PMD: Adventurers of Dawn and Dusk Chapter 14: The Path of Redemption, a pokémon fanfic

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventurers of Dawn and Dusk

Chapter 14: The Path of Redemption

Hope's POV

Hoooooooopeyyyyyyyyy?

…ugh…

Wake up, Hopey~!

…Don't call me that…

What, Hopey? Ohhh, I think I willll! Hopey dopey Hopey dopey-

Shut up.

-DOPEY HOPEY DOPEY HOPEY DOPEY HOPEY-

SHUT UP!

My eyes flew open, searching for that blasted Esper. If she called me 'Hopie' one more time, I swear-

…

…?

I was in… Rhyme caves, apparently. Esper was nowhere in sight. How did she-?

"HOOOOPE~!"

A Pokémon glomped me from behind, making me fall over again. I dimly recognised the voice as Satou's. I wiggled out of her hug and stood up, helping her up with a vine.

"Y'know, most people are cranky when you wake them up," I hinted.

What are you, crazy? That was me, dum-dum.

I froze. Esperrrr? When did you get in there?

I dimly registered Satou's voice in front of me. "…ou wouldn't wake up, even when we shook you as ha…" Prolly a side effect… I thought absently.

Oh, last night.

Dafuq?

You know how you, liek, fainted?

Yeah…

"Hooope? You in there?" Satou waved a paw in front of my face.

Well, the only cure that's been found so far is to merge with a member of the Guild. And that was me!

…Are you seriously stuck in my head?

Yup! And it's gonna be so fun!

...

"Sorry, I'm still kinda half asleep," I answered absentmindedly.

How rude!

Heh…

"Let's gooooooo!" I announced at Satou (and Misty and Alan, too, but I had forgotten about them for some reason), skipping out of the cave entrance. Everybody followed me.

We headed straight, mainly because we had nowhere to go, and Satou and Misty struck up a conversation. She soon insisted that Satou call her Orabel because she liked the name better, and also because she 'didn't want to be confused with the Misty you so dislike'. I found out that Orabel and Alan were an Adventure Squad called Resolution Squad. Satou replied (ecstatically, of course) that we also ran one named Snapdragon Squad. Orabel also told us that she and Alan had been exploring Pechigi Island for undiscovered treasures.

They fell silent, and we trudged on, the only sounds the tap-tap of our paws/feet on the ground (and the occasional crunch-crunch through snow), the cool wintry air flowing crisply around us. The sky was hiding behind a blanket of steely grey clouds. I shivered slightly, but I was used to the cold by now. A thought struck me, but I kept the idea that sprung from it down. Best to keep it until an optimal time. Instead, I asked Esper a question.

Hey, Esp? …Can I call you Esp?

Yeah, sure.

Who are… you? Like, why do you follow me around? Are you a pedophile?

Dude, that's gotta be the most insulting thing I've ever been asked.

I was kidding. But still.

I'm just an average Guardian, that's all. Your Guardian, in fact. It's my job to look after you, give you advice, things like that.

Sounds important…

No, it really isn't. In fact, Guardians are the lowest-ranked in the Guild.

…Oh.

…

Esper? Can I ask another question?

Esper let out a sigh. You just did. Go ahead.

Why do you have such a weird personality? It's like, first you were this gruff Gym teacher-like person, and then you were all normal and casual, a little bit bubbly, then you were this hyperactive nutcase, and now you're getting depressingly dull, even a little somber. What's up with that?

All Guardians are like this. We're a bit unstable like that, but we get used to it.

"Yo, Hope. Stop." It was Satou. I stopped, wondering why. "We've reached the shore." …Derp.

It was true. A lonely stretch of rocky beach was spread out before us. Beyond it was a sea almost as grey as the sky, and was sloshing about rather deterringly. I slightly dreaded crossing it.

Alan, who had kept quiet most of the time, walked up to the water's edge and looked around uneasily. "How're we gonna cross this? We can't all hang onto your back, Ora," he asked Orabel, who also glanced up and down the beach.

"I suppose we could go ask that Dewgong down there for a ride," she suggested, pointing to the end of the beach.

We hurried down to where Orabel had pointed to, and just as she had said, there was a Dewgong lazing about on a rock, a short distance from the shore.

"Heeeeey-! Dewgong!"Alan called.

The Dewgong looked at us curiously. "Yes?" she asked.

"If it's not too much trouble, could you give us a ride to Conokamo Island, please?" he asked politely.

She blinked. After a pause- "All right." She slipped into the water, making large ripples.

Alan paused. "Are you sure? We don't want to cause you any trouble-"

"Nonsense," she said, swishing her tail lightly. "I need the exercise anyway. Climb on!"

Alan, Satou, and I climbed on Dewgong's back, me moving Satou with my vines so that she wouldn't get wet. Orabel swam up beside us, tails whirling like a little propeller, floatation sac inflated. Dewgong pushed off from the rock with her fins, Orabel following suit.

"By the way," Dewgong said. "My name's Amethyst."

"Amethyst, huh…" Alan mumbled. "I think I remember that it means 'not intoxicated'*. You're sober, right?"

Amethyst laughed. "I'm pretty sure."

It was a little strange to be bobbing along, bobbing along on the surface of the briny (just briny) sea*2 on a living thing. I liked boats better. Though I suppose riding on Shade's back wasn't all that different.

…I remembered being on a boat?

Nah, it's more like a subconscious memory. All you know is that you've been on a boat.

…Oh…

I felt a slight pang of loss, followed by one of annoyance at the fact that my memories were still missing.

Then, I noticed something in the distance, in the air. It looked like some kind of large bird, with an oddly shaped flying something following it.

Suddenly, Amethyst dove into the water, leaving Satou, Alan and I splashing about, gasping for air on the surface. The sea was icy cold, colder than a freezer, and my muscles quickly started to freeze up. Add to that I'd never had a swimming lesson that dealt with Chikoritas before, and you've got a recipe for a one-way trip to Arceus's realm. In a last ditch attempt to live, I waved my vines high up into the air, gargling, "YO! DOWN HERE!" as well as I could. Hopefully they'd notice us.

The bird and the UFO descended to sea level, and I saw they were a Pidgeot and an Emolga, respectively. The Emolga wore a bright pink scarf edged in lime green around his neck, and the Pidgeot wore an orange Power Band on his right shoulder.

…Well, her right shoulder, actually.

As soon as she picked me up (she did so by the scruff of my neck, which was slightly embarrassing and a little more painful) and placed me on her back, I said, "Hello, Shade. Have a nice trip?"

Shade winced slightly. "Sorry," she muttered as she plucked Satou out of the water the same way and plunked her in front of me. Satou coughed up some water, and I patted her on the back, then hugged her, trying to warm her up.

I looked down to the water and saw Orabel balancing Alan on her back. It was kind of a challenge, since he was a bit bigger than she was, but Alan held on as best he could, paddling with his hind feet.

The Emolga glided over to Shade and whispered something into her ear. She nodded and turned around to face the somewhat distant shoreline of Conokamo Island, diving and pulling up to gain altitude and speed. The wind felt great in my leaf, but I had a job to do.

And now, we have an announcement to make.

Feed your Pokémon with Pokémon food!

That is all.

In almost no time at all, we were on the shore of a lonely-looking desert. Satou and I disembarked from Shade's back, who promptly transformed back into a Zorua. Alan also let go of Orabel's back and trudged up onto the beach, shaking water from his fur like a dog.

I stretched, yawning. "Jeeeeeez, we gotta walk through a desert? Can't we just go somewhere that doesn't have extreme temperature problems?"

Satou raised a paw. "I think we should introduce our acquaintances first," she suggested.

The Emolga nodded. "My name is Wires," he stated, bowing.

"I'm Shadowbolt," Alan said.

"And I'm Orabel," Orabel said.

"Okey-dokey, let's go," I said, walking in the direction I assumed was south. After a second's hesitation, everyone followed me.

Shade's POV

Our little group of Pokémon trudged south. Why, I didn't know, but we did. I was happy Hope and Satou were safe.

"Hey, Shade," Hope said. "Did you seriously go to confront the leader of those two bumbling idiots?"

I could swear my heart skipped a beat. Did Satou tell her? "W-why would you say that?"

"Overwhelming evidence that you had done so showed itself to me in the form of Satou yesterday, even though she was unaware of it," Hope seethed slightly.

I looked away. "Sorry," I whispered. " I wanted to know how to throw them off of our- or rather your- trail, so I disguised myself as you and purposely got kidnapped to ask them questions. The leader, Hazard, was a Seviper, and he nearly killed me before he found out I wasn't you. I escaped, and Wires healed me when he found me bleeding in the desert. I owe him my life."

Hope's face was a mixture of guilt, relief, and pure rage. "That was the stupidest idea I've ever heard of," she growled. "You could've-"

"Save it, Hope," I interrupted, sighing. "I already got the same lecture from Wires, and I promise to never do it again. Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay," she replied quietly. "But, Shade, what exactly did you find out?"

"Hmm..." I thought for a minute. "The only actually interesting things I found out were that Misty spies on us through the wall, and that Hazard wants to kill you supposedly because of who you work for, and it's not Sooty."

"Huh...I don't know who that would be..." Hope pondered.

We walked on for a bit longer. I wasn't sure where exactly we were going, but it felt like we were headed in the right direction.

"Hey, Hope," I said finally. "What do you think we should do now?"

She was silent for a little while, like she hadn't heard me. Her eyes were unfocused and she was barely looking where she was walking. I was about to ask again when she answered, "I'm gonna present our case to Sooty-sama. Otherwise, we won't be allowed to live peacefully."

I could admit it was a smart idea, if not for the fact that there wasn't a 100% chance that it would work because of hard-headedness on Arkide's part.

"Yeah, alright. Let's do that," I responded decisively.

(massive time-skip because I'm too lazy to write this)

(cue ridiculous filler scene)

(TrOlOlOlOlOloOoOoOoL _lol_)

"So, who's gonna make food?" Shadowbolt asked, lying on the floor of our base. We had decided to stay at Joy Hill for the night, because the sun was starting to set, and we would go see Sooty-sama and Arkide in the morning.

Immediately both Satou and Wires raised their paws. Noticing this, they glared at each other, trying to make the other back down. I sensed a fight brewing.

"Hey, hey, why don't you collaborate?" I suggested. "Satou can make the drinks and Wires can make... something edible."

Neither of them looked very happy with this arrangement, but they got to work, Satou squishing berries into a bucket and Wires chopping up cloves with a knife (loljk no he wasn't) (OH ARCEUS I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVEN-).

In almost no time at all, the food was done. Wires had made some sort of pie. Oran, maybe? Satou had made juice out of a couple Pecha berries she had had and some water. It was in a bucket.

Orabel poked at her piece of pie. "I don't trust this guy's cooking. It looks weird," she commented before sniffing the pie.

I giggled. "Trust me, it'll be awesome. Wires really knows how to make food."

Wires shot me a skeptical look. "Please," he answered drily. "I just use my head and experiment a bit."

I shrugged, grinning annoyingly. "Doesn't stop it from tasting amazing," I persisted in telling him.

Satou poured the juice into mugs (I had a lot of those things; I collected them) and we sat down to eat our food.

As soon as Shadowbolt took a bite of his pie, his eyes bulged. "OH MY ARCEUS THIS PIE IS AMAZING!" he practically screamed.

If this had been a manga, we would all have sweatdropped. "Just eat the pie," Orabel told him, sipping her juice.

"This juice isn't half bad either," he commented happily, draining his mug of the stuff.

Satou stared at him. "Uh... thanks... I think..." she mumbled.

"Shadow..." Orabel growled slightly.

"And these mugs! They're pretty cool looking."

"Sha...dow..."

"Hey, Hope, can I have your juice?"

"No. Get your own, baka."

"SHADOWBOLT JUST SHUT UP AND EAT THE DAMN PIE!"

Shadowbolt sniggered under his breath. Everyone else stared at the two.

"Hehe..." Hope started giggling, covering her mouth with a clawed foot. Eventually she couldn't keep it in anymore. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!" She ROFL'd.

o-o'

I legit needed that. And now, back to the story.

Hope ended the Skype session with a final stab at the ground. "Well, Sooty-sama and Arkide'll be waiting in the town square at 1:00 today, so we'd better get moving." She pulled off the I-mech and set it on the floor.

We had had leftover juice and pie for breakfast. Needless to say, Shadowbolt behaved himself this time (only because Orabel was giving him an extended stare), and Hope had arranged a meeting with Sooty-sama and Arkide. I had slept inside with Hope and Satou, and Wires, Shadowbolt and Orabel had slept outside (only because they wanted to; Wires and Shadowbolt because it was ground and they were Electric-types, and Orabel because it was simply too dry in there).

"Question," Orabel said, raising a paw. "What do you need to talk to Susu-sama for?"

"Susu-sama?" I questioned.

"Susu means 'soot'," Hope replied, then looked slightly troubled.

"I know, but why did you call him Susu-sama?"

"Because it sounds cooler. The question, please?"

There was a pause. "They're ticked at Shade," Satou replied carefully. "We're trying to get them to calm down. You probably shouldn't come; it could get ugly." She glanced at Shadowbolt and Wires.

"Shade is my friend, and therefore I'll be there to support her," Wires replied smoothly.

"Yeah, any friend of a friend of mine is a friend of mine too!" Shadowbolt added enthusiastically.

"Suit yourself," I sighed.

Our group departed quickly, and headed toward Spire Village. It took longer than usual, probably because I was so nervous, but eventually I glimpsed our destination on the horizon. I paused for a heartbeat, but continued on, following Wires and Satou diligently.

But one thought occupied my mind, one stronger than all the others.

When they find out about me...

What will they do?

-End of Chapter 14-

* - I found that out while I was researching gems and stuff. True story, bro.

*2 – If you've never watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks, you never had a childhood. Loljk

A/N: Well, uh, at least it wasn't two months this time! Hehe~

MY GOSH I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR PMD3 NOW! squeee~ I'm gonna be Tsutarja, and my partner'll be Mijumaru, and I'm gonna name them Kurumi and Rainclouds. Yeah. I THOUGHT OF THAT COMBO FIRST-!

I might be going to an anime convention at the end of Juuune~! If I can go, I'm tots going as Jirachi. And there's a Pokémon photoshoot, so that's awesome. :P

Welp, in case you dudes didn't already notice, I've got a link to download a Hazard on my profile, so yeah. And I'll have a link for someone else up, too! :D I'll post one chara per chap.

Oh, and because I'm so nice (and because I really don't understand it myself), I'll give you guys a chart of the days/events of Snapdragon's little exile. v v

-
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 |

Fun stuff :D

Hope, Esper, Shade, Amethyst, and Wires are property of me, Esper13.

Alan and Orabel are property of allen5.

Satou is property of NewYearJirachi.

Oh yeah, and NYJ keeps trying to ship Satou and Shade. She's convinced they're like Clove and Katniss from the Hunger Games (she ships them, too). Even though I don't DO homo ships with my own characters. Except for Hane and Garnet, lol. But that's kind of a crackship. And Garnet's a half-lezzie, because she fell in love with 'Hane' (Shade) except she didn't know Hane was Shade. But Shade was still Shade, see, and also still a girl, sooooo... yeah. ;3;

May your sails stay full and your socks stay dry!