Dungeon 11 - Setting the stage

"So that's what happened?" the Zorua had just heard the story that detective Apollo spoke about.

"Yes, they are the only survivors of that city... it's a shame they suffered this way," the Arcanine shrugged, shuffling the papers.

"Even if they have suffered, it doesn't justify what they are doing now," taking a deep breath, Brian lowered his ears, despite all that happened to the crew, the boy was determined to stop them.

"In fact, but my hands... well... my paws are tied," Apollo sighed, ears lowered. "But now that we're working together, maybe we can arrest them."

"I have another question, does anyone know why Genesect attacked that town?"

"He's a Pokémon who likes to test himself, they say it was a way to improve his techniques," Apollo looked elsewhere, pondering about the attack.

"Ok, I got it! Listen, I have to see if my brother has been discharged from the hospital, when can we see each other again?"

"Come here at the end of the day, we'll plan right what we'll do..."

Nodding, the boy then left the office. The story he heard was certainly tragic, and even if he could understand the suffering of the Crew, he had a job to do to prevent more families from being hurt. With a new objective, Brian went to the hospital where his brother was.

Lance was lying on the hospital bed, he was moving as if he was having a nightmare and his body was sweating heavily, the liquid dripping on the blanket that covered Riolu.

"Number 10... it seems you failed... you know what that means, don't you? " the voice said inside Lance's mind. The boy saw himself in a dark room with an open door and, in the middle of the darkness, he could see two red eyes staring at the Riolu, a wide grin showing up right after.

"No... please! I'll get it right next time! Let me go!" gasping for air, the boy screamed, running towards the exit.

The door then closed and Lance fell to the ground. He got up and clawed at the wall, tears streaming from his eyes as laughter began to fill the room.

"LANCE! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

The team leader woke up from his nightmare with his heart accelerated and a dizzy head, seeing his brother in front of him. Panting, he sat on the hospital bed.

"This scene is becoming common... it's already the second time in less than a week!" Brian shouted, but arched his eyebrows, looking worried.

"I realized this on my own, genius..." he took a deep breath, standing up.

"I'm glad you're okay, Lance! The doctors said you were supposed to die, but it seems you got lucky..."

"Yeah, I have that ability... what did I lose during that time?"

"I found an ally... he's from the police, but I think we should go home first and rest, the meeting with him is only at night!"

The brothers left the hospital and made the normal way to the apartment. This time, Lance didn't say anything at all during their trip. Brian, despite not thinking it was strange, thought about asking what was happening, as the Riolu's nightmares were happening more often, but decided to leave his friend alone at the moment.

"Your rent will have to increase... the property damage doesn't pay itself." the Weavile said, reading a newspaper.

"I... failed... it was a dream, but I failed... how am I still alive?" Lance's mind was full of thoughts, he ignored the manager and just went to his apartment.

As they entered, Brian laid down on the couch, stretching, he was exhausted from walking all day looking for clues from the team targets. His brother, however, seemed even more stressed than before. Lance's body was shaking and he seemed to be out of breath.

"I can't fail... no... no! NO! Get a grip, Lance! You can't show weakness at all, or you will die!"

"Hey, Lance?" noticing this, Zorua left the sofa, getting closer to his sibling.

"Get away from me!" He charged energy on his hand when the thoughts came back. This time, he couldn't hold on.

Lance fell to the ground, crying desperately and screaming, punching the ground. Looking at that, Brian approached his brother, widening his eyes.

"Hey! What? Breathe, Lance! You're okay, we're both okay!" trying to calm him down, Brian put his hands on Riolu's shoulder.

"No, you don't understand... you don't understand anything! I can't fail! In that place I was, if I failed, I would not eat or drink for days! I… failed again."

"I understand that, but breathe! You will not die here! Look, you got hurt and I take the blame for it, I was hasty and...

"You! It's true..." Lance gritted his teeth. "It was your fault! It was your idea to pretend to be Dad and I failed because of you!" he then closed his fist, punching Zorua.

Brian fell to the ground, passing his hand on his face, where he was hit. Spitting, the boy faced his brother, breathing deeply.

"I said I took the blame, but that doesn't mean you can punch me out of nowhere!"

"Shut up... SHUT UP! I have everything planned, from the beginning to the end of our day and you're just messing everything up! " He stepped on the ground hard, his body was shaking, he could barely stand up.

"We are living beings! Nobody is a machine without feelings waiting for you to order them to do something!"

"But I can't... fail..." the boy would fall to his knees, crying loudly.

"Everybody fails! Even Dad and Uncle Shiron have failed several times! Everything will be fine! Breathe! Please, Lance, I want to help you!" His voice sounded shaky, even though he was trying to sound calm, it was visible that he couldn't stay that way.

The Riolu inspired for a few seconds, counting up to five, and held his breath, counting up to seven. Then he expired slowly, counting up to eight. The boy repeated the movement several times until he finally calmed down. Lance moved away, lying on the sofa and looking at the ceiling.

"Hey, listen here... I know you don't like to talk about that period of our childhood, but... if you need me I'm here. We're partners and I'm your brother, I care about you."

"So... who do we need to meet? " Still panting, he asked Brian.

"A police detective who is investigating the mercenaries... ah, yes, there are three of them. Known as the Heart of Steel Crew, they came from a town called Oreshard."

"I heard about it, it was destroyed and nobody survived... or that's what I read, apparently three Pokémon did."

"It was... well, we only go at night, I'll order our lunch."

"Lasagna..." he said, covering his eyes with his hand.

"Then it will be lasagna!" Brian forced a smile, turning on his home phone.

After lunch, the two of them were on the couch, sitting down, and planning the next step. Lance was keeping his eyes closed, focused. In his mind he thought about which places he should go, considering the police station first.

"We can go to a store I came to when we got here, I... I think we can buy useful things for the next dungeons we go to." Brian said, remembering the Watchog from before.

"Where you bought the item for me to evolve? Well, if they have more stuff than the Kecleon..."

"They have! It's full of items!"

"So let's go now." the boy left the couch.

With their backpacks on, the team left their home, heading towards Watchog's market. The day seemed quiet, despite the attack the night before, many Pokémon were still walking quietly through the streets, while some of them were entering stores. The sky was clear, with few clouds. Despite the sense of uneasiness, the day was calm.

"This place is very different from home... do you miss it?" Zorua asked while walking, a faint smile on his face.

Lance thought for a moment, stopping walking. Despite some bad memories, he liked his village and the friends he made during the guild training.

"I... I think so, but I believe that getting out of there was a decision I needed to make." hesitating, Riolu walked again.

The market they wanted to go to was getting closer and closer and at the door, the Watchog seemed to hand out flyers to some Pokémon passing by.

"What is it, sir?" the dark type asked as he approached, analyzing the paper.

"Hm? Ah! It's the Zorua from before! You're an explorer, right? I have to advertise my business boy!" Laughing, Watchog delivered one of the papers to Brian.

"We are not here to see flyers. We want to see the items in stock." Lance got closer, crossing the arms.

"Do you know him Zorua?" The salesman went to look at Lance from top to bottom, seeing that he had already entered the store.

"My brother, that's how he is... we came to look for some supplies for our next missions." Disappointed, Zorua lowered his ears.

"Okay, when you're done, let me know, I'll distribute more papers here..." the Pokémon turned to the street, extending his arm with the pamphlets.

Nodding, Brian entered the scene. When he arrived, he saw his brother analyzing the bench, seeing the products available. He was with his tail wagging slowly, looking at the seeds.

"See? I said it was a good idea to come here!" Brian approached, smiling, and wagging his tail.

"Well, you were right, brother." Lance turned his face to look at Zorua.

"Look, you were a little rude to the salesman, so I would be careful. He might raise the prices because of that... " the boy would then turn his face where Riolu was looking. " What are you looking for?

"These seeds can be very useful if used correctly... they help a lot in dungeons."

"Hm, it's true..." Brian then saw some spheres on another bench, heading there.

The products were blue spheres, which seemed to be made of glass and with an adhesive indicating the name. Zorua stopped to think about what to do.

"My moves are Pursuit, Copycat, Fury Swipes, and Shadow Ball. They are good moves, but with these spheres I can... " the inspiration seemed to hit the fox Pokémon like the tail of a Salamence. Smiling, he took some.

"You may enter! The store is open, I'm just divulging." Watchog's voice on the other side could be heard by the boys.

"Thanks a lot..." the Pokémon answered, coming in. His body was tall and his skin looked like armor.

The new client was looking at the items in another area when he noticed the brothers. Beating his tail on the ground, he rolled his eyes. Aggron had recognized his targets from the last mission.

"Calm down Atlas, they shouldn't even know who I am... And I can't finish them here, it'll draw attention..." thinking about what to do, he decided to pretend he was looking for something to buy.

"Ok Lance, I've decided! And you?" Brian was talking, saving the items.

" You will fill our backpack with Orbs... but that's ok, they can be very useful, come on..." the boy left, followed by his brother.

Passing by the mercenary, the teenagers went on their way, until they reached the seller, who smiles, seeing that they had bought many things.

"The total will be of... 3000 coins," he spoke excitedly, waiting to be paid.

"You're lucky that money is not a problem for us. " Lance opened his backpack, delivering the money to Pokémon. The Riolu, then, walked to the exit without saying a word, next to his brother.

They noticed that it was already getting dark, the appointed time had arrived. They went in the opposite direction, going to the police station. In the sky, the Sun was beginning to disappear to indicate that night was approaching.

Detective Apollo was in his office, drinking tea and reviewing the documents when he heard someone knocking on his door. Sighing, he wondered who he was.

"Boys, come on in!" he was screaming for the Pokémon outside.

The small explorers went into the room. Noticing the new Pokémon, the Arcanine saw the scar on Lance's body. For a moment, the policeman thought of asking but thought it better to be quiet and talk about the subject that was agreed upon.

"So, you're the one investigating the mercenaries? My name is Lance." He crossed his arms, sitting on one of the office chairs.

"Yes, my name is Apollo. I see that your brother gave some of the details." The dog put the envelopes on the table.

"Well, I said there were three criminals, I just didn't say their species… " commenting, Brian sat down too.

"Hm, an Aggron and a Bisharp..." the team leader spoke, turning the pages of the document.

"Well, what do you suggest we do? We need a direct confession or we won't be able to arrest them..." Apollo would take a sip of tea.

"The idea is very simple, we will..." the Riolu was then interrupted.

"Get their confession out personally." Brian finished the sentence his brother started by looking at the big orange dog.

"Didn't I say it would be risky? What are you thinking?" bowing his eyebrow, he expected an answer.

"As I said, it is simple. Brian and I will split up. I will question the Swalot."

"I'm a Dark-type, I'd better take the Alakazam..."

"If we can take main support out of this trio, it will be easier…" the dog scratched his chin. "Okay, I understand your idea, but let's get one thing straight. I can't support you guys too much, so the most I can do is help record the conversation..."

"When will we execute this plan?" Lance asked, still looking at the documents.

"Give me two days to prepare and we'll start..." the canid consented with his head. He raised his paw to the duo and Brian greeted the cop.

With the evening, the city of Bright Dawn seemed to fall asleep a little. However, in one of the local bars was the Aggron known as Atlas. He ate a pie and next to him were his teammates and childhood friends, Flint and Napoleon.

"Those kids haven't given up on us yet... you worthless Pokémon! You were supposed to kill them when you had the chance!" The reptile beat his hand in the month, looking at the penguin.

"Well, it's the mayor's fault for not offering more money..." the Empoleon shrugged

"This petty attitude of yours will end up killing us and you know it... even so, I don't think they will be a problem, just think about an ambush." The Bisharp reflected, nudging the table with his sword in his arm.

"I can help." the three mercenaries heard, turning in the direction of the voice.

Near them was a colored Pokémon, with two cyan eyes and in its head a third eye, the same color. His body floated in the air and had several appendages. The Sigyliph started talking, even without any sound coming out of his mouth.

"Are you in need of help in this work?" the psychic Pokémon floated while asking them.

"Delphis, what are you doing here? You don't even drink!" Atlas said, biting a piece of the pie he ate.

"Well, you seem to be in an unpleasant situation and I thought I'd give a friendly shoulder...

"It is a good idea." Flint decided to talk. "If he goes after the kids, they won't know it had anything to do with us and will stay out of our glue, at least for now."

Stopping to ponder, the gang leader sighed and decided to agree. At best, they wouldn't have to deal with the explorers, and at worst, they would have more time to plan how they were going to finish them. The next day was going to be difficult for everyone involved.