Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Stardust
Chapter 25: Back in Action
The next day, Katara, DJ, and Leaf were currently walking down the streets of Miracle Town, heading for the Gallade's Guild to meet with a client.
"How does it feel to be allowed on missions again, DJ?" Katara asked.
"It feels awesome," DJ answered truthfully. "After being cooped up for so long it feels good to be allowed out."
"You weren't cooped up, quit exaggerating," Katara said in exasperation, rolling her eyes. "You walked around the town remember?"
"Oh yeah... Well, it's still been a while. So, what's the mission?"
"Do you ever pay attention during debriefing?"
"...Sometimes..."
"Ugh," Katara grumbled as she pulled out the mission sheet. "We're escorting a Roselia to a nearby village called Forest Ridge. And before you ask, no. We aren't going through a mystery dungeon."
"Awww."
"I fail to see how not going through a mystery dungeon is a bad thing," Leaf commented.
"Because I'm itching for a good fight," DJ said.
"Is that all you fighting types think about?" Katara asked.
"I don't know about other fighting types, but I haven't been in a fight in over two weeks and I need release."
"But you were in a fight yesterday my Alpha," Leaf pointed out.
"True, but it isn't the same," DJ said.
"How is it not the same?" Leaf asked curiously, truly not understanding what DJ was saying.
"It..it just isn't," DJ said stubbornly.
"Stop being so stubborn," Katara said. "You should be thankful that the guild master letting you out at all. If it was up to me, you would still be in bed."
"Then it's a good thing it's not up to you," DJ said cheekily.
Katara punched DJ in the arm and gave him a halfhearted glare. DJ laughed at this and continued to walk, ignoring Katara's glare. Katara then noticed that DJ was wearing his weights.
"Are you wearing your weights?" Katara asked.
"Huh?" DJ said. He then looked at his ankles and saw that he was indeed wearing his anklets. "Oh, yeah. So I am."
"Why?" Katara asked, her voice gaining a dangerous tone.
"Why what?" DJ asked, not noticing Katara's tone.
"Why are you wearing your weights?!"
"Well I haven't worn them in a while, so I need to get back into the habit of wearing them when I go out."
"But your still healing!" Katara shouted, startling DJ, Leaf, and several other people that were walking down the road opposite to them.
"How many times to I have to say it, I'm fine," DJ said.
At this statement Katara smacked him on the back causing him to grunt in pain. "See?" Katara asked. "You're still hurt!"
"For the love of Arceus!" DJ exclaimed. "I'm fine! Besides, were not going to a dungeon."
"But-"
"Katara, maybe we should trust Alpha" Leaf said before Katara could continue. Seeing Katara's incredulous look, he continued. "He did show that he is able to fight despite his injuries. Plus, if there is a problem, we will be able to help."
Katara opened her mouth to argue, but soon closed it finding no flaw in the Treeko's logic. After a couple minutes of trying to find some hole in Leaf's logic she relented
"Fine," Katara begrudgingly said.
"Thank you," DJ said, relieved that the subject was dropped.
"Also," Leaf continued. "We are here."
True to his words, the trio had walked all the way to the guild without even noticing. They made it to the bridge that led to the guild. Waiting on the bridge their client.
"What took you so long?!" the Roselia said with an irritated tone, clearly annoyed.
"Sorry about that," Katara said, attempting to calm the Roselia down. "We were having a discussion, but we're here now and we'll make sure you reach you're destination safely."
"You better," the Roselia grumbled, looking at the team that would be escorting her. When her eyes landed on DJ, she blushed and looked him over. "H-hello. What's your name?"
"I'm DJ," DJ said, not noticing the Roselia's blush. "These are my teammates Katara and Leaf and as Katara said, we'll be escorting you."
"Well aren't I the lucky one?" the Roselia said, still eyeing DJ, who seemed oblivious to this. "My name's Rose. I hope that you'll be able to protect me."
"Don't worry, we'll be able to protect you," DJ said.
"I feel much better knowing that I have a big strong Pokémon such as yourself protecting me," Rose said with a slightly seductive tone. "You have very pretty eyes,"
"Um, thanks?" DJ said, unsure of how to answer.
"Such a vibrant color," she continued. "I've never seen a Riolu with such eyes."
"Ahem," Katara faked coughed. "We should get going now, so we can make it back before dusk."
"Right," Rose said, seemingly depressed that her conversation was cut short. "Let us depart."
With that being said, the small group set off to Forest Ridge.
The small group had been traveling for about five hours without incident. Unlike with mystery dungeons, the wild Pokémon that inhabited the forests did not go out of their way to attack travelers. Even if threatened, most Pokémon here would flee instead of attacking. While this is not the case with all forests and other areas where wild Pokémon roam, the forest that surrounds Miracle Town were full of mostly docile Pokémon.
Throughout the whole trip Rose had been walking very close to DJ and asking random questions such as his favorite color, food, time of day, and other things like that. DJ, thinking that she was just worried about wild Pokémon, did not seem to mind her walking close to him and answered her questions, though he did feel awkward talking to here due to his shyness. Katara, on the other hand, seemed to mind a great deal.
She had been trying burn a hole in the back of the Roselia's head with her glare, though she did not fully seem to understand why she was mad at Roselia. She continued to glare at the Roselia as DJ told her about the time he slipped a tamato berry and an iapapa berry into Blitz's food.
"That's so funny!" Rose laughed loudly. "You're quite the prankster, aren't you?"
"I guess so," DJ said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Though I only pranked Blitz because he pranked me. He's the real prankster of the team."
"You're so modest," Rose said giving him a wink.
"Thanks I think," DJ said, not sure of how to respond, earning another laugh from Rose.
"You really are funny," Rose said. She then moved closer to him. "I like funny Pokémon."
"Okay?" he said, still oblivious.
"Could you two keep it down," Katara said angrily. "We're trying not alert the wild Pokémon."
"Sorry Katara," DJ apologized.
"Oh you worry to much," Rose said. "The wild Pokémon that live in this forest don't mess with travelers."
"If you knew this then why did you hire a team?" Katara questioned suspiciously.
Rose began to sweat at this question. "Uh... N-no reason. I just wanted to be sure."
"Is that so?" Katara said, her eyes narrowing.
"Y-yes! That is so! Now if you're done with twenty questions, let's keep going."
Rose turned to go, but Katara grabbed her arm and leveled a glare.
"DJ, Leaf. Can you two excuse us for a moment?" Katara asked.
"Are you sure Katara?" DJ asked.
"I'm sure," Katara said. "We're just going to have some girl talk."
"Okay," DJ said before gesturing for Leaf to follow. "We'll be a little ways ahead. Shout if you need anything."
"Okay," Katara said as she watched DJ and Leaf's forms retreating. When they were out of hearing range Katara turned back to Rose and leveled a glare. "What's your game?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rose said.
"Tauros shit!" Katara shouted. "You clearly aren't worried about wild Pokémon, so why did you hire a team?"
"As I said, I just wanted to be sure," Rose said, clearly nervous. "Why do you care anyway. You're being payed regardless, so why does it matter why I hired you guys?"
"Because I don't want my friends to get hurt because you lied about our mission!"
"You're worried about your friends?" Rose asked. "Or just your Riolu friend."
"W-what?!" Katara asked while taking a step back as if slapped. "What do you mean by that?"
"Don't play dumb," Rose said slyly. "I saw how you looked at me when I was talking to him. You're jealous!"
"WHAT?!" Katara shouted. "No I'm not!"
"You clearly are!" Rose said. "That's why you're so against this mission. You don't like me getting close to him. So what is he to you? Are you two dating or something?"
"NO!" Katara exclaimed, blushing furiously. "We're just friends!"
"Clearly, Then I guess you won't mind me taking him," Rose said. Katara was about to speak again, but Rose cut her off. "I'm kidding. He's way to dense to even notice my advances. I knew I should have learned attract."
"W-what? Y-y-you. I-I'm not." Katara spluttered out, unable to form a coherent thought.
"Now if you're done with your petty jealously, I want to get home before dark." Rose said as she walked away from Katara, leaving her fuming.
I don't like DJ like that. What does that overgrown weed know! Katara thought to herself as she continued to glare at the retreating form of Rose. I'm going to keep my eye on her. I still don't trust her.
"So what were you two talking about?" DJ asked curiously, glancing at Katara and Rose. Though he is dense he could still feel Katara's emotions and he could tell that she was upset about something.
"Oh nothing," Katara lied. "Just girl stuff." Seeing DJ's look of disbelief she continued. "I'm fine DJ."
"If you say so. But if you want to talk..." DJ said uncertainly. Rose took this time to grab his arm.
"She said she's fine, so don't worry about her," Rose purred earning a heated glare from Katara. "Let's keep going."
DJ gave Katara one more concerned look before continuing to walk through the forest. The group continued through the forest for another thirty minutes without incident and DJ was growing slightly anxious. They soon came upon a sign that said, Forest Ridge, five miles.
"We're almost there," Rose said, with a slightly relieved tone, which the three members of Team Stardust picked up on.
"You sound relieved," Leaf said.
"Oh! I'm just glad to be home is all," Rose said nervously.
DJ, not believing her, used his emotion sense and felt that she was becoming increasingly nervous.
"Then why are you so nervous?" DJ questioned, his eyes narrowed.
"I'm not nervous," Rose lied.
"I would advise not to lie to DJ," Katara said. "He's a Riolu and they can feel the emotions of others. So lying to him is useless."
Rose's eyes shifted back and forth, trying to think of someway out of this situation. Unable to think of anything, she sighed.
"Fine I'll tell you," Rose relented. "I hired you guys because... IsortamaybeangeredawildPokémonthatlivesaroundhere." She said the last part really fast.
"What?" Katara asked.
"I said that I angered a tribal Pokémon around this area when I was going to Miracle Town," Rose said.
"What did you do?" Katara asked, partially curious of what she did and partially angry over being lied to.
Before Rose could speak, a loud roar was heard deeper in the forest. The group turned in the direction of the roar and saw several trees shaking as if something was crashing in to them.
"Oh, no," Rose mumbled.
There was one final roar before an Ursaring burst through the brush and stood before the group. It gave a sniff and turned its head towards Rose. Seeing Rose, the Ursaring growled and gave another ear-shattering roar.
"I take it that's the Pokémon you pissed off," Katara grumbled.
"What did you do to piss it off?" DJ asked.
"I may have, accidentally, eaten his food," Rose said, causing the three members of Team Stardust to shot stare at her. "What, I was hungry and I found a pile of berries and I sorta ate them."
"Why would you do that?!" Katara exclaimed.
"What?" Rose asked as if not understanding Katara's anger. "I was hungry and I didn't think that it would be a big deal. It's not my fault that that Ursaring holds a grudge."
"You're serious, aren't you?" Katara asked with a deadpan expression.
"What?" Rose asked.
"Let's talk about this later," DJ said, gaining the two bickering group members attention. "We have bigger Magikarp to fry."
"Alpha is right," Leaf said, not taking his eyes off the Ursaring. "We can discuss this later. Right now, we need to deal with this Ursaring."
"Can I do it?!" DJ asked childishly, practically bouncing on his feet. "Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I? Can I?"
Everyone, even the Ursaring, sweat-dropped at DJ's childish antics.
"No you can't," Katara said sternly. "You're still recovering."
"But I'm fine," DJ whined. "Besides, if I get in trouble, you guys can bail me out."
Unable to poke a hole in DJ's logic, Katara sighed. "Fine, but you can't have your weights while you're fighting. And be careful"
"Yes Mom," DJ said jokingly as he removed his weights and dropped them to the ground. When the anklets hit the ground they cracked the ground under them, shocking Rose.
"How much do those things weigh?" Rose asked in disbelief.
DJ just shrugged as he turned to face the Ursaring. "Alright big guy, let's dance."
The Ursaring roared in response and charged DJ. DJ quickly jumped to the side to avoid the Ursaring's charge. He then jumped at him and hit it in the back with a force palm.
The Ursaring roared in pain and spun around and tried to hit DJ with a glowing arm. Seeing the attack DJ ducked low to the ground to avoid the hammer arm. He retaliated by kicking the Ursaring with a blaze kick. In response the Ursaring swiped at DJ with a slash attack.
Seeing the attack DJ countered with a shadow claw, though it did not hurt the Ursaring, it was able to block the slash attack and push the Ursaring back slightly and causing it to stumble. Taking advantage of the Ursaring's lapse of balance, DJ rushed forward and hit it with a force palm.
"Wow," Rose commented as she watched DJ dodge another swipe from the Ursaring. "He's really fast."
"Yeah he is," Katara said. "When he first started out a few months ago, DJ could barely hold his own in a fight."
"Seriously?" Rose asked in shock. "But he's able to go toe to toe with that Ursaring! How could he improve so much in in such a short amount of time?"
"He has a very good teacher." Katara answered.
"Clearly," Rose said, turning her attention back to the fight.
He really has gotten stronger, Katara thought as she remember when she first encountered DJ and how uneasy he was around people. He has changed from the one I met all those months ago. He used to be shy and unsure of his abilities. He's still shy, but he has a lot more confidence when he fights.
Katara was broken from her thoughts when the Ursaring gave another loud roar of pain. DJ had just hit the Ursaring in the center of its ring with an aura sphere, causing it to fall on its back. Before it could get up DJ jumped up and delivered a burning ax kick (and ax kick with blaze kick) to its head. The Ursaring gave on more low growl before succumbing into unconsciousness.
"Phew! That was a good work out," DJ said while wiping his brow. He then turned to the others and smiled. "Well let's keep going."
The rest of the group nodded numbly at DJ and followed him down the path, taking care when walking past the unconsciousness Ursaring.
After another five miles the group reached their destination where they said goodbye to Rose, much to Katara's relief. Rose gave them their pay and, to DJ's shock, and Katara's fury, gave DJ a kiss on the cheek as "her way of saying thank you". Leaf remained stoic over the kiss, but deep down he was laughing at the expression on Katara's face.
As they made their way back to Miracle Town Katara refused to speak to DJ. DJ,thinking that he had done something to offend Katara, had tried to apologize to her. Eventually Katara said that he did not do anything to make her mad, which further confused DJ.
When the trio finally got back to the guild house they were greeted by the sight of all the member, and Tobias, standing outside, smiles on their faces.
"Why's everyone standing outside?" Katara asked as they approached.
"We're about to go celebrate," Blitz answered.
"Celebrate what?" DJ asked.
"We got promoted to gold rank!" Grace said.
"Really?!" Katara asked. "Awesome!"
"We were waiting for you guys to get back before we headed out," Jackson said. "We're planning on going to that new restaurant that opened up."
"Cool," DJ said. "I hope they have waffles."
"Seriously, what is it with you and waffles?" Katara asked.
"What?" DJ said. "Waffles are a gift from Arceus."
"Whatever you say DJ," Katara said. "Whatever you say."
"DJ?" a voice from behind the team said.
They all turned and were greeted with the sight of a Lucario. Unlike Alistair, this Lucario was clearly young considering that its fur was a lush blue color. It stepped forward and looked at DJ with wide eyes.
"Your name," the Lucario said, her voice clearly female. "It's DJ?"
"That's me," DJ said, eyeing the Lucario warily. "Why do you ask."
The Lucario brought her paws to her mouth in shock as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"It is you," she said. Before anyone could react, she had rushed forward and enveloped DJ in a hug, shocking everyone. "I missed you so much."
"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" DJ asked.
"You don't remember me?" the Lucario asked, pushing DJ back a little, but keeping her paws on his shoulders. "It's me. Your sister."
"I think you have the wrong Riolu," DJ said as he gently pried her paws off his shoulders. "I can't be your brother because-"
"Because your a human," she finished, shocking everyone again. "I know. I'm your sister from the human world."
DJ's eyes widened at this statement. Suddenly memories of a laughing girl flashed through DJ's mind along with a name.
"Cecil?" DJ asked in shock. "Is that you?"