"H... Can...ear me?" Huh...?
I kept hearing these weird voices that wouldn't go away. What happened? "Mr!" There it is again. Forcing my eyes open, I could see two blurry pokemon above me.
"...Who?" I lied my head back down, completely exhausted. "What...happened?" I closed my eyes, letting out a long sigh.
"Don't fall...eep! Your fri...d is...ake." The female voice paused, probably waiting for my response. "Please...say something!" This time, the pokemon shook my shoulder.
"I..." I forced myself to stand; although, I was incredibly wobbly. I opened my eyes again, this time being able to make out the shape of a teddiursa and a torkol. "Where... Where am I?" I asked. The teddiursa sighed in relief.
"Oh thank goodness! You just plopped in from nowhere, I thought you were dead!" she cried.
"You gave everyone quite a scare," the torkol rasped in a deep voice. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it." Huh?
"Heh-heh! I knew you would be fine!" a mankey snickered. Fine? ...What does- I looked around, where the pokemon were sitting, all of them were in some yellow water.
"Right! The flood! Where's Th-"
"Nate!" I looked up, only to see a flash of blue before I was tackled. What?! I landed in the warm, yellow, water, instantly panicking to reach the surface. "They told me you were dead!"
"Dead?" I coughed. I looked at Thunder then gently pried him off of me after I took a good look around. "I'm...decent."
"Errr..." Primeape grumbled. "I 'ought you were dead. 'ere was no way a live zorua washed up on this hot spring." Hot spring?
"Hot spring?" I asked. Was that where we were? "And can someone explain what's going on?"
"Indeed!" The orange turtle slowly stepped onto a large rock seated above the spring. "This is the hot spring. It works wonders on many pokemon's tired muscles and creaky joints. Tell me young ones, have you a map?"
"Map? If you mean our wonder map, then yes, we have one." He wiped his tears away with his paw before digging the map out of the damp bag. "It's a little damp, but I'm sure it'll be fine." It took him some time to find the part of the map, due to his poor eyesight.
"Ah, there it is." He pointed his stubby...hand to a small hot spring on the map. "This is the hot spring's location."
"I see," Thunder mumbled. I moved closer so I could see the map as well. "This is the waterfall..."
"Wait, you mean that water carried us all the way over here?" I gasped. There's just no way!
"My goodness! It was the water that carried you all the way here?" He glanced at the other pokemon before letting out a hard laugh. "Such a long journey that must've been!"
"Such a long journey that could've gotten you killed," the teddiursa scolded. "You could have drowned." Torkol chuckled with the shake of his head.
"They're quite alright, Luna." He turned to us. "Let the hot spring washed away all your fatigue before you make your way home, I insist." I glanced at Thunder and nodded.
"It's going to be a long walk back," I mumbled. "Sure, we might as well."
Thunder spent most of his time relaxing in the sun, while I talked to the various pokemon in the Hot spring. Specifically, Luna, the teddiursa, who has heard about our team's adventures.
"So you're the famous leader of Team Abyss." She stared at me with her head tilted.
"I-I don't know if I would say, leader." We never did talk about who would become the leader; I thought we just did this as a team.
"I heard about what you did to Drowzee. Also, Spoink is a friend of mine, he told me all about how you found his pearl." I forgot all about Spoink.
"Well, we did what we-"
"I thought you had a third member, that's what Spoink said." She raised a hand to her chin. "I'm sure you did. ...It was a Salandit, wasn't it?"
"Oh um... She wasn't on our team, she was just showing us around." I mean, that wasn't wrong? She was never officially on the team.
"Like she was training you?" she asked. I sat next to her, flicking my ear in response. Did she train us? I mean, all she did was follow us around in there, so I guess not?
"I guess she kind of did, but not really. She didn't have a team in the guild so Chatot made her do it, then sent her on her way."
"I see." She crossed her arms then nodded to herself. "That's interesting. Wasn't she wasting your time?"
"What do you mean?" She sighed, giving me an odd look. And how would she know anyway?
"My dad runs a rescue team, it's similar to an exploration team, it's called Team Grumble, he's not very creative. Him, Beartic, and Pangoro had to kick Beware off of the team," she started, looking fondly at the sky. "He was so strong, so my dad thought he would make a great addition to the team."
"But he was wrong?" She nodded. What does this have to do with wasting time?
"He was nice and everything, but he wouldn't listen to Dad at all. He was always off doing what he wanted instead of working as a team. Then one day they went on a dangerous mission to Magma Cavern to save another explorer who had gotten lost." She paused, her expression turning sour. "Dad wouldn't tell me what happened, but I do know that the explorer didn't come out." Did he die in there? "They kicked him out the next morning; I haven't seen him since."
"I...don't know what to say." That was a lot of information she just told me, so I didn't really have too much time to process it.
"Hey, Nate!" Thunder meowed. He trotted over with a warm smile. "It'll be dark soon, so we better head back to the guild."
"Yeah, I'm ready," I replied. I turned back to Luna, who watched us with interest. "Umm...it was nice talking to you, Luna."
"You too." She waved at us with a smile then turned back to the hot spring.
"C'mon Nate!" Thunder called.
With a sigh, I said bye to Luna and followed after Thunder.
"Hmm, let me see if I got this all straight." He stopped pacing and turned his gaze towards us. "Behind this waterfall is a cave..."
I nodded. "Yeah."
"...In the deepest chamber, lies a gigantic gem..."
"That's right," Thunder confirmed.
"And when you pushed this gem, it triggered a trap of some kind."
"Y-yeah," he stammered, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"And surprisingly, you two were flushed to a distant hot spring. That is the gist of your report?" he asked. I nodded. It does kinda sound like a made up story.
"Yeah. It's really disappointing that we couldn't bring back the gem."
"No, no, no!" Chatot squawked, flapping his wings enthusiastically. "Enpathetically, no! This is a major discovery!"
"R-Really?" He nodded.
"Undoubtedly! After all, no one knows the existence of the cave behind the waterfall!"
"Oh, I see!" Thunder exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. "We made a discovery Nate!"
I wanted to celebrate with him, but I couldn't stop thinking about my visions. That shadow pokemon I saw. The truth was that there was another pokemon who discovered the cave, and not only that, but he seemed to know the secret beforehand. Who was it though? That shape... Those pointy ears... Ah! There was no mistaking who that pokemon was.
"Your waterfall discovery is just amazing! The Guildmaster must be told!"
"Um...guys?" They turned to me, confusion evident in their eyes.
"What's wrong Nate? Aren't you excited?" Thunder asked.
"I'm glad that we got through the mission," I started, "but I think that Wigglytuff has been there before." Thunder tilted his head.
"Huh? You're saying that Wigglytuff has been there before?" he muttered before breaking out in laughter. "You're so silly, Nate. Of course the..." He stared at me, his expression turning into a more serious one. "You're not joking...are you"
"No, no, no!" Chatot broke in sending me a glare. "That is inconceivable! If that were so, then the Guildmaster wouldn't have ordered you to investigate the place, correct?" That seemed true, but there was no way that that pokemon wasn't Wigglytuff.
"I'm sure it was him."
"I think it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?" Thunder spoke up. Chatot glanced at him then back to me.
"Since you insist, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to confirm it," he sighed. He turned, facing the circular window. "Hmm... Why would they want to spoil their own discovery." Is he... Is he talking to himself? "How strange, I should be used to it by now..." He shook his head. "Well, these apprentices are yet another strange crew."
"What was that, Chatot?" I growled. He stiffened.
"What? Oh, nothing, nothing! Nothing at all! Anyways, I must confirm your suspicions with the Guildmaster! Now, please wait here."
...
"So, how'd it go?" Thunder asked. He turned to us with a sigh, his expression unreadable.
"When I asked the Guildmaster about it, he mulled it over for a bit. Then he said..." Suddenly, the small perked up and did an accurate impression of Wigglytuff. "Oh, memories! Sweet memories! YOOM...TAH!'" Throwing his wing out for emphasis. "Then he danced around a bit. Then he said, 'Yes, Yes! When I think real hard, maybe I did go there once or twice!'" He then returned to his usual posture. "And that is what the Guildmaster said."
"To sum it up," he nodded, "it is just as Nate suspected; the Guildmaster indeed has gone to Waterfall Cave."
"Oh...okay," Thunder mumbled, his voice brimming with gloom. "That's really disappointing."
"Yeah," I added. "Why didn't Wigglytuff say that from the start?" Chatot shifted his wings uncomfortably.
"Well, the Guildmaster can be rather...erratic. Even I cannot fathom what runs through his head. That is most unfortunate for you two, but nevertheless, I expect your best effort tomorrow!"
Yeah, thanks for the support Chatot. We almost died on that mission.
Today was exhausting. "I think I'll go to bed early tonight." I was just about to curl up when I heard Thunder sigh.
"We went through a lot today; we could have even died." He turned towards me with a tired smile. "But, I did have a lot of fun. ...I'm still really disappointed about the mission, but we learned a lot today and it was our first real mission!"
I laughed, "I thought you were going to explode from excitement!" He moved, sitting in his own nest, and chuckled alongside me.
"It made me realize I made the right decision to going the guild." He pulled out his special fragment. "One day I'm sure I'll find out the secret behind my Relic Fragment. That's the dream I have, Nate. I'd be so happy if that dream came true. So...thank you." Huh?
"Why thank me? I haven't done anything."
"No, you did. Remember with Zubat and Koffing?"
"Let's go," I said. I stumbled over to him, nudging him with my nose. "Let's go after them; it was your treasure, wasn't it?"
"Y-you'll help me get it back?" He stared at me in shock. I had wanted to know what happened to me, but this shinx was more important.
"Of course, you were willing to help me on the beach, even though I could have been deceiving you."
"If you weren't willing to help me, I don't think I would have gone after my fragment. I wouldn't have joined the guild, or worse, go back to my clan. All of it, Nate, I was able to do all these things because of you. So really, thank you!"
Normally, I would have insisted that he didn't thank me so much, but I was too embarrassed to even speak. Thankfully, Chatot barged in at the right time.
"Hey, you two! The guild master wants to see you right away." I wonder what's so important in the middle of the night?
...
With a bow, Chatot announced, "Guildmaster, I've brought you Team Abyss." The Guildmaster sat in his little chair and stared blankly at us before abruptly shouting with excitement, causing us to jump.
"Hiya! Your team went through a lot today! Yes, yes!" He spun around with lightning speed. "But don't worry, I've been keeping track of your activities! I should tell you why I have called you here!" He clapped his paws happily. "We're planning a team expedition soon."
"An expedition?" I asked. Wasn't what we did today an expedition?
"Yes," Chatot added. "The guild will go explore an area far away! It's much harder than exploring anywhere nearby. That's why we want to prepare so far in advance."
"So you want us to prepare?" Thunder asked. Chatot grimaced.
"We will pick and choose who goes carefully. ...While I am impressed with your activities, your team is not guaranteed to go."
"Usually, we never ever consider rookies to be expedition members. But you two have been working very hard indeed! That is why we're making a special exception this time, so you two will be considered candidates!" Wigglytuff exclaimed.
"R-really?" I turned to Thunder, who looked like he was about to faint from happiness. Chatot moved in front of us.
"However, if you don't do good work before then, then you cannot expect to be chosen." Chatot's previous guilty gaze turned into one of complete seriousness.
"I'm sure you two can do it! Try hard!" Wigglytuff spun in a circle, singing a little tune.
"W-we will! You won't be disappointed!" Thunder turned to me, an excited grin on his face. "Let's make sure to always do our best!"