Greetings, everyone! Ta-Ni here, finally. For those who haven't been reading Lumi's story, in order to acquire the rights for our own research, I've been drafted to help the various Pokemon professors with their own research. As such, I've only gotten back to our own dimension recently, so I want to hammer out a few chapters before I return. We're reaching a major plotline, so please enjoy!
We reappear back in the town near the notice board, as usual, and lead Shiftry to Wishcash's Pond, since there doesn't seem to be any kind of hospital or clinic. The elder agrees to take care of him, so Sparky and I retire back to the base. We're both exhausted after the fight with Zapdos, so we say goodbye to each other, and I collapse into my bed, easily falling into a dreamless sleep.
I wake the next morning feeling refreshed, but I notice the sun is high in the sky; I clearly overslept. Sparky's standing in the doorway, waiting; thankfully, he's polite enough not to enter while I'm asleep.
"I asked around town," he starts without preamble. "Apparently, the Hill of the Ancients is at the end of a mystery dungeon called Great Canyon. Once you're ready, we can head out."
"I can handle it myself," I mumble, shaking the sleep from my eyes. "We don't need to waste a day of rescues for me; you can run a few missions meanwhile."
"But, I want to know too…" he complains playfully. "Seriously, you goad me into helping Shiftry, and yet don't want me to help you? We're friends, as well as partners; we should help each other."
"Sparky…" I stutter, a little misty-eyed. "Right!"
We high-paw each other (or for me, low-paw), then head into town to prepare. It doesn't seem like it will be nearly as hard as Mt. Thunder was, and I doubt Xatu will attack us as Zapdos did, so we pack lighter than usual. By early evening, we are ready to go. Just before we leave the base, however, a tingle down my spine signals to me that we were being watched. I pause and look around quickly, casting for scents, but don't see or smell anything.
We make quick work of traveling to Great Canyon, and dive in straight away. As the entrance seals behind us, I quickly map out the various scents from the local Pokémon, piecing together a route for us to take. My prediction rates are steadily increasing, reaching almost 70% in our favor, but sometimes fighting is unavoidable. Not that it was a bad thing in the long run; we needed the experience, after all.
However, after climbing five or so floors, I pick up an unusually strong scent...and it didn't wander like the other Pokémon. It seems to be hunting…though why I haven't a clue. Then, we enter a large room, and there it was: a large monkey-like Pokémon with two tails. It possesses an aura of danger around it, and even from afar, I can tell it was WAY stronger than we are. However, it notices us and charges.
"Run!" Sparky yells, heading back into the corridor we left, with me not far behind. However, it is rapidly gaining on me, so I tap into a quick attack to hopefully catch up. Unfortunately, I don't quite reach my partner before my speed burst runs out, and thus I incur the penalty, slowing even more than before.
Before I can turn around, a fist collides with my side and flings me bodily into the next room, slamming into the far wall quite painfully. I shriek briefly, my breath driven from my body, and I slump to the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. I hear Sparky call my name, but cannot answer yet; I open my eyes to see a blurry figure pull something from the bag on his back.
He swings it at the charging wild, and a ball of light flies into it. Its expression briefly turns to shock before it simply winks out of existence, and Sparky slumps in relief. He then runs over and helps me to my feet.
"Are you all right, Lauren?" he asks. "Looks like that mach punch hit you hard."
Coughing, I manage to say, "Better than I expected. Other than having the wind knocked out of me, I barely lost half my health; I think it was hitting the wall that did more damage."
"Luckily, we have plenty of Oran berries," he comments. "Here." He slips off the bag so I can reach better.
"W-what did you do?" I ask him, grabbing a berry and munching on it. "It's not defeated, right?"
He holds up the object he's holding, which turns out to be a gnarled stick in the shape of a cane. "Stayaway wand. Guaranteed to stun and warp any opponent elsewhere on the floor; as long as nothing inflicts damage on it, it cannot break free and attack."
"Why was it attacking us? It ignores other wilds."
"When I was asking around about the dungeon, I overheard that it was going to be given a higher rating, because of reports about a possible Strong Pokémon moving in. Strong Pokémon are special kinds of wilds that appear in higher-ranked dungeons, and have the unique trait to appear oddly colored, or shiny. I thought to bring the wand, just in case…and now I'm glad I did!"
I nod and keep eating, but questions still whirl in my head. Why does it ignore other wilds? Why did it chase us specifically? Why did its scent trail look like it was hunting? I resolve to do some research once this mission is over. Once I'm healed enough to continue, we return to the corridor we ran through. In the room with the stairs up, we see the ambipom again, but just like Sparky said, it was paralyzed and could not move. Still, it glares at us as we pass.
The rest of the dungeon was uneventful after that. We didn't run into any other Strong Pokémon, thankfully, but Sparky did explain more about wands. Basically, they act the same as some seeds do, but they stack in the bag easier. In fact, as he demonstrated, you can fuse wands of the same type together and combine the number of charges!
At last, we reach the end of the dungeon, stepping out onto the Hill of the Ancients. Standing at the edge of a cliff was a tall Pokémon, looking into the setting sun. They didn't move as we approach, so Sparky steps up and taps them on the side. "Um…Excuse me? Are you Xatu?"
They didn't respond; in fact, they didn't even move a muscle. Sparky tries again, a little louder, but the same result. He looks at me to say, "Think he's asleep? On his feet, or something?"
"Are his eyes open?" I ask, inching closer.
He glances around, then recoils. "Yes, they are, and it's a little creepy…"
I step closer, trying to catch a scent from him. Since he's supposed to be psychic-type like Alakazam, I think they would share a similar scent…but for some reason, there were no scents around at all! I couldn't even catch Sparky's scent, despite him standing right next to me.
This has to be a statue of Xatu, right? I think to myself. To test my theory, I back up a few paces, then begin charging a shadow ball. Sparky looks at me in alarm, backing away. "What are you doing?" he exclaims.
"Trying to get his attention," I mumble around the ball of Ghost energy. "It shouldn't hurt if he's Normal, right?"
Before he could respond, I fire the shadow ball at Xatu's back. I fully expected it to fly right through the figure, like a ghost. What I didn't expect was for them to instantly teleport to the side and avoid it completely!
As I watch my attack soar into the distance, a voice echoes in my head. "You know, it's rude to attack your host, right?"
"I'm s-sorry, Xatu," I stutter out an apology. "You were so still and had no scent, so I thought you were a statue, and the only way to test my theory was to attack, so…"
Xatu turns around, raising a wing to stop me. "Calm yourself. I admit, when I'm deep in concentration, little can rouse me back to the present; fortunately, my danger sense is one of the few things that can. As for why you smelled nothing…I foresaw your arrival and know of your ability, so I sought to test how you would react if that ability was blocked. There are Pokémon out there that can fool your nose or hide from you, so you must be cautious of relying on it too much."
"If you knew we were coming, then do you know why?" Sparky asks, coming closer.
"I only know what the sun tells me," he replies, folding his wings. "Looking into the sun all day gives me sight for all things, both past and future. For example…" He turns to look at me. "There's more to you than your special ability. You are…human, yes?"
"I am," I reply, a little stunned. "Or at least, I used to be. I woke up one day as an eevee, with no knowledge of who I was before other than being a human. We're trying to figure out why I became a Pokémon and what I'm here for. Do you have any clues?"
"As you know, many natural disasters plague the land recently. They occur because the world's balance has been upset. You becoming a Pokémon…is intertwined with what is happening."
"Are you saying that Lauren is the cause of the disasters?" Sparky exclaims. "She's causing the balance to be upset?"
"I cannot say one way or the other; I only note that the two events are connected," Xatu replies calmly. "However, there are bigger concerns. The world's balance must be restored, or the unthinkable will happen."
A chill runs down my spine as he says that. Hesitantly, I ask, "What do you mean 'the unthinkable'?"
Xatu looks down, eyes closed. "Every day I see it; the same future. I dread it. If nothing is done…the world's destruction shall occur."
"The world's…destruction?" Sparky says nervously.
Xatu doesn't reply; he just turns back around in silence. I guess we're done? I think to myself, looking questioningly at Sparky. He shrugs as well, so we begin walking back to the bottom of the hill. However, a faint humming caught my attention; it seems familiar, but I can't put my paw on it. Then, a faint whisper in my mind stops me cold.
"Those who wish you ill, will try to test your will. But with courage you must stand, daughter from the human land."
I turn back to Xatu, but his back is still facing me. Still, something in my gut tells me he meant to tell me that. I'll keep that in mind, I think back to him, not sure if he heard me. Then, we teleport back to base.
There you have it! Yes, I am adding features from the remake into the story, as well as a few liberties of my own. The songline that Xatu sang was based on a cover I found on Youtube, which I will link here:
Great Canyon WITH LYRICS - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red/Blue Rescue Team/Rescue Team DX Cover - YouTube
The next chapter will take a bit, but I want to forge ahead enough before I have to leave again. So stay tuned! And may your Ember never fade!