So I have a minor addiction with Blue Rescue Team. I've played through it 5 times to date. And every time, I get close to the end, and I say, okay, this time, I'm not going to cry! ...And then everyone's at the Hill of the Ancients, and the little lights appear, and the music starts to play... And I burst out sobbing. Every time. I cry at the bit too, when Caterpie and Metapod and Jumpluff and even Pelipper comes to wish the team good luck... And I cry at that bit too... So here's a whole bunch of drabbles I wrote focusing on some of the most heart-rending scenes in the Mystery Dungeon games.
Butterfree sighed as she watched her son sneaking down the road, Metapod bouncing along behind him as quietly as possible. She knew where they were going, and she knew she should have stopped them. But something in her heart was keeping her by the window. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to feel afraid, knowing her little Caterpie was sneaking off to visit Shea one last time. The human who abandoned Gardevoir. The cause of all the natural disasters, including the one that had almost cost Butterfree her baby. The little Eevee who'd gone into the dungeon to save Caterpie, and then again to save Metapod when he was lost, and asked nothing in return but a promise to be more careful.
Sighing, Butterfree fluttered to a different window, watching the first rays of the sun peeking over the horizon. Shea and Christian would leave soon, undoubtedly. She still couldn't bring herself to hate them though. Shea, who had shuffled her paws with her ears tucked back, so easily embarrassed by how Caterpie had looked up to her. Shea, who had knocked on her door with a crying Caterpie and Metapod pressed against her sides as Christian stood by with a grin after they'd gotten lost in one of those dungeons. Shea, who stood in Pokemon Square with such a broken expression when Lombre tried to attack her… Shea, who said nothing in her own defense…
An hour passed, and Caterpie and Metapod returned, tears shining in their eyes. Shea and Christian must have left, then. Butterfree still couldn't bring herself to be angry though. All she could feel was sadness.
Pelipper watched the group of children, trying to remain quiet. He'd watched Shea and Christian since the day they started the rescue team Nakama, and he'd been shocked when his fellow mail carriers told him of what had happened in Pokemon Square. How could anyone think such things of the children? His two favourite customers, who always looked like they'd just been given the best presents in the world every time he delivered their mail. Even when there were no rescue requests, and just a copy of Pokemon News, Shea would always be ready with a smile and a thanks. Pelipper had started to regard the pair more as a niece and nephew than just another rescue team. The thought that anyone could accuse the funny little Eevee of something as terrible as what happened in the legend was unthinkable.
He'd scribbled a note as quickly as possible, not trusting his voice, and dropped it in their mailbox as they were saying their goodbyes. The glimmer of tears in Shea's eyes had made the mail carrier want so desperately to swoop down and wrap her and Christian in his wings and carry them away to his nest, where he and his mate could hide them away from the ridiculous townspeople. But he knew that, despite their tears and despite their age, the two children would leave to find the truth. All he could do was make sure they knew there were Pokemon who would be waiting for them to come home.
And as he watched the two set off into the east, disappearing into the rising sun, Pelipper took a deep breath to steady himself and flew back to the Post Office. He had mail to deliver, afterall, and two little children to wait for.
"Do you really think she's the human from the legend?" Charizard asked, watching Alakazam walking silently a few feet ahead. Tyranitar said nothing, but Charizard could see in his eyes that he was wondering the exact same thing. Alakazam remained silent however, head bowed slightly and arms crossed.
"Run, run… and survive." He couldn't explain what it was about the little human-turned Eevee. He vaguely remembered, before Shiftry's rescue, seeing her in Pokemon Square. He'd talked Shiftry into helping the Jumpluff in the Square, and he'd just been leaving when he noticed her. A little Eevee with odd green eyes, who looked at him not as some amazing unreachable hero, but something else. He'd seen determination in those bright eyes. A determination to reach, and to surpass. A determination he remembered feeling, back when he'd been a young Abra, dreaming of becoming the best rescue team in the land. He'd thought the child would go far, and perhaps, with that young Charmander by her side, even surpass Alakazam's own team. His thoughts had only been reaffirmed by her steadfast resistance, as Charizard and Tyrantiar tried to frighten the pair out of taking on Zapados. And then, only days later, reaching the peak of Mt. Thunder, only to find the two children surrounding a panting and defeated Zapados.
Even with all his intelligence, Alakazam knew he didn't know everything. Logic told him Shea had to be the human; how could there be such a huge coincidence otherwise? But something else, his heart or perhaps his spirit as a member of a rescue team, told him something wasn't right. And Alakazam would find the truth, no matter what.
"Hey Alabaster? You awake?" The Absol cracked open one red eye to look at the green-eyed Eevee who was currently watching him.
"Is something wrong Shea?" He growled softly, mindful of the shivering Charmander who was still sleeping near the campfire they'd lit. The Eevee glanced down at the snow-covered ground, a small frown on her face. Silently, she uncurled herself and rose to her paws, trotting away from the fire and flicking her tail in an invitation for Alabaster to follow. Sighing softly, the Absol rose and followed her out of the circle of firelight, and more importantly, out of Christian's hearing range.
"Why did you decide to come with us?" Shea asked quietly once they were far enough away from the campsite. Alabaster eyed her curiously.
"Did I not explain? We are both working to stop the natural disasters, correct? It was wiser for us to work together, than to work alone." Shea nodded at that, but said nothing. She stared up at the latticework of frozen branches over their heads, chewing softly on her lower lip as she thought.
"Before you make your decision, there's a couple of things I have to tell you." Shea said without looking at Alabaster. She was silent for a few minutes, obviously trying to figure out how to tell the Absol what she thought he needed to know.
"You must have picked up that Christian and I are being hunted, right?" She asked carefully. Alabaster nodded, but said nothing. "But we haven't told you why though.
"There's a legend, about a human who grabbed one of Ninetales's tails and was cursed, and about Gardevoir, who took the human's place. And the human abandoned Gardevoir and fled, but Ninetales cursed them for that, saying that they'd become a Pokemon." Here, Shea looked down, dark green eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I'm not an Eevee Alabaster. I'm a human. That's why the others are hunting us. They believe I'm the human from the legend, and that if they get rid of me, the natural disasters will stop." Her ears folded back and she shivered, a few of the tears dripping down to soak into her fur. Alabaster stared at her silently.
"Are you the human from the legend, though?" He asked, watching her thoughtfully. Shea sniffed and tucked her head down further.
"I don't know." She admitted. "I don't remember anything before waking up in a forest with Christian asking if I was okay. But I've been seeing Gardevoir in my dreams, and really, how many humans get turned into Pokemon just as the world's being destroyed by natural disasters?"
"If you don't remember anything, how can you be sure?" Alabaster asked, turning back to the campsite. It really was cold out. He left Shea with those words, hoping she'd see sense. Alabaster's instincts were telling him the source of the disasters was somewhere else. Even if Shea were human, the Absol would bet his life that she wasn't the cause of the disasters. Christian seemed sure of it too. But that wouldn't mean much if they couldn't convince Shea herself.
Alabaster stared up at the sky, tail flicking in agitation. He, Shea, and Christian had returned from battling Groudon, and what a fight that was. The source of the earthquakes had been calmed, and several Pokemon in the square had exclaimed that things should settle once more. But Alabaster knew otherwise, as he settled his chin upon crossed paws and closed his eyes. His sense of impending doom had only gotten stronger. It was close, now. The disaster that had driven him from his home and across the continent, following the terrible nightmares as they dragged him over fields of fire and ice and pain and destruction. And he'd found Shea and Christian, and he knew they were the ones who were going to stop it. Someway, somehow, they would.
"Alabaster." The Absol cracked one red eye open at Shea's soft voice. She sat below the outcropping he'd sprawled across, tail crossed over her paws and ears tucked back in barely hidden distress. Christian was nowhere in sight. And there was so much raw pain and sadness in her deep green eyes, wrapped up in a steel glint of determination.
"The final disaster." Alabaster noted, watching as her eyes flicked up to the sky with a wince.
"Alakazam and Xatu implied that there will be a very good chance of…"
"Of dying?" Alabaster finished when Shea's voice trailed off.
"You don't have to come; Christian and I-"
"I swore to help you quell the disasters in the Frosty Grotto." Alabaster cut in, understanding the child's wish to keep her friends safe. "I take it you did not try to dissuade Christian from this plan? Besides, did you not name this rescue team 'Nakama' for a reason? We are, as you are fond of saying, 'nakama', and I will not leave you two to risk your lives without me." Green eyes met red and Shea nodded solemnly.
"Thank you Alabaster. We leave for the Hill of the Ancients in the morning, and from there, to the sky." And with that, the Eevee rose to her paws and bounded away. Alabaster did not move for several minutes, watching the ridge she'd disappeared behind. She was concealing something. A deep pain; something deeper than the knowledge that her teammates were going to be in danger yet again. A hopelessness that the Absol hadn't seen since she'd admitted to her past as a human while on the run, and what that might have entailed.
Alabaster shook his head and rose to his feet, lightly hopping down the rocky surface. He had to prepare himself to protect the two children that called him 'nakama'. That called him 'family'.
Boo. Yup, just a handful of drabbles that I found cleaning out yet another of my writing files. Not connected to any other stories but themselves. I'd always wondered how everyone else was handling the apocalypse, and this is the result. Thanks for reading, and please leave a message if you liked it :)