Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon mystery dungeon, or Pokémon itself.
Note: this chapter covers several days, and may be lengthy to an extent. Be warned. Also, from this chapter on, there are major spoilers throughout the story.
Chapter 10: a tale to remember
I woke up and already had a bad feeling. I shook it off and walked outside to see Lilly waiting.
"Morning Alex!" she said cheerily "umm…I wanted to ask you something"
"Go ahead" I said.
"Well..." she hesitated "you know what Xatu said yesterday? Well, I was wondering, does it bother you?"
"Yea, kind of" I said.
"I thought you would be" Lilly said "it's just…with everything happening, I feel kind of useless, especially since I can't quite figure out what the balance is…do you know?"
I thought for a moment. I knew it, yes, but it would be VERY hard to explain it all… "I can't really explain it well" I said "most of it is based on me being human"
She just gave me a puzzled look. "Uh…yea, I guess…" she said "whatever, let's go into the square today"
"Ok!" I said happily. We went in, and immediately saw there was a lot of talking.
"Huh, I wonder what's going on" Lilly said.
The Pokémon normally in the square were talking about some legend that apparently was said to actually be true…it rang a bell to me for some reason, but Lilly obviously had no clue. We decided to go up to them and ask.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Well, you know the Ninetales legend?" Lombre asked "the old legend?"
"Actually…we don't" Lilly said.
"What? You don't know?" Lombre asked "it's that fairy tale about how you'll get cursed if you touch one of Ninetales tales. You should talk to whiscash if you want to know more about it"
I had talked to Whiscash a few times before, and he always told stories that were interesting…I didn't see why we shouldn't ask.
"Let's do that then" I said "we could learn something valuable"
"Or just folklore" Lilly said "but you're right"
We went over to Whiscash pond, where Caterpie and Metapod stayed with Whiscash. I walked up to Whiscash.
"Hi Whiscash" I said
"Hello Alex" he said "you wish to hear me tell old folklore?"
"Actually, we were interested in a particular legend" I said "the Ninetales curse, know about it?"
"Oh, you wish to hear about that?" he asked.
"Yes please" I said.
"Ok! Let me recount the tale" he said happily. "There once lived a Pokémon by the name of Ninetales. Now, Ninetales had many tails, all of them imbued with psychic power... It was said that anyone so foolish as to touch a tail would be cursed for a thousand years. But there was someone so foolish as to grab a tail. And it was a human."
"a-a human?" Lilly asked.
"Yes, a human" Whiscash continued "The human that grabbed the tail was subjected to the thousand-year curse. However, just when the curse was cast, a Pokémon named Gardevoir shielded the human, and sacrificed herself to absorb the curse"
"Why?" Lilly asked "Why would Gardevoir take the humans place?"
"To Gardevoir, the human was her partner" Whiscash said "there exists strong bonds between humans and Pokémon"
"But humans..." Lilly said "aren't there good and bad ones?"
"Correct" whiscash said "Taking pity on Gardevoir, Ninetales asked the human this... 'Do you wish to save Gardevoir?' it asked... but the human had already abandoned Gardevoir and fled. Ninetales became disillusioned with the human, and it made this prediction: 'That human will one day be reborn as a Pokémon...'"
"What? A human turned into a Pokémon?" Lilly asked, shocked.
"'And when the human becomes a Pokémon, the world's balance will be upset...'" Whiscash finished "And that is how the legend ends. Well? Did you find it interesting?"
Lilly was speechless "uh…very interesting" I said, my mind whirling "thank you Whiscash"
"If you wish to hear the tale again, just come see me!" he replied happily.
I nodded and we went out.
When we got to the base, Lilly stopped me "Alex…I…I want to go to bed early" she said.
"Its fine" I replied.
She nodded "see you tomorrow" she said. She started to walk off but stopped. After a moment, she ran back and hugged me "I'm sorry Alex! I started doubting you!" she was practically crying now.
"It's ok Lilly" I said.
She stepped back a bit "you know what?" she said "no matter what, you aren't the kind of person to abandon a Pokémon…so there's no reason to doubt you"
I smiled "thanks Lilly" I said "now let's get some rest"
She nodded and walked off.
I had the strange dream again…but this time it was different. The Pokémon appeared again.
"w-who are you?" I asked.
"…I am…I am Gardevoir" the Pokémon said
"Ga-Gardivoir?" I asked
"I'm so glad, finally!" she said happily "finally I get to meet you!"
"…finally meet me?" I asked "you knew me before?"
"I am you're…"
And she faded
"Wait, no, come back!" I said. But she was gone…and I soon woke up.
The atmosphere felt different when I went out. Lilly wasn't there, and I could hear talking from the square. I walked over to see everyone gathered around Gengar, the shop keepers and Caterpie included. I walked up next to Lilly.
"Hi Alex" she said quietly.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Apparently, Gengar was with us" she replied "he's getting the town all riled up now"
He was talking about how to get the balance back to normal now.
"…Then, if the human's gone, everything should return to normal, correct?" he asked.
"That's true…" Lombre agreed
"When you put it that way, maybe you're right" snubbull agreed.
"And the human is a rotten coward that abandoned Gardevoir, so he can't complain" he said. Then he turned to me. Before he said anything my heart dropped "…isn't that right, Alex?"
The Pokémon reacted with shock.
"Alex, is that true?" Snubbull asked.
Lilly tried to answer, but Snubbull wouldn't let her…and I stayed silent. All the events recently, they all added up to the same thing…I was turned into a Pokémon, and the disasters are connected to it. I had lost confidence in myself.
"Alex…" Caterpie said
"Looks like you have nothing to say in your defense, Alex!" Gengar said "That's how it is, fellow Pokémon. Let's get rid of Alex and regain peace!"
They all crowded around me and Lilly, and I could see Lilly start to panic
"W-wait a moment!" Lilly said "what's gotten into all of you?"
"Alex…forgives me" Lombre said. I barley had time to register the statement before he attacked. I jumped out of the way just in time, and Lilly got in front of him.
"Alex, run!" Lilly yelled. We darted off before anyone could hit us.
We stopped outside my base. I was out of breath.
"Wow…I never expected everyone to attack us like that" Lilly said "but Alex, why didn't you defend yourself?"
I was silent for a moment "I…I can't keep it up" I said "I'm obviously guilty…I shouldn't be on your rescue team"
"Alex, of course you should" Lilly said "there's no way you're the human in the legend"
"Then why am I here?" I asked, a bit more harshly than I should have "Why did I happen to be a Pokémon at JUST the right moment?"
"Alex, no one knows that" Lilly said.
"I…I saw Gardevoir in my dream" I said "I'm somehow connected to her…and that means I'm a part of the legend"
"Alex, you don't need memory to know what you were like before" Lilly said "and I know you weren't someone who would abandon a Pokémon"
I was quiet. I thought Lilly would keep talking, but Alakazams team came in at that point.
"Oh!" she said "Alakazam!"
I was too distracted to pay attention. Seeing team A.C.T…I realized neither I nor Lilly would be safe here…it was echoed in what Alakazam said. Tomorrow we'd have to leave before the others woke up, or we'd be dead…
I went to bed that night with a choice: stay and die, leave with Lilly…or go alone…
Yay! Another chapter done! This has to be the longest chapter yet…but I made it that way on purpose. In this chapter, a major event is played out, and I've decided to make it a bit more interesting. You see, in this point in the game, the main character and his/her partner run away. I'm opening another option: have Alex leave before Lilly wakes up. I'd like you guys to help me decide! Remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!
