Hey everyone! It's time for another chapter of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Reflecting Balance!
Ooh, I'm really excited about this one! You see, this story was born from a particular idea that came to mind while my friends and I were discussing ideas for a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon centered story arc we were planning for the RP we were in. I kept building on this idea, gradually coming up with the story and characters of what would become Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Reflecting Balance. A few details changed along the way as the story evolved, while others stayed within the outline I had of the story.
Now, the idea I mentioned ties into a plot point that I've been keeping to myself since the story began. In other words, I've been keeping it a secret for over eight years. Until now.
That said, please don't spoil what happens in this chapter to anyone who hasn't read it yet, okay?
And with this chapter, the story finally enters it's final stage! To think we've made it this far! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and that'll be excited to see what happens next! I'll do my best to bring this story to a conclusion I can be satisfied with, and that you guys will hopefully be satisfied with too.
Anyways, here is the new chapter!
Chapter 60: You need to know the truth about what happened that night.
Before heading home after returning from Wyvern Island and dropping off the Axis Tower crystal with Stella, Blitz and his teammates decided to spend some time together at the café to celebrate that another one of the crystals had been retrieved. Azure was also excited to tell her mother about the adventure they had been on.
"… Anyways, that was really clever of you, Frederick," Azure commented, grinning.
"Well, if somebody moved your treasure hoard, wouldn't you try to stop them?" Frederick responded, taking a sip of his berry juice.
The group continued to chat for a while, until Sera had to head home. Blitz and Chiaki left the café shortly after as well. The two walked next to each other as they made their way through the town plaza to get back to their home.
"Wyvern Island was really amazing!" Chiaki said, smiling. "I'd like to go back and explore more of it sometime!"
"Maybe we'll have more opportunities to do so once all the Axis Tower crystals are back and things return to normal," Blitz responded. "After all, the current distortions make going there difficult."
"Yeah…" Chiaki replied, nodding his head slightly. "I wonder where the last crystal could be? We've been to so many different places during our missions to retrieve the other seven, and we've met so many Pokémon…"
Chiaki thought back to the previous missions, and wondered what the Pokémon they had met in those places were doing now. Aside from Wyvern Island, which seemed unaffected so far, how much had the distortion spread in those areas?
As he and Blitz walked home, Chiaki continued to think about the different places they had visited, and hoped that the Pokémon living there were doing okay.
"Maybe once this is all over, we can go back to those dungeons and visit the Pokémon that helped us find the crystals," Chiaki thought to himself.
After returning home and lying down in bed, Chiaki tried to clear his mind and get some sleep.
The next morning, Blitz and Chiaki headed into the town plaza and met with Sera like usual. As they were heading over to meet with Azure and Frederick, the group couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a few more Pokémon around than there usually was.
"The plaza seems kind of crowded, doesn't it?" Sera commented, looking around.
"Yeah," Blitz responded, nodding his head in agreement.
"Well, over at the café, I heard that the distortions have affected certain places pretty strongly, and some of the Pokémon living there have decided to come here and stay until things calm down," Azure said as she and Frederick walked over to the rest of the team.
"Ah, I see," Blitz responded, looking around at some of the unfamiliar Pokémon. "The distortions haven't reached the town yet, so it makes sense that they'd come here."
"Yeah," Azure replied. "It wouldn't surprise me if we see even more Pokémon showing up here in the next few days."
Chiaki could see a few rescue teams talking to the newcomers. He couldn't quite hear what they were talking about, but he assumed they were answering questions or giving advice or something. It was a rescue team's job to help others, after all.
"So, anyways, what are we doing today?" Azure asked.
Blitz and his teammates headed up to the rescue team HQ, and discovered that there were very few missions on the bulletin boards. Yukio and his teammates were in the process of picking out which missions they would take on today.
"Hmm… These look good," Yukio commented, having picked out two missions in the same dungeon.
"Agreed," Rosie responded, nodding her head slightly. "Shall we head out, then?"
"Oh, hey Chiaki!" Liz said, waving at the Mienfoo as she and her teammates walked past him and his teammates.
"Hi Liz!" Chiaki responded, waving back.
"Can't really talk right now, going on a mission," Liz said, following Yukio and Rosie towards Kala's room. "I'll see you later!"
"Okay, good luck!" Chiaki responded, smiling at Liz.
Blitz and his teammates examined the bulletin boards, looking at the few missions still posted on them.
"Hmm… Not much to choose from," Azure commented.
"I guess more mystery dungeons have been closed off due to distortions," Sera said, briefly glancing at the updated list of distorted dungeons next to the bulletin boards. "Fewer dungeons, fewer missions, I guess."
Blitz picked out some missions from the boards, before the team headed into Kala's room.
"Hey, Kala?" Blitz said, gently shaking Kala's shoulder to wake her up.
"… And then what happened…?" Kala muttered, before opening her eyes and glancing up at Blitz and his teammates. "… Oh."
Kala paused for a moment as she looked over at Chiaki, before sitting up and clearing her throat.
"You know… I should probably consider getting a new pillow," Kala said. "This old thing is kind of worn out…"
"Uh, yes… I can see that," Blitz responded.
"Maybe a pink one… or maybe light blue…" Kala muttered, yawning. "But enough about that… You're here for a mission, aren't you?"
"Uh-huh," Azure said, nodding slightly.
"Got it…" Kala replied, looking at the team once more. "So, who's going…?"
"I'll stay here," Frederick said, taking a step back. "Yesterday's adventure was pretty big, so I'm okay with just taking it easy."
"Ah, right…" Kala responded. "You were among the teams that went to Wyvern Island…"
"Yep!" Chiaki replied, smiling. "It was really amazing! We're definitely going to visit it again someday!"
"…" Kala stared at Chiaki for a moment, before composing herself. "So… I heard there were no distortions on the island?"
"Yeah, that's right," Sera said, nodding her head.
"Interesting…" Kala replied, rubbing one of her eyes. "Not much I can do with that information, though… Wyvern Island being outside of my teleportation range and all that…"
"Is there a way you can increase it?" Chiaki asked.
"Hmm… I suppose if I evolved, the extra power would increase the range…" Kala responded, before crossing her arms and looking away. "But even then, Wyvern Island would probably still be out of reach… and I have no intention of ever evolving, anyways…"
"Oh? Why not?" Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly.
"… Mustache," Kala muttered.
"Um… What?" Chiaki responded, blinking a few times in confusion.
"Most female Kadabra and Alakazam have shorter mustaches than the male ones," Kala explained. "Since I'm trans… well, I guess you can probably figure it out from there…"
"Ah, yes, that makes sense," Azure responded, nodding slightly.
"Couldn't you just cut the mustache shorter?" Sera asked.
"It would grow back…" Kala replied, crossing her arms. "And besides, the rest of my body would change too…"
"I think I understand," Blitz said. "You think you'd be more comfortable just staying as you are."
"Yeah…" Kala responded, yawning. "Giselle told me she could offer certain treatments if I ever change my mind, but… I won't…"
"That's fine," Azure said, smiling at Kala. "Do whatever works for you."
"Mm-hm…" Kala replied, smiling back at Azure. "So… Where are you all going today?"
Sting stared at the entrance to the mystery dungeon in Nectar Woods, which was currently closed off due to the distortions. Melody and Frosty stayed close to their leader as they looked around at the distorted sections of forest around them. The only Pokémon they had seen since entering the forest were the ones seeking shelter in the big tree. Any other Pokémon living in the forest must've gone somewhere else, based on how quiet it was.
"Hey, let's get out of here already," Frosty said, looking around uncomfortably. "Looking at the distortions is making me kind of dizzy…"
"Frosty is right," Melody responded, gently touching Sting's arm. "There's not much else we can do here at the moment."
"I know…" Sting replied, looking around. "Still, it worries me how much more of the forest has been affected by distortion since our last visit…"
"At least we know Queen Miele and the Pokémon in the tree are okay," Frosty said. "The distortions haven't reached the big tree yet."
"Who knows how long it'll stay that way, though…" Sting buzzed.
"Hey, try to stay positive," Melody said softly, smiling at Sting. "Based on how things have played out so far, it'll probably only be a few days before we get word on where the last Axis Tower crystal is."
"Yeah!" Frosty responded, grinning. "Everything will be back to normal soon!"
"Right…" Sting replied, nodding his head slightly. "For now, I suppose we should be heading back to town. Maybe there's something else we can do today."
Back in Fenix Town, Mirage and her teammates had just returned from a mission of their own. After picking up their rewards from completing the mission, something unexpected happened as they headed into the town plaza.
"Big sis!"
"Huh? No way…" Mirage said, as she noticed the young Zorua run up to her. "Why are you here?"
Mirage looked up to see her parents walk up her, while a few more Zoroark and Zorua stayed nearby.
"There you are, Mirage!" Mirage's father said, smiling at Mirage.
"You're all here?" Mirage responded, blinking a few times before finally realizing what was going on. "Oh, of course. You're here to escape the distortions like the others that have been showing up here, aren't you?"
"Pretty much," Mirage's father replied. "Things have been getting kind of crazy back home, so we all decided to head over here until things calm down."
"Things are that bad, huh?" Mirage mused, crossing her arms as she looked over the gathered Zoroark and Zorua. "At least you all made it here okay…"
"Plus, it was a chance to go visit you," Mirage's mother said, looking over Mirage. "Hmm, you seem different somehow. Don't you agree?"
"Now that you mention it, she's certainly grown a bit," Mirage's father commented, looking at Mirage. "You've gotten a lot stronger, haven't you?"
"Heh, well, when you're on rescue missions and hunting down outlaws, you get into a lot of battles," Mirage responded, smirking.
"You two are Mirage's friends, aren't you?" Mirage's younger brother asked as he curiously looked at Cordyceps and Megara.
"We're her teammates, yes," Megara responded, nodding her head. "I'm Megara, and that's Cordyceps."
"Nice to meet you!" Mirage's brother replied, smiling at Megara and Cordyceps.
"The mushroom is pleased to meet you too," Cordyceps responded.
"So, have you guys worked out where to stay while you're in town?" Mirage asked her parents.
"We were hoping that you could help us figure things out," Mirage's mother responded.
"Got it," Mirage replied, motioning to the other Zoroark and Zorua gathered to follow as well. "Come on, this way."
Mirage began leading the Zoroark and Zorua towards the rescue team HQ, figuring the Pokémon that helped arrange a place for her to stay in town after she first arrived there that could help her relatives and neighbors find a place to stay until the distortions were no longer an issue. She assumed that the Pokémon in charge of helping with that had a lot of work at the moment, because of all the other Pokémon that were also looking for a place to stay until things were back to normal.
"Hope we won't have to wait in line for too long…" Mirage thought to herself.
Stella had just returned home after heading over to the café to pick up some treats for when Samara and Malefica arrived. It seemed like River had to deal with more work than usual at this time of day, and Stella had a feeling she'd only be getting more to do over the course of the next few days as even more Pokémon from other areas affected by distortion came to seek shelter in Fenix Town.
As Stella stepped inside the house, she noticed that Bow had dozed off next to the chest that currently contained the seven Axis Tower crystals that the rescue teams had retrieved. Stella chuckled softly as she approached her daughter and gently touched her shoulder.
"Bow," Stella said.
"A dungeon...?" Bow muttered, before opening her eyes. "Hmm…? Oh!"
"I'm home, sweetie," Stella said, telekinetically putting away the bag of treats.
"I see," Bow responded, looking around. "Ah, right… I was supposed to be tidying up for Samara and Malefica's visit!"
"Were you using your psychic powers to do so?" Stella asked.
"Uh, yes," Bow responded, nodding her head. "I figured I could do some multi-tasking that way, but I must've overdone it a little… I'll get back to work now!"
"Don't push yourself too hard, dear," Stella said, patting Bow on the head.
"I'll be fine!" Bow replied, smiling up at Stella. "I'll just focus on one task at a time!"
With that, Bow's eyes began to glow as she telekinetically picked up a dust cloth, and resumed cleaning. It seemed Bow had things under control, so Stella decided to let her handle it on her own for now. Samara would likely be arriving soon, and then they could work out a plan to deal with Erebos. Knowing that, and that there was only one Axis Tower crystal left to find, Stella couldn't help but feel cautiously optimistic about events soon to come.
Of course, she would have to work extra hard these next few days to ensure the best possible outcome.
After returning from their mission, Blitz and his teammates headed for the café, where they met with Frederick.
"Oh, you're back!" Frederick said, walking up to them. "Just in time, too."
"What do you mean?" Sera asked.
Stepping inside the café, the rescue team quickly noticed that were a lot of customers in the café this early evening.
"Ah, Azure!" River said, waving at her daughter. "Good timing, I could use some help!"
"Okay!" Azure responded, running over to help out.
"I'll help too!" Frederick said, following Azure.
The remaining three team members stayed by the entrance, looking around.
"… Should we help too?" Chiaki asked.
"Hmm… I need to be home soon," Sera responded, glancing out the window.
While Blitz was trying to decide on what to do, Chiaki suddenly heard a voice in his head.
"Chiaki…"
"… Elina?" Chiaki said, looking around.
"Chiaki, there's something I must tell you," Elina stated telepathically. "Can you come meet me now?"
"Now?" Chiaki responded.
"It's important," Elina replied.
"Is Elina talking to you?" Sera asked, having heard Chiaki's reactions.
"Yeah," Chiaki responded, nodding his head. "She wants to tell me something."
"Tell you what?" Sera replied, tilting her head slightly.
"I don't know," Chiaki responded, shrugging slightly. "She hasn't told me yet."
"Oh," Sera replied.
"She did say it was important, though," Chiaki said, looking towards the exit to the café. "I wonder what it could be about…"
"Well, if it's important, then you should probably go see her," Blitz responded.
"Yeah! Don't worry about me!" Azure shouted.
"Azure?" Chiaki replied, looking over at the Marill.
"We can handle this many customers, no problem!" Azure said, grinning.
"… Okay," Chiaki responded, nodding his head. "I'll go look for her, then."
"We can help you look!" Sera said, smiling.
Chiaki, along with Blitz and Sera stepped outside, only for Chiaki to hear Elina's voice again.
"Also, I wish to speak to you alone," Elina requested. "You'll likely want to tell your teammates later, but for now, I just want this to be between the two of us."
"Ah… She says she just to talk to me alone," Chiaki said, looking at his teammates.
"Oh, okay," Blitz responded. "I guess that's fine."
"I'll meet you back at the house later," Chiaki said, smiling at Blitz.
"All right," Blitz responded, smiling back. "See you later, then!"
"See you later, Chiaki!" Sera said, waving a paw at Chiaki.
Chiaki briefly stopped to wave back at Sera, before running off on his own to look for Elina.
"Wonder what she wants to tell him?" Sera said. "Could it be related to his missing memories?"
"It might be," Blitz responded, nodding his head.
"Hmm… Part of me kind of wants to follow him and listen in on their talk…" Sera admitted, her ears drooping down a bit. "Oh, but I guess we'd only hear Chiaki's end of the conversation…"
"Let's just leave them alone," Blitz responded, smiling at Sera. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
Guided by Elina's psychic powers, Chiaki soon found himself in a secluded spot in town with no one else around. He looked around, until he spotted Elina hovering nearby, looking at him.
"Elina…" Chiaki said, smiling at the Elgyem. "There you are."
"…"
"… Elina?" Chiaki said, tilting his head slightly. "Is something wrong?"
Elina closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Chiaki…" Elina said via telepathy. "There's something I need to tell you…"
"Yes, you already told me that," Chiaki responded, looking a bit concerned. "Did something happen?"
"It's about what happened at Axis Tower," Elina explained, opening her eyes and staring right at Chiaki. "The night the crystals were stolen."
"Huh?" Chiaki responded, blinking a few times.
"It's time…" Elina said, still looking right at Chiaki. "You need to know the truth about what happened that night."
"… Okay," Chiaki responded, nodding his head. "I'm listening."
"All right…" Elina said, motioning for Chiaki to sit down. "It all happened so quickly… Erebos suddenly appeared inside the tower that one night, and with his strange powers, he managed to defeat my father and the other guards…"
Chiaki sat down on the ground and listened closely to Elina as she told her story.
"Erebos didn't attack me… Maybe it was because he didn't notice me, or he didn't see me as a threat," Elina explained, looking away. "Whatever his reason, he left me alone…"
"That must've been scary," Chiaki commented.
"It was," Elina responded. "Anyways, after he had knocked out the guards, he started removing the crystals from their pedestals… he took the seven crystals surrounding the clear one in the center, and that's when… something unexpected happened."
"Something unexpected?" Chiaki inquired.
"Before I even knew it, I had somehow grabbed the last crystal before he could," Elina explained, looking down at her hands. "I didn't even remember teleporting… I just… I did it without thinking."
Chiaki looked at Elina in awe as she explained how she got the crystal away from Erebos.
"And then, I somehow managed to get outside… the gray cloak I was wearing protected me from the rain," Elina continued, wrapping her arms around herself. "I moved as fast as I could to try to get away from Erebos… I fled into the Meridian Forest, while he chased after me…"
"And then what happened!?" Chiaki asked, standing up.
"I tried to hide in some bushes, but then I almost got hit by a Shadow Ball attack, and I… dropped the crystal," Elina explained, closing her eyes. "I ended up leaving my hiding spot in the process of avoiding the attack, and as I tried to get up, I tripped on something as Erebos hovered right above me…"
"But you were able to get away from Erebos, right?" Chiaki said.
"Yes… I managed to teleport away…" Elina responded.
"That's good," Chiaki replied, nodding his head slightly. "But… what happened to the crystal?"
"Yeah, about that…" Elina responded, looking away for a moment. "Before I teleported away from that area, there were two things that I noticed…"
"Two things?" Chiaki inquired.
"Yes…" Elina replied, sighing. "The first was… what I had tripped on…"
"What was it?" Chiaki asked.
"A mystery dungeon trap," Elina responded, looking right at Chiaki. "Specifically, it was a Pokémon trap."
"… A… Pokémon trap?" Chiaki replied, feeling a sudden uneasiness as he repeated those words. "That's… the trap that turns items into Pokémon, right?"
"Correct," Elina responded, nodding her head.
Elina's gaze seemed to get even more intense after she had told Chiaki about what she had seen. Chiaki was starting to get a certain idea of what Elina was trying to tell him, but…
"And just before I teleported away…" Elina said telepathically. "I saw something in the bushes… Where the crystal should've been…"
Chiaki tensed up.
"Chiaki… What do you think I saw?" Elina asked.
"What you… saw?" Chiaki responded, taking a step backwards. "How would I know that…?"
Elina signed, and hovered closer to Chiaki. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes.
"Chiaki…" Elina said telepathically, her eyes showing sympathy for her friend as she revealed the truth. "The last Axis Tower crystal… it's you."
"… Me?" Chiaki responded, staring blankly at Elina.
"The reason you have no memories of who you really are isn't because you lost them," Elina explained. "You never had any memories to begin with."
"Huh? No, that's not right…" Chiaki replied, shaking his head. "Because back then, I remembered your name…"
"True, I still don't understand how you were able to recall my name," Elina responded, moving back a little. "That's why I was so surprised when you first called me by my name…"
Chiaki thought back to the day he tried to catch up to Elina so he could talk to her. Judging from the look in her eyes back then, she did seem really confused that he had known her name. At the time, Chiaki had just assumed it was because she was already aware of his memory loss.
"Perhaps you felt some sense of familiarity with me from your time as the Axis Tower crystal?" Elina wondered, tilting her head. "That's my best guess, anyways…"
"I… I see…" Chiaki responded, blinking a few times.
"Anyways… I came here to keep an eye on you," Elina explained. "While I may not be an Axis Tower guard just yet, I still felt I had to make sure that one crystal was safe. And in your current form, Erebos would be unable to find you, as long as he never realized what had happened."
"Is that why… you didn't tell me anything, until now?" Chiaki asked.
"Exactly," Elina responded, nodding her head. "If you or anyone else found out, and you came across Erebos… He could discover the truth. Even if the chance of that exactly scenario happening was small, I couldn't take that risk."
"I… understand…" Chiaki replied, looking away.
"But now, all of the crystals are gathered," Elina stated telepathically, touching her hands together. "Once Erebos has been dealt with, we can return them to Axis Tower."
"Yeah, that's great…" Chiaki responded absent-mindedly.
"Of course, there's still one other issue besides Erebos…" Elina said telepathically, looking at Chiaki with a look of discomfort. "All eight crystals need to be returned to their spots in order for their power to restore things to normal, and as you are now, I doubt it'll work…"
"… So, what do we do about that?" Chiaki asked, the question slipping out as the thought struck him.
"I don't know," Elina replied, shaking her head. "A way to return you to your true form... I have no idea how such a thing can be done."
"Really…" Chiaki responded, staring blankly at Elina.
"I suppose there's that urban legend about an orb that can turn Pokémon into items," Elina mused. "But even if such an item really existed, I don't think we could rely on it… Perhaps that magic user knows of a way."
"The magic user… You mean, Samara?" Chiaki asked.
"Yes, her," Elina responded, nodding her head. "I believe she would be our best bet."
"… Yeah," Chiaki replied. "If anyone would know of a way, it'd probably her…"
Elina moved closer to Chiaki once more, and gently grabbed his paw.
"I understand that this is a lot to take in," Elina said telepathically, looking at Chiaki with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "It's… difficult for me too."
"Elina…" Chiaki said, looking at Elina.
"After all, if you do return to your original form…" Elina continued, looking away. "You… the Mienfoo known as Chiaki… might cease to exist."
Chiaki didn't respond. Elina wasn't sure if he even registered that last part. All of this information had to be pretty overwhelming for him, so Elina wasn't surprised by Chiaki's reaction.
"… You know, there's still some time," Elina told Chiaki via telepathy. "We can't really return the crystals until Erebos has been dealt with. So, until then, try to make good use of your time."
Chiaki still didn't respond.
"… I guess you need some time to let this all sink in," Elina said telepathically, moving away from Chiaki. "I'll give you some space."
Elina floated away, leaving Chiaki by himself. Chiaki stayed there for a while, unable to sort out his thoughts. He pressed his paw against his chest and closed his eyes. He could feel his heart beating. After a while, he slowly raised his head and opened his eyes.
"… What time is it…?" Chiaki wondered out loud, as he looked around.
It had gotten darker out. How long had he been talking to Elina? How long had he been standing here like this?
"… I should get home," Chiaki said to himself. "Blitz is probably wondering why I'm not back yet…"
Chiaki began making his way back, walking through the town plaza. A lot of thoughts were stirring in his head, but he tried to ignore them for now. Right now, he just had to get home. Blitz was surely waiting for him, after all. Chiaki could sort out his thoughts once he had returned home.
End of Chapter 60