Dusk was beginning to set in by the time the youngsters started home, the sky covered in shades of pink and orange with stars only just beginning to glitter in some areas further off. The bag wasn't full (mostly on account of the majority of the gathered chestnuts having been gulped down as soon as they were picked), but it certainly wasn't empty for the seeds and berries inside. A few Spearows fussed amongst themselves as they went to roost, and the Roselias likewise seemed to be heading someplace else to hunker down as the youngsters strolled by.

"Three Oran berries, a Pecha, a Heal Seed, and… five chestnuts," Arashi counted the items stowed away before latching the bag closed again. "That's a pretty good stash!"

"You think we're set?" Astrid inquired, her head swiveling to the side to give him a glance.

"Yup! For starting, anyway," her comrade replied. "Some of the really high-ranking teams don't leave without a bag full of Reviver Seeds and Oran berries and things like that, but that's really only necessary in the really long and dangerous dungeons. We're not quite that good yet, aha!"

His remark earned him a few funny looks.

"'Quite?' You literally just started," Lila jested.

"Arashi, I hope you never give up on your dreams," Charlie laughed.

The Aipom and Jolteon got a few playful bubbles to their faces, which didn't cause them any trouble. Astrid tried to imagine just what a dungeon requiring all those healing items would entail… and promptly decided that indeed, that was not their calling yet.

Still the Rowlet was scanning the area as they walked back- not only for the Beast, but also for any nocturnal creatures that may have just been waking up and decided that her bunch looked tasty. Thankfully, she could catch no glimpses of the sort in either case, at least as far as she could discern. She was still sure regardless that, if a Honchkrow or Noctowl decided to start something, Lila's Thunderbolt would probably down it faster than anyone else present could hope to.

When the town's perimeter came into view, they could clearly see Nez and a Toxicroak- which Astrid deduced must have been Trixie's father from his gigantic vocal sac- having a chat and seeming to laugh at something spoken between them, a certain Croagunk they knew standing there rather indifferently but seeming to notice when more figures came into view.

"Hi, Trixie!" Arashi called amiably, giving her a wave.

She exchanged a quick word with the Toxicroak and sprinted towards them, quickly getting wide-eyed when she came closer and noticed Arashi and Astrid's badges.

"Oh, my gods!" she cried, jokingly clutching at her chest and pretending to do a double-take. "You two look snazzy, ehehehehe~! Minus the team name, of course!"

Arashi spit a few bubbles at her too, which only made her cackle some more as their little entourage strolled along back to town.

"Where have you lot been, eh?" the Croagunk asked.

"Verdant Meadow," Arashi answered. "We gathered some supplies from what the wild ones didn't snack on. Team Starstorm officially begins operations tomorrow!"

"Y'know I have faith in you guys, but if you get wiped on your first official outing, I'm gonna laugh," Trixie jested.

More bubbles from the Froakie followed. The Croagunk gave him what would have been a Poison Sting had there been any substance to it, but in any case, a few sparks from Lila made them both cut it out while Charlie just shook his head.

"What about you, Trixie?" asked Lila. "What did you get up to?"

The Croagunk shrugged. "Eh, not a whole lot. My gramps got half of his hutch uprooted by a wild Excadrill with terrible direction, and me and the old man were just helping him move stuff back where it should be… because apparently gramps' psychic powers are all dried up these days. Eh, I just blame it on him being too freaking pretty."

"Your grandpa's a Gardevoir, right?" asked Arashi.

Trixie nodded, then mimed a puking gesture with a dismal countenance. "I mean, being doomed to evolve into something frilly and elegant in both of your possible evolutions is bad enough, but when he could've picked Gallade instead and at least had swords for elbows? C'mon."

"Now, now, some Pokémon like being pretty," Lila mused to the contrary.

Trixie shrugged. "Well, if I was born a Ralts, I'd be begging the gods to change me into something else, preferably something that can evolve into having poisonous spiky hands."

Arashi gave her a smirking look. "Hey now, Rozen of the Expedition Coalition is all cutesy and pretty too! There's more to life than poison and spikes and being scary, y'know!"

The one he protested to didn't seem so convinced, for Trixie's look turned shifty and she shot him a diabolical grin back. "Ehehe, I'd still beg to differ~"

Arashi gave her a playfully pointed look at one of his idols getting made fun of, but didn't bother giving her a bubble spray. The Croagunk giggled happily to herself, not a care in the world, while Charlie rolled his eyes at their antics.

Nez gave them a happy wave as he always did when he laid eyes on them, then went back to laughing along with the Toxicroak. They could hear their conversation as they strolled closer.

"I mean, I was just planning to Sucker Punch it into oblivion if it showed back up, but I guess it finally found its way back home, ehehehe!" laughed the Toxicroak.

Nez chuckled. "I would have just offered it a cup of tea or two and hoped for the best, gwahaha!"

"Yeah, and then it'd probably invite the rest of its friends and you'd end up with a herd of Drilbur and Excadrill looking at you!"

"And I wouldn't mind one bit!"

Astrid could only assume they were talking about the stray Excadrill uprooting a hutch. She had to imagine a colony of Excadrill and Drilbur popping up out of a hole in Nez's floor and the Nidoking fixing them all cups of tea, which… wasn't too far off from what she would have otherwise expected. Either that, or Nez gently asking them if they had become lost and somehow pointing them in the right direction without digging another tunnel.

The Nidoking gave the younger ones a glance and mused to his company, "Say, Jax, did ya hear about what Astrid and Arashi did? They went and formed a team! We've got two budding star expeditioners here, I tell ya!"

"They didn't like my idea for a team name as much as you did, Dad," Trixie remarked.

Her father grinned, looking Astrid and Arashi over. "Hah, isn't that something! Those badges look nice! I tried getting one myself way back in the day, but me and my buddies got a little turned off at the 'no nefarious deeds' clause, ehehe~!"

Nez laughed, giving Jax a playful shove. "Oh, you aren't that bad! You just talk about tying fifteen wild Furrets together and setting them loose, but we all know you wouldn't!"

Trixie, however, gave the other youngsters a smirk. "See? Even my old man is useless poser~"

A playful whack from Charlie's tail-hand shut her up.

Nonetheless, the Toxicroak didn't seem to mind her tease and turned his gaze to her, saying, "C'mon, Trixie, we should get back home before your mother starts to wonder what's holding us up." He turned to the Nidoking. "Nice chatting with you, Nez!"

They all exchanged more waves as the two Toxic Mouth Pokémon made their way off.

Nez grinned down at the ones left. "Nothing come jumping out at you, yeah? Was your trip alright?"

Charlie got a bit of an uncomfortable look and awkwardly mused, "J-just a Spinarak…~"

Lila too started grinning at the recollection, but the slightly perturbed look that Charlie gave her kept her from relaying the incident and instead she grinned down at the ground.

Nonetheless, seeing as dusk was getting close, the youngsters followed suit shortly after and headed in, Arashi still beaming happily all the way down to the water's edge and as he and Astrid skittered in through the curtain door on the beach.


Still, later that night…

*Astrid…?*

There it was again- completely incorporeal, yet gracing her senses all the same. Seemingly from nowhere, the blindingly bright rays of light she'd seen before emanated, and still, something from within them seemed to peer back, but the silhouette was too obscured to properly make out.

Nonetheless, the Rowlet wasn't going to waste time. * Who are you?* she inquired, not fully wanting to answer its questioning. Who or what this was, she didn't know, but it already knew more than she was comfortable with.

*I am-*

The voice cut out like static. It was stronger than last time, but still not completely stable, almost as if she were listening to it through a wall instead of directly.

Something akin to a mild jolt came from it. *Ngh…! Apologies, it's hard to keep this link up under such stress…!*

*Stress…?*

*Yes. It's-*

It cut out once again. Whatever sounds were coming from the obscured entity, she couldn't make them out. *Sorry. I can't hear you very well.*

Another garbled sound cut out, followed by *Your judgment has been fairly accurate up to this point, and I am glad you're safe. However, they are tailing you, and-*

What came next was too faint for her to hear. Still, at the mention of being 'tailed,' she certainly perked up and tried to listen, even if it was in vain. The sounds rattled off, but none of them coalesced into a coherent train of thought as far as she could hear.

Garbled or not, she still wanted answers. *Tailing me?! Who's tailing me?! Is it that creature?! I already know about that one if that's the case!*

*Well, yes, but there's-*

It faded. The bright rays seemed to falter for a second too, followed by dead silence.

*Hey! Are you alright? What's going on?* Astrid called, or at least, attempted to.

*No, there's- NO-!*

The rays were gone, and so was the voice coming from within them.

Yet again, her eyes shot open and scanned the room she roosted in, searching for any remnant of what she'd just seen or any trace of the voice. She couldn't find any, just her comrade fast asleep on his cushion and the damp darkness of the cavern.

"A-are you still there…?" she whispered softly, not really expecting an answer and not sure who she might get one from.

… Nothing.

The Rowlet fluffed up back into her roost and settled down. She knew there was no use asking questions of someone that wasn't there, but she certainly wished she'd had more time to do so. It seemed like it was actually going somewhere successful.

… She'd be having conversations about this in the morning, she was sure.


When she began stirring the next morning, she didn't forget to, either.

"Astrid? You awake?" came the voice of her comrade below, the Froakie rustling around on the floor.

"Yeah," she softly replied, carefully stepping out of her basket onto the shelf.

Arashi hopped up to turn the lantern on and let out a yawn, while Astrid rearranged a few stray feathers before jumping down.

"It happened again," she mused.

Arashi gave her a curious look. "Hm? What happened?"

"The voice," she answered. "I could hear it better. It knows the beast is out looking for me, too."

That certainly piqued his attention and he hopped closer, sticking a hand on her wing. "Arceus above," he mused. "And you don't know who this is, do you?"

She shook her head. "No. It's familiar, but… still in a way I can't quite place."

"Are they friendly?"

She looked down at the ground. "I… don't know. They seemed to be, and they still seem to be in pain, but…"

She ruffled up a bit, a sigh escaping her beak. Arashi gave her wing a pat.

"You wanna talk to Mom and Dad about it? They might know something," Arashi inquired.

The Rowlet nodded without a shred of hesitation on the matter. "Yeah. If it keeps happening, there's a reason for it."

Both she and Arashi trailed out of the room and to the main one, where the Greninja and Inteleon were up and stirring as always. Kaminari sorted the contents of a bag and Niles combed the details of several papers rather intently, both of them giving the youngsters a glance.

"Morning, dears," Niles chirped.

"Did you sleep okay?" Kaminari inquired, reaching into one of the baskets on the shelves.

"Mhmmm," Astrid affirmed, a bit shy at thinking of how to word her concerns.

"Astrid got a visit from someone," Arashi noted.

Her feathers ruffled out again when Arashi's parents' eyes fell on her the next instant. What her comrade said was true, but when he put it that way, it sounded a bit more sinister than she actually deemed it.

"From whom?" Niles quickly inquired, looking mildly concerned.

"A-ah, I- er, it was…" she tried putting it into words, "It was kinda like a dream, but… it wasn't…"

Arashi hopped up onto the table where his father combed the documents, and Astrid followed along too. Kaminari stowed an Oran berry or two in her bag and strolled over to them as well.

"Didn't you say they were familiar?" Arashi inquired.

"K-kinda…" the Rowlet answered. She looked up at the Inteleon and Greninja and explained, "Th-this happened before too, but… I just kinda brushed it off. I feel like I should recognize their voice, but it's really hard to hear clearly and it gets cut off all the time, so I don't have much info on them…"

Kaminari studied her, and Niles rested his head on one hand.

"What info do you have? And how many times has this happened?" Niles inquired.

"Just once before, and I could barely make anything out then," Astrid answered. "They called me by name the first time, and said a bunch of stuff I couldn't make out, then yelled and disappeared. I tried asking who they were this time, and they tried to answer me, but I still couldn't make it out because they were under a lot of stress, or so they told me. Then they mentioned I was being tailed, and… well, they know about that thing that keeps showing up, but before I could talk to them more, they yelled again and cut out, like they're in trouble or something… And I can't make out who they are, because they're always covered in these ridiculously bright rays of light. But I know someone is there."

Niles nodded while taking it in and Kaminari studied her intently.

"So what you're saying is that someone whom you do not know but who seems to know you is communicating with you through dreams, or is at least attempting to," Niles noted.

Astrid nodded. "P-pretty much."

Both the older Pokémon looked at each other. Astrid wasn't sure what to make of their silence, but she definitely hoped the reasons for her dream-like encounters were at least somewhat innocuous even if she knew that was likely not the case. Arashi was still grinning, which she also wasn't sure what to make of, but figured it was for some reason relating to his boundless enthusiasm for ridiculous adventures.

"Who are you thinking of?" Kaminari inquired.

"Several," Niles responded. He looked back at Astrid. "And you say this individual is someone you're unfamiliar with, and they cannot tell you because they are under stress while contacting you?"

Another nod.

"Then that rules out Arceus, at least," the Inteleon remarked. "Or so I would assume- if a legendary of that caliber were in trouble, there would be signs."

Astrid's eyes widened at the thought, and Arashi's did too albeit with excitement.

The Froakie touched her wing again with an eager look. "Hah, wouldn't that be something if you were getting visions from Arceus!" he exclaimed.

Astrid didn't have to give it much consideration. "That would be terrible!" she protested.

Her comrade only laughed happily to himself, still looking rather enthralled with the idea.

Niles, however, cupped one hand around and gently scratched her feathers, smiling a bit. "Oh, don't worry, darling- if such were the case, there would be a good reason. You wouldn't be left to flounder about. As rare as a human-turned-Pokémon is, an appearance from Arceus is even rarer."

That put her at ease. "S-so who is it, then…? Do you know…?"

"Not for sure," the Inteleon replied. "Several other legendaries come to mind, but the information you have is a bit too vague to make any concrete conjectures. Then, of course, there is also the possibility of Psychic- or Ghost-types interfering with you, as well as fully incorporeal bodies… But do speak up if you see anything more or get some more pieces of information."

She nodded again.

Niles gave her one last pat and gently placed a single finger on the leafy bow on her chest, smiling at her. "Whatever purpose you are here for, you are valuable. We don't know in what way you are valuable, but the simple fact is that you are."

"And if anyone comes chasing after your value, they better hope I don't see them," Kaminari added, a small Water Shuriken appearing then dissipating in one hand silently affirming her words.

Niles removed his hand, and the Rowlet fluffed up a bit as if trying to hide once more in her feathers. Her gaze drifted downwards. "Y-you all are so nice…"

Her Froakie comrade chuckled and hopped closer, sticking his arms around her in a hug. She wasn't protesting it.

"No one in their right mind would leave a stray amnesiac little one alone, even if you weren't a former human," Kaminari brushed it off, grabbing her bag and standing up again. "But, speaking of Pokémon about to get a Water Shuriken, I should be heading off now."

Niles stood up too and gave her a hug, which the Greninja returned.

Arashi only laughed and gleefully remarked, "Show 'em who's boss, Mom!"

Astrid was sure that Kaminari would one way or another, no doubt about it.

Before long, and after getting a few small bites to eat, Astrid and Arashi were setting out themselves down the beach and to town, of course with their scarves and badges tied on and Arashi carrying the bag. It was a bit dark and cloudy overhead and the air was slightly damp (even for being next to the sea), though it did still feel calm and… tranquil, in accordance with the name of the area. The waves lapping at the shore weren't any harsher than usual as might have been expected for grey skies, but even if it did begin a downpour, Astrid figured that neither she nor her comrade would mind too much. Droplets on her feathers didn't sound like that bad of an experience.

"This looks like Lila's kind of day," Arashi remarked, giving a glance upward. "If it starts thundering, she's probably gonna go run around on the cliffs and fire Thunderbolts at the clouds, ahaha!"

Astrid blinked, then nonchalantly inquired, "Does she think that's fun? I guess she wouldn't have to worry about getting fried."

Arashi giggled. "Yeah, getting shocked isn't a big deal to her," was the answer. "But I always keep my distance if I tag along, because it's a big deal to me!"

Astrid had already figured that indeed, it likely would be to her comrade, though she didn't particularly want to feel the sensation of electricity seizing up her limbs again, either.

"But," Arashi mused, "today's the day Team Starstorm officially begins operations! Ahaha, I'm so exciteeeed!"

The Froakie couldn't help but clap his hands together and squeal in glee, which Astrid smiled just a bit at. By that point, she merely figured that Arashi's default state of existing was excited- had she been in possession of hands, she could have counted on only one just how many times she hadn't seen him gleeful and happy.

They made their way up the stairs, but once they reached the top…

"HEYA~!"

"Yiiiaaaaah!"

"WHAT THE-!"

Several simultaneous cried of surprise and fright emanated at the same time after a certain Croagunk jumped out with her loud interjection. A certain Aipom's face made very good friends with his hand while Trixie found herself with several glowing sharp leaves from Astrid's wings pointed straight at her and Arashi likewise readying a Bubble. Their Jolteon companion was nowhere to be seen.

"Did I Astonish you~?" Trixie chirped playfully.

Arashi gave her a pointed, but still amiable, glance. "You sure did," he replied, getting ahold of himself.

Astrid's leaves lost their glow and fell harmlessly to the ground, the Rowlet ruffling up a bit in hesitance. "H-hey, now, I was about to attack you…"

Trixie shrugged. "Well, if I can't take two attacks, then I guess I just deserve to die, ehehe~"

A shove from Charlie's tail-hand shut her up, and the Aipom turned back to them.

"Anyways," mused the Charlie, "do you guys want an official mission? Because Lila's dad has one if you're interested."

Arashi immediately perked up with wide, sparkling eyes.

Astrid was intrigued as well, but still she simply had to ask on account of the Jolteon not being among them, "Something didn't happen to Lila, did it?"

That prospect seemed to alarm Arashi at her mention thereof, but Trixie piped up before they could worry too much.

"Oh, hell no, nothing happened to Lila," the Croagunk answered, giving a dismissive wave with one hand. "Veeko went crawling through a briar and got a ton of burs stuck in his tail that he can't reach, and Lila's trying to get the rest out."

That assuaged them.

"That poor Eevee," Arashi remarked, then looking at his comrade with a grin, "That came easy- we didn't even have to see the bulletin board!"

Astrid gave a little shrug of her wings in agreement.

They set off towards the Jolteon's house where, just as Trixie said, Veeko was looking rather downcast on their porch while Lila clawed a few spiky seeds out of his tail, which left it looking rather matted. (Perhaps Run Away had allowed him to weasel through the briar… but the briar had certainly weaseled through his fur as well.) Lila appeared to be rather amused at her little brother's mishap, while an Umbreon and Flareon had a word on the grass out front. The Jolteon gave them a nod of acknowledgement, and Trixie stifled a bit of laughter.

"You two!" the Flareon called, perking up and taking notice of the other youngsters, specifically Astrid and Arashi. He trotted over to them.

"Morning, Mr. Blaze!" Arashi chirped in response, grinning.

"U-um, h-hello," Astrid stammered.

The Flareon cut right to the chase. "So my daughter tells me you two have formed an expedition team," he noted, giving their badges a glance.

"We sure did!" Arashi cried happily. "Team Starstorm is officially official!"

Trixie stifled more laughter at the Froakie's exclamation, holding her hands over her mouth and strolling a few steps in the opposite direction to keep herself quiet. Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Then I have a job for you if you're up for it," said Blaze, sitting down and swooshing his tail over the grass with a slight sizzling sound. "It involves trekking through wild territory, but you two seem to be perfectly capable if what I heard about the Tranquil Tunnel incident is true."

"We definitely are!" the Froakie affirmed.

"I-it wasn't that bad in there…" Astrid's voice trailed off in passive affirmation.

"Do you two know where Overgrown Crevice is? Arashi, I take it that you would, at least," Blaze inquired.

Arashi nodded. "I sure do! Northwest from here, right? Past the crags?"

"Exactly," the Flareon affirmed. "My partner Cobalt the Heracross… He went out there and he hasn't come back, which isn't like him at all. There had been some rumors of Pokémon going down there and being able to evolve, which is getting rarer these days too, but after that… there started being more reports of Pokémon going down there and getting knocked out. Now, me and Cobalt aren't anywhere close to the best at battling, but I know he can handle himself, so I have no idea what he's gotten into."

Arashi started looking excited and his grin stretched even wider, while Astrid tilted her head to the side while carefully taking in each of Blaze's words. Several times she had heard mention of evolution spots being harder to find from her companions, thus one cropping up seemed a bit odd until Blaze's mention of seemingly nefarious activity. She catalogued that snippet of information in her mind.

"I can't go check up on him now since I've got things to do myself, and he was supposed to be here to help me out…" Blaze carried on."Besides, neither one of us can evolve even if those rumors were true, so who knows. But could I ask you two to go check around for Cobalt? Don't worry, there's a nice chunk of money in it for you."

"Of course!" Arashi emphatically agreed, his excitement practically bubbling over, then turning to Astrid, "Doesn't that sound awesome?! If we discover an evolution spot and tell off some bad Pokémon in one fell swoop, that'd be amazing!"

"I'm in," she wasn't inclined to disagree.

"Let me know how it goes when you get back," said the Flareon.

"We will!" Arashi affirmed, beaming in happiness.

With that, Blaze slipped his own bag over his head and situated it on his back before exchanging a quick word with the Umbreon and setting off himself up the sandy path. Arashi clapped his hands together with another excited cry, Astrid getting a slight smile herself at her comrade's enthusiasm.

Trixie's interest seemed piqued too, for she skipped over to them again with wide eyes and a shifty grin.

"It's not gonna happen, Trixie," Charlie said preemptively.

"You don't know that!" the Croagunk shot back, then to Astrid and Arashi, "You got room for one more?! If that's an evolution spot, I want in!"

Arashi giggled. "Charlie's right- you probably aren't ready," he said to the contrary. "Me and Astrid evolve way earlier than you and Charlie can, so if anyone can find out, it's us!"

"Yeah, and you probably aren't ready, either!" Trixie shot back, "C'mon!"

"Hey, you had your fun last time we all went out together! Team Starstorm's gotta have our time to shine!"

Trixie relented, letting out a hapless sigh while still keeping her mischievous smile. "Fine, but when I become a Toxicroak, I'm gonna remember you said that!"

The Froakie laughed. "What're you gonna do, Focus Blast me?"

"Don't give her ideas," Lila called from the porch.

Regardless, Trixie's face lit up as if that were the finest idea that she'd ever heard, but nonetheless, she looked to Astrid. "Say, what do you think~?"

Astrid blinked, frozen up for just a second on what exactly to say. "A-ah, w-well, it's just a rumor… P-probably nothing much else to go on; just Pokémon making things up…"

Another sigh from the Croagunk. "Eh, I just wanna be a freaking Toxicroak…~ It ain't fair that my old man and old lady get to hog all the spiked fists…~"

Arashi chuckled again, giving Trixie a pat on the shoulder while Charlie shook his head.

"You two better come back in one piece," the Aipom mused, smiling nonetheless.

"Stay safe, you two," called the Umbreon, striding back up to the porch and also attempting to get some of the burs out of Veeko's tail.

Arashi grinned. "We will, Ms. Nadine!" he called back to the Umbreon, then to no one in particular, "This is great!"

He went to take off with Astrid close behind, the two of them giving the ones left a wave as they started to the west. The Froakie certainly seemed thrilled, while Astrid was merely wondering what state they might find Cobalt in… and hoping it all boded well. Rumors of evolution spots or not, she had the feeling there was something more at play, though she couldn't quite place what.


Author's note: It's a bit of a miscellaneous thing to mention, but the name 'Cobalt' comes from what I nicknamed my Heracross for Emerald's Battle Frontier. It's not all that inspired, but… what can I say; I'm not THAT hard to impress naming-wise, hehehe.