DarkFoxKit: *crosses out some names on a list* These people are all incompetent! That's 500 dollars down the drain! *Slashes up the list in a fit of anger*
Dust: *Was nodding while sitting next to her* Oh I agree. They should've put more effort into helping more, instead of what they came up with.
Traveling Master: *I was rather surprised seeing DF and Dust agreeing with one another, and that the former hadn't attacked Dust yet*
DarkFoxKit: So, readers, let us inform you a bit on the situation. We won't say what exactly it is, because WE don't even know at this point! I had been to the hospital several times these past few weeks now. I've been diagnosed with something very serious, and the treatment I was told to get would cause ill side effects on the long term. Which I rather not have to deal with in the future. However, the one who diagnosed me was a 500 dollar specialist who didn't do crap to really tell what it was exactly, he only told me what he saw, and because he's an expert, he already knows what it is apparently. Even though what it is doesn't add up at all to me, because I never did anything that could've possibly caused it. So now I'm in a situation where I don't know what to do or what treatment to get, and because of this, it's been difficult to focus on writing at the moment.
Traveling Master: We are grateful for all the comments you left behind during our last announcement, and are grateful for your patience. We did manage to finish another chapter, which is why we are updating this story, but just as we mentioned before, Crusaders of Dusk may still go on temporary hiatus. We truly do love this story and wish to continue, but when it comes to one's health, that comes first. We are hoping for the best, and that DF won't have to go through this for much longer.
DarkFoxKit: I will say, this is the very short and simple version I'm giving you readers. If you want the full story, you'll have to PM me for that. There's a lot more going on than what I was ranting about. If anyone knows anything medical, or knows someone who does, I would appreciate having some kind of second opinion that won't cost me an arm and a leg to get.
Traveling Master: Any help would be appreciated. But for now, we hope you enjoy this chapter, and we thank you for sticking with us this far, for enjoying the story, and for being patient with us.
DarkFoxKit: We will try to keep going despite these hard and scary times, just don't expect fast updates right now, okay?
Chapter 28: Surviving the Tournament
Eclipse and Dust came back into the waiting room of the Unity Guild's team. Everyone looked at the two Absol anxiously, especially Berry and Shab.
Eclipse walked up to Berry, who had Shab on her head again.
"Thank you for letting me have some time to speak with my son," Eclipse said before turning her attention to Berry. "Now there's just one last thing I need to take care of."
Berry looked at Eclipse stiffly, trying not to appear as nervous as she felt, though her body was sweating quite a bit. Shab frowned a little.
"Dust had told me everything that has happened since you two had become partners, of the many times my son's life was put in danger, how he had almost died more than once. Is everything he said true? Especially his first time when he was in a coma?" Eclipse questioned Berry, watching her closely.
"Mother I already-" Dust tried to explain to Eclipse, only for her to cut him off with a glare. She then returned her gaze back to Berry.
Berry tried her best not to stutter her words, she assumed that Dust told Eclipse how she almost accidentally killed him when her goo poisoned him. "Y-yes… it's true… B-but I promise I took responsibility for what happened and personally went to get him a cure."
Eclipse stared at Berry for a moment, the others in the room all watching and waiting to see her reaction.
"From what I've heard, you did something so irresponsible, so idiotic that by all means, you should have your title as a Crusader revoked! You had disobeyed your Guild Master, included others in your lies and risked your life in a dangerous Dungeon!" Eclipse yelled, causing Berry to flinch. But then Eclipse's expression softened as she gave a small smile. "And because of all that, you saved the life of my son, and I am forever grateful for what you have done."
Everyone looked at Eclipse in shock, they thought for sure she was going to keep reprimanding Berry, until she showed her gratitude at the end, it caught many off guard, especially Berry herself. Berry was so caught off guard that her body slumped down into her own pile of sweat goo. Shab looked down at Berry in concern.
"Berry?" The Feebas questioned in concern.
Eclipse chuckled a bit before she spoke up. "I understand that you and my son have been through a lot. I was able to see it during your battle, and I was surprised when Dust told me that you two had remained as partners since the beginning," Eclipsed paused for a moment as she noticed the Everstone that was tied around Berry's neck. She looked at Berry, deep in thought before finally continuing. "I may not know your past before joining the guild, but I can tell that you have grown a lot. But there will still be many challenges in the future that you may come across, difficult decisions you will have to make. But as long as you remember who you are and what you stand for, you'll be able to face any challenge, any difficulties or changes that will come your way."
Berry looked up at Eclipse, returning her body to normal. "Oh, uh… t-thank you, M-Mrs. Eclipse."
"Eclipse is just fine, calling one Mrs makes one feel a bit old," Eclipse smiled.
"But mother, aren't you-" Dust was about to say Eclipse's age, only for her to give him another glare. "Right, nevermind."
Eclipse sighed before she addressed Dust and Berry. "Congratulations on your first match. I look forward to seeing your future matches. And good luck to you all, but something tells me you are not going to really need it. You all seem very skilled, and I'm curious to see how your matches will go too."
Eclipse looked at Dust before heading towards the exit. As soon as she left the room, everyone gave a sigh of relief.
"That was…" Ivy began.
"Intense…" Talon finished, ruffling his feathers.
"Yeah, she tends to be like that," Dust commented. "Even now, despite being her son, I still haven't gotten used to her pressure."
"I think Berry got the worst of it though…" Tippi remarked.
Berry looked to be frozen on the spot. Shab began to hop on her head, trying to snap her out of it.
"Actually, I think Mother might like Berry," Dust remarked before laughing a bit. "Oh, could you imagine how she would react if you hadn't saved me, Berry? If you guys thought she was intense now...I shudder to think of what she would have done."
"I've gotta find out how she puts out such pressure like that, it's gotta be more than just her ability…" Jessie muttered.
"Woooobbefett!" Wobbeffet remarked.
"Uh… Berry? Are you going to be okay?" Roxy asked in concern to the Goomy.
"I hope she'll be okay." Shab frowned.
Dust noticed how stressed Berry was and realized his recent comment might have only made things worse. "But it's okay now! Mother understands what you did and like she said, she's grateful for what you've done. She actually likes you! That's a good thing, you are on her good side now! Trust me, it's way better than being on her bad side."
"She might need some water," Cobra suggested.
"Does anyone here have a Water move?" Caper asked.
James looked at Jessie. "Didn't you say you wanted to learn how to use Bubblebeam at one point?"
Jessie crossed her arms and turned her head away. "It didn't work out."
"Berry! Please snap out of it!" Shab called before he took a deep breath, then jumped up a little high before trying to use some kind of move on Berry. Instead of Ice Beam, which Dust was afraid Shab would do in a desperate attempt to snap Berry out of it, splutter of what appeared to be a possible water move came out of the Feebas's mouth.
The sprinkles of water were, thankfully, all Berry needed to snap out of her frozen state.
"Wah!? What's happening!? I didn't almost endanger your son on purpose! I… uh… she's gone?" Berry blinked.
"Oh my sweet Berry! Are you alright?" Shab asked.
Berry looked at Shab for a moment, who had landed in front of her. "I… I'm a little shaken up, but I should be alright."
"Did the Feebas just use some kind of Water move?" Swiper asked. "Did he have a Water move?"
"Not that I know of," Caper answered.
"Interesting," Dust noted. "While normally Feebas only have a limited amount of moves they could use, we did talk about teaching Shab a Water type move. I wasn't expecting him to be able to even make any form of water this early. You might actually be able to learn a new Water move before our next match."
"He likely learned it through sheer determination to help Berry," Slash noted.
"You used a Water move to help me?" Berry asked Shab in surprise.
"I… wouldn't say it's an actual move, more like a sprinkler, but since it helped you then I'm happy that I was able to use it at all." Shab smiled.
Berry gave Shab a smile of her own. "Thanks for that, Shab."
Shab started to blush. "A-anything for you, Berry."
"And sorry about my Mother. As you saw earlier, she can be very intimidating," Dust apologized. "But like I said, I think she is rather fond of you."
"Really? It was rather difficult to tell if she liked me or not," Berry replied. "If that's her good side, I would hate to see what her bad side is like…"
"I think we all do," Talon agreed.
Dust shuddered, thinking of the many times he was on Eclipse's bad side. "It's not pretty, I can tell you that much."
After Berry's encounter with Eclipse, Dust decided to take Berry and Shab out to look around the tournament's stands. It would do Berry some good to relax after her first conversation with his mother, and he also hoped that after they relax, they could train Shab a little bit on using a Water move effectively. Dust also wanted to see some of the upcoming matches, at least the ones where his fellow guildmates were a part of. But Dust and his team were the only ones from Unity Guild to have fought so far, so he didn't mind looking around for a bit.
There was a lot of stuff to look at. There were little gift shops for the tourists to buy for during their visit in the tournament. There were also things in the gift shop teams could buy to use as items for battle as well, like orbs and seeds. There were a lot of different stands selling different kinds of food. Many of them smelled wonderfully to Dust, he could also hear the sizzling sound of food being cooked. There was also a stand that served fresh squeezed berry juices.
"It's like the rank up tournament is also a tourist trap," Berry remarked as she looked around from Dust's back.
"There's so many things we could do here!" Shab smiled excitedly. "Where to first?"
"Hard to say," Dust remarked. "Maybe we can get some drinks, I don't think eating in the middle of a tournament would benefit us much, especially if one of us got an upset stomach during one of our matches."
"It's still important that we eat though, fighting on an empty stomach would weaken us," Berry pointed out. "We could, however, eat light, so we don't get stomach cramps in the middle of battle."
Dust nodded as he surveyed the stands nearby. While he was fine with eating whatever food they had to offer, Dust knew that Berry was sensitive when it came to meat and recalled what happened when Al forced fed her some meat. He spotted a stand that seemed like they mostly made berry related food and headed towards there.
"Hello, welcome to our stand," A Cacnea greeted. "We specialize in berry related dishes or drinks. How may I help you today?"
Dust looked at the sign, trying to decide what to get. Without looking back, he called out to Berry and Shab. "What looks good to you? I'm thinking maybe the...Desert Flower. Looks rather good."
"Hmm… I might get the Pinap and Pecha Berry salad," Berry said.
"I"ll get whatever Berry's getting," Shab replied.
"Alright, one Desert Flower and two Pinap and Pecha Berry salad, coming right up!" Cacnea happily exclaimed.
Cacnea went to the back to get their orders ready as a Cacturne walked up to them.
"Ah, you are Team Night Tide, right?" Cacturne asked.
Dust nodded before replying. "That is correct."
"I must say, your match was quite impressive," The Cacturne remarked.
"Thank you, we did our best," Dust then noticed something a bit strange about the way the Cacturne spoke. "I'm sorry, but the way you speak, it's rather interesting. I haven't heard anything like that before."
"Oh, you mean my accent? Well we come from a pretty far place. Back home we live more in a desert like area," Cacturne explained.
"Then what brings you all the way here?" Dust asked.
"For the tournament, of course. In case you haven't noticed, there are all kinds of Pokemon here. Many come and travel for the sake of entertainment. And while all the participating fighters provide such entertainment, we help by providing other necessities, such as foods, items, and such," Cacturne explained. "Me and my family come every few months, and it seems we were rather lucky to come to today's tournament. I've never seen this many Pokemon attend before...despite what happened before."
Berry frowned a little at that ominous comment. "What do you mean by 'despite what happened before'?"
"Well...I've been doing this job for some time now, and I noticed some strange things happening from time to time," Cacturne explained. "Pokemon would go missing, and you'd think they would shut down the tournament or something, but then days later they would show up. Now you wouldn't think that too strange, maybe they just left town or something. But I remember the last time I was here, I ran into one of those Pokemon who went missing."
"Did they say anything about why they were 'missing'?" Shab asked curiously. "Pokemon don't just 'go missing' then come back as if nothing happened."
"Well it doesn't help that even they don't remember what happened. But that's not the worse part," Cacturne then leaned real close so he could whisper. "The worst part was their eyes. One look and you can tell that there's hardly any life in them. It's like they're an empty shell, a former shadow of themselves."
Berry shivered at that, it sounded like something straight out of a horror story. "Does that… actually happen? Is it still happening? Why has nobody made a report about this? Or do any investigation?"
"Most Pokemon want to pretend nothing is wrong. The missing Pokemon came back, and surely they would recover from whatever was ailing them, why cause inconvenience and potential panic and unease among the tourist over something that would fix itself eventually? That's likely the mindset most Pokemon have about it," Cacturne replied with a shrug.
"I can understand why most would pretend nothing is wrong. But still, to act as though nothing bad is happening? That's like ignoring a very stressed Electrode that's on the verge of exploding. It may not explode now, but eventually, it will go off," Dust commented.
Cacturne shrugged. "That may be, but until they figure out what's going on, others will just keep on treating everything as though it's normal. I suggest you keep your eyes open, especially with this many Pokemon attending today's tournament."
Dust was about to inquire more from the Cacturne, but then the Cacnea caught his attention by bringing their meal, each in a boxed container. "Sorry about the wait, hope you enjoy."
"Uh...Thank you," Dust grabbed the boxes and placed them in his bag. "Cacturne, anything else we should know?"
"Just don't go to the arena when it's empty," Cacturne said. "Some say they would hear something creepy when there's nobody else there."
Berry shivered again. It definitely sounds like something out of a horror story!
"We'll be sure to keep that in mind then," Shab remarked.
Though Dust was more intrigued than scared.
After their meal, Dust decided to take them to the arena, where another battle was taking place. He was looking for a seat they could sit on to watch the fight. It took a minute, but Dust was able to find three empty seats for him, Berry and Shab. After taking their seats, Dust took out the boxed containers and after figuring out which one went to who, handed them to Berry and Shab. When Dust turned his attention to the arena, he was expecting to at least see another team from the Unity Guild fighting, but so far it seems only his team were the first ones to fight from the guild.
Berry and Shab were watching the battle between two unfamiliar teams, though Berry was intrigued by some of the strategy or moves these Pokemon would make. She also wanted to keep in mind what their strategy was like in case they would have to battle against them as well.
Then, finally, Patricia the announcer Mawile, came on the stage to announce the next team that would be battling. "We have Team Ice Climbers from the Frosty Guild against Team Rocket from the Unity Guild!"
Patricia then went on to introduce each member of Team Ice Climbers. Dust recognized the two electric Pokemon, Plusle and Minum, but the third member is what caught his attention. He could tell that it was some sort of Sandshrew, but the ones he has seen before had a sandy color to them. Dust started wondering if this Sandshrew was perhaps a shiny, but even then, this one looked too different from a regular one, more than just a color.
"Oh, interesting," Berry remarked. "I've never seen a Sandshrew like that one before."
"I believe it is a Sandshrew not of this climate or region," Shab informed. "That's why it's different from most Sandshrew you're used to seeing around here."
"So it's kinda like with Sunny and Twilight," Berry realized.
"Never was expecting to see a different kind of Sandshrew. Makes me wonder what other kinds of Pokemon we will be seeing," Dust noted.
Though they could already see Team Ice Climbers, they didn't see Team Rocket anywhere.
"Where are Team Rocket…? They didn't go out for some food and didn't realize it was their turn, did they?" Berry asked in concern.
"I hope not," Dust agreed.
"And now, introducing-" Patricia started, but then suddenly her mike was cut off.
Dust saw that Patricia was saying something, even tapping her microphone, but no noise could be heard. Suddenly, from the far end of the arena's entrance, heavy smoke started coming from within. Dust noticed some strange music started playing too, though he couldn't tell where the source was coming from.
Everyone began looking around in surprise and curiosity. Then suddenly, the lights around them dimmed. Then a spotlight suddenly shined down on a Meowth. "Are you prepared for trouble?~"
Then another spotlight shined on a Pikachu. "And are you ready to make it double?"
"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie began.
"To unite all Pokemon within our nation," James added.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love," Jessie continued.
"To extend our reach to the stars above!" James shouted.
"Jessie!" Jessie introduced.
"James!" James followed after.
Then Team Rocket surprised everyone by somehow leaping high into the air, the spot lights still following after them. Despite the heavy smoke, for a moment, Dust saw some sort of jump pad where Team Rocket was previously at.
While in the air, Jessie continued her line. "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
The two of them landed gracefully on the arena, with James adding another line. "Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
Then Wobbuffet suddenly appeared behind them, as if he teleported himself there. "Woooobbuffet!"
The music stopped, the lights came back on, the spotlights vanished, and the smoke vanished as well.
"We totally nailed it!" Jessie grinned.
"All those practices finally paid off!" James agreed.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet nodded.
All the audience were sweatdropping, and not seeming to know how to react. Patricia walked towards them while clapping her hands. "That was nice, very fancy, a great way to introduce yourselves to everyone."
Then when Patricia got in close, she gave a warning hiss. "But don't ever do that again. This isn't a circus for you to go showing off acrobatics and hijacking the stage lights."
James and Wobbuffet flinched by Patricia's sudden warning. Team Rocket all nodded.
"She seemed so sweet," James whispered.
"Wobbu," Wobbuffett nodded.
"Hmph, some Pokemon just don't understand true art," Jessie whispered back.
"Now then!" Patricia spoke up on the microphone as though nothing was wrong, and she made her way back to the center of the stage. "It's time for the battle between Team Ice Climbers and Team Rocket to begin!"
As soon as the battle started, Plusle and Minun suddenly began to hop around, then put their tails together, creating blue electricity around them both, which also surrounded the icy Sandshrew.
"What are they doing?" Berry asked in surprise.
"It looks like they're using the move Helping Hand, which powers up their teammates," Dust explained.
James got down on all fours and ran at the Plusle and Minun quickly, leaving a silver streak of light behind him. The icy Sandshrew quickly stood in front of James, blocking his attack from his teammate. James ended up running into the icy Sandshrew, though the icy Sandshrew seemed to have taken the hit quite easily.
"Whoa, it looked like that Sandshrew barely felt that Quick Attack at all," Berry noted.
"This regional difference Sanshrew is not just an Ice type, but it's also part Steel type, so it resists Normal type moves like Quick Attack," Shab explained, before giving a proud smile that he was able to educate Berry on something she didn't know before.
"Remind me to pay a visit next time they are teaching you more about other Pokemon and their unique traits. I would love to learn more," Dust commented.
Jessie came in with her claws, intending to use Slash, however, the icy Sandshrew curled up into a ball and bounced up in front of the Meowth, making her claws hit his steel-like hide instead of his teammates. Jessie hissed as her claws dug into the steel-like hide. She and James backed off a bit.
"That Sandshrew is clearly their defensive wall," Jessie hissed.
"And it looks like they're still using Helping Hand to get stronger. If we don't interrupt them soon, they could take us out quickly," James warned.
"Well, they're not the only ones who can set up and have a wall to protect themselves with." Jessie smirked.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet nodded.
"That may be so, but there's only so much Wobbuffet could handle. We'll have to go for them at the same time, that way that Sandshrew would only be able to block one of us," James suggested.
"Then let's do it," Jessie stated.
The Pikachu and Meowth began running towards the other team again. Because the Sandshrew wasn't a Ground type, James was able to get a hit on it with his electric attack. Though instead of using an attacking move like Thunderbolt, James instead shot out jolts of electricity that sparked around the Sandshrew's body. The icy Sandshrew let out a yelp as his body went numb from paralysis. With the Sandshrew paralyzed, Jessie jumped at the Plusle and Minun. Both of them looked up in shock as Plusle quickly moved back just as Jessie brought down her claws. Her Slash attack ended up slashing the Minun's chest, though the Plusle barely dodged because it moved back a little.
Minun let out a hiss before it jumped at Jessie and began to nuzzle its blue cheeks on her furry cheeks. Jessie yelped as she felt sparks of electricity running through her body. Jessie soon felt numb as the Minun let go of her. She was paralyzed.
"Jessie!" James shouted out.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet yelled out to James, as he threw something towards the Pikachu.
James turned back in time to see that it was a Cheri Berry that Wobbuffet had thrown. So James jumped up and caught it between his teeth, making sure not to bite too hard on the berry. He rushed past the Sandshrew hoping to get to Jessie, only for the Plusle and Minun to jump in front of him, blocking his path. Sparks of electricity were flowing from each of the electric Pokemon, waiting for the other to make their next move.
Suddenly more electricity started pouring out from Minun and Plusle. Despite also being part electric, James knew that their attack would most likely do a lot more damage from all the Helping Hand they have done.
James didn't have much time to react and braced himself. However, to his confusion, only one Electro Ball slammed into him. It hurt quite a bit, but not as much as he thought it would if they had both attacked him at once. James still had the Cheri Berry in his mouth, but he noticed that only the Plusle was in front of him and not the Minun.
"Thanks," A rough voice said from behind him.
Looking back, the Pikachu saw the icy Sandshrew was standing back up and no longer appeared to be paralyzed with the Minun beside him.
"Did you see that?" Berry asked Dust and Shab. "That Minun used Agility while pretending to be using Electro Ball with her Plusle partner."
"That was a very clever tactic they used," Dust added. "Plusle are relatively more accustomed to being special attackers while Minun are more defensive. They most likely came up with this strategy to trick their opponent. Who knows what other strategies Team Ice Climber might have?"
"Team Rocket will need to have more tricks up their sleeves if they hope to get through this," Shab muttered.
James used Quick Attack to get around Plusle, who tried to stop him, but he went by too quickly. He managed to get to Jessie. "Here, Jessie, eat this Cheri Berry quickly."
James pushed the Cheri Berry into the Meowth's mouth.
"Even with your Quick Attack, we're still faster than you now," The Plusle remarked. "Thanks to my partner's Agility."
James looked at the Plusle. "Agility, huh? You know… you're not the only one who has a teammate with Agility."
"What?" Plusle frowned.
Jessie managed to swallow the Cheri Berry, and the paralysis wore off of her before she got back on her feet. "Shall we show them what we're made of, James?"
"We'll show them what happens when Team Rocket is ready to blast off, Jessie," James grinned.
Jessie got down on all fours as James began to run, Jessie following him. Both of their speeds started to pick up dramatically, to the point their bodies would disappear and reappear. Minun and Plusle began running as well, their own speeds picking up to match Team Rocket's. It was difficult for most of the audience to see what was going on, but they could see sparks of electricity exploding at times, giving them a vague idea of what was going on in the battle.
The battle went on for a full minute, each team clashing with one another, though barely visible. In a final moment, a huge spark erupted from the center of the arena as both Jessie and James clashed with the Plusle and Minun. The two teams are knocked back, landing on opposite sides of the arena, both combatants breathing heavily.
"This...isn't working...Jessie," James panted.
"I know... If it wasn't for that Helping Hand...we would've had the advantage," Jessie nodded.
"We've got them on the ropes now," Minun remarked.
"Shall we finish them off?" The Sandshrew asked.
Jessie frowned. "We still have our secret weapon. Perhaps now is the time to use it while we try to recover."
James nodded before turning to Wobbuffet. "Wobbuffet, think you could hold them off long enough for us to get our energy back?"
"Woooobbuffet!" Wobbuffet shouted as he saluted his teammates.
Jessie and James then went behind Wobbuffet as he held out his arms in a defensive manner. For a brief moment Wobbuffet's body gave a dim glow, before returning back to normal.
"You think that Pokemon is going to protect you?" Plusle laughed.
Minun began to use Agility again and the two of them started to come in close. Wobbuffet stood there as his body glowed red for a second. Then just as the Plusle and Minun came in for a hit, the Wobbuffet moved his body to make sure they hit him instead of his teammates. When they did hit Wobbuffet, they felt a sudden strong force that pushed both of them back several feet.
Sandshrew ran up and caught Plusle and Minun before they landed on the ground. "Careful guys, Wobbuffet are known for their tough defense. We gotta get past his defense if we want to get to his teammates!"
"Right!" Both Plusle and Minun nodded before hopping off Sandshrew.
The two electric Pokemon then ran to the opposite sides of Wobbuffet, making sure that he was in between them.
"You may be able to counter one of our attacks," Plusle stated.
"But we like to see you try to stop us while we attack from different positions," Minun added.
Before the Plusle and Minun could move, however, Wobbuffet suddenly started clapping his… arms together. A 'spotlight' suddenly shined down on Plusle and Minun. Plusle and Minun frowned before their bodies suddenly started doing Agility and Quick Attack, it was so unexpected they ended up hitting the Wobbuffet again, who used Counter on them again, throwing them back once more.
Jessie and James were munching on Oran Berries to recover their strength.
"Heh, looks like they're having a tough time getting through Wobbuffet," Jessie chuckled.
"I think I have an idea on how to win this, Jessie." James smiled.
Plusle and Minun stopped using their move, and tried to figure out what to do.
"So you two are now stuck with Agility and Quick Attack," Sanshrew sighed.
"We can't help it!" Minun replied.
"The moment we attack that Wobbuffet will be ready to counter again," Plusle nodded.
"We actually can use that to our advantage," Sandshrew said. "If that Wobbuffet knows Counter, there's a good chance he also knows Mirror Coat."
"Yeah? So what's your plan?" Minun asked.
"As soon as I attack, you two shortly follow with your attacks," Sandshrew answered.
"But he'll just use Counter against our attacks," Plusle remarked.
"Not unless he's using Mirror Coat," Sandshrew grinned.
Plusle and Minun realized what Sandshrew was planning and both nodded towards their icy teammate. Sandshrew looked at the Wobbuffet, then took a deep breath before blowing out ice and snow. Berry shivered from just looking at the Blizzard attack.
Wobbuffet's body glowed a rainbowish glow as the Blizzard hit him. Then Plusle and Minun came in with their own attack, which they slammed into Wobbuffet's still glowing body, pushing him back.
"Now!" James shouted.
James and Jessie jumped out from behind Wobbuffett while Plusle and Minun were close by. James shot out like a yellow missile and slammed into Plusle, which also slammed into Minun. With James pinning them down, Jessie was coming up from behind him, her claws sharp and piercing. James moved out of the way at the last second just in time for Jessie to use Slash on both Plusle and Minun, at point blank range, ensuring a double critical hit. Meanwhile, Wobbuffet's Mirror Coat activated, which blasted a much stronger Blizzard attack back at the Sandshrew. Sandshrew was shocked by Team Rocket's counter attack. He tried to curl up, hoping to protect himself from the more powerful Blizzard attack, but he was too late to defend as his body got blasted back far away.
Plusle and Minun were not moving, their bodies badly scratched up. Sandshrew wasn't moving either, Mirror Coat had done its job. Patricia came onto the arena to analyze the three team members of Team Ice Climbers before she made the announcement.
"Team Ice Climbers are all knocked out! Team Rocket is the winner!" The Mawile announced, making the crowd go wild as Chansey and Audino came onto the arena to take the unconscious team to the medic room.
"Aww yeah, we're the winners!" Jessie smiled.
"We really showed them what we are made of!" James cheered.
"Woooooooobbuffet!" Wobbuffett shouted as he picked up both James and Jessie, placing them on top of his head.
"That was really good thinking on their part," Dust noted as he saw Team Rocket wave to the audience. "They managed to timed their counter attack perfectly. I definitely wasn't expecting something like that from them."
"Yeah… that Wobbuffet is a good wall," Berry noted. "A good way to buy some time while damaging the opponent while they recover or some up with a strategy."
"You know, maybe we should recruit a Pokemon who can be our wall one day," Dust commented. "While we are good when it comes to attacking and strategizing, our defense is rather lacking."
"We don't have anyone who's defensive on our team though," Berry remarked.
"Not yet anyways," Shab added.
"Yeah, but that's probably going to bite us later in the tournament," Berry noted.
"Then we just gotta do our best to make up for our weakness," Dust replied.
During the next few days, Dust, Berry, and Shab were put into more rounds against other Pokemon teams. As the teams were defeated, they had to battle more rounds each day due to the numbers of participants declining with each defeat. Dust was good at hitting hard and being fast. Berry was good at strategizing for them while hitting hard from Dust's back with her Dragon Breath and Water Pulse. Now that she was able to summon the Rain, Shab could use his weaker Water Pulse that would get stronger in the rain, as well as combine with Berry's Water Pulse. Whenever they had to face against a Fairy type, they were easily dealt with with Dust's Iron Tail and Berry's Sludge Bomb.
Team Night Tide were doing rather well. The other teams, while they fought hard, weren't as powerful as Team Aura Force for them. Things were looking promising for Team Night Tide as they were moving up in the ranks of the tournament. However, they also knew it was only a matter of time before they would battle with someone they would likely lose again, like Team Crimson Raiders, or Team Destruct. Dust told Berry and Shab they would just have to hope they don't end up facing either one before they get the chance to show they deserve to be Gold Rank.
Team Night Tide were currently sitting with the audience, having already finished their rounds for the evening. This battle was the last battle for the day, and they decided to watch it to try to strategize for their next battle. The match itself was from the Volcanic Ash guild and another guild. The team from Volcanic Ash won pretty easily.
"We've been pretty lucky so far, not having to face anyone we know, or a team that had been harder than Team Aura Force," Shab remarked after watching the match.
"Yeah…" Berry frowned a little. "Luck will only get us so far though."
"That may be so, but you have to admit that we have been improving. Before we only had battled each other, but now we are getting the hang of battling other civilized Pokemon. Makes me wonder how different our outcome would've been when we faced that Snubbull before," Dust noted.
"Would it have been much better?" Berry asked. "I mean the only reason we struggled was because I was dehydrated, and Brody was the one who did most of the attacking."
"True, but don't forget we also lacked one thing we didn't have back then. Experience," Dust pointed out. "While our situation back then was against our favor, it was also our first time dealing with an outlaw, not including that one Shellos, since we didn't even realize that the Shellos was one until after we had completed our mission."
"Your chances would have increased had I been there to keep you from dehydrating, Berry," Shab stated. "I would keep you nice and cool from the desert's baking sun with my water moves."
"... You would've dried up too…" Berry pointed out, which made the Feebas turn white as he didn't have a counterargument for that, there was a reason why most aquatic, especially fish type Pokemon, stayed in the water.
"If it wasn't for your Rain Dance, I'm sure things would've turned out for the worst during our time in the desert," Dust added. "Brody did warn us that the dungeon would be difficult. But I'm sure if we had to go back there again, I think we would be better prepared for the desert."
"Which reminds me… we really need to be careful against that Volcanic Ash Guild. They specialize in Fire moves, including using Sunny Day. All of their team have that move from what I've seen, it would easily override my Rain Dance," Berry warned.
Dust nodded. "You two are the only ones who can do some real damage against Fire types, so I'm pretty sure they'll try to target you two first if we end up facing one of Volcanic Ash's teams."
"If only we knew some Ground type attacks… Sunny Day will weaken Water moves." Berry frowned.
"I'm sure we'll find a way to damage them still," Shab spoke up.
Patricia came up on stage, with the other team being carried away by stretchers, it was time for the final announcement that day.
"That concludes our final match for the evening," Patricia announced to the audience. "Over the past few days we have watched mind blowing battles, we have witnessed many Crusaders pull unbelievable wins over the course of the tournament. But it all comes down to the final eight! We will have the results tomorrow, and then we will start with the first match of the Quarter Finals!"
The audience erupted in a cheer, all excited to see which teams will be part of the final eight. Many were making guesses based off the matches they had seen, others couldn't wait to see the results. After a moment, the crowd calmed down once more, giving Patricia the chance to continue.
"Make sure to get a good night's rest, for tomorrow is gonna be a blast!" Patricia cheered, causing the audience to cheer with her.
"She sure knows how to rile up the crowd," Berry chuckled.
"I suppose that it is her job," Shab agreed. "Though the loud cheering, I could do without. Loud noises usually meant danger in the wild."
"Interesting," Dust noted. "In a way, I guess civilized Pokemon can relate, usually not all loud noises involve cheering, sometimes it may involve screaming or mass panic. And I'm sure others would start to panic if they heard such a thing. Maybe we can do a field experiment someday. Though we would need a good set up, find an appropriate location, and preferable test subjects…"
Dust paused realizing he was starting to go on his rants. He gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"Sorry about that," Dust apologized. "Perhaps another time, but for now, let's head back to the guild, I want each of us to be fully rested for tomorrow. I have a strong feeling that we made it to the quarter finals and it will do us no good if we are unprepared for the next day."
"Yeah, don't want to be tired for our next match, which is going to be against a tough team since they made it this far," Berry agreed.
With Shab on her head, Berry slithered onto Dust's back. Dust began to walk with the crowd to leave the building, when a familiar Persian reporter suddenly walked up to them.
"Oh! You're the team I ran into on the first day here. Team Night Tide, correct?" The Persian asked.
"Correct," Dust nodded.
"I tell you, even though it's only been a few days, with how all the matches have been so far it honestly feels like I haven't spoken with you for months." The Persian smiled.
"It has...And it's been a while… Um…" Dust paused for a moment, trying to recall the Persian's name but drew blanks. "I'm sorry, but I've forgotten your name."
The Persian chucked before replying. "No worries, I'm not surprised, a lot has happened in the last few days, so I doubt you would've remembered the name of a random reporter you only briefly had met. You may call me, Dio."
"Uh… nice to see you again, Dio," Berry remarked.
"It's good to see you three were able to make it this far. Usually the teams that make it this far have evolved Pokemon on their team already. Although… I guess an Absol technically counts as a fully evolved Pokemon," Dio noted, looking Dust up and down. "Hmm… well, while we're here, would you mind answering a few questions?"
Dust looked back at the exit where the crowd were leaving. He wanted to head back to the guild as soon as possible, so that his team could get enough rest, but seeing how earnest the Persian was, plus the fact that he had forgotten his name, Dust decided it wouldn't hurt to spend some time answering some questions. Dust gave Dio a nod, causing the Persian to smile.
"Excellent!" Dio exclaimed as he pulled out a big notepad and an ink container. Dust wasn't expecting the Persian to use Footprint Runes, though he supposed it was easier than trying to write while holding a pencil with his mouth. "I'll make this quick. You are a new team to the rank up tournament, correct?"
Dust, Berry, and Shab all nodded at Dio's question.
"Alright, now in five words or less, what do each of you hope to achieve from this tournament," Dio asked.
Dust was first to answer, already knowing what he wanted. "To obtain the Gold Rank."
"Interesting, but also respectable. Sometimes aiming high helps us to achieve our goal," Dio commented as he jotted down on his notepad before turning his attention to Berry and Shab. "And you two?"
"To test my skills," Berry answered for herself.
"To help my teammates," Shab stated.
Dio nodded as he used his paws to write it down. "Your goals are much simpler, though those are also respectable. Nothing wrong with wanting to test yourself against strong opponents, or helping your allies get into a better rank."
Dio wrote a bit more, satisfied with what he got so far.
"Alright, next question is only for Berry," Dio spoke up. "I noticed you wearing an Everstone necklace, and I assume that you are close to evolving. There are not many who have seen a Goomy evolve before, do you plan on wearing the Everstone for the entirety of the tournament, or are you planning on saving your evolution as a trump card for a future battle? And if so, do you plan on evolving during the tournament if your team is part of the final eight?"
Berry frowned before shaking her head. "I'll be wearing it for the entirety of the tournament."
"Oh? Why is that? Did you want to test yourself before evolving?" Dio asked.
"No, it's just… I have my reasons," Berry answered quietly.
Dio watched Berry closely, writing down some notes. "Hmm, well I won't pry any further, everyone has a right to keep their reasons to themselves."
Dio then looked at Dust. "Now one more question, and I'll let you go get your much needed rest. Now when we first met, do you recall what we talked about? Concerning the tournament?"
Dust thought back to their earlier encounter, though he couldn't remember all the details, he did remember Dio telling them about the mysterious case of missing Pokemon.
"I believed you mentioned something about Pokemon going missing, and to keep our eyes opened for anything like that," Dust answered.
Dio nodded before continuing. "Good, now since our last encounter, have you witnessed any such strange occurrence? Have you heard any news about missing Pokemon, or anything of the matter?"
"We did hear rumors about it from a stand seller after our first battle in the tournament," Dust answered, remembering their talk with the Cacturne. "But we hadn't seen or heard any Pokemon actually going missing."
"Hmm…" Dio was silent for a moment before responding. "This stand seller, can you tell me where you met them? I would like to meet with them tomorrow."
Dust didn't see any harm in telling Dio about the Cacturne, so he told the Persian who the stand seller was, the location on where they had met him, and even included the type of food stand they had, to help Dio with his search tomorrow.
"Thank you very much, I'll be sure to talk to them tomorrow about it." Dio smiled. "That's all the questions I have for you tonight. Good luck with the tournament tomorrow."
"Thank you, and good luck with...Um... with reporting," Dust replied.
Berry rolled her eyes. "He means good luck with your job, Mr. Dio."
"Thank you, I do look forward to seeing your team tomorrow, I'll be cheering for you," Dio bowed his head before packing up his notepad and ink container, then walked past Team Night Tide and heading for the exit.
"Do you really think there might be something strange going on in this tournament?" Shab asked after seeing the Persian leave.
"Well so far we've only heard rumors, though that doesn't seem to stop Dio from finding out more," Dust answered. "Though if anything were to happen, I'm sure he would let the guild know."
"Maybe the rumors are just there to bring in tourists?" Berry suggested. "I mean Pokemon do that to attract more Pokemon. It doesn't necessarily mean it's true, right?"
Dust nodded. "Seems to make sense. I can see that as a marketing tool to attract tourists and such."
"And I do remember certain wild Pokemon using a similar tactic when hunting prey. One would scare a group of prey towards an area while their partner would wait to spring their trap," Shab added.
"Interesting, never knew wild Pokemon could use such tactics to hunt like that," Dust noted.
Berry's antennae went up for a moment. "Hmm? There's someone else here besides us."
The entire area was empty except for them, so Dust was surprised to hear that there was another presence with them, it made him a little anxious.
"I think it's… that Riolu… Emerald, I think her name was, from Team Aura Force," Berry stated.
Dust calmed down a bit after hearing that it might be Emerald, but now was more curious than anxious. "Strange that she is still here. I wonder why? Berry, can you tell where they are exactly?"
"She's near the exit," Berry answered. "She seem… anxious."
"Let's go see what's wrong then, we might as well," Shab decided. "It might benefit us if we do help out."
Dust nodded as he started heading towards the exit. When they left the building, Dust saw the Riolu pacing back and forth. True to Berry's words, Emerald did look very anxious. It wasn't until Dust was only a few feet away that Emerald finally noticed Team Night Tide.
"Team Night Tide? What are you still doing here?" Emerald asked.
"Well we had just finished talking with a reporter. Why are you here? Is everything okay?" Dust asked.
The green-eyed Riolu frowned. "I'm not sure. I've been looking for my teammates since the first day we lost to you. First Icy went missing, Rudy and I tried to find her, but just yesterday, Rudy and I split up to try to find Icy, but I hadn't seen Rudy since. I've been trying to sense their aura, but I can't seem to make out their aura. I know they're still in the building somewhere, but I can't tell where, and I'm really worried about them."
Berry frowned. "You hadn't seen Icy since the first day? And Rudy went missing since yesterday?"
"Yesterday afternoon, yeah," Emerald confirmed. "I tried telling my guild leader, but he seems convinced they'll turn up sooner or later. But I can't help but worry, they wouldn't go somewhere without telling me, at least not for this long."
Those rumors now seemed to be more than just rumors. Dust thought to himself. He looked back at the stadium, thinking back to Dio's words, as well as the warning from the Cacturne. Turning back to Emerald, he saw how worried she was and could only imagine what he would have looked like if Berry or Shab suddenly went missing.
"Well, the doors are still unlocked, Berry's antennae are able to sense nearby Pokemon, it's how we knew you were out here. Maybe we can help find your teammates," Dust offered. "Plus, I'm pretty sure it was difficult trying to find your teammates when there were so many Pokemon in the stadium, but I think now is the perfect chance to go looking for them."
Emerald perked up at this. "You would… really help me find them? But… not that I'm ungrateful, why?"
"Why not?" Berry spoke up. "We know we would feel the same way if one or both of our team members were to go missing. Besides, as Crusaders, it's our job to help Pokemon in distress, even if they are a fellow Crusader."
"Thank you. Thank you very much!" Emerald started to wag her tail.
"No problem, so how about we start with where Icy went missing? We might be able to find clues leading to her whereabouts," Dust suggested as he knelt down.
"Uh...what are you doing?" Emerald asked with a confused look on her face.
Dust was confused by Emerald's question until he realized that Emerald wouldn't really understand what Dust was doing. And she didn't really need him to carry her due to being able to move just fine and fast on her own.
"My apologies, I'm so used to carrying my teammates that I just assumed to give you one too," Dust lightly chuckled.
Berry and Shab blushed, though mostly Berry since Shab chose to ride on Berry's head.
"That won't be necessary," Emerald said.
Dust nodded. "Alright… then forget about it. Lead the way to where you last saw your Glaceon teammate."
Emerald nodded before she began to move, leaving the empty arena with Dust following her.
"I'll admit… when I first saw you coming onto the arena with the Goomy on your back, and the Feebas on her head, I thought you were just a weak team that was pampering each other," Emerald started as they were walking. "You… surprised me with how you defeated us."
"It's… not that Dust is pampering us," Berry said. "It's just this is kind of necessary due to me being slow by nature, and we can't always move at a Slugma's pace."
"It's true, this is more beneficial to us than it is pampering or coddling," Shab added.
"Honestly, if you want to talk about pampering, you should see Cliff," Dust commented. "She's a Larvitar, and even though she can walk now she still wants to ride on my back."
"Why would you let a Larvitar ride on your back? Don't you know how heavy they are?" Emerald asked, not sure if Dust was joking or being serious.
"Well it's hard to say no to her, she does this thing with her eyes and after seeing them it's almost impossible to say no," Dust explained. He then saw the confused look on Emerald's face and decided to further explain himself. "Right, so to make a story short, Cliff is a Larvitar who hatched recently. I found the egg, thought it was a rock, turned out I was wrong. She hatched, saw me and Berry, and now thinks we are her parents."
"Your kidding, right?" Emerald asked before looking at Berry. "Is he making this up?"
The Goomy shook her head. "Nope. He actually brought home a Larvitar egg, thinking it was a rock."
"How could anyone be that dense?" Emerald frowned.
"Hey, to be fair I found the egg while we were underground, there wasn't much lighting, and it looked and felt like a unique type of rock," Dust explained himself.
Emerald sighed. "I apologize, I did not mean to be insulting. I should be respecting you three since you did beat us in a fair battle."
"I mean, respect is all well and good, but we are all Pokemon here. You can just be yourself around us," Berry suggested.
"I suppose you wouldn't understand. You see, the Unity Guild is… also known as the outcast guild by many other guilds. They bring in all Pokemon, whether they're weak or strong. They coddle them, and that makes them weak. In the Lucernas Guild, strength and power is what matters the most. Our Guild Leader, Chopper Garchomp, has the strong belief that the strong will prevail while the weak will perish. He pushes everyone hard, to their absolute limit, to weed out the weaklings. We became as strong as we did through harsh training to gain Guildmaster Chopper's approval. But our lost today had earned us his scorn, which is probably why he's not helping me find Icy and Rudy," Emerald sighed.
Shab frowned. "Was your guildmaster a wild Pokemon before? That sounds like something a wild Pokemon would have the mindset of."
"I don't know his full past, but from what I've learned is that he most likely adopted the mindset of those wild Pokemon, seeing how if his guild followed their example, it would only make us stronger," Emerald explained.
"How many Pokemon were able to pass Chopper's test to be a part of his guild?" Berry asked, knowing she would be kicked out the moment they looked at her.
"A handful each year," Emerald shrugged. "The Lucernas Guild has the reputation it does for a reason after all. The training is harsh, the missions are tough, if you want to join, you better be ready for Distortion World. But that's why I've gotten so strong, it was the perfect guild for me to get stronger and actually be able to do my job to help those who can't, even if they were weak enough to get caught in that situation, at least they pay us to get them out of it."
Dust frowned, while he knew the Olympus Guild could be harsh sometimes, they wouldn't outright insult Pokemon that didn't fit into their ideals of strength and independence. Team Aura Force's arrogant attitude during their battle was more understandable now, they felt they could be arrogant because they thought they were above the so-called 'outcast guild of coddlers', only to get defeated by them in the end.
"What's your guildmaster going to do with your team now that you lost to the 'outcast guild'?" Berry asked, sounding a little insulted that their guild had such a poor reputation just because they let in all Pokemon.
"I don't know yet. Guildmaster Chopper could accept some failures, after all it's Pokemon nature to fail sometimes, even the strong can't be perfect all the time, but he won't tolerate a lot of failures in a row. If we show promise and make up for our failure, he'll keep us around, otherwise, most teams would get the boot, or a punishment," Emerald answered.
"Never realized how different other guilds could be," Dust remarked. "But no matter how different we all may be, at least we have one thing in common."
"And what's that?" Emerald asked, curious to what the Absol had in mind.
"We all decided to become Crusaders," Dust answered. "So in the end, I guess we all share the same goal to help those in need."
"Yeah, I suppose," Emerald replied. "I did originally join to not only get stronger, but to help those in need. I had… a rough childhood. My eyes aren't supposed to be green, they're supposed to be red, but I was hatched with these due to a mutation that I don't quite understand. I was named after my unusual eye color. Though, I suppose I'm not the only one with strange eye colors considering one of your eyes is blue."
Dust remained silent as he thought of his blue eye. Just like Emerald, he too wondered why his eyes were different. But while he found his mismatched eye curious, it sounded like Emerald wasn't too fond of her emerald eyes. It only made Dust more curious about the Riolu's past.
"Hey… is getting stronger all that important though? I understand that being strong helps you get the job done, but is that what you mostly value and respect? Strong Pokemon?" Berry asked.
"That is how it's been with the Lucernas Guild," Emerald confirmed.
"That's…" The Goomy frowned. "This might be out of line for me to say, but I can't agree with that point of view. Too many Pokemon have been hurt by those who believe strength and power is the most important thing."
Berry narrowed her eyes as she recalled her interactions with Blizza. "I believe that strong Pokemon should be there to protect the weak. Not use the weak as a stepping stone to bring themselves to the top. We're all Pokemon, whether we're weak or strong. Isn't it worth using that strength to protect those who can't protect themselves rather than tearing down the weak Pokemon to get to the top? After all, once you reach the top… you're all alone up there."
"Such wise words, Berry. You truly are humble, which only pales in comparison to your beauty," Shab admired.
At that, Berry blushed at Shab's compliment.
The Riolu, however, looked rather surprised at Berry's speech. "I… never really thought about it that way before. I just wanted to get stronger to be able to do my job better than anyone else, to get a higher rank with my team faster than the other Normal Ranks. I… didn't think too much about the Pokemon we helped. I just saw them as a way to get more income and points to help raise our ranks. I… suppose the Lucernas Guild has a way of making you think that way after a while, putting in more value on your strength, team, and rank rather than the Pokemon you help, or… just seeing Pokemon as that, Pokemon, not competition…"
"It sounds like you and your team have been in a toxic environment for a while…" Berry said softly.
Emerald remained in silence, and no one else said anything. Dust felt the atmosphere was rather depressing and decided to try to lift everyone's mood.
"Well it's a good thing that my old guild didn't send me to the Lucernas Guild, I would've been kicked out before I even started," Dust chuckled.
"I don't see why you'd be kicked out," Emerald remarked. "You seemed pretty strong during our match. If anything I think my Guildmaster might have even been pleased to have an Absol join his guild."
"Well… I may be strong now, but…" Dust paused for a moment, looking back at Berry and Shab, they both gave him an encouraging nod. "I was actually pretty weak before I joined the Unity Guild."
"Weak?" The Riolu blinked, as if she couldn't comprehend what Dust just said. "How could you be weak? You managed to defeat us."
"Well, in my old guild, I never really participated in missions, spent most of my time researching and studying. I never actually battled another Pokemon before. In my first battle, my opponent beat me in one move, using a Dark type attack," Dust explained. "You see, while I understand your guilds methods for becoming stronger, but something you must understand about the Unity Guild is that they don't coddle their members, far from it. From what I've witnessed during my time in the guild, they help each of its members to grow and become stronger, together. If I had remained in my old guild, I would have most likely stayed the same. A weak selfish Absol who didn't have any desire or motivation to improve himself. Unity Guild has done more for me than what any other guild could possibly have done."
Dust paused for a moment, thinking about his past experience with the guild so far, of all the other members he had gotten to know, of their struggles and challenges that they had overcome. He thought it nice that Emerald thought he was strong, but then he thought of Team Destruct and their strengths. He then thought of Crimson and Blizza, the thought burned in his mind, but at the same time he noticed he felt some admiration for them. Despite the way they act, they are indeed strong, and Dust knew they had worked hard to get there. He then turned to Berry, recalling all the times she had overcome her own fears and doubts, to stand up for what she believes in.
"And I'm not the only one who has grown because of our guild, if you think I'm strong, then wait until you meet some of the other guild members, because compared to them, I still have a long way to go."
"I see… it seems that the outcast guild offers more than most Pokemon think," Emerald stated. "After all… it's the members of the Unity Guild who are helping me now, the same ones who defeated us and have no reason to respect us."
"You fought hard, and made us work for it," Berry spoke up. "That earns you respect in my eyes."
Emerald couldn't help but close her eyes and give a small smile. "Alright then… but enough with sharing our life stories. We're here, this was the last place we saw Icy before she went missing."
Dust looked around, seeing that they were currently in the lobby of the stadium. It was eerie to see it empty and dark. This was the same place that was bustling with Pokemon, now it was just empty. There weren't even any Ghost types moving around to cause mischief, it was just them.
"We were going to get something to eat after our match," Emerald sighed. "Rudy and I were standing in line while Icy went to go save us some seats, but when we got back with food, Icy was nowhere to be seen."
Dust looked around the lobby, but there were no signs of anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked just the same, minus the crowd of Pokemon that were normally here during the day.
"Does anyone else know about your missing friends, Emerald?" Dust asked as he went to check behind the lobby's desk.
"I haven't spoken to anyone else about it. I just kept looking after Rudy went missing," Emerald answered.
"Hmm…" Dust kept surveying the area, looking for any clues that might help them. "Well I'm pretty sure someone would have noticed Icy missing, especially if it was here in the lobby. Maybe there's a nearby room or something that Icy might've gone too."
Dust felt Berry slithering off of his back. "I'll help look around the area. It's pretty big. There might be a secret door or something that only small Pokemon would be able to see. Shab, you look around too, okay?"
Shab nodded as he hopped off of Berry's head and floated on the ground, then he started searching around the lobby. Dust was still behind the desk, if there was a secret room, he figured that maybe there might be a secret switch or lever, so he started moving things around, but had no luck so far. Emerald was looking around as well, mostly around the area where she and Rudy got food in case there was something there.
As Berry was slithering around the table area, the area where Icy likely went to before she disappeared, Berry felt something under her as she was slithering. It wasn't too noticeable, but it felt a little cold. Blinking, Berry moved back a little to see she ran over some kind of strand of hair or fur. Berry studied the strand of hair, noticing it was a bit cold for normal fur, and it was blue.
"Emerald, is this Icy's fur?" Berry called over to the Riolu.
Emerald ran up to where Berry was, picking up the strand of fur when she got there. She looked closely at it before closing her eyes, concentrating. Dust watched as blue energy started pulsing from the Riolu. After a few seconds the energy dissipates as Emerald opens her eyes.
"This is hers." Emerald smiled. "I might be able to use this to find where Icy went!"
"You can? How?" Dust asked as he came over as well.
"Riolu have the ability to sense aura, and they can use something to track down certain aura, depending on how fresh or old it is," Emerald explained. "This fur likely came off of Icy just before she disappeared, so it might lead us to where she went."
"That's great. It's no wonder that nobody noticed it though, a strand of fur isn't exactly all that noticeable, especially in a place where many Pokemon are shedding fur," The Feebas noted, swimming in the air over to them. "You're amazing to have found that fur, Berry."
"I think I was just lucky. I'm sensitive to cold, so that was probably the only reason why I noticed it," Berry remarked.
"Let's hope that luck sticks with us, we still need to find my friend," Emerald said before closing her eyes once more. Just like last time, as she started to concentrate, her aura was starting to pulse from her body. After a minute, she pointed towards a direction. "It's faint, but I can sense a small trace of Icy's aura going in that direction."
Dust looked to where Emerald was pointing, seeing that it led to one of the hallways exiting from the lobby. "That is a truly remarkable ability, I can see how it comes very handy."
"Yeah, well you don't get the reputation that you do without training your natural abilities," Emerald stated, which made Dust wonder if it was possible for him to train his ability to sense disasters, or if Berry had trained with her ability to sense other Pokemon due to growing up in an environment where other Pokemon always gave Berry a hard time.
Dust then felt something slimy crawling up onto his back. It was familiar to him by now, which was why he didn't try to shake it off or react in disgust, it gave him comfort knowing Berry was there and getting onto his back. Shab hopped up onto Berry's head, content with staying on her whenever he didn't have to separate from her.
It was a good thing too that Berry and Shab had gotten on Dust, for Emerald had started picking up her pace. After days of not knowing where her friends were, she was now hopeful after finding her first clue to her friends whereabouts. Dust was now running after the Riolu, glad that they were the only ones currently in the stadium, he could picture the number of Pokemon either wondering why he was running, or the number of Pokemon he would accidentally bump into.
Emerald continued leading them on, with each step she took, she was able to sense Icy's aura more and more. She suddenly turned around a corner, causing Dust to almost run past where she turned. Dust backtracked and went to where Emerald went, expecting her to be far ahead already. Instead he saw that she was standing in front of a dead end.
"I… I don't understand… the aura trail ends here." Emerald frowned.
"Look around, there must be a trap door or a secret switch or something," Dust suggested.
The group looked around, thoroughly searching the area, but they found nothing. It was just a dead end.
"Either a Ghost Pokemon came and whisked Icy away, or Icy just vanished in thin air." Emerald said bitterly.
Berry frowned as she tried to use her antennae to find anything, or if Icy might be nearby. She thought she felt a faint sense of Pokemon somewhere, but they felt far and faint, it was more likely these were Pokemon outside of the stadium. Dust was still looking around, occasionally tapping the wall, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but there was nothing that looked like a secret switch or a trap door.
After a while, Emerald sighed. "Forget this, she's not here."
"Maybe someone made some kind of artificial aura to try to throw you off," Shab suggested. "It's not impossible for intelligent Pokemon to make something like that. So we still have a chance to find Icy."
"I said forget it!" Emerald shouted as she started walking past Team Night Tide.
"Hold on!" Dust yelled as he ran in front of Emerald, blocking her path.
"Get out of my way, or I'll force you too!" Emerald threatened.
Dust could tell she wasn't bluffing either, but that didn't deter him from trying to help her out. "I know things look hard right now, but we can't give up yet. We managed to find a clue, and even though it may seem like a dead end, there's still hope that we'll find your missing friends."
"We didn't find a clue, we found a phony!" Emerald snapped.
"Calm down, you're not going to be finding anyone if you let yourself lose it now," Berry spoke up. "Perhaps we should all turn in for the night and try again tomorrow when we have a clearer head."
Emerald was still angry that they were unable to find her friends, but she was also surprised that Team Night Tide was still willing to help her. She figured that it was just convenient for them since they ran into each other tonight, so she wasn't expecting them to be willing to help her more, despite only having met for a short time.
Calming down a bit, Emerald let out a long sigh before replying. "You're right, being angry won't get me any closer to finding my friends. I can't give up now, I didn't when my friends first went missing, and you can bet I won't stop till I find them… But I am grateful that you are willing to help me."
"Of course, Crusaders are supposed to help other Pokemon after all," Berry said. "Even if it's not an official mission."
Emerald shook her head and sighed, remembering what the Goomy said earlier about Crusaders. "You three go back and get some sleep. You have a match tomorrow anyways. I'll stick around here for a bit and see if I could find any more clues."
"Are you sure?" Dust asked.
Emerald nodded. "It'll be fine, I'll meet up with you tomorrow and we can try searching again when we get the chance."
"Okay, you be safe, especially if there is someone going around kidnapping Pokemon," Shab warned.
"Don't worry, I'll be able to sense any hostile Pokemon if they try anything like that," Emerald reassured.
"If you say so, we'll see you tomorrow, Emerald," Dust waved goodbye as Berry slithered on his back with Shab on top of her head.
As Emerald watched them leave, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "An Absol carrying a Goomy on his back with a Feebas on the Goomy's head. Can a set-up get any weirder?"
"I couldn't agree more," a sudden voice whispered behind Emerald.
Emerald didn't expect anyone to suddenly be there, but she tried jumping away from the sudden appearance of the stranger, only to be tackled down to the ground. Before she could even yell, she felt something covering her mouth, muffling her noises.
"I'm impressed, no one has actually gotten close to finding the others, but since you so desperately wish to find your friends, I can take you to them," The voice taunted.
Emerald felt she recognized the voice, but she was unable to see who her assailant was, being pinned down on the ground. But she wasn't about to give up, this mysterious attacker mentioned her friends, so that must mean they are the ones responsible for taking them. Emerald started drawing energy to her arms as she prepared to counter attack, but the moment she did, her energy started to go away. She tried again, but now she couldn't even muster the strength to lift her arms, much less move her body. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate, but that's when she realized the cloth covering her mouth must have been laced with Sleep Powder. The last thing Emerald saw was a pair of red eyes looking at her before everything went black.
Jewel moonstone: Traveling Master: Heh, well Weavile was one of the guesses they made during their bet. Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. Who knows, only time will tell. Also, side note, Weavile is my favorite Ice Pokemon, love using Weavile in Pokken Tournament.
Guest17 #1: DarkFoxKit: … No comment from my end. I have no idea what you're talking about.
Traveling Master: Uh...while as tempting as that would be, Dio is just a name. That may be the only reference to Jojo, but who knows, maybe in the future something else might happen, something...bizarre.
Star Taurus: DarkFoxKit: Dust is just really interested in the Eeveelutions in general, since they're the only Pokemon with so many branching evolutions and are still stable. Glad you liked the battle.
Greatest Guy: Chihiro: You can almost say that they bit the Dust. Though you have to commend Team Night Tide, their opponent was quite the Force to be reckoned with. I'm sure when Dust saw that Glaceon, he felt a chill go down his spine. It's a good thing they were careful too, else they might've gotten Rabooted out of the tournament from the start. And I love that last bit, so I will also Chihiro the on!
Star Gemini: Dust: And now you know what I had to go through! Oh, I recognized that smile, and the only time she smiles is either when she's happy, or when she's about to give me another punishment. *Shudders* I can only imagine what goes on through her head when she does that.
Traveling Master: Thank you, we wanted to add more to the mystery of Dust's father, giving a little clue, but to not spoil anything at the same time either. Do you have any guesses on who Dust's father might be? Well, only time will.
Clam Seashell: DarkFoxKit: Thank you, glad you've enjoyed it.
Guest #2: DarkFoxKit: Okay… first of all, Dust is an adult, not a kid. We already confirmed he's 18 years old. And pairing isn't that bad, as long as it's not getting in the way of the story. But again, try not to compare this to Ash or Naruto, these characters are considered to be adults or young adults by now, even Berry. They are also like animals in the real world, their age doesn't compare to human age, and Pokemon are confirmed to be able to have eggs even at a young age.
Traveling Master: Though as Dust did humorously stated, he's too young to mate. But DF is right, depending on the characters and the plans we have for them, some of them might end up with someone in the future, or they may not, it just depends on the bonds they have with others and how far it will develop. But thank you for enjoying the story so far, we hope you continue to enjoy it.
Well, as Dust had explained before concerning the Everstone, it's able to nullify any built up energy that would result in evolutions. It's also why they had filled those forms earlier, so that if something were to happen to the everstone, at least the others would be prepared in case of an evolution. So it wouldn't really count as cheating or a penalty.
DarkFoxKit: Mega Evolution is indeed a lost knowledge. The egg move itself is useful, Faint Attack can allow the user to sneak up on an opponent and never miss. Don't think about this from the video game perspective, but how you can use it in a real life perspective, or anime in this case. You can try to guess what or who Dust's father is from that if you want, but you won't know for sure until we get to that point.
As for how Dust's Protect works, yes, he can create a barrier that will protect them all if Berry and Shab are on or near him. I know normally in the game, you'd need something like Wide Guard to protect everyone, but since Protect is essentially a barrier that protects the user against moves, I don't see why it can't be used to keep his teammates safe as well as long as they're near him.
Berry isn't scared of a Thunder Punch. But she is unsure what she is exactly, she still refuses to believe she's a Dragon type, but she also knows she's not a Wooper, so she wasn't sure how a Thunder Punch would affect her.
Traveling Master: Heh, behind all that intimidation and pressure, Eclipse still loves and cares for her son, so seeing him win his first match, especially knowing how very unskilled he was in the past, caused her to be the loudest and proudest one there. And yes, both Dust and Eclipse have the ability, Pressure, though Eclipse's is far more stronger than Dust. The only time others feel pressure from Dust is when they first met him, but that quickly goes away after Dust talks. He isn't exactly your typical Absol now.
DarkFoxKit: Chihiro just has ways to break the fourth wall somehow. I'm not entirely sure what you're asking though.
Traveling Master: Well, like Dust mentioned before, he left out certain details, and might have also changed some. He most likely mentioned how the Mansion was cursed that there was a powerful ghost pokemon there who ended up breaking the curse. He would also most likely mention Mimikyu, though most likely didn't mention that she was human. It didn't cross his mind since he was currently recounting almost everything that had happened since he left Olympus Guild.
He did leave Cliff out, especially after Eclipse had asked for no more surprises, such as him being a father. But he did mention his research mission, and I can assure you Eclipse did have a laugh after hearing about Dust's special encounter with the wild Absol.
DarkFoxKit: I think this chapter answers your question about the Berry and Eclipse dialog. Eclipse does know what Berry is as a Pokemon. As for Chihiro… well, I usually write her more serious dialogues, TM is the one who does the puns more since I'm not much for puns myself. Though I do sometimes add in a pun or two if I can think of them.
Traveling Master: While Dust is an old character of mine, the moment Chihiro was created as this pun loving ghost dragon, there was no way that she could resist using Dust's name as a pun.
Chihiro: How can I? That name Absolutley has many uses!
Traveling Master: And no need to apologize for the grammar, we are just grateful that you enjoyed the story and for your reviews.
Jojo's Bizarre: Traveling Master: Again, as I mentioned before, as tempting and fun as that would be, Dio is just a name. And it might be the only reference to Jojo, but I do love your idea for Star Platinum, that fits really well with Dialga.
Lonelyboi69: DarkFoxKit: Right, cause all the Pokemon characters we saw in Mystery Dungeon don't usually have parents, or never mentioned them. XP
Traveling Master: It's also why we didn't go with the usual, "Human gets turned into a Pokemon and has amnesia," cause now we have a lot more options to focus more on the Pokemon themselves and on their lives. But that is a good point you brought up, never really thought about how none of the other Pokemon in the game ever have any mention of their parents.
Guest #3: DarkFoxKit: We haven't really thought about giving Dust or Berry Hidden Power. Hidden Power is… a fun little gimmick. Though it seems to work a little differently in Mystery Dungeon. Unlike in the main games, in Mystery Dungeon, Hidden Power's type changes every time you go into a dungeon. In one Dungeon, it could be an Ice type move, in another, it could be a Grass type move.
Traveling Master: Well Hidden Power is interesting, can't say for sure yet, but I think we might end up having Dust learn Hidden power. As for the type, well, we will figure that out as when we get there. But thanks for the suggestions.
Star Cancer: DarkFoxKit: No, Berry wasn't in the Volcanic Ash Guild, because they only allow Fire types, dual Fire types or Pokemon that could eventually become Fire types through evolution, like Fletchling or Eevee, are allowed to join, but Berry, who is pure Dragon type, is not allowed to join. She also didn't know much about that guild. Now, are you talking about Igneel? Because he's not the Guild Master, he's the representative of the actual Guild Master. Also, we did Berry's backstory, there had been no mentions of her joining a guild before Unity Guild.
Guest #4: Traveling Master: As was mentioned before by DF, Dust is only interested in Eeveelutions, but not romantically. And yes, while Dust is old enough to have a mate/girlfriend, I don't think he's mentally mature enough, or ready to have that kind of relationship.
Star Leo: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Shab wanted to make sure Berry didn't get hurt like that. He's quite the noble Feebas.
Again, egg moves work a little differently in this story than in the games. Egg moves make it easier for the Pokemon to know that move already and genetically. However, a Pokemon without the egg move can still learn it, it'll just be harder for them to, but not impossible. We want it so all Pokemon have a chance of learning all these great moves without needing to be born with them.
Guest #5: Traveling Master: Again, Dust is not interested in Icy romantically, only that she's an Eeveelution.
Guest #6: Traveling Master: Heh, if Dust thinks he can keep Cliff a secret from Eclipse, well...let's just say that Eclipse is sure to be surprised, especially after telling Dust that she didn't want any more surprises. As for your theories concerning their parents, well now you got me wondering what you're thinking. Though, who knows, you might be right, you might be wrong, only time will tell.
DarkFoxKit: It can get a little annoying when we're being asked something over and over again that seemed pretty obvious, but we try not to take it hard. Heh, yeah, we're like 99% sure that humans do eat Pokemon, and that there are indeed carnivorous Pokemon. Just because it doesn't happen on-screen doesn't mean it's not happening at all.
XD Heh, rare Pokemon doesn't always equal good Pokemon. I remember searching for hours for a Chansey in Pokemon Crystal. It was not fun.
FoxyKhai0209: DarkFoxKit: Yup, Team Aura Force is finally here. I'm… uh… glad you liked their battle? I'm not sure if you liked what we did exactly, but good to know it was 'not bad' at least. You will just have to keep on reading to see what will happen to Team Aura Force.