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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Homesick
Chapter 2:
Stockpile
Crino woke up, rooted into the patch of sand in Team Benthic's undersea abode. The Lileep withdrew his roots and looked over at the team's newest member, an Inkay still asleep on the sandy floor. Was he really some bizzare creature called a human? Crino tried to remember where he'd heard the word before, but nothing was coming to him. Haylee had obviously heard of them before, but couldn't give any specifics. Crino was pretty sure the Wimpod knew more than she claimed, but figured she had her reasons for not sharing. Not that he could fathom what those reasons might be, but he knew better than to pressure Haylee.
In any case, it was time for the team to get moving if they wanted to find a decent mission that day. "Alright team. Up and at 'em!" The two groaned, but started stirring. Haylee skittered out of the sand while David simply began floating.
As expected, everything from the previous day seemed to be real. He was still a squid, still in Team Benthic's underwater base, and still in the company of an isopod that gave him the willies and...whatever the heck Crino was supposed to be. Great. Fantastic. "So, what's on the docket for today?" he asked unenthusiastically.
"We need to head in to Silver Shore to get you officially added to the team and pick our mission for today," Crino answered, grabbing his bag and scarf. He pulled three apples out of the bag and offered two of them to his teammates. Haylee ate hers off the ground, while David used his catch tentacles to hold his up to his beak. Crino shoved the whole thing into the giant hole that comprised his face. Crunching sounds could be heard from within. David wondered briefly what Crino's mouth was like, but decided he'd rather not know.
After breakfast, the three left the house. It was still mostly dark, but David found he could see well enough. Actinia Village was mostly deserted this early in the morning, though a few of its residents were up and about. David spotted the disembodied head and hands from the previous day. Crino and Haylee were headed in the same direction he'd come into town from yesterday. David followed them out of the village, and up the sandy incline that led to the surface. David's companions couldn't swim, so they'd have to crawl out of the water, but David himself was under no such limitation. Deciding he wanted some proper air, and to get away from Haylee for a bit, David floated up, but stopped when he saw his reflection on the underside of the water's surface.
He was a blue squid with a pink, semi-transparent mantle adorned with four yellow spots. Two long catch tentacles extended from his mantle on either side of his body, while several shorter tentacles emerged from the bottom of his head. He had large eyes and a pink beak on his face. So this is me now, he thought dejectedly. "No. No this isn't me. I'm still human. I'm gonna work with Crino and Haylee as long as I need to, but then I'm going home, and I'm getting my body back." With that, he broke through the surface and took his first proper breath of air in this new world.
Surprisingly, it didn't feel much different. David could no longer feel the flow of water through his body, but other than that, breathing air was the same as breathing water. As Haylee had assured him, his telekinetic levitation still worked, allowing him to hover above the water's surface. He'd been holding on to a small hope that this world might have advanced technology, but that hope crumbled as he saw a town by the seaside, which he assumed to be Silver Shore. He was too far away to make out details, but it looked to be constructed mostly of wood and stone. Mildly disappointed, David floated off toward the shore.
Crino and Haylee emerged from the water just before he made it. "There you are," said Crino. "I thought you might've surfaced. You might want to avoid getting separated from us once we get into town though. Anyway, welcome to Silver Shore!" Crino gestured toward the town with several tentacles. "Actually, one thing just occurred to me. Remember that greeting I gave you yesterday that surprised you so much?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure where I come from that would be less of a 'greeting' and more like 'assault'. But yes, I remember it."
"Well, that sort of thing is pretty common around here. When two Maju meet for the first time, it's customary for them to strike each other. Different types of Maju have different standard greetings, and now that I think about it, I don't know what the custom for Inkay is. Probably a headbutt. If someone calls you out on it, just say you wanted to be different or something," Crino explained.
"If that's the case, why didn't Haylee 'greet' me when she first met me?" David asked, turning to the Wimpod in question.
"I mean, you were unconscious so it wasn't really appropriate. Then after you started panicking I sorta forgot," she answered. There was a chittering quality to her speech that he found somewhat creepy.
"Anyway," said Crino, "we need to head into the RA office and pick out a mission. Then we'll probably pick up some supplies, then we'll be off. Oh right, we'll need to register you as a team member while we're there. Don't either of you let me forget."
"Sounds simple enough," said David. "But before we head into town, can I talk to you in private for a bit Crino?"
"Uh sure, I guess," said the Lileep. "Haylee, you want to head in and start looking at missions?"
"R-right," said Haylee before scuttling off.
"What is it?" asked Crino.
"Well, it's about Haylee. I don't know why, but something about her makes me really uneasy. I can't explain it. I'm just...uncomfortable around her."
"Sounds like elemental phobia to me. What elements do you have?" said Crino.
David tried to remember what Haylee had said yesterday. "I think it was Psychic and...Shadow or something?"
"Psychic and Dark?" prompted Crino.
David nodded. "That was it."
"Yep, you've got elemental phobia. Haylee's a Bug, which both of your elements are weak to. It means you'll be nervous around her for a while until you get more familiar with her. It took us a bit to get used to each other since we're actually weak to each other." Crino gave a small chuckle. "From what I've heard, double weaknesses like yours usually produce a stronger phobia than normal, so no wonder you felt uneasy. Yeah, just give it a couple days and it should go away.
"Huh. Weird. Well thanks for the explanation I guess. What elements do you have, by the way?" said David.
"I'm Grass and Rock," said Crino. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"
How many of these elements are there? "No. Not right now," answered David.
"Right then, let's not keep Haylee waiting. Onward!" David rolled his eyes and followed the Lileep into town.
The sun was just starting to come up, and the early-risers of Silver Shore were beginning their day. After what he saw in Actinia Village, David was expecting some variety in the seaside town's inhabitants, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw. There were creatures that resembled many kinds of animals: birds, lizards, several types of mammals and insects. Some of the residents appeared to be made of living rock. Others looked like they were made by humans. There was one that looked like a giant bell with arms floating by. Another was, as fair as David could tell, a pair of living gears stuck together. He spotted a small candle with a purple flame hopping around. Just how many kinds of these Maju were there? As he and Crino moved through the town, it became apparent that many of them were setting up shops. Others were heading elsewhere, apparently going to other types of jobs. Still others looked to heading to the residential part of town. Perhaps they were nocturnal and were turning in for the day? Wow, these things actually have a society. I guess that was obvious when Crino talked about me needing to make a living, but I wasn't expecting this.
Eventually, David and Crino stopped in front of a large stone building with a sign on it that read "Rescue Association". The words appeared to be written in English, which took David by surprise. Above the text was a symbol that looked like a more elaborate version of Crino and Haylee's badges. It was a winged circle with a smaller circle in the middle. There were also small circles at the top, bottom, and four diagonal edges of the main circle. The main circle was gold, and each of the seven smaller ones was a different color of the rainbow. Well isn't someone fancy.
The interior of the building was plain, but elegant. There were a couple of tapestries on the walls depicting the symbol on the outside of the building. Several groups of Maju were looking at the various bulletin boards on the walls. All of them were wearing some sort of accessory; usually a scarf or bandanna, but some had armbands, bows, or other articles. They all looked to have badges, some identical to the those of Team Benthic, some more elaborate, but none as fancy as the Rescue Association logo.
Haylee came up to them from one of the boards with a slip of paper on her back. "Found one," she said. "A Dratini that needs to be rescued from Glistening Shoals. Should be a good way for David to see how this works." Crino took the paper in his tentacles and looked over it.
"Yeah, that should work. Not the best reward, but it should be a good introduction for David." He gave the paper to David, who awkwardly grabbed it with his tentacles.
'My sister went out to play in the ocean and wandered into Glistening Shoals! I was supposed to keep an eye on her! If my parents find out, I'll be in big trouble!'
Client: Totodile Gnathus
Location: Glistening Shoals
Objective: Rescue Dratini Hebi
Reward: Oran Berry
"You guys get paid in fruit?!" asked David incredulously. "Is that the currency around here?" David supposed that made some sense. This could be a primitive society that didn't have a monetary system and had a purely trade-based economy. Still, a single piece of fruit for a day's work?
"No, we have money," said Crino. "Some people just offer other rewards to rescuers in return for our service. Like I said, this isn't a particularly good reward, but we'll find other stuff in Glistening Shoals, including money, and we get to keep all of it.
"Wait, there'll just be money lying around?" asked David. Why did he need to get a job if he could just find money on the ground?
"Uh, why don't we explain it on the way there. For now we need to add you to the team," Crino answered. He led the other two farther into the building and up to a desk with a Hariyama sitting behind it.
The Hariyama looked to be doing paperwork, which struck David as a bit odd; it seemed out of place considering the creature's appearance. It looked up when Team Benthic approached. "Oh, hey there Crino. What can I do for you?"
"Morning Girtha. We've got a new team member to register," replied Crino, pointing to David. "This is David. David, this is Girtha. She's the one who originally registered Team Benthic."
David went rigid in surprise. That thing's a girl? What do the males look like? Suddenly, Girtha thrust her palm at David and struck him in the face. As with the incident with Crino the previous day, it didn't hurt, but he was taken completely by surprise and let out a startled yelp. Right. "Greetings".
"Bit slow on the uptake, Inkay. Not much of a morning person?" Girtha said with a chuckle. "You've got an interesting name; where are you from?"
Oh crap. How did we not think of this? David turned toward Crino, hoping for a way out.
"He's a friend of ours from Actinia Village. He wasn't sure about joining a rescue team, but, well, he's having a bit of a rough time right now, so he could use the job. Plus Haylee and I have been talking about getting a third member for a while now."
Girtha looked apologetic. "Ah, sorry for giving you a hard time then. Lucky for you guys you're still Basic rank, otherwise there could be problems getting a new recruit to the Association on your team. What kind of battle experience do you have, David?"
What did battle experience have to do with rescue work? "N-none" he replied slowly, very confused.
"Hmmm. You guys'll want to take some easier missions at first then until David gets a bit stronger, but he should be fine as long as you do that. "Anyway, that'll be 400 coins." Crino pulled two large coins out of his bag and placed them on Girtha's desk.
That was close thought David. Not sure I want to have to explain the human thing to everyone. What the heck is she talking about with battle and getting stronger though?
Girtha reached under her desk and pulled out a badge identical to the ones Crino and Haylee were wearing. "There's your badge. What kind of accessory would you like?"
David thought about it for a bit. I can't really get a bandana since it'll cover my mouth. There's no way I can wear a scarf with this body. David looked around for a bit. Aha. That might work. "Could I get a headband like that guy's?" he asked, pointing to a roughly spherical floating purple thing with a skull and crossbones under its face wearing a headband.
"Sure thing. We'll try to have it ready for you in a couple days. Crino, maybe you can let David handle the bag and he can pin his badge to it in the meantime?" the Hariyama suggested.
"Ah, that might work." The Lileep unfastened the bag held around his head and proffered it to David. It took the Inkay a bit to figure out how best to hold it, but he eventually found he could carry it much like a shoulder bag, with the strap going over his right catch tentacle and his left tentacle resting on the bag itself. It was a bit tight, and he couldn't move his other tentacles much, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as he expected, and it was a lot less awkward on him than strapped to Crino's head. He pinned his new badge to bag's flap.
"Alright, let's get you added to the team list." Girtha wrote something on a small piece of paper, then got up and gestured for Team Benthic to follow her. They went back out to the main lobby and up to one of the bulletin boards. This one appeared to be a list of teams, including members, grouped by rank. Looking over the list, he managed to find Team Benthic.
Team Benthic- Basic: Lileep Crino (Leader), Wimpod Haylee
Looking over the list, it looked like the order for ranks was Basic, Ally, Liberator, Exemplar. Girtha removed Team Benthic's information, and pinned up the slip of paper she'd been carrying.
Team Benthic- Basic: Lileep Crino (Leader), Wimpod Haylee, Inkay David
"And there we have it," the Hariyama said. "Anything else you needed?"
"Nope, that's it," replied Crino. "Thanks again Girtha."
"Anytime." Girtha walked back toward her desk.
So this is actually happening, thought David. I'm actually going to live like one of these creatures. Living and working with these two. I can't believe Crino would take me in so quickly. He never checked to see if I'd be any good at the job. Come to think of it, Girtha hadn't either. All it had taken to land him a job was Crino's recommendation. That and 400 coins. Is that seriously what they call their currency? David had no idea how much money that represented, but Crino had shown no hesitation to pay to add him to the team. Were Maju just inclined toward generosity? Was Crino's behavior normal? Were Maju really that trustworthy, or were they (or perhaps just Crino) just naive? David was brought back to reality by Haylee's clicking speech.
"Since this is such a simple mission, we shouldn't need much. We can probably get
everything we need from storage. We should still check out Kecleon's place though." With that, Team Benthic left the office, with David still having no idea what was going on.
Navigating the morning bustle of Silver Shore, they made it to the market area. Terrified of losing track of his new teammates, David kept his focus on them rather than gawking at the populace. They stopped in front of a stall manned by a green, bipedal lizard with a red stripe along its chest. "Good morning! What can I do for you?" asked the lizard.
"Just want to look at your inventory for today," Crino replied.
"Sure thing. Here's what we've got at the moment," the lizard said, pulling out a list of items David didn't recognize.
"We should maybe get some more oran berries. That Emera-Up Orb could be useful as well" said Crino, pointing at the list with a tentacle.
"We've got plenty of Oran berries. And with David on the team we don't need to worry as much about filling up looplets," Haylee said. "Still, it might not be a bad idea to get that one berry for later.
Crino looked back up at the Kecleon. "We'll just take an oran berry for now," he said, placing some money on the table.
"Very well, here you are." The Kecleon handed Crino a blue fruit. The team left the stall and went to a large metal box with a wheel-based locking mechanism. Crino held his badge up to the wheel. The was a clicking sound, and the Lileep opened the box. He and Haylee began discussing what to take with them and what to leave behind. Crino took the bag from David to manage the team's inventory.
"Let's take three apples, three Oran berries, and a Leppa berry just in case," said Crino.
"We should probably bring a tiny reviver seed as well," said Haylee. "David can take our spare Pecha Looplet."
"Oh, good idea. We probably don't need this totter orb. Let's save the blast seed for a harder mission. And we can store these extra apples and Leppa berries for later," said Crino. "That look good?"
Haylee looked over the bag's contents. "Yeah, that should work." Crino gave the bag back to David. "That should be everything we needed taken care of. We can head off to Glistening Shoals whenever you guys are ready."
David was a bit surprised to see Haylee taking charge like this. He still had no idea what was going on. Why did they need a bunch of fruit?
"Yep, sounds good! Oh, David, put this on." The Lileep presented him with a metal band with three depressions in it. It looked like it was made of brass. "That's a Pecha Looplet. It'll prevent you from getting poisoned. Once we get to Glistening Shoals, if we find any emeras, you can put 'em in those slots." David's confusion must've shown. "Don't worry, we'll explain everything on the way."
David was only slightly reassured. What kind of job was this where he'd have to worry about getting poisoned? He slipped the looplet onto his right catch tentacle. Its shape changed to fit more snuggly. David gasped in surprise and stared at it for a bit. What the heck was this place? That box that seemed to recognize Crino's badge. This weird looplet thing. Was there more advanced technology here than it first seemed? Were these things leftovers from an advanced, long lost civilization? Was he in some backwater settlement away from the world's major tech hubs? Haylee and Crino were looking at him expectantly. "Right, let's go."
The team walked, skittered, and floated through town until they came to an exit leading to a beach. David didn't think it was the way they'd come in this morning, but he couldn't tell for sure. As they left Silver Shore, Crino spoke up. "Alright. Guess I'd better explain a bit about what's going on."
"That would be helpful, yes," David replied. "This doesn't sound like what I was expecting when you said you guys were 'rescuers.'"
"Where to begin. Do you know what a Distortion is?" asked Crino.
"Like something that's...messed up or not what it's supposed to be like?"
"I guess not," said Crino. "Distortions are...how do I put this. They're areas where the fabric of space and time are...well...distorted. Haylee, you could probably explain this better than me."
What am I getting myself into? thought David, his eyes wide.
"Like Crino said, Distortions, also known as Anomalies, are places where space and time don't work quite like they're supposed to," said Haylee. "They're mazes that periodically rearrange themselves. Time doesn't work quite the way it's supposed to either; you heal a lot faster inside a Distortion, but you also get hungry a lot faster. That's why we're bringing those apples. Sometimes it seems like time passes a little faster or a little slower while you're in one, but no one's been able to confirm if there's actually any difference."
David did not like where this was going. "Once you enter a Distortion, it's hard to leave," continued Haylee. "The entrance seals itself behind you. Usually the only way out is to find the exit." David really didn't like where this was going. "There are a few other ways to get out though. If you faint inside a Distortion and no one who came in with you is around, you get ejected, but you'll lose most of what you had on you. There's also an item called an escape orb that warps you back outside."
"And let me guess: Glistening Shoals is one of these Distortions," said David. "Why doesn't everyone stay as far away from these places as possible?"
"Two reasons: one, there's always treasure. Remember how Crino said we'd find a bunch of stuff in Glistening Shoals? There's literally money and valuable items just lying around. And two, Distortions spread. They appear randomly and take over an area. Once a Distortion appears, it slowly expands. They don't show up very often, and they spread really slowly, but they're unavoidable. Sometimes the only way to get somewhere is to go through a Distortion."
"And that's where we come in," said Crino. "Distortions are full of feral Maju. They can be dangerous if you're not prepared. It's our job as rescuers to save people lost in Distortions and recover items they've lost."
David stopped in his metaphorical tracks. "You guys are crazy you know that. We're just gonna rush into some crazy dimensional anomaly filled with wild animals? Did you guys even bring weapons?"
"We shouldn't need any for this mission," replied Crino. "The wild Maju in Glistening Shoals are pretty weak. Our attacks'll take care of 'em."
"All Maju have natural powers they can use in battle," added Haylee. "That includes us. Once we get in there you'll figure it out. Remember how easily floating came to you? Just trust your instincts."
But I'm not a Maju. I'm a human. This sounded incredibly dangerous. But Crino and Haylee seemed to think it was no big deal. In fact, they'd emphasized how easy it would be. Any further ruminations were interrupted by their arrival at Glistening Shoals.
"We're here!" announced Crino. David looked out at the ocean and saw that the air was rippling like a heat haze. He immediately saw why these places were called Distortions. But it didn't look like a maze. Through the blurry air he could discern several sand bars out in the ocean. Aside from the rippling in the air, it looked completely normal. "Alright," continued Crino, "once we enter that hazy area we'll be in the Distortion proper. It's going to be a bit strange, but we're well-prepared for this. Just stick with us and you'll be fine," Crino reassured him.
"Alright…" said David hesitantly. This still sounded like a really bad idea.
"Let's all go in together," suggested Crino. Might make it a bit easier if you're nervous." The three lined up side-by-side, David in the middle with Crino on his right and Haylee on his left. They approached the edge of the rippling air, and, at the same time, passed through it.