Chapter 11: New Tennants, New Location
Battle Record
Elin Ray: Wins: 5 Losses: 1
Sarah Mia: Wins: 3 Losses: 1
Luke Thomas: Wins: 1 Losses: 1
Sean 'Andre' Garrison: Wins: 1 Losses: 1
The room was dark, as it always was. The circular, confined area had only a red and dark purple glass mural on the floor in the centre, in a mix of violent colours clashing against one another in an oddly harmonic yet chaotic dance. It was the perfect place to...think...to contemplate. And that's why the dark figure sat on his throne, eye closed in deep thought.
"My lord..." InCo floated into the room, hesitating before the throne which had its back to him. "Have you felt it?"
"You doubt my vision?" He replied. "It is obvious. One of the Shards has been claimed."
"This presents opposition, my lord." InCo continued. "If somebody else is also after the Shards then-"
"One loss is not important at this point in time." The figure interrupted him. "Should the matter grow, I shall deal with it personally. But, in the meantime, it is illogical to do anything rash or provocative." The figure floated off of his chair, with his hands behind his back. "Tell the Don to hasten and broaden the search. In person."
"At once, my lord." InCo nodded, before a dark purple portal opened up next to him, which he flew into before it disappeared.
Meanwhile, the figure opened his eye. "So...we have competition." His eye turned up in a smirk. "How interesting..."
Quest Life
This world looked really beautiful at night.
For one thing, the sky was full of stars, and a moon hung like a shining sphere in a sea of dark, at least the sky hadn't changed. From my vantage point of hanging in the sky via Jumpluff, I could attempt to make out several areas in this world, though it wasn't easy in the dark. I was able to make out a forest, a port, some mountains, and a bright light far off in the distance.
"Look! There's Oreace!" Kiera pointed at the town, lit by faint, warm light.
"Alright, you guys can drop us off at my house." I told the Jumpluff.
"You have your own house?" Luke marvelled.
"Yeah, I guess I was pretty lucky when I got i-" Just ehn, I was beginning to lower, and I looked up to see the Jumpluff carrying me struggling. "Hey, are you guys okay?"
"Y-Your pretty heavy..." They admitted.
"It's because your made out of metal." Sean pointed out.
"Steel." I corrected him, as the Jumpluff began to drop faster. "Okay, okay, you can drop me off at the entrance. The rest of you guys just go to my house, it's pretty much unlocked."
"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.
"I'll be fine. See you in a bit." I assdured her as the Jumpluff let themselves drop (a bit too fast for my liking) towards the entrance of the town, until my feet were on solid ground again. "Phew, that was close. Sorry about that, guys."
"N-No problem." The Jumpluff breathed a sigh of relief. "A-Anyway, thank you so much. Come and visit again sometime!" The three of them then floated back on tyhe winds, and I waved them off.
"Man, I'm tired..." I thought aloud as I walked through the entrance, the whole street in front of me leading to the square lit up either side by streetlamps. "This has been a LONG day...but to be fair, something like this doesn't happen to you ofte-"
I suddenly froze, as if my gut feeling just told me something really bad was coming. I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there on high alert.
Then, a figure emerged from the dark alleyway. He was covered completely by a small brown cloak, and the only thing I could make out was two misshapen eyes peering out of the darkness of his hood.
He instantly noticed me, and for a minute we just stood there, staring at each other. During this time, my brain was working overtime to decide what to do in this situation. Attack? Run? Just what kind of vibe exactly was I getting from this mysterious figure? It seemed to be danger...but, also...something else. Eventually, he broke the silence:
"Your not from around here, are you?"
I admit I didn't expect that question, but I answered nonetheless. "Oh, er, I'm a Quester, I just got back from a journey."
"I see." He nodded. "Forgive me, I am just passing through. I wish you a pleasant evening." He walked past me, and as I turned to watch him, he paused. "If it's not too bold of me...may I ask your name?"
"My name?" I echoed. "It's Elin. Elin Ray."
"Elin Ray...I'll remember that name." He said. "You may call me InCo. I hope we meet again." And with that, he continued walking away into the night.
I didn't know how to feel about that chance encounter. Disturbed might be a possible word, there was just something about him that didn't feel right...ugh. I was too tired. I needed to go to sleep.
I made my way back to my house, where I saw Sean standing outside the door. "There you are." He said upon seeing me. "Everybody else has already made themselves comfortbale. You okay?"
"Yeah. Better once I get some sleep, though." I admitted, deciding not to tell him about my run-in with the robed weirdo 'InCo'.
"I hear that." Sean laughed. "...Listen, Elin. I never got to thank you properly for helping us back there at the castle...Merci."
"Huh? You speak French?" I asked.
He suppressed a laugh. "I AM French. But close enough." I facepalmed at my own ignorance whilst we went in. I carefully sneaked around, trying to not bump into anyone or anything, before flopping onto the first comfy thing I could find.
I suppose at this moment I was supposed to have some kind of major internal questioning, debate or struggle about what would happen once this was all over, what things were like back home right now...
Nope. Straight to sleep.
Quest Life
A bright light...sunlight...it was morning...Wait...oh yeah, all of that really happened yesterday...wow.
I slumped to the left, only to come face to face with a black hole in a rock.
"What the-!?" I jumped up in shock, only then to realise it was a Roggenrola.
"Oh, morning!" It greeted me as it sat up. "You must be Elin!"
"Yeah, who are...you..." I had only just looked around...was this really the same house?
It was clean now, a little glass encased the previously bare lightbulb, there was a tiny little wooden table with two matching chairs, a red carpet underneath it, and a soft looking bed upon which Luke and Sarah were curled up, sleeping.
"Did I walk into the wrong house?" I wondered aloud.
"Huh? That Audino and scary Conkelldurr said that this was your house." Roggenrola said.
"Okay, back to you." I changed the subject "What are you doing here?"
"I came looking for the Snivy with your group!" He said.
"Snivy? You mean Sean?"
"Did somebody page me?" Said Snivy said. I looked over to him doing...pull-ups with his vines from the rafters...how long had he been awake?
"Ah! It's really you!" The Roggenrola cried as it skipped over to him. Welp, now I can say I've seen a boulder skip.
"Hold on...aren't you that Roggenrola I fought?" Sean asked.
"Yes! Yes! That's me!" Roggenrola nodded, overjoyed he was remembered. "I went looking for you, and I remembered you were with that Pawniard, so I asked around about him! So here I am! I wanted to thank you so much for helping me! I promise I want to become a better Pokemon and be a Quester like you!" I could practically feel the worship to Sean emanating off of the Rock-Type.
Sean shifted in place for a bit at the revelation, but quickly got over it. "Well, I'm...glad you fell that way. I suppose I could help you if that's what you wanted. Just, don't go calling me 'seanpai' or anything, okay? This'll be...a mutual agreement."
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Roggenrola bounded up and down ecstatically. "I'll do my very best!"
"Well, uh, this just happened to me." Sean stated as he walked over to me. "By the way, I like your house, Elin."
"Yeeeeaaaah...to be honest, it was a lot worse." I admitted. "Wonder what happened?"
"Maybe this 'Professor Rotom' you told me about knows?" Sean suggested. "Kiera stayed at his Lab last night."
"Oh, right! The Professor! I have to tell him we're back!" I realised, deciding to leave Luke and Sarah to sleep a little longer. As I opened the door, I came face to face with a familiar face. "Oh! Grace!"
"Elin, your back." She smiled. "I hope you like the way I designed your house."
"Wait, you did all this?" I asked.
"Well, I just thought that you'd like to come home to a nice clean house, so I spruced it up a bit." She beamed.
"Wow, that's really kind of you. Thank you, Grace!" I said. "Oh, uh, this is-"
"Sean." He nodded. "It's very nice to meet you, and the house is very nice."
"Why, thank you." Grace nodded. "Oh yes, Elin, since your back you might want to go see the Professor."
"Already on it." I nodded. "See you in a bit." I jogged over to the Lab, leaving Sean and Grace together as I knocked on the door. "Proefessor Doctor Rotom? Hello?"
"Elin!" I jumped back in shock as a Frost Rotom blocked the whole doorway. "Kiera has filled me in on the details! Please, come in! Come in!"
"Um, I'd like to, but..." I gestured to the doorway.
"Ah! Right, right." He jumped out of the way and quickly reappeared in the doorway in his normal form, adjusting his glasses. "Now then, let's analyse this."
I shuffled into the Lab to see Kiera and Hoopa eating a bagel. "Yo, Elin! Good to see you so soon!" Hoopa greeted me.
"You too, Hoopa." I chuckled.
"Elin, may I see the Shard you acquired?" Rotom requested.
I reached into my Hammerspace and pulled out the Green Shard, handing it to him. "Fascinating..." He whispered, floating over to a microscope and looking through it. "Incredible, I've never seen a specimen like this before...it's in a category all of its own! This is undoubtedly a Shard.
"Good show, prof. You LOOked at it." Hoopa laughed.
"Oh, be quiet, Hoopa." Kiera sighed.
"Elin, let us go and return the Shard to its rightful place; in the Clock Tower." Rotom said.
"Right." I agreed as we both walked out.
"Eliiiin!" The rest of our group hurried over as Luke's tail wagged. "Dude, nice house!"
"Thanks, but that's mostly due to Grace." The Glaceon accepted the compliment.
"I especially like your roommates." Luke looked like he was trying to suppress alughter, and I instantly realised he knew something.
"What roommates?" I pressed.
"Roggenrola, for one." Sean nodded. "But, also...have you checked your roof?"
"My roof?" I echoed, looking up, then I realised it.
There was a nest sitting on top of my house, and a Starly was attending to it as if it was his magnum opus.
"Ya gonna make him pay rent?" Luke snickered.
"I think he's working reeeeeeally hard on that nest." Sarah observed.
"Hey! Excuse me!" The Starly turned towards me. "Um, that's my house your building your nest on."
"Oh, really? Your house is a very nice place, very comfortable and balanced. " The Starly said. "Sorry for coming here uninvited, but it just looked so comfy!"
I assessed the situation as best I could. Technically he wasn't IN the house, more on top of it. Plus, if he was a bird, then couldn't he go off and like, get his own food? So I guess it was alright for him to stay.
"Okay, you can stay up there and build your nest." I told him.
"Really!?" He flew from his nest and down in front of me, being pretty small as a basic bird. "Gee, that's kind of you! I promise I won't be a burden, and I'll help out however I can!" He held out a wing. "The name's Starrie, pleased to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Elin Ray." We shook blade and wing.
"Ask him if he can Fly us to our previous destinations." Luke whispered.
"We're going to head to the Clock Tower." Rotom interrupted.
"I was going to take everybody to the cafe." Grace said.
"Oh, if your going there, then you might need these..." I emptied my Hammerspace oif Up Ingredients, dumping a load of Dagger Carrots, Energrapes, a herb of some kind, at their feet.
"Arceus, Elin! How much did you pick up!?" Luke gasped.
"I'm a collectomaniac in RPG's." I admitted.
"This is so much Up stuff!" Sarah said, trying and failing to pick all of it up.
"Right then, no more delays, off to the Clock Tower!" Rotom announced befroe dragging me along.
"So long, guys!" Hoopa waved as he finished off his bagel.
"Woah! A legendary!" Luke gasped.
"Yo, I'm Hoopa!" He greeted them.
"Hey, um...guys?" Everybody looked at Kiera as she gestured to a pair of performers in Oreace Square. "Do they look...familiar to you?" Sarah and Luke looked over and gaped.
A Meowth and a Purrloin were doing magic tricks together.
"Please, hold your a-PAWS." The Meowth joked, VERY FAMILIARLY. "As now, I shall evolve a Caterpie, into a Butterfree!" The Purrloin presented the little Caterpie for the Meowth, who quickly covered it with a blanket, did an overexaggerated waiting monologue, then pull the blanket off to reveal a Butterfree who flew away, to the clapping of the crowd. "Thank you, thank you. We'll be here every Pay-Day!"
And as the two of them accepted the coins tossed, they finally noticed the group, and they looked like they were shitting Onix's whilst screaming silently.
"Mph!" Luke and Sarah were suddenly glomped by the cats.
"What are you guys doing here!?" Meob hissed.
"It IS you two!" Sarah gasped.
"This is LITERALLY the worst luck!" Purrloe panicked.
"Why on earth are you two here!?" Kiera asked.
"Okay, I'll admit, we came here looking for the Don." Meob said. "But we came here and couldn't find him, so we decided to make our own money here. Listen, I understand what we did was wrong-"
"You tried to sell me." Luke stated.
"-But we're just trying to earn a decent living now!...Until we find the Don." Purrloe added.
"Pleeeeeeeeeeease don't Rattata on us! PURR-ty Please!?" The two cats begged on their paws and knees.
"I dunno..." Kiera said.
"I forgive them. Plus, that was a nice pun." Luke nodded.
"If Luke forgives them, I forgive them." Sarah agreed.
"Oh my Arceus thank you!" Meob sighed in relief.
"We promise not to get in your way." Purrloe nodded.
"I...don't really understand the situation." Grace admitted.
"Don't worry, I don't either." Sean mumbled.
Meanwhile, me and Rotom were at the top of the Clock Tower.
"How am I supposed to get it up there?" I asked, gesturing to the empty slot at the top of the clock face, whilst I held the Green Shard. "Can't you do it?"
"It has to be you!" Rotom insisted. "Your...the chosen one, or something."
"I thought you were a Pokemon of science!"
"Professor means ancient hocus-pocus too!"
"I don't see how-woah!" As I held the Green Shard up, I suddenly felt a pull, and let the Shard go from it, making the Shard pull towards the empty slot like a magnet, fitting in perfectly and making the whole clock face glow green.
"Elin! Take out the Clock Compass!" I did as he said, to see the hand spinning around wildly, before finally setting itself in a new direction. "The location of the next Key Shard has been revealed!"
"Alright, let's go find everybody." I said.
We made our way back to Oreace Square and were just going to make a right to the cafe when we heard a familiar voice. "Ah! Elin!"
"Aria!" I recognised the Audino as she walked over.
"How have you been doing?" She asked.
"I'm alright, thank you for asking." I nodded. "How are you?"
"Business is booming!" She happily replied. "I just came to tell you about our services, after all, it's how Grace spruced up your home."
"That was a really nice surprise." I smiled. "So, I could buy stuff too?"
"Oh yes!" She nodded. "Make it your own little home! Just pop into Housing Management whenever and you can buy any furniture which suits yours or others needs! Although, maybe you'll be away from home far too long to think about that, eh, Mr. Quester?"
"Oh, um, thanks." I tugged at my Swift Scarf.
"I'd keep it in mind, Elin." Rotom advised. "You have a few tenants now, and I'm sure they'd appreciate a nice place to stay, even whilst your away."
"Fair point." I nodded. "Hopefully if I have any leftover money I can buy some stuff. After all, I, pretty much raided the Forgotten Castle."
"Speaking of being a Quester, Elin..." Aria continued. "Have you thought about giving yourself a Title?"
"A Title?" I echoed.
"ALL the best Quester's have Titles." Aria explained. "Plus, it'll be really cool if you get a lot of good reputation, people might get to know about you."
"Title, huh?" I pondered for a moment. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. I'll have to think on it, though."
"I wish you luck, then! And remember, I'm just a few doors away! And so Aria skipped off back to work.
"Title, Title..." I continued to think. "I've gotta think of a cool one."
"For the moment though, let's head to the cafe." Rotom prompted me as we moved along.
We entered the cafe to a very quaint little feeling, wooden furniture and little flowerpots in the window, my friends devouring food on that table over there...let's focus on that last aspect.
We walked over to find Luke and Sarah heartily tucking in as Sean and Grace ate much more calmly.
"Seeeeean! Your hogging all the Speed Soup!" Sarah whined.
"I kind of need Speed for my evasiveness." Sean reasoned, handing Grace a plate of stuffed Shield Shrooms, which she thanked him for kindly. "Oh, Elin! Here, we saved you an Attack Kieche, a HP Pasta and one...no, half of a Stuffed Shield Shroom.
"Hey, thanks, guys." I said as I sat down. The good thing about having blades for hands is that they make excellent cutlery.
"So, did it work?" Grace asked.
"It did." Rotom confirmed as I placed the Clock Compass on the table. "I'm going to try and see which way it's pointing..." He pulled a map out of his Hammerspace and studied it as we continued to eat. "Hmmmm...ah! It seems to be pointing towards the Psychic Sands!"
"What kind of place is it?" Luke asked.
"A desert. But believe me, you have to see it for yourself!" Rotom grinned as he put his map away. "If you continue going at this rate, you'll find all of the Shards in no time!"
"And how are you doing on getting us home?" Sean asked.
"Ah..." Rotom said nervously.
"No progress!" Hoopa called from a different table, before taking a bite out of his burger...which for some reason had a hole in the middle.
"B-B-But I promise I'll get it! Yes!" He hurriedly replied. "In the meantime, you all can keep collecting the Key Shards, which will allow you to look for more humans at the same time!"
"It's better then just sitting around and doing nothing!" Sarah agreed.
"Exactly!" Rotom cried.
I finished off the last of my pasta before speaking. "Well, I'm ready whenever you guys are."
"If we're going to set off again, we should probably buy some new Gear whilst we can." Sean pointed out.
"Alright! Battle plan!" Luke nodded as we all finished off our meals.
"Man, Up Ingredient Meals are the best." Kiera nodded. "I can feel myself getting stronger already!"
"Thank you very much for the meal, Pouren." Grace thanked the Panpour wearing a chef's hat, and an apron that said 'Use Sweet Kiss on the cook'
"Anything and anytime for the lovely Miss Grace and her friends." The Pouren bowed. "Stay safe, and stay full!"
Now that we knew what we were doing, we headed over to Searen's Gear shop and started browsing to find an necessary preparations.
"Hey, um, do you have any balanced Gear?" I asked.
"Balanced?" He lowered his sunglasses. "I think I've got just the thing for you." He shuffled through the back, and pulled out a little bronze badge with two tiny wings on the side and a little basic three spike crown in the centre. "This Rookie Badge slightly boosts HP, Attack and Defence, but it only works on Base forms. Not good for me, yet for you, it works.
"I'll take it." I nodded, pinning the badge to the neck of my Swift Scarf.
Sarah bought some Stardust Sparkles which she sprinkled over her Bow, apparently they increase Defense and reduce damage from fire and Grass attacks. Shaun bought this cool red Battle Jacket tht covers his top half and has a white furry hood, that boosts his attack and defense strongly. And Sean wore a green Vine Sticker across the left side of his body that boosted his Grass-Type moves.
"Whooooo! We're all Geared up!" Sarah cheered.
"Off to the desert!" Luke yipped.
"Man, they sure are excited." I laughed.
"Sean? Are you okay?" Grace asked, and I turned to the two of them. Sean seemed okay...I think.
"...This is going to be difficult, Elin." Sean spoke calmly, but even I could tell he was suppressing something. "It's going to be a lot more dangerous then I thought...are we truly prepared for this?"
I looked at Sean, I guess Grace could see it but I couldn't. His loss to Torterra had affected him greater then I thought...
"Well then..." Going on instincts again. "Let's just get some more help." I then set off down East Oreace
"From who?" Sean called after me.
"From my tennates!"
"WHO!?"
Quest Life
"I'm combat ready!" Roggenrola announced, a Big Gem, which boosted Defense and Special Defense, attached to his back, whilst jumping up and down excitedly.
"I'll be the eyes in the sky!" Starrie, a Talonflame Feather to boost Speed and Flying attacks attached to his tail, saluted with his wing.
"I feel like we're taking Level 1's on a Level 10 mission." Luke thought aloud.
"Good luck, you guys!" Minnie waved with a napkin from the Inn window.
"I'm gonna stick around this time and help out the Professor Doctor." Kiera told us. "And set Hoopa on a strict diet."
"Who?" The legendary asked with a worried look.
"Oh, tell me everything about the Psychic Sands!" Rotom pleaded. "Tell me about everyone you meet! Everything you see!"
"Why don't you just come with us?" Sarah suggested.
"Oh no...I'm too old...too weak..." Rotom croaked, struck with sudden oldness.
"Stay safe." Grace reminded us.
"I hope so." Sean nodded, making me nudge him.
"Bulk Up." I chuckled, making him give me a raised non-existent eyebrow.
"And we're off on the road again." Luke sang as our now expanded group started on our next journey.
"Wow, we sure started again quickly." Sean noticed.
"Must be the Pokemon side of us." I reasoned. "I'm quite enjoying it."
"I have to agree with you on that one." Sean chuckled as our group turned and headed off down a new path in the crossroad.
Ooooooooooh myyyyyyyyy Arceus! This was NOT supposed to take so long!
I'm sorry for leaving you guys so long, I've been very busy, then there was a problem with Fanfiction. And admittedly, I've been a bit preoccupied writing a new RWBY Fanfiction. You guys should watch it, its a good anime...and maybe read that fanfic to-enough shameless advertising!
I'd like to thank Kamico-chan for keeping up with Quest Life, and I promise your OC shall be appearing soon. Now that we've started this new Arc: The Yellow Shard Arc!
One last thing, one of our new Questers, Starrie, is based off of Kecleon352's submitted OC! Thank you!
And now, once more, I must bid you all adieu everybody. See you next Arc!
