DarkFoxKit: We're finally back with another chapter! So sorry it took so long, again. That seems to happen a lot with us. ^^' But hey, at least we didn't give up on this story. It took us a bit to get back into the groove of things after such a long break, so we do apologize for the extra waiting time.
Traveling Master: So we won't keep you waiting much longer. Again, sorry about the wait, now without further adieu, on with the story!
DarkFoxKit: Uh…*Looks around awkwardly* Is that… all we're going to say?
Traveling Master: *Tiredly rubs eyes* I just woke up recently and my brain lacks the creative capacity at the moment. ^^' Just give me a second, gonna go wake up more. And if you don't hear from me, assume I fell back asleep.
DarkFoxKit: Suuuuure… good thing I recorded our answers to the reviewers then.
Chapter 60: Unlikely Allies
Berry sighed in relief to see the Tyrantrum was eating the Mamoswine meat in the corner of the cafeteria, which was pretty dark due to poor lighting. Hopefully that'll keep her from eating anyone else.
Berry started to wonder how much longer Dust and Shab would spend in the kitchen, only for her to see the Feebas making his way towards them. She also spotted what she recognized as a Nidoran. At first Berry thought the Nidoran was female, due to its colors, but as they got closer, she noticed this Nidoran looked different from a female Nidoran.
"Hey Berry," Shab greeted while noticing the Tyrantrum was still eating the piece of meat he brought earlier. "Good to know Tyrantrum hadn't finished that Mamoswine meat yet. I was worried it was gonna be gone in minutes."
"Unlike Tsunami, Tyrantrum doesn't swallow her food whole," Berry remarked before she looked at the blue Nidoran. "Who's this?"
The Nidoran looked rather nervously at Berry.
"This is Needle," Shab answered. "Dust found two Nidoran in the kitchen, they were being used as cooks I'm guessing. He said he wants to help them too, before going to the back with a Nidoran female to try to find a cure for Rouge's berries."
Berry blinked as she looked at Needle. "Well, hello there. Don't worry, we promise we'll get you out of this place as soon as possible."
"That's what the Absol said too," Needle remarked, keeping his eyes on the Tyrantrum. "Are you sure it's safe to be around that giant Pokemon?
"So far, yes," Shab answered, still unsure how they ended up having a Tyrantrum as a temporary ally. "Berry is also making sure that Tyrantrum doesn't try to eat anyone here. That's why I brought that piece of meat earlier."
Needle slowly nodded as he turned to face Berry, giving her a skeptical look. "So then you must be the other Crusader. Sorry, when your friend promised that his team would keep me and my sister safe, I had some confidence in him, since he's an Absol. When he mentioned his team, I wasn't expecting an…uh…Slugma? Though I have never seen one like you, are you another version of Slugma?"
Berry sweatdropped, she had been mistaken as other Pokemon quite a few times, even by her own self. She wondered how rare Goomy were. "No, I'm not a Slugma… I'm a Goomy."
Shab couldn't help but smile a little. He remembered when there was a time Berry would loathe calling herself a Goomy, but now she just seemed to accept that she was a Goomy with no hesitation. He hoped that perhaps Berry had bonded with Tsunami during their training enough for Berry to not be so regretful to what she was.
"What's a Goomy?" Needle asked.
"It's… a slimy dragon," Berry sighed. "I mean… just look at me, that's what a Goomy is."
"Wait… you're a dragon? You… uh… don't look it," Needle pointed out.
"I know…" Berry replied. "But I could say the same to you. You look like a Nidoran female, yet you have the features of a Nidoran male."
"Oh, yeah, I was born with different colors. It's actually thanks to it that everyone assumed I was female here," Needle shared. "Not sure if you saw, but the male Pokemon here aren't exactly treated well. Me and my sister came here to seek shelter, and instead we became trapped, unable to leave, forced to keep me being male a secret. We thought we would be stuck here forever, or until my secret was found out, but then your friend came and promised to help us get out."
Berry nodded. "Of course, as Crusaders, we can't ignore children like you being stuck here against their will. Though admittedly, it's not going to be easy to get you and your sister out. We're currently trying to figure out how to save our client from the very target we were sent to take into custody."
"Um… I haven't seen a lot of Crusaders in my life, but… aren't you guys… kind of not… very strong Pokemon? No offense. I mean I don't know if Goomy are considered strong, but you don't look… uh… intimidating," Needle asked nervously.
"It's true our kind aren't seen as very strong," Shab agreed. "But that doesn't mean we can't be strong and exceed expectations. We've been through many battles that seemed impossible and came out on top."
"And we are at least Silver Rank, so that shows we are pretty competent," Berry added. "And we also have a Tyrantrum helping us out."
"Y-yeah… is that Tyrantrum a part of your team?" Needle questioned, still looking nervous at the Tyrantrum, which was still enjoying her meal.
"No… she's more of a temporary ally," Berry answered. "She was captured here, so we promised to help her escape if she promised to help us. Problem is, she's a wild Pokemon, and only speaks in the wild language. And a dialect that only I can, somewhat, speak in. But because I only know very basic wild Pokemon language, it gets very difficult to communicate with her. Still, she seems to not want to hurt me at least, so that's good."
"That's…somewhat good to hear," Needle remarked, still a bit skeptical. But seeing that the Tyrantrum hadn't attacked them yet, he decided to believe Berry's words.
"Let's just hope Dust doesn't take too long, I rather the Tyrantrum doesn't lose her patience after she's done eating," Shab muttered.
"Come on, Shab, don't start worrying the kid," Berry whispered at the Feebas. "He already looks ready to bolt."
"Right, sorry," Shab gave a slight chuckle.
"Don't worry, Needle, things might get a bit… chaotic, but everything will be fine," Berry said to comfort the shiny Nidoran.
"That's right, things will get quite chaotic indeed!" A voice echoed throughout the room.
"But not everything will be fine, at least not for you!" Another voice shouted.
Berry frowned. Huh? Those voices sound familiar… Wait, how did I not sense anyone coming in?
"Who's there!?" Shab called out while Needle quickly ducked under some counters in fear.
"Oh, they don't recognize us? I feel rather insulted, well perhaps this will help?" The first voice shouted.
Music started playing in the background as fog started to slowly fill the cafeteria. The music and the sudden fog felt familiar to Berry and Shab, but before either of them could figure out who exactly these new voices were, a spotlight was turned on, going across the room until it stopped towards the entrance, where Berry and Shab saw two familiar figures.
"Prepare for trouble~" A Meowth chanted while posing.
"And make it double~" A Pikachu followed after while doing another pose.
"Oh… that flamboyant team…" Berry sweatdropped, instantly recognizing these words from the tournament.
"But what are they doing here?" Shab asked while also sweat dropping.
"Wait…you know them?" Needle asked.
"To protect the world from- hey! Are you listening to us!?" Jessie shouted when he saw Berry and Shab turning away from them.
"That is completely rude and unprofessional!" James shouted.
"They're Crusaders from our guild,Team Rocket," Berry answered Needle. "I wonder if this is the team Torrent was trying to meet up with… but aren't they only Bronze Rank? Why would Chihiro send them here?"
"Really, they never really seemed the type to handle that kind of responsibility," Needle remarked. "I've heard they've been working for Team Purify since before me and my sister came here."
"Hey! Watch what you're saying brat!" Jessie shouted. "The boss trusts in our skills!"
"It's why he sent us here to investigate and deal with whatever trouble was occurring here," James added. "Now what is Team Night Tide doing here in the first place?"
"Wait… you're saying they work for Team Purify?" Shab blinked in confusion.
"They work for Team Pu-" Berry looked back at Jessie, James, and the Wobbuffet behind them. "You're working for Team Purify!? Is that true?"
"Tch, looks like the Meowth is out of the bag," Jessie grumbled. "You best believe it. We've been working for Team Purify long before we joined the Unity Guild."
"You've been working for Team Purify all along?" Berry frowned. "Then… why did you join the Unity Guild?"
"Ha! She wants to know why," Jessie snarked. "Go ahead James, tell her why we joined Unity Guild!"
"Wasn't it because the boss didn't want to deal with us-" James started to answer, only for Jessie to swipe at his face with her claws.
"No, you numbskull!" Jessie shouted before facing Berry. "Listen here, you gooey twerp, our boss had entrusted us to infiltrate Unity guild and report all our findings there."
"Easier said than done, he only told us to search for some hidden item," James mumbled. "Didn't even tell us the name of what we were supposed to be looking for."
"That's… kinda silly. Why would your boss tell you to look for something and not tell you anything about it? You don't even know what you're looking for," Berry pointed out.
"I'm sure we'd know it once we see it! It's gotta be super valuable after all!" Jessie smugly stated.
"So why are you here now?" Shab asked. "You do know you admitting to working for Team Purity and infiltrating our guild is grounds for us to arrest you, right?"
"And the way we see it is that you're the ones infiltrating our base, and we are here to capture you," James countered.
"Plus, so far your team is the only ones who knows our true allegiance. Once we capture you and bring you to the boss, not only will he praise us for our hard work, but we'll be able to continue to stay at Unity guild!" Jessie added.
"Which would be nice, honestly that place is a lot better than here," The Pikachu remarked.
"James!" Jessie shouted while smacking James.
"What?! You know it's true! They have better food, better living conditions, and most of the members seem to tolerate us. I'm just saying it'd be nice to continue to stay there," James explained.
"Don't forget where your allegiances lie!" Jessie snapped.
"Where's Wobbuffet and Bewear?" Shab asked.
"Wobbuffet is back at the guild, watching over our room of course. And Bewear…" James hesitated. "She… goes wherever she wants."
"So it's just the two of you here?" Berry asked.
"That's right, but the two of us would be more than enough to capture you two and bring you back to the boss! Without your Absol leader, the two of you are weak after all," Jessie stated. "We've heard about both of your species after we reported to the boss about you two. Goomy, the weakest Dragon type, easy to take down when not near your parents. And Shab, a weak little Feebas just like a Magikarp, only Feebas can't just spontaneously evolve like a Magikarp can when in danger or angry. Admit it, your team only got to Silver Rank because of the Absol."
"Maybe… do you want to test that theory?" Berry calmly challenged.
"Are you underestimating us?!" Jessie asked.
"Uh Jessie, don't you remember hearing about what Berry can do?" James brought up.
"Bah, nothing but rumors. We didn't see it happen at the tournament, and I'm sure they exaggerated a lot of their parts. Now stop acting like a Scardey Litten and let's show Team Night Tide we mean business!" Jessie ordered.
"Needle, stay back, Shab and I will handle them," Berry instructed the shiny Nidoran.
"Y-yes, of course," Needle quickly agreed, backing away from the potential battlefield.
"You think you're up for this, Shab?" Berry asked.
"We haven't been in any big battles yet, other than running away from a Tyrantrum, so I'm more than ready," Shab answered.
"That's cute, if you think a fish is going to be any match for a Meowth!" Jessie spoke up as she rushed at them with her claws, intending to use Fury Swipes.
Shab responded by shooting out circles of water at the incoming Meowth, pushing her back several feet.
"Well that's one way to clean a Meowth," James remarked before facing Shab. "Now let me show you how to cook a fish!"
James then fired an Electro Ball at Shab, but before the electric attack could hit Berry used Thunderbolt to block the attack, canceling it out. Before James could fully register what just happened, Shab suddenly fired another Water Pulse at the Pikachu, knocking him back towards Jessie.
James got up, shaking his body before pointing at Berry. "That's cheating! Since when can you use Thunderbolt?! Electric attacks are my thing!"
"Apparently my species is capable of learning Thunderbolt," Berry said. "I may be the weakest Dragon type, but I'm still a Dragon type. Speaking of which…"
Berry took a deep breath and shot out a Dragon Breath attack at James. James yelped as he tried to dodge the Dragon Breath, but the purple attack was too fast for him and he was hit. His Electric typing saved him from being paralyzed, but the attack had hit him hard, he was on the ground in a bit of pain.
"How can you let this little Goomy beat you so easily!?" Jessie yelled.
"Do you really think that it was only because of Dust that our team got to where we are?" Berry asked. "If that were the case, Dust would've been a solo Crusader. We got as far as we did together, not just because of one."
"Tch," Jessie wasn't convinced at first, but after seeing how she and James were now struggling, it only frustrated her more. But then an idea came to mind as she started sneering at Team Night Tide. "Heh, say whatever you will, but this isn't some normal battle like in the tournament. You came to our base, filled with Pokemon who don't play by the same rules. James, let's use it!"
"You can't be serious?! We weren't supposed to take it in the first place," James tried reasoning as he pushed himself to stand back up.
"They said it was useful against troublesome Crusaders," Jessie countered.
"But it's still in the testing phase!" James tried reasoning.
"What better way to test it than on some intruders!" Jessie shouted, ignoring all reasons.
The Pikachu sighed, knowing that once Jessie got like this, there was no convincing her otherwise. He reached into his pack and pulled out an Orb. "But what if it makes things worse? We have no idea what they might turn into!"
At seeing the Orb, both Berry and Shab grew a bit concerned, especially after hearing what James just said.
"What do you mean, 'turn into?" Shab asked. "What kind of Orb can even do that?"
"I'm glad you asked. Imagine an Orb with the ability to turn anything and anyone into a completely different Pokemon!" Jessie answered.
"That's not possible! Is it?" Berry frowned, now worried.
"You'll soon see that it is very possible! The Transfer Orb has the ability to turn you into any Pokemon, including something as weak as a Dunsparce!" Jessie grinned.
"... Does that mean it could also turn us into a Legendary Pokemon?" Shab asked. "Isn't that really risky?"
"We're willing to try," James said. "Although I still think it's a pretty bad idea. But whether you're strong or weak, you won't be used to the new bodies you're in. So we're kind of banking on that."
Berry frowned. She always thought about what she would be like if she was a different Pokemon. In fact, she had always thought she was a different Pokemon, until she found out recently what she actually was. She would rather not go through all of that again, and she couldn't let Shab or Needle be turned into a different Pokemon, it wasn't right.
Berry and Shab were now on guard. They were already before, but weren't too worried since Team Rocket had seemed to underestimate them at first. But now that they realized how strong Berry and Shab were, they were willing to use a dangerous device, one that would have irreversible consequences.
"Looks like we're going to have to make this quick," Shab quietly said to Berry. "The longer this takes, the bigger the risk one of us might be hit by that Transfer Orb."
"I don't think we have time anymore," Berry said, seeing how Jessie was already lifting up the Transfer Orb. How ironic, how I always wanted to be a different Pokemon from what I am. Now I have that chance, but I'm planning to stop it.
Shab gasped as the Transfer Orb glowed brightly, nearly blinding him. Berry reacted quickly, using her horns to sense the Meowth as she was using the orb. Not having a lot of time to use an attack, Berry shot out her sticky slime at Jessie. Jessie yelped when she felt something sticky had hit her body, causing her to fall over a bit just before the Transfer Orb let out a magical bright ball of light.
"Get down!" Berry called out.
Shab and Needle didn't hesitate to lower themselves to the ground, having the projectile fly over them, heading towards the Tyrantrum. Berry tried to think of how to warn the ancient Pokemon, but she couldn't think of what to say in her language. All she could do was shout a warning and hope that Tyrantrum had the sense to dodge the oncoming ball of light.
Soon a roar was heard, echoing through the room as the light faded. Everyone blinked, worried about what they would find. Berry, Shab, and Needle quickly looked over at the Tyrantrum while Jessie was busy struggling to get out of the slime Berry shot at her, and James trying to help her out.
They saw a green looking Grimer, with a yellow bottom lip, sitting there, blinking, looking very confused.
"D-did they… turn the Tyrantrum into a Grimer?" Shab asked, shocked that the once huge, intimidating T-Rex Pokemon was now this little sludge Pokemon that didn't look quite right for a Gimer.
Needle blinked, he had seen a Grimer before, but this one was different. "Is… that a shiny Grimer…?"
Berry frowned, she could still sense the Tyrantrum's immense presence, and it didn't feel like it was coming from this off colored Grimer.
"What…was that roar?" James asked, but then he noticed the strange looking Grimer. "And did whatever we hit turn into…that?"
"More importantly, help me get this sticky slime off me! It's gonna take me weeks to wash this off!" Jessie shouted as she struggled to pull the slime off her body.
"Um… guys… I don't think it was the Tyrantrum who was hit…" Berry sweatdropped. "We might want to clear the way. And you two… Team Rocket, you might want to run."
Shab and Needle were no idiots, they quickly scattered away, and Berry slithered as quickly as she could. Heavy footsteps began to thump on the floor towards Jessie and James.
"Uh… Jessie… what's that?" James nervously asked.
"I don't know and I don't want to stay to find out! Hurry up and get this slime off me, I'm stuck!" Jessie shouted, but more out of worry than anger this time.
"Okay, just give me a second!" James replied as he grabbed the slime.
As James pulled, it stretched out, much to his surprise, but didn't break free. As he continued pulling, the Pikachu thought he was close to getting it off, only for him to lose his footing, causing the slime to retract back to Jessie, pulling James along. With a yelp, the Pikachu crashed into the Meowth's body, causing both of them to get stuck with Berry's slime.
"Looks like we've got ourselves in a sticky situation," James jokingly said, trying to distract himself from the coming danger.
Then a large shadow towered over them. Both of them froze in fear as they slowly looked up at the large Pokemon towering over them. Tyrantrum was angry. She let out a loud roar that nearly deafen the two. Jessie and James screamed as they rolled around to try to get away, unable to move due to the sticky substance.
"Help! Don't let this thing eat us!" James begged as he and Jessie were bouncing around, trying to get away from the Tyrantrum's teeth.
Berry frowned as she watched them, realizing that she may have unintentionally screwed them over with her sticky slime.
"Shab! Help me wash off the slime on Team Rocket!" Berry called out.
"Are you sure?" Shab asked.
"We're not going to condemn them to being this Tyrantrum's food," Berry said. "Now come on!"
Try as they might, Team Rocket couldn't get away and soon found themselves cornered. Tyrantrum let out one last roar before she started to slowly lean towards the Meowth and Pikachu, ready to devour the two.
Jessie let out a sniff as tears rolled down her face. "This is really it, isn't it James."
"I'm afraid so," The Pikachu nodded, tears rolling down his face as well. "If this is the end for us, then there's one thing I want to tell you before we meet our end." The Pikachu started to blush a bit.
"What is it?" Jessie asked, but then noticed that James was blushing. She started to assume as she started blushing herself. "James…are you…"
"I was the one who used up all your special fur shampoo and condition!" James shouted while shutting his eyes, waiting for the worst to come.
"Wait… you WHAT!?" Jessie shouted.
Both of them were suddenly blasted away by two jets of water. The Tyrantrum's mouth only bit into water and air. Jessie and James yelped as the slime on their bodies dissolved after the water hit them.
"Wah?" Jessie and James were quite confused.
"Both you better get out of here," Berry spoke up. "Your stupid Transfer Orb hit the Tyrantrum's Mammothswine meat. So she wanted you two as compensation. If you don't want that, I suggest you leave, now."
"Why… are you helping us? Even after betraying your guild?" Jessie demanded.
"Because we don't want you to die, despite your actions. Crusaders aren't supposed to kill criminals unless they have no other choice," Berry answered.
Both Jessie and James were at loss for words. They wanted to say something, to better understand why anyone would save them, but seeing how Tyrantrum was right there and would be going after them any second prompted them to both nod and run away.
Just as they ran, they both shouted, "Team Rocket is blasting off again!"
Tyrantrum looked pretty annoyed that the two annoyances were getting away. Berry roared up to the Tyrantrum, trying to tell her to let them go, and they would find more food for her soon.
Tyrantrum huffed, and turned to the Grimer that used to be her meat. She knew she couldn't eat that, and snorted.
"Um… what are we going to do with that Grimer?" Needle asked.
"What the heck happened?" Dust's voice shouted. "It looked like a tornado hit this place!"
"Tyrantrum went a little bit on a rampage," Shab answered. "Team Rocket showed up."
"What?" Noodle frowned. "You mean those grunts from Team Purify who messes up everything?"
"Yeah, the same one," Needle answered before going to Noodle and hugging her. "Glad to see you came back safe."
Noodle hugged her brother back. "Same here…"
Dust blinked, still confused. "Team Rocket? Are they the same ones from our guild?"
"Yeah… turns out they work for Team Purify, and were infiltrating our guild," Berry explained. "But apparently they weren't very good at it. They said their boss sent them there to look for something important, but they didn't even know what they were looking for."
Huh…I can kinda relate. Dust thought as he recalled his own special mission from Grace. Part of him wondered if perhaps they were looking for the same thing, but that would be something Dust would keep to himself for the time being.
"Well either their boss just wanted them out of his fur, or whatever Unity Guild is hiding, Dio wants it," Dust surmised. He then realized there were no signs of Team Rocket. "So what happened to Team Rocket…Tyrantrum didn't…you know…"
"Thankfully no, though she attempted to," Berry sweatdropped. "They ran away."
"So they're fine, though we should probably have them arrested for infiltrating our guild…" Shab frowned.
"That's not our main concern right now anyways. We have bigger problems to deal with," Berry reminded.
"Yeah… like… where did that Grimer come from?" Dust questioned, looking at the off colored Grimer. Is it a shiny Grimer? … No… it feels like there's more differences to it than just the color.
"About that…" Berry frowned.
The Grimer was studying itself, as if it was confused about its own body. It kept looking between its hands, and almost seemed disgusted at its own sludge.
"Team Rocket was using something called a Transfer Orb. They said it would turn a Pokemon into a different random Pokemon," Berry explained. "I don't know if it's permanent or not, but we didn't want to take that chance. I managed to throw off their aim, and it ended up hitting the Mammothswine meat Tyrantrum was eating, that's why she got so angry. The Mammothswine meat turned into that Grimer."
Dust's right eye was twitching, causing some of the others to be concerned.
"Uh…Dust…you okay buddy?" Shab asked.
"...Yes…I just need a moment," Dust calmly replied before walking back into the kitchen and entering the doorway where he and Noodle had come from earlier. Shortly after a loud shout could be heard on the other side. Dust then exited the doorway and made his way back to Berry and the others. "That is very fascinating, just unfortunate that I hadn't brought any of my note materials. Been having many encounters recently and would've loved to record some of them. Anyways, did Team Rocket say anything else about this Transfer Orb?"
"They mentioned it was in the testing phase, so it was likely experimental," Shab guessed.
Berry sighed, knowing that Dust's nerd side was probably having an explosion of happiness right now.
"Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool," Dust repeatedly said, trying to keep a calm demeanor. "A time for later…for now, speaking of experimental, I have something of my own."
"Is it the cure to Rouge's special berries?" Shab asked hopefully.
"In theory, yes. I used Berry's slime and it seems to act as a counter to the toxins within Rouge's berries," Dust then gently grabbed the berry he injected Berry's slime into. "If my theory is correct, then Berry's slime should have returned this special berry back to normal. I couldn't really test the results down at the lab since it had Rouge's pheromones lingering in there, so I was planning on doing a safe experiment here, where the air was clearer to breathe."
"You'd better not be planning on eating it!" Berry warned. "I understand it's important for you to find this cure, but it won't do anyone good if you end up getting addicted to Rouge's pheromones."
"Relax, I wasn't planning on doing that. I know the risks are far too great to simply eat it. I was only planning on cutting it open and smelling it, to see if it still had the same effects as when I first smelth Rouge's pheromones. If the experiment fails, at least I will only be affected temporarily," Dust explained.
"But even if you got affected slightly, that would put you in danger if Rouge is nearby. You'd go to her immediately," Noodle warned.
"Isn't there a safer way to find out?" Berry asked.
"Grimer?" The Grimer spoke up, seeming to be speaking in the wild Pokemon language.
Everyone turned to the Grimer. Dust stared at the Grimer for a moment as a thought came into his head. "Uh… Berry? Is there any way to tell a Grimer's gender?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Berry asked.
"Well… uh… no offense, but you kind of… are similar to the Grimer…?" Dust awkwardly said.
Berry stared at Dust for a moment. "The Grimer's male."
Dust nodded. "Thank you, and can either you or Shab translate for me? I wish to ask them if they are willing to eat this berry."
"Woah, you want the Grimer to eat an experimental berry?" Shab asked.
"Well, it is our safest option, Grimer just recently came into existence. It seems to be wild, not sure what that meat came from, but it might be safe to say Grimer's past isn't really there. Unless he does remember it, which opens up new possibilities, but questions for later," Dust quickly shook his head, shaking away those questions. "I would prefer to do this test in a more safe environment, but Noodle brings up a very valid point. Even if I was to be affected temporarily, we don't know Rouge's whereabouts. If she happens to be nearby, I put myself at risk of going directly to her. If we were in a different location, far from the Salazzle, it'd be safer, but at least with Grimer, we can tell if the cure worked or not, without having to worry about me being a liability."
"How would you know if it works?" Needle asked.
"Well… if nothing happens, that would be a good sign," Dust said.
"Griiiiimer!" The Grimer shouted suddenly, seeming to be getting the Tyrantrum's attention. "Grimer? Grimer!"
The Tyrantrum looked at the sludge Pokemon, and gave a growl.
"Grimer!" The Grimer growled back.
"Huh… interesting…" Shab muttered.
"What? What did they say?" Dust asked, shifting his look between Grimer, Tyrantrum, and Shab and Berry.
"The Grimer's telling the Tyrantrum off for eating him," Shab chuckled. "In a… very sassy manner."
"Tyrantrum is annoyed but amused by this," Berry said.
"I supposed if my food suddenly came to life, I'd be intrigued, shocked, somewhat terrified and annoyed," Dust remarked before giving a slight chuckle. "Imagine if that happened with Al's food. I'm sure they would have a lot to say to the Charmeleon."
"Well, regardless, we should probably not waste anymore time. Rouge is still out there with Kuro, and Undergrowth is here as well. Don't even get me started on Patricia," Berry sighed. "If we're going to test this thing, we better do it now."
"I agree, it's too dangerous to stay here for too long," Shab said. "Team Rocket found us, but someone else a lot more threatening could come here to investigate the noises."
"Very well," Dust stated before holding the berry up to Grimer. "Do you mind eating this?"
Shab translated Dust's request, as well as explaining a bit about the purpose of the berry. Grimer was a bit hesitant at first, but agreed, though Shab gave a slight chuckle.
"What?" Dust asked.
"Oh, well Grimer is okay with eating the berry, mostly because since he was a piece of meat only recently, he wants to try food himself," Shab answered.
"Ah," Dust replied before giving Grimer the berry. "Well I hope it's to your liking."
Grimer took the berry from Dust, Dust had some of the sludge on his claws, which he quickly wiped off on the floor. The Grimer opened his mouth, revealing he had some teeth, which normal Grimer didn't have. The Grimer chewed on the berry for a moment before swallowing it.
Everyone waited to see if the Grimer would get addicted to the berry. The Grimer shrugged. "Grimer, Grim…"
"He says that it was sweet, but nothing special," Shab translated.
Dust nodded, but waited a bit more, wanting to be sure. Seeing that Grimer still remained the same, Dust started to get all giddy and he gave a little hop of excitement.
"It worked!" Dust happily exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" Shab asked. "How can you tell?"
"Well, Grimer's thoughts would've been affected immediately once he ate the berry. So far he showed no signs of wanting more, of wanting to find Rouge, or any other drastic changes. At least ones I haven't noticed. But all and all, I believe the experiment was a success," Dust explained.
"Maybe, but… it's a little vague on if it works," Noodle said.
"Why do you say that?" Dust asked.
"Because this Grimer never met with Rouge… and we don't know if her pheromones would work on a Pokemon that… wasn't a Pokemon until recently," Noodle pointed out.
"We're going to have to hope it did work, because I can sense a lot of strong presences coming here, we need to leave," Berry warned grimly.
"Then you best let Tyrantrum know that it's time to go," Dust suggested.
Berry called up to the Tyrantrum, who was looking amused at the Grimer, turned serious when she realized they may have unwanted company soon. She lowered herself down for the others to climb onto her.
"Come on, everyone get on!" Berry called out.
"E-even us?" Needle nervously asked.
"Do you want to stay here and get caught?" Berry questioned.
The two Nidoran quickly hopped onto the Tyrantrum's head.
"What about the Grimer?" Shab asked.
"Tell him to get on. While he's a Pokemon, we should treat him like any other Pokemon. It wouldn't be good if Team Purify got their claws on him, especially if they figured out what happened to him," Berry instructed.
Shab nodded and relayed the the words to Grimer. He still wasn't entirely sure why he was there in the first place or what he should do now that he has life, but so far these other Pokemon seemed trustworthy, so Grimer slithered up onto Tyrantrum, followed by Shab, Dust and finally Berry.
Tyrantrum, seeing that everyone was on, stood up and began moving quickly. She could smell the other Pokemon coming their way, and she recognized their stench. Even she wasn't foolish enough to go against strong and twisted Pokemon like them. The best thing for them was to get away. She just hoped they could get away, she wasn't exactly a stealthy Pokemon.
"What're we going to do now?" Shab asked.
"We should get Tyrantrum, Noodle, Needle, and… this Grimer out of here first," Berry said. "We don't want them to get wrapped up in all of this."
"How are we going to get them out?" Dust questioned. "From what you told us, there's a huge mountain they would have to climb down, and it's a tough Mystery Dungeon!"
"There's a room that teleports the Pokemon that work here from this base to the bottom of the mountain," Berry informed. "That was how Kuro and I got here."
"Do you remember where it is?" Dust asked. "With everyone already on high alert here, it won't be long until we run into more company."
"Not exactly since I'm not familiar with this place's layout, but I don't think that room is the only teleporter. With how big this place is, there's bound to be more," Berry said.
"How will we find them?" Shab asked.
"I know of one," Needle spoke up. "It was what they used when they brought us here."
"That's good to know," Dust remarked.
"Thing is, not everyone can use them. Usually they assign a Psychic Pokemon for each of these teleporters. And I doubt they'd be willing to let Crusaders, as well as a giant Pokemon walk out of here freely," Needle pointed out.
"That's gonna be troublesome…" Shab frowned.
"Maybe we can find a Psychic type who might be willing to help us?" Needle asked.
"Unfortunately, unless this Psychic type happens to not actually want to work with Team Purify and is willing to run away, that won't be easy, and we don't really have the time to try to convince a Psychic type to help us," Berry sighed. "It might be better to try to trick them into helping. We can try forcing them too, but I don't know how cooperative they would be if we did that. They might teleport them anywhere if we forced them."
"Do you think you two might be able to trick them into teleporting us out?" Dust asked Needle and Noodle.
"I'm not too sure, we were only kitchen staff," Noodle answered. "The only time we really got to use those teleporters was when we were going to pick up food. Even then, we always had an escort."
"Hmm, I could try and pretend to be your escort," Dust suggested. "I mean, Absol are intimidating, I might be able to use that."
"That might work… now the only issue is finding a Psychic Pokemon in this base without getting caught by other Pokemon we don't want to get caught by…" Berry frowned.
"Waaaah! S-slow down!"
"I don't want to hit the ground like this!"
"Did you hear that?" Needle asked, his ears twitching.
"It sounded like two Pokemon screaming," Noodle remarked, her own ears twitching.
Berry now sensed that there were two additional Pokemon where close by. She turned around, sensing them towards the tail end of Tyrantrum. Even though she couldn't really see who the two Pokemon were, but she recognized them.
Berry sighed before speaking to Tyrantrum in her tongue, telling her to stop. The ancient Pokemon obliged, coming to a halt.
"Berry, what's wrong?" Dust asked. "Do you sense some Pokemon ahead?"
"Not ahead…" Berry said as she looked back at Tyrantrum's tail.
Dust and the others looked back as well, and were surprised to see two familiar Pokemon clinging onto the tail.
"What the? Jessie and James?" Shab questioned. "What are you two doing on Tyrantrum's tail?"
"W-well… we couldn't just… let you guys leave!" Jessie huffed.
"The boss would kill us if he discovered we ran into you, and just let you go!" James cried.
"Plus…we've talked over it…and," Jessie crossed her arms as she turned away. "We both agree that we're tired of working for Team Purify."
"It's not like we chose to work for Team Purify either," James commented, only for Jessie to smack the Pikachu behind his head, shooting him a glare, causing him to correct himself. "W-what I mean is, we rather be with Unity Guild instead of here."
"That's good and all, but how do we know you aren't here to trick us?" Dust asked.
"Really, we risk ourselves and hang onto our lives on the very monster that tried to eat earlier, and you don't believe us?!" Jessie asked in offense.
Everyone just shook their heads. Even Tyrantrum, who normally wouldn't care too much, shook her head. Seeing their response, both Jessie and James fell to the ground in shock and anguish.
"Well, that's to be expected," James remarked as he got back up. "But we can prove that we want to help!"
"Really, and how would you do that?" Shab asked, still skeptical of Team Rocket.
"Well we overheard how you're all trying to get out, and are hoping to use the teleporters," Jessie smugly answered. "Only problem is that you'd need to find a Psychic Pokemon who's willing to help. Luckily, we know someone who'll let you use the teleporters."
"You do?" Shab asked.
The odd Grimer just stared, watching the conversation taking place. "Grimer?"
Tyrantrum growled something to the Grimer, and the Grimer just shrugged.
"Why are you willing to help us? Just a minute ago, you were trying to catch us," Needle asked suspiciously.
"Like we said, we don't really want to work for Team Purify," Jessie grumbled. "We want out of this joint as much as you and your sister do, kid."
"Don't forget, they did save us from being eaten too," James reminded. "Really makes you look at things differently when you almost died. We honestly weren't sure if anyone here would really care if we did get eaten."
Berry looked at Dust and Shab. "It might be worth listening to them."
"Are you sure?" Dust asked.
"If they're telling the truth, they can help us get these guys out of here and to safety," Berry said. "We can't afford to keep them with us, otherwise they'll likely be caught by the stronger Pokemon here and taken to be used by them."
Both Dust and Shab nodded, seeing that it was the best option they had.
Berry smiled at her teammates before turning to face James and Jessie. "Alright, we'll believe you. Now where can we find this Psychic Pokemon?"
"They're not too far, we already had told them to wait for us at one of the nearby teleporters," Jessie explained. "We were planning to have him get us out of here in case things went sour."
"Wow, you planned that far ahead?" Dust asked, impressed by Team Rocket's planning.
"Well, we weren't entirely sure if any of you would believe us," James responded before looking up at Tyrantrum while giving a gulp. "Um, they aren't going to try and eat us again, will they?"
"Tyrantrum isn't that hungry right now, she got most of her fill from that meat before you hit it with the Transfer Orb," Berry explained. "She was just angry that you did that."
"So… wait… this Psychic Pokemon you mentioned… is it that Wobbuffet fellow who likes saying his species name a lot?" Shab asked.
"Yup," James confirmed.
"But didn't you say you left him at the guild?" Shab questioned.
"We weren't going to let you know where he was, at least not at the time," Jessie huffed. "That would've been stupid of us. We have Wobbuffet wait at the teleporter room in case we had to make a quick get away, especially when we heard Undergrowth and his creepy assistant Patricia were here."
"Then hop on," Dust remarked. "We are already short on time, and I think we can all agree that we don't want to run into any unwanted company, especially if it's Undergrowth and Patricia."
With that, everyone was back on top of Tyrantrum. Seeing that everyone was set, Tyrantrum started moving forward again. Jessie and James were closer to the top with Berry, relaying which directions to take while she translated it to Tyrantrum. Dust was actually glad that Team Rocket decided to show up and help them. From all the directions they took, he wasn't sure how long they would've been taking, trying to navigate through a base. While he was sure Needle and Noodle could've provided directions, there was a high chance of them running into the enemy. At least with Team Rocket, they'd be able to assist them in any battles.
There was a sudden tremor that nearly tripped Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum frowned, looking alarmed.
"W-what was that?" Needle nervously asked.
"I sense some strong Pokemon on the other side of this wall. It might be… Undergrowth and Torrent," Berry warned. "Looks like they're still in battle with each other."
They saw the walls starting to crack, water and leaves began to leak out.
"Get us out of here!" Dust yelped, realizing the dangers if the wall broke with them still there.
Berry gave a roar to Tyrantrum to hurry. Tyrantrum moved quickly, running down the hallways.
Noodle and Needle were shaking in fear.
"Don't look back," Berry said to them.
"I really don't want to be here anymore!" James whined, covering his ears. "Between Rouge, Undergrowth, Patricia, and all the experiments, I'd like to just stay at the Unity Guild! The guildmaster may like puns but at least she isn't crazy!"
"Are we almost to the teleporter?" Shab quickly asked.
"Yes!" Jessie shouted. "It's just at the end of this hallway. The next room is where Wobbuffet is waiting for us!"
Berry was about to relay the message to Tyrantrum, when they all suddenly heard a loud crashing noise. While Tyrantrum kept on running, Dust and Berry turned around to see that the wall they had collapsed, and to their shock and horror, a mixture of water and leaves started pouring out of the wall, flooding the area and making its way towards them. Berry didn't even need to tell Tyrantrum to hurry, she had already felt the tremors and vibrations from the upcoming flood.
"What's with the flood!?" Needle yelled as Tyrantrum was running.
"I don't know! A bunch of water pipes burst or something?" Noodle shivered.
"That's not it! Those are likely from Torrent and Undergrowth's battle!" Berry explained. "Torrent is a strong Greninja, he was likely using a lot of Water type attacks, seeing the leaves mixed in, Undergrowth was using Grass type attacks back!"
"Which is bad news for us! All those water and leaves could drown us!" Dust yelped before he looked at Berry and Shab. "... Well, most of us!"
"Even so, it would hurt like Distortion World to get hit by that!" Shab pointed out.
"Griiiiimeeeerrrrr!" Grimer yelled.
"We're getting close!" Jessie yelled. "Head to the left here, hurry!"
Berry didn't waste any time telling Tyrantrum to turn left.
Tyrantrum made a sharp turn, breaking down a wall as she didn't stop.
"W-Wooooobuuuuu!" A Wobbuffet yelled in surprise and fear at seeing a sudden Tyrantrum breaking through the wall.
"Wobbuffet, activate the teleporter, hurry! Get us to the base of the mountain now!" James instructed as quickly as he could.
"Wobbu?" Wobbuffet asked.
"Yes! Now just do it!" Jessie shouted.
Wobbuffet gave a quick salute before his body glowed as psychic energy course from his body. He then clapped his two arms together as the room itself started to glow. A second later, just as the flood was about to enter the room, everyone inside vanished. Dust suddenly fell muzzle first into the ground, feeling the cold snow against his body. He quickly got up and shook himself, shaking most of the snow off his body before surveying the area. He saw that he was now at the base of the mountain, and that everyone had also made it out with them. Though many of them were under the snow or on top of each other. He also noticed the area was covered a bit with soaked leaves as well.
Well that was close. Dust thought as he started helping some of the others up while trying to find Berry.
"Well that could've gone a lot worse…" James groaned, rubbing his face from the leaves and snow.
"Guess we won't be using that teleporter anymore," Jessie grumbled, rubbing her fur.
Noodle pulled her brother out from the snow. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Needle answered, a little shaken up.
Tyrantrum shook the snow off of her, looking annoyed, but relieved. She saw she had the Grimer on her nose.
"Grimer?" Grimer blinked.
Tyrantrum let out a sigh.
"COLD! COLD! COLD!" Berry yelled, jumping out of the snow, her body being a little blue from the sudden change in temperature.
"B-Berry? Are you alright?" Shab asked in concern.
"I feel like I'm about to become a popsicle!" Berry shivered.
Dust quickly scooped Berry up and placed her on his back. "I know it's not much, but try to use my fur to warm yourself up."
"T-thanks…" Berry replied gratefully.
"I… almost can't believe it… we're out of the base," Noodle said, looking up at the mountain.
"And there's no escort, no bodyguard or anyone to force us to come back," Needle added. "I've only dreamt of this…and now that it's happening…I don't know what to do."
"While normally this would call for a celebration, you two aren't out of danger yet," Dust remarked before turning to Team Rocket. "If it isn't too much trouble, but can you take Needle and Noodle with you back to the guild? They don't have anywhere else to go, so I know Chihiro will help them."
"Wait, you're not coming with us?" James asked.
"You're not seriously thinking about going back in there?!" Jessie added. "You just got out and you want to jump right back, after all the trouble we all went to get out?!"
"There's still things we have to take care of. Kuro is still in there, Torrent is supposed to meet up with another team that Chihiro had sent. There's still the prisoners who are still drugged and I promised that we wouldn't leave any of them behind," Dust answered with determination.
"Don't you think that might be a bit much for Silver Ranks?" James asked.
"We have to at least try," Berry said. "We promised Kuro we would help him arrest Rouge, and we intend to keep that promise. We also want to make sure Needle and Noodle get to somewhere safe. Can we trust you two to get them to the Unity Guild safely?"
Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet looked over at the two young Nidoran.
"Sure, fine, we'll take them back to the guild," Jessie sighed. "But you guys are crazy."
"Well, we've done crazier things," Shab chuckled.
"What about the Tyrantrum and Grimer?" James asked, pointing at the two.
Berry looked over at the Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum looked down at them, and gave them a nod.
"I think Tyrantrum plans to go home where she was before Team Purify caught her," Berry explained. "As for the Grimer…"
"Grimer!" Grimer whined, still on Tyrantrum's nose.
Tyrantrum began to turn around, and started to walk away from the group, heading to the horizon.
"I guess Tyrantrum decided to look after the Grimer," Berry guessed.
"Interesting," Dust would've loved to study more about this new relationship, but now wasn't the time. He turned to face Team Rocket to address them. "So we were told that there was more than one teleporter room in the base, would it still be possible for Wobbuffet to teleport us back inside?"
"Yeah, though it might take a moment for him to find one," Jessie answered. "Is there a specific location you were hoping to go to? We can try and have him teleport you to the nearest room."
"Actually, by chance would you know where a secret cave entrance would be?" Dust asked. "That's where the other team is supposed to be, waiting for Torrent to meet them. Thing is, we have no idea where it would be, or any other place to be exact."
"There is a teleporter near the secret cave entrance, though it hasn't been used in years," James answered. "Since it's supposed to be a secret cave, Team Purify didn't want to draw attention to it. We can try to send you there. But the rest of the base is a maze, there's even an artificial Mystery Dungeon in there to try to throw off intruders."
"An artificial Mystery Dungeon?" Berry blinked. "I've never heard of something like that before."
"How does it work?" Shab asked.
"We're not really sure. We think the boss uses some kind of ancient human technology to shift that particular part of the base around to make it just as confusing and random as a real Mystery Dungeon," Jessie answered.
The more Dust learned about this mountain, the more he wished he brought some notes to take. He just hoped that after all this was over and Team Purify taken care of, he could visit the place to better study and research.
"Well, it won't be the first time we've seen a strange Mystery Dungeon before," Shab remarked, recalling the Icy Tower dungeon.
"We can give you a map of the place. Every member of Team Purify is to keep a map so they can navigate through the base," James said as he took a scrolled up paper from his bag and handed it to Dust. "Just be careful not to lose it, it's our only one, and I doubt they would give more to a couple of deserters like us."
"Thank you, this will really help us." Berry smiled.
"Just think of it as thanks for not letting us get eaten," Jessie huffed. "But don't expect us to help you anymore if you get caught by the boss when you go back to that base."
Dust nodded before turning to face Berry and Shab. "Well, looks like we jumped out of the pan, and we are about to go into the fire. Are you two ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Shab responded before giving a slight blush as he looked at Berry. "Especially if I'm with…you two. We've faced danger before, this will just be another classic mission for us."
"It's too bad Cliff couldn't be here, but it's best that Icy took her back. This would be too much for her," Berry said. "We still have our items, so if things get bad, we can always use them."
Berry looked over at Needle and Noodle. "Go on with Team Rocket now, they should take you back to our guild, where you'll find the help you'll need. And if you see a young Larvitar named Cliff, let her know that Team Night Tide is okay."
"Okay… thank you for getting us out of that prison," Noodle thanked. "We're in your debt, Team Night Tide."
"Please, come back safely," Needle said, bowing his head too.
"Okay, okay, enough with the goodbyes!" Jessie snarked. "Look, no need to rush, but the longer you take, the more you risk running into someone who's gonna give you lots of trouble. Right now they are still probably searching for Tyrantrum in the lower levels, so that will at least give you some time to navigate through the base without having to worry about running into some of the guards there. So you better be ready, cause Wobbuffet will be teleporting you three shortly now."
"Yeah, let's go," Berry said.
Wobbuffet's body glowed with psychic energy.
"We'll hopefully see you guys at the guild soon!" Dust said before he, Berry, and Shab were teleported away.
Dust, Berry, and Shab found themselves standing in front of a small looking cave entrance. The cave itself had some sticks and snow covering most of its entrance.
"Huh… it probably would be hard to find this cave if we weren't right in front of it," Berry remarked.
"Yeah… it's also pretty small… how do bigger Pokemon fit through it?" Shab questioned. "At least Dust can fit in there, but anything bigger than him would have trouble going through it."
"It's probably meant for smaller scouts to go through," Berry guessed.
"Which begs the question, what kind of team did Chihiro assign here?" Dust wondered. "We better get a move on, hopefully we can find this team soon."
"Yeah… hopefully his team gets here soon," Berry said as she slithered through the cave.
Dust and Shab followed after Berry. However, Berry suddenly stopped.
"Dust… Shab… back away… hurry," Berry whispered urgently.
The two didn't question her, knowing that something, or someone dangerous was coming. Dust can only hope that the cave would provide enough cover for them to hide.
"Well… look at that… I came here to check on things and I found a stray, how amusing," A familiar voice, familiar to Berry anyways, spoke.
Berry saw the Salazzle coming out from the shadows, grinning. "Rouge…"
Oragonking: Traveling Master: Well you weren't kidding, that would be pretty dark. If we wanted to just show how ruthless Undergrowth can be, then we would've done that with a side character, or someone else. Thing is, we have plans for Torrent, so can't have him be eaten…yet…if we decide to go that route. But don't worry, me and DarkFoxKit have been working on something special on the sidelines that will definitely give that terrifying feeling that Undergrowth gives.
Yeah, I think they got Tyrantrum and Rhampardos mixed up.
Also, gonna space these paragraphs, make them a bit easier to read. Looks like a lot of the questions are all about the wild language, so we should be able to tackle them in one go, instead of repetitive answers for each one.
Just reading your response…and yeah, might be able to just skip all other language related questions since you mostly covered all of them.
Berry4Goodra: DarkFoxKit: Yeah…? I'm not sure what makes that a retcon. They didn't mention it was specifically draconic because Jade never saw a reason to tell these civilized Pokemon what kind of dialect they were speaking in, and nobody else at the time knew that wild Pokemon even spoke in different dialects. So who was going to point out it was specifically draconic? Even if Gale knew draconic himself, he had no reason to tell them what it was either.
There are different dialects for wild Pokemon, it mostly depends on the environment they live in rather than their types alone. Aquatic Pokemon are Pokemon that live in water, but they're not necessarily Water types, like Goodra or the Dratini line. As for telepathy bypassing the language barrier, it depends on the one using telepathy. If they can grasp the language in their minds, but can't speak it themselves, then they can use telepathy to speak it for them, like how a lot of Pokemon did with Ash and the gang in the anime.
Civilized Pokemon have a harder time learning the wild Pokemon language than wild Pokemon do learning the civilized language. Because most civilized Pokemon have a misconception that wild Pokemon don't actually speak a language, and they're speaking in a language that wasn't originally native to them. But it is still possible for any Pokemon to learn any of the languages, it's just harder for some than others due to their own nature, environment, and typing.
Tsunami just naturally knows the two languages due to her typing and environment. Maybe her parents taught her too. *Shrugs*
Traveling Master: Torrent is a solo Crusader, so he doesn't really have teammates of his own. It was mentioned back when he was first introduced. So he wouldn't really know who Icy is. As for her rank, Icy and her teammates are Bronze Rank.
DarkFoxKit: In case you forgot, Icy is a part of Team Aura Force. About Rouge, yes, she's a part of Team Purify. And just to clear things up, Team Purify is the name of the organization, it's not a Crusader team or anything like that.
Berry is a vegetarian, but she doesn't usually have a problem when others eat meat. She has a problem when someone eats a living Pokemon in front of her. And Tsunami really terrified her when they first met. It's not easy to get rid of that fear, or the image of how frightening Tsunami was when Berry first saw her. In truth, Berry is scared she would become as ruthless as Tsunami is if she let herself evolve, or becomes too wild.
Traveling Master: We've mostly shown Berry and Shab together, so we wanted to show more how Dust and Shab would interact when it was just them two.
Now concerning Torrent's unique position, while he himself cannot grant Team Night Tide Gold Rank, having witness their feats, as well as knowing Chihiro, he could give a good word for them. A recommendation if he felt that their actions deserved such. But it all comes down to the guildmaster's decision.
Well, while Eclipse does have an impressive and intimidating reputation, not everyone is exactly up to date with current events or popular topics. Some civilized Pokemon may go on without even hearing about some popular Crusaders. It usually depends on where they live. In more populated areas, information is easier to pass on. So it is possible that someone like Needle or Noodle haven't really heard of Eclipse or of an Absol being a crusader.
DarkFoxKit: If you remember, Berry grew up with Wooper, their slime is toxic (and this is before the new Paldean regional form for Wooper was revealed), so her body adapted to that and that made her slime poisonous too. It's not a regional form, unless gen 9 has a new Poison type Goomy line that I'm unaware of. However, Berry's slime, as you probably saw in this chapter, was the key to counteracting Rouge's pheromones. Although… I will say, Berry's slime being poisonous isn't the only reason why it worked. But we're not going to answer what that other reason is if you ask.
As for what you said about the miscommunication, I'm afraid TM and I have no idea what you're talking about. ^^' It's been a while since we spoke.
Traveling Master: Actually…yeah XD I came up with the name Cronus, mostly cause at the time I had recently beaten God of War 4, and was looking at that whole family tree. So when trying to think of a name for the Guildmaster, Cronus had a very nice ring to it. As for what Pokemon he is, we don't want to reveal that yet. But we can at least tell you that he is not a legendary Pokemon.
As for how we will tackle Tsunami's background in the future…First off, gotta thank you, cause we hadn't really fully figured out when, but thanks to your question, we actually have several ideas now. But back to your question, we will show Tsunami's past after Berry's father is revealed.
DarkFoxKit: The fondness Shab has for Berry… it's somewhat linked to his backstory, but he loves Berry for who she is now. It started with Berry being one of the first Pokemon he saw out in the lake she found him in, but that's all I'll say on the matter. Shab never really questioned what type Berry was, nor did he care, he just wanted Berry to be Berry.
Who Tsunami met first? She met Torrent first, then Undergrowth, and then later, Berry's father.
Huh… Torrent, Undergrowth, and Tsunami being similar to the first 3 members of Team Night Tide… you know, that's actually… just pure coincidence.
Traveling Master: I see a lot of questions concerning Berry's father and who might know him. Just saying this now, only Tsunami knows who the father is.
DarkFoxKit: We might have Torrent meet with Tsunami again at some point. I doubt we'd give him a whole backstory with Tsunami and not ever let him see her again on screen. But as for the details, I don't know, we'll do that when we want and feel it is the right time.
Snowfate: DarkFoxKit: Hehe, glad you're liking Berry's mischievous side. She's usually well behaved, but even she has a bit of a dark side to her.
Traveling Master: It's a new experience for Dust, having grown up alone and not worrying about approvals of others, Dust never really felt the need to personally grow, nor had anyone to compare himself to. Skip to present time, where being partners with someone who keeps making progress while he feels he is dragging his paws starts weighing on his mind, especially with his deadline so close. It's something new Dust will have to face, for better or worse.
DarkFoxKit: Yes, Torrent, Undergrowth, and Tsunami used to be on a team together. We do plan to show that in a flashback at some point, or on something else. Just not any time soon since we're more focused on finishing up this arc.
Heh, yeah, this is a big arc, so that's why we're trying our best to make sure it gets good.
Guest: Traveling Master: As I answered before, sorry but no.
DarkFoxKit: Why do you want Undergrowth to swallow Torrent? Do you not like Torrent or is there another reason? Although, I guess if there is another reason, you don't have to share it.
Sobbas: Traveling Master: Hey, no need to apologize, and I guess a good thing that came from us taking this long is that it gave you the chance to read before we updated XD. But we are attempting to get back into the groove of writing, and with that updates should be more frequent, so hopefully you won't have to wait as long. But thank you for your continued patience and hope everything is going well with your responsibilities.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, sometimes you need a break from the action and the frenzy, and take things slow. We also enjoy showing this is a living, breathing world, with the characters actually living in it. We didn't want to rush through the characters themselves and make them of no importance, even if they don't serve much to the plot itself. The draconian language was something we came up with later, since we figured not all wild Pokemon would speak in the same dialect. After all, we speak in different languages and dialects all the time. Dragon types would mostly be roaring and such. Tsunami herself can speak Dragon and Water because she also lives with aquatic Pokemon. Aquatic Pokemon aren't always necessarily Water types, but they thrive in water, like the Dratini line for example. It is possible for a Pokemon, wild or civilized, to learn the different dialects, it would just be harder when it's outside of their natural environment. The problem with civilized Pokemon is that most of them have a misconception that wild Pokemon don't actually have a language, so they never bother learning it. Civilized Pokemon also speak in a language that wasn't originally native to them, so they have trouble going back to the wild Pokemon language themselves. Basically, yes, someone like Dust can learn to speak the wild language, it would just be a lot more difficult for him.
Traveling Master: This is indeed something new that Dust is experiencing as well. He's been there every step of the way, from seeing a low-self esteemed Goomy who believed they were a Wooper, into a strong, confident and powerful dragon Pokemon. She has helped him as well, and seeing how Berry is Dust's first friend ever, he holds that bond closely to him, even though he doesn't fully realize how important it is. So it wasn't just the fact Berry went on to train on her own, if anything he would be glad for her. But the fact she kept it secret from him, as well as seeing how far Berry has progressed while he kept stumbling made Dust feel a new sensation, envy and resentment. He can't help but notice how far Berry has come and feels envious of his friend, and with that he feels resentment towards himself, failing to see much of his own progress. Doesn't help that his deadline is so close and failure keeps looming overhead, so his mind is somewhat stressed out.
DarkFoxKit: Berry also senses that Dust is feeling this way, which was why she tried to keep her training a secret from him in the first place. She doesn't want Dust feeling worse about himself because she was able to accomplish something. So in a way, it's hard on both of them.
Traveling Master: That is a very interesting theory, and it always comes to mind whenever we see two friends grow up together and can't help but wonder if one day they'll go their separate ways, or if they will stick with each other. Dust and Berry's future are indeed intertwined, more so than either realizes. We have several different plans concerning their future, heck, it's still yet to be determined of what Dust will do at the end of this story if he achieves Gold Rank or if he fails. Will he stay? Go back to his old guild? Continued being a Crusader after failing? But thankfully we are getting close to finishing this arc, and those questions will be answered soon.
Dust: See! At least someone appreciates my references! You have no idea how often I have to restrain myself from making all these fun references, or breaking the 4th wall. You, my friend, have fine taste in literature and culture and I demand that I be given more freedom to express my reference for not only Sobbas, but for the readers of this story! I demand *bonk*
Traveling Master: And this is why we don't give you this freedom. You go overboard. DF, you continue with the review as I take care of Dust. *Starts dragging the Absol away*
Dust: No! NO! YOU CAN'T HOLD ME FOREVER!
DarkFoxKit: Erm… continuing the review… The egg the Tyrantrum was looking for… maybe Al has it, or maybe it's a coincidence. :3
We've always had some kind of plan for Torrent, we just weren't sure when or where we would implement them. When you brought up how you wanted to know about him, we decided to bring in Torrent here, and reveal more of his past with Undergrowth and Berry's mother. But yeah, sometimes what our viewers say can spark ideas for us for future plans. That had happened several times as we wrote this story, not that the viewers are aware of most of it though~
Hmm, Berry having a specific theme? It never crossed my mind until you asked. I guess I like using Xion's theme for her (from the Kingdom Hearts series), but I can see a few other themes that fit Berry too.
Traveling Master: Dust is a…complicated one. I tried thinking of something suitable for him, but being an Absol who loves to experiment, has a curious mentality, and intelligent, it was rather…hard. But then I thought about when I first created Dust (unintentionally) and thought about the few key factors that gave me inspiration for him. And those were Deadpool and Doctor Who…So Doctor Who's theme is what I would see playing for Dust…I know it's weird, blame him for being weird…and complicated…and for the constant headaches he gives me…
