Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: World of Exploration

Chapter 7: The Truth

From the time I was sleep to the time I woke up after accepting a task that would chance my life, all of it was way longer that I had expected. What seemed no more than 20 minutes was actually around 14 hours, putting me well in the morning. Unlike most Pokemon, I don't do well in the mornings and getting up is a hassle. Strangely enough, I felt very refreshed that day getting up, which was rare since I haven't felt that good in a long time.

Getting out of bed, Esper and I made our way to the main section of the 2nd floor of the guild, only to find it less lively than before. After looking around some more, I spotted Miya cleaning up the glass around the area from the "Singing", or in this case, "Hyper Voice" due to Melody's trigger-happy lungs; every bit of it was involuntary...

"Hey Miya," I said, walking up to her. Turning around, she looked at me surprise before walking over to me and giving me a hug.

"Liloxi, You're finally up! Are you ok, are you still hurt?"

"Yes, I'm fine and feel pretty good for some reason. You and Mum's healing seemed to work like a charm." I said, checking myself. Everyone knows that when it comes to healing, Miya one of the best Pokemon to go to.

"Well, I'm glad I could help. I was getting worried something might've been wrong, especially after you...screamed?" She said, looking around at the glass all over the floor; the place looked like a tornado had gone through it. "Your voice was strong enough to blast every thing that was made of glass into bits in the guild, even upstairs."

"Heh, yeah...sorry about that. It's not the first time that has happened. Esper can tell you."

"Yeah, I can definitely vouch for that, except it was a tree before. Let's say his voice wasn't as powerful then, but it was enough to blow all the leaves off the tree and know it over."

"Goodness, you should look into singing, Liloxi," Miya said, making her way back to cleaning up the glass. "You would probably be one of the best in no time."

"Haha, thank you Miya, I'll keep that in mind. Anyways, I came here first because I was wondering if you knew where Pumpkin was since I had a question for both of you, involving the 'Artifact'."

"The Artifact..." Miya said, her voice seemed to trail off a bit. Hearing it actually make me worry a bit, but it was too soon to tell. "Well, Pumpkin is in the room. I'll go get him right quick."

"Ok, perfect," Esper said. After Miya went into the room to get Pumpkin, Esper leans over to me and whispered, "I'm going to go and ask the Mayor and Chatot if they know anything."

"Good Idea," I said, whispering back. Wasting no time, Esper immediately ran and headed upstairs. However, the wait for Miya and Pumpkin was unusually long. What was going on in there?

"Liloxi, you still out there?" Said a voice from the room. The voice was apparently Pumpkin's as he walks out the room along side Miya; their expressions on their faces seemed more worried than anything, but I could tell they were trying to hide it behind a smile. For some reason, seeing that made me frown a bit.

"yeah, I'm right here."

"Well, I heard you had a question, what is it?" He said as him and Miya sits in front of me, both trying to maintain their composure but a hint of uneasiness.

"The mission...Jazz put you up to this, didn't she?" I said, getting straight to the point. If I were to get answers, now was the best, but the moment I asked, they both just blinked at me. From then on, everything was silent for a moment.

"Uh, why do you ask Zero?" Pumpkin said, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, After everything that happened, form the moment I was summoned to the guild to the moment I returned, they all seemed to just fall together. At first, you two summoning me for this mission was didn't really give me any reason to be suspicious at all, but when the mayor giving me the key and Chatot giving me his Detect Band, that's when I started to wonder to myself. After that, I ended up meeting my daughter in person for the first time and finally, I ended up getting an Artifacts that seemed to be of a huge importance; an item that was apparently meant for me. So, did Mum put you up to this? And if she did, why?"

"Z-Zero, I...we-"

"Yes, Jazz was the one who informed us on all of this," Miya sighed."

"Miya! Jazz told us not to say anything," Pumpkin whispered, looking at her. Little did he know, I could hear him...

"She said not to say anything unless he comes to realize the truth, and apparently he has."

"What are you guys talking about? what do you mean 'the truth'?" I said, trying to get answers. All of this secrecy was starting to bug me for some reason, even though I felt like it shouldn't.

Pumpkin then sighs as well and looks around the room at the broken glass all over the floor, "Alright, She did come to us, but we were not expecting her at all. When Jazz came, she seemed a bit distressed and worried. She then told me to tell you that there was an unexplored cave on the island, but it was guarded by a powerful Pokemon, which so happened to be your daughter. Honestly, we didn't know any of the details of the cave or even the fact your daughter was that powerful Pokemon guarding the cave, but we knew all of this was a bit odd so we sent some of our best members there, only for them to come back wounded and injured." he said, turning his attention back to me. It was apparent that I was probably making a face and had not realize it because he seemed to be unable to look me in the eyes and honestly, I don't blame him; I'm not happy about this. "Afterwards, we decided that we should take a look at the island ourselves with the help of Lapras, but as we got near, the Blizzard on the island was too strong to get through, as if someone put up a barrier after our recruit's attempts to get to the cave. Because of all of this, we knew we had no choice but to listen to Jazz's words and send you to the island. We knew all of this had to be important and only meant for you, so we arranged for Lapras to expect you to go to the beach and no longer interfere with what Jazz had planned."

"So all of this was set up...why?" I asked, shaking my head. It's unbelievable she would have all of that organized; how long have she been planning it?!

"We don't know, all we know was what she told us; basically for you to come to the island and look for the cave, that was it." Miya said, keeping her eyes on me with a worried face.

"...Do you know where she is?" I said, shaking my head, thinking about what was told to me. Unaware, my tone alone was enough to make both of them turn away from me. Something about everything that they told me was making me very uneasy; frustrated even.

"Treasure Town." Miya said flatly. Neither one could barely to look at me at this point. For anyone else, this would not seem as bad as it is, but one thing Mum always told me that should would never keep secrets from me, yet I'm hearing all of this. Keeping all of this from me, from my child to everyone who depend on me to save them...it's too much; I needed answers.

Without wasting any time, I started heading for the stairs until Pumpkin called out, his voice full of worry and regret. I can't lie, it hurts to hear him like this since he gets quite emotional at times, "Zero, we're sorry for keeping this from you, but after failing at trying to find out why all of this was set up the way it was, we knew it was not something we should get involved with."

"It's ok. Neither one of you blame yourselves for it." I said as I continued walking. However, before I could place my foot on the stairs, Miya then called out to me.

"Zero, one more thing."

"What is it?"

"The blizzard, the one that prevented any one of us from entering, even with our badges, the source of it was not coming from your daughter. Despite what the members had report, I felt the energy coming from someone else; someone who had enough power to do it with little effort and move around the area you was location."

"I see, thank you." I said as I continued my way out.

That energy Miya was feeling had to have been Jazz since she is the only one who would be capable of channeling such power with little effort. Just the absolute thought of Mum planning all of this, from start to finish just dug under my skin, yet in my mind, it didn't seem as back as it was. Honestly if I keep thinking about this, it's only going to make me even more frustrated, but again, I needed answers.

Making my way out, I began running to Treasure Town, which was not very far from the guild. Upon entering the town, the place was as busy as ever, but my attention was directed on finding out where Mum had went, and I have a pretty good idea too.

Ever since the portals began showing up and new Pokemon began familiarizing themselves with the area, it was obvious that the town needed to expand again, but at that time, newcomers started making room for themselves thanks to Wigglytuff and Chatot's new law. Ever-so-often, Pokemon would to clear out the land and making way for more shops, stalls, cafes, and service centers to be opened up for any and every Pokemon that came by. Seeing this being put into motion and ending up to be a very successful idea, The Wigglytuff and Chatot decided that they needed a place they could live at themselves and take care important stuff when needed. So in middle of the town, north of the Town Square, a Town Hall was created, which is exactly where I'm going.

Heading to the Town Hall, vendors of all sorts attempted to get me to buy something, but since I was not I the mood for any of it, I continued to pass them by, even Austin and Jen. As soon as I got to the Town Hall, there was a Sylveon by the name of "Kaznus" standing by the doors of the Town Hall. Giving a little bit about Kaznus, he's different from other Sylveon due to him being experimented on by humans after an interrupted encounter with a Girantia from his world. The Giratina form his world had turned his body into a form of a "Shadow Pokemon", which was technically a gift that he said he would pay to Kaznus helping him escaping the human Bounty Hunters. After helping him escape, the hunters ended up finding Kaznus and sold him to be experimented by researchers. They ended up making his body permanently "Shadow", however, although he looks like a Sylveon, he's actually a Zoruark, but because of the experiments, he can't fully control his ability "Illusion", thus causing him to be stuck at that form. Regardless, Wigglytuff took him in as a Supervisor of the Town Hall where he works and helps people (Mainly tourist) around the building, but again, I wasn't in the mood.

"Good Morning Z-Hey! where are you going?!"

"To see the Mayor. I would like to have a word with him." I said attempting to go in, only for him to move himself in front of the door.

"Whoa! timeout," he said, pressing himself against the door to keep me from opening it. "The Mayor isn't here, he's at the Town Square, most likely by the fountain. Is there something you needed?"

"Yeah, answers." I said turning and heading for the Town Square, leaving Kaznus at the doorway, confused. If Wigglytuff's there, I have a feeling that Mum is there too.

I was quite fortunate that the Wigglytuff was only at the Town Square since it was only a short distance from the Town hall. Once I made it there, I immediately found Wigglytuff and Chatot, along with Mum, who seemed frantic and Esper, who apparently had a very worried look on her face; what are they talking about?

"Jazz, I get what you was trying to do, I really do, but this was the wrong way of doing it." Esper said, shaking her head.

"I agree," Chatot said, nodding sadly "You need to tell him-"

"Tell me what." I said, stepping forward as each one of them looked at me. Everyone grew quiet as they look at each other then at Jazz, who then tried to change the topic."

"O-oh, hi Lilo, how are you feeling? did the healing do the trick?"

"I'm not here to talk about that Mum. What were you suppose to be telling me?"

"Lilo...It's complicated. I-"

"Pumpkin and Miya told me you gave them the information about the mission I went on. You set this up, didn't you?" I said cutting her off. I don't know, but I started to feel rage building up inside of me. I know I was mad, but this feeling was odd, yet I ignored it.

"Yes...I did..." She said, her expression saddens as she looks at me.

"Why?!"

"Lilo, When it came to Gwen, I wanted to meet her after Esper requested me to train her, but not in the same way you was hoping. Knowing how headstrong and prideful Gwen can be, If I were to show you to her, it would be easy for you to accept her, but I knew she wouldn't not accept you, not unless you proved yourself to her."

"Fine, I get that." I said, voice more stern than before. "But what about cube? Why hide that from me?"

At that, Jazz then look away from me, her eyes looking everywhere but in my direction. I could tell she was hiding more than I had originally though, but getting her to say it is another matter on it's own.

"I-I can't tell you, Lilo, I'm sorry. I made a Promise."

Just hearing her say she couldn't tell me started to fill me with confusion and anger, but as soon as I start to feel it, everyone else eyes began to widen, even some of the locals. "Uh..Z-Zero?"

"A promise?! What do you mean a promise?! Why?! What's so SPECIAL about this promise?!" I said, cutting Wigglytuff off "Do you have any idea how important that cube was? Do you have any idea what that artifact was holding?"

"A-Actually I do." She said, still looking away from me. "I know what was in that cube because I was the one who seal it. You possessed a power that was...-is unstable Lilo, I had no choice. "

"You're not getting the POINT!" I growled, glaring at Jazz. Off to the side, I could hear everyone beginning to panic; why? I wasn't sure and frankly do not frakin' care. "Do you have any idea what-WHO you sealed in there?!"

Jazz then looks at me and her expression changes from sad to rather horrified "Lilo, y-yo-"

"NO! I'm tired of all these secret! I lied to me! That artifact held something precious to ME!

All of it was confusing the heck out of me. All I could feel was rage. Why would she keep something so important! They are my memories! UUUUGH!

"L-Liloxi!" Chatot said, running over. "P-Please! look at yourself, I think you should calm do-OOF!"

"I. WILL NOT. CALM. DOWN!"