A long, sleep-deprived night passed before I was woken up from a light sleep by the scorching desert sun in my eyes. Letting out a weary moan as I sat up to blink the colored spots out of my eyes, I noticed Rye was already sitting idly across from me, leaning out the window to talk with who I guessed was Cap'n Brine. He quickly noticed me and got to his feet.
"Morning, Beck. Uh, we're all up a little earlier than expected, I guess.", he chuckled.
"That's fah the best, eh.", Cap'n Brine's voice rang from outside the window. "Back when I was a wee Wingull servin' in the Ten Years War, they'd throw yeh into the water if ya snoozed out at sea. Now, you go an' get a move on, Feraligatr's prolly waitin' for ya." Rye looked back out with a start.
"What? Y-you're not...?", he asked.
"Ah, Feraligatr said she'd bring me an Oran while me leg quits smarting.", he responded. "She said she'd be o'er at the cafe joss down the street."
Rye, his prior cheeriness gone, swallowed hard and nodded, prompting the Pelipper to presumably fly back up to the roof. As we collected our things, I couldn't help but notice how nervous he seemed to be about what was coming. Handing our bag to him, I put my paw on his arm.
"Shaa.", I said reassuringly, only to be met with a forlorn gaze. I didn't understand what this was about; I mean, Officer Feraligatr was pretty nice from what I could tell, why was Rye...
'...oh. Feraligatr.
Yeah, should have figured.'
With this in mind, I followed Rye out into the arid morning air. As the police-mon had said, Bassa Town did seem to be built around the sun-bleached ruins of an old town; even the roads had patches of faded asphalt. As for Feraligatr's house, it looked to have been built on top of a concrete foundation, maybe an old apartment or shop. Of course, most of the ruins seemed to have been worn down by years of erosion, though I guessed the Pokémon that had taken up residence here had worked to preserve what was left. With sunlight now making my surroundings clear, I could clearly see the fragmented Unown-script in the architecture around me. Although only limited to a few faded letters, they held a twinge of familiarity to them, unlike the strange footprint runes. Maybe if I got up closer, I could actually read them...?
I couldn't actually do this, as I ended up tripping over a passing Sandile when I tried. Earning a scraped leg and a dubious look from Rye, I got to my feet and kept trudging along. It wasn't long after that when we found the restaurant Cap'n Brine had mentioned, where Officer Feraligatr was waiting at a table for us. She offered a cock of her head and a small nod of greeting as we found a seat across from her.
"You're here early. Haven't even gotten my food yet.", she muttered. handing us a couple of small cups.
"Tea? Wasn't cheap, it's made from Energy Roots.", she offered. Reluctantly taking a sip, I quickly spit it out as a bitter taste attacked my tongue. While the herbs in the tea did make me feel more awake, I decided I'd settle for the water provided instead. As an unamused Feraligatr looked on, Rye cleared his throat.
"S-so... uh, you wanted to talk to us, ma'am?", he asked.
"Mhm, about the outlaw mission. Say, which Guild you in from?", Feraligatr questioned.
"Uh, Arcanine's."
An amused grin crossed Feraligatr's maw as she leaned forward.
"So I guess that'd make you Team Reach, then.", she said.
"Hwha?", I asked, only for her to smirk and nod.
"Yup, definitely Reach. I heard about you from explorers from Arcanine's.", she said before pausing. "Say, if you're in Arcanine's, do you know how Arden and his group are doing?"
Seeing our confused looks, she straightened up.
"They stopped by here on their way to Buried Palace a year back and had a few drinks with me and the squad. I guess I got a bit too rowdy, because the Leafeon kept givin' me death glares come morning. I've heard Arden had to knock some sense into me, whatever I was doing, so y'know, that was probably justified. I mean, other than that little incident, they do seem like the friend group I wouldn't mind beating Kyurem's face in with."
After a bit of quiet between us, she cleared her throat.
"So, Treecko here really found you in a dungeon, then?", she asked me. I nodded slowly and shamefully, getting another warm but slightly unnerving smile.
"Well, if you didn't piss on my floor last night, then you're good in my book.", she reasoned. "Now, then, those outlaws you two came here for. To be honest, I'm a little bummed you're taking care of these guys, not much has happened 'round here since Tyranitar's armies left fifteen years back. The outlaws tried to rob the Kecleon in town square, then booked it yesterday. We've already gone and looked through their little nest, and we've tracked them to the Arid Riverbed dungeon just north of here. Now, where you come in: if the rescue team that stopped by earlier doesn't find them, you will."
As we took in this information, a Diggersby who had suddenly appeared by our table plopped a tray of food in front of her.
"Right after I finish this.", she quickly added before she started to messily shovel the eggs and meat into her jaws.
Sparing the details, I'll just say I was glad all that was in my stomach at the time was root tea and water.
"You're askin' if oi can fly ya to the dungeon? You sayin' I'm 'bout tah let a lil' tumble get me down after oi flew all the way here? Oh, yah've cut me deep, laddies.", Cap'n Brine said.
After sitting through Officer Feraligatr's grotesque display of sustenance, we had followed her back to her house to consult Cap'n Brine about carrying us to Arid Riverbed. Evidently, he didn't need much convincing. Pulling out a map, Feralgatr pointed to a small spot just above what I could guess was Bassa Town.
"Arid Riverbed's five miles north of here. If Pelipper's right about how fast he can fly, then I'd say it'll be a ten-minute flight at the longest.", she told us.
As we prepared our bag and senses for another trip in Brine's bill, Feraligatr pulled me aside, and squatted down to meet my gaze.
"How are you in a fight, Oshawott?", she asked. "Arid Riverbed's mostly Ground and Rock-types, but I'd still want to make sure I could hold my own."
My less-than-stellar performance in Amber Meadow flashed through my head. I shrugged, prompting a hum from Feraligatr.
"Okay, then. Get your... er, shell thing and get into a stance.", she said. I reluctantly pulled my scalchop off my chest and got into the requested battle stance. Feraligatr clicked her tongue as she looked over me.
"For starters, your grip on the shell there is ass, you won't be able to strike as well as you could otherwise, and you'll end up tearing away at it; look, you've already started to there. Also, that stance is too wide, you aren't balanced at all.", she said. To prove this, she put her hand on my chest and gave a hard push, sending me falling backwards with a yelp. Groaning, I got back to my feet as Feraligatr watched.
"Back into stance.", she ordered.
"Shaagh...", I whined as I returned to my footing. Looking behind me, all I got was a sympathetic look from Rye. Without any other option, I tried to take Feraligatr's advice, only to end up back on the sand. Frustratedly repeating the process, I narrowed my stance further. Receiving another push from Feraligatr, I merely stumbled back this time. Giving me a satisfied grin, she then picked my scalchop up off the sand and grasped it by its tail end.
"You see this? This is how you were holding this thing. This is a proper grip, here.", she said, adjusting her grip so that it was wrapped around a side end of the scalchop.
"Don't know much about this thing, but I'm assuming it's like most other melee weapons in that it works best like this. Sure, you might find it a bit hard holding it like this since you, uh, don't have fingers yet, but..."
She proceeded to swing the scalchop into a nearby wall with a loud yell, leaving a deep gash.
"I think the results pay off."
As Rye shuddered behind me, she tossed the scalchop back into my paws.
"That's about all I've got for you, Oshawott. Last time I tried teaching techniques, half the station got blown sky-high.", she said. She then seemed to notice Rye out of the corner of her eye and turned to him. He shrunk back as she approached him.
"How 'bout you, Treecko? I'm a Water-type, but I think I can..."
She trailed off as Rye scrambled away to cower behind Cap'n Brine. Feraligatr just gave him a long stare in response, her eyes turning soft and sad. As she sighed and straightened herself up, she turned to Brine.
"Alright, Pelipper, stay outside of the dungeon and keep an eye out. If they don't come back by nightfall, come back and tell me, and I'll do what I can.", she requested. Rye's head snapped up from behind Brine in response.
"Y-you're not coming?", he warily asked. Feraligatr's expression turned sullen as she hung her head.
"Urgh... I'm sorry, Treecko. I don't do mystery dungeons. Nothing against you two, it's just... my little brother got killed by the one in Mount Twist... I can't..."
Rye reluctantly put his hand on her back, an unreadable expression on his face.
"I... uh, i-it's okay, w-we get it...", he said quietly. Feraligatr gave a small smile.
"Thanks for understanding, kid.", she muttered. With that, she got up and started for the road as Cap'n Brine made his final preparations. As Rye stared off beside me, I went to pick up our bag, only to find it seemed heavier than usual. Confused, I opened it, only to be met with a small mix of seeds and berries that most definitely hadn't been there this morning.
"Sh-sha!", I called after Feraligatr. She turned around and gave us one last crocodile smile.
"Keep 'em. You'll need them. A Reviver Seed ain't bad, but it's not enough, either.", she called before she turned onto the road and disappeared behind her house. Rye and I exchanged looks before we turned to climb into Cap'n Brine's still foul-smelling bill. As we adjusted ourselves, Rye stopped sulking for a minute to scrunch his nose.
"Beck, please remind me to bring mint if we ever fly like this again.", Rye whispered to me as we felt the lurch of Brine's taking off.
The flapping of wings prompted Feraligatr to stop and look over her shoulder to watch Brine fly away, Team Reach peeking out of his bill. Taking a moment to watch them shrink into the distance, she stoically sighed.
"That Treecko...", she muttered to herself.
Surely that couldn't have been him, right? The Treecko she had known back in Twistfoot Town those years ago had been so much more confident and outgoing than this one, and he wouldn't have ever allowed himself to not evolve for all these years... then again, that fear and sadness in his eyes when he was around her...
"No. It wasn't him... couldn't have been..."
She clenched her fists as she continued down the road towards the station. As she reached the building, she took another look up at the now barely visible Cap'n Brine against the noon sky. Staring for another moment, she hung her head.
"...if it's really you... I know you can't hear me, but I didn't mean what I said, I was young and rash. If I had known what that would do to you...", she whispered before slinking into the building. Ignoring her coworkers' hails, she sat down and let out a long, shaky sigh.
"If it's really you, Rye... I may have said otherwise, but it wasn't your fault..."
As Feraligatr had said, the flight to Arid Riverbed was short and painless, a good five minutes at least. After a far smoother landing on Cap'n Brine's end, we climbed out of his bill to find ourselves on a stone path that, as with Amber Meadow, was adorned with a large warning sign and slowly dissolved as it trailed into the mystery dungeon. Unlike the Meadow, however, there was a small outpost just off to the side, presumably for explorers like us.
"Ye laddies stay safe, now. Oi'd hate to have ya get your guts eaten out, y'know.", Cap'n Brine said as we looked down the road. Spitting out our bag, he headed into the outpost, leaving us alone. Rye turned to give me an unsure look.
"Y-you sure we're ready for this, Beck?", he questioned. I gave him a reassuring smile in response, Feraligatr's advice having filled me with confidence.
"Shyah!", I declared. With that, Rye, giving me a nervous sideways glance, started forwards as I followed, my head held high.
'Don't you worry, Rye, we will do this, we can't not do this. We've gone too far to disappoint everyone. Show us what you've got, Arid Riverbed!'
Arid Riverbed
1F
'I may have gotten just a bit too confident.'
Within minutes of our entering Arid Riverbed, we had found a light breeze picking up. This breeze had quickly intensified, turning into a large sandstorm as we trudged on through the dungeon. We quickly found ourselves grateful that the dungeon's paths were marked by deep trenches snaking through the ground, though the sand flowing in from above was a fair concern of ours.
We only ran into a couple of Drilbur during our unpleasant trudge, which we were able to chase off with simple Water Guns and Mega Drains. Despite our luck in this regard, we still found ourselves getting struck by the occasional flying rock, leaving several bleeders around my body. While Rye was about as miserable as I was, he at least didn't have to worry about having fur. Twenty minutes of this had left me with just short of a metric fuckton of sand in my fur coat, no doubt discoloring my figure and leading to some quite unpleasant smarting as it got into my wounds. Worse still was the idea that I'd probably be leaving random sand particles wherever I went for the next month at least.
At present, we were trying to feel around a larger chamber with our eyes clenched shut, as to not sting them any further with flying sand. Squinting ahead, I noticed a large, dark shape ahead.
'A staircase!'
"Rye! Sh-", I started to yell over the wind, though this quickly devolved into spitting and coughing as a cloud of sand flew into my mouth. Rye seemed to get the message, though, and grabbing my paw, dragged me up the staircase, eager to hopefully escape the storm.
Arid Riverbed
2F
'Hah, of course not.'
The second floor was, of course, not much different from the first. More annoying ferals, more stinging, more envying Rye's scaly hide. This kept consistent to the point that I started to suspect this whole dungeon was just some cruel joke designed to annoy anyone who went in. However, the first sign that this wouldn't be just the annoyance I had expected came about ten minutes after we entered the floor. We were trying to navigate through a large valley in the sand as per usual when the monotony was broken in an unwelcome way.
"CROOHK!"
A loud roar rang over the howling of the wind. Forcing our eyes open, we spun around to find ourselves faced with a Krokorok, swishing its tail and snapping its jaws in challenge. Used to this by now, we charged in for an attack, hitting the Krokorok in the chest. Unfortunately, it seemed it wasn't alone, as two others followed close behind, and they clearly weren't very happy about our attacking their leader. Before we could do anything, they pounced on us.
With a powerful Mud-Slap, I was sent flying down a nearby path, one of the Krokorok taking notice and chasing after me. Panicking, I fired off a Water Gun at the beast, only for it to simply wince and continue stomping after me. Backing down the hall and into another valley, I pulled my scalchop off my chest and prepared to strike.
'You grip on the shell there is ass.'
Feraligatr's words echoed through my mind as I realized that, contrary to her advice, I was gripping the shell by its tail end. Gritting my teeth, I backed further into the valley as to buy more time to readjust my grip. The Krokorok charged at me, its black eyes trained on my own as it opened its jaws for a Bite attack. Just as it got close enough to attack, I swung my scalchop and struck it on the roof of its mouth. It roared in pain and jumped back as blood began to dribble out of its mouth. Taking advantage of this, I fired another Water Gun into its face, finally taking down the monster.
As I stood there panting over the bloodied Krokorok, the adrenaline from the encounter began to wear off. I again became aware of the stinging of my wounds, the sand that had blown into my mouth, and the jagged pebbles that lodged themselves into my flesh. However, as I began to return to coherence, that wasn't my main concern at the time.
"Rye?", I called out.
No response was heard over the howling wind.
"RYE!"
Still nothing. I ran to go up the hall I had gone down, only to find two paths presented before me. My eyes burning from the sand, I stared hopelessly at the twin trenches as the weight of what had just happened hit me like a Machamp's Mach Punch.
I was lost in a mystery dungeon, I was stuck in the middle of a sandstorm, and my friend, who not only was my only company but also had the bag, was who knows where by now, probably suffering some painful fate at the paws of those Krokorok.
…
…
Fuck.