Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
Light in the Shadows | Chapter 1
Astrally Inclined
"Screwed? I wouldn't say that." Sahara turned around to find the source of the voice, a slick-looking Liepard. He was taller than Sahara, and had a neutral expression at that moment.
"He's the reason for this," Luz said, pointing to her broken leg.
"What? No." He smirked. The cave shook, making Sahara nearly drop Luz. The Liepard didn't move at all.
"Jeez, stop that!" Luz shouted.
"It isn't me!" Sahara yelled at equal volume.
"You're gonna be stuck here for a while," the Liepard said. "I can wait for the rearranging."
"Do you know a way out?" Sahara said. She didn't like the Liepard's slyness one bit.
"Maybe. But then...I'll have to take you to my boss. And he would…" He trailed off. He turned to the left. "Someone's coming," he added.
"Bad for him means good for us," Luz said. "Just wait."
"Oh, you want their help? Fine then." The Liepard slashed at Sahara's legs, making both her and Luz fall to the ground. Then he kicked Sahara several feet, her fur dragging along the rocks. All the while Sahara stayed silent.
She tried to get up, and managed to get on two legs before the Liepard put his hand on Sahara's back. "Bad choice." Sahara felt a strong pulse that knocked her at a wall. Liepard walked toward her, kicking Luz to the side.
"Y'know, if you had just left the cat alone, you wouldn't be in this mess," the Liepard said.
"Never. She's my best friend," Sahara spat.
"Fine." The Liepard picked up Sahara, who was too weak to struggle and too defiant to speak. "Any last words?" She still said nothing. "None? Alright then," Liepard said. Sahara closed her eyes…
...and Liepard dropped Sahara. He staggered behind him and fell over Luz's chest. Luz grunted in pain. Sahara looked toward the closest exit. A Glaceon was in the entryway, staring directly into the Liepard's eyes. Behind her, Sahara could see a Leafeon, and a tall, wrinkly Recalitty. He finally came back, Sahara thought.
The Glaceon and Leafeon walked into the room. "Can you stand?" the former shouted to Sahara and Luz. Sahara nodded as she got up. Luz said no, and so the Leafeon helped her up.
"I'll leave you here to think about attacking my daughter," Mr. Kintaria said. "Lizzari, Arbol, Sahara, with me." All three followed the old Recalitty out of the cave, a winding path that Sahara was sure she wouldn't have figured out by herself.
"You alright?" Arbol said as Torch Valley was coming into sight. "You look utterly spooked." Sahara knew Arbol, he lived down the street from her. She shook her head. "We'll explain in a little bit." He winked, but clearly seemed uncomfortable helping Luz walk. Either way, all five of them eventually stopped and walked into a building, slightly bigger than a house.
"Betcha didn't even notice this building," Arbol said as he set Luz down on a couch. "It's Team Snowtorch's base. That's us." He walked into another room.
Lizzari took off her hat and sat down next to Luz. She sighed, and Luz shivered, which Lizzari ignored. "You're lucky," the Glaceon said. "One more minute and you all would be mincemeat."
"Who was that, anyway?" Sahara asked.
"Seemed like just a sleazy Liepard," Luz said.
"You may be right," Lizzari agreed. "But then, maybe he's Yunavika, in which case we need to watch out." She sighed again as she looked toward the ceiling. "I didn't think they'd come out this far."
"You're sad this small town's finally getting some action?" Mr. Kintaria said.
"Action. Heh. Sure," Luz said. "That I'm going to completely miss out on because I can't even walk on this leg!"
"You're a real character, y'know Luzfira?" Lizzari said with a chuckle.
"How d'you-" Luz started, and then she realized. "Right. Duh. My dad must've told you."
"Plus, Arbol fawns over you," Sahara said.
"I know, right?" Lizzari agreed.
"Right," Arbol said as he walked back in. He pointed to Lizzari. "And you like that Cloudeon boy in Cherryriver."
"I don't!" Lizzari nearly shouted.
"What was that song Mint would sing? 'Lizzy and Lucas sitting in a tree?'"
"Stop that! At least...she only said one sentence!" She blushed. Sahara didn't know this "Lucas," or any "Team Cherryriver," but it was clear Lizzari liked him.
"My name's Sahara," she said to stifle her laughter.
"You're right, that was too far," Arbol said. "Then again, you don't talk to anyone 'cuz of that necklace, so you probably like anyone you say more than a few sentences to."
That got Lizzari's attention. She stood up and grabbed the tuft of fur on Arbol's chest. "Don't. Say. Anything. About. That. Again," she said, each word dripping with anger.
"Okay, okay! I just thought they were alright 'cuz they're friends of Mr. Kintaria's!" Lizzari released the Leafeon from her grasp. "Jeez, lighten up, will ya?"
"Lizzy has a point," Luz's father said from the kitchen. "Only Team Snowtorch should know about that."
"Um, excuse me," Sahara said, walking between the two teammates. "What is so important about that necklace?" Everyone except Luz sighed.
"You let the cat out of the bag now," Lizzari said.
"What bag?" Luz asked, sounding worried. Sahara looked directly at her and shook her head. Now was not the time for jokes about idioms.
"The characterness doesn't stop," Lizzari said with a chuckle. She either didn't realize it was a joke or didn't care. She turned to Sahara with a smile, but started staring at the bracelet that Sahara was wearing. Her eyes widened.
"What's up?" Sahara said. She looked at the bracelet, nothing was happening with it. The crystal had stopped glowing before they even left the dungeon.
Lizzari looked up and pointed to the Quakeon. "You. In the meeting room. With me. Now." She motioned toward a room in the back of the house. "And none of the rabble," she said, clearly mostly to Arbol. Sahara followed Lizzari into the meeting room, she didn't have much of a choice. The room had a table with six chairs in it. On the back wall was a white board with the words "Team Snowtorch" across the top.
"Sit, if you want," Lizzari said. Both remained standing. "Alright, then." Lizzari sighed. "So, you got lost in a dungeon, right?"
"Yeah," Sahara said. "That's where I found this."
"Hoo boy," Lizzari said. "This'll be really long, but whatever. Dungeons are weird places, they change every so often and are filled with wild Pokémon. Mr. Kintaria-he's quite knowledgeable about things-he thinks they've got some sort of connection with astral energy. I don't know for sure, but I do know that that's where you found a Chain Crystal, and that's also where this comes from.
"This is a Star Fragment." She pointed to her necklace. "I found it on Mount Aster eight years ago, and I've kept it hidden in plain sight for eight years. You know why? Because it allows me to do this." In the blink of an eye, Lizzari appeared across the room.
"Whoa," Sahara marvelled. "How did you…?"
"Lightspeed. This thing's almost entirely kathmandium, Astrayshi's blood. Most can't use it, but if any of them, even Pokémon that can't use astral energy, knew that's what this did, we'd have people trying to kick the door down 24/7," Lizzari said as she walked back. "Buuuut most of them are ignorant or have no idea what it actually looks like, so lucky me, I can just wear it around my neck and not be a showoff about it."
"What about this?" Sahara said, holding up her bracelet.
"That...that'll be able to use astral bolts that sap the life outta someone. If you can use it, that is. Don't try it on my annoying teammate if you wanna be in Team Snowtorch. I presume you want to join?"
"I guess, why wouldn't I?"
"Because you're clearly a target now, if that Liepard was anything to go by," Lizzari said. "Yunavika are the ones smart enough to know that that's not a Groundium Z or something."
"Yunavika? What's that about?"
"Ahh, you've got some catching up to do. Neo-Yunavika, as they call themselves, are based on a cult created by Ezuku a while back in Zantaru. I presume you've heard of them?"
"Yeah," Sahara said. Thank you, history classes! I never thought I'd be thinking that.
"Well, these guys want the same thing. Because soon afterward, the Amikans up and disappeared again. They think they'll be able to do what the original couldn't. That is, actually control a thousand-year-old demon instead of letting her run wild after killing the leader. Of course, right now they're being more of a Mafia than anything else. Guess they, too, need funds. Amen for economic depressions!" Lizzari said sarcastically as the door opened.
"You done in here?" Mr. Kintaria said. "Luz and I were worried."
"Just about," Sahara said. She started walking out. "And I wanna join."
"Join?" Mr. Kintaria said confusedly.
"I told her she should join Team Snowtorch for protection," Lizzari said.
"Ah. Y'know, Luzfira can't technically join the Team yet. Just because she's my daughter doesn't mean I'm changing the rule."
"I don't care."
Mr. Kintaria raised an eyebrow. "Okay then. I'll just have to write some stuff down, but then you're in," he said. "You sure about this?"
"Yeah. My parents want me to have a job, and this sounds more fun than most of the stuff here in Torch Valley."
"That's one way of putting it," Luz's father said. "Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes." He started to walk away.
"Remember, it's Sahara Ketalla!" Sahara shouted. Mr. Kintaria had a tendency to forget Sahara's family name, which Sahara didn't mind. She just liked to joke about it.
"Of course," Luz's father said with a chuckle. He walked into another room and shut the door behind him.
"Well, welcome to Team Snowtorch." Lizzari said. "Tomorrow, we'll take some kind of request, I think."
"You're the boss," Arbol said.
"Uh...hello?" Lucas, a Cloudeon in a different team, said. He was being stopped by a very tall, strange-looking Pokémon directly in his way. How did he notice this Pokémon? By bumping into her.
"What?" the stranger said, clearly annoyed at the simple greeting. She turned around. Her gray-blue pelt looked normal enough, but her eyes were blue with white irises, chilling Lucas more than the green tail and ears. "I do not need any help," she said. Probably she noticed the "uniform" (of a bandana, stereotypical Explorer Team getup) Lucas was wearing.
"I just need to get past." The stranger was almost completely blocking the sidewalk. He tried to squeeze past to the right, but couldn't thanks to the pole the stranger started leaning against. Lucas had to back up and walk past the other direction. One would think with a pelt almost covered in clouds like a Whimsicott, that that would have worked.
"You are trying to not get past," the strange Pokémon said with a laugh. She sounded weird, like she was struggling to breathe.
"This is awkward," Lucas stated.
"Actually, I need help. Where does...uh...Team Cherryriver meet?" the stranger asked.
"I am part of that team," Lucas said, not entirely in answer. "I can take you there. Do you wish to join?"
"Maybe. Is Sahara in this place?" The stranger coughed after this.
"Hmm...I don't know of any Sahara, why?" Lucas inquired.
"I need to find her before somebody else does," she said vaguely.
"Pronoun game. Nice. Just come on, maybe we can find this Sahara." Lucas led the strange Pokémon to the Adventure Hall, where she started a coughing fit, which startled Furea right by the door.
"Are you alright?!" Furea, Lucas's Flareon teammate, asked. She ran over to the strange Pokémon, who coughed several more times before affirming that she was alright. "I am sorry," she added.
"It sounds like you're sick," Lucas said.
"I am not," the stranger said matter-of-factly. She sounded slightly better than she did before. "I wish to join this Team Cherryriver."
"Huh?" Mr. Zandari, the longtime owner of the Explorer Team, said.
"I said, I wish to join Team Cherryriver!" the stranger shouted, though it wasn't much louder.
"Oh. Okay. Name?" he asked. He could be a pain in the butt.
The stranger took a moment to answer. Finally, she said, "Ketalla. Chernuki Ketalla."