DarkFoxKit: Alright, everyone, better enjoy this chapter for a while, because we don't know when we'll be able to write together again. ^^'

Traveling Master: Yup, I'm leaving next week, and while there is internet where I'm going, I don't know how long it will take to establish a connection, or how good that connection will be. From what I've heard, streaming videos and such is gonna be veeeeeerrry slow, but when it comes to stuff like messaging and writing, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. So hopefully I can get a good connection and get back to writing with DF soon.

Dust: Honestly, I'm just upset about having to be in a desert, again. Why does your work have to take you to the desert? Why couldn't it be someone nice and cool?

Traveling Master: Trust me, if I could, I would change the location. But I got no control over that. Anyways, just in case it might be awhile until I get back, just wanna say thanks to you all for taking the time to read our story. Always makes me glad to see that you've enjoyed it so far.

DarkFoxKit: That's not to say we won't continue the story anymore, we just don't know when we'll be able to. We're hoping it's sooner rather than later, but we just wanted to give you guys the heads up in case it's, unfortunately, later. But regardless, we hope you will continue to enjoy reading this story, and hopefully we'll get to update again before too long. Oh, and if you're reading this in the far future, you can disregard everything we said, because we've most likely updated a lot more since then.

Chapter 41: A Hot Take

"So I'll ask again, what are you two fighting about now?" Al impatiently asked his two teammates.

"They were fighting about how their mission with Princess Tashi went," Carrie explained since Brody and Grant didn't seem to want to say anything. "They told us how in the end they just got extremely lucky that Princess Tashi decided to give Prince Naro a chance, and they were let out of prison."

"Seriously?" Al groaned. "We've finished that mission, there's no reason to keep bringing it up."

"They keep arguing about whose fault it was that the mission almost went so poorly," Berry sighed.

"They pretty much woke up every Crusader here earlier about it," Shab sighed.

"They were about to fight each other too over it," Dust finished.

"You'd think they would learn to stop fighting after causing so much problems during our mission," Al sighed.

"Hold up!" Grant shouted. "You caused almost all those problems we had. Like causing that Pyroar Pride to attack us!"

"He's right, Al," Brody nodded. "You didn't make things any easier for us. Not to mention how you kept disappearing on us just to eat berries, and how you were so rude when we got to the palace."

Al grumbled. "No, I wasn't. It was you two who were rude. Forget this, I'm going back to bed!"

"Al, do you want to tell us your side of the story first? Throughout the story, Grant and Brody only agreed on one thing; that you weren't exactly much help on the mission," Carrie spoke up.

"Figures they would say that. Too bad they were too busy fighting with each other to really know what actually happened," Al grumbled. "But I rather try to go to sleep than stay up any longer."

"Pleeeease, Mr. Al? Can we hear what you have to say?" Cliff begged.

"Yeah, yeah, pleeeeease?" Chloe begged as well.

"Maybe later," Al yawned as he started walking back, only to see Berry in front of him.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do to get you stay and tell the story? Maybe we can promise you something good to eat?" Berry asked.

"Right now I'm too tired to even eat, sorry," Al yawned as he walked past Berry. But then he suddenly stopped. He quickly turned around, having a big smile on his face. "Actually, there is one thing you can do."

The Goomy frowned, not liking that smile on the Charmeleon's face, it was usually the kind of smile Dust would have before an experiment or a big rant. "What is it?"

"Well after telling what actually happened, I'm probably gonna have a big appetite for breakfast later. I want you to join me," Al smiled.

"That's it?" Berry asked, a bit confused by the weird request.

"Yup, just a simple breakfast, you and me," Al smiled.

"It's not a date or anything, is it?" Shab asked with a small frown.

Berry felt disturbed at the idea of going on a date with her possible-maybe father. Though she didn't think Al felt any romantic feelings for her. "I'm sure it's just a simple breakfast between friends, Shab." Though I wonder why Shab cares if it was a date or not?

"Perfect!" Al happily exclaimed. "Alright, now here's what really happened…"

Al's Flashback

First of all, I never went off on my own. Grant and Brody were too busy introducing themselves, and their ideals, to the princess Nidoran to pay attention to anything. I decided to just eat some berries we found along the way. In fact, I just decided to wait at the dungeon's entrance until they were finally ready to go.

I had just found some berries near the entrance and was enjoying a few when I suddenly heard Grant. "There he is, stuffing his face like usual."

"I was waiting for you two. Are we ready to go now, or what?" I asked, licking my lips that had berry juice on them.

Princess Tashi gave me a curious look. "Is he always like this?"

I was gonna answer, but while I was busy swallowing the berries in my mouth, Brody decided to answer for me. "Don't mind him, he just tends to focus more on food at times. Now come on, Al, let's get going, we mustn't keep the princess waiting."

I shrugged, he was somewhat right. I do love food, but was a little annoyed that Brody said that all I think about was food, but more annoyed that he ignored my earlier question. Again, I was waiting on them, and now suddenly I'm the one they were waiting on. But I followed behind, I had my berries, we were finally moving along, so all was pretty good.

Things were going well, until Grant decided to show off a little and fight with a Pansear that was minding its own business. The Pansear wasn't very happy about suddenly getting attacked, and called in more of its friends. Thankfully we were able to take them down and continue with our mission. I continued to munch on berries, and put away some extras into our bag just in case we would need them. I didn't eat the Rawst Berries, they didn't taste very good to me, and they were useful in this dungeon since Grant and Brody, and also the princess, could get burned out here.

When we got towards the end of the dungeon, that was when trouble struck. Brody and Grant were arguing about how the princess should marry. I didn't really care too much, if Princess Tashi wanted to marry Prince Naro or not, it didn't really matter to me, because it wasn't any of my business to get involved. Though if there was going to be food at the wedding, I couldn't help but imagine how good the food would end up tasting.

My thoughts were cut off from Brody and Grant's arguing. I'm usually used to them fighting, but they were really getting loud. That's when I noticed some Pyroar had also noticed my teammates arguing with each other too.

"Uh… guys, maybe you should tone it down a bit?" I suggested while keeping an eye on the Pyroar. More were starting to take notice.

Brody and Grant either ignored me or didn't hear me. I frowned when I saw a Litleo cub approaching us curiously. I looked up, seeing the Pyroar and older Litleo coming our way. Deciding this was the best way to get their attention, I picked up the small Litleo that was already near us.

"Hey guys!" I shouted loudly to get Brody and Grant's attention while holding up the Litleo. "Your arguing is causing some angry Pokemon to come over here!"

"Al, what did you do?!" Both Brody and Grant shouted at the same time.

Before I could explain, there was a sudden loud roar, and next thing I knew we were surrounded by a Pyroar Pride.

("Wait, so it was their fighting that attracted the Pyroar Pride, not you Al?" Dust asked.

"Yup, tried to warn Brody and Grant, but they were too focused on arguing to notice what was happening," Al answered. "But that's just the start, wait until we get to Prince Naro. Now where was I?")

We managed to drive off the Pyroar pride, though I was a little disappointed it ended so soon. Things had just gotten interesting. I thought things would continue to go smoothly after the wild Pokemon had left, but suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my head.

"Ow!" I shouted, turning to see that Brody had just smacked me. "What was that for?"

"That was for bringing an entire Pyroar pride and putting Princess Tashi in danger!" Brody scolded me.

"But you were being loud!" I pointed back at him. "You and Grant were the ones who-"

"Let's just get Princess Tashi to the palace so we can finish the mission," Grant grumbled, sounding annoyed.

I grumbled as I rubbed the back of my head. This mission was starting to get on my nerves, but I kept on imagining at the end, we might get lucky and eat some food at the wedding. That alone would make up for everything that happened so far.

We finally reached the end of the dungeon, with both Grant and Brody blaming me for things while also arguing. Princess Tashi kept acting weird towards Grant, the Grovyle would keep on attacking any wild Pokemon he saw, and Brody kept on fawning over the princess. Nothing I haven't seen before. I was really excited to see the palace up ahead, it meant that our mission would be over soon, Brody and Grant might stop fighting, but more importantly there was still the chance of us being able to stay for the feast.

I was so excited about the idea of being rewarded some good food that I even asked about that, though Grant and Brody told me not to get my hopes up about it, since we were only hired to escort the princess here, not to enjoy the wedding. Which did bum me out a lot.

Then Prince Naro came. Things got pretty dang hectic when he did. Princess Tashi was cuddling up to Grant.

Prince Naro introduced himself, looking pretty happy as he took Princess Tashi's paw and kissed it. "It's nice to finally meet my future mate."

Princess Tashi took her paw away from Prince Naro, and that was when she decided to drop the bomb on us. "I'm sorry, Prince Naro… I know it's important for our kingdoms, but… the Pokemon I want to marry isn't you."

Then Princess Tashi looked over at Grant. I could see Brody looked very shocked, while I just found the whole thing amusing. Apparently so did Grant, until Princess Tashi dropped an even bigger bomb on us.

"My heart had been stolen by this Groyvle… Brace and powerful Sir Grant, I want to marry you." Princess Tashi smiled.

Everyone was shouting, "What!?" at her.

I rolled my eyes, a little fed up with the situation. "She said she wants to marry Grant!"

I knew they heard it the first time, but shouting it out felt therapeutic after everything we went through today.

Of course, Grant started shouting out all sorts of words that wouldn't be appropriate for the children to hear. So much for wanting Princess Tashi to marry for love, huh?

Prince Naro looked pretty shocked about the whole situation. "How did… this happen?"

Shaking his head, he looked at the guards around us. "Nevermind… look, just escort them out of the palace, please… if the wedding's off, there's no reason to keep them here."

I was disappointed at hearing that, cause that meant we basically failed the mission, but also that there was not gonna be any food. But that was when I noticed things were starting to get very tense between Brody and Grant.

Grant and Brody finally took notice that the guards were approaching them, but they apparently didn't hear what Prince Naro said, because Grant suddenly started attacking the guards as if they were about to attack us. Brody didn't help, he started blasting the guards with his Aura Sphere.

"What are you two doing!?" I shouted at them. "You're going to get us in trouble!"

Evidently, they didn't hear me, because they kept attacking. Prince Naro looked really scared now, so I decided I better stop this before it really got out of claw. For all the times Grant and Brody slapped me upside the head, I finally got to return it ten fold when I punched both of their heads to knock them out.

When Brody and Grant were unconscious, I quickly bowed to Prince Naro. "On behalf of my teammates, I am so sorry about this! They usually cause disasters, but not to this degree! Is there somewhere we can place them until they wake up and have fully calmed down?"

Prince Naro was still shocked from my teammates' sudden attack, but he calmed down after seeing those two knuckleheads were unconscious. "Well, normally we have guest rooms for our visitors, but I'm not so sure if I'd feel safe if those two weren't in a more secure area."

"This is a palace, right? Do you have prison cells?" I suggested.

I knew Brody and Grant wouldn't be exactly happy to be waking up in a cell, but I didn't know what else would satisfy the prince. Luckily Prince Naro accepted my suggestion and had his guards place Brody and Grant into a cell.

Flashback Interrupted

"Hold it!" Grant spoke up. "You were the one to knock me and Brody out?"

"And you were the one who suggested to place us in that cell?" Brody added.

"Well, yeah, what else could I have done? You both just straight up attacked the guards with little provocation. It must've looked like you two just snapped and went on a rampage to the prince. I had to stop you two before you hurt anyone else and cause more trouble for us and the guild!" Al snapped.

"No, that couldn't have happened," Brody shook his head.

"Yeah! I remember the guards attacking us first, so we had to defend ourselves!" Grant added.

"All they did was get closer to you two so they could escort us out," Al informed. "Unlike you two, with you screaming out curses like candy, Grant. And you being in shock about what the princess said, Brody, I was actually paying attention to what was going on around me. I know I can be simple, but I'm not stupid."

Brody and Grant didn't say anything, both were surprised by what Al had said. Now that they had started to calm down, they were actually surprised to see Al upset, despite being his teammates for a long time now.

"Welp, there you have it, the rest is pretty much the same. They woke up, and as soon as they did, we left the palace without getting to eat any of the wedding food, the end," Al grumbled.

"Wait, what about Princess Tashi and Prince Naro? You still haven't told us why they decided to stay with each other," Dust pointed out.

"I didn't?" Al paused for a sec then suddenly remembered and started laughing. "Oh, that's right. Still find it funny how that went. Though it makes sense, I mean, I felt the same way too."

"Please tell us how the Prince and Princess got together." Cliff smiled, excited to hear about that.

"Did they find out they were perfect for each other?" Chloe asked.

"How about we let Al continue the story and we'll see?" Carrie chuckled.

Cliff and Chloe nodded as they looked at Al patiently to continue the story.

"Alright, now let's see. Brody and Grant had just been taken away, leaving me with the prince and princess," Al continued with his story.

Al's Flashback

"I hope Sir Grant will be okay…" Princess Tashi frowned.

"You seriously fell hard for that Grovyle, huh? Despite him attacking my guards suddenly…" Prince Naro sighed.

"Sir Grant was still stressed from defeating the Pyroar pride while we were in The Blazing Jungle, Prince Naro," Princess Tashi answered. "He's a veteran, of course he'd attack if he thought he was being threatened."

I gave a sigh. "I know it's not my place to interfere or get involved, but since one of my teammates is the… apple of your eyes, Princess Tashi, I feel I should at least say something."

"What is it, Sir Eater?" Tashi asked, looking at me.

"Heh, that's a good one," I chuckled. "Look, Princess Tashi, maybe Grant had a point about you marrying for love instead of because of what your parents decided for you. But isn't that why you're here? To get to know Prince Naro? Besides, you don't really know Grant. You were infatuated with him, and fell in love with the idea of him. Someone brave and willing to fight on your behalf. But the truth is that you don't really love him in that way, you only know him because of what he was doing in the mission, not what he's actually like."

"Well, what is he actually like?" Princess Tashi asked.

"Hmm, let's see," I paused trying to think of the best way to describe Grant. "Well, as you already know, he fights a lot. In fact he likes fighting. Ever since knowing him he focuses on training so he can get stronger. But why he constantly trains, I can't tell. And the reason why is because despite being his teammate, he's not very open. He's willing to help out when needed, especially when it comes to training or battles, but you'll have more luck getting a Munchlax to share his food than Grant talking about his feelings. And trust me, those Munchlax do not like to share. I tried. Brody had to hold me back from-"

"You were saying about Grant?" Princess Tashi asked, getting me to focus once more.

"Right, basically Grant is someone who tends to be a loner. He isn't someone who's looking for a relationship. I mean, you can try and get to know him, and who knows, maybe you might get him to open up, but I have no idea how long that would take, and I can't guarantee that he would even open up at all," I then go and pat Prince Naro on the back. "But like I mentioned before, Prince Naro is willing to get to know you. And you might end up finding things you like about him yourself. It's like trying a new food, at first you're unsure about it, but the only way to know whether you like the food or not is by tasting it."

"An interesting analogy, but I suppose I should've expected that from Sir Eater," Tashi remarked.

"If it would help, Princess Tashi, I have been trained to fight in order to protect you in case something should happen to my guards," Prince Naro explained. "As prince, I am to train so I can become strong and be able to defend my kingdom. If you would like, I could show you a few demonstrations. And I promise to not only keep you safe, but to get to better know you, so we would both have a real reason to fall in love with each other, not just because our parents say so."

"Perhaps I was hasty, honestly I was afraid and unhappy, having something as precious as marriage already be chosen for me. But if you're willing to get to know me more, then I'm willing to do the same for you," Princess Tashi replied.

"I am more than happy to accept, Princess Tashi." Prince Naro smiled. "You… uh… Sir Eater?"

"Actually my name is Al, but you can call me that if you want," I chuckled, amused.

"I feel you deserve a reward for fixing up this misunderstanding, and stopping your teammates from causing a potential war," Prince Naro said to me. "As Prince, I will grant you one request within my power."

"Hmm… since you two are going to get to know each other first, I'm guessing the wedding is going to be postponed?" I asked.

"That's right, I think we will start with an actual date before the wedding," Prince Naro chuckled.

"I couldn't agree more with that, a wedding seems a bit too fast for our first date," Princess Tashi laughed.

I nodded as I slowly replied, hoping to play my cards right. "Well if that's the case, it'd be a big shame to let all that food that's been prepared for the wedding go to waste. I don't suppose I could… have it?"

Princess Tashi chuckled as Prince Naro blinked. "Is that really all you want, Sir Al?"

"Something you already learned about me is that I love eating, and I can never get enough," Al proudly answered.

"Well… you could probably eat some of it, but it would be better if we send the food to you instead," Prince Naro said. "We have a lot, and we'd rather not keep you here for too long. You should get back to your guild once your teammates wake up."

I frowned a little. "How long would that take?"

"Considering it was for a wedding, we had prepared a lot, so it will take a few days to get everything packed and sent to your guild," Prince Naro explained.

"Oh…" I frowned.

I was really hoping to eat all that food now.

"Sir Eater, that is a gift from Prince Naro. However, I have yet to give you my own reward for escorting me here safely," Princess Tashi spoke up.

"Oh yeah, your reward mentioned some kind of rock?" I blinked. "No offense, but I'm not much of a rock collector. I prefer food, or money to buy food with."

Princess Tashi laughed a little. "It's not an ordinary rock. You might get some use out of it later though. My parents actually found this rock before I was born."

Princess Tashi took out some kind of smooth marble-like object, with some kind of orange and red swirl thing inside it, and handed it to me. When I touched it, I did feel some sort of power from it. Though it was hard to tell for sure.

"Woah… are you sure I can have this?" I asked. It felt strange holding the small rock. I don't know why but foriegn feelings came to me, though I barely could tell what they were.

"Yes. I have no use for it, I think it'll be better in your claws, Sir Eater," Tashi chuckled.

"Thank you, for giving me a chance, Princess Tashi," Prince Naro said gratefully before he looked at me. "And thank you for allowing that to happen. You're free to eat some of the food we have out now, but be sure to check in on your teammates soon. I'd rather they didn't get the wrong idea when they wake up."

At the mention of food my stomach growled. I made sure to keep the marble in a safe place before accepting their food. And it was delicious! If I could, I would've stayed there all day and night eating all the food they had prepared. But as Prince Naro had explained, I could only have a little of it, so that they could send the rest later. A guard later came and notified us that Brody and Grant had woken up, to my disappointment. Was hoping I could eat some more, but with them up, I knew they were going to be restless if they weren't let out soon.

That was when I came down with the guards to let my teammates out. I did ask if it was possible we could stay, but they were tired and stressed, that they just wanted to go back home. Though I do agree, it had been a very long mission, and I was rather tired myself. I was still hungry, but I figured once we got back and I got some sleep, I'd wake up even hungrier, which means I could eat more.

Of course Brody and Grant were still upset about how the mission went, despite us actually completing it. I just wanted to sleep by the time we had gotten back to the guild, though I had to wait a bit since we had to turn in our mission to Miyagi. I noticed there were new missions on the board, and one of them caught my attention, so I decided to take it. Brody and Grant then continued to argue and somehow kept on getting louder and louder, until I couldn't take it anymore.

End of Flashback

"I decided to leave them to argue and just head to my room to some sleep, hoping they'd shut up eventually. Now I'm starting to wonder if they get tired at all," Al grumbled.

"Wait… are you saying you were the one who got Princess Tashi to give Prince Naro a chance?" Brody frowned.

"And you got rewarded with the stone? And you're getting all that wedding food delivered to your room!?" Grant frowned as well.

Al nodded and smiled as he thought about all that food he'd be getting. "Yup."

"I don't believe you," Grant retorted.

"It's true, I even have the stone I mentioned earlier," Al replied.

"Really?" Brody asked. "Why haven't you shown it to us before?"

"Oh...well… I accidentally ate it," Al admitted.

Everyone stared at Al.

"You… what!? Why would you eat it!?" Grant shouted.

Dust, Berry, and Shab all wondered the very same thing. While Carrie was trying to tell Chloe and Cliff to not follow Al's example.

"Well I placed it in my bag with the other berries. I went to go eat some and apparently I grabbed the stone too. By the time I finished the berries, that's when I noticed the stone was gone. That does explain why one of the berries felt hard. I just swallowed it. Turns out it was the stone," Al laughed before noticing the angry looks from Brody and Grant. "Oh, but don't worry, I can still show you. Just give me a second."

"A second to do what?" Brody asked before realizing what Al was about to do. "Oh no, not again."

What came next distrubed Dust very much. Al started gagging, almost like a Meowth trying to cough up a hairball. Al kept going, his tail flame seeming to grow brighter each time he gagged. Carrie quickly covered Chloe's eyes. Dust himself was starting to feel nauseous from just watching the Charmeleon, so he made sure to cover Cliff's eyes as well, not wanting her to feel the same way. Berry and Shab were both pretty disgusted too, though Shab was blushing more than disgusted as this reminded him of a certain event that happened between him and Berry not that long ago.

After a couple more seconds, Al gave a final push and spat out something onto the ground. He coughed a bit, clearing his throat before picking up the item covered in saliva. "See, here's the stone."

"Ugh! Go wash that stone until it's sparkling!" Grant growled. "Did you have to do that here!?"

"Well you didn't believe me, so I had to show you the stone," Al answered as he used his arms to wipe away most of the slime on the stone. Once it was mostly clear, he held it up for the others to see. "And there you have it, this is the stone that Princess Tashi gave me for convincing her to stay with Prince Naro. If you want more proof you'll have to wait a few days until the food arrives."

Despite the stone being recently covered in saliva, Dust was now intrigued by the curious marble. He had never seen anything like it before. Of course, last time he thought he saw a unique rock, it turned out to be an egg. Though Al's rock was different, something seemed special about it, and it was far too small to be an egg, even if it was a Joltik egg.

"Speaking of food, Berry, I believe you owe one breakfast with me," Al spoke up.

"Uh… yeah… you're not going to eat my plate or anything, are you?" Berry asked.

"Nope, we'll each have our own meals." Al smiled.

"Wait, before you go and have your breakfast, shouldn't you place your stone in a safer place now? One where you won't accidentally eat it?" Dust brought up, concerned that Al might eat the stone again while having breakfast.

"Oh, I already have a safe spot for it," Al replied with a grin.

Al then tosses the stone in the air as he leans back and opens his mouth. Dust watched as the stone fell down inside the Charmeleon's mouth, seeing the slight bulge in his neck as Al swallowed.

"There, what better place to keep it safe than my own stomach?" Al rhetorically asked as he patted his stomach. He then picked up Berry without warning before heading towards the cafeteria. "Now let's go get something to eat, I'm starving."

"He just… ate the stone again…" Chloe remarked.

Carrie sighed. "Again, children, please don't follow his example…"

"Don't I eat rocks?" Cliff asked.

"You're a Pokemon who can eat rocks, a Charmeleon isn't. Besides, it was a very special rock he ate," Carrie explained.

Dust looked at Brody and Grant, who looked like they weren't too surprised. "I'm guessing this isn't the first time he's done something like that?"

Brody shook his head. "Last time he accidentally swallowed an Everstone. Our client wasn't exactly thrilled to learn about how Al managed to get the Everstone to him."

"His stomach is made of iron or something, I don't even know where he puts it all," Grant added.

Carrie then grabbed Brody and Grant's backs and held them up. "You two had caused enough troubles for today. Report to your guildmaster and get to bed at once. If I hear so much as a peep from either of you, you both will learn what it will be like to be punished by mama."

"Uh-oh, Team Destruct is in trouble~" Chloe giggled.

Both Grant and Brody nodded, having calmed down after Al had left.

"Shouldn't we go see if Berry's alright?" Shab asked in concern to Dust.

Carrie nodded as she turned to Dust. "I know you must be exhausted, but can you please make sure Al doesn't cause any trouble. Grant and Brody have already done enough this morning."

Dust nodded. Just then he heard Cliff yawned, seeing how tired she still was. "Shab, can you take Cliff back to the room so she can sleep some more. I can check on Berry and make sure she's okay."

Shab looked at the sleepy Larvitar. "Alright, just make sure Al doesn't make Berry eat something strange…"

"Don't worry, I think Berry would make sure that Al doesn't feed her meat again, especially after the first time," Dust reassured Shab.

"By strange, I meant stuff she shouldn't be eating," Shab clarified. "Like rocks. I'm pretty sure, unlike Cliff, her kind isn't meant to eat rocks. Then again… Tsunami was able to eat all sorts of Pokemon, including hard shelled ones like Clamperl…"

"Don't you usually eat strange stuff all the time?" Dust asked. "I've read that wild fish Pokemon tend to eat some very strange things, heck, some of them would eat their own kind when they were just born. Besides, you first met Berry by tasting her slime."

Shab blushed. "Th-that was before I became civilized, okay? It doesn't mean I want Berry to start eating strange things, besides, that wouldn't be a good influence for Cliff here."

"True, let's just hope Al doesn't end up feeding her strange stuff then," Dust replied.

Shab decided to just take the sleepy Larvitar back to the room before he could start worrying more. "Come on, Cliff, let's get you back to bed. Mommy and Daddy will come in later."

Dust waited until Shab and Cliff had left. Once they were gone he started heading towards the cafeteria, already imagining Al feeding Berry something strange, then seeing the Goomy looking sick. Dust really hoped that wouldn't happen, especially since they had just spent the entire day yesterday taking care of Berry. He hoped she didn't feel ill again after having recovered so recently.

When Dust reached the cafeteria, he saw there weren't that many Pokemon in there, most were most likely still sleeping. Dust spotted Al and Berry sitting at one of the tables and headed towards them. When he reached them, he was surprised to see that they both were only eating a bowl of porridge. Berry was yawning a bit.

"Couldn't we have had breakfast after the sun rises?" Berry asked.

"Hey, this was part of the deal, and if I had gone to sleep, we wouldn't really be having breakfast, now would we?" Al remarked. "Plus, considering how both our teams have been lately, I think now was a perfect opportunity to get breakfast."

Dust approached the two of them. "Hey… so what are you two eating?"

"Porridge, Al just got it from Cupcake," Berry answered.

"Oh? I'm surprised you let Al get your food," Dust said. "Especially considering…"

"I was with him, he ordered one porridge without meat," Berry assured.

Dust couldn't help but notice a strange twinkle in the Charmeleon's eyes. "Uh-huh, and you don't taste anything...strange in your porridge?"

Al looked at Berry as she was sipping her porridge from the bowl since she didn't have any hands to use utensils like spoons to eat it with.

"I didn't add anything strange, it's just food," Al shrugged. "Don't worry so much, I'm not gonna poison her if that's what you're thinking."

Dust was still skeptical, but after seeing Berry eat her porridge with no issues, he figured Al was telling the truth.

"I'm so going back to bed after this." Berry yawned.

It had been a week since Team Destruct's fight about how they almost royally screwed up their mission, and meeting with Berry's mother. Team Night Tide had been going on a few more missions. They would go on a research mission once in a while with Cliff so Cliff could learn more about Pokemon, and what a real mission could be like.

Then, finally, Cliff decided she wanted to go on a real mission with Team Night Tide. She talked to Chloe about it while Team Night Tide had been on their latest mission. Chloe suggested that if Cliff wanted to go on a real mission, she would need to show she was ready. Chloe made a point about how Cliff needed to show how strong she had gotten, as well as how brave she was so she could fight with wild Pokemon.

So the next morning, Cliff decided to wake up early to show her 'mama' and 'papa' and 'uncle' that she was ready for her first real mission with them.

"Time to wake up, Mommy! Daddy! Uncle! Early Pidgey catches the Caterpie as they say, right?" Cliff yelled, trying to get the others to wake up.

All three were still sleeping, having worked hard the previous day. Seeing that they weren't getting up, Cliff decided to climb up to Dust's side and nudge his body, trying to wake him up.

"Daddy! Come on, wake up, Daddy!" Cliff began to shake Dust's face.

"Your daughter is awake…" Berry sleepily said to Dust.

Dust groggily moaned. "Before sunrise, she's your daughter."

"Daddy! Come on!" Cliff bit down on Dust's blade and tried to pull, but her teeth ended up slipping off of Dust's blade, which caused her to flip backwards. "Ow…"

Finally having lost her patience, Cliff ran up to Dust and hit him with a Tackle. It didn't hurt Dust that much, but it did get him to open his eyes.

"Come on! Today's the day! The day I get to go on that first mission with you guys!" Cliff huffed, looking at Dust's red and blue eyes with her own red eyes.

"Okay...okay," Dust replied as he yawned. "I'm up, I'm up."

Berry yawned as well, and Shab came out of the pot of water.

"Yeah! I'm ready for this mission! I've gotten stronger and older, and I'm very brave." Cliff grinned.

"I don't know, are you sure Cliff is ready for a real mission in a dungeon, Dust?" Berry groggily asked the Absol.

Dust let out another yawn before answering the Goomy. "We won't be doing a difficult mission. We'll look at the mission board and do something that's more suitable for Normal Rank. Maybe Bronze depending on what's available."

"I can show you I can handle whatever mission we get!" Cliff smiled, trying to act brave.

"Now, now, settle down Cliff," Berry said as she slithered over to the Larvitar. "There is a difference between acting brave and acting cocky. Acting cocky could get you into serious trouble."

"But isn't this how Grant usually acts?" Cliff asked.

"Grant is a… special case," Dust answered. "While he is brave, he has gotten himself into trouble before. Nothing he couldn't handle, but that's because of how hard he trained. Remember, we also have to be careful, so that we don't end up harming ourselves or others."

"Besides, didn't Carrie warn you not to be like Team Destruct?" Shab added. "There's a reason why they earned that name."

"I guess… they're just so cool though." Cliff smiled.

Berry chuckled. "Come on, Cliff, we'll go eat breakfast, then see what kind of mission we could take for your very first one."

"Yay! Could I pick the mission? Pleeeeease?" Cliff begged.

"As long as you pick an easy mission, we don't want you getting overwhelmed on your first day on the job," Shab chuckled.

Then there was a knock on the door, which surprised them since it was still pretty early, not a lot of the other teams should be up right now, unless they were natural early birds, or were coming back from a night mission. Dust went over to answer the door, and saw a familiar mail Flygon standing there.

"Gale? I'm surprised to see you here," Dust greeted. But then the Flygon was breathing heavy, as though he just ran a marathon. "Gale, is everything alright?"

"Got an… urgent letter… for Team Night Tide," Gale said in between breaths. He then held out a letter for Dust to read.

Dust took the letter as Berry, Shab, and even Cliff gathered around the Absol curiously. Dust started to read aloud the letter so that the others could know what it contained.

"To Team Night Tide, I recently learned that there is a young Larvitar in your team. If this is true, then I need you to come to Phoenix Desert Dungeon as soon as possible. Something has happened since you were last here, and I need your help before it becomes too late. I'll be waiting on the 5th floor of the Phoenix Desert, be sure to bring that Larvitar. - Jade Trapinch"

"It looks like things are getting bad at the Phoenix Desert right now." Gale frowned after Dust finished reading.

"But why us? Why does she want us to go there with Cliff?" Berry asked. "Most of us don't do well in a dungeon like the Phoenix Desert."

"I don't know, but it sounded urgent," Dust thought about the letter, wondering what was so important.

If it's just because Jade knows us, that might be why she requested our team. But she mentioned knowing of other crusaders before, so that doesn't make much sense. And why does she want us to bring Cliff? Dust thought to himself, trying to figure out Jade's urgency.

"Hey… would it be alright if I went with you to the Phoenix Desert?" Gale requested.

"You? But aren't you just a mail mon? It could be dangerous for you," Berry pointed out.

Gale grinned before answering. "Did you forget, I used to be part of Team Dragon Knights, we've been too far more dangerous dungeons before. Plus, I'm more accustomed to the Phoenix Desert, if things are dangerous there, I'll be able to help more than you think."

Berry nodded, realizing that Gale had a point. He was a Flygon, a Pokemon that was meant to live in a desert place. She then turned to Cliff. "Cliff… are you sure you want to go to the Phoenix Desert? It's not an easy dungeon, and there could be many strong Pokemon there that could really hurt you."

"Yes, Mommy, I'm ready. I can take on the Phoenix Desert, besides, you need me to go there, don't you? It's our job to follow through with requests from Pokemon in trouble," Cliff pointed out. "Besides, if things get too tough, you and Daddy will be there, and Uncle too, right?"

"Well…" Shab spoke up. "I think I should stay here. The Phoenix Desert is no place for a fish like me. And remember what the rules said? There can't be too many Pokemon in a group at once in a Mystery Dungeon, it'll become too chaotic and easy to get lost and separated. The last thing I want to do is cause problems for all of you, especially you, Berry. You'll likely have enough to deal with by going to the desert."

Berry frowned, it would be the first time they went on a mission without all of their current members on the team, but she had known, eventually, that would become an issue once they started recruiting more Pokemon. Gale wasn't technically a part of their team, but he seemed determined to go, and they could use a help like his in the Phoenix Desert. And they needed to take Cliff with them for whatever reason, and Cliff really wanted to go to prove her mettle. Shab was also right, the Phoenix Desert really wasn't a good place for him, or her for that matter, but Berry was not going to let Cliff go to this dangerous dungeon without her.

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself while we go, Shab?" Berry asked the Feebas in concern.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Shab reassured. "Just make sure to take care of yourself. Even if it's only on the fifth floor, something tells me it won't be that simple."

"We better get some supplies before we go," Dust suggested. "This time we should be better prepared for going into the desert. At least we're not chasing down an outlaw this time."

Cliff was looking excited. Finally! Finally I get to show my parents what I'm capable of!

Gale was flying towards the Phoenix Desert while carrying Dust, Berry, and Cliff in his mailbag.

"We're almost there, guys!" Gale called out.

"This is way better than taking a Carriage!" Dust called out, looking excited that they were flying.

"Speak for yourself…" Berry groaned, looking a little air sick.

While Berry looked like she was ready to throw up, Cliff was having a blast. Dust had already made sure she was safe, but even now he still had to make sure she didn't jump around too much.

"Gale, I'm surprised you're able to carry all three of us. I mean, I know Berry mustn't weigh that much to you, but me and Cliff are way heavier," Dust acknowledged.

"Are you kidding? I've been carrying packages that weighed more than a Snorlax," Gale laughed. "Compared to that, you three don't weigh that much to me at all. Besides, this way is faster than taking the Carriage."

"I definitely have to agree," Dust chuckled.

Gale then looked down. "It's just too bad flying over the dungeon isn't viable. Otherwise flyers could easily conquer Mystery Dungeons."

Gale then landed at the Phoenix Desert Mystery Dungeon's entrance. "Alright, we're here."

Dust and Cliff crawled out of the bag, though it took Berry a minute or two to regain her composure and slither out of the Flygon's mailbag.

"Phoenix Desert," Dust mumbled under his breath. He recalled why they were here last time, having to save Chloe from that outlaw, and how they barely managed to survive. "Didn't think we'd be coming back here any time soon."

"Chloe told me about how she was taken here by that mean old Snubbull," Cliff said. "She said it was hot and scary. I can't wait to tell her this place is my first Mystery Dungeon mission."

Dust lowered himself to let Berry slither onto his back. "I'm just glad we came here better prepared… I have a Rainy Orb or two in the bag that should, hopefully, keep me nice and wet while in the dungeon."

"Looks like you may need them," Gale muttered as he looked at the dungeon. "I can see there's a sandstorm already brewing in there."

"Do you think we'll be able to reach the fifth floor where Jade will be at?" Dust asked Gale, seeing how he was an expert in desert terrain.

Gale studied the oncoming sandstorm for a few seconds before answering. "If it was just you three, I'd say no. Luckily I think I have an idea that might be able to buy us some time. Wait for about five minutes, then enter the dungeon."

"What are you planning?" Dust asked, curious to what Gale had in mind.

"Oh, you'll see," Gale replied. "Since this sandstorm is just brewing, I have a chance to cancel it out before it can settle in."

The Flygon flew up and began to flap his wings at a rapid pace, creating his own sandstorm. With his gust of sandy winds hitting the sandstorm that was forming, it caused both sandstorms to cancel each other out. Both winds ended up dying, leaving clear weather on the first floor.

"Alright, let's go while it's clear!" Gale called out to Team Night Tide.

"Here we go… are you ready, Cliff?" Berry asked the Larvitar, who was standing beside Dust.

"Yup! I'm ready, Mommy!" Cliff smiled, excited.

"Remember to stay close to Mommy and Daddy, alright? Don't start a fight if you don't have to," Berry warned.

"Don't worry, I'm brave and strong, just like Mommy and Daddy," Cliff replied.

Dust smiled but couldn't help but worry a bit. Hopefully it won't be like last time. Dust thought to himself.

"Now we better hurry, we shouldn't have any issues on the first floor, but I can't guarantee how the others will be when we get there. If we are lucky, we'll end up beating the sandstorm when we get to the fifth floor," Gale remarked as he started taking the lead.

Dust followed behind, with Berry on his back and Cliff by his side. The sun was already giving off an intense heat.

Phoenix Desert 1F

The sun was intense as it was the first time Team Night Tide came through the dungeon. Berry was holding onto the Rain Orb with her antennae close to her body since it let out some water occasionally to keep her moist. Dust was beginning to hate the hot desert sun, his fur was making him hotter, he was already starting to feel his throat dry. The only thing keeping him slightly cool was the Goomy on his back.

Cliff seemed to be enjoying herself, due to being a natural desert dweller. "This place is pretty neat. Look at all this sand, and the sun feels nice against my hide."

"Heh, I guess it does feel nice," Gale responded as he looked back. But then something came to mind. "Has she never been to a desert before?"

"No, this is her first time," Berry confirmed. "We don't usually go to desert places."

Gale nodded before replying. "I can see why, your kind isn't exactly suited to be in hot places. Still, I thought you two would at least show Cliff the desert a little bit sooner. She seems like she's still young, so it's pretty important for Ground and Rock types to get that healthy coating of dirt. It helps them with their growth."

Dust never thought of that before. Of course, he never really had spent that much time with a Ground or Rock type Pokemon before either. "Noted. You learned this from a young age?"

Gale shook his head. "No, actually it was Jade who taught me that. You'd be surprised by what you can learn from wild Pokemon."

Cliff was playing in the sand, obviously enjoying herself.

"Cliff! Come on, you can play in the sand later, but we're on a mission, remember?" Berry called out.

The Larvitar stopped, and looked at where Dust and Jade are. "Right! Sorry, I just didn't realize how much fun sand could be!"

Cliff quickly hurried after Dust.

As they were moving through the first floor, they soon came across a wild Phanpy. It was growling at them.

"A wild Pokemon! Let me handle it, Mommy, Daddy, I can show you how strong I am!" Cliff smiled excitedly.

"Cliff, don't get reckless. It's a Ground type, you're weak to it," Berry warned.

"I'll be careful!" Cliff shouted before turning to face the Phanpy.

The Phanphy growled once more before it started charging at Cliff with a Tackle attack. Cliff decided to charge forward with her own Tackle. When the two collided, there was a brief standstill between Cliff and the Phanpy, but with a hard push, Cliff tossed the wild Pokemon to the side. Cliff started cheering after seeing how she knocked the Phanpy over.

"Mommy, Daddy! Did you see that?" Cliff asked, turning her back to the Phanpy.

"Cliff! Watch out!" Dust warned.

Cliff frowned, turning around in time to see the Phanpy kicking up mud in her face. Cliff let out a surprised yelp, not liking the mud, and tried to wipe it off with her stubby arms.

"Dust, we need to help her," Berry quickly said, now worried for the Larvitar.

Dust nodded as he prepared to go assist Cliff, when suddenly Gale blocked him with his tail. "Gale, what are you doing?"

"I know you're worried for Cliff, but you two need to let her handle her own battle. She's trying hard to prove to you two she can fight. If she's in real danger, we'll step in, but she's only taken a little bit of damage. She will never be able to learn to fight on her own if you keep trying to protect her though," Gale explained. "Let's just see how this turns out."

Dust still wanted to help, but Gale made a fair point. When he and Berry were first partners, they had to grow and get stronger to get to this point. It wouldn't be fair to Cliff if they held her back, especially when she wants to show how strong she truly can be.

"Alright, but at the first sign of trouble, we're stepping in," Dust replied.

"Are you sure about this, Dust?" Berry asked in concern.

"Like Gale said, we should see how this plays out first," Dust said.

The Phanpy curled into a ball suddenly, then it began to roll at Cliff. Cliff was still trying to wipe mud off her eyes, and when she managed to open her eyes, she gasped as the rolling Phanpy came right at her. It hit her, though it hardly did any damage since her tough hide resisted the Rollout attack. However, the Phanpy kept rolling back, each time getting faster and hitting harder.

Getting frustrated, Cliff created a rock in her stubby arms and put it in front of her. When the Phanpy came rolling back to the Larvitar, looking even faster, it hit the rock, causing it to swerve away from Cliff, missing her completely. The Phanpy stopped rolling, and shook its head. While the Phanpy was recovering from the Rollout, Cliff began to dance around.

"That was mean, but I'll get you back for that," Cliff huffed.

"Why is Cliff dancing around like that?" Dust asked.

Gale gave a surprised look. "I'll be an Aipom's uncle… she knows how to use Dragon Dance?"

"Dragon Dance? This is my first time seeing the move," Dust replied. He then turned to Berry, wondering if she might have something to do with it, seeing how she was a Dragon type. "Berry, did you teach Cliff Dragon Dance?"

"Dust… look at me… does it look like I could dance?" Berry deadpanned. "I literally have no arms, hands, legs, or feet to dance with."

"True, but if that's the case, how are you able to use Rain Dance?" Dust asked.

"It's not actually a dance, I just summon rain. It's called Rain Dance because it's a play on words for when humans in ancient times were thought to be able to summon rain by doing a certain dance," Berry explained.

"We can talk about dancing later, I think you two may want to see this," Gale called out as he pointed towards Cliff.

Cliff was using Bite on the Phanpy's trunk, making it cry out and shake Cliff off. Cliff saw the Phanpy coming in with another Rollout, but this time Cliff was much faster than before, and was able to dodge the incoming attack. The Phanpy wasn't giving up, and was rolling around to try to get to the Larvitar. Cliff waited as the Phanpy drew closer, then she took a deep breath and let out a horrible, ear piercing Screech. The Phanpy stopped immediately, and tried to cover its poor ears.

Dust, Berry and Gale all flinched at the sudden loud noise Cliff was making. Dust remembered the last time she used Screech, when those Beedrill were attacking him. It was a good thing that they were behind Cliff instead of facing her, unlike that Phanpy. Phanpy looked disorientated from the Screech, seeing this, Cliff ceased her Screech, then she ran at the Phanpy, giving it a good Tackle. The Phanpy fell to the sand, unconscious.

Seeing that the Phanpy was defeated, Cliff smiled before she jumped around happily, kicking sand everywhere. "Look! Look! I actually defeated the wild Pokemon! Mommy, Daddy, did you see that? Did you see what I did?"

Dust and the others had been blocking out the noise since Cliff used Screech, but seeing that she had defeated the Phanpy, Dust was the first to congratulate her. "Way to go, Cliff. That was amazing."

Berry blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the disorientation. "You did well, Cliff, I'm proud of you." We might want to invest some earplugs though...

Cliff blushed, she was happy that she could show her mommy and daddy how well she could fight.

Gale smiled. "Yes, you did well on your first battle. But remember to never let your guard down until the battle is finished."

"So Cliff, where did you learn to use Dragon Dance?" Dust inquired.

"Dragon Dance?" Cliff asked as she tilted her head. "You mean the funny dance I did?"

Cliff then proceeded to use Dragon Dance again, causing Dust to nod before replying. "Yes, that dance."

"Oooh, that's a cool name!" Cliff smiled. "And… uh… I don't know where I learned it from? It was just something I did with Chloe for fun when we were playing. I noticed I feel stronger, and move faster whenever I use it though, so I like using it, it also helps me win races against Chloe since she's usually faster than me."

"It might be an egg move," Berry suggested. "Something a Pokemon inherently knows when they hatch."

"Interesting," Dust said to himself.

I wonder what kind of biological parents Cliff had. It's safe to assume one of them is a Tyranitar, but what about the other one? Dust wondered curiously. He then noticed Gale was staring intently at Cliff.

"Gale?" Dust called out to the Flygon.

Gale looked at Dust. "Yes?"

"Everything alright?" Dust asked.

Gale was silent for a moment, having looked back at Cliff as she continued to celebrate her victory. "Everything's...fine… Dust, where did you and Berry find Cliff originally?"

"Well I found her egg shortly after meeting Jade, why do you ask?" Dust wondered what the Flygon was thinking.

"Was it… underground?" Gale asked.

"Yeah, it was," Dust confirmed.

"I see…" Gale frowned.

"Is there a problem?" Berry asked, now getting concerned.

"For now let's focus on getting to Jade first, we don't know how long until the next sandstorm comes, and we still got four more floors to go until we reach Jade," Gale advised.

"I found the stairs!" Cliff called, pointing at the stairs that were leading to the next floor.

"Guess we're about to find out about that sandstorm," Berry said.

Dust, Cliff, and Gale all climbed the stairs, heading to the next floor of the dungeon.

Phoenix Desert 2F

It was unfortunate, but there was a sandstorm raging on the second floor. Dust and Berry had to put down their heads and close their eyes just to be able to withstand it, but it was a little hard to breathe with so much sand. They were also getting hurt a little with all the sand hitting against their fur and skin. Gale and Cliff were fine though.

"Mommy? Daddy? What's wrong?" Cliff asked, seeing that her 'parents' looked to be in pain and uncomfortable.

"It's the sandstorm," Gale answered for Dust and Berry so as to not have sand fly into their mouths. "You and me can handle being in a sandstorm, but they will be having a harder time. Dust, Berry, use your scarfs as a covering, that will help filter some of the sand and help you breath a bit. I'm sorry, but I can't stop a sandstorm that's already in the area."

Dust pulled up his Pecha Scarf to his nose and mouth, and Berry did the same with her Defense Scarf. They could breathe a little easier, but it didn't help too much.

"Come, let's hurry and find the next stairs," Gale said.

Cliff was walking beside Dust, looking at him and Berry worriedly. The sandstorm didn't bother her, in fact, she kinda enjoyed all the sand that was scrapping her hide, it felt pretty good. She wasn't worried about breathing the sand in either as it was like tasting soil, only drier and crispier. But it was hurting Dust and Berry, which she didn't like.

They ran into more wild Pokemon. The wild Sandshrew and wild Drilbur were incredibly annoying to deal with because of their Sand Veil ability, they were able to dodge attacks easier due to the sandstorm. Dust and Berry had to pull down their makeshift masks in order to use some of their attacks like Ice Beam or Water Pulse, and even then, they would often miss because of the Pokemon's evasion. Thankfully Gale had an easier time taking them out, he was strong, and he worked well even in the sandstorm. Cliff was able to help out too, since she could withstand the sandstorm as well, and she wanted to help protect her 'parents' from the mean wild Pokemon trying to hurt them.

Phoenix Desert 4F

The sandstorm was getting harsher the further they went. There weren't as many wild Pokemon, thankfully, but that just sent red flags to Gale, since that meant the wild Pokemon were in hiding or ran away due to something else.

Dust could hardly see what was in front of him due to how harsh the wind was, and all that sand was getting thicker. He had to rely on Berry's instructions to keep up with Gale, since she was able to sense the Flygon even without her eyes. She also made sure Cliff was still nearby.

Dust did, unfortunately, step on a few traps along the way. He had stepped on a trap that released some sticky green stuff, making his Pecha Scarf all sticky. Then he stepped on another trap that spew out some purple gunk, which caused some of their apples and berries to go rotten.

How much farther until we find the stairs? Dust thought to himself.

He heard Berry say something but he was still focused on trying to shake off the purple and green gunk that was on him. Suddenly he bumped into something and at first was alarmed it was a wild Pokemon. But then he started to relax when he saw it was Gale. Dust was about to ask the Flygon why he stopped when Gale suddenly held up a claw, cutting him off.

Gale lowered himself to Dust and Berry so he could whisper to them. "We're not alone. Most of the other wild Pokemon have run off or are hiding. I felt some tremors in the distance, something big was nearby. Berry, you can sense other Pokemon, right?"

Berry nodded, though she was worried, seeing how even Gale was now on guard.

"Good, I can somewhat sense their tremors, but you'll be able to sense whatever is nearby better than me. We don't want to attract this Pokemon, so we'll have to keep quiet and hope we can sneak past it," Gale advised.

"Can't we fight it?" Cliff asked.

"No… it's too strong… in fact, it shouldn't even be at this level of the dungeon," Gale warned.

Berry moved her antennae around. Her voice was a bit muffled by the scarf, so she had to speak up. "I sense something strong to the right of us, it's not super close, but it's not that far either."

"Alright, we shouldn't have to worry about any other wild Pokemon, they're too busy avoiding that big Pokemon, so if we're lucky, we should be able to get onto the next floor with no issues. Now stay close, and if that Pokemon gets near us, don't move and don't make a sound until I say so," Gale instructed.

Berry was keeping an eye on that strong Pokemon as they were moving. It was strong, definitely, but it was nowhere near Tsnuami's level at least, so they did have a chance if they really needed to fight back. But Berry worried for Cliff's safety.

Then Berry paled when she felt that strong presence quickly moving closer to them. Whatever this Pokemon was, it was fast.

"It's coming quickly!" Berry warned the others.

Shortly after Berry's warning, Dust started to feel tremors within the ground as something big was coming towards them. Dust was considering running away with Berry and Cliff when Gale suddenly covered them with his body, his wings spread out as he used his tail to cover himself with the sand.

"Quiet, don't have much time. Remember what I said, don't move and don't make a sound unless I tell you to run," Gale quickly whispered.

After a few more seconds, Gale's body was mostly covered with sand as he stood above Dust, Berry and Cliff. Dust wondered if someone had seen them, would they be able to spot them. And if not, he hoped that the wild Pokemon wouldn't be able to see them either.

It was difficult to see through all the sand, but there was a large shadow approaching them. Cliff hugged Dust's side in worry. Gale narrowed his own eyes, trying to see what kind of Pokemon it was. It looked to be bipedal, and was moving around quickly. It stopped and looked around, like it was searching for something.

Gale's eyes widened as he finally recognized the Pokemon. That just made Dust wonder even more what kind of Pokemon they were dealing with, but he knew that the moment he stepped out of hiding, that Pokemon would most likely attack them, so he stayed put until Gale had given the orders to move. Berry sensed the Pokemon moving closer, and she saw that Gale was preparing to make a move. She was worried, but she was more worried for Cliff's safety than her own. If it was just her and Dust, she'd feel a little more confident.

Suddenly the giant Pokemon started walking away in another direction. Dust felt less and less tremors as it got further and further away. Gale looked towards where the Pokemon had went, making sure it didn't turn around.

"Berry, do you sense it nearby?" Gale asked in a hushed tone.

"Uh… no… I think it left," Berry answered.

"Good," Gale replied as he started shaking off the sand on his body. "We better get moving, I don't think we'll be able to fool it twice now."

"It's-!" Berry suddenly shouted before the large Pokemon was right in front of them.

Now that it was up close, Dust and Berry could see it was a Rampardos, and it looked mad.

What is a Rampardos doing here? I thought they went extinct! Dust thought as he took a cautious step back from the ancient Pokemon.

Gale was watching the Rampardos, waiting for it to make a move. He then noticed that for some reason it was focused on Cliff. That's when something dawned on him, and he started to figure out why this Rampardos was here on the 4th floor to begin with.

Gale quickly got in front of the group. "All of you, run!"

Dust didn't hesitate, even without Berry's antennae and ability to sense Pokemon, Dust could just tell this Rampardos was strong and angry, that was a deadly combination. He quickly swung his head down to pick up Cliff with his head, and slide her down to his back. He knew Berry would keep her from falling off, so as soon as Cliff was on his back, Dust made a break for it.

Dust could hear a loud noise from behind, and he could feel the entire area shaking, likely either Gale or the Rampardos used an earthquake-like move, or Earthquake itself. Part of him wished to see the battle taking place, despite Gale having retired from being a Crusader, it's rare to see a Master Rank battle. Though he knew if him and the others were there, they would only get in the way.

Dust didn't exactly know where he was going, the sand blowing everywhere was making it hard to see, but right now his main concern was getting him and the others as far from the battle as possible. After running for a bit more, Dust slowed down to a trot, wanting to conserve his energy and focus on finding the stairs.

"Will Gale be okay?" Cliff asked when Dust had slowed down.

"Don't worry, Cliff, Gale is a strong Pokemon, he can take care of himself," Berry reassured. "But we need to make sure we make it through here safely to complete the mission. We just need to find the stairs, I'm sure Gale will know where to go to meet up with us later. You can see in this sandstorm, right, Cliff?"

"A little, yeah, the sand's a bit annoying but I can see," Cliff answered.

"Then see if you can find the stairs, we have trouble keeping our eyes open with all this sand," Berry said.

Cliff nodded as she climbed a bit on Dust's neck until she had a good position. Dust was grateful for all the times he carried Cliff before, his body getting used to the Larvitar's weight. As Dust continued moving on, Cliff kept an eye out for any signs of the staircase. They hadn't encountered any other wild Pokemon so far, Dust figured that many were still hiding and didn't want to risk exposing themselves. Though Dust didn't mind, the less Pokemon they encountered, the better.

"There! I see it!" Cliff pointed out. "It's just to the left and up, Daddy!"

Dust, happy to hear they were close to the stairs, turned left, and began to move north on Cliff's instructions. When Dust got closer, he could see the stairs, which he was thankful for. Dust looked back for a moment, hoping the Flygon would be okay, then climbed the stairs.

Phoenix Desert 5F

Unfortunately, the sandstorm was still raging on the 5th floor. Dust was seriously starting to despise sandstorms.

"Okay… we're supposed to meet Jade here…" Berry noted. "To make this easier for us…"

Berry gave out a call to the sky, though she did cough on the sand a bit. Her body glowed blue for a second. Then dark clouds began to cover the sky, and the winds began to die down. The sand stopped flying all over the place, clearing up the area. Rain began to fall from the sky, making Dust sigh in relief now that they were being blinded or buffeted by sand. Cliff blinked as water fell on her hide. She frowned, not liking the feel of water on her. It didn't hurt, but it made her feel uncomfortable.

Berry noticed Cliff's uncomfortable expression. "I'm sorry, Cliff… I know you don't like water very much, but Dust and I can't keep moving around blindly while looking for someone. Be a brave girl and try to endure it, okay? Or you can pretend it's Mommy's goo instead."

Cliff nodded as she climbed down and got under Dust, which the Absol didn't mind. "So last time we found Jade by accident, but we know it was from discovering that underground tunnel. And I'm sure she'd notice the sudden change in weather too, so we should be able to find her soon."

"But she didn't say if we were supposed to meet her underground or above ground." Berry frowned as she realized this could be a bit of a problem. "Let's look around the dungeon first, if we don't find Jade, we'll jump into a quicksand pit and look for her underground."

Dust nodded as he started moving forward again, with Berry on his back and Cliff still staying underneath him, so he made sure not to accidentally step on or knock Cliff over. Dust was grateful for the rain, it really did help with the heat, though he noticed that the wet sand made it a little hard to move, but besides that they were making good progress through the floor, yet they still haven't seen any signs of Jade.

A few wild Cacnea and Maractus were out to soak up the new rain. While most of them didn't pay Dust and the others much attention, a Cacnea and Maractus took notice of them and started moving towards them.

"Looks like we have a few wild Pokemon to fight," Dust noted.

Cliff, despite not liking the rain, still wanted to show Dust and Berry that she could put up a fight no matter what the weather was. "I'll show them not to mess with us!"

"Cliff, don't get too close," Berry quickly warned. "You're at a huge disadvantage against Grass types."

"I can handle it, Mommy," Cliff said.

Cliff began to charge at the Maractus and Cacnea, and created a rock in her stubby arms before throwing it at one of the Cacnea. The Cacnea fell back, but this angered the other Cacnea and Maractus. The Cacnea began to run at Cliff with its arm glowing green, intending to use Needle Arm on the Larvitar. While the Maractus was preparing to use Mega Drain. Seeing this, Berry quickly jumped off of Dust's back and landed on top of Cliff, covering her with her body. The Needle Arm hit Berry instead, and so did the Mega Drain. Thankfully, thanks to Sap Sipper, Berry was immune to the Grass type attacks.

The Cacnea and Maractus were surprised and confused when their attacks had no effect on Berry, so Dust took this chance to fire his Ice Beam at the second Cacnea, knocking it back as it became frozen. While Dust and Berry could handle a few Cacnea and Maractus, Dust started to notice that more and more of them were coming.

"If this keeps up we may have to retreat, or else we'll end up getting overrunned by their numbers," Dust warned before firing another Ice Beam at a Maractus.

Berry fired out a Dragon Breath at the Cacnea.

Cliff crawled out from under the Goomy, and created more rocks to throw.

"There's a lot of them," Cliff noted. "Hey, I know what'll make some of them run away! Mommy, Daddy, get behind me."

Dust and Berry were surprised by the sudden order from Cliff, but obliged when they saw Cliff was starting to take a deep breath. They quickly got behind Cliff, making sure to block as much noise just as Cliff took a step forward and opened her mouth, screeching as loud as she could. All the Cacnea and Maractus flinched at the sudden Screech, most of them trying to block out the noise, others already running off, hoping to get away from the loud Larvitar.

As Cliff predicted, a lot of the Cacnea and Maractus fled when she used her Screech, now there weren't as many to deal with. She stopped her Screech attack and gave a smile. "Did I do good, Mommy? Daddy?"

"Y-yeah… very much so, Cliff, good job," Berry said, though feeling a little disorientated. She then whispered to Dust. "Seriously, we need earplugs."

Dust nodded, still hearing the slight ringing in his ear. "Her Screech is almost as bad as mother's lectures. Maybe when we get back to the guild, I'll start a project with Otti and see if we can make some earplugs for us."

Then suddenly, Dust noticed the rain was starting to let up. The Cacnea and Maractus that were left noticed as well, and they started to look around nervously.

"What's happening to the rain? It shouldn't be letting up yet," Berry questioned.

The Cacnea and Maractus suddenly looked terrified, and they all either fled or burrowed under the wet sand quickly.

"Wow… didn't think my Screech would scare them all away," Cliff remarked.

Dust was starting to get the feeling of foreboding danger. The wind started picking up and Dust noticed that the clouds above were clearing fast. The Absol wondered if this was what Gale was talking about when being careful with the sandstorm. If the Cacnea and Maractus were this afraid, he wondered how big this sandstorm was.

"Berry, you may want to get Rain Dance ready, it looks like we're gonna get hit with a big sandstorm soon," Dust suggested.

Berry nodded before she called out to the sky again. The clouds covered the sky once more, and it began to pour rain. Cliff went back under Dust to try to get some cover from the rain.

However, the rain didn't last long, shortly after Berry summoned the rain again, the winds blew harshly. The clouds were clearing up, and the sands began to blow. The sandstorm that came in was much harsher than the last one, Dust and Berry couldn't even breathe or open their eyes. Even Cliff was feeling a little overwhelmed by the sudden harsh sandstorm.

Berry began to pale, it wasn't just the sandstorm they had to worry about. "D-" Berry coughed on the sand. "Big… Pokemon… coming."

Dust barely heard Berry, but he caught what she was trying to warn him about. He now felt a sense of dread coming towards them and quickly scooped up Cliff with his head and placed her on his back with Berry. Even though he couldn't hear Berry that well, he could at least sense the oncoming danger and decided to run away from that direction.

Dust couldn't see where he was going, the sand blowing everywhere made it impossible to see, but all that was on the Absol's mind was getting away from the oncoming danger. Despite running as fast as he could, he could still sense it coming, and it seemed as it got closer, the sandstorm got worse and worse.

"Dust… don't move…" Berry suddenly warned. "Too… close… get… down… hide… in sand."

Dust didn't understand what she meant, but quickly obliged as he hunkered down onto the ground. He tried mimicking what Gale did before and used the sand around him to try and cover his body, along with Cliff and Berry. The sand easily stuck to Berry's gooey body, making her body look more brown than the usual purple while Cliff already blended in with the sand covering her. Dust can only hope that whatever was coming didn't recognized his white fur or black horn.

Then Dust felt heavy footsteps approaching them. He slowly looked up from where he was hiding. He saw a huge shadow coming their way. When the large shadow got closer, he could see it was a Tyranitar. The Tyranitar looked angry, and it suddenly gave a loud roar.

Cliff's grip tighten on Dust's fur, feeling scared of that loud roar. The Tyranitar began to move around as if it was looking for something. Dust wasn't sure how long they could stay hiding, and unlike last time, Gale wasn't here to help them out. He hoped that perhaps the Flygon would suddenly show up and offer any kind of assistant, but those chances seemed very slim.

"Shh...don't move," A voice quietly spoke nearby.

Dust almost jerked by the sudden noise, but remembered their warning, so he stayed still.

"Good...now whatever happens, don't make a noise," The voice advised. "Oh, and I suggest taking a deep breath."

Suddenly, the sand under Dust began to sink. Dust's eyes went wide as he realized he was caught up in a quicksand pit, but if he moved, he would catch the Tyranitar's attention. Berry and Cliff looked back, seeing a Trapinch in the middle of the quicksand pit. Figuring it was Jade, they relaxed and let the Trapinch take them down. Dust, Berry, and Cliff held their breaths as they sank down the sand, and into the underground.

Star Cancer: Traveling Master: Talon has had a traumatic past. And while everyone goes through some hardship in their lives, losing one's family is something that will take time. Luckily he's willing to give Ivy a chance, and with time his old wounds will get heale.

Brody and Grant have always had that kind of...dynamic relationship. Most times they get on each other's nerves, but when it comes down to it, they are teammates in the end. What's actually funny is that the piece that holds that team together is Al.

Star Leo: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Al didn't like being woken up due to his teammates arguing over something that had been resolved a while back.

Jewel moonstone: Traveling Master: Well with Brody and Grant constantly fighting and overdramatizing the story, Al was the only one who could help clear the story. Also, funny how time works like that, you never know when something updates, and even though you checked before in the past, suddenly seeing a new update always fills me with excitement.

Berry4Goodra: DarkFoxKit: No, there aren't three books. There is only one long book, but TM and I divided them into three sections, for ourselves, to make it easier to identify which section of the story we're talking about while talking about certain ideas or planning stages. As for Berry's evolution… we have plans, that's all I'll say. But please, feel free to grow attached to Berry's mother. :3

You're asking a lot of questions about Tsunami. And while those are good questions, they're not meant to be answered right now. So we cannot answer a lot of your questions involving Tsunami or her backstory. But I will answer this, Tsunami did write the letter, she doesn't force other Pokemon to do it for it. She only hunts other Pokemon.

The reason why Tsunami didn't send a message shortly after meeting Berry is because she wasn't sure that was her child at first, and she saw that she scared Berry. So Tsunami wanted to give Berry time to calm down before attempting to send a message to meet her, under calmer and better circumstances. Despite being semi-wild, Tsunami is very smart, and she's also very patient. Another reason why Tsunami wanted to meet Berry again is to confirm if she actually is her child or not.

Traveling Master: Now that Tsunami knows that Dust and Berry had gotten her letter before, she'll most likely be trying to keep in contact with Berry. And since Dust is usually the one to read the letters for others, on account Berry and Shab can't really hold letters that well, Dust would probably end up getting the letter so that he could either read it to Berry, or hold it for her to read.

Also, join the club, cause we both love dragons, as well as the dragon Pokemon in the games. My personal favorite is Charizard, and don't care if he's not a dragon, he's still a dragon! But I've always enjoyed Goodra too, when you first see this big, gooey Pokemon, you don't expect them to be a dragon, much less a friendly one. My only issues would be all that slime, cause there's a good chance that Goodra is gonna be a hugger, and that means getting covered in slime. Now going back to Tsunami, as I mentioned before, she wishes to keep in contact with Berry, and wants her to be healthy. She was very concerned seeing how small Berry was compared to other Goomy. So she'll most likely ask about her health and such.

*Gasp* Killing Tsunami? We would never plan for such a thing. Also, love how because you can only read my words, it's hard to tell if I'm joking or not. But in all seriousness, matters concerning death for certain characters, considering Tsunami was only recently introduced, wouldn't really make much sense to have her die so early. We have plans for Tsunami, as well as how her relationship will be with Berry in the future.

DarkFoxKit: Chihiro gave Berry a replacement Everstone, as I've said before. Meaning she gave Berry another Everstone after the tournament was over, after the first Everstone was shattered. As for Ivy being jealous, because I'm assuming you're talking about Ivy there, she's content with her mother. Ivy's mother is nothing at all like Undergrowth.

Tsumommy is an adorable name for Tsunami. If Chihiro discovers it… ohhh boy, she may never stop.

Berry can't deny what and who she is anymore, though she's still reluctant about it, she is taking the first step to accepting it. Also, Berry's already seen some evolution versions of Applin, but I guess it would be pretty shocking that she would go to eat an Apple, only for it to be an Applin. Now that would be a funny scene. XD

Ooh, you know, you bring up a good point about if Berry turned out to be a Gible, Deino, Axew, or Bagon instead. She definitely wouldn't be as accepting if she was the child of one of those, especially the Hydreigon since its Pokedex entry states how it will attack anything that moves. Now a civilized Hydreigon wouldn't be so bad, but a wild one? Yeah… they're known as the Brutal Pokemon for a reason.

We like Dragonite, in fact, I once originally considered Berry to being a Dratini in the story rather than a Goomy. The only reason why Goomy won out was because a shiny Goomy was the first shiny that I actually shiny hunted, so it's got a special place in my heart. But we won't say if we have plans for Dragonite. XP

Traveling Master: Besides Pressure, the only other abilities Absol could have is Super Luck, and then the hidden ability, Justified. But I think Dust's mother, Eclipse, is the perfect example when it comes to intimidation. While she has the Pressure Ability, she is known for her intimidating presence, and for how well she uses her Pressure ability. Also, SSSSSHHHHH. We've recently been able to keep Chihiro out, the last thing we need is her hearing more puns and coming over. Dust is already a handful.

Tsunami has her reasons for keeping certain things a secret. Now this neither confirms or denies Al's origin, only that Tsunami happens to know something about a Charmeleon. And as you guessed it, those secrets and questions will be revealed in the future, but we can't say any more about that. And just because a wild Pokemon could be semi-civil, doesn't mean they are stupid. Take Jade the Trapinch, for example. She also started out as wild, but thanks to a Crusader, she became more civil. Then there's Shab, where he was taught shortly after being brought to the guild. For Tsunami, it's just been a long time since she had contact with another civilized Pokemon, so she never really had any reasons to keep practicing what she was taught back then. It's like when you learn to play an instrument, after years of not playing, your skills are rusty and it takes time to get used to the instrument again.

DarkFoxKit: Berry really did mean what she said to Tsunami. She does want to learn more about her species, and get to know Tsunami under better circumstances. As of right now, Berry still sees Tsunami as this scary being that she could turn into herself one day, but she does want to see past that. We may or may not show letters between Berry and Tsunami, but that depends on if we have anything we want to show between them.

Berry is more biased right now. She's just generally uncomfortable with Tsunami because she believed Tsunami as this Pokemon eating being for a long time, so she doesn't think Tsunami's bad for eating Pokemon, she's just still uneasy around her. And Berry more meant in saying that she doesn't like seeing Tsunami eating living Pokemon. With Dust and other carnivores she hangs around with, they eat unrecognizable meat, which Berry, while she doesn't like to eat meat herself, doesn't mind others eating. But seeing someone eating a Pokemon that's still alive, that's not only gross to her, but it makes her feel sorry for the Pokemon having to go through something like that, being eaten alive. I mean we humans eat unrecognizable meat all the time, and we're fine with it. But what if we saw someone eating an animal alive? We'd be pretty sick of it, wouldn't we?

No, you're not going to immediately know about Berry's father, that's a long way away. Ivy's mother… well, we haven't thought of what kind of Pokemon she is, but she's a very kind hearted Pokemon, who has mated with Undergrowth. Whether it's by accident, by instinct, or because she thought Undergrowth was a different mon altogether, is up for debate right now. They all have fathers in the story, I'll say that much.

Celestial Song: DarkFoxKit: It's very difficult for Talon to just get over his hate of the Snivy line. It's like telling someone to get over their phobia, it doesn't just happen, it takes time and effort. Talon doesn't actively hate the Snivy line, what he hates is Undergrowth himself, and by extension, those related to him. Because he was already friends with Ivy, he's been having a lot of mixed feelings around her since he found out Undergrowth is her father. But he is trying his best to see past that, and see Ivy as her own person rather than as her father.

We have some plans for when Ivy finally becomes a Serperior, and yes, we do plan on her evolving at some point. And Talon becoming a Staraptor as well. Staraptor is probably my favorite early bird Pokemon, which is why I chose a Starly to be friends with a Caterpie when we originally made Team Silkwing.

Again, Talon didn't hate the Snivy line, just Undergrowth. It's a good trial and test of his friendship with Ivy due to her relation to Undergrowth. And your ideas are really epic, very anime. We may or may not use it, it depends on what will happen by the time we get to it.

Sunrise Spirit: Traveling Master: Well, that is his character. Whenever I try to create a new character, I always try to go against the stereotype or norms. Look at Dust, for example, you'd think an Absol would be more fierce or intimidating. When I first created Brody, I wanted him to be a clumsy, lovestruck Lucario. If you haven't noticed, he has similar traits to Brock from Pokemon. But in the end, he truly does mean well when he flirts with female Pokemon, he can just get a little distracted or go a bit overboard.

FoxyKhai0209: Traveling Master: Things will still be a bit rough for Talon and Ivy, but it's a start. Brody and Grant on the other hand, if it wasn't for the fact that they were on a team, there's a good chance that they wouldn't have become...friends.

As for Emerald, we already have made some plans for her and her team, as well as any possible interactions between her and Brody. Can't say much on how their relationship could go, just that it will be something you and many others won't expect.

DarkFoxKit: I should tell you now, if you are reading this, that you shouldn't expect us to do a lot with Team Aura Force. They were not characters we planned or created, we did not have a story arc with them in mind. We will try to keep them as recurring characters like Team Silkwing, but they are not the main focus of the story.

Ember2018: DarkFoxKit: Really? Kinda thought the chaotic game of tag would be one of the funniest. But glad you're enjoying this.

I was actually surprise at how many people really liked Tsunami, and how they felt sorry for her. I guess Tsunami does act more like a kicked puppy when it comes to her child. Goodra are, according to the Pokedex, naturally friendly dragons. But they are still dragons, and are very dangerous when angered or hungry. And while Tsunami isn't a bad Goodra, she is still semi wild, and Berry is still afraid of her and herself. I wasn't sure if it was necessary to write out Berry's nightmares, but they were scenarios I wanted to put into the story without it actually being a part of the story. I was glad to see people actually do like the nightmare scenes as it shows more of Berry's psyche about the whole situation.

With Ivy being there, yeah, she served as a key element to help Berry patch things up with Tsunami before leaving. While Berry doesn't fully trust Tsunami, she is willing to give her a chance. As for when Team Night Tide will get a new team member, well Cliff technically isn't officially a part of the team yet since she's too young to go on real missions. But Cliff will soon join officially if that counts. We don't want to overwhelm ourselves with too many characters, so we won't be having them get new team members quickly right now.

Traveling Master: I'm really glad that Team Destruct is your favorite team. I might've mentioned this before, but those three were the first characters I ever created, and they always had that chaotic dynamic going on. Al was the first out of the three to be created, and he always held a special place. Honestly, he is what holds the team together, and even you'd think their personalities would clash, they somehow make it work. As for his eating habits, well, besides having a high metabolism, there's another reason for why he eats so much, but that will be for later.

Funny how you mentioned the original trio from Pokemon. While it's true that Brody is similar to Brock, both have a passion for cooking and for the ladies, the real inspiration for those three actually comes from another anime. For those of you who have seen One Piece, you know what I'm talking about. XD

While most of the story Brody and Grant had told was somewhat accurate, because of their arguing and constant fighting, they failed to include some things, things that they had missed themselves. Luckily Al was there to tell what really happened.

The Moonfox Collective: Traveling Master: Heh, sorry for the confusion then. And I think we can all relate to Al, nobody likes being hungry and tired. It's always the cheerful ones you never expect to get mad. What's funny about Princess Tashi falling for Grant was that that originally wasn't our intention. When we were working on this chapter, we wanted to have it where Grant and Brody would end up arguing while making their side of the story dramatic. But we were wondering what was the whole fight about? And that's when the idea of a royal Nidoran falling for Grant came to mind.

DarkFoxKit: The idea with Grant and Brody telling their side of the story was to make the other a lot more flanderized than they actually are, mocking the tropes of how TV series often flanderize their characters after a long time.

As for Team Silkwing… yeah, that was pretty much the intention when we first made them. In Pokemon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, you see a team called Team Tasty made up of Swellow and Wurmple. The Wurmple is always worried that his partner will see him as food one day. It's what inspired Team Silkwing, though I changed the Wurmple into a Caterpie and the Swellow into a Starly. They were just supposed to be background characters, but they ended up playing a bigger role in the story than we anticipated. XD

Yeah, Berry knows she can't keep denying who and what she is anymore. It doesn't mean she likes it, but she is starting to accept it. And don't worry, Berry will come around with Tsumommy. I so love that word, I may have Tsunami even start calling herself that one day~ And Tsumommy and Berry both could use a hug. Hopefully we can get back to a regular update soon.