"WAKE UP CALL!"
Grovyle moaned and shifted on his bed. "No, not yet," he grumbled, burying his head into the straw.
"Grooovyyyle," came Aurealis' taunting voice, "time to get up."
"No," the gecko persisted, his voice muffled by the straw.
There was a sigh followed by silence, and Grovyle gleefully thought he could go back to sleep, but a violent jerk on his head leaf brought him bolting to his feet with a yelp. He recovered and growled at the Lucario, who only grinned back and chided, "We're going to be late again."
"No, we're not!" Grovyle snapped, throwing up his arms in irritation, "And don't do that again!"
"Whatever you say," Aurealis smirked, and disappeared out the doorway, leaving the grass type standing there, hissing a string of expletives under his breath.
Once the surge of anger left him, a dull ache in his right wrist rose to his attention. "Oh, right, I almost forgot," he sighed, eyeing the bandages on his lower arm, "I'm not supposed to move my arm… Well, at least I don't have to go on another fantastic mission with Aurealis…"
Pondering over this, he remembered what he'd wanted to do today: find information about Mismagius Guild. His broken wrist gave him a convenient excuse to do that; of course, the question was whether he could get anywhere by himself. Who knew, maybe Aurealis would find a way to occupy him somehow, as he had yesterday…
"Grovyle, get over here! You're late!"
'Oh, right… I should go.' With a yawn and a stretch, he walked out into the corridor.
Mismagius was already floating in the center of the semicircle of Pokémon by the time Grovyle arrived. The gecko took his usual spot next to Aurealis, who glowered at him as if to reprimand him for being late. Grovyle did his best to ignore it and looked at Manectric instead, who didn't provide much relief as he, too, stopped to glare daggers at the grass type. A second later, the canine proceeded to announce, "Everyone is present, guildmaster."
Mismagius nodded and looked through the crowd, her eyes lacking their characteristic joy. "Good morning everyone! I'm afraid there is bad news I must share today..."
The Pokémon whispered between themselves edgily, so quietly that Grovyle could barely hear. "This must be bad." "Yeah, she never starts with that tone!" "What's going on?"
Even though the room was relatively still, Manectric cleared his throat and roared, "QUIET!" The muttering ceased.
"You are correct in assuming that this is quite bad news," Mismagius continued, her voice grim. Until then, Grovyle had thought she could never sound depressed. "First, I would like to announce a major change in guild visitation rules. That is… no more visitations."
The crowd, more than half of it being visitors, gasped.
"Yes, I am aware this will cause a major financial decline, not to mention it will be so much lonelier in here… However, safety and convenience of our members and the direness of our situation must come first, which is why, I'm afraid, visitors will no longer allowed into the guild unless specified otherwise."
Roars of protest erupted from the crowd, but Manectric's booming roar silenced them.
Mismagius continued as if she was never interrupted. "Of course, you are all probably wondering what dire situation I'm talking about. I'm sure everyone remembers the news of a rogue Pokémon that is hiding in the village and has the power to drain the life from its environment? Well, no, it hasn't been identified yet, but the Pidgeot Police claim they've figured out what it's after. Everyone is aware of the legend surrounding Magnolia Village, yes?"
Everyone nodded in unison, except for Grovyle, who noticed he was the odd one out and shrank back in embarrassment.
As if just for him, Mismagius lectured: "They say Magnolia Village is a wonder of plant life – surely everyone has noticed the amount of trees and flowers and how beautiful there are."
Grovyle stopped to think about her words, but he couldn't remember being particularly captivated by any plants he'd seen so far.
"There is a legend that Magnolia Village was created by the Legendary Shaymin. The legend says that Shaymin spawned colorful forests and vast, grassy meadows, and in one of them was founded our village, Magnolia. Like all legendaries, however, Shaymin was sought after, even hunted, for her supernatural abilities. Eventually, she had to flee the area, but she had grown attached to her creation, and could not leave it to wither with age. So Shaymin left behind a relic imbued with her powers; a relic that would keep Magnolia Village and its surrounding areas alive. Supposedly, this relic, named the Magnolia Relic, is hidden deep inside one of our neighboring forests – or so says the legend."
Everyone nodded in agreement, again except for Grovyle. He'd heard some pretty weird things so far but this was simply impossible to believe, and it seemed outlandish to him.
"Anyway, the Pidgeot Police suspect that the rogue Pokémon wish to find and steal the relic for themselves, which would result in the destruction of our environment."
The crowd stood still in a stunned silence. Grovyle, skeptical, thought the news made no sense; why would a Pokémon who had the power to destroy its environment need to steal a relic in order to do so? But he could think no more when the crowd erupted into ear-splittingly loud cries of protest and anger. Not even Manectric could silence them with his roars, so finally he shot arcs of electricity above the audience that blinded them and effectively shut them up.
"There is no reason to panic, though," Mismagius explained, her voice becoming slightly warmer and more cheerful, "We have decided to aid the investigation, so from now on, instead of doing ordinary missions, every member will focus on trying to identify and the rogue Pokémon and bring them to justice."
Before the crowd could react to this, she added, "Now, will the visitors please leave the premises. The visitation ban starts now. No exceptions."
The visitors gave their last groan of disapproval before they picked themselves up and started leaving. Grovyle found himself pushed around as the visitors, many of them being Pokémon much larger than he, jostled their way to the exit. By the time they were gone, Grovyle was in a rage and was ready to lash out at anyone who so much as touched him.
Fortunately, nobody did, and the hall was finally quiet and almost empty. Only around 50 Pokémon were left; about 20 exploration teams in all. And apparently, judging from the tenseness that hung in the air, Grovyle wasn't the only one thankful that the visitors disappeared.
"Finally, they're gone," Mismagius remarked, "I wanted to do this sooner, but I could never find a good reason."
A few chuckles of agreement and relief sounded in the remaining group, and then things got serious again:
"Now, the investigation will start today. Our goal is to locate the Magnolia Relic, assuming it exists, before the rogue Pokémon so we can set up a trap there and catch them. Understood?"
Everyone hollered a 'yes', once again except for Grovyle, who wanted to complain but was cut off before he had the chance to speak.
"I want each team to choose a dungeon nearby to explore. Bear in mind that the relic, again assuming it exists, is probably well hidden, so it is likely that the dungeons may go deeper than we thought. There has to be a hidden path to it somewhere. Anyway, will the teams please state their choice? There aren't enough dungeons to do one team per each, but we still need to make it somewhat even."
Zero and Dexter were first. After a brief discussion and what seemed like an argument, Dexter declared, "We'll do Tremolo Cave."
Next were an Ursaring, an Ivysaur, and a Poliwrath, who were addressed as Team Dawn. They decided on Fantorius Fields.
Following them was a Team Cosmic Eclipse, and then Team Sirron…
As the team names passed by, Grovyle realized that because of his broken wrist, he and Aurealis probably weren't going to be assigned anything. Although Grovyle didn't care much, he was sure Aurealis did, and the grass type couldn't help but feel guilty.
Finally, Mismagius stopped calling out names and announced, "As soon as you're ready, you may leave. Take care and good luck on your explorations!"
Grovyle and Aurealis stood there awkwardly as their guildmates shuffled away. Much to the gecko's dismay, once everyone was gone, Aurealis turned to him and crossed his arms angrily. "Great, thanks to you, I'm stuck here all day," he growled, glaring at Grovyle with such intensity he couldn't face him.
"But-But it's your fault my wrist is broken," the grass type moaned weakly in self-defense.
Aurealis looked as though he was going to explode, but luckily Mismagius saved the day when she flew over to them and said, "Aurealis, I understand you wish to participate, correct?"
His tail and ears perking up in excitement, the Lucario nodded fervently.
Mismagius beamed. "I thought so. Which dungeon would you like to explore?"
After a purposeful pause, Aurealis answered, "Loran Forest. Is that okay?"
Upon hearing the name, Grovyle felt a pang of curiosity and desire to see where his new life had started. "Oh, can I come, too?"
"No," the Lucario snapped, "You need to stay here and let your arm heal."
"Aw, come on, that's not fair!" the gecko protested, "I want to see that temple you found me in!"
"Too bad." Aurealis proceeded to smirk in such a disgustingly self-satisfied way that Grovyle could barely resist the temptation to hit him on the nose. Finally, the grass type resigned with a low grumble, which seemed to only widen the Lucario's grin.
Mismagius glanced between the two and frowned. "My, you two keep bickering like children. Why can't you get along like a normal exploration team?"
"Because we're not a normal exploration team!" Grovyle yelled, venting his anger "Out of us two, he's always the best at everything; he makes all the choices! Not only do I usually have to suffer for it, but it also makes me feel inferior. It makes me angry." Of course, he had a lot more than that on his mind: Aurealis' mood swings, Aurealis' 'unintentional' pranks during missions, and simply the fact that Aurealis wanted to be an explorer while he didn't.
"Aurealis, what do you have to say to that?" Mismagius demanded.
The Lucario shrugged. "I don't think it's my fault he feels inferior; that's because he forgot everything. As for making all the choices, well, remember when we were in the Flat Fields, and you went your own way? Look what happened then. By making all the choices, I'm only trying to do what's best for us as a team."
"You mean what's best for you as a team!" Grovyle snapped, an insuppressible feeling of fury beginning to boil in him, "You say 'us' but in the end you only care about yourself and your "dream" to explore; you don't give a Magikarp about what happens to me! As for your stupid Flat Fields example, which you've used so disrespectfully; it was your fault I was almost killed! If you'd considered even for a second that I'm not a machine like you are; I can't keep walking forever; I have my limits… But no, you were only concerned with finding the damned Blue Gem! And I bet the only reason you came back to save me was because you needed a partner so you could sign up as an exploration team. You didn't care about what I wanted at all! Well guess what, I don't see why I should give a damn about you and your dreams when you don't care about mine! Actually, I don't even know why I haven't ditched you yet! You and your stupid mystery-"
"That's enough, Grovyle," Mismagius interrupted, her voice trembling.
The grass type huffed angrily and glared at Aurealis who was staring at him quivering eyes.
"Well, I… don't know what to say to that," the Lucario whispered, unable to make eye-contact.
"Don't say anything," Grovyle fumed, "Just… shut up. Shut up and go do your exploring. You're probably better off without me anyway."
With that, he wheeled around and stormed to his room, leaving them in stunned silence. He paced around furiously in the small confines of his room, wishing he could slam something, hit something, or scream as loud as possible. He saw Team AuraBlade's treasure bag lying on the floor, seized it and tried to rip into pieces, but he was too weak – so weak – he collapsed onto his bed and broke down into a sob.
Grovyle sniffled and rubbed his eyes. Looking around, it felt as though he'd awoken from a deep sleep. He couldn't remember how long he'd cried or the precise reason why he was crying. He forgot all but one fact: He was trapped in someone else's dream and forced to follow it.
Sighing, he stood up slowly. He felt utterly helpless and alone. The room was claustrophobic and still; every sound he made was swallowed by a definite silence. He shuffled out the room solemnly and glanced into the chambers as he passed them. They were all deserted.
The grand hall was no different. What used to be a jammed center of activity full of cheer was now a looming expanse of emptiness, so quiet he could hear his own footsteps and their muffled echo. He truly was alone.
Desperate for any sign of life, he trudged sulkily to the infirmary. He rang the bell and, hoping to summon the Bellossom, listened to its resonating chime, but the dead silence returned. His next stop was the dining room, which to his dismay yielded the same results.
Finally, he found himself in front of the door to the guildmaster's chamber. Sighing, he knocked on the door and retreated, keeping his eyes to the floor sullenly.
"Come in!" sang Mismagius, and the door flung open. Not even her mesmerizing voice was enough to lift him from his misery. The door closed behind him but he didn't notice as he stared at the ground.
Mismagius eyed him and floated over to him gently. "Grovyle," she sighed, "I understand you're… having trouble recently. What, exactly, is bothering you? Is Aurealis maligning or bullying you in some way?"
The gecko looked up at her, his eyes slightly puffy and red from his crying. He wanted so badly to tell her what he knew about the guild so she could help him, but…
"I… He's… I don't know," he finally said, choking on his words, "I thought this would work, but… I don't feel right here. I feel like I need to be someplace else… There's so much I want to know, so much to do, but always something… gets in the way…"
Mismagius examined him for a while, causing him to blush mildly and look away. Finally, she observed, "Well, you're a young Grovyle – an adolescent. During this time, there are always inexplicable emotions you'll feel… Plus, you've forgotten everything, so often you will feel that you have no purpose, that you're alone, and it'll frustrate you... That's probably why you feel you don't belong here. You have a subconscious urge to find where you came from, and a desire to see your family and fit in with your kind."
"Family," Grovyle repeated in a whisper, "I haven't thought of that yet…"
"Aww, you poor thing," she cooed, patting him thrice on the shoulder, "I'm sure you'll find them one day."
"I hope so," the gecko mumbled, lowering his gaze to the floor to hide his glazed over eyes.
Mismagius saw them, though, and stopped to think. At last, she flew over to the large chest and rummaged in it. She took out a small box, and from it, she grabbed one speck of a tiny seed. "Here, eat this. It'll make you feel better, I promise."
Grovyle accepted the seed uncertainly, wondering what it was. After inspecting it for a while, he threw the seed into his mouth and swallowed it. Almost instantly, a warm, tickling sensation filled him from head to toe, and he couldn't help but smile and hum with pleasure. As if a fog had been lifted, his depressive feelings were suddenly almost completely gone.
"See, that's better, isn't it?" she beamed, "That was a Joy Seed! Not only do they make you feel happy, but they can make you a little stronger, too."
"Awesome!" he responded, grinning for seemingly no reason at all, "I do feel better now!"
The ghost smiled and returned to her usual position above the carpet. "Now, I may not be able to help you find your family, but I can help you with finding out where you came from."
Grovyle's eyes sparked. "Really? I can go to Loran Forest, too?"
"No, I'm afraid you're not in good enough shape yet to go into a mystery dungeon. You can, however, go to the village's library, where they are sure to have information on Loran Forest."
"Oh," he said, his shoulders slumping slightly in disappointment, "So… Where's this library?"
"If you keeping walk straight from Magnolia Square, you'll come across a crossroad. Turn left there. It's a large building; you can't miss it. Just so you know, it's run by a pretty strict Sceptile. Whatever you do, be sure to be respectful."
"I will," the grass type replied, turning to leave, "Thanks for everything. Bye!"
"Good luck," she cheered, waving as he went out the door.
Grovyle welcomed the fresh air as he made his way to Magnolia Square. It was a clear, sunny day, and the Grovyle part of him nagged him to sunbathe, but he knew he had much better things to do.
At last, he arrived at the square. He hurried along and tried not to look at or smell the food markets that tantalized him so.
Thankfully, he made it with no problems to the crossroad Mismagius had mentioned. As instructed, he turned left, and he immediately noticed a white stone building so large he had to turn his head to see all of it.
'Wow, this building is huge!' He stared in awe as he approached the doorway, which was just by itself taller than the entire Mismagius Guild from the outside.
He stepped inside and noticed a gentle, elderly Sceptile reading a book behind a marble counter. The click of his claws against the stone floor caught her attention, and she put the book down and stood up.
"Hi- err, good morning," Grovyle stammered shyly, feeling dwarfed by her and everything else in the building.
The Sceptile only smiled warmly and replied, "Good morning, welcome to Magnolia Library. What subject would you like to read about?"
"Uh… do you have anything on Loran Forest?"
"Yes, we do." She stepped out from behind the counter and gestured for him to follow. "Come this way."
Hesitantly, Grovyle followed her through a torch-lit hallway. She navigated with utmost confidence, while the young grass type was already disorientated by the twisting, labyrinthine passages that all looked the same.
Finally, they arrived at a doorway above which was etched 'mystery dungeons'. They entered and Grovyle gasped at the sheer size of the room and the amount of bookshelves, all of them at least thrice as tall as he.
The Sceptile politely waited until he stopped gaping and led him to the table in the center of the room. A Hitmonchan was sitting there, studying some sort of scroll.
While Grovyle seated himself on a stool, the Sceptile walked over to a shelf, browsed through the books, and finally picked one out and brought it to the table.
"Here," she whispered, setting the book down in front of Grovyle, "Everything there is on Loran Forest. Once you're done, please put it back in its proper place; I marked it with a red paper. If you wish to check it out, bring it to the front door. Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you," he replied. 'She's not strict,' he remarked to himself, thinking about what Mismagius had said, 'She seems nice to me…'
Once the Sceptile was gone, he turned his attention to the book and flipped it open. On the first page, he saw runes that he had never seen before, and swore under his breath in frustration. He didn't even know how to read!
That was when he realized the book was upside down. Blushing heavily, he turned the book over and looked around to make sure no one had seen it.
Then he started reading. On the second page was a map of the region as well as how to get there. Apparently, the forest was one of those that neighbored Magnolia Village. Grovyle also noted the clearing deep within the forest and the crude icon of a temple in it. 'That must be where Aurealis found me,' he mused, proceeding to turn the page.
There, the text described the native Pokémon: Wurmple, Cascoon, Silcoon, Beautifly, Dustox, Oddish, Vileplume, Treecko, and rarely, Grovyle. Skill level class E to C. He ignored the latter sentence and couldn't help but wonder whether any of the native Treecko or Grovyle could be part of his family.
He shook the thoughts away and read on. The text warned that in some of the forest's clearings, Fearow (skill level class D to B, whatever that meant) hunt and prey upon smaller grass and bug type Pokémon. The following passage stated that Murkrow and Honchkrow (skill level unknown) were relatively frequent in the area, giving the forest a sort of bad reputation.
Nodding away absentmindedly, he turned to the next page, then the next… They all detailed the different areas – 'floors' – of the forest, and gave advice to explorers on what to do as well as providing drawings of what the dungeon looked like. Every page was devoted to one floor, and there were one, two, three, four, …fifteen pages. Fifteen floors.
Grovyle was about to close the book in boredom, but a 'beware' sign on the next page caught his attention. It read:
"BEWARE! Within the fifteenth floor of Loran Forest is said to be a rare Pokémon, skill level L (legendary). Attempts to identify it were met with failure and death will invariably befall any who challenge it. Do not attempt to locate it. Avoid the fifteenth floor and mystery floors. If the Pokémon is spotted, run. If Murkrow and Honchkrow are present, run. Under no circumstances will you fight it."
The gecko stopped and thought for a moment. He flipped back to the map of the forest and found the location of the temple – floor fifteen.
Suddenly it dawned on him. 'What if the mysterious Pokémon was the one that nearly killed me and wiped my memory? Aurealis said he'd found me in the temple, badly beaten. And according to this book, that's where the Pokémon resides-'
"Oh, Muk!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing the nearby Hitmonchan to jump in surprise, "Aurealis! He doesn't know about this!"
"Would you please be quiet, I'm trying to read," the Hitmonchan said politely, but with an edge to his tone.
Grovyle ignored him and ripped the page with the map on it from the book.
"Hey, you're not allowed to do that," the Hitmonchan pointed out in vain as Grovyle ignored him and ran out into the corridor, "Hey, thief! THIEF!"
Grovyle did his best to recall the way back, but at every turn, he reached a dead end and had to turn back. Finally, after countless minutes of mindless running, he saw daylight at the end of the hall-
A leafy tail appeared from behind the corner and slammed into his face, knocking his head into the wall. He moaned in pain and wobbled dazedly on his feet while the head librarian Sceptile revealed herself.
"We don't take thieves lightly around here," she growled, grabbing his head leaf and painfully raising him by it to her eye level.
"Ow! Ow, that hurts!" he wailed, flailing his arms and legs helplessly, "Put me down! I'm not a thief, I swear!"
"Not only were you trying to get away with the paper, you damaged a book," she chastised, still holding him up, "You're lucky I stopped you with my tail and not a Leaf Blade. Now, why are you trying to steal this paper?"
"You don't understand, I – ow! – I need this map so I can save my partner! Let me go, please – ow!"
"Elaborate," she replied, not budging an inch.
"M-My exploration team partner's exploring Loran Forest, and – ow! – and he doesn't know about the danger there! I have to stop him!" He couldn't handle the pain any longer and let out a cry. "P-Please let me go; it hurts!"
The Sceptile stared at him for a moment before dropping him onto the floor. "You'd better not be lying."
Grovyle whimpered as he rubbed the top of his head. Soon the pain receded and he managed to stand. "Th-thanks," he muttered, still shaken up.
She dismissed him with a wave of her claws. "Go and save your friend," she commanded, "After you do, return the paper. If you don't…"
She powered up a bright Leaf Blade, and Grovyle didn't need to hear the rest.
"Y-Yes ma'am," he stammered, and hightailed it faster than he ever dreamed possible.
The gecko didn't stop until he was at the other side of the village. "I'm free," he wheezed, panting, "Away from the diabolical Sceptile lady. Ugh… My head still hurts from that…"
Catching his breath, he unfolded the map he'd taken [under harsh circumstances]. If he was reading it right, he only had to keep going straight and he would soon reach Loran Forest.
As he continued to run, though, the voice of his alter ego kept nagging him. 'Well, Grovyle, I can see this is another of your brilliant, well thought out plans. What are you going to do once you get into the dungeon, hmm? Your wrist is broken, and even if it wasn't, you suck at self defense. The first wild Pokémon you meet will be enough to defeat you. And guess what, you don't even have an explorer's badge, so when you're knocked out, any native can just eat you for lunch. How does that sound?'
'Shut up,' Grovyle riposted, 'I have to warn him. Even though he's annoying sometimes, he's my partner, and I still owe him for saving my life. He takes this mission seriously, and he'll explore every corner of this forest… If he does, he'll come across that beast Pokémon. I can't let that happen.'
The voice said no more, for Grovyle had arrived. A sea of trees loomed above him. "Well, here goes," he mumbled. Taking a deep breath, he entered the dungeon.
