The Festival

"So you're telling me you're all the way from Colony Island!" Wott was astounded, "How could you travel so fast only using a Warp orb?"

"I don't really know." Ve replied, "It was Zero who used it."

All four exploration teams were in Team Hope's base discussing the interesting scene that had occurred. Also Tom and Ve wanted Zero to tell them about his problem.

"I had no clue that there was a method of transportation that's faster and safer than a Magnagate." Dan said calmly as he leaned against the wall.

"The things you don't know could fill a very lengthy book." Zero said trying to insult Dan.

"Oh come on Zero" Tom said, "You said you wanted help and they won't help us when we insult them."

"Oh don't worry," Dan replied, "It takes a lot more to insult me."

Zero glared at all of the Explorer Teams, "I don't want their help. I don't trust them and besides how could they help us."

Rose smiled, "I think you'll be surprised how much we can help you."

"Also you can definitely trust us!" Kip added.

"Yeah, what do you think we are?" Emolga also added, "A bunch of liers."

Zero looked at everyone with a doubtful look, then Ve said, "Go on, I'm sure you can trust these teams. There all heros in their own way."

Zero then sighed and then he began to explain his story of how Zoroark disappeared and how he's been searching for her. He told them what happened up to the part where he warped Ve and Tom to Guild Island.

"Can I see that orb?" Torchic asked.

"Sure, here you go Torch." Zero said reluctantly.

"Uh... call me Torchic." She said as she examined the Warp Orb that was now inactive since it was used.

"Nah, Torch sounds cooler." Zero said snickering, then he used his powers of illusion to appear like Torchic.

Everyone except Dan looked surprised. Torchic looked absolutely offended.

"Don't do that!" She shouted, "Fine you can call me Torch!"

Zero snickered again and then turned back into his normal form.

Rose smiled, "Don't worry Zero will keep an eye and ear out for Zoroark."

"Yeah us too!" said Matt.

"We'll do our best too!" Dunsparce agreed.

"And don't worry your secret's safe with us!" Emolga said.

"Hey-Hey! What secret?" Someone said. Zero quickly changed his appearance to Torchic's again to her displeasure.

When a Corphish came down he was surprised to see a large gathering of Pokémon and a Torchic that looked exactly as his friend.

"Hey-Hey! Torchic you told me you were the only child of your family! You have a sister?" The Corphish asked.

"Uh-uh. NO! I mean... uh." She stuttered.

"This is her cousin." Matt said quickly, "They are always being told that they look alike."

Corphish looked suspicious but then he seemed to have changed his mind, "Anyway... The Guildmaster wanted you to meet a special guest that is here. He also wanted two other teams named uh.. Team LeafWave and Team Paradise to be here."

"Yeah that's us!" Rose and Kip said simultaneously.

"We're team Paradise." Wott said.

"Hey-Hey! Well that is convenient. Well here he is!"

A lone Pokémon with an iron body stepped down into the base and Corphish left to take care of his own work, then the Pokémon said:

"Hello, my name is Aron and I've heard so much about all of you."

Something was familiar about that voice to Tom. Maybe a new memory? He thought to himself.

"I am a researcher from an Organization known as Project ShadowFlame."

"Isn't that an underground group that tries to find ways to make Mystery Dungeons more stable?" Dan asked.

"How would you know that?" Aron asked.

"I know a couple of people who were invited to join."

"Aw. Yes, that would explain it. Yes we are a very secretive group." He gave Dan a suspicious look, "We don't want our knowledge to fall into the wrong hands."

"Uh. Should we go?" Tom asked.

"Who are you?" Aron asked.

"Uh... I'm Tom, this is Ve. We're a newly formed Explorer Team." He thought it would be best to not give away Zero to this guy. There was something odd about him.

"Oh... new friendly friends?" They heard someone upstairs say. Then the great Wigglytuff stepped down into the base as well.

If anyone else comes down here I'll have to expand our base. Matt thought.

"Good Afternoon Guildmaster." Torch said to Wigglytuff, "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to introduce you to Aron here who needed our help. Also he wanted to meet the three teams that all saved the world."

"It's an honor to meet the famous Pokémon who fulfilled Ninetails' prophecy, stopped the Planet's Paralysis, and stopped the Bittercold." Aron said as he looked at Team LeafWave, Team Hope, and Team Paradise respectively.

"Well it's all part of the job." Matt said while nodding his head.

"So Guildmaster what does he need help with?" Kip asked.

They all looked expectantly at the Guildmaster and found that he was asleep with his eyes wide open!

"Not again!" Torchic said as she was lightly pecking Wigglytuff's face, "He always does this!"

"Don't worry, I can tell you." Aron said, "After this whole meeting of explorers is done I need help trying to get to an ancient ruin that belonged to the first civilization of explorers!"

"Why can't you get your ShadowFlame organization to help you?" Wott asked.

"Well you see. It's because we need your teams specifically for your expertise and because..." He looked at Ve, Tom, and Zero who was still pretending to be Torch.

"Can we trust these three? After all one of them is a Zorua."

"What?" Everyone yelled.

Torchic ran next to Zero, "No he... she isn't! She is my cousin!"

Aron smiled, "Come now, you think I can't tell a Zorua when I see one? That is a nice illusion though."

"Well I guess there's no sense hiding it." Zero then turned back into his normal form.

"Ok so he is a Zorua." Torch said, "But you can trust them all. Right guys."

Rose stepped forward, "Yes we can. They're an Exploration Team like all of us."

Aron looked back at Tom, Ve, and Zero and said, "If you say so."

Then he continued, "We need your teams specifically because of you three." He pointed at Rose, Matt, and Dan.

Matt looked at Aron, "Why would you need us?"

"Because, you three are human."

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted louder.

"How did you find out?" Dan asked.

"Who told you?" Torch shouted.

"Wait!" Kip yelled, "I knew about Rose but, Dan and Matt, the famous explorers, are human as well?"

Aron laughed slightly, "You didn't know? Well I guess this is a surprise."

Dan looked surprised, "I knew that there were more humans who became Pokémon, but I thought they were all defeated by Kyurem."

"Well some were." Aron explained, "But I have reason to believe that those humans were never real in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Wott asked, "Do you mean that they were illusions or something?"

"Yes, I believe they were. I guess that they were placed there to prevent Kyurem from finding the real humans."

I really should tell them, Tom thought to himself, But is it really a good idea?

"Also I'm pretty sure that the Guild would never tell anyone about Matt's past." Aron added, "Am I right?"

"Yes." Matt said, "Everyone at the Guild promised not to tell. Mainly because of what happened to Rose and Kip."

"Yeah, even after Ninetail's prophecy was finished we had to still lay low." Kip added, "We still were visited by old friends, like Absol, but that was only once or twice."

"So why do you need a human?" Ve asked to everyone's surprise.

"Well that is because, we think we found a piece of the Bittercold." Aron said in a casual tone.

Dan was the first to react, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that it still exists. Did you think you stopped all the negativity in the world?"

"We did a very good job though." Dunsparce said.

"Which is why we need to get there quickly so it doesn't become a problem again. Now you see why we need a human?"

The Bittercold had the ability to overwhelm any Pokémon that came near it with extreme negativity. Humans however were able to resist this power more than Pokémon.

"Well I think you should all know something!" Ve said, "Tom here... he... he's a..." She looked over at Tom who nodded, "He is also a human."

Everyone including Dan was shocked to hear this news.

"Well this day get's better and better." Matt said.

Tom gave a weak smile as the focus was now suddenly on him, "Uh..."

Suddenly to Tom's relief Wigglytuff woke up, "Ah! Now that introductions are over let us go and enjoy the festival!"

"Good idea." Aron agreed, "Do think about what I said. And Tom, your Exploration Team is invited too." He then left without another word. He and Wigglytuff left for the festival.

"Well that guy seemed nice." Matt said sarcastically.

"He's still better than some people I've met in Paradise." Wott said with a sigh.

"What I want to know is how did he know that we are human?" Rose said with a thoughtful look.

Dan looked at Tom, "When this festival is over I want to meet with everyone again, especially you three."

"Ok well we have places to be." Tom said eager to get out of the base, "We'll see you later then. Come on guys."

Tom, Ve, and Zero left and as they left Zero once again appeared like Torch. Torch opened her mouth to say something but decided that it wasn't worth it.

As they were walking through Treasure Town another Eevee bumped into Ve.

"Oh, pardon me." He said and then he hurried off.

"You ok Ve?" Tom asked.

Ve shrugged, "Yeah I'm fine it's just... I sensed something familiar about that Pokémon."

With that they continued walking down Treasure Town.

Matt and Torchic (who was now being called Torch thanks to Zero) were going through Treasure Town and meeting all the teams that came from far and wide to their small town.

A Rescue Team from Paradise Island, an Exploration Team from Colony Island, a lone explorer from the other side of Guild Island, even an entire Guild from South Island was present. At the Sharpedo bluff, where Team Hope's base was at, you could see many tents scattered here and there on the beach and in the forest nearby.

Neither of them had ever seen so many Pokémon in one place ever.

"How many people did Guildmaster Wigglytuff invite?" Matt asked.

"He basically had anyone who could carry a message invite any explorer team that wanted to come." She responded. They both laughed at the coment.

It was now evening and the sun was beginning to set. At night the place was expected to get even more lively than what it was right now. The shops in Treasure Town were making money left and right and Spinda's cafe was packed as well.

"Torch, I mean Torchic-" Matt began.

"It's ok. Zero was kind of right about how it sounds cooler." Torch said with a smile.

"Ok then, besides I was tempted to call you that sometimes." Matt said.

They both laughed, "Anyway." Matt continued, "This morning something strange happened."

"I'll say with all these Pokémon coming in through Magnagates and teleporting and-"

"No that's not what the strangest part was." Matt said.

"What?" Torch said.

"You see last night I had a strange dream." Matt then told Torch about the dream with the weird shadow, Grovyle, and Dusknoir.

"Didn't you say that a month ago you had a bunch of dreams like this?" Torch asked.

"Yeah." Matt said. "They were weird and only brief glimpses, but they were about Grovyle and the future. Also there was some sort of message that said, 'We are alive!'"

"I think that was a message sent by Grovyle to tell us that they didn't disappear like they thought they would." Torch said.

"Yeah but Dusknoir was not there for most of the time but, it seemed like he was at the same time. It's weird."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Someone behind them said, "but I was wondering if you could help me?"

They both turned to see an Eevee standing there.

"Sure, Notch isn't it?" Matt replied.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you could tell me if you saw another Eevee?" Notch asked.

"Yes we did!" Torch replied, "She went down the main road in Treasure Town." She then noticed Notch's pattern on his ear, "Hey! She had the same pattern on her ear as well!"

"Thank you for your help." Notch said as he walked away.

"You sure got excited." Matt said with a smile.

"Oh shut up!" Torchic laughed, "You know how much I like to help people."

Treasure Town was actually a pretty neat place in Dan's opinion. Built near the Ocean on what he considered to be a beautiful land. It reminded him of Post Town. Just built near the Ocean.

As he was walking he smelled something disgusting, then another Pokémon walked straight into him and knocked him down onto the ground.

"Watch where you're going! Cha-haw." The Pokémon said.

One of his companions said, "Yeah! Don't make us have to fight you. Whoa-ho-ho!"

They began to walk away and as they were Dan got up and without looking at them he shouted, "Aren't you going to apologize?"

"Chaw-ha-ha! What? You want me to apologize for you running into me?"

"No." Dan replied now looking straight at a Skuntank, a Koffing, and a Zubat, "I want you to apologize for being rude."

"He-he-he!" Laughed the Zubat, "Sounds like someone wants a fight!"

"I don't want to make it inconvenient for anyone here. But maybe I will fight you. Just to teach you some manners."

"Chaw-ha! You and what army?" The Skuntank spat back.

"THIS ONE!" Wott shouted as he, Dunsparce, and Emolga came out of the crowd, that was now backing up for fear of a fight.

"Chaw-ha-ha!" Laughed Skuntank, "Even though we both know who would win this fight, I regret that I must inform you that my team and I have other places to be."

They began to walk away and Dan asked, "What is your team?"

"Team Skull! And don't forget it! Chaw-ha-ha!" The Skuntank shouted back.

"Have you ever seen a more self centered group of idiots!?" Emolga asked.

"I have." An Eevee said as he came out of the crowd, "I've seen several. They're all the same."

Team Paradise looked at the Eevee as he came closer and then Dan remembered who he was, "Notch? Is that you?" He asked with a smile.

"So it seems that you do remember random travelers." Notch said with his own smile.

"Wait?" Emolga said, "Am I missing something?"

"Ah yes that's right," Wott said, "One day when you and Dunsparce were off running errands. This Eevee was visiting the Senora's restaurant."

The Senora is how everyone in Post Town referred to Swana the owner of the restaurant and inn that was in Post Town.

"Yes I was trying to work out a treasure map that I was investigating and Wott and Dan here were kind enough to help me. That was what? A month ago?"

"Yeah it was." Dan replied, "Did you ever find it?"

"No, it turned out to be a dead end." Notch replied.

"What were you looking for?" Dunsparce asked.

"A treasure lost for a thousand years. The Outcaste orb." Notch answered with a look of determination in his eye, "It's been lost so long that no one even has a clear idea of what it does. I'm going to find it, it's been my dream for the longest time."

"Hey you'll never believe what we saw today." Wott told Notch, "We saw another Eevee that had a that interesting pattern on her right ear." He pointed towards Notch's right ear.

"What?!" He asked excitedly, "Where did she go?"

"Uh... she went towards the Crossroads last time we saw her." Wott said

"Could it really be?" Notch thought aloud, "I have to go!" He said and he ran toward the Crossroads.

"Uh... what did I say?" Wott asked.

"I think," Dan replied, "you just made his day much better."

They watched as Notch disappeared into the crowd at great speed.

Rose and Kip were enjoying themselves in Spinda's Cafe which was almost completely packed with visitors.

"Gee, it's lucky we got in before things got crowded." Kip said as he looked around at the crowd.

Rose didn't hear Kip as the crowd was really loud and she was focused on something else, So there are more people like me, she thought, I wonder what happened to them.

"Hey Rose, you're zoning out... again." Kip said.

"Huh- oh, sorry." Rose smiled, "I was just thinking about that offer Aron gave us."

"Oh." Kip replied, "Did that guy give you the creeps or what?"

"Yeah, he did seem a little odd." Rose agreed, "Have you ever heard of ShadowFlame?"

"Well Pokémon have studied the Mystery Dungeons ever since they first appeared, Dungeon Researchers they're called, but I've never heard of someone trying to stabilize one."

"I wonder what that even means." Rose added.

"Maybe make it less random?" Kip suggested.

"I don't know." Rose answered, "So should we help him?"

"I think so, I mean this is the Bittercold we're talking about. It almost destroyed Paradise Island entirely." KIp said in a serious tone.

"Yeah, it would be best to stop this before it gets out of hand."

Then someone came running down the stairs of the shop and when he stopped he was out of breath. It was an Eevee

"Hey!" Kip told Rose, "Is that Notch?"

Rose looked at the entrance to see Notch looking around the place as if he was searching for someone.

"Wonder what he's up to." Rose said.

Notch saw Rose and Kip and went over to them.

"Excuse me." He began, "Have any of you seen another Eevee in here with an ear like mine."

He showed them his right ear.

"Ah!" Rose remembered, "Yes we did see one. Her name is Ve and she was in an Exploration Team with a Pikachu and a Z-," She remembered how Zero liked his privacy, "a Torchic."

"Which way did they go?" Notch asked with a desperate look on his face.

"I think they're looking for a place to stay the night. You could try the forest road." Rose answered, "Is something wrong?"

"Maybe." Notch answered, "I've got to go. Here hold this for safekeeping."

He then handed an Orb to Kip and Rose

"Wait what is this?!" Kip shouted

But it was too late, Notch already ran out of the cafe.

"Boy that Eevee was fast." Said the Wynaut in charge of the recycle station.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" said his partner Wobbuffet.

"Should we go too?" Rose asked.

"Of course!" Kip rapidly got up and went out Rose directly behind him.

Notch was running down the road as fast as he could.

If this is who I think it is... He thought, Hopefully this isn't too crazy.

As he was running the ground beneath him collapsed and Notch found himself in a dark cave.

"Hold it right there!" Someone from the darkness called. As he said this the hole in the roof of the cave closed itself, "You know what we want... Notch."

"I'm sorry, but there are a lot of people who don't like me," Notch retorted, "and it's hard to figure out what you want if I can't see you."

"Very well then, we'll show you who we are." The voice replied.

Four torches were ignited at the corners of the cave to show that it was filled with a Sandslash, two Trapinchs, and a Kabutops.

"Do you know what we want now?" the Sandslash asked.

"Yeah... and I hate to disappoint you but, I don't have it. I never had it."

"That is a lie!" The Kabutops shouted, "We know you have what we seek."

"And who told you that?" Notch said trying to hide a smug smile.

"You did!" The Kabutops said with frustration, "Don't make us fight you for it! You're outnumbered!"

Why do they always think that matters? Notch thought, "That seems to be true. I guess I should make it even."

He then pulled out an orb and threw it onto the ground, "Summon Orb ignite!" The orb then began to appear like it caught on fire and then it suddenly exploded...

Rose and Kip were looking for Notch fearing that something might have happened.

"Why was Notch looking for Ve and why did Notch give us this orb?" Kip asked Rose.

"Who knows?" Rose replied as they both walked down the road.

Suddenly the orb began to glow and Kip then took it out of the bag.

"What is it doing?!" He was shocked.

"I don't know." Rose said as she examined it.

The orb then caught on fire and Rose and Kip stepped back from it. Then the orb exploded in a bright light and suddenly Rose and Kip were now in a dark cave lit by four torches and in front of them they saw Notch and a group of very threatening Pokémon.

"Notch what's going on?!" Kip shouted.

"I'll explain in a minute! Could you help me out first?" He shouted back.

A Kabutops looked at Rose and Kip, "Ah... so he invited two other wimps here to help him? Pathetic!"

"Look out!" Rose shouted as Kabutops lunged at Kip who easily dodged.

"Good luck winning with that!" Kip shouted, "Take this Water Gun!" Kip then sprayed water gun and scored a direct hit on Kabutops.

Notch was focused on the Sandslash.

"And to think... if you just helped us you wouldn't be in this mess!" Sandslash taunted.

"Really?" Notch replied, "You would just let me walk away knowing you have something so important?"

Notch then dodged a Slash attack and was hanging back, I can't attack directly those spikes on his back will just hit me. Unless...

Notch used Double Team and while the Sandslash was looking at each of the fakes Notch made his move.

"Iron Tail!" He shouted and his tail became a silver color and also became extremely tough. He slammed his tail onto Sandslash's back, completely unharmed by the many spikes on his back.

Meanwhile the two Trapinchs were moving in on Rose but she was ready.

"Razor Leaf!" She shouted and several leaves shot out from her and made contact with the Trapinchs.

They both fought back with crunch. Rose dodged the first one but the second Trapinch hit her in the leg. Rose winced at the pain but it wasn't that bad of a wound.

She finished the second Trapinch with Razor Leaf.

The Kabutops was becoming more and more frustrated as the battle went on, "That's it!" He shouted, "Trapinch use Sand Tomb to corner them!"

Two whirlpools of sand opened up right next to Notch, Kip, and Rose. They were now trapped against a wall with no clear path to escape.

"Kabutops!" Sandslash yelled, "Stop this we need him!"

"NO!" He shouted, "He has escaped us too many times! HYPER BEAM!"

A glowing light began to form in front of Kabutops as he charged up the attack.

"Get behind me." Kip told Rose and Notch, "I have an idea."

Kabutops shot the Hyper Beam straight at the three and the area they were standing at exploded as dust and sand clouded the room.

When the dust settled Kip, Notch, and Rose emerged perfectly unharmed behind a shield of green light.

"What, how?" Kabutops roared.

"Ha!" Kip laughed, "You would think a Kabutops would recognize the move Protect when he saw it."

The green shield faded as did the Sand tomb attack.

The Trapinch got ready to attack but then Sandslash suddenly yelled, "Stop now!", and the two Trapinchs stopped dead in their tracks.

"We have new orders you three. Warp Orb-X!" He shouted and they all teleported out of the cave but not before the Kabutops made an ugly face at Notch.

A hole at the end of the cave opened up and all three of them found themselves on the beach near Treasure Town.

"Oh..." Notch saw Roses bruise on her leg, "You're hurt."

Rose looked at her injured leg and said, "Oh, no that's not really bad, besides there is still some sunlight out." The sun was just about to go down over the horizon.

The leaf on Rose began to glow and suddenly the bruise began to fade and then disappear completely.

"Ah... That's Synthesis isn't it?" Notch asked.

"Yeah it is." Rose confirmed, "Hey Kip what's wrong?"

Kip shrugged, "That orb the Sandslash used to teleport out of that cave... it was similar to Zero's."

"Was it?" Rose asked, "I didn't get a good look at it."

"Who is Zero?" Notch asked.

Kip looked at Rose, "Do you think it's ok to tell him?"

"Sure, I don't think Zero would mind." Rose replied.

"Zero is a Zorua. He came to Guild Island in order to find his friend... or master, he didn't really say, but he's looking for a Zoroark that he's very close to. He also used an Orb like the ones they used."

"Also that's another thing." Rose interrupted, "How did you get us into that cave?"

"Oh..." Notch replied, "It was with this orb that I learned how to make. You use it to summon your team to you, sort of like a Rollcall Orb, but it can be used over very great distances. However it only works if you have another orb that your team has."

"So you gave this orb to us in case you got in trouble?" Rose asked as she took out the orb.

"Uh... yeah. Sorry about that." He replied.

"Ah, don't worry." Kip told Notch, "It's our job to help Pokémon in danger, no matter how we get there. Real quick what did they want?"

"They wanted something that I don't have and the person who may have it is in danger right now." Notch said.

"If someone is in trouble I think we can help you." Kip said.

"By the way down in that cave you sure did do a good job in battle." Rose said, "Would you like to join our team?"

Notch was surprised by this, "I've never been invited onto a team before. I am mainly a lone explorer."

"Rose is right though." Kip added, "You were really good in that battle, we could use someone like you on our team."

Notch thought about this for a while, They could help me. But I don't want them to get caught up in my problems.

Rose seemed to see his uncertainty on Notch's face, "Hey don't worry." She said, "We are an experienced team."

True, this is the team that fulfilled Ninetails prophecy, and if they're after me then it is safe, He thought,"Ok you've convinced me, I'll join."

"Great!" Kip said with a wide smile on his face, "Do you have an explorer badge?"

"Yes it's right here." He showed them his badge.

Rose pulled out her badge from Kip's bag and held it up to Notch's, the two badges glowed and then returned to their normal state, "There we go. Welcome to the team."

"HEY DOWN THERE!" Someone shouted.

The three members of Team BlueRescue turned to see a small figure gliding down toward them from Sharpedo Bluff, it was Emolga from Team Paradise.

He landed right next to the three and said, "Dan and Wott wanted me to find you. They wants to meet back at Team Hope's base and discuss Aron's offer."

"Sure, do Tom, Zero, and Ve know?" asked Rose.

"Dan and Wott are looking for them." Emolga replied.

"Great will be there." Kip said, "Come on Notch will tell you about things on the way!"

"Ok." Notch said as he followed his new friends back into town.

End of Chapter 2