So things have died down a bit... Just a bit though. Things still have to happen. Business as 'usual' in the pokemon world!

Don't expect to see any of Caleb's POV for a while. Plenty of shenanigans going on outside of that dream to keep you guys occupied! Things! Excitement!

Read on, people!

-Jango

Chapter 25: Back To "Normal"

⻤Nincada's POV⻤

I awoke before sunrise again. Today, our 'normal' routine would begin again. Sarah snored away, probably dreaming about Caleb. I still felt angry about what had happened, but I knew that I had to drop it. It was over. I could not dwell on it. Regardless, I felt frustrated.

After about half an hour of just waiting around bored, I realized that there were be questions about where Caleb was. I needed to discuss this with Wigglytuff. I quietly burrowed away from the room. The underground of this part of the guild was very confusing to dig through.

First, because there were paths that magically intercrossed, it was like there were invisible walls within the dirt that I could not dig through. The vibrations I could sense, mostly mine because I was basically the only one awake, were unhelpful. That and Loudred's snoring, which I could hear after a certain turn.

So it took me awhile to get to the man room. I basically burrowed straight into the guildmaster's room. After some hesitation, I surfaced. Wigglytuff was there, but before, he had been asleep with his eyes creepily open. Caleb had gotten wrecked by the guildmaster when he foolishly awoken him. Even Caleb could be comical. Maybe not anymore.

Wigglytuff would likely wake up before everything awoke. I could just wait here, Right? I checked the room. Chatot was dozing, standing on a small wooden bar attached to a pedestal. I could have woken them, but that may be a mistake.

I decided to wait for a while. I could just think things over. Problem was, I arrived at the same conclusion every time. I always thought about the future, and when I got that far, it was always the same. Whether Caleb came back or not, he would likely never be the same ever again.

Several hours passed before the sun began to appear on the horizon. Another hour passed before Chatot awoke, probably to get Wigglytuff up and then Loudred, resulting in the start of the day. Instead, he found me just awkwardly standing there.

"Nincada? What brings you here at this hour?" Chatot asked sleepily. If he had been fully awake, he may have been more demanding. "I must speak with Wigglytuff" I replied, and he narrowed his eyes. "Why?" he demanded, starting to wake up a little.

"It's very important" I said unhelpfully "it's actually a rather sensitive topic…"

His eyes narrowed a bit further. "I see…" he said. I became slightly apprehensive, awaiting dismissal. Finally, he flapped his wings rapidly. "Very well! I shall depart after I wake the guildmaster. I will not be long, so please hurry!". With the utmost care, he took a feather out of a box and tickled under Wigglytuff's nose. With that, he flew to the door and with difficulty, pushed it open. He flew right out.

"Atchoo!" Wigglytuff sneezed, his hyper voice apparently neutralized. "Ah, good morning, Chatot!" he said happily.

"Hi, Wigglytuff" I responded for Chatot. he looked down at me. "Oh, Nincada! You came to visit me!" he said happily, doing a little dance. The whole thing was a bit surreal.

"It's unfortunately a matter of more urgency i'm afraid" I told him, causing him to stop dancing and look down on me. "Oh…" he replied, a little sad. I did not want him to get sad. I bet he has an explosion episode in that scenario as well.

"I realize that there will be questions about Caleb" I began "What will we tell them?". Wigglytuff immediately brightened. "Oh, yes! Do not worry, Friend!" he said, before lumbering over towards the wall, it's shelves littered with things. Wigglytuff looked into a old box and took out a piece of paper, that had been written on recently. "I've got everything under control" he assured me "When they ask, I am going to tell them that Caleb has temporarily gone on a solo mission that may take him some time. Of course, I will have to leave the details out".

"Oh" I said softly "I guess everything was planned out. No need to worry. I guess i'll just take my leave, and-"

"Oh, not yet!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, jumping in front of me and scaring me half to death. "You still look troubled. What's the matter, friend?" he asked. I took a breath. "I fear he may not come back at all" I confessed. Wigglytuff looked to not comprehend what I was saying. "Not come back. Leave forever" I clarified "i fear he won't return".

His ears drooped a bit, his eyes showing some sadness. "Oh… Well, we can only hope!" he said, jumping up, eradicating all sadness in himself. "If he does not show for a while, we can always send out a request for someone to report his whereabouts if they see him". That was actually a fantastic idea. Give Caleb some time, and then find out where he is.

"Thank you, Wigglytuff" I said, some happiness restored. Not completely however. Anger still lurked there. It was no unnatural anger, I knew. it would fade someday. Mentally, I wished Caleb the best of luck.

⽕Sarah's POV⽕

"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!"

"Urgh…" I muttered, and waited for Nincada to push me out of bed. I had no intention of getting up until that happened. Nincada did not come along. Maybe he was tired of that. maybe I was about to take a blow as Loudred would come in for round two. After groaning again, I forced myself up. I had not slept too well.

Nincada was not in the room. I guess he had burrowed away or something. Maybe he was taking a walk. Maybe he was just at the main hall. I decided that for better or for worse, I could only find out. Find out I did. After walking the straight path to the main hall, I saw him in his place. Loudred was looking about, probably for Caleb. What would we tell the others?

Wigglytuff showed up and by Chatot's command, we rattled off the first three rules of the guild. My voice sounded shaky to me, anyways. Afterwards, most of the guild was looking for Caleb now. How would I react when they asked about him? Would I break down? Maybe. I had become such an emotional wreck. It had happened like this the first time I had heard a dying heartbeat, and I had lost Caleb as well. Maybe not physically, but certainly psychologically. I had no idea what that word even meant. Caleb had just used it while talking about the mind. I guess it had something to do with the mind.

"Ahem!" Chatot said "before we jump to work today, there is an announcement to make. You may have noticed the absence of team edge's leader". We all waited, while I realized that Chatot was either about to tell the story, or pull something out of nowhere. He took a piece of paper he had and unfolded it. He began to read, glancing at Wigglytuff, and then began again.

"Caleb has accepted a solo mission and may be gone for several days, if not more than a week" he read "His whereabouts are currently and may stay unknown for quite some time". he put the paper down, giving Wigglytuff another look. Then, he flapped his wings to grab the attention of all pokemon looking at me.

"Now, Pokemon!" he chirped "Let's get to work!"

"HOORAY!" the guild cheered. All questions had been answered. It had been garbage, lies, but it made sense to tell. Nincada was nodding.

"Was that you?" I asked. He nodded without looking. That was where he had been this morning, talking to Wigglytuff. Not Chatot of course, Chatot had begun to glance at the guildmaster.

So today was supposed to be 'normal'. No such thing without Caleb around. We were used to him. When we arrived at the 'normal' job board, Jake was there. I did not want him to see me. Swampert did, however, and gestured for me to come over. I wanted to refuse, but I don't know how much he knew.

"Hello, Sarah" he greeted me. I nodded, almost failing to say "Morning". His head tilted a bit as he studied my attitude. He nodded and looked back at Jake, who was ignoring me, pulling down outlaw job after outlaw job. Today's dungeon to be completely cleansed of outlaws would be the new 'Chargestone Cave'. I guess Caleb just shows up everywhere doesn't he? Finding a few new dungeons had seemed awesome before.

I searched the board with my eyes. Another new dungeon name was there, called 'Lightning core'. I guess that was the one where everybody was invisible to everyone else. The outlaw job was very highly ranked, at eight stars. I guess if the outlaws are invisible…

I walked away from that board. I intended to get a job that did not involve fighting. So I came to the other board, where Caleb had been smacked across the room when Dugtrio had updated it. It had been extremely comical, but again, it was a sign that Caleb had gotten involved in everything around here.

I looked at these jobs instead. Somebody had somehow already gotten lost in chargestone cave, though it was discovered so little time ago. That mission seemed doable, but Caleb had almost been turned two-dimensional by some of those electrified boulders. Another 'Lightning Core" job that was six stars.

Instead, I tried to look somewhere that did not remind me of Caleb. Where to? Nincada pointed out several, but I was not really in the mood to go anywhere that would remind me of Caleb. So, I took a job in somewhere called tiny meadow. Nincada looked at it and nodded. Did he understand? Did he know why I chose this?

We departed to the new place with little resistance.

⌁ Jake's POV ⌁

"This isn't like you" my partner rumbled behind me. I nodded sadly as I pulled one last chargestone cave outlaw off the board. That made eleven. One less than our record, twelve outlaws in the mystifying forest. It would be a profitable day. "I know…" I whispered.

Swampert deserved more than that, more than the lack of information I was giving him. "We showed up where Caleb was going to leave. Because Sarah had chased him, we followed. He could not leave, Swampert. It's not just Sarah's fault. It's all of ours really. Sarah alone may not have been enough to stop him. I know I need to treat Sarah better, but for now I need to be frustrated. Just for a while.

Swampert's sympathetic gaze bore on me. "Sure" he rumbled "Just get your anger out on these outlaws, yeah?". I smiled at my partners ever present ability to make me feel better. "Yeah" I said "Let's take down some outlaws".

Swampert and I set out for chargestone cavern.

⽛Mightyena's POV⽛

Being a guild rookie had been so much tougher in the mornings than now. My sensitive ears had made me so vulnerable to Loudred's voice. Every morning was a nightmare. Literally, I still have the occasional nightmare about waking up to that. lately, I have been nightmare free. I had been saved.

So when I was interrupted in my very peaceful sleep by a certain bastiodon, I grumbled and just turned over. After a few unsuccessful tried to get me on my way, Bastiodon decided to do what I had taught him to do if we were late: Stomp on my chest with his incredibly heavy foot.

That would get me up quick if I had slept in. Yelping, I scrambled to my paws. After checking that my side had not been smashed too badly, I nodded at Bastiodon, fully awake now. "Thanks" I said. He nodded slowly. The water lights were glowing faintly. Machoke was getting our pack together, ready for the day.

"Do we have our mission?" I asked, ready to get back to a 'normal' day. Nothing would ever feel normal again, but I could pretend. I could pretend nothing was wrong.

"Yes" he intoned, and Machoke came up to me with a paper in his hand. It was a simple job in the apple woods. "Right then" I said "Are you two ready?"

They nodded. I noticed that they still don't talk much around me. I guess I was a little overbearing before I met Caleb and Sarah. Gee, Caleb was just about everywhere, was he not?

He had made such an impact on everything. He may still be here, but would he change? He had told me everyone was capable of change. Could he? I thought about the circumstances. Would Caleb become vengeful, or angry? Or would he become more sorrowful in general? How could I know? A human mind would be so much different than a pokemon's. Caleb had even been fighting his own new instincts what seemed like so long ago.

Maybe even Caleb could change. He had actually cried when he could not make himself leave. He had looked totally destroyed. What could become of him now?

Machoke and Bastiodon started to leave, seeing me not moving so quickly. I decided to catch up to them. Upon doing so, I realized how bright the sunlight looked. I guess I get used to the light slowly getting brighter when you lose sleep. Getting out of the cave was easy, comprehending the construction around us was not.

Buildings were popping up left and right. I saw several were made of wood, looking very sturdy for being thrown together overnight. Some others were more intricate looking, and built entirely of… Dirt. it was like the earth had risen up specifically to take the form of an incredible mansion, which had members from several guilds in it. I never knew how those things got built, I only know that two home builders that could do this were competing in the tournament as well.

Apple woods was not far away, but I wanted time to relax tonight. So, I nodded to my team and we began our journey to the forest dominated by apple trees.

On the way towards the main road, we had to avoid a gossipy group of bug types. A butterfree, a beedrill, a dustox and a venomoth spoke quickly and annoyingly to each other, their wings (besides the beedrill) releasing tons of different spores into the air. We skirted around them, my ears picking up their conversation.

"Oh, when King and Queen got that house over there up within minutes, everyone was just staring like idiots! I mean, haven't they ever seen an earth power before?"

"Totally! When that silly rattata got in the way and they did not notice-"

"He flew! Straight into the sky! That staraptor rescuer had to catch him!"

"Or that Gurdurr, was he not the one that got those other houses built over night too? It took so much longer, but he managed it!"

"He had the help of the timburr, right?"

"Yeah, but those goofballs didn't do that much work at all!"

"Totally, and when it was finished, the gurdurr was rather displeased with them, having only been able to build two small buildings! He scared them by slamming his girder into the ground! They won't laze around tomorrow, that's for sure!"

And on it went. Apparently the nicknames of the new builders were 'Queen' and 'King'. Interesting. I wondered what fighting them would be like.

Earth power, huh? Several pokemon knowing that move are here I guess, judging by the massive amount of new dirt houses.

Some of the dirt houses were less intricate than the one right in front of our house, signifying several different builders using earth power. I mean, the one in front of our house was a freaking mansion, with impressive upper levels and even balconies. Balconies made of dirt, somehow staying intact.

That aside, I almost walked straight into a nidorina. I avoided that one, hoping not to get poisoned. Bastiodon noticed my lack of focus, and stamped a foot down to snap me to attention. Machoke was startled, having not been paying attention either.

The rest of the way out of the town was rather uneventful.

⽊Servine's POV⽊

My tangela had to wake me up today. Eventually, they just pulled me out of bed. As my eyes fluttered opened, they held a piece of paper for a job within the apple woods dungeon. A good place to try and think of things normally, when many other places have involved Caleb somehow.

I looked about at my home. We had hollowed out a previously completely impassable bush in a grove of trees. The place had become like a cavern of sorts, though the roof left quite a bit of space for sunlight to leak through. It was well lit. It looked very nice. It was slightly difficult for any not grass types to enter. Glad all of us were grass types.

"Do you want to go now?" the two of them asked. I looked at them in slight surprise.

Oh, yeah. They're used to me being in a rush.

"Let's take our time" I said, and they practically jumped back "apple wood's is not that far. You two ready?" They just stared at me for about twenty seconds, clearly wondering either if they were dreaming or if I had gone mad. "eh, yes, we are…" they said. Their vines darted about as they waited for me to shoulder my bag and check our belongings.

"And we're off!" I said cheerfully, mostly to confuse them. It was actually rather funny to play jokes like this. I walked out of the vine grotto, pushing aside the dozens of different plants around me with a little difficulty. After I had gotten out, I looked back at the entrance. There was no evidence that there was any home there. Nobody knew where team ivy lived.

"Interesting timing" a familiar voice said, making me jump three feet straight up, create a leaf blade, and try to stab whoever had decided to just be there. My blade glanced off of something, and I realized I had just stabbed an explorer badge.

"Oh, Mightyena!" I sighed "You are just so silent…"

"Sometimes" he admitted, viewing his badge, noting the lack of damage. Those things were tougher than pokemon were, after all. I realized he now knew where I lived. "Well, congratulations on learning where I live" I congratulated him.

Suddenly, the dark type looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Actually, I kind of… already knew" he muttered. "Hang on, what?" I asked "were you-"

"I am no stalker" he interrupted "your scent is strong around this place. You clearly spend a lot of time here".

Oh, right. Mightyena. Species: mightyena. Nose capabilities: mightyena.

"Got it" I said, slightly blushing at my failure to think things through. That seemed to be a recurring problem since I met… Caleb.

Can I stop thinking about what happened now?

My frown caught Mightyena's attention. He frowned too. "Yeah" he said. That was all he said. He understood perfectly. Suddenly, my tangela teammates showed up, glancing at Mightyena comprehensively. With a vine, I reached behind me and snatched the job description from where the tangela had been holding it. I read it again.

Another seedot somehow having found his way into a completely different forest, sending out the distress call. Mightyena came around to see it. "Really?" he asked, and then said "our job's in apple woods, too".

Huh…

Machoke ran into view, breathing a bit heavily. Machokes were no speedsters. They had some impressive physical strength, but that's about it. "May I see the job description?" Mightyena asked. Since when does he ask for things? Machoke blinked, pulling out the rolled up piece of paper. I looked at that one, seeing that it was a close floor to our finishing floor. It was about taking out an outlaw two floors after that.

Something clicked in my mind. "Well" I ventured "we might as well go as a large team". My teammates backed up a few steps. "Great idea" Mightyena said, and his team backed up several steps, Bastiodon having just pounded into view.

"Huh!?" all four of our teammates asked in unison. I guess they just did not get that things had changed. The tangela were afraid of Mightyena, Bastiodon and Machoke thought I was still going to rush about. I was not. Well, Mightyena's battle style could still scare off some pokemon quite easily, but he was not a bad guy anymore.

"Settled" Mightyena said simply, taking the page from me carefully, and tossed it back to Machoke. He blinked again, before rolling up the job and put it away slowly. I did likewise, rolling up my own job and put it away. The tangela exchanged a glance, and Bastiodon just seemed to accept it. Machoke was looking between the two of us, unsure of what to say.

Instead, Mightyena and I started off towards the apple woods, and our teammates had no choice but to follow. This would be a great chance to mess with them. Why was I so keen on that all of a sudden? I guess I was just a bit looser nowadays.

⽕Sarah's POV⽕

The trip to the tiny meadow was short, short enough to be within walking distance. "Here already?" I asked, noting that we were in front of a, well, a tiny meadow.

"Yep" Nincada said simply, looking at the map "Says here it is a mystery dungeon, but it does not actually contain a maze. Enemies just show up when we enter, and we just have to figure out what to do when we go in. No puzzles. Nothing. This will be the easiest job ever" he finished.

After we walked in, the grass seemed to get a few inches longer within seconds, though it was still barely up to my knees. Nincada decided to give me a mission briefing. "We want to find an item somebody dropped here" he informed me "Apparently called a light star".

"What in heck's a light star?" I asked, thinking about the few star shaped things I have seen lately. There was the thing Servine had found, but otherwise… That was about it.

"Apparently, it's nothing special unless others are nearby. Each one glows if another is nearby, and the more there are, the brighter each glows. Apparently, finding enough can create a fantastic glow that can be seen just about anywhere".

Huh. Interesting. I was about to open my mouth to answer, but Nincada was not done. "I think they will be used to keep the arena lit during that tournament that seems to have something to do with more things than Caleb does at this point…"

That was rather insensitive of him… In fact, a tear escaped me at that point. Another reminder that Caleb was still around, that I had ruined everything, that I had basically ruined Caleb's life. Again.

"Oh, dear…" Nincada muttered "i'm sorry, Sarah". I sniffed in response. I was just so ridiculously emotional. It was sickening, but I could do nothing about it. I just had to keep going. Why was I so emotional all the time? I did not even know. Maybe it was all the hate before I met Caleb…

I shook my head. I needed to get a hold of myself. "Let's just find that light star" I practically growl. I can't properly growl with my strange higher pitched voice anyways, so all I manage is a feminine groan. Even other female absol have a deeper pitched voice! Maybe their voices are higher pitched than a male absol, but come on. This is ridiculous.

I took a moment while I walked to reflect on how ridiculously unlucky I was. First, I was freaking red. What has that color ever gotten me besides weird looks and basic discrimination? Then, my voice was high pitched, and anybody feeling generous enough to ignore my super obvious color would recoil at my surprisingly high pitched voice. maybe it was more reminiscent of a typical female voice, but…

Then there was my freaky ability to do more damage with a flamethrower than my physical body. My strength was as pitiful as the average absol's special capabilities. Why was I switched as well? Why would it be that way?

Because of all of these things, Caleb had really been the only person to truly treat me like he would treat anyone else. I had loved him for that. I do love him for that, but how could he ever love me? The selfish, emotional red absol that ruined his life.

Now more tears escaped me. I could not control them. I had to forget him completely. I had to have someone erase my memories of him or something, just to make it easier, but I am a dark type. It will never be that easy for me. Because of my typing, my memory stays where it is.

Nincada jumped off of me and burrowed under the grass. I guess he was tired of my crying, or maybe he had found something. Either way, I was now even more alone. I tried to focus, but that was not happening. My mind just kept returning to how much of a failure I was.

Maybe he would forgive me. I reasoned that Caleb was always so calm and stoic, but inside he was a very good person. He might forgive me. I knew he could. Why did I worry about that?

I'm not. It's guilt.

Guilt. Something I had not felt about Caleb since I had met him. Until I had gone too far, tried too hard. My mental image of him still sped up my heartbeat, but along with it was the shame of my actions.

Finally, finally something distracted me. Some pokemon from the dungeon just showed up in front of me. Something to take my anger on. a group of skiploom and two breloom.

Grass types.

One widespread flamethrower later, the only enemies standing were the breloom, who decided to charge me. another flamethrower took care of them. I viewed the resulting damage. The grass was destroyed, but as I watched, it grew back really fast, visibly. I guess that was how this dungeon worked. To test it, I dragged my claw through the earth, creating three lines in the dirt. As I watched, the dirt moved back to where it was over time, and the ripped out grass regrew. This place was basically indestructible.

Occupied, I decided to move on and find the stupid light star. It was my job, after all. It should be easy. Walk through this somewhat hilly, grassy field until I saw a star shaped item, right?

I walked along. The hill suddenly seemed endless, and I guess it may be with the dungeon's weird shape. I tried to see a staircase, but it was either behind a hill, or it was a massive distance away. The job had not specified a floor.

Maybe it was just one floor. Maybe it would be easier to just run about like a spaz until I found it. As I began to, random pokemon just popped out of nowhere, Staravia racing out of the sky, skiploom floating about, breloom annoyingly getting rather close before they are defeated. If I got hit by a mach punch… That would not be fun. Fighting types are super effective to our type. I don't really know how that works, but somebody punching me in the face using fighting type energy hurts really bad.

so I avoided letting any breloom get close to me. I would rather have the skiploom mob me than taking even one punch from a fighting type. I remember getting nailed by a mach punch when I asked a fighting type to help train, because the residents who knew me really did not want to be anywhere near my flames.

So he pounded me into the ground. Literally, there was a crater afterwards. I did not learn too much about how to use my moves properly. When I had awoken, the guy was just training like normal, I had not even been moved. I guess he had known that it would go this way. It was obvious I was inexperienced.

The problem was, I just fought by blasting everything away with sheer force. No skill involved. If somebody comes at me with a respectable strategy I was done. Flamethrower was powerful, and so was water pulse. Razor wind messed things up…

Oh, yeah, and I forget attacks I can use. Protect. Razor wind. Things I can use properly and forget to.

I needed to stop forgetting about that. I needed to use it more often. That's right, if a breloom gets too close, I can protect myself. So I decided to try out my attacks on the next breloom who came along.

So when one did, I decided to cause quite a ruckus in their ranks. Three of them charged me, and discovered that my razor wind was so much stronger than an average absols, because of my odd strengths. While very strong absols can whip up a few small tornadoes, my attack becomes a sphere of wind around me, blocking basically anything. Why would I ever use protect when the brelooms' fists barely got into the sphere without being flung away? Why would I use water pulse when my projectile razor wind wrecked things?

A: Water pulse is a water type attack. B: Razor wind takes a ridiculous amount of time to charge.

I was just glad that mystery dungeon pokemon don't know how to run when they need to. So they just bounded at my sphere of wind until I was ready. The very force of my wind made surrounding grass and dirt fly around me, effectively cutting off my vision, but when I remembered to use my absol sense, I could see the enemy. I was actually floating in the air by the sheer force of the wind.

With a pathetic attempt at a roar (My voice is still high pitched), The wind condensed into my horn in an instant, and I let my attack fly.

BOWWWWWWWWWW…..

The attack's sound effect more than made up for my pathetic try at roaring, and it's power was improved from the last time I had used it. The last time I had, Rayquaza had winced. Now it was more powerful. I guess I have leveled a bit over time. The breloom were blasted away, and pushed into the dirt. A massive explosion ensued, almost knocking me away as well. The dust took a while to settle, and when it did, I saw a pretty big crater where the breloom had been. They were at the bottom of it.

I looked at them. The whites of their eyes showed, and they were definitely unconscious. Each had a deep cut on them, maybe an inch deep, from my attack before the sheer force of it had followed. They were bleeding, even, though not too badly. I would refrain from using this on weaker pokemon. I could seriously injure somebody if that happened, though no wound should be fatal. The only fatal wounds I had seen was with the fight against the darkness.

We had all survived that. These fighting types would survive a little blood loss at the hands of my razor wind. I realized that I was not so disgusted by blood. I guess after having almost bled out, blood does not scare you as much.

Again, I noted how the terrain was fixing itself. The dirt blasted away from my attack sifted across the ground pouring back into the pit. Thankfully, the breloom were being supported by it, not buried. When these guys awoke, hopefully they should no longer be in a daze, and can leave the dungeon if they can.

I felt it again: the feeling of power racing through me, of my weariness disappearing. Another level up for me. I wondered what level of power I was actually at. Did it matter? Probably not.

I began to race my way along this place, looking about for a super obvious item lying in the grass. After crossing a hill, I saw more skiploom, and they were moving in the opposite direction of me. I realized they were heading for a small pokemon in the grass. Nincada.

Figuring I should not take chances with the whole 'nontraitor' thing, I decided to race into battle without just bathing the grass types with fire. Instead, I would wait until Nincada was not in my line of sight.

Nincada showed me up, however, holding his own against the grass types rather than having to run from them. I slowed to a stop watching him use x-scissor repeatedly and dealing quite a bit of damage with each attack. he must have used swords dance or something.

After a bit, all of the skiploom had been taken down. Nincada looked about and saw me. "Oh, hello, Sarah" he said almost cheerfully. I guess he was relieving some of his anger by taking down the multitude of enemies around. Perhaps that was why he was so cheerful. "Having fun?" I asked, causing him to shift from side to side a bit. "Uh, yes, I guess" he muttered.

"Well, let's get moving" I told him, all business now "We'd better find that light star".

Nincada hesitated before climbing onto my back. I guess he's still somewhat mad at me. And why not? I am too. Both of us tried to put that anger aside as we continued to travel through this strange dungeon.

⽛Mightyena's POV⽛

Apple woods. Home to several pokemon, including several bug types and grass types. Most troublesome was the beedrill on one floor, floor eight. Those things are actually pretty tough, and their bug type attacks really mess me up, and probably Servine's entire team. This place would actually be rather tough.

How the type thing worked was beyond me. It was probably beyond even Caleb, thinking about it. Not much was known about it, or how little sense it made. All I knew was that if I got wrapped in a string shot, it burned like a fire type move. Super effective attacks really mess me up. I think grass types actually have an easier time dealing with bug types than we dark types do.

Anyways…

The first floor of the dungeon appeared as we entered the forest. Don't ask me why a forest dungeon has multiple floors. I don't know either. Instead of thinking about that, I tried to recall what floors we needed. Servine's seedot client was stuck on the fifth floor, and then my outlaw target was on the seventh floor. A snubbull. We were actually rather lucky that our jobs were in some of the earlier floors.

A dozen caterpie charged around the corner. Oh yeah, that's a thing. Bug types tend to swarm. Servine's techniques had changed. Instead of doing her vine web thing, she was now using the leaf blade and her strange ball and chain. That weapon just looked slightly evil to me, particularly compared to the sword. The thin and light blade had a rather regal hilt, and she used it very differently. The ball and chain was just brutal.

Either way, she leapt forward and sent a dozen stabs into the crowd before whirling and smacking the small bug types all to the side. Honestly, her new style of fighting was a little intimidating. I was supposed to be the intimidating one. That was why I leapt straight into battle next time.

When a horde of butterfree's flew into view, I immediately dodged a string shot and darted around the bugs. A few quick shadow balls into the center of their group, and they were down for the count. Now it was Servine's turn to look apprehensive. We scared each other, and I thought about what would happen if we actually fought each other in the tournament. Honestly, I hoped at least one of us would get messed up before that happened.

Even as I worried about which of us would win a fight, I realized that Bastiodon would kind of carry us through a lot of fights. The tangela could not handle a flash cannon. Servine probably could not either. I certainly could not take one myself. Bastiodon was the strongest of all of us.

How did I end up being the leader in the first place?

I think it was that I had invited my teammates into the team, when they were a machop and shieldon, and I had been a poochyena. Sometime after evolution, I had become rather worse. I had become much meaner after evolution. Now I wondered: Did my evolution into a mightyena actually cause me to be more aggressive? I did not know. How would i? Maybe I could ask Caleb…

Except I can't. Maybe if he shows up…

Now I had made myself angry again. I tried not to show it. Being angry would do nobody any good. I had to remain calm for the good of the group. I had to get myself set up for success here instead of preparing for the future. How useful was the future when the present had bug types trying to mess you up?

I heard an explosion, and turned to see several bog types smoking on the ground. Bastiodon was facing them. "Good work" I said, getting a look around the room. There was a few apples strewn about, as there were always a few of those in every room. Either way, we picked them up. We may have to have some food later.

"Thanks" Bastiodon intoned, checking on the wall of trees that made an impassable wall of the maze. He punched it with a heavy foot, and made several large apples fall to be caught by Machoke and the tangela. We put those away as well.

After going on for a while, we began to be bored of fighting. It was rather easy to knock these pokemon out, and if we avoided the first attack by them we were fine. If not, we would stay up. Bastiodon got hit by a string shot, but it really did not affect him much. He just walked around it. None of the bug types knew silverwind, luckily.

I wondered what we were doing thinking things were not going to change.

⻤Nincada's POV⻤

Sarah darted around the fields, looking about for a random object lying around. This dungeon was odd, not having any mazes or anything like that. Once you got in, the field grew in size, being excessively large and very boring.

Sarah was changing direction randomly, probably because we did not know how big this place was. We might never find it if we went too far. I kept a check on our general direction, talking to Sarah when she started to be where she has already gone.

Eventually, we came to a dip in the land we had not seen before. Upon reaching it, it looked like there was an object in it. Clever hiding spot. With the terrain being so uniform, you would not recognize that anything was out of the ordinary if you did not run straight over it.

"That's not a star" Sarah said. I wanted to say 'uh, duh', but I would not do so. Instead, it looked like a chest. A actual treasure chest.

We climbed down and looked at it. It was almost half of Sarah's size. it had an intricate lock on it. "No key, no entry" I said. Sarah frowned. "We'll see about that" she muttered, before trying to stick her claw into the lock. That was not going to work. "Sarah, you will need a key" I informed her. She was trying to twist her claw in the lock. "I've got this…" she muttered. Was she going crazy? I know that I had made her cry by accident before, but was she completely mad at this point?

She has been almost as destroyed as Caleb when all was said and done. She knows what was wrong, and she hates herself.

I wondered if she would be all right. Maybe she could recover, and maybe Caleb would as well, but she probably knew now that Caleb would never love her back.

Click…

What!? You're kidding me!

"Got it!" Sarah said cheerfully, pulling her claw out of the lock and starting to try and open it. "Urf…" she grunted "This lid is heavy…" It was completely impossible that that had worked, yet she somehow had gotten it.

"Aren't absols strong?" I asked Sarah, before remembering that Sarah is more oriented to special attacks. She gave me a cross look, turning her head to view me through the corners of her eyes. "Sorry…" I muttered. She looked at the thing, and then back at me.

"Help me get this up" she said. I moved onto her head and tried to lift the lid, pushing Sarah's head down in the process. "Hey…" she muttered. I grimaced. I was just not thinking properly today. I jumped off, and tried to push it up. My swords dance had worn off earlier. I would have to do it again.

I stepped back and summoned the illusionary swords, causing Sarah to back up. After the move was completed, I began to push again. I got a few inches. "Help me, Sarah!" I muttered, causing her to jolt and then rush forward. Even using swords dance, my physical strength was not too enough to pick up the heavy lid. Sarah grabbed the lid with her teeth. Together, we hauled it over. In the effort, I fell straight in.

Light filled my vision. I was instantly blinded. The light persisted, and I just had to get out of there. I tried to scramble out, but I missed the edge. I could not see at all. "Hang on, Nincada!" Sarah cried out, apparently having scrambled back with the bright light. I felt teeth grab my claw, piercing my skin. I gave a small yelp as Sarah ripped me out of the chest. She did not put me down as we scrambled away.

After she ran for a bit, Sarah tripped or something. We rolled into the grass as I opened my eyes. I was on my back in the grass, so I could not see anything. It was still super bright. Sarah got up in front of me, her red body super obvious in all of this green.

Getting up was difficult, because being on my back makes it difficult to get my legs to the ground. Sarah had to flip me. After doing so, She looked towards the chest, causing me to do so as well. It was open, and it was shining brilliantly. A beam of light erupted from it, reaching high into the sky. It was nearly blinding, and I was still blinking spots out of my eyes.

"What in heck is that!?"

⽊Servine's POV⽊

The third floor of apple woods seemed to be devoid of swarms of bug types. Every dungeon has one or two floors were you just don't seem to find any enemies. It was a great place to have lunch.

"A picnic in the middle of a dungeon" Mightyena said, some actual cheer in his voice "You are crazy". He then took a bite of a large apple at his feet.

"And yet" I said "you are joining us without complaint" I said with a smile on my face. He smirked, swallowing his bite. "Granted" he said, then checking on his teammates. "You two alright?" he asked. Bastiodon looked up slowly from his feast, while Machoke continued to enjoy his apple. He blinked. It was clear that Mightyena was trying to improve relations with his team. They were just surprised every time.

The tangela were feasting on apples, drawing them into their mess of vines and consuming them. I had no idea how they actually ate. Nobody has ever seen their mouths.

"I suppose that this is enjoyable…" Bastiodon intoned slowly, awkwardly. Mightyena and I laughed at that, just freaking out the teams completely. They thought the both of us had gone mad. I was actually having fun.

"So" I began, watching in my peripheral vision as my teammates prepared for me to say something even more insane. They would not be surprised. "I say, because this job will leave plenty of time tonight, that we visit Spinda's cafe!"

Mightyena bore the barest smirk due to the joke we were playing on the teammates. They, by the way, were staring at me uncomprehendingly. Mightyena looked right at me. "Great idea" he said, making everyone jump a bit at the sudden development. "You've actually been there?" I asked.

"Has anybody not?" he asked. I shook my head no. Everybody had been there. It was topic No. 2, right after the upcoming tournament. Speaking of…

"The earth power users are quite busy today" I commented, and he nodded and said "Mansion appeared on our doorstep today". I leaned forward. "You're kidding" I said. A mansion? Really?

He nodded again. "Overheard some gossipy bugs talking about two pokemon who did it. Called 'Queen' and 'King' apparently". "Huh" I responded "They'll probably be in the tournament too. It's really a mansion?"

"Yeah, and detailed enough to be an actual home. Just made of dirt" he responded. I blinked. "Such detail from an earth power user? Impressive. Two of them you say? I wonder what they're capable of…"

"We'll find out on about four weeks. Less than that, actually" Mightyena said, correcting himself "It's slightly difficult to believe that it's actually so close, considering recent events. Caleb's timing is impeccable".

Mentioning him was a mistake. I leaned back in my sitting position, my mind suddenly racing. Mightyena cringed. "Cripes… I'm sorry" he apologized "I know it's a sore topic…". He realized he was making things so much worse. "Spinda's cafe" he muttered, lowering his head "got it.."

our teammates seemed to notice the sudden change in mood, and that things were going south. They said nothing, probably knowing that there was no words to make something like this better. It was destructive, that's for sure. Every conversation turned to Caleb. Why did he have to get involved in just about everything?

I tried to change the subject. I really tried, but there was little to actually talk about. Discovery near the corner of apple woods, dark floating pillar? Caleb found it first. New dungeons? Caleb discovered them with is. Tournament? Now Caleb would likely be a part of it. Strength? Who can win a battle? That conversation would turn to Caleb as well.

"You mentioned the gossiping bug types" I started halfheartedly. He nodded. "Four of them, spreading powder everywhere?" I asked. He nodded again.

I tried to recall the group. The butterfree, I had not seen it before, and it had an explorer's badge. "I think that was actually a team" I told him, and his eyes widened a bit. He said nothing. "We don't want to fight them in the tournament" I went on "an actual explorer team of bug types, they would likely all know silverwind… Probably some other attacks as well. The last time I fought a powerful butterfree, it used psychic on me…"

He cocked his head to the side a bit "What does getting hit by a psychic attack feel like?" he asked. I thought about it. Different pokemon used it differently. "Lots of pokemon use it to throw enemies around or smash them into walls or the ground. The butterfree, it did something a little different. I remember feeling like my body was being stretched, and then compressed, and then it basically felt like I was getting ripped apart from the inside…"

"Huh…" he said "That sounds… Painful". He had never been and never would be hit by a psychic attack. Lucky dark type. "yeah" I said "You don't have to worry about that at all". He looked away. "mmm…" he said he looked uncomfortable. Was he worried about offending me? I guess he was super concerned about offending anyone, considering his past self. He wanted others to understand he had changed.

Our teammates were starting to get it, however. I was glad they were. Mightyena was much better than he used to be. He was not as reckless either. He would be a dangerous enemy in the upcoming tournament. It would be a close fight between our teams.

And then I see Bastiodon…

Bastiodon would probably blast us apart pretty quickly. Even if I managed to dodge the flash cannons, my tangela could not do so. It would be me against three powerful pokemon. I could take Machoke. Maybe Mightyena. Not Bastiodon.

Mightyena's team would win the battle. What I wanted to know was whether I could beat Mightyena in a one on one. Would I win, or would Mightyena? Mightyena has seen my leaf weapons, I have not seen his secret techniques. I knew he must have something new prepared for the battle. Everybody was trying to find something to fool the competition.

"We'd best go" Mightyena said, having waited five minutes after everybody was done eating "don't want to be late". Most of us nodded, and all of us stood up, ready to go. So we continued through the dungeon. Floor five was fast approaching. We would find the seedot, travel to floor seven, and take down the obnoxious snubbull.

It would be a walk in the… Forest

⽕Sarah's POV⽕

I squinted to avoid the horrible glare from the chest. It was glowing brilliantly. A beam of light erupted from the top, spearing the sky in a dazzling (and blinding) display of fantastic brilliance.

Just the poet in me…

"Do you want to know what that is, or should we just leave it?" I asked. Nincada was looking the other way, his sensitive eyes hurt by the light. "I want to leave it, but we really should not. They could be valuable. We'd best find out what it is at least. I felt like I had landed on a pile of objects" Nincada said.

He was favoring the leg I had grabbed with my teeth. I winced. "Sorry about that by the way" I apologize. He just nodded. I decided to brave the chest. Eyes closed, I approached the chest. The light shone straight through my eyelids. I knew heal pulse now, but heal pulse does not work on the person using it. Recover was the move to do that.

It was still blinding, but I stuck my head inside the chest and felt around. My eyes closed, it was tough, but my teeth closed on something hard. I yanked it out and turned around, realizing that the light was still in my eyes. Not daring to open my eyes, I moved away from the thing and walked a ways. The light began to lessen, so I dashed forward even more. When it was at least bearable with my eyes closed, I dropped it and backed away.

I attempted to open my eyes. It was still bright, but it was shining less than before. It was shining very brightly, and very much in my eyes. I closed them again, deciding to use my absol sense to try and find my way around. My strength was certainly not in mental mapping, but I could do it. Nincada moved towards me. "Less bright…" he muttered.

In my absol sense, it was strange. it was a six pointed star, shining brightly. It's crystal-like shape made it look rather impressive. It's points were rounded, however. That was why Nincada had not been too badly hurt by them when he had fallen into them.

Wait a second…

"Nincada…" I began. "Yes?" he asked, turning his head towards me. "This is a shining, star shaped crystal, that grew less bright when I took it away from the others".

"No way…" Nincada breathed. Then, he seemed to grow irritable. He tapped his claw against the ground repeatedly. "I'm willing to give you the BS lockpicking. I am not willing to believe that we would find a chest full of what we need, just dozens of them in a chest. I won't believe it" he ranted. My lockpicking skills were 'BS'? Fine. I guess it should not have worked, but I was proud of that, dang it.

"Suit yourself" I said, and walked forward again. I picked up the light star, placing it in the magic bag I carried, extinguishing the light it sent out. I went to go get the other ones. Boy were we lucky. I guess we should find the one that was actually lost, but we could take these. I was going until something else showed up in my range of sense.

A breloom. I swirled around, attempting to set it aflame, but I was hit by that awful mach punch. My eyes flew open despite my will as I was flung straight into the chest face first.

"Aaagh!" I screamed as my vision was filled with the relentless white light, and then darkness swallowed my vision. Somehow I had not been knocked out in one hit, but my eyes were open, and I couldn't see.

I had gone blind in an instant.

Θ Omniscient POV Θ

"Who is he?"

A group of pokemon circled around a small building. They stared at another pokemon who slept within. A ghostly aura swirled around him. Several of the small pokemon were rubbing sleep out of their eyes. Having gotten a late start, they were trying to figure out what to do with him.

"Maybe we should wake him up?" one of the pokemon in back of the crowd asked. Others voiced their opinions, but one rang above all the others. "You can't".

Most of the pokemon turned towards the new voice. A familiar voice. "Oh! Sage!" they cried out, rushing to greet the visitor. The new arrival greeted them accordingly, before walking to view the sleeping pokemon. "This pokemon is using a ghost type aura with his rescue badge. He's only going to wake if he wants to. The only way to get through to him… That would take a drowzee. He should wake himself us soon. If he does not wake within a few days, please tell me" he said. The pokemon looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Will you be somewhere nearby?" they asked. It was a reasonable question; The pokemon known as Sage was not always around. Sometimes word of his whereabouts would appear as someone sees him training. One of the only ones of his species to focus on his strength.

"Yes" he said, and pointed his snout towards the peak of the mountain "Right at the top of the mountain. I will train there for a while. If he does not wake within two days, please tell me. Of course, you are all allowed to speak to me anytime you wish. Now, before I depart so that I may have time to set up my temporary residence, is there something you wish to speak to me about? Current events?"

The crowd began to clamor, talking about several things at once. The pokemon frowned. "Let us take this one at a time. Please tell me everything that has happened. I will call on you to say something".

The pokemon led his brethren further away from the building. as he prepared to learn of current events, he glanced at the pokemon sleeping in the shack. What he had not told them is that when the ghost sleep is used, it is supposed to turn the sleeper invisible, or at least unnoticed. He worried about that. he also noted the species of the pokemon.

It has been awhile since I last saw an absol… he thought.

This is the first time i have attempted a third person omniscient point of view. I think that will happen a bit more often, knowing that some characters have not been introduced yet, and others are, well, asleep. Might give some POV for the new character, but i dont even know if he needs a POV. Oh well.

I do need a team name for the gossipy bug type team that shows up here. I have most of the information, but no team name. If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate sending it to me via Personal Messaging. If i receive multiple, i will choose one. If i do not recieve any, i will make it up on the fly when they show up in the tournament in book two.

Please tell me what you thought of my chapter, or the story in general by reviewing. If you enjoy the story, feel free to follow the story if you wish to receive email notifications for new chapters! I hope you all enjoyed. Have a nice day, everybody!

Character bio's still open! I have a whopping SEVEN characters total! huh? you say seven doesn't merit the word 'whopping'? Oh well... Thank you three who submitted character bios anyways! I really appreciate it.

Nickname:

Age:

Gender:

Species:

Personality:

Background (this may be lengthy):

Unique Aspect (optional):

Other: