Whoever was out there watching Sharpedo Bluff that night probably thought that they were very smart. Not a single noise came from the small forest grove next to the pitch-black path. Neither could it be said that there was any visual evidence that a pokémon was lying in wait, ready to come close and force a troubled riolu to bite her tongue off. But Daté smelled the disgusting bastard- a mixture of blood and malignant dark energy that let off a sulfuric odor, and for this reason he would not allow himself to leave his vigil overlooking the ocean. This night, Daté would be the one giving out nightmares.

A chance like this presented itself only once. One misplay, one foolish move, and the pokémon would realize that this grovyle too could not stop him. To use such a powerful form of dream-eater... it was either a dark or a psychic type. Therefore, the grovyle had to weigh in the startling possibility that the assassin had laid himself out in the middle of the trail, and not in the forest. The natural color tones of those types allowed that. Dark types received a lot of flak for being inherently evil, and psychic types were harassed about their manipulative tendencies- their qualities pointed to these features in every way.

But it wasn't until the pokémon taking a hold on these powers and using them for what they knew was wrong, that the stench arose. The art of darkness was the style of acceptance. His shadow would have never cut Chivalry's legs if the grovyle himself had not accepted that there was a dark part of him capable of doing so. This dream-eating coward couldn't accept his shadow, and kept the dark energy trapped and rotting away like a feral in a tamer's basement.

Daté resisted the urge to turn around when the latch on the trapdoor to the cave clicked open. "So, you couldn't sleep either, huh?" A groggy pikachu asked him. "Lugum's been shuddering and whining all night. I covered her with more sheets but I didn't want to wake her... something felt wrong about not letting her deal with her own shit, you know?"

This was perfect; if the shadow lurking behind them was suspicious of Daté's awareness, then sparking up a conversation would make him seem ignorant. Plus, it made the watch a little less lonely. "Yes," the grovyle chuckled, "dealing with your own 'shit' can be healthy sometimes." He looked out towards the dark ocean that ran on to the ends of the world. "What do you think of this view, Ago?"

"That's a weird question- didn't really expect it, coming from you." Daté only grinned and kept his head down. "Alright, fine. I've always liked the ocean, during the day and the sunset, usually. To be honest, the ocean at night scares me. Any other time, it is so majestic..."

"But during the night, it just looks 'cold as fuck', am I right?" The pikachu widened his eyes in surprise, a look hardly visible in the moonless night. "Not to say I've got you down to a tee- it's only that I feel that way, and since I do you must as well. We're both pretty level-headed pokémon, am I right?"

Ago walked up the cliff edge and sat down. "Pokémon... yeah. I suppose. Maybe if we really do have so much in common, I'll start to regret attacking you back at the Guild." Daté laughed. "Someday, when I'm not piss-weak, we'll have to settle the score, alright?" That would be an interesting match-up; the grovyle had never been electrocuted before, but he had heard from others that it was the most uninvited, destructive, and instant rush of pain. However, if you were above the threshold of its strength, it only tingled. His grass type affiliation would help as well, so he'd be ready for that duel when it came.

Talking about the ocean reminded him of an interesting fact he heard a few months ago, when he had first arrived in Treasure Town. "Did you know that some pokémon go out there and explore the ocean? I heard that everyone who has ever tried has died. The pretty ocean brings them in, but then I bet night comes, and they are just lonely fools on a dark, unpredictable mass of water no pokémon was ever intended to survive."

The slightest noise of movement made the grovyle cringe with anticipation. Whoever was out there had been lulled into a false sense of security. The overconfident shit was inching his way forward, probably thinking that there is no one in his way, with these two distracted. The fresh smell of stale dark type energy caused even the ignorant pikachu to become more alert.

He looked at the grovyle, anxiety bleeding from his twitchy movements. "Is... is someone out there? I mean... I don't think its you, at least... but something reeks," he whispered.

Daté looked at the pikachu with pure shock. How had he deduced that? The energy wasn't something one could immediately sense without practice. Nonetheless, he couldn't let whoever was out there get spooked. "I'm not a child, you brat," Daté hissed with a scowl, "stop trying to spook me." If the pikachu wanted to prove how witty and coy he was, then he would let him prove it by not treating the situation like an idiot.

A sigh came from the pikachu. "Damn, no need to get so angry," he laughed nervously. "Just trying to liven up this little midnight party." A critical situation, but the relief the spy felt had to be enormous. The grovyle smiled cruelly; no matter how good one is at sneaking about, there were two unavoidable aspects of stealth: one was that way breaths are withheld during those extremely tense moments, and the second was the assumed opportunity to give a-

The instant the grovyle heard that bastard's sigh of relief, he dashed backwards and flung out all of his leaves in an all-in effort to hit him. There was no helping his howl of glee when the disgusting thing screamed in pain, his writhing body becoming a visible piece of the trail. "Bullseye, motherfucker!" Daté screamed as he flew in for the kill.

It was all so exciting! He hated himself for it, and the friend he had all but forgotten probably did too. He remembered his best friend in the faintest ways, but could not remember anything other than his firm loyalty to him upon arriving in Treasure Town. Now, he had made the mistake of letting this riolu invite to live in his home. And he, even so he could go at things alone by this point, could not resist the enticements of friendship. The broken promise to find his friend had been drunken away by the grovyle, yet he still fought for the life of one, when almost everyone was in danger. The personal ties he made yesterday held him back. In a way, they held him together as well.

As he neared the dark lump, a violet light began to emanate from the pokémon- he wanted to hide his identity. Daté felt something underneath his feet and he slowed to a cautious, battle-ready walk. He looked down and saw that his throw had severed the hand from the vermin's body. "Wanted a closer look at the town drunk?" He taunted cruelly, "well the price for that is an arm and a leg." He slid three new leaves out of his right arm. "Thank you for the capital investment, but I'll now be taking the- ack!"

He had been careless, an idiot! Even with him hand no longer on his body, the pokémon would not give up, and somehow owned the strength to fight through the pain. It was the second psyshock he felt that day, but this one he couldn't prepare for. Shrapnel and pounding force sliced wounds in his body. As he flew back, grimacing with pain, he wondered if he had put a simple fresh friendship in front of Orchidia's most crucial mission.

No, none of the wounds were deep enough to stop him. But if he pursued the glowing punk, there was no guarantee his victory would be without grievous wounds. He let himself bounce away, and watched from the ground as the dream-eater ran away, a trail of blood flowing from his amputation.

"Lugum fucking lied to me!" Ago yelled furiously. "She said that no one did anything to her... damn it! Why is someone trying to kill her in the first place?"

Daté sighed. "She probably thought it was a part of her nightmare. As for the guy's motive, I bet that he doesn't like the idea of Lugum coming back to life. Or maybe he thinks he can steal that power away, if he found it in the confines of her mind. Oh, and thank you, by the way, for not treating the situation like a total idiot. You're fairly clear-headed- but only when your life is on the line."

"T-thanks... I guess... are you okay?"

He shook his head angrily. "I've had it up to here with being sliced up by bits of rock and wood. I'd rather be set on fire." Fire. That reminded him that he still had something to do tomorrow. "I cut off his hand, so he won't be running around here anytime soon. In the meantime, however, I need to repent for incapacitating Chivalry."

It made the grovyle upset to see how doubtful Ago looked. Sure, it was a lie, but that didn't ease the pain of the assumption that he wouldn't do such a thing. In normal circumstances, he really would help them out. "How do you plan to do that?"

"They have an exploration mission that they need a guide for," Daté explained, "and since I kind of, well, you know. Since I did that, I need to fill in."

"Or they'll see you skipping towards them and unanimously decide to kick your ass."

"Maybe. Anyway, it will be about two months until I am back. And since I will be gone, you need to be in charge of-"

"Ha," Ago interrupted, "two months? Are you fucking with me? Lugum won't like that."

He shrugged. "It's great that she has suddenly started getting what she wants, but giving her everything is just the same problem in the opposite direction." The pikachu knew that it was true. "You need to take charge of whatever happens. Do you have a way to do that?"

Thankfully, the pikachu nodded confidently. "Yeah. A sandslash from Team Razor offered to train me. That'll give me something to do, and I'll be able to go with Lugum when she gets accepted to a- sheesh! Don't you find it a little odd how we've become so centered around this riolu? We're like a cult fighting for her self-interests."

"Hm?" It took him a second to finally understand Ago's meaning. "Oh! Yeah, I suppose that we're in a little competition. We want to help her as much as she is trying to help us- at least, that is how it is for me. Plus, we're all animals trying to run in a pack. This is a way to fit in and survive. You've only been together for a day, but she treats you like family... would you really try to leave someone so willing to do that?" The pikachu kept silent as he thought about the idea of family. Eventually, he gave a sigh of acceptance. "Come on, let's go back inside. I'm sure now that we will be safe for the night."

That was the grovyle Daté wanted to be. Tomorrow, he would set out and actually get stuff done. The confidence boost he gained from saving Lugum had led him to challenge Chivalry, and so far he had met with great success. Tomorrow would decide if he truly deserved to be at the head of this crucial mission.


Flightly quaked with fear and exertion, not knowing if he could hold his breath any longer. He scrunched his eyes shut and waited for the latch to the cave to sound before finally letting out a raspy, panicked breath. Moving as slowly as he could, he slowly wormed his way around the leaves that had bounced from the trail and into the tree he was crouched in front of. He didn't even know razor leaves bounced, but he sure did know.

What was scarier? The fact that there had been a murderous psychic pokémon hiding in front of him that he had not noticed, or the deadly moment Flightly thought that the attack was meant for him? He nearly reacted in a way that would have definitely reveal his location. Luckily, he had kept himself composed.

How embarrassing. Throwing caution to the wind, the pidgeotto quietly chuckled. This only made things more interesting- like a little competition between two pokémon, each unknown to the other. Now, he would not only figure out who Lugum really was, he would do it before this assassin did and then dispose of the cruel creature.

Know came a fairly undesired aspect of the investigation, however. Since he couldn't fly, and hobbling down to his makeshift home would be too suspicious, he was going to have to conceal the evidence of the encounter within his beak. He looked towards the severed claw, wondering if he'd really go through with it.

Of course he would; he used to be a feral, and this would be nothing for a kind like that. Without thinking, he slowly scooped up the claw and quickly started on his walk home. The sooner he got it into some light, the sooner he could take out this new addition to Flightly's latest game.