Arc One: Mystery
Chapter Twenty-Three: Closing In
"Wow! Is this the temple?!" Lucas eagerly asks.
I look to where Lucas is pointing and see a pile of dirt angled very steep, while a large stone building, mostly covered in fog, sits on top of the hill. The building itself seems to be made of mostly earth, with some wood and rocks to spice things up.
Safe to say, it looks pretty old, which makes it the perfect home for the Ground Temple.
"Yep, it sure is." Daisy says. "Just be sure to stay on the path. I'm sure no mon wants to walk up this climb again."
"I'll say." Crush says, "With the amount of time it takes to get up these stairs, the mist in the air, and the heat of this place is making me want to use Ice Beam on myself."
I grin a little bit. Thanks to being a Raboot, I feel like at home. The only thing that I'd change would be the mist, because I had already nearly fallen on my face because the thick fog covering the tiny roots ahead of me.
But that's not the only thing. Since we started going up the fog covered stairs, I can't help but worry that we'll enter a Mystery Dungeon by mistake, and with dead badges, that's the last thing we need to happen. Not to mention that I could really use some water right about now. Not that it's hot, but I'm just getting tired from walking for what's been around an hour or two.
Really makes me wonder how long it would have taken if Zena didn't take us through the water.
"Lucas?" I ask, "Do you have a water bottle with you?"
"Yeah, here you go." He answers as he digs through his bag. He then pulls out a medium sized metal cylinder and hands it over to me. "Just make sure you don't have too much. I don't have a type advantage like you do."
I nod and give him a thumbs up as I drink from the container. "Ahh." I say as I finish. "Refreshing."
As we finally reach the entrance, I look at the arches that make up the door. I then see a sign by them that has fallen over, with the back of it having a few footprints on it. Standing it back up, I see that it's a welcome sign for this place, as if this is a tourist spot, which it is.
"Huh, I guess some Pokémon here went into a frenzy when they heard what was going on." I say to myself, but still speak up so anymon could comment.
"Nobody likes seeing the world around them change, especially if it's cause is unnatural." Daisy says as her team reaches the arch.
Zack then stares at the doorway. "Wow, it's so grand. Could you imagine what this would have looked like when it was first made?"
"How about when it was being made?" Lucas says. "Do you think Pokémon had to get stones, or do you think that Arceus just snapped one of his fingers and BAM! Temple!"
"Who knows." Daisy says, "Besides, the real mystery is inside, if Red's adventure in Central Mountain means something, then we'll probably find a passage somewhere in the center of the temple."
When we head inside, we go into an open area that has a wooden crate in front of stairs heading down, with a chair behind it. On the crate a small container lying on it's side with the word, 'donations', on it. Some banners or hanging up on the railing of the second floor, the room has no torches, but has plenty of windows to make sure you can see your way around, but the fog around the temple has also crept in, meaning one misstep on the moss growing on the rocks and you'll hit something on the floor.
"The rooms upstairs has many artifacts found inside and outside here, but if we go down those that lead underground, we'll find a little piece of heaven down there and some art along the walls, where I'm sure we'll find the secret of this temple." Daisy continues as she makes her way to the stairs.
Lucas is standing still, looking around the temple, and he's in full awe. "So cool, and this is just the beginning!" He says. "I can't wait to see what's downstairs."
He then dashes towards and down the stairs. "Race you there!" He yells as he vanishes from my sight.
I look down at my feet, which is standing on top of some moss. "Yeah, that's not happening." I think to myself as I walk to the steps.
Team Forever walks down the stairs, while I follow from behind. I look over at Zack and notice that his eyes are still glued to his comic book...and he hasn't even stumbled during this whole trip. I glance at my feet one more time in envy.
When I finally reach the bottom, I gaze at the center of the building, which seems to have turned into a small, little garden that has four paths equally split apart, with many different kinds of plants in between the paths, including some trees that stretch out into the air, and thanks to this being downstairs, they have plenty of room to grow.
In the middle of the garden is a large fountain, which I find a tad bit ironic because water attacks are super effective against Ground-Types.
And there still is more things down here. Instead of a regular ceiling, it's colored glass while a hanged pathway is built around the temple's walls. The glass has all the Pokémon types it one big circle, but the Ground-Type symbol in in the middle. I also see something similar the Central Mountain. Like the closed room there, there are images painted onto the rock walls, although it doesn't seem like they tell a story this time. It has many Ground-Types, as I won't be surprised if it had all of them, but a good portion of space is spent showing Groudon and...
...Zygarde...with all four forms.
I pause when my eyes land on his picture. I didn't realize before what a big risk we're taking coming here. I mean, this could be his home for all I know.
But that would mean that he would have company, as if Daisy was right, and this is-well, was a tourist attraction, then he'd have to keep a low profile if he wanted some peace and quiet. I mean, if Xatu can hide himself inside of a mountain, and ends up becoming a legend, then why not him?
So, he could have a secret room in here, which would mean there would have to be a way to get inside. Wait, but if that's the case, then wouldn't this flute be here as well? Can't he just use it to solve the problem?
Wait, Zygarde doesn't have a mouth, does he? I guess one way or the other I'll be wrong, but the important thing is that we're here and we need to find a passage that will lead to the flute.
"This is so cool!" I hear Lucas say as he stands next to the water fountain. He slowly turns looking at all of the artwork around him. "Look at it. So many Pokémon are on these walls."
"It's truly a testimony that shows the power of Pokémon." Crush says. She then walks up to one and says, "Just look at the details put on every single one of the drawings. Something like that could only have been done after many days and nights."
"Unless, like I said, Arceus just snapped his fingers." Lucas says.
Crush looks back at the wall and says, "Yes, that could have been the case, but I'm sure he still had some Pokémon do the paintings from him. There's just something magical about ancient drawings made by Pokémon hundreds of years ago."
"Yeah, this is cool and all, but does anymon see a Lucky Pebble painted on the wall anywhere?" I ask as I approach the two Pokémon.
Lucas turns around and asks, "What's with the hurry, Red?"
"It's just that we're at the Ground-Type temple, and with Zygarde not only being one, but also being all over the walls..." I trail off for a moment. "It's just leaving me with a bad feeling."
"You're worried that he's going just show up out of the middle of nowhere and attack us, aren't you?" The Rilo says.
I don't answer his question and just say, "Let's just try to be as quick as we can, okay?"
Lucas then says to Crush, "I'll be right back." And dashes over to me as the rest of Team Forever regroup.
"Hey, have you ever heard of 'stop to smell the roses'?" He asks me. "I mean, we're in a huge...amazing temple that was made ages ago! I thought you told me that you were going to stop worrying about things?"
"I said only about Eve, not the fact that we could be in danger because of me." I answer. "Aren't you at least concerned about what could happen if we're not careful?"
He puts his hand on my shoulder. "Red, you're my best friend. The fact that Zygarde is personally targeting you to...do something with you, yeah, I'm scared out of my mind, but I don't wear it like a badge. If I did, then that would throw a wrench into everymon's day, and then we'd really be in deep trouble because we wouldn't want to do anything."
He then smiles brighter as he says, "But a smile's everything anymon needs to move forward. As long as there's hope, there's no reason not to try, right?"
"Yeah." I say under my breath.
He continues, "Just because Zygarde's looking for you doesn't I'm going to abandon you." He looks at his paws as they fizzle out small blue waves. "I may not be a strong Pokemon, but I'll always try my best."
"And that's what makes you strong." I say. "You still try, no matter what happens." I end up making a small smile as I turn my head away from him. Lucas catches this before I can hide it.
"See, don't you feel better about yourself?"
"A little bit." I say as I look back at him. "Why do you always want everymon to have a smile on your face, or at least try to make them smile?"
He beams and says, "Well, when you can feel other mon's aura, you have more of a need to make sure that they're happy. It's just a good thing that I enjoying doing, and it's one of the reasons why I wanted to join the Guild."
Before I can ask him more, he stops. I brighten up and ask, "Did you find the stone?"
"No, but look at the wall." He says.
I look at it and see...more Zygarde, just what I wanted to see.
This time, the wall has all four of his forms. From top to bottom, it starts with his one hundred-percent form, down to two fifty-percent, then two ten percent, and lastly, it shows three cells, from left to right, red, green, and...blue...
"Red, why are there three slugs at the bottom?" Lucas asks.
"That isn't Zygarde, is it?"
I try to answer him clearly. "Y-ya, that's him."
Lucas nods to seem like he understands, only to have his tail go down shortly after. "So does that mean the others are shiny? Wait, that wouldn't make sense, there can only be one Zygarde, right?!"
"No, they're ALL Zygarde." I say, trailing off at the end. He then gets confused, to which I respond, "Uhhh, let me explain. Zygarde is split into two parts, the red cell and the blue cell." I say pointing to them. "They're like two halves of a brain."
"If that's true, then what about the green one?" Lucas points out.
"The green one is a normal cell, and is the reason how the red and blue one can transform into different creatures. Think of the green ones as the body. The more green cells you have, the more powerful form they can become."
"And what's even scarier is that if both of them are in sync, they can combine into that huge Pokémon at the top, and that pretty much game over for us if we run into him."
Lucas gulps. "Ah, now I can see why you worry so much. I guess we need to watch out for the two of them!"
"Yeah, but the longer I look at this, the more I think something isn't right." I say. "If they both are looking for me, then why didn't both of them show up when we first ran into the red one?"
"Maybe they didn't want to cause Pokémon to panic. I mean, that last form looks really, really huge." He says. "Why? You don't think something happened to the other one, do you?"
I don't answer, and continue to stare at the wall. That would make sense. Although it could be wrong, I'd be pretty mad if my...brother(?) went missing. But then what happened to him? Is he in a Mystery Dungeon? But he could just get out, it shouldn't be too hard for somemon like him to exit one.
Unless he doesn't have any cells to rely on, but it's not like the red one wouldn't know where the blue was. Couldn't he just help him get out?
Something really isn't adding here.
"Hey guys! I think we found it!" We hear Crush yell from the other side of the room. Lucas and I then dash over to Team Forever and see what they found.
"Judging by the fact that Arceus is above a gleaming stone that has his image on it, and the fact that I've read way too many comics, yeah, this seems very important." I hear Zack joke.
I look up and see the art, and sure enough, in front of Arceus is the same stone that I saw in Central Mountain...and in my stomach.
Ughhh, still can't believe I did that. I better have had a good reason to do something as weird and gross as that.
"Well, I guess now you should put your hand over it, unless this is a different rock." Lucas says.
"No, this has the same design as the last one I touched." I say. "I'm just a little scared where this will take me now that I know that it'll do something."
"I'm sure you won't get ambushed." Daisy says. "And even if you do, you can just try to use your badge to escape back to us or the Guild."
"But I don't think it would have enough power to do that. We just used them this morning." I add.
She puts her hand behind her head, "True. Well, at least you have other options, that we can go in trying to use our badge, or I pop by and teleport you out of there. Either way, I believe you'll be fine."
"I sure hope so." I say. I then get an idea.
"Hey, maybe if we hold hands, we'll all teleport there, and we wouldn't have to even try to use the badges."
"That doesn't sound too bad." Daisy says, "I guess it's worth a-SHOT!"
She and the rest of us are then hugged by Zack, who may not have the arm length, but he still is the biggest out of all of us, so hugging us all at the same time isn't out of reach.
Heh, heh, been a while sense I've been able to crack a joke like that, let's just hope Zack doesn't do the same to us.
"Thought that it could be a good time to do this, heh, heh." The Light Pokemon says.
"Zack, while I'm not against the ideas of hugs, I can't reach the stone." I say to him.
"Oh, sorry." He says, and instead of letting us go, he awkwardly shifts closer to the picture.
Not what I had in mind, but it'll work. I then wiggle my arm free, and reach out to the painted pebble. As soon as I place my hand on top of it...
Nothing happens. I don't feel any different, and this is still the same temple room where I'm this close to getting crushed.
"Red, is everything alright?" Lucas asks.
I blink and turn to face him, but in the split-second when I had eyes closed, everything around me changes, so instead of looking at my equally crushed partner in the temple's garden, I looking at nothing, because this time, we didn't have to bring a torch this time because the temple was already quite bright.
Now, a pitch black room is a whole different story. I should have remembered how dark it can get if the room has no way of getting a light source.
The one good thing is that I feel like I'm expanding, as if I'm no longer being...hugged.
"Guys?" I ask to the darkness.
The answer I get is absolutely nothing. Maybe it wasn't a good thing that I could move around freely, not that I'd want to do that when I can't see anything.
Thankfully, I get to my badge before I can get scared by it and hit my head on something above me. "So, unless you guys are trying to scare me, I take it that you all are still at the garden, correct?"
It takes some time, so much so that I reach behind myself to make sure that no mon's going to make me jump.
"You'd be right." Crush says from the badge.
"Yeah, you just popped out of existence up here." Lucas says. "It was both cool and scary all at once."
"So, I guess that means we cross our fingers, and hope that the badges have enough energy to warp us back together." I say.
"I'm afraid so." Daisy said. "I was really hoping that we didn't have to resort to that. Red, do you remember how to do that?"
"Yep, you have to hit an orange button on the side of the badge, lay it on the ground, and then wait for you guys to teleport." I say.
"That's right." Daisy says.
I then press the orange button and set it onto the ground, but then I notice something: It didn't light up like before.
Half of my brain freaks out, but then I realize that I just didn't press it hard enough. I pick it up as I think to myself. "Silly me, I should have made sure that I pressed it so that I wouldn't have to pick it back up again."
I then hit the button a second time...and then a third time, then a fourth, and I continue to press it, gradually hitting it harder and harder each time.
I then stop myself from breaking the badge, as that wouldn't help me whatsoever, but that means only one thing: The badges are still dead.
"Guys, my badge isn't lighting up like it should be." I say into the badge.
"Don't feel bad, Red." Crush says. "None of our badges are lighting up either."
Well, now I don't feel bad, I feel scared knowing that they have no way of getting to me.
"So, that means Red's trapped down there by himself?!" Zack says.
"No, we all got out of Xatu's path without having to use our badges." Lucas says, "So it just means that he'll have to get to the end and find the flute himself."
"And pray to Arceus that it's Groudon waiting for me at the end and not Zygarde." I add. "Plus, I can't see a thing down here. There's no torch with me this time."
I then hear Lucas worry a bit. I bite my tongue. Why do I always do that to myself?!
"Well, there is one more thing that we can try." Daisy says.
"What's that?" I ask.
But Daisy doesn't answer, as she instead talks to the Ampharos. "Zack, can you hug us again?"
I can only imagine what everymon's face is looking like right now as I hear nothing but silence.
"Wait, you WANT me to hug you all again?" Zack asks, very confused.
"Just do it before I can change my mind and think of something better." She says.
Before I put my badge back onto my bandana, my ears perk up as I hear Daisy call me. "Red, can you move as close to the wall as you can?"
"Sure, just give me some time." I say, a tad puzzled.
I finish putting my badge on my bandana, and then get on my hands and knees and slowly crawl to what I hope is a rock wall. I then feel a wall in front of me.
I put a hand above me to make sure that my head stays safe from anything that would like to smack it. Carefully, I get onto my feet and continue feeling for the wall.
After I get back up on two feet, I can safely say that it is a wall and I should be safe from...whatever Daisy is planning on doing.
I then press my button and say. "Alright, I'm at the nearest wall. What do you plan on doing, Daisy?"
But I get no answer, which only makes me wonder where they are.
Suddenly, without warning, a white light momentarily flashes behind me. I start to shake and ask, "Who's there?"
My mind is having a panic attack. Is it them, or is it something else?
"Don't worry about it, Red...It's...just us." A Gardevoir says, though it sounds like she's very tired.
I am then hugged by a much smaller figure, and though I can't see who it is, I know Zack isn't this small.
"Hold on, how did you guys get in here?" I ask.
"Daisy teleported us down here." Lucas says, "Though I think it took a lot out of her. Why, you didn't think of that?"
I shake my head. "Well, I knew that Daisy could teleport, I'm just confused how you were able to teleport to me? This room is hidden, and isn't this place deep underground."
"Your energy..." Daisy says, "It was faint...but I could...still sense it...All I had to do...was pin point where...it was...I really could use a Max Elixir right now..."
"Alright, but I hope I can get it out without lights." Crush says.
"Everymon don't move..." Daisy says. "I need to regain my energy, because that was no easy task."
So, we all wait for Crush to get out what she needs. I then hear something open and sniff.
"*Cough* That's the Max Elixir alright, just wish it didn't smell so bitter." Crush says.
I can hear Daisy drink up the potion. After she's done, she says, "Everymon close their eyes. Zack, you know what to do, and Crush, take some steps back."
"Sure thing." I hear Zack and Crush say as I close my eyes, seeing as much as I did when I had them open, but after a while, I feel something light up.
"Alright, we're good now." I hear her say.
I then open my eyes, and to my surprise, the room is lite up by a light source, and I can see Lucas and Crush.
For a brief moment, I wonder where Daisy and Zack are, until I realize that they're the sources of light.
"Don't get close to us, unless you want to get zapped." Daisy says.
"Pretty cool, huh." Zack says. "I'm like a walking lighthouse."
Lucas' face looks directly at the two bright Pokémon. "Wow, that's so cool. You guys can just light up just like that? I wish I could do something like that."
"Trust me." Daisy says, "As somemon who isn't an Electric-Type, it can be hard to keep up a steady pace of electricity flowing through your body to light rooms up."
"Well, it still doesn't make it any less cool." The Rilo says.
I then turn my head, and see an opening. "It seems that if we want to save the world, that's the way we got to go."
"Well then, let's go." Lucas says, as he runs to the path.
"Don't go too far ahead, Lucas. This doesn't light up the whole cave." Daisy says.
I then hear rocks crumbing, and I quickly jump out of the way, almost bumping into Crush.
"Woah!" She says. "You okay?"
I say nothing as I stare at the wall I was just at, and I see the rock finish at the ground. This cause a chain reaction from me as I look up and see that the ceiling is much taller than it was in the first room.
Might be because there had to be room for Groudon or Zygarde to get inside. Xatu wasn't even that tall, and yet he'd probably have to stack himself up almost four times to reach Zygarde if I remember their height's correctly. (Why do I know random things like that?)
But that only makes me more curious. Why did those rocks fall down, somemon isn't here with us, or worse, watching us!
"Red, hurry up." I hear Lucas say. I then realize that the room is getting darker as everymon is moving forward. Well, everymon except me.
I then quickly catch up to them. As soon as I do, Crush asks me, "So, what were you looking for, or rather, at?"
"I heard some rocks falling, so I just jumped out of the way of them." I say. "The only thing that was on my mind is how they started to fall."
"It could have just been a normal rock slide." Daisy says. "But with the ceiling so high and with it looking like stands up there, it might be wise of us to look up there once in a while just for good measure."
Great, so we really might not be alone. That's no fun.
"Cheer up." Lucas says, "If there really was Pokémon up there, then he probably would have come down to attack you before we arrived."
"Yeah, if he had night vision, that is. But now we're a glowing target." I say.
"Or maybe it really wasn't anything, and we don't have to worry that much about it?" Lucas says.
"Good point." I reply.
"You already worry too much for your own good. Cheer up! We're here for you." The Emanation Pokemon says.
"Well, Red is right in a way, let's just stay careful everymon." Daisy says. "The last thing we want to happen is for one of us to get caught off guard and run into trouble."
"Got it." We all say. I take a deep breath as I try to calm myself down. At least we found the room surprising fast, so hopefully that means that we can get out of here as fast as we can.
Man, I haven't wanted to go back to my nest so bad in my life. Hmm, I wonder how the rest of the Guild is doing. Wigglytuff never did say what Team Current had to do last night. And I can only hope that Eve's feeling better than she did yesterday.
I sigh. I really hope everymon back at Treasure Town is alright.
The outside of Apple Woods is left almost complete abandoned. Normally, the entrance is full of Pokémon talking to one another with many smaller ones running around, getting ready to head inside the woods and pick as many apples as they could carry. Sadly, all of those Pokémon with smiles on their faces have been exchanged for nothing but large, moveable wooden fences.
Everymon at the town hope that a day will come where they would no longer have to stay away from one of the most relaxing spots on the island. Sure, they could always go to the beach, but you couldn't just walk around and grab an apple to eat whenever you wanted to. It was a sorely missed past time of the town, but they knew that the Mystery Dungeons were a little too wild for them to handle.
Well, most of them, with some of the children standing up next to the gate wanting to go inside. Thankfully for their safety, a Manectric was there to keep them from running head into a ever changing maze.
The kids in question being a Psyduck, Bonsly, and a Cubone, all trying to see if they could find a way to make a quick run into the woods.
"Come on, Mr. Manectric. Can you please let us in? Please?" The female Cubone asked as nicely as she could say.
The Manectric simply shook his head. "Sorry, but no mon is supposed to enter into here. It's dangerous, especially for kids your ages."
"But then that means that Team Current is breaking the law. Which means you have to go get them out of there." The Psyduck said. "Here, we'll help you look for them." He then walks toward the woods.
The Manectric swiftly intercepts the Duck Pokémon, and says, "Nice try. But they can do that not only because they're allowed to go in there, but also because they're a strong experienced team."
"Awww, come on. All we want are some apples. Can't we just go a tad bit inside?" The Cubone said.
The officer sighed. "Look, I know this is a hard thing to do. I've been trying to fight off the urge to go in there myself ever since I was assigned to this position, but as a Treasure Town Officer, it's my sworn duty to protect anymon from entering this forest with little exceptions, but you three are..."
He then trails off as he realizes that he was wrong. He said three, but in reality, there was only two of them. Though he knew that there were three kids that have been standing in front of him for what feels like hours, the last one wasn't with what the officer assumed were he's friends.
His mind quickly knew of a place where the missing child was: Behind him.
Like a bolt of lightning, he turns around and sees bushes, trees, and a small Bonsly that seemingly has froze solid in place, probably hoping that he would blend in with the background.
Unfortunately, the Pokémon in question that he was trying to avoid had a keen eye thanks to his training, and in a snap, he cut him off before he could proceed any further.
The Bonsly let out a short yelp as he fell onto his back in shock. The officer then said, "Sorry kid, but rules are rules-"
"NOW!" The Manectric heard coming from where he just was.
A turn of the head and he saw the two children now making a mad dash into the forest. Looking back at the Bonsly, he also saw that he was also trying to join his friends.
"Oh, come on!" He said as he started to cover himself with bolts of yellow lightning. He didn't want to do this, but it seemed that he has to use Thunderwave to paralysis the children, something that just felt wrong for him to do.
But before he could even blink, another bright beam appeared, except this one was cyan-colored and had a chilling feeling to it, which made sense, as the beam wrapped around the three kids' bottoms as that they could no longer move farther into the apple-filled forest.
The officer took a breathe of relief as Team Current emerged from the dark and foggy woods.
Bolt snickered a little and said, "Seems like you have your paws full with these kids."
The Manectric came up to the Luxray and let out a sigh, "Your team's timing couldn't have been any better."
He then looked at the Lapras. She had many boxes on her shell containing apples that were carefully inspected by the Pichu on top of her head to make sure they weren't going to tip over.
"And it seems that you've also brought a whole bunch of apples with you." He finishes.
"And what ever we could find on the floor." Sparks said from the top of Melody. "There's a lot of stuff that's just laying there. Seriously, there was a lot of stuff!"
Bolt then stretches out, saying, "And a lot of that stuff, like the random berries and apples, we had to use. These dungeons are so annoying to go through. Between the constant changing landscape and all of the crazy Pokémon that somehow call that place home, it sure takes a lot of power and food to get through there, and that's without mentioning finding apple trees, getting them picked, and making sure they don't fall over."
"And we had to do that twice, because we needed to go in, go out the end, and then come back, don't forget that." His little brother says.
The looks on the kids' faces quickly become afraid. "What?!" The Cubone says. "How can it be hard, you're a rescue team!"
Melody then says to them, "Just because we're all a team doesn't mean it's always easy. You children should all know that going through a Mystery Dungeon can be dangerous. So, take it from us, the three of you are better off playing at the beach."
Bolt's tail turns into a silver color as he uses Iron Tail to free the small Pokémon. Before they could say anything, Sparks hops down from the Transport Pokémon's head, and starts tossing apples to the were-frozen kids.
"There you go! Three Perfect Apples for the road!" He says with a smile.
"Perfect Apples!" They cry out. They then hurry to grab one for themselves, and quickly start munching down their delicious food.
"There, now that that's settled, could you kids please walk away from the woods while you enjoy your food?"
The Discharge Pokémon says. "Ok!" The three kids say happily at the same time. They then turn around and begin to make their way out of the entrance of the woods.
The Manectric then looks at Bolt, who is just finishing taking off the boxes of of Melody's shell.
"Alright, these boxes are full." He says. "Can you bring these out of the woods for us?"
"Why, are they too heavy for you?" The officer asks confused.
Bolt breathes in, forgetting what the fellow Electric-Type had just said. "No, it's just that we still have one or two boxes left that need to be filled up. Wigglytuff said that as long as there's still light, we should continue picking apples and grabbing whatever else we can find."
"Again!?" Sparks says with his ears down. "Isn't all of this enough for the town?"
"Well, I'd rather be safer than sorry." The Gleam Eyes Pokémon says, "But trust me, Sparks, the first thing I'm doing after dinner tonight is hitting the hay."
Melody laughs a bit, which makes the brothers look at each other.
"What?" Sparks asks.
"Nothing, it's just that I don't remember the last time you didn't want to continue exploring." Bolt says as he lets out a small chuckle.
"Well, it's not much exploring as it's doing the same thing, over and over again. It's just making me feel tired."
"It alright, Sparks, we're all tired." Melody says. "But if you want, you can just rest on my head."
The team then turns around back into the woods as Sparks goes back on Melody's head to rest.
"Stay safe in there, you guys!" Manectric says as they disappear into the woods. He then walks up to a box full of fruits, potions, seeds, and a few orbs. He gives them a confused look before wrapping himself with a rope.
He then starts to pull the box out into the open.
He then vents a little, "This mess better get fixed up soon, because this is getting old real fast."