(Tom - Great Plains)

"... Tom. That's your name." Glacia said after a while.

Tom… you know, that sounds vaguely familiar, as if I've heard that name before now. Well, either way, it sounds like a good name either way.

"...yeah. I kind of like that name." I nodded, feeling somewhat giddy inside. Finally, I have a name. I was a little worried about what I was going to tell Kol tomorrow morning, but I don't have to worry about that anymore. I nodded, happy and joyful.

"Tom. That's my name." I smiled. "Thanks, Glacia."

Glacia nodded, her eyes drooping. She still must be really tired - I could tell that the day's events were tiring on her. Strange, though - I don't feel particularly tired as well. In fact, once the sun set, I felt much stronger and moved even faster than I did in the Mystery Dungeon.

"No pro… no pro…" Glacia began swaying. "Goo… Good night." She yawned, then collapsed into her bed.

… Well, now what?

I was prepared to spend the entire night thinking of a name for myself to tell Kol. But now that Glacia has named me and I have a purpose in life again - helping Glacia with hers - I have literally nothing to do.

I decided to step outside because hanging around in the tent was beginning to chafe on me. Rokka was standing outside, on guard. The crocodile was sitting next to the fire, looking into Chimodzi Forest, apparently bored out of his mind (judging by his scowl). I (who was also bored out of my mind) decided to commiserate with him.

"... are you as bored as I am?"

Rokka turned to me, his scowl deepening, and looked me in the eyes, beetle black eyes to… whatever my eyes looked like. "Litwick. Shut up, or go to bed."

I decided not to speak again.

Rokka kept looking off into the distance of the open and grassy plains, while I was just looking into the deep and dark forest. I'm pretty sure that Rokka was upset about something, but I wasn't going to upset the beehive, so I didn't bother asking about it.

Say… speaking of bees, where are all of the animals, anyway. I mean, is this world filled with Pokemon, and only Pokemon? What about all of the trees and grass and other plants? What does this all mean? Why am I asking all of these questions? Was that question itself too cliché?

Rokka got up and stretched. "Well, Litwick, I'm going to go and take a nap. It's been a long day and unlike you, I didn't get the chance to nap off a couple of hours in captivity. Later, candle." He waved at me, smirking in the orange glow of the fire.

I hate that guy… well, I don't, he just really annoys me sometimes.

He walked off to Peng and Glacia's tent and went inside for a second. I felt a brief urge to rush to the tent to make sure Peng and Glacia were alright, but I quashed it after a second of wrestling with it. After all, Rokka wouldn't do anything to them, right? Right?

Well, even if I don't hate Rokka, I also don't trust him. He gives off a strange dark vibe, making me feel like he's always plotting something. Given the fact that the last time we followed Rokka's "advice", we got ambushed by the blue bats and rock monsters, I think my fear is relatively well-founded.

Well, in the present, my fear was unfounded, as soon enough Peng came out of the tent, her eyes bleary and unfocused. Rokka came out soon after and headed to Kol's tent. Before he entered the tent, though, he turned to Peng, smirked, and said "Good Night, Pengy. Ta-ta."

Oh no.

In the light of the fire, Peng's claws began to glow a metallic sheen, and she began to make a strange sound. I don't believe I've ever heard it before, because it sounds like the cross of a bird shriek, a goose, and a trumpet. Impossible to understand if you've never heard of it before. She headed toward Rokka, taking slow but heavy step steps forward.

Rokka, with a smidgen of common sense, quickly ran into the tent he shared with Kol. Peng took a couple of more steps forward, and I was a little worried a fight was going to break out in the middle of the night, but I needn't worried, because Peng soon caught herself. She shook her head a couple of times, then headed back toward where I was, a displeased expression plastered across her face.

"That idiot", she mumbled under her breath, with what appeared to be a small smile on her face. Once she noticed I was looking, though, she snarled at me. "What are you looking at?"

"Uhh…" Let's just say I was not a maestro with words.

She gave out a sigh. "Forget it."

It was silent for a small time in the campsite.

"... so what was that about?" I was hoping that she would be a little more chatty than Rokka was.

She looked at me and gave me a pensive look for a couple of seconds. I felt I was being inspected by a microscope as she looked at me.

She then gave out a huff. "Alright, I'll tell you", she said in a small, quiet voice. "Rokka and I have a love-hate relationship going on here - well, at least on my end. On one hand, he is a colossal prick with an aptitude for annoying and insulting everyone in the immediate vicinity. On the other hand, he is a valued member of the team and I really like his work ethic once he gets going. So yeah, I don't know what to think of him. I mean, he is nice sometimes, but he is mean and caustic all the other times. And…"

Peng kept on rambling, and I politely listened the entire time - nobody could say that I didn't have listening stamina, after this. She kept going on and on and on, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I wasn't listening to her. She went on like that for ten more minutes, which definitely tested my patience, but eventually, she got around to finish.

"... so you see, Litwick, I am so confused on how to deal with the idiotically stupidly sarcastically cheerful lug."

"... oh." I said in a small voice because what else was I supposed to say?

We sat in a companionable silence for what seemed like a long time, but was only five more minutes, before Peng decided to break the silence again. She was much more talkative than Rokka was, that's for sure.

"So, Litwick, I overheard Kol and Rokka's conversation with you. Have you decided on a name yet?"

"Yeah, my name's Tom now". Well, that felt weird to say. Not the Tom bit, no, I'm talking about the "My name is _ now" as if I had a name before.

"Tom. Tom. Tom" She sounded out. "A strange name, but what that somehow fits you." She nodded. "Alright Tom, what are your favorite Berries. I, personally, like Wacan and Rindo Berries."

… Amnesia was going to be a harder problem than I thought it would be.

"Uh… what is a Berry?" I ask almost timidly.

She stared at me for a couple of seconds, and I felt a little nervous.

"Tom, have you only ever eaten meat and people's souls?" She asked.

"W-what? I don't think I've ever eaten someone's soul before." Then a scary thought ran through my head. " Well, I might have, but I don't remember it"

She looked bemused for a second, which looked a little funny on her penguin face. Then she gasped and looked at me with what looked to be a form of pity in her eyes. Somehow, I felt even more uncomfortable.

"Ah, right, you have amnesia, Tom. Your preference for berries is probably gone." Along with everything else, true.

It was quiet in the campsite for a while after that. It seems to me that Peng realized her conversational blunders, and decided not to initiate any more conversations - that duty was now left up to me.

Of course, with my amnesia and all, I didn't really have any ideas for conversations. I knew nothing about the world, after all. How can I talk about something I know nothing about?

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OH YEAH!

"Hey, Peng," I asked casually, "Why can I throw flames around?"

She looked at me oddly. "Because you're a Litwick, and that's what Litwicks do." She seemed confused. Then she looked mortified. "Tom, please tell me you at least knew how to use your flames before today."

"... I didn't know how to even walk before today." I reminded her.

She winced. "Oh, dear… What do you know?"

Well, that was a tough question. "I don't know what I know, Peng"

She looked confused "Huh?"

… on second thought, that wasn't the clearest answer I could have given her. "I know how to talk and how to think and stuff like that," I tried to explain, "I just don't know anything about Pokemon".

She looked absolutely gobsmacked at that, which I thought was understandable. From what I can tell, Pokemon are the people of this world - if, in my old world, I said I didn't know anything about humanity, I would get, at the very least, incredibly strange looks. At most, they would lock me in an insane asylum. I don't exactly remember what an insane asylum is, but I know it's bad.

She, after a couple of long, painful seconds, collected herself. "Y-you don't know anything about Pokemon?" She whispered to me hoarsely.

Feeling bad, I nodded. "Yeah, I don't know anything about Pokemon. Talking and thinking were the only things I kept from before my memories were erased. I know nothing about Pokemon." I admitted.

She looked at me with an overwhelming pity flickering in her eyes. The pity was annoying me for some reason, even though I knew it was justified in this case.

"Tom, I'm so sorry." She told me hearteningly. Then a powerful and steely look entered her eyes. "Alright, Tom, I'm going to teach you the basics of Pokemon tonight. You will not leave this campsite without knowing what Types, Moves, and Abilities are." She nodded to herself, then sighed. "I have a lot of work cut out for me, huh."

"Yep." That wasn't a secret to either of us.

She shook her head. "Alright, then, let's get started. First of all, Tom, do you know what Types are?"

"No."

"Figures. Types are a little hard to explain. They're essentially an element we are aligned with," Peng began to teach.

"'Aligned with'? What does that mean?" I was getting really into this learning session with Peng.

She began to explain. "When I say aligned with, I mean connected to. You can use that element and its power. You, for instance, are connected to Fire, which is how you can throw your flames around and light your wick on fire."

Ah, so my connection to Fire allows me to my pyrokinesis. "It sounds like you would want as many types as possible, so you can use as many elements as possible," I remarked.

Peng laughed. "No, that's not how types work. I was talking about the typing of Moves. Moves are basically things that a Pokemon can do like shoot bubbles, cloak themselves in water, turn themselves metallic" she lifted a shining claw for emphasis " throw fire and ice around, discharge electricity, etc."

"Like using a Shadow Ball, right?" I asked.

Peng nodded. "Right, Shadow Ball is a move - a Ghost type move to be exact."

"Ghost type"

She snickered. "All right, I'll explain the types to you. There is Fire" she pointed at me, "Water" she pointed at her herself "Electricity" she pointed to the tent where Kol and Rokka where sleeping, "Grass, Bug, Poison, Ice", she pointed to where Gel and Strawberry were sleeping "Fairy, Dragon, Rock, Flying, Fighting, Psychic, Steel," she pointed to one of her steely fins "Ground, Dark" she pointed to where Kol and Rokka were sleeping again. "Ghost" she pointed at me again, "and Normal", she pointed to our tent, probably gesturing to Glacia.

"...uh… what?"

She sighed and repeated herself

"Fire, Water, Electricity, Grass, Bug, Poison, Ice, Fairy, Dragon, Rock, Flying, Fighting, Psychic, Steel, Ground, Dark, Ghost, and Normal. 18 in total. Every single sentient Pokemon knows about these types, and you have to know them too if you want anyone to take you seriously."

I gulped. "Got it"

She looked at me with a stern look. "Repeat them back to me."

"Uhh… Fire" I started off, remembering myself first and foremost. "Water and Steel," I said, looking at Peng, remembering her and the shiny fins. I looked at the tents "Electricity, Dark, Ice, Normal, Ghost" I cast around in my mind for the pokemon I remembered from earlier today "Dragon, Rock, Flying, and Bug" I ended, remembering no others. I quickly tallied all the Types I remembered… dang, only got twelve out of eighteen.

Peng gave me a look, "Given that you probably knew all of this before your memories were erased, I thought you would be learning this faster. You got eleven out of eighteen types right, Tom."

Eleven? "I thought I got twelve right, not eleven," I asked in a somewhat accusatory tone.

She shook her head. "This is a technicality but it's not Electricity, it's Electric" she explained. Oh come on, they're three letters apart, and how was I supposed to know that it was called the Electric when she used nothing but "Electricity" to explain it.

Seeing my annoyed face, she sighed. "You missed Grass, Poison, Fighting, Ground, Psychic, and Fairy. Repeat them after me - Grass, Poison, Fighting, Ground, Psychic, and Fairy."

" Grass, Poison, Fighting, Ground, Psychic, and Fairy" I tonelessly recited after her.

She nodded. "Good". She then went into detail with each Type. Fire, Water, Dragon, Poison, Steel, Ice, Bug, and Rock were fairly self-explanatory. I was a little confused with the other types, though.

"Aren't all types used for fighting?"

"Yes, but Fighting types use their bodies, in a form of martial arts. If you see a Pokemon punching or kicking, it's usually a Fighting type."

"What is a Fairy Type?"

"The type for everything cute and cuddly" She sounded fairly annoyed at that.

"Grass?" I asked questioningly.

At this point, she let out a scream of frustration. I decided to ask her about that later.

"How are Ghost, Flying, Fighting, Bug, Steel, Fairy, Poison, and "Normal" elements?"

She groaned "Enough with the questions, I'm sure Gel will be happy to answer your questions later, but we need to get on with this" She let out a small yawn "Ugh… I'm getting tired. I'll explain Abilities quickly, and then I'll get Gel to do my shift. Abilities are," she yawned again, a little louder this time "special things that a Pokemon automatically does … to…" she then yawned and closed her eyes. This time, she didn't say anything else.

"... Peng… Peng… Peng?" I tried shaking her awake. She didn't even twitch a muscle, apparently knocked out beyond belief.

"She won't be waking up, Litwick. None of them will." That feminine voice sounded familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. I turned around to see a strange creature with roses for hands - sorry, Pokemon - shaking her hands around, spreading a strange green and purple dust around the campsite and into the tents. "In fact, they won't be waking up, ever." The rose Pokemon glowed white and started to grow. I recognized the form the Pokemon was turning into, and paled.

A Dragonite looked out at me and gave a sinister grin. "Remember me? It's your good old friend Henka." He gave off a small smile. "For being able to escape for me and stay conscious through my Powders, I'll give you a small prize." He opened his wings "You can stay and suck up their life energy without worrying because they're going to die anyway. Have Fun!" Henka opened his wings and took off, laughing all the while.

I, desperate to do something to stop him, flung a couple of measly flames at him. Unfortunately, my aim wasn't that good, and I missed him by a couple of feet. He shot off, laughing his head off as the embers of fire I had released flew into the dry, grassy field, catching the entire field on fire.

At this point, Henka had escaped, my friends were dying, and we were surrounded on all sides by a raging inferno. By all means, I should have panicked, running around like a headless chicken on steroids. Yet, I found myself extremely calm, as if I was completely safe and nothing bad was going to happen to me.

Looking at the problems, I knew there was nothing I could do about Henka - he was completely out of my reach, out of anyone's reach at this point, if the small orange speck in the sky has to say anything about it.

That left the other two problems - the raging wildfire and my dying friends. I can't do anything about the fire by myself - I have a feeling that trying to telepathically suppress the fire would be a waste of time, and I have no other methods of suppressing a fire of this magnitude.

I need water (which felt wrong in my head, for some reason) and lots of it (which felt even more wrong).

Water, water, water…

Peng! I just remembered she pointed to herself when she mentioned the Water Type. If she can summon water, she'll be able to somewhat control this fire.

I quickly run over to Peng and try to wake her up - but it's no use. The powder that Henka had spread onto her had knocked her out completely, and I could tell that she wasn't going to wake up for a long time.

Then she coughed up purplish blood.

I stared at it for a little bit, then realized that Peng was dying and in no shape to put out any fires whatsoever. The problem was, everyone else was also affected by the powder, except for me. I couldn't wake them up normally - that was impossible, I could already tell. I needed some way to force them to wake up…

… Nothing - I can't think of anything. I cursed my amnesia once again because I know literally nothing to stop them from dying.

Peng coughed again, a little bit more blood coming out this time. I felt the vestiges of true panic begin to wash over me, the feeling of powerlessness crawling through my veins as I watched Peng begin die in front of me.

They'regoingtodieThey'regoingtodieThey'regoingtodieThey'regoingtodieTHEY'REGOINGTODIETHEY'REGOINGTODIETHEY'REGOINGTODIETHEY'REGOINGTODIE!

Peng…

Rokka…

Kol…

Gel…

Strawberry…

Glacia…

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Waitwaitwait, Strawberry, Something is niggling about in the back of my mind, some way to wake someone up, but staring into the flames, I can't remember how…

… FLAMES! I woke up Strawberry with Flames when we were in captivity in Henka's cave. I might be able to wake her up again if I use flames again.

I move as fast as lightning to Gel and Strawberry's tent and turn on my Light full blast.

While Gel's face is marred by a small frown as he tosses and turns in a what looks like to be a nightmare, Strawberry is moving like there are ants wriggling all over her, like she's trying to escape from something that is attacking her but was unable.

This wasn't working fast enough. I could feel the heat from the wildfire in the plains outside grow steadily hotter and hotter, and I knew that if Strawberry didn't wake up soon we would be unable to do anything.

So I did the smartest and dumbest thing I could ever do. I flared up my light to the brightest it could go and shouted, directly in Strawberry's ear, "WAKE UP!"

That did the trick.

Strawberry sat up bolt right, her eyes as wide as they can go, and SCREAMED!

Her scream was so loud that I imagine you could hear it for miles. It rang shrilly in my ears, piercing my thought processes and making me instinctively turn off my Light.

Gel woke up with a start, the strange powder on top of him falling off. Judging from his gaping reaction, he was probably not expecting to be woken up in the middle of the night.

I decided to cut to the chase "Henka's escaped, I accidentally started a wildfire, and he covered everyone in a strange powder".

Gel's eyes widened when I said 'Powder'. "What do you mean, 'Powder'"

"He sprinkled a purple and green powder on everyone." I hurriedly explained. "We need to get rid of it - Peng is coughing up blood."

Gel began to let out some choice words I will not repeat for the sanctity of your ears, interspersed with the occasional burp of purple liquid.

Gel turned to me after ten or so seconds of this. "We've wasted enough time. Go into Kol and Rokka's tent and get some Pecha and Chesto Berries and feed them to everyone." He then ran outside. "I'll hold off the wildfire for now." He began shooting off a stream of white energy that froze whatever it touched. Of course, the fire already melted some of the ice, but it helped anyway.

I moved after him, panting and trying to shout. "I don't know what Pecha Berries and Chesto Berries look like!"

He cursed again. "The pink and purple round fruits in the bag, Litwick. Now!"

I moved like the demons of hell were on my tail to the tent, and quickly climbed inside. Kol and Rokka were both coughing up their blood and shaking violently in their slumber.

I quickly found the bag, which was lying next to Kol, and threw it upside-down to reveal its contents. A paper map fell on the floor, as well as a couple of strange looking seeds, some gelatinous things, and a couple of squished fruits. The fruits were red, blue, cyan, yellow, pink, and purple. I gathered as many pink and purple berries I could find, then quickly fed a couple to Kol and Rokka.

Their eyes shot open.

"Litwick, what is happening?" Kol's voice was calm, yet deadly.

I gave them the condensed version. "Henka escaped, I accidentally started a wildfire, everyone's under a forced sleep and coughing up blood"

They both began to curse, and for a brief second, I wondered if this was their natural response to this kind of hardship. I hurriedly continued "Gel told me to feed you these berries - I managed to wake you up with them, and stop you from coughing up blood."

"What about the others?" Kol hurried on.

My eyes widened, as I remembered. "The Others!" I quickly took as many berries as I could carry and ran over to where Peng was still dying and Gel was holding back the wildfire. I quickly popped a pink and purple berry into Peng's mouth and watched as her previously pale penguin-like complexion turned back into her normal penguin-like complexion. Then her eyes snapped open. "Wha…?"

I, however, didn't stick around like last time. I handed her a pink and purple berry "Give these to Gel, NOW!" I then took the bag and ran over to Strawberry's tent, which was the closest to where Peng was lying down and gave her two of the remaining berries. She soon stopped breathing out purple fumes, but still cried as much as loud as ever. I, however, didn't have the time for this - Glacia still needed me.

I ran as fast as the wind to where Glacia was previously sleeping. She was lying there in a small puddle of blood, breathing out small purple fumes every second in her sleep. I shoved the berries into her mouth, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me when her breath turned clear again and her eyes snapped open.

Then, exhausted at last, I fell asleep.


(Glacia - A Dream)

I nodded. "No pro… no pro…" Suddenly I felt really sleepy. "Goo… Good night," I yawn, falling into a pleasant, yet dreamless sleep…

… well, it was dreamless for the first hour or so, anyway.

My sleep was calm, peaceful, and serene - just like it usually was. Somehow, during my dreamless sleep, I was able to remember that this is what dreaming usually felt like for me, that this whole mess with time travel and revolutions started with a wake-up from a nightmare.

Dreamless sleep is better than dreams and nightmares any day of the week, and I won't be forced to think otherwise.

Of course, that state of blissful unconsciousness had to be torn away from me by the birth of a new dream - or should I say nightmare.

It started off well, all things considered. I was lying next to my pool in the castle, reading The Tales of Eonia, looking at the stories of the great heroes.

Stories like that of the Great Aggronian, whose feats in naixe-shaking rivaled Groudon's so much so that Groudon himself rose out of the Great Crevice to bury the Aggronian.

Stories like that of Gardevinia, whose feats of bravery, kindness, and psychic prowess had her be knighted by Cresselia and the Spirit Trio.

Stories like that of the Great Dragon Zentairym, whose unending loyalty tore him apart through the machinations of a malicious and alien creature.

Stories like that of the Phantom Sableye, the thieving demon that had the power to steal anything that fell within the grasp of its crystalline eye.

Stories like that of the Temporal Grovyle and the Lustrous Celebi, who had traveled millennia into the past to save Time itself (for some reason, I paid special attention this one - I had the strange feeling the story would come in useful, or at least relevant, at one point in time or another. I don't know why, though).

I kept on reading through all of the tales, enjoying the warm breeze in my fur as I flipped through the pages. Of course, once or twice the breeze flipped a page or two, but it was a small concern, nothing to be worried about.

Then the wind picked up, and it became harder and harder to stay on only one page. To stop this, I held out one of my paws onto the page, so that it wouldn't flip. The wind, however, wouldn't slow down, and only got stronger and stronger. I felt my hand slipping on the page before my hand was forced of off the page by the great gale and the book's pages began to flip madly. At this point, my eyes were watering due to the pure force of the wind, and to prevent my eyes from drying out, I was forced to close them. I remained in the powerful throes of the gust for an indeterminate amount of time, my fur being battered and bludgeoned against by the pure force of the wind.

Suddenly, the wind began to dramatically slow down, and within three seconds the potent hurricane that had been attacking me died down to what it was before - a simple breeze.

I opened my eyes. Thankfully, the pond I was lying next to wasn't damaged at all - no trees were knocked over, and no grass uprooted. Looking back on it, the wind wasn't that bad - it was just extremely distracting.

My book had flown across the pond in the hurricane winds so I went around the pond to go and retrieve it so that I could continue reading The Tales of Eonia. My book was spread out in the grass, the binding face-up. I flipped the book up so I could see what legend it had landed on.

Across the heading of the page the book had landed on sat a single word: Conkeldius.

My breath hitched, and a memory flew in my mind.

I was confused. What did he mean, my actual name?

"My name," I stressed," is Glacia VII."

"Yeah, right, and I'm Conkeldius" he scoffed, referencing an old folk tale from one of my favorite books, The Tales of Eonia.

I then realized that he didn't believe me, and became enraged. My rage, however, was stopped short by his next couple of words.

"Do you honestly think anyone would believe that you're a princess from two thousand years ago?"

I began to shake, uncontrollably. The words on the page were taunting me, reminding me of what I had lost.

Then, as if Kyogre herself had decided to turn on me, my pool began to swell in size, growing past the limits of the pool, I, gaining control of my shaking, stepped back with my copy of The Tales of Eonia.

The tides of the pool, however, wouldn't be stopped. It began to continuously grow in size, enlarging rapidly. I began to hear Rokka's cruel and remorseless laughter ring through the clearing as the pool engorged more and more, flooding the clearing.

I watched, with tears in my eyes, as the water of the pool bled all of the ink off of the pages, somehow shriveling my book under my very eyes. I began to paddle in the three-foot-deep water, as Rokka's voice split into two distinct voice's, one of them being the deep baritone of Henka and the other the shrill shriek of the Araquanid.

Then, as the water's level skyrocketed, it began to change. The water took on a deep purple hue and turned from its watery consistency to become thicker and more viscous. I felt the water itself attacking me as if it was acid, burning me and my fur away. Soon, unable to support myself in the poisoned acid-water anymore, my head fell into the poison, the wicked laughter not dampened in the slightest.

Inside the toxic ocean, I saw a glowing orb. Dying, I decided that it was perhaps my only chance at survival. Inside was a glowing purple flame, which repelled all of the poison around it. I dived into the orb, praying with all of my life.

I felt a warm and sticky fluid surround me, before jerking me up, up past the surface of the water, rising faster than the swelling of the toxic pool could ever hope to achieve. The sounds of laughter muted below me as, trapped as I was in the orb, I was free.


(Glacia - Great Plains)

My eyes snap open, my body feeling well rested. Ah, this feels… good?

I then realize what exactly happened. Around me, there is a smell of smoke and wax, with a noxious smell hanging around me. I wrinkled my nose as the rancid odor pervaded my sense of smell, feeling an urge to vomit up my dinner.

"Ugh, what just… what just happened?" I ask myself in the middle of the air, expecting, and getting, no response. Next to me lay Tom, who was fast asleep in his bed, his wax dotted with green and purple particles. I saw, more than felt, the particles on my own fur as well. The outside of the tent we were in was bright for some reason, yet I couldn't escape the strange feeling that it wasn't morning yet.

Then I heard the crackle of flame, and I decided that the inside of the wooden tent wasn't the best place to remain. Tom would be fine - he was a Litwick, after all.

I escaped into the open air of the campsite, only to see the tent, which for some reason was of fire, collapse. I felt a smidgen of guilt as I knew that Tom was still in there, but then I concerned myself with other matters.

Surrounding the campsite was a ring of wildfire. Peng and Gel were fighting it off with Water Pulses and Ice Beams, though Gel was looking a lot more like Strawberry than he usually did, as he was tinted purple. Peng, noticing this, shouted at Gel "Go get some of the berries, Gel! You're still poisoned!" Poisoned? What happened while I was asleep? Before I fell asleep, there was nothing wrong with the campsite, and now there's fire everywhere, Gel is apparently poisoned even though there is literally nothing that could have caused it, and there are strange purple and green particles lying everywhere!

I quickly scurried up to Peng who was still shooting off Water Pulses like there was no tomorrow. The Pulses, which were orbs of condensed water that spread out on ripples upon impact, were slowing the fire down and even pushing it back as they hit, but seeing as the entire field was on fire, the water was disappearing a such an alarming rate that I realized that Peng was fighting a losing battle.

Rokka was on the other side of the camp, shaking the ground with powerful stomps. Every time he stamped his feet on the ground, it would upend itself, causing the fire to be smothered under a blanket of dirt. Rokka was having much more success with his firefighting for some reason - then again, he was burying all of the plants that were catching on fire with his Ground Type Powers.

Kol, however, was nowhere to be found. He had disappeared completely - I couldn't smell him at all, and I was a little worried for him. The only other person unaccounted for is Strawberry - although that was quickly put to rest once I heard her screams as I saw her run around in the clearing, clearly panicked. Let's see now, everyone is accounted for - Tom!

The guilt of leaving him in the burning wooden tents began to multiply, as I quickly remembered that Tom, even as a Fire Type, wouldn't be uninjured by the falling wooden logs that compromised our tents. I quickly ran over to our tent and tried to find Tom, but he was buried under a pile of logs. I decided that a move would help in this case, and I began to prepare a Shadow Ball. As I was preparing the Shadow Ball, the guilt in me began to skyrocket for some reason, and I almost lost control of it. Luckily, I managed to hold on to the ghostly power (which over the past couple of days I really have been forced to rely on) and fired it at the pile of wooden logs.

Once the Shadow Ball contacted the pile of logs, it detonated, sending wooden shrapnel flying everywhere. The wooden splinters pierced me in a couple of uncomfortable places, and I really felt the sting - it felt like getting hit by one of Dad's grass type attacks, except not as bad.

I quickly shook off the splinters and got back to work at the pile of wooden logs. A great deal of the logs that Peng, Tom, and I had used to build the tent was now broken and in pieces, but there was still plenty of logs everywhere. I charged up another Shadow Ball and fired it at the remaining logs. There was another great explosion, except this time I was prepared for the wooden shrapnel and managed to dodge all of it successfully.

After the second Shadow Ball detonated, I looked at the pile of wooden logs. It was now completely decimated - and so was Tom, now that I could get a good look at him. Well, decimated wasn't quite the right word for what had happened - there were still some logs here and there, but they were nowhere near as prevalent as they needed to be a hindrance to me, and Tom wasn't dead by any stretch - he was extremely injured, sure, as wax was everywhere, but I could somehow tell he was still alive.

I then heard a groan from him, which told me he was going to be alright - he usually groaned.

Of course, I was much more diligent and cautious than that - Sharon made sure of that (GLACIA, DON'T TOUCH THE TORC- GLACIA, DON'T TOUCH THE STOV- GLACIA, STOP TOUCHING EVERYTHING YOU SEE!). I quickly dug an Oran Berry out of the pouch Tom had brought with him and shoved it into his mouth. As he chewed on the berry, I could see his wax regain consistency, and Tom soon got to his feet on shaky steps. I could tell he was in pain because he somehow had burns on his face even though Litwicks don't get burnt.

"Ugh… Glacia… everything hurts…" Tom began to whine. I frowned a little bit - while I could tell that Tom was clearly in a lot of pain, I wish he wouldn't complain so much - I, for instance, never complain.

"Please don't complain," I complained.

Tom just kept on groaning.

Gel came out of the forest he had run into earlier. I guess since the Berries were with Tom he had to go find his own berries for his poisoning. He looked much, much better without the purple pallor he had ten minutes ago.

Speaking of poisoning…

I quickly took a hold of Tom and began shaking him back and forth, wincing a little bit as some loose wax was spilled all over my fur. I quickly wiped it off and began asking Tom some very, very complicated questions.

"What. Happened?"

"I would like to know that as well, Litwick." Kol's deep voice resounded behind me. I whipped around to find the Luxio standing cross behind me, and that was saying something.

Once Tom was able to visibly find his bearings from the shaking I had given him and the amount of damage he took, he answered in slow and halting words. "...H-Henka… escaped…" he managed to stutter out. Tom then fell faint again, the pain too much for him - and at this point, we had bigger problems.

Kol gained an unholy amount of fury in his eyes and electricity began to crackle off of him as he roared a terrifying roar. Everyone in the campsite - and I mean everyone, including the unconscious Tom - was forced to cover their ears because Kol's roar was as loud as a thunderclap and roughly ten times scarier. I unconsciously took a couple of steps back as Kol began to prowl around, looking much more intimidating than usual. I can honestly tell why Kol is the leader of their team - he certainly had the power to back it up.

Kol quickly turned to Peng, who had just finished putting out the wildfire with Gel and Rokka.

"What happened?" He asked Peng, using the exact same question I had used to interrogate Tom - except that somehow there was an infinitely higher amount of urgency and necessity in his question than there was in mine.

Peng took a couple of deep breaths, calming herself down, and then she spoke with purpose. "Kol, I was talking to Tom earlier tonight, explaining to him the basics of Typing, when I saw a cloud of powdery particles fall from the sky. I thought that it was just ash from the fire, but when it settled I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. I then fell asleep."

Kol cursed again. "Somebody - Henka, most likely - used Sleep Powder on us. Poison Powder too, looking at what's on the ground." In the early light of the morning, he lit up his fur with his electricity and pointed to the ground, which was covered in the green and purple powders - which I now could recognize as Sleep Powder and Poison Powder.

Gel, who was standing off to the side with Rokka, then asked a couple questions. "But then why did he torch the Great Plains, and how did he escape in the first place? Oh, and why was Litwick still conscious?"

Kol shook his head in anger. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, Gel." Kol then began to mutter as he walked around, muttering phrases like "inside Pokemon" and "traitorous candle". I had the strangest feeling he was talking about Tom, but I just couldn't put my finger on why. No, the way that Kol just kept sending Tom's fainted body dark looks did nothing to flame my concerns. Nothing at all.

… I have been using a lot more vulgar language in my thoughts than I have at any time before now, huh.

Rokka barked out a couple of short laughs. "Look, isn't it obvious? The Litwick melted the block of ice Henka was in - how else could he have gotten out. Physically breaking the ice block would have woken everybody in the camp, and none of us were woken by a crash of ice. There's no other way of freeing Henka from the ice cube other than melting it, which only Litwick was capable."

Kol nodded at Rokka's ridiculous theory, but Gel scoffed, the lasting heat from the wildfire clearly making him irritable. "Are you serious, Rokka? This theory of yours is ridiculous," he snapped. "If he melted the ice cube, don't you think the heat would have woken Strawberry and I up? And when would he do it, anyway? If we went by our normal rotation, Peng would have been the next sentry after Litwick, and Peng was knocked out by the Powders, so it had to have been before then."

Kol was frowning, but Rokka was adamant. "Yeah right, he could have done it when I was waking up Pe-"

Peng exploded with anger "That's ********, and you know it Rokka. You woke me within a minute, maximum. How in all of Naixe can you say that Tom managed to melt the ice cube within a minute."

Rokka blinked. "Tom?" he asked, perplexed.

"Tom - Litwick's name. He told me earlier tonight," she explained.

Kol gave out what looked like the first smile I saw from him all morning. "He finally decided, huh."

Rokka scoffed - it was his favorite thing to do after all. "What a stupid name." he mocked, his reptilian face scrunched up. At this point, I felt more than a little annoyed, because everyone other than Peng and Gel, (basically, just Rokka and Kol a little bit) was insulting Tom, and I still felt bad about forgetting about him under the logs for a second. This annoyance has nothing to with the fact that I picked the name "Tom". Nothing at all.

I heard a groan from behind me where Tom was laying on the ground, and all of our heads snapped back to see Tom get up from the ground and shakily right himself. Rokka, as if sensing weakness, prowled over to Tom, grabbed him, and started interrogating him. I began to feel pity for Tom - he was being pokehandled so much today.

Rokka, in a deceptively calm voice to those who haven't known him for at least three seconds, asked Tom a simple question. "Explain what happened last night."

Tom froze up a little bit, then began to babble. "AfteryouwenttosleeplastnightPengtaughtmesomereallycoolstuffandIlearnedabouttypesandmovesandthenshefellasleepandHenkacoveredeverythinginsporesandthenIaccidentallyseteverythingonfireandthenIwokeupGelandIwokeupyouandKolandthenIwokeupPengandthenIwokeupGlacia."

Gel gave out a pained sigh. "Slower, Tom."

Tom gave a deep breath, trying to calm down from the death grip Rokka had on him and repeated what he said more slowly. "After you went to sleep last night, Peng taught me some really cool stuff, and I learned about types and moves, and then she fell asleep, and Henka covered everything in spores, and then I accidentally set everything on fire, and then I woke up Gel, and I woke up you and Kol, and then I woke up Peng, and then I woke up Glacia."

I felt a little insulted that I was the last person Tom rescued (he pledged his life to me last night, you know), but I, as gracious as I am, completely understood and therefore felt much better about leaving Tom buried under the logs for a minute or two - he chose his place, he has to learn what it entails. Honestly.

Rokka shook Tom a little more, sending a little bit of wax flying everywhere, then continued a more detailed interrogation. "Why did you start the forest fire?" he growled at Tom. As much as I detest Rokka for everything he is (a Dark Type and a *******), he's right on this point - why did Tom start the fire?

"I was t-trying to hit Henka as he was flying away as a Dragonite. I missed and hit the field."

Accident? The wildfire he created was by accident?

This time Gel, taking the reins of the interrogation, asked the question. "Why did you wake me up with your flame?"

"I didn't know how." Tom tried to explain, looking like he was in a daze.

"********" Wow, everyone is cursing today - except that it sounds a lot more natural coming from Rokka's mouth than say, mine. "He's lying - he has to be lying"

"He didn't know what Berries are, Rokka, I can confirm that from earlier last night." Peng came to Tom's rescue.

At this point, Kol who looked like he was having enough, decided to step in "Alright, now that all of you have stated the obvious," he said in an obnoxious tone of voice, which I didn't think that Kol could achieve with his Roar previously, "we can get to the real matter at hand - what we do now."

No one was very forthcoming - I realized that no one knew what to do now that Henka was missing.

At this point, I realized I had been completely silent for the past fifteen minutes and immediately resolved it. "We do what we have been doing". As everyone gave me completely disbelieving looks, I felt a little imbecilic, but I stood my ground on this one.

Kol eventually gave a sigh. "Glacia's right - we still have to head to Jeden City, where our base is. Henka's gone, and out of our reach for the near future. We're going to have to report the mission as a failure." He began walking out of the little circle we had created during the discussions. Once his back was turned on us, he continued. "The bag is under the logs. Hopefully, it hasn't burned yet. If it hasn't we don't have to replace it. Rokka, try to recover it - we'll be waiting"

Rokka's sneer faded, and he gave a respectful nod to Kol before digging himself a tunnel in the ground.

Kol snorted, then continued. "Peng, try to recover the bag from the top. Gel, you go and calm down Strawberry. Try to console her - she'll need it."

Peng and Gel nodded, then proceeded to follow Kol's orders.

Kol turned to Tom and me, and I felt a small chill. Usually, Kol had a kind look in his eyes, but evidently, the escape of Henka brought out Kol's unforgiving side.

"You two, stay here and do nothing. You two have troubled and worried us enough as it is. Don't make any more trouble for us right now."

Tom nodded, trembling, and I nodded too - I'm not going to argue with Kol when he looked like that.

So there Tom and I sat, the wind of the early morning cold on our backs.

It didn't take very long for the clearly experienced team to do their jobs. Rokka managed to find the bag before Peng did and gloated it in her face, Gel tried to calm Strawberry down and failed miserably, the past two days events clearly overwhelming her beyond the point of recovery. (I was slowly starting to feel sorry for Strawberry - all of this must have been very, very stressful for her. I know it was stressful for me). We all rejoined in the clearing, and after a brief explanation of the rest of journey, we started on our way.

We silently went through Chimodzi Forest, which was a dense forest full of your typical Bug and Grass Type Pokemon, like Caterpie, Weedle, Wurmple, Scatterbug, Venipede, Petilil, Oddish, the list goes on and on. It was nice and relaxing compared to the events of the past two days, which was nice - looking at the early morning sun through the gaps in the boughs of the trees was an experience I have never had before, only read about in beautiful poetry.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games - we certainly had a scuffle or two with a feral Pokemon, but it wasn't anything serious, and neither I nor Tom had to dirty our paws… or wax. Rokka, like all Dark Types, itched for fights and took care of all the fights, even with type disadvantages.

Once we made it through the forest, we opened our way to the top of a hill, which overlooked the

countryside that surrounded us. Roughly a thirty minutes walk away there was a large city, from which I could hear the hustle and bustle from even from where we were standing. Peng, taking the lead from a second from a severely annoyed Kol, proudly gesticulated to the city. "Take your first look at Jeden City of Ring Number 1!"

That sounded strange. "Ring Number 1?" I try to ask casually. I've just discovered something else I don't know - and the curiosity in me demands an answer.

Before Peng could answer, however, Kol interrupted. "You can ask your questions later." Damn. "Right now, we need to get to our Venture base.

Venture Base?

VENTURE BASE?

HE ACTS LIKE TOM AND I KNOW WHAT THESE WORDS MEAN!

Come on, Tom, ask a question or two, help sate the demon of curiosity inside me…

But Tom is silent - he knows that for an incredibly arbitrary reason he's on thin ice with the rest of the team.

So while my curiosity and pride battle each other, we continue on to Jeden City, to the "Venture Base". An hour later, we're well within the boundaries of the city.

At this point, my curiosity tries to calm itself down with the new technologies that should be invented two thousand years in the future, but instead, I find nothing, absolutely nothing, as I realize that somehow Naixe has gone backward as instead of finding new technologies I find the lack of old ones. What happened? I thought progress meant inventing new things, not getting rid of old things?

Another fifteen minutes of walking later, we arrived at our destination. It was a great blue building in the middle of what seemed to be a residential district, what with the old houses dotting the street. The building was made using a strange type of architecture, using curves and incredibly sharp angles and points in favor of simple geometric shapes. Peng opened the door, which was luckily relatively normal, and we all stepped inside.

Inside was a cacophony of sound as we saw Pokemon of all shapes and sizes. Tom gasped silently next to me, and I could sympathize with him a lot - this must be a lot to take in for someone who was only recently introduced to Pokemon (I still can't believe that, though - he didn't know what POKEMON was!)

I, personally, wondered what all of this was. Kol said that this was a Venture Base, but I didn't even know what that meant. Now, though, doesn't seem to be the time to ask - I don't I would be able to hear Kol's, or anyone's, answer to my question. Kol led us through the crowd. Judging from the looks of respect and silent admiration he got, I guess he was well-known and like around here. We went up a couple of floors and went through a couple of hallways, before arriving at a clearly important room, judging by the expensive yet strong materials the door was made out of. Rokka opened the door this time, and we went in.

Inside the door, there was an open circular room. Across the wooden floor, there was a desk, with a Blaziken sleeping on what looked like a chair and a Cinccino busying itself with what looked like a large line of papers and parchments. Kol tiredly cleared his throat, and the Cinccino's head snapped up in surprise.

"Team Link! You're back!" The clearly female Cinccino greeted warmly. Of course, that lasted for all of two seconds, before she actually took in our tired, wounded, and burned appearance.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" She half-shouted, her high voice echoing around the stone dome of the room. Kol and I cringed, her shriek damaging to our sensitive ears. Everyone else looked a little shaken with her sound blast, and the napping Blaziken woke up with a start, flailing around in his chair, before focusing on what happened.

"We ran into some trouble…" Kol tried to explain, before the Blaziken, now looking disjointed and confused, interrupted.

"Wh… What? Team Link? Why are you here." The Blaziken blinked rather stupidly. "I sent you guys to find apprehend that pokemon trafficker - I'm pretty sure it was a Ditto, of all things - but instead I see you with three civilian pokemon and no Ditto. What happened?" The Blaziken and Cinccino leaned forward expectantly. "Brief us on what happened."

Kol shook himself a little bit, then set forward. Once he was clearly in front of us, he cleared his throat began, all eyes of the room resting on him.

"Mission Report." He began somewhat imperiously. The Cinccino jolted a little bit, then whisked around the desk for a stray pen, before finding a steel pen lying on the middle of the desk. She took out a blank piece of paper from under the desk as well, wrote something on it using the inkwell on the desk, and then nodded for Kol to continue.

"Once Team Link received the mission, we prepared our supplies for the oncoming fight, including a Wonder Map, 5 of each of the core 6 berries, and an Escape Orb." As Kol continued the report, the Cinccino continued to write on the paper, making me think she was a scribe of some sorts.

"After our preparations, we took off into the general area the Ditto, whose name the mission statement called Henka (which is how I shall be referring to him now in the report, Miss Milla). Through investigations done by the Magnezone Department of Investigations, we were told that Henka was operating in the area surrounding the Great Plains."

The Cinccino, who I presumed was named Milla, nodded, and made a revision in her document before the Blaziken motioned for Kol to continue, his eyes narrowed. Tom nervously shifted beside me while Strawberry took this chance to cling to Gel.

"We investigated the area, looking for any clues that would allow us to find a base of operations. I eventually picked up a scent that closely resembled wax, and upon extra investigation determined that the smell had originated from a large stone landmark in the southwestern corner of the Great Plains. There was nothing special about the rock, except for the melted wax on top of the landmark and the wax lining one of the sides of the stone landmark."

Incredibly, it seems like Tom had accidentally left clues for "Team Link" to follow.

"Investigating that specific side of the landmark allowed us to determine a stone boulder was used as a door. At this point, we had found the entrance to Henka's hideout. Upon conferring with my team, we decided that using Rokka's Dig would be most effective to enter the hideout. Once Rokka entered the cave, he opened the way for us using terraforming abilities."

So THAT was how they got in!

… Why am I so surprised?

"However, at this point, we had made a large ruckus, and Henka came to investigate. We immediately fell into a battle with Henka. We immediately fell into a series of coordinated attacks, yet Henka, in the form of a Dragonite, evaded all of them. Henka immediately knocked out Gel with a Fire Punch, then immediately began attacking Peng next. Peng used a Bide while Henka did this, resorting to our Plan D, seeing as Plans A through C all required all the members of the team to be conscious."

I had figured as much - Bide was one of the most Powerful moves, I seemed to remember, if used correctly.

"While Peng was being attacked and charging the Bide, Rokka began to assault Henka with a long barrage of Iron Tails, yet wasn't able to close the distance due to Henka's Dragonite tail interfering. I began to use Charge to prepare for an extremely strong Thunder Fang. However, Henka appeared to notice me and began to charge at me. I was unprepared for an attack, and it didn't occur to me to attack myself at this point."

At this point, I felt something off was in the story, but I wrote it off and continued to listen.

"Henka grabbed me and threw me to the ground, weakening me and immobilizing me for a precious few seconds. Luckily, Rokka continued his attack, yet was repelled by an Aqua Tail. This gave enough time, however, to recover and continue my attack. Rokka and I went for a coordinated Crunch-and-Spark attack - unfortunately, Henka repelled that too, this time with a Dragon Tail. This knocked both Rokka and me out of the fight."

Kol, after saying this, took a deep breath, then turned to Peng. "May you explain what happened next, Peng?"

Peng nodded. "Of course. Rokka and Kol's combination attack managed to wound Henka somewhat, in addition to the damage he had suffered earlier in the fight. At this point, my Bide was finished charging and, even though I was exhausted, I fired it at Henka for a direct hit. At this point, I had noticed three civilians which seemed to be victims of Henka's trafficking. I spared a second to console them. However, it appears that it allowed Henka enough time to recover, which allowed him to knock me out as well."

Blaziken leaned forward again, having rested his head against his chair to hear the story. "What happened next?"

Gel stepped forward. "I eventually came to consciousness again, having recovered slightly from Henka's powerful Fire Punch. Upon regaining my senses I saw Henka threatening his three captives, the Litwick, Eevee, and Vanillite you see here. This Vanillite you might recognize as" Gel coughed, a small smile appearing on his face. "My little sister. Then I began to hear Henka laugh cruelly and began to hear my sister cry. At this point, a rage came over me and I shot an Ice Beam at Henka, whose back was turned to me. The Ice Beam connected and I managed to knock Henka out completely, reverting him to a Ditto form. I froze Henka into a block of ice and sealed him off completely."

Blaziken brightened. "So your capture was a success, then? You had neutralized Henka's danger completely, it seemed."

Kol cam forward again, nodding. "Yes - at that point, Henka wasn't a danger anymore. However, an unexpected development came about suddenly - we experienced a Twisting."

At this point, Blaziken's eyes narrowed slightly and Milla let out a small gasp.

"So you became trapped in a Mystery Dungeon then - you are sure the dimensions twisted around you to create a Mystery Dungeon, and not that you were simply dizzy, correct?"

SO THAT'S WHAT A TWISTING IS! A TWISTING IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MYSTERY DUNGEON IS CREATED.

Team Link's comments about the Twisting suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

Kol nodded rather gravely, and Blaziken looked forlorn. "Another Mystery Dungeon, then. Pity, then - even more work for us Venturers." Blaziken sighed. "Continue."

"Once we had verified it was a Twisting, we immediately set to work" Kol interrupted his report to glare at Rokka and Peng, who both had the audacity to look sheepish. I remembered their little spat and grinned - looking back, it was pretty funny. "Our Escape Orbs broke in the fight, so we were forced to traverse the Dungeon. It was a short Dungeon, but we encountered some unpleasant surprises along the way." Short? That was a short dungeon? Wow - Now I'm slightly worried about the larger dungeons.

"Gel went to work with the victims, giving them orders that they managed to follow, for the most part. We recovered as much as we could from the bag and decided to move as fast as possible through the gym to minimize our chances of getting Captured. We then went into the Dungeon - all 7 of us."

Milla coughed to get everyone's attention. "Excuse me, but for simplicity's sake, may I learn the names of each of Henka's three previous captives. Name and Species, then Usable Moves"

This seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce myself. I went up proudly, my chest heaved up high, and spoke with regality. "Hello, Milla," I said imperiously. Of course, when I saw the narrowed eye look on her face I realized she wasn't impressed and decided to tone it down a bit. "My name is Glacia and I'm an Eevee. I can use the moves Tackle, Quick Attack, Sand Attack, and Shadow Ball." I felt that was a bit incomplete, considering someone of my splendor, but Milla seemed to be satisfied. She motioned for Strawberry, who was next to me, to introduce herself, but Rokka interrupted her, a weird look on his face.

"You know Quick Attack, Glacia.?" He asked semi-politely. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Then why didn't you use it to escape the Zubats?"

.

.

.

.

.

Now I feel like a humongous idiot.

"Zubats?" Blaziken asked, his eyes widening.

"It'll be later in the report, Captain." Kol hurriedly explained. The Blaziken, who was apparently a Captain, frowned and leaned back in his chair.

I gave Strawberry a pat on the back, and she stepped forward a little bit. She then introduced herself with a timid voice. "My n-name is Strawberry. I'm a Shiny Vanillite, and I know the moves Icy Wind and Harden." She quickly stepped backward and attached herself to Gel.

Milla quickly made a couple more notes on her document, then motioned to Tom.

Tom stepped forward. "Uh, hello… My name is… Tom, I think. I guess I'm a Litwick and I don't think I know any moves."

Milla stopped writing, and all eyes turned to stare at Tom. I began to hurriedly help Tom - he owes me now, even more than he did previously. "He knows Ember - I don't think he knows any other moves, though."

Milla stared for a couple of more seconds, her eyes seemingly trying to penetrate Tom's waxy exterior. She eventually gave up, though, and made another note in her document. She then motioned to Kol again, "Please, Kol - continue."

Kol nodded and began the story again. "The Dungeon consisted of five floors. Nothing of note occurred on the first floors - we encountered no enemies. Team Link did learn, however, that Tom here apparently has amnesia, which is why he gave those half-answers to your questions to your questions, Milla."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, and a tension settled into the room that could be easily be sliced in half by one cut of a Scyther blade. Kol continued, relatively undaunted.

"Other than that discovery, there were no other significant issues with the first floor. We went onto the Staircase single file and moved onto the next floor. Once we reached the next floor, we were faced with two paths to travel on. Upon further discussion, we went to the left path.

"Up until this point, we had no serious trouble. However, upon exiting the left path into the new room, we were attacked by a…" Kol gulped. "Monster House."

Upon saying this, Milla stopped writing and both she and the Captain froze in place for a couple of seconds. The Captain recovered soon enough, though. "Monster House? You found a MONSTER HOUSE in the first Ring?"

Kol nodded. "Yes, Captain - I didn't want to believe it either, but yeah, we encountered a Monster House. There were only Zubats in the Monster House, so we didn't have too much trouble dispatching them. However, fearing for the civilians' safety, I had sent them ahead in the Dungeon. Nothing of note occurred during the third and fourth floors - we encountered some Geodudes, Zubats, and a Dewpider or two, but nothing worrying or serious."

The Captain nodded. "You hadn't encountered the civilians yet, though?"

Kol shook his head. "No, Captain - they seemed to be blazing through the dungeon much faster than we were, we hadn't encountered them and yet the Staircases had puddles of wax on them. Anyway, once we entered the fifth floor, we finally caught up to them. After following a trail of wax and water, we finally managed to catch up with them.

"Strawberry and Glacia were captured by an Araquanid, and Tom was doing battle with it. They had nearly lost when we arrived. I bit the Araquanid with a Thunder Fang and knocked it out. They were captive near the Staircase, so after extricating them and feeding Strawberry a Cheri Berry for her Paralysis, we escaped the Dungeon."

Mill nodded, and the Captain clapped his hands in joy. "Wonderful! Glad to see no one was seriously harmed. What happened to Henka during this time?"

Gel answered. "On the way in the Mystery Dungeon I refroze Henka - he wouldn't be getting out of that Ice Cube anytime soon without help."

"Excuse me," Milla said, raising her hand. "May I please get an account of the Dungeon from the civilians - it sounds like they had a different path than you did, Team Link."

I stepped forward again. "Yes, Milla." Her eyes narrowed again, and I felt a shiver race down my spine. I shook it off and continued. "We ran away from the Zubats as fast as possible. We managed to get to the Staircase and go on to the next floor. After talking to Strawberry for a bit, Tom and I learned a little about Mystery Dungeons - after which we were attacked by a Geodude. We ran for our lives because none of us were prepared to face it - and then we encountered the Staircase. The Staircase for the fourth floor was in the room we were in, so we had no serious issues there.

"Upon reaching the fifth floor, we were attacked by an army of Dewpiders. Strawberry and I were knocked out and brought to the Araquanid's layer - at least, I think we were, I just woke up trussed and tied up. The Araquanid started playing with us, and I began to…" at this point, my pride closed up my throat. I coughed a little bit, then continued. "... scream. At this point, Tom, who had apparently followed us, attacked the Araquanid with an Ember. Using a combination of Embers and Shadow Balls, we slowly managed to weaken the Araquanid. Then Kol came and attacked the Araquanid, and you know what happened next."

Milla nodded. "What did you do, Tom?"

"I… after the... Dewpiders?... attacked, managed to stay somewhat conscious and I chased after the Dewpiders. After a couple of battles, I encountered the Araquanid and began to battle." Tom finished off somewhat lamely."

Milla nodded, made a couple of notes on her document, then motioned for Kol to continue.

"After we had escaped the Dungeon, we went to Chimodzi Forest, where we built our campsite. After telling Tom to think of a name - he wasn't called Tom at this point, we simply referred to him as Litwick - and roasting a Zigzagoon, we set up camp for the night. Gel was guarding the Henka Ice Cube, while Rokka was standing guarding the campsite for the night."

Rokka, at this point silent for ten minutes (a true boon), stepped up. "I stood guard over the campsite. At some point, Tom decided to accompany me, although we made no conversation. Nothing of interest occurred during my shift, and I eventually switched with Peng."

Peng stepped forward herself. "Upon standing guard, I shared a conversation with Tom, before I was attacked by Powder Particles."

Blaziken leaned forward. "Powder Particles?"

Peng nodded. "Sleep Powder and Poison Powder, I believe - I immediately fell asleep afterward." She motioned to Tom to continue the report.

Tom stepped up, doing something I never thought I would see a Litwick do… blushing. "Yes, well… After Peng fell asleep, I tried waking her up, but she wouldn't wake up. I heard a strange form of laughter, and turned to see a strange Pokemon that had roses for hands."

Milla motioned for Tom to stop, then rooted around in the desk's drawers. She eventually pulled out a stack of pictures and pulled out two. She held them up and pointed them toward Litwick. It was a picture of a Roselia and a Roserade.

"Did it look like one of these two?" Milla asked politely. Tom nodded and then pointed to the Roserade. Milla nodded herself, then made a note on the document. "Continue," she ordered.

"The… rose Pokemon was spreading around some green and purple particles around the campsite, covering everything. After that, it turned to me and transformed into Henka."

Milla and the Captain looked dumbstruck at this, their mouths opening wide. It looked a little funny and would have been funnier if the air wasn't so morose.

"... Henka? I thought he was frozen." The Captain remarked.

Tom shrugged as well as he could, being a Litwick and all. "He wasn't frozen then, that's for sure. He then flew away, as a Dragonite. I tried to attack him with an Ember, but all I managed to do was burn the field, causing a wildfire. I panicked, then waked Gel up with my flame. He ordered me to put the pink and purple Berries in everyone's mouths, which I did, before I fell asleep."

Kol stepped forward again. "Once we woke up, we began to combat the wildfire, as well as rescue anyone who was still in danger. After a small debriefing and interrogation, we packed up and headed here." Kol took a deep breath. "End Report."

Milla slowly put her steel pen down, and the Captain took a deep breath, breathing out a puff of smoke. "Let me get this straight. You captured Henka, you got caught in a Mystery Dungeon, you escaped the Mystery Dungeon, Henka escaped, you came here."

Kol nodded.

The Captain put a hand across his face. "I… that was a strange mission." He said bluntly. "I'm confused - how did Henka escape?" He put lamely.

Rokka, Gel, and Kol all began to stare at Tom. He began shrinking under their gazes, turning into himself.

The Captain shook his head. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, anyway." He clapped his hands. "Strawberry will be going to her family, of course - where do you live, Glacia?"

That… was a tough question. "I… don't know, Captain."

The Captain shook his head. "My name is Falcon, but you can call me Captain Falcon, if you want - I like it a lot, personally." Capt. Falcon smiled. "What about you, Tom?"

"...Amnesia." Tom said simply.

Capt. Falcon nodded. "Ah, right." He looked pensive for a second, then gave out a great smile. "Well, if you don't have any homes or families, Tom and Glacia, I guess you'll have to become a Venturer."

At this point, you could hear a pin drop in the room. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, was expecting that. Milla recovered first. "C-Captain? A-Are you sure?"

Capt. Falcon nodded. "Yes, Milla - they have to pay for their rescue in some way or another, and this is one way we are sure to get our money back - and anyway, they have nowhere to go, so it's not like they can escape. They did well in the Mystery Dungeon so I'm sure they'll do well with our training course" Capt. Falcon turned to us, his voice booming. "COME ON - Welcome to the Team!"


After Glacia and Tom had been taken away to their new living quarters and Team Link had been dismissed for the rest of the day for healing, Milla spoke to Falcon, concern etched into her face.

"Why… why did you make them into Venturers, Captain? You should have seen that "Tom's" story was full of lies and holes - it was an obvious fabrication, Captain." Milla spoke, concern and annoyance in her tone. "Why didn't we just hand him off to the Magnezones - they would have brought him to Night's prison, she would have loved to dissect him."

Falcon was silent for a time, looking at Milla solemnly with his head resting on his claws. He sighed, then began to speak. "Yes, Milla - a fool could see that "Tom" freed Henka - nobody else could have done it - after all, everyone else was asleep or on guard duty, and there were instances that he could have used to free Henka. All "Tom" would have needed to do was use a targeted Confuse Ray on Peng while she dozed off, causing the appearance of Powders, and by pulling Henka out and using a Fire Attack he could have melted Henka. After Henka sprayed Powders everywhere to poison and deepen the sleep of Team Link and the other civilians, "Tom" could have simply sent him on his way.

"We don't know where "Tom" came from, and his "Amnesia" is a bit too convenient. We can't enter his mind due to his Ghost typing, so we can't confirm what he is saying after all. He could easily be in league with Henka, and he could have used his wax as bait for any rescuers. Keeping this in mind, everything fits into place.

"He saved everyone so he could infiltrate the Venturers, Milla - there is no other possibility."

"BUT THEN WHY DID YOU MAKE HIM A VENTURER, CAPTAIN! YOU'RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO HIS HANDS!" Milla cried out, visibly distressed.

Falcon sorrowfully smirked. "The thing is, without evidence we can't convict him, and he did a fine job erasing the evidence. Magnezone will never convict a Pokemon if there is any reasonable doubt that they are a criminal. And unfortunately, there is a lot of room for doubt, Milla. If we can't convict him, we can either let him go or keep him with us. If we let him go, he'll be out of our grasp for a long time - Henka will have escaped, perfectly.

"If we keep him with us, however, we can catch him doing the criminal acts he intends to do - we'll spring his trap and take him down instead."

Milla calmed down. "Oh… I get it..." she mumbled bashfully.

Falcon nodded silently. "We won't let "Tom" win, Milla." He studied Milla for a little bit. "For now, we'll keep an eye on him. Go take a bit of a break, Milla - I know I need one."

Milla nodded, then silently left Capt. Falcon's, thoughts stewing and brewing around in her mind.

The room was silent after Milla left. Falcon reclined in his chair, a pink sheen in his eyes that seemed to be reflected from the setting sun. He seemed to relax in a strange manner, all of his joints weakened.

"Glacia… Tom… I wonder what HUMANITY wants with you two…" he spoke softly.

The pink sheen glittered unnaturally.