Here it is; the second chapter of this story. Please enjoy… and remember, I only have rights to four of the characters in this story, okay? Good.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: The Stones of Virtue
Chapter 2
The Trio's Story
Spade stared after Club as he left the room, wondering what was going through the Combusken's head. He turned to his two friends as things began to settle down after Club's arrival.
"Hey, Spade…" Diamond spoke up, attracting the Noibat's attention. "How exactly did you find Club?"
"I accidently rammed into him while he was climbing out of some hollow tree," Spade answered. The Phantomp looked both shocked and hopeful at this news, and the hopeful part wasn't missed by his flying and dragon type friend. "Before you ask, take into account that I was alone and was ramming head-first into someone I didn't know." The hopeful aspect of Diamond's expression was replaced with embarrassment at almost asking a stupid question.
"So… you didn't see or hear anything?" Heart spoke up, surprisingly calm.
"No, I didn't," Spade responded.
"Do you want to…?" Diamond began to speak up, already knowing what Spade was going to answer with.
"You know I don't like using it to learn people's secrets… but with Club, I get the feeling we may not have a choice in the matter. I want him to tell us of his own free will… but we're going to be teammates, so there can't be any secrets between us. Which means we'll have to tell him about…" Spade could not bring himself to finish that sentence.
"Your Dimensional Scream." Diamond finished it instead. Spade sighed in resignation.
"I know…" the Noibat stared down at the floor, dreading the idea of telling Club about his ability. Heart and Diamond looked at Spade in sympathy, knowing exactly how much the Noibat disliked his power to see the past or future tied to anything he came in physical contact with.
It was at this exact moment that Club walked back into the room, having used his walk around the tree to change his mind about keeping his status as a human a secret. After seeing their strong admiration of Team Shell Bell, he realized that he made a mistake by deciding to hide what he really was, especially if the members of Team Shell Bell were who he thought they were.
"Hey, guys…" Club started hesitantly, "There's something I need to tell you…"
"Club… there's something we need to tell you, too," Diamond spoke, Heart remaining amazingly silent.
"How about you guys go first," Club was trying to delay his confession now.
"Okay… Spade, if you would do the honors."
The Noibat sighed in defeat. "Club… I'm going to just come out and say it. I have a special power called the 'Dimensional Scream'. With that, I can see the past or future of anything I touch, so long as I have a trusted partner with me."
Club blinked in bewilderment. "Uh… really?"
"Yes… need a demonstration or something?" Heart asked in irritation. Was this flaming chicken questioning her friend's honesty?
"Uh…" Club thought it over, and then held his claw out to Spade. "Why not?"
Sighing heavily, Spade reached his wing out and grasped Club's proffered claw, bracing himself for the wave of dizziness that came with his Dimensional Scream.
A human boy with flaming red hair, a gruesome scar over the top of his nose, and brown eyes walked along the grimy alleyways of a large, bright, circular city, hands shoved into the pockets of his worn, tattered pants. He glanced up as he noticed a tall, red-haired man standing in front of him.
"You poor boy…" the man muttered in sympathy. "You've been living on these streets for a long time, haven't you?"
"What was your first clue?" the boy snapped back.
"I can offer you better living conditions… all you have to do is work for me at my company. Could I have your name, please?"
The boy was silent for a while before he finally spoke up. "It's Club. Club Marx."
Spade was somewhat surprised by what he saw. Club used to be a human like Team Shell Bell!?
"I'm guessing that's what you wanted to tell us…" he muttered out loud. Club rose an eye ridge in confusion.
"What?" Club asked in confusion. His eyes widened seconds later as realization hit him. "You mean… you know about…?"
"How you used to be human like the members of Team Shell Bell?" Spade responded, much to Heart and Diamond's surprise. "Yup."
Club suddenly found the floor incredibly interesting. A split second later, he was tackled down to it by a green and white dancing fairy without wings.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US EARLIER!?" Heart screamed in insulted fury. "WE'RE GOING TO BE TEAMMATES TOMARROW! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS LITTLE SECRET OF YOURS!?"
"Well, how the heck was I supposed to know you wouldn't have hated me for being human?" Club asked in defense. This girl had two types that he, as a Fire and Fighting type, matched up badly with. He didn't want to make things worse for himself. "Besides, I could be asking you guys the same thing. Is there any particular reason why you three didn't tell me about Spade's ability earlier?"
At the mention of that, Spade started staring at the floor in despair. "It's because I… I can't stand my power…"
"Why's that?" Club asked, finally managing to push Heart off of him. All three of them looked uncomfortable at the former human's question.
"Well… to understand that… we will have to tell you how the three of us met each other," Diamond explained. "You see, Heart's family lifted with me in this hollow tree, but her parents had to leave while she was still a little Ralts to allow her psychic powers to develop properly… this is common behavior among Psychic types, so don't let it bother you. Over time, we became something akin to siblings, living together, laughing, and having occasional arguments… after a few years of this… Spade came into our lives…"
Flashback Time…
Heart, still a little Ralts at this point in time, was shuffling along through the forest with a collection of berries in her arms when she stopped, having felt something wet land on her head. Seconds later, it started raining heavily, and she started to pick up her pace, searching for shelter from the downpour. Finally, she found a large, hollow log that she could hide in until the weather passed. The tiny Ralts wasted no time in taking refuge inside the log, gazing out into the downpour. Suddenly, she heard someone crying nearby, and turned around to see a Noibat -Spade- huddled deeper inside the log. Cautiously, she shuffled a little closer to the Flying and Dragon type in front of her.
"Hey…" She asked timidly. "What's wrong?"
"Go away…" the Noibat muttered in sorrow.
"But I want to help…"
"I SAID GO AWAY, FAIRY SCUM!" The young Ralts took a step back in shock. The Noibat suddenly realized the serious mistake he just made. "I-I'm so sorry, please don't hurt me!"
"I-it's okay, really," Ralts assured the Noibat. "I'm not offended. Please… just… tell me what's wrong."
Noibat sighed in defeat as he refused to make eye contact with the Psychic and Fairy type present with him. "Alright… I used to live with a colony of Noibat and Noivern in the mountains nearby. The other Noibat liked to play tricks on me and do mock battles with me. One day… I was on a stroll with my parents, and we got lost on the way back to the colony. While we were wondering around, we met a Druddigon who offered to let us stay with him until we could find our way back to our own colony. But… the truth was that the Druddigon was a wanted criminal, and he was leading us to his lair... and when we got there… he and his gang attacked my parents and I… I… I ABANDONED THEM AND FLED!" Noibat suddenly started balling his eyes out, Ralts doing everything in her power to try and comfort him. "WHY!"
"Hey, hey it's alright, really."
"WHY WAS I SUCH A COWARD!?"
"It's alright, you need to calm down, please."
"They're… they're both dead… my parents are both dead and it's all my fault!"
"Please… wait, what makes you say that?" The Noibat immediately shut up at that question.
"Well… the thing is… When the Druddigon offered to lead us to his place, he bumped shoulders with me. When that happened, I suddenly felt all dizzy, and then… I saw a vision of that Druddigon slashing my parents' throats. At the time, I dismissed it as my imagination, but when he attacked us…" he couldn't finish that sentence. He just couldn't. Ralts suddenly realized that this Noibat had an extremely rare power at his disposal. "I left my parents to die…" the Noibat muttered again, all out of tears to cry. "I'm alone…"
"Don't say that," Ralts chided the Noibat sternly. "You're not alone. You're never alone. You have me now… and I know that my friend will be there for you as well. Please… would you stay with me and my friend?"
"What?" Noibat was surprised at this Ralts's offer.
"You don't have to be alone…"
Noibat stared at Ralts as she held a hand out for him. This girl… This fairy-type was willing to offer sanctuary to a Dragon-type like him? He suddenly began to cry tears of joy as he reached out and shook the offered hand in acceptance. Ralts proceeded to hug Noibat in happiness, also trying in joy now.
"Thank you…" Noibat whispered softly to her. He couldn't see the blush forming of the Ralts's face.
End Flashback
"…And I've been living with these two ever since," Spade finished the story. "Diamond told me everything about my power, and with some experience, I slowly became willing to use it when necessary. From that, we got the idea to form an exploration team, and put my power to best use."
"After Heart evolved, we decided to find a fourth member for our team," Diamond picked up. "That was about a month ago… and just earlier today… we met you."
Club stared down at the floor, almost in tears at Spade's sad tale. He felt terrible for the poor Noibat… but he had also realized one other thing.
"Spade… really isn't that different from me, then," he muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear him.
"What do you mean?"
"I lost my parents when I was a little boy, too. For almost the entirety of my life… I've been alone."
"I'm sorry," Spade muttered in empathy. "What… what exactly was your life like… you know… when you were human?"
Club glanced up at the Noibat apologetically. "That's a story for later, my friend,"
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