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Pokémon Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Quenched Torch

41 - Cursed With Knowledge

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
41 - Cursed With Knowledge

Despite how much I'd like to say I came out of that subway tunnel confident and celebrating, I'll go ahead and admit it. I had no idea what was happening anymore.

From the moment Rye pulled me up out of that hole and into the desert moonlight, an air of tension had hung over our party, especially as Delcatty had taken our find from us. As they studied the bundle of paper, we'd tried to ignore it and turn in to make up for the night down in the ruins, but I'd found myself unable to sleep. Quite a bit nagged at me as I stared at the backs of my eyelids, watching as the light shining through them gradually grew brighter. The skeletons, the stadium, the rusted cars, and just about everything else I'd seen down there still weighed down on me, though my biggest question pertained to how I'd even found those papers in the first place.

What was that tugging? No, who was it? Was it the Voice again? For Arceus' sake, why couldn't it just leave me alone for once?

Ugh.

One thing I did notice as I laid there, though, was how the voices outside suddenly seemed to get far more excited as the sun came up. At present, I could hear Hitmonchan eagerly reentering the Guild's little camp as he spoke to someone unseen.

"No, no, it has to be a Psychic," I made out from the voice. "...yeah, a map... we need to reach our Guildmaster as soon as possible."

My ears stuck up as I pried open my eyes. Was that our papers he was talking about? I hesitated for a moment before silently pushing myself up and off the seedy cushion I'd been using for a bed. Tiptoeing to the door, I glanced back at my partners to make sure I hadn't woken them. Thankfully, Rye was still splayed out twitching his tail and Mavy still laid curled up, a stupid grin on his face as he dreamed of Darkrai knows what. With a quiet sigh of relief, I slunk out into the chilly desert morning.

It took a moment to gain my bearings among the sea of other Guilds' tents around me, but I soon picked out the biggest of ours and waddled over, being careful to not trip any explorers here going about their morning routines. Giving a quick look around, I gingerly opened the tent's curtain a crack to look inside. Inside, I found Delcatty and Hitmonchan standing around a Beeheeyem as it floated there, its digits floating rapidly. I couldn't tell quite what was going on, but kept watching as Delcatty continued.

"Yes, Guildmaster Arcanine, I understand this is very exciting, but please calm down for a bit. What action should we take?" she asked the air in front of her. A moment of silence passed before she continued. "Yes, sir, we'll be quick about it. Rest assured, we'll keep the artifact safe. You don't just find a map through... that and not do that. ...yes, sir, I'll pass that on to Haxorus. ...you, too."

With that, the Beeheeyem's lights went out as Delcatty sighed.

"That should be everything, Beeheeyem, thank you. You wanna stay for a quick drink?" she asked.

The Beeheeyem responded with a quick flash of one of its lights and a short beep, which apparently meant yes since Delcatty turned to fish something out of her bag, leaving me to try and consider what I'd just snooped in on. Before I could get very far, though, Beeheeyem snapped its large head towards me, apparently having sensed my presence. It immediately pointed at me with the flashing lights on its hands as it let out a series of frantic beeps like some sort of weird Morse code, and as I stumbled back, the tent's curtain doors flew open to reveal a panicked Delcatty and Hitmonchan. Their appendages glowed faintly in preparation for an attack, but the two settled down as they caught sight of me on the ground.

"Oh, it's just you," Delcatty sighed in relief, looking back at Beheeyem as it hovered behind them. "Don't worry, just an apprentice of ours. Uh, just go back to your tent, Oshawott. It's not polite for civilized to eavesdrop, alright? We'll explain everything later."

"Y-yes, mahm," I said. Although miffed at her condescending comment, I got up off the cool sand and made my way back to my tent as Beeheeyem started making questioning beeps behind me.

Quietly slipping in and making sure Rye and Mavy were still asleep, I sat down on my cot, sighing as I considered what I'd just snooped in on. It was just one side of the conversation, and a pretty straightforward side at that, so I didn't have much to really dissect there.

Well, save for one thing.

'A map through 'that,' she said. What's 'that' supposed to be?'

Before long, the sunlight shining through the doorway met Rye's scales, causing the Treecko to groan and sit up, rubbing his head.

"...urgh," he simply said.

"Yeah," I agreed. Rye blinked back the bloodshot in his yellow eyes.

"Rough night too?" he asked. I gave a nod as Mavy groaned behind Rye.

"Y'all shut it. Need sleep," he protested. Rye gave him a nudge, causing the Zigzagoon to peel himself off his bed. "Aight, fine, fine, ah'm up. What do you want?"

"W-well, uh, we wait till we hear news," Rye shrugged. "Y-you... you wanna talk till then? Like, we never got a chance to really talk about everything."

"Yeah," I said. Mavy sighed from his curled-up position.

"Sure, fine," he said.

And so it was; for the next little while we just sat on our makeshift cots and discussed our dive. At least, Rye and Mavy talked while I tried to give my occasional input. From the place's history to what we'd managed to do together, we just had a nice time to let off steam and assess everything we'd seen.

"...I-I don't know, I never thought I'd ever actually discover something, you know? Like, even if I somehow landed on a team, I probably wasn't gonna get sent to a place like this. But... I don't know, i-it's weird just sitting here, saying I... w-we've done it," Rye mused.

"Heck, Pa always told me he'd help me find something one day, didn't think I'd be the one doin' the findin'," Mavy said, tiredly grinning to himself. "Shit, just wait till he hears 'bout this. Might could take you to meet him once he gets home, ah reckon he'd like y'all."

"Yeah, shaagh," I added.

"That all you gon do? You just gonna agree with us? Come on, Scruffy ol' pal, give us something other than 'sha sha.' Like... ah dunno..." Mavy pondered. He considered for a moment, stifling a yawn before he suddenly perked up. "Oh, how'd ya know to go down there in the first place? We'd've just given up at them doors if you didn't insist there was something there, what was that all 'bout? Some sixth sense only ferals got?"

Rye gave him a stern look, but nodded as he thought it over. "Y-yeah, that is kinda weird. How did you know, Beck?"

I sat there for a bit, gulping as the two's eyes rested on me.

"Uh... t-tah-ging," I said.

"Tagging?" Rye asked. I shook my head and made a tugging motion, which thankfully got the message across. "T-tugging! Uh, there was, like, a tugging?"

"Yeah," I said, pointing at my gut. Rye hung his head as he thought this over.

"D-do you know what it was?" he asked.

"Nah," I said, prompting more thinking on Rye's end. After a minute, he gave Mavy a sideways glance and leaned in towards me.

"I think you should go to Mr. Arcanine, maybe he'll know something. Uh, maybe this was whatever gave you those visions? It could be important," he whispered.

I nodded in agreement, so we pulled out of our little huddle to face a suspicious look from Mavy. The Zigzagoon didn't say anything, only rolling his eyes after a minute, so we returned to trying to make conversation. We'd just gotten to the little things we'd come across in the old car park when our tent's door suddenly flew open, revealing Hitmonchan looking us over.

"Team Reach. Start packing, we're starting back to Impetus Town by midmorning," he said. Rye sat up, clearly just as confused as I was.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"We can't disclose that right now," Hitmonchan simply said before moving on from our tent. The three of us stared after him for a second before exchanging a glance. A silent agreement was reached as Mavy stretched and finally hopped out of bed, watching while we started gathering our things.

The sun was glaring down full force on our camp by the time Rye finally stuffed the tent into our bag. As he led Mavy and I panting towards our gathered guildmates, I couldn't help but envy his coldbloodedness in the heat, though it seemed we wouldn't have to wait for very long as Delcatty and Hitmonchan stood to address us.

"Everyone here today did excellent in last night's dive, but we must go now. Sorry, Teams Ruby and Frontier, but the stadium will have to wait for another time. We'll debrief you once we're on the road," Hitmonchan announced.

A murmur arose among the group as we followed the two to the waiting herd of Mudsdale that'd brought us here only yesterday, and once we'd thrown our bags onto their backs and hoisted ourselves up, I held on as best I could as the herd set off. With sand being kicked up around me as the Mudsdale began galloping faster and faster, I squinted over towards Rye and Mavy as they settled in for a long trip out of the desert. As I too shifted in my seat, I finally took the time to really consider everything: that Haxorus, the bones, the stadium, everything it implied, the papers, and... whatever "that" was.

I had a lot I'd have to consider on the road, I was sure.

-o-​

The wooden box was decently small, no bigger than my head. It was unimpressive at best, being a splintery mess with only a simple lock to clue at its contents. Not a word had been said about it, but I was certain we all knew what was inside. The flimsy bag and its several pieces of folded-up paper had disappeared after we'd surfaced, and judging by how Delcatty and Hitmonchan refused to let the box they carried out of their sight, even after we'd stopped for the night... yeah, bit of a no-brainer.

As I watched the sun dip below the treeline, the others ambled around me, setting up camp in the rolling valley we'd settled in. Still aching from the rough Mudsdale ride through the desert and our hours of walking afterwards, it was a relief to finally rest, even if Mavy kept heckling me for not helping out. However, getting to sit gave me time to understand something: I wasn't happy.

I mean, yeah, we'd just explored an old ruin, we'd succeeded as a team, and we'd apparently made a decent discovery, so why wasn't I happy? No matter how I looked at it, the sad just wouldn't go away. I didn't know, maybe-

The crunch of reeds and sticks startled me out of my thoughts, and as I looked up to check what had happened, Arden gave me a look over the fire he was building.

"You busy?" he asked.

"Wha? N-no," I said. Arden gave a sigh in response.

"Metaphorically, I mean. You've just been sitting here staring into space since-" he started.

"Agh, am fine," I snapped, to which Arden raised his paws defensively.

"Alright, sorry. Just asking," he said, turning and running back into the brush to look for more firewood. With that out of the way, I bit my lip and pushed myself up, waddling over to Rye as he and Mavy tried to pitch our tent. Despite how I was feeling, I quietly resigned myself to trying to help out.

We fiddled with the tent and some other things for a while until darkness fell, after which the three of us headed to the fire. As we joined the twenty or so Pokémon there, I tried to join Rye and Mavy in sliding into the excited chatter, though I didn't get far before the campsite fell quiet and turned its attention to Delcatty and Hitmonchan as they arrived. The former cleared her throat.

"Everyone. I'm sure you've all been carrying some questions with you since we set out from the site, and I think this is a good place to answer them," she said. "In summary, during the dive in the stadium, Team Reach here discovered an artifact of interest to our Guild. The item in question, as I am sure you all know, is the remains of a fabric bag containing several pieces of paper. After extracting said paper, we were able to translate them and discern their contents."

She paused for effect, watching as Rye and I looked at each other eagerly.

"The artifacts in question were reassembled into a set of six maps dating back to the late first century before the Ruin. The most notable of these, however, was a complete map displaying the fabled Caverns of Being in detail. Furthermore, we believe that we may be able to use the information given to determine the Caverns' present location." she said. I heard quiet gasps and excited murmurs coming from many around me, Rye included, but I just cocked my head. The Caverns of what?

"We will be discussing our next course of action with the Guildmaster over the coming days. For now, though, we believe this expedition to be a success. Thank you all for your vigilance down there," Delcatty finished. Silence hung over the campsite for a minute before an Emolga climbed on top of Luxio's head.

"What is this, a funeral?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm with him. We found the fuckin' Caves! Let's get shitfaced!" Pike demanded, looking to Delcatty for approval. She gave him a flat look, and after exchanging a glance with Hitmonchan, rolled her eyes and quietly nodded her consent. Immediately, our squad ditched its professional demeanor as the explorers around us gave a mighty whoop and pumped their fists and paws in the air, jumped around, and pulled out canteens I got the feeling weren't filled with water.

"No. No, you all know you weren't allowed to bring... screw it, let me have a swig," Hitmonchan shrugged. As the explorers around me either went bottoms-up or began raucously singing to start out the celebration, I felt eyes rest on me. Rye gave an unsure look, clearly remembering the tug in my gut I'd told him about, while I noticed Arden staring at me from across the fire as Pike nudged him.

"C'mon, Arden! Lighten up, 'ave a drink!" he encouraged the Quilava. When Arden didn't answer, Pike followed his line of sight towards me and just barely repressed a grimace. "The feral botherin' ya?"

"Huh? No, no, I can't drink, remember? I'm a Fire-type, you know, alcohol doesn't exactly mix well. Uh, you all have fun, I'm gonna go hunt," Arden said, abruptly getting up and heading into the brush. Pike concernedly watched him go for a minute before shifting his wings.

"You do you, bud," he called before turning back to the celebration and accepting a drink from May. The three of us just kept sitting there for a bit, soaking the festive air in for a moment before Mavy looked up at us.

"What're the Caves o' Bein'?" he asked. Rye hesitated for a moment before muttering something involving his being a stupid idiot to himself.

"S-sorry, I should've figured you two wouldn't know. Uh, the legend goes that they're these caves somewhere in the Gray Continent that connect to Sun Minor," he said.

"Sun Minor? Ain't that on the other side of the world? How's a cave 'bout to go there?" Mavy asked.

"No one knows for sure, but... I-I can't believe we actually... I need a bit," Rye responded, staring into the fire. As I joined him in staring, I considered this bit of trivia. A connection to Sun Minor... from everything I'd gathered, especially the mentions of the Coronets, I got the feeling I knew what that place was.

The idea that something would want me to find a cave leading to Sinnoh, of all places, especially considering the Legendary presence there...

'…there it is again. A nice little reminder.'

I shook my head a bit to try and get that out of my mind, then turned my attention back towards the party. The three of us just awkwardly sat there as excited chatter, singing, and chugging rang out around us, though we only had to watch for a minute before Luxio suddenly stumbled over towards us and took a seat next to us.

"H-hey, Treecko," she slurred. "Why don'tcha get Oshawott there to play something on the thing?"

Rye and I exchanged a glance as the others started chanting to encourage me on, so I sighed and reached behind me, fishing my banjo from our bag, much to their delight. I'd initially worried about leaving it in our tent during our trip into the stadium, but it seemed nothing had happened to it. With that in mind, I positioned the instrument over my little legs, and after a minute's hesitation, started plucking away at random. This was routine at this point, as I found that my lost muscle memory was all too happy to resurface sometimes. All I really had to do was just strum away till I found myself playing something familiar and go from there.

Indeed, it wasn't long before I found a tune that struck a chord, no pun intended. As I went along with the sentimental tune I'd settled on, I frowned a bit as the music resonated in my mind. Echoes of a memory seemed to spark in response, taking the form of an aged voice encouraging me on. Something told me the tune was not made to be played on banjo, but my memory seemed to be managing just fine.

"Good! Now onto the reprise!" the old man's voice echoed in my head. Hanging my head, I complied and started quietly humming along to the slow tune.

'Home, home again... I like to be here when I can...'

My frown only deepened as the lyrics involuntarily cropped up.

'When I come home cold and tired... it's good to warm my bones beside the fire...'

My breath became shaky as I kept crudely playing.

'Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell calls the faithful to their knees... to hear the softly spoken magic spell...'

I let the banjo fall to the ground and wilted as the others cheered around me. Bright grins, pats on my back, and praises and requests met me, but I didn't pay any heed. I just stared at my instrument on the ground, not even daring to move as the pit in my stomach grew deeper and deeper.

"...hey, th-that was good. We liked it! You're... B-Beck?"

I caught a glimpse of Rye's face as I pushed past the confused explorers gathered around me, trudging out of the camp. As I approached the grass, I stepped around Arden as he stared at me with a carcass in his mouth, apparently having been doing so for some time. Looking back at him, I could've sworn I saw sympathy in his eyes before he started back to the fire. I didn't care, though, I had other things to contemplate as I sat down with my back to a tent.

The song's painfully ironic lyrics aside, the thought I put into it was not happy. I didn't know where it'd come from, but... here I was, probably the last person alive that knew it existed. Everyone else from that old man to the songwriters themselves? Dead and forgotten for centuries, just like everyone else I'd known.

I'd been carrying this for over a month now, but now it was hitting me like a raging Tauros. Everyone I'd known was dead. I had to stare the bodies left behind in the face, both metaphorically and literally. I couldn't talk with anyone about it, and even if I could there was barely everyone who'd understand. To top it all off, I was little more than just 'the feral' to my peers, even if they tolerated me by now.

I as a human was completely and utterly alone in this world.

...it hurt.

Once the first tear fell, I couldn't stop myself. With little else to do, I just crumpled in place and started quietly weeping, mourning for everything I'd lost. My family, my friends, my world, my speech, my humanity...

I didn't stop for a solid few minutes, only hugging my tail tight as I cried. After a while, it seemed I had no tears left to shed, so I propped myself up and blinked my undoubtedly bloodshot eyes to stare up at the stars. The oh-so-damn-familiar stars...

Crunch!

I heard a stick in the tall grass ahead break. I flinched violently and stuck up my ears as I peered ahead, listening for anything else.

"R-Rye?" I hoarsely called. All that responded was rustling that seemed to get farther and farther away until it disappeared among the chirping of Bug-types and the lively chatter behind me. I stared into the brush for another minute before sighing and pushing myself up. Whatever it was, I figured I must have scared it off. That in mind, I slowly dragged my tail back into camp, hanging my head as I looked up. Rye and Mavy sat there waiting, and at the sight of me, the Treecko got up and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I-it's okay. I'm here. I-it's gonna be okay," he quietly reassured me. I didn't respond, only nodding and wiping at my wet, snotty face. As we started back towards our tent, Mavy just gave a morose look, clearly unsure of what to make of this.

Staving off the other explorers' concerned looks, we filed into our tent and sat down, thankfully remaining silent until Rye shifted in place, reaching down for something.

"Y-you dropped this," he said, holding up my banjo. I stared at it for a minute before frowning and lying down in my bed, my back to him. I didn't want to think about it right now. I... just needed sleep was all.

'Yeah... maybe I could just stay asleep, not have to worry about any of this...'

-o-

...oh, no.

The dream again.

He felt a pang of dread as it all materialized around him again.

The screams. The booms in the distance. The sound of crumbling rubble.

He tried to push himself up, only to be met with pain. His body was broken, pinned to the ground.

With no way to move, he frantically looked around. Panicked faces swarmed past him, trying to find some sort of safe haven. It would be of little help, of course, but among the faces...


"Mom... Dad..."

Despite his pleas, the familiar figures disappeared into the chaos. Staring after them for a moment, he painfully put his head to the ground, clenching his eyes shut and trying to force himself out, to end this nightmare before-

Then the sirens began.


"...no, no! J-just go!"

"Stop! Let me-"

"G-get as far away as you can!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"I said go! I-I'll find a way!"

"..."

Alone.

Wake up.

It wouldn't be long now.

WAKE UP.

It was coming, and fast.

WAKE UP, DAMN IT.

His chest burned. His head throbbed as if trying to burst. It was all pain.

WAKE UP!


-o-​

The moon shined through the crack in our tent's door as I stared at it, hoping to find some comfort in it. Despite the soothing tug in my core, though, my mind wouldn't stop racing. Rye and Mavy had long since gone to sleep and the celebration outside had ended a good while ago, but I hadn't been able to get any shut-eye since my meltdown. Unfortunately, that gave me plenty of time to wallow in my puddle of sad.

Most of what raced through my head as I stared at the moon was just more of the same, though among it were some new worries that'd cropped up.

'I've only got two Pokémon that know I'm human: Rye and the Guildmaster. Rye probably won't be able to help much, but I don't want to barge into Arcanine's place just to say I'm upset.

...damn it, what am I supposed to do here? Just wait for-'


A sudden ruckus rang out from one of the tents, startling me out of my contemplation. Shuddering, I stole a brief glance out the door's crack before crawling out of my bed and peeking outside to investigate. For a moment, nothing looked out of the ordinary, but then flickering light suddenly shone from one of the tents as it opened up. I squinted curiously as the source revealed itself as Arden, his vents sparking and his face distant. He stepped out into the moonlight and sat on one of the empty seats around the dark fire, staring at the sky for a moment before his face twisted into one of anger. As his vents burst into flame, he got up and gave the ground a kick, though his quadrupedal stature apparently didn't like that, so he tumbled to the ground. With a groan of frustration, he made to push himself up, only to suddenly stop as his eyes met mine. I shrunk back into my tent, though a quick peek back out showed the damage had already been done. Before the Quilaba could push himself up to confront me, though, an anomaly in the background noise caught my attention.

My ears sticking up, I looked off to the side to try and see what it was. Was this the same thing I'd heard while I was out there? Clearly there was something there, as it seemed Arden noticed the noise too. The quiet rustling quickly gave way to hushed noises, almost like... whispering?

"Who's there?" Arden demanded. The noise stopped, only to start back up after a bit, inciting a look from the both of us as I stepped out. Whatever it was, I could say for sure now that at least some of the noise was a couple of voices frantically whispering to each other.

"We can hear you, assholes, come on out!" Arden said. There was silence for a bit before the grass started rustling again, the sources of the voices apparently moving away from us. Arden and I exchanged a glance as I drew my scalchop and joined him in cautiously watching the brush. We watched for a few minutes, though it seemed the noises had stopped. Despite this, Arden remained on guard as he stared backing towards Delcatty's tent.

"Kid, keep watching, I'm waking up the cat and getting the box safe. Yell at me if-"

A sudden bright flash burst from the grass, barely missing Arden and slamming into the top of Delcatty's tent. As the smell of ozone hung in the air, the Quilava stared at where the Charge Beam had struck before running into the damaged tent. Pulling myself out of the shock of the sudden attack, I ran back into my own tent, waving my arms frantically.

"Shaah! Shaah!" was all I could manage to say as Rye and Mavy woke up, though as I turned around to gesture at the damage out the door, the grass parted to reveal several Pokémon who immediately stopped to briefly assess the situation.

"Y'all hold 'em off, ah'll get the map!" a voice barked. At this point, most of the other explorers had awoken and figured out something was up, so the group of attackers quickly moved into position to attack as Arden bolted out of Delcatty's tent and joined his teammates, though their staggering indicated that the alcohol they'd consumed hadn't entirely left their systems. The Quilava's eye twitched.

"Fucking DAMMIT!" he roared, spinning around to unleash a cloud of flame at a couple of incoming attackers. As he charged to try and take on the onslaught himself, I snapped back to reality and gestured to my now very awake teammates.

"Camahn!" I ordered, wielding my scalchop and charging into the madness with Rye and Mavy in tow. No communication was needed, I just pointed at a Jolteon in the group and started swinging at it. The Electric-type seemed all too eager to shock the living daylights out of me, though a Pin Missile from Mavy got lodged deep into his chest before he could follow through. A Dragon Breath from Rye sent the Jolteon into retreat, allowing the three of us to get a good look at the chaos around us.

Although most of the squad was probably half-drunk, they still fought hard against the attackers. Arcs of electricity and flames rose above my head as I dragged my partners along, firing off a couple Water Guns while I was at it. It seemed not all was well, though, as I could make out a good few injured among our numbers, Luxio and an Aron among them. Grinding my teeth as I weaved between legs, I caught a brief glimpse of Arden in fierce combat with another Pokémon at the burning remains of Delcatty's tent, though I got a hard blow to the gut before I could make out any more.

Mavy and Rye quickly engaged with the Toxicroak as I tried to recover, barraging it with Pounds and Pin Missiles before I joined in with a Water Gun. The Toxicroak responded by spraying the three of us with a Venoshock, sending Rye onto the ground as I charged forward and slashed it with a couple of Razor Shells. Before our opponent could do anything else, Mavy gave a quick call.

"Watch out!" he yelled before jumping onto my head and springing off it. Flying through the air for a moment, he sailed through a Venoshock in his direction and slammed into the Toxicroak's head with a Headbutt, sending it to its knees for a precious bit and allowing me to hit it with a couple of Aqua Slaps, the first knocking it to the ground and the second slamming its head against the ground and knocking it out. As I panted for a second, taking in that victory, Mavy jumped for joy through what I could only imagine was a painful covering of Venoshock juice.

"WHOO! Who wants some?!" he cheered. He seemed all too ready to charge back into the chaos when, as I helped Rye onto his feet, the commotion suddenly died down.

"...hey! Dickheads! I've got your leader here! Try anything and I blow his fucking head off!" Arden roared. The fight around us seemed to have entirely stopped by now as the attackers stared in the direction of his voice, allowing me to lead Rye and Mavy through the crowd to try and see what was up.

"Who sent you?" Arden demanded.

"Let me go, you damn-" another voice answered.

"I said who sent you, you damn weasel?!" Arden yelled, the sound of his vents flaring up meeting my ears.

"Dammit, the Phoenixes!" the other voice managed out as I emerged at the front of the crowd, though my face quickly fell as Rye gave a quiet gasp. Standing atop the charred remains of a tent, a bruised Arden held the apparent leader of this group in a chokehold with his foreleg. But the leader...

'...oh, no.'

I turned my head just in time to see Mavy pop out of the crowd, only for him to stagger back as his confident face immediately morphed into one I never would've expected from the Zigzagoon: horror.

"P-Pa?" he choked out after a minute. The Linoone stopped struggling for a bit as his eyes widened.

"...Maverick? Is that..." he asked. Mavy's breath shook as Linoone remained still, then abruptly started struggling again, only for Arden to tighten his chokehold.

"I said hold still, you-!" he demanded, lighting his paw ablaze and raising it to strike.

"NO!" Mavy screamed.

Within what seemed like an instant, Arden was on the ground with a Pin Missile in his arm, Mavy was frozen in the attack position, and Linoone was running away as fast as he could.

"Team Horizon! Retreat and regroup!" he called. A Smokescreen suddenly filled the air as indistinct orders and footfalls started moving away from us. By the time Pike Whirlwinded the smoke away, the Phoenix attackers had all run into the brush, save for Linoone. With a final forlorn look at Mavy, he turned and ran to follow his team, finally leaving us with a moment of quiet.

The silence hung for a bit until the explorers around me started clamoring and running around. Some attended to the wounded, some assessed the damage, and others still looked to Delcatty and Hitmonchan for something, anything. The two exchanged a glance, prompting Hitmonchan to silently take a box out from under his arm- the box. A collective sigh of relief seemed to echo through our ruined camp, but on that note, the roar of raging flames abruptly cut into the peaceful ambience.

"We had them! We fucking had them! What the fuck is wrong with you, Zigzagoon?!" Arden yelled as a couple of Pokémon ran to hold him back, though this didn't stop him from grabbing and swinging at Mavy. The furious Quilava didn't deter the Zigzagoon, though; as Rye and I looked down at him helplessly, he didn't say a word or even move an inch.

All he did was just stand there in shock, still staring after his father all the while.

-o-​

"You know what he did, correct?"

"Y-yes, ma'am."

"And you are aware that for attacking a fellow member of the Exploratory Society, Zigzagoon will be subject to expulsion from the Guild unless your team pays the fine of ten thousand Poké, correct?"

"...yes, ma'am, w-we can cut from our earnings. I-it can be paid off over time, right?"

"That is an option."

"Whew, okay, okay. I-I'm sorry again, Ms. Delcatty."

"This wasn't your fault, there's no need for apologies. You know Quilava's not pressing anything, this should all be behind us soon."

"Sorry."

"Thank you for your time, Treecko. You may-"

"H-he's innocent, you know."

"...I'm sure he is, Treecko, but given the recent revelation that he has immediate family within the Phoenix League, there is the possibility that he is involved with the group as well. Protocol calls for an investigation. We can tell the witnesses to stay quiet, but nothing else."

"I... y-yes, ma'am. Thank you."

As I waited outside the door listening in to the conversation finish, I stood up to meet Rye as he hung his head.

"W-well... that went well, huh?" he asked. I replied with a sigh as we left the small office, stopping for a moment to look over the bustling Guild. We'd shakily returned to the Guild earlier that day, the battle of the previous night still fresh in our minds. With five of our number needing medical attention and most of our tents useless, the remainder of the trip home had been chaotic, to say the least, but we'd managed to get back in one piece. It seemed no one was any the wiser about our absence, so we'd dropped back into the daily grind just in time to deal with the nightmare that was the aftermath of Mavy's outburst.

Mavy hadn't been the same since last night. Where his quips, condescending comments, and occasional rural charm had been, there was only quiet shock as we walked back. Since we'd gotten home, he'd just elected to be left alone to lie in bed in our base, which led us here to the present. Neither of us really seemed to know what do do now; it seemed it was all still sinking in for Rye. I, meanwhile, was at a loss. I'd suspected that that Linoone had some connection, but I'd been quick to dismiss it. Now, though... I just didn't know. The current plan was to just try and slowly reel Mavy back in over the next few days and hope for the best.

As we turned into our base, Rye gave the door a soft knock.

"Mavy? Hey, w-we finished talking with Ms. Delcatty. You shouldn't have to worry, we'll-"

He paused as Mavy gave him a look, dropping some trinket into the sack he'd brought along from home.

"Ah, hey. Was wonderin' if you'd show up," he said quietly.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Rye asked. Mavy just sighed and slung his sack over his back.

"Leavin'. Ah'm goin' home," he said.

A bit of stunned silence hung over Rye and I as he watched us, waiting for a response.

"L-leaving? Why? Wh-what'd we do?" Rye soon stammered.

"Y'all didn't do nothin', yer alright. It's just ah can't do this. If Pa's with 'em, then... I-I can't," Mavy replied.

"Magh, I-" I started.

"I know, I know. Look, Ma's prolly worried 'bout me, ah gotta be there if..." Mavy said. He paused before hanging his head and slowly zigzagging past us. "Thank y'all for givin' me a shot. Ah won't forgetcha."

The Zigzagoon walked out the door and turned the corner out of sight, not looking back once. Rye and I took a moment to soak in what we'd just seen before we ran out the door and after him.

"Magh-" I called.

"Don't. Just lemme go," Mavy snapped back.

"We... h-heer. Fah yeh," I tried. Mavy stopped, apparently rolling his eyes.

"Oh, fuck off," he growled, turning around to face us. "Don't gimme that corny shit. It ain't gonna make me change my mind."

"Mavy, I... i-it's okay. We'll help you through this, alright? As a team," Rye tried.

"Hah, a team. The 'mon helpin' to arrest his own pa, yer scrawny wimpy ass, and the glorified feral. Some team," Mavy rebutted. My paws twitched in frustration, though Rye only bit his lip and sighed.

"Y-yeah, and we managed to do all that! We were... th-that, and we found that map! W-we took down that Toxicroak!" Rye reasoned.

"Scuse me, Beck and I took it down," Mavy said.

"Uh, e-exactly! Y-you couldn't have done that by yourself, could you?" Rye asked. Mavy's face twitched, his eyes watering as his gaze darkened.

"Yeah, but... a-ah can't do this. Pa's... he's... I can't do this, not to him," he said. Rye bit his lip and scratched at his head, seemingly unsure of how to convince Mavy from here. As the two stared each other down, I decided to give my two cents.

"W-we heer. We'll halp," I offered. "We... halp yeh. Help Pah. Yeah?"

Mavy narrowed his eyes at my flimsy diatribe, though Rye seemed to realize what I was going for.

"Y-yeah, we'll help you get through this. Y-you... uh, you don't have to be... sorry, uh, d-defined by this. We'll get through this as a team, w-we'll find Linoone and get him back. G-going home won't help, doing something will," Rye said, holding out a hand.

"Yeah. Wha think... M-Maf-vy?" I asked, joining him. Mavy hesitated long and hard as he stared at the two of us, a couple of tears coursing through his fur. After what seemed like hours, he let out something between a laugh and a sob.

"A-ah didn't know you had that in ya, Treecko," he said. Rye gave a sad smile.

"Honestly, that's just Sinni speaking," he said. "S-so what do you-"

"Before ah leave, I need y'all to do me a favor," Mavy interrupted. Our faces fell. Our efforts hadn't been enough after all...

As we looked at each other, Rye swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Wh-which is?" he croaked.

"Parchment. Gotta write to Ma, then ah'll be back fer dinner," Mavy said. At our stupefied faces, the Zigzagoon burst into giggles, tears still staining his face's fur. "Damn, y'all's faces! W-wish ah could've gotten a Smeargle for that!"

I growled quietly, averting my gaze as Rye sighed annoyedly, though Mavy quickly straightened up. "Yeah, I can get through this myself, that's fer sure. But I reckon I'll trust y'all on this one for now. A-ah'll stay."

A little smile found its way onto my face as Rye let out a sigh of relief, crouching down and reaching for Mavy as he offered quiet words of comfort.

"Rye, no, come on, don't do that. N-no hugs," the Zigzagoon said, squirming out of the Treecko's attempt at consolation. As Rye muttered a quiet apology, he picked his sack up and slowly followed us as we started back up the dirt path. Looking over at the two, I found myself strangely at peace for the first time in a couple days.

We'd get through this as a team, we'd said. I was alone, yes, but not entirely. At least until I could find some answers, I could at least count on these two.

Somehow, that eased the pain a good bit.

"Y-you gonna be okay?" Rye asked Mavy, who sniffled as he zigzagged alongside us.

"I'll live, I guess. Got... this to live with now, but I got faith. Better not disappoint me, I can still leave whenever," he said.

"W-we won't. We promise," Rye said.

"Sure, sure," Mavy sniffled as he put his sack back down by his bed, wiping off his wet face with his tail. "Y-y'know, this feels like a pattern. We all got daddy issues now, don't we?"

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah, ah got this goin' on, Rye's got the whole Totodile thing with his, and yours're prolly rabid. Yep, Team Reach, the daddy issues team," Mavy elaborated, lying down in his straw bed and staring out the window. I grimaced a bit at the rabid comment, though his comment made me think.

'He still thinks I was born a feral... huh.'

"Rye?" I asked, leaning in to whisper into his earlobe. "We tehl?"

"Huh? You think...?" Rye asked. I nodded, and after some hesitation, he nodded back. "O-okay. Okay. Uh... Mavy?"

"I'd like some alone time, thanks," Mavy said.

"D-do you want us to fill you in? Like, on that secret you kept asking about?" Rye asked. Mavy immediately looked up, clearly interested.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Yeah, just please don't tell anyone. I mean it, just... p-please don't," Rye said, watching as Mavy managed a grin.

"Well, shit! Never thought I'd be hearin' this... go on, then," he said, making himself comfortable in his hay bed.

"Right... y-you might wanna sit down for this, er, or j-just stay sitting, y'know," Rye said. "So, uh, the meat of it is... uh, Beck's not actually a feral. He's... h-he's a human."

A couple seconds of silence passed.

"He's... a hoo-mon? Like the not-Pokémon things that made that stuff in the desert?" Mavy asked.

"Y-yeah, those. So, basically, I found Beck in-" Rye started.

"That don't make no sense. He's pretty obviously an Oshawott, yer tellin' me he's a hoo-mon, too?" Mavy demanded. Rye paused, his face going pale.

"Wh-what? No, I mean like he used to be one, but he's an Oshawott now. L-like they say Luxray the Lightbringer or Grandmaster Lucario were," he tried to elaborate.

"Who?" Mavy asked.

My tail sagged as I looked at the defeated Rye. After some hesitation, he groaned and took a seat on the floor.

"Dammit... o-okay, so back when the world was created, life sorta split into two tiers, that's Pokémon and humans..." he began to a very confused Mavy. I let out a sigh and took a seat against the wall, listening as Rye kept trying to explain this Buneary-hole.

'Well, we'll be able to get it across in time to grab breakfast tomorrow if we're lucky. I'm glad he's staying, though. Life would be way less interesting without him around.

Honestly, I think I need all the interesting I can get at this point.'
 
42 - Dawning

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
42 - Dawning

As the old saying claimed, a simple life was a happy life. For the first time since he learned the concept of free will, Maverick was beginning to understand that sentiment.

The past two weeks had been interesting for the Zigzagoon, to say the least. At long last, he had finally ditched his deadbeat little hamlet to pursue his dream of being remembered, and it seemed he was making some progress in that regard. Unfortunately, it seemed fate had a wrench to throw into his plans.

He'd seen his father in the flesh among the Phoenix attackers the previous night. There was no room for denial. Mavy wasn't entirely sure what this meant for him. How much of his life had been dictated by this? Did his ma know? Had everything he'd been taught come from this?

Of course, he'd decided that simply going back to his village and shutting down was not the ideal option here, especially given his partners' wishes. These partners, however... well...

"Crazy, both of y'all," he muttered to himself as he rolled a piece of parchment out on the floor.

"Huh?" Rye asked.

"Ah said do you know where a pen is?" Mavy quickly requested. Rye quickly nodded and turned to his partner, who waddled over to pick a pen from a little pile of writing materials. As Beck held up a piece of charcoal, Mavy turned his attention back to the parchment before him.

Truly, the Oshawott was an odd one. Yes, there was the unusual notion that a feral was capable of such higher thought after such a short period, but the true Slaking in the room... well, Mavy was still trying to wrap his head around that.

Among the rapid dashing of first impressions the two had displayed when he'd joined was what seemed to be a very important detail they were withholding. Mavy had initially been rather upset at this, but he'd managed to push it to the wayside. He had always still wondered, though: what was so important that the two kept sidestepping around it, even as he established himself as a loyal teammate?

Needless to say, Mavy was not expecting... that.

Humans? Some prior apocalypse? Disembodied voices? Beck, of all Pokemon, being some ape-thing that was sent here by said voice for some important task?

'...they gotta be screwin' with me. There ain't no way that's real, he's prob'ly just made up some weirdass tale to throw me off.

Then again, it's Rye we're talkin' 'bout. He ain't damn near bright enough to think up a story like that just to fiddle with me. And Beck, like, back at the camp last night... not sure a feral could fake a breakdown like that. Not even sure if they could even have one. So... either both of them got a screw loose, or somehow that's all real.

...iunno, mon.'


With that in mind, Mavy took the piece of charcoal from Beck's paw, holding it in his mouth as he scrounged his mind for words. There was so much he wanted to write to his ma about, how could he fit everything on this one sheet of parchment? His adventures? Rye and Beck? Everything with his pa? Where was he even to begin?

"...

...ah can't write."

Rye and Beck blinked.

"What?" Beck asked.

"Don't know how to write," Mavy sighed, dropping the pen.

"Wh-why?" Rye asked.

"Never needed to, I'm a four-legger from a hick town, what do ya want from me? Dammit, ah didn't think this through," Mavy groaned. Rye stared for a moment before stepping up.

"W-well, I-I could write for you? Like, you tell me what to write," he offered. Mavy stepped aside and gave a grin.

"Thanks," he nodded. As his team leader picked up the pen, he cleared his throat. "Hi, Ma. Wanted to write to ya, tell you how the Guild life was treatin' me," he began. Rye started furiously scribbling the Gray-script down as Mavy's little smile stayed on his face.

'They're prolly nuts, yeah, but hey, they at least ain't dicks 'bout it.'

-o-​

The sun was just starting to set as we stepped out of our base, relieved to finally be done with that long while of writing. The fruits of our labor, a simple envelope, sat in Mavy's mouth as he walked alongside us. The plan was to get that shipped out while Rye and I got dinner, though as we stopped to split off at the Guild's bulletin boards, Rye cleared his throat.

"Mavy? Uh, could you send this, too? Been meaning to do it myself," he requested, holding up his own envelope. As he set it down, Mavy spit out his own letter and peered down at the new one

"To Feraligatr? Bassa Village? Wut're you-" he began. I cleared my throat, cutting him off in time for him to see me exchange a glance with a hesitant Rye. The Treecko made to answer, but ground his teeth as Mavy slowly nodded, clicking his tongue as his face became one of glee.

"So that's this Sinni ya keep talkin' 'bout... sure, ah'll do that fer ya," the Zigzagoon said, only barely holding back a shit-eating grin.

"No, not you, too... i-it's not like that! I-I'm just checking in! I- sh-she's a Feraligatr, I couldn't even-" he tried.

"Sure, Rye. Sure," Mavy said before going for the letters. Although it looked like Rye was ready to hit his head against something, he managed to straighten himself up and hold up a finger.

"A-alright, uh, if there's a cheapest option, use it, please. We need the money for... uh, a fine," he elaborated. Mavy paused and furrowed his brow in understanding.

"How much?" he asked. Rye averted his gaze, swallowing.

"T-ten thousand Poké," he said quietly, though just loud enough for Mavy to hear. He stared for a moment before giving an amused scoff.

"Dayum! Y'all shoulda just let me leave, y'know that, right?" he asked. Neither of us responded, so he just rolled his eyes. "Y'all really blew it on this one. Ah'd say I'm worth a lot, but ten thousand's pushin' it. I mean, whatever y'all wanna do."

With that, he picked the two envelopes off the dirt path and started back on his walk to Impetus Town. Watching him go for a minute, Rye and I soon carried on towards the mess hall.

As we eventually sat down at our usual spots with food trays in hand, we exchanged silence for a minute, quietly eating before Rye cleared his throat.

"Y-you really think that was the right thing to do? Like, telling Mavy?" he asked. I hesitated for a bit before nodding, prompting Rye to lean back and consider amidst the loud dinnertime chatter. "I mean... it was the right time, I guess. We got him to stay, I guess it was only fair after... that."

He shifted in his seat a bit, craning his head to watch the door before continuing.

"So, the f-fine. We're gonna be at that for a while, huh?" he asked.

"Ugh, yeah," I groaned.

"Just- why'd he have to do that? M-Mr. Arden wasn't-" Rye started before quickly glancing around. Biting his lip, he leaned in. "Mr. Arden wouldn't have hurt Linoone. Uh, that bad, at least. Why couldn't Mavy have just... agh!"

A hard kick of frustration from the Treecko hit me in my little foot.

"Agh! Rye!" I yelped. His eyes widened a bit.

"S-sorry! I'm just really on edge, and... ugh. Th-this is all getting to my head," he muttered.

"Heh, yeah. Same," I agreed, trying to reach for my foot with my stubby arms. As I soon gave up, Mavy suddenly sprung into an empty seat, clearly finished with his letterboy duties. As he looked down at the tray we'd gotten him, he sighed and bowed his head, starting to whisper to himself.

"Mavy? Wha duh-ing?" I asked. He kept muttering to himself for a bit before opening his eyes.

"Prayin'," he said.

"Really? I-I never thought you were that type. Uh, who to?" Rye asked.

"Kyogre, like the rest of muh village. Yeah, I don't usually, but ah reckon now's as good a time as any," Mavy reasoned, oblivious to my odd look towards him.

"Heh, I-I guess we could use the help," Rye nodded before straightening up. "Here's to smooth sailing from here on out, and, uh, to a better tomorrow!"

"Ye!" I agreed.

"Yep, here's hopin'," Mavy added.

-o-​

Nothing was concrete among the Guild's apprentices yet, but whispers were spreading fast.

A couple of days ago, some had noticed several teams appeared to be missing, though most had been quick to dismiss this as either just not seeing them or a multi-day dive. Once Teams Joules and Frontier had returned only to end up under Audino's care, there had been no room for denial. Something had happened.

As the teams previously unaccounted for returned to their daily lives, rumors had begun to spread, and all of them had one thing in common: the Guild had quietly sent out an expedition. But many couldn't help but wonder why...

Some said the Phoenix command had been located. Some said an artifact of significance had been found by one of the lesser teams, though the stories varied from the lost Lustrous Orb to a record of a human stockpile to even an Arceusian plate. Some said the group had been attacked for this artifact, with casualties ranging between stories. Others still claimed one of the apprentices had betrayed their peers. Most, however, simply brushed all of this off as hogwash.

However, as the whispers sailed through the mess hall, Team Assail only sat and listened, occasionally giving each other a dubious look. At present, the team next to them were discussing the actions taken during the fabled expedition, particularly whoever had done it. As they spoke, Mustie couldn't help but listen in closely.

"I'm not sure if this is Tauros or not, but I heard Treecko's team dug the artifact up. Y'know, the team with the feral."

"Really? Reach, of all teams?"

"I don't know, mon, that's just what she told me. She said she was talking with Hitmonchan, so I'm not sure."

"Huh. First we get an impressed feral that knows not to tear faces off, then someone starts trying to jack the spacetime orbs, now this. Been a weird year."

"Tell me about it. How 'bout we drink over it with the lads at the inn?"

"Sure, if you're paying."

As the team got up to leave, Mustie scowled a bit and looked over at his partner.

"Load of shit, it is," he said. "Tell me, Gold, what've the little shit and his pet done to earn this?"

"Well, uh... can't think of-" the Persian began, only to be cut off as Mustie held up a claw.

"Exactly. Jackshit. Only been a fuckin' moon and they've already dug some crusty thing up. You know how many of us actual teams have trying at that for fuck knows how many years?" he asked.

"That's half the Guild you're describing there," Gold said.

"Half? If only," Mustie said, sending a glare in the direction of Team Reach. They sat there stuffing their faces, likely not granting them or any other burgeoning team they now outclassed a second thought, the Weavile thought. Oh, how he wanted to rip something to ribbons right now... no, violence wouldn't do much. They were no Team Apex, he doubted they'd keep quiet to Arcanine about any brawl. But maybe... they wouldn't need to fight...

"You thinkin' what I'm thinking, Gold?" Mustie asked. His partner cracked an ugly smirk.

"Way ahead of ya, think I might have an idea. See, I know a mon who knows a mon 'bout a mile out from Amber Meadow..."

-o-​

Clanga-clanga-clanga!

As the loud morning bell woke me with a start, I gave a moan. I couldn't bring myself to budge from my bed. Yesterday had been so long, and after the early-morning walking, the bureaucratic torture, and emotional turmoil, I just wanted to maybe sleep in today. I was sure the Guild would understand.

I only managed to get maybe five extra minutes of snoozing in before I was dragged out of the scratchy straw bed by force. Prying my eyes open, I found Rye giving me a disapproving look as he dragged me onto the dirt floor by my arm.

"Shaaah," I moaned.

"No, we're not doing that. C-come on, Beck," Rye said tiredly. It took a couple minutes of coercing, but a sudden Pin Missile suddenly stuck itself into the ground near my face, sending me shooting back in a panic. Looking over his work as adrenaline pumped through me, Mavy gave a satisfied grin.

"Okay, yer awake, now git your ass off the floor," he said. I glared at him for a second before groaning and pushing myself up. As I dusted myself off, Rye stepped out to the door to address us.

"Honestly, I think Beck has a point. I think we should just, er, t-take the day off. That expedition... yeah," he said. Mavy and I exchanged a glance.

"Sure, that sounds nice," the Zigzagoon agreed.

"Yeah," I added. With that decided, Rye gave a clap and led us outside, taking in the spring morning before suddenly freezing.

"Uh... what do we do?" he asked. I paused to consider, realizing with a start that we didn't actually have anything planned for any given day other than work.

"Sh-shahp?" I suggested.

"No, no, we need to save money. Like, w-we need ten thousand Poké for Mavy's fine," Rye reminded me. "Maybe we could stop by the library and try and research the Caves of Being, like... uh, i-it's probably not a coincidence you found that thing, Beck."

An image of the Lampent librarian quickly flashed past my mind's eye.

"Nah," I quickly said. Rye gave me a questioning look, though soon nodded in understanding.

"Right, yeah, her. Uh... oh, we could help Ms. Audino out at the infirmary! There's those Pokemon hurt from the expedition, and m-maybe she'll pay us for helping!" he piped. I thought about this for a second.

"Yeah, sure," I agreed.

"I'm along for the ride, do whatever," Mavy said. With that agreed upon, I dragged my feet after my partners, hoping a bit of breakfast would wake me up.

A quick breakfast later, I found myself standing behind Rye as he tried to make his case before Ms. Audino, the nurse periodically humming and nodding as he spoke.

"...and, uh, w-we thought maybe some, er, extra hands would be helpful?" Rye finished. Ms. Audino gave a warm smile in response.

"Well, that's very kind of you. If you can help care for the injured for the expedition, that would be wonderful. Go ahead and bring them breakfast whenever it gets here, alright?" she requested.

"Yes, ma'am. C-could we... uh, never mind," Rye said, starting for the door to the patient room. Mavy just sighed.

"We gettin' paid for this?" he asked for Rye. Ms. Audino furrowed her brow.

"Well, hm... we'll see about that. Do a good enough job and I could-" she said before looking back with a start. "Rye? Wrong door."

"Huh? I-isn't this the wing?" Rye asked. Ms. Audino watched him confusedly for a moment before chuckling to herself.

"No, that's the emergency room. Beck recovered in there when you first found him, if I remember correctly," she corrected. Rye went a bit red in the face as he looked at the door.

"S-sorry, I-I guess habits," he stammered.

"Just don't go in there for old time's sake, I've got a Pikachu in there. He's paraplegic and missing his tail, I think he'd like to be left alone," Ms. Audino instructed.

"Oh, Zygarde... y-yes, ma'am, we will," Rye reassured, gesturing to Mavy and I. As we filed into the hallway leading out of the humble waiting room, I stole a brief glance through the small door near the opening, catching a glimpse of the old room and the aforementioned Pikachu watching us from where I'd laid only a month before. My curiosity sated, I blinked a bit.

Just over a month ago, I was a confused little Oshawott who couldn't even speak. Now, I was... well, a confused little Oshawott who still couldn't speak that well. That aside, I'd come a long way from waking up in that dingy straw bed with a hole in my chest.

'Actually, now I'm wondering...'

Looking down at my chest and brushing aside the cyan fur there, I winced a bit. Sure enough, a decently-sized scar still lingered where that Zubat had torn into me. I took a bit to just stare at the thing as we stopped. This was where I'd started as a Pokemon, and chances were I'd carry it for as long as I stayed this way. I felt a bit proud of the mark in a weird way, though...

"...so we've taken over for Ms. Audino today. Uh, we... er, Be- O-Oshawott?" Rye asked concernedly as he addressed the five bedridden explorers before us, his eyes wandering to my scar.

"Ew, what is that? How'dja get that, Hoo-mon?" Mavy inquired. I cringed violently as I was pulled out of my daze, and my paw was quickly grabbed as Rye dragged me out of the room.

"I-I'm sorry, we gotta sort an i- uh, th-thing out, w-we'll be with you soon!" he called to the perplexed explorers behind us. As we bunched up in the hallway, I sent Mavy a quick death glare, and despite my appearance, it seemed to be intimidating to get a flinch from him.

"Mavy! Wha f... dah-nah shaa-shagh aagh!" I tried.

"What? What'd ah do?" Mavy squeaked, cowering at my admittedly kinda pathetic outburst. Grinding his teeth, Rye pushed me aside.

"Wh-why'd you call him... uh, that name?" he asked, his tone far more diplomatic yet defeated than mine. Mavy looked at him as if he'd just unironically asked if the earth was flat.

"Uh... because you wanted me to pretend he was one o' those things and not an Oshawott? Y'know, species name, whaddaya want from me?" he asked. Rye opened his mouth to try and rebut, though his face quickly wilted as he realized just how clueless Mavy seemed to be in this regard. After a bit of stunned silence, he let out a quiet moan.

"B-Beck, could you please get the food from Ms. Audino? I-I think I need to explain some more to him," he requested.

"Y-yeah, sure," I blinked, putting a paw to my still-racing heart. As I waddled back to the waiting room, I couldn't help but note Mavy didn't have any comments to make in my wake. Pretty unusual, I noted as I took a seat against Ms. Audino's front desk, peeking out the door for any signs of the aforementioned food.

There was something weirdly soothing about just sitting there with nothing but Rye's quiet voice and Ms. Audino's pleasant humming to distract me. With no big responsibility weighing down on me, it felt nice to just sit there and occasionally try to converse with the nurse, choppy as said conversation might have been.

"You haven't been straining yourself too hard, right? A poisoning like the one you had is nothing to scoff at," she observed, pressing a feeler to my chest in a quick impromptu checkup.

"Nah," I lied. The nurse gave me a quick look of doubt before she shrugged it off and continued with her work.

"Has everything else been okay since you were here last? No complications or permanent damage?" she asked.

"Uh... nah," I said.

"And your mental state? I understand being thrust into a world larger than your home dungeon must be hard, are you doing okay in that regard? No... continued odd thoughts of any kind?" Ms. Audino inquired. I hesitated for a bit, remembering just how much she'd listened in on that month ago. I remembered she'd heard enough to assume I was just insane, but as long as she didn't pursue it any further than that I figured I'd be fine. I mean, she didn't wouldn't have told anyone if that was the case, right?

Right?

"No, nah reely," I shakily reassured her. Although this was nothing short of a big fat lie, it seemed to be enough to get her off my back for now, as she got to her feet and offered another warm smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. It's good to see that-" she paused before turning her head to look out the door, the flapping of wings signaling a Pokemon's arrival. "That must be breakfast now. I suppose we should be getting back to work."

Pulling me to my feet, she led me to the door to retrieve the burlap sack of food the Flyer had delivered and sent me on my way. Rye was still catching Mavy up when I passed the two in the cramped hallway, so I went to meet my fellow apprentices alone.

Upon entering the room, I shifted my eyes to the floor, knowing full well I probably wasn't about to get a warm welcome from the five Pokemon in here.

"Hey, bragh-fehs," I quietly announced, digging through the sack as I quietly cursed Raticate for arranging it so messily.

"Oshawott," a voice said. I clenched my teeth and looked up to face the source, being the Luxio that'd come along with us. To my surprise, there wasn't suspicion or paranoia in her face like I'd expected, but... something else.

"I'll be honest, the three of us didn't really like you when you dropped in. But we saw what you did back during the expedition, and I think at this point we've got enough grounds to say this," she said. Giving a brief look at her Electabuzz and Emolga partners in bed next to her, she gave a smirk. "On behalf of Team Joules here, I think you're alright, little fella."

I stared at Luxio for a bit in disbelief, amazed I was actually hearing this. I felt a little smile sprout on my face.

"T-tank yeh, mahm," I said, gratefully handing the explorer her breakfast. As I went around passing out food, that grin stayed plastered on my face.

I knew I'd probably never be thought of as truly equal here in this Guild, but seeing that one of the apparently bigger teams were willing to at least accept me... I don't know, it felt great.

Despite the discrimination, the pain, the anger, and everything in between that my life as a Pokemon had offered, I'd managed to somewhat prove myself in this world.

Even with everything going on at the time, knowing that I was finally more than just a savage creature in the Guild's eyes felt like I'd won the world.

With the explorers' breakfasts passed out, I headed back into the hallway to meet Rye and Mavy, who'd seemed to finally have finished with their powwow. Though Mavy just seemed more dubious than before, Rye was quick to note the lingering grin on my face.

"They...?" he deduced, slowly joining me in my high spirits. "Th-this is great! I think it's just a matter of time before... er, y-you know."

Watching from the side, Mavy forced his own smile.

"Wasn't here for mosta that, but nice job, ah reckon. You still gotta convince ev'ryone you ain't crazy, what with-"

"A-anyways!" Rye interrupted. With a painful clap to my back, he led me and Mavy to the lobby for further instruction from Ms. Audino.

Most of the day was spent in high spirits after that, with nothing but the miniscule tasks from the nurse to distract us. An honest day's work saw a bit of apparent progress in the injured Pokemon's healing, a good few laughs between us all, and Ms. Audino watching it all with an unwavering amused smile. Such a smile was plastered on her face as we all stepped out of the infirmary, the sun setting below the horizon as she fished a small sack off her belt and placed it into Rye's hands with a quiet jingle.

"Five hundred Poké for a good day's work, a hundred more for not complaining," she said. Rye looked down at the sack of dull metal coins conflictedly.

"M-Ms. Audino, you don't have to-" he began.

"Rye, shut the distortion up and let the lady pay us," Mavy said through clenched teeth. Rye promptly shut his mouth and quietly tucked the money away.

"Th-thank you, ma'am. Uh, t-tell that Pikachu we said we hope he gets better," he said. Audino responded with a nod and a wave before she disappeared back into the infirmary. We stood before the doorway for a moment before I turned away.

"Hey. Lass one thehr... uh..." I said. I couldn't think of a way to finish that sentence, so as Rye and Mavy turned curiously, I just blew a Razz at them and dashed off, leaving Rye yelping in alarm as he tried to catch up. It was a straight line from the infirmary to our base, so I would've won had my little legs not failed me. Next thing I knew, I was tripping head-over-heels and watching as first Rye bolted past me, then Mavy stopped to blow his own exaggerated Razz in my face before zigzagging after Rye. Groaning to myself, I pushed myself off the ground and chased the Zigzagoon the rest of the way, only to slow to a halt. Rather than celebrating his unfair victory, Rye was looking down at a scroll that must've come from the mail slot.

"What?" I asked, peering over his shoulder. The Treecko met eyes with mine.

"Mr. Arcanine wants us and the others from the expedition. D-debriefing in his at sundown, he says. Alright, I think we can-"

His head suddenly jolted upwards as his eyes widened.

"I-it is sundown!" he cried, immediately bolting away with scroll in hand. Gritting my teeth at the prospect of more running, I quickly took off after him, Mavy by my side. By the time the resultant blur of panic had subsided, I found myself past the guards at Arcanine's door and with a couple dozen sets of eyes on me. The apprentices seated around Arcanine's treasure room watched us as the Guildmaster himself sighed quietly.

"Team Reach. Fashionably late, I see," he said.

"I-I'm sorry, sir, we didn't-" Rye started.

"You may be seated, young Treecko," Arcanine commanded. Rye gulped quite audibly before nodding and dragging his tail into the room. A waving vine near the front of the crowd drew our attention as May gestured us over, and as we found our seats next to her and her teammates, I quickly noticed more than her proud grin to Rye: namely, Arden rubbing at a spot on his arm and coldly glaring at Mavy and Pike suspiciously watching me.

'He still doesn't like me, I guess. I guess some things never change, huh?'

"Now, then. I suppose I should make this quick. I am sure you all know why you are here. We have in our possession a map that could help us to pinpoint the location of the elusive Caverns of Being. This will not be a traditional debriefing, however, as I have some concerns I would like to raise," Arcanine said. "Firstly, despite the expedition's secrecy, we were still found out and attacked. I worry as to the implications of this, especially given the more pressing of these concerns."

The Guildmaster paused for effect.

"Earlier today, we received word from our sources in Ebbull City that a large creature emerged from the Coronet Wall, headed north for the Valor Sea, and disappeared. Normally, this would be of little concern to our Guild, but given the nature of the Caverns, I find this of interest. See, the Caverns form a sort of spatial distortion that links them with their other end in Sun Minor; think a magnagate but more stable. Assuming the rumors are true, it is possible this creature entered the Caverns in preparation for a rendezvous. If that is the case, then I believe it wishes to speak with us."

I stared in growing disbelief as the others whispered around me.

"As such, all I ask of you is to remain alert. Another expedition is possible, so be prepared for whatever is to come. Thank you, and forever forward."

As a murmur rose around me and the others began getting up to leave, I blinked, this dump of information weighing down on me as Rye and Mavy sat there in silence. I hung my head as I got lost in thought as per usual.

Something may or may not have been coming from the Coronets. Another expedition was looming. I might finally face... something. I didn't know.

'I guess I'll worry about that when I get there. Now... uh... why can't I... uh...

...oh, no.'


As I tried to pull myself out of my contemplation, I found I simply couldn't snap back to reality. I frantically looked around for some sort of salvation, only to confirm what I'd feared: there was nothing but void all around me and my physical body was, as per usual, missing.

...no, no, not this again! I was awake, is just spacing out really enough to-

Before I could fully process that I was having another vision, I suddenly found myself sitting on a ledge idly, my body acting of its own will as it idly kicked its legs. Only a few feet below my body's feet, waves crashed against what was clearly debris, though rusted and overgrown with sea plants. Around me, rather than the heat of battle I'd come to expect from these visions, multiple Pokemon just sat and talked, occasionally looking towards the water as if waiting for something. To top it all off, a familiar figure stood motionless out of the corner of my eye as he stared at a hulk of steel towering over us.

Cripes.

Given that nothing seemed to be awry, it didn't take long at all for Xatu to slowly turn his head to meet my eyes. I braced myself for whatever was to come, though the bird only blinked and turned his gaze away.

"You are persistent, I will say. Why such an audience, though? I would assume your witnesses would number more than-" he began quietly. He paused as his crests suddenly rose. "...hm. Your Oshawott? How interesting."

At this point, several heads had turned to look confusedly at Xatu, my body's included.

"Oi, whaddaya lookin' at?" it asked. A quick look from Xatu sent a shiver down its spine and shut it up, allowing the bird to continue.

"This other psyche, however..." he muttered before jerking his head to the side. Immediately, I felt something seem to leave from wherever I was, and I could've sworn I heard a yelp sound out as Xatu looked over towards my body. "Bibarel. With me."

"Sorry?" my body asked.

"With. Me," Xatu demanded. The Bibarel I was apparently stuck in flinched and got up, running after Xatu as he began to walk along the cracked concrete and towards the tower in the distance. As my body caught up, Xatu turned his gaze to the ocean surrounding us.

"Do you know where we are, child?" he asked. I said nothing, though a stern look from Xatu got me trying to figure out how to go about this.

N-no?

Xatu hummed to himself.

"We are aboard the Unovan aircraft carrier Carracosta, first deployed during the Orre War and kept active until after the Ruin. She ran into the reef below many a year ago, and here she shall remain, it seems," he said, glancing up at the decrepit remains of a fighter jet over us.

"Wh-what-" my body said.

"Quiet," Xatu commanded before his tone softened once more. "Look around us, child. I know of man's darker side. I know their glory came at a cost. But do know, young one. I do this out of the knowledge that this is what is best for this world and all who inhabit it. Despite these guns that now lie dormant... you tire of my diatribes, I sense."

He gave a quiet sigh.

"Very well. There is not much time, anyways. Another topic, then," he said. "To start, I must, on behalf of the League, apologize for the events of two days ago. Team Horizon assures that the escalation to conflict was not intended, their top priority was the retrieval of the artifact."

Wait, what?! You're just gonna say "oops, sorry" and that's it?

"I sense discontent. That is of little importance, however," Xatu observed as we continued walking along the deck's edge.

You can't just-

"Below us is the reason I have come here: the sunken headquarters of a human organization known as the Aether Foundation. As it has long since been reclaimed by the waves, I remain ever grateful for the Water type. Inside the structure, or so I am told, this organization harbored the Griseous Orb. Of course, our goals remain out of reach for the time being, but I believe I must ask this," Xatu said.

I-

"Child, do you wish to return home?"

I mentally cringed. I really didn't want to think about this, especially not after last night. I didn't want to, but at the same time...

Xatu hummed to himself.

"Homesick, I see. I can assure you, child, you are not alone," he said.

Before I could reply to this, Xatu suddenly paused in place, looking out at the sea. By the looks of it, there were several anomalies appearing on the horizon, and they were getting closer by the second. Xatu blinked before turning back towards me.

"Alas, we have such little time. I do not fear, though. Should we continue on the path we lead as of now, I believe we shall soon meet in a place where there is no darkness."

What? What are you-

Xatu laid a wing on my body before a rush of wind and a flash of light teleported us back to where we'd started, where the mercenaries I'd seen before were now scrambling around at the sight of the anomalies, which now revealed themselves as boats and Water-types.

"Prism Archipelago Coast Guard! Surrender your position now or we will attack!" a voice yelled from one of the vessels. Seemingly on cue, a Pokemon suddenly popped out of the water, a strange object under its arm as it clambered onto deck. Looking at the thing, I was reminded of a Revive in its eight-sided appearance...

Was this the Griseous Orb?

All I had time to process after that was Xatu raising a wing, prompting the mercenaries around me to open fire upon the boats surrounding us. I didn't get to see the first blows land, though, as a jerk of Xatu's head sent me careening out of my body and flailing backwards into the void. I screamed and grabbed at nothing to try and stop myself as I spun into nothingness...

"Beck! Beck, snap out of-"

"Sh-sheaaagh!"

With that strangled yell, I jumped back and landed on the floor, feeling at my body to make sure I was back for sure. As I tried to calm myself down, I took a look around. Rye, Mavy, Arden, and a few others were gathered over me, all watching concernedly as I panted to myself. No one dared to say anything as I slowly and shakily looked behind me to meet Arcanine's gaze.

His eyes said it all. He knew. We both did.

Shit was going down.

-o-​

"...so lemme get this straight. You want me to go all the way to Impetus Town, break into this one team's base, and-"

"Yeah, you fuck shit up. Steal some stuff here and there, make a mess of things. Then ya leave like nothing happened, we pay you, la-dee-da, we all go home happy," Mustie finished. The Pokemon he and Gold faced looked at them as he considered their offer.

"Right. And which team am I doing this to?" he asked.

"Team Apex," Mustie said. "You're gonna wanna put anything you nick in Reach's place."

The Pokemon's eyes narrowed.

"Reach? Team Reach? I..." he said.

"Ya what?" Gold asked.

"...nothing," the Pokemon eventually said. Mustie gave a nod.

"Well, alrighty then, I just wanna get one more thing outta the way before we start," he said.

"Which is?"

"How's your Oshawott impression?" Mustie asked.

Murkrow couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"I think we can make this work," he said.
 
Last edited:
43 - Karma, Just or Otherwise

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
"Please, sir, we need to go in, he-"

"No, Treecko. The Guildmaster demanded privacy. Whatever he wants with your... ahem, friend, he doesn't want to be disturbed."

"But-"

The Bisharp guards at the entrance to Arcanine's quarters wordlessly stepped to block the doorway, the wicked glint of their blades discouraging Rye from challenging them any further. With no other option, the Treecko reluctantly turned around and started walking back to base, the lanterns lining the streets lighting his path as Mavy zigzagged alongside him.

"What exactly's goin' on?" he asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that he had a... uh, a vision," Rye answered. "But that doesn't make sense, he was awake..."

"Vision? Ya mean, like, back in Littora with that nightmare you were talkin' 'bout?" Mavy asked. Rye gave a nod, putting a hand to his head.

"It should be pretty straightforward, right? Just keep following clues till something comes up. But it's so weird and, uh, what's the word? U-uncertain. I-If he can get a vision while awake, then what else could happen? Ugh, I-I just... it's stressful."

Mavy considered these words for a bit.

"So what you wanna do 'bout it?" he asked.

"What?" Rye replied.

"Standin' around feelin' sorry for yerself ain't gon do shit. Now what're you gonna do to try and fix it?" Mavy questioned.

"What? I-I can't just... fix it! Wh-whatever's doing this to Beck, I can't do anything to change it, can I? I-I'm just a Treecko," Rye answered. "T-the best I can do is just not think about it."

"Aight, we can do that. Whatcha got in mind?" Mavy asked. As the two walked through the dinnertime crowd and past the boards, Rye gave him an ever-so-slightly bemused look.

"Wh-why're you asking me all this?" he wondered. Mavy gave the equivalent to a shrug.

"Yer mah partner. Not best buddy material yet, not by a long shot, but I still gotta look out for you. Ah'll play therapist for a bit," he reasoned, getting a look from Rye. After a moment, the Treecko gave a little smile.

"Thanks. Honestly, it's kinda nice talking to someone that won't just say, like, 'you're fine' or 'shaah.' I-I didn't really expect this coming from you," he said.

"I try mah best," Mavy grinned. "So, you wanna get yer mind off the crazy shit. You said there's a library in town, right? You could read something, maybe I could give learnin' how to a crack."

"Uh, we had a... b-bad experience there. Besides, I don't really wanna just stay in town again..." Rye began.

As the two headed into their team base to discuss their plans for the coming day, the last lingerers started home from Arcanine's quarters, leaving the Guildmaster alone to speak as he pleased. A brief interview with Beck had passed, though now the young Oshawott could only watch as the recently-arrived Alakazam concentrated, connecting the golden dog to what he could only assume was a good few other Pokemon.

"I rest my case before the assembled Guildmasters of northern Gray Proper. In summary, I wish my Guild first rights to exploration of the recently rediscovered Caverns of Being, lest greater risk of intrusion by hostile forces arise. Please raise any concerns at this time," the Guildmaster said. A multitude of voices rushed through his head, though they fell silent as the overseers of the emergency meeting called for order.

"Guildmaster Emboar, Vale Keep. Is the situation bad enough that the Societies should consider declaring emergency?" a gruff voice asked.

"No, no, such would only incite needless panic. There is no need, Gray Proper has suffered enough. Anybody else?" Arcanine answered.

"Ahem. Guildmaster Haxorus, Ironside City. Why should your Guild get exclusive rights? Surely my own would do well accompanying you," another voice asked.

"No, we cannot risk it. There is too much risk," Arcanine said.

"Oh, of course. Sure, we're in it with the Phoenixes because we don't want you taking all the glory, am I right?"

"Enough. I will not jeopardize the very safety of this continent just so your Guild might-" Arcanine snapped before giving a deep breath. "My apologies. I suppose we all need some leisure time once this all concludes. Now, then, anyone else?"

He waited for a moment.

"Very well, then. I shall entrust this proposal to high command. I declare this emergency meeting of the Exploratory Society of Gray Proper adjourned."

Alakazam severed the connection, opening his eyes as Arcanine gave a grateful nod, though his eyes quickly strayed over to Beck. The Oshawott shrunk back a bit, though the psychic's stare was broken quickly as he turned his head back forward and teleported out of the room. With this, silence hung between Beck and Arcanine until the Guildmaster let out a sigh.

"You needn't worry. The situation is within our grasp, child. Go and prepare for whatever might arise," he said quietly. Though doubt was clear in Beck's face, he nodded and bowed his head before the Guildmaster before turning to waddle back up the hall.

Arcanine watched the former human go until he disappeared up the ladder to the surface, then laid down beside the roaring fireplace his living quarters boasted. As soothing heat washed over him, he shook his head.

"What are we to do with you, young one?" he pondered to himself.

-o-​

Knock, knock.

My teammates' heads turned as I stood in the doorway, the torchlight from inside our base shining light on my downcast face. At the sight of me, Rye quickly got to his feet as I dragged my tail in.

"H-how'd it go?" he asked.

"Egh," I replied, taking a seat on my straw bed. Ignoring the concerned looks Rye and Mavy both gave me, I took a moment to just stare at the floor and consider what I'd been presented with over the past hour.

Everything would be fine. That was clearly what the Guildmaster had been trying to get across when he'd ushered everyone but me out of his quarters. As he'd tried to calmly ask me about what I'd seen, he'd tried to subtly maintain that he had everything under control. The warm but strained smile he'd sent me off with betrayed him, though; I knew the worst was probably yet to come.

Noting my downcast look, Rye cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Uh, Mavy and I were talking while you were gone, and we agreed that we'll just take a job. Y'know, nothing too crazy, but enough to get some Poké for Mavy's fine," he said. "No real stakes, nothing to do with everything going on, we might even get some training for if another expedition does happen! Uh, what do you think?"

At my initial look up, Mavy smirked.

"Doesn't really matter, we'll just leave ya with Audino if you say no," he informed me. I cracked a little grin at this. I needed a break, and a good ol' non-consequential dungeon dive with the squad did sound nice.

"Yeah, sure," I affirmed. Rye gave a quick nod before sitting down and turning my attention to Mavy, who wobbily stood on his hind legs to address us.

"Aight, so the dungeon I'm thinkin's one ah used to go to a lot..." the Zigzagoon began.

-o-​

As we padded our way down the dirt road south, I remained ever grateful of the clouds obscuring the afternoon sun, I got the feeling they'd make the dive ahead a lot easier.

A quick agreement the previous night and a quick check of the board had led us here with high hopes, the items we still had from our pre-expedition shopping, and a job notice tucked in our bag. It wasn't much, just a surveying mission: go in, note any deviations, and leave a hundred Poké richer. What we had found amusing, though, was Mavy's choice of dungeon. The road to Amber Meadow was long, though somehow the topic of our past outing there had only just come up.

"So y'all have experience in the Meadow, I gander. Wut's the story there?" Mavy asked as he idly snuffed the air, stretching his stiff hind legs behind him. As I cocked my head, Rye mumbled to himself, apparently for not bringing it up sooner.

"Y-yeah, uh, we've been before. First mission, actually," Rye said. Mavy cocked his head and gave a hum.

"Well, now, ain't that a coincidence," he mused.

"Uh, I mean, it's an accessible dungeon. Like, it's sorta close to the Guild, ferals aren't too bad, easy terrain, towns nearby, and i-it's not a cave, heh. Er, Mr. Arden says it's a Guild favorite," Rye tried to explain.

"Yer Guild talk there's cool 'n all, but I just know it because..."

Mavy's pace seemed to slow.

"...cus Pa used to take me here to... agh, damn it," he muttered, hanging his head as he zigzagged. Before either of us could try and comfort him, he let out an "ah'm fine" and kept on his way.

The mood sufficiently soured, I took to just looking around at the scenery. As I looked up at the sky, I just barely caught a bird flying overhead, which further investigation revealed... well, small, I guess. I don't know, it was cloudy.

'I can't help but be reminded of that Murkrow from our first mission. Heh, imagine if that were the same one, that'd be pretty neat.'

The bird was long gone by the time I thought to point it out to Rye, so I turned my attention back forwards as I waddled after him, hoping that nice reprieve we'd come out here for wasn't so distant.

-o-​

Amber Meadow

1F


'Right. Before we do anything, I gotta get this out of the way first.'

Holding a paw up to stop Rye and Mavy, I stepped forward and looked down the grass corridor we were faced with.

"Ahahm," I cleared my throat. "SHAAAGAAAAGHH!"

My challenge echoed through the dungeon for a good few seconds, so it was no surprise when a Purrloin ran into the hall, hissing as it charged me. Rye and Mavy both staggered back as it approached with claws unsheathed, though I could only imagine their reactions as I whacked the feral in the face with the flat end of my scalchop. As it tumbled to the ground, I hit it with a hard Aqua Slap, then hosed it with a long, hard Water Gun, not letting up until it stopped struggling. Panting for a bit, I gave the thing a little kick for good measure. I hadn't forgotten that one feral Purrloin that'd handed my ass to me here nearly a month and a half ago, and I clearly hadn't forgiven. Seeing one like it at my feet... it was satisfying in a weird way.

With my impromptu venegance handed out, I looked back at Rye and Mavy, who stared back in thinly veiled concern as I gestured them on, ready to proceed. As the two silently started ahead of me, I quickly stuck my tongue out at the golden grass lining the path before continuing on.

The first floor was unremarkable at best, only really offering a few ferals here and there. Despite this, most of the floor was spent in awkward silence, one which was only broken as we finished scouring the floor and approached the earthen stairs.

"Right, uh, so far, so good. The place has, like, six floors, shouldn't be too long at this rate," Rye nodded as he led us up.

-o-​

Amber Meadow

3F


Despite our efforts, it seemed the silence couldn't hold forever, not with Mavy flanking us.

"...and this Pansear, right? She and I tried at it fer, like, a moon 'r two, but then one o' the old docks collapsed under her and she got sucked straight into the Strait. This Guild team just so happened to be nearby, so they fished her out," Mavy rattled on as we emerged from floor two. "She blamed me for whatever reason, can ya believe that shit? Smacked me square 'cross the muzzle, then she and her folks hopped town next day."

"Ah. Thaah... eh, sa-suhcks," I commented.

"Yeah. But a Pansear?" Rye asked.

"What, ya think we couldn't get it on?" Mavy asked. Smirking as Rye went a bit red, he continued. "Ain't you ever heard of egg groups? Tyrogue over by the pier told me a Skitty and a Wailord could knock. Yeah, the Skitty'd die real fuckin' quick, but there'd still be an egg, or so I heard."

"Eugh," I shuddered.

"Y-yeah, didn't need to hear that," Rye agreed.

"Trust me, kid, world's messed up. Gets worse the more ya dig," Mavy shrugged before blinking, apparently remembering something. "Yeah, Tyrogue was real mature; you talk with him, yer bound to get one joke. Couldn't even bring up the war without him gettin' all drooly about Cyndaquil and Eevee."

A bit of silence hung in the air before Rye froze and made a guttural sound.

"Y-you don't mean-" he began as we stopped in the middle of the clearing we'd found ourselves in.

"It's possible, he said," Mavy said slyly. Rye's mouth moved wordlessly as he put his hands on his head.

"Wh-b-but I... h-how did I not figure that out?! O-of course they're... I... I-I thought Mr. Pike was just kidding!" he groaned.

"Kiddin', you say? Interesting," Mavy said, raising his furry eyebrows. I gave a sigh

"Plehs stahp," I butted in, waving the two on towards a hallway.

"Yeah, please," Rye shuddered, hurrying after me. With a snicker, Mavy started after us.

"Maybe when we get back we can read if a Feraligatr can-" he started.

"W-WE'RE MOVING ON!" Rye yelled as he slammed his tail into an incoming Patrat's gut. Clearly not willing to argue with that Pound, Mavy met my gaze and shut up. After a minute of awkward silence, Rye coughed, having winded down.

"Anyways. Uh, wh-what do you two think about what Mr. Arcanine said? Like, a giant creature going to the caves, what could that be?" he asked.

"Ya don't know it was goin' to those caves in particular. Coincidences happen," Mavy shrugged. Rye and I gave him a look.

"I-it's a giant creature, probably a Pokemon, wouldn't it make sense?" Rye asked.

"It's a giant creature, so it's all the less likely to give a damn 'bout yer little hoo-mon thing. Don't that make sense?" Mavy asked. I let out a little sigh.

"Ya tink wee faghin' sh-n-nahts, yeah?" I asked. Mavy took a minute to try and decipher what I'd tried to say before snorting a bit.

"Naw, I don't still think y'all're fuckin' nuts, ah think you're just regular nuts," he said. At our flat looks, he only smirked. "Come on, that's an improvement, at least."

Rye just blinked as we approached the staircase, giving a sigh as he scratched off a floor on the list and stepped on one of the dirt steps.

"W-well, assume we, uh, aren't crazy for a second. What-"

-o-​

Amber Meadow

4F


"-wou... uh, w-what would you think the takeaway would be from all that?" Rye asked, shuddering. "Ergh, remind me not to talk between floors, that felt really weird."

Mavy looked at us for a second before smacking his lips.

"Right. So, in all seriousness, let's say you ain't got a screw loose and all this really is related to Beck and his thing, right?" he proposed. "Well, given the, eh, circumstances... ah might actually have an idea wut these Phoenixes're after."

I stopped mid-waddle.

"What?" I demanded.

"See, Pa used to tell me these stories, and I'm gettin' the feel that some o' them, he didn't entirely make up. There was one, like a standard hero tale, he really liked tellin' that one," Mavy elaborated. "Basically, there's this Pokemon, and he's livin' in a land where it's always night. The mon travelled 'cross the world lookin' for these sphere-lookin' keys, opened and went through a magical door, and then the sun rose."

As the three of us stood there, the Zigzagoon paused to consider his own words. "He was tryna fish me in, wasn't he? That whole story, it was... th-that son of a..."

He hung his head, biting his lip hard as his eyes watered. Neither I nor Rye dared to speak up until he gave a shaky breath and started zigzagging along again.

"Mavy-" Rye began.

"Don't. Just... don't," Mavy snapped. Rye gave him a long, sympathetic look before his eyes met mine.

"I-it, uh, it sounds right. But keys? For what?" he asked, his voice more hushed.

"The link. He called it the link," Mavy called back. Rye nodded before looking to me for input.

"Do you remember anything about a link? Like, from when you were human?" he asked. I sighed.

"Nah. I dunno," I said.

It was the truth, I'd never heard of anything like that. Meeting Rye's expectant gaze with only silence, I just kept following him as he sighed and went back to scribbling notes. With nothing much else to do that wasn't worrying about this door thing, I ran a stubby paw along the amber grass to the side, at least hoping the mood would improve as we kept on our way.

-o-​

Amber Meadow

6F


"Alright, uh, last floor! Everything's looked normal so far, maybe it was a false alarm. There's usually, like, something weird if there's a surveyor mission like this. K-kinda sucks, they pay extra if we find something weird with the dungeon," Rye said as we topped the last floor's set of stairs.

"That sounds impractical. You could just fake it an' run off with free money, couldn'tcha?" Mavy demanded. Wincing at his still bitter tone, Rye cleared his throat.

"Th-that's not... uh, they have, like regulations, and..." he tried before sighing. "Let's just go."

I instinctively drew my scalchop as we started on our way, keeping my eyes trained for any surprises to start this floor as I stuck close to Rye. A minute passed where I did nothing but listen to Rye scribble before I took notice of the first issue: I could hear Rye scribbling.

Dungeons weren't quiet. There was always the background noise of ferals and such other pleasant things in the background, I'd learned. I shouldn't have been able to hear charcoal scraping against parchment, not unless... there were no ferals...

"Rye," I whispered. "Is q-qui-eh, yeah?"

The Treecko looked back at me, listening for a moment before his face scrunched up in confusion. He barely had time to question this before he suddenly fell out of sight with a quick yelp, finding himself sprawled in a deep scar in the ground. The second issue.

"Wh-what... what is this? This shouldn't be here," he asked, examining the hole further. As I watched concernedly, Rye gulped, collected our fallen bag, and climbed out of the three-foot-deep hole, ending up on the other side. The three of us started examining for ways across this obstacle when Mavy suddenly seemed to pause.

"Uh... fellas? Y'all feelin' that?" he asked, shifting one of his front feet along the ground. I gave him a confused look before I too froze, realizing the ground was trembling under my feet. Before I could inform Rye of this, a plume of dirt suddenly erupted from just ahead, revealing the third issue with this floor.

Namely, the two hulking, growling Excadrills that'd just exploded out of the ground.

I didn't know much about these things, but among what I did know was that they were usually two feet tall, three tops. The ones that were now glaring us down were five-foot easily, and we appeared to have just pissed them off. While the dungeon looked to already be somehow regenerating the damage to its grass walls, we unfortunately couldn't quite do that ourselves, so I was decently panicked as the twin mole monsters menacingly tromped their way over towards Rye.

"Y-you were sayin' 'bout something weird with the dungeon?" Mavy squeaked.

All Rye had to respond was panicked gasps as the Excadrills both began to run at him on all fours, just barely missing him with a powerful swing as he jumped into the hole to escape getting skewered on their blades. It wasn't long before the Treecko clambered out, screaming at us to run as the ferals roared and jumped over the hole after us. A quick Water Gun to one of their faces bought us a few precious seconds to haul ass into the next hall over, and with our backs against the grass wall, I panted and listened for the ferals' low growling and sniffing. It wouldn't be long before they found us, it seemed.

As I looked to Rye for a solution, all I found was him trembling, though he stopped to put his hands on his head and quietly mumble to himself before long.

"Th-they're ground, we can... no, they're also steel, I won't be able to... alright, alright, okay," he muttered before getting to his feet. "B-Beck, you have the type advantage! You try and go for one of them, Mavy and I'll take the other!"

"What?! Me?" Mavy demanded.

"J-just trust me!" Rye yelled, turning to meet the Excadrills' gazes as they turned the corner. Swallowing hard, I gave a pitiful battle cry and ran at one of them, scalchop in paw. A quick Razor Shell connected with its leg, though I was dismayed to find it didn't seem to do much to the hulking beast other than make it angrier.

'Shit, okay. New plan.'

The Excadrill roared at me, so I responded by jumping up and down and yelling at it before booking it away from Rye and Mavy. As I'd hoped, the feral began pursuing, its blades glinting wickedly as it started closing the distance between us. I'd figured I could fight it easier without its friend nearby, but it looked like I'd failed to account for its speed. Worse, I'd hit a fork in the path, and the brief hesitation that it'd brought didn't do me any favors. With seconds to think, I tried to gauge my chances here, maybe there were some items on the ground I could use. On one path, grass. On another, more grass. Well, that was...

'...grass, you say?'

Biting my lip, I turned around, staring the Excadrill down as it made to impale me. Just before it could, though, I launched a powerful Water Gun off to the side, allowing it to blow me back a foot and onto the ground, and as I watched, the feral tried to screech to a halt, but it simply flew over me and straight into the grass. Panicked screeches immediately started ringing from inside the brush, and although I could hear it slashing away, it seemed like it was too far in. Before long, the cries faded, being replaced by the sound of shifting plants within the grass. Pushing myself to my feet, I chuckled a bit and turned to run back to join my partners, sparing the innocuous amber grass a look.

'Karma, bitch.'

When I returned to our hiding spot, I found that the other Excadrill hadn't quite gone down yet, despite the numerous Pin Missiles sticking from its flesh and the Rye clinging on to its metal head-blade. Mavy stood off to the side, trying to shoot the thing in its face as Rye held on for dear life, soon getting a hand on flesh and trying for a Mega Drain. That seemed to be too much for the beast, as it roared and flung Rye from its head and onto the ground.

"Rye!" I called. Said Treecko trembled a bit on the ground before pushing himself back up in time to stare down his opponent, getting a loud roar into his face. He responded in tandem with a Dragon Breath right to its face.

As the Excadrill screeched and clawed at its face, Rye looked at me with glowing, twitching, indigo eyes. I stumbled back, our past experiences with this state coming to mind. He gave himself a hard hit to his noggin, however, and gestured me on.

"Let's finish it!" he demanded far more confidently than usual, turning his glowy-eyed gaze back towards his opponent as Mavy zigzagged away to avoid getting stepped on. With a quick nod, I joined Rye in charging at the Excadrill. Although it seemed quite weak from the damage it'd taken, it still bared its claws and swung at us, raking at my side as I tried to slice at it. Rye immediately followed up with a jump and a hard Pound to its face, sending the creature to the ground. Before we could do anything else, though, Mavy jumped onto its chest and Headbutted it straight in the belly. This seemed to be too much for the Pokemon, as it finally fainted as Mavy jumped and cackled over its body.

"Final blow, y'all! The Zigzagoon is the champion!" he gloated. I just rolled my eyes, looking to Rye for his input. He stood still, his eyes still that blue-purple and his face uncharacteristically bold. Before I could prod at him, something in the air seemed to change around the Treecko.

Then his body started to glow a blinding white.

Mavy's cheering came to an abrupt halt as we averted our gazes, giving bug-eyed side glances at Rye's glowing form. Rye... he was evolving!

I felt a smile creep onto my face as I watched the Treecko's silhouette begin to shift out of the corner of my eye. I didn't quite know what a Grovyle was capable of, but I knew for sure it'd be useful. I felt proud for him, knowing he'd come this far since-

"No," I heard from the glowing mass. My ears stuck up in confusion as I looked at the increasingly unfamiliar Rye before me. "No. No! No! NO! NO!"

The silhouette quickly shifted back to its familiar Treecko form before the light cleared, revealing an unchanged Rye as he kept screaming, stumbling backwards onto the ground as his now-normal eyes stared off frantically.

"Rye! Rye!" I called, running over to try and calm him. As I hurriedly put a paw on him, his yelling calmed into panting as he stared off, though he soon shakily looked at me.

"I... I-I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I... I-I don't-"

"Hey, hey. Shh," I offered, trying to comfort him with a stubby-armed hug. As Rye shakily returned the embrace, I gestured to Mavy, who stood just opposite from me. The Zigzagoon blinked a bit, then pursed his lips and joined in. With the Excadrill unconscious behind us and the sun slowly dipping, I had time consider the trembling Treecko I was currently embracing.

'This could... very well be an issue.'

-o-​

"I-I don't know what came over me. It was like I could just take on the world, like nothing could touch me. M-maybe that's just the Dragon energy Ms. May was talking about," Rye sighed, scratching at his head.

It'd been a night since our escapade at Amber Meadow, and though we'd reported the troublesome ferals and left with two hundred Poké not about to be given to the Guild, the air between the three of us had been awkward the whole way back. None of us had forgotten that near-evolution, even after sleeping on it, and it seemed that Rye had finally decided to open up. It seemed Mavy wasn't entirely understanding in this situation, though.

"Well, that don't answer shit. Why'd you stop? You coulda been a Grovyle, dammit, why would you not wanna evolve?" he demanded, earning a flinch from Rye.

"I-I don't know," the Treecko responded.

"What do you mean ya don't know?" Mavy asked.

"I just... I-I'm not ready, I don't know! I just... I don't want to evolve, not yet," Rye said.

Mavy shot me a quick look before continuing his interrogating.

"This about Totodile, or-?" he started, though quickly shrunk back as Rye yelled in frustration.

"No, i-it's not about Dill! I'm just... agh, I'm not ready, I don't know!" he groaned. "Ugh, I'm sorry. I'm... I-I know, I'm a failure, I'm a waste of a Treecko, I don't deserve to-"

"Rye. Shtap. Yeh fine," I said. Rye didn't say anything beyond that, only hanging his head and sulking along. Thankfully, Mavy didn't have anything to say, instead turning his attention to the road ahead as the Guild's hill came into view in the distance.

As we finished the process with Cinccino at the front, we stepped into the Guild campus, stopping for a moment to take it in. I stuck my paw out after a bit, and though Rye still looked pretty upset, his face relaxed into a hint of a smile as he accepted the high-five. Mavy just rolled his eyes.

"Wut, y'all too good to do the thing with me?" he asked in jest before running up and jumping to slap his own forepaw against my paw.

"Ah! Mafee!" I protested, looking at the filth the Zigzagoon had left. He'd been walking on that thing, and I was pretty sure he hadn't washed it in a long while. He just gave a cheeky smile in response, not flinching even at the Look I gave him as I followed after him and Rye, wiping my paw off the whole way.

As we approached the boards to turn towards our base, though, the sight of a few familiar faces stopped me. Deciding a quick little conversation would be nice, I waved at them. The Nidorino in the trio was the first to notice me, giving a wide grin.

"Well, shit! How's it been going?" he asked, getting to his paws and heading towards us with his teammates, earning a few paranoid looks from the passersby. Rye blinked as the three approached.

"Mr. Nidorino, hey! Uh, w-we've been alright," he said, feigning enthusiasm. "How's Zangoose doing?"

In response, Raboot hung his head and gestured to the mentioned Pokemon. Zangoose looked to have changed since I'd last seen him, mainly in that his fur had become messy and unkempt like mine. He seemed docile enough, though, only cocking his head at the sight of us.

"Zah. Zyehh-leh," he tried. Nidorino gave a bittersweet smile in response.

"It's slow, but we're getting somewhere," he said. As Raboot just looked off to the side, Rye and Mavy looked at each other, both giving a grin.

"That's nice to hear! Uh, you want any tips? I-I can try and help," Rye offered, getting a nod from Nidorino. "Uh, o-okay, so... first, I think you should focus on names. If you can, y'know, get his name down, that'll make things easier..."

As the Treecko explained away to the nodding Nidorino, my eyes strayed away from Zangoose and towards the Pokemon regarding him. A few only glanced, some winced at being so close to the feral, and a particular duo just nudged each other as they watched us talk.

"Well, isn't that sweet, they're friends," Mustie audibly said. "He and Treecko both got pets, y'know, they're perfect for each other."

Nidorino's face twitched as he heard this, though he just growled and turned away, looking over his shoulder at the two.

"Haven't heard that one before, at least. Nice job, Weavile, you're original for once," he called before giving us a nod of thanks and slipping away. Team Assail's pause at this seemed to be short-lived, as the two shot us a nasty knowing smirk before turning and walking off.

"Ugh, those two, I swear," Rye growled. Mavy snorted in response.

"Ya wanna fuck him up?" he offered.

"Honestly, kinda," Rye sighed.

"We'll fuck 'em up," Mavy grinned. "Y'know, just give the call, and ah'll-"

He stood up on his hind legs and gave a few swipes of his claws to sell the idea, only getting a look of concern from Rye.

"N-no, no we're not f... uh, d-doing that. Don't do that, please," he requested before gesturing me along to head back to base. Mavy gave a disappointed groan.

"Damn. Wanted to get back at 'em fer that one time, remember that?" he sighed, walking after the two of us.

Before I could waddle into our little base and relieve my aching little legs, an anomaly in the mail slot caught my eye.

"Hey, mail," I pointed out. Rye paused and took the piece of parchment, cocking his head curiously as he unfolded it. After reading it over for a minute, his brow furrowed.

"It's... from Team Apex. Uh, they say they wanna i-invite us to their base for dinner, talk about the expedition," he recited, looking up at us. "Th-that's good. We can, uh, say sorry for what happened, figure out what's coming next... yeah, maybe-"

"Sorry, they want us to go to their place for dinner?" Mavy asked. "Don't we already get free food? Wut's the point?"

"I-it's more, uh, a formality than just food here," Rye reasoned, hurriedly walking into our base. "Come on, let's get ready, we should... uh, you good, Beck?"

I gave a reluctant nod and headed in after Rye, dropping our bag down as I clenched my teeth. Despite the prospect of sorting things out with that gang, something didn't quite feel right. I didn't know why, but...

'Great, here you go being irrational again. It's nothing, Beck, just go, it's fine.'

Trying my best to calm that nagging feeling, I brushed my shaggy cheek fur in a vain effort to look presentable before following Rye and Mavy out the door.

A few minutes' walk led us out in front of Team Apex's base, the sky turning red and orange above us as Rye gave the doorframe a rap. Not a minute passed before May walked up, her eyes lighting up at the sight of us.

"Rye, hey! How's it been going?" she asked.

"Ugh, y-you know," Rye coughed. As Arden leaned into view behind May, his look souring just a bit, the Leafeon chuckled.

"Us, too. So what can we do for you?" she asked. Rye's eyes darted over to me as he momentarily hesitated.

"Uh, d-dinner, right? To talk about... y-y'know, remember?" he reminded her. May's smile seemed to falter a bit, and she and Arden exchanged a quick glance as we stood there waiting. A bit passed before May looked back to us, still grinning but evidently a bit confused.

"Well, uh, if that's what you want, come in. We'll get Pike to snag some food from Raticate, you three just... well, I'd say make yourselves at home, but... Beck, you just stay with us, alright? We'd never hear the end of it from ol' Fuss and Feathers if we let you roam," she requested. I gave a sigh.

"Yeh, mahm," I agreed. With that, Arden and May stepped aside, allowing the three of us inside, where it looked like a good few younger Pokemon had gathered to see us. As May stepped through them and went further into the base, Rye gave a nervous smile.

"Uh, hey. It- l-long time no see. R-Rue, Braze," he said. The Ralts and Bagon in the group just looked at him for a moment before approaching me.

"So, this is that feral, huh, Treecko? ...hey, little guy, how you doing?" the Ralts asked, cautiously putting a hand out as she cocked her head. In stark contrast, the Bagon quickly pushed her aside and got into my face.

"HELLO? CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" he yelled, earning a violent wince from me.

"Ah! Agh, fack!" I protested, stumbling back from sheer self-preservation instinct. The Bagon rolled his eyes.

"See? It can talk! I told you Treecko was full of Tauros!" he told the Ralts.

"Braze, that doesn't mean he's not feral!" she reasoned, kicking off an argument between the two. As they went back and forth, I reached for my ringing ears and looked over at Rye, who just watched the two sadly.

'These guys don't care much for him, do they? Did he live like this before we met? ...well, they haven't heard all the crazy shit we've been through. That might sway them.'

Giving the Treecko a little smile to reflect my optimism, I turned my attention to Mavy as he stared up nervously at Arden, who stayed there watching us as he rubbed at a bandage on his arm. Despite what should've been a clear sign that he was about to give Mavy a piece of his mind, that didn't seem to be the case. Rather, his brown eyes were trained on me, and his face read concern rather than anger. Though he immediately looked away, the message was clear.

Whatever the cause, I doubted this dinner was gonna go without some tension.


As the sun set, the flapping of wings sounded out from above. Mustie looked up from fidgeting with his claws in time to see Murkrow come in for a landing. The two Pokemon of Team Assail quickly stood to attention.

"How's it lookin'?" Gold asked.

"They took the bait. I'll take my position, you do your thing," Murkrow relayed. Mustie and Gold nodded, relieved that the hard part was over with.

"Damn good thing Quilava writes so sloppily, real easy to copy, know what I'm sayin'?" Gold nudged his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, is the shit ready?" the Weavile asked. Gold gave a nod, prompting a smirk from Mustie as he leaned back to consider.

From Treecko making them look like fools to Team Luster making a show of trying to rehabilitate their Zangoose, things had been strange for the Guild the past moon; a strange that Team Assail simply did not approve of. That would change tonight, Mustie hoped. Team Reach, the troublesome little shits they were, would fall back to the wayside, at least, and they would go back to their usual routine. To Mustie and Gold, this was just fine. Before they did that, however, Mustie craned his head to look at Murkrow.

"Gotta say... what's the name?" he asked.

"Er, Poe," Murkrow said.

"Okay, Poe. You're alright. You know, there's always a position open here in Team Assail if you wanna-" Mustie began.

"Nah. I work solo, always have, and I'm better for it," Poe immediately butted in. Mustie pursed his lips.

"Well, that's a shame. Y'know, keep it in mind, at least," he requested.

"Course," Poe nodded before fluttering up to watch the target bases in the distance. With his proposition delivered, Mustie took a seat next to Gold, stealing a final sneer towards Team Apex's base.

"Karma's a bitch, Quilava. Just ya wait," he smirked.

-o-​

Before tonight, I'd have said that the mess hall was a bit of a chaotic mess. Sure, we usually weren't affected, but there were times we were just happy to be sitting off to the side away from the majority of the others. However, sitting at Team Apex's table, I was willing to forgive those incidents by now.

The big three were fine, down to keeping their elbows off the table if applicable: May and Arden sat and listened to Rye as he spoke while Pike gave comments every so often and avoided eye contact. That was all well and good. It was the apprentices that were the real nightmare. As I sat there chewing on the Spoink sausages that'd been served at the mess hall, I tried my best not to stare at the young apprentices as they screeched like demons and pretty much just acted the part. The majority of them, I guessed, were under fifteen (at least in Pokemon years, however that worked), so I could only watch as food flew through the air and loud yells rang from a troublesome few. The rest, thankfully, were transfixed on Rye as he recounted our antics to them.

"I-I don't know what came over me, like, I just stopped. Uh, after that, we reported the Excadrill to the town, and-

"What? You quit evolving? What kinda crap is that? Evolving's great, why would you-" Bagon demanded.

"Come on, now. Clearly Treecko here didn't need to be a Grovyle, they already don't stand a chance," Mavy said. Rye nodded in agreement and looked back at Bagon, who still rolled his eyes.

"Still stupid," he said, though flinched as May looked up.

"If he wasn't ready, he wasn't ready. That's just part of evolving. I'm sure he'll get to it one day. Now, all of you say what you thought of Rye's stories," she said. Scattered cheers of approval sounded from the apprentices as the Leafeon sighed.

"Well, despite the whole evolving thing, just know I'm still impressed. Really, only a moon and half ago I wouldn't have believed all that coming from you," she said, grinning at her teammates. Arden gave an "mhm, yeah" between a mouthful of food as Pike just shifted in his seat uncomfortably, though this didn't deter May.

"Come on, look at Beck. You can barely even tell he's feral if he doesn't speak up. Y'know, general scruff, stench, and... ahem, table manners aside, he'd pass for a normal Pokemon," she nodded. I paused at the mention of manners, realizing with a start that among other things, my mouth was hanging open in chewing. Muttering a quick apology, I wiped my mouth, though Pike only shuddered and excused himself in response. As the Swellow left the room, May cleared her throat. "Anyways, I'm damn proud, Rye."

"Th-thanks," Rye said before his eyes darted over to me. "Uh, what do you mean by stench?"

"What, you haven't noticed?" May simply asked. I blinked, then hesitantly rose a stubby arm to my face and sniffed the fur. The grimace I gave said all they needed to know.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry, Ms. May, I didn't know. I'd have... M-Mavy, did you notice?" he asked. The Zigzagoon gave him a sideways look as he chewed on his food.

"Ah was bein' polite," he said. Rye and I watched for any sort of followup, but Mavy just stayed unusually quiet as he sat there, only slipping back into his usual demeanor briefly when a sausage from one of the rowdy apprentices nearly nailed him in the head. I was a bit put off by this change in behavior, but remembering how composed he was back when he first joined the team and his apparent respect for this team, I figured it made sense.

As Rye gave a quiet, embarrassed sigh, Arden cleared his throat.

"Yeah, might wanna take a dip if and when that next expedition happens. There's this Lilligant in town that makes some pretty decent soap, I can point you in the right direction tomorrow. You know, if you aren't too busy doing, uh, feral things," he said. As I raised an eyebrow and made a quiet noise thanks, May looked over in surprise.

"You? Who are you and what've you done with Arden?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. After that party and... you know," he paused, eyeing Mavy. "Uh, I did some thinking, and I figured why not. The dog's inevitably gonna sock them onto that next expedition, regardless of whatever the fuck happened back there. Might as well pull myself up by my bootstraps, do what I can to make sure you three stay in one piece for the time being."

Rye, Mavy, and I all exchanged a glance.

"Uh, th-thank you, Mr. Arden," Rye eventually said.

"Don't mention it. Maybe we can finally talk about what's all been going on while we're at it, you know?" Arden replied, leaning in towards us. "You and Oshawott here look to be in the middle of it all for some reason. I wanna get your insight, maybe we can figure out what all's going on."

"Sir? If he don't wanna talk, then you know," Mavy blurted out. Arden sighed.

"Yeah, obviously, but from experience, the best approach to shitstorms like this is clonking heads. I mean, last time heads weren't clonked... well, no one told us Tyranitar could pull Kyurem out of his ass, and that ended swimmingly. You got anything you wanna say about all this, Zigzagoon?" he asked.

"Nothing, sir. If there were somethin', they'd've told me," Mavy replied, giving me a quick look.

"You sure?" Arden asked.

"Yessir," Mavy said. Arden just sat there for a moment before narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Pardon?" Mavy replied, sounding quite unsure. In response, the Quilava gave a sigh and stood up, gesturing him along. With a quiet gulp, Mavy slipped down from his chair and zigzagged after him, and as the two disappeared into another room, an awkward silence fell over the table. Even as the apprentices yammered on beside us, we just stared at May for a minute before she straightened up.

"So, uh, Beck. You ever heard the tale of the Great Bullshittery of Port Albion?" she offered.

"Nah, mahm," I said.

"Ooh, you're gonna love this. It was maybe six years back, and the three of us were up north to-" May began, though she paused and turned her head as Arden and Mavy reentered the room, the latter looking worse for wear.

"Wh-what'd you talk about?" Rye asked. Mavy didn't answer, only looking back and forth between me and Arden with fearful eyes. After a bit, he cleared his throat.

"Can we leave?" he asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I-I wanna go," Mavy stammered.

Both of us hesitated for a bit, though the look on our partner's face eventually got us out of our seats, leaving only enough time for Rye to mouth an apology to a confused May. As we followed Mavy out of Team Apex's dining room, I caught a glimpse of Arden nodding to himself, maybe satisfied with whatever he said to Mavy. I wasn't sure. Whatever the case, the three of us quietly filed out of the base and into the night, where Rye immediately made to catch up with Mavy.

"What happened back there? Wh-what'd he say?" he asked concernedly. Only Kricketots met our ears for a second, though as we passed through the Guild's gates, Mavy sighed.

"You promise you won't tell no one?" he asked. Though the double negative in his words didn't really help, Rye and I nodded. "Right, so the meat of it is... well, the mon threatened me."

Rye did a quick double take.

"Wh-what?! Mr. Arden? N-no, he wouldn't do that, not seriously!" he protested.

"Ehh-" I tried to add, though Mavy spoke up before I could get anywhere with that.

"He very well did, right in fronta mah face. H-he asked if I were talkin' with Pa or his club, then said if I did so much as suggest ah was gonna pull some shit with y'all, he'd-"

"Sh-shove your head up where the sun don't shine?" Rye finished. He sighed as Mavy gave him a puzzled look. "L-like I said, he isn't serious about this sorta stuff, he says stuff like that all the time."

"But this is fuckin' Cyndaquil we're talkin' 'bout, he very well could-" Mavy started.

"I-it'll be alright, I promise," Rye said. I gave a noise of agreement, though it was shaky at best. Exchanging a look with my friend, I knew I wasn't alone; neither of us quite believed this was nothing. As our base came into view, though, I decided to keep quiet about this between the both of us for now.

'At the very least, we can figure this out over some chill t-'

The three of us froze at our doorstep. Rather than the empty base we'd grown so accustomed to, it seemed we had visitors in the form of Mustie and Gold, their backs to us as they pushed furniture around and bickered.

"We aren't putting it behind the table, ya dingus. They aren't stupid, no one would hide stolen shit in such an obvious place," Gold whispered, gesturing to a burlap sack next to them.

"Well, where else we supposed to put it? Look around, they don't got shit but these tables. You think we're gonna go out back and bury it?" Mustie asked.

"Well, once Murkrow gets back, we can always just gorge ourselves on whatever's edible. You know, maybe then they'll buy that the feral did it. Then we can bury it," Gold suggested.

"Alright, that's actually a good idea, I'll-" Mustie nodded before glancing over his shoulder momentarily. His eyes bugged out as he froze in place, alerting Gold that something was up. We stared at each other, frozen in place for a minute.

"What are you doing?" Rye demanded.

"Y-you weren't supposed to be back for-" Gold began.

"What are you doing?!" Rye repeated, clearly angry. The two Pokemon before us hesitated before turning to fully face us.

"What does it look like we're doing?" Mustie asked, malice in his tone. Sensing where this seemed to be going, I pulled my scalchop off my chest and got into stance, though Mustie only laughed. "Wow, look at that pitiful little thing. If that's how small you grow weapons, I'd hate to see the other one."

My eye twitched as I kicked the table by the entrance in response. A clatter rang out as the Iron Thorn that'd been sitting there fell to the floor, though I quickly picked it off the floor and pointed it at them.

"Wh... the fuck is that? What'd you do to that thing?" Gold asked, looking rather perturbed at the blood-covered, juice-coated, dusty monstrosity of a weapon as I gave a few warning stabs, stepping towards the two and gesturing to Rye. Taking the hint, he and Mavy joined me in backing the two against the base's rounded wall.

"So y'all're burying something in here, tryna make us look bad somehow. Don't know what exactly yer up to, but... that's real low, whatever it is," Mavy growled, tufts on his back glowing as he held Pin Missiles at the ready.

"Why? Wh-what'd we ever do to you?" Rye asked. Mustie frowned, looking around for a way out, though he eventually exchanged a look with Gold and gritted his teeth.

"I'll tell you why. You didn't earn this. All you did was get lucky enough to run into your pet there, and the dog just gave you everything. You don't deserve this, so what something happened at Twist? Gold and I lived hungry and poor, we had no choice but to join. What do we have to show for it twenty years later, huh? Guess," he ranted. "I've seen this before. Some hotshot new team waltzes in, gets everything handed to them on a silver platter... Quilava did enough, we are not letting you do it all over again!"

Rye's fists clenched.

"Y-you're wrong! You-" he started.

"We could've avoided this, you know. We offered our friendship once, we'd have excused you if you'd been sensible then. But now... well, you may have fucked it up, but Poe's still out there. Rumors spread fast, and it's our word against yours," Mustie said.

With that, Rye gave an angry shout and fired a Dragon Breath straight at him. The Weavile only sped out of the way, then blew at us as the fireball exploded against the back wall. A bonechilling cold immediately washed over me, prompting the two crooks to bolt for the door. I only managed to land a single swing of Mizu's old Iron Thorn before they escaped, and what seemed to have been an Icy Wind ensured I couldn't even make it past the door before the two disappeared down the street, the only damage taken being the slash I'd left, a couple bruises, and a single Pin Missile.

After a minute, the deep-piercing chill began to subside, though I kept staring after where Mustie and Gold had gone as a couple of our neighbors poked their heads out curiously.

"...wh-what do we do?" Rye asked, still shivering from that Icy Wind.

"Well, we chase those assholes down, that's what!" Mavy said, immediately zigzagging ahead of us.

"Nah, cahps. We tehl be-feh sheh sha," I tried to reason. Mavy stopped in his track and gave me a confused look.

"You get any of that, Rye?" he asked.

"Cops... n-no, the Mags won't care, but we can get Ms. Cinccino! Come on, they had to have left something! L-look, there's that bag, maybe there's more!" Rye said, running back into base. Mavy and I were quick to follow, and as I took a quick look up at the small hole Rye had left, that little voice of doubt I'd grown so accustomed to decided to speak up.

'They said a Murkrow was still out there... i-it's fine, we've got evidence and some witnesses, I think. If we can get to the Guild first, we should be good. Yeah.'

Unbeknownst to me at the time, the shape in the sky rapidly approaching our location happened to disagree with that optimism.

-o-​

This was an odd night for Poe, to say the least.

Now, sneaking into an establishment to grab whatever looked shiny? He'd done that before, that was nothing new. No, what was strange here was the nature of what he was doing now.

While getting paid to do what he usually did was new to him, the Pokemon his clients had specified... well. He'd heard tales of Team Apex, sure, and they were straightforward enough to prepare for, but Team Reach?

It'd been just under a moon since the Murkrow's ill-fated attempt to steal a Seedot's Pecha scarf, and he hadn't forgotten the rookie team that'd shown him mercy in that dungeon. An odd couple of mons, they were, but given he was still short his Reviver seed, it seemed they worked decently together, and for that, he was grateful. But now?

'I've paid my debt. I owe them nothing. Shinies are shinies, after all.'

That was what he told himself as he hid under a desk, keeping a decently-filled sack hidden as he watched the room warily. As had been agreed upon, the cue to begin would be whenever Treecko's team left. So long as the timing didn't go wrong, there would hopefully be no issue. Indeed, as a couple sets of paws entered the room, it seemed he'd managed to go undetected so far.

"Sucks they had to leave so early, I was just fixing to start telling them about Port Albion," a female voice sighed.

"Eh, they're too young to be hearing all that anyways," a male voice shrugged.

"You didn't hesitate to tell Rye about it three moons ago, though," the female said, revealing itself as the dainty paws of a Leafeon. "Look, I'm not stupid. What did you say to Zigzagoon, Ardie?"

The male voice hesitated as a Quilava's paws came into view. Poe gulped quietly as he connected the dots as to the two's identities.

"Ugh, fine. I told him that if he does anything that suggests he's in league with his Phoenix daddy, I'd..."

The Quilava didn't finish the sentence, though the Leafeon was all too willing to interject.

"What the fuck. Are you out of your damn mind?" she demanded.

"Dammit, what if the kid's in it with these Phoenixes, huh? What do we do then? I wasn't just gonna stand around and let that happen," the Quilava defended himself.

"He's a kid from a small town, what in distortion do you think he's gonna do?" the Leafeon asked.

"Look, I'm not saying he-" the Quilava said before the two walked out of earshot. With no one else seeming to be coming, Poe scurried out from his hiding spot and slipped down the hatch in the floor: what his clients had told him was their storage room. As he got a good look at the cramped space, his eyes lit up.

"Jackpot," he whispered. With this, he descended on the countless trinkets on the shelf, relying on the light from outside the door alone to see what he was shoveling into his sack as he whispered to himself.

"Ooh, shiny mask. What's this made of, gold? I'll take this. Gummis? Eh, don't need 'em. Got some orbs... hmph, this one doesn't even work, pass. A sack of apples, they said to get food first and foremost, I'll just take that. Oh, hoho, this is handsome, I'll-"

"May, did you move that vase? Thought we put it right here," the Quilava's voice asked from above.

"Ah, shit," Poe swore to himself. Said vase was in his sack, he didn't have long before they came looking for it. As instructed, the Murkrow made ready to imitate a particular cry and turned back to grab whatever he could. As he reached for a sack of jewels, however, he hesitated against his better judgment.

'...this doesn't feel right. If I was just gonna grab everything and cheese it, then sure. But... that Oshawott saved me. I don't know, is it worth it?'

"HEY! The fuck are you doing?!"

Poe cringed. He'd thought it over just a bit too long, it was too late to make any decision. The dark obscured his form, though, so he still had a chance as the Quilava jumped down into the room.

"You got balls, I'll give you that, but the gig's up, dickhead. Come out where I can see you or I'll kick your ass back to the human age!" he demanded. Poe stayed rooted in place, watching the shape warily as flames began to erupt from its head in anger. Stomp, stomp, stomp...

As the Quilava loomed over him, Poe swung a Wing Attack at the nearest shelf. It and its contents were sent tumbling atop his assailant, who barely had time to swear to himself before he was pinned under the shelf with a terrific crash. It seemed he wouldn't be down for long, though, so Poe grabbed his sack tight and ran for the hatch. As he did, though, the Quilava's paw wrapped around his leg.

"Ah! Sha!" Poe instinctively yelled as he tried to wrestle free. After a couple seconds of this, he made a hasty decision and dropped his sack, shedding enough weight to fly out of the hatch and run through the exit to take flight. Fluttering away from the base, he sighed to himself. He'd failed, but... maybe that was for the best? He wasn't sure, he'd figure it out after meeting back up with his clients. He did think it was a shame, that mask really did look rather nice.

Back at the base he'd left behind, its confused occupants gathered around the hatch as the peeved Quilava climbed out. Though the thief's load had been discarded, the idea that they'd gotten this far was enough for the two superiors of the team to give each other a glance.

"Well, you know what this means, right?" Arden asked.

"Yep, night watch till we can get some security. We'll both take first shift, you could use the company, I think," May said. The two smirked at each other as she helped her bruised partner up, though behind the concerned apprentices, a certain Swellow was not as smiley.

Pike knew what he had heard.

It seemed his warnings had not been enough. It was time for action.

Not so far away, Poe looked down at Arcanine's Guild as he circled in for a landing upon the amphitheater, squinting at the two figures sitting upon the seats. He couldn't help but give a grimace as he landed atop the statue of Arcanine, watching as Mustie pulled a large pin out of Gold's behind.

"Gah! Dammit, I told ya to do it slow!" the Persian protested.

"Yeah, quit whining," Mustie muttered, only to get a rap in the head from Gold's tail.

"I got every right to whine, the little shit shot me right in the ass!" he said.

"Oh, boohoo, the feral slashed me with that... thing!" Mustie said, holding up his arm to show the cut.

"Come on, that's barely even a scratch, mon," Gold said.

"Did you see what was on that thing? Fuck knows what was growing on it, there's a more than zero chance that this arm's getting amputated!" Mustie complained. Poe ground his beak annoyedly and fluttered down between the two, which at least shut them up.

"I take it things didn't go well for you either?" the Murkrow asked.

"They came home early and walked in on us. You?" Mustie asked.

"Got cornered and had to drop the load," Poe said. The three shared a moment of silence as this sunk in.

"It's okay, it's okay. This is fine. We-" Mustie began.

"No. We're fucked. We got found out, it's over," Gold interjected.

"Well, see, they hit us, you can use the hole in your ass to drag them down with us," Mustie reasoned.

"Ding-dong, it's the self-defense clause!" Gold said frustratedly. "Honestly, the best thing we can do now is go to Quilava and explain. That's less Tauros-shit for everyone, and we don't fall as hard."

"I'm sorry, did the Zigzagoon hit you in the head, too? That's the dumbest fucking idea I've... ever..." Mustie began, though trailed off as his eyes strayed to the sky.

Taking notice of this, Gold and Poe turned their heads to look. Against the light of the waxing gibbous in the sky, a distinctly avian shape was flying in an arc from the south. That was not normal at such a time, Mustie noted as he watched. Before long, the shape suddenly circled back around and dove down, disappearing behind a line of buildings. The rookie bases...

The unmistakable sound of an attack landing sounded out from one of these bases, followed by a loud pained cry, one Mustie immediately recognized. As crashing and clattering rang out from the base, the three stared in its direction in stunned silence, though it didn't take long for Mustie to make up his mind on the matter and scramble to his feet, his wound forgotten.

"Fuck! Go!" he yelled.

"What?" Gold asked.

"Get over there and help them! I'll get Quilava!" Mustie yelled.

"But-" Gold said.

"For Arceus' sake, go! Do you want someone to fucking die?!" Mustie screamed before running off at full speed.

With nothing but dust to argue with, Gold quickly jumped to his paws and sped towards Team Reach's base, Poe flying close behind as the sound of the one-sided fight continued to echo throughout the Guild's grounds.
 

WildBoots

Don’t underestimate seeds.
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. moka-mark
  2. solrock
Hey, Sudmensch! I'm here because @Navarchu generously passed his review prize on to you. A kind soul. I've got some general thoughts for you up top and then some line-by line reactions.

So, we open on an overheated jungle, where an exploration team has been frustrated by its efforts to complete a fetch quest. On top of everything else, they've lost their intern, who has in turn found the protagonist floating downriver.

I can't decide yet whether I think it's a good move to spend 1000/1600 words with this other exploration team when we know from the summary that oshawott friend is actually the main character. On the one hand, it's nice to see a PMD story that doesn't open with rehashing the game plot. If I just wanted a PMD game, I'd go play that instead of reading fic, right? :wink: It's also nice to open with people who kinda know what they're doing. When everyone is a stuttering, anxious mess, it starts to lose its value; we need something to compare to. On the other hand ... Team Apex is getting a lot of page time considering oshawott-friend and the treeko are actually the main characters. I guess I would have to read more to see how important Team Apex is in the story overall. If their wants and actions really are very intertwined with the isekai'd human's drama, then it's probably fine. If they're just a means to introduce Treeko, you could trim that first section down.

All that said, Team Apex has an interesting dynamic. I appreciate how they each seem to have role to fill and the confidence to act independently. It adds to the sense that they're more established and competent ... sort of. They don't actually seem to be cooperating all that well, with May running off by herself, Arden raging out, and the three of them losing their intern in a river.

I thought the intern idea was clever, though. A nice explanation for the quests the require you to bring a tag-along through the dungeon. I also thought it was a nice piece of world-building: I get a much stronger sense of the role that exploration teams play in your setting than I often do in PMD stories by the inclusion of interns alone.

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.
I like how you're grounding his thirst and the oppressive heat in physical sensations. However, you've got some contradictions in this paragraph. Here's how it's structured right now: 1) He's clearly thirsty and has a mouth full of grit. 2) The canteen is empty 3) but it's okay if he can get some drops (but it's empty?) except that 4) he's literally burning from the inside out. The downplaying of the empty canteen feels off. I like that he's habitually reaching for the canteen even though he knows it's empty--that feels true to life. Maybe skip the line about him not complaining and instead have him trying to shake out at least a final drop or two, getting nothing, and feeling the burn in his chest.

Of course, for the Quilava, that wear meant his core literally burning him alive from the inside out, but anyways.
The "but anyways" is totally tone-breaking. This is a setting that seems to take itself pretty seriously--a fire-type is in danger of overheating, people are falling into rivers, and characters curse--so this glib comment felt out of place.

did it have to be Team Apex that had to find such things?
On my initial read-through, I found it a little jarring to get mention of a team when Arden was the only character we'd seen. It made me wonder if he was a team of one.

This one was of several moments that made me wonder if this scene would work better with a closer third person POV. Right now it's sort of 3rd omniscient, starting with a distant, wide view of the forest and then mostly sticking close to Arden except for a brief head-hop to Pike. I get that you wanted to establish where we are right away, but I actually felt the strongest sense of place and felt most invested in the scene when we're seeing the dungeon filtered through Arden's eyes and senses. It's one thing to say "jungle v hot" and another to see Arden reaching for a canteen that's already empty, his mouth full of grit. If we had a POV that stuck closer to Arden, we could get his name and the names of his teammates much faster, which might make their introduction feel more natural.

Even May's usual sarcastically humorous demeanor was no match for the seemingly endless feral onslaughts, the scorching summer heat, and the maddeningly labyrinthine nature of Quinite Forest.
This instance of telling what May's personality was like didn't really land for me. We never see her say anything sarcastic here--she's pretty gentle--so we don't get much of a sense of her becoming more muted and less herself under the strain of the dungeon. Instead, it feels like an inaccurate description. Some snippets of dialogue from earlier that day might help.

Example: When they'd first set out from Treasure Town, May had been at the head of the party, calling over her shoulder, "Come on Arden. I've seen grass grow faster than you walk." Now she hung back, her tail drooping, and she didn't speak at all.

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.
Because of the placement, I thought this was May speaking at first. I'd split that into a new paragraph for clarity.

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.
They didn't seem as concerned as I feel like they should be about losing a kid in the dungeon. The thought didn't seem to cross Arden's mind at all until Pike brought it up ... and it doesn't seem to weigh on him too heavily after, either! Arden sounds way too ready to dismiss him as dead and not upset enough about that. (Aren't they responsible for Treeko? Aren't there people back in town who would miss him ... or who would punish Team Apex for negligence? 😅 ) He's too busy being mad about not finding reviver seeds. It might help if the description of trying to pull him out of the river were expanded. As it stands right now, I can't help but picture them shrugging and watching Treeko drift away down the river. Give me some desperate grabs for his hand (er, claws?), Pike swooping to scoop him up only to be driven back by a blast of water. Something more to make me feel like they genuinely tried and cared.

Before Arden could do anything, May had begun bounding the way she had come, ignoring her partner's calls for her to come back.
I couldn't picture "the way she'd come" because I had no idea where that was. It might be clearer to say that she was bounding towards the zubat cave, to tie it to the information we know about where Treeko was supposed to be.

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

"Fuck it, just let the dungeon take care of it."
Wow, I guess stewardship isn't part of the exploration team ethos. Seems like a forest fire would be a real danger in this heat, TBH!

Letting out a defeated groan, he climbed down from the tree.
Oh, that was a little anti-climactic. I'd thought he was stuck! Also, how did he get into a tree after being in a river?

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.
I think you can be more specific about "the occasional weaker pokemon." What pokemon? That would make this easier to picture, and it would carry more weight.

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..."
Seems to me like survival (the fear of being lost and alone!) would be more pressing right now than "who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?" </Mulan>

As he sulked, an anomaly in the scenery entered his peripheral vision.
This is oddly formal compared to the rest of this scene, and it jumps out. Feels stilted.

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?
Wow, this really highlights how easily someone could be attacked or abandoned simply for losing their scarf or bag after a tumble. Yikes. Really unforgiving social structure, huh?

That said, I'm surprised that feral/not feral is a bigger concern here than alive/not alive. If they're face down in the water, it might be harder to tell wether they have supplies or not, especially for someone as inexperienced as this treeko. I'd be as willing to believe that he would save them first and then be surprised after that they had no supplies.

One more thought I wasn't sure where to place: it's hard for me to buy that Treeko would be so willing to dive back into a river after just having such a bad experience in the river himself! (He was attacked, separated from his team, and maybe even nearly downed himself!) I'd be more willing to accept him jumping in if he'd been separated from the group in some other way. Maybe a large predator carried him off, or maybe the sawsbuck knocked him down a hillside instead?

At any rate, I hope these thoughts were useful! Feel free to follow up in a reply or DMs if you have any questions. Good luck with the writing!
 
44 - Wings of Dishonor

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
It'd happened so fast and so suddenly. One moment, I was hunched over on the floor looking for any lingering signs of Team Assail's bullshittery. The next, there'd been a rush of wind from outside, followed by a hard, painful strike to my back.

Though the sudden attack had missed my head, everything was foggy as pain shot through my body. As I pushed myself into a seated position against the wall, a warm feeling trickling down my back, I could briefly make out panicked yelling from my teammates as they tried to hold back a large figure, though their efforts were cut short as the Pokemon blew them back with a powerful gust of wind, knocking them out the door before blocking the entrance with the base's tables. The figure before me turned just in time for my vision to clear up, revealing...

'...oh, Arceus.'

"I warned ya, didn't I? One grubby little paw on my friends... you pay," Pike growled, unsheathing his wings as he stood before the blocked doorway. "I'd advise ya pray, but... do you fuckin' things even know what a god is?"

With this thought, the Swellow lunged at me. My dazed mind immediately scrambled to come up with a way out of this. The base was small, and Pike was cramped in here, so I had that advantage. Everything else, though...

I hurriedly scrambled out of the way in time to avoid getting slashed. Pike quickly improvised, planting his talons against the wall and launching at me, landing a blow to my chest and causing the entire section of wall to collapse from the damage it'd sustained earlier. Behind him, Rye pulled himself in through a window to try and help me, though Pike heard this and quickly did away with him by blowing a Whirlwind at said window, knocking the entire wall over and pinning the Treecko with a loud yelp. Pike's face fell as he swore quietly at the unintended result, giving me time to frantically grab for my scalchop. I wasn't sure exactly what counted as hyperventilation, but I was pretty sure what my utter panic was driving me to do by this point counted. Trembling, I swung at Pike while he was distracted, cutting him in the leg. He let out a pained squawk and flew into the air, though before he could retaliate, a brown blur launched itself into the bird. Mavy fought bravely, clinging onto Pike and clawing away as the bird flapped wildly to try and get him off, though it was short-lived as the Zigzagoon was launched through one of the gaping holes in the wall by a Whirlwind. Before I could take advantage of the momentary pause this had brought, a lightning-fast Steel Wing knocked the shell out of my paws and into the rubble.

With that, I was cornered. Pressed against what little wall was still left standing and without a weapon to protect me, I stared up at Pike as he glared over me. Before I could conjure up a Water Gun, he stomped on my chest, pressing his talons down as he held me in place for a final blow. Unable to move and with talons digging into my chest, I felt around for something, anything that'd be able to save me, and the first thing in our base's rubble my paws met happened to be my banjo. Without hesitation, I swung it at Pike, hitting him hard across the face with a dull thud.

That success was short-lived, however, as a now even more enraged Pike knocked my makeshift weapon out of my paws and reared a Steel Wing back, one aimed straight at my neck. All I could do was gasp and clench my eyes shut, knowing this was bound to be a lethal strike.

Was this really it? After everything I'd been through, after everything I'd discovered, after all I'd endured, this was how I was going to die? I, the last human this continent knew of, was just going to have my throat cut open out of some petty grudge?

I let out a mournful, shaky cry, though it only came out as a quiet breath as I waited for the killing blow...

But it never came.

A minute passed by before I mustered up the courage to pry an eye open. Pike stood motionless, his wing still glowing and reared back as a hint of confliction entered his loathing glare. His gaze momentarily drifted to my discarded banjo, then stared into my own eyes. He stayed frozen in that position for a good while until the silver glow of his wing fizzled out, and as I watched, the Swellow hung his head and slowly lowered his wing.

As Pike stared off, I took the opportunity to start inching along the wall, reaching for my scalchop as I scooted along. Just a few more feet and I'd have a chance...

Before I could grab my weapon and retaliate, the tables blocking the entrance were suddenly blown away by a plume of flame, startling the both of us out of our stupors.

"Stop! Stop, Pike, don't hurt him!" Arden yelled as he ran in through the smoke filling the base, closely followed by my banged-up teammates, May, and... a Murkrow and Team Assail? Whatever the case, all of their gazes were trained on me as Pike kept staring at the ground.

"...I wasn't," he said.

"Are you fucking kidding me? It's bleeding all over, you call that not hurt?" Mustie demanded. Pike only stayed silent, though stepped aside to let Rye and Mavy run up to check up on me.

"What is wrong with you? You... you nearly-" Arden demanded.

"It broke into the stock, I heard it," Pike defended himself.

"What? That wasn't him, dickhead, it was that Murkrow!" Arden said. Pike hesitated long and hard.

"I-it... I..." he tried. "It's a feral, they're all the same. If it didn't happen now, then-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, he's not a fucking feral!" Arden hurriedly yelled, his vents blazing in agitation. "He's a human!"

The room fell into a deathly quiet as every eye in the room fell on the Quilava, whose flames slowly receded as his face fell, realizing what he'd just said.

'...'

"...what?" Pike asked quietly. "That's... that's not possible. It- h-he..."

"Beck?" May whispered, her eyes wide as she looked back and forth between Arden and I.

"I-I don't... l-look, we can talk about this later, the kid's hurt," Arden said, moving to push past Mustie and Gold and leave, though a paw on his shoulder stopped him before he could head out.

"Whoa, there, not so fast. You're either gonna give us a damn good punchline to this joke or you're gonna explain what the fuck you're talking about," Mustie said. Arden's eye twitched.

"Weavile, just... eat my fuzzy ass," he growled. "Rye, Zigzagoon, help the kid up. We're getting him to Audino right now."

Rye, his eyes still wide with shock, absentmindedly nodded and pulled me up, allowing me to lean on his shoulder as we hobbled towards the door, pushing past a silent Pike. As I tried to bear the pain shooting up my back, I felt a vine wrap around my arm, followed by a stream of stinging energy.

"Ah! Sh-stahp!" I groaned. Despite the fact I could feel my wounds hurting less, May obliged and stopped the reverse Absorb, looking over at Arden as he quietly walked.

"Ardie... wh-why didn't you tell us? How long've you known?" she asked.

"You buy this?" Arden replied. May hesitated a bit.

"Well... I mean, it explains a lot. How he turned up nearly drowning, how he hopped on board the whole civilized boat so quick... but he... I don't know, he doesn't seem like..."

She cast another glance at me, this one noticeably tinged with fear.

"...Arden, wh-what's going on? He's here for a reason, right? You... is this what's been eating you up the past moon?"

"Damn it, can we at least get the bleeding kid out of the way before this?!" the Quilava demanded, looking up at his surroundings. It seemed a small crowd had gathered to find what the commotion was all about, though I guessed by their demeanors that they hadn't heard... that. Although that gave me a bit of much-needed relief, Arden didn't seem as happy.

"Oh, gee, thanks for the help! Real happy you didn't even get Audino, you assnuggets!" he said. As the gathering murmured shamefully and began to scatter, Rye looked back at our base. As I'd guessed, several sections of the wall had collapsed, and any roof that hadn't buried our possessions was barely hanging on to what was left. Forlorn, the Treecko shakily turned his gaze forward. It seemed there were a million things on his mind he wanted to say, though one eventually croaked out.

"O-our base..."

With a glare at Pike that would have made even Giratina flinch, May sighed.

"We'll pay," she said. Arden looked over as we walked, his face looking like he'd just chugged Grimer slime.

"What, we will? Come on, at the very least, Team Assass over here should fork some shekels over before we get their asses booted!" he protested, though the three Pokemon near the back were quick to speak up.

"Whoa, whoa, hold the Rapidash! We aren't going nowhere, you hear?" Mustie asked.

"Are you dumb or just plain stupid?" Arden asked. "You break into our base and try to steal our shit, you try and fuck over these three, and you nearly get someone killed, that'd be enough to get you hung down south!"

"Yeah, we're aware, but we'd rather not get thrown out, you know? Seems like a shitty end for a fifteen-year run. You can mouth-vomit some, but unless you want us to go out and tell everyone what you just said about Oshawott there-" Mustie started.

"Fuck! What?!" Arden roared, his vents bursting into flames. As everyone jumped back, Gold hurriedly raised a paw.

"We'll pay for their base! We'll take a fine, too; you know, we went too far, I'm fine with it if everything else gets covered," the Persian reasoned.

"The fuck are you d-" Mustie began before considering. "Ugh... tell you what, Quilava. If what you're saying is true and the feral's... you know. Though an insufferable shithead you may be, it's probably best to call it for a moon or so. So how about it? Truce?"

The three of Team Apex stared for a second before Arden sighed.

"If you'll let me do one thing, then I'm game," he said, getting up on his hind legs and turning to face them.

"Which is?" Mustie asked. Arden immediately responded by punching the Weavile square in the face.

As Mustie stiffly fell to the ground and his buddies hurried to check up on in, the Quilava smirked and gestured us onward, speedwalking our shaken selves down the road towards the infirmary. As I painfully shuffled and kept leaning on Rye, my ears stuck up as a familiar Nidoran and Seedot ran out of the infirmary ahead, followed quickly afterwards by the nurse.

Audino ran up to us, her eyes widening at the sight of my injured self. Arden and May gave me another glance, both tinged with concern and uncertainty. Pike stared at the ground, his talons digging into the dirt road as he apparently tried to rationalize everything that'd just transpired. Rye and Mavy were silent, only watching me as Audino scooped me up and hurried back towards the infirmary. I just stared off, a cocktail of emotions brewing in my head.

'Arden knew. Why didn't he tell me?'

'The bastard attacked me. He nearly killed me...'

'What do we do now? Our base is totaled.'

'Who else knows? If those three know, then... that's bad, to put it simply.'

'Just ...why?'


-o-​

Out the window, the sky was gray and cloudy, by the looks of it a final hurrah from spring before it fleeted. Given the chilly wind and gloomy gray skies above, it seemed like the perfect day to just stay inside and rest.

'Oh, lucky me.'

When Audino had dragged me into the emergency room, the procedure had been quick and panicked. A few doses of Oran juice here, some gauze there, and a bout of dizziness from the blood I'd lost had led me here, lying alone in a spare bed. Though I was definitely going to be alright by now, I was still troubled as I lied there with nothing but my own anxious thoughts and the background noise to entertain me.

The steady dripping of water from the roof.

The bickering of a younger-sounding team outside.

The hammering of a batch of job notices to the boards.

The distant sound of battling in the training grounds.

The Pikachu at the head of the room letting out sparks in his sleep.

I tried my best to zero in on all of this to drown out my worries, meeting only partial success in that regard. Every time I managed to drift off, I'd just circle right back to the usual. At least until my wounds from the previous night healed, it seemed I'd be stuck with replaying that day's events in my head.

I could have tried for conversation with Audino. I could have talked with the Pikachu across from me. Maybe if I yelled loud enough, I could catch up with the few explorers still here from the expedition. What would the point be, though? Even if I could have a conversation, anything I'd say would probably put me in some hot water. Audino apparently already thought I was insane, I didn't want to keep pushing it. ...yeah, if Audino knew, maybe that was how Arden found out in the first place?

'...yeah, Arden- no, just don't, Beck. Here, someone's in the waiting room, just listen to... oh, hey!'

"How is he?" Rye's voice asked from said room.

"His condition is stable, though he still needs a day or so to recover. He's still in the emergency ward if you want to see him, right this way," Audino said. Footfalls sounded out for a bit before the nurse appeared in the door, trying for a smile. "You have visitors."

As she stepped aside, Rye and Mavy peeked into view, followed quickly by a stillfaced Arden. Though my partners were both rather bruised from the previous night, it seemed they didn't mind as they walked up to stand over my straw bed.

"H-hey! How're you doing?" Rye asked. I just blinked and slumped in bed, getting a dry chuckle from Arden.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear today's been a massive clusterfuck on our end. Twenty thousand Poké fine from us, our place's crawling with Mags, and Pike's been cooped up in the office all day, getting screamed at I'm sure. Haven't seen Weavile and friends all day, I'm sure they're up there with him," the Quilava explained.

An awkward silence hung in the air as the three of us expectantly looked at Arden, whose deadpan face soon fell into a grimace.

"Audino, you mind if I steal him for a bit? Got some private things to talk about," he requested.

"Not at all, just don't do anything too strenuous," Audino nodded. I pushed myself onto my feet, leaning on Rye as we followed the Quilava outside and quickly headed behind the infirmary, sitting against a wall that looked appropriately out of earshot. With our privacy assured, Mavy sighed.

"So yer on board with their crazy talk?" he asked. Arden remained silent.

"H-how long have you known? How'd you find out? D-did you tell anyone else?" Rye asked. More silence. The Treecko's eye twitched. "Damn it, Mr. Arden-"

"Hey, watch your fucking language," Arden scolded before slumping in place. "The dog wanted me to snoop for him. I've known for about a moon."

"A mo-? M-Mr. Arcanine knows? But... we... g-gh..." Rye said before putting his hands on his head, clearly becoming overwhelmed with the situation. Putting a paw on his back, Arden looked down distastefully at Mavy.

"So, Zigzagoon. You probably get why we had that little chat," he said. Mavy gulped.

"S-sir, ah didn't even know what a hoo-mon was till 'bout a week ago," he said. Arden just scoffed, opening his mouth to deliver what I assumed was another threat before I cleared my throat.

"Why?" I asked. "Why nah tehl sh- u-us? A-and Py-keh?"

Arden took a look at my wounds and hesitated.

"The dog told me not to. If I'd told... you'd have been fucked over. I'd have been fucked over. It'd just be a whole thing of 'mons getting fucked over. Trust me, the last thing we need now is everyone knowing you're... you know, what with this whole Phoenix thing. I don't know, it's out of my control," he defended himself.

"B-but you couldn't have told us, at least? Y-you could've helped, why'd you keep quiet?" Rye demanded.

"Yeah, what do you mean we'd get fucked over? Ah think we're already pretty fucked," Mavy added.

Arden gritted his teeth as I thought over it more. He could've done good by letting us know, even just a little five-minute conversation would have been preferable to... this! And given how much this had apparently been affecting him... what was wrong with him? This should've been a no-brainer, why didn't he tell us? The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew, and before long I found myself joining in my friends' yelling as Arden's eye began to twitch.

"Sha-a sha sha-wah!"

"It's common sense! Damn, do y'all city 'mon not have common sense, neither?"

"Y-you could've helped so much! Like, the expedition, I-I don't know, you could've told us what the tugging was! Th-that'd have been useful!"

Arden's fists clenched as he sat there silently.

"The most you gon do is threaten me? Like, ah heard the stories, I reckoned fuckin' Cyndaquil of Walrein's Guild would be more competent!"

"Yeh ash-hahl!"

"Why? Why didn't you at least let us know?"

"I don't know!" Arden yelled, his vents bursting into flame. We all jumped back as heat washed over us, the Quilava's face filled with built-up rage. "Damn it, you think I wanted this, Treecko? Is it really so hard to just leave me alone and let me have some fucking peace for once in my godforsaken life?!"

Not a peep came out of us as Arden panted, his head still blazing as he glared us down. After a minute, the flames simmered down as Arden sighed and sat down, his back to us.

"M-Mr. Arden-" Rye started.

"Don't. Just don't," Arden commanded. Rye shrunk back, leaving his former superior to sit there for a moment before he got to his paws. "I'm fine," he lied through his teeth.

"But-" Rye tried.

"Don't bawl over me, you've got your own shit to worry about," Arden said. With this, he pushed past Rye and Mavy and made to leave, only to stop in his tracks and look back towards me. "Right, forgot to mention. Did Audino tell you?"

"N-no," I said, confused. Arden nodded.

"Arcanine gathered everyone at the amphitheater this morning. The expedition's going forward after the next inspection, it's looking like they found the Caves," he said. "He hasn't said anything about who's going, but I'll bet my ass he's dragging you along. I'd expect an announcement tomorrow or so."

I bit my lip and exchanged a glance with my partners, looking back in time to see Arden produce a block of some sort from his bag and toss it at Rye, who gave a yelp and rushed to catch it.

"Soap from Lilligant's place on me, like I promised. You'll probably need it," he said before turning and walking off. I stared after him for a moment before giving a little nod to myself, taking the bar of soap from Rye's hand, and pushing myself up.

"Whoa, hey, now!" Mavy cautioned as he scurried under me, letting me lean on him as he led me back into the infirmary. As the three of us ended up at my bed inside, Rye and Mavy watched me expectantly, clearly waiting for my decree.

"Cahn wait?" I asked. My partners exchanged a glance.

"The wott's spoken. I mean, yer the bossmon here, it's your call," Mavy said.

"A-alright. If Beck's out by tomorrow, then I guess we'll just... yeah, wait," he decided. An agreement reached, we sat there for a moment, unsure of what to do next until Rye cleared his throat, clearly ready to change the subject as his gaze shifted to the bar of soap now resting by my bed.

"So, uh, how does this work? Do you, like, just rub it all over yourself?" he asked.

"Wut, you never used soap before?" Mavy asked.

"I-I can just wash myself off. Or, uh, shed my skin," Rye said. "Wh-why're you asking me about this? You don't seem like the type to, you know, clean yourself."

Mavy snorted as he gave me a quick look.

"You lucky sonuvaweezing," he said as he began to regale us with a tale. "Ma would have to force me into the water every time I started smellin'..."

-o-​

In the late hours of the night, the carved-out caverns of the Vertress Plateau laid quiet and still. None other than night watch, some rowdy stragglers, and a select few were still awake and alert among the Phoenixes' numbers within. However, out of all of them, most would have never known of an anomaly in the underground fortress's silent ambiance: haunting music flowing through the halls.

Indeed, deep within the complex, Xatu stood motionless before a strange instrument, its keys appearing to play on their own. The Director had gifted him this piano, the last one known to work in all of the Gray Continent, though not without reason. It took much concentration and psychic prowess to play this device without the privilege of human hands, so the Director had decided this as a wonderful manner by which to train his pupil's psychic ability.

With years of practice under his wing, Xatu now stood still before his beloved instrument once more, playing a quick and elegant piece on the out-of-tune piano through telekinesis. However, the Beethoven piece quickly slowed to a halt as he looked up from his playing. After a moment's pause, he blinked.

"I know you are there. Reveal yourself, Executive Gengar, and get to the point, lest I tear you from this wall myself," he said. A quiet scoff sounded from the wall, followed by a shape suddenly emerging from the solid stone. Xatu only stared, completely unfazed as Gengar stepped out sporting a grin.

"Keh, you want me to get to the point? If you insist. Executive meeting, top priority. The golden wind blows gently over the keeper's grounds. A storm is brewing, consider an umbrella. The oak bench there almost laughs if you listen hard enough," he said. "That good enough?"

Xatu stared at the Ghost-type, who only smirked wider before phasing through the floor, vanishing into the shadows. Now alone again, Xatu considered the coded message he'd been given.

Expedition confirmed. Arcanine's Guild preparing for excursion to Caverns of Being. They are on alert, do not engage. You have one week, objective remains unchanged.

Not a moment was wasted before Xatu gently closed his piano and, with a brief bit of thought, teleported away to meet with his fellow executives.

The League could not afford to waste this week, this would be the best chance they had.

The Orb. The human. Both could potentially be within reach.

And yet both were still so very far away.
 
45 - A Week in the Life

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
"Look to the skies, Pokemon! The planets speak, and what has happened of late answers! On this day, the second of Zygarde's Moon, I tell you the end times are upon us! Repent!"

That was the first thing I heard as Rye and Mavy led me out of the infirmary and into the clear afternoon. How comforting. As a pair of Magnemites hurried over to drag the doomsday-preaching Drowzee out of the Guild, the three of us paused in the road for a second to look around the quiet Guild campus. I'd been cooped up in the place for a good couple of days now, and after the little chat we'd had with Arden the previous day, I was happy to see I wasn't alone in being a bit unsure of what to do.

"So," Rye said. "What now?"

"I danno. Bahse?" I asked. Rye gave me a quick look, immediately reminding me of the state I'd last seen our little abode in.

Hanging my head a bit, I stole a look down the road, where a couple of Ground-types looked to be clearing out the area. The little clay base had been the closest thing to a home I'd had this past month, and seeing it in this state... well, it sucked, to say the least.

"I-it's alright, they'll finish up in a couple days. Ms. May's letting us stay in their base till then," Rye reassured me. "Uh, we brought your stuff there, wanna go and check if everything's there?"

I gave a cry of approval, so I limped after my teammates as they headed out the Guild's gate. Before we could turn the corner to the big bases, though, my ears stuck up at the sudden sound of a horn from town. We stopped in our tracks, two out of three of us looking over confusedly.

"Wha dat?" I asked.

"Well, that's a horn, ya blow in it and it floots," Mavy said half-seriously. "Really, though, ain't that the type they got at the port back home?"

"Huh?" Rye asked.

"Yeah, they used to sound it before ah was born, whenever a boat came in before... well, before they quit comin' in," Mavy said. Rye quickly looked towards the direction of the sound with newfound vigor.

"A boat? I've never seen one come here! Come on, let's go see!" he said, jogging towards the town. Mavy started zigzagging after him, though stopped as he took notice of my limp.

"Ey, wait, he can't-" the Zigzagoon started, though Rye had already gone too far to take notice. "Well, then. Ain't that nice? Reckon ah'll hatchlin'-sit ya oer there."

"Shee, thanks," I groaned, hobbling alongside Mavy.

As we walked into town, the first thing I noticed was the general buzz that'd taken hold. What seemed like every Pokémon in Impetus Town were out on the streets, craning their heads curiously in the direction of the river as the horn continued to sound. After a decent amount of weaving through the small crowd, Mavy and I caught sight of Rye, coming up next to him and peeking our heads out just in time to see a trio of Ice-types freeze an impromptu dock out of the river's water. A minute passed before the ship causing the commotion revealed itself around a bend in the river. Yes, the ship; not a raft or something, a full-blown caravel, the type I'd expect to see human explorers discovering continents in.

'I... never actually stopped to consider if actual ships still exist, now that I think about it. I don't know, seeing one in this sort of society after all this time is just... weird.'

Its sails billowing in the wind, the word 'GALAHAD' painted in Unown-script on its side became visible. The Galahad dropped her anchors and ground to a halt, staying still for a moment before a figure came to view on her deck: a Lycanroc, Midday breed, with a bag around her chest and eyeglasses perched atop her snout. At the sight of the Pokémon, an exasperated groan sounded out from behind me.

"Oh, damn it," Arden growled to himself. The three of us flinched at the unexpected Quilava and spun around to meet his eyes, though he and the nearby May only glared at the Lycanroc as she barked an order to her crew.

"What?" Rye asked, unsure of the two's demeanors.

"It's this bitch," Arden sighed. "The Society sends an inspector every year, and half the time it's this piece of bourgeoisie. She thinks she's hot shit because Lee the Luxray was her grandpa. She even bought his old ship there to show off that he-wi-tage, the fucking douchebag."

A ramp was dropped from the Galahad's deck, then as the Lycanroc began to descend, eyeing the townsmon as a pair of Indeedee with parchment and pens followed, then the rest of the ship's crew. Seeing this, May got close.

"Alright, crash course. She hates us and we hate her, but don't acknowledge it. Just don't make eye contact or talk smack and you'll be fine. You're not Arcanine, so anything she doesn't like gets written d- ah, shh!" she said hurriedly, shutting up as the crowd parted to let Lycanroc through. Turning to look at the crowd, she let out a long sigh.

"Inspector, Exploratory Society of Great Darkil. I start tomorrow. Don't follow us," she said flatly in a quasi-Galarian drawl before starting for the Guild. As murmurs arose around us, Arden scoffed.

"See? She's got glasses, even. Can you say rich snob?" he said before giving Mavy a sideways glance and starting back into town, though May stayed behind long enough to give me a long stare before following him. As the crowd around us slowly thinned, the three of us just stood there, watching after May and Arden for a moment before Rye and I exchanged a silent glance and started walking, intrigued yet unsure at the nature of the arrival.

"Uh, as I was saying, we're staying in their attic for a couple nights. It's pretty nice, actually, there's a l- e-enough room to keep us comfortable. A-as long as Mr. Pike doesn't finish up with whatever's going on with him, I think we should be fine," he said. "At least till we hear from Mr. Arcanine, we really need to talk to him sooner or later. I-if he knows..."

"I reckon all we can do is wait, huh?" Mavy asked. Rye looked at him bemusedly.

"You don't have anything, like, snarky to say about that? Do you believe us about-" he started.

"Wut? Naw, naw, a-ah still think yer nuts. Ain't seen no evidence but mons sayin' so, miss me with that shit," Mavy deflected. We grimaced a bit, though shook it off as we turned into Team Apex's base.

'Somehow, I get the feeling you'll be seeing some of that evidence soon enough.'

-o-​

As I'd expected, the attic we'd been plopped into was... decent, I'll say. Though the room was cramped and dusty, there was enough room for us to put our stuff and still have elbow space to spare. The last of the police had left earlier that day, and the ambient silence that accompanied this helped a good bit. I wasn't necessarily excited about sleeping in here for the next couple nights, but I felt I would survive. Given Pike was still out, I was decently content. This in mind, I adjusted my back against the wall as I listened to Rye try to debrief us.

"Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. Uh, we'll stay here in town for a couple days while Beck heals, then we'll go to Mr. Arcanine and tell him everything. You know, the visions, the tugging, the Phoenixes. From there... I-I don't know, it's up to him, I guess," Rye said.

"Wha? Nah, am fine," I objected. I wasn't about to let us get delayed a couple days because I hurt a bit, though as I stood and did a dance to demonstrate, I quickly proved myself wrong, doubling over in pain as I clutched my sides. Rye and Mavy exchanged a glance.

"Y-yeah. Ms. Audino said an Oran three times a day and some stretching till you... uh, don't hurt like that, alright?" Rye asked. My back still screaming at me, I bit my lip and reluctantly nodded. With this, my partners got up, though Rye bumped his head against the ceiling beams. Ignoring the envious look from both of us for his short stature, Mavy made for the door.

"Well, come on, now, ah'm hungry. Best get good spots in the dinner line, right?" he gestured us on.

The Zigzagoon quickly zigzagged out the door, leaving me to quietly whisper what would've been obscenities as I crawled out of the tight space I'd managed to squeeze myself into. Grabbing my paw and pulling me up, Rye helped me out the door and pushed aside the couple of curious apprentices that'd gathered outside. As we turned the corner, I stopped as I found Mavy peering over the balcony at the ground floor. Doing the same, I found May and Arden at the front door, looking up at us confusedly.

"Huh? M-Ms. May? What're you doing here, isn't it dinnertime?" Rye asked.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you go to the gathering?" May asked. Rye and I blinked.

"Gathering?" Rye asked. Arden and May looked at each other.

"Well, the dog called for an emergency gathering at sunset, top priority. I guessed you missed it," Arden said. Rye shrunk back, going pale as the Quilava scratched at the back of his head. "Uh, come on down, we'll give you the gist of it."

Gulping, Rye shakily climbed over the balcony and started climbing down the wall, leaving Mavy and I to hurry down the stairs after him.

Before long, all of us were gathered around the team's dinner table, the doors closed as to keep the team's apprentices out. Sitting at the head of the table, Arden glanced over the three of us before sighing.

"You want the bad news or the decent news first?" he asked.

"B-bad first, just to get it out of the way," Rye said. Arden clicked his tongue.

"Cool. Lycanroc's staying the week to do her inspecting schtick. That's gonna be a real fucking treat. Dammit, you're lucky you aren't a bigger team, you only have to see her once or twice," he said. "Okay, so decent news. See..."

The words seemed to catch in the Quilava's throat as he looked over us, our stares only earning us a defeated look as he hung his head a bit. Noting this, May put her front paws on the table and pushed herself up.

"Well, Arcanine said yeah, that little trip to the stadium did happen, and we did find a map. They finished up their research on the thing, and they said they found some natural formations, some coordinates, some other stuff on it, and they used all that to track the mother down," she paused. "We've got an expedition. We're going to the Caves of Being!"

"R-really?"

"Wha?"

"No shit?"

Grinning, May gauged our reactions as the info sank in. Before long, Arden sat up.

"We got a week to the day. They'll be announcing who's coming sooner or later, but I'm sure even a lobotomized Slowpoke could tell you you're already in," he said. Ignoring a glance from May, he continued. "My best advice is to squeeze in as much as you can till shit goes down. Stock up, train some, do whatever you gotta do to get ready, because I doubt these Phoenix mons will let up for this. You know, I'm right here if you need a couple tips, maybe a training session for-"

"No, we're good," Rye butted in. Arden gave a light glare.

"What?" he asked. Rye shuddered a bit, though after a moment's hesitation, looked into Arden's eyes.

"We're good," he said, more insistently. He and Arden stared at each other, tension hanging in the air until May cleared her throat.

"So! Uh, how's a quick and dirty toast to our success before dinner sound?" she suggested. Arden's gaze didn't break at first, though he eventually nodded, getting up and heading out of the room, soon returning with a glass bottle filled with a colored liquid.

"O-oh, no, w-we're not-" Rye started.

"We're not that negligent, come on," May said. "Here, just take an empty gl- hey, whoa, not that much, Arden, you know what this crap does to Fire-types."

"Wha?" I asked curiously. May glanced at me.

"Alcohol's... a tricky thing for them. You know how their cores like to behave like fire, right? Fire likes alcohol. Get too much of it in your blood... yeah, not a fun time for anyone," she said. That image dancing through my mind, I shuddered and nodded, reaching for the little glass Arden had put down in front of me. While breathing fire did sound cool on paper, I was willing to give the Voice credit: the feral thing did suck, but I could've ended up way worse than an Oshawott.

Feeling just a bit better over this, I clumsily held up the empty glass, joining my partners and the others.

"Any requests?" May asked, holding up her drink with a vine.

"J-just that everything goes well from here?" Rye suggested, to which the Leafeon nodded.

"Alright, okay. Basic, but good, we'll go with that," she decided, thrusting her glass up. "To a better tomorrow, a successful expedition, and the betterment of our future!"

"Here's fuckin' hoping," Arden agreed. Our glasses clinked.

And so the countdown began.

-o-​

Six days to go.

"Shagh?" I moaned, prying my eyes open. Sitting up and stretching my aching limbs, I blinked confusedly.

'Huh, I guess that was just a dream?'

I'd seen myself waking up as a human again, only it seemed I wasn't quite sure what humans really looked like, given that everyone was still a Pokémon in some manner. It really didn't help that I still couldn't speak. Glancing around at the unfamiliar surroundings my brain hadn't quite yet registered as Team Apex's attic, I couldn't help but be a bit confused. Just to be sure, I spit up a small Water Gun on the floor, glancing at my reflection in the puddle.

'Yep, still an Oshawott. Of course you are, you just used Water Gun, you- wait. Wait a minute. Oh, Palkia damn it.'

Turning my head a bit, I squinted to see a crude drawing on my cheek, apparently scribbled on my face while I was sleeping: a dick, what else? As I grimaced at having been Jigglypuffed, Mavy peeked out from behind a solitary crate, then burst out cackling as he held up a charcoal pen between his claws. I groaned in annoyance, trying and failing to reach for the drawing with my stubby arms, which only made Mavy laugh harder.

"Ugh, whehr Rye?" I asked, giving up on trying to wipe it off.

"Ahahah! Oh, Arceus, a-ah can't breathe!" Mavy wheezed in response.

"Mafee," I sighed.

"Aight, aight, h-he went on down into town, you can go and look fer him. You know, just waltz on into the square with that on yer face...!" the Zigzagoon started laughing again. Trying once more to unsuccessfully wipe the drawing off my cheek, I growled quietly and limped out of the room.

It was a nice day out as I hobbled into town, though that was juxtaposed with the looks I kept getting as I uselessly tried to cover my cheek, my face hot with embarrassment. Despite this, I kept up my slow walk into town square, looking for Rye for a moment before I caught sight of the Treecko, something in his hand as his gaze fell on me.

"Oh, Beck! I... uh, y-your face?" he asked concernedly.

"Ugh, yeah, yeah," I sighed, taking a mental note to dunk my head into the river later. Looking around, Rye hurriedly started leading me out of the square before anyone else could notice, only relaxing once we were nearly out of town.

"I-I was just in town to grab this here," he explained as we slowed, revealing a decently sized green gummi in his hand. "Mr. Kecleon had it for sale, actually, only 400 Poké today! Uh, I-I just think I'll need it some time soon."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, uh, you know, the expedition coming up. I-I just don't think I'm ready, I need to train. You saw how the Phoenixes fought, and I still don't have Dragon Breath down. I-I don't wanna lose control again, like, I almost evolved! Th-that... I'm not doing that again. I-I'm gonna be training for the rest of the week we have, starting tomorrow. I think this'll help," he reasoned, gesturing to the gummi in his hand. Giving a nod at his game plan, I glanced over.

"Why nah teh-day?" I asked.

"Uh, well... I-I wanted to tell Mr. Arcanine what we know today. The more time he has to use that info to plan things out, the better," Rye said.

"Huh, yeah... ah-kay, shaa-a," I agreed. Rye gave a small smile with the schedule agreed upon, though his eyes fell on the crudely-drawn family jewels on my cheek.

"Sh-should I talk to Mavy about that first?" he asked.

"Nah. I gaht it," I reassured him, giving a mischievous smile. Rye paled a bit, knowing full well what that meant, but remained quiet nonetheless as we slipped back into base.

-o-​

"Th-the whole tugging thing was the last really notable thing that happened, really. There hasn't been anything really unusual with him since then."

As Rye concluded his explanation, a moment of silence hung in the air between Team Reach and Guildmaster Arcanine, the quiet crackling of the fire in the Shiny's quarters being the only sound as he considered. With Beck remaining behind in Team Apex's base and a tense encounter with the Bisharp guards behind them, it would be an understatement to say Rye was nervous. As he inched ever closer to his partner, Arcanine quietly looked back up at them.

"...allow me to repeat. You and Maverick here are aware of young Beck's nature, you plan to engage the Phoenix League in some manner before they can access this... "link" Maverick has purported, and he has been in indirect contact with a higher power that guided his hand to discover the map during the expedition?" the Guildmaster asked.

"Y-yes, sir," Rye nodded. Arcanine hummed to himself.

"I see," he said. A minute passed before Rye shifted uncomfortably, looking at Mavy for some guidance before straightening himself up.

"Wh-what should we do, sir? I-is the Guild gonna-?" he began.

"Please, do allow me time to sit on this information, child. I require time to deduce what to do with this," Arcanine said. "Before I send you off, though, I must commend you, young Rye. It takes a strong Pokémon to not waiver from a path such as this, even after a moon and a half of hardship."

"I-I, n- uh... th-thank you, sir," Rye bowed his head. Arcanine gave a warm smile and nodded, turning his eyes towards Mavy.

"And you, young Maverick. You are a noble one, continuing this fight even in the light of... recent revelations," he said. The Zigzagoon was quiet for a moment.

"...sir. With all due respect, I ain't doin' this for this buckass hoo-mon crap. I'm doin' this for my pa," he said. Arcanine's smile wavered a bit, though this was short-lived.

"Of course," he said, getting to his paws. "I suppose you both should be going, there is much I must do."

Rye and Mavy both bowed their heads and turned to leave. With the two young explorers' disappearance up the ladder at the end up the hall, Arcanine once more sat alone. With one of Lycanroc's impending visits a while away, the Guildmaster made for his quarters, only stopping to survey his collection. More information than the common Pokémon could ever learn in their lifetime sat in this room... though what, if anything, would the Caverns add to such knowledge he desired?

Arcanine pondered this for a second before humming to himself and entering his room, leaving the human skeleton hanging just by the door to grin at thin air.

-o-​

Five days to go.

Rye was out early to train. It was the perfect time to strike.

As Mavy stirred, his eyes fluttered open to meet mine, then bugged out as he felt the charcoal pen in my paw. He scrambled away in a flash, and although there wasn't a mirror he could see himself in, it seemed he knew full well what I'd done as he tiredly narrowed his eyes.

"You asshole," he sighed, feeling for the dick I'd drawn on his face as I started laughing. "Ah deserved that, didn't I?"

As he stretched his legs, my laughter calmed to a few chuckles, though as I took another look at Mavy's face, the smile on my face faltered. The Zigzagoon was looking behind me, his expression not saying anything particularly positive. Turning my head to follow his gaze, I jumped back in panic.

Pike stood in the doorframe, his piercing eyes regarding us as I stopped pressing my back against the wall, my expression souring enough to make a lemon seem sweet.

"Wut're you doin' here? You back to pack yer shit?" Mavy growled. Giving him and the doodle on his face a flat look, Pike ruffled his feathers.

"They didn't toss me out, at least," he said. Averting his eyes from our looks, he sighed. "Damn it, don't look at me like... look, I'm here t' apologize."

The reaction was immediate, coming from Mavy in the form of a scoff.

"Oh, yeah, wreck our lil' house, nearly murder Scruffy here, and fling me outta window and nearly break mah spine, and all you got's an "oopsie, didn't mean it?" Real sincere there, thanks," the Zigzagoon spat.

"He was-! Look, if I'd known he was a human, even not a feral at the very least, I woulda thought things through! Be pissed all ya want, but take it to Arden, he..." Pike said before trailing off. Noting that neither of us seemed any less on edge, he sighed, his feathers flattening. "Sorry. I understand if ya won't forgive me, I'd smack my face inside out if it were me. But... I grew up wild, we lived out in the woods. I nearly got mauled twice, maybe, I couldn't help but be..."

He hung his head, and after a moment of quiet, he looked away, muttered another quiet apology, and walked out of the room, leaving Mavy and I staring after him.

"Hmph. Ah'd prolly have some witty insult ready right 'bout now, but I say he ain't worth it. And this is the same 'mon who led the charge at Gazette Heights, the fuck happened?" Mavy mused. I nodded in agreement, trying to rub at the massive bruise I figured was on my back as Mavy started trying to feel for the long-forgotten drawing again.

Let me be the first to say, I wasn't about to just forgive Pike, no way in distortion, this wasn't some sappy kids' movie. But... there was something genuine in Pike's demeanor there, I thought. Maybe...?

No, he'd tried to gut me just a couple days ago, I wasn't just gonna wave it off. He'd given me nothing but shit since I woke up like this, done... that, and now he was acting all buddy-buddy? Heck, I'd beat the guy senseless if I could, honestly, just to give him a taste of his own medicine. But my conscience kept telling me to at least consider his apology...

Damn it.

-o-​

Four days.

"Heads up, boys! We got mail!" Arden announced, holding up a stack of papers as he walked into the base. Our heads peeked over the stairs' bannister in time to see the Quilava plop the load onto the dinner table, May and Pike gathering around to hear whatever news the mail entailed. The three of us hurried over and took seats opposite from the others as Arden glanced over them.

"Right, this one's crap, crap, neighbors, crap- ah, this looks to be for Rye's team," he said as he broke the seal and unfolded the letter. "Repairs on your base have concluded, and you can return whenever you want. How about that?"

The three of us glanced at each other, sharing a grin as Arden finished leafing through the bundles, then held up what looked to be the only other letter of note: a scroll, a red rod in the center and with Arcanine's pawprint. The tension in the air seemed to climb by the second as he unrolled the scroll and held it up to read.

"To Teams Apex and Reach. Blah, blah, you're to be deployed in the recently discovered, uh, Caverns of Being. The members appointed with this task...? Uh, are as follows: from Team Reach, Rye Treecko, Beck Oshawott, and Maverick Zigzagoon, and from Team Apex, Arden Quilava... and May Leafeon. All not mentioned are to remain."

We looked up just in time to see Pike's face fall. He sputtered for a moment, his face one of horror, though before long he simply hung his head, grinding his beak. Giving his teammate a long look, Arden bit his lip and continued.

"T-the expedition is to leave in four days' time. It is expected the area will possess at least one mystery dungeon, and it is not guaranteed your badges will be able to transport you out of this uncharted territory. Prepare accordingly."

Everyone was quiet for a second. The first to budge was Pike, who simply hopped off his chair and sulked out the door, his expression unreadable. Mavy gave a quiet snort.

"This is already lookin' to be a better trip, eh?" he asked. May only gave him a look.

"Z- Maverick, even if he's... not a great Pokémon, he's at least still our friend," she chided.

"Well, ma'am, git better friends," Mavy rebutted. Rye made a guttural noise before hurriedly standing up.

"Uh, l-let's just...! Bas- uh sp-space, they need space, let's, uh, b-base!" he sputtered out, practically pushing us out of the room before any further conflict could arise and leaving both Arden and May staring after us. As the three of us piled into our little attic room, the Treecko let out a shaky sigh.

"Mavy... ugh," he hissed. "Wh-why'd you mouth off to Ms. May, of all of them?"

"Sorry, couldn't think of nothin' else to say," Mavy replied. Rye groaned, his voice tinged with stress as he put his hands on his head. A moment of silence passed before he sighed and straightened himself up, looking over the both of us.

"O-okay, then. Expedition. W-we shouldn't be focusing on Mr. Pike right now, th-the Guild's done everything they're gonna do, I think. We have to keep getting ready. Beck, how are you feeling?" he asked. I threw an experimental punch, happy to note that the pain from doing so was now reserved to a lingering crick in my back, so with a "sha!" of affirmation from me, Rye gave a nod. "Alright! Uh, let's just get our stuff together and head back to base!"

The packing process wasn't hard, given all we had was a couple bags and my banjo, so in no time at all we were giving Arden and May as best of a wave as we could muster while lugging our bags along.

"Y'see, this is why bein' a four-legger is so handy, mind the pun there," Mavy noted as he zigzagged along empty-pawed, gleefully watching as we hauled our loads. I shot him a glare as we staggered into the Guild, turning the corner back towards our base.

Whereas the structure had been half rubble when I'd been hurried to the infirmary a few nights ago, there was no remaining sign of damage to it, something I was at least pleased to see. In front of the base, however, stood an unfamiliar sight in the form of that Lycanroc glancing inside and talking to herself, her Indeedee helpers scribbling down every word.

"Um, excuse me? C-could you move over, please? We have to go in," Rye requested, trying as best as he could to seem respectful. Lycanroc glanced over her shoulder, blinking as the sun glinted off her glasses.

"Ah. I suppose you're..." she paused, glancing at the carving by the door. "Team Reach? Mm, so you're the bunch ol' Creepshow was gushin' about. Least I'll have one less stop to look o'er you lot."

Swishing her tail to gesture to the Indeedees, she took a look at our increasingly unsure selves.

"A Treecko, fine and well, I suppose. Close to evolvin' by the looks of it, though looks a bit weakly," she quietly muttered to herself. "A Zigzagoon. Who seriously puts a Zigzagoon on a team? And... wot's wrong with this Oshawott? Looks like he hasn't bathed in at least a bloody moon, I'd say he was feral if I didn't know any better. This is wot it takes to get this Guildmaster excited these days? Typical for Greys, I suppose, not surprised their standards are this low."

Without another word, Lycanroc simply moved along, leaving me quite offended. I tried to angrily yell after the inspector, though the shas caught in my throat as she started looking over another base, not even sparing us a flutter of her eye. Looking at the others, I quickly noted they were just as angry at what they'd heard, though despite this, Rye held back.

"Remember what Ms. May said. D-don't talk smack," he whispered to himself before continuing into the base, followed shortly thereafter by Mavy and I as we reserved our frustration to teeth-grinding.

Despite that damper on my mood, though, I gladly participated in my usual routine of throwing my bag aside and falling forward onto the fresh new straw bed waiting for me. Rye only gave me a bemused look as he dug up Mizu's Iron Thorn and put it back in its place in the window.

"I-it's not even midday yet," he observed.

"Shaah," I replied. Curling up in his own bed, Mavy offered a nod.

"He's got a point there," he said. Rye watched us for a moment before sighing and continuing with his home improvement duties, leaving the two of us to just lie on the floor like the menaces to society we were.

-o-​

Three days.

"That's three laps! Keep that tail beating! Don't stop now, kid!" Bert called.

"Shaaugh!" I groaned in response.

Summer had arrived with a vengeance, the sun glaring down on us both as I kept stiffly swimming down the river, my Wartortle trainer close behind. When I'd come down here to train for whatever was coming, I hadn't expected him to put me this sort of workout.

Unfortunately for me, it seemed Bert had several more laps in him, which he showed clearly as he suddenly popped out of the water and dove at my position. Having gotten clonked on the back several times up to this point, I weaved out of the way in time to avoid another fifty-pounder. No sooner than the Wartortle had submerged did he breach the water again, tucked into his shell as it spun and streaked straight for me. I responded to the Rapid Spin with a hard Aqua Slap, and while it hurt like distortion, it did accomplish the intended effect of knocking Bert away. Bearing the pain in my tail as I kept swimming, I panted as he caught back up to me.

"Sorry 'bout that, gotta keep you loosened up, y'know! Heard about what happened that last expedition, don't want you getting snuck up on out there!" he said.

"Yeah, tahnks," I groaned. Bert grimaced a bit.

"You got sass for a feral, kid, I'd have stayed with that Lycanroc if I wanted to hear sass. Best keep it to yourself or-" he paused. Getting a look at my twitchy, aching beaver-tail, his expression softened. "Say, how abouts we stop here? Three laps ain't bad," he offered.

I immediately went limp in the water, floating on the surface for a moment before I felt Bert swim under me and carry me towards shore. As I pulled myself onto the stone of the Water-type grounds, my tired body happy for some relief, Bert looked down at me sympathetically.

"Sorry to push you that much. Tell you what, I'll go easier on ya at sparring tomorrow," he requested. I blinked.

"Sh-shpa-wing?" I asked, dread tinging my voice.

-o-​

Two days.

Aqua Tail, Aqua Slap, Rapid Spin, dodge, Water Gun, Protect.

The sparring match between Bert and I was too quick to really stop and think about what was happening, so nothing but attack names ran through my head as I ran around like a panicked Rapidash trying to get a hit in on Bert. As Mavy watched from the sidelines, I received a blow to the face, though I was quick to see an Aqua Tail coming and dove out of the way before he swung it.

"Not bad, not bad!" Bert called before coming at me again. Although he'd thankfully been adamant on not hitting my back so far, he'd been relentless in just about every other regard. A Water Gun proved ineffective, so I took a quick glance around. Just moves weren't about to take him down, given he was a Water-type too, so...

Bert took advantage of my brief pause by knocking me off my feet, though I hurriedly crawled away before getting to my feet and running for the short wall around the stone arena where Mavy was sitting. He seemed to grow ever more unsure as I hauled ass over, and as I hopped behind for cover, the Zigzagoon scrambled to the side as Water Guns streaked over his head.

"Using your environment, that's what I like to see!" Bert commended, his voice growing closer. My face scrunched up as I heard footfalls among Mavy's panicked yelps, and as they grew ever closer, I used the brief period of rest I'd gotten to think up a battle plan. As Bert's footsteps reached the wall, I climbed up and jumped over my teacher's head. Landing hard on the back of his shell, I held on tight as he started trying to throw me off. It was only a matter of time before he would retreat into his shell and spin me off, so I had to act fast here. My paws' nubs cramping up, I managed to snag my scalchop, swinging it in an arc before stopping it just short of Bert's neck.

The Wartortle froze as he craned his head over, raising an eyebrow. He hesitated for a moment before sighing and hanging his head in surrender.

"Not bad, kid, I was actually kinda trying there," he grinned as he stood and dusted himself off, leaving me sliding off his shell onto the ground. "Could use some work, no doubt about that, but you can hold your own, I'd say."

He reached down, offering a paw to help me up. Giving a little smile, I accepted his paw and got to my feet. From behind the wall, Mavy offered a grin and a nod of approval, though failed to suppress a laugh as Bert headbutted me in the forehead. As I staggered back in shock, he blinked and rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry, that's just how we Squirtle types show respect, we butt heads," he coughed.

"Ugh, sha," I groaned, rubbing at the new lump on my head as I slowly regained my bearings. As I did, though, I became aware of a distant boom followed by a familiar frustrated groan. Raising my eyebrows, I started jogging towards the Grass-type grounds, Mavy quickly hopping up to join me as Bert shrugged and followed.

Stopping at the fenced-off stretch of overgrown plants where the Grass-types trained, I found no Rye, but another boom drew my attention in the direction of the Dragon grounds. Biting my lip as I realized what was happening, I took off, the others in tow.

The Dragon-type grounds... could I really call them grounds? They were more of a patch of dirt circling around a half-buried crumbling statue of some Legendary dragon. Reshiram, maybe? Zekrom? I wasn't sure, I apparently never learned which one was which. Just in front of the broken statue stood Rye, his eyes indigo as he tried to concentrate, though as he released the blue flames of a Dragon Breath from his mouth, he hit himself in the head and yelled once more, all while a Goodra watched concernedly.

"Ugh... I-I'm sorry, Master Goodra, I just... I can't," he groaned. The Goodra pursed her lips, apparently at a loss at what to say by now as we approached. Noticing us, Rye hung his head.

"I-I can't do it. I just keep losing control, it's just..." he said shamefully. A bit of hesitation later, he started sulking off. "I-I'll wait at base for you two."

"Rye-" I started, though the Treecko didn't once stop as he made for the training grounds' exit. I watched him go for a minute before turning back to the others. Thankfully, Mavy didn't seem to have any snide comment ready, so he and I just stood there in silence as Bert gave the Goodra a nod.

"Molly," he greeted.

"Bert," she greeted back. Pleasantries exchanged, the two masters glanced at us before shuffling off to return to their usual business, Bert shooting me a smirk as he walked off. Left standing alone with Mavy, I thought for a bit as I started waddling towards the exit.

'Surely there's a way I can help him out? It's the least I can do, I mean, come on. I sure can't help him figure Dragon Breath out, but I could always get him an item of some kind, right?'

"Mafee? Uh, mahny?" I asked. Mavy snorted.

"Money? Fuck naw, we've only paid, like, seven hundred outta that ten thousand ya gotta fork over. Amateur tip, don't buy whatever it is you're plannin' to buy," he said. I bit my lip at the blunt reminder of our financial situation, which only earned me another snicker from the Zigzagoon. "Ah'll say it again, you really shoulda just sucked it up and let me fuck off."

His humored grin quickly melted off his muzzle as he saw my expression shift, an idea forming in my head.

"Oh. Oh, naw, you ain't actually fixing to do that, are ya?" he asked worriedly.

-o-​

One day more.

"Yer sick in the head. I can't believe you actually roped me into this."

"Shaah," I replied deviously, sticking my scalchop between the rotting boards of Kecleon's shop and popping one out. Looking around the empty, dark street to check that we hadn't given away our position, I tossed the board aside, glancing at a derisive Mavy as it hit the ground with a thunk. A minute of hesitation passed before he let out a sigh and squeezed his small form inside the new hole.

I waited for a minute before he popped out again, shaking the webs and grime off himself before heading to the edge of the roof and craning his head down.

"Ev'rything looks good in there, Mr. Green, sir. Just the outside that's all rotten, shouldn't be much harder than poppin' 'em out," he called.

Below us, the green Kecleon shopkeeper gave a hearty smile as he watched us.

"Excellent, excellent! You two do that, and we'll have the paint ready once you're finished! Just let us know if you need anything!" he piped before heading back into the shop. I looked over to Mavy, who only gave me a flat look.

"Y'know, if ah wanted to paint shit, I'd have stayed in Littora Town 'n waited for Ol' Man Furret's hut to start flakin' again," he said, firing off a Pin Missile to try and help pry off the boards. "We better be getting' that thing fer all this trouble, otherwise- oh, shit, there's Rye now!"

I seized up and frantically spun around, only to find the street empty. A given, seeing as it wasn't even dawn yet. I gave my own flat look to Mavy, who only smirked as he stood up on his hind legs and went back to work. Sighing, I picked my scalchop back up and did the same.

It must have been hours before we descended from the shop roof, paint and splinters all over and my paw throbbing from however many times I'd bonked it with a hammer. The sun high in the sky and Pokémon now bustling as they glanced at us curiously, I held the fruit of our labor close as we turned into the market, glancing around for Rye. We'd been lucky he hadn't seen us while we were busy, so it was understandable that he was confused as he stepped out of one of the shops, bags in hand as he cocked his head.

"Beck, Mavy, w-where've you been all morning? Why's there paint on-?" he started. I stopped him short by holding out the little parcel the Kecleons had given us, which the Treecko confusedly accepted. Unwrapping the fabric around it, he stumbled back a bit. A seed sat snugly inside, nearly twice as big as usual and adorned with a green tint. Rye looked up at us, his eyes wide.

"Th-this is a Miracle Seed! Wh-where... we can't afford this right now!" he cried out.

"Naw, Beck here felt bad 'bout how piss-poor you did at your Dragon Breathin' and got us to work our asses off for the Keks all morning for that, they said it was all good," Mavy explained. As Rye looked back and forth between us, his eyes wide, I clapped a paw on his back.

"Sha-prise!" I piped. Rye hesitated for a minute before he smiled and closed his fingers around the seed.

"Th-thank you, you both, I... I don't deserve... t-thank you," he said, wiping at his eyes.

"Don't thank us just yet, you ain't carryin' that thing in your hand all around. Come on, Beck'll getcha a necklace, bracelet, wutever you city 'mons put that sorta thing on. I've done mah part," Mavy said, waving us on with his tail. Rye blinked and mumbled in agreement, following us into the market in a daze.

"...uh, w-we need Orans, too, maybe ten to be safe. They're on sale, so that's nice," he soon said, a genuine smile on his face as he got a feel for the Miracle Seed in his hand. "Oh, and a couple Petrify orbs, who knows what could be down there..."

-o-​

The air over the amphitheater was one of quiet anticipation as the three of us sat there, waiting nervously for the inevitable sunset address that was to come. Everyone on the expedition had apparently been summoned here, and the party of over thirty present showed. We all knew the gist of what the Guildmaster would say here, but why not show up? Not like we had anything better to do after preparing all day.

As Rye fidgeted with the Miracle Seed bracelet now around his wrist, a clamor arose, indicating Arcanine's arrival. The Guildmaster, his Bisharp bodyguards, and that Lycanroc and her stupid glasses took their places, heralding a moment of silence before the golden dog cleared his throat.

"Apprentices, no, fellow explorers. For the second time in many of your lifetimes, the fate of this continent lies in delicate balance. In this grave hour, as the hand of terror and destruction once more rises over our land, our friends, families, and all in between cower at the prospect of what is to come. But not us," he began. "At this time tomorrow, we will be hundreds of miles departed, preparing to plunge into the unknown and perhaps find a way to restore the peace so many sacrificed everything for ten long years ago. A creature of great power has descended into these Caverns, and it is my belief that whatever now awaits us holds the key to besting the wretches that now plague our lands."

Arcanine paused briefly as a map was hung up behind him, unfurling to show a typical map of Gray Proper.

"Given the nature of this expedition, I shall accompany you until the end. We shall leave by sea at first light tomorrow, after which we will take two days' rest in the city of Westgrove-on-Sea for final preparations," he said, gesturing to a bay on the eastern side of the map. "After that... to the Caverns of Being."

He stood up, looming over us.

"My friends, though two of the orbs of spacetime lie in illicit hands, be not discouraged. What lies inside this untapped wonder could very well be our saving grace. If the worst comes to pass and nothing comes of this, fear not! As a great human once proclaimed, the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn! Let our cause this day be a light in these dark times, let our resolve ring true from the walls of Ironside City to the cliffs of the Victoria Mountains! Let all the earth hear our call today: we shall prevail!"

The crowd roared in approval, with even the usually silent Rye clapping over the noise. I'll admit, even I got a bit passionate, giving a whoop or two as Arcanine stepped down from his place. The Bisharps flanking him made it clear very quickly that the Guildmaster was not to be swarmed, so the impassioned crowd quickly dispersed, chattering excitedly all the while. As the three of us descended from our place, I saw Lycanroc hum as she addressed Arcanine.

"Not a bad speech. I've seen better, though," she said. Arcanine furrowed his brow.

"I fed those words all the fire in my soul, and it is simply not bad?" he asked.

"Meh," Lycanroc sniffed, pawing at her glasses to adjust them. Arcanine stared blankly at her for a moment before sighing deeply.

"There are approximately three hundred thousand words in the Graytongue language, and none of them can quite get across how much I would like to hit you with a chair in this moment," he said. With a simple scoff from Lycanroc, the two dogs parted ways, leaving my partners and I to start the short walk back to our base.

Before we made it far, though, the flapping of wings met my ears, and I instinctively put a paw on my scalchop as Pike landed just behind us. The three of us were quick to get over the momentary panic that his arrival brought and coldly regarded the Swellow as he hesitated. After a bit, he silently dropped the bag he was carrying and stuck a foot in, withdrawing a colored disc.

"What is...?" Rye asked.

"It's a TM, human made. We found it in Bewilder Forest a moon ago. They weren't sellin' any normal TMs for your kind, so we got some help to fix it up over the week, and... well," Pike said before pushing the disc over to me. I stared wide-eyed at the device, then looked back up at Pike distrustfully as he stared back at me, very clearly judging me at present. Despite this, he hung his head. "Keep Rye safe out there. Good luck."

With this, Pike spread his wings and flew off. We stood there at a loss, all our eyes trained on one thing: the disc he'd left behind. Rye inched over before cautiously picking the device up, looking it over as we started back on the path.

-o-​

"Wut's this thing supposed to do, anyways?" Mavy asked, leaning in to look at the disc we'd been given as we sat in a circle.

"I-if human TMs are like normal TMs, it's supposed to teach a Pokémon a new technique, like saying 'here's how your energy's supposed to flow, now you can use it.' I can't tell what this one would be, it's really discolored," Rye explained. "Beck, can you make it out?"

I took the disc, peering at it for a moment until my eyes caught a glimpse of faded text.

'Silph Co. of Unova. TM 13...'

"Iesh Beem," I read out. Rye perked up in response.

"Ice Beam? Wow, that could be use... ful, no, we can't trust this. I-it's from Mr. Pike, and... y-you know. Wh-what if this is just a trap to, like, finish the job?" he asked. My fantasies of the possibilities this move could bring were quickly dashed by the memory of Pike's murderous glare, and as I ran a paw across the crick in my back, I hesitantly nodded and put the TM down. Seeing this, Mavy looked at us like we were insane, or rather, more so than usual.

"You ain't even gon consider it? Yeah, I know Swellow's a jackass, to put it kindly, but if this thing can magic a technique into the 'wott's skull here, shouldn't the option at least be on the table? Might could be useful for the expedition," he reasoned. Rye only bit his lip in response as he stared at the offending disk, then picked it up and tucked it in our bag.

"I-if he wants to, it'll be there," he nodded, glancing at me with a "please don't" expression. There was a bit of quiet before Rye cleared his throat.

"So. O-on that note, the expedition, what do you think the Caverns'll be like? I always thought when I was little that they'd be, like, this big, grand hallway going all the way through the earth. But, y-you know, probably not, right? I don't know if we're even gonna find anything," he sighed.

"Have some faith, why don'cha? I reckon it'll be exactly like a regular cave, but... uh, cooler. Dunno, ain't a very imaginative 'mon," Mavy shrugged. "How 'bout you, Beck?"

"Danno. I... eugh," I shuddered. Rye gave a nod in response.

"Yeah, I understand that," he said. "Th-there's only one way to find out, though!"

He reached his hand out palm up, a gesture I quickly accepted by slapping it in a high-five. As Mavy did the same in quick succession, Rye stood up confidently.

"To the darkest corners of the map, to the wildest lands under the sky, to the farthest reaches of the earth, Team Reach... will..."

His confidence melted on the spot as he hurriedly looked around to make sure no one else had heard that.

"That sounded stupid, I'm sorry," he said.

"Iunno, had a nice ring to it. Bit long fer a motto, though, how 'bout this instead: Team Reach! It's Zigzagoon and the other two! Eh?" Mavy suggested.

"P-please don't," Rye groaned.

"Mattoh? Uh, danno, shaah," I offered. Mavy snickered.

"Yeah, sure, that's a nice motto. Every outlaw's heart fills with fear at the whisper of our callin' card: shaaah," he said dramatically.

"L-let's... just... f-figure that out another day, okay?" Rye asked. We both nodded, watching as the Treecko straightened himself back up. "Uh, Team Reach!"

"Yeah!" I responded as we all pumped a fist into the air. As we did, though, a horn sounded in the distance signaling bedtime. With a final smirk at my partners, I shot a Water Gun at the torch as per usual, blanketing the base in the darkness of night.

Zero days remained.

-o-



...ugh, where...? No, oh, no, not another-

Human.

AH! Y-you?!

The time draws near. The day approaches where you shall understand.

What? Understand what?

Trust in your judgment and follow the light, and the truth shall be revealed. Know that we shall meet again soon.

No, wait! Who are you? Why did you send me? Why like this? Why-

I cannot remain. Farewell, human, and may fortune be ever on your side.

Wait-!
 
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46 - Scum and Dignity

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
Perfect, puffy clouds hung in the sky, though just enough that they didn't block the warm orange glow of the coming sunrise. River water lapped gently against the shoreline. A pleasant buzz seemed to hang over Impetus Town as Pokémon gave parting farewells. All in all, it seemed like an wonderfully ideal day for an expedition such as this to begin.

You know, except it wasn't.

As I sat and stared into the river, cool water flowing around my feet, I couldn't help but share a troubled grimace with my reflection. For the first time in about a month and a half, I'd finally heard a word from the one who I guessed had put me here. I could barely even say my own name last time it'd bothered to show up, and what did it have to show for leaving me in the dark? More vague crap. Like, at the very least, I'd have accepted an "oops, my bad, here's your voice back," but "the time's almost here, follow the light?"

To say I was frustrated would be half-right. I was moreso nervous to find out just what the Voice had in store for me here. At least I had a couple days to figure things out before the most likely deadline hit, that was s-

Something suddenly collided with me from behind, sending me tumbling into the river with a yelp. As I resurfaced, coughing water out of my throat, I sent a glare at the two Perrserker and the large crate they seemed to have dropped in their bumping into me.

"Watch where ya sittin', ya sod, we're workin' here!" one of them yelled.

"Ash-hahl!" I barked back as I pulled myself back ashore. I was just about to waddle away without a second thought when I noticed just how much trouble the two seemed to be having in picking their crate back up.

"Wha thah?" I asked curiously, only to receive a glare from the Perrserkers.

"Mindja own business, it's just some food 'n supplies for the trip home," one of them growled as they heaved the crate up.

I cocked my head. The box seemed a little heavy for food, judging by the difficulty with which they hauled it along. As I started warily walking off, I took a quick look back to watch the two headed up a ramp and onto the moored Galahad, their crate letting out an odd metallic jingling all the while. Watching the motionless caravel for a moment, I pushed the suspicions I had to the side and turned to sulk back into town.

As the jovial atmosphere of Impetus Town buzzed around me, I quickly found my teammates where I'd left them, joining them under the pavilion in town square and sitting down hard.

"Beck, hey! W-we're gonna head out soon, where've you been?" Rye asked.

"Ugh," I replied. Rye's face softened in understanding.

"Wh-what happened? Uh, you have been looking pretty down all morning, was it another... y-you know?" he asked. I nodded, prompting Rye to quickly look around at the others. Reassured that no one had heard, he sent a stern look towards Mavy, one that screamed "keep quiet." Getting the message, the Zigzagoon nodded and turned his attention to the bags sitting beside him as Rye leaned in towards me.

"We'll talk about it when we're on the road, alright?" he whispered.

"Yeah, ah-keh," I agreed. Offering a smile, Rye sat back, giving the town a long look as Mavy pilfered through our stock.

"Aight, we got the Stun 'n Warp seeds, the orbs, the money, Beck's instrument thing, our bandannas, yer welcome by the way, and... oh. Still got that disc thing in there, huh?" he observed. "D'ya ever figure if you're gon use it?"

"Nah. Uh, d-dahno," I said. The TM we'd been given the previous night had haunted me all last night, at least until the Voice had showed up. I wasn't sure whether to trust the gift or not, and the dilemma still bugged me. On one hand, the prospect of a new move was enticing. Besides, why couldn't Pike just, say, poison my food if he still wanted me dead? Reprogramming a TM just didn't make sense. But then again, he and his team were pretty well experienced, maybe he could pull off something like that, if only to cover his tracks...

I bit my lip, deciding to maybe save all the sulking for later. For now, I took the Pokémon around me into consideration. Whereas our inclusion in the last expedition had been met with confusion and disbelief, no one seemed to really care this time around, only giving us the odd glance every now and then. We'd done our part last time, and apparently it was showing right now. Though Rye wasn't entirely showing it, I could see the sparkle in his eyes as he took notice. Despite my crummy mood, I couldn't help but be happy for him.

The three of us sat there with the ever-growing crowd of explorers for a while before something noteworthy changed, this being Team Apex emerging from a street, though only Arden and May were outfitted to leave as I'd expected.

"Take care of yourself, okay? You know, make sure the kids don't burn the place down, and I don't know, don't try and murder anyone else," Arden requested, not even flinching as Pike gave him a nasty glare. After a minute, the Swellow just nodded, though May still gave him a cold look.

"You better not do anything stupid. We'll hear," she said.

"Y-yeah, 'course," Pike nodded. With this, Arden gave him a pat on the wing.

"Right, guess we'll be going, we'll see you here whenever. Love you, man," he said as he and May started into the plaza. A smirk appeared on Pike's beak.

"No homo?" he asked.

"No homo, unfortunately for you," Arden called back as he and May took a seat in the pavilion. Though the Quilava just sat back, May offered a smile.

"Well, here we are. Been a wild moon, but you pulled through, Rye," she said encouragingly. "We're proud of you, all three of... you..."

She trailed off as her eyes met mine, her smile faltering. She and Arden exchanged a glance.

"Rye, Zigzagoon, could you do us a little favor?" Arden asked. "If no one else is around once we're on the road, we want to- ah, shit, look alive!"

We scrambled to straighten up just as all the other explorers were, managing just in time for Lycanroc to strut into the square. The inspector only spared us a quick, wordless glance before glancing back at the Guild and speed-walking towards the river. Not a minute passed before a horn sounded from the port and the Galahad lurched, the current of the river carrying it away from town. Seeing this, May huffed.

"Good riddance. I swear, she showed up to our place three times to just complain about every menial detail she could find. I don't know how this Guild's still registered with that bitch inspecting, honestly," she said.

The Galahad turned a bend in the river and vanished from sight, bringing about a kind of tense anticipation as we started watching for a new arrival; after all, Arcanine had said we were going by sea. Indeed, only a few minutes passed before the horn blew again. The three of us got up and joined the thick crowd of explorers as they flocked to the riverside, peering between their legs to get a glance at the boat we'd be taking. When I actually did get a glimpse of the vessel, my intrigue turned to confusion almost immediately.

Was that a... Wailord?

Another quick look confirmed my suspicions. That was, in fact, a Wailord floating up the river, only it had a ship's deck scaffolded on top of it.

'...sure, okay.'

"Huh, lookadat. I've heard o' these, used to come in before-" Mavy said before noticing my confusion, letting out a snort. "You didn't seem to give a shit back when the Lycanroc's boat came in, didja only have ships back in hoo-mon land? Heard just Pokémon're safer and cheaper. Ah'll tell ya, kid, you got a lot to learn. Good thing ya have the enlightened Zig-"

I gave him a light slap to the side with my tail as the Wailord came to a stop by a hastily frozen ice dock. As if on cue, a murmur quickly became evident from the explorers as they parted, forming a path to reveal the Guildmaster as he walked past them towards the docks, stopping as a ramp descended from the deck. Hesitating for a moment, Arcanine turned to address us. His golden fur glimmered in the sun as his deep eyes looked over us, the large twin bags hanging from his sides and the almost comical purple bandanna sticking out of his neck fluff indicating this wasn't usual business. His gaze seemed to rest on me for a bit before he cleared his throat.

"Let us go forth, then, for destiny awaits," he simply proclaimed, turning and starting up the ramp. Gulping, Rye waved us both on after him.

As we and the others ascended the ramp, I took a look back at the riverside behind me, only to find Arden hesitating long and hard to step off the grass, staring down at the river as he trembled a bit. A vine from May around his foreleg seemed to persuade him, though, and the two slowly stepped up as we took a good look at the wooden deck atop the Wailord's blubbery back. Taking a seat on the stairs leading up to the quarterdeck, I watched the last few explorers board.

"Everyone aboard?" the Wailord boomed.

"All are accounted for. Set course for Westgrove-on-Sea," Arcanine commanded from a position on the quarterdeck, a smile on his muzzle. With a lurch, the Wailord started down the river, leaving Impetus Town to clamor their well wishes behind us. I watched as the cheering became fainter and the town became smaller until we turned a bend in the river, obscuring the quaint settlement from view. I watched the trees and rocks blocking the town for a moment before turning my head to the ship's... stern? Bow? Uh, front, taking note of the delta of the Serperior River flowing into the sea in the distance. I couldn't help but smile a bit as I stared into the horizon.

This might be it. I might just find answers on this journey, perhaps even find a way to solve the crisis at hand. Was the Voice or something related to it really waiting down there? I didn't know, the vision had been unclear, but the idea that something just might be was enough.

As Arcanine hopped down from the quarterdeck to resign to his cabin and the Pokémon around us began to mingle, Arden took a seat next to us and put his paws on his head.

"This thing's a deathtrap, May. Any minute now, it'll slide off Wailord here and we're all going to drown," he bemoaned.

"Come on, Ardie. We won't even be on here a day, you big baby," May poked at him, only for the Quilava to give a dry laugh.

"Okay. Okay. By midday, you'll want off this damn thing. I guaran-fucking-tee it," he said.

-o-​

The midday sun glared down upon us as our vessel floated calmly along the sea. Pleasant conversation chimed from the deck as those aboard went about preparing their supplies and entertaining themselves, should it be through food, chat, or other means. As for Team Apex, Arden's promise that would've been effective by now... well.

"Oh, what shall we do with a drunken sailor, what shall we do with a drunken sailor? What shall we do with a drunken sailor early in the morning?" Arden sang above us.

"Yay, hay, and up she rises, yay, hay, and up she rises! Yay, hay, and up she rises early in the morning!" May sang in reply.

The two had been sitting perched upon the quarterdeck and singing every sea shanty they could think of for a good while now, and while Rye seemed to be enjoying the music, it really didn't seem to be helping Mavy as he leaned against the ship's side, looking very much seasick. I, meanwhile, just sat and stared out at the sea, trying to rub myself with the soap I'd been given just over a week ago. A couple Water Guns here, some scrubbing here, and I expected to at least smell presentable in time for landing. That wasn't the main thing on my mind, however.

Apart from the ship deck and the Wailord it rested upon, all I could see was miles and miles of water and the occasional flock of Wingull in the distance; not an inch of land. For some reason, some primal part of me seemed content with this: the rocking of the Wailord, the sound of the waves, the calls of the Wingulls, everything just seemed to soothe my core. Though my better human judgment just saw it as pretty, as an Oshawott, I felt at home.

As I sat there at peace, someone suddenly stepped through the door to Arcanine's cabin, revealing themselves as a quite excited-looking Delcatty.

"Good news, everyone! The Guild's passed this year's inspection! Flying numbers, too!" the higher-up declared. A wave of disbelieving excitement washed up around the three of us as we looked around confusedly.

"Again? Alright, which one of you madmons stole her notes?"

"I'll bet someone slipped Nanab in her food and got her high outta her mind!"

"Clearly, the real Lycanroc's still tied up in the dog's basement!"

"Maybe she just couldn't say no to these devilish good looks, eh?" Arden suggested.

"Oh, you wish," May nudged him. "Now, where were we?"

"Right," Arden coughed before the two broke out into song again. "I'll sing you a song o' the fish of the sea; way-hay, blow the 'mon down!"

With the background music back in action and everyone returning to their business, I glanced at Delcatty as she retreated into Arcanine's cabin. I hadn't considered it, but... yeah, Arcanine was here, and I probably had to talk to him about that vision...

"Rye? Maffy?" I asked, looking around for a discreet place I could talk to my partners in. The two turned their heads to look at me as I gestured them closer to the back of the ship, where the Pokémon present were at least less numerous.

"Wh-what's up? Is this about, uh, what you wanted to tell us before we left?" Rye asked.

With a nod, I hesitated, then after a quick look over my shoulder, I told them as best I could: the Voice, the cryptic message, and the theory I had about the expedition. Though I wasn't able to get it across very well, I still managed to communicate enough to the two, I felt. It didn't take long after I finished that Rye got up, biting his lip.

"Okay, uh... w-we better tell Mr. Arcanine, then. It shouldn't be too long, I don't think you need to worry about coming. We'll be right back," he said.

"We? Now wait just a-" Mavy started, though Rye had already gotten up. Giving a sigh, he zigzagged after him, leaving me alone to watch the two enter Arcanine's cabin, where the Guildmaster sat taking up what looked like half the room. With an indiscernible order from him, Delcatty hurried out, leaving the three to talk as I sat and watched.

It didn't take long for my eyes to begin wandering, and among the first things they landed on was our bags. Staring at the leather thing for a moment, I reached over to open it up, revealing the TM still in the flap pocket glittering in the sun. I grimaced to myself, considering. The chances that Pike somehow had tampered with this were slim, and if it did do something bad, then there were plenty of witnesses that could help me out. But... it was just...

I pulled the disc out of the pocket and weighed it in my paws for a moment. After a while of staring, I let out a sigh, braced myself, and flipped the switch, prompting a couple of beeps from the restored machine. Cracking open an eye to see it hadn't exploded or anything, I hesitated again. Was I really about to do this?

'...ugh. Here goes nothing.'

I clenched my teeth, and acting off hazy memory, pressed the disc to my forehead. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then an odd, intense tingle arose within my head under where the disc rested. With three pulses, the tingle suddenly shot down my head and into my chest.

"Ah!" I cried, expecting the worst. Instead of immediately killing me, however, the sensation seemed to stop as it met my core, staying there for a moment before seeming to lightly pulse throughout my body. It kept this up for a bit before something clicked in my head, after which the tingling went away. Dropping the machine with a clunk, I flopped over panting. What... was that?

The process had lasted maybe ten seconds, but I felt oddly drained from it. That aside, though, something felt different in my core. The usual pleasant pull and push of Water energy had been joined by a new energy, one that just felt... weird, more cold and biting.

I blinked.

'Surely not.'

I leaned over the side of the ship, trying to tap into this energy that'd apparently just been unlocked. Unlike most other techniques I'd learned, this seemed to come naturally to me, almost like the TM had implanted some sort of muscle memory into my core, telling my body specifically how to direct this energy. Giving it a shot, I felt the frigid energy travel up to my throat.

'He wouldn't, would he?'

I shot it out of my mouth at the water below. It wasn't unlike a Water Gun in its feeling, though it was light blue and definitely not made of water, and upon hitting the water it left a chunk of ice bobbing in the waves. I chuckled in disbelief as I heard Rye and Mavy return.

"He didn't say anything much, he just told us to, you know, let him sit on it and... uh, are you...?" Rye asked, his eyes falling on the TM lying next to me. "...y-you didn't actually, did you? You-"

Smiling, I shot another Ice Beam at the water, trying my best to get used to the strange new sensation as Rye stared at me dumbfounded.

"...Beck. I-I'm sorry, but... you... eugh," he groaned. "C-congratulations, I guess?"

"See wut I told ya?" Mavy asked, giving me a nudge as I gave the TM another glance.

'Huh. Maybe Pike isn't all shitty...?'

Happy with this thought, I tucked the machine away and sat back down, staving off Rye's judgmental look as I watched the waves below us flow. As Arden and May finally seemed to exhaust their supply of shanties, I couldn't help but wonder what lied in this Westgrove place, especially with this new development.

As the Wailord continued to sail ahead, I, for once, felt optimistic about what was ahead.

-o-​

I wasn't sure when I first realized we were approaching land. I'd gotten some suspicions when Rye'd noted the air getting more humid. I'd started to notice once a ship showed up in the distance, then another. I knew for sure when the first dark sliver of land appeared on the horizon. As the three of us hurriedly tied the bandannas in our bags around our necks and joined the others as they gathered to the front to get a look at the land ahead, Arcanine emerged from his cabin and peered above their heads, giving a small smile.

"Ah, Westgrove-on-Sea. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy," he said.

The port city soon came into view as we sailed past what looked like old coastal defenses and drew into its harbor, and needless to say, I was taken aback. This was by far the biggest city I'd seen as an Oshawott, with the buildings towering six stories above the ground in some places. That might not be tall on paper, but in Pokémon context, that was pretty impressive. Even from the harbor, I could see the bustling albeit dirty port teeming with Pokémon and docked boats, salesmon standing ready to sell their wares to the arriving sailors, and the day's catch of feral fish; I could smell it from here. The impressive sights of the city aside, I couldn't help but be put off by the color the water was taking on as we got closer to the shore, a strange, murky, almost brownish hue. As our Wailord was directed to an open dock, I found myself praying that would be the only dirty thing this city had to offer. I doubted that would be the case, though.

The clunk of the descending ramp signaled everyone aboard to gather their things and step down behind Arcanine, glancing around at their new surroundings as a bored-looking Azurill showed up to face the Guildmaster.

"Papers, please," he droned. "How long will you be staying, and what is the reason for your visiting Westgrove-on-Sea?"

"Only the night, and we are here on behalf of the Exploratory Society of Gray Proper, sir," Arcanine said, pulling some paper out of his bag and holding it in his mouth as the Azurill glanced them over.

"Mm. Society 'mons. Go ahead, then," he gestured. With this, we continued on, Rye inching towards me as we progressed into the city.

"We have been given reservations at an inn near one of the local Guilds, just on the intersection of Orbmaker and Main Streets. I shall finalize business there, you may do what you please throughout the city until sundown. I shall see you all then," Arcanine called before splitting off from the group, which quickly disintegrated as the other explorers went off to, well, explore. Rye glanced around at the remaining Pokémon in the group and sighed.

"Guess we'll go to the inn and drop our stuff off, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," I agreed, glancing at Mavy for his input. Rather than interject, however, he just looked around at the bustling street in awe, his mouth hanging open a bit.

"Y-you alright?" Rye asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, s'just... never seen a town this big before, didn't know they got this big," Mavy nodded.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I heard over fifteen hundred Pokémon live here because, uh, trading and all. There's bigger in the continent, I think," Rye explained.

"'Scuse me? They get bigger?" Mavy asked.

"Y-yeah, there's Cesaree City, I think it has two thousand, and Vale Keep has almost three thousand," Rye elaborated. I watched the gears turn in Mavy's head as he seemed to try and imagine what a city like that would look like, though he apparently gave up pretty quickly.

"The wild exists fer a reason, y'all could just live there," he said half-seriously as we continued down the busy street.

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to think of this city. Sure, it was neat to see that Pokémon had built such a big city, especially considering Unova past, but I wasn't quite sure what to think of the city itself. While the locals around me seemed happy enough as they crowded past, shouted out their wares, and hauled their resources along, the structures they apparently inhabited didn't quite reflect this. While looking relatively well-built, the whole city seemed just a bit too dense, had an aura of filth to it, and the seemingly random street layout it boasted didn't help. Really, if I looked at a map, the streets would probably look more like a bunch of random scribbles than an orderly system.

My growing unease in this strange new city only grew as passing Pokémon kept giving us the stink-eye, whether it was just tradition or our being outsiders, and it only mounted as I heard a squish from up ahead. At the head of our group, Arden blinked a couple times before slowly looking down at the pile of crap he'd just stepped in.

"...fuck this city," he said, shaking shit off his forepaw and continuing on, Rye grimacing as we made sure to step around the pile on our way past.

"So you were saying about wanting to get off that Wailord?" May asked, though Arden only rolled his eyes.

"Please. I'd sooner step in fifty more than stay an extra day on that damn thing," he said.

"Why?" I asked before I could stop myself. Arden's look darkened as he glanced over to me, the crap on his paw forgotten.

"None of your business," he growled. I shrunk back, glancing over to Rye for help here, though the look he was giving me here warned me not to pursue this any further. Gulping to myself, I took his advice and shut up, keeping close to him and Mavy as Arden stopped in a crossroads and pointed to one of the three-story buildings standing there.

"Welp, that should be it. Graveler's Seaside Hotel, real original name there. Follow our lead and this should be painless enough," he said, waving us all along before heading inside. As the three of us led the small group in through the stone doorframe, I noted he had already gotten a head start with the Graveler at the desk.

"You're Team Apex? Well, welcome to my humble lil' inn, Mr. Quilava, sir," the Graveler nodded, a little book resting in his lower pair of arms. "...yes, I did get a memo sayin' everything's taken care of. Well, then, room two thirty-five. Do enjoy your stay, and don't make a mess o' things. 'Mons from Proper always do."

The clunk of a key sounded out as Graveler slammed his hand on the desk. As May nodded her thanks and followed Arden out of the seedy lobby, Rye and I exchanged a glance and stepped up. His stone brow furrowing, the Graveler flipped open the book in his hands, peering down at it before snapping his rocky fingers.

"Ah, you must be Team Liberators' apprentices! Very good, I'll get a room ready for them. Will Mr. Zoroark be-" he started.

"Who now?" Mavy asked. Graveler's face faltered.

"'Scuse me? Aren't you-?" he asked before looking down at his book again. "...wait, it's Zygarde's Moon, they're coming on..."

The receptionist's fake smile melted off his face as he got another look at us. After a bit of hesitation, he frowned and dropped a key down onto the desk.

"Room two thirty-seven. Next!" he called. Rye bit his lip and reached up for the key, leading us away as Graveler looked after us, though his gaze was unusually focused moreso on Rye than me.

"Damn weed," I heard him mutter. Rye's eye twitched a bit, though he didn't turn back as we followed him up the stairs.

As I set my bag down and looked around at the nice enough room, Rye sat down hard on the straw bed by the wall and let out a frustrated groan.

"D-did you hear him? He called me... ggh! Why do Ground-types have to be... ugh, I'm sorry. G-good thing we're only staying the night, huh?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. Sure gettin' slurred at's real painful fer ya, ain't it?" Mavy asked, glancing over at me with a knowing look. Biting his lip, Rye got up and put his bag on one of the dressers in the room, fishing out a sack of Poké as he looked around again.

"I-I don't feel comfortable staying here. I'm gonna go out, you two wanna come with?" he asked. I gave a cry of agreement as Mavy tried to shrug.

"Got nothin' better to do, ah reckon," he said. With this, Rye walked out of a door at the other side of the room, where a balcony overlooked the street. Without hesitation, he hopped over the railing and started Treecko-crawling down the wall, leaving Mavy and I staring down after him as he ended up on the street below.

"Oh, uh... s-sorry, I forgot you-!" he called.

"Hate it when he does that," Mavy sighed. As we turned to take the long way down, the door next to ours suddenly opened.

"See? Got a nice... well, uh, nice view, some sunshine, and-" May said as she stepped onto the balcony, stopping as her eyes fell on us. Peeking his head out, Arden pursed his lips.

"Well, isn't this a treat," he said. A bit of awkward silence hung in the air before May just smiled and nodded, then went back to trying to sell the place to Arden. Taking this as our cue to leave, I waved Mavy on and made to follow Rye downstairs.

-o-​

"So wut's the plan here? We just gon wander till you feel like you ain't gon get typismed?" Mavy asked, his claws clicking on the dirty cobblestone road as he zigzagged alongsi
"No, uh, w-we'll find something. It's a big city, I'm sure we will," Rye reasoned.

"Mhm, fair nuff. As long as you know where..." Mavy trailed off, turning his head to look behind him. "Whew! You see that Minccino back there? Reckon I'd have any luck with her?"

"Maffy," I sighed.

"Right, my bad," the Zigzagoon sighed before returning to looking around.

The putrid aroma of salt and filth lingered in the air as we explored the narrow, dirty streets of Westgrove-on-Sea, looking for something that might be worth our money in the coming exploration. Pokémon crowded around us as I tried to look for a shop, though no luck given my height compared to everyone else. Like, really, that was an Alolan Exeggutor over there, what the fuck?

"I-I really thought this was the right district. Like, it'd have to be close to the port, right? I don't know, I'm s-" Rye started, fidgeting with the seed bracelet around his wrist nervously.

"Hey, shaa," I interrupted, pointing at something that'd caught my eye. A gate sat nestled among some buildings, and though I couldn't read the footprint runes emblazoned on it, the tents inside looked shoplike enough.

"Yeah, see? Market," Mavy said, confirming my suspicions. "Cheer up, ya did that, at least."

Biting his lip in embarrassment, Rye nodded and silently headed through the gates, Mavy and I close behind. As I tried to enter, though, a Dugtrio erupted out of a grate in the wall and turned to face me.

"Treecko! For everyone's safety, no ferals are permitted within-" they began, all three heads just slightly out of sync.

"Ah, fack off!" I yelled in frustration. The Dugtrio stared for a moment.

"My deepest apologies, Oshawott. Carry on. Please consider looking less like a feral in the future," they said before slinking back into the ground. A bit of pride swelling in my chest, I waddled to join my partners.

Now, I'd seen an open-air market like this before, the one back in Impetus Town. I'd thought that that little place was a big market, but this? Tents and awnings sprawled across the area, all adorned with unique selections, and dozens of Pokémon flocked through the confusing maze of shops as several voices called out their stocks.

"Roast Archen, roast Archen!"

"Jewelry, mementos, souvenirs! Take a piece of Westgrove-on-Sea home with you!"

"Lamp oil! Rope! Orbs! S'yours, long as you have enough Poké!"

"I'll fix your boat for you! Will paint for extra!"

"Tour the great ruins of Drift City! Only two thousand Poké, so long as the Guilds don't notice!"

The calls of the vendors threatened to overwhelm me as the three of us browsed the colorful market, eyeing the tents as their vendors tried to sell us their selections. With jewelry, knickknacks, and even clothing in one instance being relentlessly offered to us, I was almost relieved when we came across a simple dungeon supply shop. Seeing this, Mavy gave a devious smile.

"Y'all stand back and watch, I'm fixin' to get us some free stuff. I got me a shit tongue, it's like a silver tongue but it just spouts Tauros-shit. Watch 'n learn," he boasted before zigzagging over to the shop. "Howdy! This ribbon here fer sale?" he innocuously asked, pulling a ribbon on the counter towards him.

"Hey, hey. Careful, that's a Friend Bow, helps keep the ferals off your back. You can buy it, but only if you have five grand on paw," the Scrafty shopkeeper said. Mavy squinted down at the cloth for a moment.

"You shittin' me? I come from a long line of scarfmakers, and ah know one o' those when I see 'em. That right there? Not one o' those," he said.

"I'm sorry? I believe you're mistaken, sir," the Scrafty replied, trying her hardest to keep her composure.

"Y'know wut I think? I reckon you got gipped by whoever's supplyin' ya. How do you know this is even a... uh, Friend Ribbon?" Mavy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I sell dungeon supplies. It's literally my job to know," the Scrafty said, clearly beginning to lose her patience.

"Oh. Uh... well, damn, that makes it even worse. Like, really, manipulatin' such a well-informed 'mon, by Kyogre. Tell ya wut, buddy, I'll take this off yer hands fer the appropriate price, save you the trouble of havin' this embarrassing doohickey on your window, how-" Mavy started.

"Kid, I don't have time for this. Get away from my shop before I call security," the Scrafty demanded. Mavy blinked.

"Yer gettin' had," he tried.

"Out!"

The Zigzagoon hurriedly scurried away from the stand, quickly finding himself in our disapproving gazes. He returned a look before chuckling nervously.

"Guess the 'mons round here ain't as gullible, huh?" he asked. Rye and I exchanged a look.

"Ugh. C-come on, let's find somewhere else. Please don't scam this one," he said, giving Mavy a stern look as we started walking through the market again.

Before we got far, though, an odd sound met my ears: quiet sniffling. Turning my head, I found a dirty Noibat huddled up against a wall, hugging its legs with its wings as it watched us with teary eyes. Noticing this, Rye's expression softened as he approached the Pokémon.

"H-hey, are you alright?" he asked. Shrinking back, the Noibat gave another sniffle in response. Rye considered for a moment before reaching into the sack he was carrying along, pulling an apple out and offering it. The Noibat hesitated, clicking its tongue for just a bit too long for comfort. Just as Rye's face became one of confusion, the bat suddenly clawed at the bracelet around his wrist, grabbed at the now-detached Miracle Seed, and immediately flew off down the alley.

"H-HEY!" Rye yelled, getting up and sprinting after him. With a quick glance at each other, Mavy and I sped after him. We'd worked our asses off for that thing, no way we were letting it get yoinked like that!

Looking back and seeing we were catching up, Noibat tried to speed up, though it seemed like the large seed he was carrying was giving him trouble. Apparently taking note of this, he spun in midair and sent a gust of air at a nearby cart, launching it at us as its vendor watched in horror. With cabbages raining down around me and a large obstruction in my way, I gritted my teeth and swung my tail, knocking a hole in the cart with an Aqua Slap. With Rye having simply climbed over and Mavy popping through the hole I'd left, we kept after the now alarmed Noibat, leaving the cart's vendor to mourn his cabbages.

Confused clamors broke out as we burst out of the market, pushing past Pokémon as we tried to keep our eyes on Noibat, who shot us a grin now that we were lagging behind. Rye wasn't about to take this sitting down, by the looks of it.

"Try and keep up with me!" he ordered before climbing up an alarmed pedestrian and taking a leap. I watched in confusion, was he trying to hit Noibat? No, it seemed, as he latched onto a wall and crawled onto the roof, then continued the chase without any obstruction other than the spaces between buildings. Noibat gave a frantic yelp as he saw the Treecko hauling ass towards him, it looked like he hadn't expected us to get this far. As if that weren't enough for the thief, a couple of Pin Missiles whizzed past him, sending the Pokémon around us screaming and diving for cover as Mavy continued running ahead of me.

"Come on, you sonuvaweezin'! You don't get to mooch off Treecko, that's our job!" he yelled, sending another barrage of Pin Missiles. As I turned my attention ahead, a problem made itself apparent: we'd reached the dock, and Noibat was flying towards the ocean to try and lose us, a Pin Missile in his rear threatening to end the chase early. Though Rye thought fast and crawled down, making a beeline for one of the docked ships, it wouldn't be enough to catch him. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I got a good look at the harbor's polluted water.

"...shaaagh!" I yelled, clenching my eyes shut as I dove in. Immediately, my face seemed to burn, the taste of rot and filth filled my mouth, and I shuddered as I felt Arceus-knows-what floating around me as I beat my tail and streaked through the water. Despite my Oshawott instincts and basic survival senses screaming at me to get out, I cracked open an eye to get a good look up, seeing Noibat flying a few feet up through the murk. Where he was going, I wasn't about to find out, as I breached the water just ahead of the bat and shot him in the face with a Water Gun.

The young thief screamed, dropping the Miracle Seed as he panickedly course-corrected back towards the dock, though by now Rye had taken a position on the side of a ship and tried to end his flight with a Pound. Rather than let that hit him, though, Noibat flew up on deck and started going after Rye, though I didn't see much as I dove down to retrieve the seed the bat had dropped. I squinted to try and see through the murk, gritting my teeth as I noted it all looked brown and green. A glint of yellow, however, sent me diving down, and with a little "hah!" I grabbed the Miracle Seed as it sank into the polluted depths.

'Alright, that's one problem dealt with. On to the next.'

I launched out of the harbor water like a rocket, surveying the scene as best I could before splashing back in. Rye and Noibat were still locked in combat, the Treecko impressively managing to keep up despite the type advantage. A small crowd had gathered on the docks, gaping at the scene as Mavy pushed to try and get past. Thinking fast, I dove back down into the water, resting my feet against the horrid, disgusting bottom, and rocketing myself the fifteen feet towards the surface. The resultant airtime was enough to land me on the ship's deck, and as I pushed myself up and shook some gross off, a familiar plume of purple flame met my eye. Indeed, Rye had resorted to using Dragon Breath, and as he angrily roared out another attack, lighting the poor ship's sails alight, Noibat started flying off, having apparently deciding this wasn't worth the risk.

Before he could get far, however, he froze in midair and plummeted to the ground screaming, having run headfirst into a beam of pale blue energy. The frigid feeling in my gut subsiding as my Ice Beam dissipated, I panted for a second before running to join Rye in holding the frozen thief in place. Both of us exchanged a quick glance, Rye's eyes losing their indigo glow and the dirty water around my mouth frozen from my attack, before turning our gazes to the port as policemon rushed in and began clearing the area.

It wasn't long before we were led back onto dry land to get tended to, the ship we'd fought on evacuated and extinguished. I staved off the looks Mavy gave us as I felt myself get hosed off, watching as police carried the incapacitated Noibat away screaming and feebly trying to struggle out of their grasp. Watching them go, I couldn't help but feel bad, I didn't doubt the thief's crying was genuine this time.

'He seems so young... what happened? Where'd he go wrong?

'

My thoughts were interrupted as someone cleared their throat above us. As the three of us turned to look, I momentarily paled as I met eyes with an Arcanine. Thankfully, it wasn't the Arcanine, given his shorter stature and, you know, the fact he wasn't shiny.

"Afternoon. Sheriff Arcanine, Westgrove-on-Sea Police Department," he said, his tone far more casual than what I'd come to associate with his species. "So you're the ones who hooked the tourist trap of South Street, eh?"

"Th-that's what you call him? Uh, y-yes, sir, he took, uh, o-one of our things, we were trying to get it back," Rye said, standing to attention for the policemon as he cocked his head.

"You from out of town? Most round here don't get bamboozled like that," Sheriff Arcanine said. "But, you know, good on you for taking him down! I'm sure someone's gonna make a fuss 'bout the collateral damage, the Whimsicott with the cabbages sure was, but you know? Little bastard's been giving us trouble for a while, got a three thousand Poké bounty on his head! I'm sure we can... arrange...?"

The officer trailed off as Mavy held up a paw.

"You said how much money?" he asked.

-o-​

"Well, uh... th-that was weirdly productive," Rye observed, glancing at the sack of money he was lugging along in the evening torchlight.

"Ah'll say. Didja see me back there, with the Pin Missiles 'n all? Got a good bit of action in, even if ya took all the glory," Mavy nodded.

"Yeah, sure, sure," I said.

The sun was setting over Westgrove-on-Sea, and all around us, Pokémon returned home from work, streetlamps were being lit, and nocturnal 'mons made their presence known. We didn't pay them much mind, though, as we strolled through the street searching for our hotel. We'd been a while at the city's police station getting the whole Noibat debacle sorted out, though we'd eventually walked out with a few curious bystanders' gazes on us, Officer Arcanine giving a grateful nod, and a sack of three thousand Poké.

Now, I thought that was a bit high for a small-time criminal like Noibat, but apparently that was a pretty reasonable rate, it was just most of the money went to the Guild. Once Sheriff Arcanine had found out we were Guildies, though, he'd immediately become the second-favorite fire dog I knew of.

"Well, technically, your Guild didn't put you up to it, did it? I'll send your Guildmaster a letter, Arcanine to Arcanine, see if he doesn't understand."

And so here we were now, grabbing at that cash with both hands and trying to figure out how to make a stash.

"Okay, uh... a-a lot of it's gonna go to Mavy's fine, that's for sure. Like, even two thirds'll put us at a fifth of the way there! Okay, two thousand for that, a thousand for us sounds good," Rye nodded to himself. His expression wilted as he glanced at his empty wrist. "Sh-shame about the seed, though... I-I'm sorry, you worked hard for it and I... ugh."

I blinked, my mind flashing to the object in my paw. I waited for a moment before silently holding it up, smiling a bit as Rye saw it and nearly dropped the money in his hands.

"Y-you found it! I-I thought it fell into... heh. S-sorry if this is a mean thing to say, but for a... you know, you make a good Water-type," he complimented. I grinned and gave my friend a nudge, only for Mavy to roll his eyes.

"Git a room, you two. Actually, yer in luck, there's our place right now," he pointed, alerting us that we'd made it back to the hotel. After we walked in, ignoring a distasteful glance from Graveler, we found our way back upstairs to our room, though quickly noticed a difference in the form of a few parcels piled by the door and a note delicately leaning against them. Picking it up, Rye squinted to read it.

"To my dear apprentices, I apologize I couldn't be here with you. Take this meal and feast, knowing that we will do great things tomorrow. From Arcanine," he read. Hearing this, Mavy quickly made for the door.

"Well, he had me at meal, I'm starvin'," he commented, dragging one of the burlap parcels in. As Rye and I followed, I paused to look out the balcony door and into the night sky. The moon was full, and the tug at my core it brought about seemed to beckon me outside. Entranced for a moment, I blinked and looked at my partners.

"N-neeed mee-naht," I enunciated, gesturing to the balcony. Rye took one look at the moon and nodded in understanding.

"We'll save yours. A-at least, I'll try to," he said.

Giving a cry thanks, I waddled out the balcony door and quietly closed it behind me, then just stood there in the moonlight. This was one of the weirdest but most enjoyable things about becoming a Water-type, I'd noticed. I'd learned from Bert that Water-type cores liked the moon, and they apparently acted like tides in that regard; I guess that's where the name for the type's core came from. There had been a full moon once before since I'd ended up here, and I'd felt it even though it was cloudy out that day. Tonight, though? Clear as glass. The feeling I had here was indescribable, like some sort of warm power welling up within me. I felt like I could take on the world.

Yet I chose to just keep standing there, taking in the chatter of the streets below, the lapping of the distant waves, the scribbling of- scribbling?

I opened my eyes, taking a glance around to find the source of the odd noise. On the balcony of the next room over, a shape sat with its feet hanging down, a book in its lap and a pen in its paw appearing to draw something on the pages. Judging by the blue tint the moonlight gave it, it seemed to be... Arden?

"Sir?" I asked. The Quilava flinched violently as he slammed the book shut, turning to give me a glare.

"Fuck! May, I told you not to-" he started, his face calming as he saw me. "Oh... k-kid."

The two of us stared at each other in silence for a moment before Arden cleared his throat.

"Say, kid. I, uh... you wanna just... sit down, have a chat? It's nice out, and I feel like we've been lacking in that department given all the shit going on," he said. I hesitated for a minute before nodding, cautiously approaching Arden before hoisting myself up on the balcony and taking a seat next to him. The two of us sat there in awkward silence, watching the city below for a minute before Arden broke the silence.

"Did I ever tell you about Otto, Beck?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow; I had heard that name before. That time I'd seen him on the rock at the river, he'd mentioned an Otto...

I shook my head. Arden hesitated, staring off at the ocean in the distance.

"Well. Otto, he... he was my brother, and... my best friend. We had our differences, for damn sure, but, well... we would always stick out for each other, you know? We were bros through and through in both senses of the word, and I would never have been the 'mon I am without him. But then..."

He paused, the memory apparently painful for him.

"...well, then Tyranitar happened," he finished. I looked over at him, my face noticeably less awkward.

"Oh. Am sahry," I said, only for the Quilava to sigh.

"You don't remember your family, do you? Well, consider yourself lucky. Just the fear that it'll happen again one day, that some clusterfuck's gonna take your family again... that's... actually something I'd wish on my enemies for sure, but I'd sorta regret it after the fact," he said. "You get the idea? And that's not the worst part, we've stopped something like that before. It's been fifteen years, but we could still do it again. And I'll say it, I'm fucking terrified. If... well, something happens on my watch... well. That'd be on me. You see what I'm getting at?"

I blinked as he glanced down at the closed book in his lap.

"I don't know, I'm venting, kid. I get if you don't get it, you're still... ahem, kinda young, kinda innocent, not really," he said, hanging his head. "Look, I get I've been a bit of a dick, but I want to help you here, really, I do. I know how you feel; might not have been through your exact situation, but I got the gist of it. But, well, I'm a Fire-type, most I can do is talk and, you know, clearly you're not the best at that."

With an awkward cough, Arden averted his gaze for a moment.

"If I were to give a tip, though, it'd be to go to Alakazam if you're masochistic enough to want your memories back. The guy has experience, and I think you delivered orbs for him that once time, shouldn't be a problem," he suggested.

At the thought of a Psychic poking around my brain's nooks and crannies, I instinctively shuddered. I'd seen enough telekinetic violence for one lifetime, I wasn't about to let that into my head, even if I knew not every Psychic-type out there was like Xatu. Sure, Alakazam was weird, but he was pleasant enough, but just the thought of him reading my mind like that...

"Bad experience with Psychics, huh?" Arden correctly guessed, apparently having seen my discomfort. "Yeah, understandable, given what I've heard. Trust me, I get it, I'm not letting that hack anywhere near my noggin anytime soon. But, y'know, your choice, I guess."

I nodded, my guard faltering at the casual turn there. Another pause hung in the air as the ambiance around us continued.

"So. Tell me about Unova," Arden suddenly requested.

"Uh, wha?" I asked.

"Unova. What do you remember?" Arden asked. I hung my head, considering for a minute. There wasn't much, and I didn't quite know if I could explain what I did know.

"...heh-m-mens, lahts. Sh-ssities. Nah dah-jehhs. Was... er, fine," I managed out. Arden smirked a bit at my clumsy wording, though managed to straighten himself up.

"Yeah, just "fine," I'm sure. I get why you got so caught up over this, Unova seemed like a decently nice place. You know, for a human. If you're up to remember some more, feel free to ask for the book of horrors here. You know, later, of course, I need it for the caves," he said, putting a paw on the leatherbound book in his lap. Giving the book a curious look, I found myself curious as to just what he was doing with it.

"Wha's een...?" I asked, though Arden only gave me a look.

"Personal shit. I don't know, tell me the airspeed velocity of an unladen Swellow and I just might show you," he said, cracking a faint smirk. "It's just... this whole thing's brought up some shit. I could give you the whole sappy rundown again if you wanted, but honestly? Hoping I can put it behind me and build a nice thick wall around it once things wind down. I'm sure you understand, I saw how you broke back after Bassa. I'm sure the whole human Tauros-shit's something you want to just go away, am I right?"

"Nah. Nah, is fine, ree-lee," I said. Arden glanced back at me, pricking an eyebrow up.

"Huh. You're alright with... you know, the whole post-Ruin experience? The bodies left behind? Everything you knew being six feet under for the last thousand and a half years?" he asked.

I bit my lip and gave a little nod. There was no point just giving up now, what good would that do? It sure wouldn't bring everything back. As far as I knew, the best I could do was keep going, whether out of some determination to do my fellow ape-creatures proud or just pure spite. Whatever the case, Arden turned his head forward, giving his own nod.

"You've got balls, kid, I'll give you that," he said. "Like, during the war, I heard so much idealistic shit about them, and with everything going on, I thought 'yeah, things were better then! Things can only get better from here!' Then oop, shocker, they turned out to be just as bad. If I were the one last representative for humans, of all species, well... honestly? I would just be ashamed."

I made a noise somewhere between thanks for the compliment and uncertainty towards his outlook as he gave a humorless chuckle. As we both kept sitting there, a light suddenly shone from behind as the creak of a door sounded.

"Arden, come on, you can't just sulk all night and-" May exasperatedly demanded, her tone seeming to soften as she caught sight of me. She stood there for a moment before giving a little smile. "I'll give you a minute," she said before closing the door again. With this, Arden threw his legs back over the balcony and took a look at me.

"Right, guess we should be going our ways, big day tomorrow. Just remember, kid, whatever you find down there, feel free to slip me a note or some shit. And if you see that Xatu down there?" he asked, smirking. "Tell them to suck a dick."

I couldn't suppress the humored smile that came up as I nodded, prompting the Quilava to walk back inside. With a couple final looks at his balcony door and the full moon above, I waddled back into my room, stopping as my teammates' concerned glances bored into me.

"B-Beck, uh... what took you so long?" Rye asked.

"I'm tellin' you, that moon's all fucky to those types. He was prolly gettin' baked off his mind out there," Mavy said as I grabbed the food they'd saved for me.

With a final look towards where Arden's room would have been, I waddled over and pulled my banjo down from our bag hanging on the dresser, plucking at the strings to make sure they still worked.

As I took a bite of my supper and struck up a simple tune, I couldn't help but wonder. If today had been so out there, then... just what would tomorrow bring?

-o-
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
INCIDENT HAS OCCURRED, POLICE PRESENCE HIGH – DO NOT ENTER CITY

KEEP DISTANCE – WAIT FOR SIGNAL

EXECUTIVES: PREPARE

- THE DIRECTOR
 
47 - The Descent

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
"Well, uh, everyone say 'bye, Westgrove'," May said, sitting curled up on the floor of our wagon as it rocked along.

"Good fucking riddance," Arden scoffed. Rye seemed to agree with the Quilava for the first time in a while as I watched Westgrove-on-Sea shrink into the distance, gulping down the first breaths of fresh air I'd had in nearly a day. With the seedy city disappearing into the horizon, I took a look out at the rural surroundings we were now traversing.

Despite the nice ride and view, to say I was relaxed would be a fat lie. I knew where the expedition's wagon caravan was heading. By the end of the day, I'd probably be down in these Caverns of Being. I had no idea what I'd be met with down there, what I'd find down there if anything, or what this had to do with anything. I knew it had to have been planned by someone or something if that feeling at the stadium was any indication, but why?

Everything I'd been through over the past month and a half had been building up to this, and I had no clue what to expect.

With a glance at my partners and the somewhat humanized Team Apex, though, I managed to keep myself decently reassured. Whatever happened, someone would have my back, at least. Whether I came out with some sort of answer... I could only hope.

I kept staring out the front of the covered wagon as we slowly rocked along, speeding towards destiny at about five miles an hour.

The few hours following were a mercifully slow and uneventful road trip, the only disturbance being the occasional bump in the road. Rolling golden prairies and busy cotton farms gave way to thick forest as time dragged on, and as the sun first climbed then descended, more and more craggly rocks began to show themselves. It was early afternoon by the time our caravan ground to a halt, and as I poked my head out to check up on things, Arcanine hopped from his wagon to glance around. It didn't look any different from the forest I'd already seen save for the river flowing through, but evidently, that wasn't the case.

"This should be the place. Fingers crossed," Delcatty said as she hopped out and glanced around. Arcanine didn't respond, only snuffing at the air a bit as he scanned the area for a moment.

"Mudsdale. Might you try and sense if there is any sort of anomaly in the ground?" he requested of one of the Mudsdale pulling the wagons. The wagon-puller glanced at him, seemingly about to say that wasn't his job, but he nodded and gave the ground a hard stomp.

"...mmmyup. Got a hollow spot a bit to the... er, north," the Ground-type said. Looking in that direction, Arcanine scanned the area for a moment before gesturing to us and starting in that direction. After a moment, he stopped at the shore of a small lake connected to the river, staring at an unassuming, overgrown isle sitting at the center. He squinted for a moment at the vegetation, not moving an inch before simply pursing his lips.

"I must confirm. Do forgive me for this," he said. With a deep inhale, he let out a mighty roar and an enormous plume of white-hot fire, larger than I'd ever seen coming out of any Pokemon's mouth. The flames quickly cleared the fifty feet to the island and engulfed it, and as Arcanine let up with his Flamethrower, the vegetation on the isle crackled and burned. As the carbonized foliage crumbled into ash and fell to the ground, a previously unseen feature made itself apparent: a rather large earthen mound jutting from the ground, a large opening in its side. With smoke billowing from the isle, the Guildmaster took a map out, peered down at it for a while, then turned and smiled wide.

"Hoist your tents and prepare for excursion. We have found the Caverns of Being," he declared.

-o-​

Unfortunately for us, our tent had been among those burnt to a crisp on the way home from our last outing, so we didn't have much to do as the rest of the expedition excitedly bustled around us and made their final preparations. Among the rows of tents the Guild had set up, items were counted, plans were drawn, and nervous looks were directed at the still-smoldering stone mound at the center of the pond. As for us, our preparations consisted of Rye fishing a little parcel out of his bag and unwrapping it gingerly.

That morning, we'd made a last-minute shopping trip with the money we'd earned from the Noibat incident, and with a hefty portion of that cash, Rye had bought himself a Sun Stone to help brave the caves we faced. We didn't have much reward money left, but Mavy had at least told us we could take some out of the debt fund, so that was nice. Now if only the rest of the trip could go as smoothly...

As Rye admired his new stone and Mavy and I took turns trying to throw sticks onto the growing pile of firewood, a cough sounded in our direction.

"Team Reach? The Guildmaster has requested your presence," Delcatty called. Rye tensed up as we all exchanged a glance, then got up in unison to start the short walk to Arcanine's tent.

"Come on, now, we ain't in trouble or nothin'. Worst he's got to talk 'bout is me nickin' an apple during the ride, we're fine," Mavy tried to reassure the nervous Rye.

"I-I know, I know," the Treecko gulped. As we pushed into the Guildmaster's tent, we stopped to behold the golden dog as he regarded us, an air of silence hanging in the spacious tent for a bit.

"I trust you understand why I have summoned you here," Arcanine said.

"Ghh... I-I think?" Rye squeaked. Arcanine gave a little nod, and after peeking to make sure no one was eavesdropping, leaned in towards us.

"I shall make this brief. I am sure you are well aware of the entity sighted entering the other end of these Caverns, yes?" he asked. "See, the timing is too precise for this to be a coincidence. I believe whatever awaits within the caverns wishes to meet you, young Beck."

I blinked.

"Wh-why?" was all I could think to ask. Arcanine chuckled a bit.

"A creature of such power as to live undetected within Sun Minor, the most hostile of the world's lands, descending into these caverns mere days after a human's discovering a map to said caverns? I do not know for certain what lies in these caverns, but I do have my hypotheses," he said, pausing for effect. "Among them is that this creature may know the current location of the Lustrous Orb."

I stared for a bit as the Guildmaster nodded.

"Yes, it is what you might call a 'long shot,' but I have my reasons," he said, pulling a paper out from under his girth and pushing it towards us as we squinted at it. It was a drawing of some kind, showing what seemed like a landscape with some silhouetted shape on the horizon. Was that the creature Arcanine was talking about? That... couldn't be, the thing was massive. Was that just a perspective error, or...?

"This is a witness's account from the Guild in Ebbull City. From this alone, many questions may arise, and many conclusions may be reached. Given its origin and presence, I believe this may be a number of things, most optimistically a Legend, though that is the best-case scenario," he said.

"A-and what's the worst?" Rye finally spoke up. Arcanine frowned, the air seeming to get colder around him as he seemed to picture it.

"That all of this was but mass hysteria and we have conceded precious time by coming here," he answered. Despite that possibility, he returned to his usual warm look as he straightened up. "Now. As we are to inform the expedition shortly, we have made the grim discovery that the Caverns have, as expected, taken on the properties of a mystery dungeon, and I very much doubt it will be forgiving."

Crap. I'd been hoping this would be another dungeonless expedition, but... yeah. Even though we'd prepared for a dungeon, this might still be an issue. As the three of us exchanged glances, Arcanine continued.

"We shall enter at dusk. It is a full moon tonight, so I expect young Beck will be in prime condition for such a venture. Once we reach a lull in the dungeon where spacetime lies more stable, however... keep a watchful eye. There will likely be a sign to guide you should somebody truly be awaiting you," he said.

I blinked as the Voice's vision a couple nights back came to mind.

'Follow the light and the truth shall be revealed...? Light in a cave is... you know, sure, but I don't have much else to go off of, do I?'

Noting my expression, Arcanine nodded.

"I suppose I should be sending you off, there is much to do. Remember, watch for a sign and be prepared for anything that may await you. You are dismissed," he said.

Rye gave a quiet, shaky salute before the three of us turned to leave. As we headed back towards the fire, I tried my best to not glance towards the imposing cavern's entrance in the distance. Despite my best efforts though, the mound of stone seemed to loom over me, a lingering reminder of everything that was to come. Even with Rye and Mavy up for talk and hours to go, I felt like I didn't have

-o-​

near enough time before I found myself across the lake and staring into the cave's gaping mouth. Silence hung over our party as the dozen left in camp cheered us on, and with twilight peeking through the trees, the three of us could only wait as the sunlight became dimmer and dimmer. At the head of the party, Arcanine stood and waited, whether for minutes or hours, before taking a deep breath and leading the way into the cave.

My better judgment screamed at me to turn back, to hide in the water behind me, to just run all the way back to Impetus Town. Glancing over at Rye, I found him just as nervous in the face of this, though he seemed to try and choke it back.

"T-together?" he asked. I hesitated.

"Y-yeah," I nodded. With a gesture at Mavy, the three of us got into position to follow our fellow adventurers in. Hesitating one last time, Rye bit his lip.

"O-okay. On three. One... t-two... urgh... th-three!"

We took a step.

The air chilled around us.

'Well... so it begins...'

-o-​

Caves of Being

B1F


"Hey! Hey!" I called, running up to the main party with my team in tow. Several heads were quick to peek at us as we rejoined the group, looking around at the large cavern we'd ended up in.

"Was wondering when you'd show up. Could be wrong, but I think we've got even splits now," Arden muttered as we got up next to his team.

"Splits?" Rye asked, though a quick look around answered his question.

Around us, rather than the labyrinthine paths I'd come to expect from a mystery dungeon, we were standing in a massive cavern. Apart from the room's sheer size, the eerie quiet of the space, and the high-up ceiling boasting all sorts of glittering crystals and strange formations, there wasn't really much out of the ordinary. At least, save for the water at our feet and the three lakes sitting in a circle around us.

"The thrones of the guardians. This was their refuge in human-era Unova. And I believe we may be facing the pathways they used to reach this place," Arcanine explained, gesturing to the walls around us. As Rye rolled a Luminous Orb into a lantern frame and shined it around, three openings in the walls made themselves apparent: maybe one for each little lake?

"We do not have the time to send our entire expedition down each path, we will be splitting into teams to explore the three. I shall remain here for the time being, and I shall attempt to contact you through means of a psychic if possible. Teams Reach, Apex, and Fraternity shall venture down the first to the right of the entrance," he began.

As he assigned teams to the other two caves, Rye gave Arden a sour look and waved us on, following the Guildmaster to our hole. Our team ventured into the opening as I took a glance back, watching our fellow explorers disappear into the other two holes. This room had been pleasantly quiet, and given its size and importance, that boded well for the rest of this dungeon, right? Maybe the entire cave system was just as peaceful as this.

Right?

As the Krookodile leading Team Fraternity passed into the stone hallway, I just barely caught a whisper from Arcanine as he watched us go.

"Good luck."

-o-​

Caves of Being

B2F


"You think this place was always like this? Was this just a straight path at one point or did whatever made this place decide to be a dick about it straight off the bat?" Arden pondered.

"The world'll never know," May shrugged, glancing around at the claustrophobic tunnels we traversed. So I was a bit off about my hopes for this place, it seemed, but I was already in it for the long haul by the looks of it. With that in mind, all I could do was lug our bag along as the other five Pokemon ahead of us led the way.

As we traversed the floor, the more experienced explorers ahead furiously scribbling notes at every new observation. Despite our inexperience, though, we could discern one thing for sure.

"Wh-where are all the ferals?" Rye asked. I bit my lip as Team Fraternity's Hitmontop shrugged.

"No one's ever been down here, no one for the dungeon to take, I guess," he said.

"There would've been Pokemon living in here when the place got dungeoned, wouldn't there? Like, not every feral's a mad feral," Arden said. "Here, lemme prove it. Uh... ahem, Oshawott, work with me here, were you born like that?"

"Uh-" I began.

"See, what'd I tell you? It'd sure be nice if the place didn't have any ferals, but if I had to guess, they're all deeper in," Arden nodded, looking back towards his notes as we continued.

Lack of ferals aside, the dungeon thus far had been deceptively simple. For a tunnel to the other side of the world, I'd been expecting more, though I wasn't ready to call it just yet.

As we found the stairs and jumped down, I found myself with a deep, growing pang of dread in my gut. I didn't know why or where it'd come from, but... yeah. That didn't bode well.

-o-​

Caves of Being

B4F


"Alright, fourth floor. Or third, did that cave we came in through count? Whatever the case, looks like more of the same: usual maze, no ferals, some neat crystals on the walls. Riveting," Arden muttered to himself, scribbling down notes halfheartedly.

As Rye pulled out his Sun Stone for what I was sure would be the first time of many, we trudged through the hundredth identical hall in these caves. Despite the monotony, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was waiting up ahead, and it seemed Rye felt the same way as he anxiously squeezed the stone in his hand. Not all of us were quite on the same page, though, as I heard the rhythmic click of Mavy's claws on stone shift in our direction.

"We got anything to eat in there? Didn't eat much at supper, ah'm starvin'," the Zigzagoon said.

"Maffy," I sighed.

"Come on, an apple too much to ask?" Mavy demanded.

"We need all the food we have. We- uh, wh-who knows how long we'll be down here," Rye pointed out.

"Yeah, and how mucha that time'll be nothin' but walkin'? Ah joined to make a name fer mahself, not just walk fer three eternities straight without a bite to eat. If ah wanted to be bored as git out, I'd still be in the woods pickin' up sticks fer-" Mavy began. Before he could complain any further, a noise other than cave ambience cut through the scribbling ahead, making everyone pause.

"Was that any of us?" May asked. A murmur of negatives came from Arden and the other three, prompting the Leafeon's ears to twitch as she jumped into an offensive position. "We got company! Look ali-"

A horrid, distorted screech echoed from just ahead of us. As lanterns turned to light up the source, a floating, erratically moving... thing raced towards us and fired off an attack, sending the previously mindnumbingly bored squad into a confused panic.

"The fff...?!"

"What is that?!"

"Hit it, dammit! Hit it!"

"Get down!"

I dived out of the way as its attack hit the stone where I was standing. As Mavy's panicked, high-pitched scream pierced my eardrums, the thing flew over us and circled back for a second pass, allowing me a fleeting glance of it as it flew past our lantern light. A streak of red and blue was all I could see before it fired a pink wave at us, which made contact with Team Fraternity's Krookodile and earned a heavy wince from her despite no visible damage being inflicted. Seeing this, Arden inhaled deeply and roared at the thing, sending a stream of flame over our heads and straight into the thing as the others stood by with attacks at the ready. They relaxed, though, as the smoke cleared, revealing the thing lying still on the ground. Now that the threat was lying still on the ground, I joined the others in examining it curiously.

I wasn't sure what I was looking at. It looked almost fake, though I could make it out as a... a duck thing? Made of weird spheres? Its head and arms weren't even attached to its body, what even...?

"Th-this... I-I don't understand. Porygon have been extinct since..." May whispered. Silence hung over our group for a moment before the sound of furious notetaking arose amid frantic discussion.

"This... c-can be explained. Maybe some human left one of those computer things in here before the dungeon manifested?" Team Fraternity's Golduck suggested.

"Arcanine did say space has to get all fucky for the place to get to Sun Minor. Just a theory, but that, y'know, fuckiness is probably where... uh, this guy came from," Arden guessed, only inciting more concern among us. As the more experienced explorers examined the artificial Pokémon, my teammates gathered beside me to just gawk at the thing.

What did this have to do with humans? Had they... made the thing? That would explain its odd appearance, but that just raised more questions. How? How was it here? Why was a feral showing up only now? Was this just a weird isolated incident or was this just the icing on the cake? Rye pressed up against me as he watched the fainted Pokemon, clearly sharing my concerns, as Mavy cautiously pushed past the curious adventurers and gave it a poke. The Porygon twitched in response, causing the three of us to jump back in shock as it kept stirring. Arden stared at it before tucking his journal away.

"Fuck it, we don't have to write a whole novel about it, another expedition can just pick up where we left off. Let's get out in case it wakes up anytime soon," he said. A couple noises from the Porygon was all it took to convince us to move on, though not without a couple of concerned looks back at the unnatural Pokemon.

"So what do we think? We got ferals now, and... this can't be good, can it?" Krookodile asked.

"Only one way to find out, I guess," May said, her ears high in the air as more ominous feral noises made themselves apparent in the background.

From there, I was quite reassured that this wasn't going to be a smooth trip, as the usual feral attacks were quick to befall us. Roggenrola, Woobats, Geodude, and an occasional return of the Porygon things we'd seen plagued us relentlessly as we traversed the labyrinth, with the only reprieve being the few Orans we had decided to use this floor. Even with those, I couldn't help but ask again: were we really cut out for this?

"Help! Help, i-it-!" Rye yelled to snap me out of my thoughts, struggling as a surprise Swoobat flew out of the shadows and beared down on him, overwhelming the Treecko quickly as it carried him up into the air.

"Ah!" I yelped, hurriedly mustering up a flimsy Ice Beam. While not great, it hit the Swoobat's wing nonetheless, sending the feral to the ground and spooking it into crawling away. With the threat gone, I squatted down to help Rye up, the Treecko biting his lip as he took my paw.

"I-I'm sorry, I was- c-couldn't see the-" he managed as we started back after the others.

"Rye?" I said through clenched teeth. Rye blinked as he realized he was still grasping my paw, and pretty tight, too. As one of my knuckle-nubs popped in his hold, he stared for a bit before letting go, muttering a quick, frantic apology as he stared off. Rubbing at my sore paw, I raised an eyebrow, though a call from ahead caught our attention.

"Hey, dinguses! We got stairs!" Mavy called. Indeed, he and the two larger teams were gathered around a familiar square hole in the ground, stairs leading down inside. As Rye and I caught up, we stood there staring down the hole, waiting for someone to budge.

"...are we really ready to go down? For all we know, there's more this place has got from where the Porygons came from," May asked. I took a glance at Rye and Mavy as a murmur arose among us, though a sudden artificial-sounding screech from up the hall made up our minds.

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather not ask that thing for its opinion on the matter," Arden said before jumping down and descending the staircase.

"He's got a point," Mavy shrugged, leading the way down as Rye and I hurriedly followed.

-o-
Caves of Being
B6F


Feral hissing rang from behind as the three of us dove from the previous floor, tumbling down the stairs. So yeah, it looked like this place wasn't getting any kinder after all. Great. As the adults helped us onto our feet, I massaged at a set of claw marks I'd sustained, frowning at the gut feeling that something was off about this floor in particular. I wasn't sure why, but...

'Ugh, this place is probably getting to my head already.'

Seeing us alright, Krookodile and Arden stepped up to wave their respective teams along, prompting Rye to give a quiet cough and shakily step up next to them, doing the same albeit with far less leader-y presence. It was enough, though, so I shook off my worries and waddled after the Treecko as we kept going.

The caves were in certified dungeon mode by this point, with the sounds of ferals growling echoing through the narrow halls and the appropriate feeling of dread in the air. With the sound of a feral screech ahead, I gritted my teeth, knowing it was back to business as usual, and pulled my scalchop as a Boldore stomped into sight.

"Alright, Mayday, photosynthesize his ass!" Arden clapped his paws.

"Shaa!" I called, running up to aid the Leafeon in clearing the way. My training with Bert coming to mind, I took as good a leap as I could with my sad little otter legs and gave it a slash on its face, which I expected would lead into my landing on its back and taking it down while it was trying to get me off.

Only... well, I wasn't exactly going back down.

Before I could process what was happening, I suddenly felt myself flip in midair and land hard on the stone floor. Groaning softly, I pushed myself up to continue the fight, only for my face to fall. Was everyone else... standing on the ceiling? No, wait, I was!

The fainted Boldore forgotten, my upside-down comrades and I stared at each other in stunned silence for a moment before I managed out a shaky and very confused "shaah?"

"I-I'm coming!" Rye called, running to the wall to jump over the crystals jutting from the base and starting to Treecko-crawl up the vertical drop to get me down. As he climbed, however, he abruptly stopped, his eyes widening. A moment of hesitation passed before he took his hands off the stone and cautiously stood up straight. Sideways. On the damn wall.

"...I..." Arden managed out.

"Okay, uh... this place definitely isn't normal," May concluded. "You know, if the live Porygons weren't indication enough."

The two upside-down Pokemon stared at us for a moment longer before pulling their journals out and shakily waving us along, earning some visible confusion from Mavy and Team Fraternity.

"Y-yer just gon-?" Mavy asked incredulously, gesturing down- er, up at me.

"Well, it's not gonna go back to normal if we wait around. Now let's go, we wait too long the dungeon'll get us, and Arceus knows what'll happen if this one takes us," Arden reasoned. It seemed no one had an argument with that, so Mavy just nodded.

"Could you at least git off the wall, Treecko? Yer makin' my head hurt, and I wanna try something," he asked. As Rye managed an apology and crawled back onto the floor above me, Mavy jumped up on Krookodile's tail and climbed up the scales on her back, much to her chagrin. Planting his feet on her head, the Zigzagoon jumped into the air and, as I watched in disbelief, started falling towards me, prompting me to run up and try to catch him.

Unrelated fun fact, though they may look small, Zigzagoons apparently weigh about forty pounds.

"Thanks, Scruffy," Mavy wryly grinned as he hopped off my heap of a body and marveled at the others above- er, below us as they gave us a final bewildered glance and started on their way.

"Eugh," I moaned, forcing my pain-wracked self up and after the Zigzagoon.

My stomach churned as disorientation quickly kicked in, my brain not liking the Pokemon on the ceiling relative to Mavy and I. The last thing I needed was a fight, and that unfortunately was exactly what I got.

"Fuck! May!" Arden yelled as a Boldore stomped in, its rocky feet planted on the wall.

"Got it!" the Leafeon barked, sending a Vine Whip at the unwelcome visitor. While she was busy with that, loud buzzing rang out as a group of Nincadas came into view, clicking threateningly as they crawled on all four sides of the cave. Gritting his teeth, Arden ran forth to start launching white-hot fireballs at the bugs, save for one that Mavy and I were now forced to deal with.

"I got this! Watch 'n learn," Mavy grinned, sending a Pin Missile at the Nincada. It seemed he wasn't aware that this was a Bug move, so naturally, it barely slowed the thing down as it bounced off its exoskeleton. Mavy stepped back, rightfully concerned for once.

"Aight, tag team," he ordered before leaping at the Nincada with a Tackle, getting on top of it and pinning it down as best he could. He was but a Zigzagoon, though, so he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, so I joined in by drawing my scalchop, lighting it up to start a Razor Shell, and slamming the weapon's flat side into the Nincada, sending it flying upwards just enough for it to start falling. Unfortunately for the bug, Arden was right above us, and he was still in combat mode.

The screeches of the Nincada as it landed in Arden's blazing vents were short-lived as said Quilava yelped out and flailed about to get the bug off him, then shuddered as it fell to the stone floor and ran for its life, its burning form disappearing back into the darkness. Staring after it with his ears standing at attention, Arden cleared his throat.

"You alright up there, Oshawott?" he called.

"Sha!" I called in affirmation as Mavy huffed.

"Yep, he's fine, both of us are. Thanks fer ya concern for mah safety, sir, appreciate it," he said sardonically, giving a mock salute.

"Don't you be a smartass or I'll come up there," Arden demanded, giving the Zigzagoon an evil eye as he waved the others along; it seemed he still hadn't forgotten last expedition. Resisting the urge to vomit from the disorientation starting to catch up with me, I waddled after the upside-down Pokemon above, kicking a seed lying on the floor along as I went.

My seed-kicking lasted for a good long while, to the point I started getting a little attached to the seed. Given the ferals were few and far in between by now and no one had bothered or dared to join us on the ceiling, it was just me, Mavy, my trusty little seed, and that sharp drop ahea- wait, what?

"Ah, ah!" I yelped, flailing my arms to regain my balance and not fall into the next room. As my seed clattered below, I found myself with little time to mourn its loss as I took note of the more important occupant of the room: a rather burly-looking Weezing floating in middair as if caught between the floor and ceiling. While it clearly couldn't move, it didn't seem very pleased to see us. As its two heads grunted angrily at the sight of us, our entire party collectively took a step back.

"Guess that explains where all the ferals went after that first batch," Krookodile said, baring her claws.

She hesitated, however, as the larger head spit a large cloud of toxic gas at us, the fumes quick to settle on both the floor and ceiling. Arden's vents sparked as he gestured to May and crouched into position, then charged forward, enveloping himself in flames. He segued his Flame Charge into a Flame Wheel as he began to roll, making a sharp turn back as he made contact with the fumes. The Weezing didn't have near enough time to float back as its gas ignited, and as I averted my eyes from the bright explosion, I heard it roar out in agony.

Said agony quickly turned to rage as the cave around us rumbled and the smoke cleared, revealing the rather well-done and even angrier Weezing glaring at us. Though I found myself suddenly pressed against the wall, Arden didn't seem fazed.

"Okay, then, new plan! Place doesn't seem to like being blown up, so doing that again is a dumb idea. Alright, May, Happy Feet Maneuver, if we can walk on the walls, then dammit, we're gonna use that! On my mark!" the Quilava hurriedly instructed.

"Happy F- what is that?" May asked confusedly.

"I don't know, I'm making it up as I go along!" Arden said. May rolled her eyes and got ready for battle.

"Alright, cover me! Everyone stay back, we've got it!" she barked. With that, the two bolted for opposite walls and ran up to the ceiling, making my stomach churn as I watched the two jump into rightside-upness and start circling the Weezing. The feral roared and tried to spit a Smog at May, though she just jumped over it and gracefully flipped to land on the ceiling- ahem, floor above as Arden distracted it.

"Yeah, you're a real looker, aren't you? No wonder you're hiding in a cave!" he taunted. It obviously couldn't understand him, but that made it no less upset at the Quilava, and the Swifts he sent into its two heads didn't seem to help much. Grinning, he jumped onto the walls and started running along them in circles around the room, though the Weezing shot a cloud of gas into his path. As the toxic gas enveloped him, Arden's run came to a sudden halt as he tumbled, gasping and coughing as he crawled towards fresh air.

"May, come on-!" he choked out.

My head spun both from panic and disorientation as I gritted my teeth. I couldn't watch this anymore. Waving Mavy on, I ran forward with my scalchop in paw to try and help, but the Weezing's smaller head took notice, inflated, and spit its own cloud of gas right at me, forcing me to scramble back and duck for cover, where Mavy had remained despite my call to action. Peeking out, I watched the Fire-type struggle under the Weezing's constant gassing, his coughs and gasps becoming more and more intense as I began to worry. Was he going to-?

Vines suddenly shot through the toxic cloud around the Weezing and wrapped around it, ensnaring the feral and forcing it to stop its gassing. Straining from the poison already beginning to take its toll on the vines, May started a Mega Drain on the Weezing, which roared and began to struggle even harder, not noticing as Arden staggered to his paws and managed to get back on the floor again. As May's vines began to shrivel, the Quilava spit a Smokescreen at the feral and ran up next to his partner while it was distracted.

"How you doing?" he asked.

"Fine, you?" May asked.

"I've died, it's killed me. Avenge my death," Arden panted, eyeing the cloud of gas and smoke as the Weezing angrily grunted inside. He began digging through his bag to deliver on his request, though as he did, the sound of snapping vines met our ears. Before they had time to react, the Weezing burst out of the Smokescreen and roared at the Apexes. As the two scurried back, ready for the pain to come, a small plop hit the feral. The Weezing's two sets of beady eyes were quick to fall upon the source: a small, burnt Pokemon on the wall, standing defiantly as we stared. Was that... the Nincada from earlier?

"Nii! Ni!" it squeaked, sending another Mud Slap. While its threat didn't do much to deter the Weezing, it did buy Arden enough time to dig a seed out of his bag and toss it to May.

"It's a Blast seed, get it in its mouth!" he instructed. "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!"

"Yippee-ki-yay!" May agreed, conjuring a shriveled vine to throw the Blast seed at the Poison-type. The well-aimed projectile thankfully sailed straight into its open mouth, immediately producing a muffled boom. Just like that, the Poison-type seemed to just fall apart, its pieces and viscera still floating in midair as we all collectively took a sigh of relief.

As I finally let out a loud gag, both from disorientation and from what I'd just seen, Arden took a bite of a Pecha berry, grinning as his poisoning seemed to subside.

"Well, looks like that was the boss fight for this stretch, huh? Maybe we'll be home free for the next five floors or so," he said casually. Several eyes twitched.

"B-boss fight? What? Y-you almost died, Mr. Arden!" Rye yelled.

"Yeah, what the kid said! What is this, a game to you?" Golduck demanded. As he offered May the remaining half of his berry, Arden chuckled bitterly.

"No, no, sorry, just my coping mechanism," he muttered. Glares kept piercing the beaten Quilava for a moment before the Pokemon turned their attention to the other Slaking in the room: the Nincada still watching us from the wall. Crawling down and skittering towards us, it stopped to peer up at the group standing above us for a moment before submissively bowing its head. Rye's eyes widened as he looked up at Mavy and I still on the ceiling.

"I-it's submitting! We impressed it, i-it wants to join us! Okay, okay, d-do we have any-" he began as he looked back down.

The excitement in his eyes was immediately snuffed out as he watched a wave of stone slam into the friendly Bug-type, knocking it into the wall and into unconsciousness. Her tail firmly planted in the stone and cringing from the Double-Edge, Krookodile dusted herself off and gestured us on. Looking back at the slumped-over body of what would have been our new ally, Rye sputtered before running to catch up with Team Fraternity.

"Wh-why'd you do that?! I-it helped us, it wanted to-" he began.

"It's a feral. You should know how taking up impressed ferals tends to end," Krookodile shrugged.

"B-but... B-Beck, look at Beck! He's proof, th-they can be-" Rye tried, pointing up at me.

"You got lucky. He could understand speech from the start, and that's why he's here. Obviously you wouldn't take the Nincada, rookie teams don't do well with four, and Quilava's already got his paws full. We are not wasting six moons on teaching a Bug-type what language is," Krookodile defended herself. "Really, have you seen how much gets blown on gummis for one impressed feral? It's a lot."

Rye had no reply for this. Seeing this, Team Fraternity continued on, leaving only us and Team Apex to stare back at the feral, the Weezing's remains above forgotten. After a moment's hesitation, May snaked a withered vine into her bag, fishing out an apple. Slicing it in half with a quick Leaf Blade, she hurried over to the Nincada and left one of the pieces next to its unconscious body. Giving a quiet whisper to it, she ran back to meet Arden's stare. Rather than scold her as I expected, the Quilava eventually just nodded and looked up at us.

"We should be hitting the stairs soon, it'll save us some awkward waiting if you just get down here. I'll catch you," he said. I blinked and nodded, then took a jump into the air hard enough to send me spiraling into right-side up gravity and landing in Arden's forepaws. The Quilava and I exchanged an awkward glance for a second before Mavy hit the floor nearby with a loud thud and a fitting yelp.

"Oh, sorry, tried to catch you," Arden bullshitted, not even glancing at Mavy as he set me down. Mavy only glared at the Quilava as he shook himself off and started zigzagging after us.

"Missus Leafeon. Why's it that yer the only half-decent one on your whole deal?" he asked as he rubbed his new sore spot, getting a certified Look from May.

"I'm not the only decent one, it's just Arden's got... a few issues we haven't quite sorted out," she said unsurely, giving said Quilava a glance. Despite this, Mavy only snorted.

"Yep, only decent 'mon, ah'm tellin ya," he said. As the tunnel we'd taken echoed with May's exasperated sigh, I found myself looking back once more. One last bit of pity bubbled up for my fellow feral as I considered...

'...no. No, you're not like them. You're... i-it's like Arden said. You may be the last human in the continent, the world, even, and you're comparing yourself to these ferals?

...you're human, Beck. You're human. I-I'm human...'


Such was the thought that followed me as we found the stairs on the wall, climbing up one by one to file down the strange entrance. With six strange floors behind me, I felt like I should be excited to be making progress, nervous to see if anything really was waiting for us, on edge at the idea that there was worse than Weezing we were to fight, but no.

The only thing I felt as my friends and I descended the stairs was that lingering feeling of distress.
 
Last edited:
48 - Depths

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
Caves of Being

B6F


Pain still wracked Arden's body as he approached the stairs, his fellow explorers none the wiser of his mood. The Pecha had stopped anything worse from happening, but it was no Oran. Yet as his chest burned from the past poisoning, the Quilava continued on, getting only a sad look from a knowing May.

He'd been through worse, he figured he'd walk it off as per usual.

His main concern as of now was not how bad he was hurting, but rather whatever awaited further down. This dungeon had already firmly established itself as abnormal, and even the seasoned Quilava explorer couldn't help but fear that something awful was awaiting them in this dungeon's deepest reaches.

But even with his encounter with the Weezing in mind, Arden's rational side tried its best to retain control of the situation. This wasn't novel for a dungeon; he had seen many nightmares with underwhelming bosses; Bewilder Forest with its vivid personal illusions and measly pack of Zoroarks came to mind. Perhaps these caves were no different; perhaps they were building up to a tame conclusion. While yes, this would not provide any answers the Quilava suspected Arcanine was here for, it wouldn't be pointless. What they'd recorded so far would have already made this outing a success, if only in giving the Societies some good data to begin their deeper research in understanding this place.

No matter the case, Arden stayed reassured of one thing: if Beck were to run into anything, he would be able to see and find what was happening for himself. The situation with the human-turned-Oshawott had been hectic for Arden, but he felt that once his fears and uncertainty of the situation were quelled, he would come out of this stronger and resolute.

'...ugh, enough about yourself, asshole. You've got work to do. Eyes on the road, 'mon, come on.'

Shaking his head and glancing back at Team Reach, Arden adjusted his book of horrors under his arm, its pages ready for ever more notetaking, and stepped down the stairs.

Though he for sure didn't show it, for once he hoped that the dungeon ahead would be predictable.

-o-
Caves of Being
B7F


I missed the sun already.

Now, if I remember correctly, summers in Unova could get pretty brutal, if the literal desert in the middle of the country didn't get it across. That applied to Gray Proper as well; my guess was that it was some time in June by this point, and it showed. If I had to guess, it was about thirty degrees out on the way here; that'd be ninety for those weird Unovans still using Fahrenheit, I'm sure there were dozens of them. Being stuck in my apparently thermophobic Water-type meat suit, I couldn't help but dread what was coming for the rest of the summer.

Despite this, I already felt like I could take my chances with the heat. The caves were getting to me, even with the full moon outside beginning to pleasantly tug at my core, though I kept trudging along. We'd all made it this far, and we were gonna see it through as a team. Or something like that.

Our party crowded down the stairs as I waddled after them, immediately looking around to check for whatever this floor's anomaly would be. It looked normal; too normal.

"Treecko, check the walls," Krookodile directed. With a hurried nod, Rye rubbed his Sun Stone and hurried over to one of the cave walls, Treecko-climbing up and hanging there for a moment.

"I-it's normal," he said. Arden chuckled a bit.

"Looks like we're catching a break here, huh? With me, Krook," he said. Krookodile grumbled a bit, most likely about the nickname, and tromped alongside the Quilava as they led our party down the corridor.

By this point, I didn't buy how normal the floor was looking for a second. Yes, it looked like sunshine, daisies, and long repetitive tunnels, but... okay, I might be repeating myself, but... yeah. Needless to say, this really wasn't helping with the idea that I might have to meet some... thing at the end of all this.

Trying to shake off my nerve at this, I turned my attention back to the dungeon as Arden preemptively Flamethrowered a Koffing ahead, its falling to the ground revealing a fork in the path. With a quick glance, Arden and May huddled up for a few quick games of fire-water-grass, then pulled back.

"We'll go left first. Doesn't really matter, but you know?" he asked. Krookodile rumbled in agreement as Rye shakily nodded, so holding their lanterns tight, the three team leaders led us into the agreed-upon path, the scribbling of notebooks backing us as Mavy sighed.

"Back to borin'-ass walkin, ah reckon," he complained.

"Maffy, camahn-" I groaned as we took a sharp right turn.

"You see any cool rocks? Might could start a rock collection, get that all filled up while we got the chance," the Zigzagoon suggested. "Oh, how 'bout this? Say this three times fast. She sells seashells by the seashore."

"Fack yeh," I sighed.

"I can't hear ya," Mavy grinned, watching as I sulked back and groaned at the ceiling.

"Sheh seh shesha phsha-aah," I tried, my face going hot as Mavy cackled. Before he could pressure me further, the two of us stopped. Ahead of us, the others had stopped, many of the more experienced explorers looking around confusedly.

"Wh-what? What's wrong?" Rye asked. May's eyes narrowed before she turned tail and started back, leaving us to hurry after her as she ran back to the fork in the paths. As my teammates kept trying to demand some answers, the Leafeon ran into the cave on the right, only to emerge a moment later, looking sufficiently stumped.

"The left tunnel took a right turn, it should be cutting straight through this tunnel. There's nothing through there, either," she said. We exchanged a confused glance.

"Wh-what's that mean?" Rye asked. May hung her head for a moment, thinking for a moment before fishing a charcoal pen out of her bag and holding it in a vine as she drew a square on the stone floor.

"This would be this room we're in," she gestured as she added a couple lines branching out, the right one turning right and jutting through the left. "The two paths should be intersecting into each other as so, but they just... don't. It's like both just pretend the other doesn't exist. Humans had a word for this, I think. Non-euclidean, right?"

As Rye and I glanced at each other concernedly, Mavy scoffed.

"That just don't make no sense. Y'all're overreacting, methinks. Here, watch," he said, snatching Rye's orb lantern in his mouth and zigzagging up one tunnel, then circling back to go up the other. After a minute, he returned, his confident smirk replaced with very evident confusion. As he silently gave Rye his light back, Arden glanced down at his Book of Horrors. Apparently, he'd been mapping out the dungeon's floors along the way, and now it seemed like he was faced with a bit of an issue in this practice.

"Okay... this is fine. We'll just keep going. Can't be too hard, all we have to do is find the stairs, then we can get whatever data from there," the Quilava tried to reassure us. "It'll be fine."

The screech of ferals ahead quickly assured me this wouldn't be the case.

As we went back on track, the already established overlapping hallways became more and more spastic and tangled, and it wasn't long before rooms started appearing where they shouldn't. Despite this, it took a good while before Arden seemed to give up on mapping the floor out, with his chart by now looking more like spaghetti than a cohesive map.

"What the fuck. I... swear, we've been this way before. L-look, three paths out of this room, and there's that long corridor with those two gems sticking from the ceiling, this..." he said.

"That can't be right, we've been going away from there the entire time, haven't we?" Krookodile asked.

"We have, but no, this place probably doesn't give a shit. We should've hit the wall, like, a mile ago. Damn it, it's like the whole place is randomly generated, and its only common factor is to piss me off," the Quilava grumbled as he finally tore the map out and crumpled it up.

"Well, there's gotta be stairs somewhere," Hitmontop pointed out behind us.

"With this place? Hah, we probably passed them, it's just down some super precise sequence of caves we just missed," Arden shook his head.

"No, no, we'll find them. Right, Rye?" May called back.

"Y-yeah, we have to!" Rye said, only getting a heavy sigh from Arden.

"Well, if shit comes to shit, someone here probably has a failsafe. You know, Pure Seed or something. I'm not that desperate, though, so looks like-" he began.

The telltale screech of a rapidly approaching feral abruptly cut him off, and the Rhyhorn that'd produced it almost immediately barreled into the room and attempted to lunge at Arden.

"Shit! May-!" he grunted as he jumped out of the way, his side getting clipped as the feral charged past him and towards the three of us. As Mavy first swore profusely then shrilly screamed beside me, I panickedly backed away. I wasn't ready for a fight, not with this thing!

"Rye, shaah!" I yelled. Whether this was some sort of instruction or panicked plea, I wasn't sure, but it did something. At the cry of another feral, the Rhyhorn seemed to pause for a second, just long enough for me to get my bearings and fire an Ice Beam aimed at its face. The thing screeched as it clawed at the frost on its face, though it wasn't long before the crack of a Vine Whip took it down.

Panting, May stared the unconscious feral down, giving us a moment to breathe as I gave Rye and Mavy a glance to check if they were alright. As Rye loosened up from that scare, he managed a small laugh.

"Th-that technique's really helping out, huh?" he asked as we started for a different door.

"Y-yeah," I nodded.

"Uh, you should use it more often, I think, if there's a lot of Ground-types here, then a ranged attack might, uh, y-you know. I-it's effective, I think," the Treecko said as Mavy caught up to us, visibly shook but still at it.

"Ice against ground, that don't make no sense. Like, drop a block of ice on the ground, it don't beat the ground, it just shatters. How's that work?" Mavy asked.

"It, uh... doesn't work like th-" Rye began.

"Wait, stop! Stop!" Arden yelled.

He'd spoken too late, and those behind us watched in horror as Rye stumbled, a section of floor below his foot sinking down and clicking. As some sort of gas began to hiss from the edges of the square depression, Rye gasped and took me by the paw, dragging me along as fast as he could manage as the others ran past us for their lives.

"Run! Run! M-Mavy, hurry, it's gonna-!" he screamed.

A spark clicked from behind.

I saw the flash shine from behind fus irst. Then came the heat, then the loud boom, then the shockwave hit me. The entire cave quaked around us as I heard Rye scream, so much so that I began to think that the cave might collapse. Indeed, no sooner than the explosion behind me had erupted did the ceiling above begin to crack and crumble onto us. At this point, I didn't need Rye's hand, I just ran. I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me, sprinting until I tripped and somersaulted forward. The roar of the collapsing cave rang out around me for what seemed like forever until it finally quieted, leaving nothing but dust hanging in the air.

I just laid there for a bit, not even daring to move in case the worst had come to pass. Eventually, prying my eyes open and noting I hadn't been crushed, I coughed until I could manage out a word.

"H-hey! Shah!" I squeaked.

"I-I'm here!" Rye's voice called.

"Rocky! Kawa! Can you hear me?" Krookodile called.

"Arden! Arden, where's Arden?" came May's voice. A pained groan echoed in response.

"H-here! I... fuck, someone get me...!" he said, apparently through his teeth.

"Ah gotcha!" Mavy called.

"Someone better!" Arden demanded as I pushed myself off the cave floor.

Hissing as pain shot up one of my legs, I watched through the slowly settling clouds of dust as orb-lantern lights rose from the floor, slowly revealing the damage for us all to see. I'd managed to run a good ten feet clear of the worst of the collapse, and it seemed most of the others had as well. As the air cleared, it became apparent that what most of us had sustained was some nasty bruises and scrapes, a few limbs banged up, and a pretty decent coating of dust. We hadn't gotten away scot-free, though, given that Golduck had gotten a nasty bleeder on his arm and Arden... well.

"Mr. Arden! I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't see it, and-" Rye stammered out.

"Save it," the Quilava panted.

"A-are you okay, at least?" Rye asked. Arden let out something between a laugh and a gasp for air.

"W-well, my arm's been fucking pulverized, but... agh, y-yeah, just peachy, how're you?" he growled. As everyone gathered around him, frantic clamoring arose as our eyes fell on the enormous hunk of stone resting on Arden's shattered foreleg.

"Sh-shaah?!" I called as May ran up to him and started giving him the deep breaths routine.

"D-don't worry, I'm fine, kid, just-" he said, pausing to let out a yelp of pain as May strained to lift the rock off with firm vines. Even moving it a bit, however, started a small avalanche of rock, forcing May to stop before she sent the whole thing down on us.

"Shit... o-okay, just hold still, alright? We're gonna get you out," May tried to reassure him before glancing back at us. "Alright, help me out here! We're getting this off, careful you don't disturb anything else!"

Nodding hurriedly and tearing my eyes from Arden's crushed foreleg, I ran up and waved Rye over, with Mavy just watching as we started lifting rocks to throw aside. As May and Krookodile tried to clear the way for the big rock on Arden's arm, a powerful gust of dry wind suddenly blew over us, whistling loudly as the dungeon rumbled and creaked. Even in limited light and through the dust coating, I could see most everyone pale as they recognized what this entailed: we didn't have long before the dungeon took us.

"...damn it, DAMN IT!" Arden managed out. My ears flattening against my head, I glanced to May for help.

"Wh-wha nah?" I squeaked.

"I..." May said, her face falling as she came to an unclear conclusion.

"...ugh, fuck... May, Contingency Rock-and-a-Hard-Place," he said, as if to confirm her uncertain fears. "Pike's not here to do it, but... d-damn it, do we have any metal?"

Confused, I nodded and dug my bag out of the debris, fishing out the Ice Beam TM still sitting inside. Upon seeing the TM taken from his team's collection, Arden paused to narrow his eyes at me, though a cringe of pain seemed to convince him to not pursue this any further and just take the machine. I just became more confused as Arden popped its metal cover up and hit it with a prolonged Flamethrower as May wrapped a vine around his trapped arm's shoulder. With this, the Quilava gave a sigh.

"I'll never get fucking used to this," he said through gritted teeth as May extended a vine in front of his face. As he bit down on the firm plant, I realized a bit too late what was happening, though before I could stop it, May raised a Leaf Blade and swung it hard into Arden's shoulder.

I staggered back in shock as he stifled a scream, and as May started prying her blade out of his shoulder for another swing, I hurriedly averted my eyes from seeing any more of the gruesome scene. The others around me could do nothing but look away or watch in shock as I heard more hits land.

Shlk. Crack. Kshlk.

Arden fell to the floor, gasping and groaning as his severed arm stuck limply out of the rock. Without too much hesitation, though, he rolled his stump onto the hot metal cover, finally letting out a muffled scream as a quiet sizzle hissed. All of this happening over the course of ten seconds, Arden moaned and got to his feet, wincing as May wrapped a mass of vines around him and his cauterized stump. At this point, the stunned silence finally broke as Rye choked out a guttural noise.

"Problem?" Arden panted, managing something between a smile and a pained grimace.

"Y... y-your arm!" Rye managed.

"Hah... hah... t-tis but a flesh wound," Arden replied.

"W-we have a Reviver seed handy," May hurriedly explained, wiping blood off her face. "His arm'll get regenerated if we use it. If he doesn't bite it before we're done, then I'll... yeah."

As she led the dazed Quilava away from the wall of stones, I hung my head, my eyes still wide. We weren't getting out of this floor at this pace with Arden like that, especially with such little time...

Pulling myself out of my stupor and running up to May, I tore open her bag and started digging, squinting as I prodding at each and every orb I could find, the sting of psychic energy from each of them whispering in my head as I dug.

'Foe-Hold Orb, Spurn Orb, Itemizer- come on! Stairs- stairs? Okay, sure, that sounds promising.'

Whipping the orb out, I got as close as I could to the others and held it up.

"Shak-ta-fah! Hhak-te-fay-teh!" I tried. His eyes widening as he realized what I was doing, Rye took the orb from my paws.

"Activate!" he yelled. By the time anyone realized what we were doing, the orb had gone off, and in the blink of an eye our entire party was standing in a new room, the stairs sitting just before us and the dungeon rumbling behind us, some time apparently having passed. Realizing what had happened, Krookodile's eye twitched.

"Are you insane, Treecko? That should have been a last resort, for emergencies only!" she demanded, earning a hard wince from Rye.

"Ah, yes, because this isn't an emergency?!" Arden defended him, gesturing to his wrapped stump.

"We had a while, we could've found the stairs without the orb! Now that's one less failsafe for whatever's up next! You think the next floor's gonna be any better, huh? How about the next one? Or the one after that?" Krookodile asked back.

"Okay, look, don't pull that shit. Dungeon gets pissy, it goes after you whenever it wants and, hmm, what was the other-? Oh right, my motherfucking arm is off, how about that, huh?!" Arden replied.

I could only watch as the two argued back and forth, continuing until the cave around us trembled, the scraping of stone beginning to pick up behind us. With a quick glance at each other, the two team leaders decided to save it and hurry down the stairs. Rye and Mavy, still shaken from what they'd just seen, both stuck close as we followed them down.

"B-Beck, w-we'll... be okay, right?" Rye asked. I hesitated for a moment before forcing a smile.

"Y-yeah, Rye, yeah," I reassured him. Mavy thankfully didn't interject, only giving a hollow chuckle as we descended, uncertainty haunting us now more than ever.

-o-
Caves of Being
B8F


A hiss of pain sounded from behind us as we cautiously walked through the familiar yet menacing corridors, Arden lagging behind as he cringed from the pain his stump was clearly causing him. As he hurriedly hobbled back up, insisting he was fine, I exchanged a concerned glance with Rye. Clearly the Quilava wasn't in any sort of fighting shape, and the idea that we might not have him and May helping out only made traversing the calm passageways that much more tense.

That was the thing, though. Even as we headed deep into the hallway we'd initially encountered, the dungeon was calm and quiet; a far cry from what it'd established as normal. That didn't stop me from clutching my scalchop tight and sticking close to my teammates as we followed Team Fraternity, our eyes peeled for any sign of discrepancy.

The first sign of such was a sinking feeling in my gut as we went deeper, one I quickly took as a bad sign.

I didn't have much time to imagine what horrors this might be warning me of before I glanced back by chance, blinking as something caught my eye. Squinting, I caught a fleeting glimpse of another Pokémon behind our group walking to the left and out of view. I tried to rub my eyes, only to remember my arms were too short for such, so I was left questioning myself. I could have sworn I'd seen a Quilava back there, not unlike Arden.

...maybe I just needed some fresh air. A lot of it.

This in mind, I kept quietly following for a bit, noting there hadn't been any splits in the path up to this point. As a difference finally seemed to show itself in the form of a cave ahead, my ears stuck up as a light suddenly blinked from inside.

Pausing for a moment, Krookodile cautiously led us in and shined the lantern in her claws around, though quickly dropped the thing (thankfully not detonating the orb) as she stumbled back. Pushing past her and looking inside, I gaped at what I saw.

It was... well, another scruffy Oshawott, gaping right back at me.

It took me a second to recognize that I was, in fact, staring at an exact carbon copy of myself, complete with another Krookodile staring at us at a loss, heads poking out from behind her and recoiling in shock as the two lanterns on the ground illuminated the cave.

As I clutched my scalchop tight, trembling at this development, I waited for a bit before raising my free arm, which my double did in exact sync. I waved said arm, the copy did the same. I waved it again, the same happened. Again, though suddenly pausing, not a single bit of hesitation in its copying me.

"Sh-shaah," I tried, my confusion mounting as my double did the same at the exact same time. Stepping back, I glanced to my teammates for help here, though they didn't seem to have any better of an idea as to what to do now. A moment's hesitation between the two parties before Krookodile picked her lantern up and slowly stepped forward, she and her double approaching one another. The two still copying each other's every move, they momentarily reached to touch one another, though quickly decided against it and headed for the other side of the room. Glancing back, Krookodile was quiet for a moment before clearing her throat.

"I-I don't... don't think they're gonna attack? I... think it's best we leave them alone," her two voices said.

I glanced between her and my double, eventually giving a shudder and starting across the cave with the others, giving the other Beck a glance as it passed. Two entrances laid before us, one of which the copies had emerged from. Likely out of fear of what we'd find in that one, we crowded through the other, leaving me at least reassured that I wasn't alone in getting mindfucked here.

"Please tell me you all saw that and it wasn't just blood loss," Arden said.

"No, we... you're still fine, by the looks of it," May reassured him. "For now, at least."

From that encounter on, I got the feeling I'd figured out this floor's thing, and sure enough, the floor didn't give too many surprises for once. It started out small after the initial two encounters, with a couple more passing glances of doubles slowly becoming sightings long enough for eye contact, though as we kept down the single tunnel the floor had given us, the encounters became less distant. Through a hole in the wall, we'd see a double group passing and staring back at us. In a particularly spacious corridor, there'd be a group on the ceiling evoking flashbacks of a few floors ago as I watched my double mimic my movements on the ceiling. Weird instances like that.

By the time our adventure in this floor had hit the half-hour mark, I was seeing... well, a bit more than double. As I glanced through yet another opening in the wall, I found yet another double, though this one looking at not a solid wall, but another opening at another double, who was staring through another opening at another, who was staring at another, who was staring at another, who was-

I tore my eyes away before I could give myself too bad of a headache. As Rye kept close, clutching our lantern tight, I found myself wondering about this floor. What were these doubles? Were they just projections? Actual flesh-and-blood clones? Different versions of us from other universes? Were... we just someone else's doubles? All bets were off with this place, and the more I thought about it, the more certain I became I probably shouldn't be thinking about this for my own sake.

I kept quiet as to not inspire any existential crises as we crossed through the tunnel, peering ahead as our lanternlight showed a room ahead. Leading the way, Rye headed in first, looking around for any discrepancies.

"O-okay, there's no ferals or, uh, others in here, I think. There's a... s-some kind of slab, and... uh, I'm... not sure what this is? I-it looks like stairs, but it's really small," he relayed to us. A murmur arose between our teams as we crowded into the cave, gathering around where Rye was crouching. Sure enough, there was a depression in the floor with stairs leading down, though there was only one problem. It was tiny, so much so that even a Cutiefly would've had trouble fitting inside.

His eye twitching, Arden squatted down, trying to force the arm he had left through the hole before pulling it out and slamming a balled-up paw on the floor.

"Dammit!" he swore. "Fuck... this can't be it. There has to be some other room."

"There was only one hallway and it doesn't look like there's any other way out. This-" Krookodile started before trailing off, Arden starting to chuckle to himself.

"Yeah, because of course... hah! Because why not?" he said, a vein bulging on his temple. Seeing this, May stepped up.

"A-Ardie, it'll be okay, we'll find a way out. Like always," she said. Arden only laid there, his vents sparking a bit before he gritted his teeth, giving Krookodile a look as she disapprovingly watched.

"Like this place gives a damn. Might as well... fuckin'... spite it while I can," he sighed.

Pulling his paw out and pushing himself up with his single forepaw, Arden joined the others as they started to examine the floor for any sort of way to get down the tiny stairs, my partners and I splitting off to try and make our own discoveries.

"So... wut's the plan, Rye? Yer the boss, yer the plans 'mon, right?" Mavy asked.

"P-please, just... I need a moment to think," Rye said, glancing around at the room. The first thing I noticed was that a circular piece of the ceiling was missing over the middle of the room, though looking up into it revealed only darkness. Aside from that, the stairs, and that odd slab on the ground, nothing much else was different about the cavern. Going off of process of elimination, I waddled over to the cuboid shape in the center of the room.

As we gathered around the slab, I examined it closely for any ancient writing or something along those lines, though what I found instead was a small indentation on the top of it. It was better than nothing, so with a glance at Rye, I tried sticking my paw in and pressing against the bottom to see if that would trigger any sort of secret mechanism, but it gave in once I applied pressure to it, sending my paw an inch deep into it. So it was hollow...

My investigation was suddenly interrupted by sudden panicked clamoring around me, numerous "what is thats" and "the fucks" sounding out as Rye shook my shoulder.

"B-Beck?" he asked, pointing up. I looked up and behind me to see what was wrong, only to seize up. Through the circular hole in the ceiling, what looked to be a giant white paw had stuck through, its position like my own. I instinctively stumbled back in fear, though as I tried to support myself on the slab, the thing gave under my weight. As it did, the ceiling on the other side of the wall collapsed, the cloud of dust quickly clearing to reveal what must have been that paw's owner: a fittingly giant Oshawott, staring wide-eyed at what I could only assume was an even larger wott.

'Guess we know how those copies factor into this one...'

As the others panicked around me, understandably perturbed at this sudden turn of events, I reluctantly peered into what I understood now was just a smaller version of this very room elevated over the floor. Sure enough, among a crowd of panicking little doubles, there sat a tiny version of me over a smaller room, in which sat an even smaller me over a smaller room, in which-

"Get away! Stop touching it!" Arden yelled, apparently having figured out what was happening as he wrested me away from that spiral into infinity. Now cramped into one side of the room, everyone else remained silent as they tried to wrap their heads around this; it seemed not even Mavy had a comment. As I laid there, though, I blinked, grabbing Rye's lantern and shining it at the new hole in the wall. I glanced over at my partners to see if they had the same stupid idea I'd had, though this seemed to be the case for neither. Arden, however, seemed to be one of the few others who did, as he noted the glint in my eye and nodded.

"Yeah, okay, okay, uh... put your paw in there, palm up," he instructed. I took a moment to understand what he was getting at, but eventually nodded and did so. Several yelped as my double reached in in sync and rested his massive paw behind us, though Arden gave me a flance and limped over to rest on it. Feeling something warm on my paw, I pulled it out and waddled over to the tiny staircase, resting it so that the appropriately sized double of Arden I'd picked up could climb off.

Arden's smaller double tried to yell up at us, though I didn't pay him much mind, as it seemed everyone else had understood. As Rye gave an "ah" and Mavy glanced back and forth between the hole in the wall and the smaller room, apparently having trouble processing this, Krookodile straightened up.

"I'll get everyone else to the stairs. Get against the wall and get on my hand," she instructed, walking over to the smaller room.

"Hold on, no, don't do this whole "I gotta stay behind for the good of the mission" shtick, you-" Arden's double yelled up, though shrunk back as the far larger Krookodile gave a Look down at him.

"I can Dig, you know," she said flatly, reaching into the smaller room and watching as her own double's larger hand reached in behind her.

Within minutes, we had all been lowered into the larger room outside, peering down the stairs now our size as Krookodile burst out of the wall we'd been lowered from. As we started down, Rye and Mavy exchanged a look.

"That was..." Mavy tried.

"Yeah," Rye said. "I... a-are you sure we'll be okay, Beck? This... i-if there's more ahead, how bad is it gonna get from here?"

I didn't answer.

-o-
Caves of Being
B9F


The moment we descended the stairs and I saw the floor of the next room over rippling like water, I knew we were in for a bad time.

This dungeon had established a theme in that it didn't give a damn about the laws of space or physics, and we quickly found that it wasn't relenting anytime soon as we looked down the very first hallway to find it twisting like a screw, its floor keeping us bound to it by some mockery of gravity that probably had Newton spinning in his grave like a racing tire. Or... whoever that was, my memory wasn't about to let me know.

Exiting the corkscrew hallway to find ourselves in a room with walls rippling like standing water, we all shared a worried glance. Whatever was coming was clearly not going to be a good time.

It seemed the dungeon had run out of floors to show off its disregard for anything normal and had just chosen to throw it all into one floor; every room was different in some strange new way. To describe them all would be a sheer test of my endurance, but... well, it spoke for itself, really.

"SHIT, GET IT OFF, GET-" Mavy screamed before the Omastar attacking him wrapped him in its tentacles. Though perturbed at the sight of an extinct 'mon in the wild, that didn't stop Rye and I from jumping onto its shell, attacking at its soft spots as Mavy shot Pin Missiles every whichway. With a couple hitting, the feral gave up on Mavy and began to retreat, though an attack from Arden stopped it in its tracks. Or rather, an attempted attack, as the Quilava only fell to the ground as he attempted to inflict it, the missing weight of his arm not helping. The angered Omastar moved to attack him while he was down, but Krookodile jumped in and swung at it with her tail, sending it flying into the wall. The rock splashed like water as the Omastar sank in, though as it settled, it became clear the feral wasn't coming back out, as it seemed it was embedded into the rock, regardless of how it'd gotten in.

Gritting his teeth, Arden pushed himself up, giving the feral a quick glance before continuing on, trying his best not to look at the walls. Sometimes they'd ripple like water, sometimes they'd shine like gold in the light, sometimes they'd behave beyond logical description, and nobody dared to even touch them. The darkness ahead wasn't even darkness for certain, with flashes of light and color periodically bursting from the distance like lightning. Not even light obeyed the laws of physics down here...

This wasn't a research expedition anymore, we were just chancing our luck more and more as we descended ever further into the abyss.

A room yielded two exits, and hoping for the best, I waddled towards one, though the door suddenly winked out of existence as I tried it, as if it'd been nothing more than a trick of my peripheral vision. Scrambling back as to not touch the pulsing wall any further, I looked back at the others, many of whom glanced worriedly back and forth between me and the other door. As Arden and May started towards it to test our luck, however, where my door had been violently burst outwards like some chemical reaction gone wrong, nearly engulfing me. I screamed and dove away, just barely seeing the walls pulsing from the explosion. As Rye caught me, the ceiling gave a low groan before some massive object phased through the stone and smashed into the cave floor. We didn't stick around to find out what it was, as I scrambled to my feet and ran after my teammates through the door, the sound of something massive scraping against stone growing fainter as we fled.

Though I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me, I found myself slowing as if I were trying to sprint through a pit of molasses, though this thankfully didn't last long. Although brief, that anomaly stopped our group in its tracks, everyone taking a moment to consider its ramifications. I could feel the dread rising by the second, and when someone did break, it was Mavy, his breath shaking as he put a paw on his head.

"Ah didn't want this, I-I came fer... y'know, a nice lil exploration, not... th-this!" he said. "Dammit, I shoulda just... shoulda just stayed up there, a Zigzagoon shouldn't got nothing to do with this... fuckin' place."

As Mavy shuddered, seemingly fresh out of snark to give, Arden and May exchanged a look.

"Zigzagoon, just... it's okay. Shouldn't be long now. All we have to do is stick together, have each other's backs, and we'll be out in no time, alright?" May asked. Instead of the desired effect of inspiring some hope, a couple dry laughs sounded from Team Fraternity.

"Yeah, great. Instead of a quick death, we've got you and the schlemiel who wouldn't even stay to... protect..." Krookodile began. She stopped herself quickly, her eyes widening as Arden tensed up, his eye twitching as he slowly looked over.

"...finish that sentence," he seethed, his eyes burning. "Finish that fucking sentence."

"Q-Quilava, she didn't mean it, l-let's please just save it for-" Hitmontop interrupted, jumping between them. It didn't last, as Arden only shoved him aside with his remaining foreleg, ignoring May as she mouthed a quiet plea for peace to him.

"Do you think I wanted them to die? Do you think I even had a choice?" he asked. "Have you ever had to watch everything you know and love die in front of you? Or, wait, were you just tucked away all nice and cozy, not even knowing h... wh-what the fuck a Tyranitar was?"

"Don't you even-" Krookodile fumed, only for Arden's vents to explode into white-hot blaze as we all backed away in a panic.

"I'm not fucking finished!" he roared. "Do not give me that protection Tauros-shit, I just did what Otto wanted, he'd've ended up six feet under anyways! They all would've, and you know whose fault it was? No one's! Was just circumstance, but of FUCKING course people like you can't let me forget, right? And you know what? I'm glad you did, because I've been waiting to say this since my arm went. Oh, yeah, my fucking arm's gone, because you clearly don't give a damn! I'd sooner get my ass iced by Kyurem again than spend another fucking floor in here with your prissy ass, and if I have to hear you acting like you're all high and mighty one more fucking time...! Fuck you, eat shit, and live to tell your friends about it!"

Silence hung in the air, the only reprieve being Arden's flaming vents and the ambiance of the dungeon around us as Krookodile's face twitched.

"...you asked for it," she growled, her tail flicking behind her as she bared her claws.

"Okay. Okay, you wanna fucking-?" Arden asked, getting into stance as the others started trying to reason with him and Krookodile.

"You're at the type disadvantage and your foreleg's off," she reminded him. Arden only gave a pained smirk.

"Good, this'll be a fair fight, then," he said.

With that, a wave of fire roared, a large wedge of stone erupted from the ground, the two glared each other down, panting from the damage they'd sustained from those attacks... and then a plume of indigo just missed them, exploding against the anomalous wall behind them.

"ENOUGH!" Rye yelled, his eyes glowing with Dragon-type energy casting dim indigo light onto his face. Caught off guard, Arden and Krookodile gaped at him.

"Rye, what the fuck are you d-" the Quilava began.

"Shut up, for once in your life, shut up!" Rye demanded, his glare only deepening. "Now, both of you, what is this gonna accomplish? What are you trying to prove? This'll just get someone hurt, and for what? Just so one of you can say you're better? If you two want us to make it out of here alive, you're going to shut it and save it, do you understand?!"

Both of the seasoned team leaders flinching as the little Treecko yelled at them, neither apparently expecting such from him, they hurriedly nodded. As they shakily stepped over the mess they'd managed to make and quietly led us forward, Mavy and I stared at Rye, unsure of quite what to say. The Treecko stomped on alongside us, fuming until the draconic energy in his eyes subsided, his expression becoming one of horror.

"...I... M-Ms. Krookodile, Mr. Arden, I... didn't mean..." he tried. He looked at me for help for a moment before staring down regretfully as we kept along, the stone floor squishing like mud under our feet.

The room ahead, thankfully, had something different, these being the oh-so-glorious stairs leading downwards, beckoning to us as we all stared down into them. Despite their allure, we hesitated.

"...we sure we want to know what's down there? We could always turn back now and say we tried," Golduck suggested.

I saw a good few heads start to nod in agreement, though they quickly seemed to change their mind as footsteps started ringing from the hall. I only got a glimpse of some thing walking towards us before I hopped down after everyone else, already regretting my haste.

'...okay, so far, so good. Maybe we may not get it so bad this t-'

-o-
Caves of Being
B10F




I didn't even know what to tell myself. My eyes and my body saw and felt, and yet I couldn't even scrounge up a word to describe it.

Everything was blindingly bright and pitch dark at once, and anything I could see was wrong. It looked right at first glance, but looking at it for a second... I just couldn't process it, it was like my brain was desperately trying to fill in the blanks in real time.

Even taking a step made me want to scream. My body felt like it was ready to tear itself apart atom by atom, and yet it held together. No pain. Just... wrong.

Despite everything, I tried to trudge forward blindly, every last sense of my body screaming at me. Ahead, I thought I saw the stairs, but it just kept changing as light kept bending. A wall, a crystal, Mavy, the back of my own head...

"R-Rye!"

The sound that came out of my own mouth... I couldn't even confidently call it sound. Sensation would be more accurate. As the sensation left my lips, a hundred others joined it, all my own voice.

"Maffy!"

"Ah-den!"

"Kitaro!"

"Dill!"

"Shlink!"

"Gen!"

"Rai!"

As the cacophony of voices echoed, a scream met my ears, one it took a moment to recognize as my own. Desperately waving my arms around, I grabbed for something, anything to help me. I didn't know if it was a second or an hour of agonizing nothingness before a hand tightly clutched a paw, then another. And another. And another. And

Too many. I was being pulled, crushed, grabbed at, t



no

it's not r

e







I clutched the hands I could tell were real tightly, tears welling up in my eyes from sheer overwhelm. Managing to wrest myself free of what I could only conclude was my brain trying to comprehend what it was feeling, I took an agonizing step forward, then another. And another. And another. My eyes trained on a shape ahead, I held on as tightly as I could to whoever I was holding. My body an island in a sea it was never meant to sit in, I walked, trembling as my very being screamed in agony. Everything was wrong, but as if on autopilot, I willed my body forward.



So close.



Just



another



few
‎ ‎ ‎

steps...



-o-


I flopped onto the floor, shivering violently. My paw still wrapped tightly around my teammates' own, I braved a quick peek up.

Much to my relief, everything made sense again. We'd ended up in a sizable cavern, a large gaping exit just opposite us. Large crystals on the ceiling cast light onto the floor along with our lanterns, illuminating a small spring of water and a weathered statue of a Kangaskhan. A relieved laugh sounded from behind me.

"Fuck, f-finally!" Arden said, limping over to the statue. As I kept lying on the floor, I did a quick headcount of the others as they scattered throughout the cave; everyone was here, thankfully. As bags were checked, canteens were filled, and the odd statue examined, I finally pushed myself up, followed first by Mavy then by Rye, and with a quiet, horrified glance at each other, we shakily headed to the Kangaskhan statue for comfort. Something about it calmed me, as if it were letting off some kind of aura. Whatever the case, Arden and May were both in front of it, the Leafeon reaching a vine into an indentation in its chest, one that looked only big enough for a single seed.

"You ever wonder why it's always a Kangaskhan?" she eventually asked, evidently trying to move on from... that. As Arden watched his teammate produce a seed from the statue, he gave a sniff.

"Don't know. Guess it just makes sense to the dungeon," he said.

Both waited for each other to keep up the conversation, though the Snorlax in the room was just too apparent. As our attentions all turned towards the exit, presumably to a deeper part of the dungeon, we all glanced first at Arden's stump, then back from where we'd come, then at each other.

No words were needed for the agreement we all made there.

As the two veteran teams started repacking their things to leave this damned place, Rye and I started to do the same, though before I could get too far into it, a memory from what seemed like days ago stopped me.

"Once we reach a lull in the dungeon where spacetime lies more stable, keep a watchful eye. There will likely be a sign to guide you."

...well, if this wasn't stable spacetime...

"You two just stay put once we're out, I guess, we'll get a medic," Krookodile said as Hitmontop and Golduck got their bags packed.

"No, no, you three go on ahead. We'll be a while, and... well, this won't be pretty," May said, holding up the seed. Krookodile gave a nod, though Rye wasn't as sure.

"W-will Escape orbs work here? Mr. Arcanine said badges wouldn't, right?" he asked.

"We've brought them down here, they've already got a link to the outside going. We'll meet you up there," Krookodile said before holding an orb from her bag up. "Activate!"

Team Fraternity disappeared in a flash and a rush of wind. As May sighed and led Arden to a more hidden area, watching us as they stepped behind a wall of stone, I stepped away from Rye and Mavy to look around.

"Hey, uh, Beck? Wh-what're you...?" Rye asked. I kept examining the room, my eyes narrowing until I stopped on a particular point. Many of the crystals on the ceiling were sticking out in such a way that they shone their light onto a specific spot. It was dim, but just noticeable enough for a connection to come to mind.

'Follow the light...'

"You alright there?" Mavy asked.

"Huh? Er, shaa," I nodded, my brow furrowing as I waddled over to the lit spot. As my teammates stepped up beside me, evidently unsure as to what was going on, a square wall suddenly sunk in. As we watched in astonishment, the square indentation opened like an elaborate door, revealing a previously unseen hallway. I stared down it for a minute, hesitating before glancing at Rye, who now seemed to understand.

"...I... i-if this is what your vision said... ugh... w-we better do it, huh?" the Treecko gulped. I gave a little nod, glancing over at Mavy for his blessing here.

"Don't look at me. Ah'm... honestly, I ain't waitin' up there fer y'all. Feels safer comin' with, if that makes any sense," he said.

With this decided, Rye glanced back at the stone Arden and May were behind, seeming to consider something for a bit until the sound of a hard blow rang from the formation, followed by the crack of a seed. The Treecko cringed, his eyes wide as he muttered to himself.

"No... h-his arm... he'd just... they can't, can they? Surely it wouldn't make it too hard if we...?" he asked himself. He thought for another moment before pulling my notebook out of his bag and tearing a page out, hurriedly writing a note and setting it down where the two could see it. With this, he gave a gulp before turning back to the hall, shaky but with a hint of determination in his eyes. "Okay... alright. L-let's do this. Let's find this Pokémon, a-and let's beat the Phoenixes!" he declared.

And with that, we stepped through, the light from the room behind snuffing out as the door closed behind us, leaving nothing but our lantern to light our way into the unknown.

All I could do was pray that we weren't in over our heads here.

-o-
Razor Leaf wasn't by any means an effective means of carrying out a Reviver contingency, not against either of May's two friends. But in the absence of Pike, it was the best she had. It was painful, she was sure, but Arden had been through worse.
A cracked Reviver seed letting out golden wisps at Arden's feet, he panted and prodded at his newly regenerated arm as it hung limply at his side.

"Fuck, pins and needles... that was two or three floors with the thing gone, so how long is that, half an hour before I can use it again? Boy, oh boy, won't this be fun," the Quilava groaned. May put a paw on his shoulder.

"Hey, that's a nice excuse for some time alone in here, right? You know, once Rye and Beck head out. Not like the dungeon'll stop us," she said.

"Right. Here, let's head for the statue, maybe that'll help," Arden nodded, getting to his three good paws and limping out from behind their hiding place, immediately noting the absence of Team Reach. An anomaly was left on the floor, however, in the form of a folded piece of parchment, one which Arden picked up and opened to read.

"What? What is that?" May asked. Arden was silent, his mouth opening as his eyes narrowed.

Mr. Arden, we're going down a secret passage we found, Guildmaster's orders. Let your leg recover, send help if we don't come back soon. Rye.

The Quilava stared at the note for a while, his vents sparking as he thought this over.

Team Reach. Going down a secret passage. Under the Guildmaster's orders.

Arden knew something was up when he saw it.

"...I need a minute," Arden said simply, singe marks forming on the parchment as he held it. With this, he took a seat against the Kangaskhan statue, his brown eyes staring at the crystals above as he rubbed at his limp arm and mulled this over, already debating how to approach Arcanine on this. May stared at him for a moment before sighing and joining him, her tail flicking as she waited. And so it was; the two veterans sat alone and silent in the wake of the statue, waiting for their cue to leave and with the problem recruits once more on their minds.

What neither of them in that moment was a figure standing in the shadows by the door, standing still for a moment before slinking back out, the telltale whoosh of an Escape orb's activation echoing faintly through the opening mere moments later.

And as such, it was known.
 
49 - Taking the Plunge

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
The hallway before us seemed to stretch on forever, its downward slope only leading us into more darkness ahead. Silence hung in the air as we walked on, no feral noises or background scraping there to join the echoes of our footsteps. Though a welcome change from what we'd seen previously, the horrified anticipation was still there, as evident by the general jumpiness from all three of us. My guess was that we wouldn't be getting over that last floor, not while we were still down here. For now, though, it looked like we had a lot of tunnel ahead, and by extension, some time to kill.

"So," Mavy said to break the silence, "wut's the plan 'ere? D-did we just... y'know, head into this thing without a gameplan?"

"N-no, no, we have a plan. It's... uh, r-remember what Mr. Arcanine said? I-if this is why we're here, uh, w-we better see it through. R-right, Beck?" Rye asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, though Mavy didn't seem entirely convinced, his tail bristling as he zigzagged along.

"Y'all got a death wish, don't you? We all saw that last floor, now you gon go deeper?" he asked. Rye didn't answer for a moment, biting his lip.

"I-I didn't want to just... make Beck go alone, not after that. Uh, s-so why didn't you stay if...?" he asked. Mavy had his own moment of hesitation.

"...well... wut you said. Don't want nothin' to do with this, but really didn't want y'all goin' at it alone. Y'know, just in case," he admitted, though he quickly gave us a steely Look. "Y'all e'er bring that up again, ah'll throw ya back in here."

For the first time in a while, I let myself smirk a bit as I glanced back at the Zigzagoon.

"Aw, Maffy," I smiled.

"Naw, don't gimme that. Can't have y'all dyin' on me, don't got nowhere else ah wanna be," Mavy retorted as I gave him a nudge. Rye only added with a quick quiet chuckle, grasping the lantern tight as he kept peering ahead. Mavy grimacing behind us, I watched the occasional crystal glitter on the wall as I flexed my aching feet, remaining quiet for a moment before the silence broke again.

"Really, though. Wut's the plan?" Mavy asked. Rye's tail seemed to droop a bit as we both looked at him, the Treecko biting his lip.

"W-well, uh... s-so let's assume there's someone waiting, right? Uh, I-I don't think they'd make this path, you know, that bad. A-at least not worse than that floor, like, if they wanna talk like Mr. Arcanine said, it's gotta be passable, right?" he proposed. "That's, uh, what I'm hoping, at least. I-if the— i-it does get too rough, there's still the Escape orb in the bag, we can get some help a-and come back down."

The two of us considered his logic for a bit before nodding.

"Shaa," I cried my approval.

"Yeah, makes sense. Good on ya, Rye, thinkin' straight 'nuff to rope me into this for once," Mavy said. The Treecko cracked his own little smile as he peered ahead. As he did, his tail twitched, which I took as a sign that something had changed in his view.

Sure enough, the light ahead showed that the tunnel finally seemed to be coming to an end, opening up into a new cavern. As we approached, that familiar dreadful chill hit me, letting me know that we had more dungeon to see to. This one looked straightforward enough, thankfully, though the three of us just nervously stood at the entrance for a moment, hesitating and watching each other to see who would go first.

"...you know, we could just stop 'n rest here for a moment, eat somethin' 'fore we barge on into another one o' these things," Mavy suggested.

All it took was one quick recount of the floors past for us to agree and hurry away from the cave's exit.

It wasn't long before the three of us were sitting in a tight circle, chowing on the best-looking apples we could find in the bag and huddling around Rye's Sun Stone for that proper campfire vibe. And, well, warmth. As it turned out, it got cold this far down, and the only reason we hadn't suffered through it was the Quilava we'd been traveling with this entire time. Now that Arden was gone, we were starting to notice.

It wasn't too bad for Mavy and I, what with our fur coats, but my eyes kept wandering back to Rye. The coldblooded Pokémon was clearly not enjoying himself, shivering as he huddled against the Sun Stone and the meager warmth it was emitting. Watching him as he hugged his tail close, I glanced at my apple for a bit before scooting over to press up against him. Hoping my fur and body heat would help, I watched as Rye flinched and glanced at me, then gave a little smile of thanks as he huddled up against me. Mavy watched for a moment before catching my gaze, and flattening his ears as I gestured at him, he reluctantly joined in, sandwiching Rye in warm fluff.

We stayed that way for a bit, silent as we finished up our food and stared into the dungeon ahead. As we did, Rye hung his head, looking to be in thought, before shifting in place.

"Beck?" he whispered.

"Yeah?" I asked. Rye hesitated for a moment, gritting his teeth.

"...th-thank you. So much. For sticking by me, a-and believing in me even through everything... I-I wouldn't have even dreamed of being down here on this expedition right now without you, I'd still be an apprentice... o-or worse," the Treecko said, huddling ever closer. I let in a breath, my ears sticking up a bit.

"Rye..." I said, trailing off to let him continue.

"I'm... I-I'm so happy to have met you, Beck. A-and in case something happens ahead and one of us doesn't come back, I just wanna say... th-thank you so much for everything. I'm so glad to be your friend," Rye said, wiping his snout as he teared up a bit. I was quick to put a paw on his arm, giving a little smile despite what he'd just brought up.

"Am g-glah-d, toh," I managed. "Tank yeh, Rye."

The Treecko sniffled a bit more before leaning over to wrap his arms around me in a tight embrace. Though I was never one for that kind of thing, I smiled and returned the hug as best I could with my little arms. As we hugged each other there, I glanced over at Mavy, gesturing to him silently. The Zigzagoon gave us a long, flat look before rolling his eyes and zigzagging over with a little smile, grabbing onto us with his forelegs to join in with a quiet "don't you get no ideas, now."

Our lantern lighting up the cave around us, the three of us kept up that group hug for a moment. As I stayed there, hugging my lizard and rodent friends, I couldn't help but beam even through all we'd seen prior. Knowing that we three had propped each other up to this point, knowing we at least had each other's backs for what was to come...

Yeah. I was happy there.

---

Gateway Labyrinth

B1F


The mood as we stepped into the new dungeon ahead was different, to say the least.

Whereas the air when we'd stepped into the cave those hours ago had been one of determination, now little more than palpable dread with a tiny side of friendship-hug-induced hope hung in the air as the three of us inched our way down the tunnel, sticking close by one another in case anything happened.

We were relieved to find that our initial assessment of this newest dungeon had been correct in that we weren't getting anything like that last floor, noting a seemingly normal cave dungeon stretching ahead of us, not even a single feral in sight (or, well, you know). Trekking through yet another nondescript tunnel in glorious silence, it wasn't long before our footfalls weren't enough to ease the tension.

"Wh-what do you two think we'll find down there? Like, uh, what're you hoping?" Rye eventually asked. Mavy and I were quiet for a moment, exchanging a glance.

"Well, erm, I... a-ah'm just along fer the ride, y'know? Ain't sure. Ask Beck," Mavy eventually said, his tail bristling a bit. Sensing he'd rather not talk about that, I pursed my lips.

"An-shehs," I said.

"Anshe— oh, uh, a-answers? F-for what?" Rye asked. "...right, s-sorry. Dumb question."

"Yeh fine," I nodded. "Wha bah yeh?"

"Uh... ahem, w-well, you know. That orb. Mr. Arcanine s-said it best, I think," Rye answered.

"Ah," I nodded.

"Yeah," Rye affirmed. A bit of awkward silence hung in the air as we kept pressing forward, glittering crystals shining overhead.

"You reckon we could nab some o' those? Could sell fer some mean Poké, y'know," Mavy suggested to break the silence.

"Uh, not unless you know how to cut jewels right. N-not sure if these are even... uh..." Rye trailed off, his eyes locked on a spot on the wall. One of the crystals appeared to be broken, almost like something had bitten it clean in half, and sure enough, past more of these broken crystals, skittering and jewel-sounding clinking sounded from up ahead. Rye shuddered, shining the lantern ahead to see what was in store. A small purple Pokémon sat bent over something, though upon our light meeting it, it hissed and dashed for the wall, melting into the shadows.

"S-Sableye!" Rye yelped. "Get close to the light, k-keep close!"

"Wha? Shaah? Sha-aa!" I tried to ask. Of course receiving no answer, I hurried over to the Treecko, pressing against the lantern in a confused panic. I looked around the cave to search for the danger, though it was only after looking down at my own shadow on the floor that it found me instead. Out of nowhere, a purple clawed hand seemed to burst out of the darkness and grab onto my leg.

I jumped back screaming, hitting the floor hard as I thrashed and kicked to get the thing off me, though that only got the Pokémon to pull itself out of the floor completely. The Sableye leered at me with a sickening grin, its glittering eyes matching the crystals around us, before lunging to try and bite me with its horrid long teeth.

"Beck! Beck— M-Mavy, Pin Missile! I— g-get its attention!" Rye yelled. In my panicked state of mind, I doubted from experience that Mavy would comply with such an order from him. However, without too much hesitation, the Zigzagoon nodded and fired off a projectile into the Sableye's back, glancing at Rye in time to see him hurriedly crawl up the wall and into the shadows. The Ghost-type stopped trying to tear my face up to look back at Mavy, growling quietly as he quietly swore to himself. I wasn't sure if it was possible for a jewel to twinkle angrily, though before I could find out, a plume of indigo fire shot down from the ceiling, casting dim blue light through the cave as the Sableye, caught off guard, was engulfed. A horrid screech rang out as the feral thrashed about, though it soon jumped back into the shadows to escape its tormentors. As Rye dropped down from the ceiling, bending down to help me up, Mavy gave a little snort.

"Wut's this, Treecko bein' competent?" he asked. Rye gave a little grimace as he pilfered through the bag for a berry, though soon enough gave his own snort.

"A-and Mavy doing, uh, t-teamwork? Yeah, r-really weird day," he coughed. Mavy gave him a little smirk and a nod.

"Still ain't got much bite, but hey, better than none. Maybe one day, kid," he said. Feeling at my face to make sure my Sableye scratches weren't too deep, I relaxed a bit, only for my ears to stick up as I heard skittering coming from behind us.

"G-guysh! Sha!" I warned, pointing towards the noise. My teammates looked up from their banter, their faces falling.

"Crap... looks like he called his buddies," Mavy said, stepping back. Rye hesitated a bit before turning and running.

"C-come on, we gotta go!" he yelled. I wasted no time in bolting after the Treecko, not even looking back as I heard more of those things jumping in and out of the shadows like Dewgongs in water as they chased after us.

Right turn, straight, left turn, right turn, left turn, left again... I wasn't sure how long we ran, but by the time Rye stopped to catch his breath and grab at his Sun Stone, I couldn't hear the little gremlins chasing us anymore. Taking one of the canteens we'd brought and gulping down some water, I listened for a moment before continuing on for lack of a better thing to do, frowning at the distant noise of more ferals alerted by our little funtime back there. I'd only now started to notice there hadn't been any forks in the paths, nor any rooms; the place was like a singular path or a labyrinth.

'Labyrinths are different from mazes, right? Like, mazes branch and go different paths, labyrinths are just one path going towards- oh, what the fuck are you talking about, Beck?'

Whatever the case, that wasn't normal, I didn't think, and I knew that really didn't bode well down here.

For now, though, this dungeon seemed like more of the usual; walking, the occasional feral, and awkward silences between the three of us. The deeper we got, though, that now-familiar sense of looming dread kept eating away at me. Something apparently wanted me going this way, surely it was going to give us more than just a tunnel full of ferals?

Though I couldn't help but have that on my mind, I kept quiet as I followed Rye, watching as he swung at a feral Zubat flying at us and knocked it out of the air. As we passed, I was sure to give the fainted feral little kick as I felt at the scar on my chest. We'd come a long way from Quinite Woods, huh? So long as we didn't run into a flock like that one...

"Hey, Rye?" I asked as we kept pressing forward. "Shaa."

Sensing the quiet nerve in my voice, Rye's tail twitched a bit.

"Y-yeah, I'm nervous too. W-we have each other's backs, though, and... y-yeah. I'm really just hoping for the best, y'know?" he asked.

"Ain't we all?" Mavy added.

I nodded, praying Rye's cautious optimism would be rewarded as I kept my ears up to listen for anything else ahead. As our lantern shone ahead, all I could see was yet more darkness, as if this tunnel just kept going; for how long, I didn't dare imagine. However, a glittering soon caught my eye, then another. What was this, another turn?

The crystals ahead soon came into full view, followed by the rocks they were embedded into. The three of us hurried to see which way we were going next, maybe hoping for some sort of pattern, but we quickly stopped in confusion.

There wasn't a left or a right, just a sheer rock wall. A dead end.

I stared up for a moment, waiting for something, anything to happen before Rye gave a quiet disappointed sigh.

"D-did we make a mistake? Was this not the way, or...? I-I... I'm sorry. M-maybe we should turn back and look for another clue," he said, hanging his head as he rubbed his head, staring up at the wall.

"Yeah, real productive use o' time 'ere," Mavy muttered as he made to turn back. I just kept standing there before frowning to myself.

No, this couldn't be it. There was no way. I'd "followed the light," hadn't I? All that, and this was what I was getting? Just a rock wall? This... this couldn't be right. No...

"..."

"Come on, Beck, we should start back, we gotta get out before the dungeon takes... B-Beck?" Rye asked.

"GSHAAH!" I yelled in frustration. Rye and Mavy both jumped back as I ran at the wall, pulling my scalchop and striking it in blind rage. Everything we'd been through, all the questions, all the Voice had promised... a damn wall?!

"B-Beck! Beck, stop! Please, th-this won't help!" Rye tried. Despite his words, I kept slashing and stabbing at the crystals and stone for a moment before slumping to the ground, my shell clattering to the floor as I laid there in utter defeat. As hot, angry tears welled in my eyes, I felt a hand on my back.

"Beck... I-I'm sorry. W-we just missed it, we'll find the right way. Just... g-get up and come with us. Please," he said softly. For a quiet moment, I didn't look up at him, only staring at that wall as I tried to think this over.

Follow the light, it'd said. That was the only light I could have thought to followed... was there anything even down here? Had this all been a massive waste?



My paws shaking, I grabbed my considerably duller scalchop and got to my feet, staring down at the ground before letting a long, deep sigh out my nostrils.

"Sh-shaa," I said hoarsely, nodding. Rye gave a small, sad smile before starting to lead me the way we'd come.

"Th-there's another way, I'm sure. We'll find it, I promise," he said, gesturing to Mavy as he quietly stared after me, then back at the damage I'd inflicted. As we started back up the labyrinth, a confused yelp sounded from the Zigzagoon as he jumped back, prompting us to look back. My face went from silent sulking to similarly confused panic in a heartbeat.

Where the light slash marks I'd left in the stone had been, a bright blue glow had started to shine through. I stared in disbelief, but only for a moment before the wall suddenly collapsed in on itself. Before we could do anything, everything around us seemed to crumble, leaving only us and nothing else but void.

It took a second for me to register that I was falling. The kicking came first as I instinctively tried to grab on to something, then the raw, primal panic kicked in. A loud, terrified scream escaped my lips, joining the other two screams as we plummeted into the darkness below.

Alas, our screams only echoed into infinity, where no ears would hear and no hands would reach to help us.

It was just us, utterly alone as we fell through reality itself.

Just as it seemed as though we would never stop, I felt myself begin to gradually slow in my fall. My eyes widening, I held on to Rye and Mavy for dear life as though they'd save me from whatever was happening.

It was only when I looked back down when I saw the ground heading towards u—

---​

Silence hung over the great cavern that made up the entrance of the Caverns of Being. As the light of the full moon shone gently through the mouth of the dungeon and into the cave, the Guildmaster continued to stand watch, his ancient eyes staring unblinking.

It was ironic, he surmised. As his ancestors had in the Golden Age, he now stood guard before the uncertain to defend a human.

Arcanine almost regretted that he could not join his apprentices; he knew certain he would have jumped at the opportunity as a Growlithe. Back when his pride and joy was his maps of the local area, back when he thought goggles were fashionable attire for the common explorer, back when... when the Ruin was still a fresh wound, a recent memory. When humankind was still standing despite everything... but that may as well have been ancient history by now. Just like himself, he humoredly supposed.

As he pilfered through his bags yet again, keeping close attention to the badges pinned onto them, he paused. A small noise had sounded, almost indiscernible from the background ambiance, though just enough to draw the dog's attention. The shiny quickly sprung to his feet, watching the entrance and the moonlight shining through carefully.

"Who is there?" he asked. Only silence answered, though as he kept watching, a disturbance reared its head in the form of a shadow, stopping just within sight for the figure casting it to make itself known. The Guildmaster eyed the shadow for a second before silently assuming stance, flames erupting within his maw.

The figure only stood still, staring for a moment before it motioned a signal. With this, it and the Guildmaster lunged at each other.

---

Spatial Rift

Silence.

Pure, unadulterated silence.

Then a quiet moan escaped my throat, stopped only by that sudden shock.

'What? I'm not... dead?'

I pried open my eyes, squinting in the light. As I adjusted, I found myself staring up not at infinite oblivion but rather... buildings? I sat up in a hurry, looking around confusedly. Hadn't we just been in...?

Upon a quick glance around, my perplexion only mounted. The structures around me weren't of wood, stone, or clay as I'd come to be used to, but rather brick, concrete, and steel. These... weren't Pokémon buildings.

Pushing myself off the cracked, weed-dotted asphalt below me, I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. While the town around me most definitely seemed to have seen better days, it was human. What was more, I couldn't help but note dark, faint figures walking around me as they apparently went about their day. They only seemed to show up out of the corner of my eye, though even then they were hard to make out. Even though I didn't recognize them in the slightest, they seemed familiar in a way. Just like this town...

A name came to mind. Striaton.

...what did that mean? Was that what the place was called? Why was it significant? Had I lived here before-?

"Beck?"

I yelped, scrambling away from the sudden noise, the first I'd heard besides my own. Daring to look towards the anomaly, I paled as, in my peripheral vision, one of the strange figures stopped to stand over me, reaching down...

"B-Beck! Beck, it's us, y-you're okay!"

Just like that, I found myself gasping and panting as Rye knelt down, watching me concernedly. The scene around me was no longer that of whatever Striaton was, now looking more familiar as I calmed down and sat up to face Rye and Mavy.

"R-Rye... sh-shaah," I whimpered.

"I-it's okay, you're safe. I-I don't know where we are, exactly, but... w-we're okay," Rye reassured me. I sat there for a moment, my mind swimming in questions about whatever the fuck I'd just seen before slowly nodding and pushing myself up, only now noticing that I crucially wasn't hurting. We'd been falling at terminal velocity, if I had to guess, and it looked like none of us had been pancaked or even injured at all upon impact. Not that I was complaining.

We seemed to have landed in the middle of a small field surrounded by buildings, the entire place dim with nothing to light it but the sky, or rather, the swirling oblivion I felt like calling sky. Making sure my bag was still with me and filled, I reluctantly followed Rye, spying a path out of the field ahead.

The second we stepped out onto this strange town's street, deep, primal dread filled my being. I wasn't sure if it was the unrelenting silence, the oddity of seeing a town after so long down here, the swirling sky overhead, or all of the above, but something about this newest place in particular gave me deep heebie-jeebies.

Actually, as we walked down the street, I started to suspect I knew why. Looking up at one of the buildings, I stopped in my tracks, my tail drooping as I peered up at the roof. Quickly noting this, Rye and Mavy stopped.

"You good? Wut's the problem, more... uh," Mavy trailed off, his eyes falling on that same roof.

"Wh-what?" Rye asked, his tail twitching anxiously.

"That... that's the Kek shop there, gotta be. Ah'm sure of it, ah put those tiles there," Mavy said, pointing to a particular set of crooked tiles on the roof. I nodded slowly, recognizing the little details from that day we'd worked for Rye's Miracle Seed. Said Treecko stared up at the shop, his face slowly falling before he looked around.

"I-I... th-that's the Durant storage over there, isn't it? Town square's there, and that field, that must've been the park... oh, Arceus, this is..." he said breathlessly.

He didn't need to finish that sentence, all of us had reached the same conclusion. This was Impetus Town, or at least, a version of it.

"Wh-where'd ev'ryone go, though?" Mavy asked, his voice noticeably quieter as he pressed against us.

"I... uh, th-this is still the dungeon, I think, there's nobody... h-h... c-come on, w-we better find a way... out..." Rye gulped, sounding quite unsure. With nothing else to do, Mavy and I exchanged a glance and reluctantly walked alongside the Treecko into town square.

When we'd observed there was no one here, it seemed that was no exaggeration. Not a soul other than us three was in sight in the normally bustling town, as if everyone in the town had abruptly picked up their things and just vanished. A deafening silence hung over town square as the three of us stopped in its center; not even the whistling of wind sounded, leaving an eerie stillness to everything. Though the town was unmistakably what I'd come to know as home, it felt... well, dead, in more ways than one.

A while of just looking around passed, during which I spotted a familiar hill in the distance; the Guild was here too, it seemed. How far this pseudo-reality stretched, I wasn't sure, and I didn't think we'd get the chance to find out. Maybe we'd leave that to whoever was insane enough to go in after us. With this in mind, Rye finally budged from place, momentarily seeming to consider heading to a large building I'd learned was the town hall before shaking his head.

"Th-the Guild. Mr. Arcanine's gonna be there if Mayor Nidoqueen isn't. If he isn't there, then... m-maybe he has something, l-like a way out," he suggested. For lack of a better option, I bit my lip.

"Y-yeah, sure," I nodded. The outvoted Mavy gave us a look I could almost hear screaming at the top of its lungs at us, though the Zigzagoon soon groaned and followed.

Even as we walked through what was clearly some dungeon trick, my mind was not entirely on whatever was happening, but rather what I'd seen upon waking. What I'd seen there just nagged at me too much to just be random. It had to be some forgotten memory from when I'd been human. Needless to say, I was both excited and unsure; yeah, I was very much intrigued at finally digging up a visual memory, but at the same time, I didn't know what to make of it. Even that one little glimpse had raised a lot of questions, and I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to dive this deep into that Buneary hole just yet, but... well.

As if that weren't enough, even now as I walked through the empty streets of pseudo-Impetus, that pang of familiarity kept tugging at me. Just the image of the abandoned town had me rubbing my head while I looked around at the decrepit ruin, a cold steel ball in my other hand as I-

'Whoa, oh! Memory jog! ...wait, as I what? Ball? Decrepit- aghh!'

As I grabbed at that sudden memory, I thought for a second that I saw one of the houses around us flicker out of the corner of my eye, though I brushed it off as stress, getting ever more frustrated at my brain for all this as Rye and Mavy both gave a concerned look. Despite that, I still kept along as we headed out of town, passing through the gates of the Guild. The notices on the board ahead hung still, no wind to blow on them as we headed uphill into the Guild campus. Like the town, the entire campus was still, silent, and abandoned, though I dispelled the urge to check the cafeteria or even our base as we headed into Arcanine's quarters.

Every light in the Guildmaster's quarters was dark, not even the always-burning fireplace alight as Rye led the way, shining the lantern at the piles of artifacts and into the living space in a last bit of fleeting hope.

"...w-we're..." Rye squeaked before gripping the light tight. "I-it's okay, there's... th-there's gotta be a way through... B-Beck, have the orb ready, I-I'll look."

The Treecko went over to try and examine the various artifacts, starting by poking at the skeleton still hanging at the head of the circular room. Mavy and I joined him in his search, not sure what else to do inside such a dungeon. Glancing at a particular chess set, I started digging for a moment before I stopped in my tracks, feeling my stomach instinctively sink. That feeling of being watched had returned, and stronger than ever. This time, my teammates noticed, Rye shining the lantern at me as he cocked his head.

"Wh-what's wrong?" he asked. I didn't answer, instead looking around at the dark around me. Nothing to see, as usual, but I couldn't just wave it off this time. Something was watching me.

"H-hah-lah?" I asked quietly. Nothing happened at first, though just as I was starting to question my sanity, the walls violently flexed like rubber around us, sending artifacts cascading around us.

We all screamed and ran for cover, the lantern clattering to the ground and illuminating the wall as it began to move again. Rock started to scrape against rock, stone buckled, wood frames creaked, and before long, the cacophony of awful noise seemed to meld into one another, the sounds they all made together sounding horribly familiar: speech. In every human language I could imagine, a single word was sounded out. Many were foreign, some I was certain didn't even exist anymore, a couple sounded even alien to what I knew of humanity, but one of them I understood.

"HUMAN."

I paled, but my rational mind immediately kicked in to try and wrest control. This was the right path, it had to be, right? Getting to my feet and letting artifacts fall off me, I looked up at the rippling stone, gulping back the sheer terror at play.

"Sh-sha. Hah-mehn," I affirmed to the dungeon. The stone stopped, the silence once again taking over as the entire room abruptly returned to normal. I stood there for a moment before letting out a quiet relieved chuckle and looking back at the mess around me. Rye and Mavy pushed themselves up out of the mess on the floor before staring at me.

"Okay. Aight. Wut the actual fuck was that?" Mavy asked.

"I-I don't know, but... i-it looks like it's over," Rye said. I smiled a bit. Maybe this was where the Voice would show up! Maybe this dungeon was the Voice? Whatever the case, I felt content in that I'd finally reached-

"B-behind y- B-Beck!" Rye screamed, pointing at something in sheer panic. I spun around just in time to see something swing at me hard, though I leaped out of the way before I could get pummeled. Panickedly crawling back to where my teammates watched in horror, I looked back to see what the dungeon was throwing at us this time.

I... wasn't expecting that.

Freed from where it had been hanging, the human skeleton was now standing on its own two legs and moving on its Giratina-damned own, walking towards us in an offensive stance and holding a blunt tool as it stared at us with its empty sockets for a moment. This didn't last long, though, as with the scraping and clattering of bone, its walk turned into a run as it charged us, rearing its weapon up for a strike. Before it could get close, Rye hurriedly swept its legs with a Pound, sending the leg bones clattering away and causing the skeleton to fall to the floor, where it shattered into a pile of bones on impact. I stared bug-eyed and trembling at the pile, though the skeleton's skull quickly rolled out and started snapping at my toes, ripping me out of my stupor. With a scream that surely would have been heard the Guild over, I slammed it with as hard of an Aqua Slap as I could, sending it flying into the stone wall.

I barely got a moment's rest, however, as above us, the wooden supports holding the room up suddenly began to creak and snap on their own, sending dust down onto us and cracks webbing across the stone. Rye made a guttural noise before screaming some indiscernible instruction at us, though no words were needed for this moment. Mavy and I bolted, sprinting after Rye as the room behind us began to collapse. Hurriedly climbing up the ladder and out the entrance, I looked back only long enough to see the little entrance hut get swallowed by the earth.

The sky above was no longer a slow swirl of oblivion, rather storming and flashing almost angrily as we ran. The ground rumbled below us as we reached the central plaza, though it immediately became clear this wasn't safe either, as the bulletin boards suddenly uprooted themselves and flew towards us, a quick glance revealing the tacks inside sticking sharp end out.

"Shaa!" I called, diving to the ground and shooting a Water Gun. Rye and Mavy followed suit, cowering as my attack thankfully knocked the most threatening board into a flip, the rogue object sailing over us and skewering the road behind us. I laid there trembling in shock as I clambered away from the boards, Rye panickedly digging for our bag and pulling out an orb, one I immediately guessed was our Escape orb.

"A-activ-" he began, though before he could finish, the boards behind us shattered into dangerous stakes and flew for the orb raised above his head, forcing him to dive for cover before it could be destroyed.

It wouldn't even let us leave.

Faced with this prospect, I could do nothing but watch in real time as my teammates simply broke as they lied there on the ground.

"Wh-where- where do we go?!" Mavy screamed, his voice at least an octave higher. Rye only let out a strangled noise of terror, hyperventilating as he tried to hug his tail in a fetal position on the ground. The shock subsiding, I tried to stand and assess the situation, looking around for a second before putting my paws to my head and falling onto the ground, letting out a hopeless cry.

"R-Rye...!" I cried out, not knowing what else to do. As Rye looked over at me, I tried my best to try and think of some miracle way out, but to no avail. The dungeon was attacking us, there was no clear way out I could think of in my panic, and all of us were clearly in no shape to figure out a solution.

'...we're gonna die here, weren't we? After everything? All that to get killed by-?'

All of a sudden, Rye shakily pushed himself up, getting to his feet.

"R-Rye? Wha?" I asked.

"N... n-no... I'm not... w-we're not just gonna give up, are we? Not now..." Rye said, his breath still rapid but his gait somewhat composed. I stared at him like he had grown another head, tears still running down my face.

"Are you...? N-naw, there ain't no way out, is-?" Mavy asked.

"I know! I know!" Rye yelled. "B-but... i-if Beck could make it this far, even with all the feral stuff on his back, then... wh-why can't I keep going? I-I at least owe that much t-to Dill, right?"

White light engulfed Rye's form, though it quickly subsided as Rye audibly strained and suppressed it, still shaking. It seemed he hadn't quite gotten all his demons taken care of, but that didn't matter at the time being. As the Treecko regained his composure and looked at the both of us, he bent down and offered a hand, his expression still grim but a hint of determination in it.

"L-let's go together?" he asked. I stared up at the Treecko for a moment before giving a nod and taking his hand, pulling myself up. With both of us on our feet again, Mavy looked at us before gritting his teeth.

"Damn it all... Pa wouldn't have wanted me dyin' without a fight, ah reckon," he said, pushing himself up. Rye gulped, but still turned to face the hostile dungeon.

"I— o-o-okay! U-using the orb's too risky if it can just break it, we gotta find a way out! If we don't... urgh, l-let's go! Team Reach!" he yelled.

"Yah!" I managed out, charging into almost certain death alongside my friends.

Having been strangely inactive during all that, the dungeon sent a violent quaking through quasi-Impetus once again. As we sprinted towards the Guild gates, the braziers atop it suddenly ignited, then sent a wall of fire down to block our way out. Briefly entertaining using some water fuckery to brute force through, I instead gestured to the wall to the side, giving a sha to Rye. Nodding, the Treecko took a sharp turn and Treecko-crawled up the wall, stopping only to pull Mavy and I up and over before we escaped in time to avoid getting barbecued by the flames.

As we approached the town, the dungeon shook again, this time sending large fissures through the town and just barely missing us as we jumped out of the way on our way into town square. Just as we stopped to try and figure out where to go from here, an enormous explosion suddenly billowed on the horizon, followed by a louder, almost frustrated-sounding rumble. I got the sinking feeling that we'd pissed the thing off, and that was only reinforced as I watched several buildings slowly rise into the air. Though the structures buckled and groaned as they hung in midair, we still ran for cover as the Kecleon shop and library collapsed under their own weight, their shelves floating out of the spiraling masses of debris before shooting their contents rapid fire at our position. Before I could receive a scroll to the forehead, Rye jumped up and Pounded it out of the air, the barrage of berries and scrolls just barely missing him before he dragged me down and behind a sturdy-looking wall.

"Tanks!" I managed. Rye hurriedly nodded, the three of us continuing to duck and cover before a mighty crash sounded, signifying the buildings' hitting the ground. The town square around us was in complete shambles, the buildings riddled with holes and paper and orb shards littering the dirt road, and that wasn't even considering the multiple buildings that'd just been obliterated or the deep fissures scarring the town. Had this been the real Impetus Town... yeah, we'd be in deep shit right about now. Unfortunately, judging by yet another bout of rumbling, it seemed we hadn't seen the end of it just yet.

Slowly but surely, the sound of rushing water started to swell from the distance. The three of us exchanged a glance before Rye suddenly seized up in realization.

"Th-the river!" he yelped. Poking our heads out to confirm his fears, I paled as I saw water beginning to flow into the wreck of town square, the rumble of a larger wave beginning to reach my ears. Without hesitation, Rye hurriedly turned and started crawling up the nearest building, though stopped to look down at us halfway up. Mavy in particular wasn't ideal for this situation, I was quick to realize. As the Zigzagoon gave me a look of terror, knowing what was surely coming for him, I thought for a bit before crouching down.

"Maffy, back!" I commanded. "Rye, sha!"

The two nodded, Mavy immediately jumping onto my back as Rye made ready to grab him. With the count of three, Mavy and I moved in unison, springboarding the rodent up and into Rye's arm. As Rye strained to carry Mavy to the roof, I turned to face the river water. I mean, it was just some water, and I was an Oshawott. What was the worst that could-?

I remembered too late about the mess covering the square.

A wave of water over thrice my height slammed into me, knocking me off my feet. I flailed to try and stabilize myself and swim back, though as the current roared, I found myself being pelted with debris. Rock, sand, wood, berries... oh, yeah, and glass. The Kecleons had picked the worst possible day to restock on orbs, it seemed. Pricks of pain kept stabbing into me as I stuck my head above the torrent, if only to spare my face any further pain... then a Pin Missile hit the building closest to me.

"H-hah! Aight, pound 'er, Rye!" Mavy hooted. A blur of green flew over me as Rye leapt from wall to wall, eventually reaching the pin and Pounding it with his tail, driving it into the wood wall.

"G-grab on! I'll pull you out!" he yelled. Nodding, I changed course and tried to swim parallel to the current, stabbing pain hitting me as the water flowed against me. Despite this, I soon managed to Lillipup-paddle over, grabbing as tight a hold as I could to Mavy's pin and managing to get still enough for Rye to grab on to me. As we both strained to pull me out, I panted, cringing as I saw the blood running down my side.

"Y-you alright?" Rye asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I- agh! Fack!" I swore, my paw quaking as I pulled a shard out of myself. Rye winced, though still held on tight as he gave the watching Mavy a thumbs-up. While the Treecko hauled me up to the roof, I looked around at the chaos around me. The whole of quasi-Impetus had been submerged in at least six feet of water, and honestly? It wasn't looking good for us. Half the buildings in the town were now floating debris, and all that in the water certainly didn't bode well for our chances of making it out, especially with the whirlpools kicking them around so-

'...wait. Hang on. Whirlpools?'

Indeed, around where the fissures in the ground had once scarred the town, the water swirled like a bathtub drain, dragging down debris with it.

'...that doesn't make sense. Those can't have gone down far, not deep enough to do that. Either there's a cave under Impetus Town we didn't know about, or...

...!'


"Guys! D-dife!" I blurted out. Rye stared at me, his concern morphing into skepticism.

"D... did you say dive?" he asked.

"Yeah! It hah-low! Wey oht!" I said, gesturing to the whirlpools. Both Rye and Mavy stared at the nearest one before looking back at me, particularly my wounds.

"B-Beck, no. Th-there... i-it can't-" Rye started.

"Wut he said, you outta yer gourd or somethin'?" Mavy yelled. I gritted my teeth.

"Rye. Yeh trasht?" I asked.

"Wh-what? Do I... t-trust?" Rye asked, his breath picking up as I watched him in response. He thought long and hard for a moment, looking between me, the whirlpool, Mavy, the swirling sky...

"...y-yes. I trust you. W-with my life," Rye said. Mavy blinked for a bit before sighing.

"Aight. Y-y'all got me. You ain't lettin' go wutever goes right, right?" he asked.

"Prah-mish," I nodded. Mavy hesitated before gulping and nodding, making ready to jump as Rye and I reluctantly got into position.

"O-okay. On three. One... t-two... ugh... th-three-!"

The splash of water was quickly followed by that same stabbing pain, though I did my best to focus on the hand grasping on tightly to my own paw. As that hand was joined by a pair of paws, I cracked my eyes open and swam with all my might towards the fissure running through the center of town square: close by and large enough to fit us three. Something impacted with an enormous splash a few yards away as we swam, a quick glance revealing it to be Arcanine's statue, though as I clenched my teeth and held on tight to my friends, the three of us took the plunge, the fissure sucking us straight down as the dungeon rumbled behind us.

For one awful moment, it seemed nothing was changing, like it was just more fissure all the way down. As debris kept painfully pelting me, my friends' grips started to weaken, their air apparently running out as I tried to swim harder and harder. Just as I began to doubt myself in my choice, the water suddenly dissolved into mist around me, the debris around and apparently inside me disappearing with it. Loud gasps and coughing rang out as Rye and Mavy gulped in much-needed oxygen, leaving me looking around as the three of us floated forward through the abyss.

Around me, I could see little but what I'd called the sky back there, something I could only guess by now was the churning, swirling fabric of reality itself. Ahead, though, something caught my eye: something I could best comprehend as a sphere of stone, floating among the colors as energy swirled around two poles. My mind was quick to compare it to a planet floating in space, even if it didn't live up to that size. Actually... was it getting bigger? No, we were getting closer! It took me a minute to realize that the three of us were inside one of the vortexes of energy, drawing ever closer to the mini-planet's pole.

As the swirling colors around me were obscured by stone, the tug of gravity started to pull at me, setting me gently onto a stone floor as mist billowed around me. The second I figured I was standing, I let myself fall to the floor, panting as I first shakily reached for my wounds, then looked back at Rye and Mavy as they similarly laid there. Rye was the first to budge, reaching for the lantern out of habit before realizing it was gone, then digging into the bag and scooping Orans out by the handful to roll to us. I gladly took one, and while it sure didn't heal everything, I felt alright enough to sit up, exchanging a long, silent glance with the other two.

"...tah wash bahd," I eventually said. A little laugh escaped the other two as it seemed to hit them that we were really alive.

"Heh... y-yeah. Bad," Rye agreed.

"Understatement o' the year," Mavy nodded. As the tension in the air started to drop, I looked back towards the space where we'd ended up.

We now sat on a stone ledge, overlooking an enormous cavern. Scattered around massive twin openings in the stone, crystals covered the walls, illuminating the spherical cave, and as I took a closer look, shrunk back as I found a dark, seemingly bottomless pit rather than a floor greeting me. However, a large platform of stone rose from the center of the pit, several floating stones leading from the ledge where we sat to the center. With little else to do, I glanced at Rye and Mavy before standing up and waddling over to the first stone, getting onto it with a hop. My two friends glanced at each other before following, the three of us hopping along the line of floating rocks.

A few minutes and a couple close calls later, Rye and I eased Mavy down onto the central platform. Giving the stone a little stomp to make sure it was stable ground, I turned and looked around, trying to see anything that might put a damper on our progress. My guess was that all we had to do was just traverse the next line of rocks and make it to the other side, hopefully without anything stopping us. Simple enough, right?

I thought so, at least until I looked up to see the light starting to... well, bend would be the best way to describe it.

As we scrambled back in a panic, the lights seemed to go out all around us, though as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I caught sight of the more worrisome thing here: the sudden appearance of a massive figure now towering over us from within the shadows. Towering a good ten feet over my head, the thing just quietly looked down at us for a second as we stared up in terror, myself feeling for the floating path behind us as I watched. Before long, though, the ground began to rumble as the figure reared back its head, space itself seeming to stretch and bend around it as it began to charge an attack in its mouth I assumed was aimed right for us.

Rye and Mavy immediately tried to get up and run, Rye already getting a Dragon Breath ready as I stared up, trembling and still feeling around for an escape route. I had a bit to run, and although I wasn't sure of our odds fighting this thing, I was still ready for a hustle. As I got up and prepared to dash, though, something suddenly started tugging at me. That same fear of death was still there and just as prevalent as ever, but now a little insane voice whispered in my ear, trying to reason with the rest of my panicking mind.

Were we in danger, it asked? Of serious injury, of course, but death? Had the dungeon really wanted to kill us, why didn't it just launch us into space and let us explode? Everything up to that point had been survivable, even though it had every opportunity to murder us, and there had been that odd reprieve back there. Why would we even be down here if it wanted us dead, anyways? It didn't make sense. This... was probably just some sort of trick. Heck, that little Yvetal on my shoulder did me one better and suggested this thing wasn't even real.

At least, it said something like that. It seemed like I was about to be on the receiving end of whatever this thing was charging, so it wasn't all that clear. Maybe it was just my mind trying to find some meaning in my inevitable demise, I wasn't sure. Despite this, my expression of terror slowly turned to one of trembling defiance, staring up at the figure as its attack reached what I guessed was full power.

Rye and Mavy both screamed at me to get out of the way as the thing reared back its head...

...and immediately let the attack fizzle out.

"Impressive. Most impressive," a voice boomed as the figure gave a nod. I gasped, seizing up as my mouth started flapping open and closed. That... voice...!

Rye stared up dumbfounded, his eyes losing that draconic glow as he tried to figure this latest development out.

"Wh-what...?" he asked, hurrying back over to my side.

"Wut in git out's goin' on now?" Mavy questioned as he followed. The enormous figure only quietly stared down at us for a second before flicking its hand. Seemingly at its command, the light around us began to shine normally again. The crystals on the walls once again illuminated the room, finally showing us what we were dealing with as...



...as motherfucking, honest-to-Arceus Palkia appeared before us.

Both letting out a strangled gasp, Rye and Mavy fell to the ground and bowed, though I just kept standing there in numb shock, staring agape as the Legend of reality itself peered down at us.

Palkia wasn't just a myth. Palkia was very real and had been talking to me. For the past month and a half. Palkia was that Voice. Palkia had... brought me here, hadn't it? Made me like this?

...

"You have been through much this night. Rest, human, for you are safe here. There is time, I shall wait," the Legend said as I kept staring. Before long, though, I sat down hard, gripping my tail as that statement sank in. After all that this dungeon had thrown at us, I was safe now...

Rye and Mavy soon broke their bows, Rye coming to sit with me and put a hand on my back while Mavy started slowly making his way over to the dragon towering over us. The Zigzagoon soon reached out a foreleg and touched Palkia's foot, though that was quite enough, it seemed, as he turned and bolted back towards us. Palkia didn't seem to mind, only silently watching us as we let the stress and tension of the dungeon past melt away. At least, as much as it could under the circumstances. I mean, the pearls on its shoulders alone were nearly as big as me. The crystals on the wall glowing a pleasant, calming blue and the room's atmosphere apparently set to be as calming as possible, I soon felt comfortable enough to stand up and look up at Palkia, who still patiently waited and watched.

"S-sehr. Er... yeh dehd tehs?" I asked, gesturing to myself. Palkia gave a nod without hesitation.

"Yes. I was that who brought you here, and that which made you take on Pokémon flesh," it said in that ever-familiar voice. Before I could press on, Rye stood up, his entire body quivering as he looked up.

"S-s-so, d-did you... th-that's why you, uh, wanted us here, right? Th-that's, uh, what you wa- t-told Beck, s-sir?" he asked. "I-if so, why...? Uh, wh-why the town?"

"That was not entirely of my doing. When placed so close to the center of a tesseract as this, reality becomes fluid, hard for the mortal mind to comprehend. The outer center of these caverns' rift project a spontaneous manifestation of that which your subconscious finds familiar and comfortable," Palkia explained.

"S-spon- what?" he asked. The Legend sighed.

"It takes the form of what one would consider home," it said. "I simply motivated the dungeon's anomalous spacetime to puppeteer the environment. As a test to see whether you were truly worthy of what I wish you to do. As you stand before me now, I say you have succeeded."

"Th-that just... why not just teleport oer here, save us the trouble o' that whole thing? Yer Palkia, right?" Mavy asked.

"It is not that simple. Spacetime is still reweaving itself from the Ruin, for a being as I to teleport so far would erase centuries of progress in such. To bring you here was the most attainable option," Palkia said. The two nodded, though that left me with more questions than answers. Spacetime reweaving itself? What had happened that the fabric of the damn universe had gotten torn up? Was that where mystery dungeons had-?

...ugh, no, I was getting distracted. I had a particularly burning question in mind here.

"Wh-why feh-wuhl?" I asked. Palkia's tail flicked a bit as the crystals on the walls dimmed a bit, the air becoming more dreary around us.

"That was a tragic error of fortune, one I take responsibility for. I was left little choice than to send your soul off before a proper form could be constructed for it; it was but sheer misfortune that it happened upon a drowning feral. Though its soul had previously departed, I do not doubt it left... impressions on your own. A loss of complex language, I see has taken place, but change in gait and irrational behavior may have manifested, I predict. Indeed, this has been quite an interesting case for us to observe," it explained.

I felt myself go a bit numb as I looked down at my body... my body? Or a meat suit I'd jumped into? And... what'd happened? Why couldn't I get a proper body? Why this?

Before I could deliberate on this any further, Mavy butted in.

"Can ya fix him, then?" he asked. Immediately, the air became tight as the crystals turned blood crimson, sending us scrambling back in panic as Palkia gave a deep sigh.

"You... you have been granted a world of great bounty and countless more within reach above, all you and your descendants ten thousand years hence could ever need or desire, and still yet you mortals ask for more. You have demonstrated quite thoroughly that such a liability does not stop you, and altering it would change little in the grand outcome. Why, I ask, would I expend my already limited power to change such a menial detail even if I could?" it demanded. The pearl-like gems on its shoulders glowed as the red light around us continued to glare, though the crystals returned to a dim white after a minute as Palkia sighed. "My apologies. I hear too much prayer for more; it breaks one in time, I am not omnipotent."

"S-sorry," Mavy squeaked, inching away from a puddle of piss below him. As Rye pulled away from his tight protective embrace around me, he mustered up the courage to continue.

"Y-y-you said... wh-why couldn't you make him a body, s-sir?" he asked, wincing as he braced for another outburst. Rather than that, however, Palkia hesitated for once, the wall crystals darkening.

"That... is why I desired your presence here this night. Listen close, as this is of paramount importance," it said, leaning down as if we'd hear better. "Human. Sixty-four days ago, I summoned your wandering soul and began the process of sending it back to the mortal realm. After I found you worthy and prepared to send you off, however, the process was... interrupted."

The three of us exchanged a glance as Palkia's tail flicked again.

"I am certain you are aware of the organization known as the Phoenix League, correct?" it asked.

Had he been able to, Rye would have detonated right then and there.

"They did this! They made him...?! Those! I-I'm gonna-!" he yelled, his hands shakily shooting out to attack nothing as his eyes turned draconic indigo.

"Yes, in part. Evidently, the ambition of one in command did not coincide with mine, and they attempted to summon the human into their own custody through multiple means, use of psychic power chief among them. As you stand here now, it is evident they failed," Palkia said. "I lost track of your soul for a week, and by the time I found you, you had settled into a feral body, found a partner, and lied sleeping in a hospital bed. I was prepared to enlist my fellow Legends in subduing the feral soul's effects, however... I came to a decision."

"Yeh...?!" I demanded. It could have fixed me back then?! It'd just left me like that?!

"Human," Palkia demanded, a reddish tint bathing us briefly, warning me to shut my trap before it continued. "My ultimate decision was not based in any malicious intent, but rather... to remove as much bias as possible, to assist in coming to a sounder decision."

"Choice?" Mavy asked. Palkia only looked down at us, the crystals dimming even more.

"I am aware that over the past moon, the orbs corresponding to my counterparts have been stolen from their places by Phoenix-affiliated forces, all for their continued mission of returning the values of humankind. Tell me, why do you think this was done?" it asked, pausing to wait for an answer. We all glanced at each other again.

"A-ah dunno... a-a link? They're lookin' fer these three keys, and when th-they unlock the link 'n go through some door, the sun rises, right?" Mavy asked, recounting that story from his father. Much to our surprise, Palkia nodded.

"You are close. Now tell me. What do you know of the Entralink?" it asked us. Gauging our silent reactions, it continued. "It is a nexus of spatial-temporal power located somewhere within the Gray Continent. In the days of man, it was recorded to be able to pierce the veil of space and time, in many instances sending those who ventured through to other worlds and times. If one were to access it with the correct tools in hand, in this case the conduits of our power, they could well travel through any space, and as it concerns here, time in an instant."

It paused to give us a bit, though I didn't need long. My face went white under my fur as I realized the implications here.

'O-oh...'

"Yes. If what I have gathered is correct, it is evident that the Phoenix League wishes to use this in order to travel through time and prevent the Ruin."

My stomach dropped. I felt myself go limp as my entire body just went numb, a cocktail of shock and horror filling me as my breath picked up.

Was... that even possible? They could do that? They... they already had two orbs. If they could actually stop the Ruin from happening and manage to get around the obvious paradoxes in the way, then... that meant everything, the entire world as we knew it...

...oh, Arceus...

As I managed to pull myself back to reality, just narrowly avoiding vomiting my guts out, I noted Rye and Mavy were reacting similarly, the two of them both somewhere between horror and outright panic.

"Nonono... B-Beck... w-we- y- h-h... I-I don't want to... th-this can't be happening..." Rye choked out in his panic. A minute of horrified silence broken only by his terrified hyperventilating passed before the Treecko finally calmed himself enough to manage out a question.

"I... O-okay. S-so y-you brought us here to give us that last orb so we can stop them, right? I-if we just keep it away, then... w-we stop this?" Rye asked.

"No," Palkia said, matter-of-factly as if it hadn't just told us the world was one orb away from ending. "The Entralink does require our orbs, but not them alone. They are but navigational tools to accurately travel through spacetime. To enter it without them would be akin to walking blind, deaf, and without touch. A destination would be wished, but not where they would wish. Without the orb of space, one would be deposited into the plane of space at random: perhaps a mile off, perhaps at the other end of the universe," it continued. "Without the orb of time, one would find themselves in a random point in time, and without the orb of antimatter, in a random point in the layered structure of reality."

"Oh, that's... b-but do you have-?" Rye asked.

"No. I know not where the Lustrous Orb lies, only that its last known location was within the Gray Continent," Palkia said.

Silence hung over the three of us as that statement hit us like a truck.

"You don't... know? How can you not know, yer Palkia!" Mavy protested. The light in the room once more tinged red as Palkia's pearls glowed dimly.

"I am not omniscient, and I could not find it if I were to try. To do so would mean to come personally, and the risk of straying so far from Coronet so soon after the Ruin is not one I will yet take. Even coming in spectral form to observe and speak to the human took much power, I still have yet to recover," it said.

"So wut, y-you want us to find it?" Mavy asked.

"Yes," Palkia said. "You are part of an exploratory Guild, are you not?"

"That... agh! Fine, sure, fair," Mavy growled. A bit more silence hung before the still-trembling Rye looked at me nervously.

"I-if you don't have the orb, then... wh-why are we here?" he asked. The crystals on the wall dimmed even more, staying that way for a moment before shining brighter, illuminating Palkia's face as it pursed its lips.

"The Entralink does not require the orbs, though it does require a key of sorts: a human and Pokémon soul in tandem. Now, how such a plan as that of the League would impact mortal affairs... I confess I care little, and that is of issue. Do you know why I chose you, human?" it asked. "When I found your soul, I saw one wishing to better the world, one who would come to a more level decision. One suited for such an atypical task as this."

My breath became shaky.

"N-nah..." I shook my head, fearing where this was going.

"Yes. You are the key, human, and you have the authority to open the Link or permanently close it and set this earth on the right path. I summoned you so that you might make the choice."



...oh. Oh, no. Nonononono...

"N... nah. Nah, naw, shaa! Shaah, sha-aaah!" I desperately tried to reason with Palkia, shaking my head as I felt every last hue of color drain from my face.

"Wh... what?" Rye squeaked breathlessly, his tail dropping to the floor as he pulled a silent Mavy and I closer. Palkia only stared down at us, seeming to frown a bit.

"As my counterparts did with the heroes of lore, I leave this task in your hands, knowing full well I may trust you to act responsibly, for you have proven yourselves as capable in coming this far. In one manner or another, I trust you will accomplish this ordainment, for you have found solace in one another," Palkia said.

"W-wait! But th-this can't be right! B-Beck can't be...! Th-there has to be another human, someone who can... ugh, f-figure out all this! Wh-why us?" Rye asked, biting his lip as the crystals brightened once more.

"Because the human displayed it in life. From human flesh to Pokémon form, I have found reason enough to entrust this task upon him. He is human, after all," Palkia said, shifting in place. "Humanity... it is a complicated topic. At first to survive but then to overcome nature itself, they invented their weapons, and when nature ceased to be of challenge, they invented war. Humans are stubborn, restless, never truly satisfied. The most persistent, troublesome race we have ever watched over, even accounting for the race of Mew. And... that, perhaps, is their greatest strength. Why I have my faith in you."

"Wh... wh-wh-wha mehn?" I asked. For the first time, Palkia almost seemed to smile.

"Child, I was watching when your race first built their rockets and broke free of their earthly prison to touch the heavens. Had they not fallen such, I do not doubt their footprints on the moon would become but another step in their neverending journey to rule over this earth. Humankind is ambitious, and they will stop at nothing to become something greater than themselves; for better or for worse," it said, looking down. "Even when they fly too close to the sun... to think those few were so close to restructuring reality itself. Alas, billions dead and this world changed forever... all over a single weak link in the chain they created to bind me."

"Th-that's the Ruin, right?" Rye asked, watching as Palkia nodded.

"A fitting name, yes," it said.

"W-will it happen again? When'll it be? Is this gonna-?" Rye asked hurriedly, though winced as that red tint briefly arose once more.

"Fate is fluid, child, little is set in stone. And whether it is tomorrow or in a billion years that your race's mortal remains lie forever in peace... it is best you not have an idea," Palkia said before looking up, the wall crystals returning to normal glow. "I drift off the primary concern. I do suppose you should must be getting to work."

"Wha?! W-weht! Nah, nah yeht!" I yelled in vain.

"I will remain in touch to the best of my ability," Palkia said, watching as a glow not unlike an Escape orb's encompassed us. "Find my Orb. Open the Link according to the League's desires and return this earth to the governance of man, or forever close it and seal the world in Pokémon rule, and it shall be done. I wish the best of luck upon you, human."

Before we could protest any further, we were lifted off our feet by that familiar wind, the last thing we saw of that room being Palkia as it watched us go, already turning to head the way it'd come.

It wasn't long before we were settled back down onto solid ground. As I opened my eyes, I found myself facing a familiar cave, a statue of a Kangaskhan in the center of it. We'd been transported back to the rest area, it seemed, and we were alone in here. Thankfully so, because after everything we'd learned in the hour since we'd been in here...

A shaken Rye and Mavy watched silently as my legs gave way below me and I slid down against the wall, not even having the energy left to tremble as I just stared off.

'…







...what.'
 
50 - Fallen Yet Standing

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
The leaves rustled as a soft, pleasant wind blew through the sprawling maple forest, one of many covering this part of Gray Orient. Under the starlit sky and shining full moon above, a serene calm hung over the still lake holding the entrance to the Caverns of Being. At the shoreline, a sudden rush of wind abruptly broke the calm, a flash of light giving way to a Quilava and Leafeon. They were over forty minutes behind their fellow explorers in Team Fraternity, they knew, but that time had been required. While Arden had needed time to get used to his regenerated foreleg, the previous the victim of a Blast Trap, there had also been more pressing matters to attend to.


"Alright. Which one of us talks to the dog first?" May asked as the two started towards base camp, squinting in the dark of the night.


"No offense, but I've got more know in this, I'll do the heavy lifting here," Arden said.


"That... is fair. But, you know, heavy lifting. With that arm," May pointed out.


"Hearty har har," Arden said as the two passed the first tent.


"Alright, you wanna wait in his tent or get some rest before...?" May trailed off, her gaze drifting over to her partner as he stopped in his tracks. His face slowly shifted as his ears swiveled around.


"...do you hear that?" he asked.


"Hear what?" May asked. Arden gave her a grave look.


"Exactly," he said. The Leafeon cocked her head for a bit before her eyes widened in understanding. Base camp was completely silent aside from them; no talking, no footfalls, no late night snacks sizzling over the fire. Just dead silence.


Team Apex had been on this Guild for long enough to know this was not normal.


May quickly clicked her tongue, gesturing into the nearest tent and cautiously making her way over, sneaking silently along with practiced grace. The two pulled the door back, peeking into the tent, then paled.


Sprawled on the floor was Krookodile and the rest of Team Fraternity, their bodies still. Arden was quick to run up to them and put a paw on Hitmontop's neck, quietly and profusely cursing to himself.


"...there's a pulse, they're not dead," he whispered, examining the tent further. "Shit... are you seeing this? Look at the wall, there's tears near the door there. And the floor, those don't look like they just conked out. This... there was a struggle. This was an attack."


Arden and May exchanged a quick glance before running out of the tent, dashing to another tent and looking inside, then another, and another. In each and every tent, signs of scuffles framed unconscious Pokémon, and with each new tent, the realization was hammered in further and further for the two veterans.


Everyone in base camp was out cold. They were alone in here.


"...shit! Arcanine!" Arden soon said breathlessly, his gaze turning towards the Caverns' mouth. May's ears drooped, though before she and Arden could begin their mad dash back, something stopped them.


"—think I heard something this way, you think they missed any?" a voice asked from afar. The two immediately bolted back into camp, diving into a tent before the source of the voice could spot them. Seeing that this tent, too, hosted a couple of unconscious Pokémon, Arden and May exchanged a glance before getting onto the floor, positioning themselves as naturally as they could around the unfortunate explorers and going limp just before the tent's door opened, the silhouette of a Pokémon standing with light to its back.


"See. Nothing. Probably just another feral coming in for the free food. Really, Dreepy, lighten up, have a drink, they won't be long down there," another voice said, growing fainter as the footfalls carrying it drew farther away. Arden immediately made to get up, his vents already sparking, though a glare from May stopped him.


"You are not going out there and fighting them. Remember Greedent's Rebellion? Even one guy down, they all figure out something's up and gang up on us," she chided quietly.


"...fine, fair. But Arcanine, what about him? If he hasn't come out to kick their asses, something's wrong. What do we do, wait till they leave and hope they haven't broken his kneecaps?" Arden hissed. May thought for a bit.


"Give me a moment," she whispered. As she kept lying there, muttering to herself as she tried to start the base of a plan, Arden just gritted his teeth, listening to the distant voices of the invaders.


How'd this happened? Why? They'd said they had Pokémon down in the caves, was that it? Could these be Phoenix? Why hadn't Arcanine responded? Was he...?


Such questions weighed down on the Quilava as he and his partner frantically thought of a way to resolve this, the deafening silence continuing to roar in their ears.

-o-​

Drip... drip... drip...

The slow, rhythmic dripping of water from somewhere in the cave was the only sound that met our ears as the three of us sat against the Kangaskhan statue in the room, silently processing everything that we'd just seen and learned. We hadn't even made eye contact with each other for the past few minutes, just sat there letting it sink in.


I had been summoned by Palkia. I'd been made feral by accident, but Palkia had refused to change me back. The Phoenixes were planning on ending the entire world as we knew it. Palkia didn't even know where the one thing between us and that was.


...I was supposed to decide on whether the Phoenixes should prevent humanity from going under or if things should stay as they were.


The answer seemed obvious to me, I'd have loved to say the answer would be to close this Link. But something about the prospect of doing that, destroying any chance of my species, my old world, everything I'd used to hold dear ever coming back... it just rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't know what to do... maybe I just needed time? Maybe a long talk with Arcanine? Maybe just curling up and sleeping till Palkia got back to me?


'...aagh! What am I supposed to do?!'


The torturous quiet around me kept hanging, leaving me to drown in my own thoughts until Mavy sat up, clearing his throat.


"So. I, uh... reckon now's as good a time as any to say I believe y'all now," he said. Rye looked over, his tail twitching a bit.


"R-really?" he asked.


"Ah mean, either the crazy's contagious or ah just poked Palkia 'n saw him tellin' Beck... that. Ah'll admit, purty hard to argue with that," Mavy said.


"Ah, th-that... yeah," Rye nodded as he glanced at me. His tone wasn't quite hah, I told you so as I'd expected, but more along the lines of yep, welcome to the madness. Appropriate, I supposed.


"So, on that topic," Mavy said. "What the shit do we even do now?"


Another bout of silence hung between us.


"I-I... don't even know," Rye managed. "B-but... w-we have time. They don't have that orb, and we have... y-you know. A human and Pokémon soul working together, right? A-all we have to do is find the orb and this Link, and—"


"It said we needed all three," Mavy pointed out.


"F-for... traveling through it, right?" Rye asked.


"You really wanna test it?" Mavy asked. Rye hesitated for a moment.


"...o-okay, sure, but, uh... f-finding that one orb's priority right, don't you think? Beck?" he asked.


"Sh... sh-shyah," I nodded, keeping an arm around my belly. Seeing me so stressed, Rye put a hand on my back as he continued.


"S-somewhere in Gray Proper. W-we've just gotta ask Mr. Arcanine for help, right?" he asked. "Even if i-it's an entire region..."


I let a shaky breath escape my mouth as I gripped my tail ever harder, rocking in place. Rye's grip on my back tightened as he took note, his frown deepening.


"B-Beck... I-I can't... e-even begin to imagine what this is like. But... I-I'm right here. We both are. W-we're a team, we're in this together," he said. Mavy let out a quiet sigh as he turned to face us.


"You never gon lemme live down that group hug, huh?" he asked. "But... yeah. Sure, yer a smelly, feral, hue-mon thing, but yer my, er, friend too. Or something like that," he said. I only huddled in place more, hugging my tail tighter, though I still gave a nod.


"T-tanks, guys. Tanks," I managed sincerely. Rye leaned towards me as silence once more hung, though sat up as he noticed Mavy had started staring off, his brow furrowing.


"Wha?" I asked, my ears raising.


"Um... y'all hear that too, right?" Mavy asked, frowning looked in the direction of the cave's entrance.


Yeah, he had heard something, all right, I could hear it coming down that hallway, and fast. But were those... footsteps I was hearing

-o-​

The plan went off at the perfect time, right when it seemed the patrol was undergoing a shift change. First the lingering smell of smoke, the beginning of pops and crackles from the brush, then just as the warm orange glow began to shine from the trees...

"Fire! Fire!" a voice yelled, smoke rising from the forest in their direction. The shuffling of feet sounded as the two Pokémon in the immediate vicinity stood and ran to join the others, already hypothesizing to each other about fallen lanterns or foul play. Peeking out and seeing the fire burn at the other side of the camp, Arden gave a smirk.


"Still got it," he nodded as he and his partner slipped out of the tent.


"Nice shot," May whispered. "You're sure they'll take care of that? Wouldn't want us to get locked up for a wildfire again."


"Hey, if they can take out base camp, they can take care of a little fire. Look, they've got Water-types there already," Arden pointed as they waited behind a tent, bolting out under cover of shadow once confident they were in the clear.


Frankly, Arden considered it a miracle they'd made it this far; while a half hour waiting while under enemy watch was by no means their finest accomplishment, it'd do. With a look back to make sure they hadn't been followed, May jumped into the water to swim to the Caverns' entrance, Arden hesitating for a bit before taking one of the rafts they'd used in entering. The two sprinting headlong into the cave's mouth as the air chilled around them, they quickly stopped in the dungeon's grandiose first floor as they saw the sight before them.


"Who- who is there?" a familiar baritone voice called out from the dark. A cocktail of emotions ran through Arden as he ran forth, his vents blazing and lighting his path.


"Arcanine, it's us, it's Arden! You okay? What happened?" he asked, wincing as the Guildmaster came into view of his firelight. The dog was sprawled on the floor, bruises covering him and one of his legs appearing broken as he looked up at Arden, clenching his teeth as he tried to get up.


"There was an ambush. I fought, but I was overpowered and held down to allow the others entry," he said, Arden and May helping him to his good paws.


"It's okay, sir, we're glad you're alright. They took out base camp, place is crawling with friendly friends right now. We think some shock and awe oughta—" May started.


"Wait, wait, stop. Others? Entry into where?" Arden asked. Arcanine did not answer, though Arden quickly glanced at a particular opening. The first one from the right, the one he and May had gone down. The one where... oh no.


"Shit. Shit! Son of a bitch!" Arden swore, scrambling out from under Arcanine and grabbing for his badge. With three quick taps, he started speaking into it, his wavering voice betraying his panic.


"All teams, all teams, this is Apex!"

-o-​

"This is Apex, ping back if you can hear me! This is code Yvetal Broken, base camp has been compromised! Expedition has been compromised! Get out of the dungeon right now, repeat, get out n—"

Crunch.


Our badges simply crumpled into each other like paper as they floated in midair, the frantic mental transmission cutting out. The perpetrator merely looked up at the useless badges before quietly turning his gaze towards us as more Pokémon swarmed into the room barking orders and moving into position with practiced grace. As the three of us scrambled back in panic, Rye dug in his bag for our Escape orb, though no sooner than he had pulled it out did it fly out of his hands, levitating in the air as the leader of the sudden ambush gave the faintest sign of a frown.


"Do not. We wish not for conflict, we wish only to speak," Xatu said. "You will listen."


The orb faltering in midair for a second as the bird stared at us, the message came across clearly. If we didn't cooperate, our only way of escape would fall ten feet and against the stone floor. Looking around desperately for another means of escape, I found none to speak of: the path back into the dungeon was blocked off, the path deeper in was probably the fire to this frying pan, and the secret passageway would take too long to open. This in mind, I exchanged a glance with a trembling Rye, then took my paw off my scalchop, raising my arms in surrender. As Rye did the same, Mavy watching us in disbelief, I took a good look around.


There were fifteen Pokémon standing around Xatu, most of them prepared to strike at command. A Wyrdeer, the orbs on its antlers still glowing from what I guessed was keeping that last floor's spatial madness at bay. An Archeops, frowning as his body faintly glowed with Ancient Power at the ready. A familiar Linoone, averting his gaze from his son's own. Some carried weapons, some bore items, and I knew for certain all of them had prepared for this moment. As such, all I could do was watch and pray as Xatu cocked his head.


"Hm. So this is Team of Interest Blue. How quaint, it is little wonder you are not talked of. An interesting choice for a teammate as well," he observed, glancing at Linoone.


"You damn—!" Mavy growled, zigzagging towards Xatu. The Pokémon around him immediately prepared to defend him, though the air seemed to tighten as Mavy abruptly lifted into the air. As the Zigzagoon yelped and tried to wrest free, Xatu raising a wing.


"Stand down. You and I both heard the Director's orders. Now stand down," he commanded to the others before Mavy was thrown back with a grunt. Seeing our teammate's attempt halted so easily, Rye started stammering amidst his intense trembling.


"Y-y-you... th-they'll come down here, th-they'll stop you! W-w-we aren't...!" he managed. As a couple mocking chuckles came from the other Phoenixes, Xatu blinked.


"None saw us enter whom we did not neutralize, and any authorities intervening would first have to traverse this dungeon. No one will come," he said calmly, staring at us as we shrunk back. "Of course, that does not matter. As stated, I wish only to state my case."


I stood there for a second, trying one last time to brainstorm my way out of this, though I soon just nodded.


"Wha tahl-kh?" I asked. Xatu blinked.


"I gaze into your teammates' psyches. You are already aware of our intentions," he said. "Know that the specter's calling your soul was not the beginning. This moment is the culmination of nearly a century since the founding of our noble cause, a cause working only to save this world and all that is decent about it, to correct the great mistake. You are the key in flesh, child, the final piece."


"B-but this can't be the way! You... wh-what if this doesn't fix anything? What if you destroy the world by going through?" Rye argued.


"What is a chance of salvation past against a guaranteed future of decay? We know the risk, and it is one we are willing to take," Xatu said without hesitation.


"But c-can't you try something else? Mr. Arcanine could—" Rye began.


"Do not lecture me on other options," Xatu said coldly. "It has been fifteen hundred years. Every meaningful option to save this mockery of a civilization has been exhausted, and the earth still rots, the sapient stagnate, and those willing to take action only starve for longer. I have tried all else and only suffered for it."


We said nothing, my eyes darting around in hope of escape as Xatu blinked.


"This League is not one of monsters, child. We are but ordinary Pokémon who have suffered needlessly, those see the writing on the wall," he said, looking around at the Phoenixes surrounding him. "Executive Archeops, who lived with the knowledge that his species was dying without the technology to revive their numbers from stone. Brother Linoone, who wishes for nothing more than a more sustainable situation for towns as his. Wyrdeer, whose parents were culled by Tyranitar's regime during the war as to stop their species' overgrazing," he said. "And I. He whose town was stricken by starvation as Tyranitar's regime arose, he who was arrested for the simple desire to feed his ungrateful family, he who was saved from death by a Society team only to be rejected for he was but a citizen of the tyrant's realm. As I have said, you will not lecture us, the miserables of this earth on other options."


"I-I... I-I'm sorry all that happened to all of you, I really am," Rye said. "I-I know how you feel, I... l-lost my friend when th-the dungeon in Mount Twist... urgh, b-but I'm moving on, y-you can too! You need to destroy everything! There're other ways!"


"Surely you would understand that the Twist range only became volcanically active as a consequence of the Ruin, and that mystery dungeons only plague the earth because of the failure of those governing space in the aftermath," Xatu said. "Would this... Dill not survive if the Ruin were prevented? If mankind still reigned?"


"H-he wouldn't even have been born!" Rye protested, trembling at the mention of the name.


"And who are you to question the workings of the soul? Would Giratina not produce the same souls from distortion regardless of spatial context?" Xatu asked.


"Wut the fuck are you talkin' 'bout?!" Mavy yelled. The air tightened as the corners of Xatu's beak curled downwards ever so slightly, the Phoenixes behind him tensing up.


"Silence," he demanded before blinking once more and sighing. "...do you know why the war occurred? Why so many of our brothers and sisters follow our lead with none to lose? Simply because Pokémon believed they might yet reach the glory of the Golden Age. Tyranitar was the victim of delusion, that he had been ordained to succeed the Twin Heroes of human lore. And yet, all he accomplished in his quest was more death, more decline, and himself encased in ice by the creature he believed he could control."


The bird paused, staring to make sure we were still listening. I hung my head as he continued.


"Truly, the sole reason we did not return to the ways of the ferals after the Ruin was because of the guidance of Pokémon with human knowledge. Humans like you. While yes, Pokémon may be superior in strength and body, what does that encourage if not brute competition? Where man lacked in strength, they possessed in mind, in wit, in ambition. Even at their lowest, when they lived, hunted, wallowed in their filth as you do now, they did not simply survive. They thrived," he said. "Even with nothing but dust and their creativity at their disposal, they crafted towering wonders, bested and tamed the most ferocious of ferals, and forged the guidelines of all that is good and proper even to this day, all with nothing to guide them. Not only has Pokémon civilization not followed suit, it refuses to."


"Wh-what?" Rye squeaked.


"Tell me. Where are our wonders? Of engineering, art, astronomy, discovery, science?" Xatu rebutted. "Human. I can here name many of your race that forever changed this world through their actions alone. Arceus-Zygarde, who with his ultimate weapon, felled the petty kingdoms of the Bronze Age, beginning the rise of the strong left standing and of western civilization as a whole. Caesar, who raised his empire's banner from Gaulos to Decolorum and sculpted the path of his subjects for millennia to come. Newton, who unlocked the secrets of the universe and guided the earth into an age of understanding. Tokugawa, who unified the lands of Kanto and defined the eastern world in those final centuries. Silph, who gave the common man the capability to tame this world and unlock his true potential as a race. What of Pokémon, though?"


We remained silent.


"Child. A single human has within them the power to forever alter history. The common Pokémon is only content with what is within their reach, their horizons cannot be broadened. It is this common Pokémon that emerges as the alpha of the pack, that rules over towns, that boasts leadership of the great Societies and the world at large," Xatu said. "Where will we be within a thousand years of their leadership? I tell you, nothing will have improved. Should it have changed, it will invariably be for the worst. Will Pokémon have reverted to the savagery that is natural for them? And what of when a summoned human fails in their ordained task?"


"That's a loada shit, you can't juss call ev'ryone—" Mavy started, though he stopped as he suddenly lifted into the air. The Zigzagoon gasped and sputtered as hung there for a second, grabbing at his neck before getting dropped to the ground where we hurriedly ran to check up on him. Xatu only blinked as he watched, the air no less tighter as I turned my fearful gaze towards him.


"We come not to bring you harm. We wish only that you might cooperate, that you may aid us in our plight. We know you met... something. We know it is of power enough that it may have even possessed the Lustrous Orb. Our humble request is simply that you, Team of Interest Blue, may offer the Phoenix League your services in our quest to save this world from ruin," Xatu said. "Walk away, child, and this shall continue long after you and I pass on. The slow, agonizing stagnation of what was once shining and glorious will only continue. The stars mankind was meant to conquer will only serve to wink down upon this doomed earth that will irrevocably serve as our eternal tomb. Is that truly what you wish?"


I didn't answer, I couldn't have even if I was able. A myriad of conflicting feelings swirled in my gut, and they all mixed to make a vile cocktail that made me want to combust then and there. Yes, I had just seen Xatu force-choke Mavy, and yeah, I was both terrified and angry for this, but... did he have a point? I... honestly wasn't sure. I... I didn't want to be here. I wanted to scream. I wanted to claw into my face, if only to let some of this out—


"Be at ease, child. We understand. Fear not, for we will help you along this path as efficiently as possible," Xatu said as gently as he could apparently muster, a sudden migraine hitting me as I felt something poking around in my head. However, it ended as abruptly as it had begun, Xatu's demeanor faltering as the air grew ever more strained. The psychic was silent, having apparently figured out what was up.


"...even the titan itself did not know of the orb's whereabouts?" Xatu asked, that hint of confusion I'd heard once before in his voice. A frantic murmur arose from the Phoenixes behind him; some ran to surround us further, some prepared moved in anticipation. Whatever the case, Xatu did not stop them this time, instead blinking once more as he began to pace.


"It does not matter. You will still come. There is no room for refusal in such a momentous situation," he said, his tone having taken on a bit of demanding by this point.


"W-we won't..." Rye managed.


"You are not in a position of authority over our command," Xatu said.


"I-I don't care! Y-you aren't in a-a p-position of... authority over the world, either!" Rye rebutted. Xatu's face twitched.


"Rye—" Mavy started.


"Perhaps we do not. But we are those who have—" he began.


"Look at Beck, look at him! D-do you even realize what you're putting him through? Y-you're sick! No one gave you any power to decide this, and w-we're not joining your—!" Rye yelled.


Xatu shifted his wings, psychic power beginning to shimmer along their edges as he glanced up at our Escape orb still floating in midair. At this sight, Rye seemed to reconsider his words, though Xatu's gaze only turned towards me. We both stared into each other's eyes, his blank expression beholding mine of conflict and terror. As the Phoenixes around us stepped in to apprehend us, the tightness in the air grew more and more as he stared longer, apparently soaking in our panicked thoughts.


'No, no... this can't be it. Not now, not now... I've lost so much, been through all this shit, this can't just be it—'


At that thought, something suddenly snapped. One second, we were scrambling back as the Phoenixes apprehended us with practiced ease, the next second, said Phoenixes were fleeing in mortal terror as the tightness in the air finally seemed to boil over, telekinetic power emanating from Xatu, his gaze burning as he glared at us, more emotion in his face than I had ever seen.


"You... ungrateful... you think you are the only one who has lost everything? Did you spend ten years questioning your very sanity over a single memory you were cursed with? Were you left on the streets with nothing but the past-sight of what you lost? Did the Legends themselves tear you from life just to deem you unworthy and cast you into oblivion to die?!"


Silence hung in the air as every pair of eyes in the room rested on Xatu.


"...yeh... yeh're...?" I managed.


"Choose your next words wisely," Xatu spat.


...


Xatu was...?


I didn't know what to say or even think. My mind was drowning in questions, panicked conclusions, broken philosophy, and just about everything else it could muster. One thing, however, just managed to bubble up and take up my inner voice.


"Tell them to suck a dick," Arden's voice echoed in my memory.


'...shit.'


Xatu stared for just a moment longer before the orb floating above his head suddenly dropped. I jumped forward to try and catch it, but in the end, all I could do was watch helplessly as our only chance at a quick escape smashed against the stone floor behind him.


I only stared for a second, though, before I took a quick glance around. All the other Phoenixes were bunched against the wall, Linoone in particular watching concernedly, and the only thing in our way was Xatu.


...


I suddenly shot an Ice Beam at the bird, who quickly raised a wing to block it. As the sheer anger in the air flared, I ran forward and around Xatu as fast as I could, giving a cry to my teammates. Getting the idea, Rye and Mavy bolted, hurrying with me towards the dungeon with impressive speed. However, our escape didn't last long before Xatu jerked his head to the side and I felt the air tense.


Before I could even process that we weren't gonna make it, Mavy suddenly shot off the floor and slammed against the ceiling. A horrid crunch sounded out as bones shattered against the stone, followed by a loud, awful scream of agony as Mavy was released and fell back to the floor to writhe. Several loud yells for the Zigzagoon rang out as my head spun with panic, though these were quickly drowned out as a newly enraged Rye released a Dragon Breath unlike any he'd ever produced right in Xatu's direction. The bird simply teleported out of the way, though, and with a wave of his wing, he threw Rye to the side to telekinetically pin against the wall.


And so I stood alone, the broken Mavy continuing to cry out in pain and Rye struggling against his hold. Without any regard for the two, Xatu stepped towards me, flicking his wing once before releasing Rye, who immediately fell to the floor before clutching at his chest in panic. Xatu's calm demeanor began to make a comeback as I scrambled back in utter terror, my eyes darting to find a solution I knew wasn't there. However, just as I was beginning to give up hope, a glint hit my eye: from among the Phoenixes watching, Linoone stared into my eyes pleadingly as his breath shook, producing a blue object from behind his paw.


My eyes widened, though I suddenly felt myself drop to the ground, feeling as though some great weight was holding me down. As I yelled and struggled to try and get up, Xatu walked up, his calm demeanor having returned as he stared down at me, not even bothering to grace me with a monologue. Before long, I felt myself lift into the air, my screams only getting louder as the bird gestured to the others to come. However, seeing a sudden frantic window of opportunity as I floated by his shoulder, I stared into his still-burning eyes for only a second before sending a jet of energy up my throat, guiding it into a point, and shooting it out my mouth as Bert had taught me and into his eyes. Xatu instinctively teleported away, my body falling to the ground. As rocks began to levitate around him, the Psychic blinked hard and glared at me from his new position, though before he could lunge back at me, he paused as he noticed the spare Escape orb rolling towards me too late.


Save him, Linoone mouthed, thankfully going unnoticed. Glancing at Mavy as he gasped and writhed, I nodded, grabbing the orb and running for Mavy and Rye. Grabbing Rye from off the floor as he gasped for air and beat at his own chest, I shoved him close to Mavy, then lifted the orb above my head.


Xatu, though still silent, finally seemed to snap there, pink energy erupting from his twitching body as he directed all the energy he could muster at us. It was too late, though.


"Sh- a-ak-ti-fay!" I managed. For a horrible instant, it seemed my word hadn't triggered it, that I hadn't been able to pronounce it correctly. Then, miraculously, the warmth in my paws, the light, the rush of wind—


And then Xatu's Psychic hit me like a truck.


For the briefest of moments, it felt like my mind was mere seconds from exploding. Every thought felt like white-hot lead trickling through my head, every sensation felt scattered and distorted, and what must have been half a second felt like hours before it finally ended. Through the pain and over my screams, I processed Xatu standing there watching and the Phoenixes finally running forward to try and stop us before the light of the Escape orb engulfed us.


It wasn't long before I felt grass brush up against us, sweet morning light finally meeting my skin as I lied there motionless. Immediately, I managed to make out a few panicked yells, the tolling of a bell, and several vague figures running up to tend to us. I just barely made out a Pokémon standing over Rye and pounding at his chest before the delirium of that final attack caught up to me and I descended into blissful unconsciousness...

-o-​

...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...


...just stirred, right there...


...going to make it...



...

-o-​

A breath escaped my mouth as I slowly became aware again. Moaning weakly, I lied in the cozy padding below me, my eyes still closed as I briefly questioned where I was, what had happened.


Everything was a blur. I remembered... Palkia, I thought? That cave? Then Xatu had come in and—


Xatu! My friends!


I tore my eyes open and sat up, though immediately became lightheaded and fell back with a groan as I looked around. This wasn't base camp, this was some kind of room. The air was too different, I couldn't... where was I?!


"Beck? Beck, y-you're awake! H- agh..." a voice croaked from beside me. I turned my head to see the source, relief quickly coursing through me. Rye looked back at me, looking brownish in places and clutching at his chest but still very much alive.


"Rye?" I managed out. "Shaa... sh-w- wehr?"


"W-we're... h-hospital. In Westgrove. You've... been out since the day before yesterday," Rye said.


"Wh-wha? Wha hah-peh?" I asked, my memory still trying to catch up with me. Rye hesitated long and hard, frowning to himself.


"Th-they... said y-you got hit bad with a Psychic saving us. M-Mavy got his legs and ribs broken bad. I-I... m-my heart, th-they said it..." he trailed off, shivering to himself as his breath shook. "I-I... I'm so sorry..."


"R-Rye. I..." I said in disbelief, my eyes wide. He... he had almost...


An enormous pit of guilt forming in my gut, my breath shook as I tried to think of what to say.


"Sh-sh... a-am sahry. Am sah sahry," I managed out.


"N-no, don't apologize. Y-you did nothing wrong... I was leader there. I-I should've gotten us out," he said.


"Nah, is... mah faht. Am... a-am sah sahry," I pleaded. Rye was silent as he stared up at the ceiling, his eyes watery, so managing to wrest back the guilt screaming into my ears for a second, I reached over towards his cot. "A-am here. Am here."


Another moment of hesitation passed before Rye took my paw, stifling a quiet sob.


"Th-thank you... thank you," he managed. I kept clutching my friend's hand for a moment before suddenly gasping.


"Maffy! Maffy?" I called.


"H-howdy... I-I ain't dead yet, dammit," Mavy's voice managed through evidently clenched teeth from a nearby cot, the Zigzagoon covered in casts to the point I couldn't recognize him at first glance. I let out a quiet sigh of relief; we'd been beaten for sure, to say the very least, but we were at least alive.


A couple minutes of silence passed before a Chansey peeked in from the curtain leading in, though they were quick to disappear. It wasn't long, though, before she returned with someone else in tow: Guildmaster Arcanine, limping as he ducked under the door. As he glanced at us, he gave a strained smile.


"Team Reach. I... do regret we could not speak under more favorable circumstances," he said, sitting down.


"M-Mr. Arcanine, we... w-we're sorry," Rye said.


"Please, young Rye. Your team is at fault for none of this. I, frankly, should have done more to ensure your safety; this was but a series of unfortunate happenings that you had no control over," Arcanine sighed. "I am told, however, that you are on the path to recovery. Maverick will require closer monitoring in the following weeks, and cardiac asystole is unfortunately not something one can simply walk away from, though I am confident that you all will make full recoveries in the coming weeks."


"Th-the Phoenixes, did you find—?" Rye asked. Arcanine sighed.


"No. The group in base camp retreated upon my appearance, and authorities were unable to apprehend those within the cave. However, through failure, one learns. We know of their tricks, their angle of attack, how we might counter such in the future," Arcanine said. "However, on that note..."


The golden dog's optimistic expression quickly became more solemn as he glanced at Chansey.


"If you would excuse us," he requested. Chansey quickly nodded and hurried out of the room, leaving the three of us alone with the Guildmaster as he waited for one of us to speak.


"Wait, hol up, wudja mean closer monitorin'?" Mavy soon broke the silence. Arcanine pursed his lips.


"That is for Audino to decide," he said. "Now... I believe you know what questions I have. If needed, this may wait for another time while you recover, but if possible... tell me everything."


The three of us exchanged nervous glances as best we could, though it wasn't long before Rye gulped.


"I-I'll do my best, er, stop me if you need to. Uh, M-Mavy, I-I'll need help," he said, managing to sit up to face Arcanine. "Uh... s-so, when we reached the rest area, Beck found a-a secret door from what the v-vision told him..."


Over the next few minutes, the three of us did our best to fill in the Guildmaster on everything we could: the lower dungeon, Palkia, the Link, the Phoenixes' plan, and why I was truly here. At this point, Arcanine had requested we stop, hanging his head as he stared at the floor. A moment passed before he looked back up.


"Please. Continue," he said.


"Uhm, a-after Palkia sent us out, we talked for a while, but, uh, th-then Xatu and a bunch of Phoenixes showed up and crushed our badges. H-he went on this... m-monologue about why we should join him—" Rye recounted.


"Sounded more like he was readin' off some kinda crazy manifesto," Mavy butted in.


"Yeah," Rye said. "Th-then he got all mad, talked about how much he'd lost, something about th-the Legends, a-and then..."


He trailed off, trembling again as Arcanine blinked, his eyes narrowing.


"...young Beck, can you confirm that the Xatu said such?" he asked.


"Y-yeah," I nodded, debating for a second before deciding to share my insane theory. "T-tink... tink he hah-men."


Arcanine didn't respond at first. The Guildmaster only sat there for a moment, his eyebrow twitching once before he hung his head.


"So it is," he said, his voice quiet but with a tone of anger to it.


"W-wait, h-he—?!" Rye blurted out.


"Beck. You were given a test of worth before you awoke, correct? A standard for all humans," Arcanine said, stepping up towards me. "Natu... I met him before the war, did my best to mentor him. He... claimed to have gazed into a past where he failed that test. His soul was thrown aside into the abyss, he claimed, and he only survived when he awoke as an unborn Natu, in body, mind, and even soul."


My eyes widened, the pit in my stomach growing deeper with each new word the Guildmaster said. I trembled, lying back into my cot as Arcanine hung his head.


"Yes, Natu was troubled, and his life had been difficult, but... I truly believed I could help him. He... was good at heart," he said. None of us said anything, Rye and I too stunned to even say anything and Mavy likely confused as to this latest of unfamiliar developments. After a while, though, Arcanine pursed his lips and got up, wincing as he worked to stand with the splint on his leg inhibiting him.


"Hm. The Orb remains unaccounted for, the Phoenixes have proven their versatility, and we have... far more of an crisis on our hands than simple orbs," he summarized. "And at such cost..."


A deep, regretful sigh sounded out as the giant dog looked to the floor.


"I am sorry you had to endure all this. It was for the best that you descended, but... I truly apologize," he said morosely.


"N-no, don't apologize. I-if it wasn't our fault, it isn't yours, either," Rye said, sitting up. Arcanine chuckled a bit, giving a hint of a smile.


"Perhaps," he said, turning to face the door. "I will recount what you have told me to the Societies and await their decree. We will depart for Impetus Town come tomorrow. You will be referred to Audino immediately upon arrival, and she will decide on what comes next."


As the three of us muttered our understanding, Arcanine began to leave, though paused before he was out the door to look back at us.


"One more point of topic," he said. Watching the three of us for a moment, he smiled. "I am proud of you."


With that, he limped out the door, where I could make out a decently-sized group of Pokémon swarming the Guildmaster and clamoring for insight.


"Sir, sir! Are they okay?"


"What'd they say?"


"Mawile, Westgrove-on-Sea Gazette! Is it true a Phoenix cell overpowered you and your expedition, Guildmaster?"


"Just to the count of ten, that's all Smeargle needs!"


"Move, move, dammit! I gotta see the kid!"


That last voice stuck out like a sore thumb, and sure enough, I caught a glimpse of a familiar Quilava pushing through the doorway before the Chansey I'd seen grabbed his arm and pulled him out.


"Fuck damn it, at least tell me what he said, the basic gist!" Arden demanded.


"...Arden. That information is strictly confidential, only for myself and the higher ranks of the Societies," Arcanine's voice replied.


"I know, but—" Arden's voice protested.


"Enough. I am aware we have given you much leniency for what you have done for this continent, but you are not entitled to this information. Do not test me," Arcanine demanded.


"What? No, I'm not saying I'm entitled! It's just... shit's clearly going down, I think I deserve at least a bit of insight here!"


"And why would you over everyone else deserve such?" Arcanine asked. A moment of silence hung among the clamoring.


"...okay. Yeah, okay, you're right, sir, sorry to bother you," Arden asked, apparently walking away. I furrowed my brow at the conversation, though looking over at Rye and Mavy, it seemed they hadn't noticed, being more focused on other things.


"Y-you heard that, right? H-he... he's proud of us! I... w-we're..." Rye said, a smile on his face despite everything. "I-I just..."


"Yeah, that's... yep," Mavy chuckled, squirming a bit in his casts. "Uh... so we got a day, and now the squad's back together. Yay. Wut do we do now?"


"Uh... I-I don't know. I-I think the Guild still has our bags, and, uh, I-I don't think we should be walking... uh. I-I Spy, I guess?" Rye suggested. As I chuckled a bit at the memory of when we'd played in Cap'n Brine's bill (had that really been a month and a half ago?), Mavy gave a long, unimpressed look.


"Yep, there's the Treecko ah know. Unoriginal as always," he said, managing a smirk despite the situation. "Right. Ah spy somethin' brown, I guess."


As the two went back and forth with the impromptu game, I hung my head.


This was... to say it was a lot was a huge understatement. But... well, I supposed I might as well make the best of things. While I still could, at least.


"T-teh wahl?" I guessed, sitting back in my cot.

-o-​

...this again.


Of course.



I had gone to sleep half expecting this, and indeed, it seemed I was back. Floating in the abyss of the dreamscape, dreading whatever vision I was about to be given.


Palkia? Are you there?


There was no response, though it wasn't long before what I could only assume to be Palkia's hand began to make the darkness around me clearer and comprehensible. Before me, as I'd expected, Xatu stood, though alone in a nondescript room and facing the wall, grimacing. I waited for him to notice me for a second, briefly wondering why I was being shown this of all things before I suddenly got a clue.


"I cannot believe you. You... I gave you specific orders. Orders only a child would misunderstand. Approach Subject Blue and his teammates diplomatically and with grace, and do not do anything to alarm them. Where... where did you go wrong, Xatu?" a deep, distorted voice suddenly asked in my head, inciting a violent flinch of shock from me.


"My deepest apologies, sire. I confess, I allowed my emotion to get the better of me, but I assure you—" Xatu said, his voice noticeably more hushed than usual.


"No. You have done enough. Effective immediately, you are to stand by and await further orders, Xatu. I regret that this has to be done, but your failure in the Caverns was too egregious. You will be called upon should it be demanded, but for now..." the apparent "sire" said. "However, this may still be accomplished diplomatically as planned. We must be silent, graceful, and most importantly, quick about it. You understand why this is, correct?"


"Of course. Idling will only allow the Societies more time to secure the Lustrous Orb and to undermine our cause," Xatu said.


"That is not my primary concern, it is of the human himself. You know the setting he is in, a Guild was not the most ideal place for him to end up. If we hesitate too much in recruiting him... remember last time," the voice said.


"...of course," Xatu nodded, grinding his beak a bit. "Very well. I will... inform the executives of this change immed—"


The Psychic stopped mid-word, his head slowly turning to peer up at me. I bit my lip, knowing what was coming, though the voice suddenly rang in my head again.


"I-is that him?" it asked. "Wait, wait. Do not expel him. Allow me a moment."


Xatu remained still for a moment before relaxing his stance, staring up at me as the voice cleared its throat.


"Hello there, young human! I am sure you have already heard much about me, just as I have heard much about you. For formality's sake, though... I'm the one they call the Director."


I felt a chill run down my spine as the Director's voice hesitated a moment.


"Oh, where to begin... imagine, if you will, a cave. Through it runs a pathway, and on one side, a campfire burns, and on the other, a group of prisoners are held from birth, restrained so that they may only look forward at the wall. They would see none but the shadows of passing Pokémon and the items they carry, never a glimpse of anything else. They would not know anything of the world outside, even what a Pokémon would like like, for the cavern wall and the shadows cast would be all they had ever known. The wall of shadows would be their entire world," he soon said. "Now, imagine one were to break free, turn and see the fire and passersby behind him, perhaps even leave the cave and see the world for what it is: more than a simple wall of shadows. Would they not descend back into the cave to tell his fellow prisoners, to share his enlightenment? Alas, these Pokémon would ridicule such enlightenment, for indeed, they know nothing but the shadows."


I blinked, quite unsure of what I'd just heard.


"Human... we are the escaped prisoners. We are those who have seen the fire behind us, who have seen more than the shadows. Those who believe that the outline to a better world lies in the hands of humankind," the Director said. I just stared at Xatu.


Y-you're... you're insane, both of you. I-I


"I sense doubt in your words, sire. And yet... there are the roots of uncertainty. Of conflict," Xatu said.


I am not conflicted!


"Hm. Of course," the Director said. "I understand you need time to process what you have learned. Just know: insanity would be a mercy."


I felt a psychic grip clench my presence as the Director cleared his throat.


"Child... when, if you see the light, I trust you will know where to find our brothers and sisters. We will welcome you with open arms. And perhaps... you may find common understanding with Xatu's situation, human," he said. "We need you, child. We cannot open the Link without your guidance."


The Director's voice gave a quiet sigh as I felt his emotion shift a bit.


"Xatu, quite unfortunately, was cast aside before he could be summoned, and reborn a Pokémon; his soul is no longer compatible for our purposes. Yours, however..."


A moment passed as Xatu's hold on my presence held firm.


"For the sake of not just yourself and your friends, but the entire world, of all those who have ever suffered and will suffer as a consequence of the great mistake... choose wisely. I have my faith in you, child, for in the end, what is right and true shall always prevail. I have my faith that by your hand, man shall once more govern this earth," the Director said, an air of finality in his voice. "For even in the darkest of times, even when it seems all hope is lost, a quenched torch may yet still be reignited into a blazing beacon."


With that, Xatu jerked his head, and I felt the vision shatter around me...

-o-​


The door flew open, Xatu stepping through before pausing, giving a light sigh to himself. This... could have gone better. He had slipped, made a disgrace of himself to the Director and a monster of himself to Subject Blue. This mission had been a failure. Or perhaps a pyrrhic victory; he could not gaze far enough into the future to say for certain. Whatever the case, he had his faith in the Director's wisdom in this situation. This would be rectified.


This in mind, he blinked and swiveled his head to look at the scene before him. In contrast to his calm demeanor, the small temporary base they'd set up was in absolute chaos, Phoenix brothers and sisters scrambling this way and that to make preparations. As Xatu watched, he paused, his eye meeting a particular gaze: that of Lieutenant Linoone's. Behind the rodent's blue eyes, there was accusing, suspicion, anger, disbelief... Xatu supposed such would arise from familial connection such as that he had with Team of Interest Blue, and he doubted the Zigzagoon's injuries were lethal, but... that did not concern him now.


Linoone and all others that had been within the cave when he had slipped had sworn secrecy. The mere notion that they were aware, however... Xatu was not sure how to feel. But alas, it ultimately changed little so long as they kept their oaths. He would still be human in name only, as he had long seen himself as. The long-departed relative. The deliverer of the eulogy.


He who would make things right for his emperor, his people, his world.


As Linoone tore his eyes away and turned to address his team, Xatu heard the sound of wings flapping, followed shortly thereafter by Executive Archeops landing before him, face contorted with panic.


"Kap! We got found out, we've got till sunrise at best before the Guilds in Westgrove-on-Sea are on top of us!" he said breathlessly. Xatu blinked once more as he looked over at him.


"Thank you, Renim," he said emotionlessly. "Initiate evacuation procedures."


Archeops hurriedly nodded and turned to call to the others. As Phoenixes scrambled to their designated psychics for teleportation, Xatu glanced in the direction of the Caverns one last time.


A setback. A significant one, but a setback only.


In the end, they would make things right.


No matter what the cost.

-o-​

Adventurer's Log


14th of Zygarde's Moon, 1540 Post-Ruinam



Fuck, it's been a while since I wrote in this thing, hasn't it? Yeah... wow.


I think I said things were gonna get better a couple years back, when I wrote in this thing last. Well, what do you know. Things ate shit. They ate so much shit. Oshawott woke up and we'll be headed back tomorrow, but the dog's got this all shut tight. But, you know, I can't just leave this alone, they nearly fucking died down there and no one's gonna tell what gives?


I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. Something's gotta give, or I'm gonna have to poke my dick in places I don't wanna stick it and hope nothing bites it off. All I know is that there's a bunch of crazies and they like orbs and maybe feral children.


The world could be ending here, and that's all I have to go off of. Not a nice brief explanation wrapped up with a little bow like with Tyranitar, but just. "You are not entitled."


Ha.


[UNINTELLIGIBLE SCRIBBLING]


Right. I'll keep this thing updated, I guess, probably drop whatever I find in here. Pike, if you're reading this again, I swear by Arceus, we will be having fried Swellow over the fire tomorrow night. Here's hoping for a nice, easy solution, huh?


Yeah. Here's fucking hoping.


If any Legends happen to be looking over my shoulder here, say hi to Otto for me.


-o-​


"Last call for Impetus Town, last call for Impetus Town!"


The air over the Wailord-deck this time was most definitely different from when we'd pulled into Westgrove-on-Sea those couple days ago. Where there had been joyous chitchat, there now hung somber silence. Some had had a bit of a rough time in the dungeon. Some were still in shock at what had happened. Some had been on the surface and knocked out that night.


The biggest difference, though, was in the three beds that now sat near the bow of the deck.


I sat in my straw bed, staring out at the ocean as Rye and Mavy watched quietly. I had come for answers, and... well, I'd definitely gotten those. Maybe too many. But now the question stood: I had my answers now. What the fuck was I even supposed to do now?


Literally decide the fate of the world? ...maybe later.


Learn to speak, read, write? How could I go about finishing that with all this going on?


Find the Orb? Unova proper was eighty thousand square miles even without its neighbor lands, if I remembered correctly, where was I even supposed to start?


Ugh...


...in the end, though, I had woken up to see another day. The idea that I could even deliberate on all this today was a good one, considering how close I'd come. But... would my friends forgive me? Rye and Mavy had come even closer, would they even want to be part of this anymore?


As the explorers around me shuffled to their places, chatting quietly, I scooted towards Rye.


"Hey," I said.


"Yeah?" Rye asked, him and Mavy craning their heads to look at me.


"Er... y-yeh shtehl... wee shtehl fwehnds?" I asked, almost immediately regretting the words. I trembled a bit as my ears went flat against my head, looking around to see if anyone else had heard it. "A-am sahry. Sahry"


I was cut off as Rye got up to give me a tight hug.


"B-Beck... of course we're still friends," he said.


"I... yeah. No hard feelins' here. Yer still alright, kid. Us three, we're still insane together," Mavy tried to nod, wincing as he did so. I stared for a second before accepting Rye's hug, the tiniest of smiles on my face.


"T-tank yeh. Sha mach," I choked out.


"Th-thank you, too," Rye said.


As the Treecko smiled weakly and pulled away, I took my seat back between him and Mavy, staring back out at the ocean as the sun slowly climbed over it. The Wailord below us lurched and began its voyage as we sat in silence, inciting a small cheer from the other explorers behind us. I glanced back at them, then at my teammates, then at the sunset ahead.


There was a lot here, but... we'd survived. I'd made it this far, even in this body. If we could walk away from that night in the caves, what was another set of ordeals to make it through?


Despite everything, as the three of us sailed towards that sunrise and back towards home, I still held on to hope.


Would hope be enough, though? Would I, a scruffy little Oshawott in a strange land with nothing but the bonds I'd made and the shell on my chest, really make it through this with hope alone?


...I guessed only time would tell.

--o--​


"What's that one, Daddy?"


"Ah, which one? ...ah, that, those are the Twin Heroes. See that... line of four stars? Right there? That'd be their belts."


"Whoa."


"Whoa's right. The old myths say they tamed a great dragon and united the land. That was where Unova was created, so they said."


"Wow... uh, h-how do you know all this?"


"Oh, well... back when I was your age, back before everything went downhill, we had a professor in town, she liked to tell us these old stories. She was... real nice, I wish you could've met her. She would've loved you."


"D-did you live in Striaton when you were a kid, too?"


"No, I ended up here after... you know."


"Oh... will I still be cool like you?"


"Well, that's up to you. Everyone's got it in them to succeed, and you're no exception."


"But everything sucks balls now, I can't—"


"Hey! Watch your tongue!"


"Ah! I-I'm sorry!"


"Where'd you hear that from?"


"M-Mr. Van Virbank!"


"Oh, for— I told you, don't use any words you learn from him!"


"Sorry!"


"...I guess they did, huh? Let's work on that when you're old enough, alright?"


"O-okay..."


"We'll do it together, you and your old man."


"B-but you're not old."


"I will be one day. But... well, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, okay? I'll let you know when I do."


"Yes, sir."


"Alright.


...to think I wouldn't have seen all these stars forty years ago. It's... if there's one upside to it."



"But we're seeing the stars now, right?"


"Yeah. I guess we are. Maybe that's what matters."


"..."


"..."


"...I love you, Daddy."


"...


...love you too, Samuel."

--o--

END ACT ONE

--o--​
 
SE1 - Slope to an Apex

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
Author's Note: Trigger warning for child abuse. Proceed with caution or skip this one if you're prone to that.

Special Episode 1: Slope to an Apex


Serperior River Valley, Gray Proper


17th of Palkia's Moon, 1525 Post-Ruinam



The situation of Eldwood Town had not particularly good these past ten years.


Many in the town had joined in the jubilation when the first heralds had arrived telling that the scattered cities of the continent had finally put aside their differences to wage war against Tyranitar's self-proclaimed empire, but the time of elatement had long passed. First had come the resource shortages as trade had collapsed, then the tired, angry troops returning from the front, then the fear of invasion as Tyranitar's horde finally crossed the mighty Serperior.


It seemed difficult to make the poor little settlement's situation any more dire.


Well, not before today.


A boom erupted from the town square, screams filling the air as a pair of Pokemon raced away from the quickly-growing inferno. As Eldwood's trio of officers frantically chased them down, a raging Kecleon sprinting ahead of them, the fleeing Vaporeon exchanged a quick glance with his Espeon partner, a stuffed bag between his teeth. A Surf beneath him propelling him forward, the Vaporeon chucked the bag to the Espeon before melting into the ground with Acid Armor, the loot bag disappearing as the Espeon's forehead gem glowed. Grinning as the puddle that was the Vaporeon seeped into the ground, she closed her eyes, her gem glowing once more as a telepathic message was sent out to a particular grove just outside the town walls.


"It's all on you, girls. Jasmine, keep an eye out and get you hiding if anyone shows. Mayflower, you're on defense. Don't stop till you and Daddy are inside with the prize."


In that idyllic grove, a fair distance from the city walls, the bag suddenly completed its Teleport and hit the ground with a dull clunk, though was quickly set down upon by two Eevees as they took the straps in their mouths and began hauling it into a particular forest. The larger of the two bit down hard on her strap as she watched smoke rise from the town. This was bad, very bad. They'd made too much of a scene, surely they'd gathered too much attention. This would make things harder for her, for sure. But alas, what was done was done, and all she could do was try her best this time.


She had to satisfy them eventually, right? That's what Mayflower told herself.


Her little sister whimpered beside her as the air began to chill around them, the universal signal that they were within dungeon's domain. As the trees around the two narrowed into a straight path, Mayflower hurriedly yanked the bag away, shoving it into the brush on the side just deep enough that anyone attempting to reclaim it would be pulled inside. Truly, as she'd learned, mystery dungeons were, in their strangeness, her best friend when it came to this profession.


As she eyeballed the bag of loot to make sure it was well enough hidden, a shrill scream sounded from Jasmine. From deeper within the dungeon, a feral Raticate hissed at the two and charged them, the remains of what seemed to be a military bandanna still tied around its neck and its wild, soulless eyes burning into Mayflower's own. Gritting her teeth, the Eevee stood her ground. If this thing chased them off, there would be nothing stopping it from grabbing the bag and fleeing into the dungeon with it; it wouldn't be the first time. She waited for a moment, letting it get close before lunging at it with practiced grace: Sand Attack to the face, Quick Attack to the liver, Double Kick to the back of the head. The feral could only let out a screech before it was kicked into unconsciousness.


Jasmine could only stare as Mayflower shook herself off, grinning to herself. That went well, she observed, better than usual. Her moment of pride was cut short as outside the dungeon, the gurgle of water seeping from the ground bubbled as said liquid reconstituted into a Vaporeon shape, which immediately ran in and pushed past the two Eevees to check on the bag, though his eyes quickly drifted to the Raticate Mayflower now stood over.


Surely this was the one. She'd done everything as she'd been taught, even in the face of dangerous odd. Maybe now—


"Jasmine," Vaporeon grunted. "What'd you see wrong here?"


Mayflower's hopes crumbled like wet sand as her little sister jumped in place.


"Ooh! Sh-she made it scream, right? That's bad, everyone hears when they scream!" she piped. Vaporeon clenched his jaw and turned to frown at Mayflower, an all too familiar look.


"Mayflower. How many times do we need to go over this?" he demanded all too flatly. At this, the Eevee felt something snap inside her, and her response came before she could find the better judgment to stop it.


"What was I supposed to do about it? Ferals make noise, how could I have stopped a feral from—" she began, though flinched back as her father's frown became a piercing glare.


"Don't get smart with me! Don't you get smart with me," Vaporeon growled, stepping towards his daughter and looming above the now-cowering Eevee.


"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean it! Th-the feral, it won't happen again," she managed.


"Sorry won't cut it. Any sooner and the cops would have had you both to the gallows by now. Do you understand how much is in that bag? We're in the middle of a war, we cannot afford you making mistakes like this. This is our lives, you're going to inherit this one day, and the last thing we need is for all that to fall apart over one little feral. Yes?" Vaporeon demanded. Mayflower didn't respond, her breath only trembling. "Huh?" Vaporeon asked, his glare hardening.


"Y-yes, sir," Mayflower nodded hurriedly. Vaporeon's frown didn't leave his muzzle as he stared her down for another moment before turning away to watch the entrance.


"Jasmine, you'll get a Pinap for being honest once we're through here," he said. Jasmine's regret at what she'd brought upon her sister was quickly overshadowed as the young Eevee beamed, smiling at Mayflower as she trembled and stared at the ground.


...no, no. She couldn't show weakness here, that'd only make him angrier. Straight posture, straight face, no tears. No tears. No matter how many side looks he gave her.


...she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.


An abrupt rush of air from ahead signaled the arrival of Espeon by teleportation, Mayflower looking up as her mother ran into the dungeon.


"The Kecleon nearly got me, but now they think we're headed down the west route. We've got a cozy day or three to get out of dodge and sell all this off," she said, the bag drifting out of the side brush in telekinetic grip. Vaporeon's fins shot up into the air as he let out a whoop and a victorious cackle, opening the bag to behold the thousands of Poke worth of seeds and berries they'd snagged from the town shop.


"Ah, they always say taking from the Kecleon cabal's a death sentence, they always do! Not for me!" he boasted, the charisma and charm most outsiders would have known him for returning. As he closed the bag and made to head out of the dungeon, Mayflower could only stare after him, her eye twitching. Jasmine tugging at her ear to get her moving, she bit her lip and got to her paws, her legs feeling like wet noodles holding up a lead weight. Before she could get far, however, a familiar tickling made itself apparent in her head, one she knew immediately. Mayflower turned to give her Psychic mother an instinctive grimace, the Espeon hanging her head. For a moment there as she turned away, she thought she saw some sympathy in her mother's eyes.


...enough on that. It was best to get moving. Better to follow their lead than hang from a tree. That's what her mother always told her, at least.


One thing they could agree on, at least.




The dry pine in the campfire popped and crackled, sending sparks up into the night and lighting the makeshift camp the family had set up. By this point, though, only Espeon still sat at the fire, staring into it as her tail flicked. Behind her, Vaporeon sat at the edge of the river, staring into the water in some sort of Water-type meditation, and Mayflower was lying still in her cot with her back to the fire. She'd been there since she'd been told she'd have to earn her dinner, and Espeon hadn't worked up the courage to approach her. It seemed she and Jasmine were asleep, though; now was a good time.


Quietly getting to her paws, Espeon walked to the riverbank and took a seat by her mate, staring into the water with him for a moment before pursing her lips.


"Aren't you a little hard on her?" she asked. Vaporeon blinked and looked up.


"Hm? Where's this coming from?" he pondered.


"I read Mayflower after the haul. Another disagreement, I guessed," Espeon said. Vaporeon frowned to himself, staring into the river once more.


"I don't think so," he answered soon enough. "Look at her. She's our oldest, and she's next in line to inherit the family. Do you want her to grow into a frolicking little sunshine-and-daisies Sylveon, Neka? Like it or not, I'm teaching her respect, that you don't get everything on a silver platter, that you don't win by halfassing it."


Neka sighed, the Espeon hesitating for a moment.


"Well... couldn't you at least give her a "good enough" from time to time?" she asked.


"No," Vaporeon quickly fired back. "No, you know I can't do that. She'd take that and figure that's as good as she could get. She'd never be great, or extraordinary, just. Good enough. We can't afford that. She has it in her to run the family better than we ever could, we're just making sure she isn't going around lollygagging and wasting that, you know?"


Neka thought for only a minute before she nodded.


"Yeah. Okay," she accepted in earnest, putting her head on Vaporeon's side. "I trust you, Morgan."


Morgan nuzzled his mate back as he watched the moon rise, giving a small satisfied smile to himself.


"This is what's best for her, Neka," he reaffirmed. "Mark my words, she'll thank us one day."


Had the two bothered to look back at that moment, they would have seen Mayflower lurching as she quietly sobbed to herself.




Neka's eyes suddenly flew open, the Espeon sitting up as she looked around the dawn-lit clearing, her eyes wide. She could feel they weren't alone anymore; no, there were several new psyches clicking in her mind, all of them coming their way.


"Morgan! Get the girls up and scatter, they found us!" she yelled. The previously drowsy Morgan wasted little time in scrambling up, grabbing their prize bag before shaking the Eevees awake.


"We'll meet up at Grove Three! Pick a direction and run, leave everything!" he instructed Mayflower and Jasmine before bolting into the trees.


"Dad! Dad, wait...!" Mayflower called, morning grogginess still plaguing her as she watched her father flee. Immediately, Jasmine began screaming, panicking for a moment before running away from her sister, tailing Neka in a hurry. With that, Mayflower was left alone and terrified, looking around in a panic as her ears stuck up.


"...see? See?! Those no-good thieves—" a voice called before the brush began to rustle. Mayflower only caught a brief blur of green emerging before running into the woods as fast as her paws could carry her, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she heard one pursuer in particular give chase.


"You awful little—! My merchandise!" the Kecleon screeched, Mayflower looking back just in time to see him fire off a Psybeam as he sprinted at full speed after her. A quick, sharp turn spared her from the fate of the unfortunate tree the beam connected with, the Eevee's running becoming faster and more frantic.


Nothing but greenery and random, chaotic turns registered in her mind before her run slowed, the adrenaline coursing through her veins slowly burning out. Mayflower fell to the ground, panting and gasping as what had just happened set in. She'd been left... this wasn't the first time this had happened, no, but...


Listening for the raging Kecleon for a moment, she waited until she was sure she was no longer being chased, then took a glance around. She... had no idea where she was.


Ah, well. She knew what to do, just narrow it down. She had to know how in this profession, after all. If the sun was rising, then that meant it was in the west. She couldn't hear any running water, so it seemed like she wasn't anywhere near the river. There was a grove of berry bushes there, but with no berries to offer; that meant this area had to have been frequented, most likely by civilized judging by what was left. Out here, that meant there was likely some sort of road or settlement nearby...


Squinting ahead, Mayflower pushed herself up and hobbled forward, continuing for a few moments before the trees suddenly cleared. Yes! A road!


Mayflower laughed in relief to herself as she rested her paws on the dirt and gravel. Now all she had to do was follow it to—


A quiet, strange noise met her ears. The Eevee stopped, looking around confusedly for a moment before she heard it again.


"H-help..."


Her ears pricking up as she swore under her breath, the Eevee looked towards the source of the noise with wide eyes, hesitating long and hard before cautiously approaching the roadside tree from behind which the quiet voice had come.


"Help... m-my head..." it rasped again.


"Hey! Hey, can you hear me?" Mayflower asked quietly.


"Hahh… o-over here, I… my… f-fuck, Arceus..." the voice moaned.


"I'm coming, I—" Mayflower reassured as she rounded the trunk, only to seize up as she finally laid eyes upon the voice's source.


"...o-oh, shit..." she managed.




"Mommy, I wanna apple, can we get those apples for lunch?" Jasmine asked, looking up longingly at the apples hanging above her.


"Not now, Jasmine. Wait for Daddy and your sister, alright?" Neka chided the little Eevee. Jasmine gave a groan of disappointment as her mother looked around the cozy grove.


The sun was midway in its journey across the clouded sky, and that grove and the prying authorities were far behind them. Yet even now, nearly half an hour after they had reconvened...


A familiar Vaporeon emerged from the trees, positively fuming.


"Nowhere to be found. I knew that damn...! One little ounce of criticism, and she bails on us, of course! Little—!" Morgan cursed.


"Morgan, she's done this before. We'll look for her. If she's run off, just the same, we'll find her. Or, you know, she'll come crawling back like last time. Whatever happens, this won't trip us up. We're a team here, remember?" Neka asked her mate.


"Don't give me that goody-good shit, Neka. Agh, I swear to Arceus..." Morgan growled to himself.


"Shit?" Daisy repeated. Neither of the two chided her, both sitting to contemplate the situation for a while. Just as it seemed they were settled on a course of action, however, Neka suddenly looked up, her eyes wide.


"Two psyches coming from the road," she hurriedly said. "O-one of them's Mayflower."


All three of them stood to attention, watching the path as a shape made itself apparent: Mayflower, her legs trembling and blood speckling her as she strained to haul her load into the grove. As Morgan squinted to see what it was, his eye twitched, the air tightening as Neka did the same.


On Mayflower's back was a Cyndaquil, beaten and bloodied and groaning lightly as the Eevee finally set him down. Two of his limbs were bent unnaturally, a large gash had been knocked into his head, and bruises and dried blood covered his body. A less wise Pokemon would say he was on death's door. Nevertheless, the young Fire-type looked up as Mayflower bit her lip.


"Let me explain—" she said.


"What is wrong with you?! I said meet up here, and you—?!" Morgan yelled.


"What was I supposed to do?! Tyranitar's goons knock a kid upside the head, leave him on the road, and I'm supposed to let him die?!" Mayflower defended.


"What? No, but—!" Morgan tried, stopping as Cyndaquil gritted his teeth.


"Yeah, you weren't kidding about...? Look, uh... Vaporeon. Your... agh, y-your kid just saved me back there, y-you think a 'good job' would suffice?" he asked.


"You would've made it. She said you were on the road, and if you've made it this far—" Morgan shot back, only for Cyndaquil's vents to spark violently.


"I would've— I would've made it, my ass, look at me! Look at my head! Does this look fine to you, chucklefuck?! Does— aghh...!" he groaned, wincing violently as he clutched at his ribs. Rage flared within Morgan at this challenge, though a quick glance from Neka advised him to keep it down. As the Vaporeon fumed to himself, Neka reluctantly stepped up.


"Mayflower... he can't stay with us. Give him a berry and we'll drop him off at the crossroads, someone'll find him. Slate Ridge and Impetus aren't far, he'll make it," she chided, though slowly blinked as she realized her daughter wasn't backing down.


"Mom, look, Arden might be... ah, I-I don't know. But he's still a Pokemon, right? This kid wouldn't survive a day out there, and that's not even considering Tyranitar's mons running around. That'd just be... we can't leave him like that," she said, the now-named Arden giving her a glare through squinted eyes. "At least till he's healed. You know, then he can go out and tell the world about your good deeds in helping him out; heck, maybe he could even give us a paw while he's here?"


"What? No, you never said—" Arden managed as Neka and her mate looked down in consideration. A moment passed, then another.


"...it'll come out of your own pocket. Food, berries, whatever. You gonna do that, Mayflower?" Morgan soon asked. As Mayflower quickly nodded, the Vaporeon growled to himself. "Fine. Just... fine."


Mayflower pursed her lips, nodding as she glanced back down at Arden, who just stared at her at a loss. What... had he just gotten himself into?


"Well, Cyndaquil. Looks like Yvetal'll have to wait another day," she tried to grin, though she hurriedly stepped back as the Cyndaquil was telekinetically lifted off the ground.


"Wait, hey, what are you—?" Arden slurred, glancing at Neka as her gem glowed.


"Your arm and leg are broken, gotta set the bones, won't hurt too bad," she said nonchalantly before jerking her head. Morgan just about failed to suppress a little cathartic smirk as the Cyndaquil screamed in agony, Mayflower cringing all the while.




It was odd for Mayflower, watching the fire that night. It was a common ritual for her at that time of year; the Volbeats didn't show during winter, after all, so that was the best she had. What was strange for her, however, was that someone was staring into the flames with her this time. Mayflower had always felt rather peeved that Jasmine could never sit still with her, yet she felt at a loss now that someone was actually sitting there.


As Arden stared into the fire, the Cyndaquil's squinted eyes trained deep in thought, Mayflower cleared her throat.


"So," she tried. An awkward silence hung between the two before she cleared her throat. "You doing alright?"


Arden only gave a quiet huff. "What do you think?" he asked.


Mayflower nodded, her ears drooping a bit. "Right. Uh, anything I can—" she began.


"Look, Eevee, just... I've had a long fucking day, alright?" Arden snapped. "Give me some room to breathe, at least, can you maybe do that?"


Mayflower's eye twitched, the Eevee remaining silent before she gave a quiet huff.


"Okay. Sure," she nodded before turning away. "Yeah, saved your life and this is what I get. Yeah, no problem, glad to help," she added under her breath. She stared into the fire for a moment before a quiet sigh met her ears.


"I'm sorry, I just... fuck. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I... honestly, I could use the help. At least till I figure all this out," Arden said.


"Oh, sure, what happened to room to breathe?" Mayflower snapped. Her only reply was a quiet scoff from the wounded Cyndaquil, though that was enough to eventually draw an apologetic sigh from her. "S-sorry. I'll... yeah, I'll try. And, uh, I get it. If everything you said was true... well, can't blame you for being stressed out, I guess."


Arden nodded, leaving another moment of silence hanging between the two young Pokemon as he took another look at his wounds.


"...why'd you help me back there? Clearly your bunch isn't the most morally sound, no offense," he abruptly asked. "Y'know, everyone's in it for something."


"I don't know," Mayflower said, glancing over at the Cyndaquil. "I guess it was the right thing to do, is all."


"Yeah, yeah, I get that, but cost vs. benefit, you know? Why not just lug me to the nearest town and, I don't know, drop me off at the center?" Arden asked. Mayflower hesitated.


"Peace of mind," she eventually decided. Arden's brow furrowed as he tried to think of a rebuttal, though he eventually just nodded.


"Thanks, uh... you said it was something like Mayflower, right?" he asked.


"Yeah. After my granny," the Eevee nodded, pausing as Arden smiled a bit, the first time she'd seen him do such.


"Mayflower. Like, who names their kid Mayflower and just calls them that? What kind of name is that? Like, on your license, or you're writing a friend, you just write 'Mayflower,' the whole thing?" he asked. Mayflower tensed, looking Arden in the eyes. Unlike the harsh, cruel criticism she was so used to, Arden's tone seemed casual, bordering on friendly. Even so, Mayflower didn't seem to catch on entirely, her breath shaking as she tried to figure out how to defend herself here as Arden sniffed.


"Ah, you're one of those types. Got it," he said.


"N-no, no, uh... I-I'm sorry," she said meekly.


"What? Hey, come on, I was joking. You know, this is the part where you laugh," he said.


"O-oh... uh, right. My bad," Mayflower said, relaxing a bit as she thought a bit. "Uh... r-rich coming from, uh, someone named... Arden? Like, uh, just sounds... weird. Like you came up with it on the spot," she managed out jokingly, her ears sticking up a bit as said Cyndaquil let out a chuckle.


"Okay, well, in my defense, Arden's... y-you know," he defended himself.


"Fair," Mayflower nodded, returning her gaze to the fire as the two fell silent once more.


From everything he had said up to this point, Mayflower wasn't sure what to think of this Cyndaquil. But... well. At least he was willing company. Despite everything, that alone was change enough to pique the Eevee's interest.


Maybe this helping paw wouldn't be as bad as she had first anticipated.




The fire had gone out and Mayflower had long since fallen asleep, leaving Arden alone to try and sleep over the throbbing of his injuries. As he lied there staring at the backs of his eyelids, however, the crunching of leaves sounded behind him. Before he could look over to see the source, a paw pressed down on his side and forcefully rolled him over to face said source. Arden cringed and managed to withhold a scream as his broken ribs were agitated, though the Vaporeon facing him down didn't seem to care.


"Wh-what is wrong w—" the Cyndaquil said through his teeth.


"Listen. You travel with my family, you answer to me. You talk back or get smart with me, you will regret it. Understand?" Morgan interrupted. Arden felt a flare of anger and fear arise, though he kept it in behind gritted teeth.


"What the fuck are you talking about?" he hissed.


"Talking a big talk won't do you any good here, none of what you tried to pull earlier. You're gonna mind your mouth and keep it shut while you're here. You're gonna answer to what Neka and I tell you, and you're not gonna complain about it," Morgan said authoritatively. "And if I so much as think you're leaving a bad impression on my Mayflower... I will make sure you regret it. Understand?"


The Vaporeon waited for his "guest" to answer, though frowned as Arden's vents sparked in poorly-contained anger, lighting up his face and twitching eye. "Who the... who do you think you are?" the Cyndaquil demanded.


Morgan's answer came as he moved to forcefully make his point, though he paused as he saw Arden flinch, his vents fizzling out as he instinctively tried to protect his leg. Morgan's eyes narrowed before something clicked.


This kid already knew what they could do to him, Neka had unintentionally made sure of that. Despite the big show he was putting on, there was no hiding it: he was afraid of Morgan.


...heh. Typical.


Morgan watched him in this pitiful state for a second before giving him a cocky sneer, then with a glance to make sure Mayflower was still asleep, turned to return to his bed, satisfied that this problem Cyndaquil knew his place.


Arden, meanwhile, just laid there, his whole body still throbbing as he trembled and uncurled from around his broken arm. Doing his best to try and turn away from the Vaporeon he so dearly despised by now, he could only stare at the final embers of the fire as everything began to weigh down on him at once. No matter how he tried to outwardly show otherwise, there was no escaping it.


His family was most certainly dead. His life he'd known was all but gone. His body...


The threat lingered in his mind. The pain wracked him every second. The fear only weighed on him more the more he tried to reassure himself.


...


...he wouldn't. He was stronger than that.





Despite every effort to keep up that show of strength, Arden squeezed his eyes shut, a few silent tears escaping.


What had he done to deserve this?




After the chaos of the previous day, it seemed that fate had decided to give them a break, a blessing for the family considering the new dead weight on their hands. In the absence of any coming authorities, the now party of five had settled in the grove, where as the sun crested in its climb into the heavens, Mayflower simply handed Arden Orans, watching as her father sifted through their stolen haul debating to himself on where to sell. Arden, meanwhile, had naturally remained in his cot the entire day, remaining rather quiet even as she fed him; for what reason, Mayflower could not discern. In the current moment of serenity, though, her mother had taken pause in feeding Jasmine applesauce and now glanced up at the wounded Cyndaquil.


"Cyndaquil. What'd you say your name was again?" Neka asked. Mayflower shot her an impassive look, though Arden was quick to swallow his mouthful of berry despite this.


"It was Arden. Uh, Arden of... F-Fear Bank," he said. Neka raised an eyebrow.


"Fear Bank? Never heard of it," she said.


"Yeah. Uh, w-wouldn't be surprised. Shitty little village, not on any maps," Arden replied. Neka hummed and nodded, glancing at Morgan as his attention remained away from them.


"Right. Tell you what, point in its general direction, and we'll drop you back with your mommy whenever we're through with you, yeah?" she suggested. Mayflower bit her lip and glanced over nervously at the Cyndaquil, who just stared off before hanging his head.


"My parents. I... I think they're dead," he said bluntly. Neka only blinked before glancing back at Morgan, who had finally looked up at them.


"Tyranitar, I'm guessing?" the Espeon asked.


"Who—?" Arden started. "Uh, y-yeah. I think."


"How far away are they now? Were there any other survivors? Did they leave any—?" Neka immediately pressed.


"Mom!" Mayflower protested. "He just... g-give him space."


Neka was quick to give her a glare, though bit her lip and nodded, backing away as she watched her quietly put a paw on the Cyndaquil's back.


As Arden gave his quiet thanks, she glanced over at Morgan.


"What's the plan? He's got nowhere we can leave him without her throwing a hissy fit. We gotta figure something out," she hissed, though Morgan only raised a paw.


"Yeah, yeah. Lemme sit on this," Morgan answered as he stared over at the pair. "This'll work out somehow, trust me."


As such, Morgan simply sat and deliberated, watching as the sun crawled behind the treeline. As firelight began to grace his vision, the Vaporeon nodded to himself, content in his deliberation based on what he knew from the Cyndaquil, before standing up and walking over to Neka.


"Well?" the Espeon asked.


"We'll keep him around a bit. He could be useful," Morgan whispered. "Kid's got nothing to lose, and that's the best kind of 'mon for the trade. We can work with this, just gotta push his right buttons and he won't step out of line. He talks a big game, but we can reel him in nice and easy. Just gimme some time to work with him. A little test run in the next couple days to entice him, them we work from there."


Neka only frowned.


"With him?" she gestured to the Cyndaquil, watching as he stamped berry-juice pawprints on pieces of bark with Mayflower and Jasmine. "He's... dangerous. I've tried to gaze into his psyche, and... I don't know what exactly I'm seeing, but he's too big of a wild card. If we keep him around our girls..."


"I took care of that last night," Morgan simply said. Neka stared at her mate for a moment before sighing and nodding.


"If you say so," she said. With this agreed upon, the two turned their gazes back towards the fire, watching as the Cyndaquil in question held up their bark cards to show the two Eevees.


"Right, so, uh, the game's called Tauroshit. We take turns drawing cards going up from ace, you take a card and lie about it if you don't have the next card up, and you call Tauroshit if you think someone's done that. Cool?" Arden explained.


"Cool!" Jasmine nodded, though Mayflower seemed a bit less enthusiastic.


"I still don't get why we're doing this," she said.


"We need a reason? Just killing time and distracting from everything, is all," Arden shrugged.


"But, er, Mom and Dad, I'm not entirely sure they'll approve of this," Mayflower said, her voice low as she glanced at her parents at the other side of the clearing. Looking back, though, all she found was bemusement from the Cyndaquil.


"For... sitting down and playing cards instead of just sitting on your ass?" he asked.


"What? No, no, it's... uh," Mayflower blinked, her ears flattening a bit. Why was she concerned over such a little thing? Was... was she really that high-strung? Was this normal? She knew her situation was... not desirable, to say the least, but just how much had it really affected her, she wondered?


"Hello? Hey, Earth to Mayflower," Arden called, snapping the Eevee out of her daze.


"I-I'm fine," she said. "I... you know what, I'll bite. Give me some."


Arden gave her a little grin as he fumbled with shuffling the rigid cards, Jasmine bouncing excitedly as Mayflower's tail flicked. Despite her concerns, she figured to try and put those aside for now, let the magic Cyndaquil do his thing, and try to have some fun for once.


Indeed, it seemed this helping paw was already sowing its benefits, she could tell.




"Psst. You still awake?"


Mayflower's ear stuck up at the quiet whisper before the Eevee glanced over at Arden, squinting to make him out in the dead of the night. "Yeah. You okay?" she asked.


"Yeah, just... can't sleep, you know how it is, with everything going on," Arden shrugged.


"Right. Yeah," Mayflower nodded. "So, uh. I'm... sorry about your folks. Uh, with everything you said, I'm surprised you... yeah. I, uh, have to wonder, though, you don't seem very... I don't know, mournful about it all?"


Arden only sent a quiet glare her way. "I am mourning. I just don't show it, is all," he said.


"That, uh... doesn't sound healthy?" Mayflower inquired.


"Works for me," Arden said, an edge to his voice quietly pressing Mayflower to drop the topic. She reluctantly did so, though not without some concern, though Arden didn't give her much time to reflect on this.


"So... uh, Mayflower… actually, just. No, I can't actually keep calling you that. I'll just call you May for ease, yeah?" he asked.


Mayflower raised an eyebrow skeptically, though rolled her eyes and nodded her consent. "I mean… I'd prefer the whole thing, tradition and all, but I guess. Whatever works," she sighed.


"Great, awesome. So, May, I, uh, wanted to ask you something. A-about your… dad," he said.


"Wait, what? Uh, h-he's... y-yeah, okay," Mayflower lowered her voice, glancing over her shoulder to be certain he wasn't awake and listening. Despite his current dormancy, though, Arden hesitated long and hard as if debating to himself before finally speaking.


"What's, uh, he... his... p-plan? For the next few days?" he managed. Mayflower cocked her head, a bit suspicious at his hesitation, though decided not to press it.


"Well, um... knowing him, we've got a couple days before he decides to go at it again, and it's gonna go something like this," she began.




"Come midday, there's gonna be a wagon rollin' up this here road bringing provisions to the front. The Fifth Army has enough, in my humble opinion, so we'll be taking our share," Morgan explained. "Better than another weekend of Zygarde-damned applesauce, I'm sure we can all agree."


Mayflower peeked over a fallen log at the dirt road nearby before slinking back to where the rest of the group now sat, just in time for Morgan to give her that familiar side-eye. It'd only been four days since their last job, and she'd barely had enough time to recuperate from that failure. Regardless, she sat next to Arden as Morgan cleared his throat.


"Now, we're gonna be doing the usual tango: Neka and I go in and do the dirty work; Mayflower and Jasmine, you wait outside, watch for trouble, and carry what haul we can't," the Vaporeon said.


"Right. So I'll sit here, make no noise, pretend I don't exist, and hope to Zekrom you're feeling nice today and won't leave me, got it," Arden chimed in. Morgan's face twitched, though a quick glance to Neka compelled him to take a breath.


"No. You, are actually going to be the most important player here: the distraction. When the wagon comes, Neka's gonna teleport you out behind it. She's gonna rock the wagon, and once that happens you scream like you just got run over. You already look the part, so we make our move while they're distracted with you and get you out once they realize. You do your part and you do it well, we'll give you your share," Morgan instructed.


"That's not how you're supposed to do it, though, you're supposed to guilttrip them into giving you money so you don't sue their ass," Arden said.


"We can do that next time, but right now that's not what we're doing. Yes?" Morgan asked.


Arden's brow furrowed as he stared the Vaporeon down, though eventually gave a slow nod. "Let's just get this over with," he sighed.


Morgan smirked as he looked back out at the road, this only widening as he saw a shape in the distance. A Mudsdale-drawn wagon. Right on schedule. As Mayflower took a breath in preparation to do good this time, Arden felt Neka's paw rest on his back, all in anticipation of Morgan's raised paw as he waited for just the right moment...


"Now!" he barked.


A rush of wind rang out as Neka and Arden disappeared, and as Mayflower peeked over their cover once more, she watched the wagon suddenly jolt from a telekinetic push, followed by a loud scream from Arden (one she was not entirely sure was exaggerated). As Neka teleported back beside her, the wagon screeched to a halt, an Ambipom diving out and bending over to check up on the Cyndaquil. With the driver distracted, Morgan shut his eyes and liquefied, the water that had previously made up his form forming a wet spot that quickly made its way to the prize, Neka watching as Mayflower snuck ahead and climbed up onto the wagon. With a quick glance at Arden and the Ambipom, she gave a nod, prompting her parents to come out of hiding and climb aboard, tearing open the canvas door to reveal...


...a wagon full of Pokemon in military bandannas, their eyes now all trained on the group.


"Bandits!"


"Who is that? Who are those?"


"Arms ready! Arms ready!"


"Private Tachi, Seamon Bert!"


"On it!"


Neka, Morgan, and Jasmine stumbled back and ran as the shock in the wagon turned into well-rehearsed action, a Furret and Wartortle bursting from the wagon to lead the pursuit, though upon sighting Mayflower cowering in shock, the two split from the main group to apprehend her. The Eevee swore under her breath before joining her parents in fleeing, though through her panic she got a look back at Arden. Apparently having realized what he was doing, the Ambipom now barked at Arden to remain on the ground, the Cyndaquil watching as the others fled.


"No, no, you fucks! You bastards, fuck y—" he yelled after them before the Ambipom attempted to apprehend him, his insults turning into pained screaming and appearing to illicit a moment of hesitation in the wagon driver.


In a split-second decision, Mayflower decided to bank on that hesitation, and as the Wartortle and Furret made to pin her to the ground, she turned around and flew at the former with a Quick Attack, and as he was knocked onto his shell, she jumped in the midst of the attack and delivered a hasty Iron Tail to the Furret's face, though hit the ground hard and skidded a good distance as the two momentarily reeled. It wouldn't be for long, though, so Mayflower hurriedly pushed herself up and turned her attention to the Ambipom, running at him before she could quite gauge her odds. As Arden watched, his squinted eyes wide as they could be, she spun and swept her tail in the dust, attacking with practiced ease as the Ambipom unsuccessfully tried to counter.


Sand Attack to the face to disorient, Quick Attack to the liver to incapacitate, Double Kick to the back of the head while it was within reach. Just as rehearsed.


No sooner had the Ambipom fallen unconscious did Mayflower put her head under Arden's arm, helping him to his feet.


"M-May?" he asked in disbelief.


"Can you walk?" she asked hurriedly.


"No!" Arden answered.


"Get on my back!" Mayflower replied. Arden nodded, cringing but giving little complaint as the Eevee hurriedly got underneath him and hoisted him onto her back. With no time to spare, she gritted her teeth at the weight on her back and ran from her recovering foes as best she could, the whoosh of a misaimed Aqua Tail just barely missing the two as they jumped into the side brush the others had disappeared into.


Mayflower's eyes remained locked ahead as adrenaline coursed through her, her vision before her a tunnel of green streaking past. By the time she spotted purple running out of the trees towards them and became aware of Arden's quite colorful demands to slow down, she couldn't tell if she'd been running for a few minutes or an hour, much less what had happened in her flight. Whatever the case, though, her legs quickly buckled under her, felling both her and Arden as Neka set Jasmine down and bent down to concernedly look the two over. This brief moment of respite, however, was short-lived, as Morgan's infuriated voice was quick to ring from the trees.


"—how in distortion was I supposed to know they'd send a troop transport this time?! I'm not psychic, Neka, I can't— damn it, why didn't you say anything?!" he demanded. Neka only frowned, averting her eyes as her mate's scornful gaze turned to Mayflower, who only wilted as he loomed over her.


"Are you having a laugh?! I know you try, but this is just beyond your little genre of knuckleheaded, what were you even thinking?!" he reprimanded Mayflower, who just laid there trying to not tremble.


"I-I... didn't—" she tried.


"Huh?" Morgan demanded, giving a humorless laugh. "No, you will—"


"What the fuck did she do?" Arden suddenly interrupted. Both Morgan and Mayflower looked up at the Cyndaquil as he tried to sit up in defiance. "What the fuck did she do?"


Mayflower's eyes widened as she stared at Arden. He was...?


"You stay out of this, Cyndaquil. This is between us," Morgan growled.


"No, no, you... why're you getting on her when you were the ones who fucked it up in the first place? She didn't do shit, what do you think would've changed if she did that one little detail different, huh?" Arden demanded, his vents beginning to blaze.


"Don't you get smart with m—" Morgan raised his voice.


"What? You bailed on us, and you're asking me to not—?!"


"Neka was coming back, now you—!"


"You threw me in there with a broken leg and nearly got me thrown in the clink, I have every damn right to be smart with you!"


"Are you trying to piss me off, Cyndaquil? I am in charge here, and you'd best act straight or I will repaint this tree with—"


"Do it! No balls!"


"Both of you, enough!" Neka demanded, forcing herself between the two Pokemon. "You're making Jasmine cry."


The two turned their glares over to the Espeon and her sniffling daughter next to her, Morgan's own appearing to soften at the young Eevee's tears. He gave Arden another glare before growling and getting up.


"That diversion won't fool 'em forever. We can get on course back to the grove before they figure out we're gone," he spat, an razor-sharp edge to his voice. "Come on."


Morgan stomped off, leaving Mayflower to stare after him, then give Arden a wide-eyed look.


"Well?" the Cyndaquil asked, clearly still wound up. Mayflower quickly nodded and gestured to her mother, who only sighed and psychically picked up the Cyndaquil, glancing at the two disapprovingly as she started after Morgan. As Jasmine huddled close to her in her walking, Mayflower hung her head in thought.


She'd failed again, hadn't she? Her dad had been as terrorizing as ever. Even with Arden coming to her aid, that little voice in her head still whispered into her ear, telling her that she'd failed them, that she couldn't keep this losing streak up, that she'd just have to try harder next time. But this time... it felt different. She was still in the emotional pit she tended to find herself in on this occasion, but it felt like she at least had a pawhold to heave herself up this time. She wasn't sure how to describe it to herself. Whatever the reason, she couldn't help but glance at Arden as he floated lazily along, still fuming and trying to process the events that had just transpired. She'd... have to talk to him later, assuming he'd even care of her woes.


She wasn't usually one to start a conversation, but she saw no other option than to cry herself to sleep again. So be it.




"Mayflower," Neka said softly, squinting through the moonlight at the two small shapes as they laid with their backs to her, apparently asleep. "Look, I'm... we're sorry for earlier, but... you know, you had it coming, what with everything else you did back there. You just... you don't do that, not in a job. There, your turn to apologize."


Mayflower didn't stir as Neka waited.


"Mayflower. I know you're awake. I can feel it," the Espeon frowned. Despite this, the Eevee remained still. Neka grimaced to herself, though rather than push it, she only turned and walked off. They'd talk in the morning, she figured.


Once Neka was out of sight, Mayflower remained still for a moment before her ear stuck up to listen.


"We're clear," she whispered. With that, she and Arden turned to face each other, Mayflower quickly pursing her lips.


"I... um, yeah. You really didn't need to do that back there, it was my fault anyways," she managed. "But, uh... thanks."


"Don't mention it. I mean, you saved my ass back there, it was only fair. So now I only owe you one ass-saving, heh," Arden nodded. "So was that just a bad day for them, or...?"


Mayflower elected not to answer, only averting her gaze as she tried to think of an answer. Her silence, however, said enough for Arden.


"May... you can't seriously be okay with this, can you?" he asked.


"I-I'm not," she said through her teeth. "I-it's not—"


"You haven't told anyone?" Arden interrupted.


"What? Who am I supposed to tell? Jasmine?" Mayflower reasoned. Arden hesitated.


"...fair. But you... just," he said. As memories of that night Morgan had come to him danced in his head, that wad of anger in his gut grew hotter and hotter. "Surely you haven't considered... I don't know, running off?"


Mayflower's gaze turned into a glare. "They're my family, Arden. I've got nothing else, I'm not just gonna... just. They've been fine my whole life, and he's my dad. They're my family. I-I love them."


"Do they love you back?" Arden asked, watching as Mayflower hesitated.


"...of course they do," she said.


"Do you know that for sure?" Arden pushed.


"Stop," Mayflower immediately responded. "Just... stop."


As the Eevee turned away, her breath shaky as she put a paw on her head, Arden quietly swore to himself. A moment passed before he sighed, wincing as he sat up.


"May, look, I... didn't mean it like that. It's just... fuck, you find out your friend's dealing with this shit, you get all—" he began, though paused as Mayflower abruptly looked up and blinked.


"Friend? I'm your... friend?" she asked, her voice a mix of doubt and shock. Arden just peered at her confusedly.


"Er... yeah, you are. Thought that was a given," he said. Mayflower just stared, her eyes wide and her mind racing.


He was her friend, he said. Friend. She'd never had an actual friend before. Was it just that easy? Surely not. What was he hiding? What was he trying to gain? Was he just going to manipulate her into something here? No, no... she shouldn't think like that. But even so, what was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to even do? Were they supposed to talk or play something, or...? Was what she assumed friendship was like even accurate at all? Was she supposed to treat him differently now? Would he listen to her? Wasn't she just mad at him? Was it wrong to be mad at him? What—


"May?"


"I-I'm fine," Mayflower managed, the hints of a smile at the corners of her mouth. Arden gave her a quizzical glance before rolling back onto his back, wincing only a bit as he stared up at the stars above. Mayflower, meanwhile, thought a bit more, her ears suddenly sticking up as she got an idea.


"Hey. You think... come tomorrow, you could help me train? I... really gotta put in more effort, make sure today doesn't happen again," she said, to which Arden looked over.


"What? No, my arm's still fucked. And I can't fight," he reasoned.


"I-I know, but just sitting there and, y'know, giving pointers would help. Not like anyone else will," Mayflower added, watching as Arden gave a nod.


"Alright. Yeah, I can do that. I mean, I don't know, you were doing pretty damn well back there from what I was seeing," he said.


"N-no, no, I wasn't, really, if I was doing good we wouldn't have had to run," Mayflower deflected.


"You kicked an Ambipom in the back of the head. Better than I could do, at least," Arden affirmed, watching as Mayflower failed to hide a little smile.


"I guess. Good enough, we'll say," she nodded. "So, when do we begin?"


"Patience, my student. The answers will come soon enough," Arden said jokingly. "I don't know, next couple days when I can at least sit up?"


"Yeah. Sounds good," May nodded.


"Right, cool. Till then... yeah," Arden said.


He did his best to roll over and soon drifted off to sleep, leaving May to stare off quietly in thought. Only once Arden fell asleep did she blink in sudden realization. Was she smiling?


...she was, huh? She didn't care, honestly, no matter how annoyed that inner voice told her her dad would be.


A friend... her first actual friend...




Poke. Prod, prod.


"Mayfwower? Mayflowerrr. It's midday now, please wake up," Jasmine said, poking her sister. The larger of the Eevees groaned and cracked her eyes open, giving a little sigh.


"I'm up. I'm up," she said, rolling onto her back to try and blink the sleep out of her eyes. As she did, Jasmine moved on to Arden, who only groaned.


"Fuck off. Need sleep," he muttered, trying to shoo the little Eevee away. Mayflower glanced over, giving him a stern frown.


"Hey, don't tell her that, at least. Anyone who deserves it here, it's not Jasmine," she said. Jasmine beamed in response to the deadpan Cyndaquil, who just stared up at her for a moment before sighing, rolling out of bed, and getting up.


...getting up?


"Mayflower, Mayfwower, look, his legs are fixed!" Jasmine said excitedly, hopping as she pointed at Arden.


"I'll be damned, Arden, you're...!" Mayflower said, her ears sticking up as she grinned at her friend, the Cyndaquil blinking as he realized. Hesitating a moment, he took a step forward, though immediately cringed in pain. Realizing he was still in no state to walk, he sat back down as Mayflower drooped a bit.


"S-sowwy, Ardie," Jasmine said.


"Never call me that again," Arden groaned, to which Mayflower smirked a bit.


"You know I'm gonna call you that every day now," she said. Arden only groaned, flopping back into his resting spot as Jasmine ran off to get the two lunch as per usual. Mayflower quickly sat across from him, sitting up straight.


"So what's the plan today, sensei?" she asked.


It'd been three days since they'd decided they were friends and agreed to this arrangement, and the Eevee was still rather eager over the whole thing. It'd been quite a while since she'd received anything but criticism over her fighting, so Arden's input was a welcome change. Said Cyndaquil sat up, his brow furrowing.


"I don't know. Start where we left off, I guess. Double Kick ender," he instructed. Mayflower nodded, getting into ready stance before delivering a few jabs to the air with a forepaw, sending a Sand Attack, and flipping into the air to deliver a Double Kick and land back on her paws. Arden gave a little nod.


"You didn't wipe out this time, congrats. Good kick, good flip. Could work on those jabs, though; don't know a lot about how Eevee paws work, but I imagine your paw would just crumple if you hit someone like that. And, you know, you could add some flare to the end there to really make it your own," he said.


"Flare?" Mayflower asked.


"Yeah, like, a quip to finish things off, show the guy who's getting the asskicking who's boss," Arden clarified. Mayflower nodded in understanding before giving a swift kick.


"Take that!" she tried.


"What? No, no, it's gotta have some gusto to it," Arden interjected. "Like when you're starting out, you go something like "go ahead, make my day." When you're fixing to give them a hot asskicking, you go "yippee-ki-yay." And when you've knocked them cold, it's "hasta la vista, baby." You know?"


"But... those don't even make sense? You're just saying random things," Mayflower blinked.


"I know, that's the fun. Maybe they can figure it out for themselves once they come to," Arden grinned.


"Um... okay, er, if you say so," Mayflower nodded, getting back into stance. "So try again with all that, right?"


"More or less. I don't know, start with the jabs first. I'd guess doing shit one at a time would help more," Arden said, shifting into a comfortable position to watch the Eevee confidently try again.


As she did so, however, Neka glanced over, her tail flicking before she returned to the parents' planning session.


"Morgan," she sighed. "Are you sure this is still a good idea? This is the third day in a row they've done this. What if she doesn't train with us anymore? Does that not concern you?"


The Vaporeon just clenched his teeth, his head fins drawing back as he gave the two another look.


"I'm working on it. Things got out of hand with the robbery, but I just need some time, and he'll be back in check," he said. "Mayflower won't try anything, don't worry. Heh, she doesn't have it in her, you know?"


"I guess, but... look at Cyndaquil. Like I said, he's dangerous. Do you really think you can get him back in check after that? Are you positive he should be around our daughter?" Neka asked.


"Neka. Are you doubting me? I can do this. Do you trust me?" Morgan asked. The Espeon hesitated before silently nodding. As Morgan gave a wry smirk and looked back down at the map, Neka bit her lip as Arden's praises rang out.


She hoped Morgan knew what he was doing. He was smarter than that, after all... wasn't he?




With each passing day, Morgan began to doubt himself more and more.


No, no, not doubt himself, that'd mean he was wrong here. No, the problem was that that damn Cyndaquil was just...!


Had it really only been twelve days since he'd waltzed in? It felt like a grueling eternity to the Vaporeon. Even now, as he watched him and his own daughter sit and talk, he could feel that snide little shit giving him that side-eye. Questioning him. Judging him. Challenging him. And his daughter was just... eating it all up, wasn't she?


"Daddy?" Jasmine asked, concern in her eyes.


"Daddy's busy," Morgan said through his teeth. As Jasmine hung her head and walked off, Morgan frowned as he felt a tickling in his mind.


"Look, I get it. But... y-you think you're overreacting a bit?" Neka asked, wincing as she prepared for whatever response her mate might give. Instead, however, Morgan just sighed.


"I'm fine. You don't know what you're talking about." Hesitating long and hard, Neka gulped and continued.


"Look, you... you said you had it. Just go over there and talk things out like you said you keep saying you're gonna do. Little sorry, at least, and we can move on with our lives," she said.


Instead, though, Morgan looked back to the campfire's spot in time to see Mayflower and Arden share a laugh, the Vaporeon taking a deep breath. In his mind, it was clear what they were laughing at. Neka felt a hot wave of anger swell up within Morgan's mind as he hung his head.


"I'm gonna wring him in his sleep, I swear to Hoopa," he said.


"Morgan," Neka said. The Vaporeon opened his mouth to say more, though heaved a sigh, grimacing to himself as he tried to think. He had a plan here, he just had to figure out how to win this little game Cyndaquil was trying to play.


Mayflower, meanwhile, had little issue with said game. Of course, the Eevee was still rather wary about Arden, as had been wired into her, though her wall proved quite vulnerable when offered someone to spill its woes to. Woes, however, weren't all she was carrying behind sealed lips.


"So then, little Mayflower's sitting there just licking away at all that glue, right? The shopkeeper walks in and sees the mess, and, heh, he just starts screaming and swearing, and Mom runs in and starts screaming too. I figure they're upset I'm eating this, so I try to spit it all back up, but I've eaten a lotta glue by now, so I just vomit all over the floor, and they start screaming louder, and... hah, mon. Still think Mom judges me for it from time to time," Mayflower said, shaking her head as Arden gave a snort.


"Damn. You were kinda fucking dumb back then," he said.


"Yeah, I guess. Thank the folks for that, I guess, for not giving a damn about critical thinking," Mayflower sighed.


"Don't worry about it, I'm sure I was an idiot back then, too," Arden reassured her. "I figure I... hey, uh?"


Arden pointed to the horizon over the treetops, particularly an orange glow faintly emerging from there in the dark of dusk. "Is that a wildfire, or...? Should we move?"


"Oh, uh. Yeah, that's just the fires on the frontline," Mayflower said. "Don't worry, the Fifth Army has it under control."


Arden blinked as best he could, staring up at that orange glow.


"...thought I smelled smoke. So... that's that war, huh?" he asked.


"Yeah. Only took him ten years, but Tyranitar's bunch finally got over the Serperior. I mean, I give him a moon before they push them back, but... yeah. It's sobering, you know? Knowing he can get this far. Who knows how long we've got before he does it again and just... doesn't stop?"


"Yeah... who... is Tyranitar, exactly?" Arden asked.


"Oh, uh... he'd tell you emperor of the continent, I'd tell you a warlord who got lucky at the right time. Apparently he just sorta... snapped one day, decided that the gods had picked him to succeed the twin heroes, whoever those are. Then he took over a tribe, started expanding it, started conquering when they stopped joining willingly, and... well, never stopped," Mayflower said. "The whole continent sorta grouped up to stop him, and they've managed to hold him back a good ten years now. Not a whole lot more than that, honestly, and we're probably bound for another ten by the looks of things."


Arden gave a vacant nod, staring towards the faint glow as faint booms echoed. A quite troubled look sat plastered on the Cyndaquil's face as he frowned at the firelight, so Mayflower decided to give him the silence he clearly needed, letting him think for a moment—


"Cyndaquil. I wanted to talk to you," Morgan abruptly interrupted, putting on a strained smile as he approached.


"Dad, not now," Mayflower said, continuing to watch the glow in the horizon. It took her a moment to realize what she'd just said, and when she looked back, she found Morgan's eye twitching, his teeth clenched as he glared daggers into Arden.


"I-I'm sorry, I didn't... uh, what were you saying?" Mayflower tried.


"Forget it," Morgan snapped, turning tail and returning to the waiting Neka. The two teenage Pokemon exchanged a glance.


"What was that about?" Arden asked.


"Probably nothing good," Mayflower said, inciting a frown from Arden.


"Right," he said. "So. What were you saying about that Tyranitar?"


"That's about it, really. What happens when you give a looney an army and thirty-something years to do whatever," Mayflower said.


"Oh, so just normal government," Arden said, pausing for a moment. "...this is the part where you— I don't know, it was funnier back then."


"Yeah," Mayflower coughed.


Most definitely not laughing was Morgan, though not from a missed joke. He did his best to maintain his composure as he approached Neka once more, a facade that apparently fooled her.


"Well?" Neka asked.


"It's just a mood. I'll give him a couple days," Morgan said, his voice smooth despite the anger behind it. Neka, thankfully for him, knew better than to probe his mind, so he walked past her to lie down and stare at the ground, thinking things over.


That little stain had gotten to his daughter. Oh, Morgan knew what he was doing, he was trying to take Mayflower from him, to undermine his whole family, to make a fool of him and leave him with nothing. And if it had gotten to the point where his eldest would disrespect him such... he had to do something. It was clear they weren't going to be getting along anytime soon, but Neka didn't need to know that. But how to deal with this...?


The moon was well into the sky and the others all asleep by the time Morgan got up, his course of action decided. Quietly pulling out a sheet of paper and an unlit torch, he picked a direction and walked until he was sure the clearing was long behind him, then scribbled down a few lines of script onto the paper. With this, Morgan lit the torch and waved it in the air, watching the starlit sky until, with a flash, a Noctowl swooped down and grabbed the notice he had written, putting it in a bag around its leg as it flew towards the nearest town none the wiser. Giving a smirk, Morgan turned to head back to bed, a bit of satisfaction now quelling the anger within him.


He hadn't failed here, no, Cyndaquil had just forced his paw, was all.




Mayflower yawned awake the next morning, rolling onto her paws and looking around at the clearing as per routine. A quick glance to her right, however, revealed an anomaly in the scenery: Arden's cot was empty. Her eyes widening, Mayflower hurried to her paws and hurried over to where her parents were already eating their breakfasts.


"Dad? Uh, A-Arden's gone," she said hurriedly.


"I know," Morgan responded. "It's alright, he didn't run off or anything."


"Yeah. Your father wanted to see if he could scout better than Jasmine, so he took him to Slate Ridge Town to try and watch it for the next job. I'll take Morgan to go get him midday," Neka added on.


"Oh. That... seems a bit abrupt?" Mayflower said quietly. "Uh, what if something goes...?"


"Neka'll know," Morgan said simply. Mayflower hesitated a bit before nodding, turning to walk away and start her morning stretches in absence of her spotter.


The silence quickly began to weigh on the Eevee as she strained to touch her hind paws. Had it really only been ten days since the Cyndaquil had showed up? It already felt strange having him absent, she noticed. It'd be okay, though, he'd just be till midday, right?





...ah, he could use the help, she figured. Not like she had much better to do.


As she finished her stretches, Mayflower looked over to her parents to make sure they weren't watching, then briskly started for the road. As she walked, though, Jasmine ran up to walk beside her.


"Mayfwower? Pwease be really careful, Daddy looked mad when he walked to this road," she said. "I hope Cyndaquil's okay and Daddy didn't..."


"Hey, I'm sure he is. We'll be back by midday, okay? We'll bring you berries," Mayflower reassured her. Jasmine hesitated a moment before nodding.


"Okay... love you, Mayfwower," Jasmine said.


"Yeah," the larger Eevee nodded, hopping into the bushes as Jasmine watched her go.


It was ironic, Mayflower mused. Here she was again, running through the woods to check up on her weird friend. Poetry aside, she continued down the well-trodden path to Slate Ridge town for a good while before she passed into a clearing. With a look to the left, she screeched to a halt, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The Cyndaquil sat atop a rock, staring at her equally confused.


"Arden? Wh-what're you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be just outside town scouting, you're half a mile away?" she asked.


"Scouting? What? The Vaporeon told me I was waiting for a robbery," Arden said.


Mayflower's eyes widened, her ears pricking back as she realized what had happened. "Oh... oh, no. We gotta go, right now. Can you get on my b—?"


The Eevee was cut short as something struck her from behind, immediately sending a wave of pins and needles through her as it shattered against her skin. She just managed to hear Arden call out in panic as she fell over, her muscles seized up. A Stun seed, she immediately recognized. Gritting her teeth and trying to force her head to crane to the side, she saw whoever had thrown it: a Sneasel and a Meowth, both running out whooping.


"You see? See? I told ya we should wait! Double the reward! Hah, C-rank my ass!" the Sneasel cackled in a gratingly shrill voice.


"Heh, yep, if Walrein don't promote us for this, I dunno what will. Team Assail, baby! Ah, you get the Eevee, I got the Cyndaquil. Notice says his bones're bust anyways, it'll be fine," the Meowth said. Mayflower hissed to herself as she felt the Sneasel wrap his arms around her forelegs and hoist her up.


Was this really how it would end for her? All because her dad had...? Why? Why would he even do this? What was she going to do now? She couldn't just... go to jail! Would her parents even care? What about Arden, would they even let him see her? How could this have—


A blast of heat suddenly washed over Mayflower, the Sneasel giving a loud wail of pain as he keeled over with her in tow. As she hit the ground hard, the Eevee landed facing where Arden had been, her eyes widening at what she saw. Arden now stood firmly on his feet, mouth smoking as he panted heavily.


"Wh-what? But the notice said—" Sneasel stammered out.


"Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" Arden yelled, firing off another Ember in the Sneasel's direction.


"Ah! Gold! Do something!" the Sneasel shrieked, just barely scrambling out of the way.


"O-on it!" the Meowth hurriedly nodded, snapping out of his mute shock and pouncing on Arden. Mayflower could only watch as the two wrestled on the ground for a moment as Sneasel crawled for the two's bag. However, the fight was shortlived, as Arden belched a Smokescreen into the Meowth's face, sending him coughing and hacking onto the ground. With this, Arden hurried over and grabbed Mayflower's paw, turning to face the two.


"Either of you try and pull a sneaky here, Sneasel there gets another Ember, you hear?" he panted. Neither of the two objected, so Arden slowly backed out of the clearing and up the road, dragging Mayflower by the paw all the while.


A short while passed of this continuing, Arden's tugging getting progressively weaker before he simply collapsed, panting heavily and groaning in pain. "Fuck... that piece of..."


Mayflower remained silent, only testing her limbs to see if they could move now. While still stiff, she could at least make the trip home, so she managed herself onto her paws to look down at the heap of Cyndaquil on the ground.


"Arden, you... saved..." she managed.


"Just... get me back, please. I've got some... choice words for same-day delivery," he hissed.


"R-right," Mayflower nodded, managing to kneel down and let Arden crawl onto her back as per usual.


Appropriately enough, it was midday when the two finally returned to the clearing, Mayflower gritting her teeth as she saw her parents waiting for them ahead. As she finally came to a stop, Arden flopping off her back, Morgan scowled at the Eevee. Mayflower shuddered as she noted there was no anger in his eyes this time. Just... nothing.


"You listen here—" he began, only for Arden to walk up and punch him square in the jaw.


"You set me up!" he snapped, spitting in his face as the Vaporeon staggered back. "You piece of shit! You absolute chucklefuck! You... you fucking think you're so high and mighty? You think I'll bend over and suck you off just because you told me to one night? You... go fuck yourself! I'd call you a puddle of Muk-regurgitated shit, but that'd be a fucking insult to Muks! Stick your head up your ass till Giratina can't find it! Go—"


In a flash, Morgan shifted his paw and sent a Surf barreling over Arden, quickly overwhelming him as Mayflower jumped backwards.


"Dad! Dad, stop!" she yelled. Morgan didn't even spare her a look, only walking up to the battered Cyndaquil as the water receded, watching as he flailed in place and desperately coughed up water. Before long, though, the corner of his mouth twitched and he reared back his head, a blinding white light beginning to shine from his mouth. Mayflower took in a breath as she recognized the technique. Hyper Beam. And at point blank. There was no way Arden would survive that.


"D-DAD! Dad! No!"


"Daddy, no!" Jasmine's voice interrupted, the little Eevee running up and jumping in front of Arden. Her eyes widening at this, Neka ran to jump onto Morgan and pull him away.


"Morgan, stop! That's enough! You've made your point!" she said hurriedly, her voice shaking. Morgan finally spared the two a look, the empty look in his eyes not fading but appearing to finally acquiesce nonetheless. Slowly, the charging Hyper Beam in his jaws died down as he turned away, allowing Jasmine and Mayflower to run up and check on the trembling Arden.


"I'm not letting this go, Mayflower. I am your father, what I say is what I say, and neither of you have any right to fuck it up like that. You ever do that again..." the Vaporeon trailed off before walking off casually, Neka hesitating before following. Mayflower's breath shook for a moment before she managed to choke out some words.


"J-Jasmine... get some Orans, please."


"Okway," Jasmine hurriedly nodded, running off to fetch the requested fruits. With her sister gone, Mayflower clenched her teeth, looking down at the soaked Arden as he kept wheezing, a quiet sob managing out as he kept quaking.


"I'm here," the Eevee said, putting a paw on his back as she laid down next to him. "I-I'm here..."


The two stayed there a while.




The silence that night was of a different kind. Both Mayflower and Arden just laid in bed, staring up at the stars and not daring to break the quiet, lest the thin veil of calm break. Even as the parents slept, Mayflower was afraid of what they might hear, though as it turned out, she wouldn't be the one who had to worry about such damning topics.


"I'm leaving," Arden said abruptly. Mayflower sat up with a start.


"Wh-what?" she asked.


"I'm not staying with that fucking psychopath. I'm not insane like he is," Arden said. "You said there's a town up that road? I can make it. Not like he'll miss me anyways."


"But... I don't... i-it's so soon, I don't..." Mayflower trailed off.


"What? Wait, wait, you're not coming with?" Arden asked. "I... thought that was a given."


"No. Arden, they're... they're my family. I-I have nowhere else," Mayflower said.


"Family my ass, you saw the fucking guy, h-he tried to drown me! He was this close to blowing me to kingdom come, and he didn't even give a shit! You can't actually be considering staying!" Arden protested.


"Arden!" Mayflower barked. "H-he wouldn't have... I... I can't. I-I'm not str... just... no."


Silence hung in the air for a few moments, Arden and Mayflower staring each other down all the while until the former simply hung his head.


"Alright. Your choice," he said quietly. "Everything aside, it's... been fun. You've been a great friend, May, and... I won't forget everything you did for me."


Mayflower swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Th-thanks. You've been great, too."


"Take care of yourself. And, uh, if you ever run into me again... you know, maybe give me a pass on the robbery thing, alright?" Arden continued, drawing a faint smirk from Mayflower.


"Yeah, I-I'll try," she said. With that, Arden gave a sad smile and rolled onto his back.


"Thanks for everything," he said.


Mayflower only returned his smile, watching him for a moment before rolling to face away from him. Her only friend... just going like that. She stared into the embers of the dying campfire nearby for a moment, trying to distract herself from this with the ambiance around her for a good while. Even so, she couldn't ignore when the grass behind her eventually rustled. Her heart heavy, she dared not look as she heard a bag being lifted up and footfalls beginning to recede, hesitating once before continuing until their sound joined the indistinct ambiance.


And just like that, Mayflower was alone once more.




As was routine by now, Mayflower's eyes cracked open as the morning sun glared over from the horizon. She laid there drowsily, troubled by nightmares she had just been freed from, before glancing over at the bed next to her to continue that routine.


"Morning," she muttered at nothing, her eyes widening as she saw this. Oh, Arceus, where had Arden gone? Had her father tried to—


...oh. Right.


Mayflower stared at the empty bed for a moment before she slowly turned her gaze over to the path north towards town, a feeling in her gut not unlike having been punched. She watched the trees for a moment, waiting for something, anything, as if the Cyndaquil would reemerge and give some snide remark to cap off this prolonged joke and reel things back into control. Yet predictably, no one came.


As she finally tore her gaze from the woods, hanging her head, she blinked. A piece of parchment was tucked into her straw bed. Raising an eyebrow, she pulled it out and unfolded it, wondering if it was but another piece of trash or something more. A drawing sat scrawled onto the parchment, depicting a Sneasel and a Meowth on one side and a rock on the other, a Cyndaquil's figure sitting perched atop it with two suns and two moons above. Mayflower puzzled over the note for a moment before her frown deepened.


He was still offering her an out. He'd be waiting at that same clearing they'd fought those two Guild Pokemon for two days, then he'd be moving on.


Mayflower just shook her head and gave a sigh, though she didn't throw it away right away. Rather, after some hesitation, she folded it up and placed it in her bag. Just a keepsake, was all, she figured. Nothing more...


As Mayflower stared at the folded-up note, she heard a commotion arise behind her.


"—where are the Orans? There were more in this bag, I know it! And my water bottle!" Morgan said, walking up in search of his missing things. "Look, there's a whole bag missing! Did some feral sneak in, or—"


The Vaporeon stopped beside Mayflower, his eyes falling on the footprints in the dirt and following them up the road. As he seemed to connect the dots, his frustration turned into a chuckle and a smirk. "Good riddance," he shook his head before looking down at his daughter. "You didn't go crawling after him? I'm impressed. Now get up and pick up the stray shit, we don't want them knowing we were here once Cyndaquil comes back with the Guild."


"Y-yes, sir," Mayflower nodded absently, getting to her paws.


...she had only known the Cyndaquil for two weeks. He couldn't have made that big of an impact, no matter what... things he'd told her. She'd managed with her parents for four years, after all, surely two weeks wouldn't be that big of a change. She just had to get back into routine, was all, then things would be better for his help.


Everything would be fine.





Mayflower cringed as she heard ripping, the seams of the bag she was dragging giving way and spilling its haul all over the ground.


"Mayflower! What in distortion's wrong with you?" Neka yelled over, Morgan only giving a frown at her.


"I didn't do—" Mayflower tried.


"Get out of the way. I'll do it," Neka sighed, pushing her aside as Morgan turned away with that familiar side-glare.





"No, no, Jasmine, the berries go in this pocket, the seeds go in this one," Mayflower pointed out.


"Ohhh, okway! I get it now, thank y—" Jasmine started.


"Oh, quit talking, we don't have time for your lollygagging!" Morgan called over.


"What? But I was just—" Mayflower tried.


"I don't care, you can chitchat when you're done, get to it!" Morgan demanded.





"What do you mean 'you're tired?'" Morgan asked.


"I-I... i-it's cold, I can barely feel my paws," Mayflower said.


"We're cold too, you can take a break if you start coughing up blood."


"Dad—"


"I didn't bitch about it when I was your age. And what've you been doing your whole life?"





...everything would be fine...





Mayflower kept repeating that mantra as she laid against the pile of packed stuff that night. This was just another packing day, wasn't it? No big deal, she'd survived countless before. But why did this one feel...?


As the Eevee watched the stars above, trying to tune out the snoring of her father, she invariably found her eyes wandering back to where she had been sleeping these past two weeks. To where she and her friend had bonded so together. Where she had found more than just the next robbery.





Mayflower suddenly found herself looking up at the northward path where Arden had left, then towards the westward path. She would be following her family down that road tomorrow, they had the time to spare. They would find another clearing, locate another town to prey on, and then... then what? Would this just... repeat? Forever? What about when she inherited everything, would she still just...?


...but they were her family. She had nothing else. They knew what was best for her. They loved her.





...right?


Mayflower kept looking between the two paths for an hour or two, her tail flicking as she felt the metaphorical pit grow deeper and deeper. Eventually, though, her gaze flicked away from the paths and towards her bag, where that piece of parchment still stuck out. Hesitating a moment, she reached out and unfolded it, staring at the diagram once more.


A moment passed before the Eevee clenched her eyes shut, a couple of teardrops splattering onto the charcoal drawing. As if in a trance, she stood up and picked up the bag holding all her belongings, slinging it around her body. As she turned to look back at her family, all she had known her whole life, she stood rooted in place as sorrow and fear began to churn. It wasn't too late, she could just put the bag down, go back to sleep, and pretend none of this ever happened, couldn't she?





"...Mom, Dad, Jasmine, Granny... th-thank you for everything. I love you," she whispered before turning away and starting away into the early morning darkness. As she neared the edge of the clearing, though, she paused to look back, tears running down her face before she tore her glance away and took a step out.


"Mayflower?"


Horror immediately gripped Mayflower's body as she immediately bolted, her eyes wide with panic and body pumping with adrenaline as footfalls sounded behind her. Oh, Arceus, this was it. She was dead. The voice was getting closer...


"Mayflower! Mayfwower! Where're you going?"


Mayflower brought herself to a halt, body trembling as she finally looked back. "Hah... J-Jasmine... you gotta be quiet. Wh-what are you doing out here?"


The little Eevee bounded up to her big sister, confused and upset. "What's going on? You're going the wrong way, we're all going up the other road!"


"N-no, Jasmine. I'm... I-I'm leaving," Mayflower managed, her ears drooping.


"Oh, okway," Jasmine nodded. "When're you coming back?"


"Jasmine... I'm not... I'm not coming back. I..." Mayflower managed out, hanging her head as she sniffled. "...c-come with me."


"What?" Jasmine asked.


"Come with me, please. We'll go to Slate Ridge together, we can eat all the apples you want, and Mom and Dad will never bother us again. You won't have to end up like I did. Please, Jasmine..." Mayflower whispered.


"No, Mayflower, I can't! Mommy and Daddy will be upset! I don't wanna go! I-I don't want you to go! Please go back, w-we gotta go soon!" Jasmine cried, trying to pull Mayflower back the way she'd come.


"Please," Mayflower choked out, clenching her eyes shut as quiet weeps started to wrack her body. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."


Jasmine could only watch as Mayflower broke down, putting her paws on her head as she cried. Jasmine didn't deserve this, Mayflower knew that. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn? Why did it have to be her? Why of all families did she end up with this one? Why was she so selfish? Why—


Mayflower abruptly felt a pair of forelegs wrap around her.


"I-it's okway, Mayflower," Jasmine whispered, sniffling. "You can go if you really wanna. You'll come and visit us, right?"


Mayflower looked up at her little sister with bloodshot eyes. "I... w-we'll see each other again someday. I don't know where, I don't know when. B-but we will, okay?" she asked hoarsely. As Jasmine eagerly nodded, Mayflower gulped back another sob. "I-if Mom and Dad ever get too mean, promise me that while they're not looking, you'll run away as fast as you can, okay? And... please, please, please don't tell them I'm doing this. I've gone on ahead if they ask."


"Okway, I will! Pinky promise," Jasmine said, touching Mayflower's paw with her own. The larger of the two Eevees let out something between a laugh and a sob and pulled her close in a hug.


"I love you, Jasmine. So, so much," she whispered.


"I love you too, Mayfwower," Jasmine replied. The two stayed in that embrace for a moment before Mayflower pulled away, looking at Jasmine one last time before turning away.


"Goodbye, Jasmine. Take care of yourself, and... g-good luck. Till next time," she managed quietly. As Jasmine gave a sad smile and waved her off, Mayflower looked back towards the clearing and her sister before gritting her teeth and forcing herself forward. As she heard Jasmine turn back and walk away, she took a breath tried her best to keep her eyes on the stars in the horizon before her.


She was out. She was... free.


It felt so hollow.




The walk to town wasn't short, though it most certainly wasn't unbearable. Regardless, as the sun rose over the treeline, Mayflower couldn't help but carry just a twinge of worry as she walked along. Her parents would most likely be awake by now, and the little demon on her shoulder just kept whispering that they'd show up any moment now and that she wouldn't make it to the meeting point.


On the contrary, if they had not come by now...


Even faced with prolonged quiet and privacy for the first time in years, Mayflower couldn't help but think of what she'd left behind. That daughterly love towards her parents and that deep belief that they returned it. Her rosy memory of her late grandmother, even with that unease between her and Morgan. The innocent Jasmine, who would only promise to try and save herself from the nightmare. The thrill of battle. The rush of being on the run. The everlasting allure that she'd make her father proud one day. Was this all worth throwing away over her feelings, she wondered?


If anything, she had no shortage of things to talk about with Arden once she caught up to him. Just as soon as she trusted him with all this, of course.


A sign stood ahead as she continued on. Slate Ridge, 5 miles, it said. About a quarter mile to go before the clearing, then it'd be smooth sailing from there. Mayflower couldn't help but grin to herself a bit. Despite everything, she was so close...


"MAYFLOWER!" a voice roared from a distance behind, full of raw anger.


Before the Eevee could even quite process the call, she found herself in a full desperate sprint, pure unadulterated panic coursing through her very being. She dared not look back, even as she heard footfalls rapidly approaching. It wasn't long, though, before she felt something grab her back leg, sending her tripping onto her face.


"No! NO, NO, HELP! HELP—" Mayflower screamed, thrashing and flailing as she was lifted into the air by her leg. Her mouth was quickly clamped shut by what appeared to be nothing, leaving her to flail uselessly and try to scream as she watched her parents run up, Neka's gem glowing as she held her there. The two just watched her struggle for a moment before the Espeon gave a sigh.


"I... cannot believe you, Mayflower, what in distortion is wrong with you?! Getting poor Jasmine in on your...? You made her sweep away your trail and everything! That's just low! We raised you better than this!" she said, looking to her mate for input. Morgan was silent, only staring at Mayflower with little discernible emotion on his face save for a frown at the mention of Jasmine. Mayflower stopped struggling, her eyes widening as she saw this.


"...whh dhd you dhh t her?" she managed out, starting to tremble.


"That's none of your business. We'll deal with Jasmine however we deal with Jasmine. Now, please. Let's end this little adventure of yours, go home, and start again. Under our terms," Neka said. "We'll decide on—"


With a twitch of his face, Morgan abruptly swung his glowing tail into Mayflower's suspended body. The Eevee let out a pained cry, though that only seemed to anger him more. The Vaporeon savagely hit her with Aqua Tails again and again, each hit more painful than the last. As Mayflower's vision blurred, she desperately looked to her mother for something, anything, though Neka only clenched her teeth and looked away, holding her there and cringing with each hit.


By the time Morgan finally stopped, Mayflower was gasping for breath, pain shooting through her body with every movement. She could feel bruises all over, she tasted blood, and she was sure a rib or two had been broken. Regardless, Morgan only stared at her coldly before gesturing to Neka and turning around, starting back the way they had come. As the Espeon followed, Mayflower realized she was being carried along, that telekinetic grip on her leg not letting up.


No... this couldn't be it. This couldn't be. Not like this...


Before Mayflower quite realized what she was doing, she spit a glob of saliva and blood into Neka's face, catching the Espeon enough off guard to release her. As Morgan spun around to see what was happening, the Eevee managed a defensive stance, her racing mind and pumping adrenaline dulling the pain she was in. Though Neka stumbled back, still trying to get her daughter's blood off her face, Morgan didn't seem so fazed.


"That didn't teach you? Hmph. Okay," he said, immediately lunging at Mayflower. Sucking in a breath, she sped out of the way with a Quick Attack, then sent a cloud of sand into his face. Gritting his teeth, he lunged at her again, tackling her to the ground. Morgan bit down around her torso, clamping her in his jaws, then slammed her hard against the ground, something in her foreleg painfully popping. As she resisted the urge to scream, Mayflower realized the Vaporeon hadn't seemed to take her own striking distance into account, so she managed to rake a desperate scratch across his face. Morgan cried out in pain and anger as he clenched an eye shut, though as he staggered back, he received a couple of hard Double Kicks to the jaw.


"Morgan! Are you—?" Neka cried.


"Get back and let me...!" Morgan roared, recovering and striking Mayflower on the back hard with his tail. Another painful crack sounded, though after a moment she managed herself up onto her paws regardless. Morgan's eye twitched before he reared his head back, a bright light beginning to charge within his maw. A Hyper Beam... he was really about to...?


Mayflower just stared, watching as the beam charged more and more. In her delirious panic, an idea came to mind, one from when Arden had been in this same situation. With no other option, Mayflower pushed her broken body forward and leapt, hot pain coursing through her as she kicked Morgan in the chin, jerking his head back just as the beam reached critical mass. Through her clenched-shut eyes, she felt the Hyper Beam fire upward, just barely missing her and leaving Morgan drained. Tearing her eyes open, Mayflower took in a disbelieving breath, watching as Morgan stumbled to the ground. He... looked almost afraid.


Neka was pleading to the both of them to stop, she thought, but she couldn't tell, things were too fuzzy. The catharsis pushed her forward anyways, Mayflower desperately seizing the opportunity as instinct took hold. Morgan opened his mouth to finally try and negotiate with his daughter, but alas, it was far too late for amends.


Sand Attack to the face. Quick Attack to the liver. A jump, and a Double Kick to the back of the head.


Mayflower landed hard, lying there in hot agony for a moment before managing herself up by her good foreleg and looking back. Morgan wasn't getting back up, seemingly trying to cling on to consciousness as Neka stared at her daughter in stunned silence. A moment of quiet passed before Mayflower let out a pant, tore her eyes from her parents for what she hoped would be the last time, and began to limp away, breaking into a run with the energy she had left.


"M-Mayflower!" Neka yelled after her. "Mayflower!"


May didn't look back once.




Birds circled overhead with the arrival of morning, the Palkia-moon cold slowly warming in a certain clearing. Atop the rock dominating the area, Arden laid still on his belly, watching the road as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Just like all of the previous day, however, nobody came up the dirt road, save for the odd northbound traveler. Frowning to himself, Arden gave a quiet sigh.


"Welp. Guess I'm going it alone," he shrugged. "Fuck... what do I even do now?"


He didn't have a plan for this scenario, he'd been banking on his friend joining him. So what was an orphaned Cyndaquil alone in this world to do? Who was he supposed to turn to in the town up ahead? Would he just get arrested on the spot for accomplice? How would he even live like this?


Whether he liked to admit it or not, he was nervous, to say the least. Maybe he'd just sit here a little longer, try and prolong the inevitable. Perhaps—


A change in the background noise snapped Arden out of his thoughts. It sounded like someone was coming up the road again, though something sounded wrong this time. Looking up to watch them pass, Arden's eyes popped open in shock. Rather than a random passerby, a bloodied, broken May was dragging herself up the road, groaning with each movement she made. Swearing quite loudly to himself, Arden hurried down from his perch and ran over, ignoring the resultant angry throbbing in his leg.


"A-Arden? Hey, I... m... m-made it," May managed out weakly, letting her head fall against the dirt road. Arden reached to try and see the extent of the damage, sucking in a breath as he saw her leg bent awkwardly.


"Shit, shit, what did they...? Fuck!" Arden said to himself, his vents flaming. "Come on, they have to have a doctor or something up there, get on my back!"


Before May could protest, the Cyndaquil had begun to hoist her up, though he only hauled the Eevee a few feet before she let out a scream of agony. Gritting his teeth, Arden set her back down, looking around desperately before setting his eyes on the Flying-types high above.


"H-hey! Hey! There's someone hurt down here! We need a doctor! We need— no, no, fuck! Help us, damn you...!"


Arden just watched as the birds glided away in all different directions, apparently not wanting anything to do with their situation. He watched them go for a moment before resigning himself to the hope that the ones heading north would get them help and running back to grab what Orans he had left. As he returned with a couple in paw, May managed to look up at him.


"Th-they... i-it was... like I w-w-wasn't their... daughter," she choked out. "I-I... e-everything's just... broken. J-Jasmine... she... I-I just wanna..."


"Hey, hey, nonono. May. It's over now. You're okay. I'm here," Arden said quietly.


May just laid there for a second before managing to crawl over to Arden and hugging his leg as best she could. She trembled softly, smearing blood all over her friend's leg as she clutched on like it was all she had left. Before long, though, she felt a paw on her good shoulder, Arden silently keeping his paw there. The two stayed that way for a while, neither sure how long May could stay awake in this condition.


After a short while, May's ear managed to stick up, alerting Arden enough to look up at the way towards town. Voices were just barely audible, and getting louder. The Cyndaquil's vents instinctively flared up as he assumed a stance, expecting the worst, though instead of police or May's vengeful family, a Taillow soared into view, hurriedly fluttering into a landing as more Pokemon ran after him.


"Yeah, they're right 'ere, o-one o' 'em's hurt bad!" the Taillow called back before turning to the confused pair. "Ya two're still good, right? Ya think you can make it to town?"


Arden blinked. "Uh... y-yeah," he nodded. As Taillow nodded in turn and hopped aside, the group's apparent leader, a Talonflame, stepped up.


"Thank you, Pike. Now, we're from Walrein's Guild, we're here to help. We're gonna take you into town and get you help, alright? Bear with us."


As the Pokemon approached, prepared for this in each way the two could think, Arden gave a little disbelieving chuckle at their luck as May just stared on.




Three days. Three days to herself in this straw bed, and May was only now beginning to grasp what had happened to her.


Even as they'd hurried her into the emergency ward of Slate Ridge Town's only infirmary, even as she'd just barely kept herself awake as they'd hurriedly tried to stop her bleeding, even as she'd laid there trying to recover enough to even hold a conversation without her ribs screaming at her, she hadn't been able to accept it all, not until recently.


At first, it'd been as if the world beneath her paws had simply collapsed and she was floating aimlessly in the void her life had become. Now, however, she felt strangely at peace. She couldn't explain it, but an odd contentment had washed over the Eevee: she could conclude her parents wouldn't follow. She could conclude Jasmine had kept her promise and fled. She could conclude that this fresh start would get her somewhere.


As much as her rational side wanted to speak up and hit her with the logical conclusion of things, May chose not to let it. After all, this was the first time in a while she'd felt truly... accomplished. Like she'd done something. Like she'd made her father pr—





Like she didn't need to anymore.


As she laid there considering all this, a soft knock on the doorframe caught her attention. Arden cleared his throat, glancing at the nervous Taillow behind him.


"Hey. They, uh, finally got around to letting me in," he said quietly. "How you doing?"


"...still alive, at least," May said. As the two Pokemon walked in and sat down by her bed, she gave Taillow an odd glance. "Uh, what's he...?"


"Oh. Uh, he's been asking after you, wanted to come in and see how you were doing. His name's Pike, he's been cool these last few days. You know, having someone to talk to," Arden said, watching as Pike averted his gaze.


"J-just doin' my job, is all," he said. "So, Mayflower, right? Uh, the Guild heard 'bout ya sister. We, um, could send out a bulletin lookin' out for her, see if they can find her. If you're good with that."


"Yeah. I'd appreciate— wait, you heard about...?" May sat up with a start. "Wh-what'd they find out?"


Pike ground his beak nervously as May and Arden's gazes fixed on him. "U-um... everything. They're still tryin' to figure out what t'do, b-but I think they'll understand," he managed out, gesturing with his wing, though quickly put it back down to cover what appeared to be a nasty fresh scar, three claw marks raking down his side.


Not paying much heed to such a thing given the weight of this latest news, May could only watch as Arden hung his head, his back sparking.


"Fuck, fuck... okay, this is fine, this is fine. If they're still talking about it, we've got a good while to think up a defense. We were accomplice, sure, but we can Buizel our way out of this. We've got a day at least, we can—"


The doorframe shuddered with another set of knocks, this one more powerful. As the three looked back, Pike sucked in a breath at the Walrein standing in the door.


"G-Guildmaster," the Taillow said, quickly saluting the Walrein. "I've heard their side, just let us explain—"


"Nay, nay, no need for that, Pike, my boy," the Guildmaster shook his head, flopping in as May bit her lip, preparing for the worst. "So you're the ones the town's been in such a ruckus aboot these last few days."


"W-we might be," Arden said.


"Mm," Walrein nodded, settling next to May's bed casually. "Ah, little lass Eevee. I'd be a fool to not know who you two are. Ah, after all the trouble we've had with the Kap-de Eon family, that wretch Morgan..."


May and Arden exchanged a quick glance, the Cyndaquil slowly beginning to back towards the wall as Pike watched silently.


"Sir, I..." May managed pleadingly.


"Lass, lass. I'm not a fool, and I shain't be blind. Ye'd 'ave to go a few more miles up the road fer that Guildmaster, heh! Ahem. But nay, I see your wounds, 'eard all aboot them from Blissey 'ere. You escaped, didja?" Walrein asked. May blinked, though Arden cleared his throat as he kept inching towards the door.


"Y-yes, sir, she ran off and they attacked her," he said.


"Aye, as I suspected. See, that... is why I'm willing to give you two a chance," Walrein said. Arden froze in his slow escape as May's ears stood on end.


"Y-you...? What do you mean, chance?" she asked.


"See, lass, this Guild 'ere aren't the mightiest this side of the Imperium Desert. I aren't no Arcanine or Lurantis, but I believe we can help. 'Mons can change, see. Distortion, I were runnin' X-Eyes under the Kecleons' noses before I joined this Guild! And, er, Pike seems to trust ye after ev'rything," Walrein said. "Ah, what I be tryin' to say is, I can make ye a deal. Our Guild be in need o' recruits, see..."


"Y-you're letting us onto the Guild?" May asked, her eyes widening. "O-of course! Yes!"


"Wh-what? What's that mean?" Arden asked.


"We get food, shelter, money, protection, everything we could need as long as we work jobs for them! I-I... ah, this is so weird... hey, we should make a team!" May said.


"Team?" Arden asked.


"Ah, a fine idea, would prolly be best fer ya two," Walrein nodded. "Tis settled, then, I'll put ye on the charter. Once lass Eevee gets standing, you can apply proper, and you can all get started, aye? We shall go over the, er, conditions once they come up."


"Th-thank you, uh, Guildmaster," May said before perking up. "O-oh, uh... if or when you find... um, could you make sure there's an Eevee with them? I, uh..."


"Yer sister, I presume? Well, er, the flyer be runnin' outta space already. But we'll see what we can do," Walrein nodded. As May managed a smile and nodded her thanks, the Guildmaster gave the three a nod. "Very well, then. I best be off, got much to explain to the crew. Welcome aboard, ye two, and keep up the good work, Taillow me boy!"


As Walrein jovially turned to flop out of the infirmary, a familiar Sneasel slipping out of his hiding space horrified and demanding after the Guildmaster for his rationale behind such a decision, Arden and May exchanged a quiet look. All was quiet for a moment before May let out a quiet giggle.


"W-we're... okay. Jasmine, she's gonna... hehah!" she laughed. Arden gave a nod, still a bit uncertain, though his eyes quickly drifted over to a watching Pike.


"Hey, you know, if we're gonna make a team... Pike, man, you should come with us," he suggested, to which Pike recoiled a bit.


"U-uh, ya wouldn't want me, really. I'm just a Taillow, and I'm already an apprentice. I'm awful around ferals anyways, and..." he trailed off, making eye contact with Arden for a moment. "...erm. I... guess?"


"My man!" Arden piped, giving the bird a clap on the back as May gave a little smile.


"You, uh, should introduce me later, he seems nice," she said.


"Maybe while we figure everything out. For starters, what's a Guild and what did we just get roped into?" Arden asked. May and Pike hesitated, the two new teammates looking at each other.


"Oh, boy," May sighed, her tail flicking. "Uh, so, you know those mystery dungeons everywhere, right?" she began, Arden sitting down for a long explanation.




"Last call for Salvation-on-Vineyard! Anyone with a ticket to the Dark Isles, last call!"


"Jasmine! Jasmine, where are you?!" Neka called, her eyes wide as she looked desperately over the crowd of the port.


"Neka, damn it, she's probably on the ship already! We've got to go, come on!" Morgan hissed, though cringed as his bruises were agitated by his aggressive gesturing.


"But Jasmine, she..." Neka trailed off, hesitating. "...you're right. Come on, let's go."


As the two turned and began for the passenger ship looming over them, Morgan couldn't help but look back at the port behind him. Here he was, leaving the homeland of his ancestors, where this whole family had begun its work... Great Darkil was a good pick to replace Gray Proper, though. Its interior was still developing from the Darkness past, but sat just close enough to the River Shoot and its cities to turn a profit. Not as good as the Serperior Valley, but good enough.


More than reminiscence, though, he stood watching the crowd behind him, almost waiting. As if any moment now, his Mayflower would come weaving her way after them, ready to follow them aboard. But alas, this wouldn't be the case; he wasn't even sure if she was still alive after the fight they'd had. Even through the sadness and rage towards his eldest for her abandonment, for how she'd humiliated him, he knew they could just start again. Jasmine would need some work, but they could manage.


Even so, Morgan stood fruitlessly waiting for Mayflower for a moment longer before the ship's bell began to ring. Grimacing silently to himself, the Vaporeon finally turned away and stepped off Gray soil for the last time.


As the ship carried the two thieves out of dock, another ship just nearby did the same, this particular one beginning the long transoceanic journey to Sun Major. Aboard the liner, an Eevee watched from the deck as her parents' ship shrunk further and further into the horizon until it finally dipped away, leaving the child alone. Despite this, Jasmine stayed perched on the balcony, looking back towards the coast.


"I did it, Mayfwower. I ran, as fast as I could and they didn't see me! Um, Daddy... Daddy was hurt and really mad, and hit me really hard. So now I'm gwonna find a new daddy," she said, hanging her head and rubbing at her cheek. "I-I'll have apples weady for when you visit! I'm... weally gonna miss you until you do. I'll talk to you a lot, though! Um, I'll tell you how the big ship ride goes later! Bye!"


With this, Jasmine gave the receding coast a wave and hopped down, looking around before following everyone below deck just as her now-distant parents began to realize what had happened.


Somehow, she knew, she'd make the best of things, even as she sailed alone to the other side of the world. Just as May would have wanted of her.




May gave a little grin as she held up her card, signaling her victory in the game. As Pike hung his head, Arden gave a chuckle.


"Well played, young student," he nodded. "You've gotten better, actually."


"Yeah, I try," May said quietly, glancing over at the third in the room.


"I tried to tell ya. Not good at these kindsa games," Pike sighed.


"Eh, you learn as you go along. I did," May reassured him.


"And look where she is now. In a hospital bed," Arden teased as he collected their cards. "So, uh, been thinking of names for our team thing. We could go something like, uh, Team Emancipation. Like, for the whole thing with... or we could just do our types, call ourselves Team Scrubfire."


May pursed her lips. "I'd... r-really rather not be reminded about all that, you know? And, uh, let's not do Scrubfire," she said. Arden nodded in understanding, though flopped back.


"I don't know, those were my top two. All I've got is... I don't know, let's call ourselves something dumb like Apex or some shit," he said. A bit of silence hung in the air.


"Apex sounds neat," Pike nodded.


"Yeah, it does. Let's... keep it in mind, and we can use it if we can't think of anything better," May offered. Arden opened his mouth to try and protest this, though seeing he was outvoted, gave a groan.


"Fine. But like I said, it's one of the stupid ones. Give me a day or two and I'll probably think something better up," he said.


As he returned to shuffling cards for another round, May couldn't help but take a look at the two. Here she was, with her friend and work-in-progress teammate, hopeful for another day for the first time in as long as she could remember. While she didn't know how she'd pick up the pieces and move from here or when and where she would see her sister again, this was a start. If there was anything that could help her in the two, it would be on a Guild team with friends, right?


Somehow, May knew, Team Apex was going to make a difference.
 
51 - Through a Glass Darkly

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
ACT TWO

-o-

Chapter 51: Through a Glass Darkly
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,

And Swellows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,

And wild plum trees in tremulous white,

Pidgeys will wear their feathery fire

Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one

Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree

If mankind—


The piece of charcoal in my paw fractured into several pieces, covering my writing paper in a thin coat of black dust. I blinked a bit, only then noticing just how hard I was clenching the ruined pen, before giving a little sigh and shutting my notebook. And here I thought translating from Unovan would be an easy idea for learning Pokemon writing...

The town library was quiet as I sat there, as tended to be the case at this time of day. I had a decent while to go before the dinner bell, plenty of time to keep training myself on the language. But now I just didn't feel up to it, like there was a sour taste in my mouth. That had been the case for a good while now, in fact, since we'd faced down Palkia in the cave...

Frowning to myself, I pushed the manuscript I had been reading aside and stood to pack my things, glancing around as I did. The eyes of the Lampent squinting accusingly at my feral self, the casual glances from passing explorers outside, the bright look from the other Oshawott with the reunion cape as he returned from the labyrinth of the library; no matter which set of eyes I looked into, I just couldn't shake the feeling that they were somehow judging me for... everything...

"I found more h-human books! I can help if... are y-you okay?" that other Oshawott asked, gripping onto his hood as he saw me packing.

"Yeh. Naht feehlin et," I nodded, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Oh, um, o-ok," he nodded. "T-take care."

"Tanks, Ch-Shh... G-J-Je... yeh," I sighed, giving a little wave before waddling out of the library, only allowing myself to frown once out of the Oshawott's sight.

The sky was overcast and gloomy, lending to the air hanging over Impetus Town as I trudged through the streets. It'd been a good two weeks since the expedition had returned, the three of us in stretchers, and the town had been shaken to hear our tale, to say the least. Even those two weeks on, it seemed like everyone was just waiting for some sort of disaster to strike...

Yet even despite everything, Arcanine's Guild still sat defiantly perched on its hill. Though the watchtower was now manned twenty-four seven and the walls around the campus were considerably higher and more dangerous-looking, spirits still seemed high as I waddled through the now-guarded gate. Shuffling past a departing team as I went, briefly appreciating the lack of suspicious glances from them, I took a glance up towards the peak of the hill, towards the Guildmaster's quarters. I really needed to talk to Arcanine soon, didn't I? He was probably the one I could confide in most at this point, the one who could understand me most besides... well, Xatu... but for now, I had a visit to make to the infirmary.

"Back again?" Audino asked, looking up from her work at the front desk as I waddled in. "Well, you know where to find them, take as long as you all need." Giving a sha of thanks, I rounded the corner past the emergency room where all this had started, pausing in the doorway of the medical wing.

The wing was mostly empty as usual as I stood there, save for a couple of familiar Pokemon. At the bed nearest to the windows with its bedsides still piled high with well wishes and get well soons, my best friend still stood, noticeably weakly but going strong as he strapped a harness to the Zigzagoon the bed over.

"This is humiliatin'. Ah done told you, you'd have to lob muh tail off before ah go out into town with these again," Mavy complained.

"Sorry. J-just another couple weeks or so, right? Your legs can't be broken forever," Rye reassured, stepping aside as Mavy eased himself off the bed and frowned at the wheel-harness he currently needed to walk. The Treecko gave a quiet sigh as he glanced up, though his face brightened as he saw me watching. "Oh, h-hey, Beck! Uh, we should be able to go out again soon, Mavy's taking the wheel-legs better!"

"Lies, lies 'n slander," Mavy protested. "These psychos eat Pep-Up Plants raw. Ah want out."

I gave a little chuckle, though my tail quickly sagged again. "Er... pwah-gwessh?" I asked. Rye blinked, arms quickly drifting in front of his chest.

"N-no, I read all those books you gave me, but a-all we got is more trails," he sighed. "Cesaree City, the Gold River Valley, th-there's even a trade route going to Nibira City it could've gone down, in Sun Major..."

I winced; I'd been afraid of that. Two weeks of research, and we'd just kept finding ourselves at square one, more lost than where we'd started. It felt like we'd combed through every merchant group, every sailors' Guild, every Kecleon post, every last trade route webbing out of that damned island the orb was supposed to be...

"W-well... what do we do? D-do we keep researching, or?" Rye asked quietly. An uncertain quiet hung over the room for a moment before Mavy gave a groan.

"Y'all. Come on, wut've some crusty ol' books ever done fer us?" he demanded.

"Y-you can't read," Rye shot back.

"Scruffy can't neither, and ah mahself don't plan to, cuz ah'm purty sure from experience that gittin' off yer ass 'n sniffin' something out's better than dickin' 'round over wut a dumb book gotta say, y'know?" Mavy defended himself. "Personally, ah've had nuff o' this place, want muh legs to fix themselves already. Like, ah never thought ah could git tired of the taste of Oran, but here we are."

"But... no, your legs, my heart—" Rye started.

"Iunno, ah'm just sayin'. Y'all wanna sit around some more, though?" Mavy asked the both of us. Rye opened his mouth to come up with a defense, though quickly glanced to me for help.

"...eh... I guessh. B-buh nah toh mush, nah," I nodded. Rye blinked, trembling a bit before gulping hard.

"O-okay. Yeah. N-not too much at once. And no missions yet," he nodded. I clapped my paws together, glad to see some progress at least being made.

"Awight! Whare shtaht?" I asked. My teammates just gave me a look, glancing out the window up the hill, towards the Guildmaster's hut. "...w-wight. Yeh. Ah caursh," I coughed, rubbing the back of my head.

"I-it's okay. Uh, lead the way," Rye said. With that, I gave a nod and started out, slowly as to allow my friends to orient themselves, voluntarily or not.

While it took quite some effort to ease the wheelbound Mavy down the ladder into the Guildmaster's quarters, we soon found ourselves back in that familiar underground hallway. As soon as the three of us walked into the quarters proper, it became obvious the Guildmaster had been busy. While the piles of stuff lining the study's walls were all the same, the large door to his office showed a different scene entirely— papers, posters, and maps covered the wall, and in the center of it all laid a tired-looking Arcanine before a diagram of the continent, his office looking more akin to a war room. Despite all this, though, as the shiny dog looked up to acknowledge us, he gave a warm if strained smile. "Young Beck, why, it is always a pleasure. I am pleased to see Maverick's healing is going well," he nodded.

"Er... yeh ahkay?" I asked.

"Of course. But please, do not concern yourself so for an old Pokemon as I. This is not my first sleepless night. Oh, far from it," Arcanine reassured me, sitting up from his work as he gave a wide yawn. "I trust you come with good news?"

"Well... w-we wanted to know where to start, more than anything. We can't figure out how to move forward, there's t-too much from all the books," Rye said. The Guildmaster's expression soured a hint at this, though he nodded and straightened up.

"Of course. I suppose if even the god over space were uncertain... I do plan on taking steps to address as much," he said. "Whenever your condition has improved, if you so wish, I have been sending our top Pokemon to participate in an active search for the Orb. Some have volunteered to scour potential locations, some to watch over any crossroads it may pass, some to ask more knowledgeable sources. For you three, I have a particular task in mind."

I turned to exchange a glance with my teammates, though Mavy had already stepped up. "Well, aight, better than this. Let's hear it," he insisted. Arcanine gave a little smile.

"I intend to send you to the Gold River Valley. As I am most certain a majority of your team is unaware, the desert shrouding it is truly one of the more unforgiving reaches of the eastern continents, perhaps the world. Yet around the river, one its human inhabitants once called the Orre, it is anything but. While I would quite love to allow you a few days to enjoy such a delightful land, there is a task at hand. You are to venture to the river's mouth, to Pillaferry City. There, or so I have found... is the current residence of the Resolute. Keldeo."

I heard Rye take in a sharp breath as my eyes widened, the room dead quiet for a moment.

"...who?" Mavy asked. Rye and I shared a quiet groan, Arcanine giving a quieter sigh as he pursed his lips.

"Oh dear. Well... Keldeo is the youngest of the Swords of Justice, those being the guardian deities that defend the Gray Continent and her Pokemon. I have observed in my travels that Keldeo's last major relocation was after his victory against the Shadow Blight at the gates of Vale Keep, and our sister Guild in Pillaferry has indeed confirmed as much. If, and only if you wish to do as much, I would like you three to approach him, and ask of his wisdom and knowledge that he might assist our cause."

There was another moment of silence, one which Rye broke this time. "B-but... wh-why him? Why us?" he asked. Arcanine quickly stood, cringing from his broken leg as he approached the Treecko to crouch down to eye level.

"See, young Rye, I know fullest well what the human, his partner, and... young Maverick are capable of. I cannot risk a compromised party obtaining whatever Keldeo has to say, and I trust your team's ability fully," he reassured him. "As to why... Keldeo is the quickest Gray Legend we may reach out to in such a time. The great dragons have not been seen since the human iron age, the other Swords prefer their elusiveness, and the forces of nature... uncooperative at best, I have found."

"Right. So... wut yer sayin' is casually track down a god, have afternoon tea with him 'n skedaddle," Mavy raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps not if you worded it more respectfully," Arcanine said. "Now... I believe that is all. Do come to me when your decision has been made. Should you refuse, you may proceed as you wish, though if you accept, I shall brief you further."

"Th-thank you, Guildmaster," Rye said, kneeling a bit as he turned to leave. I began to follow before I heard Arcanine clear his throat.

"Young Beck. If you would kindly remain," he said. My ears flattened as I nodded, giving Rye and Mavy a little wave and waddling back towards the Guildmaster. As the squeak of Mavy's wheel-legs grew fainter and fainter behind me, Arcanine cleared his throat. "Are you doing well, child?"

I blinked, not expecting such a subject. "Er... y-yah?" I said. The dog gave a little nod, sitting down.

"I am here if you must talk," he said softly. "I... of course, can not begin to understand your situation, but if I might be inclined to help, you may lessen your load here. On your condition, your teammates, the present situation, your... your dilemma."

I hesitated long and hard as the Guildmaster limped to the side and produced a notepad and quill, watching me expectantly. Before long, though, I reluctantly picked up the quill on the floor, starting to write in Unovan.

I don't know what to do.

Arcanine pursed his lips, though remained silent, so I continued.

How can I possibly make this choice? I can't do this. But it should be straightforward, it's the whole world. I should just be saying don't wipe it and move on, but I'm still stuck on it. Why can't I come to a decision? Am I even worth—

"Beck. No. Please, do not. I... I truly do not know what to say. It is a difficult choice, I am aware, but... I do not judge you for struggling. I would as well in your position," Arcanine interrupted. "Please. Take a breath. I am here."

"...a-ahkay. Ahkay," I nodded.

"No matter what, you are still the human I grew to respect. This Guild will do whatever it must to assist, and I still have fullest confidence that you will do what is best for us," Arcanine said, gently putting a large paw on my back.

"Tanks... s-sehr," I said, glancing down at the paper again as something else came to mind. The quill in my paw hovered over the parchment for a moment as I hesitated, frowning to myself for a bit before writing my next message.

If I had something I think might be a memory, how would I find out for sure?

Arcanine raised an eyebrow. "I beg pardon?" he asked me as I quickly began elaborating.

I think when Xatu attacked me back in the cave, psychic whatever kicked up something. There was a kid and his dad stargazing, and one of their names was Samuel, and it sounds too familiar. I think it might have been a memory. I think one of those people was me.

The Guildmaster read over the message a couple times, considering something. "...no, no," he waved off something on his mind. "Ahum. Considering the nature of the attack and how long it has been since your arrival, I would not be surprised if it were indeed a memory. It has been two and a half moons, you are actually later in beginning to recall stray concrete moments than most other humans. I cannot tell you what significance this may hold, I was not there. I would recommend finding a properly trained psychic to uncover more, yet considering the circumstances..."

I frowned as Arcanine thought.

"...do what you think is the best course of action, child. Should this help your cause..." he eventually decided. I bit my lip and gave a nod, shifting my tail. I wasn't really sure why I'd bothered asking the dog, of course he wouldn't know much. But eh, my suspicions were at least confirmed. And there was a way I could find out more? Even if I were certain I wanted to pursue this, though, I doubted there were a good enough psychic in this town to...

...wait.

"Go to Alakazam if you're masochistic enough to want your memories back. The guy has experience."

My conversation with a certain Quilava echoed through my head, my ears drooping a bit as I ran it over. So... I could. But did I even want to...?

I could get answers. Answers as to who I was, maybe why I of all people was picked for this. I could learn what my old life had had to offer, maybe utilize that. I could get a good idea of what was lost, maybe get a head start in deciding—

…no, why was I...? I wasn't going to do that. I wasn't... no. Maybe... I didn't need them, not if they were gonna feed into that... right?

"—child? I said is there anything more?" Arcanine asked. I flinched as I snapped back to attention, gulping as I shook my head. The Guildmaster nodded, once more giving my back a soft pat. "Very well. Thank you for your time, then."

"Yeh," I said, sitting there a moment before writing one final message down. Arcanine peered down at the parchment, his look softening as he frowned at what was written.

"...I am scared too, young Beck," he admitted, remaining quiet for a moment. "...you may go. Come if you need anything more."

"Tanks," I nodded quietly. The room was silent for a moment save for the crackling of the fire in the office before I stood up, turning to slowly waddle out. As I left, I stole a look back, watching Arcanine limp back to his work. Above all else, though, that human skeleton still hung from its place. When I'd first come in here, it'd been a subject of confusion and repulsion for me. Though now as it stared at me with empty eyes and eternal ghastly grin... some little part of me couldn't help but feel it was judging me. Or it was disappointed, maybe, or amused. I couldn't tell.

Whatever the case, I was glad to climb out of the subterranean quarters and back into the sunlight, where Rye and Mavy sat waiting.

"Well, you look like shit," Mavy said, wheel-legs squeaking as he started out.

"Mavy!" Rye chided.

"It's a compliment, Rye. We all look like shit," the Zigzagoon said. I absently nodded along as I waddled, glancing back at the Guildmaster's hut. It'd taken a couple of weeks, and though we didn't get everything we'd hoped for, we finally had a lead to follow, at least.

And I had a lot to consider.

-o-​

Everyone knew what was within the tunnels of Durant Storage, though they still held an air of mystery to them. The hundreds of feet of tunnels going deep into the earth made for the perfect storage facility for the burgeoning Impetus Town, though unless one came prepared they were somewhat of a hassle to traverse. Indeed, the tunnels today sat stagnant and moist, pitch black save for the single lantern burning within a particular vault.
Fifteen years had left the vault handsomely filled, supplies, souvenirs, and the occasional treasure or sack of coin filling the dug-out vault. Yet that wasn't what Arden was here for today. He stared down at the intricately carved stone in his paws, taking a breath.

"You're not cutting off your paw or anything. You're just approaching him. That's all. Big whoop," the Quilava muttered to himself. The lantern's light shimmered around him, casting dancing shadows on the wall as he grasped the stone tight, closing his eyes to focus. Yet as his mouth opened, only silence filled the vault. As Arden stared, his breaths became deeper, his grasp on the rock tightening as his vents started to spark.

A couple minutes passed before he suddenly gave a frustrated groan and hurled the rock at the wall, which it harmlessly ricocheted off. Gritting his teeth, Arden sat down, running his paws down his face.

"Why can't you... it's so fucking simple, just face the music. That's all. Am I... fuck me, why can't I just..." Arden hissed as he turned away from the vault, hanging his head as it roared with flame. He'd been fearing this day for years now, the day he couldn't hide. And while he absolutely would not admit it to himself, that well and truly terrified him. He supposed it boiled down to faith in that little Oshawott, but... oh, faith...

For the first time since that day he'd met May, he felt truly helpless.

...but Arden had dealt with worse. He'd figure this, rock or not. At least, he hoped so.
 
52 - Bruises That Won't Heal

Sudmensch

Professional Procrastinator
Pronouns
he/him
Chapter 52 - Bruises That Won't Heal

Impetus Town was silent.

The moon was just nearly full, shining bright moonlight over the frontier town. The streets should have been alive, buzzing with Ghost and Dark types happy to see the night, Water-types basking in the draw of the moon, perhaps even the odd circle of Clefairies from out of town dancing in formation in the town square. Yet tonight, as it had been for weeks now, the town sat still and deathly quiet.

The Guild laid still as ever, though now adorned with the torchlights of the night guard tasked with patrolling the perimeter. Such was most certainly a new sight for the Pokemon atop the campus's watchtower, a pair of ghostly Marowaks, who could not help but keep their bones held tightly at the sight of the patrol. Neither knew what exactly to watch for— all the Guild had told them was an attack was likely, and that under no circumstances was anything to happen to one team in particular. Nothing more.

As they watched Impetus Town in the distance, one of the Marowaks hung their head, releasing a breath. "It's too quiet. It's... I ain't seen a town this quiet s-since the war..."

"Hey. No, come on. This ain't the war. There's no Tyranitar comin', just another fringe group. The Societies'll mop them up, like usual," his companion said, not breaking his watch.

"But... you saw the news board. Twenty attacks across the frontier in the last couple weeks. This ain't normal... just, I lost my pop when Tyranitar attacked Grave Pool, and my sister's just over the hills in Edelwood Town, if they attack here, then she's... and mon, what about you?" the first Marowak said. The other sighed, turning his gaze.

"Ossie, come on. I'll be fine. We'll all be fine. Persian at the inn, he's talking doom and gloom for the attention, you know him," he said. Ossie groaned, squeezing the tower's railing.

"No, no, it's not just Persian. Raichu and his mate, the Kecleons, Quilava, even Delcatty, they're convinced that... fuck, Cal, wh-where'd we go wrong?" he asked.

"...Ossie. We didn't do anything wrong. Things'll be okay," Cal said quietly, putting his bone staff down to wrap his arm around his partner's shoulders.

"I... I'm sorry. I'm... I'm scared. If another war's starting, or something like it... mon, I don't wanna lose you," Ossie said, pressing against the other ghostly Marowak. Said Marowak hesitated for a moment before leaning up against him with the click of bone against bone.

"You won't. I'll make sure. Can't get rid of me that easily, right?" Cal said quietly, eyes darting to that one base as he comforted his partner. One among many lining the street, but Delcatty had taken the time to point it out. Maybe...

"...thanks, mon. Sorry, I just," Ossie said, giving a shaky sigh.

"No need to be. I get it," Cal said, his arm tightening around the other Marowak's shoulders. The two stood together at their post a moment, staring out at the darkened town before Cal continued. "I don't know, maybe... maybe this Team Reach bunch has it figured out. If the dog wanted an eye on them... well. We met up here, we ain't gonna die up here. I've got my faith in that bunch, whoever they are.



"...you got the map upside down," Mavy said, his tone flat.

I blinked as I looked up to meet his gaze, giving a nervous chuckle as I turned it rightside. Right, north was shown as south here. I still didn't quite know why that was. Whatever the case, I watched as Rye smoothed out the map on the floor, midday light shining onto it through the windows. Rather than just Gray Proper and its surroundings like our standard-issue map showed, this map showed the entirety of the continent, Gray Proper regulated to a small section to the north. Such a view was necessary, as Rye showed as he pointed to a spot.

"Okay, so... Mr. Arcanine wants us to go to the Gold River valley. So if we're here," he pointed to Gray Proper, "then we've g-gotta go here," he pointed to a coastal region to the right of it. "It's... i-it's six hundred miles. Over the Samurott River, and through the Bronze Desert... w-with Mavy's legs, it's..."

My tail flicked. Those names didn't mean much to me, but I could make a few assumptions about what we were facing here. All of them were less than ideal, especially considering that six-hundred mile distance there. And running headlong into all this already...

"Wight..." I nodded. "Er... sheh, leh's tink."

I turned my gaze to the floor as I felt my teammates' eyes on me, though all I was met with was a sigh from Mavy.

"M-Mavy," Rye admonished him. "Uh, I-I get it. We can wait. We have to visit Ms. Audino for Mavy's Heal Pulses anyways. A-and, uh, you've got a session with Mr. Bert later today, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Okay... so let's meet back tonight, then," Rye decided. "See you th-then."

I gave an absent wave as Rye got up and left, Mavy giving me an unimpressed look as he followed. Sitting alone in our team base, I hung my head, giving a quiet sigh as I sat back.

...they had to heal, I knew that. So why did it feel like I was becoming so distant?

...I just needed to research, was all. That'd keep me busy, at the very least. Yeah.

That in mind, I halfheartedly grabbed my bag, dragging my tail as I waddled out of the base.

...I didn't even know what was wrong anymore. In between the choice, my friends, their state, those memories, that trip, and well. Just not knowing in general. That more than anything weighed on my back as I left.

'...what is wrong with me? Maybe if I...?

'



"Um, I g-got those books! But these are about old heroes, I-I thought you wanted to learn to read?"

"Yeah. Eh... shide ting," I clarified. My fellow Oshawott frowned a bit, though waddled over to place the stack of books in his paws down. I knew I wasn't alone here. I didn't know why I didn't start looking into the old humans earlier— surely they had advice, some answers they'd written down. About what they'd left behind...

"Should I just r-read them out to you?" he asked.

"Yeh. Ah-baht hame," I clarified.

"Home? Um... o-okay," the Oshawott nodded, opening one of the books as I shifted in my seat. "Okay... oh, from the journal of Grandmaster Louie: I have no regrets in what I did to get here, and I am contented. With the end of the Shadow Blight and Sai by my side, I look forward to ruling a Society in peace. But... um, but a hole's st-still in my heart. If I could o-only see my family, my hometown, my Orre one more time..."

The wott gripped his reunion cape as he shifted in his seat, though I just looked down at the floor, ears drooping. Not quite what I wanted to hear. "...kehp gah-ing."

"What? Are you...? Um, o-okay... from the writings of Charmeleon Sai... I-I lie awake many a night, just to think of my days as a human. I know certain I fought and died for a free Kalos, but p-perhaps by God's grace, perhaps His righteous wrath, I live now in a time where the revolution, the rights of man, and all we achieved does not matter anymore. I am told we won, but did we truly?" Oshawott read out, frowning. "...this is... a-are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, er... mahre," I nodded, tail sagging. What was this about a revolution? The rights of man? Did it really not...?

"Reflections of Lee the Lightbringer... um, I-I saw Wyndon just once more when I left for the war, and the next time I saw it, it was a-a thousand years lost, flattened by Behemoths and th-then flattened again... b-but more than anything, I have so much I want to tell my mum..."



"...mahr," I hung my head.

"But... um... f-from Fraxure Kiba... I look back on my days of splendor and wealth, and I find I have not missed them in a long time. Ever since I first called that Marowak my mother, I find the life of honest work and humble family I had before the stars fell were the best years of my life. I would not give up the life I have now for anything..." the Oshawott read out.

My ears stuck up. This Kiba person was...? I had something to go off of to help get away from all this! Maybe I could learn from her! Maybe I wasn't weird for not wanting to think of what I'd left behind...

"...b-but the one regret I still carry is that I n-never said goodbye to my mother. If I had known on that moonless night that I-I would never see her again after that lifeboat lowered away—"

I swore to myself, punching the bookshelf next to me in a flash of hot frustration. Oshawott flinched and yelped as I shakily caught my breath, flexing my hurting paw before hanging my head and letting out a pitiful groan. As Oshawott put a trembly paw on my back trying to offer feeble comfort, I just stared at the floor, the words of those before me swimming through my head.

'...I can just... deal with it. The other humans did. Right?

...what is wrong with me?'




The river surged rhythmically as I panted, trying to make the water bend to my will. One push up with my left paw, another with my right, and the water bulged with both pushes. Even I had to admit that my efforts were halfhearted, though, even with my lackluster level of experience.
"Keep them coming, keep them coming! Hup, two! Hup two! Hup... kid? Really, something eatin' you tonight? Know you said you're fine, but you really aren't in it this time," Bert cocked his head behind me, dropping his commanding demeanor.

"N-nah, Mashtah. A-am fine," I lied, my shoulders sagging as I heard him step into the water with me. Great, just what I needed, more pity.

"Kid... it's alright. I get it. We can stop here. It's the beginning of the moon anyways, moon's barely even light," the Wartortle said as he took a seat next to me.

"Nah, am fine," I insisted.

"No. Come on. I heard about the expedition. If you need to stop and breathe, stop and breathe, yeah? Saw too many mons shrug it off and lose their cool back when I was in the navy. You know where that left them?" Bert asked. "I had one admiral, a Kadabra, snapped one day and tried to run out to port to take on a blockade himself. One of the ships saw him, and next we saw him, all that was left of him were his arms, still holding onto the ship's wheel... I know this isn't the war, but come on. Give yourself a break."

I blinked at my mentor's story, hesitating a moment before gulping and nodding. "Wight... am shawy."

"Yeah. Not a lot you can do about it, though. That's war for ya. Never changes," Bert sniffed, leading me back to the small stone arena that made up the Water-type grounds. "...if you wanna talk about it, then. You know, I'm a lotta things, but I'm not a snitch."

"...is a laht," I said. "Er... gaht... laht on shahders. Ahcahnah wants messhion. Dahno if cahn..."

"Mission... what kinda mission?" Bert asked.

"Gahl-dh Rehveh. Fer... Kell-dah. Ahrb," I said. The Wartortle stared at me for a moment.

"The dog wants to find Keldeo? For... that orb?" he asked.

"Yeah, is... yeh. Dahno ehf can doh, naht nahw," I sighed.

"Why's that? Long way? Lack of experience? Recovering? Or shit I shouldn't know?" Bert asked.

"Yeh, ahll," I sighed. "I... naht rehdy. Is toh mach."

A moment of quiet hung between us, Bert's tail swaying a bit in the evening breeze.

"...you aren't ready, huh? Would it be better with someone who knows what he's doing?" the turtle asked.

"Ah?" I asked, looking up at Bert.

"I mean, just a hypothetical. I could... throw my hat into the ring. You need to get to the Gold River? I've been a couple times. And if you still feel you're... not ready, you know who to turn to, right?" he asked. "Make it less awkward, at least. More to talk about than the thing."

I looked at Bert for a moment before running a paw down my muzzle, tail flicking. A part of me wondered if having my teacher along would do anything to help, but another part was intrigued. Someone to lean on other than Rye and Mavy, who I could at least try to talk to about everything...

"...I'll letcha think about it, yeah? Just come and find me if you decide on it," Bert asked, giving me a hard enough pat on my back that I let out a squeak. "Go and get some rest. Looks like you need it."

I gave a little sha of thanks, though as Bert turned to leave, I cleared my throat. "Hey. Er... cahn geht mem-wees bahck. D-dahno if shauld, is... pain. Wha yeh tink?" I asked. Bert paused, looking back.

"Really? You can...? Hm," he tapped his foot for a moment. "...my honest opinion. If you already know it's painful, then... I don't know. Wouldn't it be just as painful with that being all you know? Your mind fills in the gaps with something even worse. If it were me... but you know. It's your memories."

"...yeah. Tanks," I nodded as I frowned a bit, watching as Bert nodded back and dove into the river. The river water flowed past my toes for a moment before I let out a sigh. I had to remind myself. I wasn't alone... I stood up and started towards the Guild.

Waddling into the mess hall, I took a glance around, my ears pricking up as I saw my teammates in our usual spot. That was good— they'd been eating in the infirmary up until then. Seemed like they were recovering okay, then... as I waddled up, Rye and Mavy stared each other down, tears streaming down their faces as the Zigzagoon took a massive bite into an onion like an apple. Not to be outdone, Rye cringed to himself before taking one of his own, wincing as he blinked hard. Before Mavy could take another chomp in retaliation, I cleared my throat.

"Rye. Maffy. Whah... the fack yeh doh-ing?" I blinked. Rye paused and looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"...M-Mr. Raticate had them spare. Don't ask," he said.

"Wimpy bite there. Had five and muh manly bite, ah win," Mavy grinned mockingly, his wheel-legs squeaking as he adjusted them in his seat. Rye glared at him and went for another mouthful of onion before I grabbed his arm.

"Shtap, nah mahre," I demanded. "...er. Yeh rehly tink we shauld goh? Tuh rehveh?"

"...ah? Thought ya wanted to think on it," Mavy commented.

"Yeah, yah, thaught. Uhp to yeh," I gestured to the two. The Treecko and Zigzagoon blinked, glancing at each other. Mavy opened his mouth to reply first, but Rye was just a bit quicker.

"I-if you want to go. Mavy... M-Mavy should stay, though. I don't want him doing all that with his legs broken like that..." the Treecko spoke up.

"...fuckin' 'scuse me?" Mavy demanded, though Rye only cleared his throat.

"I-it's up to you, Beck. You're... y-you know," he said.

My tail flicked a moment before I took a breath and gave my answer.


"Truly? You will go?" Arcanine asked.

"Yeh. Weth Beht," I clarified, trying to stand straight. The Guildmaster quickly stood, picking a map from his desk and dropping it in my paws.

"I will tell Master Bert to clear his schedule and arrange proper transportation for the three of you. My understanding is that young Rye will be of proper enough health, so I shall give you tomorrow to prepare," Arcanine said.

"Wha? Thah it?" I frowned.

"We do not have the time to spare. Guildmaster Virizion regrettably does not trust our intents in our search, so this would be our last major lead," Arcanine replied, hanging his head. I looked up at him before glancing down at the map in my paws.

"...yeah, yeh wight. Gaht eht. Tanks, sehr," I nodded, giving a quick salute before waddling out of the office, torchlight leading my way.

I half considered turning around as I walked, if only to talk to the Guildmaster about everything on my shoulders. But... I could handle it, right? This was just an episode brought about by that revelation. A few days, and this would pass. Besides, he looked tired. I didn't want to keep him up any longer than I had to.

...I did my best to convince myself of that, at least.

As I trudged down the hill, my eyes wandered to the sky, my ear twitching. There was a strange comfort in them— I didn't know if that memory I'd gotten had anything to do with it, but I felt better, more at home just stopping to look at them. If there was one thing I knew hadn't changed...

The sun had long since set, its brilliant scarlet sunset nowhere to be seen. It was a beautiful night out, the stars glittering above a wonderful sight. Even with the bittersweetness of being able to recognize the constellations, it still brought me some peace. On the horizon there, there were the Twin Heroes, standing together like their feud had never happened. Above them, Taurus still raged, the Pleiades still glittering in its heart; and to the right of it Rayquazos still winded in their eternal flight through the heavens. And of course, nestled amongst the three sat Orion, club still at the ready as he—

...hold on. That wasn't right. Something was missing.

'...there was a star there, I know it.'

Where Orion's left shoulder should have been, there was nothing but void. There had been a star there, right? What was it called, Betelgeuse? It was just... gone. One more little piece... gone. Not even the stars were immortal...

Had it gone supernova? When had it exploded? Who had seen it? Were any humans around to see it? Had anyone even noticed, did anyone even know its name now? Which one was next, did it even matter, how soon would I not be able to recognize my own home why why why why did i have to be the last one why me why me was i even useful for anything if i couldn't even decide on this one easy fucking decision i couldnt even remember anything why did i feel like this fuck was i just like that star was i just gonna disappear and be forgotten is everyone i knew and loved and fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck—

Thwap.

My mind finally quit racing as I became of my own breathing again, slowly bringing my paw up to where I'd hit myself in the head. I stood there a moment before sitting down hard, letting out a quiet groan.

'…

...what is wrong with me...?'
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. quilava-fobbie
  5. sneasel-kate
Heya, popping in on a few fics that looked a bit easier to get my foot in the door on to come back later in Review Blitz and I noticed that Quenched Torch looked like it fit the bill. Now, I knew exactly four things about Quenched Torch coming in: that the transformed human gets turned into a feral, that it’s set in a post-apocalyptic Unova, that it apparently takes influence off Power Trip, and that a number of other regulars here including @IFBench really, really like this story.

So I figured that was a good enough reason to give things a shot. So let’s just jump in and see where things wind up going:

Chapter 1

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...

...

Well, things are going well™ for the protagonist right now. Or at least I assume that that’s who’s narrating that bit there.

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 mystery dungeon’s seemingly endless rows of trees the mystery dungeon boasted, an odd sight could be seen: a Quilava, hunched over digging through the tall grass and quietly muttering to himself. Apparently unsuccessful in his search, he picked a single sticker from his paw as he groaned, sitting down to rest.

Wait, “sticker”? Like “sticker”s as we would know them in modern life, or is this something else that the stoat is holding? Though IMO “the mystery dungeon boasted” can be folded into this paragraph in a much smoother fashion with a slight reword.

"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.

I would recommend splitting off the rest of the paragraph from Quilava’s dialogue there. Also, while it makes sense that even Fire-types would be susceptible to dehydration, literally getting burned up by one’s own natural element seems like a very
:quilaeep:
way to go.

Don’t think I’ve ever seen that take done before, though the fact that it’s brought up makes me wonder if it actually happens onscreen in your story at some point.

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…

‘Quinite’, huh? Wonder if that’s nodding to anything, since it sounds like quinine, but isn’t and I can’t reflexively think of what that is.

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.

Would recommend splitting that first paragraph. Though this feels so ill-advised in a setting with ‘ferals’ of any sort as Pokémon, since they’ll hear loud noises like that.

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

Leafeon: “Um… are you alright there, or…?” ._.

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

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

Oh, so we have names now. Though I’m gonna be tripping up over “May the fox” from “May the PC” at times, I can already tell.

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.

I take it that these two burned through all their Slumber/Totter items since… yeah. Those would probably handy for helping to deal with Pokémon in Mystery Dungeons.

"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…

Wow, wasn’t expecting this story to open following the perspective of a heroic/legendary team from what I head about it second-hand, but noted. Also, nice subtle hint that we’re in a much more familiar set of woods than one would assume from the choice of Legendary there.

"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.

… Wait, is Dungeon Madness a thing in this setting? Since if it is, that ‘eight hours’ remark takes on some much more sinister undertones there.

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,” she reassured. “Who knows? Maybe it'll be up there and we won't have to listen to you whine anymore."

A couple minor tweaks that I’d suggest for May’s line here.

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.

Oh, so that’s Pike there.

"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.

Wow, MDs in this setting are huge. This “half a mile” distance is all on one floor? .-.

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.

:fearfullaugh~1:


How… many times has this happened to Arden and May anyways? Since they sure seem rather unfazed by an apprentice of theirs likely being dead.

"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."

Arden: “... Oh well this is gonna look great on our team record.”
:quilaeep:


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?"

- Fires up Bulbapedia and checks effects -

… Wait, why did they not use this an hour ago if they had them when starting out this mission to begin with? Or if they had used it to try and get their apprentice back but it failed, it might make sense to patch in a passing acknowledgement of it and why this time it’s different.

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."

I mean, considering how lethal and vast these MDs apparently are, I have to wonder why they were confident enough to go out with only one Rollcall Orb.

Also I kinda wonder why their missing apprentice wasn’t more on Arden and May’s mind up to this point / as a lingering source of stress. Since unless it’s a deliberate (and not particularly flattering) foreshadowing to the way they are as characters, you’d think that they’d have dropped everything from a mission to pick up the bag of Reviver Seeds to try and find their apprentice since I assume having an apprentice die on one’s watch wouldn’t reflect well on Rescue/Exploration Teams in this setting.

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.

Considering how nonchalant Arden’s being about his apprentice being in mortal danger if not likely dead already, I’m… a little worried that this is going to turn out to be prophetic down the road.
:fearfullaugh~1:


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.

Wait, when on earth did that-?

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

Oh, right. That was a thing. I kinda wonder if there should’ve been more of a hint that that was happening in the background all this time like casual mentions of hints of smoke or burning vegetation or whatnot dropped in here and there since this kinda dipped out of the plot for a while and then came back, which kinda made me double-take.

"What else?"

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

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

Why do I get the distinct suspicion that Team Apex for all their accomplishments are just complete pieces of crap as people? Like there’s just so many little things about them in this exchange that are teeing up warning flags that “something’s wrong with them”
"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?!"

Oh, so this is the apprentice that those two lost. I guess I’ll be able to get some hints soon enough as to if those two are sympathetic but having a bad day or if those uneasy feelings about them were justified.

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.

Would suggest breaking this up. Though I see that PMD badges in this setting don’t have communicative properties. Assuming they exist at all.

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

Dill, huh? Wonder who that’s going to wind up being.
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.

Rye: “H-Huh?! Wh-What in the-?!”
:treeckosurprised:


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."

Lovely setting this kid lives in there. Especially since he’s braving those things to pick up people’s dropped belongings.
:copyka2~1:


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?

Oh, so that’s what happened to Dill, huh?

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

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

Given that that’s QT’s human from the team there, I have to give you kudos for opening your story from outside of his perspective. It’s a pretty uncommon narrative choice for stories in this fandom writ large.

Well, it was a bit short as a first chapter, but hey, you can’t say that you didn’t set up an effective hook there. I like the pervading sense that there’s something “wrong” in this chapter. With Team Apex, with Rye, and with the setting at large. Even the framing of the story’s opening is “mission gone wrong”, which really helps sell the sense of a precarious world where horrific death is one failed job away. While I’ve been spoiled as to what a couple of those “wrong feelings” entail, I don’t know all of them, and it definitely got me interested in where things were going.

On the note of framing, I’m a fan of opening from the framing of natives to this world. It’s both not that common of a choice in this fandom, but I think your story benefitted from it. Since it allows us to get a feel for what the proverbial neighborhood is like in a way that doesn’t necessarily require a ton of exposition dumping all at once to a fish out of water character, and it allows you to hint at certain details of their world that aren’t necessarily ready to be dealt with out in the open with readers from the jump. I’m not fully sure if it was planned or not, but it helps give off a strong sense of “unravelling mysteries” there, which bodes well for future chapters being interesting to follow.

That said, every rose has its thorn, and there were a couple of flaws that I thought your opening had. There were a couple of places where I thought the wording could’ve been a little smoother, and also some paragraphs that I thought were dense enough that you ought to put serious thought into breaking them up into smaller ones. I’d harp on Team Apex’s mindset regarding Rye and how they deal with his absence, but considering the vibe they give off… I just genuinely can’t tell whether that’s a feature and not a bug and they’re really just meant to be callous dicks like that.

If there’s one structural problem that I have with your first chapter, it’s that there’s a few parts where I feel that a bit more description would go a long way towards making some moments easier to visualize or else get into the heads of the characters. This was a bit of a recurring issue in the first scene, especially from the point after Ardie throws his Blast Seed out of frustration. Like there were some things that the two were talking about like their missing apprentice that felt like it wasn’t fully contextualized when it ought to logically have been on their minds, or the fire that Ardie starts that just completely vanishes from any cue whatsoever that it’s quietly going on in the background until the very end. I get that short chapters were kinda your jam earlier on in QT, but at around 1500 words, you have more than enough “word economy” to stop and smell the roses a bit without making things drag.

That said, I don’t fault you for opting to just keep things as they are to stay focused on newer stuff. Since in the end, sometimes you’ve just gotta take your lumps as a writer and keep moving forward. I don’t feel like I’ve seen enough of Quenched Torch to really judge how I feel about it just yet since this was about 1500 words of chapter, but I thought it was a solid initial impression. Kudos for getting as much of your story as you have here @Sudmensch (53 out of 56 chapters if FFN is accurate) even if it’s flown a bit under the radar here. It shows a lot of dedication, and I’ll be looking forward to coming back to see more of where things are going later on in Review Blitz, and hopefully beyond if the rest of my readings similarly leave behind a good impression.
 
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canisaries

you should've known the price of evil
Location
Stovokor
Pronouns
she/her
Partners
  1. inkay-shirlee
  2. houndoom-elliot
  3. yamask-joanna
  4. shuppet
  5. deerling-andre
Hey there! I was recommended this fic by Bench on the Discord some time ago, and the Blitz made for a great time to check it out. I've read chapters 1-3, and here are my thoughts.

I think you have a very solid handle on characterization and dialogue. The characters feel alive and it's easy to get engaged in their plights as their motivations are established very early on. It was, at first, a bit strange to see such strong language as it feels like PMD works in general tend to keep language PG, but as we did also get some gory imagery it didn't feel tonally unfitting for long.

I did find it kind of weird that Team Apex had an apprentice with them which was then separated from the group and thought to be in very real danger of dying... and they're trying to look for seeds rather than Rye, something that Arden specifically laments as being unimportant. Was this apparent disregard for Rye's life there on purpose? Am I meant to think Team Apex or possibly the entire Pokémon culture has very little care for whether an individual with weak merits lives or dies? I mean, it can't really be the latter if they bothered to save Beck who they think is just a smart feral. I don't know, I just found it odd. I'm also not sure why they pondered the Rollcall Orb so late after Rye had already gone missing.

Interested to hear that Fire-types can overheat, that Water-types have a better resistance to drowning, and that Psychic-types are used in the treatment of amnesia. Also intrigued by how ferals in this world seem to be dangerous and aggressive rather than just acting like regular animals, and the implications about Beck's world - him calling it a shithole, and the voice referring to (presumably) humans as a "falling race". And then there's the fact that Rye implies he has been responsible for someone else's death in the past. Much is set up, but subtly and slowly. Great job with that.

I think the gimmick (I don't mean it in a bad sense) of Beck being feral is interesting and sets the story apart from the other PMD stories with premises close to the games. I didn't actually notice the part about him not being able to speak in the synopsis (which makes a lot more sense in retrospect as I'm not sure what would make him feral otherwise) so that was a pleasant surprise for me.

This was a good start to a story! I'm interested in what's coming up and will be continuing at some point. Until then, I'll see you around.
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. quilava-fobbie
  5. sneasel-kate
Heya, it’s been a long while, but this was one of the stories that I wanted to come back to back in RB5 earlier this year only to have my plans kinda fall through. Fortunately, there’s an offsite review event all about PMD for the next few weeks, so that felt like as good an opportunity as any to come back and dive back into this story:

Chapter 2





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

No, human.


Oh, is this another one of those “isekai upon death” stories? Since I’m sure getting that vibe from this opening.

W-who said that?

That is not of concern right now.

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

Mysterious Voice:
589897202890047522.webp

Beck:
401074476474957834.webp


Yes.

...

Yeah, I figured, really. >:V

oh... is this heaven?

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


Beck: “That sounds like a really, really roundabout way of saying ‘hell’, just saying.”
916590486356131850.webp

Mysterious Voice: “Look, it’s not hell, okay?”

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?

It’s a questionnaire opening, Beck. Don’t mind it, it’s just part and parcel for this genre.

What is it that you desire most?

What?

Fortune, perhaps? Notoriety? Power?

Beck: “I don’t know? Not being dead? What on earth do you want from me right now?”
401076862924750848.webp


What do y-

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

Oh hey, I see that Mr. Mysterious Disembodied Voice is bringing up the topic themselves. Time to see where this goes.

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?

Boy does that bode ill for the state the world was in when Beck died.
827659294400970753.webp




I see.

I suppose I should be sending you off.

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


Huh. Only one question used to determine how to send Beck into the world, huh? Though I suppose it was one question that wound up revealing a healthy amount about Beck’s mindset and how he ticks.​
Wait, what?

Farewell.

No, wait...!


Mysterious Voice:
good-luck-with-that-may-the-odds-be-ever-in-your-favor.gif

Beck: “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I didn’t sign up for this!” O_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 them 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.​

Your second paragraph is long enough that it probably makes sense to divide it in two. Though I see that Beck knows about Pokémon, so we can rule him out from being affected by the trend of “humans isekaied from worlds without Pokémon”, at least.

'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...?​

Wew, so Beck got hit even harder by the amnesia fairy than what’s normal in the canon games considering how he can’t even remember his own name right now.

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.​

Alright, time to find out how Beck sounds in his present ears since he apparently is stuck in a feral’s body and can literally do anime-style Pokémon speech.

...wait, what?

Pokémon don't speak, do they?​

Oh, so Beck is from a mainline-style world. Which I suppose given that I’ve been spoiled as to the twist regarding the setting, makes sense.

'...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?"​

Whelp, I suppose that explains how Beck hears himself in his present state. Though I wonder with the narration style, if that means that it’s being narrated from a point after the events of the story, since you’d think that it’d be a bit hard for Beck to coherently narrate this story in the present time if his thought process is as what’s described there.

Beck:
7f6.gif

“(Somebody please tell me that this is just a nightmare and that I’m in an ER right now.)” O_O;

An animalistic cry escaped my lips. This only served to make put 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 quickly revealed why: 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...?!'


Beck:
200w.gif

Rye: “Um… yeah, I’m just going to back away really, really slowly.” O_O;

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 came to one conclusion.

Whatever I was, it wasn't human.​

Wait, but Beck had a conception Pokémon, right? Wouldn’t he have also been able to identify that he is an Oshawott right now?

… Unless as a human he lived someplace where they weren’t exactly common, but still.

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 thought I could hurt him? Yeah, if only…​

I… actually am unsure whether or not this is supposed to be “present day” or “future” narration from Beck, since it’s written as if it’s in a “present day” framing, but I’m not sure how that’s possible given that he explicitly mentioned that his thought process changed to be a lot more “chain of stimuli” in nature.

I jolted from my thoughts were interrupted when I noticed the Treecko's surprised look.

"Y-you can understand me?"

In general, most actions described happening tend to sound more engaging when they’re not written in passive voice (e.x. “was [X]”, “were [X]”, “had (been) [X]”). I thought that the bit about Beck was one of those instances where framing it in active voice was not only possible, but improved the overall flow of the paragraph.

'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…

Oh, well I suppose that answers the question of whether or not Beck is narrating this chapter’s events in live-time or not. Though that makes me wonder if he got jammed into a feral’s body or something such that this disconnect between his mind and how it interacts with the outside world is happening.

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..."

Wait, this setting has a conception of ‘intelligent ferals’? Meaning that Beck isn’t the first one that has been found in a state like this?

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!"

I like how the whole time that Rye didn’t stop to consider whether or not Beck wanted to join in with his super happy fun guild adventures.
994427253242990704.webp


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, so Beck’s name is assigned in this story. I… should’ve seen that coming from the bit of narration that said that he couldn’t remember his own name, really.

"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?!"

Oh boy, I can already tell this is about to get really, really awkward and uncomfortable in short order.
827659294400970753.webp


"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.

So Beck recognizes Leafeon but not Oshawott, huh? Implying that he came from a region where the former was around decently often but not the latter.

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.

Beck: “(... Why am I the only one here who’s not able to form coherent words?! Did I get stuck in a baby’s body or something?!)”
401076862924750848.webp


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

'Oshawott? Is that what I am?'

I just realized, but if Beck almost drowned as an Oshawott, that implies that he’s going to basically need to learn how to do almost everything about his body and how it works. :copyka:

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...?'

… Wait, so Beck does recognize what Oshawott look like? I didn’t get that vibe at all given that he looked at a reflection and didn’t recognize it earlier.

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.

Ah yes, the part where Rye’s guildmates are about to take the new buddy he fished from the river and are like 5 seconds away from making his insides his outsides.
827659294400970753.webp


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

'Beck? Huh...'

Wait, but Rye never explicitly called Beck ‘Beck’ in the story up to this point. It might have made sense to tweak the following line to beat it over the heads of the reader a bit harder:

"Oh, uh, l-let's give you one, then... I found you in the river, right? This one’s called ‘[whatever] Beck’. Maybe we could use something from that...?"

Something to consider, anyways.

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?"

Wow, you’re a nice one there. Not.

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 gotten a to impressed on a feral him! 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 can already tell that the report to the guildmaster after this is going to be a giant headache for these three.

"I don't care if it can grant us eternal life, Arden,” the Swellow snapped. “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."

I just realized, but what is Beck thinking about this whole talk about ferals and how they’re dangerous and not to be trusted anyways? Since there’s a lot of completely new and alien concepts that are getting introduced to him in live-time, including ones that would probably be really worrisome and yet he’s not really reacting to any of it right now in spite of being the character whose PoV this scene is written from.

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.

Oh, well this is totally not an ominous sign of the gang being in serious danger right now. Nosiree.

"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."

I… don’t think that I want to think too hard about what on-the-job mortality at these guy’s guild is if they saw it fit to have a completely inexperienced rookie come here for a first proper mission.
401074476474957834.webp


Quinite Forest

6F

‘Quinite’, huh? Not sure what that’s a reference to beyond that it’s one letter off from being the name of an antimalarial drug.

"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."

bender-laughing.gif


Yeah, no. I know how stories work, buddy. I’d frankly be more surprised if you didn’t have Zubat problems before this chapter ended.

Still trying to get walking down, I staggered along to follow the group, trying to not trip over myself. Rye, his hand clutching May so 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.

Wait, did Beck see Zubats in the trees, or…? Since I’m not really sure what he’s getting at here such that he feels a need to get Rye’s attention. Considering how per the rules of your story, Beck literally can’t articulate his own thoughts to others at the moment, showing off his internal thought process for the readers (e.x. what’s up with the trees and why he’s worried about them) feels like a pretty important thing to play up.

"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.

Yeah, I just knew that they weren’t going to make it past the floor without a Zubat encounter. :copyka:

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

498ed76be651cffb6bb9bac6a9bb75c3.jpg


Though yeah, I can’t tell if I should be side-eying hard at Rye’s guild right now or else if the world they live in is just that lethal such that moments like these are unavoidable.

'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.

Pike: “(May, I get around by beating my wings!)” >v<
May: “(Just walk on the ground until we get to the stairs? Birds can do that too, right?)” ^^;

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?"

Yeah, Beck is going to have a fail at this like five steps into sneaking around, I can already tell.

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.

Whelp, I suppose that I misblamed who would be the one who’d ruin everything for this sneaking sequence.

Arden: “O-Oh fuck me...”
909223973412290560.webp


'Stay still if you want to live.'

I… am not sure how Beck would get that just from an expression, since you’d think that he’s not used to reading facial cues from geckos. It might have made sense to have Rye do something like grab him and remain perfectly unmoving or something like that.

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.'

And there’s the part where Beck ruins everything for everybody.

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.'

Pike: “(We could’ve just thrown the damned otter back into the river, but noooooo...)” >v<

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.

Ah yes, cue the theme music right now:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8BPEZuB-QQ


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.

I’m honestly surprised that from a ‘feral animal’ point of view that the Zubat wouldn’t just keep going at the Sawsbuck that’s bigger than the entire party in terms of being a meal. Though I guess they might be being influenced by the Mystery Dungeon or something like that.

If they’re not and you’re still doing touchups to past chapters, consider doing some sort of hope spot routine where the Zubat on the Sawsbuck briefly acknowledge the gang and then ignore them, only for them to spot the thirty others staring down at them from the trees above.

"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.

Rye: “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
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Beck: “SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
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Pike: “We could’ve made it through safely, but nooooo... you just had to bring your godsdamned little pet monster along with us!”
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"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.

Wait, why are they stopping to tend to Arven’s bite wounds before reaching the stairs to get away from the trees full of Zubats again? Since wouldn’t this be a really good way to wind up getting mobbed and sucked dry?
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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.

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

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

I mean, you can, but I’m pretty sure that Rye’s supposed to be your partner in this story, so… ^^;

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.

Wait, is that Rye who dove in for the save there, or…?

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.

I… wasn’t aware that they manage to drove off the Zubats enough to have an entire hallway or whatever clear and free to themselves. It might have made sense to more explicitly indicate that in description.

"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.

Oh, so that’s how Wonder Orbs work in this setting. Duly noted.

'...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..."

Beck: “(Note to self, Zubat really, really suck. In multiple meanings of the term.)” X_X

Alright, time to get into the customary Cliff’s Notes that I make for my reviews at the very end, since sometimes people don’t have the time to go through the gory blow-by-blows right away.

Alright, starting with the strong suits, but this was the chapter where the premise of the story that I’ve heard so much about finally got to start rearing its head. And to its credit, it’s a really unique and fun one. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen someone do the premise of “stuck in a feral / unintelligible body” for a PMD story outside of this story, and what you’ve done here as an initial taste is already really promising. The characterization was pretty nice, even if the sympathy quota is very heavily skewed to Rye and Beck since everyone other than May on Team Apex is somewhere along the ‘asshole’ gradient. What we do see of them feels pretty memorable, even if I wish we got to see a bit more about how some of the characters ticked since there were a couple moments that struck me as missed opportunities, but more on that later when I get to criticisms. Lastly, you don’t waste time at all for getting the plot along, and you manage to establish a lot about your story in a fairly small wordcount. It’s honestly pretty impressive since while writing big and chunky chapters can take a lot of effort, managing to say a lot in not many words is a dark art that takes a lot of practice to get good at, but you seem to have managed decently well with this chapter.

As for criticisms about this chapter, I had some odds-and-ends issues with wording and formatting of paragraphs where you have a very long and chunky paragraph that feels like it’d work better with a couple smaller ones. The full list of nitpicks is in the line-by-line, which you’re welcome to action on depending on the parts you agree with or not. I also felt that there were a few parts in this chapter where a lack of description gets in the way of things. The really big part where I noticed this in terms of missed opportunities for seeing how characters tick, like how the entire chapter is written from Beck’s point of view, and yet there’s still moments like the whole exchange where Pike very bluntly goes into why he doesn’t think they should bring Beck along with them and doesn’t trust him… which gets zero reaction from Beck when it’s a lot of new information being delivered in an uncomfortable manner. Other times, the absence of description got in the way of visualizing certain moments in the chapter, which is especially noticeable at the moment where Arden and May clear their pathway or whatever of Zubat. The full state of play of the field didn’t really come through, which made it a bit hard to figure out why the team wasn’t just bolting for the stairs the moment the path was apparently clear up ahead.

But altogether, I think that it’s a pretty good start, and I honestly feel a bit bad for not getting to this chapter during my last review since this is effectively where the real introduction to the story and its core concept happens. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a fun concept and that the execution is done pretty well.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, @Sudmensch . I can’t say anything for how fast I’ll get through things, but you’ve certainly succeeded in getting me interested in seeing where you take things from here.
 
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