anything to do with you being... uh, y-y'know?" he whispered. I nodded slightly. We sat there in thought for a while, watching the water flow behind the raft.

'Who was that voice? Why did it send me here? Why can't it just explain what is even going on?'

We were pulled out of our collective contemplation by the laughter and singing of Team Apex continuing to pierce our ears. Turning, I found Arden and May engaged in a duet as Pike watched impassively.

"Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever! Noble white, noble white, bless our homeland forever..."

What I could only presume to be an old human song trailed off as May turned to Pike.

"Come on, Pike, what's the matter? You were the one who discovered this song, right? You might as well step up and sing along, you've been like this the whole trip!" the Leafeon laughed. Pike simply huffed in response.

"Not feelin' it today," he mumbled, sending a glare my way. May cocked her head, as it seemed this behavior was uncommon from the Swellow.

"Alright, then, ol' Fuss and Feathers. Guess we'll kick the kids into gear," she said as she turned towards us. The two of us scrambled up as she and Arden looked us over.

"Okay, how are you in a fight, Rye? What was the last technique you learned?" Arden inquired.

"Oh, uh... i-it was when I learned to Quick Attack two weeks ago in Amber Meadow," Rye said, standing as straight as he could.

"Hm, alright. We can work with that. What about you, Beck?" he asked me.

'...techniques? Uh...'

I shook my head confusedly. An awkward moment of silence passed before Rye suddenly perked up.

"H-hey, there's a Wartortle pushing this boat along, right? Maybe he could help?"

May thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, there is. Good thinking, kid," she said, getting a blush from Rye. Arden approached me as I looked on, unsure of where they were going with this.

"Did you know that most water-types with lungs can hold their breath underwater for an hour at a time?" he asked. Still wary but impressed with this factoid, I shook my head.

"Well, now you do. In you go!" he exclaimed.

Before I could even process what he meant, I found myself being thrown over the side of the raft and into the cold water of the river. Panic quickly set in as I remembered how I had nearly drowned not quite a week ago. As such, I began thrashing around, waving my stubby arms in a vain attempt to get to the surface. However, I quickly found myself calming down, my flailing slowly turning into an orderly, methodical beating of my tail propelling me through the clear water. Something about the river's currents flowing around me, the cool feel of the water, and the underwater environment around me felt right somehow.

Before long, I found myself swimming after the raft's dark shape as if I had been doing so for years. I breached the surface behind the raft, letting out a joyful cry as the others watching breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. Rye, who looked to have been restrained by May for obvious reasons, gave a laugh and waved at me as I dived back under, intent on learning more about what I could do from our guide. If I could go from near drowning to this in a matter of minutes, what else was I capable of?

As expected, I found our Wartortle guide under the raft, almost skipping along the riverbed and apparently using some water-type technique to push the boat upstream. Pausing to drink what I now recognized as an Elixir, he took notice of my approaching.

"What brings you down here?" he asked. I quickly noticed that his voice traveled through the water as if it were air. I wasn't about to question the inner workings of a system I didn't even begin to understand, but it was still worth wondering about.

"Sha, shaah," I said. The Wartortle cocked his head.

"What, you can't talk? I'm guessing you're one of those impressed ferals, huh?", he asked. "Never thought I'd see one in the flesh. I'm guessing you're down here to get a pointer or two?"

"Shyeeh," I said. The Wartortle gave a small smile at my attempted answer and looked at me, still guiding the raft along as we swam up the river. "Well, alright then, wouldn't be the first time. I'll be your instructor today, I suppose. Call me Bert. Now then, you know your tide, right?"

'My what?'

Bert seemed to catch wind of my cluelessness rather quickly.

"Okay, how to explain this... uh, every Pokémon has a sort of inner core in them. It's like a well of energy they can draw from whenever they need it. Using a technique is releasing that energy in a specific way. Different types have different cores: Fire-types have their inner ember they draw fire from, grass-types have their inner flora they can use to draw energy from the sun and such, so on and so forth," he explained, giving a knowing smile.

"We water-types have our inner tide. You feel it, don't you? Pushing, pulling, flowing with the water?"

Now that he mentioned it, I did notice it: a tugging feeling in my gut, seemingly moving in harmony with the water around me. I gave a small smile; it felt good.

"Alright, I suppose that's yes, now try to grab a hold of some of that energy," Bert instructed. I tried to focus within myself, mentally grabbing at that feeling. Several minutes passed before I felt a change: the feeling suddenly shooting up through my body.

"Sh-sha!" I yelped in surprise. Bert looked over from his work and gave me a reassuring grin.

"Looks like you got it. Now try to direct that energy out of your mouth," he said.

"Sha?!" I asked, not expecting his instruction.

'He wants me to vomit this stuff out?'

"You're really doubting the 'mon with experience here? Out your mouth, let's go!" Bert said, clapping his hands together. I hastily did as instructed...

...and immediately got blown back several feet. As I panickedly tried to right myself, I heard Bert laughing and giving a small round of applause.

"That was a Water Gun, there! Felt it brushing past me, not too bad for your first try! You'd best focus on making sure you don't blow yourself back in the future. Not sure that'd do much good underwater, though, using most water-type moves in combat down here is about as useful as screaming at someone on land and hoping they'll fall over," he explained.

As I contemplated Bert's info with wonder, a small burst suddenly broke the smooth peacefulness of the river's flow, sending both of us stumbling in our swim.

"Looks like we've got some turbulence coming up. Go on back up, practice your Water Gun, and tell your friends that Bert the Wartortle taught you that!" he instructed me.

Giving him the most sincere cry of thanks I could, I swam back up, breaching the surface and landing on the raft's edge. I was immediately bombarded with enthusiastic greetings, concerned yells, and relieved affirmations of my safety from the rest of the group, a grinning Rye coming forward and clapping me on the shoulder. While it didn't hurt as much as last time, I still winced. Ignoring this, May cleared her throat.

"Good to see you're up, kid, now hold on to something," she said hurriedly. Rye's eyes widened as he seemed to remember the weight of the moment. Oblivious as always, I cried questioningly.

"Remember that storm Cap'n Brine mentioned? Well, um..."

She paused before gesturing ahead. A thick, dark gray cloud was drifting in our direction, occasionally flashing with lightning. What was worse, the once calm river now seemed to be growing more violent by the second as our raft began to rock. As Pike sheltered himself from the oncoming lightning, Arden let out a very unprofessional-sounding yelp.

"We, uh, don't happen to have a Drought Orb, do we?" he nervously asked May.

"Those only work in mystery dungeons, you dolt!" May yelled back.

"Th-this river connects to Dustbowl Savannah, doesn't it? We can-"

"Yeah, throw out one problem, replace it with another!"

"No, I'm just-"

"We have to land this thing! Wartortle, can you hear me?!"

Arden tried to argue, but fell over as the raft lurched to the side. Looking around frantically, something caught my eye: a massive wave barreling down the river straight towards us.

'We aren't moving fast enough, that thing's going to overtake us.'

I looked to Arden for help, but he didn't seem to be paying me any attention. He was now trembling, his gaze transfixed on the wave. I nudged him, trying to snap him out of it, but to no avail. The Quilava, paralyzed with terror, made a noise I could only presume was a half-formed scream. With no other options, I decided on a desperate plan. I looked at Rye apologetically as the raft continued to thrash around.

"B-Beck! What are you-"

Rye didn't get to finish as I let myself fall backward into the raging waters. Even with the currents around me threatening to break something, I regained my composure and began trying to push the raft to shore.

"Kid! What're you doing?!" the familiar voice of Bert screamed. I tried to yell back at him, but was quickly discouraged by the observation that I wasn't making any progress.

"Shaagh!" I yelled in frustration. Thinking fast and ignoring Bert's protests, I surfaced, pressing up against the side of the raft. The killer wave wouldn't be long now, so if I didn't manage this...

Mustering up all the energy I could gather from my inner tide, I shot as powerful of a Water Gun as I could facing away from the riverbank, speeding the raft up slightly. The now muffled yells of Bert quickly ceased, the telltale lurch of the raft accelerating indicating he understood my plan. My Water Gun was likely weak by most standards, but it was apparently just enough, and I felt sand scrape under my feet mere seconds before the tidal wave roared by. I would have been washed away had it not been for Rye grabbing me and pulling me to safety.

Exhausted by my efforts, I collapsed to the ground. Taking a quick look at the party, it looked like everyone was safely aboard the beached raft, Bert included. Arden, his eyes still glazed over, was looking the worst off, though it seemed May was already taking care of him. As Oran juice dribbled into my mouth, I finally allowed my beaten, aching body to relax. While it had been a productive day, I was honestly just glad it was over with for now. All I hoped was that the rest of the journey wouldn't be as turbulent.

 

[Sudmensch]

8 - There and Back Again

"How much longer do you think...?" Rye asked meekly.

"Judging by how the wind's comin' at us and how nasty that lightning's lookin', I'd say well into tonight," Pike replied.

Cowering in our makeshift shelter consisting of a burrow dug under our beached raft, our group definitely wasn't in an enviable position. Since we had landed an hour prior, we had found several items had been lost to the torrent, had to deal with two incapacitated team members, and had just barely saved our bags from the mud flowing in from above. Arden appeared to have recovered from his paralyzed state, though he hadn't said much of anything and jumped at sudden noises. Bert had resigned to his shell in the corner, and the rest of us were huddled against each other in the small space, trying to stay warm.

Not exactly what I would call a very smooth first outing, if I do say so myself.

'Well, at least it couldn't possibly get-'

"Priiii!" a shrill voice screeched. A Patrat had made its way into our shelter seeking refuge from the rain, and judging by its unkempt claws, its matted fur, and the fact that it was hissing at us from the entrance, I could assume that it was feral.

"Everyone stand back," Pike whispered, approaching the Patrat. May sent an angered whisper his way. Though I couldn't hear it over the heavy drumming of rain over us, it was apparently enough to turn Pike around.

"I know what I'm doin'. It's just a Patrat. I'm not about to tear this place up," he said.

He began flapping his wings, trying to shoo the feral away. All he got in result was hissing and spitting from it. Narrowing his eyes, he began expanding his feathers, lowly growling and staring the rodent in its red and yellow eyes in an attempt to intimidate it.

"Ya see? It's startin' to-"

"PRIIIIIIII!"

Pike screamed in pain as the Patrat sank its teeth into his leg. His shock quickly turned to rage as his wings began to glow with energy. May tried to stop him as he let out a yell and reared them back.

"Wait, Pike, don't-"

The Wing Attack struck the Patrat directly on the head, lodging it several inches into the floor. However, it also hit the muddy ground, covering everything and everyone in the shelter in mud. Pike stopped caressing his bleeding leg long enough to look up at us, his eyes wide.

"...S-sorry 'bout that. I was aimin' for the door," he stammered.

'Damn you, fate.'

Bert groaned from inside his shell, having heard the whole thing, then popped his head out and started hosing off our filthy party. Arden, already taken aback by his faceful of mud, yelped and tried to make for the entrance, but was discouraged by the rain just long enough to get sprayed. Although now clean, he was apparently peeved enough that flames somehow erupted out of his dripping back, giving us a sweet moment of warmth.

"If someone dies out here, I entirely blame you, Pike.", Arden growled as he retreated back to his corner. We sat in silence as May threw the unconscious Patrat outside, listening to the storm rage outside. Eventually, Bert straightened up.

"Hey, kid. Mind if I talk to you about what you did back there?" he asked.

I shifted in my seat, still too spent to actually stand, wondering what he had to say.

"That Water Gun was honestly pretty sloppy."

My face fell.

"From what I can infer, you didn't focus it at all, it wasn't consistent in the slightest, and it honestly would have annoyed a good opponent at best."

"Sh-sha?!" I yelled, my eye twitching. Seeing this, he flashed a smile.

"Just saying. In all seriousness, though, you did good. From what the Treecko told me, you know from experience that this river doesn't tend to play nice. We definitely wouldn't have made it through had you not stepped in," he mused, putting a paw to my shoulder.

"Thanks, kiddo."

Bert paused before he laughed a bit.

"Kyogre's balls, you saved my ass and I never even got your name!" he chuckled, looking at me expectantly.

"Behck," I managed. From the corner of my eye, Rye gave me a proud thumbs-up. While the two days where Rye had avoided me had been joyless at best, I had made a fair amount of progress in learning to speak. Bert nodded in understanding.

"Like a brook on a mountain? Fitting," he said. He sat there in silence before his head whipped towards me, his eyes wide.

"Ah, so you can speak!" he proclaimed. Arden turned from his drippy sulking and smirked.

"He's deceived you up to this point, now he's gonna murder us all in our sleep. Repent, ye sinners!" the Quilava said, dramatically raising his paws in the air.

Even Pike joined in as the group shared a small laugh, the Wartortle retreating into his shell in mock fear.

'Well, at least this isn't all bad, I guess.'

-o-​

As far as I could assume, the moon was high in the sky, and the rain had thankfully subsided from a relentless downpour to a mild drizzle. My exhaustion from my earlier feat had prompted me to turn in early when night had come. Unfortunately, this had come with the unintended side effect of me waking up in the middle of the night. The loud snores of the others and the sound of the rain meant that I was unable to go back to sleep, so I had resigned myself to lying there and listening to the ambient noise. Easier said than done, seeing as I had to lie against a hard dirt wall. Thankfully, the entrance had been shut so no water or ferals could get in. Currently, I was rubbing a small hard spot on my chest. The beginnings of a scalchop, I guessed. As I began imagining what I could do with such a weapon, a groan sounded from elsewhere in the burrow.

"Ngh..."

I jumped at the sudden noise. Trying not to panic and wake the others, I started looking around for the source of the noise.

"N-no..."

Small bursts of orange light began flashing from the other side of the burrow. It seemed Arden, now thrashing in his sleep, was the one mumbling. His kicking woke May with a start, who looked at Arden wide-eyed.

"G-go... I'll f-find a way... aaagh..."

May reluctantly conjured a vine from the floor and whipped Arden on the arm. He woke up with a loud gasp, causing the others to stir. Panting shakily, he noticed May watching him concernedly. He hung his head.

"I-I had the nightmare," he whispered. May narrowed her eyes.

"Nightmare...?"

"Yeah. Can't move, someone's crying over me, big wall of water. That one."

May gasped slightly.

"I don't know if it was what happened on the river or something else that brought it up, but... agh..."

Arden grasped his head as May put a paw on his shoulder.

"If the nightmare's really coming back, then maybe it's best if you go ask Alakazam about it?" she asked. Arden huffed.

"I'm fine."

"Like fine fine or Bonechill Chasm fine?"

"Look, I'm a fire-type, I would have-"

"Your toes were maybe an hour from falling off, Ardie."

A moment of silence persisted as I laid there, staying still as to not arouse attention.

"Look, I'll give you time to think it over, then we can talk about with Pike it once we have more... ahem, privacy," she said, gesturing to Rye and I. Arden thought for a minute.

"Y-yeah, that sounds fair.", he whispered. May nodded and curled up beside him.

"Alright, I've done my part, I'm going back to sleep. G'night, Ardie."

Arden snorted in response to the nickname.

"Night, Mayday."

Snores quickly began sounding from the two of them as I laid there, not quite sure what I had listened in on. Dreams? Alakazam? Privacy? I didn't know why, but I felt like I had just listened in on some kind of terrorist plot or something. However, even with that on my mind, my body eventually managed to pull my confused self into sleep, where dreams of raging rivers and screaming Patrats awaited me.

-o-​

"B-Beck?"

I groaned as I slowly came to, rubbing the gunk out of my eyes. Standing over me was a very worried-looking Rye, glancing over his shoulder at the open door.

'...wait. The open door?'

Indeed, the door to the burrow had been opened, giving clear light to a few things. Everyone except Rye and I was gone, and there were unfortunately familiar voices faintly yelling at each other from the nearby woods.

"It ain't my fault we're stuck out here! 'Ooh, it'll be fine, Mustie! Flyin' in a thunderstorm will be a perfectly fuckin' fine idea!' That's what you said, ain't it, Gold?!"

"Well, I at least tried to talk the Altaria down! You were the one who Ice Beamed her in the face when she landed!"

A moment of silence passed before we heard rustling heading towards us from the brush.

"...alright, that's fair, I guess. Forget that Team Apex crap, I ain't riskin' it. We can do something else with our time besides fuckin' dying, the Quilava can kiss my ass for all I care. I hear water this way, maybe-"

The two emerged from the woods, stopping as they saw our beached raft. Mustie snorted to himself.

"Well, that's convenient. Guess whoever left this here got fucked in the storm. Here, help me get it back in the water," the Weavile said. Rye and I shrunk back as the two approached the burrow. Quickly discovering the entrance, Gold peeked in. The Persian recoiled in alarm, alerting Mustie. They quickly got over their shock and jumped inside.

"Hey, it's you little squirts! I assume those dickheads left you here? Trust me, we feel your pain," Mustie laughed. "Come on out and help us push this thing into the river."

"L-leave us alone, we don't-" Rye began.

"Didn't you hear him? We're takin' this thing, it's best for both parties here if ya help," Gold said, his tone far less diplomatic. The two of us shrunk back, prompting a groan from them.

"Alright, we'll do it ourselves, then. Try to stop us and we'll throw you both into the river. Now get out unless ya want a concussion," Mustie growled. Before we could do anything, the two had grabbed us and dragged us outside kicking and yelling. As we were thrown to the ground, a caw sounded from above. Gold and Mustie froze.

"That's the Swellow. They've played us, keep your eyes peeled," Mustie whispered. As they warily looked around, a sickeningly sweet smell began to fill the air as the sun suddenly seemed to beat down on us harder. Gold yelled in frustration.

"Sweet Scent and Sunny Day? What are you tryna' pull here? Just let us take the boat and-"

He was cut off as a blur of blue struck the two, knocking them down. Disoriented by the Aerial Ace, Gold fired off several bright projectiles after Pike, but the Swift didn't do much good as Arden and May burst out of the bushes, charging what looked to be powerful attacks. Team Assail tried to scramble out of the way, but the Sweet Scent prevented them from making it far. As Arden yelled an indiscernible one-liner, he and May fired a combined Flamethrower and Solarbeam at the two. The resulting explosion sent Rye and I flying back, coming to rest about twenty feet away. Ears ringing, I looked up to find the smoke clearing, revealing a large crater with Mustie and Gold barely conscious inside. Arden walked over, grinning widely as he looked at the two.

"That's our Warcrime attack pattern there, assholes! Now, about those drinks..."

Mustie groaned pitifully as May threw a couple of Orans into the crater. As Rye and I pushed ourselves off the ground, Pike landed next to us, clearly having been hit by the Swift, quickly followed by Bert emerging from the river. Our party reunited, Rye turned to Arden and May, clearly not happy.

"Why'd you leave us here?! They could have attacked us!" he yelled.

"Sorry, kid. We woke up before you, heard 'em yelling, and figured you'd be alright back here. Looks like somebody forgot to close the door, though," Arden reasoned, glaring at a disgruntled Pike. Rye was about to argue back, but Bert slapped the raft to grab our attention before he could.

"You're both beautiful, now let's get a move on! The Cap'n's gonna be pissed that we beached his raft, let's not make it worse by being late!"

-o-​

The remaining hour of our trip down the Serperior was a fair bit quieter than before. Rye and I, still upset about what had happened that morning, gave Team Apex the cold shoulder for the most part, choosing instead to watch the water behind us and fire off Water Guns at the trees along the bank. When we finally did arrive, Team Apex quickly stepped off the raft and nodded gratefully to Bert.

"Thanks again, Bert. We should be back here in the next week, so if you don't come back for us, we'll just swim back and hunt you down. Basically, please don't forget us," Arden said. He then pulled out several gold coins and placed them in Bert's paws.

"Keep the change," he said. As they turned, Pike held up his wing signaling them to wait. He approached me, that same disgust in his eyes apparent, though they now seemed hold noticeably less hatred towards me. In its place was... respect? Gratitude? Plotting? Jealousy? Who knows. Standing over me for a while, he eventually sighed.

"Thanks, Beck," he forced out with a small shudder. He then hopped back to the others, and Team Apex began walking down the path leading away from the river. Watching them go until they disappeared in the horizon, Bert fiddled with the coins for a bit before smirking to himself.

"Heh, not bad for my last voyage," he said.

"Wait, what?!" Rye yelped. I looked at the Wartortle, shock on my face.

"Yeah, you can only go through so many storms before they start to get to you. I'm quitting once I get Team Apex back to port. As to what I'll do, not sure. Maybe I'll take up training," he replied. I tried to find a response, but he raised his paw.

"It's a small world, kid. We'll meet again someday, I'm sure. Count on it."

With that, he boarded the raft and pushed it away from the shore, not going back underwater as to allow the current to carry us downstream. The long ride home went smoothly. Our interaction with an annoyed but jovial Cap'n Brine and our farewells to Bert went by without incident. Our long walk back to the storm-battered but still bustling Impetus Town was gloriously uneventful. With this in mind, we made our ways to the Guild, and after a bit of negotiation with Ms. Audino over our staying the night, finally collapsed into our beds in the sick bay. I knew all too well that being an exploration team, this wouldn't last, but honestly, it was just good to be back.

 

[Sudmensch]

9 - The Guild

"Rye? Beck?"

Groaning as I blinked sleep out of my eyes, I rolled over to find Ms. Audino standing over Rye and I. She authoritatively cleared her throat to Rye, who hadn't seemed to have heard her wake-up call. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"D-Dill?" he groaned. Upon looking around and noticing his surroundings, his expression grew gloomy.

"S-sorry. Just a dream," he stammered. With the two of us now awake, Ms. Audino began speaking again.

"Cinccino's here to show you around the Guild, seeing as you two haven't been available."

Confused, we hobbled out of bed into the sick bay's lobby, where, indeed, Cinccino was waiting for us. Upon seeing us, her usual cheery smile spread across her face.

"Ah, there you are! Come along, now, there's much to see, and I'm due for the office by mid-morning!" she said hurriedly. As she skipped out the door, Rye and I exchanged glances.

"Shaagh," I muttered.

"Whatever you just said, I probably agree," Rye sighed.

-o-​

Even after the storm that had nearly killed us had swept through the area, the village that made up Arcanine's Guild was still as bustling as ever. Along the main road leading up to the Guildmaster's hut, dozens of Pokémon either helped to clean rubble and garbage off or simply walked past, their exploration apparently being more important. Cinccino stopped and pointed towards the road out.

"As you know, Impetus Town is only about a five minutes walk from here. You'll be buying your things from the shops there, and you are free to explore the town during your free time," she said before continuing with the tour.

Struggling to keep up with her, we panted as Cinccino stopped in front of the amphitheater I had seen a few days ago. I noticed that a statue stood at the rim of the structure, depicting Guildmaster Arcanine gazing into the horizon, a determined fire in his eyes.

"This is where announcements, meetings, and any entertainment the other guildmembers might put on is held. Before you ask, no, we do not actually hold ritual sacrifices here, and I will never forgive Arden nor May for starting those rumors," she huffed before straightening up. "We only had this place built a year ago, and while it did cost a good few Poké, it's better than standing in the middle of the street for official announcements, wouldn't you say?" Cinccino said before turning to the statue, bowing her head slightly.

"Now, this wasn't requested when the Guildmaster ordered this place built, but a few of the larger teams decided to get together and surprise him with this. I like to think he still comes here to look it over when no one's watching."

"Sha?" I asked, a bit uncertain as to why Arcanine was so beloved. Sure, he was nice when I met him, but then again, he kept a fucking skeleton in his room. Cinccino looked at me oddly, then suddenly put her hand to her head, laughing.

"My, I forgot! You wouldn't know about Arcanine, would you?" she sighed. "Arcanine might be the most well-traveled Pokémon you'll find this side of Gray Proper. He was one of the greatest explorers in the known world back in the day, and he was one of the founders of Impetus Town here."

"W-wait, he wha...?!" Rye yelped. "Th-that'd make him-"

"Yes, at least two hundred years old. Records say he was exploring as far back as six hundred years back," Cinccino replied, causing Rye's jaw to drop.

"W-whoa... I knew he's been around for a while, but... wow..." he muttered.

"The ancient humans of the east didn't worship his species for nothing," Cinccino replied. "Then again, his unusual genetics might have had something to do with it."

"Y-you mean his... uh, Shininess?" Rye asked. Cinccino shrugged.

"We don't know much about how it works, but it's always a possibility."

With that, she ran along to the next stop. Groaning, I followed her and Rye until we reached a large building sitting on the middle of the slope.

"Hey-hey, Cincy!" a gruff voice called out. A Raticate leaned out the door and waved at Cinccino, wearing a horrible smile that made Rye and I wince slightly. Looking over at her, I noticed she looked at him with an air of disgust, shivering as the Raticate slipped back into the building.

"That is the mess hall. Go in if you want, I just... urgh."

We decided to take our chances and go into the place. Inside, several tables were set in messy lines, discarded food littering the floor. Raticate was picking the garbage off the ground, sniffing it before either tossing it into a bag or stuffing it into his mouth. Noticing us, he stepped up to us, trying for a friendly grin, though the various juices dribbling from his mouth didn't exactly come across as inviting.

"Mornin'! Sorry you had to see the place like this, breakfast just got through. I'm the cook around here," he said, waving his filthy claw and flinging untold horrors onto my face. "I apologize if the neat freak gave you the wrong idea, she's just biased. I'm a nice Pokémon, but she just can't accept that it's my joint, and I run it how I want, damn it."

We didn't stick around long. Cinccino hurriedly pushed us away from the mess hall, eventually stopping in a small plaza with three wooden boards standing front and center.

"Job notices and news are posted here. The one on the left is consistently updated with the latest news and notices, the center board is where job requests are posted for teams like you to accept, and the right board details wanted criminals that are suspected to be on the run," she told us.

As I stared up at the imposing board and its dozens of notices, all covered in text unreadable to me, I couldn't help but feel intimidated. Cinccino seemed to notice this and turned to me.

"Seeing as Beck here most likely doesn't know, I'll explain real quick: most jobs and explorations will have you going into mystery dungeons. Basically, they're regions where time and space don't exactly... behave. You can never go into one and find the same layout. They've existed for at least the past thousand years, but we don't know much about how they work," she explained.

'Don't behave? ...yeah, makes sense. I mean, Quinite Woods did seem a bit... er, unnatural sometimes.'

As I thought about this, Cinccino grabbed my paw.

"Now, then, time for the last stop! You'll love it, I can tell you that!"

She dragged Rye and I away from the boards, only letting our numbing hands go when she arrived to a small hut near the bottom of the hill. Rubbing my wrist, I watched as Rye examined a sign on the door.

"...Team Reach? B-Beck, we have our own place now!" he said joyfully, jumping in place.

"Shaah!" I cried, joining him. Cinccino grinned as she watched our enthusiasm.

"I'll just leave you to it, I'd best be going now! Good luck to the both of you!" she piped, heading down the road back towards reception. We ran into our new base, which consisted of a single room, two simple straw beds sitting against the wall. Of course, we didn't really care about the minimal arrangements, so long as we didn't have to worry about breaking Ms. Audino's equipment. Rye snapped out of his stupor, adjusting our bag around his shoulder.

"We can admire the place later, let's see if there's any jobs up right now!" he said.

-o-​

"Alright, um, you see those colored symbols there?" Rye asked, pointing to one of the notices on the center board. "That's, uh, the difficulty rating. Since you can't read, I guess you can figure it out by color. It g-goes from green, which is easier, to red, which is harder," he explained. With this in mind, I began scouring the board, looking for an appropriate first job. Eventually, I found one of the green symbols Rye had mentioned, so I pointed it out.

"Oh, nice job! Let's see what we've got..." he said, ripping the paper off the board.

"Alright, it's an E-tier job. It says it's a lost Poochyena in Mou-"

Rye stopped, paling as he read the line.

"...a-actually, let's not, uhm, t-take this one," he stammered, shakily handing the notice back to me.

"Swha?" I inquired.

"It, uh... i-it says it's in Mount T-Twist. I... I can't go in there," Rye responded.

"Shaah?"

"...it... I... uh, I had a f-friend once, a Totodile. H-he was called Dill."

Rye paused, the memories seemingly painful for him.

"H-he went into the caves in Twist one day and... h-he never came back out..."

He hung his head, letting out a shaky breath. I put a paw to his back, trying to console him.

"...heh. H-he was a lot like you, now that I think about it. He wanted to know more about the world, he'd be there to help me out, e-even if I didn't deserve it, and..."

Rye paused for a minute, sniffling a bit.

"...a-and, no offense, but h-he was a bit weird sometimes, heh. I... I just don't want to go out like that or... y'know, find him in there," he said. I contemplated this for a bit before nodding solemnly and tacking the notice back onto the board.

"Th-thanks," Rye said quietly as I began scanning the board once more.

-o-​

Rye couldn't help but feel a little bad as he watched Beck struggle to pick a notice from the massive board.

'He can't even read, and here I am trying to force him to color-code this...'

He had thought this would be useful for teaching him to read, but doubt was creeping in as usual. All he hoped was that the six months of apprenticing with Team Apex would be enough to get it all across.

As Rye watched, he found himself spacing out as per usual. With his attention elsewhere, his voice of reason decided to kick in.

'Yeah, whatever happened to 'no more secrets', huh?'

'This is different.'

'It really isn't. If anything, Beck being human is worse. You have no excuse.'

'I-I can't just go telling him all that...'

'Why not?'

'Sh-shut up...'

'Just you wait. He'll ask Mr. Arden about it and he'll find out. It all could have been avoided, but nope. You know whose fault it was; you know, the one behind Dill's broken body? You want to take a wild guess?'

'SHUT UP!'

Rye let out a raspy, quiet groan and hit himself on the head, prompting Beck to turn to look at him.

"Shaa?" he cried, concern clear in his beady eyes. Rye silenced his pessimistic inner voice as he regained his composure.

"I-It's nothing, Beck," he stammered, prompting the Oshawott to shoot him a look and slowly turn back to the job board.

'...ugh.

If only.'

 

[Sudmensch]

10 - To the Meadow

"Alright, let's see... uh, it's a level D through Amber Meadow. We can manage that, I think," Rye said, reading a notice I had picked out from the board.

"Um, a Nidoran wants someone to meet them in Impetus Town, go to Amber Meadow, and find a Pecha scarf they lost in there. It says the reward's five hundred Poké."

"Shaah?" I questioned.

'That much? Wow, this might not be so bad...'

Rye sighed. "Don't get too excited, the Guild has a tax for explorers. Eighty percent of the reward goes to them, we'd only get a hundred Poké from this."

Taking notice of my disappointment, he raised his hands.

"Hey, don't worry, it could be worse, I heard the tax changes from time to time. Apparently the rate went up to ninety-five percent when they were building the amphitheater," he reassured me. Reading over the notice again, he narrowed his eyes.

"W-why would a Nidoran need... uh, y-you think we should take it?"

I nodded, prompting Rye to fold up the notice and put it in the bag.

"Well, then, let's head out! We just..."

His enthusiasm waned.

"...need items now."

Looking uncertain, he cleared his throat.

"D-does anyone know where can we get items here?" he asked.

"Gettin' items from the Guild? Hah, if only," a voice replied. We both paled as the Pokémon around us laughed.

'Crap.'

-o-​

"Hey, look, it's that Treecko! How's your pet doing, kid?"

The passing team chuckled as we made our way out of the Guild, sulking from such occurrences. The past five minutes had mostly just been odd looks and quiet jokes about my being feral, which dragged my already down mood just that little bit deeper. Not quite a desirable mood for... whatever we were doing, I'd guess, but I just hoped it'd get better. Grimacing back at the chuckling team behind us, Rye looked at me apologetically as we stepped onto the road heading to the town.

"D-don't mind them, they don't know what they're talking about. Hopefully we'll prove them wrong sooner or later," he said.

'Yeah, here's hoping.'

That in mind, the two of us walked up the dirt path and into Impetus Town. I'd heard mentions of the place here and there, but never had I gotten the chance to venture into the town. As we walked, I took a moment to take in the sights. Impetus Town was a nice if not quaint place, its earthen streets lined with houses and shops of various shapes and sizes, all of which housed Pokémon of equal diversity. As we passed into the circular town square, I found myself weaving between more and more Pokémon as they went about their morning. Laughing children ran about, a pair of Kecleons yelled at one another as they dragged a large cart along, and a Shiftry stood handing out parchment as we stopped to look around. As a Plusle yelped and scurried off at the sight of me, I just let the culture shock I'd found myself with sink in. It was just... weird seeing all these Pokémon doing human things, I don't know. However, here they were, not only running a town like this but somehow making it feel... I don't know, homey somehow. I could almost hear woodwinds playing a theme song when a loud ahem rang out from behind.

"You two! You look like respectable young Pokémon," the Shiftry I'd seen called over. As Rye gulped and inched back, said Shiftry walked over, looking us over as he continued.

"You ever feel that things could be different? Better, maybe? Well, if you're looking to the future for change, you're looking the wrong way," he said, handing me one of the pieces of parchment in his leafy "hands." It seemed to be a flyer of sorts, and while I couldn't make out any of the bizarre hieroglyphics it was written in, there was an image: some sort of bird, its wings spread as it flew out of... a forest? No, those were supposed to be flames, it seemed.

"The Phoenix League awaits," Shiftry said, giving us a curt nod before going back to his post. I looked to Rye for explanation as to what had just happened, but he looked just as lost as I was, so I threw the flyer aside as we approached a small pavilion, where the promised Nidoran was waiting for us.

"Y-you'll take my request? Oh, thank you so much! My friend's a Seedot, and I can't get anywhere near him if he isn't wearing that thing!" she piped.

"D-don't worry, Ms. Nidoran, w-we'll find your scarf! Right, Beck?" Rye replied.

"Sha!" I nodded, much to Nidoran's delight. She waved us off as we headed back up the long town street and towards a fork in the road. Looking at the map, we noted that Amber Meadow laid about thirty miles southeast of our present location.

"Looks like it's gonna be a long walk. Good thing we packed supplies for the night, huh? D-don't worry, we should be able to find some items in the dungeon... I hope..." Rye said nervously as we set out for the meadow.

-o-​

"Shuaaagh..."

"I-I honestly don't know how Mr. Arden does this every day," Rye panted. While the two hours that had passed hadn't presented too much challenge in terms of terrain like the walk to the harbor had, even the level plains of the route we had been walking down had taken their toll on our inexperienced frames.

Giving in to my legs' aching, I collapsed onto the grass on the side of the road. Rye stopped to try for a glare, then muttered under his breath and joined me in my rest.

"Wow. It's only noon and we've already given in," he said flatly.

"Shyea," I replied with a laugh. We laid there in silence for a minute before Rye stood back up, seemingly ready to get going again. I sent him a deadpan look as he noticed I was still on the ground.

"O-oh... uh, guess since I'm a grass-type and the sun's out..."

Rye silently sat back down as I pitifully moaned. Eventually, I regained enough energy to heave myself off the grass, quickly noticing Rye had pulled out the map. He grimaced as he traced the path with his finger.

"B-by the looks of it, we've only covered about six miles."

I let my whining self fall onto the grass again as Rye looked on.

'Please, whoever's listening, I'll never complain about May carrying me again, just don't make me walk another damn mile!'

As if in a twisted response to my mental pleading, a glob of crap landed on my head, courtesy of a passing Pidove overhead, much to Rye's horrified amusement.

'Yeah, screw you, too.'

-o-​

The sun had dipped well below the horizon by the time we stopped to rest for the night. We had made good progress since the Pidove incident, clearing at least twenty out of the thirty miles. With that in mind, we decided that it'd be a good time to set up camp.

It seemed we were ill-equipped to do so, unfortunately, as once we had found a clearing, we had realized that we didn't have much of a clue what to do next. Presently, Rye was confusedly trying to rub sticks together to start a fire. While I watched on, he blew on the little smoke that was now curling out, but ended up snuffing it out. Groaning in frustration, he threw the sticks onto the ground, lying down on the ground.

"Sorry, I-I'm just so used to Mr. Arden starting the campfires..." he said. "Good thing it's spring, huh?"

As the last light of dusk slipped away, we found ourselves watching the stars slowly wink to life, one by one. However, I couldn't focus on them, as I had other things on my mind.

'What was up with Rye back there at the boards? Just... the way he acted when he read that notice, and how he was hitting himself afterwards...'

"Shrye?" I asked. If he wasn't giving me the whole story, then maybe if I asked him about it...

Rye turned to me. "Y-yeah, Beck?"

I opened my mouth, only to stop short as I remembered that I didn't know the words to ask him. I tried to mime out my question as per usual, though he didn't seem to catch what I was trying to say. Giving up after the sixth confused look, I returned to my silent contemplation.

'I'll ask him another day, I guess.'

As silence once again hung in the air, I took a moment to look at the sky. Odd that I had been an Oshawott for well over a week by this point, and I hadn't once gotten to see the night sky. I could now say for myself that the wait was worth it. Thousands of stars now graced the sky, wispy clouds of far-away bodies backing them. Without anything else to do, the two of us stared up at the scene quietly.

"This is one of the things I love about exploring," Rye whispered to me after a while. "In a town or city, you wouldn't be able to see anything like this because of all the torchlight. If you go out, y-you start realizing the world's a lot bigger and prettier than you thought. This is just the beginning, imagine what we'll be able to see once we go to the mountains or the desert..."

Grinning at his spiel, I glanced back at the sky. As I gazed, a familiar pattern caught my eye: a long straight row of four stars. I excitedly pointed to the constellation built around them, gesturing for Rye to see. He cocked his head.

"...oh, yeah, it's Zacian! I guess we can see it outside the Dark Isles since, you know, it's spring and all.", he said. "It's usually pretty cloudy this time of year, so-"

I looked at him, confused. "Sha...?"

'Who's Zacian? That's the Twin Heroes, how could you-'

I froze.

Had I just remembered something from my past? It was insignificant at best, seeing as I didn't know what these Twin Heroes were, only that the constellation was called that. How could I have remembered it, though?

...come to think of of it, how could I have recognized it at all? As far as I could recall, this world was entirely different from the one I had come from, so shouldn't the constellations be entirely different? How could I point out any?

...unless...

I quickly began scanning the sky to affirm my suspicions.

'Yeah, there's Reshiram and Zekrom just above the Heroes... there's Yvetal tailing the Soldier... there's Sir Aaron and Lucario to the north... what... what the actual...'

"H-hey, Beck, you okay?" Rye asked. I jumped, snapping out of my stupor and whipping my head around to meet the Treecko's gaze. I hesitantly nodded, earning a doubtful look from him.

'Don't do that, Rye. I need more time to think this over.'

Sighing, Rye set his head on the grass, taking one last look at the stars.

"We should make it to the Meadow early tomorrow, so, uh, I-I'm gonna hit the hay. Let's do good tomorrow, Beck," he said.

With that, he drifted off, leaving me to ponder. Of course, I didn't get very far in that regard, as the day's fatigue quickly caught up with me, pulling me into sleep under the light of that beautiful starry sky.

 

[Sudmensch]

11 - Amber Meadow


The light of midmorning peeked through the trees as Rye and I finished the last leg of our walk. As Rye had promised, we had gotten up at first light to groggily trudge the last ten miles to Amber Meadow. I was at least aware of what was in store for us, so it wasn't nearly as unpleasant as we had feared. We didn't really have much to talk about, seeing as the topics most on our minds were topics we preferred to keep to ourselves.

Besides, I hadn't exactly figured out how to get across to Rye that this world might somehow be the human world I had left behind. I hadn't even been able to comprehend it entirely myself. What did this mean for my past? How did this happen? Was everyone I knew dead? Had the humanity I knew died out or abandoned the region? Could it be that everything actually fine and the Gray Continent was just some massive nature preserve? Was this even my world or some parallel universe?

'Agh, my head hurts.'

Eventually, we stumbled across a large sign in the road, ahead of which the trees of the forest gradually thinned out into a meadow of tall, yellowish grass. Rye stepped forward to read the sign for me.

"Warning. The area ahead has been classified as a mystery dungeon by the Gray Proper Exploratory Society. Enter with caution," he read off it.

Swallowing hard, I ambled forth past the sign, Rye following close behind. As the trees began to become fewer and farther in between, I could almost feel the air around me growing colder, as if someone or something were watching me. Rye seemed to take notice of my unease at this, so he put a hand on my shoulder.

"D-don't worry, Beck, they all feel like this. Once you go into a mystery dungeon, you start feeling all weird. N-nothing to worry about," he said reassuringly. "It's okay, w-we'll do this together, alright?"

With a shiver, I nodded, so we continued our treacherous trek into the mystery dungeon.

-o-​

Amber Meadow

1F

'Ugh, talk about deja vu.'

Unpleasant images of Quinite Woods began to flash through my head as I looked into the labyrinthine pathways leading out of the clearing we had found ourselves in. Looking over at Rye, I could tell he was uneasy about this, too, though I could infer it wasn't as bad as my untold dread, seeing as he had done this before. As such, he was the first to head down one of the paths, gesturing me to follow.

As we walked through the seemingly endless rows of grass, we stopped as a loud, challenging yowl rang through the air. Ahead, a Purrloin stared us down, its fur standing on end.

"D-don't panic, it's just a feral. Nothing to worry about," Rye muttered to himself before giving me a sideways glance. "No offense."

The Purrloin, evidently unfazed by our non-aggression, began to charge towards us, letting out a fierce yell. Looking around panickedly, I noticed the tall grass on the side of the path.

'Why don't we just go through here? I mean, surely there isn't anything stopping us, right?'

I began trying to trudge through the tall grass, only to be tangled up in weeds and briers. What was worse, more were now emerging and they appeared to be trying to pull me deeper into the brush.

"Beck! No!" I heard Rye yell.

As Rye grabbed onto me and began trying to pull me out, I desperately searched for whatever I had on hand to free myself. Eventually, I felt a hard spot on my chest with my free paw.

'My scalchop!'

Although it was small and undeveloped, I decided that would be enough. With a powerful swing, I managed to slice through one of the briers that had tightly wrapped itself around my now-bleeding leg, sending it retreating into the brush. The rest of the rogue grasses seemed to get the idea and violently threw me back onto the path. However, I didn't get much reprieve, as the Purrloin pounced on me with its claws out.

Cringing from the Fake Out attack, I dropped my scalchop, opening myself up for another attack. Before it could strike me further, Rye slammed his tail into the Purrloin in a Pound attack, sending it flying. Grabbing for my scalchop, I ran at it and slashed it in the chest several times. That was apparently enough to do it in, as the Purrloin collapsed quickly thereafter. Shakily panting and legs quaking, I kept my scalchop trained on the thing warily.

"B-Beck, it's fainted, y-you're okay now..." Rye reassured me. As the energy from my adrenaline rush faded, I collapsed into Rye's arms a blubbering mess. A couple minutes of emotional recovery and an Oran later, we warily continued down the path, eventually entering into a clearing. In the center of it, a large earthen mound stood, leading upwards into the grass.

"Oh, hey, the staircase! Nice!" Rye beamed.

'...how and why are there stairs in the middle of a meadow? What even is anything anymore?'

Rye began walking up the dirt stairs while I stared dumbfounded at the sight.

"D-don't worry, stairs are okay, the dungeon won't try to take you again," he reassured me.

Holding my scalchop tight, I decided to take his word for it and nervously followed him through the grass obscuring the top of the staircase.

-o-​

Amber Meadow

2F

"S-see? We're okay," Rye said, patting me on the back. "Basically, the stairs let you into other floors without the dungeon throwing you out or... er, yeah..."

Now silent, we walked through the clearing laid out before us, my paw still clutching my scalchop. As we approached one of the paths leading out, I suddenly fell to the ground. Turning to see what I had slipped on, I saw a medium-sized seed on the ground. Picking it up, Rye examined it closely.

"Oh, hey, a Stun Seed! Nice job, Beck!" he exclaimed.

"Sh-swha...?" I asked. To me, it looked just the same as any other seed.

"Oh, uh, there's really subtle differences between them, Ms. May spent a whole week drilling me on them. See how the ridges look more... er, bolt-like than other seeds?" Rye explained.

Nope, still looked the same. Maybe I'd see it once I got more experience with them. Putting the seed up, we trudged on. While we did come across our fair share of ferals, I had learned my lesson about trying to take shortcuts, and we thus weren't caught off guard as we had been with the Purrloin. As such, we reached the next staircase without too much incident.

"I'm guessing from the notice that the scarf shouldn't be far now. Maybe it's on the next floor, keep an eye out," Rye said as we approached the earthen stairs.

-o-​

Amber Meadow

3F

"Priii!"

The Patrat we were facing off against fled in fear as I finished off a Water Gun attack. We had been searching the floor for well over twenty minutes by this point, and it was starting to show. With no trees to block the relentless sun out, I was quickly growing fatigued and sweaty. Of course, Rye looked just fine, being a grass-type. Lucky.

Turning a corner, a sudden change in the yellow coloring caught my eye. A pink scarf was hanging over a particularly thick stalk of grass in the clearing ahead. Rye's eyes lit up.

"Th-that's it! Let's go and-"

"Oi! Not so fast!"

Rye shrank back as a blue, bird-like Pokémon entered the clearing, giving an intimidating glare.

"Paws off. The shiny thing's mine," the Murkrow said. "Finder's keepers."

I quickly drew my scalchop, prompting a harsh laugh from Murkrow.

"Alright, then, you wanna fight for it? Have at you, then."

Murkrow immediately flew up and divebombed towards us. I shot a Water Gun at him, but that didn't stop him from flying into Rye, delivering a hard Peck to his gut. With a yell of pain, Rye glared at him with a Leer, his eyes glowing red. With a shudder, the Murkrow hopped back, facing the two of us down.

A tense moment passed where we watched each other, anticipating our opponent's next move. As the standoff continued, I felt through our bag for anything we could use. Eventually, my paw wrapped around a familiar roundish object. Pulling the Stun Seed out, I stood my ground as Murkrow suddenly charged towards me. I threw the seed at him, where it hit him square in the forehead before bursting. Murkrow seized up and fell to the ground, paralyzed. Seeing opportunity, Rye forcefully put a hand on his head, and as I watched, his wounds seemed to heal up as Murkrow painfully gasped. After a moment, Murkrow went limp, his energy spent. Rye stared at his hands in awe.

"Th-that was too powerful to be an Absorb... I-I think I learned Mega Drain!" he said excitedly. As he celebrated his new technique, I pulled Nidoran's Pecha scarf down, slipping it into our bag. With our mission done, I found myself asking an important question.

'How do we get out of here?'

As if to answer, Rye pulled out his badge and pressed it to the scarf. With a flash of light, he was gone, presumably having been teleported out of the dungeon. Deciding not to think about this violation of basic logic, I dug for my badge, only to hear a weak groan coming from Murkrow.

"D-don't leave me in here... I just wanted... agh, I don't want the dungeon to take me!" he moaned. Gone was the challenging fire in his eyes, replaced by a look of pleading and desperation. I hesitated for a moment before sighing.

"Shaah..." I said, hoisting the exhausted Murkrow onto my back.

"Thank you, I-I won't forget thi- ow, ow, watch the wing!" he yelped as I pressed my badge against the scarf. A white light quickly enveloped me as the two of us disappeared from the dungeon.

-o-​

A few seconds passed before I found myself on the ground again, the light around me giving way to the road just outside the meadow. Rye was sitting under the warning sign, glad at my arrival. His contentedness quickly melted away as I gently put my passenger down.

"Y-you brought Murkrow with you?" he asked.

Shooting him a look, I gestured towards the dungeon with a "shaa!" After a moment of consideration, Rye groaned and nodded.

"W-we aren't going to carry him back to Impetus, are we?" he asked. I shook my head, sitting down on the side of the road and offering a seat to the Treecko. As he sat down, Murkrow's paralysis finally wore off. As he shakily stood up, he turned to face us. Giving a simple nod of gratitude, he pulled a seed from his hat-like head feathers and put it in my paws. I handed it to Rye, who examined it before his eyes widened.

"Th-this is a Reviver Seed! W-we can't take this, we..."

He trailed off as Murkrow hobbled away, presumably to return home. Exchanging shocked glances, Rye and I put the seed away before leaning our backs against the signpost.

We'd start the journey home later, we figured. For now, I'd say we had earned some rest.

 

[Sudmensch]

12 - Uncertainty

"E-easy, Beck, it won't hurt as bad if you hold still..."

Lying on the ground as Rye put his hand on the wounds on my legs, I shook my head in yet another fruitless effort to get the Treecko to stop with his flimsy plan.

"Shrye... sh-SHAA!"

I cringed violently as Grass-type energy flowed into my body. Although my wounds were closing up slowly, the burning pain flowing through my body didn't help this come across as a good thing.

"S-sorry! I-I haven't done this before, just...!" Rye said through clenched teeth.

After our little escapade through Amber Meadow, we had started back home, only to realize that my wounds from the incidents on the first floor hadn't entirely gone away. Upon Rye's insistence that they'd get infected, he had the bright idea to try to take care of it himself, despite us having used our last Oran back in the dungeon.

After some thought, Rye's best plan to do so was, as he called it, "Absorb but in reverse." The problem was that not only were our respective typings not very convenient for such a process, but his Absorb technique had apparently been entirely replaced with Mega Drain, which he had barely any experience with. Where that had led us was an increasingly tired Rye trying to pump painful energy into my struggling form.

"Beck, p-please just... hold still, I'm-"

"SHA!"

Finally fed up with my kicking, an exasperated Rye groaned and raised his hands in the air.

"Alright, alright, fine then, we'll just wait till we get back to the Guild," he said.

He tried to help me onto my feet, but the already present sharp pain only intensified once I put weight on my legs. As I faceplanted into the ground, I heard Rye let out another frustrated yell. After a little while, he defeatedly sat down.

"Ugh, j-just stay there. The sun's going down soon, anyways."

'At least the universe gave us that.'

-o-​

The stinging in my legs had mostly subsided by the time the stars came out, so the two of us could sit and watch them in peace. Although clouds were now partially obscuring the sky and the moon was beginning to wax, it was still a worthwhile view, I'd say. As I itched at one of the many scabs on my leg, Rye, who had stopped fidgeting with the Reviver Seed we had been gifted, turned to me.

"H-hey, Beck? Uh, sorry about earlier... you know, th-the whole reverse Absorb thing. I really just need more practice with it, I guess..." he said. He sat there for a minute before letting out a bitter chuckle.

"Heh. Everyone says Treecko are supposed to be calm and collected, and here I am worrying about everything, ruining everything I try, being a general waste of space..."

"Sha..." I said, reaching over to console him. Cracking a small smile at this, he continued.

"Maybe, uh, it's fate, y'know? A Treecko who can't stand his ground and an Oshawott who used to be human getting together to form a team; maybe someone out there wants us both to become better through this. I mean, it's only been about two weeks since we met, and you're already learning to be a Pokémon pretty well, aren't you? Who knows, I might just learn enough to prove Mom and Dad wrong! I-it doesn't matter what they say, just because I failed Dill doesn't mean I'm a complete..."

Rye visibly paled as he trailed off, turning to look at me.

"...sorry, g-got a little carried away..."

I stared at him skeptically, causing him to shrink back.

"L-look, it's... it's really personal, alright?" he managed. I looked into his pleading eyes for a while, eventually sighing and turning away, much to his relief. We both continued to stare up into the sky as I pondered silently.

'What are you hiding, Rye?'

-o-​

It was well into the afternoon the next day when we arrived in Impetus Town. Aside from the expected rest stops, we found that we had made better time than before. As expected, an ecstatic Nidoran was waiting in the town square for us.

"Oh, thank you! After that Murkrow made off into the meadow with this, I thought I'd never see it again!" she piped as we gave her the slightly torn scarf.

"Uh, a-anytime!" Rye stammered, looking at her expectantly. She cocked her head before her eyes widened.

"Oh, th-the Poké... er... about that..."

She timidly shrank back as I felt my eye twitch. Rye, his friendly demeanor visibly shifting into one of uncertainty as to what to do next, bit his lip.

"Y-you mean you don't have-"

"I-I'm sorry! I got robbed outside town this morning, I promise I'll pay you back!" Nidoran cried out. As Rye tried to form a response, I raised my paw.

"Shwaah?" I asked, gesturing to the road and pointing at my head.

"Uh... are you asking what I remember? Oh, uh... all I remember is that there was a Poliwrath, that they kept going on about the greater good, and that they were heading north when I was chasing them. I'd give you more, but Officer Magnezone said he needed a day to process it..." Nidoran said.

"Sha, shaa!" I exclaimed with what I hoped was determination, turning to Rye.

"Y-you want to go after them?" he asked. Grinning confidently, I nodded.

"What? B-but Officer Magnezone said he'd send out a request for a team in the area, though!" Nidoran exclaimed.

"I-I think it'll be fine. I think we'll caught up with the thieves by then. You know, if we're taking this," Rye said, looking at me warily. "W-we don't have any items and we're a rookie team, Beck. Are you sure you want to do this?"

'...no, I'm not. I've got my footing in this world now, though! I at least know what to expect now! If there's a chance that we'll succeed...'

"Sha!" I proclaimed, pointing my scalchop up the path. Rye stared in that direction before reluctantly nodding.

"I-if you say so, I guess..."

Nidoran's expression brightened as I stuck my scalchop back, ignoring Rye's dread.

"I'll mail you two once Officer Magnezone finds them, then... thanks again, Team Reach!" she said before trotting off, the Pecha scarf wrapped up atop her head. Rye chuckled nervously.

"H-here's hoping you know what you're doing..." he asked as we started back towards the Guild.

"Hey, we have a day, right?" he suddenly asked as we passed Cinccino's office. "H-how about we stop and see if we can get you a trainer after we stop by Ms. Audino? I mean, it's a Poliwrath, right? Honestly, we're gonna need all the help we can get..."

"Shya," I agreed as we began our stroll to the sick bay.

-o-​

"What did you say happened to Beck?" Ms. Audino asked Rye, her brow furrowed as she examined my leg, a bottle of liquid in her hand.

"Uh... he tried to jump into the side brush in the meadow, ma'am," Rye replied. Ms. Audino sighed as she rubbed some of the liquid onto my leg, causing the scratches on them to sting as she quickly bandaged them.

"The berry juice should take care of whatever got in there. You should be able to take those off by tomorrow. I don't have much else to say other than never go off the path. I thought that would be common sense, especially for a Pokémon who apparently lived inside a mystery dungeon, but I suppose life has its surprises," Ms. Audino said, much to my chagrin.

"Th-thanks again, ma'am," Rye said. As we turned to leave, Ms. Audino stopped us.

"Oh, is Beck's mental state getting any better?" she asked. Rye looked back at her confusedly.

"...er, his what, ma'am?"

"His delusions about being human?"

Rye and I shrunk back. I knew she had walked in on us that one time, but had she really heard enough to assume this was a problem? As Ms. Audino watched on curiously, Rye swallowed hard.

"Uh, th-they're getting better, ma'am. Thanks... uh, th-thanks for asking."

Before the nurse could question us any further, we had hurried out the door. As we stopped to catch our breaths, I looked up to find that we had been in there long enough for the sun to have started setting. Rye quickly took notice of this as well.

"...uh, w-we can go train tomorrow," he said. "Let's head to bed, alright? We'll need it, I think."

"Sha," I agreed.

With that, we retired to our little hut. Although I wasn't sleeping in quiet woods under a starry sky, there was something about using that place for the first time that struck me as just as peaceful. As I lied on my straw bed listening to Rye shift in his own, I couldn't help but find myself wondering if I had made the right choice by dragging him into an outlaw chase like this so suddenly.

'I just hope I wasn't too rash about things... only one way to find out, I guess.'

-o-​

Clanga-clanga-clang!

A loud metallic banging sound rang from outside as I wearily opened my eyes. The sun was just beginning to show through our windows as the murmur of nearby teams waking up drifted in. Groaning, I cursed my tail for making comfortably sleeping such a chore and rolled out of my straw bed. I quickly noticed that Rye had done the same, although there wasn't any indication that his tail was cramped. Maybe proper positioning in this case was an instinct thing I just hadn't figured out yet?

"Urgh... m-morning, Beck..." Rye mumbled groggily, pushing himself off the floor.

I got on my feet just in time to see a Bronzong lazily floating down the pathway outside, a Farfetch'd repeatedly hitting it with its stalk to produce the clanging that had woken us up. Rye finished stretching behind me and dusted himself off, turning to face me.

"Y-you ready for today?" he asked. "If what Nidoran's saying is right, we'll be heading out tomorrow. Let's make today worth it!"

We walked out the door to find a steady stream of Pokémon ambling towards the mess hall.

"Come on, breakfast lasts till mid-morning," Rye told me as we headed out to follow them.

As expected, a long line awaited us at the mess hall, so it was maybe half an hour before we found ourselves at the window looking Raticate in the face. He grinned, exposing his stained buck-teeth.

"Hey-hey, it's the newbies! How've things been for you?" he beamed.

"Uh, th-they've been good." Rye replied. Raticate pulled out two slabs of wood and waddled over to a set of shelves.

"You didn't tell me that you whitewatered the Serperior for your first trip! Why don't I ever hear 'bout these things till they're old news?" he chortled. We both cocked our heads in confusion.

"Shwaa?" I asked. No one but us and Bert could have been nearby to tell anyone about that, right?

"Er, where'd you hear that?" Rye asked concernedly.

"Well, Team Assail over there says they met you after the fact," Raticate responded, pointing behind us. We turned to find that, indeed, a bruised and beaten Team Assail were sitting a little ways away, Mustie and Gold both shooting us a steely glare before returning to their breakfast. We swallowed nervously and turned back to Raticate.

"Wh-what happened to them?" Rye asked.

"Apparently, they tried to go through Bewilder Forest and ran into a monster house. They only made it back here last night," Raticate responded. He looked around a bit before leaning towards us.

"Personally, I think that's bullshit. You see those burn marks? Methinks they got into another fight with Apex. Now that I think about it, you were there to see it, weren't you?" he muttered.

We hesitantly nodded as Raticate chuckled, now holding two full trays of fruits and... was that meat in there?

"Ah, don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I can call myself many things, but a snitch ain't one of them. Besides, beating up fellow guildmates happens to be against Guild rules, we'd all get fucked over if I said I was hidin' it, you know?" he said nonchalantly.

As he finished, he plopped the trays down on the counter. Examining the trays to confirm my suspicions about the strange food in the mix, I quickly noticed that one of them had almost twice as much on it as the other. I gestured to said tray confusedly, prompting Raticate to grin proudly.

"Well, they say you're a feral, right? Everyone says ferals eat like it's nobody's business out in the wild, so I figured I'd give ya extra just in case!" he beamed.

Feeling a forced smile creep onto my face, I awkwardly gave a small cry of thanks before we took our trays and scurried off to an empty table. Upon sitting down, I stared blankly at my large pile of food, seeing nothing but the implications behind it. As Rye joined me at the table, he gave me a sympathetic look.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Beck. Sure, that might have been a little... er, insensitive, but he meant well. We'll just have to explain it later, I guess. B-besides, extra food, right? I'll help if you don't want to finish it," he reasoned.

"...sh-shyah," I replied, resigning myself to eating my food. Chewing on one of the smaller apples on the tray, I eyed the suspicious chunks of food I had noted, and as suspected, they did appear to be some kind of cooked meat. Noticing my fixation on this morbid discovery, Rye cocked his head.

"What's the matter?" he asked. I held up one of the pieces, gesturing to it, which only seemed to confuse him further. Glancing around, he leaned in closer.

"Uh, did humans not eat meat, or...?" he whispered.

'What? All I want to know is if eating other Pokémon is alright here or... agh!'

Now in a state of mild moral panic, I exasperatedly started flapping my arm back and forth between myself and the meat. At this point, we were getting some strange looks from the other Pokémon in the mess hall, much to Rye's anxiety.

"Th-there's nothing wrong with eating meat, Beck. Um, M-Mr. Raticate didn't murder anyone, if that's what you're worried about, I think it's all from fer..."

Rye's eyes widened a bit as he suddenly trailed off.

"...er... oh..."

Needless to say, we decided not to push the topic any further after that.

-o-​

As we headed out of the small forest between the Guild and its training grounds, I couldn't help but gaze up at what seemed to be the entrance. Framing the path leading in were two stone pillars adorned with torches and carved images of battle. I gulped a bit as we walked through.

"H-hey, don't worry, Master Greninja's a bit on the tough end from what I've heard, but he's the best Water-type master this side of Gray Proper. He's trained some of the best Water-types in the continent, and I've heard he fights other masters just for the fun of it! You'll learn a lot, I think!" Rye reassured me.

'...wow, he gets other Pokémon to fight him for sport? Huh, reminds me of a gym leader... wait, what? The fuck's a gym lead-'

My thoughts were cut short as I caught sight of the training grounds. Maybe fifteen structures of varying shapes and sizes, each presumably dedicated to a certain type, stood along the sides of the path, the loud sounds of powerful techniques filling the air. As a Trapinch flew over us, having been launched by a Stone Edge, I found myself becoming excited. If the trainers here were that powerful, what could this Master Greninja teach me?

We approached what looked to be the Water-type training area, which consisted of a small stone arena built over a nearby stream. However, no Pokémon were in sight anywhere near the area, in stark contrast to the others. All that awaited us was a posted notice, which Rye started silently reading. As he did so, his eyes widened with shock.

"...wh-what?! Master Greninja retired?!" he gasped.

Quickly looking around, he frantically dragged me over to the nearby Ground-type grounds, tugging at a Gliscor's wing.

"S-sir! What happened to Master Greninja?" he asked.

"...um, he quit a week ago and swam back where he came from. Thought that was common knowledge by now, but eh. What's it to a grassie like you?", the Gliscor replied.

"Uh... I-I wanted to find someone to train my friend here...", Rye said, gesturing to me.

"I can't help you there. Ask someone else, I guess.", the Gliscor replied before returning to his exercises. Unsure of what else to do, I followed Rye as he started asking any Water-type he could find for help, a Floatzel in this case.

"D-do you know anyone who could train my friend here?" he asked. The Floatzel looked me over before scoffing.

"Kid, anyone I do know has standards. They would prefer not to have their shit stolen out of their bags," he said.

"Wh-what?" Rye responded.

"Ask again when you aren't dragging along a feral," the Floatzel told Rye before moving along. As he disappeared into the crowd, Rye gave me an unsure look.

"I-I guess we'll keep trying..." he said. "Don't worry, someone's bound to take you up!"

-o-​

"Is this a joke?"

"Yeah, no, I've got dignity here."

"It can't even speak and you want someone to train it?"

"Sorry, but I don't think anyone would let me live it down if I did..."

"Hah, get a load of this, fellas!"

Such responses graced the hour we spent running around the training grounds. Of course, we had no luck in finding anyone who could give me anything other than tips or vague encouragement. When noon came, we trudged out of the grounds, nothing but low spirits to reward our efforts.

As we headed back to the Guild, I noticed that I wasn't as sad as I had expected from not getting the training I had hoped; I was more angry than anything. I was angry at Pike, at Raticate, at that Floatzel, and at everyone who had made a joke at my expense or given me that odd look. But more than anything, I was angry at whatever had sent me here.

'Is this a sick joke to you? What could have possibly justified you making me like this? You couldn't even give me the basic privilege of speaking, damn it! Was everyone avoiding me like Slateport flu part of your grand scheme?!'

"B-Beck? Are you...?" Rye hesitantly asked.

"Shya." I snapped back, ignoring a concerned look from him as I quickly returned to my internal seething.

'I'm going to go off a limb here and say you aren't sending me back. Why would you leave me like this? Even if I'm supposed to do something big like you've been saying, everyone's just going to see me as the feral in residence no matter what I do, aren't they? This is never going to end...

…

FUCKING...!'

With a loud cry of rage, I tore my scalchop off my chest and swung it into the nearest tree. Splinters flew everywhere as I clutched my scalchop tighter, pessimistic thoughts continuing to bubble up. As Rye watched in what I could only guess was shock, I struck the tree again, then again, and continued doing so, screaming and swearing in my animalistic tongue all the while, until it keeled over, landing with a loud crash in the woods. With that, I dropped to the ground, quietly sobbing. As I laid there hugging my tail, I felt a hand rest on my side.

"...h-hey... I-I'm right here, Beck, I'm right here... w-we'll get through this. I promise," Rye whispered. I turned to face him, my bloodshot eyes looking into his. Choking out a small cry, I hesitantly nodded as Rye pulled me into a comforting embrace.

'...I just hope you're right this time.'

After maybe ten minutes of staying at the spot of my meltdown, we silently finished the short walk back to the Guild. Upon arriving at our hut, we noticed an envelope tucked in the mailbox just beside the door. Rye picked it up to examine it, only to brighten up.

"It's from Nidoran!" he said before tearing the letter open and beginning to read.

"Forwarded from Officer Magnezone's office... uh, subjects Poliwrath and Vigoroth were last spotted by local authorities at noon in, uh, Bassa Village. Suspected to be preparing for, uh, excursion? Yeah, excursion into nearby mystery dungeon. Swift action is needed from any potential pursuers," he read. As I looked on, he cursed quietly.

"Bassa Village? That's a week's walk away and in the middle of the desert! We don't have any money, we can't afford a flight there!" he groaned. As he started mumbling plans to himself, I tried to think of a solution.

'Surely we've built favor with at least one Flying-type, right? Maybe... wait!'

Perking up, I grabbed Rye's hand, and with a yelp from the Treecko, I led him down the pathway towards the Guild's entrance. Once we reached the gates, I insistently pointed down the road, much to Rye's confusion.

"Uh, what? Th-that's the road to the harbor, right? We can't take a boat..." he said.

I nodded expectantly, waiting for him to get it. After a minute, his eyes lit up.

"Wait... Cap'n Brine!" he exclaimed. Without any further hesitation, we started down the road to begin our next adventure. However, we quickly found ourselves stopping abruptly as Rye felt the empty space by his side, his face reddening.

"Oh. Uh... I-I didn't bring the bag to the training grounds," he groaned.

...okay, then, our next adventure could start later, I guess.

 

[Sudmensch]

13 - Up and Away

"Sh-sheaugh..."

"Y-yeah, I know, we're... we're almost there..."

The two of us dragged our sweating selves along the long, winding path to Brine's port. The sun had dipped so that it hung above the lake in the distance, sending glaring light into our eyes as we walked. As we averted our eyes from this and trudged into the port's campus, a gust of wind blew my fur back as a familiar Pelipper landed in front of us and quickly saluted.

"Ah, you two! Oi reckon ya came to see the lass and her friends back? You're a couple days early, oi'd say!" Cap'n Brine boomed. Rye stepped up, fidgeting his fingers so hard they turned pale.

"Uh... a-actually, we were wondering if... uh..."

Cap'n Brine gave us as close to a grin as his massive bill could produce as Rye shrunk back, visibly sweating.

"If it's anywhere down the rivah ya wanna go to, oi can-" the captain began.

"W-we need to get to Bassa Village as soon as possible. Guild job," Rye managed to choke out. Cap'n Brine's smile faltered as he looked at us conflictedly.

"Bassa? Hm, that's up north in the desert, if oi remember correctly? Hm, suppose ye want me tah fly ya lads there, then?" he inquired. We reluctantly nodded as Brine cast his gaze down in thought, muttering to himself.

"Hrm, I don't usually floi anyone places, me place is on the water. But oi suppose I still owe the Oshawott fah saving me raft..."

After a few minutes of this, he looked back up at us, his hearty grin returning.

"Alright, oi'll get ye lads there, but only if ya do me a lil' favor," he said.

"Wah?" I questioned. In response, Cap'n Brine pointed a wing out towards the lake, where several large Water-types seemed to be gathered over one spot trying to retrieve something from underwater.

"Last noight, two freighters carryin' ya standard goods 'ere rammed into each other," he explained. We let out small gasps as he chuckled grimly. "No one died, thank goodness fah that, but it's why it 'appened that's got me a bit spooked," he said.

He then gestured us to follow him, leading us to the lighthouse on the water's edge. The tower must have been a good twenty feet tall, and it was made entirely out of large stones and planks crowned by a haphazardly assembled light room. I had no idea how they managed to keep this thing from falling over from the mildest breeze, but through some miracle of engineering, it worked.

'Honestly, why am I even trying to question things around here anymore?'

"Loike most ports in Gray Proper, and the rest o' the world, I assume, we 'ave a resident Pokémon go up and Flash to guide the boats 'round here. Thing is, ours 'appens to be a lil' scattered and left the key inside before his shift last noight. Both doors in are locked and... eh, we don't wanna pay for a new door. We've been tryin' tah get in all day without breakin' the lighthouse itself. No luck," Cap'n Brine continued. Understanding dawned on us as he looked at us expectantly.

"...w-why do you even have a door? No one uses those!" Rye said after a minute.

"Lad, you're from a noice town where ya don' have to worry 'bout that kinda malarkey. You 'ave no oidea how many 'mon like to go in and mess with Flaaffy while he's on duty. Better safe than sorry," Brine defended. Rye groaned in response.

"Isn't there another way, sir?"

"Sorry, but I won't be flyin' you two till ya find a way to go in and unlock the loighthouse."

As Brine watched, we began looking the lighthouse over. Any windows that might have provided a sufficient entrance were misshapen and small, and by the looks of it, trying to get one of the Wingulls flying around the harbor to fly in wouldn't end well for the structure. Sighing dejectedly, Rye crumpled against the lighthouse's base, only for his eyes to snap back open. Staring at his hand on the structure, he brightened up. As we looked on, he threw our bag onto the ground and placed his other hand against the wall before pulling himself up. His hands somehow stuck in place, so he put his feet to the wall to continue his climb up the tower. Beside me, Cap'n Brine gave a hearty chortle.

"Hoho, should 'ave thought o' that, otherwise I'd prob'ly've made the errand harder!" he boomed. Noticing my obliviousness, he beamed at me as Rye continued his steady climb.

"Treeckos have lil' hooks on their feet they use to stick to walls, didn't ya know?" he asked.

'Treeckos aren't native to... uh, wherever I'm from, are they? How should I know that?'

I shook my head, causing Brine's enthusiasm to melt away a bit.

"Ah, roight... the kid found ya in the woods, makes sense ye wouldn't know that one, eh?" he asked.

'...had to bring that one up, huh?'

Unpleasant memories of my meltdown not quite two hours ago quickly bubbled up as I looked to him, disgust on my face.

"Shyaa..." I said in a huff. Cap'n Brine cleared his throat in response, which consisted of him disgustingly hacking from somewhere deep within his massive bill.

"Not sayin' there's anything wrong with that, y'know. Oi've 'eard what everyone says 'bout your type, but in me eyes, as long as you can tell me the difference between port and starboard, you're perfectly foine! You do know the difference, don'tcha? Go on an' point tah starboard for me," he said.

'Shit. Uh... starboard sounds like a left-y term, right?'

I reluctantly gestured to the left, earning another jovial chuckle from Brine.

"Ah, close 'nuff! No need tah worry, laddie!" he piped.

My respect for the captain restored, I turned back to the lighthouse, watching as Rye carefully squeezed himself through the lowest window. He suddenly disappeared into the opening as a crash sounded from inside. A few minutes passed before the lighthouse's door flew open to reveal a visibly dirtied and shaken Rye, clutching a bulky key in his hand. Cap'n Brine snatched it away before turning towards the port proper and letting out a loud caw. As Rye dusted himself off, a Flaaffy hobbled up to us before stopping before Brine, shame clear in his face.

"Now wot 'ave we learned?" Brine asked. The Flaaffy didn't answer, instead sighing, taking the key, and waddling into the lighthouse, slamming the door behind him. With that out of the way, Brine hopped over to a Wingull who had been watching the ordeal.

"Piku, I'm goin' somewhere, yer in charge till oi get back!" he ordered, prompting a quick salute from the Wingull as he turned to us.

"Now, then, stand to attention!" he barked. "I'd say without any breaks, we'll be in Bassa Village boi night. You will be responsible for yaself, so if any of you lads fall out, that's yer own fault."

Now visibly nervous, Rye raised his hand.

"H-how are we supposed to hang on to your back for that long?" he asked.

"Well, now, oi nevah said you'd be ridin' on me back!" Brine piped. He then opened his massive bill and gestured for us to climb in. Neither of us volunteered to go in, as I instead stared dumbfounded for a moment, wondering just what we had gotten ourselves into.

"...well, come on, now! Oi'm not gonna swallow ya!" Brine said after a little while of our horrified hesitation.

Swallowing hard and uttering a small prayer, I relented, slowly climbing feetfirst into his bill. The place was warm, damp, and reeked of seaweed and fish, but it seemed there was just barely enough room inside for Rye and I, a notion that was proven when Rye followed me inside, bag in hand and whispering mortified obscenities under his breath. As we adjusted ourselves as to not fall backwards, Cap'n Brine looked over a crude compass in his foot, positioning himself to face away from the setting sun before tossing it into his bill, hitting me in the head with it before the sudden lurch of his taking off left Rye and I clutching the edge of his bill for dear life as to not fall backwards into his throat.

The howling of the wind just barely drowned out our screams as Brine began building speed by circling the port. As the wind in my face forced my eyes shut, I felt him begin to decelerate and steady out. Opening my eyes, I was met with a view of the lake stretching as far as I could see below us. I could make out dozens of tiny boats trailing along its clear waters and the port shrinking to nothing more than a group of small shapes on the side as we flew ever higher.

"Wow..." Rye whispered beside me. Cap'n Brine made a few assuring noises, not risking talking with us in his mouth. Tolerating the stench, we got as close to a seated position as we could as I picked Brine's compass up and began fidgeting with it, settling in for a long, uncomfortable flight.

-o-​

Despite the less than favorable conditions of our transport, Rye and I both found ourselves drifting off. After a couple of hours, I awoke from a dreamless nap to a loud squawk from Cap'n Brine. My ears ringing, I groggily sat up to see what was the matter, only to wake Rye up with my own loud scream. By the looks of it, we were now flying over the desert, or rather, we were barreling uncontrollably towards the sand as Brine tried to stabilize himself in midair. As we quickly realized this wasn't working, Rye dropped down and curled into a ball, his tail over his head.

"G-get down!" he yelled. I obeyed without question, only just managing to curl my tail over my head before Brine hit the ground, sending Rye and I flying out of his bill and tumbling onto sweet solid ground. Groaning as we pushed ourselves off the sand, we noted that night had fallen by this point, allowing the thankfully close town's torchlight to make itself known.

"Agh. Sorry 'bout that, oi 'aven't flown like that in a long, long toime," Cap'n Brine groaned apologetically, dislodging himself from the sand. As we picked up the scattered contents of our bag, a loud whistle suddenly sounded from the town.

"Hey! You there!" a low feminine voice called. We snapped our heads up to find a figure approaching us from the town gate, flashing something shiny towards us.

"Bassa Village Police. What's a bunch like you doin' out here at this time of day?" it asked suspiciously. As we watched nervously, the features of a Feraligatr with a badge-adorned sash over its shoulder became evident. Cap'n Brine limped forwards to meet the newcomer.

"Evenin', officer. Oi was joss flyin' these young lads here for... what'd ya say it was? A Guild mission?" he said. The Feraligatr relaxed as she looked us over, her jaws shifting.

"Mm. Adventurers..." she grunted. "I suppose you're the ones Magnezone sent to help deal with those asshats from earlier today." As she spoke, I heard a small gasp from Rye.

"Uh... er, y-y... yes, ma'am," he choked out. He was noticeably pressed up against Cap'n Brine, keeping his eyes trained on Officer Feraligatr as if she were about to pounce on him. Instead, she offered a courteous nod.

"Well, I reckon there's nothing wrong with letting you stay the night, then. The desert gets mighty frigid around this time, I'd best take you to my place. Let's discuss the outlaws tomorrow morning over breakfast," she said as she gestured us to follow her into the town.

As we walked after her, I took a glance up at the town's gate. It seemed to have been made of several large pieces of metallic trash welded together into an arch, the main feature being a large green sign attached to the top. It was too dark to see clearly, but I could tell whatever was written on it wasn't footprint runes. They looked familiar in a way, actually...

Officer Feraligatr took notice of my curiosity and offered a small smirk, though trying this with her crocodile maw just came across as unnerving.

"Yeah, Bassa here was built around an old human town. Just about every building here was built on the foundations of some human structure. Apparently even the town's name has human influence, I'm told the sign up there says something like 'Bassa' in Unown-script," she explained as she stopped in front of an unorthodox but modest house just past the gate. As I watched, she threw the door open and waved us in.

"Pelipper, you can roost on the roof, the others can sleep wherever. Get comfy, and keep in mind you'll be responsible for getting yourselves up tomorrow. I'll be waiting at the cafe whenever..."

She trailed off as she got a proper look at us in the torchlight. It didn't take long for me to realize that her now wide-eyed gaze was fixed on Rye. As her breath shook a bit, Feraligatr stared him down for a minute, prompting Rye to stumble backwards into the street, his face pale. As he did this, Feraligatr let out a soft sigh and headed inside.

"Oi, wot was that 'bout?" Cap'n Brine asked.

"It's nothing. Just thought I recognized Treecko there," Feraligatr called over her shoulder.

She didn't elaborate further, as she simply put her sash away and curled up in a large straw bed next to a lit fireplace. Rye let out a noise somewhere between a relieved sigh and a choked sob as I helped him up. Sending me a familiar pleading look, he headed into the house. Deciding as usual that I'd pursue this later, I followed him in as Cap'n Brine fluttered up to the roof. Finding a comfy spot in the living area, I curled up and shut my eyes, pondering what tomorrow would bring as I started to drift off...

And then Feraligatr started loudly snoring in her sleep.

'...just great.'

 

[Sudmensch]

14 - Law and Chaos

A long, sleep-deprived night passed before I was woken up from a light sleep by the scorching desert sun in my eyes. Letting out a weary moan as I sat up to blink the colored spots out of my eyes, I noticed Rye was already sitting idly across from me, leaning out the window to talk with who I guessed was Cap'n Brine. He quickly noticed me and got to his feet.

"Morning, Beck. Uh, we're all up a little earlier than expected, I guess," he chuckled.

"That's fah the best, eh," Cap'n Brine's voice rang from outside the window. "Back when I was a wee Wingull servin' in the Ten Years War, they'd throw yeh into the water if ya snoozed out at sea. Now, you go an' get a move on, Feraligatr's prolly waitin' for ya." Rye looked back out with a start.

"What? Y-you're not...?" he asked.

"Ah, Feraligatr said she'd bring me an Oran while me leg quits smarting," he responded. "She said she'd be o'er at the cafe joss down the street."

Rye, his prior cheeriness gone, swallowed hard and nodded, prompting the Pelipper to presumably fly back up to the roof. As we collected our things, I couldn't help but notice how nervous he seemed to be about what was coming. Handing our bag to him, I put my paw on his arm.

"Shaa," I said reassuringly, only to be met with a forlorn gaze. I didn't understand what this was about; I mean, Officer Feraligatr was pretty nice from what I could tell, why was Rye...

'...oh. Feraligatr.

Yeah, should have figured.'

With this in mind, I followed Rye out into the arid morning air. As the police-mon had said, Bassa Village did seem to be built around the sun-bleached ruins of an old town; even the roads had patches of faded asphalt. As for Feraligatr's house, it looked to have been built on top of a concrete foundation, maybe an old apartment or shop. Of course, most of the ruins seemed to have been worn down by years of erosion, though I guessed the Pokémon that had taken up residence here had worked to preserve what was left. With sunlight now making my surroundings clear, I could clearly see the fragmented Unown-script in the architecture around me. Although only limited to a few faded letters, they held a twinge of familiarity to them, unlike the strange footprint runes. Maybe if I got up closer, I could actually read them...?

I couldn't actually do this, as I ended up tripping over a passing Sandile when I tried. Earning a scraped leg and a dubious look from Rye, I got to my feet and kept trudging along. It wasn't long after that when we found the restaurant Cap'n Brine had mentioned, where Officer Feraligatr was waiting at a table for us. She offered a cock of her head and a small nod of greeting as we found a seat across from her.

"You're here early. Haven't even gotten my food yet," she muttered. handing us a couple of small cups.

"Tea? Wasn't cheap, it's made from Energy Roots," she offered. Reluctantly taking a sip, I quickly spit it out as a bitter taste attacked my tongue. While the herbs in the tea did make me feel more awake, I decided I'd settle for the water provided instead. As an unamused Feraligatr looked on, Rye cleared his throat.

"S-so... uh, you wanted to talk to us, ma'am?" he asked.

"Mhm, about the outlaw mission. Say, which Guild you in from, or are you solo like Team Creosote earlier?" Feraligatr questioned.

"Uh, no, ma'am, we're from Arcanine's."

An amused grin crossed Feraligatr's maw as she leaned forward.

"So I guess that'd make you Team Reach, then," she said.

"Hwha?" I asked, only for her to smirk and nod.

"Yup, definitely Reach. Heard about you from explorers from Arcanine's," she said before glancing over to me.

"So, Treecko here really found you in a dungeon, then?" she asked me. I nodded slowly and shamefully, getting another warm but slightly unnerving smile.

"Well, if you didn't piss on my floor last night, then you're good in my book," she reasoned. "Now, then, those outlaws you two came here for. To be honest, I'm a little bummed you're taking care of these guys, not much has happened 'round here since Resistance forces left fifteen years back. We got a couple of idiots, by the looks of it, the morons tried to rob the Kecleon in town square, can you believe that? Anyways, they went and booked it last night. We've already gone and looked through their little nest, and we've tracked them to the Arid Riverbed dungeon just north of here. Now, where you come in: if the rescue team that stopped by earlier doesn't find them, you will."

As we took in this information, a Diggersby who had suddenly appeared by our table plopped a tray of food in front of her.

"Right after I finish this," she quickly added before she started to messily shovel the eggs and meat into her jaws, much to mine and Rye's horrified disgust.

Sparing the details, I'll just say I was glad all that was in my stomach at the time was root tea and water.

-o-​

"You're askin' if oi can fly ya to the dungeon? You sayin' I'm 'bout tah let a lil' tumble get me down after oi flew all the way here? Oi, yah've cut me deep, laddies," Cap'n Brine said.

After sitting through Officer Feraligatr's grotesque display of sustenance, we had followed her back to her house to consult Cap'n Brine about carrying us to Arid Riverbed. Evidently, he didn't need much convincing. Pulling out a map, Feralgatr pointed to a small spot just above what I could guess was Bassa Village.

"Arid Riverbed's five miles north of here. If Pelipper's right about how fast he can fly, then you'll be there and back before the sun sets, easy," she told us.

As we prepared our bag and senses for another trip in Brine's bill, Feraligatr pulled me aside and squatted down to meet my gaze.

"How are you in a fight, Oshawott?" she asked. "Arid Riverbed's mostly Ground and Rock-types, but I'd still want to make sure I could hold my own."

My less-than-stellar performance in Amber Meadow flashed through my head. I shrugged, prompting a hum from Feraligatr.

"Okay, then. Get your... er, shell thing and get into a stance," she said. I reluctantly pulled my scalchop off my chest and got into the requested battle stance. Feraligatr clicked her tongue as she looked over me.

"For starters, your grip on the shell there is ass, you won't be able to strike as well as you could otherwise and you'll end up tearing away at it; look, you've already started to there. Also, that stance is too wide, you aren't balanced at all," she said. To prove this, she put her hand on my chest and gave a hard push, sending me falling backwards with a yelp. Groaning, I got back to my feet as Feraligatr watched.

"Back into stance," she ordered.

"Shaagh..." I whined as I returned to my footing. Looking behind me, all I got was a sympathetic look from Rye. Without any other option, I tried to take Feraligatr's advice, only to end up back on the sand. Frustratedly repeating the process, I narrowed my stance further. Receiving another push from Feraligatr, I merely stumbled back this time. Giving me a satisfied grin, she then picked my scalchop up off the sand and grasped it by its tail end.

"You see this? This is how you were holding this thing. This is a proper grip, here," she said, adjusting her grip so that it was wrapped around a side end of the scalchop.

"Don't know much about this thing, but I'm assuming it's like most other melee weapons in that it works best like this. Sure, you might find it a bit hard holding it like this since you, uh, don't have fingers yet, but..."

She proceeded to swing the scalchop into a nearby wall with a loud yell, leaving a deep gash.

"I think the results pay off."

As Rye shuddered behind me, she tossed the scalchop back into my paws.

"That's about all I've got for you, Oshawott. Last time I tried teaching techniques, half the station got blown sky-high," she said. She then seemed to notice Rye out of the corner of her eye and turned to him. He shrunk back as she approached him.

"How 'bout you, Treecko? I'm a Water-type, but I think I can..."

She trailed off as Rye scrambled away to cower behind Cap'n Brine. Feraligatr just gave him a long stare in response, her eyes turning soft and sad. As she sighed and straightened herself up, she turned to Brine.

"Alright, Pelipper, stay outside of the dungeon and keep an eye out. If they don't come back by nightfall, come back and tell me, and I'll do what I can," she requested. Rye's head snapped up from behind Brine in response.

"Y-you're not coming?" he warily asked. Feraligatr's expression turned sullen as she hung her head.

"Urgh... I'm sorry, Treecko. I don't do mystery dungeons. Nothing against you two, it's just... my little brother got killed by the one in Mount Twist... I can't..."

Rye reluctantly put his hand on her back, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I... uh, i-it's okay, w-we get it..." he said quietly. Feraligatr gave a small smile.

"Thanks for understanding, kid," she muttered. With that, she got up and started for the road as Cap'n Brine made his final preparations. As Rye stared off beside me, I went to pick up our bag, only to find it seemed heavier than usual. Confused, I opened it, only to be met with a small mix of seeds and berries that most definitely hadn't been there this morning.

"Sh-sha!" I called after Feraligatr. She turned around and gave us one last crocodile smile.

"Keep 'em. You'll need them. A Reviver Seed ain't bad, but it's not enough, either," she called before she turned onto the road and disappeared behind her house. Rye and I exchanged looks before we turned to climb into Cap'n Brine's still foul-smelling bill. As we adjusted ourselves, Rye stopped sulking for a minute to scrunch his nose.

"Beck, please remind me to bring mint or something if we ever fly like this again," Rye whispered to me as we felt the lurch of Brine's taking off.

-o-​

The flapping of wings prompted Feraligatr to stop and look over her shoulder to watch Brine fly away, Team Reach peeking out of his bill. Taking a moment to watch them shrink into the distance, she stoically sighed.

"That Treecko..." she muttered to herself.

Surely that couldn't have been him, right? The Treecko she had known back in Twistfoot Town those years ago had been so much more confident and outgoing than this one, and he wouldn't have ever allowed himself to not evolve for all these years... then again, that fear and sadness in his eyes when he was around her...

"No. It wasn't him... couldn't have been..."

She clenched her fists as she continued down the road towards the station. As she reached the building, she took another look up at the now barely visible Cap'n Brine against the noon sky. Staring for another moment, she hung her head.

"...if it's really you... I know you can't hear me, but I didn't mean what I said, I was young and rash. If I had known what that would do to you..." she whispered before slinking into the building. Ignoring her coworkers' hails, she sat down and let out a long, shaky sigh.

"If it's really you, Rye... I may have said otherwise, but it wasn't your fault..."

-o-​

As Feraligatr had said, the flight to Arid Riverbed was short and painless, a good five minutes at least. After a far smoother landing on Cap'n Brine's end, we climbed out of his bill to find ourselves on a stone path that, as with Amber Meadow, was adorned with a large warning sign and slowly dissolved as it trailed into the mystery dungeon. Unlike the Meadow, however, there was a small outpost just off to the side, presumably for explorers like us.

"Ye laddies stay safe, now. Oi'd hate to have ya get your guts eaten out, y'know," Cap'n Brine said as we looked down the road. Spitting out our bag, he headed into the outpost, leaving us alone. Rye turned to give me an unsure look.

"Y-you sure we're ready for this, Beck?" he questioned. I gave him a reassuring smile in response, Feraligatr's advice having filled me with confidence.

"Shyah!" I declared. With that, Rye, giving me a nervous sideways glance, started forwards as I followed, my head held high.

'Don't you worry, Rye, we'll do this, we can't not do this. We've gone too far to disappoint. This can't be any worse than Amber Meadow, can it? Show us what you've got, Arid Riverbed!'

-o-​

Arid Riverbed

1F

'I may have gotten just a bit too confident.'

Within minutes of our entering Arid Riverbed, we had found a light breeze picking up. This breeze had quickly intensified, turning into a large sandstorm as we trudged on through the dungeon. We quickly found ourselves grateful that the dungeon's paths were marked by deep trenches snaking through the ground, though the sand flowing in from above was a fair concern of ours.

We only ran into a couple of Drilbur during our unpleasant trudge, which we were able to chase off with simple Water Guns and Mega Drains. Despite our luck in this regard, we still found ourselves getting struck by the occasional flying rock, leaving several bleeders around my body. While Rye was about as miserable as I was, he at least didn't have to worry about having fur. Twenty minutes of this had left me with just short of a metric fuckton of sand in my fur coat, no doubt discoloring my figure and leading to some quite unpleasant smarting as it got into my wounds. Worse still was the idea that I'd probably be leaving random sand particles wherever I went for the next month at least.

At present, we were trying to feel around a larger chamber with our eyes clenched shut, as to not sting them any further with flying sand. Squinting ahead, I noticed a large, dark shape ahead.

'A staircase!'

"Rye! Sh-" I started to yell over the wind, though this quickly devolved into spitting and coughing as a cloud of sand flew into my mouth. Rye seemed to get the message, though, and grabbing my paw, dragged me up the staircase, eager to hopefully escape the storm.

-o-​

Arid Riverbed

2F

'Hah, of course not.'

The second floor was, of course, not much different from the first. More annoying ferals, more stinging, more envying Rye's scaly hide. This kept consistent to the point that I started to suspect this whole dungeon was just some cruel joke designed to annoy anyone who went in. However, the first sign that this wouldn't be just the annoyance I had expected came about ten minutes after we entered the floor. We were trying to navigate through a large valley in the sand as per usual when the monotony was broken in an unwelcome way.

"CROOHK!"

A loud roar rang over the howling of the wind. Forcing our eyes open, we spun around to find ourselves faced with a Krokorok, swishing its tail and snapping its jaws in challenge. Used to this by now, we charged in for an attack, hitting the Krokorok in the chest. Unfortunately, it seemed it wasn't alone, as two others followed close behind, and they clearly weren't very happy about our attacking their leader. Before we could do anything, they pounced on us.

With a powerful Mud-Slap, I was sent flying down a nearby path, one of the Krokorok taking notice and chasing after me. Panicking, I fired off a Water Gun at the beast, only for it to simply wince and continue stomping after me. Backing down the hall and into another valley, I pulled my scalchop off my chest and prepared to strike.

'You grip on the shell there is ass.'

Feraligatr's words echoed through my mind as I realized that, contrary to her advice, I was gripping the shell by its tail end. Gritting my teeth, I backed further into the valley as to buy more time to readjust my grip. The Krokorok charged at me, its black eyes trained on my own as it opened its jaws for a Bite attack. Just as it got close enough to attack, I swung my scalchop and struck it on the roof of its mouth. It roared in pain and jumped back as blood began to dribble out of its mouth. Taking advantage of this, I fired another Water Gun into its face, finally taking down the monster.

As I stood there panting over the bloodied Krokorok, the adrenaline from the encounter began to wear off. I again became aware of the stinging of my wounds, the sand that had blown into my mouth, and the jagged pebbles that lodged themselves into my flesh. However, as I began to return to coherence, that wasn't my main concern at the time.

"Rye?" I called out.

No response was heard over the howling wind.

"RYE!"

Still nothing. I ran to go up the hall I had gone down, only to find two paths presented before me. My eyes burning from the sand, I stared hopelessly at the twin trenches as the weight of what had just happened hit me like a Machamp's Dynamic Punch.

I was lost in a mystery dungeon, I was stuck in the middle of a sandstorm, and my friend, who not only was my only company but also had the bag, was who knows where by now, probably suffering some painful fate at the paws of those Krokorok.

…

…

Crap.

 

[Sudmensch]

15 - Creosote

Arid Riverbed

2F

"CROOOHK!"

Two small figures spun around at the loud roar from a room behind them. The smaller one, a Shroomish, stared back through the sandstorm before she quickly tore their Toolbox off her partner's back and started running down the path.

"Oww, that hurt... h-hey, wait, where you going?" said partner asked hurriedly.

"Someone's getting attacked back there! Stay here, don't let any ferals sneak up on me!"

"What? But... aww..."

The Sandshrew slumped his shoulders as his partner disappeared into the clouds of sand. He eventually settled on burrowing himself into the hot ground, sticking his little head just out of the sand as he scowled after his friend.

"Humph. You're no fun..."

-o-​

"Croohk! Croooh-ook!"

The two visibly bruised Krokoroks, their dark eyes burning with primal rage, barked and growled as they continued to stalk towards a panicking Rye. He had managed to keep the beasts at bay for a good bit at this point, though he was beginning to grow tired. Aside from the physical damage he had taken, the stress of the situation was taking its toll. He had last seen Beck clambering down a pathway and being pursued by one of the Krokoroks, and there had been no sign of him since. Seeing as he was now backed into a corner, having his company really would have helped right now.

With no other option, Rye leapt at one of the two Krokoroks, his hands glowing sightly as he used a Mega Drain on the foe. He shivered slightly as he felt his wounds close up, the Krokorok below him tumbling to the ground unconscious. He didn't have much time to revel in this victory, as the other Krokorok let out a furious roar.

Before Rye could do anything, he was tackled to the ground by the monster, which quickly clamped its jaws around his neck. Rye quickly realized what was happening: he had only heard of this happening before: ferals in dungeons attacking not simply to show superiority or knock someone unconscious for a dungeon to take.

This Krokorok was going to kill him.

As if in response to this realization, the Krokorok bit down as hard as it could on Rye's neck. With a loud, painful crunch, it gave a satisfied grunt, then threw him aside to dig through his bag. Rye twitched as he uselessly grabbed at his broken neck, his fading mind scrambling to find a way out of this. Despite that, he knew that no amount of siphoned energy would be able to heal a broken neck in time to save him.

'No... I... I can't...'

He went limp as everything went black...

Crack!

...and immediately found himself on his feet gasping in sweet air, only stopping because of the sand in the air. The Krokorok, which had been digging through his bag, stepped back in shock from the equally surprised Treecko. Not a scratch was left on his body, and even the prior exhaustion he had felt was around frantically, he noticed a wispy yellow smoke rising from a cracked seed in the sand. The now-spent Reviver Seed quickly began to disappear under the sand, though what was done was done.

Rye let out a strangled scream of rage as he charged at the Krokorok, swiping at it with several consecutive Quick Attacks. As it regained its composure, he struck it in its muzzle with a hard Pound, knocking out a few of its teeth. The Krokorok let out another furious roar in response, snapping together its blood-covered jaws. It staggered at Rye, only to keel forward with a pained screech. A large seed of some kind ricocheted off the beast's head, leaving it unconscious on the ground. Rye could make out the shape of a Shroomish with a ribbon tied around the tufts on its head, presumably the source of the Bullet Seed, as it ran over to him from the other side of the valley.

"Are you okay? Did it hurt you?" the Shroomish asked hurriedly. His anger dissipating, a now-shaking Rye could only gesture to the crimson-stained sand behind him before falling to his knees, producing something between laughter and crying as the newcomer looked on, horrified.

"Oh... I-I'm so sorry..." she stammered before catching sight of the half-buried seed on the ground as it let out the last of its golden wisps. She let out a relieved sigh as Rye began to come back to his senses.

"Beck... h-he didn't... he's still..." he muttered.

"Uh... don't worry, you're okay now. I'm part of a rescue team, we can help find your friend!" the Shroomish said reassuringly. Rye stared wide-eyed, at a loss from this stroke of luck.

'What the actual... wait, Si- er, Ms. Feraligatr did mention a rescue team was going on this mission, didn't she? Huh...'

"Th-thank you..." he eventually managed out.

Getting to his feet, Rye began picking through the sand to retrieve what he could from his spilled bag. As the Shroomish quickly joined him, Rye caught one last glimpse of the spent Reviver Seed before it was buried by the blowing sand.

"I guess I owe you one, Murkrow..." he admitted under his breath.

-o-​

"Rye! Ryy-"

My calls were quickly cut off by my own coughing and hacking, as the now unfortunately familiar feeling of sand filling my throat left me spitting out much-needed water in my futile attempts to get it out. Maybe half an hour had gone by since I had been separated from Rye, and my situation wasn't getting any better. I was seriously beginning to regret not eating anything during breakfast with Officer Feraligatr, and the water I had drank then was all but spent in the scorching desert sun. Nevertheless, I trudged along, hoping that I'd stumble across the staircase by some miracle.

Slowly pushing myself onward despite my fatigued body's protesting, I couldn't help but notice the odd lack of ferals in the halls, as opposed to most of my past experiences with dungeons. As I was contemplating this, I noticed something off about the scenery ahead of me. Squinting through the thick clouds of sand, I found that by the side of the path, a Scraggy laid unconscious, bruises and cuts covering its form. Even at the revelation that my path was clear, I felt a pang of dread rise up inside me.

'If something's taking out the ferals here, then what's to say it won't come after me?'

With this in mind, I noticed something off about the Scraggy's body.

'Is its skin supposed to bulge like that?'

Walking over and pushing its loose skin aside, I quite nearly yelled for joy when I was met with an apple. Excitement running high, I snatched it, only to notice the apple was strangely purpled and bloated in several areas that dripped a sickly viscous liquid.

'...eugh. Not like I have much of a choice.'

I reluctantly started trying to eat around the purple areas, reveling in the unspoiled juices flowing down my dried throat. Unfortunately, this didn't last long, as a sudden foul taste joined these pleasantries, followed a painful tingling sensation which quickly started spreading down my now-cringing body.

'Poison... as if the sandstorm weren't enough...'

Groaning pitifully at my luck, I kept moving forwards. A stabbing pain went through my body as the poisoning kicked in.

"N-no! Get up, I know you can do it! Please, I-"

My head snapped up at the sudden voice echoing through my head.

'Was... was that a memory?' Another pang of poisoning hit me as I cringed again.

"Rohh..."

"...no... he can't..."

"SCOOLL!"

"...nonono... graaaAAAGH!"

As the flashback climaxed, I found myself sprawled on the ground, clutching my gut tightly in imaginary pain. Relaxing my body, I stared at my trembling paws.

'...what was that? The pain... w-was that how I... died?'

Thinking back to my first day in this world, I recalled that, yes, I did remember having been poisoned somehow before waking up here, presumably causing what I assumed was my human death. Maybe the poisoning here had somehow brought the memory back? What exactly had happened? Could something that happened there have sent me here?

I couldn't think long, as I quickly noticed several small mounds of sand beside me, one of them misshapen from when I had apparently tripped over it. Hoping that I'd be able to find a Pecha or something buried with whatever was in there, I crawled towards one...

Only for the mound to open a pair of beady blue eyes and stare straight at me.

"Shaagh!" I yelled, jumping backwards in shock. The mound shifted as I realized that what I was looking at was not, in fact, a mound, but a small head peeking out of the ground, camouflaged to blend in with the sand. As I watched in bewilderment, a figure rose from the sand, revealing itself as a Sandshrew with a very dirty bandanna tied around its neck and grasping a long metal thorn.

'Oh, thank Xerneas, someone that can help...'

"Stop right there, feral scum!" the Sandshrew exclaimed as he swung the Iron Thorn around, his squeaky voice cracking as he did so.

"...wha?" I managed, unsure if what I was seeing was just some poisoned-induced hallucination.

"I am this pathway's guardian, and you're gonna have to get through me to... hey, wait, where you going?"

Not wishing to provoke this newcomer further, I pushed myself off the ground and started the other way. However, the self-proclaimed guardian quickly ran to my side and brandished his Thorn.

"D-don't ignore me! I, the mighty Sandshrew of Cesaree City, order you to fight me!" he said, his weapon wobbling haphazardly in his paw. I stared at him, even more confused than before.

'Is this kid serious?'

I tried to form a response, only to cough violently as another pang of poisoning ran through me. My stomach churned as the Sandshrew cocked his head, putting away his weapon.

"Uh, you okay?" he asked. I responded with a burning glare, causing him to jump back.

"Wait, wait, I'm sorry, don't eat me!" he yelped. Rolling my eyes, I kept trudging on, hoping to at least see the stairs before I dropped, but my new companion quickly caught up.

"Hey, if we're not gonna fight, you think you can-"

"Shaaah!" I screamed at him, hoping to at least get him away for a second. The Sandshrew was undeterred.

"Oh. You really are a feral, huh? Uh... you haven't tried to eat me yet, so... er, are you a nice one, then?"

Groaning, I nodded, hoping he'd leave me alone now. He did not, as it only seemed to make him more excited.

"Wow, cool! Ooh, you can be my wing-mon while I look for my friend!"

"Sh-shaagh..." I moaned as Sandshrew skipped along ahead of me. As I tried to follow, another hit of poisoning struck me. As I vomited out what little was in my stomach, Sandshrew finally seemed to notice what was wrong.

"Oh, you're poisoned... uh... hey, I think my friend might have something for that in our Toolbox! Let's go find her now!" he said joyfully, continuing to run ahead.

As the combined effects of fatigue, poison, and the sandstorm stung at me, I just stared ahead after him.

'What have I gotten myself into?'

-o-​

Not far away, Rye hobbled after Shroomish tiredly, stinging sand still blowing against the both of them as they looked around. After pausing for a bit, Shroomish gestured with her nub of a foot and took a turn.

"He should be just down this hall, assuming he hasn't run off again," Shroomish said. As he had for most of this trip, Rye remained silent, staring off and only responding with a nod and a quiet hum. A mildly worried Shroomish looked back at him.

"You don't talk much, huh? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Uh, n-no, it's nothing," Rye responded. Shroomish cocked her head, or rather tilted her body slightly.

"If you wanna talk about it..." she said.

"I-it's personal," Rye managed. Shroomish gave him a glance before nodding a bit.

"Hm, alright. You can talk to me, y'know. I mean, my partner's a bit of a pain in the butt, so it'd be nice to have someone else to... y'know, talk with."

Rye looked on confusedly as they continued.

"Why's that?" he asked. Shroomish shuddered a bit.

"Well, don't tell him I said this, but let's just say he's... how do I put this... not exactly the sharpest. He never shuts up, sees himself as some destined savior or something, and likes charging headlong into situations before he can think them over," she mused flatly. "How about yours?"

"Well... uh... he's quiet, I guess. Tries his best to help me out... and uh, I-I guess that last part applies a bit," Rye replied.

"How so?"

"W-well, the both of us wouldn't be lost like this if he had stopped to think about it, I think."

Shroomish snorted as they approached yet another path.

"Just my grain of salt, tell him to shove it next time he tries. Let him get too comfortable and you'll never forgive yourself, trust me," she said.

As Rye thought this over, a loud clang echoed along the path's walls, followed by an indiscernible demand from a Pokémon through the clouds of dust. Shroomish rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I think we found the little stain."

-o-​

"Can you say any words?" Sandshrew asked me over his shoulder.

"Shagh," I said between clenched teeth, clutching my throbbing head.

"Is that a yeah?"

"Eaugh..."

"Haha, don't worry, Oshawott, if... eh, I don't wanna call you Oshawott, can I call you Blubby?"

I put my paws to my face in exasperation as Sandshrew continued to talk incessantly.

'If this poisoning can just knock me out right now, honestly, I won't complain.'

Sandshrew suddenly stopped talking as he paused to listen through the wind. The faint sound of footfalls and an unfamiliar voice was just barely discernible through the howling, prompting Sandshrew to pull out his Iron Thorn and swing it, hitting the wall with a horrible screech.

"Who goes there?!" he demanded. A moment passed before two dark figures cautiously approached us.

"It's L- er, it's Shroomish," the voice from before said. Sandshrew stood tall and crossed his arms, getting his Iron Thorn too close to me for comfort.

"Ha-ha, you can't fool me! You're probably just a Ditto or a Zorua, and you're pretending to be her!" he boasted.

"Sandshrew, I swear..." the voice groaned.

"Come forth and face the mighty Sandshrew, and prove that-"

Sandshrew didn't finish, as a small seed flew from the smaller figure and hit him in the gut, sending him to the ground.

"Oww! Why do you always do it so hard..." he moaned. With the only real danger sprawled on the floor with tears in his eyes, the two figures stepped forwards, revealing themselves as a Shroomish and...

My eyes widened as I let out a relieved, disbelieving laugh.

"Rye!" I managed, trying to run forward, only to end up on the sand in a coughing fit. Blood droplets sprayed out of my mouth as Rye and Shroomish looked on horrified.

"Oh... o-oh, no..." Rye stammered, throwing his bag down to dig through it. As he searched, Sandshrew cocked his head.

"So does this mean that you're already this guy's wing-mon, Blubby?" Sandshrew asked. I didn't bother responding as Rye pulled a Pecha and forced it into my mouth. Slowly chewing it, I reveled in the sweet juices I at least knew weren't poisoned.

"It should take a bit to kick in, j-just try not to do too much, alright?" Rye asked. As I nodded, we shared a moment of silence before he sighed.

"Just... I-I'm glad to see you didn't... ugh, I used up our Reviver Seed back there, so... g-good thing you didn't need it, huh?" he said quietly.

I managed a small grin as I got to my feet. The pain of the poisoning had mostly subsided thanks to the Pecha, and though I was still injured, I was ready to keep going. As Rye went to pick up our bag, I looked over to see Sandshrew showing off his Iron Thorn to Shroomish, looking quite pleased with his new weapon as Shroomish kept a good distance away, clearly sharing my concerns of what he'd do with the thing. He paused just long enough to catch sight of us, his eyes lightening up.

"I made a new friend while you were gone! Uh, this is Blubby the Oshawott! He can't really speak, but-" he began.

"Wait, he can't speak? Mi... S-Sandshrew, don't tell me you've made friends with a feral..." Shroomish groaned. Sandshrew didn't bother responding, as he quickly caught sight of Rye sifling through our bag.

"Ooh, what're those?" he asked, running over to pick one of our team badges out. Rye immediately snatched it away from him.

"Those are our team badges, th-they're off limits," he growled. Though annoyed at how he couldn't hold it, Sandshrew still seemed intrigued.

"Wait, you're a team, too?" he asked. As Rye nodded, a newly excited Sandshrew struck a pose, prompting a groan from Shroomish.

"Well, I'm the mighty Sandshrew of Cesaree City, scourge of ferals and conqueror of dungeons!" he boasted.

"I'm Shroomish. Just Shroomish. Leader for obvious reasons," his partner said flatly.

"Together, we're Team Creosote! A rescue team!" Sandshrew declared, lofting his Thorn high and trying to roll the 'r's. "What about you?"

Rye looked around nervously.

"Uh... I'm, er, Treecko. I guess I'm the leader. This is my friend Oshawott," he said.

"Shaah," I said, offering a small wave. I didn't quite understand why we weren't using our names, though I assumed there was a decent explanation.

"We're Team Reach. Exploration team," Rye finished, lacking Sandshrew's bravado. The two Creosotes cocked their heads.

"Where are you in from? We're here from Cesaree City, good way across the strait from Gray Proper. Did Ms. Feraligatr send you here, too?" Shroomish said.

"Yeah. Uh, w-we're from Impetus Town," Rye responded. The two of them gave us an unsure look.

"Huh... Impetus... doesn't quite ring a bell. ...a solo team wouldn't base in a town like that, I'm guessing, so... does that mean you're... in a Guild?" Shroomish asked. A confused Rye nodded, only adding to their uncertainty. We stood there in silence until Sandshrew piped up.

"Shroomish said Guildies were no-good jerks who can't do anything themselves. Is that really true?" he asked. Shroomish's beady eyes nearly bulged out of her face as she held back whatever horrid profanities they had where they came from.

"Fff... I swear by every legend there is, shut it for once or-" she seethed before a painful gust of sandy wind swept over us, causing all of us but Sandshrew to wince.

"Uh, l-let's just try and find the stairs for now, alright?" Rye suggested once we had regained our composure. A unanimous agreement led our posse down the path, our twin teams trying to provide what pointers they could through the thick clouds of sand. All the while, I limped along, chewing on an Oran and tailing a silent Rye as he stared blankly ahead, that familiar dread in his eyes more prevalent than ever.

'Rye said he actually died back there... somehow. Are we really cut out for this?

...no, no, that was when we were separated, and we have two more Pokémon to help us! We can still do this!

...right?'

Guilt and uncertainty weighing down on my shoulders, I followed after Rye and Team Creosote, praying that whatever waited for us atop the stairs ahead was at least a little better than what laid behind us.

 

[Sudmensch]

16 - Riverbed Rumpus

Arid Riverbed

4F

'Finally...'

Having managed through the third floor's gusts of sandy wind and several ferals, our party was understandably relieved to find that floor four happened to be the floor where the sandstorm passed. Now content that we wouldn't bleed out just by standing around, our traveling partners saw this as an opportune time to stop and talk to us.

"So... you were sent here by a Guild," Shroomish said. Rye snapped out of his distant pondering as he walked straight into me, blinking hard.

"Uh, w-we volunteered, I guess, but-" he started. Sandshrew, being the little shit I had grown to expect, quickly raised his paw to interrupt him.

"Well, we want the reward money! Your guild thing gives you free food, right? We need the money more!" he demanded in his grating voice. Rye and I mentally slapped ourselves; we had basically forgotten that there was a reward here.

"W-what? We can't just give you all of it..." Rye exclaimed. Shroomish pushed Sandshrew aside before he could respond.

"Uh, how's you getting twenty percent sound?" she asked. Rye swallowed hard as their eyes bored into his own. As he struggled to form a response, he caught my eye as I made as reassuring a face as I could. Biting his lip, he turned back to Shroomish.

"Er, f-fifty," he stammered. Shroomish's eyes narrowed.

"Thirty-five."

"F-forty-five."

"Forty."

Rye hesitated a bit before slowly nodding. Giving us a wary look, Shroomish nodded to close the agreement, then turned away to drag Sandshrew along. Rye gave me a small gesture of thanks before we made to follow them.

The further in we went into the floor, I more I noticed Sandshrew watching Rye and I with poorly hidden fascination in his eyes. As we downed what must have been the fifth Sandile on this floor, he raised his paw.

"Uh... who taught you to fight like that?" he asked. Rye looked at him confusedly.

"L-like what?" he asked.

"You know, dodging the bad guys and hitting them at the same time like you just were? Shroomish says that's hard to do, so, uh, do all Guildies know how to do that?" Sandshrew said.

"I was...? It, uh, depends on the Guild."

"Which one are you in?"

Shroomish, seemingly realizing the answer right there, tried to stop Rye before he answered.

"Arcanine's," he said. Shroomish made a face like she had just been hit in the gut with a sledgehammer as Sandshrew began jumping in place.

"Arcanine's?! Do you know Team Frontier? How about Minutemon? Ooh, ooh, what about Apex?" he asked hurriedly. Rye and I exchanged glances.

"Uh, y-yeah, er, I apprenticed with Team Apex..." Rye said. Sandshrew only grew more excited as he got up in our faces.

"D-did you hear about how they started out as robbers and joined a Guild to fight Tyranitar? How many Pokémon were in Taillow's charge against Tyranitar's army? Did they tell you about when Cyndaquil and Eevee went to beat up Kyurem? Did they really finish Kyurem off by punching him in the face?!"

We started back on our way as he continued to incessantly ask questions, Shroomish letting out a loud groan.

"You see what you did? Now he'll never shut up..." she said quietly.

"W-why did you make a team with him if you... uh, y'know..." Rye asked her. Shroomish gave as close to a shrug as she could manage.

"I have my reasons," she said offhandedly.

As Sandshrew's grating background noise continued, we walked into a small room with a staircase and a growling Scraggy, which Rye and I managed to dispatch without too much trouble, only sustaining a few cuts in the process. Despite our hardships over the previous couple of hours, I was happy to see that we'd at least improved since our first outing. My enthusiasm towards our progress wasn't quite shared with Shroomish, who inched back and kept her distance, keeping Sandshrew behind her as we began up the sandstone steps.

-o-​

Arid Riverbed

5F

The first thing we were greeted with upon entering the floor was the face of a Krokorok. Having just escaped death at the paws of those fuckers, Rye and I jumped back screaming, hurriedly preparing for a fight. However, the first strike never came. As we calmed down, we found out why: the Krokorok was unconscious on the dungeon floor. We examined the monster's body, which was covered in several bruises and deep cuts. Looking at each other, we both seemed to reach the same conclusion: the outlaws we had been chasing were on this floor.

Hesitating as I stared down the hallway before us, I swallowed hard as I grasped my scalchop and started forward. Rye quickly caught my shoulder.

"No, don't," he said.

"Shaa!" I insisted. Surely we had the numbers on our side here, we could take these guys on...

Rye didn't seem to agree, frowning disapprovingly.

"N-no. You're still hurt, and we don't know how strong they are. You shouldn't just charge in like we did this morning," he said. I snapped my head to face him, unsure of what he meant.

"Wha?", I asked. Rye's frown deepened.

"It's just... y-you're too bold, y'know? Th-that's good for some situations, I guess, but I talked with Shroomish while you were gone, and I think you really need to keep it in check. I don't think we'd have had as hard a time back there if you had stopped for a moment and-"

"Sh-sha?!" I demanded. He was blaming me for this? I pointed my paws toward him to communicate my frustration with this logic. Rye's scowl turned into a full-blown glare as he slammed his fist into the nearest wall. I jumped back as his eye twitched.

"I died back there, th-that thing broke my neck! W-we didn't have to do this, Beck! We're only here because you dragged us here! We could've just stayed back at Impetus and nothing would have changed! Look, Team Creosote would have done this for us, no problem! I-I know you wanted to help, but damn it, take a look at yourself and tell me you can honestly do this!" he yelled.

I opened my mouth to snap back, but nothing came out. As Rye's glare quickly morphed into a teary-eyed gaze, my frustration with him turned into horrified realization.

'...I'm really like that?'

Rye sighed as he hung his head.

"J-just... think about it, alright?" he choked out. I stood there at a loss as Rye silently shuffled to where Team Creosote stared at the two of us, unsure of what to make of our argument. I averted my eyes from their gaze and looked at my paw, making as best a fist I could.

'I... I really... I'll try. I promise.'

As I bit my lip and made that vow, Shroomish quietly pushed past me.

"Uh... c-come on, guys, we can't stick around. Don't want the dungeon taking us, y'know..." she whispered. As Sandshrew shot us an odd look, Rye and I straightened ourselves up and followed them. We silently walked single-file through the tight path, which eventually led us into a massive valley, where nothing awaited us except...

...a Vigoroth and a Poliwrath.

…great.

"Look what just blew in here, ah!" the Vigoroth's deep, drawling voice echoed.

"I betcha they're 'ere to take us in. We didn't commit us a crime, did we? Not poor old innocent me?" the Poliwrath replied. Rye growled, clenching his fists.

"Y-you know what you did! You're c-coming with us!" he said, only to be met with ugly laughter from the two thieves.

"Didn't ask for no input from the peanut gallery, but alright, sure," the Poliwrath said.

"Hah, peanut gallery! Because he's a Grassie, ah?" the Vigoroth wheezed.

"Shaah!" I yelled at them. Rye had suffered enough today, I'd say, and I wasn't about to let these assholes insult him. This only seemed to amuse them further.

"Ha, they threw a feral into the ring! The Societies must be getting desperate if they're lettin' this slide!", Poliwrath exclaimed. I growled to myself as the two howled with laughter.

"Wh-what are you even doing here?! You stole something, why would you idiots go into a dungeon to hide?" Shroomish demanded.

"We're not hiding, we're waiting for our ride. He shouldn't be long gettin' through the dungeon, so we advise you get lost before he shows up, eh. You know, unless you want him to show up to find you all over the floor," Vigoroth said. Sandshrew responded by pulling his Iron Thorn out and pointing it at the crooks.

"Have at you, then!" he said. With that, he charged towards them with a loud battle cry. Presented with no other option, the rest of us followed.

As Sandshrew picked Poliwrath to harass with his Thorn, Rye and I quickly found ourselves getting faces full of Fury Swipes as Vigoroth guffawed over us. Rye responded with a Pound to his face, stunning him long enough for me to hit him in the shoulder with a Water Gun, causing him to step back and hurriedly look over his odds.

Realizing he wouldn't do well outnumbered, Vigoroth looked towards the tight pathway. He slashed at my abdomen, which I managed to avoid, though that only allowed him an opening to run for the pathway. Securing himself in the tight space, he laughed at us.

"Not so tough here, ah?" he said. Angered, we ran after him, only to hear a yell from elsewhere. Looking over, I saw Poliwrath, an Iron Thorn lodged in his belly and Sandshrew's neck in his hands.

"Alright, kid, don't come any closer or your friend gets it, yeah?" he growled to Shroomish. She stood at a loss, not daring to move as the two stared each other down.

"N-no, take him out, I can take it..." Sandshrew said before Poliwrath's grip on his neck tightened, cutting him off. Rye glanced back at me.

"You go for Vigoroth, I'll help them out. We'll join you if we can get Poliwrath down," he whispered before dashing towards the scene. With a Quick Attack coupled with a Pound, he drove the Iron Thorn deeper into Poliwrath's belly, inciting a loud croak of pain from the outlaw. He dropped Sandshrew, who immediately started trying to pull his weapon out.

I didn't watch much longer, though, as Vigoroth's mocking voice echoed from the nearby pathway. I responded to his laughing with a standard Water Gun, which he responded to by rushing up to me and striking my arm with a Slash. Trying my best to tune out the pain, I grabbed my scalchop and tried to slash at Vigoroth's face. He stopped my arm as I made to strike, squeezing it as I struggled. The bones in my arm audibly cracked, pain blossoming as he gave me a cold sneer.

"You honestly thought you could take us on when you're probably not even potty-trained, eh? Welcome to reality, you little shit," he growled.

"Shaak yeh!" I screamed at him, tearing my now-broken arm away from his grip. Needless to say, I knew I realistically wasn't going to win, seeing as my arm was busted, though a thought occurred to me as I prepared to strike him with my scalchop again.

'If I can't use my arm properly, could I put energy in my scalchop to hit him just as hard?'

I figured I might as well, trying to focus that now-familiar energy from my inner tide through my arm rather than up to my mouth. I found myself sporting a confident grin as I felt a warm tingling coursing through my arm, though as it approached my paw, it seemed to stop. I tried to push it along, only for the energy to discharge throughout my broken arm.

'...SWEET ARCEUS!'

Screaming from the unrelenting pain, I blindly swung my scalchop at Vigoroth. As I panted and moaned from the attack, I noted that my swing wasn't entirely pathetic, almost as if something were guiding it along. My strike had hit Vigoroth's knee, causing far more damage than it should have and sending him into a yowling rage. As I caught my breath and tried to ease the pain in my arm, Vigoroth loomed over me, fury on his face.

"I swear, when I get my paws on you, I'm going to-"

Before he could finish, a pink aura surrounded his form and lifted him up into the air. As I watched in shock, he flew back towards the valley, where Poliwrath was also being hung in the air. Running back into the valley, I joined the others, who were far too fixated on the bizarre scene to pay me much heed. As we stared, the source of this strange event emerged from a nearby pathway: a tall, bird-like Pokémon shaking his head and staring up at the two with no discernible emotion on his face.

"I must say, I am very disappointed with you two," the Xatu said to them. "You divert from your mission, commit petty robbery, and now I come here to find you attacking children, and still you expect me to teleport you out of here." He tsked to himself before Rye gathered the courage to speak up.

"Wh-who are you?" he asked nervously. The Xatu turned his stare to us, prompting a flinch from Rye.

"Why, I am Xatu, an executive of the Phoenix League," he said.

"The what?" Shroomish asked. Xatu cocked his head.

"You have not heard of us. Hm." He paused for a moment, continuing to stare at us as the two crooks above us cursed and flailed. Eventually, he blinked for the first time since we had met and began to slowly walk in a circle around us.

"As a Xatu, I am blessed with the ability to gaze through time itself. I have seen the past many times over, and it was glorious. There was a time where all could live in peace and harmony without worry of a dungeon consuming their town or ferals ripping their loved ones apart. This time, of course, was the age of man. The future, however, is far less certain. Too many possibilities to properly predict. However, most futures have one thing in common: they do not end well. With the absence of man, chaos may reign. That is where we come in," Xatu said. "The Phoenix League is an alliance of likeminded Pokémon from across the Gray Continent and the world who work to restore that harmony that was lost in the Ruin, and to perhaps prevent another Ruin if possible. We wish for nothing more than the old peace of those days to be reborn from the ashes like the phoenix Ho-oh in birth."

Xatu took this moment to gaze back up at Poliwrath and Vigoroth.

"However, you seemed to have missed the training where I explicitly said we do not tolerate petty robbery, especially not from underlings like you. You two will be staying here," he said.

"What?! Executive Xatu, sir, wait-" Poliwrath began. They were cut off when Xatu jerked his head to the side, prompting the two to scream in agony as their legs were bent in unnatural angles with a loud snap.

"Just so you won't try to run," Xatu told them matter-of-factly, setting the two writhing crooks on the sand. As we watched on, horrified at the grotesque sight, he looked back to us.

"You all have no place in this. Keep that in mind and you will not suffer the same fate. I wish you well, and good day," he said.

Xatu then closed his eyes in concentration before disappearing with a loud rush of wind. Our group stood there in dead silence, the only sound being the groans of Poliwrath and Vigoroth. Sandshrew eventually broke the silence with a quiet sob, burying his face into Shroomish as she tried to comfort him. I eventually tore my eyes away from the scene, clutching my broken arm as Rye ran over to tend to me. Yelping as he pressed down on it to find the fracture, only one thought flashed through my mind.

'...that happened.'

 

[Sudmensch]

17 - A Peaceful Powwow

The sun hung low in the sky over the desert as a dry wind blew through the adventurers' stop at the Arid Riverbed's entrance. The sole occupant of the modest little hut paid it no heed, though, as he exhaled and dramatically spun around for what must have been the twentieth time, beaming to the wall.

"Ahoy, lass, glad tah see ya back! Tried tah warn ye 'bout that river, eh? She's moighty rough these times of day! ...d-day? Oi meant year... agh, cock."

Cap'n Brine stomped on the dusty floor, sighing to himself from deep within his massive bill. Taking a moment to hop over to the watering hole outside the hut, the Pelipper took a quick glance up the road. Team Reach had ventured into the dungeon sometime after noon, but the sun had now dipped so that it was just barely grazing the craggy rock formations of Arid Riverbed.

"If they don't come back by nightfall, come back and tell me."

Brine blinked as he mentally repeated Officer Feraligatr's words. Surely they shouldn't be taking this long? What if they'd gotten hurt? He wasn't about to be responsible for a team getting killed in action, was he?

"No, no, they're perfectly capable, oi say. They should know wot they're doin," he muttered to himself. "Oi hope, at least."

Taking a long sip from the shallow watering hole, Brine glanced back towards the dungeon once more before shuffling back into the hut. He couldn't do much if Team Reach didn't come back, so he figured he might as well work on other important matters while he had the free time. With a quick shake of his head, Cap'n Brine took a breath and began his memorized conversation once more.

"Ahoy, lassie, good tah see ya ba-"

A sudden flash and loud rush of wind sounded from outside, prompting a startled squawk from the captain. His face hot with embarrassment, he peeked out the window. In front of the notice, a visibly wounded but still standing Team Reach stood surrounded by unfamiliar Pokémon, their badges in hand. Brine narrowed his eyes, noting a Shroomish looking around bewildered, a Sandshrew jumping up and down gesturing excitedly at the badge in Rye's hand, and two larger Pokémon lying on the ground, only moving slightly on occasion.

"Huh. Well, the lads are breathin', at least," Brine said to himself, a small smile on his bill.

-o-​

"How'd you do that? I want one!" Sandshrew piped as he jumped in place, waving his arms around wildly. I could have sworn I saw stars in his eyes as he kept his eyes locked on our team badges. Rye shifted in place, unsure of what to make of this.

"Uh, th-they were given to us by the Guild. Ms. May says badges that can teleport are rare, only Guilds who have good Psychic-types can make these kinds. W-we have an Alakazam in town," he tried to explain.

"Can he make us some?" Sandshrew asked.

"Sorry, but they're expensive," Rye said, tucking the badge into our bag. Tuning out Sandshrew's disappointed groaning, Shroomish laughed a bit to herself.

"Here we've been walking back to the entrance whenever we finish a mission... you Guildies have it so easy, I swear," she muttered.

As Rye rolled his eyes at this comment, a pained moan sounded from behind me as Vigoroth shifted in place, aggravating his broken legs.

"P-please..." he moaned, reaching out for us. As the others went about their post-dungeon routines, I took a long look at him and Poliwrath in their pitiful state. As I stared, a shudder ran through my spine as the image of the Xatu who had done the deed flashed through my mind. The ease and nonchalance with which he had broken the thieves' legs with just his mind was terrifying on its own, but something about the way he was staring at us with his cold, calculating eyes... urgh.

As I shook these thoughts off, a loud "oi, oi!" rang out from nearby. Our group looked up to find Cap'n Brine running over to us, wing flapping in greeting. Although Shroomish and Sandshrew were concerned over this, Rye and I still enthusiastically greeted the captain as he stopped to examine the outlaws behind us.

"Whew, ye really did a numbah on these lads! ...w-wot did ya do to their legs?" he asked worriedly. As Rye tried to explain, Brine stuck a wing in the air.

"Ah, ye can explain later, oi'll get 'em help from town. Surely they'll 'ave someone who can haul 'em over there, so just wait 'ere, will ya?" he said.

Before we could consent to this sudden proposition, Cap'n Brine had flown off. As he disappeared into the distance, Rye took my one good paw and led me towards the adventurers' stop.

"We've gotta get patched up before we go. I' really don't wanna sit in his bill with open wounds..." Rye said.

-o-​

Clutching my now tightly wrapped arm as we sat in Cap'n Brine's bill, I couldn't help but give an envious look out at Sandshrew and Shroomish. Brine had gotten a local Flygon to help us carry the rest of our party back to Bassa Village, and the outlaws were now tightly tied to the back of said Flygon, allowing Sandshrew and Shroomish to grasp on to the ropes. Sure, it looked uncomfortable, but surely it was better than Cap'n Brine's damp, warm throat.

We landed in front of Bassa Village's gate, where Officer Feraligatr stood waiting, an expectant smile on her maw.

'Wow, we were really here just this morning?'

As I stumbled out of Brine's bill, she walked up to us, quietly greeting our posse with a quick nod as she began looking over the outlaws on Flygon's back.

"Damn. Pelipper said their legs were fucked up, but wow," she said under her breath. Shaking her head, she gestured Flygon to follow her. As she turned her head to give us a wary look, she cleared her throat.

"You can hunker down in my house, I'll probably be at the station dealing with these two the whole night," she said before leading Flygon through the gate. She suddenly stopped as she did so, not moving for a second before looking back at us, her eyes noticeably softer.

"Uh... if any of you want to talk to me come morning, feel free to. I'm all ears," she said. With that, she disappeared into the small crowd of spectators with Flygon still carrying the crooks. As I watched, I heard a gasp as Rye fell onto the sand. I only then realized that he had been hiding in Brine's bill the whole time, only now choosing to come out.

"Uh, wh-what'd she say?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him as a confused Shroomish recounted Feraligatr's info to him. Giving out a breathless sigh, Rye quickly rushed over to Officer Feraligatr's nearby house. As he disappeared through the doorway, Shroomish cleared her throat behind me.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. I huffed to myself as I shrugged.

'Distortion if I know.'

-o-​

"Uh, w-we don't... uh, know how to make a fire..." Rye stammered, his face turning red as the sky out the window. Sitting around Officer Feraligatr's unlit fireplace, we looked away in shame as Shroomish gave us a small sigh.

"How would you try to start it?" she asked.

"Uh, like this," Rye replied, leaning forwards to rub two sticks together. Shroomish rolled her eyes.

"You Guildies, I swear... get one of those big pieces of wood from in there," she said.

"Wait, don't we have a firestarter in the Toolbox?" Sandshrew asked as we confusedly pulled a sizable log out.

"Yeah, but they clearly don't. Let me see your shell, Oshawott."

I reluctantly handed my scalchop over, prompting her to saw a small notch into the log with it. Once she had finished, Sandshrew immediately pushed her aside, sticking a stick into the notch and rubbing it. Ignoring Shroomish's dirty look, he blew some of the resulting ashes onto the straw underneath the wood. The small wisp of smoke the ashes created gave way to a little flame, which we stared blankly at as it slowly grew, illuminating Team Creosote's smug smiles.

"...oh," Rye said after a moment.

Avoiding the others' gazes as the fire grew, Rye and I pulled out what little food we had left in our bag and silently ate. Sandshrew quickly followed suit, sticking a ripe-looking berry onto his Iron Thorn, which he had apparently managed to bring out of the battle. Even though it was still caked with dried blood, he didn't hesitate to use it to roast his berry over the fire, much to Shroomish's disgust.

"Just... why?" she said between gags.

"What? You said it's protein!" Sandshrew replied.

"I didn't mean that seriously, you...!" Shroomish started before Sandshrew turned to us.

"Y'know, you two don't really talk much. What's up, guys?" he abruptly asked.

"Uh... shaagh." I tried to remind him, tapping my throat. Rye didn't have such a handicap, though, so he just gulped and shook his head. This only served to intrigue the little bugger more.

"Come on, you can't keep secrets around a fire! That's just common adventurer sense!" said bugger piped in a singsong voice.

"I... i-it's personal," Rye said quietly.

"Huh, do you know what it is, Blubby?" Sandshrew asked me. Growling slightly at the use of that name, I shook my head. Sandshrew hummed a bit to himself.

"You haven't even told your partner? Do you not trust him, Treecko?" he asked.

"W-what? Of course I do!" Rye responded.

"Really?"

"I-I'll tell him soon, alright?!"

Ignoring Rye's glare, Sandshrew sighed and stared into the fire, Shroomish watching him expectantly. After a minute, he looked back up, his face more serious than we had ever seen it.

"It's basic adventurer knowledge that trust in a team is everything, right? Saying you'll trust him later won't do anything, I don't think. I... uh, I think it's like a baby Pidove in a nest. Uh, the Pidove can look down from the nest and say 'I'll get out of here soon, I know it!', but it can't... uh, it can't do it just by telling itself that. No matter how much it dreams, it won't just have flight handed to it. It has to push itself, y'know? Jump out and give its wings a good flap..."

Sandshrew paused for a minute to gather his thoughts, oblivious to our stupefied looks and Shroomish's growing grin.

"Uh, everyone learns that at some point, I think. I guess I learned the hard way. Mommy and Daddy never agreed over who owned the burrow, but I never could ask someone for help, so... uh, y-yeah," he said.

He plopped back down onto the floor as Rye hung his head, his eyes trained on the fire. Shroomish gave us a manic smile.

"That's why I formed this team with him, Treecko. He's a pain to deal with, but once you get him talking seriously..." she mused. As Rye distantly nodded, Sandshrew giggled to himself, his serious demeanor melting away.

"Yeah, the first time I talked to her like that, she got so excited she launched spores everywhere, it was hilar-"

Shroomish's smile immediately morphed into a face of contorted panic as vines burst from the floor, stopping just short of Sandshrew's head.

"We promised not to talk about that, Mizu!" she half-screamed, her eyes wide. Sandshrew suddenly perked up as he looked over at us once more.

"Oh yeah, uh, Mizu's my name. Don't tell anyone, okay? Adventurer's honor?" he requested. Taken aback by this sudden trust from the now-named Mizu, I nodded. Shroomish's eye twitched as she glared at Mizu, who gave his own cheery look back. After a minute of this staring contest, Shroomish groaned.

"Ugh... mine's Lily, I guess. Might as well give us yours now, huh?" she said.

"Beck," I said, smiling slightly to myself for finally getting it out without trouble.

"Ooh, can you say our names? Here, here, Mee-zooo," Mizu enunciated. I raised my paws to try and talk my way out, though he persisted. Eventually, I hung my head.

"Sh-sheeits-hooo," I tried. The two gave me a brief horrified stare before Lily suddenly started laughing.

"Y-yeah, that sounds about right!", she said between chortles.

"Wh-wha?" I asked as Mizu slowly started as well.

'Did I say something wrong? All I said was 'Mizu', right? I didn't... oh. Shit.'

I began flapping my stubby arms around trying to apologize, though quickly found myself laughing along with the two. Allowing the day's horrors to melt away, I took to trying my damnedest to keep talking with them, even if my vocabulary only had, like, five words. It was a fun time, I'd say.

-o-​

Rye swallowed the lump in his throat as Beck and the others laughed beside him. Despite the language barrier, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, a welcome change from what he had seen in the dungeon.

'I want to join in, but... ugh, anything I'd say would ruin it...'

He instead chose to stare into the roaring fire, watching small embers fly up through the ceiling into the night as he mulled over Mizu's spiel.

'He had a point. Do I really trust Beck? Are we really friends or just... partners?'

As Mizu and Lily kept telling Beck to spout out seemingly random words, Rye bit his lip and nodded slightly.

'Sandshrew's right. No more 'laters.' I'll talk to Sinni; tomorrow for sure. Hopefully she'll know what to do.'

Content with this idea, he sat back and watched as Beck exaggeratedly threw his paws up in defeat, apparently having been given too complicated a word to pronounce. Rye let himself smile a bit as he watched the others share another laugh. For once, he felt confidence blossom up as he decided on one thing.

'Tomorrow's gonna be better.'

-o-​

Xatu wasn't having a particularly good day.

He had had to eat a mushy apple at breakfast, overheard at least eleven thoughts wishing for his untimely death, had been scratched up while breaking up a fight in the Dark-type quarters, and had been reprimanded by another executive for his methods of doing so. He knew as well as any that servitude towards the Phoenix League required sacrifice, but this was getting to be quite the annoyance.

Especially considering the Arid Riverbed rendezvous.

Staring ahead unblinking as he paced the empty central hall, Xatu mulled over what he had seen during the encounter with the lowly thieves.

'There was something wrong there. I know it.'

Surely it couldn't have been the thieves. Xatu had gazed into their psyches more times than he wished, and he knew for a fact that they couldn't surprise him if they tried. In that case...

'It had to have been the adventurers. But how? They were but mere children...'

Xatu clenched his left eye closed, watching intently as the past scene psychically materialized in his mind's eye.

'I do not understand. They were unremarkable at best...'

He sighed to himself as he began to listen in on the thoughts he had picked up during their brief encounter.

'Yes, yes, childish awe from the Sandshrew, wariness from the Shroomish, fear and uncertainty from the Treecko, and simple feral garbage from the Oshawott. Why, then, do I-"

Xatu suddenly paused, his open eye widening ever so slightly as his crests rose.

'The Oshawott. Its mind was that of a feral, but the way that it composed its thoughts...

...impossible. But... it must have been...'

"Sir? You aight?" a voice called out. Xatu opened his eye and turned his head to find a Linoone eyeing him concernedly. He stared at the underling as he considered what to do next.

"...I must speak to the Director," he eventually said. The Linoone raised an eyebrow.

"Erm, Claydol says he's still out, sir," he said. Xatu quickly spun around, causing the Linoone to jump back.

"Then assemble the executives, this is no time to sit about!" he demanded. The Linoone gulped hard and quickly nodded, shrinking back further as Xatu returned to his usual neutral demeanor.

"W-what do ah tell 'em... uh, sir?" the Linoone stammered. Xatu allowed the faintest hint of a smile to grace the corners of his beak.

"We appear to have found our human."

 

[Sudmensch]

18 - From Bassa With Love

I came to as a figure above me gave a hard nudge with its foot. Blinking gunk out of my eyes, I tried to roll over, only to mentally scream at myself as I rolled onto my cast arm. Clenching my teeth, I turned my head just enough to meet Officer Feraligatr's gaze as she flashed that crocodile smile at our group.

"They live! Get on up, it's already mid-morning," she said. Ignoring my pitiful cry, she watched as Rye clambered to his feet beside me. A muffled comment sounded out from behind me, which I correctly assumed was Mizu. Being a Sandshrew, he seemed to have rolled into a ball to sleep and, being the menace he was, was now apparently refusing to budge. Lily scowled at him.

"Mizu..." she started.

"Fvve mre mnnts..." Mizu replied defiantly, only tightening his curled-up position. As Lily groaned in frustration, Feraligatr squatted down to look the Sandshrew over.

"Allow me, Shroomish," she said, a small smirk on her maw.

While it was hard to see in the morning sun, I could make out her pointer claw beginning to glow dimly with Water-type energy. Feraligatr laid her paw to rest on Mizu, then began to rhythmically tap on his shell with her glowing claw. Mizu flinched with each tap, though to his credit, he kept it up for a good few minutes. However, once those few minutes had passed, Mizu let out a muffled cry as he uncurled to desperately swat Feraligatr away. As he whimpered and clutched his new sore spot, she stood to address us.

"Water torture, ladies and gentlemons. Anyhoo, your new best friends did nothing but give us a hard time the whole night, though we were able to find this on them. I assume it's what you came for," she said as she held up a small bag. "Says it belongs to a Ms. Nidoran from Impetus Town?"

Rye and I quickly raised our paws, so Feraligatr unceremoniously tossed the bag into my paws. As we looked it over, in awe that we had been through all this for this one little bag, she cleared her throat.

"So... let's address the Slaking in the room, alright? What happened to their legs? They said something about their boss, and I know for certain you couldn't have done that, so did you see what happened?" she asked. An awkward silence hung in the air as we all looked to each other expectantly. Eventually, Mizu, who had finally stopped whining over his welt, sniffled once more and started.

"Uh, I-I was in the middle of fighting that big guy off with Lily and Treecko when, uh, this Xatu showed up, and, uh, he started being really cool and made the big guys fly up in the air! And they were all like..." he said, swinging his arms around to mimic what he had seen before Lily calmed him with a nudge. "Uh, then he started talking about his weird secret club, said he was, like, their leader, then he... he, uh, used his mind to break the big guys' legs."

Feraligatr watched us, her lips pursed as Mizu finished his tale.

"Hrm... what was this... er, secret club called?" she asked.

"I think he called it the Fffeh... uh, Phoenix something," Mizu said. Feraligatr made a quiet noise of disgust as she looked down at the floor, shaking her head slightly.

"Phoenixes. Should have figured they'd pull this," she muttered. With that, she pulled a small sack from behind her sash and tossed it towards us, where it hit the floor with a dull clunk.

"Thanks for the information. I guess that's case closed, then. There's your reward, you all can take your time," she told us. As she walked out the door, Rye undid the twine around the sack's opening, spilling dozens of dull metal coins onto the floor. As we ogled at the Poké before us, Lily raised her foot to get our attention.

"Uh, Treecko, remember our deal?" she asked. Rye, not breaking his gaze towards the coins, blinked once and hung his head, letting out a despairing groan.

-o-​

It was well around noon when our group gathered on the path out of Bassa Village to say our goodbyes. While Cap'n Brine was gorging himself to prepare for the long flight home, we and Feraligatr had decided to see Team Creosote off. Lily gazed out at the dunes ahead of her, her Toolbox slung over her back as Rye tried to reason with her.

"Uh, it's the middle of the day, and... you said you were from Cesaree City, right? It's forty miles to the coast, are you sure you don't want a lift? Heck, y-you could even come back with us to the Guild!" he said. Lily gave him a small smile in response.

"Thanks, but we got here just fine. The road back should be just as easy and boring. Besides, I'd still rather eat Muk than be bossed around by some crusty old Guildie. No offense," she said.

As I watched them talk, Mizu tapped me on the shoulder. While that was enough to startle me, I legitimately almost screamed once I saw him wielding his Iron Thorn, which was still covered in dried Poliwrath blood and berry juice. As I calmed myself down, he placed the disgusting weapon onto the sand in front of me.

"Here, have this to remember us by!" he piped. I stared down at the spike, then back up at Mizu. He wasn't actually parting with this thing, was he? As if reading my thoughts, the Sandshrew gave me a cheery smile.

"Go ahead and take it, I found a longer one in Ms. Feraligatr's trash!" he insisted, turning to show me said thorn tucked through the filthy bandanna around his neck.

'I'd question how safe that is, but honestly, I stopped trying to rationalize this guy's mindset a good while back.'

Trying to touch as little of the Iron Thorn as possible, I picked it off the ground as Mizu joined Lily in gazing at the desert ahead. Letting out one final sigh, Lily turned to us.

"Well, that's it, then. It's been nice meeting you, Beck and...?" she said, giving Rye a questioning look. Realizing he hadn't given his name last night, he coughed a bit.

"Oh, uh, Rye," he said. Shroomish flashed a quick smile.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two. Who knows, we might catch each other on the road at some point," she said. As we smiled and nodded, Mizu abruptly raised his paw up.

"Ooh-ooh, I know a song for this!" he piped before breaking into a childish tune, kicking in place for effect. "Day or night, rain or shine, when we meet again it'll be a sight..."

As Mizu continued his off-key singing, Lily pushed him along, and with one final look back at us, continued into the desert ahead. Breaking from his one-hit wonder, Mizu gave us a final persistent wave.

"Tell the cool teams in your Guild I said hi, Blubby!" he yelled back as the two shrunk into the distance. I rolled my eyes at the name, though still waved the Creosotes off all the same. Though a little shit one of them might be, I could at least tolerate him. That had to account for something, right? As I turned to strap our bag closed, I felt Rye hurriedly pull me back.

"Wait, don't pack up. There's... uh, s-something I want to do first," he said. I gave him a perplexed look and reluctantly followed him back to the town gate, where Feraligatr was waiting for us, cocking her head as Rye approached her.

"Uh, M-Ms. Feraligatr? I... uh... c-can we... t-talk? Er, alone?" he asked, dread etched into his face. Feraligatr's gaze softened.

"Oh... uh, of course," she said as Rye gave me a quick sideways glance.

"C-could you please wait here?" he asked me.

"Er, yeh..." I said confusedly as Rye hurriedly followed Feraligatr back to her house, leaving me alone in the midday heat. After maybe ten minutes, I decided on walking out of town and looking up at the imposing gate. As I had seen before, the broken green sign proudly displayed the village's name in bold Unown script.

'Basa Town? Well, Feraligatr did say it was something along those lines, I guess. It looks cut off at the beginning, I wonder what it-'

'...wait. I... I just read that.'

I stared up at the sign, a wild smile growing on my face. I didn't know what my human self was like, but I don't think he would have been as excited as I was at that moment to just read something, even if it was apparently a dead language. Before long, I found myself trying to express this to Cap'n Brine, who had just returned from the cafe. A loose strand of fish meat dangling from his bill, he gave me an odd look as I waved him over and excitedly gestured to the town gate.

"Um... yeh, that most certainly is a soign," he confusedly said. I grimaced slightly as he hobbled away, stretching his wings and muttering inspirational jargon to himself. Growing restless from the excitement, I glanced up the road.

'Surely they shouldn't be taking this long? Maybe I should check up on them...'

Looking back to make sure Brine wasn't about to stop me, I started towards Officer Feraligatr's house. As I approached the house, Rye and Feraligatr suddenly walked out the door. I shrunk back as Feraligatr sent me a flat look, clearly catching on to what I was doing.

"...here, go ahead and crash in my place. Rye and I are gonna go on a little walk, have a little conversation. Y'know, self-worth, survivors guilt, yadda yadda," she said, her voice hoarse.

"Sinni, p-please don't... not in front of Beck," Rye said. Feraligatr hung her head and sighed.

"Sorry, sorry. I get like that when I'm all upset. Feel free to hit me across the maw if I start on that again, yeah?"

Rye snorted as the two headed into town, leaving me to stare after them, at a bit of a loss of what to think.

'They really do know each other... huh. I'll give them a while.'

With that decided, I hobbled into Feraligatr's... er, Sinni's house and resigned myself to examining Mizu's horrid Iron Thorn.

-o-​

Maybe an hour passed before Rye and Sinni walked in on me sprawled on the floor clutching my broken arm in pain, having failed to tighten the cast around it. As I embarrassedly followed them out, I noticed just how much in good spirits the two were. The depressive, uncertain feelings I had subconsciously come to associate with Rye were absent at the moment, some degree of hope replacing them in the Treecko's yellow eyes. As the three of us passed under the gate, a flap of wings from Sinni's roof signified Cap'n Brine's arrival.

"Oi'm not gon ask," he said offhandedly as he opened up his bill, allowing me to slip our bag inside before turning to Sinni.

"Eh... sha, shehh. Shaa," I tried to thank her. Despite the poor attempt, she seemed to get the message and gave me a signature crocodile smile, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Stay safe out there, kid. If anyone gives you shit, just fly back and tell me, yeah?" she asked. I nodded, prompting her to turn to Rye.

"Th-thank you for the talk, Sinni. It really helped, I think," he simply said.

"Anytime. Just keep what I said in mind, and try not to lose Beck again," Sinni replied.

"Sh-sha?" I asked in response.

'Didn't Mizu say Pokémon only shared their names with others they trusted?'

Rye quickly caught on to my worries and raised his hands.

"Hey, don't worry, Beck. Sinni and I knew each other way back when, she's fine," he assured me before giving a small cough. "Er, that's Ms. Feraligatr's name."

"Swha?" I inquired while gesturing back and forth between the two. Rye bit his lip and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could say anything, however, a Herdier bolted into the scene, startling us all as it panted, its face contorted with panic.

"Nick? What are you..." Sinni started.

"It's the outlaws, ma'am! I was interrogating them, they were giving me shit, and I stepped out for some water. W-when I came back in, they were on the floor screamin' with a Xatu over them. He must have teleported in or-" the Herdier explained. Sinni's eyes widened.

"Slow down, Nick. Are the bodies still there?" she asked.

"Bodies? Oh, uh, they're still alive, ma'am. Just... messed up. Like, can't even speak messed up," the Herdier replied. Sinni clenched her fists.

"Son of a Weezing!" she roared before storming away from us, the Herdier tailing her. We quickly made to follow after her, but she just looked back.

"Y-you go, this isn't a job for explorers!" she yelled. As she and Nick the Herdier disappeared into the town, Rye and I exchanged worried glances as Cap'n Brine looked at us curiously.

"Well, ye heard the lass. Come 'long, oi don wonna get too caught up here," he eventually said.

"B-but..." Rye started.

"She knows wot she's doin," Brine reassured us before opening his bill. With not much choice in the matter, Rye and I reluctantly climbed inside. Holding our bag tight, we held on as the Pelipper took off, sending dry wind into our faces. Once it died down, I leaned out ever so slightly to manage a final look out towards the shrinking Bassa Village. As I lost sight of the little village, I sat back down in Brine's moist bill, glancing towards Rye. The heat of the moment finally wearing off, I found myself grinning at him.

"Rye, shee eeh...?" I asked, narrowing an eye as I exaggeratedly gestured to Rye. He looked to me confusedly before recoiling in shock.

"Wait, i-it's not like that, Beck! We were just friends back then!" he hissed, his face red as I chuckled.

"Shaah," I said in a singsongy voice, waggling a paw at him. Rye huffed.

"A-alright, say what you want," he said before looking up at me, his own grin growing on his face. "D-doesn't really change anything, now does it, Blubby?"

My mocking smile immediately fell off my face. It was his turn to laugh at me as I stared at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. Forgive me, o heir to the great house of Blubbington!" he chimed.

'Oh, you want to play this game, do you? Well... actually, I can't really say anything back, can I? You win this round...'

As I raised my paws up in defeat, I slunk back as Rye gave a victorious whoop.

'This is gonna be a long one, isn't it?'

-o-​

As the forested hills below us whizzed by, Rye and I leaned out of Brine's bill, gazing down at the ground as the Treecko quietly looked around.

"Hm... I spy something... uh, g-green," Rye said.

"Shaghh..." I groaned, dragging my paws down my face. It seemed Rye's good mood had passed, and with that, his ideas for passing the time were growing thin. We had been playing this same game for maybe half an hour by this point, and I could tell we were both bored of it. It was mildly entertaining the first ten times, not so much the next twenty. As if to prove my point, Rye quickly gave up on trying to continue the game and shifted in his tight spot. Surely there was something else to do other than this?

'Really, why is I Spy the go-to game in the field? Couldn't we just as easily play fire-water-grass?'

I was about to try and inform Rye of this groundbreaking idea when I stopped myself and took notice of my paw, particularly its lack of any fingers to play such a game.

'Again, curse you, stubby paws.'

Without anything else to do, I made sure Cap'n Brine wasn't hitting any turbulence and opened our bag.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Rye asked, giving me a dubious look. I shrugged as I started to dig through the seeds and berries, idly looking for anything to do. As I dug deeper, I felt a flat shape brush against my paw. Pulling it out, I was met with our notebook, stained but still in one piece.

"Oh, wow, I forgot about that thing." Rye said, leaning over to see as I cracked it open, finding my crude stick-figure drawing of a human staring back at us.

"Huh. We never did use it after that, did we? Could have helped a lot, I could have started teaching you to write..."

My ears perked up as Rye said this, my revelation back in Bassa Village coming to mind.

"Ah, Rye! Sheah?" I asked, miming out the act of writing and gesturing to the bag. Surely being able to read Unown script meant I could write in it, too?

"Oh, uh, you want a pen? Um... okay, then," Rye said, handing me a piece of charcoal from the bag's side pocket. Squinting in concentration, I turned to a blank page and started trying to write. Drawing random lines and squiggles, I tried to remember how exactly to put them together into letters, then those letters into words. My inner monologue wasn't much help in writing, seeing as it was mostly just noise and images that didn't translate into words easily, and my primary arm being broken left the characters looking sloppy at best, though with enough effort, I managed to squeeze out a recognizable word among the page full of failures.

'The. Just... the. That's all I could get out? Well, at least I know I can write something, I guess...'

Despite my disappointment in my limitations, Rye didn't seem to care about how little I could do, moreso that I could.

"Wait, are... a-are those Unown runes?" he asked, eyes wide. "Wow, th-this is... this could be great for us! There aren't many Pokémon out there that can understand those; around here, only Guildmaster Arcanine can for sure! You... uh, you can read those, right?"

I nodded, earning an excited grin from Rye as he looked over my shoddy writing. As he did, however, his smile faded, replaced with that familiar troubled look on his face.

"Dill and I would always try to read Unown script like it was Gray-tongue... y'know, s-see the weird things it would say..." he said, looking away from the book. He stared off for a minute before sighing.

"I... you've figured my story of what happened with him is a load of crap, right?" he asked. I shamefully nodded, causing Rye to avert his gaze from mine.

"Uh... I-I wasn't able to get it off my mind after what happened with the Krokorok, so Sinni and I were talking about it back in Bassa Village. Uh, it was just... really nice to actually talk with someone about it, you know? She also told me that... that..."

His tail twitched as he stared off.

"C-can you do me a favor, Beck? Please don't tell anyone about this..." he asked of me. I gave a slow nod, prompting Rye to hang his head.

"It was maybe three years back, and we lived in a little town at the foot of Mount Twist. I-it's true that Dill died when he went into Mount Twist, but... I... I was the one who made him go in there. We heard about treasure in the cave outside our town, and we thought we could get it first if we went in and got an idea of what was in there. B-but while Dill was in there..."

Rye shifted uncomfortably.

"Th-the mystery dungeon in Mount Twist expanded into the cave, and Mount Twist erupted. I tried to go back for him, but I couldn't make it. I ended up under a tree, and I would have died if Mr. Arden and the others weren't there to chart out the caves in the area. Th-they went in to go get Dill, and... h-he..."

He sniffled as I listened intently.

"H-he was still alive when they pulled him out... he was burned and cut all over, his bones were broken, and he could barely even speak... h-he was going through all that pain because... because of me! H-he was staring right at me when he died... I just held him there. I could have gotten help, but I just... stood there..."

Rye finished as he clenched his eyes closed, tears beginning to fall down his face. Unsure of what else to do, I put a paw on his shoulder.

"Rye, shaah. Sha," I tried to comfort him. Rye didn't look back to me.

"S-Sinni said I'm not a murderer like she said back then, that I shouldn't focus on the past, that it wasn't my fault... but a-am I really a good Pokémon, Beck?" he asked. My eyes widened.

"Y-yeh!" I said.

"H-how do you know, Beck? How do we know that... I won't leave you to die to save my own tail?" Rye asked tearfully. Looking around frantically, I eventually gestured down at the forest below and the wide, winding Serperior River snaking through it, then back towards myself. Rye stared down at the ground below before finally meeting my gaze with bloodshot eyes.

"...y-you mean when I pulled you out of the river back in Quinite Woods?" he croaked. I nodded, finally getting a small nod from the Treecko.

"I... I guess..." he said simply, cracking a smile. "Heh, I guess you'd have ditched me already if I were still that bad?"

"Ha, shyah," I said. Rye sat up and looked out towards the horizon, his prior gloom less intense. After a minute, he looked towards me, a small smirk on his face.

"I spy something green," he said. Grinning, I rolled my eyes and went along with the game.

-o-​

We finally stumbled out of Cap'n Brine's bill gasping for fresh air as the sun hung low over Brine's harbor. Our arrival was met with enthusiasm from the Wingull we had seen before we had left as Brine sat down hard.

"Good ta see ye kept me port in one piece, Piku. Oi'm gonna go an' have me a nap, lemme know if the lass an' her crew shows up, ye?" Brine asked. The Wingull cleared her throat.

"Can't, sir, Team Apex arrived earlier yesterday. Not sure if ye can have that nap, we need all wings on deck, we had a guy quit and go with 'em," she said. Brine blinked hard as he took in this information.

"...well, shite," he muttered before turning to us.

"Er, looks loike we're gon be a bit busy 'ere. It's been a pleasure servin' you lads," he said earnestly.

"Thank you, Cap'n. I-if you want us to repay you, we still have Poké..." Rye began. Brine waved a wing dismissively.

"Ah, don worry 'bout it, consider it repayment for wot 'appened a week back, eh? Go on back to ya Guild, and say hello to Leafeon fah me!" he said before taking off. The two of us waved him off until he disappeared into a building in the center of the port. Once he did so, we started on the long walk back to Impetus Town, our spirits high. We had survived the mission, successfully apprehended criminals, learned a good bit, and we had a disgusting trophy to show for it. As we finally approached the Guild's gate, we held our heads up high, confident in what was to come next...

...and then we noticed Cinccino sitting in her kiosk, sending us a glare that could pierce an Aggron's armor.

"Team Reach. Here. Now," she demanded.

'...oh.'

Our prior enthusiasm crumbled away as we stood before her office, trying not to look her in her eyes.

"You're lucky I like you two, because... ugh. Abandoning your posts, taking a request not approved by the Guild, going off on an outlaw mission without prior approval, and not even consulting us when you went off, just to name a few of what you pulled when you went off. What were you thinking?" Cinccino snapped. I swallowed hard, raising a trembling paw up as Rye let out a weak noise, looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

"Sh-sha..." I tried. Cinccino's eye twitched before she hung her head and sighed.

"Agh. I'll let you two off since you're just rookies, I suppose. The Guildmaster won't be very happy about this, but live and let live. Carry on," she muttered, turning back to a confused Pokémon at the front of the line.

Swallowing nervously, I followed a still-shaking Rye into the Guild's grounds. Ignoring several glances from the Pokémon passing us, we dragged ourselves to our base. As we walked in, a small table in front of a window caught my eye. Struck with a small bout of inspiration, I pulled Mizu's Iron Thorn out of our bag and set it down on it. Rye admired the horrid thing as the dying sunlight lit it up.

"The first piece of our collection... here's hoping we'll find more than just this, huh?" he joked. We shared a chuckle before a low gurgle sounded. Rye clutched his belly in response.

"Er, how's dinner sound?" he asked. Putting a paw to my own stomach, I nodded in agreement, so we tossed our bag aside and left the Iron Thorn to proudly confuse anyone who happened to walk by.

-o-​

"We-ell, look who it is! Good to see you're alive! Where you two been?" Raticate beamed as we stood in front of his window.

"We were, uh, chasing outlaws in Bassa Village, sir," Rye said.

"Bassa? Good distance away, not too shabby for rookies like you! No offense," Raticate piped as he took notice of my cast. "I suppose those outlaws gave you that?" he asked. As I nodded, he sniffled to himself.

"You gotta be careful, those assholes don't play fair. Guess you already went and figured that out for yourselves, huh?" he said as he went to fill our trays. As we watched him start to pile food up, I looked up with a start.

"Sha!" I yelled after the cook. He glanced back at me confusedly as Rye blinked in understanding.

"H-he doesn't want extra food, sir. Same amount as me, please," he explained. Raticate watched us for a bit before giving a yellow-toothed grin.

"Sure thing, kid," he said. With that, he handed us our trays and we filed into the loud crowd of Pokémon. Shuddering as a nearby team of Ghost-types gave a long, eerie laugh, we dug in. As I chewed on a fruit with a name I couldn't quite put my paw on, I overheard a voice talking beside me.

"...yeah, the Guildmaster found a new Water trainer, apparently. 'Bout damn time, I'm tired of just divin' into the river and whaling on the Basculin!"

I cocked my head at this comment. A new Water-type trainer?

'Honestly, I'm not expecting much from that after the last time we tried at training.'

I pushed the unpleasant memory out of my head as I turned to face Rye. As he leaned back to converse with someone behind him, I couldn't help but feel happy for him. Sure, he was still the anxious Treecko I had grown to know, but he was starting to get better, at least.

'It may have been rocky, and it honestly could have happened without too much changing, but I think that mission was worth it in the end.'

With that in mind, I sat back and let the jovial atmosphere in the mess hall wash over me. Though I knew this little reprieve wouldn't last past tonight, I savored it all the same.

-o-​

"Xatu, we need to talk."

"Is there a problem, Executive Gengar?"

"A problem? Oh, not at all, you just went and lobotomized our guys in Bassa Village!"

"Pah. Of course they could not handle it. They were weaker than I assumed, most should have been able to make it through such a memory wipe."

"Memory... why?! What possible excuse do you have this time?!"

"Vigoroth and Poliwrath... they talked too much. In times like these, we cannot afford even the slightest margin of error."

"Error?! What do you mean error?!"

"It concerns our human. Should the secret escape, our ambitions, nay, our entire League runs risk of falling."

"...human?! The fuck you talking about?!"

"I have already briefed the other executives on this, now-"

"I-I don't give a damn, you melted our mons' minds without our knowledge! The boss oughta throw you out of the League for this!"

"Hmph. This conversation holds no further purpose. Farewell."

"What? Oh, nonono, don't you teleport away on me, you... agh! How does the boss even put up with you..."

 

[Sudmensch]

19 - Familiar Faces

"Hey, Beck? W-why do I feel like we forgot something?" Rye asked as he stuffed our bag away, ready to tucker in for the night. As with the rest of the Guild, we had hurried back to our base as the moon started to climb into the sky. Apparently the Guild had a curfew in place, and while I wasn't sure why exactly, I wasn't about to try and challenge it.

"Sh... ergh..." I groaned in response to Rye's pondering, momentarily forgetting I couldn't say I didn't know. As I shook my head, Rye shrugged his unsure feelings off, lodging the bag under the table. He gave a quick gesture, signaling me to fire a Water Gun off at the torch lighting our base. Our small base was plunged into darkness just moments before the toll of a bell rang through the air. Rye sighed in relief.

"Whew, that was close. They don't like when rookies stay up after lights-out." he said, curling up in his bed. "Hey, what do you say we go to Cinccino tomorrow and... uh..."

Rye paused.

"...w-we forgot to give Nidoran her bag."

I heard him hit his head against the floor as he let out a groan.

"Well, I'm an idiot," he huffed.

"Shaagh," I added, gesturing to myself. Surely if he was an idiot for this, then two's a party, right?

"W-we'll get it back to her early tomorrow. Here's hoping she won't be too mad at us," Rye decided as he rested his head. "Night, Beck."

As Rye started to snore beside me, I found myself staring at the backs of my eyelids, finally afford some time to think without attracting too many odd looks.

'When I got poisoned yesterday, I had that flashback... what did it mean? Maybe that voice knows something about it? Come to think of it, where'd the voice go? Why won't it just tell me why I'm here? Will I ever hear from it again, or...? Ugh, my head hurts, moving on. ...uh, Rye. What he told me... just... what do I even say to that? I haven't lost anyone like that, have I? He clearly trusts me a good bit if he's going to tell me all that, so what comes next?'

Such questions frantically swam through my head, keeping me awake for a while before sleep finally claimed me.

-o-​

"Nidoran? Yeah, I think I saw her heading down to town square just a bit ago."

As Rye thanked the Silggoo pointing us up the street, we started up the rocky path into the town. The morning atmosphere of Impetus Town bubbled pleasantly around us as we walked along looking around for Nidoran. A pair of laughing young Pokémon chased each other around us as a small street band played a lively tune on strings, providing ample noise over the dozens of pleasant indistinct conversations around us.

As we passed Officer Magnezone giving us a nod of greeting as he floated by, we caught sight of Nidoran intently watching something in the square with a Seedot standing close by, the Pecha scarf we had retrieved not so long ago wrapped around it.

"H-hey, Nidoran! We-" Rye began.

"Shh. We're listening," Nidoran whispered, not breaking her focus. Shuffling past her, we peered into the square to see what she was looking at. A small group of kids, mostly Fire-types, I noticed, was gathered in the center of the square watching a familiar Quilava talk over them, his teammates behind him.

"Alright, keep those deep breaths coming. In, out. In, out. Now... yes, you in the back?" Arden said, pointing to a Magby raising its paw.

"What does this have to do with fighting? We wanted to learn how to be stronger, this is just what my mom would tell me!" the Magby said. A small murmur rose among the group, the nearby May and Pike smirking knowingly as Arden got over the initial shock of the comment.

"Well, kid, uh, your ember's like an actual fire. It grows and shrinks depending on how much fuel it has. Taking in oxygen helps to feed it," he explained.

"But that takes forever!" the troublesome Magby groaned. Arden cocked an eyebrow, then took several long, deep breaths as May stepped back. After a minute of this, he stopped, then blew a massive plume of fire twenty feet into the air. Even from our position, the heat brushed against us, making Rye jump back. Arden gave a smug look to the group as he closed his mouth and let the fire curl away.

"Any more comments?" he asked. The Magby disgruntedly shrunk back, prompting a loud clap from Arden.

"Alright, that's my advice for you. Keep at it and one day, you'll be crawling dungeons like us! Now go out there and fuu... er, f-fudge... fuss? Yeah, uh, f-fuss 'em up!" he piped. He turned away as the excited group of young Fire-types applauded and started trying to produce their own giant fireballs, much to the displeasure of the adults in the area. Nidoran sighed contently beside us.

"One day, you know? One day Seedot and I will be able to hold our own like them, and we can finally quit bugging the Guild to help us. That'll be the day..." she said. She continued to stare ahead for a minute before snapping out of her trance and quickly turning around to meet our looks.

"Oh, it's you! Seedot, look, it's the team I told you about!" she said. "Uh, d-did you get our stuff back?"

"Oh, yeah, w-we were just coming to get it to you. Here," Rye said, placing Nidoran's little bag in front of the pair. The two quickly tore it open and began digging through it, presumably to make sure everything was in order. Eventually, Nidoran fished out several coins and rested them at our feet.

"I... I don't know how we can thank you enough, honestly. I feel like the Poké is enough..." she said.

"Sha, shaah!" I reassured her. Nidoran's Seedot friend looked at me oddly.

"Huh, thought you were exaggerating when you said he couldn't talk," he said. Ignoring this, Nidoran turned to leave, Seedot following close behind. As they walked down the street, she stopped to look back at us one last time.

"Uh, th-thanks again!" she stammered before the two continued I watched them disappear into the thin crowd as Rye knelt down to pick up the Poké still at our feet.

"I wouldn't do that just yet, kid," a voice said from behind us. We jumped back in shock, spinning around to find May looking at us concernedly, Arden and Pike flanking her.

"Oh, Ms. May! Uh... wh-what's wrong with them?" Rye said.

"Chances are they've got poison all over them. I mean, that was a Nidoran paying you, right? I'd wash them off first," May replied, looking to me expectantly. I sighed and began soaking the pile of coins with a Water Gun as Rye looked back up to Team Apex.

"S-so how was Bewilder Forest?" he asked, to which Arden grinned widely.

"Well, we helped out a little town or two, had to save Pike from a herd of Emolga, beat the shit out of the resident Zoroark, had a nice lunch with her after the fact, and ended up hunched over digging through rubble for a crusty safe," he explained. I finished hosing the Poké off as Rye cocked his head.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"I mean, we did end up digging up the thing. I'd say it was worth the trouble; had a few decently preserved books, some kind of old weapon, and... get this, a fucking TM! Not like the kind you buy from Kecleon or Alakazam, I mean a human TM! Western model, too; the type that wasn't designed to break after one use! Ohh-hoho, just wait till they figure out how to get it working again!" Arden chimed, rubbing his paws together excitedly. Rye and I stared at the ecstatic Quilava, unsure of half of what he had just said.

"Um... th-that's cool," Rye soon said, picking our reward money off the ground. As he did this, Pike cleared his throat behind us.

"Need I remind ya of the time?" he asked, pointing a wing at the sun. Arden snapped out of his spell and clenched his teeth together.

"Shit. ...er, come on, we'll take you two to the amphitheater, it's rude not to show up for weekly assembly. You're gonna like what they say, I'll say that," he quickly said before dropping onto all fours and dashing off. Rolling her eyes, May quickly followed as Pike stopped to give me a wary glance before flying off after them. With Rye haphazardly clutching our coins, we started weaving through the lively morning crowd to hurry after the team. As we managed to catch up with them, May looked over her shoulder at us.

"So what've you two been up to?" she asked.

"Uh, m-mission to Amber Meadow, went to Bassa Village to catch some outlaws, met an old friend. That's... ugh, that's basically it," Rye managed, struggling to keep up with the far more fit Leafeon.

"Ah, yeah, the guys with the screwed-up legs, right?" she asked.

"Wh-what?" Rye said, looking up confusedly.

"Gossip travels fast, kid. You can tell us about it later, I guess," May replied. With nothing else to say, we kept up our pursuit, leaving me to wonder just what this assembly was about.

-o-​

Even with my memory loss, I could well understand the pain of mass social gatherings, especially ones where you're sitting next to a complete stranger. At the present moment, I began to wonder how much I had taken that for granted when I could at least talk, wasn't a foot and a half tall, and wasn't sitting next to a hulking seven-foot Pangoro who kept giving me the stink-eye.

'Perks of being a Pokémon, I guess.'

As I sulked at the thought of all the idle finger-twiddling I and my little paws were missing out on, a sudden cheer rang from the other explorers sitting around the amphitheater. My ears ringing from the Pangoro's roar, I looked up to find Guildmaster Arcanine entering the ring with Cinccino and several others following. With a small nod to his hundred-odd apprentices, he took a seat just in front of his statue, the sunlight gleaming off his golden hide. With a steely look from the Guildmaster, the crowd fell silent, allowing him to speak.

"I thank you all for attending, even though there is not much to say," he said, his baritone voice echoing along the amphitheater's cone-shaped structure. "Firstly, I would like to commend Teams Minutemon, Opportunity, Apex, and Stonewall for their continued vigilance and discoveries in the field."

Light applause sounded as Arden nodded and stuck a paw up a couple of rows below me. I failed to hide my scowl as I glanced at Rye, who looked equally disappointed. All that and we weren't going to be mentioned for it? Boy, that was encouraging.

"Now then, I'd like to make an announcement," Arcanine stated, prompting me to redirect my less-than pleasant face towards him. "As you are all likely aware, Greninja, our Water-type master of twenty-seven years, has recently retired, leaving our Guild in dire need of a new trainer. Thankfully, we have managed to find a promising candidate for such a role."

Arcanine paused for effect as I gave a loud sigh, earning another look from the Pangoro beside me.

'Oh, boy, who's gonna pull the feral card on me this time?'

Looking over the dozens of Pokémon murmuring to each other, Arcanine continued.

"It is with great pleasure that I introduce our new Water-type trainer, Master Wartortle."

'Wait, Wartortle?'

As the Guildmaster's words sunk in, I watched as the aforementioned Wartortle walked into the amphitheater, sheepishly waving to the crowd.

"Ah, come on, now, I'm no master, I'm just a sailor who happened to have experience. Just call me Wartortle, yeah?" he requested. I shrunk back, dumbfounded. That voice...

'...Bert?'

"Beck, th-that's..." Rye began. Arcanine quickly cut him off as he continued his announcement, most of which was lost on me as I gaped at Bert.

'This... this is just... wow.'

"...and the annual gathering for the Guild's group painting will be held at next week's end. That is all I wish to announce. May fortune be on your side. Forever forward!" Arcanine declared.

"Forever forward!" the congregation of Pokémon roared. As Arcanine and his assistants filed out, the crowd dispersed, either leaving to go about their day or gathering around Bert to welcome him to the Guild. In Rye and I's case, we sat there and watched as he Wurmpled his way out of the small crowd, dusting himself off as he looked around at the now mostly-empty seats. It didn't take long for him to notice the two of us, recognition and a big grin flashing across his face as he quickly walked up to us.

"Well, I'll be damned! How've you two been?" he asked.

"H-how did you...?" Rye asked, still in mild shock. Bert chuckled.

"I told you, kid, it's a small world. Your friends over there said there was an opening here at your Guild, and we figured I'd be decent enough at the job here, what with what happened on the river. I tried to tell them off, but five hours on the river with them saying otherwise really convinces you otherwise, you know?" he said. At that moment, he took notice of my wrapped-up arm, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, then, what were you doing while I wasn't watching? I don't think I can quite help you out with your arm like that," he said.

"Sha!" I protested, grabbing my scalchop to show I could still try. I proved myself wrong within two swings once I doubled over in pain, clenching my teeth as Bert watched on, unimpressed. After a moment of consideration, he knelt down to meet my gaze.

"You know what? I'm moving in tomorrow, so how about you head on over to the Water-type grounds once I set up shop?" he requested. Still clutching my pain-wracked arm, I nodded, prompting Bert to stand.

"Alright, then. See you then, kid," he nodded before walking away, quickly being swarmed by the explorers still there. Rye and I quickly made to leave the amphitheater, vaguely aware of the suspicious glances and whispers we were getting from several Pokémon idling about. As we headed down the path to our quarters, Rye suddenly perked up.

"Oh, hey, Beck! You know how you can read Unown-script? Maybe we could ask Mr. Arden for help, maybe he can help you figure them out better! Uh, what do you think?" he said.

"Huh... yeh, shaah!" I said, nodding in agreement.

"Alright! Let's just... uh, what do we do until then?" Rye wondered.

'...good question. Maybe Ms. Audino can fix up my arm?'

I gestured to my cast and pointed up the path.

"What? ...oh, uh, I don't think Ms. Audino can help much with that. I mean, w-we already set it, so there isn't much she can really do besides Heal Pulses, and those take a lot of energy," Rye said. I sighed, choosing to simply follow Rye to our base.

'Ugh. Broken arms suck.'

-o-​

As Beck and Rye turned the corner, Arden took a glance back to watch them go. Judging by the smirk he had seen on Bert's face, he could assume their discussion had gone well. Grinning to himself proudly, Arden followed May and Pike as they headed to the boards. As they began to check over their bag, Arcanine's voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Team Apex? A moment, please." Paling, Arden turned to find the Guildmaster at the head of the road, watching the team as they froze in place. The three quickly saluted as he approached them.

"I'd like to speak with Arden alone, please," he requested.

"Wait, what? Sir, if this is about the team, we-" Pike began.

"No, no, it's okay, I'll, uh, meet you guys at the boards," Arden reassured them. May and Pike watched the Quilava before nodding and turning to continue without him.

"Come along," Arcanine commanded, walking back towards the now mostly empty amphitheater. Still quivering, Arden obediently went after him, soon sitting down next to him. The remaining Pokémon at the amphitheater gawked at the sight, though quickly shrunk back as Arcanine dismissed them with a wave of his paw. As they scampered away, Arden finally found the nerve to speak up.

"S-so... you wanted me, sir?" he asked in a hushed tone. Arcanine nodded.

"I trust that you have not forgotten of what I asked?" he questioned. Arden gave him a confused look.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

"About my suspicions of Beck? The Oshawott?"

Arden quietly and rather colorfully insulted himself as the memory came rushing back.

"Oh, um, y-yes sir. From what I can tell, there's nothing special about the kid. I mean, not in the way you're asking. Aside from what you picked up off the bat, he's just your typical impressed feral," he explained. Arcanine gave a light hum as he nodded again.

"Continue to watch him, I still have my suspicions. Come to me immediately should anything reveal itself, and continue to not tell anyone. Yes?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Arden affirmed. Arcanine stood up, shaking dust out of his golden fur.

"Thank you again, you may go. I will be in my quarters researching the recent findings should you need me. Forever forward," he said. Arden stood and repeated the motto before bounding off to catch up with his friends. As he ran, he began to ponder Arcanine's words.

'Surely the old dog's got a point. I mean, what if the kid really is...?

No, no, you're just being paranoid, Arden. The world doesn't look to be in any danger, right? It would have just called us in that case, heh.

...but really, what if? ...ugh, oy vey. I've said it once, I'll say it again, just... the irony! Humanity fucks the world over, now they're the ones stopping the world from fucking itself over. At least, I hope...'

"Yeah, I hope..." Arden mumbled to himself as he reached the square, absentmindedly waving to his teammates as they stood by the mission board, a handful of requests in Pike's beak.

'Ugh, enough about Arcanine's weird fantasies. More on taking this Sentret to meet this Nickit, I guess.

...the fuck's a Nickit doing down in Basculin Strait, anyways?'

 

[Sudmensch]

20 - Falling into Place

You'd think that being a Pokémon for over two weeks now would have someone try to use that to answer the great mysteries of the universe. You know, where do Pokémon come from, how exactly do they work, are humans just another species of Pokémon, was it Pokémon or an omnipotent human-biased God that created the universe, those sorts of questions. I'm sure anyone in my position would jump at the chance to figure those out for themselves from this new perspective, especially when presented the days of thinking a broken bone provided.

Except me, apparently.

'How would Digletts exercise? Like, they don't have arms, do they? Hm, maybe they have legs and we just can't see them. In that case, do they have leg days and leg days only? Would they just dig tunnels to beef up?

Yeah, let's add this to my ever-growing list of what-the-fuck mysteries.'

As I sat alone in our quarters idly scribbling in our notebook, such enlightened contemplation kept springing up, pushing my concentration away whenever I tried to scrawl something tangible onto the paper.

'Is this even paper? I mean, it's been through a good bit and it hasn't disintegrated, so maybe it's parchment? Wait, isn't parchment made out of Pokémon skin? Ugh, here we go with this whole moral dilemma again...'

I shuddered and pushed the notebook away to maybe use another time. With nothing more to do, I tested my broken arm. While it still screamed at me with each bend of my elbow, I found it wasn't quite as intense as it had been yesterday. In fact, I found myself able to actually push myself off the floor somewhat (though I decided not to test that much for obvious reasons) even though the arm was supposed to be freshly broken. Maybe Pokémon have quicker healing rates than humans? Who knows.

As I thought this over, Rye walked through the door, a small sack in his hand.

"Hey, uh, got supplies from Mr. Kecleon. Here, eat this, i-it won't fix your arm, but it'll help a bit," he said, offering an Oran which I gladly accepted. Rye took a seat on the straw bed next to me as I started messily eating the berry, relishing in the pain-dulling properties of the fruit. As we went about our business, a sudden rapping rang out from behind. Rye and I quickly turned around to find a Noctowl and a Pawniard standing just outside the door. We watched each other for a bit before the Noctowl hopped forward, clearing its throat.

"Afternoon. You're Team Reach, I presume? We're Noctowl and Pawniard with Team Dawncrack," he said. Rye grimaced slightly.

"Dawncrack? Uh, I-I get it, but... er..." he said. The Noctowl sighed.

"We work with what we have," he said dismissively. Rye pursed his lips and nodded, swallowing as he continued.

"D-do you want something?" he asked worriedly.

"You could say that. We're one of the teams the Guildmaster's entrusted to help keep the news board up to date, and we have a couple questions for you and your... er, teammate," Noctowl said, casting a quick nervous glance towards me.

We reluctantly nodded, so Pawniard stepped up with its arm wrapped around a notebook and a crude inkwell. Noctowl waited as it sat down and dipped one of its blade-hands into the well. With a nod of affirmation, he turned back to us.

"Sources returning from the southern Imperium Desert say you were involved in an outlaw incident in and around Bassa Village. We're told the chase ended with the recovery of the desired goods, but also that the criminals ended up with shattered legs and were wiped of their motor skills around the time you apparently confronted them," he said. "Were you responsible for their current condition? If not, who was? Is the sheriff in Bassa Village correct in saying an emergency might be in the making?"

Rye took a minute to think as the two waited.

"I... I think it's best if I tell the whole story," he eventually said before pausing, his tail tensing as he tried to work up the nerve to follow through. Soon enough, he began recounting the journey from our return from Amber Meadow onward, leaving out details where necessary while the Pawniard to the side wrote down his words furiously. As he recalled my willingness to draw Vigoroth away during the fight with the outlaws, Noctowl sent me another look, though unlike per usual, I noticed that it wasn't tinted with fear or suspicion. Rather, I thought I saw some respect in that gaze, brief though it may have been. As Rye finished describing our encounter with Xatu, Noctowl raised a wing to stop us.

"I assume this Xatu character was the one who fried the outlaws," he said. "Why'd he come back to do that, though?"

"Don't know," Rye replied. Disappointment clear on his face, Noctowl clicked his beak, getting Pawniard to his feet.

"Thank you for your time. We'll post the gist of this interview on the news board tomorrow morning. We hope to see you again soon," he said. With that, the two left our base, leaving us alone again. Rye gave a relieved sigh, looking glad it was finally over, though looked up at me confusedly.

"W-why are you smiling, Beck?" he asked. Taking notice of my subconscious grin, I shook my head and raised a paw, a motion I hoped Rye would understand meant no reason. Despite that, I knew full well why. That look from Noctowl was quick, but it spoke volumes.

'Just because I'm like this doesn't mean we can't win the Guild's respect. If we play our cards right, Team Reach might just make it in this world.'

-o-​

The sun beat down on us as we stood below the training grounds' imposing entrance, staring up at the familiar carvings. As instructed, we had showed up so I could receive whatever training Bert the Wartortle had in store. I pushed the unpleasant memories I associated with this place out of my head as Rye looked to me.

"You sure you'll be alright, Beck?" he asked half-seriously.

"Yeh," I reassured him. Nodding slightly, Rye watched me start into the grounds. As loud clashes and explosions from sparring matches rang out around me, I made my way towards the river in the back of the grounds, biting my lip nervously. I knew it'd be fine, given my past experience with Bert, but the fear and uncertainty of what would happen was still there, especially knowing what everyone else here must have heard. As promised after Team Dawncrack's visit the previous day, they'd posted it on the news board, and judging by the whispering Rye and I saw from most passersby while we passed, I could assume our misadventures were decently well-known.

'All I hope is that they at least know I'm not gonna... I don't know, eat them? Squeeze the jelly out of their eyeballs? Ugh, who knows what they expect from me.'

As I weaved through a team walking opposite me, I caught sight of the small arena of the Water-type grounds ahead of me, only this time someone was there to greet me.

"Ah, Beck! You didn't forget and ghost me, good for you!" Bert piped as I approached. Taking a quick glance around, he leaned towards me.

"Alrighty, this session'll be easier for the both of us without an audience. Take this, why don't ya?" he asked, offering an empty bag.

"Wha?" I asked perplexedly.

"It's watertight, designed to hold in air. Chances are you'll need to breath out of it at some point, my place is in the river and I'm gonna assume you don't have gills," Bert explained, only confusing me further.

'The river? Your place? How are we going to train in your house?'

Reluctantly taking the bag, I quickly followed Bert as he dove into the river. Apart from the more abundant silt in the water, I felt this was familiar territory. My messed-up arm by my side, I took a moment to thank the creator for giving me a tail as I swam after Bert, minding the Basculin swimming by. Soon enough, we reached a small structure carved into the rocks on the riverbed, which contained a dark, unimpressive space that Bert looked over proudly.

"It ain't much, but it's mine. Oh, just wait till the movers get my stuff in, then... eh, it still won't be much. But it's better than sharing a room with a flock of Wingull, I can tell you that," he snorted.

"Shaah?" I asked as I pulled out my scalchop and gestured to it, my uncertainty mounting. Bert looked at me, his face shifting to that same deadpan expression I had seen yesterday.

"I, uh, thought I made it clear we weren't doing physical training, not with your arm like that," he said. I couldn't help myself, I let out a long, admittedly obnoxious whine in response. Undeterred, Bert continued.

"However, I think I can help out in one regard. I noticed you picked up a couple more words since we last met, but I don't reckon two words a week will do you much good. That being said, I might can help," he said. As I looked on, he tucked his arm into his shell, keeping it in there for a minute before it came back out clutching some kind of blue lump.

"I've been told about the whole amnesia thing, but you do know what gummis are, right?" he asked. I shook my head.

"...right, you didn't even remember what your tide was. Er, I reckon you should try it first so I can explain it. I was gonna take it to the inn to get it juiced, but you probably need it more than I do," he said, offering me the gummi. Hesitantly taking the gummi, I looked it over. Nothing screamed off to me, though after the poisoned apple in Arid Riverbed, I was reluctant to stick whatever this was into my mouth.

"Well, I haven't drugged it or anything," Bert said jokingly, watching me as I examined the gummi. Swallowing hard, I took a small bite off of it, bracing for the horrid side effects that were undoubtedly about to follow.

'…whoa.'

I couldn't quite find the words to describe what I had just tasted. The rich flavor left a sweet but sharp aftertaste as I swallowed it, leaving me feeling oddly nostalgic. Before I could quite process this, I found that I had swallowed the rest of the gummi in one swift bite. Clearing my throat, I looked up apologetically as Bert chuckled.

"There's different kinds that work for different types of Pokémon, though what really sells these things is the boost they give you. I't makes you more, how do I say it... perceptive to learning new things, even if for just a little while. Don't know how it works, and I don't care," the Wartortle explained. I nodded, beginning to understand where this was going.

'Okay, he's going to teach me some new words, then. Okay, I can do this.'

"So, this is the reason I wanted to do this in here, because if anyone saw us doing this, we'd never be able to show our faces again," Bert continued. "Basically, you're gonna be spending the next little while rolling your tongue around to make sounds. Make the right ones and I'll have you repeat them till you've got them down, then from there you can use them to learn to speak easier. Understand?"

My prior bewilderment returning, I gaped at Bert. Spending that long just rolling my tongue in my mouth? Surely he wasn't serious here? As he looked at me expectantly, I let out a long, bubbly sigh and began to do as he said.

"Shaaalaaaweeeeh..." I slurred, clutching to my bag of air and silently cursing my broken arm again as I took a seat, resigning myself to this exercise as Bert kept watching, just the slightest amount of pity appearing in his eyes.

-o-​

"Alright, Rye, it'll be easy. J-just ask Ms. May for a book, yeah... easy..." Rye mumbled to himself.

Unsure of what else to do while Beck was away, he had decided to go ahead and fulfill his suggestion regarding Beck's apparent literacy in Unown-script. At the moment, he was standing before Team Apex's base trying to work up the nerve to knock on the doorframe. Even after six months of apprenticing with them, Rye still wasn't entirely comfortable with even talking with them.

'I mean, they're the Team Apex, anyone would be pretty nervous. I could just walk away and no one would judge.

...ugh, no more excuses, Rye. Um, here goes, I guess.'

Biting his lip hard, he knocked on the doorframe and waited. When no one showed up, he knocked again, only to be met with another minute of silence. With a sigh of both relief and disappointment, Rye turned around to leave, only to catch a glimpse of a tall figure behind him.

"BOO!" it yelled. Rye jumped back with a loud yelp, crawling backwards as he took a proper look at the figure.

"Eugh... damn it, Mr. Arden," he groaned as his shock wore off.

"S-sorry, kid, it's just... you were there like that, and I couldn't resist!" Arden said gleefully as he helped Rye up. "So! We actually need someone to help us out; we're trying to help the Kecleons with a shipment. I was coming to try and see if anyone else was home, but since you're here, could you come and help us carry a couple loads?"

Rye's eye twitched as Arden looked down to him.

"I... I just want to ask you something, not-" he started.

"Great! You can ask while you help us out," Arden said.

"B-but..." Rye tried to argue, only for Arden to grab his hand and drag him along as he trotted towards town. As Rye yelped and tried to wrestle away from Arden, the unfazed Quilava suddenly paused as he entered the town square, looking at a small crowd that had gathered around a lone Shiftry who addressed them all with a loud but soft voice.

"Consider, Pokémon of Impetus Town. Is our world truly better than what we had a thousand years ago? Can we really run this world better than man of old? Should we not maybe use their example to better benefit our world?" the Shiftry asked.

"Well, seeing as humans were just made up by the Societies to keep the town governments in check, we can't exactly do much about that, can we?" a voice called from the crowd. The Shiftry crossed his arms.

"First, that's just idiotic, and second, you say we can't do anything, but how can you be sure?" he asked. As the crowd whispered among itself, Arden raised a paw.

"I mean, humans sound nice and all, but could they ever handle sugma?" he yelled. The Shiftry cocked its head.

"What is sugma?" he asked.

Arden gave a response indiscernible to Rye before once again grabbing his arm and running out of the square, cackling as the Shiftry fumed at whatever he had heard. After a minute, Arden slowed to a walk and sighed.

"Yeah, that's the Phoenixes for you. You know, bunch of hippies with goons shouldering them going on about how they wanna bone humans or some shit. We read about what happened in Arid Riverbed, so you've already met them by the looks of it. Any explorer who goes around is bound to see one of those weird rallies; I really just stick around to watch because it's fun seeing crazies speak their mind," he explained as the Kecleons' shop came into sight.

Apart from the usual green and purple Kecleons manning the shop, several Pokémon including Pike and May were helping carry and sort large crates filled with a variety of items. The green Kecleon quickly noticed Arden and Rye and gave them a hearty smile.

"Ah, Quilava! I see you've brought some more hands, thank you very much!" he said jovially. As Arden rejoined the group, he gestured Rye over to help pick a box of seeds off the ground. As they hauled it along, Pike stopped to look down at Rye.

"How you doin', kid? The feral givin' you any trouble?" he asked, getting a glare from Rye.

"His name's Beck, and he's good, Mr. Pike. We trust each other, I-I told him what happened at Mount Twist," he said. May gave a small gasp as Pike sighed a bit.

"Alright, I guess, but ya know ferals. They're unpredictable little bastards, one of 'em ran off with a good amount of our Poké while we were goin' through Basculin Strait. We're here for a reason, kid, so just... yeah, be careful with... er, Beck," Pike replied. Rye growled just loud enough for Pike to hear as Arden set down the box, cracking a grin.

"Come on, Pike, lighten up, the kid didn't do shit. Besides, if we want money, we can just ask May's folks!" he said. From not far away, May scoffed.

"Why mine?" she asked.

"You know their line of work, they should have plenty to go around! Besides, mine are in Giratina's back pocket, Pike's probably never wanna see him again, so you're it by default!" Arden said. Rye sighed and began sorting seeds from the box as Team Apex continued their banter.

"Yeah, that conversation'll go over well. 'Oh mom, please hold off on beating me senseless and robbing me of everything of worth!'" May said mockingly. Pike turned away from Rye to glance at the Leafeon.

"Ah, be nice about it, May. I never met them, but they'd be nicer 'bout it, I think," he said, draping a wing over Arden. "Y'know, just wrap a wing 'round Arden's shoulder, lean in real close, and ask their dear son-in-law if they can consume his soul to retain their youth!"

Arden sent Pike a glare as he went to haul another box over.

"What do you mean 'son-in-law?'" he asked. Pike rolled his eyes.

"Oh, fuck off! Do ya not feel the sheer tension in the air around ya two literally all the time? Nuzzle, make an egg, anything!" he said, waving his wings and getting several offended looks from the other volunteers.

"Maybe we'll consider it if you go and nuzzle Raticate on the cheek," May said after a moment. Pike just barely held in a gag.

"Alright, alright, fine, you win," he said, running off to find something else to do. With Pike gone, Rye walked up to Arden and May, who had taken to quiet discussion in Pike's wake. As Rye cleared his throat, they trailed off to glance at him.

"C-could I ask you something, Ms. May?" he asked.

"Sure, go ahead," May repled. Rye shifted in place as his former superiors watched curiously.

"Um... Beck and I were wondering if we could borrow a book on Unown-script. W-we found some in Bassa Vilage and, uh, we were curious on what it said," he said, handing the juice-stained paper Beck had written on to her.

"Hm, most of this looks like gibberish, but if you're sure... we'll see what we can do, I guess. Meet us at dinner and we'll give you what we can find," she said.

"Thank you," Rye said. As he turned back to the mass of seeds, he thought back to Beck.

'I wonder what Mr. Bert's got him doing? Not to hate on the Kecleons, but surely it's less tedious than sorting seeds.'

-o-​

"...aaaafneeeghh." I unenthusiastically continued to vocalize before Bert raised a paw to stop me.

"Hold up, there. That was an 'n.' Gimme another one," he said. I stopped to scour my brain to try and remember how exactly I had gotten that out.

"...n-nah," I eventually tried.

"Do it again," Bert ordered.

"Neaagh."

"Again."

"Naaghh!"

With that last frustrated yell, I threw my paws up, accidentally releasing the air from the bag Bert had provided. As the bubbles floated up and gathered on the ceiling, Bert watched them concernedly.

"Welp, looks like you might have to suck those off the ceiling when you need to breathe. Might be an issue," he surmised. The next minute or so saw me screaming things that for once made me thankful no one could understand what I was saying. As I calmed down, I eventually turned to face a clearly spooked Bert.

"...s-saah-reh," I tried to pronounce. Bert's unease was quickly overshadowed by a large smile as he swam over to clap me on the back.

"See, now? You're already gettin' the hang of it! Just bear with me for a little while longer, alright?" he asked. With a slow, surprised nod, I went back to my long, disgusting noises while Bert encouraged me on.

-o-​

The sky was becoming dark over the Guild's training grounds as I resurfaced at the Water-type zone, unsure of what to think of our session. Judging by how I'd ended up swimming back to the surface for air, I could infer we'd been down there for two hours at most, and sure, while all the inhuman noises I had made over those two hours had eventually had me manage out maybe a dozen new sounds to form into words, there was still the fact that I hadn't learned a thing besides that. As if knowing this, Bert breached the surface to look at me apologetically.

"Sorry we couldn't do much other than... er, that today. I know you must have wanted to practice techniques, but I'm gonna hold off on those till your arm heals, alright?" he said.

"Y-yas," I replied, prompting a wave from the Wartortle before he dove back down into the inky water. As the river stilled, I turned to leave the grounds, which had been occupied by mostly Dark and Ghost-types with the arrival of night. I found Rye waiting below torchlight at the entrance, watching the specters nervously before I caught his attention.

"Oh, h-hey. L-let's get to the mess hall, I really don't like this place at night," he quickly said, taking my paw to quickly drag me away from the training grounds. Once we had gotten a good distance away, he slowed down to talk to me.

"So, what'd you learn? Like, did he teach you Razor Shell, or...?" he asked.

"Naah," I said, tapping my mouth.

"Uh... he... just taught you to talk, I guess? Huh, well, I guess..." Rye said. The rest of the walk passed in silence before we headed into the mess hall. I was about to get in line as usual when Rye took my paw to drag me elsewhere.

"Rye, wha yeh..." I tried to ask.

"Remember what I said yesterday about Unown-script? I asked Ms. May about it," he said before we stopped in front of an occupied table.

"Hey, Ms. May, y-you said that, uh...?" Rye asked. Before us, Team Apex turned to look at us, trailing off from whatever conversation they had been having. As Pike's expression fouled, May brightened up.

"Oh, the Unown thing. We've got a good source here with us if you want to look at it. Arden?" she said.

"A good source? It's the best in the region!" Arden boasted as pulled a thick book out of his bag and slammed it down in front of us. Looking down at it, I found big, golden letters written across the leather cover in sloppy Unown-script.

'Arden's Big Book of Horrors. Um, okay...'

"Here, let me just try to make a chart here," he said as he flipped through the massive book, eventually stopping to tear a spare page out (much to Pike's horror) and began to write runes down from the book en masse. Once the page was filled, he handed the chart to us, though Rye didn't seem to be done yet.

"Th-this is your main notebook, isn't it?" he asked in awe.

"Yep, two-hundred and fifty pages of boring historical fuckery," Arden said.

"Can I... m-maybe flip through it?" Rye requested meekly. Surprised at this, Arden paused for a minute before quickly nodding.

"Er, just don't read the Sinnohan on page 84 aloud unless you want to get possessed by fifty or so ghosts, don't get the stuff on page 101 in any orifices unless you want to die vomiting your guts out, and don't look at page 160. There's nothing weird or anything about it, you'd just be better off without ever seeing that, trust me," he cautioned.

Unfazed by these warnings for once, Rye began flipping through the book with an enchanted look on his face, looking over page after page of writings and odd illustrations I couldn't quite make out and asking questions the whole while. After maybe ten minutes of this, he stopped on a page with what looked like a map to look at a line of text.

"Mr. Arden, what's this word?" he asked, pointing to said line. Arden took a quick glance at the term in question before humming to himself.

"Hrm... well, you know how we call this land Gray Proper, right?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Rye said.

"Well, it wasn't always called that. Back when humans were still around, they had a different name for Gray Proper and the surrounding regions," Arden explained. Rye cocked his head.

"S-so, uh, they called it Uhn-oh...?" he tried. Giving a knowing smile, Arden waited a minute for effect before correcting Rye.

"They called it Unova."

-o-

"Unova... does that mean anything to you, Beck?" Rye asked as he fluffed up his bed. I didn't respond, instead continuing to stare off trying to figure out this revelation.

'I... I know that word. Think, Beck, what does it mean? I... is it where I came from, maybe?'

Blinking hard, I went to pull our map out of the bag, unrolling it to look it over. As usual, it looked foreign and strange, not like any landmass I might have recognized. But surely... I began turning the map every which-way, scanning it for landmarks until I stopped. Upside-down, the map seemed to ring a bell. Yes, it was upside-down, inconsistent with what I knew in terms of biomes, and several areas looked to have been submerged in water, but...

'...this is home.'

I stared forlorn at the alien yet familiar map for what felt like hours before the distant tolling of a bell snapped me out of my daze. Panicking, I quickly doused the base's torch before rolling up the map and putting it away. As I waddled to my bed, I noticed Rye giving a concerned look.

"...so is it..." he asked quietly. I only provided a simple nod before lying down. After a minute, Rye joined me, and as his shuffling and the singing of Kricketot outside echoed through our base, sleep claimed my sufficiently boggled mind. As I felt myself drift off, I couldn't help but linger on that thought, repeating it mentally like some twisted mantra.

'This is home. This is home. This is home...'