Pokémon PMD: Fated Futures

[JuegAriel]

PMD: Fated Futures
Mark, a former human turned Cubone, wakes up in the middle of nowhere. He’s taken by Simon and Rose, two siblings with a lot of energy, and a lot of secrets.

He’ll quickly realize that him being in this world is not a coincidence, as it’s not the first time this story has taken place.

My first full fic. Inspired by the story of vivid/stasis.
​

Spoiler: Disclaimer / How this works

This story was first published on pmdfanfiction.com, where I used passwords to lock each arc. Due to the nature of this website, I can't exactly do that, so instead, I will only post until the first puzzle. The next arc will only be published once someone has commented the correct password, and so on until all 40 chapters have been posted.

Do keep in mind that the passwords are public information in the archiveofourown version. I'm asking that those who have read the passwords from elsewhere refrain from posting them.

If you don't want to wait for everything to be posted, the entire fic is available in pmdfanfiction.com. That version is what I'd consider the superior one.

With all of that said, here it is.

Arc I: A Mirrored Sense of Sorrow

You ok?​

Phase 1: 13,778/13,778

“This is clearly all a dream.” That’s what Mark thought when he woke up.

Between appearing in the middle of nowhere, holding a bone for some reason, and apparently looking like… Actually, he didn’t even know what kind of animal he was supposed to be, the bone helmet he couldn’t take off didn’t help to find out.

He’d been walking around this weird forest for hours, and he found not a single form of life aside from plants. If this really was a dream, it was a very boring one.

It didn’t take him long until he noticed the hunger catch up to him. At first it started as a mild stomach rumble, but it quickly turned into a feeling of sickness coming from inside him.

He was tired, really tired, so without having any ideas on what to do, he sat on the grass beside a tree and stared at nothing until his body gave up and fell unconscious.

It wasn’t until some hours later that a voice woke him up. “Hey, you okay?”

Mark groggily opened his eyes to find a blue turtle looking at him. Even with the species difference, Mark could tell this turtle was concerned, he was probably not looking too good.

“Can you hear me?” Mark didn’t respond but weakly nodded. He really just wanted to go back to sleep to get out of this dream. “You’re really not looking fine, what happened to you?”

Mark, again, didn’t answer. He felt dizzy and wanted to rest. “Hey, Rose! Come look at this!” Another figure entered the scene, it was a dog, definitely, but orange and with black stripes around its body.

“What did you fi- oh. Oh, damn.” The dog got closer to Mark, inspecting him. He saw himself on the reflection of a river before. He didn’t see any bruises or injuries, so why were they that worried about him? Granted, Mark didn’t know what his species was supposed to look like, if said species was common at all to begin with.


“Can you walk?” The turtle extended a paw to Mark. He was very weak, but tried to stand up nonetheless. It was a bad idea. He ended up falling forwards against the turtle, knocking them both down. “Okay, I think that answers that… Rose, stop laughing and see if we have an Escape Orb or something, will ya?”

Mark heard some shuffling around until he got enveloped in a white light. He couldn’t take it anymore and fainted.

---

“C’mon, bud… I know you’re tired, but you gotta eat something.”

Mark heard the voice, but only groaned as a response. It wasn’t until his immense hunger showed up in the form of a grumble that he forced himself to open his eyes.

The same dog, in front of him, handing him what looked like a blue circle. Mark didn’t want to engage with this situation, but it started looking more and more like this wasn’t really a dream.

With hesitation, he grabbed the ball and ate it in one gulp. It was fruit, that much was obvious, but he couldn’t really decipher what kind of fruit it was, he only knew that it was good, and it was food, so he wouldn’t complain.

“Can you talk?”

“Y-yeah, I can…” Mark didn’t know how to feel, it was very easy to pin this on being a dream, but the sensations that he was having were telling him something different. “Are you… Rose?”

“Oh, you remembered my name! Yep, I’m Rose, and my teammate is Simon. You know, the one that was with me when we found you.”

Simon, okay, he’d need to remember, but so far so good. The only issue really was…

“W-where am I? And what am I, for that matter?”

Rose’s optimism faded away in an instant, being replaced by a concerned frown. “You’re… you’re a Cubone. Why?”

“A Cu-bone? What the hell is that name?”

Her frown was even more noticeable than before. She wasn’t concerned anymore but suspicious.

“Let’s start from the beginning, okay? Who are you?”

“I’m Mark, I don’t know what’s happened to me, I have no idea where I am.” Mark was trembling, his hunger wasn’t his priority now. Any doubt that he might have had about if this was a dream was shattered. At this point he was just scared, he wanted to go home, back at…

And that’s when he noticed he didn’t remember absolutely anything about his past life as a human. His instincts kept telling him that this was wrong, but he couldn’t imagine what was supposedly right.

Either Rose was good at reading emotions, or Mark was as open as a book, because Rose immediately noticed what was wrong.

“Do you have amnesia?”

Mark nodded. He didn’t know if any human stuff would even make sense to her, so he stayed quiet about that part.

Her expression softened a bit. Not much, but a bit nonetheless. “Okay, um… Let’s wait until Simon returns from the guild and we will have a talk, okay? For now, feel free to grab as many berries as you want, you seemed very pale when we found you.”

She left the basket of berries next to the bed Mark was in, and left before he could answer or retort.

Right, that’s another thing, where was he even? Looking at his surroundings, all he could see was a pretty decent home. This was certainly the room of one of those two. Whose? He couldn’t tell.

He tried to stand up but his dizziness quickly returned. Might as well help himself to another berry, not like he could do much else.

‘Just what the hell did I get into?’

 

[JuegAriel]

Expectations
​

It would take longer than expected for Simon to get back. Mark had already eaten all of the berries that Rose left him. He tried to control himself but he really was starving.

“So amnesia, huh?” Mark tried to recollect himself in order to explain things to Simon. Too bad Rose was too eager to share and didn’t let him talk.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” It was difficult to decipher Rose’s expression. She was worried, but there was a hint of eagerness in there.

“I don’t even know where I am, so… no.”

The team thought about the situation in silence for a moment before looking at each other, seemingly having come to the same conclusion.

“Why don’t you join our team? That way you can stay with us, and we wouldn’t mind the extra help on missions.”

Simon was serious about this. Why? They literally met him today, there was no way they had this much confidence in him.

“What do you guys do? Because I don’t think I can help much.”

“Do you know how to fight?”

Mark immediately looked directly at Rose. The message was clear.

“Okay, but if you don’t know how to fight, that’s even more reason to be accompanied by someone. Else, you won’t survive out there.”

“What do I do then?”

“You learn.”

Simon said that with such simplicity that it scared Mark. He wasn’t thinking of just starting a fight right there and then, right?

“Relaaax, we’re talking about getting you into a Mystery Dungeon. You know, an easy one, so you get some experience.” Rose leaned on the bed with a smirk, trying to look cool. It’s not working.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“A Mystery Dungeon. What is that?”

“Oh, right, amnesia, forgot. They are honestly really difficult to explain, and I don’t think either me or Simon are really qualified to get into the details. So long story short: places that change layout at random, with feral Pokémon that can be used to train.”

Pokémon. It was a name that Mark didn’t understand, yet it sounded familiar. Familiar enough to not question it. The use in that sentence could only mean that’s the name of the species at large, right? That’s what he’ll go with until it’s proven otherwise.

Both Simon and Rose were looking at him intensely, waiting for a response. He was really scared, but they made a good point about not having anywhere to go. “Ok, I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything. Can it wait until tomorrow, though? I think I need some time to process all of this.”

“Yeah, that’s fair. Speaking of, I think you should get out of bed for a while, see if you can start moving around.”

“Good idea, Simon. Mind if you do help him? I wanna get some more things at Kecleon’s for tomorrow.”

With a nod from Simon, Rose left, leaving the two alone.

“Ok, let’s see if we can get you to at least stand up.”

Simon grabbed Mark’s paws and pulled slowly. Mark tried to stand on his feet… Emphasis on ‘tried’. His legs trembled and he fell forwards again towards Simon, though at least they didn’t fall all the way to ground like last time.

“There we go, slowly.” Simon was helping, letting himself be a support for the Cubone. Mark found it ironic that after walking alone for so long, the lack of energy would be such a nuisance that he needed help to simply stand up.

It was difficult, but Mark managed. He walked around the room for a bit to get used to it, eventually being able to roam the building. It was cozy, a bit more modern than what he expected (should have expected it from the looks of the room he was in), but his instincts told him that it wasn’t near high-end enough to be comparable to his human home.

“Ok, so… I am a Cubone, what species are you two?”

“Oh, right, Rose mentioned you didn’t know species. I’m a Squirtle, Rose is a Growlithe.”

“And you two are…”

“Siblings! Well, I was adopted, but we’ve always been very close.”

“Adopted? What happened to your parents?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. If they abandoned me when I was a child, then they didn’t care for me, so why should I care back?”

Even though Simon just said that, his expression was more of dismissiveness rather than anger or sadness. At least it was an easy topic to talk about for him.

“Feel free to ask any more questions, I imagine you have a lot you’re wondering about.”

“Uhh… Well, what is this guild you talked about?”

“Oh, pretty much the organization that manages our jobs and all of that stuff. They train the teams and give them the missions that we do.”

“Right, you talked about these missions before, what exactly do you guys do?”

“Eh, it varies. From retrieving items, to escorting other Pokémon, to sometimes rescuing some poor souls that got lost in Mystery Dungeons.”

Rescuing? Now he understood why they wanted to teach him to fight.

“Okay, I can tell that last one is worrying you, but don’t worry, it’s not as dangerous as it sounds as long as you can defend yourself. Or, in your case, as long as you have someone there if things go wrong.”

“Are you absolutely sure about that? Cause I’m not.”

“Of course! We may not be the best team out there, but we aren’t newbies, you know? You should talk with our guildmaster, they can probably tell you how good we are.” Simon smirked. These two really liked teasing around, didn’t they?

Rose came back soon after that. It was already pretty late, so they all went to sleep.

Mark wanted to take the ‘couch’ (it wasn’t really a couch, but it was similar enough that Mark’s mind decided that’s how he was calling it), but the team insisted that he went back to Simon’s bed. They might be a bit teasy and cocky, but they’re definitely kind.

---

The next day arrived, the now team of three was already at the entrance of the dungeon.

“So Poison Garden, huh?”

“Yep! It’s very low level, and type effectiveness will help. Well, it’ll help you, anyways. Simon and I just have to keep watch.”

“What’s that about type effectiveness?”

At that, Simon’s eyes beamed up.

“Oh boy, you just activated his trigger phrase.”

“You are going to be soooo sick of me once I’m done explaining.”

With a gulp from Mark, the three of them entered the dungeon.

 

[JuegAriel]

Trying again
​

Simon was right, Mark was already tired after he explained four or five of these ‘types’. At least things made a bit of sense, kind of a rock-paper-scissors situation… So he remembered that game, cool.

It was a bit unnerving how they could just make things like fire appear out of nowhere, but at this point, he was ready to accept anything.

“Okay, so I’m Ground-type, you’re Water-type, and Rose is Fire?”

“Yep! You caught on fast! Some Pokémon have two types, but not us three.”

The conversation was helpful. Not only because Mark learnt quite a bit about how the world operated, but also because it made him not pay too much attention to his surroundings. Poison Garden was a forest, but it was as unnatural as a forest could get: long hallways with wide rooms in-between, with trees perfectly aligned to work as walls.

At the start, Mark was trying to remember his path, until he remembered what Simon said the day before, these places change layouts. ‘So we don’t even know where we’re going. Great.’

It wasn’t long until an enemy appeared. Rose quickly pointed it out and gave the center stage to Mark, who just stood there not knowing what to do.

“C’mon, it’s just an Ekans. Poison-type, so it won’t do much damage to you. Try to use a move!”

“What the hell is a move?!”

There was a hint of hesitation on Rose after he said that.

“You may not remember, but your body will. Moves are a part of us, so you definitely have something.”

The Ekans was just there, looking at Mark curiously.

‘Okay. Just, get in there, and attack it. That’s all you have to do.”

Without thinking twice, Mark ran up to it and hit it with his bone.

…It didn’t do much.

“What was that?”

“I-I did what you told me to! I just got in and tried to do damage!”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t a move. What were you expecting?”

“I-I don’t kno-” The Ekans cut him short by biting him on the arm while he was preoccupied. “GOD! DAMN IT! You said it wouldn’t hurt!”

“Of course the Pokémon we find doesn’t even use a Poison-type move…” Simon facepalmed. “Okay, try again, we’re here if things go bad.”

And so he did, again and again. The Ekans bit Mark multiple times. It also used some kind of needle on its tail to stab him, which didn’t hurt much, but what did hurt was the attack that it did next. Mark couldn’t really tell what it did, but it hurt a lot, and it made him get launched back.

“Really? Double-Edge? You’re telling me a random feral has Double-Edge? Simon, deal with the Ekans, I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

“You got it.”

Rose ran up to Mark while Simon started spitting water to the snake.

“You alright?”

“No…” Mark was full of pain, the bite marks were bleeding, and he had a big bruise on his stomach.

Rose sighed, it was obvious to Mark that she was disappointed, just didn’t want to show it out of respect. Simon got in sight, looking concerned.

“Dealt with it, how is Mark going?”

“Bad… really bad…”

“Get an Escape Orb, Rose. We’ll try again later, right now he needs to rest.”

It didn’t take long until that same light as last time came up, and suddenly they were back at the entrance of Poison Garden.

“Take this.” Simon handed him another one of those blue berries.

“I’m not hungry…”

“It’s not for that. It’s an Oran Berry, they heal you. Now, c’mon, take a bite.”

Mark begrudgingly obliged. It did make him feel better, physically, at least. But all he could think of was how much of a failure he was being.

The walk back wasn’t that interesting. The mood was down, and not many conversations were had except for the occasional quiet talk between Rose and Simon.

Mark could hear them, he was next to them. But he didn’t care enough to actually listen.

“Hey, you look down. Do you need another Oran?” Mark’s train of thought got interrupted by Rose.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Why am I not believing you?”

He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to sulk in and ignore all of the problems and responsibilities he was having. But also, from the little time he had known these two, he knew they weren’t going to stop until they got an answer.

“You want to know what’s wrong? Me. I’m what’s wrong. I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t have lost my memories. I don’t know what my old life was like but it was certainly not this. And now here I am, stuck in a place I don’t even know, failing to do the one thing that apparently everyone else can do. The one thing that is apparently essential and that keeps everyone alive. That’s what’s wrong.”

Mark teared up a bit after venting. He hadn’t wanted to yell, but that’s how it came out. Trying to compose himself, he turned around and kept walking forward.

The quiet conversations ended there.

---

When they arrived, Mark just went to lay on what he called the couch.

“Ok, we should have a talk.” Mark didn’t want to. He already said what he needed to. But Simon wasn’t having it. “I’m going to speak anyway, so if you don’t respond, I just won’t let you talk.”

“Fine… what do you want?”

“First of all, I’m sorry. We had the bad luck to encounter the one Pokémon that had probably the highest level out of any we have found in that dungeon before. We should’ve been more cautious.”

“And yet you made quick work of it. I am the problem here, it’s not hard to figure out.”

Simon pretty much ignored his retort.

“Second, I don’t know how your past life was, but I can tell you that those feelings of defeat don’t appear after just a single failed mission. That came from before, I assure you.”

Mark didn’t have anything to counter with this time. Maybe he had these problems as a human too.

“And lastly, I wanted to say that you don’t need to fight to be useful in missions. Granted, it’d help mostly to protect yourself, but if you stay with us, you’ll probably be alright.”

“How else would I be able to not be a nuisance?”

“With items. Having a quick supply is as helpful as everything else. And admittedly, it’s something we lacked. Rose can be a pretty great fighter, but with both of us in the middle of a battle, we usually can only use items once we’re alone.”

Mark thought about it. “So like, staying in the back and just giving items when you need them?”

“That’s right! You’ll need to learn all the different items and what they do, but no combat needed.”

“Would that really help or are you just trying to make me feel better?”

“Both!”

Mark smirked. Okay, Simon could be funny sometimes, but he had a point. Might as well do that instead of standing on the way.

“Okay, fine, I’ll give it another try. But don’t expect much.”

Mark sat up, and Simon got next to him.

“And one more thing.”

“What?”

“I know you’re trying, okay? Don’t think you’re useless, last thing we want is for you to give up.”

“Why do you even care? We just met.”

“Because I know what it’s like to be alone. Do you think I always had Rose? It wasn’t until I was more or less a teen that I was adopted.”

“Oh…”

He never really thought about that. He just assumed that Simon was adopted as a young child, but no, that wasn’t the case.

Simon put an arm around his shoulders. “And besides, I want to think that we’re friends, so I’m gonna be there if you need me. Same goes with Rose.”

For the first time in these two days, Mark smiled. A genuine, content smile.

“Speaking of Rose, where is she?”

“She went to the guild, dealing with the paperwork of you getting into our team.”

“After all of that, she still wants me in?”

“Of course! You’re not getting rid of Team Timeless that easily!”

Mark snorted. “Timeless? Is that your team name?”

“Yep! And it’s gonna be yours too, so you better learn not to laugh every time you hear it.”

Both of them chuckled, it was nice to feel like things were going fine for once.

‘Let’s just hope this lasts.’

 

[JuegAriel]

A new leaf
​

The rest of that day was spent learning the plethora of items and their function. It was difficult, but the different swirls and patterns helped make a mental map of the whole thing. What Mark wasn’t expecting was for Rose to give him some sort of reward for figuring things out.

A piece of cloth, a bandana, the same lime tone as the ones his new teammates were wearing. (Well, it was lime, but apparently neither Simon nor Rose knew what that word meant, so green-yellow it is).

Apparently having the cloth was an identifier for members of the guild, which meant that he was getting one too, so he happily tied it around his neck.

And after a deserved night of rest, here they were. Poison Garden. Simon thought that it would be a good idea to try this dungeon again, since this time Mark wouldn’t be fighting, and the two siblings had no problems with the ferals there.

“Oh, and by the way, this is an actual mission now.” Mark turned to Rose. An actual mission? As in, they’re getting paid for this? “Accepted it yesterday while I was registering Mark in, we just need to find a scarf. Floor… 3, I think? Should be easy, it’ll give us a good chance to test things.”

“Why didn’t you ask me about it?”

“Do you really think I would go back home to talk about it, and then go to the guild again to accept the mission? C’mon, Simon, think a bit.” Rose smirked as Simon let out an annoyed puff. Yep, definitely siblings.

Mark was at least walking into the dungeon with more confidence than last time. He was the one carrying the bag instead of Rose and… Damn, how did Rose deal with all this weight? To be fair she was the biggest of the bunch, so it made sense, but wow.

It wasn’t long until a feral Pokémon came into view. Another Ekans. Mark was visibly shuddering, but the siblings quickly stepped in front.

“Okay, let’s start slow. Hand over a Totter Seed, Mark!”

He rummaged through the bag, trying to remember his mental map. ‘Right… Totter… that’s the one that makes enemies confused, so… The spiral? I think it was the spiral.’ He grabbed the seed and handed it over to Simon, who smiled as he threw it to the snake.

“Very nice. It took me ages to figure out how to distinguish them from each other, so I’m genuinely very surprised.”

“It was all because of my teaching, surely.” Mark didn’t need to look at Rose to feel her smirk, it was her thing at this point. She followed it by engulfing herself in flames and rushing to the Ekans for a tackle.

It got launched against one of the trees, but quickly recovered, now angry and wanting to attack. It spit some orange-y sludge multiple times, but the confusion made it miss all of them.

“Ok Rose, stop trying to show off, let me at least get a hit in, will ya?”

Simon jumped in, covering his tail in water. He took a running start and smacked the Ekans with it. The snake wasn’t done yet, but it was clear that there was a lot of damage done to it.

Rose finished it off with a small fireball, it didn’t seem like it took much effort for her, but it was enough to seal the deal.

Mark looked at the snake, not moving. “So like… did we kill it or…?”

“Oh, Arceus, no. It just fainted. We don’t kill anyone here, we aren’t monsters.”

“You say that, but last time, that Ekans had no hesitation with me…”

“Well, yeah, but that’s because they’re feral, they don’t know any better aside from attacking everything that moves.” Mark regrouped with the other two while Rose talked. He wasn’t that happy to hear that if he was alone, he would have actually died. “Now, c’mon, let’s find the stairs.”

“Stairs? In the middle of a forest? You did say something about a ‘Floor 3’, is that related?”

“Mystery Dungeons don’t operate like actual, logical sites, Mark.” Simon said, waving his arms in the air like he was signaling the entire place. “They are really weird, and yep, they have floors for some reason. Not like you can see them until you’ve entered them, though.”

‘Well, that’s another thing to add to the ‘I don’t want to think about it too much’ list.’

As they kept going through the dungeon, Rose made it a point to teach Mark the names of the ferals they encountered. Mark could only keep up so much, though. He already had enough in his head with all the seeds and orbs and whatever else they thought to bring.

“What was that last one, again?”

“Skorupi, that’s the third time you’ve asked.”

“Okay look, it’s not my fault that whoever named these species just put some random letters together to make something happen.”

Mark heard a loud chuckle from Simon. He guessed he was happy to not be the only one bantering with Rose from time to time.

The fights were going well, at least. His knowledge of items was being cemented slowly, with only one fail so far when he gave Rose a Switcher Orb instead of a Rocky one. It was worth it if only for her reaction, though.

They eventually found the stairs which made Mark stare at them in confusion. “Okay, so this is a joke, right? I can literally see the end of the stairs and there’s nothing there.”

“Honestly, you remind me of myself when I first entered one of these. But in case you still don’t believe it, I’ll go first.”

Simon climbed the stairs and… he just vanished. Mark’s mouth was agape. This wasn’t possible.

“C’mon, bud, don’t keep us waiting.” Rose smirked yet again as she also disappeared while getting up. Finding himself alone, Mark was too terrified to do anything else other than follow them. He watched as the environment seemed to fade in front of him. Before he could even notice, the stairs were gone. Rose and Simon were there, watching him like nothing was wrong, but he could tell that they were in a completely different spot of the dungeon, somehow.

“There better be a good explanation for that.”

“Nope! Now, c’mon let’s get goi-” Simon was cut off by the sound of many Pokémon appearing at once, all around them. “Oooookay, monster house.”

“Hey Mark? This is your chance to prove yourself, feel free to experiment with items this time.” There was some concern on Rose’s voice this time. “But please try not to mess up, this is a bit more dangerous than usual…”

And with no further words, the both of them started attacking. Mark was scared, very scared, but he took a deep breath and tried to look through the bag. There had to be something to help there. Anything.

‘Shit, okay… Calm down, Mark. You got this, just breathe. Uh… Mug Orb? No… Definitely not Align… Not Rollcall…’

He kept on looking but nothing was helpful. Except… It would be a gamble, but he trusted the other two. So without more hesitation, he grabbed the orb and smashed it on the ground. All the ferals immediately flinched heavily… but so did Mark.

“What?!” Simon turned to look at him. “What did you…?”

“Simon! Not now, he’s going to be fine! Help me get rid of them!”

He shook his head and focused on the battle, which thankfully didn’t take long after what Mark did.

Once it was over, both of them rushed to him. He was panting heavily, still standing, but leaning against the wall to not fall over. He looked at the siblings and smiled weakly. “Heh… Two-Edge Orb…”

“Holy shit… No wonder you fell too, there were like ten of them…” Simon took the bag out of Mark’s paws and got a seed out for him.

Mark pondered on the seed a bit, trying to figure out if he could identify it. “Energy…?” Simon nodded, returning the smile.

“C’mon, eat it, you need it.”

Mark didn’t think about it twice.

---

The rest of the floor wasn’t that interesting. A feral here and there, but after his stunt earlier, Mark was confident about himself. He couldn’t fight, but at least he was doing something to help.

They found the next set of stairs decently quick, which meant they were on the floor the supposed scarf was in.

“The client specified that it was a red scarf with green dots. Pretty easy to see, so let’s start moving.”

“Isn’t it that one over there?” Mark pointed to a piece of cloth that matched perfectly the description. It was just there, in the corner of the room.

Simon and Rose looked at each other for a bit before snorting. “Okay, we got lucky, that’s cool.” Rose went to grab it while Simon kept laughing. “It’s always some whiplash when we expect the worst and the goal of the mission is just at the very start.”

Mark managed to laugh a bit as well, which he appreciated after the hell that these last days had been. “So, Escape Orb?”

“Nah, no need.” Rose said as she came back with the scarf on her back. “Poison Garden only has three floors, another reason why I suggested it as your training place, it’s very short.”

“Oh, these places aren’t infinite? That’s good to know, I thought you were done for if you didn’t carry the Escape Orb.”

“Thankfully not, though they’re always handy to have. One of the higher-level dungeons has like a hundred floors, and I refuse to go through all of them.”

Mark chuckled again as they started moving again in search for the last set of stairs.

---

Funnily enough, the stairs were in the room next to the scarf. Judging by the sibling’s reactions, that was rare, but Mark wasn’t going to complain.

After exiting, Simon convinced Mark to accompany them to the guild to deliver the scarf. He didn’t feel that comfortable with other Pokémon, but he guessed he’d need to learn about the guild sooner or later, so he went with it.

The guild was… big. That was the only word in Mark’s mind as he walked in. Tons of other creatures wearing bandanas or arm bands of different colors and patterns. It was a bit overwhelming, but it made him happy to see such a community working together.

The client was waiting for them near the entrance. Rose delivered the scarf to what Simon called a Nuzleaf, and they gave Rose a bag supposedly full of money. Clean transaction, that’s for sure.

Simon, meanwhile, was explaining the guild to Mark. The training they had to do, the installments, the procedures… The explanation got cut short as a certain Pokémon approached them.

“My, my, is this the new recruit Rose mentioned, Simon?”

It looked like a pig, but with a purple body and black legs. “Oh, hey Guildmaster Gren! Yep, this is him! Mark, this is Gren, our guildmaster and boss of this organization.”

‘Well, shit.’ That’s the first thing Mark thought as he extended his paw for a handshake. He was already surprised to see someone approach them, he wasn’t expecting this someone to be the big supervisor of this place.

“I-it’s nice to meet you, Guildmaster.” Yeah, it was very obvious that Mark was nervous.

“Same goes to you, Mark. Welcome to the team!” They said with a grin. “I am pretty busy at the moment, but I had to come say hi to the new member! Did your first mission go well?”

“You should’ve seen him, using a Two-Edge Orb on a monster house to make our battle easier. He has guts!”

“Well, that’s nice to hear! I have to go do more paperwork, but I hope you enjoy your stay in the team, Mark.”

“Uh… T-thanks!”

Gren giggled as they left. Once out of sight, Mark left the biggest sigh of relief he could muster. “I wasn’t expecting to see the top of the top right away…”

“Neither did I! But you don’t have to worry, they may be the boss, but they’re a sweetheart. Always making sure we are happy.”

Mark didn’t have time to think about it that much as Rose came soon after. With the three of them together, they went back home.

That night, Mark couldn’t sleep. Seeing as he was going to stay in their home for a long time, Mark convinced Simon to go back to his own bed while he took the couch. At least, until they could get another bed for him.

But it wasn’t because of the couch that Mark couldn’t sleep, it was because of all the thoughts running around inside his head.

He was happy to be welcomed and integrated into a team. He had two people that he could call friends, and they were taking care of him, making sure he learned.

But there was also a hint of sadness. It didn’t feel right to hide being a human, but he had the sensation that it would cause more trouble than it’s worth. Besides, he didn’t remember his life as one, why should he feel like he should go back? He still remembered what Simon mentioned about his defeatism, that it came from way earlier than this. So maybe his human life just… wasn’t that good.

He was going back and forth with his reflections, trying to figure out what was right. But in the end, he gave up. He had Simon and Rose now, and he was happy to be here. Wasn’t that what mattered?

‘I think… I think I can get used to this…’

 

[JuegAriel]

Gaining ground​

“Are you sure about this?”

Mark couldn’t believe he got convinced to do this, but no going back now.

“C’mon, if you work here now, it’s only obvious you should start meeting people!” Rose said that with a lot of excitement… Too much excitement, if you asked Mark.

Earlier, Simon proposed the idea of going back to the guild so Mark could meet some of the other teams, as well as the staff. He said that it was also an excuse so that he and Rose could see some old friends again, but if that was the case, why pull Mark into it?

Granted, Mark already saw the guild yesterday, but only the entrance. Simon talked a lot about all the things the place had, but it’s one thing to listen about it and another to actually see it for yourself.

“Okay, fine… You win…”

“You know, I don’t think I ever told you that the guild has a name.”

“Uh… no, you haven’t.”

“Well in that case… Welcome -again- to the Supernova Guild!” Simon made a show of presenting the place again as they entered.

The guild was as enormous as last time. It was one of those places that looked a lot smaller from the outside. Mark’s guess is that it needed to accommodate all the sizes Pokémon came in. Specifically, an incredibly tall rock snake thing he was seeing that towered amongst literally everyone else.

Right at the entrance, the same Breloom as last time (he had to ask Rose for the name) was on his desk, simply looking around. He waved at them, and though the siblings waved back almost instantly, it took Mark a little moment to gain the confidence.

The Breloom seemed… sleepy. Which was honestly fair considering the time it was. “Why did we have to get here so early in the morning? We aren’t in any rush, are we?”

“No, but the teams usually leave later in the day, so it’s the perfect time to check on ‘em!”

“Simon’s right, you know? Don’t be a crybaby about it.” Rose teased. “Now, c’mon, let’s take a tour. I’m sure we’ll see some of our friends on the way.”

Well, it’s not like Mark could deny.

The firsr floor was where most of the activity was centered. There was a decently wide square column right on the center, with billboards and notices hanging from it.

“So that’s where we get our missions. You simply take one, make sure you relay it to the Breloom, and off you go!” Simon signaled to the rest of the huge floor. There were a lot of tables and cushions for teams to gather, even some blackboards with chalk so they could plan ahead and strategize. “Rose and I used to stay here for a while when we were training, we had to go through everything like three times so we didn’t forget what to do.”

“You mean, so you didn’t forget. I never had an issue there.”

“Yeah, yeah, say that to the Vileplume incident.”

“HEY! You swore you wouldn’t bring that up again!” Rose tackled Simon, but he only laughed louder. With an annoyed huff, she turned back to Mark. “Let’s see if Verm is around, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.”

Simon was still recovering from the laughter. “Oh, Rose, you should’ve seen your face there… Anyways, Verm, right?”

Simon turned around, but a figure suddenly emerged from his shadow, making him jump back, terrified. The yelp that came out of his mouth was… loud.

“HAH! That’s what Karma gets you!” Rose yelled while high-fiving the figure, revealing itself to be a Pokémon, a floating purple body with a smile that was almost wider than its body.

“You deserve that, my man.” The new Pokémon says. “How are you two doing? I see a new face here.”

“Right. Verm, this is Mark. Mark, Verm. He’s a Gengar, by the way.”

“What, does the newbie not know other species?”

“It’s a long story, but amnesia.” Mark silently thanked Rose for taking the reins of the conversation. “But yeah, everything has been going well! Where are the others?”

Mark was busy helping Simon up but he was listening. He guessed she was referring to the other members of the Gengar’s team, since the ghost was wearing a piece of cloth too.

“Eh, they went on a mission without me. Something about not overworking and needing to take a break. I mean, I like doing jobs with them, but I won’t say no to the free day.”

“Oh, wanna join us then? We’re giving Mark a tour of the place.”

“Yeah, sure! I have nothing else to do, so might as well.” He floated around Simon. “And besides, I gotta learn about all the dumb stunts you have probably pulled.”

“Oh, you have no idea…”

So Verm followed them around as they went upstairs. Nice guy, but very talkative. Apparently, his team used to be one of the worst-performing during training until Simon and Rose decided to do it together with them.

“Wait, Siobhan evolved?!” Simon was in shock. “But they were explicitly against wanting to do that! What changed?”

“I dunno, man. They didn’t even tell us about it, they just went out and when they came back, we had a Vikavolt under our roof holding a stone.”

“Damn… And we missed it? Ugh…”

The second floor was already a lot emptier, but there was still some activity. It had multiple sections compared to the one single huge room the first floor had.

“So, this way is the café. That might be the name but it’s more of a restaurant, really. It’s where the guild members come to eat, and it’s all free, so we come around from time to time.”

“Also, the food is top notch. Verm can testify.”

“I sure can!”

“Why wouldn’t you come here every time if it’s free and good?” That’s what Mark would do, at least.

“Eh, sometimes you want to eat at a quiet place without all the ruckus that forms up here. You saw the lobby, it’s normally even louder in here.”

“Oh, god…”

The room was quiet, there were only three Pokémon eating right now which Rose pointed out were a Sandslash, a Quilava and a Rhydon. Apparently it had been a good idea to get here so early.

Mark, however, was interested in the cooks. It didn’t sound easy to feed all of those mouths. He approached the small window only to see a big yellow Pokémon holding spoons completely immobile in the center while everything else in the kitchen moved on its own.

“Wow…”

The Pokémon slightly opened an eye, and all the items were carefully placed on the tables. It then approached Mark, who just stood there nervously.

Rose got closer to him. “Ah yeah, she’s Lily, the chef. Don’t expect a response, though, she’s mute.”

Lily smiled and moved her claws to speak in sign language. Sadly, Mark had no idea how to interpret that.

“Oh, uh… sorry to disturb, I just… I’m new here and I was surprised…” Lily made a dismissive motion and gave a thumbs up, followed by the same signs as before.

“She’s asking you if you want anything.” Rose, as always, saving Mark the trouble.

“O-oh! N-no, I’m fine. But thanks!”

Lily made the noise of a snort and closed her eyes again, with the tools moving on their own soon after.

“Man, this place is wild.”

“If you say so…” Rose teased.

Next up was the medical area. The place where guild members went if they got hurt during missions and berries weren’t enough to fix it.

“A bit of a bad decision to put this section upstairs, right?”

“You’d think so, but the nurses are all Psychic-types, so they can just float you upstairs without an issue.”

Right after saying that, Simon pointed at the yellow Pokémon on the desk. “That’s Charlie, a Drowzee. He’s the one that runs this section. Currently on break cause, you know, nobody injured.”

The Drowzee was the perfect stereotype of an overworked employee. Reading something similar to newspapers and drinking a cup of something warm, all while trying not to fall asleep right there and then.

“Is it normally too busy?”

“It depends on the day, but yeah, it can get really active.” Verm floated in front of Mark as he spoke. “I’ve had to volunteer multiple times to help Charlie. I keep telling Gren that they should hire someone else but they won’t do it.”

To be fair, the medical area looked a lot smaller than the other sections of this floor. Speaking of…

“And this is the training hall. Not much else to explain, just that Samurott over there who keeps watch in case something goes awry.”

This hall alone took probably half of the whole floor, it was big. There were some Pokémon around, either attacking dummies or sparring between them. Mark felt weird, it was all so natural for everyone and yet he couldn’t even defend himself.

“In fact, hey newbie, why don’t we fight? I wanna see you in action.”

Mark was trembling, this was the last thing he needed right now. Luckily, Simon jumped in.

“Hey, give him a break, he only knows Normal-type moves, and…” He signaled Verm around. “You know. Ghost.”

“Fine…” Verm groaned. “What about you two?”

“Another day, Verm.” The way Rose answered made the vibe go down a bit. Was there any reason they didn’t want to fight him?

Eventually, the four of them got up to the third and last floor, which was just the dorms.

“This is where the students live. You can technically keep staying here when you graduate, but that means having reduced pay to cover the costs. I think that’s what Verm is doing, right?”

“It may be less pay, but buying a place is so darn expensive, might as well stay here.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Mark said that without really thinking. All this time he’d been quiet when Verm spoke, not wanting to interfere between him and the siblings. And Verm noticed, since he hesitated a bit after hearing him talk.

“See? I told you it was a good idea. You guys should learn a bit from the newbie.” He winked at Mark, making Rose chuckle. Mark, however, was embarrassed as hell.

So, they made their way back to the lobby. They didn’t take that much time, but it was enough for most of the teams there to leave for their jobs. There were still some laying around, but it was a lot emptier than before.

“So? It was fun, right?” Simon seemed happy to show off this place, he was proud of forming part of it. “The Supernova Guild might not be the best of the best, but it’s a great organization and-”

He got cut off by a vine tripping him and making him fall to the floor.

Simon was angry for a split second until he heard the rest of them laughing. He looked at who did it, and his smile returned.

“Guys… It’s the second time today I’ve fallen down, you guys want to kill me or what?”

“Heh, sorry Simon, it was too great of a chance to pass out.” The new Pokémon showed up, a quadruped green dinosaur with a flower on top of it, accompanied by an orange weasel.

“Hey, Sanah, and hey Alphonse.” Rose said, completely ignoring Simon’s attempt to use her as a support to get up. “How’s life going?”

The weasel shrugged. “Same old, same old. Nothing new. We got Dave to accompany us for a mission, but he’s having second thoughts.” He pointed to a corner where a blue penguin was sitting against the wall, hugging its (almost nonexistent) knees.

“Still nothing, huh?” Simon seemed sad now, Mark was curious about all of this.

In fact, Mark tuned out the conversation and focused on the aforementioned Dave. He approached him, sitting next to him.

Dave looked at the Cubone wearily. “What do you want?”

Mark stopped a bit after hearing the hostility in his words. “Oh, I… I’m new here, just… wanted to say hi.” Dave huffed, he was not happy to have company and it showed. “I met your teammates now and-”

“They’re not my teammates.”

He stayed silent for a moment, processing things. It’s true that Dave’s cloth piece was a different color, but now Mark was left wondering.

“Where’s your team, then?”

Dave didn’t respond, just tightening the hold he had on himself. Mark felt bad now, he was getting into things he shouldn’t.

“S-sorry, sensitive topic. I-I should go.”

“N-no, no, it’s… it’s fine. Alphonse keeps saying that I should open up so…” Dave took a deep breath, preparing himself. “My teammate is… gone. No idea where he is but it has been months and we have found nothing of him.”

Oh. That explained a lot. He was now sitting awkwardly. Dave was embracing the silence while Mark couldn’t stand it.

“Were you two… close?”

“Very… At this point, I have accepted that he’s not coming back, I just…” Dave shuffled in place. “I just want to talk to him one last time…”

“Why don’t you?”

The stare Dave gave him seemed like it could kill. “N-no, no, I mean… Why don’t you write to him?”

“Write to him?”

“Yeah, that way you put your thoughts into words, and talk to him like he was there.” Mark was explaining this with a feeling that he might have done that exact thing previously. “You may not get a response, but… it’s better than nothing.”

Dave kept staring at the ground before standing up. “I should check with my friends.”

Right, he messed up. He shouldn’t have said anything, he’s only screwing things up and-

His train of thought was interrupted by Dave putting a flipper on his shoulder. “I’ll try that. Thanks.” He could see a slight but sincere smile on Dave, and that was enough to make the anxiety disappear.

So now he was sitting alone. Or so he thought.

From the shadows, a pair of eyes appeared, making Verm come out of the ground. Mark got startled, but relaxed once he saw who it was.

“Didn’t expect you to be the ‘sentimental talk’ kind of guy.”

“I just wanted to help.”

“And you did, I’m just surprised.” Verm leaned on the wall, not floating for once. “It looked like you were talking from experience, didn’t you have amnesia?”

“And I do, but I remember having felt the same thing Dave was feeling. That feeling of hopelessness, of not caring about anything that happens…” He sighed. “Feeling… lost.”

Verm punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Now, don’t go all depressing on me, you did good.”

Mark smirked, but was suddenly buffeted on the face by a very strong icy wind. Verm suffered the same, it seems.

When he looked, right in the center of the room, there were five Pokémon standing in a battle position. The wind had launched all the others into the walls of the guild.

The leader, a white big monster with some parts of its fur colored a dark green. It spoke loud and clear, wanting to scare.

“We’re looking for Simon! Give him to us and we’ll be on our way. Else, prepare to get hurt.”

 

[JuegAriel]

Associates​

At first, there was confusion. The few teams that were still around didn’t know what was going on. A random gang, looking for Simon for some reason, daring to attack the guild like nothing?

But after that second of confusion, there was determination. The one thing they knew was that they were going to attack back.

Except for Mark, he was still terrified and confused. He quickly hid below one of the tables.

“Mark, what the hell are you doing? Why aren’t you helping?”

Verm was still with him, now camouflaged as a shadow.

“R-remember the amnesia? I don’t know how to use moves! I c-can’t fight!”

“For real?! But Simon said… Ok, now is not the time for that, just stay hidden here, I’ll protect you.”

He had a bit of hope left in him, he saw how Simon and Rose fought, they’d be fine.

…Except they weren’t, the fight was actually very one-sided, and the guild was losing.

“Verm, they’re not going to win.”

The ghost didn’t respond. He knew.

“Who are these guys? What about the type? There has to be something I can do.”

“The leader is an Abomasnow, grass and ice-type. The others… there’s a Poliwrath, water-fighting; Dragonite, dragon-flying; Ariados, bug-poison; and that’s a Houndoom, dark-fire.”

“Shit, they’re rounded…”

And they knew how to fight as a team, too. Whenever a type disadvantage or a specially strong move were approaching, another member would step forward and take the hit so it wouldn’t do as much damage.

It was… chaos.

Mark searched for Simon, he needed to make sure he was okay. Thankfully, he was. Him and Rose were still fighting, but the Dragonite would always get in the way of their attacks and tank them.

“Okay, how do you defeat a team like this…?” Mark thought out loud.

“I don’t think you can…”

And that gave Mark the plan.

“Exactly! You can’t defeat them as a team.” Mark smirked. “Which means we gotta separate them. Verm! You had Poison stuff, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Verm was a bit concerned about whatever Mark had planned, but the determination in his eyes wasn’t there for nothing, he guessed.

“Ok, cool, c’mon!” And he ran off.

“Wait, what are you doing?!” Verm followed behind.

But the Cubone didn’t listen, instead rushing up to the Abomasnow and whacking it with his bone club. He knew it was going to do nothing, but damage wasn’t what he wanted.

The ice monster looked confused, but smirked. “Oh, you also want to fight, huh?”

Mark ran away, with the Abomasnow following him. Once they were far away enough, he yelled. “Verm! Now!”

The ghost followed through by launching a torrent of a purple liquid to the leader of the gang, making it fall to the ground.

“Okay, keep at it!” Mark rushed to the others. Specifically, he rushed to Simon after the Squirtle was thrown around by the Dragonite.

Mark looked around, Rose was with him, checking on Simon as well. “Rose, help Verm out!”

She nodded and immediately left.

‘Okay, Mark, think. Who’s strong against a Dragonite? I know Simon doesn’t have any ice moves but…’

“Dave!” The Prinplup looked, he was scared, trying to protect himself from the Ariados. “Focus on the Dragonite! We’ll keep them separate!”

“Mark… What are you…” Simon groaned, getting up from the ground.

“No time to talk, you and Alphonse keep up with Houndoom.” He helped the Squirtle get on his feet. “C’mon, dude, you can do it.”

Mark’s mind was running. He took a look to see what was going on. Sanah understood the plan and started to get the Poliwrath away so they could fight one-on-one.

That only left the Ariados, who was being a big nuisance to all of Mark’s allies. He thought for a second and rushed upstairs.

‘How are the guild staff not here yet? Did they really not hear all the noise?’

He would get the answer soon, as when he arrived, the first thing he saw was Charlie completely asleep in the corner of the room. By his position, this wasn’t a thing of tiredness, he was made to fall asleep.

“Charlie! C’mon, we need help!” Mark shook him around aggressively. It took a while, but the Drowzee finally opened his eyes.

“H-huh? What… What happened? Who are… didn’t I see you earlier?”

“There’s no time to explain, there’s a fight downstairs and we need help.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. He clumsily got up and ran.

‘Okay, that should help, I need to check the others.’

As it turns out, both Lily and the Samurott from the training hall were in the same predicament, asleep against their wills. There was no time to take care of them too.

Mark rushed back to the lobby, hoping Charlie would’ve made a difference.

It did, but not as big as he had hoped. With the gang members separated, the fight became much more feasible, but these guys were really strong, having them fight only one or two of the guild members was almost a guaranteed win for the group.

Mark even saw the Breloom gain confidence and fight along Sanah.

Things weren’t going well, until a loud sound came from one of the corners. The main door had opened with a slam, and on the other side, there was none other than Gren.

Behind them? Like three or four more guild teams.

“I don’t remember allowing such a scene in my guild.” Gren stomped forward. They were small compared to the others, but damn if that voice didn’t inflict fear.

The guild members all stopped, which made some of them take a hit from the attackers.

And that was a mistake.

Gren jumped to the Poliwrath and hit it with what Mark could only assume was something psychic. The Poliwrath flew to the wall and was immediately out. Just like that.

“Hey! You’re gonna pay for that!” The Abomasnow shouted before trying to punch Gren, but they dodged by jumping into the air and dropping into the ice monster with force.

That was the cue everyone needed to continue the fight except, with Gren in the picture, the plan to separate the group was off. Everyone jumped on the Grumpig right away.

Mark hid again, not wanting to risk it. The numbers were now in their favor, he would only be a nuisance getting in there.

He wasn’t expecting Simon to crawl below the table with him, he was holding his arm in pain.

“Are you okay?”

“W-what the hell, Simon? You’re the one fighting out there! Are you okay?!”

He chuckled sadly. “No, I’m not…” He looked back to the fight. “Either these guys are really really strong, or I’m losing my abilities. Because they are kicking my ass.”

Simon looked hurt, but not only emotionally. He was full of bruises, and his shell had some small pieces chipped off. Even his mouth was dropping a small trickle of blood.

“Simon, don’t get back out there.”

“Why not?”

“Can’t you see how hurt you are? You have done all you can, now rest. We have more teams now, we’re doing alright.”

He closed his eyes and left out a breath. “Ok, you win.” He slumped down, shaking his head. “Fuck, that hurt…”

Mark was torn between monitoring the fight in case something bad happened and focusing on Simon to take care of him. In the end, he tuned out the battle.

“Does your shell heal?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, it’ll take a few days maybe, but I’ll be fine.”

“Let me see your arm.”

“Mark…”

“Please.”

“I’m fine.”

“Dude.” Mark was staring at him, he wasn’t taking a ‘no’ for a response.

Simon let go of the grip on his arm and showed it. It was bleeding due to a pretty big and deep cut. “That Houndoom tried to bite me. It didn’t get a grip but… yeah.”

Mark took off his bandana and used it as an impromptu bandage to stop the bleeding.

“Mark, that’s…”

“We can clean it off, this is more important.”

Simon sighed, he didn’t like to worry his friend, especially for something he didn’t feel like it was that big of a deal.

While that was happening, however, they noticed that the battle noise slowed down. When they looked, they had already won.

“And that’s why you don’t pick fights with the Supernova Guild.” Gren announced proudly.

Mark helped Simon get out of their hiding spot. The gang was there, immobile and unconscious… except one.

“Where’s the Abomasnow?”

“They ran away. We were going to go after them but the others were still kicking.” Gren approached the two. “Good job out there! I’ve heard from Verm that you helped strategize, Mark.”

“It was nothing, just making sure I did the little I could do.”

“You say that, but I don’t think they would’ve lasted until we arrived if it wasn’t for you. So really, good job.” Mark couldn’t hide the blush.

“Just take the compliment, newbie.” Verm floated beside him and softly punched him on the shoulder. Yeah, Verm was alright.

The teams were all congratulating or high-fiving each other. There was relief in Mark’s mind.

It lasted a grand total of two seconds, until Simon spoke.

…

“Where’s Rose?”

 

[JuegAriel]

Information​

Silence. Every guild member started exchanging looks, trying to examine every inch of the room in search of the Growlithe. As expected, she wasn’t there.

“ROSE!” Simon screamed.

“I’m going to check upstairs. Verm! Make sure those four don’t wake up.” With the order, Gren climbed up.

“R-Rose…” He clutched his arm tighter. “T-that Abomasnow. It has to have been him. He took her…”

Mark’s heart was breaking at seeing this. It was the first time that he’d seen the Squirtle so… scared. Simon’s breathing was uneven, his legs trembled, his eyes were darting around everywhere.

Gren didn’t take long to come back, and their expression already said everything they needed to know.

“Simon, are you-”

“I’m going to kill him…”

“Hey. Hey, look at me.” Mark pulled his head up, making eye contact. “Calm down, okay? We’re going to find her and she’s going to be alright.”

Simon didn’t respond. Instead, staring at the four unconscious Pokémon the Abomasnow teamed with. He approached the Dragonite and immediately punched it across the snout.

“O-ough, w-what? What is- Oh. You. Right.” Luckily Verm had already tied them up in case they woke up.

“What did you do to her?”

“To who?”

“You KNOW what I’m talking about!” And that was another punch. “Where the HELL is your leader?!”

The Dragonite recovered from the recoil and smirked. “Oh, so he went for Plan B. Cool.”

“Plan B?”

“If you think I’m gonna tell you where he went, you got it wrong. You can attack me all you want, I ain’t talking.”

“Let’s see how much you don’t talk when I rip your scales out of your-”

“Angel’s Window.”

Nobody expected the new voice. It was from the Poliwrath.

“He went to Angel’s Window. Or at least, that’s what he told us he would do.”

“Bruce? What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m done, Gwen. Look at where following Zigg has led us. And all for what? For petty revenge against this guy? We don’t even know what happened between them, why are we fighting with him?”

The Dragonite seemed to reflect for a second before ultimately shaking her head. “I’m not talking anymore.”

“Ok, Gwen. Ok.” The Poliwrath seemed to stare at the ground, pensive. But Simon didn’t care about them anymore.

“Simon, Mark, come to my room.” This time Gren talked, pretty much pushing the two into the Guildmaster’s office. “Please sit.” So they did.

The silence was deafening, the tension was insufferable.

“So, I know this is a really bad situation, but we have to-”

“I’m going after him.”

“No, you’re not. You’re still weak from the fight just now, the last thing you need is to get into another. You’re going to stay here and rest, and we will take care of it.”

“I didn’t ask for your suggestion. I’m going after him, and that’s final.”

“Simon, think carefully about what you’re doing.”

“If you REALLY think I’m going to let my sister die to the hands of a bastard like him, you got it WRONG. And if going to help my sibling costs me the stay at the guild, then I wouldn’t want to be part of it anyway. So NOW…” Simon slammed the guildmaster’s desk. “… I’m going to rescue her, and you’re not going to stop me.”

And so he left, slamming the door shut too. Mark didn’t wait for Gren’s permission to get out of the room.

“Simon.”

But he got ignored.

“Simon, please.” Mark tried to walk faster to catch up to him, but damn he was fast. They got out of the building, but Mark managed to get near. He put a paw on his shoulder. “Simon-”

But Simon slapped it away. “Don’t touch me! You’re not going to convince me, okay?! I’m going after him!”

“I know.” Those two words made the Squirtle stop for a second. “I want to go with you.”

Mark saw him think about it. “No.” He made a gesture to turn around but Mark grabbed him before he could get away.

“Please.”

“No, Mark. You’re a guy that I met some days ago, that has nothing left in his life, and lost his memories. I’m not putting you through more danger.”

“You’re not doing that. I’m the one wanting to save Rose too.” Simon hesitated. “Besides, weren’t we friends?”

Simon closed his eyes, trying to breathe deeply to calm himself down. The couple of tears falling down his face were an easy tell that he was struggling to do so.

“I’m not leaving you behind, Simon. Neither you nor her.”

Exhaling, Simon nodded. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“I’ll go for the bag. We know how this so-called Zigg is, we need items.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll… I’ll go to Kecleon’s, meet me there.”

Mark rushed home, grabbing the bag with the few items that they still had left in it. Running back, Simon was already buying what they needed. They filled the bag with everything, and left.

The way was silent. Mark didn’t even know where they were going. But something about seeing Simon so devoid of… well, anything, really, incentivized him to start a conversation.

“So what exactly is Angel’s Window?”

“You’ll see.”

“Simon, please. I know this is tense, but if you want me to help, I need to know what’s happening.”

Simon sighed. “So you see where we’re headed, right?”

“I see a mountain right in the way, yes. Is that our destination?”

“That mountain is Angel’s Peak. We call it that because of all the snow that accumulates in it. Angel’s Window is an opening near the base. A cave, pretty much. Also, a Mystery Dungeon.”

“Oh, great.”

“Mostly Rock and Ground-types, so nothing I can’t handle.”

“Right…”

They kept on walking. No other conversations. But Mark could feel a presence nearby. He looked around, and immediately noticed what was wrong.

“Verm?”

As if on cue, the ghost appeared from Simon’s shadow.

“Hey.”

“Why were you following us?”

“Gren’s orders. They wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I don’t need them.” Simon turned around and kept going forward.

“Simon, c’mon. You’ve known me for a long time. I care about you, and I care about Rose. I don’t want this to go badly.”

“Can’t you see?! It WILL go badly if nobody goes and saves her!”

“I know, okay? I’m also worried about her, but look at you! Your shell is chipped, you have bruises everywhere, and for fuck’s sake, your arm is STILL bleeding!” Verm was clearly done trying to play nice. “You go in there, it’s a suicide mission. You get that, right? Is that what Rose would want? Or would she want to-”

Simon snapped at that. “Do NOT speak of my sister like you know her better than I do.” He was panting, like simply speaking was tiring him off. “She needs me! And I’d be dead before I let ANYTHING happen to her, you got me?!”

“I’m just trying to get some sense into you, Simon! Why are you so defensive? This isn’t your fault, you don’t have to go alone!”

“Those guys went for ME, Verm. They got Rose to make ME suffer. How is it not my fault?!”

“Are you even listening to yourself? You’re blaming yourself for the things they did!”

“Verm, stop. Just… please stop.”

The ghost deflated. “C-Can I at least go with you? I want to help…” But the silence the Squirtle gave as a response made the answer clear. “I need the three of you to get out of this, Simon. Please.”

Simon looked at him in the eyes and simply shook his head. Verm sighed. “Ok, just… at least let me give you this.” The Gengar opened his hand, revealing an Energy seed and a berry that Mark thought was a Sitrus.

“It won’t patch you up entirely, but… It should help.”

Simon stared at the items with an expression that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. But after a deep breath, he took them, and immediately gulped them in. “Thank you, Verm. We will be fine, I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that.” Contrary to these last times, the silence here was comforting. “I should get going. We’ll see what excuse I manage to bring to Gren. And Simon? I trust you.”

So Verm turned around and left. But not teleporting or floating like a ghost, just walking away.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

“Y-yeah. Okay.” Mark didn’t really know what to think at this point. There was something more going on with Simon, but he didn’t feel confident enough to ask, especially in a situation like this one.

The entrance to Angel’s Window couldn’t arrive soon enough.

 

[JuegAriel]

No more​

It took a bit longer than Mark expected, but eventually they made it to the entrance of Angel’s Window. It looked exactly like your average cave, but he had learned to not underestimate Mystery Dungeons.

Mark immediately noticed the same rectangular rooms and way-too-perfect halls that connected them. The environment was different, the inhabitants were different, but that’s all that changed from Poison Garden.

“Say, Simon? I wanted to ask, and forgive me if it’s too intrusive, but…” Mark had to make some conversation somehow, the silence was killing him. And what better way to do that than asking what was bothering him? “Why are you so scared? Like, when Rose disappeared, you… you broke instantly… You didn’t try to look for her around the guild or anything, you just knew she got kidnapped.”

Simon hesitated to answer, like he was running through his thoughts multiple times to see if he could say them. “This isn’t the first time it has happened, you know? Not the kidnapping thing, but… Pokémon going after me. My sister has been in danger a lot of times and it still breaks me all the same. If something happens to her, I’m alone, and I’m not ready for that again…”

“And why would they go after you? Have you done anything or…?”

“I legitimately don’t know. All I know is I’m a target for some reason, and if it wasn’t for the guild, I would’ve been killed multiple times by now.”

“Why are you still here then? Why not leave somewhere else?”

But he didn’t get a response. Simon stared at the ground, pensive. “I can’t tell you. Not yet.”

Mark wasn’t expecting that. He thought there wouldn’t be secrets between them, but then again, he was the one keeping to Simon the whole being human thing. There had to be a reason for him to not talk.

The dungeon exploring went as well as Simon said it would. The ferals had no chance against him, and the few items that he needed were given to him immediately. Mark felt kind of proud of himself for doing a good job, but that feeling vanished quickly as he remembered why he was there.

The Squirtle found the stairs, these ones going down this time. “So how many floors are in this one?”

“In theory, ten. Though I doubt we will find Rose on the last floor. Or at least, I hope not.”

The next few floors went by semi-quickly so Mark spent the time reflecting about everything. He was happy to be with Simon and Rose, he felt like he belonged somewhere even if his lack of fighting bothered him. But now… seeing all the danger that both of them were apparently constantly in, he was questioning it. He felt sorry, but mostly concerned. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to help. No, he needed to. They were the ones that literally saved him from starving to death and gave him a life he could adhere to, all with no questions asked. He wanted to prove himself and show that he could protect them too.

Of course, that only made him slump harder, as he hadn’t done anything for them at all yet. In his eyes, at least.

“Mark?”

“O-oh, yeah, what?”

“I was talking to you, I said, have you gotten hit yet?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so.”

“You mind using an Align Orb then? I’m already feeling tired.”

“Y-yeah, sure.”

That was the reminder he needed to stay focused. He’d think about all his troubles later, once everyone was safe.

---

It wasn’t long until some noise was heard. It sounded like growling, growling from a familiar voice.

“Rose…” Simon whispered, he couldn’t risk being heard and throw the surprise attack away.

‘Good. She’s conscious at least. But there has to be a reason why she’s not screaming for help or attacking. She should have the advantage.’

They explored the floor thoroughly, making sure they knew of all the halls and rooms they could take advantage of. There weren’t any ferals, the Abomasnow had to have dealt with them already. It didn’t take them long to find the one room where he was, and most importantly, Rose.

Rose wasn’t moving, she was stuck in place, shaking. The Abomasnow was next to her, looking around. He had an orb next to him, Foe-Hold. Wouldn’t be surprising if he had more than one, and used them on Rose so she couldn’t move.

“We need to get rid of that orb.” Simon whispered.

“But how?” Mark went through everything in his head, and he noticed how there was an alternate entrance to the room. He remembered the way there, he could be bait. “Okay, I have an idea, get ready and don’t miss the chance.”

Simon was about to ask what the plan was, but Mark had already rushed off.

‘…okay, Mark. I know you’re scared, I know you’re nervous, but you really need to do this right, so focus.’

He was looking at the Abomasnow from the other side of the room. In fact, he could make eye contact with Simon from here. He took a deep breath and used his bone club to hit the wall of the hall he was in as hard as he could.

It obviously made a sound, and it was enough for Zigg to notice. The ice monster got up, clutching the orb and slowly made his way to the entrance where the Cubone was located.

Mark had already stepped back quite a bit, which should be enough to avoid being seen, but his heart rate was going faster than he even thought was possible. He wasn’t even noticing he wasn’t breathing, just avoiding doing anything at all to not make another sound.

Luckily, Simon didn’t hesitate. He snuck on the Abomasnow from behind, and snatched the orb from his paw, immediately smashing it down himself.

After taking the second to confirm that Zigg was now frozen in place, they went rushing to Rose. She was bruised, but nothing too big.

“Mark, hit her.”

“What?”

“The orb takes effect until she is hit, and you don’t know moves, you won’t hurt her.”

“O-okay.”

Mark used his club to hesitantly hit Rose. With a gasp, she fell to the ground.

“Arceus, Rose…”

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine…”

Now it was Zigg’s turn to growl. Simon approached him, getting in front of him.

“You made a big mistake taking my sister away.”

“What do we do with him?” Mark was still tending to Rose, making sure she could stand up and walk.

“Part of me wants to leave him like this. He’s stuck until someone attacks, and there are no ferals around. I wonder how long it would take until somebody comes to this dungeon and finds him.”

Simon was clearly trying to scare him. And by the trembles from the Abomasnow, it was working.

“I sense a ‘but’.”

“But, I am not a heartless monster like him.” The menacing look Simon gave was cold, almost devoid of any emotion. “So I might as well have fun.”

“Simon, what are you-” But before Rose could answer, Simon’s paw glowed. He jumped, hitting Zigg in the head with a chop. It was enough for him to get launched to the other side of the room.

But when Simon turned around to his sister, he heard giggling.

“Heh… Of course you would…”

“…what?”

“You know the best part of having long fur like this…?” He hid his paw between the fur tufts on his chest before showing off an orb. The team tried to run to him but he smashed it down before anyone could act. It was another Foe-Hold. They were done. “… I can hide things in it…”

Zigg groaned in pain, standing up. “I’d say I’m sorry… But after the nightmare you’re making me go through, Simon, I’m really not. I know you’re the cause of this, and I’m going to make sure you don’t get to live another day.”

He positioned himself, covering his paw with ice, before landing his fist into Simon with as much force as he could muster. Simon yelped, but that’s the only noise he made as he bounced on the ground from the recoil. He fainted.

Mark and Rose looked at each other, terrified. “And about you two… You’re the ones I’m actually sorry for. You have nothing to do with this, and yet, I can’t let you get away.” He materialized a shard of ice, aiming it precisely. “So goodbye.” And he launched the shard.

The Cubone saw the shard go at top speed, targeting Rose. She got hit by it, immediately slamming against the wall behind her. Mark thought that was it. But it wasn’t.

Rose didn’t fall to the ground again. She was pinned against the wall because of the shard. The shard that pierced through her chest and left her hanging there, with her eyes open and the small sound of blood trickling down to the floor.

Mark knew what had happened. There was no logical way that she could have survived that. And although logic didn’t seem to have that much impact in this world, the Abomasnow’s reaction made it pretty clear that he got what he wanted. She was dead.

He wanted to puke. He wanted to cry. He wanted to rush to her and pray that there was a solution to this. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t move at all.

“Don’t worry. You’re next. I need to make this quickly so your friend over there doesn’t wake up just yet.” He materialized another shard, this time aiming at Mark.

In that split second, he remembered everything that had happened. He remembered himself starving, being rescued by the kindest souls he could have hoped for. He remembered his frustration with himself on his first attempt at Poison Garden.

The talk with Simon, the second attempt, the guild tour… Simon had broken the promise he made to Verm, they weren’t going to return.

He thought of the other guild members. Sanah, Alphonse, Dave… All of them trusting they would get out of this without a problem. But they wouldn’t, because they couldn’t follow Gren’s advice.

And in the end, the need that Mark had to prove himself vanished. He was right from the very beginning, he was useless, he never helped, he was only there to make things worse.

The shard launched, and all Mark could think about was how he wished he was back at the start.

…and such is the end of his story…

​