Hey everyone! I finally have chapter 47 ready! Really sorry it took this long, but it's done! It's finally done! First chapter of 2016.
Whew... Previously, a lot of plot related stuff happened, so I figured we'd take it a bit easier with this chapter, checking up on some other characters, including some we may not have seen in quite a while. Of course, there were also a few things left up in the air from the previous chapter, so I also wanted to bring that up in this chapter.
Also, I went back to some previous chapters and changed the names of Blitz and Lita's parents, since their old names didn't really fit in. Luckily, their names were only really brought up in two chapters, so it didn't really take that long to change.
Well, with that out of the way, let's get to the chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! If you have any thoughts/advice/questions/whatever, feel free to tell me! I'd really appreciate it! All right, here's Chapter 47!
Chapter 47: What reason does he have for anything he does?
Chiaki was lying awake in bed, thinking about the events of the day. Blitz and Sera both seemed very happy. Frederick seemed to have overcome his fear of ghosts. Nereza had been freed from Erebos' spell. Another crystal had been found and retrieved, leaving only three more to find. They even made some new friends in the process. Chiaki felt as if he should've been happy about all of this, but something was still bothering him about what happened in Nightmirror Forest. He had been told that a part of him already knew the truth about who he really was. Did that Haunter know something about him that he didn't know, or was he just making a guess?
Blitz and Sera had told him about their own similar experiences in the forest, so apparently the ghost-types did have a way of finding out everything they needed to know about those who entered the mystery dungeon. However, thinking about it more, Chiaki was starting to realize that he was different from Blitz and Sera. They knew exactly who they were. Without any memories, Chiaki couldn't confirm if the Haunter was telling the truth. And because they had been so busy trying to help Nereza and get the crystal back, it hadn't occurred to him to try asking about it either.
Chiaki thought back to what he had told the Haunter. He had said that he would accept the truth, no matter what it was. The Haunter seemed skeptical of this claim, but before Chiaki could really think more about it, Sera and Blitz had shown up. He had just been glad to see that his friends were okay, and was reassured by their words that things would be okay, but…
"If they hadn't shown up when they did, what would I have done…?" Chiaki thought to himself, sighing.
He looked over at Blitz, who was currently asleep and looking quite content. Chiaki decided not to wake him up. Chiaki crawled out of bed, and went outside. He looked up to see the stars twinkling in the night sky. He wondered if Stella and Bow were still awake, watching the stars in hopes of getting a glimpse of where the remaining crystals were.
"It sure is amazing how much the stars know…" Chiaki whispered, looking up at the sky.
He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. As he opened his eyes again, he spotted a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.
"Elina?" Chiaki said, turning to face the young Elgyem.
Elina was just standing there, staring at him. Her fingers occasionally gave off a faint glow, flashing in random patterns.
"… You must be wondering why I haven't told you anything," Elina said via telepathy, briefly looking away from Chiaki. "Yet, it occurs to me that you don't seem to have been trying to seek me out either… Why is that?"
Elina turned back to Chiaki, watching him as she awaited a response. Chiaki just stood there, looking as if he was trying to think of something to say, but just couldn't find an answer. Elina gave a quiet sigh and closed her eyes.
"… I understand," Elina responded, nodding her head. "You have accepted your identity as Chiaki the Mienfoo. You have grown close to some of the Pokémon of this town… I can't blame you. The Pokémon here are quite nice. Part of me wishes I could just stay here, but… I know that's not possible for either of us."
"Elina…" Chiaki uttered, shuddering as he remembered another thing the Haunter had said to him. "Deep down, you know there's somewhere else you should be, don't you?"
"In order to protect you, I wanted to keep the truth to myself for as long as possible," Elina explained, her hand shaking. "But… maybe if I had spoken up sooner…"
Elina shook her head, her fingers flashing brightly for a few moments.
"No, that wouldn't have been any better…" Elina said via telepathy, staring at the glowing fingers on her own hand. "No matter what I did… I would've just ended up hurting you anyway…"
"… What do you mean?" Chiaki asked, taking a step towards Elina. "Protecting me from what?"
"… Chiaki, when all of this is over, I'll be taking you back home," Elina responded, looking at Chiaki for a moment. "Until then, I want you to enjoy the time you have left. Explore as many places with your friends as you can, make new experiences… Do this for me, okay?"
Chiaki blinked a few times, before nodding his head.
"I'll try," Chiaki said, giving a small smile.
Elina nodded her head in response, before floating back towards the center of town. Chiaki waved good-bye as she disappeared from sight, quietly wondering just where the young Elgyem slept at night. Of course, that wasn't the only question on his mind.
"Home…" Chiaki muttered, absentmindedly looking up at the sky once more. "The place where Elina and I live… I wonder where that is…"
"Deep down, you know there's somewhere else you should be!" Chiaki sighed as these words echoed through his head once more. "Part of you already knows the truth!"
Chiaki groaned and clutched his head as the voices echoing in his head were suddenly drowned out by the sound of pouring rain. He closed his eyes, envisioning the Meridian Forest. As he looked up, he could just barely make out a familiar structure in the distance.
"That is…" Chiaki muttered, stumbling a bit.
Chiaki closed his eyes as his vision began to blur, and when he opened them again, he found that he was back in front of Blitz's house. He blinked a few times, before looking around at his surroundings. His head still hurt.
"Ugh… What just happened?" Chiaki said, rubbing his forehead.
He glanced around once more, before deciding that it was best to head back inside and try to get some sleep. He lay back down in his bed, closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of all the questions that were floating about inside his head…
Sera was smiling and humming to herself as she headed towards the town plaza, excited for what today would bring. A few rescue teams were still making preparations for whatever missions awaited them, some of them discussing recent events. From what Sera could tell from parts of the conversations she happened to overhear as she walked by, it seemed that distortions were spreading to more areas. However, there was also the news of another crystal having been retrieved, which seemed to be helping the various Pokémon keep their hopes up.
Sera's ears perked up as she noticed Blitz and Chiaki entering the town plaza, and she quickly ran over to greet her two friends.
"Hey guys!" Sera said, grinning.
"Oh, hey there, Sera," Blitz responded, smiling back at Sera.
"Good morning…" Chiaki said, yawning.
"You look tired," Sera commented, tilting her head slightly. "Didn't you get enough sleep last night, or something?"
"I guess not…" Chiaki responded, shrugging slightly.
"Well, we'll be stopping by the café anyways to pick up Azure and Frederick," Blitz said, looking over at Chiaki. "Maybe we can ask River for something that'll help? Something made with Chesto berries should work."
"Sounds good to me," Chiaki responded, nodding his head.
As the three of them walked over to the café, Chiaki briefly found himself wondering if his encounter with Elina last night had really happened, or if it was all just a dream. In his tired state, it was difficult to make sense of things. Maybe he'd be able to think clearer once he was a little more awake. When they entered the café, they were greeted by Azure and Frederick.
"Hey guys!" Azure said, grinning. "You finally showed up, huh?"
"Always ready for another mission, aren't you?" Sera commented, chuckling.
"Of course," Azure responded, nodding.
"I'm ready for some missions too," Frederick said. "At least, I think I am!"
"Well, I think Chiaki needs something to help him wake up before we decide on who will be going on today's missions," Blitz explained, glancing over at the somewhat tired-looking Mienfoo.
"Ah, say no more!" Azure responded, winking to Blitz before running up to the counter to ask her mother to mix something together real quick.
The group waited for a few minutes, before Azure returned carrying a wooden teacup in her hands.
"Here you go!" Azure said, handing it over to Chiaki. "This Chesto berry tea ought to help!"
"Thanks, Azure," Chiaki responded, smiling at the young Marill.
Chiaki took a sip of the hot beverage, and thought back to the vision he had. He had lost his memories on the very same night that Erebos stole the crystals from Axis Tower, hadn't he? He was pretty sure that had to be the case. Axis Tower also had to be the home Elina spoke of. However, he still couldn't figure out just what exactly happened to him that night…
"Elina said she wanted to protect me… Was it Erebos she wanted to protect me from?" Chiaki quietly wondered to himself, as he took another sip of his tea. "Come to think of it, back when we went to rescue Bow, Elina seemed very afraid and tried to talk me out of going to where Bow was… It must've been because Erebos was there…"
Chiaki finished his drink, setting the teacup down on a nearby wooden table.
"All right, you ready to go now?" Azure asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Chiaki responded, wiping his mouth with his arm.
"Great!" Azure replied, grinning. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
The group left the café, and headed up to the rescue team HQ. On the way, Chiaki continued his train of thought.
"Erebos… Did he hurt Elina too?" Chiaki wondered, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I can't forgive that…"
Chiaki wasn't sure how many Pokémon that Erebos had harmed in some way, but the exact number didn't really matter. What really mattered was stopping him from hurting anyone else.
"Who knows what he is doing right now…" Chiaki thought, sighing. "I hope Samara is able to do something about him soon… Until then, I should just do what I can."
At the rescue team HQ, Blitz and his friends began looking at the missions that were posted on the bulletin boards. After picking out a few, they had to decide which four out of the five of them would be going on this mission.
"You got to go yesterday, so today is my turn, right?" Azure said, looking over at Frederick.
"Oh, um… I guess so," Frederick responded, nodding his head. "Plus, I think you've got a type advantage against the Pokémon in this mystery dungeon, so it makes sense to have you go."
"Yay!" Azure replied, hugging Frederick's face. "Thanks buddy!"
"You're welcome," Frederick responded, smiling at Azure.
"Okay then, let's go!" Blitz said, bringing his teammates into Kala's room.
"Don't drink your hair…" Kala muttered in her sleep, as Blitz gently shook her shoulder in order to wake her up.
Chiaki took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind so he could focus on the mission. After all, he couldn't let his worries interfere with his work. There were Pokémon out there who needed help, and it was the rescue teams' duty to help them.
The ribbon-like feelers on Bow's body shone as Bow fired a multicolored beam of light from her eyes to knock down the targets Hercules had set up. As she took down the last target with her Psybeam attack, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the glow of her feelers subsided. She then opened her eyes again and looked over at her mother, who had been watching her training session.
"Well done, Bow," Stella said, smiling at her daughter.
"Thanks," Bow responded, smiling back.
It had been Bow's idea to head to the dojo. Because of everything that had happened lately, it had been a while since she last had a chance to really work on her battle skills. Wisdom and kindness were good attributes for a town oracle, but in case they needed to fight in order to protect their loved ones, a town oracle also needed to be strong. And Bow wanted to become the best town oracle she could possibly become.
"Hmm… Not bad," Hercules commented, as the Hoothoot that had been taking the time during Bow's training session told him how long she had taken.
"I think I can do even better!" Bow shouted, looking over at Hercules with a confident smirk.
"So, you want to give it another go?" Hercules asked, smiling at Bow.
"Yep!" Bow responded, nodding her head. "I'll try to get it done even faster this time!"
"All right," Hercules replied, waving to Lotus. "Lotus? Can you set the targets up again real quick?"
"No problem," the Meditite responded, nodding her head slightly.
Lotus' eyes briefly shined, as she telekinetically moved the targets back into position. Bow took a deep breath, and waited for Hercules to give her the signal to start.
Mirage and her teammates were making their way through a mystery dungeon in a cave, although distortions in the area were making things much more difficult for them. Occasionally while exploring the area, they would suddenly be warped to a different section within the current room they were in without warning. The number of wild Pokémon that kept attacking them, particularly the large number of Zubat and Golbat that kept swooping down from out of nowhere didn't help either. Even if it didn't take too long to defeat these wild Pokémon with their attacks, it didn't make it any less frustrating for the rescue team.
"Okay… We finally made it to the floor specified in the mission description!" Mirage exclaimed, taking a deep breath. "Now, let's find that item and get out of here!"
"Agreed," Megara responded, nodding her head. "I can't take much more of this…"
"The mushroom feels dizzy from all the random teleporting," Cordyceps stated.
"I don't think I've seen any other mystery dungeons this badly affected by the distortions so far," Mirage commented, rubbing her head. "Maybe it'd be best to just close this area off until the crisis is resolved…"
"I don't know how well that'd work," Megara responded, looking around at their current surroundings. "I mean, you've seen some of the missions we've taken, right? Some grass-type wandering off into an area full of poison types, or a fire-type somehow ending up stranded in a mystery dungeon that is mostly water… Some of the Pokémon we have to rescue don't seem particularly bright, and even if they closed the area off, some of them would probably still find a way to get in there…"
"Oh come on, Meg," Mirage replied, looking over at the Magmar. "Even if some of them make admittedly questionable choices that get them into these situations, I'm sure they're at least smart enough to stay out of mystery dungeons if we close off the entire area around it. Besides, this particular mystery dungeon isn't necessary to cross in order to get anywhere special, and I don't know of anything else that would make Pokémon feel the need to go through here."
"I suppose," Megara responded, shrugging her shoulders. "Although, that does raise the question of what we'll do when mystery dungeons containing important resources or mystery dungeons that are the only known routes to certain locations become affected this badly…"
"Well… Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Mirage replied, leading the group down one of the paths. "I mean, over half of the crystals have been retrieved now, so hopefully the rest are found before this all escalates any further, right?"
"The mushroom hopes so," Cordyceps responded, following behind Mirage.
"I see it!" Megara exclaimed, running up to and picking up a scarf from the floor, holding it up triumphantly.
"Oh, good," Mirage said, sighing in relief. "Mission's over, we can leave now."
"All this trouble for a scarf…" Megara commented, hugging the scarf.
"The mushroom thinks we should inform someone about the state of this mystery dungeon when we get back," Cordyceps said, looking up at Mirage.
"Agreed," Mirage responded, holding up the rescue team badge. "Let's get back to the rescue team HQ, guys!"
In a flash of golden light from the badge, the trio was teleported out of the mystery dungeon.
In Nectar Woods, a few trees were seemingly flickering in and out of existence. Various bug-types living in the forest had been moving away from the sections of the woods affected by the distortions. Queen Miele had allowed a few of them to seek shelter in the tree with her Combee, as long as they didn't help themselves to too much of the honey that the Combee produced. At the moment, Sting and his teammates had come over to check on the current status of the forest, and Queen Miele was explaining the situation.
"I see," Sting said, nodding his head slightly. "At least the honey comb is unaffected for now."
"I must try my best to reassure my subjects that everything will be okay," Miele said, looking over at Sting. "You say that five of the crystals have been found so far?"
"Yes, that is correct," Sting responded, nodding his head. "We only need to find the remaining three, and then we can return them to Axis Tower. Once they're back to where they belong, things will return to normal."
"That is good to hear," Miele replied.
"Well, at least it'll fix the distortions," Melody said, sighing. "But there's also that evil spirit, Erebos, to worry about…"
"Yeah, who knows what that guy is up to?" Frosty added.
"I will let everyone know, and tell them to keep an eye out for anything suspicious," Queen Miele responded, holding a hand to her chest.
"Thank you, Miele," Sting replied. "Although, I doubt Erebos would have any reason to come here…"
"What reason does he have for anything he does?" Melody asked, looking over at Sting. "If he decided to burn down the forest on a whim or something, he'd probably do it!"
"Ah, right…" Sting responded, remembering Stella's story of the past.
"Don't worry about me," Miele said, placing her hand on Sting's upper arm. "I will do what I can to help protect this forest. In the meantime, you and your teammates must continue doing what you can do."
"… Yes, of course," Sting responded, nodding his head. "We'll keep working hard. You can count on that."
"I know you will," Miele replied, looking at Sting fondly. "I'll keep cheering you on from here."
"Ah, thanks…" Sting responded, rubbing the back of his head with the side of one arm stinger.
Frosty and Melody exchanged glances, both smirking as if seemingly on the same wavelength. Sting chose not to comment on what they might've been thinking at the moment.
"Thanks for taking the time to come see me," Miele said. "And it was nice to finally meet your teammates."
"Well, I did say I'd bring them along so you could meet them next time I came here, didn't I?" Sting responded.
"It was nice meeting you too, your majesty!" Frosty said, grinning.
"We should all meet up again sometime!" Melody added, also smiling. "I'd like to know more about what Sting was like when he was younger!"
"Can't you just ask him yourself?" Miele asked, tilting her head slightly.
"There isn't really that much to tell," Sting responded, twiddling his arm stingers.
"Not that much to tell?" Melody inquired. "I don't believe that."
"Well, um… Okay, if you really want to know, then… I guess I can tell you sometime," Sting responded. "Anyways… I suppose it's time to head back to town now."
"Good-bye for now, Sting," Miele said, waving her hand. "I wish you all luck on your missions!"
The three of them made their way back outside, the two Beedrill guards at the entrance giving the rescue team a nod of acknowledgement as they walked past. Sting briefly glanced back at the large tree, before reaching for the rescue team badge. Moving the tip of his arm stinger through a small hole in one of the wing-decorations on the badge, he lifted the badge up and activated its magic.
Frederick was relaxing under a tree, waiting for Blitz and the others to return from their missions. He had heard that other rescue teams had returned from their missions, and had heard them talk about the events of their mission as they walked by, presumably either heading home or to the café. After a while, he heard someone walking through the grass, moving towards him before stopping. Frederick lifted his head slightly, sniffing the air to try to determine the identity of the Pokémon now standing next to him.
"Hmm… Interesting," the other Pokémon said.
It didn't seem like they were addressing Frederick, but the voice certainly seemed familiar. Frederick was pretty sure it was a member of one of the other rescue teams around town, but which one?
"Trees can grow quite tall, can't they?" the other Pokémon commented, and Frederick thought he could hear something lightly tapping the tree bark. "As for me, it seems I've remained relatively the same size since evolving…"
"Trees…?" Frederick said, tilting his head slightly. "Oh, right… There's this guy who likes to talk about trees… What was his name again…?"
Arbolith the Sudowoodo kept staring up at the tree for a few moments, before glancing over at Frederick.
"Are you talking about me?" Arbolith asked.
"… Yeah, I think so," Frederick responded, nodding his head.
"Oh," Arbolith replied, resuming staring at the tree. "… Trees are beautiful, aren't they?"
"I wouldn't know," Frederick responded. "I don't actually know what they look like."
"Hmm… Interesting," Arbolith replied, leaning the upper half of his body against the tree.
As Arbolith kept leaning against the tree while gently stroking the bark of the tree with his green orb-like "fingers", Frederick found himself at a loss of what to talk about. Blitz and the others still hadn't shown up yet, which brought to mind another question.
"Hey, where are your teammates?" Frederick asked, sniffing the air. "You're on a rescue team, right?"
"Yes, you are correct," Arbolith responded, moving away from the tree.
"Are your teammates nearby?" Frederick asked.
"Probably," Arbolith responded, swaying from side to side. "They should be around here somewhere."
"Ah, okay," Frederick replied.
Things were quiet for a while, aside from Arbolith reaching out and stroking the tree once more.
"I don't really like water," Arbolith said, staring up at the tree. "Trees however, do like water. I'm sure that is why they are so much taller than me."
"… That makes sense," Frederick responded, after thinking it over for a few moments.
"What about rocks?" Arbolith asked, swaying to the side. "Do rocks like water?"
"… I really don't know," Frederick responded, shaking his head. "Rocks can't talk, so…"
"Yes, that is true," Arbolith replied, nodding slightly. "Unless they are rock-type Pokémon… Like me. I talk a lot."
"That you do," Frederick responded, nodding his head.
Things were quiet for a bit, before Arbolith spoke up again.
"I have seen rocks near lakes, which lie submerged in water or has waves washing over them regularly," Arbolith said. "They don't seem to mind it… If only I was as brave as those rocks."
"Um… My friend Azure says you can accomplish anything if you just have enough confidence in yourself," Frederick responded.
"Hmm… Interesting," Arbolith replied, swaying back and forth for a bit.
Frederick sniffed the air as he heard someone approaching. It didn't take long for him to pick up on the scent of flowers.
"There you are," Calder the Wartortle said as he and Floretta the Bellossom walked up to the Sudowoodo. "We finished up at the HQ, and we're just about to head over to the café for some drinks. Are you coming along, or not?"
"Hmm… Interesting," Arbolith responded, turning around to face his teammates. "I guess I will come along."
"All right," Calder replied, nodding and giving a small smile. "Let's go, then."
Arbolith waved to Frederick, before he and his teammates went off. Once they had left, things were quiet again for a few more minutes. Finally, Frederick heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Hey, we're back!" Azure shouted, grinning as she and the others approached Frederick.
"Ah, welcome back, guys!" Frederick responded, getting up and walking up to meet his teammates. "How'd things go?"
"Pretty well," Azure replied, still smiling. "We got everything done, and just picked up our rewards!"
"Oh, that's good," Frederick responded, smiling at Azure.
"Admittedly, things got a bit difficult as we had to fight our way out of a monster house at one point," Azure added, glancing over at Blitz. "But thanks to Blitz, we made it out of there just fine."
"Once I was able to get my paws on that orb, the rest was easy," Blitz said, smiling.
"Ooh, tell me more!" Frederick responded.
As the group headed towards the café and Azure told Frederick more about their latest mission, Sera turned to Blitz.
"You did really well today," Sera said, smiling at Blitz.
"Oh, thanks," Blitz responded, smiling back at her.
"If you don't mind me saying it, I think you're a really great leader," Sera said, looking away for a moment.
"Uh… Is something wrong?" Blitz asked, looking over at Sera.
"Do you… want to continue being the leader of this team, or do you want me to take back the leader position?" Sera responded, her ears drooping down slightly. "I know this was only meant to be a temporary thing, but… if you're having fun, then…"
"Don't worry about it," Blitz replied, smiling at Sera. "We're in this together, aren't we?"
"… Right," Sera responded, nodding her head and smiling back at Blitz.
Chiaki couldn't help but smile at his friends all getting along so well. While he still had his many questions and concerns, being with his friends was almost enough to make him forget all about those worries. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to keep his promise with Elina after all.
"We all worry about things sometimes," Chiaki thought to himself. "But life is much too short to let it stop you from enjoying what you like, or doing what needs to be done…"
Several other rescue teams were also gathered at the café this evening, talking about recent events and whatever else came to mind. Chiaki was quiet for the most part, just taking the time to relax and observe the other Pokémon.
Outside the barrier around Fenix Town, a certain someone was hovering around, looking as annoyed as it was possible for their "borrowed" body to look without a whole lot of facial features to work with.
"To think that they actually managed to get the crystal from Nightmirror Forest…" Erebos muttered to himself, the eye on top of the Sigilyph's body flashing red. "That town oracle is quite annoying… and I bet that little brat is here too…"
However, Erebos soon seemed to calm down, snickering to himself as he floated away from the town.
"Guess I just need to make sure they can't possibly get to the remaining two crystals that I hid away!" Erebos said, before suddenly stopping as something occurred to him. "Although… Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if someone did find them…"
His eyes flashed red once more, before he flew off into the evening sky, laughing to himself as he thought about what he would do once the Pokémon that had interfered with his plans was within his grasp…
End of chapter 47