~ Nightmare Guild ~

Chapter Eleven: He Crawled Faster

The first thing they checked the next day before morning briefing was the kitchen. Tepig's broken body was gone, and so were the blood splatters on the floor and walls along with the "gooey gray stuff", as Staraptor had put it. The morning briefing itself was monotonously endured.

The news that Tepig had had a plan for murder had somehow spread to the other Pokémon. The remaining ones were left depressed but wary. If kind-hearted Tepig could have thought of murder, what about the rest of them? After all, now their party included an action-loving but stubborn Breloom, a cold-as-ice Treecko, a fiery tomboy of a Lombre, an aggressive Staraptor, a psychotic Roselia, a scientist-slash-bomb-maker Froslass, a quick-witted but haughty Snivy, a conspiracy theory-maker Oshawott, and a lonely Tyrogue. It was much easier to imagine any of them as a murderer than Tepig Pokabu.

Breloom would have loved to ditch morning briefing, but of course he couldn't do it with Treecko Kimori as the leader of the briefings. His only hope was now that it would finish quickly so he could do something else that didn't have to do with thinking.

"I've been thinking," Treecko announced to Breloom's agony, "and improving Snivy's air vent idea. Roselio said that there was a metal fan at the end of the air vent in this mess hall, and that it couldn't be dismantled."

"Yeah," Roselio chimed in. "What's wrong? Don't you believe me?"

Staraptor sighed. "Chill out, Ro," he said quietly.

Roselio glared at him. "Don't call me Ro."

"BACK TO THE TOPIC," Lombre said loudly. She turned back to the wood gecko. "You were saying, Treecko?"

"It is not that I do not believe you," Treecko said seriously to the Thorn Pokémon. "I've been thinking. To let sufficient air into a building this big, it is logical to surmise that there is more than one air vent."

"So are you saying we need to check every air vent in this guild?" Tyrogue groaned. He looked drained and very pale.

"What if there are metal fans at the end of every air vent?" Oshawott asked with a frown.

Lombre looked at him in a disapproving manner. "¡Caramba! It's the only idea we have. Stop being so pessimistic."

"All right, all right, sorry," Oshawott said with a small sigh. "It's just that I don't see the world as perfect as it used to be." His tone was sarcastic but also dejected.

Lombre hadn't expected the proud sea otter to apologize, and her face softened. "Sí, I understand. We all do."

"To get us all started, I did notice another air vent in the main entrance hall, the one with the golden Sphinx statue," Froslass spoke up. "Anyway, I have also noted that my help is not needed at all in this plan. Do you mind if I do not participate in this? I need some time alone."

Oshawott seemed to be about to say something but Treecko beat him to it. "Of course."

Breloom looked at his friend strangely. He thought he saw the gecko's face lose its serious expression for a fraction of a second. It was as if he had just felt...

Sympathy.

However, it was gone as fast as it had come.

"OK, Kimori," Snivy interrupted his train of thought. "That means we'll check every air vent in this guild. It's our only idea at the moment, so we'll do whatever it takes to do that. Anyway, it's not a bad idea to begin with. Great thinking."

Snivy was acting really out of character. It was unusual to see that the grass snake and the wood gecko were actually getting along well. Oshawott was practically staring at her openmouthed.

Treecko nodded. "Thank you, Tsutarja," he said. He turned to Roselio. "And as for you..."

Roselio instantly put up his guard. "What?"

Treecko looked straight at him. "We need your help," he said ever-so-seriously. "You're the only one who can fit into the air vents now. We need you to go into each air vent to see if there is a way out through them."

"And if there is?"

Treecko said, "I'll be waiting near the entrance to the air vent. If there is a way out through one of them, you first need to inform me. Then you must get out of the guild and ask for help."

"This is a big job you're taking, Roselio," Tyrogue said dully. "If you really do get out, you must get help immediately. The fates of all of us will lie in your hands."

Roselio froze. "They will?"

Staraptor rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Well, of course, Ro!" he exploded. "You're the only one who can get into the air vents. You're the only one who can get out of the air vents. That means you're the only one who can get help for the rest of us still stuck here. Yes, our fates will lie in your hands."

Roselio paused for a moment. He didn't even chastise Staraptor for having called him Ro again.

And slowly, he smiled. Very slowly.

"OK, of course I will help," was all he said.

»̶✽«


While Treecko and Roselio went into the main entrance hall to start on Froslass' air vent, the others dispersed. Froslass wanted to go to the lab (which is where she likes to spend her alone time). Tyrogue went back to his room. Lombre could be heard playing her guitar in her room. Breloom and Staraptor also left, leaving Snivy and Oshawott alone in the mess hall.

"OK," Treecko said once he'd had a ladder standing right under the air vent and screwed off the metal grate. He turned to the Thorn Pokémon, once more holding a flashlight. "I'll be right here waiting by the entrance. You know what to do when you really do find a way out."

"Of course." Roselio nodded with a tiny smile.

"Good luck," Treecko said as he watched the younger Pokémon climb up the ladder and disappear into the darkness of the air vent. To himself he murmured, "I really do hope this works."

...

Meanwhile, inside the air vent, Roselio instantly discovered that he couldn't see anything, just like when he was in the air vent in the mess hall. He switched on the flashlight.

And came in sight of a dead end.

There weren't any metal fans at the end of this air vent. There was simply a metal wall.

It was only upon crawling forward that he saw the air vent turning sharply to the left. It wasn't a dead end after all. The tunnel to his left seemed on to stretch on forever into the gloom.

Yet he couldn't give up. The fates of all of his friends were in his hands now. He couldn't fail them like how he already did.

You're about the most pathetic team leader I've ever met. You're the one who went into the air vent and came out needing a bandage.

There was a sneering voice. Thank you for nothing.

He smiled wanly, remembering the air vent in the mess hall. Better be careful now. If you get hurt again, remember that no one's going to bandage you.

Then came Treecko's voice, snapping him out of his reverie. "Are you OK in there?"

"Yep, I'm OK," he called back before diving into the tunnel on his left. He couldn't fail Treecko; he couldn't fail the others like how he'd failed Cleffy. As he crawled forward, thoughts were spinning around in his mind.

Oh, God. I'm sorry, Clef. I'm sorry I'm such a coward.

I'm sorry that I almost broke down. I almost lost my mind. That's the funny thing about hope and despair. They're two very different things, but both leave you feeling slightly euphoric. Isn't that weird?

He crawled faster.

There were a few moments while he was in the air vent when he actually felt hope:

... But I understand now. Those who don't adapt die. It's a natural selection. I must keep my head on. I must not give up; I must not fail since the fates of all of them lie in my hands now. Isn't that funny, Clef? I'm important. I'm an important part of the escape plan. Are you happy for me?

But even those hopeful thoughts all led to the same path.

No, I don't want you to feel happy for me. I failed you. If only I'd told you sooner, if only I had found a way out of the first air vent we checked, you would probably still be here right now.

There were a few moments of crawling when Roselio was so deep in despair he could have drowned in it.

Remembering that makes me want to wish my life was over. I wish a Sharpedo would rip off my arm. Who cares about my stupid roses? You can burn them for all I care. Let the Sharpedo have my blue rose as an appetizer, and my red one for dessert. I wouldn't have a care in the world.

Roselio was walking the thin line between hope and despair. He was sunshine one moment and rain the next.

Only one thing was for sure: both hope and despair left him feeling slightly euphoric.

He crawled faster.

»̶✽«


...

In contrast to the claustrophobic darkness of the air vent, Snivy and Oshawott were in the mess hall, sitting at the long aluminium table. Snivy was sipping chai tea.

"Snivy, I want to ask you something," Oshawott said after a period of silence.

Snivy set down her cup. "Shoot."

"Are you friends with Treecko now?"

Snivy frowned when she detected something in Oshawott's voice. It was something around the lines of envy.

"Friends? I wouldn't exactly say friends," Snivy said coolly. "I think we're more colleagues or partners in un-crime or something. If there is such a thing as a 'partners in un-crime'."

"Why? I thought you didn't like him."

"Well, I didn't," Snivy said matter-of-factly. "But I know I don't have any other choice. If we're going to get out of here, we're going to have to work together as a team."

Oshawott sighed. "When exactly did you get this positive?"

"This positive?" Snivy frowned. "Maybe when things began getting worse everyday, so I've given up being all proud and haughty and princess-y, or I might just end up being the next victim. As I said earlier, those who can't adapt die."

Oshawott looked totally beaten. "Things are getting worse everyday..." he mumbled, repeating one of Snivy's phrases.

Snivy suddenly reached out and touched Oshawott's hand. There was a gentle and surprisingly not annoying smile on her face. "Don't worry. We'll get out of here."

The sea otter was surprised. He'd previously thought Snivy was only good at running, jumping, and annoying other people.

Finally, he nodded in agreement, albeit still slowly and uncertainly. "Yeah... If only Tepig was still here..."

"I wish that was the case, too," Snivy murmured sadly, her hand still resting upon the otter's hand. "But what's happened can't be changed. Tepig may not be with us anymore, but as long as we've got hope and we continue to fight together, we'll be keeping his memory alive. Because us getting out of this guild, that's what he would have wanted, too."

Oshawott squeezed her hand, this time looking surer. "You're right, Snivy. We can't give up, not this easily. I'll follow your advice and work together. I'll work with Treecko. I'll work with Breloom and Lombre and Staraptor and Tyrogue; I'll even try to cooperate with Froslass and Roselio."

"And you've got me, of course," Snivy added. "Tepig, too, he'll always be with us."

"Oshawott Mijumaru, Snivy Tsutarja, and Tepig Pokabu. Team PokéPark till the end," Oshawott said in determination.

Snivy echoed the phrase.

"Team PokéPark till the end."

After that, both sea otter and grass snake fell silent, and the silence would remind you of the air vent.

But their hands were still intertwined.

»̶✽«


...

They say Treecko Kimori had as much emotions as a portion of Lombre's signature quesadillas.

In other words, none.

However, as the wood gecko sat atop the ladder that was perched under the air vent in the entrance hall, he actually...

Felt.

He found himself worrying about the Thorn Pokémon exploring dark tunnels into the unknown. He wondered if this had been too long, for it felt as if he'd been sitting there forever. He wondered if the younger Pokémon was all right. If he had come in contact with any more metal fans.

He found himself worrying about all of them. Would they ever get out of the guild? He could only hope against hope that one of the air vents held a way out.

His usually active brain, on the other hand, was as good as paralyzed. It seemed as if he'd lost all his logic and common sense in one go. Nothing was explainable about this, nothing could be theorized. There may or may not be a way out from the air vents since this whole game seemed to be constructed specifically for Guildmaster C's erratic pleasure. If he was feeling like it, he may have hidden a way out deep in the musty air vents, discoverable only by those who actually had the will to look for it. However, if he wasn't feeling like it, he simply may have not.

Finally, Treecko strangely found himself worrying about a certain Ice-type holed up in the lab.

They say Froslass Yukimenoko had as much emotions as Roselio's favorite red bowtie.

In other words, none.

Treecko was in no sense an expert on emotions, but something told him that they'd always been wrong.

And it was not just about Froslass. It was about him, too.

»̶✽«


...

Roselio didn't know how long he'd been crawling, how long he'd been traversing the very thin line between hope and despair.

His mind had been filled with never-ending monologues, sometimes riddled with hope but other times poisoned with despair. He was sunshine one moment and rain the next.

There was a moment when the beam of his flashlight seemed to flicker, and he turned it off just in case. His eyes had gotten accustomed to the dark anyway, so he was able to proceed rather quickly. He crawled down tunnels. Some slanted upwards, some slanted downwards. (Luckily, the tunnel didn't branch out into more tunnels - that would have been even harder to explore).

He was beginning to get cramped from bending down for too long, but he didn't care. After all, the fates of all of them were now in his hands.

There was a time when his mind finally went numb, unable to weave any more words into a monologue. Putting one hand in front of the other became an automatic motion, as if he was a artificial intelligence probe specifically designed to explore air vents.

And then he blinked.

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is there really a light at the end of the tunnel...?

He blinked a few more times before it finally dawned on him.

Yes, there really is a light!

He crawled faster!

He knew that he was supposed to tell Treecko that there was a way out, but after being cooped up for so long in the guild, he suddenly saw it too good to be true. He just needed to see the outside world for himself first before going back. Can't get them excited over a false alarm.

He was now practically scrambling as he got nearer and nearer to the rectangular shaft of light. Even more tempting, it seemed as if this one didn't even have a metal grate covering it. Now the monologues were substituted by chants of

Please let it be true please let it be true...

Finally, he stuck his head out of the air vent. Squinting against the sudden light, he blinked a few times to get his eyes accustomed.

And he saw the trees.

»̶✽«


...

Treecko Kimori decided that he'd had enough.

This is taking too long.

He turned to the entrance of the air vent and shouted, "Hey, Roselio, are you OK in there? Found a way out yet?"

But there was no answer.


»̶✽«̶

Trees are objects we see every day, so we take them for granted. However, for a certain rose-shaped Pokémon, at the moment trees were the very best things one could probably see, because it only meant one thing.

Good Arceus. I'm home, holy Arceus, I'm home. Cleffy, look, I've found a way out!

At that very moment, all the instructions the artificial intelligence probe had been smartly programmed to do simply evaporated into thin air. Roselio completely forgot Treecko's careful instructions. Maybe it was hope, maybe it was despair, but for sure it was the euphoria that compelled him to scramble haphazardly forward in a mad dash for the light of day.

He finally jumped out of the air vent, expecting to land on a soft carpet of green grass...

Instead, there was a jarring CRASH and a crack as he landed on a big pile of bricks and dust.

...

... ...

»̶✽«


By now, Treecko had felt another unusual emotion, the one we call alarm.

Breloom, Lombre, and Tyrogue were now in the entrance hall with him, standing under his ladder.

"Caramba, he's been gone for such a long time, hasn't he?" Lombre said with a frown.

Treecko murmured, "Too long."

"What if he had another accident in the air vent and what if he's so deep in it that no one can get in there and help him?" Breloom burst out, clenching his fists.

Tyrogue only shook his head pessimistically. He was sure that any moment now Guildmaster C would announce that the Thorn Pokémon either suffocated/cut his whole arm off in another encounter with another metal fan/strangled himself to death with his own vine whips out of despair and that there were now only eight Pokémon remaining.

... At least, that was the case before all four of them heard light echoing footsteps coming from the right wing.

They turned just in time to see Roselio staggering into the entrance hall. He was cradling his right arm, the one with the red rose, in his left, and he was wearing a grimace.

"¡Ay! There you are!" Lombre burst out as the four Pokémon ran to meet him. "Wait, what happened to you?"

"I think I broke my arm," he replied through gritted teeth.

Tyrogue looked sympathetically at his hands. His left one, the one with the blue rose, was the one that had been bandaged by Cleffy. Now his right one, the one with the red rose, was broken. He couldn't imagine anything happening to his own arms. He relied on them for most of his attacks.

"How did you break it?" he asked.

"When I saw a light at the end of the air vent, I thought it was a way out because I could see trees," Roselio explained. "Maybe it was reckless of me to just jump down before checking further, but I was simply really excited. That was when I found the hard way that the trees were actually artificial trees." He laughed sarcastically.

"Huh? Artificial trees?" Breloom burst out.

"It turned out that I wasn't out of the guild at all," he went on. "I'd actually landed in the remains of the training gym instead. It looked like the outside world because it was made to look like a forest with artificial trees and everything, remember? Anyway, I broke my arm because I landed on a mountain of bricks and debris post-bomb explosion instead of the soft grass I'd been expecting. You can say it was a totally failed crash-landing."

Another sarcastic chuckle.

"The door couldn't be opened because Tepig locked it after the murders of Machop and Magnemite, so I had to smash it down," he went on. "Lucky most Roselia are ambidextrous."

Tyrogue looked really sympathetic. "That sounds painful. I can help you fix it up later - we're probably going to have to put it in a sling."

He smiled weakly. "Mind you, I was the medic of Team DynamicPunch," he said sadly, looking into the distance and seeming to recall a happy memory. He turned back to face him and said apologetically, "I'm probably not as good as Cleffy, but I can do quite a few things."

Hearing her name, the Roselia looked down at the bandage circling his left wrist and smiled. He finally looked up and said, "Thank you, Tyrogue! That's really kind of you."

Up to this moment, Treecko hadn't said anything at all. His face expression had finally returned to his default one - that one titled "no one messes with Treecko Kimori".

One air vent down, zero way out.

The only thing they learned by exploring the air vent in the main entrance hall was the fact that it was connected to the air vent in the training gym.

Not very useful.

He was beginning to wonder how many air vents there were left to check. He doubted that there were that many. He was suddenly beginning to think that Oshawott was right to have felt pessimistic in this morning's briefing.

And aside from all that, Roselio believed he had found a way out, yet he didn't do what I told him to do. He didn't come back; he was trying so hard to survive that the euphoria of hope and despair took over.

His frown got even deeper.

Seems like the artificial intelligence probe needs some reprogramming.

His mouth was in one determined line as he watched Tyrogue and Roselio leave.

No one messes with Treecko Kimori, indeed.


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