Almond was awakened by a chime coming from a speaker in her quarters. The sound was pleasant, though robotic. She remembered the captain teaching her how to interact with the ship's computer, and decided it try it out.
"Computer? What time is it?"
"0700 hours.", the computer replied in the same robotic voice, "Would you like to deactivate the alarm?"
"Uh… sure."
Almond sat up from the bed as the lights in her quarters turned on.
"This is a lot better than having Loudred screaming out his wakeup call every morning. I'm on a space ship full of humans, and don't know how to get home, but at least my ears aren't ringing.", she thought as she rubbed her reddish-brown eyes with her paws. She jumped off the bed, which was much closer to the ground than in sickbay, and walked up to the small mirror that hung in the corner of the room. Slightly extending her claws, she ran them through her hair, forming the soft, fluffy curls of fur that most Vulpix had atop their heads.
"Well, here goes nothing…", she said to herself as she exited her quarters.
"Good morning!", Neelix called as people flooded into the mess hall, "I made some extra special treats today, using some foods that our Pokemon guest brought!", the rest of the crew eyed the new food items curiously, some cautiously.
"This is what I call Pokemon Berry Salad!", Neelix pointed to a bowl of brightly colored fruit, "It has Oran berries, Pecha berries, and many more! Also, try the deep-fried Reviver seeds!"
The Doctor strolled up to the buffet table, medical tricorder in hand. He passed the scanning probe over the berry salad, and then the reviver seeds.
"Neelix, your… 'cooking technique' has completely denatured the chemicals that give these reviver seeds their healing power!", the Doctor said.
"So? You told me that they only work with Pokemon physiology, and our guest isn't in any danger right now.", Neelix pointed to Almond, who was sitting on top of a nearby table, in conversation with Harry Kim, Tom Paris, and several other crew members.
"You've turned a potentially life saving item into… junk food! You've wasted them!"
"Relax, Doctor! I got all the Pokemon food from the replicator, so we aren't in danger of running out! Besides, Almond told me that eating these seeds had no particular effect and that they work just by being in close proximity to an injured Pokemon."
"Well they're not going to work anymore. Not only that, you've negated any nutritional value the seeds may have had, and…", the Doctor turned his attention to the berry salad, "Is this a dusting of sugar?! Your 'salad' has over fifty percent of a healthy person's daily caloric intake in just a few spoonfuls!"
"Doctor, food isn't just about nutritional value, it's about enjoyment, and variety! It's an adventure all on its own!"
The Doctor sighed and walked away. Meanwhile, Captain Janeway entered the mess hall, and walked toward the table where Almond was sitting at. Seeing her, the crew members stood up and faced the captain.
"As you were. In fact, I'd like to join you.", she said as she took an empty chair.
"How are you all today?", Janeway asked, and received responses ranging from "good" to "excellent".
"And you, Almond?", Janeway continued.
"Good, captain! I slept well in my quarters last night and these humans greeted me when I came to the mess hall."
Janeway smiled, "Glad to see you're making friends. What are your thoughts on Neelix's… 'Pokemon inspired breakfast'?"
"It's… Interesting? I'm kind of amazed to see so many reviver seeds!"
"That's the power of a replicator.", Janeway said.
"Almond was telling us about her life in the guild.", Harry Kim commented, "Really sounds like she would make a good Starfleet officer."
"Let's not get that far just yet…", Janeway turned to face Almond, "But that reminds me. We are approaching the planetoid I told you about. We plan on going there to mine for dilithium, something our engines need to function. Have you given any thought as to whether you want to tag along?"
"I have, and I'd love to!"
"Glad to hear it!", Janeway announced, "Meet us in the launch bay at 1100 hours. If you can't find it, just ask any crewman show you. We'll taking our shuttle craft to the surface, it's named the Delta Flyer."
Janeway then handed Almond a grey, rectangular device: "Oh, and this is called a tricorder. It will allow you to collect data and scan the planet's environment. I don't expect you to know how to use it just yet, but I'd like you to have one for this mission, just to get familiar with it."
Almond finished breakfast, and returned to her quarters soon after. She examined the device that the captain had given her. It was made of grey plastic, a material that she had only seen once in the ancient human ruins outside of Treasure Town. The device was comprised of two pieces joined together by a hinge. Using her claw, she flipped open the device, revealing a collection of buttons and a small screen. Pressing a button, the device emitted a short beep, and the text on the screen changed. Curious, Almond pressed a few more buttons and tapped on several icons that the screen displayed, hoping that she wasn't damaging the device.
Almond then turned her attention to the mission she had just signed up for. Even though the thought of landing on an unknown planet was indeed a bit frightening, it was her first chance since she came aboard Voyager to do what she loved to do, explore. For the first time in these few days, her sense of adventure was restored, and if she closed her eyes and imagined, she could almost pretend that she was at the guild, preparing to explore a mystery dungeon.
"I'm telling you, Almond, you would love my Captain Proton holodeck program!", Tom Parris said as he flew the Delta Flyer toward the planet, with Almond and Chakotay in tow, "It's exciting, filled with action, and you get to battle people along the way! Didn't you say that Pokemon battle each other for fun?"
"I said that it's an old tradition It's not really practiced anymore except by enthusiasts… and maybe explorers facing hostile Pokemon. Personally, I don't find it enjoyable, and in an official battle no one gets seriously or permanently hurt."
"It's the Holodeck! I've told you about it, right? The characters are photonic projections, so you can't possibly hurt them! Not to mention there are safety protocols that won't allow any real people to get hurt!"
"Tom, we're approaching the atmosphere. Perhaps you should focus on flying rather than pitching your holonovel to Almond.", Chakotay interrupted.
"Yes sir.", Tom said, slightly exasperated.
The Delta Flyer floated gracefully toward the planet, kept in the air by the two engines on either side, which emitted a brilliant red and blue glow. They could see that planet was mostly desert, but many small shrubs and grasses still grew. Eventually, the crew found a large clearing, and Tom Paris set the spacecraft down onto the sand.
"Here we are!", Tom said. The crewmen exited the ship, followed by Almond, who had stopped to examine the door and the side of the shuttle. The sound of a computer beeping could be heard as Tom and Chakotay activated their tricorders.
"I'm detecting dilithium just below the surface, I think I can even get a transporter lock on it.", Tom said as he typed into his tricorder. The sound of the transporter could be heard moments later.
"Got it! This is easier than I thought!", Tom said.
"Remember that we're also here to explore, Tom.", Chakotay instructed, "Almond, would you like to join me and take a walk around?"
Almond obliged, following Chakotay as they approached some shrubbery. Chakotay flipped open the lid of his tricorder and pressed a few buttons. The sound of the scanner powering up could be heard. Almond retrieved her own tricorder from her treasure bag, and imitated Chakotay, though with little effect as the button combination she pressed only yielded an error tone.
"Let me help you with that.", Chakotay said as he kneeled beside Almond, pressing the correct buttons on her tricorder, "I've set it to bioscanning mode, so you can analyze the local plant life. Now, gently pass the tricorder over the specimen you want to scan, like this…"
Chakotay moved his tricorder over the leaves of a nearby plant, with Almond mirroring this action.
"You might want to read the instructions on using this after we get back. I'll show you how to bring up the stored copy later.", Chakotay commented.
The two waved their tricorders slowly across the various plant life, and before long, the results of the analysis appeared on the screens, though Almond's tricorder had displayed a lot less information.
"Guess I'm still not doing it right.", Alomnd said.
Turning their attention toward a small valley, they walked over to find a dried-up river bed. Chakotay stepped further, but the ground beneath crumbled, causing him to fall in.
"Chakotay!", Almond called as she raced down after her. The experience was bringing back memories she preferred not to recall, as the last time she descended into a valley she ended up in another realm. Luckily, there was no spatial rift waiting for them this time, just sand and rocks.
"Are you okay?", Almond asked.
"I think I hurt my back!", Chakotay grunted as he tried and failed to stand up. Almond was about to contact Voyager with her combadge, but her attention was drawn to the sound of wind, and the sky above filling with dust and sand.
Chakotay typed into his tricorder, and managed to say before collapsing: "A sandstorm is forming, and the dust cloud is emitting Theta radiation!"
Suddenly, Almond felt dizzy and lightheaded as the dust passed over her and Chakotay, causing her to stumble and fall over.
"We are being hailed. It's the Delta Flyer.", Tuvok stated.
"Onscreen!", Janeway responded.
Tom Paris could be seen at the helm, "Captain, a sandstorm just started out of nowhere, and I'm picking up substantial amounts of Theta radiation!"
"Theta radiation?", the Captain inquired, "I thought this was a Class M planetoid! It's supposed to be safe for humanoid life!"
"We thought it was, but now it's looking more like a Class Y!", Tom replied, "Commander Chakotay and Almond went for a walk, I haven't seen them since. The radiation is deflecting my scanners so I'm not detecting their lifesigns!"
The crewmen on the bridge took looked at each other worriedly.
"Captain, if this storm gets any worse I won't be able to start the Delta Flyer's engines, and we don't know how long this might go on for, the shields could fail long before the radiation dies down!"
"Get off the planet for now. Once you're out of the atmosphere I want you to lock on to Chakotay and Alomnd's combadges, and beam them out of there!", Janeway commanded.
"Ma'am, I'm reading Almond's combadge, but not Commander Chakotay's!"
"Open a channel to her and relay it to the bridge!"
In the valley, a faint chime rang out of the combadge Almond's scarf. She tapped on it gently, and Captain Janeway's voice could be heard.
"Voyager to Almond."
"I'm here!", Almond replied.
"You and Commander Chakotay are being exposed to Theta radiation! At the current level, it could be fatal in a few hours. We are having trouble detecting Chakotay's combadge, and the radiation interference means we can't get a transporter lock on him without it!"
"Chakotay fell down a valley! I think his badge was damaged. He's injured and unconscious!"
"We'll have to send a rescue team after him. For now, Tom Paris is going to beam you out of there."
"Captain, Chakotay is seriously hurt! I can't leave him!"
"We will certainly go back for him, but you need to get out of there now! That's an order!"
Almond looked at Chakotay, who was badly scraped and bruised from the fall, with the radiation causing the wounds to slowly expand. She couldn't just leave him, but then again, she was ordered to. Will he really be alright?
Almond looked at her combadge, and pondered: "If this behaves anything how like my explorer badge does in mystery dungeons, any living thing it's attached to should be teleported away.", she looked back at Chakotay.
"As a Pokemon, I should be more resistant to… whatever is affecting us, right? Chakotay has already fainted and I'm still okay… kind of…", Almond continued in her thoughts.
"Yes captain. I'm ready for transport.", Almond said to her combadge, but before the transporter lock could be established, she removed the combadge from her scarf, and placed it on Chakotay's shoulder. As soon as the combadge attached to his uniform, he disappeared, leaving Almond alone in the valley, feeling increasingly disoriented and weak. She collapsed as she felt her consciousness starting to slip away from her.
