Enjoy the chapter and thank you, as always, for reading and for the favorites and reviews!
I'm actually sitting at a desk now while I'm writing! The whole summer, my AC unit was in front of my desk, and I couldn't move the unit without the tube that brought air into the unit breaking off. But now it's getting cold and I put the unit in my closet. I didn't have a good place to sit, so my back was really starting to hurt. But now it's fine and I'll be able to focus better and bring my typing skills back up.
I only own my human characters and partly own the Pokémon characters.


Exploration

"Gale? Aren't you excited?" Shiloh prompted, nudging me in the ribs, and I managed to nod.

"The first mission...it's something," I managed to reply. "We'd better get going." Shiloh's paws clapped to her stomach and I heard a low growl. "Mm...we haven't had breakfast yet."

"But we don't have any money," Shiloh said ruefully, "and I don't have anything to sell. Usually teams go out and find food in dungeons." I pulled the Oran berry bundle out of my pouch and tore a little hole in the silk, removed a blue-violet berry, then stretched silk over the hole and returned the berries to my satchel.

"It's no good if we're hungry," I stated, holding my stomach as I tried to keep it from growling. "Take one of these. I ate one this morning." Shiloh eyed the berry, and I could tell by the intent look in her eyes that she wanted it. "Go ahead. I'll get another one later. And I think I'm almost healed anyway."

"Alright." Shiloh reached out and took the berry in both paws. "Thank you!" We sat while she munched at the berry, and a couple minutes later she shot to her feet and grabbed my left arm.

"What are you doing?" I exclaimed, startled, trying vainly to shake my arm free.

"I'm ready! Let's go!" I barely had time to react before Shiloh tugged on my arm, prompting me to run, and I had to move or else I'd probably trip and fall right on my face. I worked my paw free once I started running on my own and tried to follow her through Treasure Town without crashing into anyone. Panting, I noticed I was starting to get a little tired, but couldn't get enough breath to yell for Shiloh to slow down. The terrain changed almost right away once we left town, and my feet pounded as I struggled to keep up. Eventually, Shiloh began to slow, and I saw that the path forked up ahead. "Almost there!" She called back to me, and I sighed in relief when she kept up a light walk. By the time I saw the bluff coming up I'd almost gotten my breath back. The cliff terrain looked dangerous, and I wasn't too eager about exploring this place. But I didn't say anything; we had to explore here if we wanted to find Spoink's pearl. And with luck nothing would attack us. Straightening up and taking a final deep breath, I approached Shiloh with uneasy steps and she turned to me. "The beach stretches all this way." When she beckoned, I reluctantly followed and stood back while she leaned over the sea cliff and looked down. "Wow, it's pretty. There's a beach down there."

"Hey, come back," I told her edgily, taking a cautious step forward. "It's dangerous." Shiloh glanced at me and chuckled.

"I can swim, so it's no big deal if I fall." I felt a little surge of alarm and shook my head quickly.

"Just come back!" I snapped, unexpectedly losing my temper, and felt my paws clenching as my heart thudded. "If we're separated we might not finish the mission. And who cares if you can swim? You could still get hurt." Shiloh gave me a look of slight annoyance, but she glanced down one last time and stepped away from the cliff anyway.

"You're right...fine, I'm coming." Heaving a big sigh of relief, I began picking my way over the rocky ground, well away from the steep cliffs. There were a few minutes of silence as I walked with Shiloh, until she cleared her throat loudly. I glanced around and met her eyes. "You don't seem enthusiastic about being on an exploration team." I noticed uncomfortably that she looked a little frustrated and put out. "So why would you care if we didn't finish the mission?" I was a little taken aback, but felt pressured to answer, so I hurriedly tried to respond.

"Well...uh..." I mumbled, then lifted my voice. "I'm not used to exploring, but I don't want to quit the mission halfway through when we came all this way." Shiloh opened her mouth, then closed it quickly, her eyes a little wide with surprise. "I don't want to go back without the pearl."

"Well, now...that's the spirit, Gale!" Shiloh exclaimed, and I jolted in alarm and stared. "That's all you need to be on an exploration team—perseverance!" A knowing smirk grew on her face. "Now you just need to improve your attitude...easier said than done."

"What...?" I asked blankly. "Were you dawdling on purpose to test me or something?"

"Well, no...I like enjoying the scenery." I sighed heavily.

"It's nice, yeah, but enjoy it from a safe distance from now on." Shiloh laughed, and together we began climbing over and around rocks along the bluff. "So, the pearl should be around here somewhere, right?"

"Yeah...the trick is finding it," Shiloh said, pursing her lips in a frown. "Let's look all over the place. It's a while until evening." I nodded and moved on, trying to keep my footing on the loose bits of rock and gravel. As we continued on, the cliffs started to slope downward, and soon we found ourselves close to the shore. As I glanced around a slick boulder, wondering if the pearl could be behind it, a flash of yellow made me yelp and jump back in surprise. I heard a ringing sound coming from the yellow thing. "What's wrong?" Shiloh exclaimed, and I turned to see her running towards me, eyes serious and paws clenched. I gestured to the yellow thing, and she growled at it. "A Chingling. They're tough to deal with."

"A Pokémon this small?" I whipped my gaze back to the Chingling, then quickly leapt backwards as he hopped closer, the chiming noises sounding whenever he moved. The round yellow Pokémon had two red-and-white-striped antennae on its head, small arms and legs, and a weird thin smile with two large black circles on either side.

"Watch out!" Shiloh yelled as Chingling swiftly jumped towards me. Panicking, I quickly tried to balance and kicked out at it with my left foot; the strike caught it between the eyes, and I stumbled backward and almost fell, but saw that the kick had been enough to push the Chingling back. "Not bad! I'll finish it off!" Shiloh inhaled deeply, then let out the breath, but instead of air a stream of water shot from her mouth. The Chingling was pushed away a fair distance until it struck a rock; the Pokémon tumbled to the ground and lay there.

"Should we...help?" I asked, out of breath and somewhat shaken from the fight, but Shiloh waved her paws lightly.

"We didn't do too much damage. Now come on—there are more Pokémon around here, and they'll attack if they see us." I didn't need telling twice, and rushed after Shiloh, but gave the Chingling a wary glance as we ran past. The bluff seemed to become maze-like as we continued on, and suddenly our path was blocked as a Chingling jumped out from behind a large rock.

"They like coming out of nowhere," Shiloh grunted irritably. "Let's do this. Try using one of your attacks."

"I kind of...don't know any," I admitted sheepishly, and Shiloh gave me a bewildered look.

"You don't know..." She slapped her forehead hard. "You must at least know absorb!"

"Not really." Swallowing hard, I glanced at the Chingling and knew that to get around it, we'd have to fight it. I'll just try what I did last time. I walked up to the Chingling, trying to decide between kicking it and punching it, but I realized too late that I had taken too much time. The Chingling leapt and tackled me, knocking me backward heavily. "Ow!" I grunted, then got back to my feet. "Hey!" Angrily I held my arms up, clenching my paws into fists, and blocked with my left arm as the Chingling tackled me again. The hit made me stumble back a few paces, but I rushed forward and jabbed at the Chingling with my right fist and punched it between the eyes. Chingling tumbled backward and then shakily got to its feet, but I caught a glimpse of Shiloh running past me, and she finished the Pokémon off with a water gun.

"Let's keep going," Shiloh said, ushering me away from the unconscious Chingling, and I snuck a glance back at as we moved.

"I actually fought," I said to myself, my previous guilt replaced with triumph. I hadn't really liked beating either of those Chingling up, but I didn't want Shiloh and me to get beat up instead, and it had been kind of cool to fight. "We got him! Your water gun was great!"

"Uh, thanks...but you should really try and use some special attacks." I was saved from having to say anything because we'd come upon a wall of towering boulders slick with water and covered with seaweed. "Dead end." Shiloh lifted her shoulders, unconcerned, and turned to walk back out. I turned and followed her too but then stopped dead. A Lileep was blocking our way, having probably snuck up on us while our backs had been turned.

"Move!" I yelled, feeling bolder from the last two fights, but the Lileep didn't budge. It swayed its flower-shaped head, and a hollow, eerie sound came from it. It sounded like the Lileep was gurgling. I glanced questioningly at Shiloh and saw that she was glaring at the Lileep.

"Don't laugh!" She snapped at Lileep. "Move or I'll take you out with one hit!"

"You two should leave!" The Lileep growled in a crackling voice. "You don't live here."

"No one asked you to bother us," I said. "We weren't bothering you."

"You're bothering everyone by being here." The Lileep lunged forward on its four feet, faster than it looked like it should be able to. It shoved past me, and I stumbled and fell, but leapt up again. Shiloh sprayed the Lileep with water gun, but it dodged swiftly and suddenly the pink tentacles on its head extended and wrapped around Shiloh's body.

"Alright, you asked for it!" She grunted, struggling. I froze for a moment, then rushed towards Lileep, drew my left fist back, and then jabbed it forward into Lileep's head. "Gale!" Shiloh yelled in dismay, but I wasn't listening. Punching Lileep had been like punching a rock, and I jumped backward and cradled my left fist against my chest, then shook it furiously as it throbbed with pain. "Lileep's a Rock type, Gale..." She sounded exasperated. "Don't do that again." The Lileep turned halfway towards me and gave a crackly laugh.

"You should have just run," the Pokémon jeered, and I grit my teeth and glowered. "Are you so weak that you can't use any real attacks?"

"Bite me," I grunted, still shaking my aching fist, and heard Shiloh exhale in a sigh. I glanced at her quickly, noticed she was taking a deep breath, and stepped quickly backward.

"What are you doing?" The Lileep snapped warily, but was distracted by Shiloh hitting it point-blank in the face with a water gun. Lileep released the tentacles, lurched backward a few steps, then toppled to the ground. Shiloh caught my eye and gestured for me to run, and we didn't waste any time leaving the Lileep in the dead-end corridor. We ran for a few minutes, and I almost stumbled and fell when Shiloh came to an unexpected halt. "Look at that!" She gestured ahead off to the right, beneath a rocky overhang that had a nearby spring welling up from the ground, and I spotted a pinkish object sparkling just inside a circle of broken rocks.

"Is that Spoink's pearl?" I asked, moving closer to get a better look.

"It should be! Let's grab it and get going."

"Okay." I hefted the pearl up from the ground, and it pearl felt cool in my small paws. It was a little heavy, but I tucked it the crook of my left arm and faced Shiloh with an unexpected smile.

"Mission accomplished," I told her.

"We just have to watch out for Pokémon on the way back...especially Lileep," Shiloh said with a meaningful look as she grinned. I laughed and started to walk back to her, but stopped suddenly as the ground began swaying beneath my feet. I knew it wasn't an earthquake, because the swaying feeling was inside of me, not the ground. As I held my head with both paws I felt the pearl drop to the ground, but wasn't able to pick it up again. "Whoa! Careful!" I heard Shiloh chide me. "It could break! What would we tell Spoink?" I didn't answer; my head was buzzing and the dizziness was getting worse. I wondered if this was because I wasn't entirely recovered yet, or was hungry or tired, but I knew that I wouldn't feel this bad. My eyes closed against a sudden bright flash of light, and I caught snatches of images as they flew by in my mind.

I recognized Shiloh and saw her rushing after some round object—Spoink's pearl!—and then heard her crying out in alarm as the cliff terrain she was on crumbled beneath her without warning. With another flash of light the images stopped and I gasped, shaking my head back and forth, unable to process what had happened.

"Wha—wha...what was that?" I gasped, still holding my head, and jolted when I felt a touch on my shoulders. Looking around, I saw Shiloh's brown eyes gazing at me worriedly.

"Gale, are you okay? What happened?"

"I got...dizzy. Just for a second." Shakily, I looked up at her, remembering the images with a thudding heart. "And...I saw something weird...I saw you, and you were chasing Spoink's pearl...but then you were falling. You were on a cliff, and it broke...you fell, Shiloh." Shiloh now looked bewildered and a little scared, but she smiled tightly at me, then took my arms and pulled me up. I hadn't even realized that I'd fallen down.

"You sure? You're worrying too much about heights, and it's making you see things." Shiloh sighed and shook her head back and forth slowly. "You still aren't well."

"I guess not," I muttered, though I was sure that I hadn't been hallucinating, despite my physical condition. "But let's stay away from the cliffs...alright?" I felt a little wash of dismay as Shiloh frowned at me. She doesn't believe me! I thought in panic as I gazed at her, wondering how I could convince her that we needed to keep away from the cliffs. I should have just told her the cliffs were dangerous again! I didn't have to mention that...whatever it was!

"It'll be fine. Come on. Let's just go back." I watched silently as Shiloh strode off, searched around the rocks for a few seconds, and picked the pearl up. "You need rest and Spoink needs his pearl." When she walked back towards me, she shifted the pearl to her right arm and offered her free paw to me.

"Thanks, Shiloh...I can walk for myself. I'm not dizzy anymore." Shiloh glanced at me, then let go of my arm, and I wasn't sure, but it seemed like she let go too quickly. I looked away from her, feeling a little stab of hurt.

"...I think you went on missions too soon." I glanced around and eyed the cliffs mistrustfully; we were too close to them for my liking. Shiloh continued with a sigh and I gradually turned to face her. "If you're dizzy and seeing things, then you should be resting." I was about to tell her something like I wasn't sick when I heard footfalls crunching against the ground; turning, I saw a Chingling rapidly hopping towards us. It was a really small Pokémon, and I'd underestimated it a bit but the one Shiloh and I had fought earlier had been pretty tough, almost as tough as the Lileep. Or maybe it was because I was just bad at fighting.

The Chingling shoved past me and I clumsily swiped my fists at it, trying to attack, but I wasn't quick enough. Shiloh gasped loudly as the Chingling crashed into her, and as she stumbled sideways she swung her arms, trying to keep her balance and the pearl dropped from her paws and started bouncing along the ground. Shiloh planted her feet and growled as she leaned her head back, and then rammed it forward, giving the Chingling a strong head-butt. The Pokémon swayed for a moment, then crumpled to the ground, and I saw Shiloh turning and dashing for the pink pearl that was still bouncing away towards the cliffs.

"Wait!" I yelled, darting after her, and saw her briefly turn her head before she looked away and kept running. Now I felt real panic come over me. "Shiloh! Come back!" Just before the pearl bounced over the edge and into the water below, Shiloh caught it in both paws and skidded to a halt. I stopped, too, and tried to calm my rapid breathing. "Shiloh, get away from the edge." She turned to me and gave me a frustrated look that morphed to alarm as a cracking sound rent the air. The cliff was breaking up, just the way I'd seen during that dizzy spell, and unless I did something Shiloh would fall!

"Wha—" Shiloh uttered in shock, staring down at the cliff in dismay. I lunged forward and grabbed Shiloh's arms, then pulled her towards me with everything I had. Suddenly I felt the ground quaking beneath my feet and knew that the cliff beneath me was breaking up too. With all my strength, I turned and pushed Shiloh away, then sprang off the crumbling rock towards her, but felt my back legs falling. In panic I grabbed at anything I could and wound up barely clinging to the remaining cliff edge.

I heard light splashes as the broken pieces of the cliff hit the waves, and I kicked my legs, trying to find a grip on the cliff to push myself back onto solid ground, but I couldn't reach. "Gale!" Shiloh yelped, and I felt her grab my arms and start pulling. "Hang on! I've got you!" I heard her grunting with effort as she tugged my arms, and I tried to reach my feet towards the cliff edge so I could climb, but they couldn't reach. My heart was pumping fear through my body, and I seriously thought I would fall, but suddenly I felt Shiloh pulling me towards her. She tugged me upright and I saw her start to run, and she was holding my left wrist, so I ran with her as fast as I could.

A few minutes later I stumbled and tumbled forward onto the ground, and realized that the terrain had changed to a dirt path. We'd made it back onto the path that led to Treasure Town. I collapsed back down, resting my head on my arms, and tried to calm my panicked breathing. I had tried to save Shiloh from falling, but had ended up making it so that we both almost fell. And while falling probably wouldn't have been good, Shiloh could swim. I did a weak push-up and turned around to see that Shiloh was sitting and looking at the sky. Her expression was a little stunned and I didn't blame her. I shook my head and mentally told myself I was being stupid. I couldn't have just let Shiloh fall. She could have gotten hurt before she hit the water, and I wouldn't have been able to do much of anything to help.

"Hey, Shiloh...are you alright?" I asked, concerned, and crawled closer to her. "Did you get hurt?" She glanced at me, still looking a bit dazed, and shook her head.

"No, I'm just scared..." Shiloh gasped, her body shaking. "That was close...way too close..."

"Yeah, it was," I agreed breathlessly, and then, not knowing what else to do, I unbuttoned my satchel, fumbled for an Oran berry, then passed it to her. "Um...do you want one? It might help, even if you're not hurt." Shiloh leaned forward and took it slowly, giving me a weak smile.

"Thank you...I'll be fine...just let me sit here for a bit." I sat back and crossed my legs, and took out an Oran berry for myself. I had eaten one already today, but I was suddenly really hungry, so there was no way I wasn't going to eat it. I'd see if there were any more at the Kecleon Shop when I stopped by to get an apple for Doctor to say thanks for the Oran berries.

"Where's Spoink's pearl? Did I make you drop it?" I asked suddenly, and Shiloh tossed the Oran berry into her mouth and patted her satchel, which I noticed had a bulge in it.

"Nope, it's safe. I put it in my bag after you helped me." Her gaze drifted to the ground. "That was before I knew you were falling too."

"That's fine...we're both okay, and we still have Spoink's pearl." I glanced over at the Chingling but discovered that it wasn't there; it must have run off sometime during the cliff's collapse. "We're almost done with the mission."

"You tried to warn me."

"Huh?" I asked, Shiloh's words a little unclear. She wasn't speaking very loudly and was still looking at the ground. But suddenly Shiloh lifted her gaze and stared at me with a faintly awed expression; I felt a strange, shivering feeling run through me. I didn't like how she was looking at me, somehow, even though she didn't look angry or afraid. "I just couldn't hear you. What did you say?"

"You saved me, Gale..." Shiloh exhaled. "You told me not to go near the cliffs, but I did, and look what almost happened."

"Well," I said, looking at her and lifting my shoulders, "you were trying to get Spoink's pearl."

"No, Gale," she persisted, shaking her head slowly. "You knew that the cliff was dangerous...and that I was going to fall." There was a slightly anxious pause. I held Shiloh's gaze for a second, then looked away uncomfortably. "How did you know that?"

"I don't know," I admitted quietly. "There was that dizzy spell...and then I saw things...I saw the cliff breaking up and you falling with it."

"The dizzy spell..." Shiloh mused breathlessly, eyes wide in wonder, and maybe—but I hoped not—fear. "And the images you saw afterward...you got some kind of vision."

"A vision...it did seem like that..." I trailed off. "I don't know why it happened, though."

"Well...it helped you save me..." Shiloh mumbled, looking ashamed as she wrung her paws, "so I should have listened to you." I shook my head at her and frowned thoughtfully.

"It's easy to say that now...it's just good you didn't fall." I pressed my paws against my forehead, then rose to my feet. "And you saved me, too, so let's just call that even." Shiloh hopped to her feet and twiddled with the strap of her satchel.

"But...the vision...we should try and figure out why you had it!" She burst out. "Maybe someone's heard of Pokémon that can have visions."

"I don't know," I told her, shifting my feet. "I want to figure out why it happened...but I don't really want to tell anyone else." Shiloh looked puzzled as she folded her arms.

"We can't figure it out on our own," she told me, sounding confused, and tilted her head. "I've never heard of it, so I won't be any help. Why don't you want to tell? Chatot might know something."

"No! Not Chatot." I shuddered and shook my head forcefully. "I'm not asking him." Shiloh frowned.

"Who, then?"

"No one."

"If we knew more about how and why it happened," Shiloh persisted, "then visions could come in handy on explorations. We could help more Pokémon."

"Well..." I muttered, then thought for a minute. "How about this: let's wait to see if any more visions happen, and see if we can find a pattern. But if we don't figure anything out on our own after a while, I guess we can tell someone...maybe Callo...but not Chatot."

"I think I know why." Shiloh smiled nervously. "It's because he'd say we were making it up and that he'd never heard of it, or something. He is annoying, isn't he?" I found myself laughing in relief.

"Yeah...so let's just not ask him...and let's not tell anyone for now."

"Why don't you want to?" Shiloh demanded, and I shook my head resolutely.

"Right after I had that vision, you were scared. Wouldn't it scare other Pokémon?" Shiloh's expression became clouded and she folded her arms tightly, stepping back a bit and looking away.

"No, it wasn't scary, just...odd," she protested, but I hadn't mistaken the look in her eyes earlier, and I hadn't imagined her reaction of letting my arm go a little too quickly, either.

"Right," I told her, keeping my voice from sounding troubled. "Anyone would think I was odd. We just signed up at the Guild, and since we're on a team together..." I kicked at a nearby rock and watched it tumble away. "What if other Pokémon bother you because I have visions of bad things happening?"

"Gale," Shiloh mumbled, her face pinched. "The others wouldn't do that."

"Still, who's heard of Pokémon having visions?" I challenged, and Shiloh bit her lip.

"That vision was bad." Her face lit up suddenly. "But it helped you save me. So it wasn't bad after all." Shiloh looked apologetically at me. "I'm not scared...I'm just not used to what you did."

"It's fine," I said, rubbing my neck and looking away. "You're safe and we have Spoink's pearl." I heard Shiloh mumble something, but I didn't look at her or ask her to repeat what she'd said. The sky was still bright, and I guessed that we had been out probably a couple hours. The afternoon sun was making me feel a little drowsy, as well as all the fighting and wandering around we'd done. All I wanted to do now was go back to town and rest, and I bet that Shiloh did, too. "Let's go. We're almost done with the mission."

"Alright," Shiloh mumbled. "Let's go back." We started off on the return trek to Treasure Town, not looking at each other or speaking a word.


And things were going well, too. Ah, they'll work it out. They're teammates. And Shiloh's not going to ditch Gale now. She has a lot to teach him about fighting and type matchups, after all. Don't punch any more Rock types, Gale...your fists can't take it.
In the game, the main character knows special moves right away, but I thought it'd probably take some time to learn how to fight like a Pokémon.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!