When Pokemon are bored, they can attempt to do a variety of things. They can, for instance, attempt petty crimes and then hide themselves away, waiting for their chance to do it again. Also among the possibilities is to explore uncharted caves, woods and the occasional ominous tower. These landmarks are known as Mystery Dungeons and have a habit of gobbling up unassuming Pokemon and letting them become lost in the ever-changing rooms that make up the dungeons. Another common pastime for Pokemon is to group together and form a band of explorers that either rescue the lost or punish the wicked. These Exploration Teams seek adventure, glory and fortune. Many teams are themselves gathered under the leadership of one or a few individuals, to form an organization known as a guild. Other teams however are not interested in sharing the loot. They venture into the Mystery Dungeons, knowing that great rewards could be just a single staircase away. But sometimes adventure, glory and fortune will have to make room for relaxation.
Deep in the Concealed Ruins, a cave that's not at all hard to get into, lies a single seed. It's the dream of every seed to be eaten for a good purpose, and as such this seed would have felt a great surge of excitement if it could've sensed the shadow approaching it to pick it up.
"A Blast Seed. Bummer, could've actually been a useful find."
"Well well Shuppet, are you saying this mission will require one more Reviver Seed?"
The Shuppet who had picked up the Blast Seed threw it against a wall and turned around with an insulted look on his face.
"Yeah right! We can take this one with ease, Duskull. I wanted a Pure Seed to get there faster."
Duskull kept floating in one place, the one eye behind his face playfully jumping from one hole to the other.
"Even an easy target could surprise you. And I'm not sure if our one Reviver Seed will carry us through a nasty surprise."
Duskull turned around and headed for the corridor. Shuppet sighed and followed.
"You're too high on the Reviver Seeds." Shuppet said. 'We never use them, so they just take up space in our bags. Space in which we could fit another TM."
"My so called "being high" on Reviver Seeds can't even begin to match your TM craze." Duskull replied. "And TMs are usually the things we end up just stashing in the safe."
"I keep telling you, someday we'll be happy that we stashed all the TMs. It would be a nice little surprise of our own, wouldn't you say?"
Duskull and Shuppet exited the corridor to find the stairs just a short distance away. Shuppet sighed in exhausted relief.
"Finally. We had to scour the entire floor for this one. Stairs that take ages to find are just the worst."
"We're almost there, Shuppet. Once we go down there it will be one floor away."
Shuppet slowly floated towards the staircase.
"What's the point of being a crook if you're just going to go deep into a dungeon and then just do nothing?"
Duskull looked at his job list for a few seconds, then put it away and headed for the staircase.
"They just do that to make it easy for us to find them. Now let's go."
As Shuppet and Duskull went down the stairs, the Blast Seed lied back in the previous room without a single Pokemon to pick it up. It would have felt shunned and sad. But seeds can't feel. Only dream.
On the next floor Shuppet and Duskull looked around the room, only to find the stairs right behind them, as well as an orb lying in the corner. As Duskull went and picked it up, Shuppet looked visibly happy.
"These are the times where I'm thankful for the random nature of these places. Can you imagine what it would be like if all floors were like the last one?"
"You would talk even more, I imagine." Duskull said as he handed the orb to Shuppet. "So believe me when I say we should both be thankful."
Shuppet pouted and took a look at the orb that was just handed to him.
"Welp, a Luminous Orb is usually handy. Not so much when we're right at our destination. This one's going in the bag."
Shuppet pulled the Treasure Bag from under his cloth, put the Luminous Orb in it and then concealed the bag under his cloth again.
"Do you ever wonder what having arms would be like? I can carry the bag just fine, but having ready access to it would be a little bit more convenient."
Duskull looked at his partner.
"You can gain arms by evolving. If you crave arms so much, you should stop hesitating to evolve."
Shuppet shrugged.
"I can learn moves faster as a Shuppet. I think a little extra power is more important than satisfying my curiosity surrounding arms. Besides, having opponents underestimate you is a nice little advantage."
Duskull sighed and turned around to look at the staircase.
"Don't you hoard TMs specifically so you don't have to worry about gaining moves by level?"
Shuppet shook his head and floated towards the stairs.
"Well, if I gain moves by level I can recall them for free at the Link Shop. Then we can just sell the TMs or give them to you. Either way, we benefit from it. But enough talk, I want to complete this mission and get out. I'm getting hungry."
"Then don't ignore the Apples we find. It's one thing to starve yourself for no reason, it's another thing to complain about your own poor decisions." Duskull said.
"We're here now, aren't we?' Shuppet said. 'When we get to fighting our target I won't even feel it."
Duskull sighed and headed down the stairs together with Shuppet.
16 floors under the entrance to the Concealed Ruins, Shuppet and Duskull descended down the stairs to find another Pokemon's back. Shuppet looked at Duskull, who nodded and floated towards the back.
"I presume you've been waiting for us, Bastiodon?" Duskull asked.
The back turned to reveal the face of a Bastiodon, angry and slightly disgruntled.
"Who're you guys?" Bastiodon grunted.
Shuppet grinned and floated through the room. He stopped in a straight line with the Bastiodon, scanned him thoroughly and then looked at Duskull.
"He's our guy. I can sense it on him."
Duskull nodded and pulled out the job list.
"Bastiodon, a B-rank thief who stole a Clear Gummi from a hapless Sneasel. We've taken it upon us to take you out and then take you in. Resistance would be foolish, but knowing your type it's the one thing on your mind right now."
Shuppet closed his mouth but kept smiling. He looked at the Bastiodon while shaking his head.
"A Clear Gummi? Why would you steal a Gummi that you can't even use to its full potential? Sounds like a waste of perfectly good food to me." Shuppet briefly glanced at Duskull before returning his attention to Bastiodon. "Although from what I can tell, any little bit of IQ is highly welcome in your case."
Bastiodon lowered his head, looking ready to charge.
"I hate little punks like you the most. I can tell just by looking at you; all talk, no strength to back it up. You guys have bigger worries than how I use my Gummi."
Shuppet shook his head again, annoyed at this development.
"They never even think of just surrendering. Always fighting."
He then looked at Duskull, who nodded and began focusing.
A little purple orb appeared in front of Duskull's face, which expanded to a larger orb with a black core. Then Bastiodon moved to charge at Shuppet, and his head began shining a bright silver light.
"Take this, worm! Iron Head!"
Shuppet smiled and flew out of the way.
"Someone with your puny speed will never lay a finger on me." Shuppet taunted. "Hit him, Duskull!"
The orb had grown to almost the size of Duskull himself, who looked ready to launch it.
"Now you'll feel pain. Shadow Ball!"
Duskull threw the Shadow Ball at Bastiodon, hitting him in the side. There was a green flash and a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared Bastiodon was still standing, laughing at Duskull.
"Feel pain? I hardly felt anything! Why did you even try taking me on when you have nothing to hurt a Steel type like me?"
Duskull shook his head and Shuppet laughed.
"Did you just not see the green flash?" Shuppet said. "Man, you must be half-blind. Not even the sand is an excuse, as both Rock and Steel Pokemon are unaffected by it."
Bastiodon lowered his head again.
"Who cares about a green flash? When an attack can't hurt me, it's a failure. And so are you guys."
Shuppet grinned.
"Know your attacks, buddy. Shadow Ball doesn't just deal damage, it can also lower your Special Defense. Your defenses are usually good, but when you think you can just ignore something like that I'd say that you still have some work to do."
Several lights started surrounding Shuppet. The lights expanded into a chain of little orbs.
"Not that we'll let you do any work, of course."
Bastiodon charged at Shuppet again for another Iron Head. Shuppet launched the orbs at him in response.
"Hidden Power!"
When the attack hit Bastiodon there was another flash followed by another cloud of dust. Bastiodon stopped charging and fell over. He dropped a little white Gummi, which was picked up by Duskull. Duskull took a badge from under his hood and turned it towards Bastiodon. A bright pillar of light light engulfed Bastiodon and took him through the ceiling for the room. Duskull then approached Shuppet.
"That's the end of that mission, Shuppet. Are you content?"
Shuppet stretched and looked at Duskull, relaxed.
"Of course. Little feels better than finally turning someone in and returning home."
Duskull nodded.
"Good. There's little for you to complain about at the end of a mission."
"Whatever" Shuppet replied. He came closer to Duskull, who turned the badge on both Pokemon. Both were engulfed by the same bright pillars of light that took away Bastiodon, and they were pulled through the ceiling. When the pulling stopped Shuppet opened his eyes, seeing Duskull and himself standing in front of the entrance of the Concealed Ruins. Seeing the entrance for a second time today gave Shuppet a better feeling then anything that happened on this day. A feeling of a job well done. He then turned to Duskull, with a smile on his face.
"Hey Duskull."
"What is it?" Duskull asked.
"Things wouldn't have gone so smoothly without my TM for Hidden Power, would they?"
Duskull sighed, tired of the old TM argument.
"It was merely a lucky coincidence that today's target happened to be weak to Fighting. For all you knew our criminal could've been a Venomoth, making it a waste of TMs."
"You're just jealous. Don't be ashamed, I would be too if my Hidden Power were something completely trivial like Dark type."
"You and I both know that the Dark type is anything but trivial."
Shuppet floated up and down, entertained by the discussion. Arguments are made when the job is done, and make him feel a nice sense of closure.
"Dark types are good, I'll give them that. It's just that your own type covers anything that your Hidden Power could be effective against. It shows that you're destined for mundane attacks."
"Hush, you." Duskull glared at Shuppet.
Shuppet grinned. Then he sensed a Pokemon holding a badge coming in from the distance behind him. Not an Exploration Badge, which is sent to every Exploration Team, but a badge belonging to the local law enforcement. When he turned to look he saw that they were being approached by Deputy Growlithe, carrying a large sum of money and a Sitrus Berry.
"Good afternoon, Growlithe." Duskull said.
"Good afternoon, guys." Growlithe replied. He dropped the money and berry next to Duskull's shadow.
"Good work in there. We have our hands full with the recent surge of Magnemite in the Amp Plains. We appreciate that at least some teams are willing to do the smaller tasks."
Duskull looked serious.
"Are the Magnemite such a problem?"
"Why, yes." Growlithe said. "There are quite a lot of them and they are unusually organized. And when we finally get them down they just merge into Magneton. I'm telling you, they just never seem to stop. Shame too. I can just tell that having such forces on our side would give us a major advantage. Would help keeping all the crooks down as well."
Growlithe turned around and looked ready to walk away. Then he turned his head to Shuppet and Duskull.
"I'm going to join my team again shortly. Our Fire attacks make us big players in the battle against the Magnemite. You're going to have to return that Gummi yourself."
"Understood." Duskull nodded. "Good luck in your battles."
Growlithe nodded himself.
"Thanks, Team… uhh…"
Shuppet sighed and approached Growlithe.
"Team Phaselings. We'd appreciate it if you wouldn't forget the name the team that did you such a great favour."
"Very well."
Growlithe turned his head and walked away. Shuppet noticed Duskull glaring at him.
"What?" he asked. "Forgetting our name is rude."
Duskull shook his head.
"Rude or not, it's important to stay on the good side of Pokemon. Especially those that are in charge of our rewards."
Shuppet shrugged and went down to pick up the money and the Sitrus Berry.
"5,000 Poké isn't bad. We could buy some more TMs with that money."
Duskull floated away.
"I'm not getting through at all, am I? Come on, we still need to return that Gummi."
Shuppet put the Sitrus Berry in the bag and floated after Duskull.
"Coming, coming. Lighten up a little. For my sake, okay?"
When Duskull and Shuppet arrived at the Job Boards in Slowking's Guild, they found a single Sneasel that looked as if he had been waiting for some time. He looked relieved when he noticed the pair and walked up them.
"I heard the good news from Deputy Growlithe. Thanks, Team Phaselings!" Sneasel said.
Shuppet grabbed the stolen Clear Gummi out of the Treasure Bag and gave it to Duskull, who returned it to Sneasel.
"There you go."
Sneasel nodded, then looked as if he was mulling something over.
"You seem conflicted." Duskull said. "Is there something we forgot?"
Sneasel shook his head.
"No, you guys didn't forget anything. It's just… well…"
"What is it?" Shuppet said with a slight hint of impatience in his voice.
"I was just wondering if I could join Team Phaselings." Sneasel decided. "If something ever gets stolen from me again I want to be able to get it back myself."
Duskull briefly looked at Shuppet, as if they were discussing something without the use of words, then looked at Sneasel again with something resembling a faint smile.
"My friend, Team Phaselings cannot possibly accept such generosity. You expect us to request your service after robbing you of your money and inventory as well? I'm going to have to be frank, you're far too kind for this team. Such a well-meaning Pokemon should be head of his own team, in due time of course."
Sneasel looked a bit flustered before nodding, showing that he accepted being declined. Duskull turned for the exit.
"Now then, shall we head off for the day?" he asked.
Shuppet sighed and headed for the exit along with Duskull. After they exited the guild Shuppet stretched.
"At least I can always count on you to blow off the potential recruits." he said.
"Of course." Duskull answered. "If not we'd be overrun with herdless sheep. I have no intention of playing shepherd."
"Man, I bet we're the only Team that made it to Ultra Rank with just one pair of unevolved Pokemon."
"Are you complaining over your unevolved status, Shuppet?"
"I already explained that to you not so long ago. And you know about the agreement we made. We'll both reach our final stage together."
"I'm glad that we both still remember. Now let's head home. I'm exhausted."
"Exhausted? C'mon, that mission was basically a freebie. I'm still feeling a bit lazy to be honest."
"Apparently being you is much less exhaustive than following you around." Duskull said.
Shuppet had a grin on his face for the entire duration of the trip home.
Next to the entrance to the Beach Cave was a door. It was a very ordinary wooden door, with only a tiny sign on it that said "Phaselings' Door". This door functioned as the entrance to the team's home. It also served the basic function of a locked door whenever the team was out for missions. Duskull grabbed a key from behind its mask and opened the door.
Phaselings' Home wasn't more than one room, which had always been enough to make a comfortable living. There was a single bed, a table and a few stools. There was also a Kangaskhan statue for item storage, a basket for used items and a chest in which the money went. Being essentially a cave, there was no natural light in this place. The two got around that problem by teaching Flash to Duskull.
Duskull descended on the bed and Shuppet descended on a stool. There were a few seconds of silence.
"Any lingering thoughts about today's mission?" Duskull asked.
Shuppet shook his head. "None. Go down there in that dungeon and take out today's bad guy. Nothing to keep in mind."
"Then you probably wouldn't mind if I went to sleep now. It's become rather late, don't you think so?"
"Yeah." Shuppet said. "Good night Duskull."
"Good night Shuppet."
That night, Shuppet stayed up. He always stayed up. Having never slept once, Shuppet found the night to be the most boring period of the day. Duskull had forbidden him to go on missions without supervision from a capable partner, and Treasure Town was always almost completely empty at night, with the occasional Vigoroth and Delibird still hanging around. Shuppet could only think at these times.
Team Phaselings had at times thought about joining Slowking's Guild, the biggest Guild in the civilized community. Having readier access to the Job Boards would help with choosing suitable missions. Members of the Guild are usually the first to fill their job lists, leaving independent teams like Team Phaselings with the leftover missions. As a result, the team rarely gets a mission with a high risk and a high reward, slowing their growth both as a team and as combatants. But after some consideration the pair decided against it. Those who join a guild are stuck as apprentices, who are the ones to do the tasks that are far below even the leftover missions. Guilds also take 90 % of the money the teams earn on their missions. For Team Phaselings the weights on the scale are quite uneven.
Shuppet turned around and barely saw Duskull sleeping on the bed, his white mask the only visible thing about him. He felt almost unnoticeable feelings of gratitude. The two were both Team Phaselings, but Shuppet would say that Duskull was more part of it than himself. Duskull took care of the tasks that made a team a team. He picked the missions, managed the items (even if Shuppet usually carries the bag) and handles the Pokemon who'd want to make conversation with the team. Fighting was Shuppet's forte. They wouldn't have come far without his capabilities for combat. But Duskull takes the rest of the responsibilities. Even lasting through Shuppet's boredom.
Suddenly Shuppet could sense that a Pokemon had entered their home. He didn't know who the Pokemon was, only that it was holding a Sleep Seed. The Sleep Seed was moving at a slow pace, so Shuppet carefully grabbed the bag and approached the door to the hallway connecting their room to the entrance of the Beach Cave. After the Sleep Seed had stopped moving Shuppet opened the door.
"Wrong place for you to break into, buddy." he told the thick darkness.
Not a moment after saying that could Shuppet no longer sense the Sleep Seed. Then he felt something hard hitting his head and releasing a heavy gas. Shuppet wasn't fazed.
"Honestly, I'm loving your magic show, but you're going to have to leave right now. We have plenty of space in which we could fit your unmoving body."
Shuppet reached for the bag and pulled out the Luminous Orb he found earlier that day. He held it up to his face with his cloth. Then a light shone from the Orb and the hallway was lighted up.
Shuppet looked around the hallway. Not a Pokemon in sight. He looked behind him into their room. Nothing there either. He couldn't sense any items around the area, so he held up the Orb to his face again. The Orb began absorbing the light it had just brought into the hallway, making it completely dark again. Shuppet could then feel the Orb break. He went into the room, put the pieces of the Orb into the basket for used items and lay down to think again.
He wasn't able to identify the Pokemon, yet judging from how it disappeared right after throwing the Sleep Seed it was either a fast Pokemon or a Ghost. And a Ghost Pokemon would have preferred to go through the walls instead of the front door. The Pokemon threw the Seed immediately after Shuppet announced his presence, so Shuppet suspected that it was a Pokemon with ill intentions. Most Pokemon know better than to invade their house at night, with the ever-awake Shuppet there as a scary watchdog. This Pokemon was probably aware of that, as it chose to flee instead of engage Shuppet in battle. Maybe it was because he lost the advantage of the darkness. The improbability of it being a Ghost Pokemon meant that it was more than likely a Dark Pokemon in that case, and a fast one too. Dark Pokemon would also have a type advantage of a pair of Ghost Pokemon. The only Dark Pokemon that Shuppet could think of with enough speed to exit the hallway right before being spotted were Sneasel and Weavile, its evolution. While Shuppet had no way of knowing for sure, it was rather likely that it was either of those two.
A few hours later Shuppet could hear Duskull groan.
"Morning." Shuppet said.
"Good morning." Duskull said in turn. "Did anything happen while I was asleep?"
"Actually, something did." Less than three seconds after that was said the room was brightened by Duskull's Flash and Shuppet could see Duskull's face, more awake than usual.
"What exactly transpired?" Duskull asked.
"Nothing really big. Some punk just tried to assault us armed with nothing but a Sleep Seed. Bolted right out when that didn't work."
"Interesting." Shuppet could see Duskull thinking. "Did you get to see who it was?"
"It was gone before I could make anything out. Scared of the light probably. A fast runner though, I'll give it that."
"Any theories?"
"Yes actually." It was merely speculation, but Shuppet felt that it was worth sharing. "It attacked us in the dark, yet it used the front door. That means that it's most likely to be a Dark type, right?"
"That seems reasonable" Duskull said. "And if it could run out before you could notice its appearance I would say that it was a fast one."
Shuppet nodded. "That's what I thought. The only Dark Pokemon that I could see doing that are Sneasel and Weavile."
"But we don't know any Sneasel or Weavile." Duskull said. "So it could've been a hired assault."
"We do know one Sneasel actually. Just one."
Duskull spent several seconds thinking about what Shuppet had just said, then shook his head.
"Yesterday's client? I believe you had too much time to think about it. I just don't see it happen."
"It's our most probably lead." Shuppet said. "I thought that he was a little weird. Maybe even the kind of type who would try to sneak up on the team that rejected him."
"You suspect a lot of Pokemon. That one just made the error of being a bit shy around you."
Duskull stood up and stretched a bit. Shuppet saw that he didn't take his theory seriously.
"Let's just agree that for now we don't have enough leads. We will figure this out." Duskull said. "Now let us go and pick today's mission."
Shuppet opened the door. "I hear you. Later."