Chapter 2: Submission
A new day began. The sun rose over the mountains on the horizon, turning the sky a soft baby blue without even the faintest wisps of clouds to tarnish it. It was the start of a beautiful late spring day, just to shine a ray through the window above Riley's bed, piercing his eyelids like a radiant lance. He squinted and groaned as he raised a paw to block it.
"What the… Ah!" He jolted out of bed and threw off the thin blanket. What time was it? He'd meant to stay awake so they could leave early. He looked to the window desperate for answers. "When did I-"
"Easy there! I don't want you hurting yourself this early in the morning," someone called to him. He glanced over to see a plump, grandmotherly Audino smiling back at him, sitting in a chair behind a cheap, small table. It was barely bigger than a nightstand. 'Morning.' As quickly as his panic came, it left him.
"S-sorry. I… guess you're the doctor here?"
"Mmhm. Just call me Audino. And I see you've recovered nicely." She laughed quietly. "Fighting-types like you heal quick, but don't forget to take it easy. You're still not at your full range of movement yet."
Riley nodded. One of the few things he did know was to never make the doctor angry, so he decided to omit the fact that he had tried to stay awake. "I feel fine though. The bed was way more comfortable than I'd expect." It was probably why he wasn't able to stay up for it, too.
Audino opened up her book on the table, but she kept her eyes on Riley. "Gallade decided to splurge a bit and get good beds in here a few cycles back." 'Cycles' again. Some sort of measurement of time? "Although it helps that you're lucky. Most mornings there would be someone else here. And first thing in the morning, all their friends would rush in to see if they're okay. You wouldn't be able to sleep a wink."
Riley raised a brow, scratching at the fur on his neck. It felt uncomfortably matted. "Actually… why is it quiet? I-is everyone already gone-"
Audino gestured towards the door, perfectly fit to its entryway. "Soundproofing. I'm sure you appreciate it, no?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but he stopped suddenly as the door squeaked open on rusted hinges. A choir of deafening chatter flooded into the room. And in walked a Kirlia, closing the door behind him as he entered. His hair was cut shorter than Riley expected, only going down to around his neck in tangled green locks. A pair of red eyes stared straight into Riley, mentally dissecting him and picking him apart.
Audino raised a brow. "Oh, Kirlia. I'd have thought you left already."
"In a moment," Kirlia answered. His slender hand pointed at the jackal in the corner. "You're Riley, are you not? The Guildmaster told me to fetch you."
Riley swept his gaze around the mostly-empty room. His unstated question hung in the air: Who else would it be?
Audino rushed to cut in. "Yup! He's all good to go. Bandages removed, wound washed up… Just something to eat and he'll be golden."
Kirlia nodded curtly. "Right. Then follow me," he ordered. Riley shot a glance back to the doctor, who nodded encouragingly. He took a short breath before hopping off the side of the bed.
Kirlia opened the door once again, letting in a rush of prattle from the outside. There were dozens of Pokémon out there that all talked and laughed as they stood around in the soft light from luminescent plates in the ceiling. A Houndour eagerly ran down the hall with a Poochyena trying to keep up. A Staravia and a Prinplup pointed at a board outlined in green where several sheets of paper were posted, and a larger group of a Blastoise, Golbat and Jolteon were conversing over a wanted poster of a smug-looking Greninja that they'd taken off of a board outlined in red.
It was overwhelming as Riley followed him into a great circular room with a high ceiling. Evenly spaced around the perimeter were seven archways and alcoves. One was a long hallway with a thick metal vault-style door behind it, and opposite that was a shorter hallway with tall wooden doors that looked greatly out of place amidst the walls carved out of stone. A scattering crowd of Pokémon were gathering in an alcove lined with wooden post boards—
"Hey." Kirlia snapped his fingers. Riley bristled and turned towards him. "My team is waiting for me. Let's go already."
"R-right, sorry." Riley laughed nervously. "It's just, I wasn't expecting… well, I didn't know what to expect."
His escort rolled his eyes. "Look, it's simple. Infirmary, mess hall, vault, quarters, stairs, mission boards, office." With each one he pointed at the appropriate doorway, making his way around the room until he was pointing at the tall wooden doors. With a closer look, they had silver and gold patterns climbing from the base up like vines creeping up to reclaim. "They're for exactly what you think. I know it's your first time here, but come on. It's not that impressive-looking."
Riley winced. Although as he took a second glance, he… he had to admit that Kirlia was right. Everything seemed relatively normal. The architecture was basic and smooth, with a few featureless pillars to hold this great room up, but otherwise, the only fantastical thing about it were the strange plates in the ceiling that lit them. Riley reluctantly admitted that it was the Pokémon themselves that had struck him with wonder yet again, yet Gallade's lingering warning echoed in his head.
"Geez. Fine, I'll go," Riley grumbled, following behind him. Kirlia sniffed before performing an about-face and leading the way.
As they reached the great, towering door that seemed to stand four or five times his height, Kirlia raised a hand and knocked hard on it four times. It had no handle nor lock, yet Riley could hear mechanisms inside click and clunk before the door drifted open. Riley froze. He could see no hands pulling, no chains, nothing. It only revealed the old Gallade sitting behind his desk in a wicker rocking chair, hands folded politely as his single eye welcomed them in.
"I've brought him as requested," Kirlia stated evenly.
"I see that," Gallade said politely. "Thank you. That will be all. You may return to your duties."
Kirlia nodded, performed another about-face and left without a second glance. Even as Riley followed him out with his eyes, it seemed like Riley had ceased to exist for him.
"Come on in, why don't you?" The boy jumped a little as Gallade waved him in. Nodding, he did just that, and the door drifted shut behind him. To his left in small chairs against the wall sat his saviors: a Roselia and a Charmander, looking remarkably more alert than the night before.
Pyro waved. "Mornin'," he called out, to which Rose followed up with a curt nod in place of a greeting. Riley smiled a little and waved back.
"Yes. It's good to see you're mostly recovered." The smile faded a little as Gallade picked up a stack of papers and aligned them by smacking the ends on his desk. "But I don't have much time to waste with pleasantries, I'm afraid. Straight into the briefing. Team Hellraisers."
Rose hopped off the chair and stood at a salute, and Pyro was only a fraction of a second behind her. "Yes sir," she exclaimed.
"You're personally being assigned this mission. I'll need you to escort Riley here and try to find the possessions he had on him. Whispering Prairie has little traffic from civilized Pokémon, so I believe it shouldn't have been stolen in the past day," he said, sliding one of the sheets out and pucking a shimmering quill from an inkwell.
Riley tilted his head to the side. "You'd said that last night, right?"
"But not as an order. Everything has a process to it here, as silly as it seems at times. Just one signature, and then…" In a swift, practiced motion, Gallade finished writing something, placed the quill down, slammed an open palm onto a dark pad, then immediately slapped it onto the bottom of a sheet of paper. "There. Printed. Here you are, Miss Rose."
"Thank you." She walked up to the desk as Gallade slid the sheet to peek over the edge, and she jumped to clutch it in her floral hands. Just before Riley could wonder how those even worked, Gallade pointed straight at him.
"And you. I can't send you out there completely defenseless, so… Stay put for a minute."
The three watched in silent anticipation as the Guildmaster stood up, folded his hands behind his back, and strolled over to an old, oversized chest that rested in the corner of the room. It was practically a cedar sarcophagus. The lock clicked and shifted without a single touch. His palm touched the lid gently, tenderly, looking down at the thing as if it were a grave.
Quietly, Riley leaned over to the Roselia and whispered, "How did he open that?"
"Telekinesis," she whispered back.
His ears perked up a little. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but the idea sounded cool. If it was hidden from view, did only Gallade know how to open his? Could he learn to use one?
First Gallade removed four large, leather-bound books, pristine and polished save for a few stains, and bound with a pink ribbon. Next, was another leather-bound book, this one about half as thick but with far broader, thicker pages. A photo album, presumably. Spheres of every color of the rainbow, a broken ivory crown, a jar with some unidentifiable object suspended in an odd purple ooze… After sifting through all these alien objects for a few seconds, he finally extracted a mere burlap sack from the mess, carefully cradling it in his arms like a child.
"I keep telling myself to organize this thing, and yet I never do," he muttered to himself.
A hand reached into the bag delicately, and with the utmost care it came out holding a bundled up scarf dyed an otherworldly red. The children's gaze fell onto it with an uncertain awe.
"How many cycles has it been now since you've seen the light of day?" Gallade whispered with a small smile.
Pyro found his voice first, whispering, "What is that?"
"We called it the Scarlet Scarf," Gallade answered, keeping himself neutral. "Not creative, I know, but its enchantments aren't to be scoffed at."
Riley blinked. "E-enchantments? Excuse me?"
"There are a lot of items out there that Pokémon will use to enhance themselves. Strength, speed, endurance, special abilities… the list is nearly endless," Gallade explained. "This one here… it was an odd one. No others like it anywhere in the world." He held out his hand towards Riley, letting the fabric cascade out. "Take it," he demanded. "It'll keep you safe out there."
"But…" Riley swallowed as he stared. He tried to hold back his excitement and anxiety. "B-but what does it do?"
"It's a bit complicated, but it'll give you certain…" Gallade waved his hand around in small circles as he tried to think of the correct word. "Situational enchantments, I suppose. It reads your intents and gives you the strength to act on them. A boost of speed when you need to flee, or hardening your body when you raise your guard."
"That's… incredible," Rose whispered, skeptically gazing up at the Guildmaster. "Why would such an item be stored in a chest like that for… who knows how many cycles?"
"Relics hold a lot of history behind them. History gives them value, often overwhelming their original intent with the identity of those that held them. A crown that sits and gathers dust is nothing but a decoration." Somberly, Gallade placed the burlap bag back into the chest, and invisible hands picked everything else out and gently set everything on top of it. The lid closed and lock clicked shut. A strange, faint smile emerged on Gallade's face as he walked back over towards Riley. "He would not wish to be a relic. And I think that if he had the chance to keep one more Pokémon safe, he would relish the chance. Here."
Hesitantly, Riley reached over for the scarf, feeling the fabric between his fingers. It was soft and smooth, like silk, but a bit firmer. And it was warm, as if it had been lying for hours in the sun. Gallade let go, letting the rest of it flutter down into his waiting hands.
"You're… you're letting me use this?" Riley asked in a whisper. "But what if I lose it? You're giving this to someone who… you know."
For an instant, Gallade flashed a smile. "That's what your team is for. Just stay careful and use it right," he warned him, turning back to make for his chair. "That is all. You're dismissed."
"Yes sir," Rose replied, masking her uncertainty as she broke her salute. Pyro followed her lead, breaking his pose and making his way towards the door. She turned briefly towards Riley. "Come on. We need to supply before we can head out."
"Right." He walked after them as he attempted to tie the scarf around his neck. His paws were clumsy though, and after the doors closed behind him, he gave up and went for a rough sort of bundle. It wasn't exactly stylish, but what was the point if he just had to give it back at the end of the day?
Gallade was alone in his office now—something that was not all that rare. His hand, the same one that was holding that Scarlet Scarf only seconds ago, was held mere inches from his face as his eye bored into it, catching it in all of its sins. Disgusted, he turned away towards the window, staring out into the distance. Past the rocky field littered with warped stone spires, past the barren plains, past the forested foothills, and past the chain of mountains, and aiming his gaze at another tall peak, all by its lonesome far beyond the chain. And it towered over them all, piercing into the heavens, its summit perpetually obscured by clouds.
"I hope you're happy," he whispered through clenched teeth.
…
Riley followed the two up the spiral staircase. It must've been broad enough for two Tyranitar to walk side by side. The steps closer to the middle were shorter and more numerous, appropriate for their size, while the ones on the outside had to be jumped or climbed over. It was right about here where Riley started to realize just how small he was in this body.
They lead up through a hatch and into a room with simple log walls and sparse furniture. A simple kitchen with a cast iron stove, a stone chest, a table with a single dirty plate and what looked like a deck of cards, and two beds in the far corner. A wide doorway was cracked ajar just enough to see a porch, green grass and a bright blue sky.
And seeing all this, Riley froze in place as he took a second look. "Hey, uh…"
"Hm?" Pyro stopped and turned. "Something wrong?"
"N… I mean, a little bit. Why are we in a cabin?"
"Oh. Oh! Right, you were out cold yesterday. This is the entrance to the Guild." Pryo opened his arms and made a grand sweeping gesture.
Riley blinked. A second look wasn't helping. "It's… still a cabin."
Pyro nodded, gesturing for Riley to follow anyways. "A long time ago, the original Guild got destroyed. They carved out a hall underground in the hill to keep themselves functioning, but it worked well enough that they never got around to building a new one. The cabin just serves as a neat little lid."
"Even though a proper Guildhall would be leagues more convenient," Rose murmured.
After a moment, Riley shrugged. "I'll get used to it."
The Charmander pushed the door open, revealing a grassy yard that sloped down a hill with a single path. Riley froze again in the doorway. Brick buildings bordered the bottom of the hill as the path led into a sprawling city. Pokémon of all shapes and sizes and types roamed the streets and leaned out of windows. Colorful shops and decorations brought exotic life to the city that Riley couldn't look away from.
In the few minutes Riley had actually been awake here, he could recall loosely what a Guild was supposed to do, but he hadn't expected something so… numerous. How many Pokémon could live here? Fifty thousand? A hundred? A grin spread across his face.
"Don't forget to breathe."
"-AH!" Riley whirled to his right. A red figure he hadn't noticed looked down at him out of the corner of her eye. She was a Blaziken, leaning back in a wicker chair farther than it was safe. There was an amused glint in her eye as Riley recovered from nearly jumping out of his skin, but otherwise her face was like stone.
"Mornin'," she greeted.
"Good morning," the escorts responded in unison.
After catching his breath, Riley nodded his own. "Yeah, morning." Once his heart calmed down, he looked back over to the city before him, a sense of wonder returning once again. "I just… I didn't-"
"Astraean," Blaziken said, drawing out the word into each beautiful syllable. "You lucked out, in a way. Your first view of the place is from the hill; take it in. You can take it from me, the capital looks better from up here." With those last few words, she folded her arms behind her head and tipped back farther than what should be logically possible.
Riley savored the name. "Astraean." It was… strange, but he liked how it rolled off the tongue. "Astra… yahn…"
For a moment, Pyro frowned. "I guess this means you weren't from around here."
Riley shook his head. "I would've remembered a place like this," he said before hurrying after them.
A dirt path transitioned immediately into cobblestone as they left the hill. A long stretch of wooden buildings and stands lined the broad road on each side. Restaurants, shops, old homes and a tavern-looking building with Sleeping Stallion written above its doorway… Riley's head darted left and right as he walked behind the two. A Tropius craned its neck down to inspect the goods of a fruit cart selling all sorts of things both familiar and foreign to Riley. An Elekid stood atop an Electivire's shoulders as they passed the other direction, the child giddy while the father wore a smile that could only be called bittersweet. Two imposing figures, a Metang and a strange Graveler with yellow bits sticking from their rocky exterior, wore emblems of a kite shield emblazoned on a pair of white wings.
Another restaurant caught his eye as they walked by it: Treasure Trove. The name struck a chord with him, yet as he eyed the sign more closely, Riley immediately forgot about the name itself. The letters weren't from any alphabet he recognized, yet he still understood their meaning regardless. His excitement dwindled a little bit.
"You've a good eye," Rose observed. "That place has been in business ever since the town was founded. The Guild's chefs used to work there. It can be a little pricey, but if there's ever a reason to celebrate, you go there. Hands down."
"Since the town was founded?" Riley turned back around towards the cabin, tracing his gaze along the road as it made a straight line out of town. "That'd make this the original main street, wouldn't it?"
Rose nodded her approval. "That'd be correct. Way back in the day, Astraean was just one little street, so all we need to supply from is right here. And speaking of…"
As one customer walked away with a stuffed pack, Pyro gripped his claws at the end of a counter and peeked over at the green Kecleon on the other side, being polite and smiling back. "Good morning, Vivien. Could we get a few Oran berries? Two should do. A-and an apple, too," he added hastily.
"Orans and apples? We've got enough t' last us days." He cast a look over to his business partner attending to a different line. This one was blue, not purple, and she didn't return his look. Not to be deterred, Vivien looked back at him. A hand reached under the counter and fished out the desired fruits. "Will that be all?"
"Mmm… Actually, I was thinking…"
Rose cleared her throat, catching Riley's attention. "That's the local Kecleon Market. You can find them in any town in Meluja, and they've been spreading to other parts of Arushar lately."
Riley tilted his head. "'Meluja…'"
She frowned. "That doesn't ring any bells either?"
"... Should it?"
"I mean, not necessarily, but it's not looking good if you don't. If you don't recognize the region or even the continent, then…" She paused, mirroring the curious tilt of his head.
Riley panicked and pulled out another lie. "I might've been traveling when I got attacked. When I woke up, there was this cloth scrap with me that ended up getting burned. Thought it was part of a bag or something. So maybe I came from overseas somewhere?" It surprised Riley just how easily a lie came to him. As Rose paused to consider what he'd said, the only flaw in it that he saw was not knowing if there were other continents. But there had to be if they even had that word, right?
The inquisitiveness in her eyes grew too much, and Riley averted his eyes back to the Kecleon. "So do they hire anyone else? Or is it just the two of them all day?" he asked.
It was difficult to tell whether she saw through it or not, but Rose went along either way, answering his question. "There's usually four per store; all Kecleon. It's a brand recognition sort of thing." She shrugged, keeping her flowers at shoulder-level and aimed up as if balancing trays. "I don't get why. Sableye's Storage isn't ran by all Sableye, and Delibird Delivery hires a lot of fliers outside their family."
The mention of a Sableye brought Riley's attention to a bulky brick building just three doors down, adorned with a pink glass gem and a sign reading Sableye's Explorer's Storage. Pokémon hurried in hauling bloated bags decorated with a shield emblazoned on a pair of white wings, and others left with a reasonable load in the same bags strapped over their shoulders or their backs. The same ones Rose and Pyro had slung over themselves. Explorers' bags?
"Mm. Yeah, that. They're the main big item bank in the region," Rose explained, following his gaze. "I hate going in there in the mornings. The lines feel like they take forever. And when you're only a foot tall, you get cut in line a lot by accident, and it's not like I can just tap them to be polite about it."
Riley stood on the tips of his toes to peer in through the window, catching a glimpse of a half dozen lines that seemed to snake across each other, before his body reminded him of how strange it really was. He stumbled back as he tried to keep his balance.
Rose raised a brow. "You okay?"
"Yep! Yeah, I'm fine. Just didn't get breakfast earlier, so… I think I'm a little bit off."
She exhaled. I'll say you are, she seemed to say. "We can give you your apple early, if you'd like. Two of those should easily hold you over."
"That'd be nice. Thank you." At least this was actually true, this apple would be the first meal he could remember eating, but that excuse could only carry him so far. He had to figure out how to move organically or else… well, something bad would probably happen. Gallade's warning had been heavy enough to instill him with caution.
A moment later, Pyro came back from the stand and tucked the flap closed. "I've got all the essentials. Not much more than that, but I wanted to keep room to bring whatever we find back."
"If it needs to be kept safe, sure, but I'd imagine Riley would rather hold onto whatever we find."
The Riolu nodded. He doubted they would find anything out there, and this whole thing just seemed like one pointless scavenger hunt for something that never existed, but he wasn't about to say that. "Yeah. Since I'm not hauling supplies like you two are, just throw anything at me. I'll hold it tight."
"Sounds good." Pyro nudged his elbow as he walked past. "Should be no trouble for a Fighting-type like you, right?"
Riley paused. "R-right." He followed along, wondering in the back of his mind just what that meant.
As they continued down main street, Rose turned over her shoulder to look up at him. "You might want to hold off on that apple for a bit," she advised. "It's not smart to eat just before you get on an Express Pokémon."
Riley raised a brow in response. "What's an Express Pokémon?"
…
Nauseating.
It was all a blur for Riley. He remembered getting strapped to a Zebstrika's saddle at the back. He remembered a trot down mainstreet and into the city's fringes, and he remembered looking with silent wonder at the lands outside Astraean. The grassy hills and shrubs, trees that seemed towering even with his reduced height, and when he looked behind him Riley could see an oak tree on the other side of the city that loomed hundreds of feet in the air.
And then she started sprinting. The scenery blurred together, and Riley could feel his empty stomach lurch. Sparks plumed from her hooves as she raced down the pathways. He could vaguely remember a few remarks sent his way. "Don't worry, it's never easy the first time." "It'll get easier." "Just try and focus on the conversation." It seemed to work for them, since Rose and Pyro were conversing with the Express Pokémon, but Riley couldn't keep it together for more than a minute before he got light-headed again.
When the ride was finally over sometime around noon, Riley undid his strap and jumped to the ground like a sailor that hadn't seen a port in months. He staggered and stumbled, but the relief was plain on his face.
Only when his escorts hopped off soon after did he start to take note of the forested ridge he stood at, and the chain of snow-capped mountains to his right. A hill crested just ahead, where Riley could hear whispering winds lull him, soothe him.
"Thank you, miss," Rose said to her.
"Oh, any time, any time!" Somehow the Zebstrika barely sounded winded, as if the whole excursion had been little more than a jog around the block. "You know where to find the outpost, right?"
She nodded. "Of course. It shouldn't be more than a few hours."
"Right. Good luck!" Her mane sparked, and her hoofprints sped down the path from where they came.
As his breathing evened out, Riley stretched his arms and started turning around. "Please tell me we don't— wah!" Something red and round flew at his face. He fumbled to catch a big, cool apple in his paws.
The Charmander patted him on the shoulder as he passed him by. "There. If you're still hungry, just say the word."
"Th… thanks." His stomach was still settling, but he hadn't had a bite to eat in… well, as far as he knew, ever. Riley opened his muzzle and took a bite as he turned to follow. And almost immediately, it felt off. The teeth were in different places. His tongue was longer and thinner. The mouth as a whole felt weirdly stretched compared to what he expected. That oddity hit him like a punch to the face, to the point where the flavor didn't immediately register.
Pyro caught his puzzled expression and looked back, a little worried. "It didn't go bad, did it? It should still be fresh?" he asked, glancing down at the pale yellow flesh.
"N-no, it's fine!" Riley said through half a mouthful. "I just, uh, I think I was raised around sour apples. The sweetness caught me off guard."
"Mm. There's a few sour orchards around Meluja, but most of the money is in sweet apples," Rose explained. "We didn't pack anything else, so I'm sor-"
"It's fine, really." Riley swallowed and went in for another bite. The flavor was even sweeter than he'd expected, more akin to apple juice than a regular apple. "It's good. Just, uh, if we're going back the same way we got here, I'll stick to one."
Pyro let out a rueful chuckle. "I remember I passed out on my first ride. Granted, it was on the back of a Salamence, but still. By your third you'll barely feel it."
Before he could voice his doubts, they reached the top of the ridge. The whispering sea of amber grass stretched out into the horizon, beached by the slope that lead into the chain of towering snow-capped mountains. Their path thinned and faded along the edge. A somber silence fell over him as he stared. What felt like an eternity passed in a handful of seconds before Riley could find his voice again.
"So this was a Mystery Dungeon?"
The Roselia nodded as she passed him by. "It's aptly named. Fickle rules, morphing walls, protective inhabitants, and that little optical illusion out there… I don't know what you were doing in there when you were attacked. You never go in by yourself."
It was a good question. Whatever dropped him off could've picked a better place than the fringes of a hostile Mystery Dungeon.
"But," she went on, "you should be okay this time. Whatever possessions you had shouldn't have been drawn in too deep. Just stick with us and we'll hold off whatever wanders your way. Or rather, stick with him."
Riley raised a brow. "Splitting the group?"
"Covers more ground," Pyro shrugged. Riley raised a brow. The general idea was right, but Rose's bag was so much smaller than her teammate's. He kept himself from saying anything, since there was already so much he didn't understand and too many questions would only make himself look suspicious, but he kept that in mind to ask Gallade later.
Rose took a sharp turn towards the amber grass. A powerful gale bent the blades to form a single corridor. She nodded to her teammate, bracing herself as she trudged forward. The wind eased. The blades stood up. Rose was gone.
"... How the…" Riley stood there, blinking, his muzzle ajar.
"They're called Mystery Dungeons," Pyro said, gesturing Riley forward. Puzzled, he went along. "They don't always make sense, but you get used to it."
"Yeah, but like, that was… Is this place alive?"
He shrugged. "Sorta."
"'Sorta?'" Riley hurried forward to stare the Charmander dead in the face. "You can't just say 'sorta' like I'm supposed to understand."
Hiding a hint of a smirk, Pyro went on. "Theory goes, it all depends on the Wildie at the depths of the dungeon. Its rules take the form of their… habits, I guess."
'Wildie.' Such a cutesy name for the wild Pokémon?
"It's a bit difficult to know for sure," he continued, gazing down at the dirt. "Getting that deep into a dungeon is exceptionally difficult, and even then, the few that have been found just attack. Even for a place as calm as this."
After mulling it over for a second, Riley nodded. "You said we aren't going deep, so we don't have to worry about that, right?"
"Arceus, no. Getting that far would take months. We'll be done by day's end at the longest."
At that, the Charmander took a left towards the grass, and another gale parted the sea into a long corridor. He entered with little hesitation, and not wanting to be left behind, Riley pressed forward into the wind. The plantlife shifted and danced, their whispering nearly deafening. The air seemed to shake. And as the corridor closed up behind them, a circle of grass around them bent to the soil beneath it.
Riley gulped. "'Mystery Dungeon,'" he reminded himself, following the flame on the end of Pyro's tail like a torch, staying just out of the arc of its sway.
"If you have any questions, I can bring you to someone back at the Guild that'd fill you in," said Pyro, entering a short hall that took a right turn just ahead. "But for now, just stay on the cleared routes. Don't get thrown too far into the grass."
"Why? What's out there?"
"Nothing." The single word had grave finality to it. "You'd only have a few seconds before you're lost forever."
"... Oh." Riley shifted to stand in the exact center of the corridor. It was broad enough to fit even the largest Pokémon, but that only meant his demise was a mere three or four feet to either side.
Pyro stopped as they rounded the corner, his gaze fixated upon a Rattata that stared back up at the outsiders. It snarled and brandished two buck teeth. It was a frail thing, skin clinging to its ribs and eyes radiating hunger.
"A Wild?" Riley asked quietly, peeking around the Charmander to get a better look. It immediately reminded him of those two Nidoran. The looks in their eyes felt the same. Even if the Rattata was significantly smaller, he felt a strange mix of fear and fascination.
"Yup." Flames spilled out of the corner of his mouth as an attack built up in his throat, wispy tongues flickering as he spoke. "This one isn't too strong, but they can do a number on you if you drop your guard."
The frail Rattata jumped forward, closing the distance to just a bit more than a few feet away. With a deep breath, the Charmander arched his neck forward and spat forth a ball of flames. The Rattata jumped to the side, barely dodging as the Ember collided with the grass floor and nearly instantly snuffed itself out. Snarling, the Rattata leapt forward and into the air. Pyro took a step to the side and slammed down his claw on the Normal-type's back. With a yelp of pain, it was smitten into the dirt, its body splayed out. Pyro stamped his foot into its spine, pinning it there as he again gathered a cluster of flames.
And all the while, less than a yard behind stared the Riolu, watching it struggle and writhe underneath the lizard's foot. High-pitched whines and groans escaped the rodent's mouth. The way it squirmed seemed so juvenile and pathetic. So basic was its nature in the ways that its beady brown eyes glared up at its captor. It wanted to fight. It wanted to eat.
The Ember propelled out of the Fire-type's jaw, engulfing the Rattata in a coat of flames. It thrashed about for but a moment, crying its whiny cries until falling limp with a shuddery breath. Pyro said something quiet under his breath, as if uttering a prayer, before shaking his head and removing his foot.
"See? Nothing to worry about," he told him. "More will be here soon though, so unless you wanna deal with them yourself, I suggest we get going."
"Y-yeah, got it," Riley answered. As the Charmander turned to continue forward, he took a moment to look at the unmoving Rattata, crouching down to inspect it. It appeared to be a regular Pokémon. No odd smog, no discoloration— yet seconds ago it was snarling like a rabid, starving forest creature. And presumably, others like it would act the same way.
Was it the Mystery Dungeon that did this? When he'd woken up he was on the fringes of this place, so maybe its influence made Pokémon savage. Or were they just born this way? Sentient but not sapient? It couldn't be some kind of possession, given how Pyro acted—
The moment Riley remembered him, he shot up and looked further down the path. He couldn't see the Charmander. The glow of his tail flame was nowhere to be seen. His ears flattened.
"No no no no," he said in a panicked whisper, breaking into a sprint and taking a sharp left. It led into a small clearing of flattened grass with an opening to both sides of him. The left path continued on for a short distance before taking a sharp right, while the right took an almost immediate right turn and then continue straight for a while. Worried, he looked down the left path. And then the right. Back to the left. Back to the right.
He sighed. If he waited any longer, Pyro might end up out of earshot. He had to suck up his pride. Cupping his paws around his muzzle, Riley stood on the tips of his toes and screamed at the top of his lungs, "HEEEEEEEY!" A pause. He took a long, quiet breath as the winds picked up a little. "I DIDN'T… WHERE ARE YOU?!"
After a moment Riley received an answer, but it made his heart stop. A low, deep growl from behind him.
A frightened Riley spun around with his breath held. A large, bulky lavender figure stood at the turn in the path, aiming a long chipped horn at his chest. Ravenous brown eyes bored into him. Its thick hide was coated in rigid spines and edges like coral.
"Hey, there," he instinctively greeted the Nidorino while he tried to get his legs to work. The wild Pokémon in turn took a few more steps forward. "Nice day we're having, isn't… isn't it?"
It stalked forward in response. Riley turned to his left again to peer down the path, and then to the right. Both appeared to be clear. A flip of a coin…
Think, he told himself. This thing doesn't seem too strong. It's probably faster than me, but with a body like that it would also have trouble rounding corners. So the left tunnel is looking like a better option. And it's a fifty-fifty shot that Pyro went there. But if it's not, and I walk into something worse...
And yet as he stood there, pinned like a butterfly in a glass box, Riley realized that it wasn't fear that held him here. He was afraid, absolutely, yet more than anything he was… curious. Anxious. Enthralled as his scarlet eyes stared into the empty, hungry face of the Nidorino. Just what was it going to do? The fear had thinned into a cautionary warning, a mere sign on a fence. Don't feed the animals.
The Nidorino then let out a short, low roar before breaking into a heavy sprint and barreling towards the Riolu. Its movements were fast for its size, but clunky, like a charging bull. Riley jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack and watching carefully as the wild Pokémon came to a screeching halt. A cloud of dust formed as its hind legs dug into the ground.
"Is… was that it?" Riley scoffed. The Nidorino turned around, stamping its front foot on the ground twice. The boy cracked a smile. "Guess I shouldn't expect more from an undersized rhino," he said, broadening his stance. In turn, the wild Pokémon again charged forward and leapt into the air. Riley dove underneath it and slid on his stomach just as its hooves thumped into the ground where he'd just been.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he stared back at it. His heart beat like a war drum. An excited, goofy grin spread across his face. Chuckling, he stood himself and brushed the dirt off of his fur. It was as if he had regressed into a child again, playing out recklessly in the woods until the sun was nearly gone. And why not? He was living every kid's playground dreams. Turning to flee would be like spitting in the faces of every child who dared to imagine.
What moves do I know? He had a basic knowledge of Pokémon moves, but like hell he had them memorized. He didn't even know what 'level' he was supposed to be around. He could probably manage to punch and kick and bite, but there had to be more to his abilities than that, right?
Moving this body around is coming easier to me now, he observed, so maybe if I just try some things I'll figure something out… Hopefully.
With a deep, nervous breath, Riley began to walk forward. The red scarf around his neck grew comfortably scalding like hot springs. His fist clenched and unclenched, clenched and unclenched, the grating of the paws only faintly cutting through the winds. The Nidorino in turn began to approach Riley once again, picking up speed and charging forward. With each stride it let out a low grunt, and it lowered its head to point the horn straight at the outsider.
Kick, said some distant part of his mind, and Riley obeyed. He kicked off the ground and burst forward, rushing around the Nidorino towards its flanks. A faint streak of white trailed behind him before fading into the air. Riley grinned and tried to hold back from squeeing.
Quick Attack? That had felt so exhilarating. What else could—
With a fierce roar, the Nidorino kicked back with its hind legs and crashed its hoof straight into the bottom of Riley's muzzle. Something cracked as he soared backwards, skidding and bouncing on the dirt like a toy hurled by a tantruming toddler. Blood had begun to pool in his mouth. His jaw bone moved in jittery, mechanical motions. Almost immediately his head began to ache. The light of the sun was obnoxiously bright.
"R… right," he groaned. With a soft laugh he staggered onto his shaking feet. "I shouldn't have… ran my mouth like that, should I?" With the adrenaline in his system, he couldn't entirely register the pain. He knew something was wrong, but not how wrong. At that moment Riley was just visualizing another move that Riolu could learn: Force Palm. Eagerly, he smacked a fist into his other paw. "Let's try this again."
The Nidorino opened its mouth, perhaps about to answer the challenge, when a swarm of thorny vines erupted behind it and constricted it. It yelped and turned its neck to look at their source, but the vines squirmed and pulled taut. Thorns sank in. A faint reddish glow shone through the vines' tough skin. The Nidorino dropped to one knee, then to its chest, and in only a few moments its eyes drifted shut.
Petrified, Riley stood in place as an incredibly fed-up Roselia marched around the Wild Pokémon and stared up at him.
"Do you mind explaining just what you were thinking?!" she exclaimed, throwing both flowers above her head.
"Me? What about you?" Riley countered, visibly upset. "I was just about to beat-"
"Get yourself killed out here? Yeah, no duh," she spat, gesturing to his slightly shifted jawbone. "Consider yourself lucky that you're still standing. I don't even know how the hell you're not screaming."
"I could've taken it," Riley huffed, crossing his arms.
"Arceus, you're just… Nevermind," Rose sighed, raising her blue flower to her forehead. "Where the hell did Pyro run off to?"
Riley shook his head turned around and pointed to the T-intersection path. "Down one of those," he answered. "I lagged behind a bit, and he went on ahead. I didn't wanna risk getting myself even more lost, so I stayed put. But," he shrugged, "then that showed up."
"Unbelievable," she muttered, reaching into a small bag that hung by her side. Between the red petals she removed a small seed, no bigger than a pumpkin's. The outer shell had an alluring goldenrod hue to it. "Take this," she offered, extending her arm up towards the Riolu. "If I had to guess, your jaw has less than a minute before it starts hurting. This is like a painkiller. Swallow it, if you can."
"Thanks," he said, taking the seed into his paw. He then placed it on his tongue carefully and, with a bit of a struggle, managed to bring it down.
"Don't mention it," Rose dismissed, turning to look down the path. "Just doing my job." She looked carefully down the left route, and then the right. Left again. Right again. Once more, nothing. "Damn it, you stupid lizard," she spat. "Where the hell did you go?"
With nothing else to say, Riley turned around once again and began making his way towards the pale, unconscious body of the Nidorino. There was still the expected, unsettling vibe of being about a fallen beast, not knowing what it will do or not. But now, covered in rapidly withering vines, it seemed so fragile. She only took it out in, what, one attack? That was pathetic! If he actually got the chance to fight it, he could have taken it out in like three or four, easy. If she hadn't shown up out of the blue like that, right now he would be stan… ding… His thoughts froze almost instantly as he came to what should be the obvious realization.
"I thought you entered through another part of the dungeon." Riley peered down the only path she could have entered from. It had been a straight shot so far, had it not? All of this must've been too much to process, for he found himself dropping into a sitting position. His limbs felt heavy.
"It spat me into a different part of the labyrinth, but it's still connected. And I ran into a pesky Psychic-type that decided to isolate me." She shook her head before peering back at Riley for a second, who was propping himself back on his arms. "I just hope the same hasn't happened to him. Abra aren't supposed to be common out here."
"An Abra…" he said dreamily. What was one supposed to look like? A cat? Did it have fur? "Can we go see an Abra? That'd…" He yawned. "That'd be cool."
"Later." She turned away from the path and strolled back over to him. "Alright, I need you to listen to me. The adrenaline is probably leaving your system right about now, so you're gonna realize that you're not in the best of shapes. I heard that crack from down the path. You might be concussed."
"What?" He tapped at his muzzle, receiving a dull yet heavy pain.
"Don't touch it," she scolded. "Part of our job is keeping you safe, and that includes further injury to yourself. So I hope you will forgive me, but I had to give you a Sleep Seed."
"A Sleep…" Riley blinked. He tried to glare up at her, but his eyes were heavy. "A what?"
She shrugged. "Hey, look at the bright side. You won't have to put up with the ride home."
"You… you…" He could only manage one last growl before his eyes shut, and Riley slumped over onto the ground. Out like a light.
A dutiful Rose stood by him, watching the paths for any starved Wildies. Her dark eyes were sharp. She kept her ears opened. Thorned tendrils occasionally poked out from between her petals when she thought she heard something, but it was only a minute before she knew something was close.
"Riley…? Riley…!" Pyro shouted in the distance.
Rose cupped her flowers around her mouth to amplify her already small voice. Thankfully the wind was in her favor. "Over here!"
The Charmander's hurried footsteps came running down the path a minute later, and an exasperated and battered Pyro stood gasping at the intersection. He had a thin clawmark along his side. "Oh, oh thank Arceus you found him. I-I wasn't looking behind me, and I accidentally walked into a nest. So many Yungoos…" He placed a claw on his beating heart as he calmed down, and as he got a second look, he rubbed at his eyes. Riley was still down on the ground. So was the Nidorino. "Is… He's okay, right?"
"He'll need to see Audino, but there's no first-aid. See that?" Rose pointed at his slightly crooked muzzle. "Bone damage. Oran berries don't fix that. So we'll just bring him back."
"B-back? But the mission-"
"Found it already," she said with a smirk, reaching into her bulging bag and removing sleek blue ceramic object the size of a peach. A few holes around the surface revealed a hollow interior, and an angled spout stuck out at one side.
Pyro admired the object with his head tilted. "What… is that?"
She shrugged. "Foreign. So it could be his," Rose answered, gently placing it back inside. "There were a few scraps of cloth with it which I snagged, but nothing else nearby. Items it takes tend to be gathered up, so if this is it, then that's everything."
"You sure we shouldn't look around a little more? Just in case?"
"Oh no, of course we are. Can't be too careful. But you'll need to watch where you're going with him."
"Right, of c-" His gaze fell upon the dozing Riolu, who was just starting to softly snore. "I'm… carrying him? But…" Pyro sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll have to keep my tail straight the whole time though." When his partner was only a foot tall, Pyro often found himself stuck with the lifting.
…
It was late in the day with a sky set ablaze as Riley awoke. Yet again, he was in the same soft bed of the infirmary with the cool blanket draped over him. He let out a low groan as he shifted over and pulled himself halfway out of the thin fabric. In a daze, he opened his eyes and looked around. He was alone. The desk in the corner was uninhabited, and the remaining five beds were just as empty.
A moment later as he began to regain himself, he noticed a dull ache pulsating from his jawbone. Curious, Riley gently raised his right paw to its source to discover a small, smooth patch curving with the geometry of his muzzle to cover… something. Presumably, whatever mark was left by the kick back in the dungeon.
The Riolu stopped when he noticed something in his peripheral vision. Turning his head revealed it to be a note resting on the bed next to his, perched on the pillow with characters written in a dark purple ink, just barely off from being pure black. He leaned over to inspect the note, reading it as five simple words: "Come to my office. -Gallade." The handwriting seemed unfitting of Gallade's nature, with a bit too much personality and polish put into the lettering. It seemed to match more with Audino, if anyone.
"Yessir," he mumbled to himself, throwing off the blanket entirely and jumping down from the bed. And it was the moment that his paws hit the cold stone floor that he came to the sudden realization: the scarf was missing. Panic filled his being for a mere fraction of a second as he took a sharp inhale, frantically grasping at his exposed neck. He felt so cold. So, so oddly cold. A moment was taken to calm himself down. "Easy," he attempted to soothe, now becoming aware of how insane he would appear to be to an observer. "They just gave it back to Gallade. So…" He stopped himself, shaking his head to free himself of his thoughts, and then continued forward.
Jumping up to reach the doorknob, he opened the door attached to it and entered the main room of the Guild. This late, nearly all of the Pokémon who would have returned from a daily excursion were in their rooms and doing whatever. The only ones left in the main hall were a passing duo of a Luxio and a Buizel that returned a curious glance to Riley for only a second before returning to a conversation about a mission they would take the next day. Something about a lake, from what he couldn't help but overhear.
He made his way over to the elegant, out-of-place doors to the Guildmaster's office and gave it two hard knocks. Before his third even hit the wood, the reverberation of the lock's mechanisms sliding into place rang dully, and the door slid open just enough so Riley could squeeze through. He did so, and the door shut behind him.
Gallade sat upon his desk, papers and documents moved aside to give him the room he needed. His being merely a silhouette as he basked in the twilight entering from the window. The Psychic-type kept his right hand held in a way similar to the form a connoisseur holds their wine glass. His left eye was fixated upon the blue, peach-sized object that levitated above his palm.
"Glad to see you're up," Gallade said, blank and motionless.
"It was just a kick," Riley dismissed. "I wouldn't even have gone out cold like that if it wasn't for the side effects on some 'painkillers'."
"That's not why I'm glad, though that's good to hear," Gallade replied. He extended his index finger and pointed it at Riley, and the smooth object floated over to the Fighting-type. "It's about this thing here."
"What is it?" the boy asked, reaching out to take it into his hands. The tips of his fingers traced along the slick polish and found themselves naturally falling upon a line of four holes near the top.
"It's called an 'ocarina'," Gallade answered. "Normally they're a bit bigger than that, but this is a child’s model. Blow into the top, why don't you?"
Hesitantly, Riley brought it to his lips, putting the spout inside and giving it a quick, sharp exhale. And from the unplugged holes came an equally quick, equally sharp note. An underwhelming silence filled the room the moment the ocarina's billowy chirp ceased.
"Was… was that all it does?" Riley asked, inspecting it more carefully
"In skilled hands, far from it. But yours are not that." Riley's ears twitched as the Guidlmaster smirked, though he quickly went on before the boy could say anything. "It's an instrument. Rare in these parts, but still just wind and holes. No sorcery. No trick."
"Then why show it to me?"
"Before you… collapsed out there, Miss Rose found that in the dungeon," Gallade explained. "Since an area like that is generally unpopulated, not counting the Wildies, and an ocarina is an especially uncommon luxury, I thought that this might be yours. It would appear that isn't the case."
"Yeah, sorry. I got nothing," Riley told him, tossing the ocarina back. Gallade caught it in his left hand and gently placed it on his table.
"Not a problem," Gallade said back. "I didn't expect you to find anything. Humans don't tend to bring over belongings when they transfer. And as expected, you're no abnormality."
"So, we went out and just stole this off the ground?" Riley surmised.
"Technically," the Guildmaster answered with a shrug. "But let's put the instrument aside for now." He placed the ocarina down on the table, and stared thoughtfully at the the Fighting-type. "How was it out there in the dungeon?"
"Kinda short," Riley admitted. "It was getting kinda fun before it suddenly stopped." Perhaps there was a little bit of venom in his voice. Not even Riley knew if that's what it truly was.
"So, you want to go back? Is that what I'm hearing?" Gallade asked, a hint of playfulness in his tone. The Riolu across from him nodded and averted his eyes.
Without a word, the Guildmaster stood up and walked around to behind his desk. The stacks of papers moved themselves back into their prim and proper position, shifting and flipping and twirling until freezing in a neat stack, like a plastic prop in a dollhouse. Gallade sat down in his chair and reached underneath the desk, only to pull up a small, brown satchel emblazoned by a shield on a pair of wings, which he plopped down on a cleared spot on the surface before him.
"What's that?" Riley asked, almost demanding, his gaze set upon the bag between them. Something was there— something that he, on a base level, needed to have.
"It's an offer, from me to you," Gallade began as he leaned back in his chair. "Put bluntly, I'd like you to join the Guild."
The single statement took the Riolu aback as a rush of thoughts came to his mind, swarming like piranhas to an animal unlucky enough to have fallen in the water. And every one of them was asking one question, chanting it to summon the answer: why? Why would the Guildmaster ask a nobody like him to join the Guild? Why would he ask first before Riley inevitably requested sanctuary? Why would he accept a human if it meant putting both his and the Guild's reputation on the line? So many questions, and yet, he asked none of them. He didn't care what the answers may be. They didn't seem important. All he wanted right there and then was that bag on the table, and whatever was in it, with a burning desire.
"Yes," Riley blurted out. His voice rang clear like a church bell.
"Eager, are we?" Gallade snickered. "Glad to hear it. Welcome to the Guild." He extended his arm out to the strap of the satchel and gently tossed it to the boy. Riley slid his paw under the cover, digging around only to feel the warm, silky fabric of the scarf he had adorned earlier. He couldn't believe it. With a skeptical glance, he gently pulled the article out to be greeted by its vibrantly unreal hue of red.
"I…" He struggled to complete his sentence, unsure if he was really willing to be humble. "I thought you said this was your friend's," Riley said.
"Not anymore," Gallade replied. "The dead can lay no claims to anything but their own deeds." A bitter smile spread across his face, partially hidden by the shadows birthed from the twilight casted from the window. "And like I said, he wouldn't want to see it gathering dust as it had been. Go ahead, put it on."
Riley looked back down at the scarlet scarf again. It was like something out of a Greek epic, woven out of a goddess's hair and dyed in the blood of some mythical eldritch beast. And to have once been adorned by a fallen friend? The value behind this thing, both emotionally and monetarily, must have been incomprehensible. He wasn't worthy of such a treasure. And not to mention, he was a human. Something Gallade didn't want getting out. And yet he was doing this much for him?
He wanted to just be happy. Hell, Riley was holding back the urge to just bundle it around his neck again and jump for joy. But he was holding it back for a reason.
"I… I didn't really have a choice here, did I?" Riley asked. His eyes locked with the Guildmaster's. That single red eye stared back at him, cold and pitiful, as the boy tried not to back down.
"A bit of advice for you," Gallade said, taking a sheet of paper with one hand and the shimmering blue quill with the other. "Ignore everything that's going on, okay? It should make it a lot easier for you."
The boy froze. His response was lodged in his throat.
"You're going to be confused, and that's okay, but forgive me. I cannot explain it to you. You seem smart— maybe you'll see why." The quill raced across the page as Gallade scrawled something Riley couldn't read. Whatever it was had stolen his attention completely, even as he spoke to the boy. "I'm asking a lot here, but I really do want to help you. So trust me, okay? You'll get lodging, security, adventure… While I do what I can to sort this out, just explore and have fun."
There was a long, long pause that followed as Riley stared down at the scarf. If he took this, he'd be stuck with Gallade. Whatever sort of conspiracy was going on here, however he might've arrived here, whatever questions he would gather in the coming days— taking Gallade's offer would mean playing by his rules. It was a heavy decision to make when he didn't know what he was getting into.
And Riley was okay with that. He knew he shouldn't have been, but the discomfort he felt was outweighed by a sheer sense of adventure. Today had ended way too abruptly for his liking. He wanted more. Whatever was going on here with humans, Riley didn't want any of it.
He nodded his head, bringing the scarf to his neck and carefully wrapping it around. It felt right to have it there. "I'll trust you," Riley proclaimed. "Take as long as you need. My answer is still the same."
"Good." Gallade set the quill in the inkwell and prepared the pad for his handprint. "I'll make this quick. You were from overseas in Makoto, traveling alone for some reason. The shagginess of your fur, muscle definition and lack of a collar can only give us so much to go off of, so while we're sending word to see if anyone has seen you, hopes are low."
"Is… that necessary? Can you even tell that much from fur?" Riley asked, raising his paw to scratch his soft, fluffy neck. He blinked. Hadn't there been-
"It lines up enough to clear immediate suspicion. If I can I'll compound on it later, but for now…" After pressing his palm firmly into the corner, Gallade slid the ink pad and the page to the other side of the desk. "Place your print and we'll be in business."
Nodding, Riley stood on the tips of his toes to dab his paw on the ink. He placed his print right under where Gallade's finger pointed, and all was sealed. With one hand Gallade pulled the page back while the other offered a damp rag to clean Riley's paw, which the boy did hastily.
"All signed and sealed," he said, setting the sheet in the corner to dry before looking back at the boy. "Make your way down to Room 317. There should be a bed for you set up already. You can find your own way there, I trust."
"Yeah— uh, yes sir." Riley snapped into a rough salute.
Gallade let out a short laugh. "We'll… work on that later. For now, just remember to bring any questions to me first. I will make time for you. But most importantly, make sure you have fun out there. That's an order," he said with a faint smile.
The boy nodded. "I'll do my best."
They exchanged farewells, the door opened, and as Riley left it clicked shut. Gallade was alone in his office, the ghost of a smile fading away with the setting sun. It was a sickly business, this one. He opened a hand, and the ocarina levitated over to hover just above his palm. Indeed, the treasure was a beautiful one. Its owner must've cared for it greatly.
Gallade closed his fist tight, and the ocarina seemed to crack. It held its form for a single confused second before disintegrating into blue dust.
…
It wasn't too hard to find the ladderwell where all the dorms were. All the important things were accessible right from the main room. Giving this place a second look, Riley could definitely see it. This place was designed with function first, and though it wasn't hideous, it wasn't exactly a marvel either. The ladderwell was just a flight of broad stairs (small ones on the inside, big ones against the wall), but once again, he felt awfully small, especially given that the bottom of the ladderwell seemed so far down. There was at least a pool of water down at the depths. Some kind of bath? Fall protection?
His only form of a guide was a sign on the wall. '100-150: First Floor. 200-250: Second Floor.' It went on and on like that for an entire eleven floors, until the final twelfth was labeled 'Staff and Misc.' It didn't seem right to him that the staff would have to climb all that way for their work, but who was he to judge?
Pokémon were awake but fairly quiet at this hour. He could hear voices as he passed by the first two floors, and he caught a few glimpses of some Pokémon, but they were hardly rowdy. They were probably all too tired to be doing much of anything. And as he reached the third floor, that seemed to hold up there as well. Riley took a deep breath, tightened his bag around his shoulder to try and look like he belonged, and strolled down the straight path.
Nearly all the rooms were filled tonight with a variety of Pokémon, most in their first or second evolution. A Tyrogue and a Flaaffy laid back on soft but simple piles of hay as they wistfully discussed their adventures from the day in the darkness left by a darkened plate in their ceiling. Pieces from a game hit a checkered board as a Furret gently placed down a rook-looking thing, smirking faintly as he challenged the Munchlax across from her. A Poliwhirl revealed their hand of cards to a Watchog and a Castform, laughing confidently as his opponent tired to hide their distress. But none of them gave Riley the light of day. The most he would get was a curious glance before they returned to whatever activity they were doing beforehand.
"Three seventeen, three seventeen…" he muttered to himself. Each room had their number written in chalk, so it wasn't long before he found it. And it was no different for him. Same spacious dimensions, two piles of hay for beds, a dim plate in the ceiling, and a section of a tree trunk that served as a table.
And just like the others, it too was inhabited. A Charmander sat at the table whittling away at a piece of wood. Slivers had been swept neatly into a small pile. And on the other end, a Roselia lay on her stomach on the cold stone floor, a book nearly as big as her opened before her. For a moment, neither noticed him standing there, frozen, but it didn't last long. Pyro looked up from his craft and offered a warm smile.
"Welcome," he greeted.
Riley glanced up at the mouth of the opening. '317' was written in plain white chalk, right between '316' and '318.' "I… I have the right room, don't I?" he asked.
"You should." Pryo scraped a claw against the block of wood, carving off another sliver into the neat pile. "Gallade didn't change his mind, did he? Did he put you with someone else?"
Riley blinked. "He… didn't tell me anything about roommates." Since they raised no objection, he walked into the opening. It felt strangely barren for how big it was. He noticed a smear of soot in one corner, a pale of water by one of the beds, a shelf for a few books only a foot or so off the ground…
Rose nodded her head. "That sounds about right for Gallade. He likes to surprise people," she said, marking her page and gently closing the book. "Though I'm a little surprised you thought you would've been allowed to go on your own. An amnesiac whose only fight ended with his jaw broken?"
Riley bristled. "H-hey, I would've won that if you hadn't stepped in." He folded his arms across his chest defensively.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Tell you what. You can prove that tomorrow, okay?" she offered, defusing the situation before it could go anywhere.
"With you two?" he asked hesitantly. "But, won't I… you know, slow you guys down?" It hurt to admit that, but it was undeniable.
Pry shrugged. "So? We'll find a balance for us both. Someone's gotta ease you into things, right?"
"But, I…" He stopped himself once again. He couldn't think of another reason to say no. Sure, there was the classic I barely know you, but that went for literally everyone else here. If anything, he knew them better than anyone, save for maybe the Guildmaster. But even still... "I mean, you're right, but… Is that really alright? To force myself into things?"
"I mean…" Rose glanced between him and Pyro for a moment. "You didn't seem like a bad guy out there. Maybe a little stupid, but we can show you the ropes so you don't break your jaw again. I'm fine with taking you in."
"Yeah. Gallade took us in too, so we'd be hypocrites not to help you out," Pyro chimed. "Make yourself at home for as long as you'd like."
Riley swallowed. "R… right. Thank you." He nodded his head and looked around the room some more. "So, uh… where should I put my bag? Anywhere?"
"By your bed." Rose pointed one of her flowers at a pile of hay against the wall. "Or roost. Or nest. Or cot. Whatever you'd like to call it, that one's yours."
Riley blinked. "But… there's only two. D-don't tell me we're-"
"Riley?" Pyro interjected, trying to hide a little amusement as he held up his burning tail. "I can't sleep in hay. I just sleep on the floor. That nest is all yours."
He nodded, but just before he went on, the statement played again in his head and Riley stopped mid-stride. "Wait, what? Isn't the floor cold?"
"Don't ask. He's just weird like that," Rose interjected. "We tried getting him Rawst leaves. They feel too weird."
"Like sleeping on rubber," Pyro mumbled.
At least content, if not satisfied, Riley wandered over to his pile of hay and threw his bag atop it. "Right then. I've done enough sleeping for a while now, so… I hope you don't mind that I'll be up for a while. You got anything to—"
Pyro set the block down, heading over towards the checkerboard and a drawstring sack of wooden pieces. "Will Shores work for you?" he asked, setting the board on their excuse for a table regardless. "We have Truths and Ideals too, if you remember how that's supposed to be played, but Shores is real easy."
'Shores.' 'Truths and Ideals.' Was Riley supposed to know these? The bag opened, and as Pyro pulled out handfuls of small disks painted a faded red and blue, he caught glimpses of more detailed pieces inside. Some resembled shields, but a few were of Pokémon in idle yet regal poses. He could see the head of a Garchomp and what was probably a Rapidash that was reared up. But as the pieces were set into place, the red on Riley's side and the blue on Pyro's, Riley realized exactly what he was looking at.
Seeing his bewilderment, Pyro stopped with the last piece still in his claws. Rose smirked a little bit before returning to her tome of a book. "O… oh, I didn't actually… I didn't ask, did I? Sorry. We, uh, don't have much else. Someone next door should have cards—"
"No, it's cool," Riley said, strolling over to take his spot. He just didn't expect the game to resemble checkers almost exactly. The game was simple enough, he supposed, so it shouldn't be too surprising that the game could be recreated here. It would certainly pass the time, but he had to wonder just what those other pieces were for. The ones modeled after the Pokémon. Maybe only a few games of 'Shores' and he could see them more closely? Or if not, Rose certainly seemed enraptured by her book. What sort of stories could she be reading?
As Pyro set down the final piece, Riley could only think of one thing to say: "How do I begin?"
