PMD: Loopholes

[Crystalmew9]

Um...since when was Palkia a girl? Pretty good story, though, I must say.

[Treeconator11]

Bartleby and Kip are awesome. I <3 them so much.

Okay, Fogbound lake was super, and I liked how instead of everyone rushing at the end of the Groundon fight, (The cavlary is late, as usual.) it was just Bartleby and Kip, which made it more realistic. I see you kept the familairty part, which was cool, cause it added mysterty in the real game, and altogether, awesome chapter.

I can't wait for the next chapter, it'll be awesome.

[Ysavvryl]

@scizorstrike: As noted later, it was the eek line in this chapter, although that 'we get beds' line was also in. That one had to be in.

@growlithe_master: Bartleby wound up a bit more 'with it' than the super-weird Wigglytuff. So those lines were either left out or altered; you'll note that Bartleby had no qualms in sneaking out of camp.

@hailflameblast: Nee, I say! Well sometimes I have responses, and sometimes I don't. I think being forced to write it all in one month helped the comedy, as I couldn't let internal filters go 'that's just stupid, take it out'.

@crystalmew9: Palkia's a girl when I say she is! Well, it's more of a gender-neutral but sees herself as female kind of thing. Plus, there's the incident later on involving Palkia turning herself cute and chibi...

@Treeconator11: Yeah, having everybody wind up in on Uxie's secret struck me as very silly in the game when it happened. It makes some sense, as it allows that to be discussed in the daily meetings later on. Still, I knew I wanted just Team Marmalade and Bartleby to know.


Well, I'm more or less finished with editing of this story. Current status is 279 pages at 130,000+ words. Phew. There's a few extra 'episodes' I'm considering adding as backstory, to give clearer reason on why certain Pokemon do what they do (or at least my interpretation of these things). But I'm gonna continue with weekly installments.

[LillythePiplup]

I love all the funny parts, and I never would have thought of giving Wigglytuff and Chatot first names!! This is really good, especially the part where Dialga accidentally knocked out the hero person.
"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE THEM BY KNOCKING THEM UNCONSIOUS!"
LOLZ, that's really good.

[Ysavvryl]

I tried to give everybody names. I didn't name some minor characters like the lady Gyarados and Team Skull, and I only gave a name to one legendary. But there's a reason for that one.

The plot in the games starts off really slow... and then hits hard and fast, starting about this point.


Chapter 8: Family and Foe


When they returned to the guild, life went back into the comfortable routine (save for the usual morning grandstanding by Larry the Loudred). Although Kip was considered to be improving, he declined being offered his own Treasure Bag for the time being. He still felt that it was a weakness through which the darkness could attack, so he wanted to avoid the temptation. But the other three members of Team Marmalade noticed that he was putting more effort into being less of a liability.

In fact, he was the one who came up with the day’s job. “I found it slipped off the Job Board,” he told Stacy.

She took the paper. “Okay, let’s see… ‘My little sister is badly ill and the hospital has run out of options to save her. Except one thing; Dr. Blissa says that a Gabite Scale can cure her disease. But Gabites only live in Labyrinth Cave, which is much too hard of a dungeon for me to go in. Could a rescue team please help us?’ Aw, that’s so sad.”

Kip nudged Trey. “I knew she’d take it like a sucker,” he whispered.

“Kip, Gabites are extremely strong Pokemon,” Trey told him, worried. “They’re one of the Dragons that live away from normal Pokemon society because they are so powerful. It’s good they respect us like that, so most Pokemon respect them by not going and bugging them.”

“Are you gonna turn down a sick little girl for that reason?” Kip teased him.

Trey made an embarrassed flick of his tail. “Well, no. But we’d better be really prepared today. Besides, Labyrinth Cave by itself sounds difficult. Have you ever been in there?”

The Skitty twitched his ears. “Actually… no. It always sounded like a killer dungeon with no big reward unless you really needed a Gabite Scale.”

Sally made a few signs; she was able to make them quicker, as Trey was getting better at translating. “Let’s go for that one,” she signed.

Labyrinth Cave consisted of long winding tunnels with many forks leading to dead end rooms, or just plain dead ends. It turned out that Gabites weren’t the only tough Pokemon living there, as the group encountered many powerful opponents. The dungeon was kind enough to supply them with more healing Oran Berries, but they were still running low on supplies by the time they reached the bottom of the cave where the Gabites lived.

In the darkness, they found one of the mighty Dragons there. She was four and a half feet tall and seemed to have many muscles in her streamlined form. “What are you fools doing here?” she asked, smirking.

Stacy felt her heart flutter, but she thought of the sick girl they were trying to help. That and the backup of her teammates gave her enough courage to say, “We came to get a Gabite Scale, and we’ll challenge you if we must to get one.”

The Gabite seemed amused at that. “Really, that’s it? Well sure, I’m always up for a challenge. But, it seems to me that you have more than a fair advantage in sheer numbers. Care to take me on with only one of you?”

One? Stacy glanced around. The other three seemed up for the challenge. “Okay, we’ll agree to that.”

“Excellent. Now… that creature there,” she pointed to Sally.

“She’s a human, not a Pokemon,” Trey said.

The Gabite came up to them. Despite being a big and muscular creature, she was fast on her feet. “A human, really? I thought they were only myth, fairy tales. It is said that they can make amazing things that don’t depend on wild magic for power. It is also said that they are capable of great destruction, as with those devices, even the weakest of humans could destroy an entire mountain in one blow.”

She made a few signs, so Trey said, “She says that she wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“Huh. I’ll take this human on.”

Sally nodded and signed her acceptance. Stacy wondered about the Gabite’s words. Humans could destroy an entire mountain in one blow, even if they were too weak to lift a small stone? It seemed to fit, though, with what she had seen. Sally was quite powerful in her armored skin. She had seen her knock out a Machoke in a fistfight that, even though she looked winded and achy at the end, her second skin showed only a few dents which vanished by the next day. Despite that, she was very weak to Poison or any gas and pollen based attacks. One of her most common problems was breathing in something bad and being unable to do anything for several minutes until her mask thing cleared up the bad particles.

Sally and the Gabite first tried to tackle each other, but wound up locked in with equal power. The Gabite tried to break it by sweeping her tail under Sally’s feet; she had to let go and tumble aside to avoid being badly hurt. Then, the Gabite showed off her speed by trying various times to knock the taller human down. Sally managed to get in a good kick once, but mostly had to dodge and even then she wasn’t always fast enough. The Gabite then dug into the ground. Sally paused, seeming quite cautious.

Stacy was amazed at how well the Gabite dug. Once she was completely under, not a trace of the hole she had made showed on the surface of the ground. She recalled seeing a Dig TM at the Kecleon shop a few times. Perhaps that skill instructed one on how to move dirt that efficiently. Still, Sally was able to feel the ground underneath her move in time to step out of the way and sweep her arm into the Gabite as she tried to attack in coming up. But, too fast for Stacy to see, the Dragon had managed to catch Sally’s arm and block it.

Then, the Gabite chuckled. “Well, that was certainly impressive. I suppose humans are as strange as is said. All right.” She brushed her hand across her side and came up with a blue-gray scale. “I’ll give to this you on one condition: that you walk along the right side of the wall to the warp panel that leads to the exit.”

“Why the right?” Trey asked.

“Because I have an egg on the left and if you get near it, I will kill you.”

“Oh, we see,” Stacy said. “Well then we’re sorry to disturb you.”

The Gabite chuckled. “It was an entertaining distraction, really.”

They did as instructed, walking along the right side of the wall to where the mysterious warp panel was sitting on the floor. The Gabite then handed them her scale with a warning to not return to the Mystery Dungeon for another month. Or else.

Back in Treasure Town, they went straight to the hospital to deliver the Gabite Scale. “Oh, this will do marvelously,” Dr. Blissa said, taking the Gabite Scale cheerily. “I will get it prepared and given to the patient straight away.” She went back into her workroom.

The Buizel who had posted the notice smiled at them. “Thank you so much for getting it. I’m afraid I don’t have much to give you in reward; our parents have been away for a long time.”

“It’s okay,” Stacy said. “We know how important family is.”

“I’ll give you this, though. It would come in more use for an explorer than the two of us.” He handed them a small round device, like a disc of a little bit of depth. It had an arrow on a dial that was labeled with various letters.

“What is it?” Stacy asked.

The Buizel shrugged. “Sorry, I’m not sure what it is. But the arrow thing doesn’t move, no matter how you spin the disc.”

Sally clapped her hands, then signed something. Trey concentrated on it. “Compass? What’s a compass?”

She tapped the disc, then tried to explain it. “That arrow always points north,” she signed. “So if you hold it like this,” she took the compass and put it flat on her hand, parallel to the ground. Then she handed it back to Stacy. “Then you can always tell which direction you are facing.”

“Oh, so it’s saying that I’m facing east now,” Stacy said. “Is a compass a human device?”

“I guess so.” She paused, then added, “It tends not to work right around strong magnets and electrical sources. Sheriff Magnezone would mess it up.”

“Well it would keep us from wandering around in circles in the really active dungeons,” Trey said. “Thanks.”

The Buizel nodded. “I’m just glad that my sister will be okay. I found it on the beach one day; I didn’t imagine that it would be a human device, though.”

As they left the hospital, they noticed that they had some time left in the day. “I’m going to do some shopping,” Trey said. “I’ve picked up several TM disks that I can’t use or don’t seem all that good. I’m gonna look into that trade shop.”

“The trade shop, huh?” Kip asked. “Mind if I tag along?”

“You don’t have any funds to buy anything,” Stacy said.

“Well duh. But I know the owner; it’s been a while since I’ve spoken with her.”

“That’s fine by me,” Trey said. “Just don’t go wandering off.”

He snickered. “Yeah, like I’m gonna mess up my streak of good behavior and make my sparky parole officer mad.”

The two guys went to where the specialty shops were, to a building with triangular ears and a gold disc on the front. The trade shop was unusual, as the Meowth owner had her wares on display in cases by her small desk. “Well good evening…” the Meowth started, then stopped. “Kip?”

“That’s right, Mindy,” Kip said. “Been a while, huh?”

She looked annoyed. “Right. I was starting to wonder where you ran off to instead of being just mad.”

“I’m doing public service,” he said as Trey started looking over the TMs on display. “I’m part of the Explorer’s Guild now.”

“Oh.” Her ears twisted back. “You are?”

“Right. Hey, whatcha got in back?” Kip skipped into the building without permission.

Mindy followed him. ”Now, now you know that I don’t do anything wrong,” she stated nervously. “My business is legitimate.”

He smirked. “Yeah, but your suppliers are another matter. You can still get arrested for that, you know. Did you see that young guy with me?”

She lowered her voice. “The Treecko?”

“He’s a lover of justice and such. I know you’ve got a mess in trying to compete against the Kecleon giants in business. But he might not be so understanding.”

“What do you want?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“This might come as a surprise, but don’t you dare cheat him. Give him a good deal or I will treat it as if you cheated me.” He tilted his ears back. “And you know what I do to people who cheat me.”

“Are you trying to go clean or not?” she asked, confused.

“That’s for me to know, not you.” He strutted back outside. “Find anything good?”

“Maybe,” he said, although his tone indicated that he wasn’t finding much. “What’s this Secret Power?”

Mindy the Meowth came back out. “That’s an attack that draws on the power of the land…” she glanced at Kip, then added, “which means if you’re in a grassy place, you’ll get a Grass type attack.”

“But Grass types live in grassy places,” Trey pointed out. “You’d have a hard time getting an effective attack with this.”

“True,” she admitted reluctantly. She was used to pushing anything a customer showed the slightest interest in. But with the Skitty watching carefully… she went back inside and came out with another TM. “Here, this one might be more suitable for you.”

“Hmm?” Trey took it. “Bullet Seed?”

“It’s a nice one. It fires two to five attacks at a distance for a decent power. The accuracy leaves something to be desired, although you hear of clever fighters who manipulate it, sacrificing the multiple attacks for one accurate shot as necessary.”

“And it’s same type damage too,” Trey mumbled to himself. “Okay, I’ve got three others to trade it for this one.”

“Let me check their values.” They arranged the deal to the satisfaction of all three Pokemon.

“Thanks a lot, Mindy!” Kip called, holding his tail high.

“Yeah… see you around, I guess.”

“She didn’t seem too happy to see you,” Trey noted as they went back to the Guild building.

“Eh, we had a falling out,” Kip replied. “That’s the past, though. I’m all for living in the present.”

At dinner time, Charlie called for attention. “Excuse me, but we have an announcement to make. Something terrible has happened. A Time Gear was stolen from Treeshroud Forest.”

“A Time Gear stolen?” Trey asked shocked, along with nearly everyone else.

“Oh my gosh, aren’t those the really powerful artifacts that keep time running?” Flora asked, putting her leaves up to her flower head. “What happened to all the Pokemon in the forest?’

“A few witnesses escaped, but all the rest,” the Chatot shook his head. “They’re frozen in time, along with the rest of the forest.”

“But who would have done such a crazy thing?” the Guild recorder Mimen asked. “Most everyone knows how important it is that they stay where they are, especially in these days when time is running amok.”

“No one knows yet,” Charlie said. “But as explorer teams, we should keep alert to any clues or suspicious characters in Mystery Dungeons.”

After dinner, Team Marmalade came to Bartleby. “Do you think Uxie is going to be okay?” Stacy asked.

“He might be a target,” the Wigglytuff admitted. “But that would require someone knowing that one is there. And we haven’t told anything, right?”

“Of course not,” Trey said, to the agreement of the others. “We made a promise. And besides, Kip was with us all day.”

“Hmph,” the Skitty said, turning his attention to his claws. “It would be madness to steal those things and I’m no longer that mad.”

“Besides, he can make a convincing illusion of a legendary Pokemon,” Bartleby added. “Illusions are always a fraction of the power of the illusionist. So, Uxie can take care of himself.”

“That’s right. Still, I hope someone catches that thief soon.”

-+-

Kip skipped over from the Outlaw board. “Hey, wanna see a place that’s a real trick to get through? Here.”

“A real trick?” Stacy scanned over the paper. “From: Magnezone Bailey Outlaw: Bloody Claw the Sneasel’ Eww, Bloody Claw? ‘Location: Poison Rose Marsh Crimes: theft, kidnapping, suspected murder, aggressive assault, breaking out of prison. He was sentenced to death, but escaped for the tenth time. Stop this villain by any means necessary.’ Hey, this is rated S. We haven’t done anything this difficult before and you say this place is a real trick?”

“The trick is to bring enough Pecha Berries because it’s so poisonous. Or,” he showed off his modified Pecha Scarf, “avoid being poisoned altogether.”

“I suppose the fact that nobody can evolve thanks to time breaking down would help us; it’s not like we’re going to be running into a Weavile. And we’ve been doing all right with the few A ranked jobs we’ve done.”

“I’ve got two Pecha Scarves in storage,” Trey said. “So let’s do this.”

Stacy looked at him. “Trey? You seem more serious than usual.”

“I think I’ve run into this Bloody Claw before, but… well, that’s an old story.”

That almost decided it, but Stacy wanted to be certain for this difficult of a job. “What about you, Sally? You always have trouble with poisons.”

She tapped her face. She would just wear her mask for the whole trip instead of waiting for an attack to hit her.

“Okay… no one else has taken it, so let’s give it a shot.”

They went to Poison Rose Marsh. It was a damp soggy place; Sally had to constantly look out for rocks and solid bits of land for footing. The hedges of this dungeon were low lying rose bushes. Obscenely thorny roses, with some thorns as long as Sally’s outstretched hand. And the waters were murky and off-colored. They even smelled sickly and poisonous, giving off a mist of mysterious vapors. Thus, they ran into many Poison Pokemon in the marsh.

Trey was carefully jumping around the thorny bushes and soggy pits. “You seem to be familiar with this place,” Kip noted.

“I was born here,” Trey told them.

“In this place?” Stacy asked. “It doesn’t seem welcoming to a pure Grass type.”

“I know. Mom was a Nidorina, so she was able to keep me safe, mostly.”

“What about your dad?”

“Well due to the way family trees work, he had to have been a Treecko or Grovyle, or maybe even a Sceptile. But I never saw him, or any of my kind.”

They continued on until they came to a large opening in the dungeon. Some darker waters indicated boggy pits, but most of the water seemed shallow. There, they encountered an odd Pokemon for this dungeon: a Sneasel. Near one of the deeper pits, he was running his claws along the marsh’s surface.

“Hey, ye olde Bloody Claw!” Kip shouted out. “We’re here to challenge you!”

“Oh, they thinks they want a battles, eh? They thinks like fools. We shall show…” he stopped abruptly, and turned around. After spotting Trey, he glared and hissed with intense hatred. “You!”

“Yes, it’s me,” Trey said, clenching his paws also in great anger.

Bloody Claw growled low, like a primal beast. “You… you gots away. No one escapes Bloody Claw. NO ONE!” He screamed sharply.

At his scream, three more Pokemon appeared: a Muk, a Roserade, and a Venomoth. They did not seem like normal Pokemon. Their eyes were wild with madness and they went straight into attacking Team Marmalade like berserkers. And Bloody Claw darted forward as quick as a bolt, grabbed Trey, and leapt with him clear across the open marsh to crash into a poisonous marsh.

Stacy was worried; did he still have that Pecha Scarf? She could only hope so. “Kip, get the Roserade!” she shouted. “Sally, you take the Venomoth.” She then faced off against the Muk.

It was a rough battle, but given all the Toxic Spikes and Poison Stings that were flying about, it was good that they had all taken protection from Poison for this job. Once the three berserkers were unconscious, they went to check on Trey. He was still struggling against the Sneasel, having taken a great many gashes across his body. But his Pecha Scarf was on, if muddied and tattered. He took heavy hits from Bloody Claw’s Ice Shard attacks, but was dealing equally strong damage with Bullet Seed. Finally, Trey knocked Bloody Claw out. However, he seemed overwhelmed with anger, as he tried to attack again, to completely finish him.

Kip raced forward and tackled him in the gut. “Stop it, you moron!”

Trey furiously kicked him away. “He killed my mother!”

Now coated in marsh mud, the Skitty managed to get himself upright in order to hiss at him. “But you can’t kill him! We’re in a Mystery Dungeon! You do that and the wild magic will overtake you with darkness, turning you into the very same killer that Bloody Claw is. That is not the way to take revenge for your mother.”

“Besides, you look awful,” Stacy said. “We should leave this place.”

“B-but…” Trey seemed to realize how exhausted and injured he was finally, and passed out.

Later, Stacy, Sally, and Kip met with Bailey. “Yes, the others were wanted outlaws as well, from some time ago,” the Sheriff told them. “We thank you greatly for bringing all four in.”

“What are you going to do with them?” Stacy asked.

“They’re irredeemable at this point,” Kip said. “Nothing’s gonna work on them.”

“Right. So unfortunately, the only thing that can stop them is to kill them. Don’t worry; we make certain that the executions are swift and painless.”

“All right, if that’s what needs to be done,” Stacy said, still a bit guilty.

“But you performed remarkably once again. Here, take this vitamin drink set. It will do you all good.” He passed over a box with three bottles in it. “I don’t think it works on humans, though.”

After that, they went to the hospital where Trey was. “He managed to get poisoned despite the Pecha Scarf,” Dr. Blissa said. “And his injuries are very bad, so he’ll have to be here for three days. But he should recover just fine.”

“Can we visit him?” Stacy asked.

“Not right now; he’ll be sleeping mostly for the next couple of days. I’ll send a message when he does gain alertness.”

“All right. Thank you for caring for him.”

“It’s no trouble. He’s like one of the grandkids since my daughter raised him for a while.”

The next few days, they went on simpler missions. It didn’t feel right without Trey. They could always count on him to sneak up walls or trees, then drop down on a foe unexpectedly. He preferred to be stealthy which, with a tall human in bright green armor and a small Skitty that shouted various insults at enemies, it was easy to be stealthy in comparison. So it was different not to have his sneak attacks to back up their own with.

Finally on the third day, they went in to visit him after coming back from a job. “It’s a bore without your ninja tactics along the way,” Kip complained.

Trey smiled a bit. “Still haven’t met any ninjas, though. I gotta keep working on that.”

“They’ve found that another Time Gear has gone missing,” Stacy said. “It was in a place called Limestone Cavern.”

“That doesn’t look good for our friend…” he said.

Sally signed something.

“Oh good.” He frowned. “I suppose.”

“What?” Stacy asked.

“She said that Bloody Claw is dead now. I still feel like I should have killed him.”

“That’s not so,” Kip said, serious.

“I know,” Trey grumbled. “And he’s ruined a lot more lives than just mine. But I started this to stop him and others like him.”

“You did,” Stacy said. “He’s not going to hurt anyone now.”

“Yeah… I guess I should accept that.”

“And I’m sure your mother wouldn’t want you lost to the darkness.”

Later on, when the guys were in their room, Kip came over to Trey’s bed. “The darkness is whispering to you, huh?”

“How’d you know?” he asked, not getting up.

“I know it. So what’s it telling you?”

Trey closed his eyes. “It wants me to do something to you, maybe even kill you, for stopping me back there. Or go after the next outlaw without holding back. It’s very convincing. I wouldn’t know it as darkness if I hadn’t heard you talking about it.”

“It is charming. We’ll have to tell Stacy to avoid the outlaw board for a while.” Something thumped by Trey’s bed. “Well here. I had to talk Mika into letting me borrow it and then I had to drag the dang thing all the way back here.”

The Treecko opened his eyes and sat up. There was a book with a brown cover next to his bed. “You brought me a book?”

“That has the techniques they use to deal with outlaws in whom the darkness isn’t strong, like that Drowzee dude we caught way back when. Or like you now, even though you haven’t done anything to be called an outlaw yet. I thought, since you like books, this might help.”

“Right. Thank you.” He picked up the book and checked out the intro.

-+-

Dr. Blissa the Blissey was cleaning the hospital in a quiet moment when, with only a shaft of light, the calm was broken. A small pixie Pokemon was collapsed on the floor, bleeding heavily. “I need help,” he said in a shaky voice.

“Oh my, I’ll get right to it.” She crouched down by the small Pokemon to pick him up, then carry him into the operating room.

“Don’t open my eyes,” he warned in an odd and serious tone. “My name is Uxie and my eyes hold a terrible curse.”

“If you say so. Who attacked you?”

“It was a thief; he got the Time Gear.” He sent an image into her mind.


((Isn't it weird that Uxie, who always has his eyes closed and is technically blind, is the one who gives the image of the thief to the Sheriff?))

[mattman324]

Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!! (I've always wanted to do that.)

Sereously though, it was a really good chapter. It even included a certain side mission if I read correctly.

[scizorstrike]

awww.... mattman, you broke my streak of posting first! (picks up gun)
and i thought that too, Ysavvryl, but i always thought that uxie might have tried to Mind-Wipe "the Theif"

[DarkMark]

I just sat here and read all the chapters. This is brillent, there is just nothing more I can say except job well done. Please add me to the PM list.

[Treeconator11]

*Loads Crossbow.* I am filled with rage of the Brooklyn variaety.

Okay, that, was seriously OMGWTFBBQ level awesome. The little ninja is seriously wanting to kill people right now, and that's cool. I never actually went to the Labyrinth cave, and it's pretty sweet, might decide to go there in one of my games. And Uxie at the end, was unfiltered awesomeness.

All I can say, great chapter, can't wait for the next one.

[hailflameblast]

Cool chapter as always, Ysavvryl. Only thing. Shouldn't the mother be the one who is Sceptile/Grovyle?

[Treeconator11]

^ I'm pretty sure Stacy's mom was an Azurill, and the dad was a Blastoise, so we can really just ignore that whole thing. Really, was it important who's the father and who's the mother?

[TruetoCheese]

Awesome story, I love it. And I don't think mothers and fathers matter in mystery dungeon. Could you add me to the PM list please?

[hailflameblast]

No, it isn't a problem, it was just that I got rather confused.

[pokefooleycooley]

can i be on the pm list

[Turbo_Dee]

Despite just joining the site, I did browse it rather regularly before deciding to take the plunge and enlist.
I'm enjoying the story, no doubt it helps that I'm currently playing through explorers of sky at the moment, and would like to say it makes good reading on my ipod.
The dialougue is varying and humorous, while not losing any fluidity, and your writing style makes it a smooth reading experience, while the plot hooks you in.
Also the characters, despite being based on a game, retain their own personality and are not monotonous drones.
You set the scene well and I'm going to follow this story to the end.
Good job so far.

Edit: If there is to be a pm list may I be included?

[Ysavvryl]

Eek, hi people! I'll get the PM list amended (although you may already know that). Also, Trey's parents (which was which) does matter a little bit... you'll see why a few paragraphs in this chapter.

I had such trouble renaming the major character who is introduced here. As in, it stopped me for about an hour in November. His name is already so cool and elegant. But then I came up with something appropriate, I feel.


Chapter 9: Mysterious Thief, Mysterious Hero, Mysterious Human


A couple of days after Trey got out of the hospital, Charlie had another announcement at the daily meeting. “And we have a very serious problem on hand. Another Time Gear has gone missing, this time from Fogbound Lake.”

“What?” Flora asked. “But we didn’t find anything there.”

“Apparently, the lake Guardian did a really fine job of keeping us from finding it,” Bartleby lied.

“But he didn’t do as fine a job against the criminal. However, he has managed to give us an identity to the thief while the hospital was taking care of him. The picture has been posted in every Guild of the surrounding regions. We don’t have a name, but he is a Grovyle.”

Although Trey had agreed against doing outlaw jobs for a little while, Team Marmalade checked the post for the picture of the Time Gear thief. The thief would be easily identified over any other Grovyle; he had a long gash of a scar running down between his eyes, of a browner green than the rest of his skin. And even then, his green looked pale. A Grovyle was supposed to be a darker shade of green than a Treecko, but not this one.

“That scar and that look makes him look scary,” Matti said, as the boys were curious too.

“Yeah,” Azeri added. “But he’s not like Trey.”

Trey looked worried. “Are you sure about that?” he asked quietly. “He might be my father.”

“You can’t know that for sure,” Stacy said, gripping his arm.

“Well how many others like me have you seen around? Nobody, I know. Not until this guy.”

“Oh, Stacy!” Cece, the Chansey that worked at the Daycare, hopped off the ladder and came over. She smiled at Trey. “Hi there, Trey. Stacy, I was wondering if your team could help me out.”

“Oh sure, what is it? Don’t you need to be doing the Rite of Passage today?”

She nodded. “Right, but there’s a problem. The area we use for the rite has been developing into a Mystery Dungeon. I have five children ready for it, including Matti here. I’ve decided to go on ahead to the old spot, but if this year’s trip is rough, I’ll move it next year. But because of the children, I’d like to have an explorer team along, just in case.”

“Okay, that sounds like a good idea. What do you three say?”

They agreed, so they went to escort Cece and the five children to the traditional site of the Rite of Passage. It was an acknowledgment that the young Pokemon were smart and mature enough to be considered adults. They had to travel to a solitary mountain that stood north of the river to reach the site, one of many spread throughout the world. And it was beginning to show signs of a dungeon; wild magic was making itself noticed while the sides of the paths were starting to becoming taller and rougher. Every now and then, someone found a Berry or Rock that showed evidence of gremlins moving in.

At the end of it and at the base of the mountain, they came upon an ancient monument. There, a giant stone block stood unsupported in the middle of a flat opening. On the surface of the slab, there was an attached sculpture of a circular group of rays, like one of the children might draw the sun.

“The mountain ahead of us is called Sky Peak,” Cece said. “It is called that because the peak is always up in the clouds, see? And this monument is called the Sign of Arceus. Arceus is the Creator of the entire world, a Pokemon that none can compare to. Some Pokemon are said to have met him at the top of Sky Peak.”

“The Creator of the whole wide world lives here?” a Smoochum asked. “Wow.”

“Yes. Now, you will go up to the Sign of Arceus and make a solemn promise to be a good and responsible Pokemon. Then touch the stone. If you mean your promise with all your heart, you will be accepted as an adult Pokemon. And the stone can tell if you’re not yet ready or making an empty promise. So when you’re ready, go on over.”

“I didn’t know we were promising this to someone so powerful,” Matti told his sister.

“Arceus must be a kind Creator, so there’s nothing to fear,” Stacy replied.

“All right.” The Marill went up first. They couldn’t hear what he said, but when he touched the stone, a circle of white energy came over him. He had been accepted.

When he came back over, letting the Smoochum go up, he hugged Stacy. “Now I’m gonna work at the Guild too,” he said. “Senior said I can help him write up the jobs and stuff like that.”

“That’s great,” she replied. “With two of us working, nobody can take Azeri away from us.”

After the last to the children had gone to make their promises and gain acceptance as adults, Cece smiled at them all. “And so, now you are adults. We will respect you in this, but you must keep the promise you made today. If you do, you will find blessings over your life.”

At that, there was a sudden bolt of lightning. The accompanying thunder was momentarily deafening, causing everyone some degree of fright. But as they regained composure, the yellow sundisk fell off the stone slab with a noisy clatter.

“Oh my goodness,” Cece said. “This has never happened before.”

Sally went up to see if there was a way she could put the sundisk back up. But then she had one of her visions and dropped it.

“Maybe it shouldn’t be touched,” Matti said.

“No,” Stacy said. “Sally, what is it?”

She turned back to them and signed a message. Trey watched, then widened his eyes. “She says that she heard someone say, ‘Take the sign back to your hometown and place it somewhere safer. In days to come, this place will be too dangerous for children to visit anymore.’”

“Oh my, so it is turning into a dungeon. Sally, are you able to handle that sign?”

She picked it up again, then nodded. She carried it back to town, then set it against Chansey’s Daycare until a more suitable place could be found to hang it.

That evening, there was a celebration in the middle of Treasure Town for the five new adult Pokemon. A band played music for everyone to dance to. Many Pokemon had put their efforts into making a wonderful buffet spread of all sorts of special foods and drinks, all free for anyone who attended. There was lots of happy chatter and cheers raised, not just for the young adults, but also for any other reason and cause for celebration and joy.

All of the apprentices and workers in the Guild attended. They wore their best accessories, as did all the other Pokemon. Sally fiddled with her armor device until she came up with a pretty blue dress with rhinestones that matched her blue eyes. And with the locals, there were some visiting explorer teams that were often away from Treasure Town for months at a time.

There was even a newcomer, albeit a famous one. “They said that he wasn’t well-known until a few months ago,” Flora told Team Marmalade, as the group had gathered to share some treats with Matti and Azeri. “But, oh my gosh, Drakken the Dusknoir is said to be the most amazing explorer ever! He easily passes through dungeons that most teams wouldn’t dare step foot in and he defeats every outlaw that he sets out to catch. And he does it all by himself! He is so wonderful; I want to go over and get his autograph, but I’m so nervous.”

“I’ve heard about him,” Matti said. “Mimen was saying that this Dusknoir supposedly cleared all ninety-nine levels of the Zero Island dungeon, and most explorers have difficulty passing even a dozen floors of that place. And he’s brought all sorts of outlaws to justice.”

“That is amazing,” Trey said. “Where is he?”

“You can’t miss him,” Flora said. “He’s one of the few here who’s taller than Sally! He is a bit dull-looking and easily blends with shadows. Maybe that’s why he’s so good at what he does, unlike Sally with her white hair and brightly colored accessories.”

Sally made a playful sign reply of, “But I like my armor!”

Later on, Trey was by himself, thinking. At least, he thought he was alone. “So you stalking Stacy now?”

He jumped, but it turned out to be just Kip. “Oh, it’s you. No, I’m not stalking her. I’m just thinking.”

The Skitty gave him a smug look. “Thinking about her. I know how it is.”

Trey blushed and covered his snout. “Maybe.”

“So, why don’t you go up and ask to dance with her?”

“What?”

Kip waved his paws to send him along. “Go on. She’s cute and sweet, but not my kind of girl.”

”Well...” he looked over, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot. I never asked a girl for a dance, though.”

“Just be yourself, nice and cool,” Kip called.

“So he says,” Trey mumbled to himself as he walked over to where Stacy was. She had her Yellow Bow on today; while it contrasted with her blue skin and brown shell, it still managed to look nice. He went up to her and said, “Hey Stacy.”

She smiled. “Oh hey Trey, there you are. Having fun?”

“Yeah. Hey, um, do you want to dance for a bit with me.”

She smiled. “Sure, sounds fun. Come on.” She took his paws and they went out to the dance area. Trey was very pleased.

Later on as the night grew, Sally was clapping along with the musicians. From the way she swayed her feet, she would have liked to dance. But with all the smaller Pokemon around her, she made herself content by watching the dancers from the sidelines.

A shift of the air caught her eye and she turned. A large shadowy Pokemon was settling in beside her. Even though he had a barrel-shaped chest drifting down to a thin waist, his head was oddly small for his body. And he didn’t have legs either, just a trail of ghostly smoke. A strange yellow antenna twisted on his head, indicating that he could feel things beyond normal senses.

“It’s odd to find a human in these lands,” the Dusknoir said in a low but kindly voice. “Even odder than finding one with white hair.”

Sally raised her eyebrows, giving him a questioning look.

He met her with equal curiosity. “I haven’t met any, but I know some about your kind. Tell me, you would be the one they call Sally?”

She nodded.

“My name is Drakken. What are you doing here in the lands of Pokemon?”

She looked puzzled, then shrugged. She made a few signs, then tapped her mouth.

For a second, Sally thought she caught a smile start on Drakken’s face. But then he settled for something more sympathetic. “Oh, you do not speak? My, you are one mysterious character.”

She gave her odd-sounding laugh, then clapped at the end of the song.

“But everyone speaks warmly of you, so you must be kinder than some that our ancients speak of.” He looked over at the band. “I wonder… what kinds of music do you know of your people, and such things?” When she gave him a clueless shrug, he went on, “I’m sorry for being suddenly intrusive, but I’ve always valued knowledge. Knowing that I do not know much about something is frustrating. It must be frustrating to you as well, given your misfortunate disability.”

Their exchange was interrupted by a girlish squeal from Flora. She skipped up to them. “Oh my gosh, Sally! Do you know what’s going on between Stacy and Trey? Because my friend Gloria saw the two of them holding paws and going down towards the beach a while ago, and Chiaka told me not to bug them. But I hadn’t heard anything about the two of them going out.”

Sally smiled and signed that she didn’t know, but then Kip interrupted with, “Just let ‘em be. Better to not interrupt young lovebirds, if that’s the deal. Later, though, that’s a whole different story.”

“Eek, so they are dating?” Flora asked happily.

“They weren’t before. Anyhow, it’s none of my business and I’m happy to keep it that way.” Sally poked him on the forehead, so he looked up. “What? I don’t have a lady at the moment and if you saw something, don’t say anything.” It made her laugh.

“It would be better to let them be, and not gossip about such things,” Drakken noted.

The Sunflora stilled when she realized that he was there with them.”Um… hi, Drakken… sir.”

“Hey is this the first time I’ve seen you struck speechless?” Kip asked, grinning.

“ATTENTION!” Larry’s voice carried throughout the entire party. “The band has an announcement! All of you taller and bigger folks who have been polite enough to stay out of the main square, we’re giving a dance just for you. So don’t be shy now.”

“That’s quite thoughtful,” Drakken said, as various others like the Gyarados lady, Casey the Kangaskan, and a Golem came off the sidelines. “I’m a stranger here, though.”

Sally got up and shook her head. She then offered her hand to Drakken with a kind smile. If he wasn’t too sure about going out, then she would accompany him.

Seemingly nervous, he first brought his right hand to his chest. “I’m not sure about this. You have been nice and tolerant, but…”

“Aw come on,” Kip taunted. “I betcha nearly every guy at this party is jealous of you now because Sally’s asking you to dance with her.”

In a silly mood, she giggled at that. Drakken’s face turned a shade darker, as if blushing. “Well it’s not quite appropriate between humans and Pokemon… but I guess, just a dance is fine.” He took her hand and they went out with the others on the square.

Near the end of the song, Stacy and Trey came back. “What’s going on?” the Squirtle asked.

“Sally’s dancing with Drakken,” Flora replied. “He was right here and, oh my gosh, but I couldn’t talk to him. But she got him to dance with her!”

“So what were you doing?” Kip asked them. “Making out?”

“No!” Stacy said in a startled embarrassment. “We were just out talking.”

“Right, that’s what every couple says about walks to the beach at night,” he returned.

“We were just talking,” Trey said. “We weren’t gone that long.”

“But you’re still holding paws,” Kip pointed out.

The song ended and a number of watchers cheered and clapped for those who had been dancing. Sally came back over to them, with a bubbly smile and a wave at Stacy and Trey. Just behind her, Drakken followed. “Thank you for the dance,” he said. “You’re quite graceful.”

After she signed something, Trey translated, “She says you were too, so she didn’t have to worry about getting her toes stepped on. But he doesn’t have any feet… oh.”

She laughed at him, clapping. She was obviously in a good mood.

“I don’t get that comment every day,” Drakken said. “If you’ll pardon me, I’m looking to speak with some others. But it was good to meet you, Sally.” He then drifted off into the shadows.

-+-

Uxie’s head was bandaged up. After his request that his eyes not be opened, the doctor Blissa had cheerfully wrapped the bandages right around them. It put his mind at ease that he couldn’t accidentally hurt anyone while he was recovering.

But worry still plagued him, about his sister and brother. Now that he was alert, he tried to reach out to them again; his last message had been cut short and probably was making them worried sick. However, something seemed to block his telepathy tonight.

Something that felt like a wintry breeze on a warm spring night.

-+-

“LARRY! YOU’RE LATE!”

Stacy woke up to the ringing insistence of Chiaka the Chimecho. As Sally put down her current sewing project, they heard Larry reply, “WHAT THE HEY? I’M STILL TIRED!”

“YOU WERE UP TOO LATE AT THE PARTY! BUT WE’VE GOT WORK TO DO TODAY! THE GUILDMASTER SAYS SO!”

On hearing Larry groan, Stacy and Sally chuckled.

“NOW YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL EVERY SINGLE COTTON PICKING MORNING!” a third voice shouted.

The daily meeting was accompanied by a few disgruntled and tired looks, a few amused and barely-not-laughing looks, and the occasional whatever look. Then they were sent off onto their usual work.

While Team Marmalade was checking out the boards for jobs, Bobby the Bidoof came up to Stacy. “Hey, um, mind if I ask your team to help me out on a job?”

“Oh, no problem,” she said. “What is it?”

“Well, there might be a problem, but… I took a job yesterday to go looking for somebody: a Buneary called Bethany.”

Sally suddenly looked attentive. Trey did too. “Bethany? Isn’t she the girl who runs the craft store?”

“Um, yup, so you know her?”

While the human nodded, Trey said, “Sally stops by there to buy stuff for sewing accessories.”

“Ah, I see. Well Miss Bethany was last seen headed to Amp Plains and hasn’t been back for three days. I looked all over that place for two days, but I haven’t found her yet. So, um, I’d like more people to come search.”

“Sure, we can do that.”

Trey put his hand on her shell. “Hang on, Stacy, think about it. Amp Plains is known for thunderstorms and being home to lots of Electric Pokemon. You’d be at a big disadvantage going in there.”

“Well I’m not going to let someone stay lost for that long without trying to look. Besides, if I stick with one of you guys, it ought to be okay. So you guys know Bethany. Is there anything particular about her?”

“Hmm.” Trey crossed his arms over his chest.

Sally tapped him and made a sign.

“Oh yes, that’s right. She always wears a straw hat with a floppy brim and a red ribbon. It might not be much, but she’s the only one I’ve seen around here wearing a hat like that.”

“That might be enough. So let’s go.”

Amp Plains was a large stony field with hardly any vegetation. Overhead, there brewed thick and dark clouds crackling with electric power. The air was filled with static; Trey’s leaf tail began to sway and Bobby’s fur puffed up. But if Stacy was feeling uncomfortable, she didn’t show any signs of it. After a short discussion, Bobby went with Stacy and Trey went with Kip. Sally walked around on her own. From her natural height, she could see where they were at most times and could reach them quickly if they got in trouble. And, logically, she would see Bethany first. That is, if the Buneary was out in the open.

After searching completely through nine levels, they still hadn’t found her. “If we go in further, the thunderstorms get stronger,” Trey said as the group gathered near the passage, a large metal arch. Oddly enough, these metal arches seemed natural, formed like vines that had grown up fifteen feet high, then gathered at a point with an orb that crackled with electricity.

“We still haven’t found her, though,” Bobby said. “Looks like we have to go on.”

Sally then came over. She knelt down and handed them a straw hat with a floppy brim and a red ribbon.

“It’s her hat!” Trey said. “Where was it?”

She indicated in the middle of one of the raised sections, but then made some signs.

“Huh. She says she searched around in the rocks, but found no other sign of her.”

“Let’s keep going,” Stacy said.

Back at the Guild, Matti was working on filing reports. He saw Drakken wandering through the shelves where all the data was stored. But the Guildmaster had said to let him be. And so far, they hadn’t really talked except for exchanging greetings.

But then Drakken started a conversation. “How long have you worked here, Matti?”

Feeling awed that the famous explorer had remembered his name, he said, “Oh, me? This is my first day, actually. But the Guild’s helped me and my little brother out, so I’m helping them now.”

“That’s good of you.”

“Um, Drakken? I hope you don’t mind me asking…”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you not like the sun or something? I know you’re a Ghost and all, but the Duskulls are generally outside during the day and everybody else is out exploring. But you’re in here.”

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sun or that I’m not thankful for the warmth, light, and life it brings,” Drakken said, “But I find that I do my best work at night, or in dark places.”

“Oh.” The Marill smiled. “Well, I suppose every Pokemon has different ways of doing things.”

Drakken chuckled. “You seem quite perceptive for someone your age. It’s very admirable. Now if you don’t mind a question in exchange for yours, I notice that you seem worried. Is something the matter?”

Matti blushed. “Oh, well, I suppose it’s no big deal, but I worry anyhow. My big sister is an explorer. She’s with Team Marmalade and they’ve been to lots of dangerous places already. But today, they went out to Amp Plains to help Bobby search for somebody. Amp Plains is just a bit extra dangerous, you know, since she’s a Water type too and the group she’s with isn’t particularly effective at dealing with lots of Electric Pokemon.”

“Amp Plains, is it? It’s very daring for a Water type…” he paused. “But no… this time of year would be when…”

“When what?” Matti asked.

“They don’t have anyone particularly effective against Electrics?” Drakken asked, sounding concerned.

That worried Matti a great deal more. “Um, well… I suppose Trey wouldn’t be hurt a lot as he’s a Grass type. Then Bobby and Kip are both Normals. And Sally, well, I don’t know how well humans deal with electricity.”

“Humans can do things with electricity that no Pokemon can do. But then again… they could be in deep trouble.”

“What?!”

Drakken patted him. “Calm down. I’ll go after them myself. It is important to find that lost person, but then they might need my help to avoid trouble.” He then left the Guild.

“Oh dear,” Matti said to himself, gripping his pencil extra tight. Drakken was going to help them, but what if Stacy and her friends got in trouble before the Dusknoir could reach them? And, should he tell Azeri?

No, he didn’t want to worry his little brother too. He would just have to be worried all by himself.

Back in Amp Plains, the group headed deeper into the rocky landscape, still looking around slowly for Bethany the Buneary. The rocks had gotten darker and redder in color as they went along. “Something seems odd,” Bobby told them at one passage. “The past two days I’ve been looking, this place has been filled with Electric and other Pokemon. But it’s really quiet today.”

“I noticed that too,” Trey said. “Something seems odd.”

“The natives probably know something that we don’t,” Kip said. “Like some hidden ancient danger, or maybe just some super predator.”

“A super predator?” Bobby asked, shivering. “That sounds scary.”

A few levels later, Stacy came across a bush near a small pile of orange rocks that seemed to be moving oddly. “Miss Bethany?” she called out. “Are you here?”

“Huh?” A brown face peered between leaves of the bush, and then the craft store owner came out. “Oh yes, that’s me.”

Stacy smiled. “Thank goodness we found you. Have you been hurt?”

“Oh, no, I just got so lost and I’m not sure where I’ve gotten to now. And I haven’t had anything to eat all day; do you have anything?”

“Sure.” Bobby pulled out a Big Apple and handed it to Bethany. “And I’m real sorry I couldn’t find you sooner. I’ve been trying.”

“Well, you did, so thanks.” She devoured the fruit hungrily.

Stacy waved over Sally, who got Kip and Trey’s attention. “The next passage is over that way,” Kip said as they came in.

Trey took the hat out of his Treasure Bag. “Here, we found this a while back.”

“And you found my hat too? Geez, thanks so much.” She slipped it on, putting her ears between two slots and tying the ribbon around her chin. “There was a great burst of wind and I lost it too. It didn’t feel right to be without my hat.”

“So you found her,” a different voice said as a large Ghost approached them.

“Hello Drakken,” Stacy said.

“Oh my gosh, the Drakken?” Bethany asked, putting her paws to her lips in surprise.

“Golly, what are you doing here?” Bobby asked. “Exploring too?”

“Actually, I came to find you all and get you out before trouble found you,” Drakken told them.

“What kind of trouble?” Trey asked.

He pointed towards the exit to the level. “Down that next passage, you’ll find a quiet floor of a large open meadow.” A crack of thunder came from that area. “The storms are strongest there, and with the spring season we are currently in, even stronger. So it attracts a wandering band of Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray. This clan is very suspicious of outsiders, ever since a surprise attack killed off many of their members.”

“That’s terrible,” Stacy said. “Then they wouldn’t like it if we went over there.”

Drakken nodded. “Right, they would most likely attack you on sight without question. They’re not bad Pokemon, just paranoid and defensive.”

“Well then how do we get out of the dungeon, then?” Bobby asked. “There isn’t a warp panel on this level.”

“I brought some Escape Orbs with me, just in case.” He pulled one out. “Who’s acting as leader?”

“Bobby,” Stacy said. “As he’s the most senior out of us.”

“Technically, within the guild,” Kip stated.

“All right, then here.” Drakken passed the Orb to Bobby.

“Okay, Miss Bethany, we’ll take you home now,” he told the Buneary.

“Thank goodness,” she said as the orb broke and teleported them all back to Treasure Town.

Over dinner, Drakken spoke with Team Marmalade and Bobby. Mostly Trey; the two found that they had a common interest in books and spent much of that time discussing ones they had both read.

Partway in, Sally tapped Trey on the shoulder and gave him a few signs that made him smile. “Oh, she says that she likes Wingulliver’s Travels too,” he told Drakken. “Because of all the interesting places he goes.”

“It is a wonderful book,” Drakken said. “Now the human sign language, that isn’t something I’ve picked up. It’s only useful if you come across a human who can’t speak. But then, I’m sure it helps you a lot with Sally on your team.”

“It does; she’s a big help on the team.”

“Well that’s partly because she’s also big,” Kip pointed out, making Sally laugh. While at dinner, she had to kneel on the floor to eat with everyone. But she didn’t seem to mind.

Also being large, Drakken settled back with her against the wall. “That does come in handy from time to time, but then again, so does being small. I do wonder where you picked up a human specific language, though.”

“Wigglytuff has a book in storage about it,” Trey explained. “It’s quite a bit larger than me, but has pictures for every sign so that I was able to learn it fairly quick.”

“She has other ways of communicating, though,” Bobby said. “Like that thing she does when she covers your eyes.”

“What kind of thing is that?” Drakken asked.

“Well she doesn’t do that with everybody,” Stacy said. “Just her friends, it seems like. But she sometimes has strange visions and feelings that she can relate to others by covering their eyes and transferring the vision. I don’t like to rely on it though, since it causes her pain to do it.”

Sally made some signs and a weird face, to which Trey translated, “She says it’s like Larry’s shouts every morning, just from inside her head and much stronger. That does sound pretty awful.”

Drakken looked to Sally. “Where did you pick up this skill?”

She shrugged and made some more signs.

“She says it’s just always been there.”

“But then she doesn’t remember anything past a certain point either,” Stacy added. “From just before she arrived in Treasure Town, actually.”

“How mysterious,” Drakken said. “Well I can’t say much more about the amnesia without more information; memory loss can be caused by many things, from magic to head trauma. But her way of seeing things… is it things in the past or things in the future?”

“I’m not sure,” Stacy said.

Sally made some signs, so Trey said, “It seems like both, really. Because she saw that Bartleby had been in that one dungeon years ago, but also saw Azeri’s kidnapping days before it actually happened. And sometimes it’s not even a vision, just a voice or a feeling.”

“Hmm… that does sound like something I’ve read about before.”

“What is it?” Trey asked, curious.

“It’s called the Dimensional Scream,” Drakken told him.

“Sounds scary,” Azeri said.

“Kind of. It’s a mixed blessing, as you can learn about things that you couldn’t normally find out, but you also have to deal with the pain it causes. And it seems to be tied to Giratina, a legendary Pokemon on whom very little information is available. When someone with the Dimensional Scream talent touches something, there is a chance they will learn something about it. It can be anything: a person, a trinket, the water in a pond. However, they have no real control over when it triggers, or over what it shows. The vision could be of the past, the present, or the future. It’s a rare gift, one given only under unknown requirements.”

Trey recalled when they had first met Sally and how some of her behaviors seemed odd. But maybe she had kept some memory of having the Dimensional Scream. She had tried to touch many things to strange unspoken purposes: the water at the beach, the rocks of Beach Cave, even that jar of marmalade.

“That makes it seem even stranger,” Stacy said. “But it helps us out on many missions. I just wish it didn’t hurt her quite as much as it did.”

Sally shrugged and made some signs.

“She says that’s the cost of power, so she doesn’t mind,” Trey translated.


((When I was playing through with a Treecko partner, one time I thought of the famous scene in Star Wars Episode 5... hehe.))

    Spoiler:- for the games:

Show Spoiler

 
Although what with the time travel theme, it would more likely be his son.

Anyhow, if you clicked on the Spoiler button, but haven't played through the EoT/EoD/EoS game, STOP READING! I'll tell ya when you can come back.

For those of you who have played the games, you may be wondering why Drakken let Sally touch him. Here is an extra scene I wrote addressing this, although since I know there are those reading who haven't played the games, I spoiler'ed it.

-+-

The party was warm and vibrant, full of life and excitement. On the breeze was a touch of summer flowers, still warmed by the sun. All the residents and visitors to Treasure Town were happy, laughing, chatting, singing, and dancing together. All but one. This was so different for Drakken that he couldn’t trust it.

Something was going to happen. Joy was something to be wary about, as it hid some darker purpose or made one careless. And trust was a weak force; for these Pokemon to trust one another so fully was foolish. This whole era was foolish. That must have been why the Master had been so set on keeping things as they were, so this time of fools did not continue.

Most of all, Drakken was worried about Sally. Was she trying to torment him? Or had something happened to her? He knew about her talent of seeing things. It had been a massive risk to take her hand, even if it had allowed him to blend in better by joining the dance. Watching her talk with her new friends, he anxiously waited to see if it would be triggered. But then maybe she was messing with his head, accepting him with such apparent blind faith. At any rate, he couldn’t let Dialga find out about this.

But nothing seemed to come of letting her touch him. And there was only a small chance that this was the wrong human. The combination of being false albino, deaf, female, tall (by female standards), with those machines, and named Sally was almost strong enough to identify her correctly. At this point, the only thing that would clench the proof was knowing that she had the blessings of Giratina. He wanted to see this before moving ahead. But he didn’t want to see it in connection with her (and his) rather reckless behavior.

In the end, the lead he had been following was false. But he had come across the human, if by accident. And a new lead was in the tales these carefree and foolish Pokemon: a Grovyle was stealing Time Gears, even going so far as to harm a legendary Pokemon. That could only be one Pokemon in Drakken’s mind. In that case, he had to get the cooperation of the Pokemon around him.

That would be easy. Still, he wanted to get back to his era soon. This era was so false, colorful brightness that hid savage hearts. At least the Pokemon of his era were honest with themselves.
 

[growlithe_master]

nice chapter. i liked the extra scene at the end too. although it was kinda disappointing that they didnt fight luxray and his cronies. speaking of skipping scenes, i noticed a problem you seem to be having, and that is not expanding upon scenes in the game. even your own made up scenes seem very short sometimes. this mostly applies when they are inside dungeons, which you seem to just skip through occasionally.

im not trying to be mean, im trying to give constructive criticism. i still love the fic.

[Treeconator11]

I still think Dusknoir would be better with a brittish accent.

Anyways, sweet chapter. I always wondered what it would be like if they actually had a party in PMD, that'd be cool, and I liked that scene, especially cause Trey and Stacy are in love! The dicussion about the dimensonal scream was okay, but my favorite scene had to bethe ritual thing, cause of how it sorta explains how Mystery Dungeons become, and the white light thingy sounds cool.

I liked this chapter, and eargerly await the second!

[hailflameblast]

I love the scene where Larry is late. I also loved the bit where you linked the Dimensional Scream to Giratina.

[Ysavvryl]

I know I skimmed a lot of things. It bugged me too. But then I consider how long this already is when I only skipped one story dungeon completely, and I figure it was a decent compromise.

This is a short chapter, but a good one.


Chapter 10: Quick Sand, Flying Sand, and Shooting Sand


A few days later, the apprentices and workers gathered for the daily meeting. And to their surprise, Drakken the Dusknoir was there as well. “Okay everyone, you know the situation,” Charlie the Chatot stated. “A mysterious Grovyle is stealing Time Gears from secret places all over this region. The thief must be apprehended and we have decided that the best way to do so would be to seek the Time Gears for ourselves. However, we don’t know where the Gears are located. But the generous Drakken has agreed to help us in this search.”

“Please, it is no trouble,” Drakken said politely. “It is in everyone’s best interest that the thief be stopped quickly.”

“So we all must work together!” Bartleby cheered.

“Now, after consulting Drakken and looking over records, we have picked out locations that may be hiding a Time Gear. Many explorer teams will be in and around our Guild to help us in searching these mysterious places. You will have to be attentive, as the other Time Gears may be guarded against discovery. Even our Guildmaster and some of our own were fooled at Fogbound Lake.”

Team Marmalade looked at Bartleby, who smiled. They still hadn’t said anything, and had agreed not to until they could speak to Uxie again. They wanted to assure him that it was so.

“Of course, you are free to chose a place to explore on your own or, if they agree, go with one of the other groups. But we would like as many places checked out as quickly as possible. And, as always, keep a cautious eye out for Grovyle. Uxie is a legendary Pokemon of the Psychic type, a powerful Pokemon in his own right. So this thief must be very strong.”

After the meeting, nearly everyone went upstairs. The work floor was crowded with various Pokemon checking out the list of locations to be searched. “There’s over thirty locations listed!” one Weavile said. “How many of these Time Gears are there?”

Trey tried to keep himself from looking at the Weavile, even though she was obviously quite different than Bloody Claw the Sneasel. “So what are we going to do?”

“I want Sally to look over the list,” Stacy said.

She gave Stacy a questioning look.

“Well you sense things; maybe one of the names will jump out at you.”

“We don’t want to trigger her headaches around all these people,” Trey pointed out. “But who knows? It’d probably be as good as any choice we make.”

Sally shrugged, then carefully moved through the crowded room. That was another advantage to having her get close; other Pokmeon were more likely to give her space. After kneeling down to check the list, she came back over and made some signs.

“Northern Desert,” Trey translated. “Let’s find it on the map and then prepare to head out.”

“Good plan,” Stacy said.

“Is it me, or are those two getting along really well lately?” Kip mumbled to himself as he watched his teammates go out to prepare. Then he chuckled and sought out a less crowded spot to wait for them.

-+-

Northern Desert was a wide open Mystery Dungeon. There were few walls, but that actually made things worse. There were seemingly endless sandstorms blowing over the bleak sandy landscape. Because of this, they couldn’t tell what much of the place looked like due to the flying sand.

In a moment where they caught a quiet spot by a wall, Stacy said, “Well this is certainly as protected as the lake, but with sandstorms instead of fog.”

Trey had the compass and map, to observe their progress. “We’ve crossed a lot of ground, but where to now?”

Sally clapped for their attention, then showed Stacy something with her power.

“You feel like you recognize this place?” she asked. “And you felt the same way about the way up to Fogbound Lake?”

She nodded then signed.

“She thinks she feels the same kind of aura that the last Time Gear had,” Trey said. “Where?”

She pointed, then added, “The sands seem to be swirling around, maybe that place.”

“That could be,” Stacy said.

“That means the sand will get thicker the closer we get,” Trey told them.

“Is everybody ready for it?” Stacy asked.

“I’ll just keep my mouth shut,” Kip said. “But the daggone sand keeps flying in my ears! My poor skin.”

“Well?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get going.”

Sally helped them by crouching down and crawling alongside them. Her armored skin then gave them a slight break in the gritty wind. Still, the bits that got through hurt.

At one point, they seemed to encountered an almost solid wall of sandstorm, roaring so loud that they couldn’t hear each other. But once they passed through that, there was nothing. Inside the sandstorm, there was stillness, even quiet.

“This is eerie,” Stacy said. “You don’t expect to have this kind of calm in the middle of a storm.”

“No, that’s exactly what you find in the largest of storms,” Kip told her. “This would be the eye, a place of dead calm.” He twitched his tail. “And of a giant quicksand pit.”

As they looked, a geyser of sand burst up, sending a fountain of sand around it. But then all the sand got dragged into a funnel shaped depression. It looked like a whirlpool of the ground.

“There isn’t anything like a Time Gear here,” Stacy said. “Now what?”

Sally went over and put her hands in the pit. After feeling the sand move, she pointed down.

“What in the name of Arceus?” Kip asked. “You want us to jump in that?”

She nodded.

Trey observed another sand geyser. “You know, she might be right. This isn’t how normal quicksand looks like.”

“Normal quicksand?” Kip asked skeptically.

“Quicksand is caused by water rising up between fine-grained sand. This is something different. And those sand geysers, those are different too. This is more like an ant lion’s pit, which is a microbug that digs itself into a hole like this and eats those that fall in. There could be a cavern below this.”

“Or a giant ant lion,” Kip pointed out.

“But there’s no jaws sticking out, so probably not.”

Sally decided that was that. With her breathing mask over her face already, she jumped into the pit and rather quickly vanished.

“Sally?!” Stacy called out, going to the edge of the pit.

“It must be a pretty big cavern if she fell all the way in,” Trey said. “Do you trust her?”

Stacy nodded after a second. “Yes. I trust all of you.” Then she, Trey, and Kip jumped into the quicksand pit.

Sally clapped as they came down on a pile of soft sand, then went back to brushing sand particles out of her long hair. There was a cave here, oddly lit with glowing white crystals. Since everyone seemed okay, the team set off to explore the cave system.

The cave was long, with sandy tunnels, sandy geysers, and sandy falls. The white crystals kept the tunnels filled with a soft light, so that it was never a problem seeing. Sometimes, a sandstorm would brew even down here. If they thought they could wait it out, they tried.

After what seemed like hours, they came to an open space that had hardly any sand at all, just a coating of fine-grained white sand on the floor. “Can we call it a night?” Kip asked. “I’m worn down.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Stacy said. “It seems like we’ve been here a long time.”

While they were settling down and having dinner, the group talked happily. At one point, Sally clapped her hands, then opened her Treasure Bag. She pulled out four woven bands of colorful threads and passed three of them out.

“Oh, these are pretty,” Stacy said, putting hers on by hooking the loop onto one of the buttons. “What’re they for?”

Sally explained and then Trey had to pass it along. “She says they’re friendship bracelets, a sign of how we care for each other and representing the color that friendship brings to life. Sally, that’s really nice of you.”

“And absolutely true,” Kip said, showing an unusual amount of gratitude.

They camped, and then after they all woke up, they went deeper into Quicksand Desert. In order to make the search go faster, the team split up, with Sally and Kip going down one passage while Stacy and Trey went down another. After passing through more sandy tunnels with more sandstorms, and unfortunately less light crystals, the latter pair came upon a surprise.

“There’s a lake, here underground?” Stacy asked.

“Yeah,” Trey said. “It’s pretty common, actually, but most people don’t go deep enough in caves to see… look, there’s a glow out there!”

As there had been at Fogbound Lake, the desert lake had a dome of light in the center, in the distance. It had a pale green glow. Under its light, tiny quartz crystals in the rock walls and under the water’s surface sparkled like more precious diamonds. But the glow didn’t extend fully around the lake, making it look like an endless lake of darkness.

“That must be a Time Gear,” Trey said.

“Hold it!” a voice made shrill by anger said. From the water, a small pixie Pokemon shot up. She looked similar to Uxie, but of a pinkish-red color. And she looked mad. “It’s you!”

“Huh?!” Stacy said, drawing into herself in being startled. “What about us?”

“You two ruined Uxie and stole the Time Gear he had, didn’t you? He shouldn’t have trusted you.” She clenched her fists and lashed her tails around.

“No we didn’t,” Trey said. “We met him, but…”

“He told me about your intrusion and how you were the only ones who could have known. And now he’s dead because of you!”

“N-No, he’s not dead,” Stacy said, confused now. “He’s in Treasure Town’s…”

“Shut up! I haven’t felt him in five days! Now I’m going to ruin you!” An insane and murderous glint came to Mespirit’s eyes.

Stacy and Trey were afraid. However, before they could decide on what to do or before Mespirit could make her first move, something behind her made her gurgle in pain. A pale Grovyle had snatched the legend, giving her a nasty looking wound across her throat. After he let go, she collapsed onto the ground. The Grovyle had a pretty bad scar between his eyes that was unmistakable. “I’m sorry,” he told the legendary Pokemon on the ground. “But it must be done; I need that Time Gear.”

“Hey!” Stacy came out of her shell and stepped forward. “You’re not taking that Time Gear!”

“You two are going to stop me?” the Grovyle asked skeptically.

“Yeah, we will,” Trey insisted.

“Fine.”

Before either of them could notice him attacking, a pair of leaf blades crashed into them. How did he attack them so fast, Trey wondered. This Grovyle could have kept pace with the Gabite from Labyrinth Cave.

“This is more important,” the Grovyle said, then dropped into the lake to swim after the Time Gear.

“Hey, guys!” Kip and Sally ran into the cavern. “What the heck happened here?”

Stacy seemed to be unconscious. “The Grovyle,” Trey said. “He went in… the lake.”

“Oh ****, then we don’t… Sally, is there a warp panel?”

She nodded and pointed to the left side. She then picked up Stacy and Mespirit, while Kip helped Trey to the panel. As they started to leave, they saw a weird ripple race through the air. In the Quicksand Caves, time had completely stopped.

-+-

Uxie was well enough to get around the hospital. He came into the room that his sister was in. Because she had been attacked at the neck, her body was eerily still. And the cast didn’t look that comfortable. “Mespirit.”

“Uxie?” She opened her eyes weakly. “You’re alive… and me?”

“It was close, but the doctor is good. You should be able to move again in a couple of days.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I’m blamed those guys who showed up at your lake first. I didn’t know it was the Grovyle.”

He put his hand on her head. “I’ve had a hard time focusing enough to send a message. I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch with you in time.”

“What about…?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hiya!” A Wigglytuff came into the room, followed by a white-haired human. “Ooo… should we stay out?”

“No, it’s fine. You did keep your promise?”

Bartleby and Sally nodded. “Always do, always do. And I trust Team Marmalade. They’re good Pokemon. And a human.” He smiled at her. “Also, I have heard from my staff that telepathy is a pain to do in the past week. Even the wise librarian doesn’t know why.”

“So it isn’t just me,” Uxie said.

“He says it dissipates at a distance of, oh, about at the Hot Springs.”

“I see. I feel a bit weak… would you mind escorting me to this Hot Springs?”

“No trouble. No trouble at all!”

“Good, thank you Guildmaster Bartleby. I’ll tell you…”

“Are you sure about that?” Mespirit asked.

“He’s in danger, even if I can warn him. So… but if you would, would you only send Team Marmalade in? I have felt their intentions, and I have seen them battle with my inner eye.” He looked to Sally. “I trust you four.”

“Okay! Easily done. We’d best ask Blissa, though. She don’t like it when I sneak off with her patients.”

“I understand.” He patted his sister. “You get some rest and heal up.”

“Right.” She smiled. “She does look like Darkrai. Weird. I haven’t heard about him in a long time, though. I haven’t heard about anybody…”

“We might have to go looking when we’re better,” Uxie said.

Bartleby and Uxie left to speak to the doctor. Sally went over to Mespirit's bed and knelt down. After making a few signs, she paused, then put a hand to her forehead. Then she touched the pixie.

"What is it?" she asked. "I'm sorry about getting mad at you. But it was..." she paused, then looked at Sally's eyes. They seemed oddly blank. Mespirit blushed. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. You picked me up when I was unconscious, didn't you?"

She nodded.

"Usually I have better control over that, but I was out cold... the three of us aren't much for fighters, actually, but the powers that we hold are extremely important. They make civilization possible. So we have these curses in case anyone tried to hurt us. The thief seemed to know what he was doing, as he didn't keep hold of me long. But I can drain emotions from people through touch. I can fix that, though, if you don't mind touching my gem."

Sally did so, and after a moment, she smiled.

"I'm sorry again. Uxie has the worst of it, though, since his only form of control is keeping his eyes closed constantly." Mespirit yawned. "But now I need to get to sleep.." she dozed off as soon as she stopped speaking.

After Sally got up, her Dimensional Scream ability activated. She stepped back and waited for it to clear. But then she had a great deal more to worry about. Mespirit's other brother was in grave danger.

-+-

Trey and Stacy had healed up faster than Mespirit. On the third evening that they had been there, they were released to go back to the guild. They walked along the paths there, but Trey noted that Stacy was moving slowly. “Is something the matter?” he asked.

“I’ve been thinking about something.” She stopped near the well at the crossroads. “I don’t know if I want to continue with the guild.”

“What?” Trey asked, startled. “But you love being an explorer. You’ve said it was always your dream to be doing this.”

“It is, but…” her head slipped back, not fully in her shell, but close. “It’s my brothers. I always knew this kind of work was dangerous. My dad, he got killed on an exploration. I still wanted to do it, but then I got to thinking while I was in the hospital… I promised my brothers that I’d always be there for them. I was thinking about what would happen if I didn’t come back and they were left alone, and I just don’t want that to happen.”

“Oh, Stacy.” He put his arm around her shell. “It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“I know,” she admitted, her voice trembling. “I’m your leader and I really shouldn’t abandon the group. But I have to think of my brothers too.”

“Are you sure about this?”

She looked to Trey, but quickly felt guilty about leaving him and the others again. She kind of wished that he wasn’t being so supporting, as that would make things easier to leave the Guild. “No,” she admitted. “I feel really confused and awful about the whole thing. I don’t even care about that Grovyle thief; he just made me notice what kind of trouble we could get into, and I don’t want to hurt anyone over my failings.”

“I don’t think you’re failing at anything,” Trey said. “Hey, why don’t we go talk to your brothers and see how they feel, okay? If you’re really going to quit, it’s your choice… but you should think on it some more.”

She gripped his paw. “Okay.”

They had arrived while everyone else was eating dinner, but bowls of food were quickly brought out for them too. It was a potato dish tonight; after the rather bland food at the hospital, it was a good change of pace for them. Sally, Kip, Matti, and Azeri ate with them.

“Was the Grovyle really scary?” Azeri asked, half spooked and half keenly interested.

“Yeah,” Stacy said. “He was really fast too; we didn’t have any time to block or dodge his attack. He even got the Psychic Mespirit by total surprise. I wouldn’t believe it except that it happened to me.”

“Gosh,” Matti said. “I’m glad you’re okay now.”

“Yeah, me too.” Stacy felt, for a moment, that she should quit and be with her brothers; it had obviously upset them for her to get hurt badly. But then, on seeing her teammates, she wanted to stay with them too. Why did this decision have to be hard? It had seemed so easy initially.

“Hey, is there any salt around?” Trey asked, looking around the table.

“Um, there was,” Matti said.

“Mimen has it,” Flora said.

“Mimen!” Trey called, “Could you please pass the salt?”

The Mr. Mime was carefully tapping the shaker. “Hang on,” he said. “I’ve almost got it.”

“He has to get exactly the right number of grains in order to eat his food,” Flora said, shaking her head.

“HEY MIMEN!” Larry shouted.

“Larry, not at the dinner table,” Chiaka complained.

Mimen shot him a dirty look. “Now look at what you made me do! I’ve got too much salt on my potatoes.” He sighed, then passed the shaker down the table to Trey.

“You’re welcome,” Larry chuckled.

Later, Stacy talked with her brothers about what she was considering. “But you like exploring,” Azeri said.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to stop you from doing that,” Matti added.

“But I hate making you guys worry about me,” she told them. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”

“You are taking care of us, in a way,” Matti said. “Besides, remember what dad always told us? He said that as much as he loved being an explorer, he always thought of us and made sure to do things that we would be proud of. I’m sure you do too.”

“Of course I always think of you.”

“And we’re proud of you,” Azeri said. “You were strong enough to beat Uxie’s illusion! That’s really strong.”

Stacy smiled. “Thanks, boys. I won’t disappoint you.”


((Well Trey, you found a ninja...))