/|—| Pokémon Mystery Dungeon |—|\

Waves Of Destruction

— — —

|— Chapter Six: Dance At The Dojo —|

—[Spiral-Town]—

Agatha was pleased to see that Leafeon had mostly grown use to her presence as they maneuvered through Spiral-Town's crowds. Or, at least to the point where she wasn't stammering out every other sentence into a nervous silence. She still threw Agatha off with the odd sentence here and there, but baby steps.

Case and point, as they rounded a corner, Leafeon cheerfully chirped, "-yeah, I was never able to work up the guts to go to Bewear Dojo, even after winning these move-tutoring-tickets. I mean, going to get the groceries for Mom is one thing, but going some place to work out? What if some Pokémon asked to spar with me or something? Scary! What about you, do you work out a lot? You look super tough!"

How on earth was she suppose to respond to that? Agatha fell back on the tried and tested method of simply offering a non-committal shrug, as she'd done for many of Leafeon's questions. She seemed fine with the arrangement.

"Hehe, well, see, my parents were always trying to get me to learn a good move or two, just for self-defence, you know? And I just so happened to win the tickets for a Solar Blade lesson. Aaaand since you guys invented the attack I thought…maybe you could help me figure it out?" Her face began to turn a tad red. "I-If you already know it, t-then I think they can l-like, make you better at it? S-So this won't be a waste of-"

"When you say 'you guys,' you're talking about Lurantis, right?" Agatha asked perhaps a bit gruffly. The sun was still a plague upon her back. Her rucksack only weighing her down, hardly acting as a shield from the heat. She had no idea how Leafeon was dealing with it.

"Y-Yeah?"

"I've never met another Lurantis. And I definitely don't know anything about a Solar Blade." She said.

Leafeon practically seemed to bubble with questions, wilted tail swishing from side to side, but she managed to keep her voice steady. "That's fine! I've never met another Leafeon either. Not that I'm too surprised by that. Us grass-types get a pretty sucky deal on the Sand-Continent."

"You're handling it well enough."

"Mmhm. Guess I'm just sort of use to it by now. When I first evolved though, Dad went out and ordered me one of those enviro-scarfs. I only wear that in the summer now though. My friends always picked on me for-"

Agatha almost stopped dead in her tracks, but the crowd-current of the street forced her to move, albeit with narrowed eyes. "A what scarf?"

"An enviro-scarf?" Leafeon repeated, moving closer to her to avoid a miniature-stampede of Pichu. "It stops wherever you are from making you feel all bleh-y . So long as it's not, like…a volcano or something."

"Where do I get one?" She fought to keep her tone neutral, but excitement flickered through her.

"Well…Dad ordered mine from Kecleon. But from the sounds of it they're SUPER expensive…" Her voice lowered a tad, and she mumbled something that went unheard amongst the noise of the Pokémon around them.

So money was all that was standing in Agatha's path to not feeling like melted ice-cream. Annoying. It wasn't like she could have sent in Excadrill to buy it for her. Maybe he could just give the money to her? But then she'd have to carry it in her scythes and make a fool-

"Youcanhavemyoneifyouwant!" Leafeon squeaked.

Agatha was stopped dead in her tracks this time, causing the Quagsire who was walking behind them to bump into her, giving the two a scathing look before he continued on his way.

"What?"

"M-My envrio-scarf. You can have it, i-if you want it." Leafeon said, shakily.

It took the prodding and complaining of the Swanna behind her to get Agatha to move again, but she didn't take her eyes off of Leafeon. "Oh yeah? What do you want for it?"

She blinked. "Oh, you can just have it. Like I said, I only ever use it in the summer, and you seem much more bothered by the heat so no point in letting it go to waste, right?"

Agatha watched her carefully. What was it that Leafeon wanted from her? From the moment she had seen Agatha, she'd acted strangely and now she was offering up expensive, useful gifts. Leafeon's face revealed nothing, only a small, awkward smile when the silence kept going. She'd have to keep a close eye on her.

"Thanks. I'll think about it."

Some more one-sided conversation later, and they eventually came upon a large tent, styled after the head of a Bewear, an image of the Pokémon floating across Agatha's mind. As they approached the tent, Leafeon bristled beside her, movement getting a little more strained.

"M-Maybe this was a bad idea! You know, I bet Mom and Excadrill are done talk now we can just head back and-" As Leafeon spun to move back the way they'd come, Agatha caught the strap of the pouch that hung from her neck with a scythe-tip.

"I wanna see what this whole Solar Blade thing is about. Besides, there's no way I'm going back in this heat when we're so close. You said this place could keep us cool." Agatha reminded her.

"Ha…haha…r-right…t-that's what I s-said." Leafeon took a deep breath as she was released. "Yep. Yep, we'll be fine…yep. Just…keep cool. Like the tent. Cool, cool, cool, cool."

A lone desk sat within the entrance to the Dojo, with two open passages, clearly marked as an entrance and an exit. Sitting at the desk was a massive dozing Bewear, who Agatha assumed was the owner of the Dojo, or it's mascot.

As soon as she stepped across the threshold, she felt as if some sort of veil was thrown over her body, quickly sinking into her and bringing with it a lighter, colder feeling to her whole body. It wasn't perfect, but it was at least worth the trip. Suspicious Leafeons and all.

Holding back a sigh, Agatha marched forward, arriving at the desk and gave it a quick tap with her scythe. "Hey, you. Wake up, you've got customers."

With a mighty yawn, the Bewear creakily opened his eyes, blinking thoroughly as he did so. "Hmmmm? Wuz…wuz that? Customer?" His eyes widened fully. "Customers! NEW customers too! Oh, how wonderfully wonderful! Welcome to Bewear Dojo, where we help Pokémon to train both their body AND their mind." He leaned over the desk slightly, and Agatha had to forced herself to stand her ground. "How can I help you two ladies?"

She looked back to Leafeon, and then nodded towards the desk. Apprehensively, Leafeon joined her, slowly taking out two tickets from a small pouch that dangled around her neck.

"U-Uhh, I won these from Kecleon's lucky dip. I…wanna use them. Please?"

Scooping the paper up, Bewear read over it quickly. "…ohhhh, I seeeeee. WOW! You must be QUITE lucky to have won this, Miss! Such an EXPENSIVE lesson too!"

Agatha allowed herself a ghost of a smile. Was it her imagination, or was she detecting some anger in the Pokémon's voice?

Leafeon remained oblivious, swapping the hint of a smile for a full one as she relaxed. "O-Oh. W-Well, honestly, I was kinda addicted to seeing what I could pull from the dip. Mostly for the sweets."

As she spoke, Bewear eyed the two of them from head to toe. Agatha met his gaze, and that seemed to be enough for him. "Regardless, luck is still luck! How about we get you two started on learning the super-powered Solar Blade! Now, have either of you ever been in a fight before?"

"Not since I was an Eevee…" Leafeon admitted speedily.

"Once or twice." Agatha deadpanned.

"I see, I see! Ever been to a Dojo before?"

"Nope."

"Never got the chance."

Bewear clapped his massive paws together. "Well then! Please allow me to walk you through one of our ever-so-bountiful move-tutoring-sessions! This way if you please." Leaving his workstation oddly unsupervised, he waved for the two to follow him as he moved deeper within the tent. Briefly sharing a look, the two followed after him.

Soon, they were met with tents-within-tents, with narrow passages between them, in a variety of annoyingly bright colours. Agatha was reminded of a circus, but that thought was put to rest as they were given the opportunity to peek through at some of the Dojo's attendees. It was a cascade of elements in every room, some lone mons simply practicing moves, while in others, they were offered brief glimpses of furious battle. Any progress Leafeon had made towards feeling comfortable was erased by this, and she was quickly pushing herself against Agatha's leg, who, for both their sakes, decided not to bring it up.

At the back, they entered a cyan-blue tent. Within was a sizeable enough arena, complete with some crudely made Bewear training dummies. It's walls were lined with shelves, stacked with large smooth boxes.

As their guide moved towards the shelves, he spoke. "Solar Blade…Solar Blade…ah! Here it is! One of our rarer TM's too! The signature attack of the Lurantis." He laughed, looking towards Agatha. "Always nice to go back to your roots, isn't it? Ya know, if you got a brother or sister who's looking to learn this, I'd be happy to give em a discount." He waved an object through the air, a disk tinted a vibrant green.

However, Agatha's mind had snagged onto the word 'brother'. Irritation flickered through her, then a speck of sadness. An attack with a name like 'Solar Blade' would have been right up Jack's alley. Was he also a Lurantis? If so maybe he'd be easier to spot, being a grass-type in the Sand-Continent. That's if he even was-

Agatha banished the thought, tossing her rucksack into the corner of the tent with little fanfare. "How does this work? Do we have to put it in something?"

Leafeon gave her an odd look as Bewear laughed again. "Only in your noggin! Just hold it up to your head, focus a bit on it aaaaaand-" He brought the disk up to his own face, staring into it's tinted green. For a brief moment, Bewear's eyes flickered the same colour, before he move it away from his face. "Course, can't learn it myself, but you get the idea. So, who wants to go first?"

"Leafeon." Agatha decided.

"W-Wha- m-m-me?" The chosen Pokémon hopped in surprise, causing her wilted leaf to fall over her face. As she fixed it, she resumed her spluttering, "B-B-But, I-I can't- you're a Lurantis-"

"So? It's not like we OWN the move. We just came up with it or whatever." There was no way she was going to beam something into her brain without seeing someone do it first.

It had nothing to do with having to hold such a fragile looking thing with her giant scythes.

But Leafeon didn't need to know that. "O-Oh. Well alright. Sure." Carefully taking the disk in her paws, she mumbled a quick thank you, and, with a deep breath, began to stare into it's depths, her eyes flashing that verdant green.

One of Bewear's ears twitched and he looked towards the tent's exit. "Golly, busy day! Sounds like we got some more folks coming in." He reached towards a box and somehow simply phased his paw through it, grabbing another disk and throwing it to Agatha.

"You two get the move into your heads and I'll be back in a few to help you put it into practice. Enjoy." With a wink, he left the tent, leaving the two alone.

Agatha, who'd barely managed to catch the disk between her two scythes, rolled her eyes and walked over to the stacked shelves. She placed the disk on a free space, and got to examining the boxes. There wasn't any hint of a lock on them, yet she could just picture the disks inside. When she brushed her scythe against one, she was met with a solid material.

"Thanks for coming with me." Leafeon stirred her from her concentration. "I can't believe I was scared of this place for so long. That guy's super nice and we even have a tent all to ourselves."

"He's a salesmen. It's his job to be nice. He's probably trying to get us to spend something since you got us this for free." Agatha said.

Leafeon frowned. "Oh." A beat passed between the two, until she reverted back to a smile. "So, uh, if you don't mind me asking, what's the deal with you and Excadrill? I mean, I know he use to be a hero or something, but I thought he had quit the Adventurers Association?"

"We're traveling together. I was coming to the Sand-Continent to visit family when my ship crashed. He helped me out, so I'm doing the same." Agatha said carefully.

Green eyes wide, Leafeon's tail wagged back and forth. "Woah, so, you're on a big journey or something? That sounds awesome. I've barely even ever left Spiral-Town."

"Why's that?" Agatha made no attempt to hide the boredom in her voice, but it went unnoticed.

"I never had much reason to." Leafeon shrugged. "Even if I had one, Dad likes having me help with the café. Of course, when I was a kid, I was the same as everyone else, looking to joining the Adventurers Association and run off on a big quest but…"

"Hm?" Agatha hummed noncommittally. If talking meant that Leafeon was going to learn the move slower, then Agatha was NOT going to be happy.

"…I dunno. It's kinda blurry since I was so young, but EVERYONE was crazy about stuff like that during the Ultra-Event. I mean, most Pokémon still are but…I realized I wasn't cut out for it. Heck, I think this might be the first move I learned ever since becoming a Leafeon." She sighed, shaking her head. "What about you? Did you ever think about joining the Association?"

"Don't know much about them."

"Oh, right! You're probably not even from the Sand-Continent. Are…you…from the Mist-Continent?" Her voice trembled a bit as she asked, "I, uh, don't wanna assume, b-b-but from the little bits I've read, t-that's where, uh, Lurantis come from, but of course that doesn't-"

How long was this going to take? "My family moved around a bunch. I'm not really from any of the continents."

"Oh," Was becoming a very common sound to hear from Leafeon. "Well, that sounds pretty exciting. You've probably seen some amazing things, huh?"

"Not really." Maybe Excadrill was done by now and she was wasting time. She was going to kick herself if the trip hadn't been worth it. At least she wasn't melting.

The wilted tail had long since stopped wagging. "Um…well, uh, I'm sure you will! I have some fri…" There was an odd pause. "…s-some friends in the Adventurers Association and they always-"

"Found you!"

The unfamiliar voice had come from the entrance of the tent, catching both Agatha and Leafeon's attention. Of course, the latter's loss of concentration meant that the green that had filled her eyes faded away, and as it did, she let out a "Aww, I didn't mean to- Oh, hey guys!"

Entering the tent was a pair of Pokémon, both wearing the yellow scarf of the Association proudly as they marched forward. Taking the lead was an feisty looking Litten, who was watching Agatha like a hawk, confidence blazing in her silted eyes. The Rowlet behind her however, looked far more wary, his eyes flittering between the two other grass-types.

"Leafeon, you need to get out of here. This might get ugly." " The Litten warned, glee in her voice, not taking her eyes off her target.

Leafeon tilted her head. "Is s-something wrong? We were just here to-"

"Doesn't matter." Litten scoffed, taking another step forward. "Cause Pinky here is one of THE Zoroark's buddies. An outlaw."

"Wh-What?"

Snorting an, "Excuse me?" Agatha watched as the Rowlet began to circle around to the other side of the tent. Her instincts twitched.

"That's right, we know all about your little scheme! Zoroark sold you out. Guess you should've realised that trusting a guy like that was gonna come back to bite you. If you wanna surrender and join him in the slammer, feel free! Course, we can do this the hard way if you want." Litten smiled, embers flickering around her mouth.

"Litten…" Rowlet warned. "Be careful. This one looks tough. And remember, we told Bewear that we wouldn't damage-"

"Tough? HA! We take Zoroark on every other week. Don't tell me your worried about-"

"But we've NEVER beaten him one on-"

As the two began arguing, Leafeon looked at Agatha, the question clear on her face. Agatha responded with a shrug and a shake of the head. "No clue."

For some reason, that was enough for her.

"G-Guys? I, uh, don't think she's an outlaw." Leafeon looked between the two as they continued to circle them. "M-Maybe Zoroark tricked you again? That's sort of-"

"No way! We got that jerk good this time. He's all locked up in the Association's holding cell and she's gonna be joining him soon enough." Litten's victorious smirk lessened a bit as she finally looked at Leafeon. "Leaf, seriously, get out of here, I'm getting the feeling this one's not gonna go quietly."

Agatha nodded. "You're right. If you touch me, bad things are gonna happen. But for the record, I have no idea what either of you are talking about."

"Oh come on. We didn't fall for Zoroark's lies, you think yours are gonna work? You're not nearly as good at this as he is!"

"Litten, don't provoke her. This might be a little above our paygrade, she looks-"

"L-Lurantis has been nice so far, I don't she's up to any-"

"Are you deaf? I have no idea what you're-" Agatha tried to keep a steady tone as she began. Yes, they were setting her instincts off with their constant circling, but obviously there was something wrong here. Was this some sort of trick by the locals because they'd seen her with Excadrill? Malamar had told them not to cause a scene, but there was no way Agatha was going to let herself get arrested just so-

Her words were brought to an abrupt end when the embers that had been swirling around Litten's mouth suddenly grew in size and shot forward, pelting Agatha in the chest like burning hot nails.

It was instinct. By the time Agatha had punted Litten across the tent, her mind had barely caught up with performing the action. She growled, her chest sizzling. "Last chance, kid. Back off." Avoid a scene. She had been told to avoid a scene. Yet, deep within her, a flicker of fire was hoping Litten would ignore the warning.

It was almost joyous when, as Litten skidded to a halt, flames began to gather around her, amassing in to one giant fireball that completely engulfed her. With a righteous BANG, she sped towards Agatha, slamming into her with furious force.

The fire that had take Litten practically jumped to Agatha, and as she flew to the floor, screeching in pain. Litten grinned. "Bring it."

And so, the scene began.

Rowlet, cursing, reached a wing into his satchel, searching for something. However, any hope he had of entering the battle was put to an immediate halt as Leafeon sprang on him, fighting him to the ground.

"Leaf, what the heck are ya-"

"Y-You gotta stop, she's not-"

The two's protests were lost on the other contenders, as Lurantis and Litten dodged and dashed about each other in deadly fashion. Whatever Litten's last attack had been, it had taken a lot out of her, yet she still managed to evade each of Agatha's bladed swings. When one of the scythes were brought to the ground, Litten pounced atop it and dragged a clawed paw across Agatha's face. Another agile leap and she landed in the tent's arena, laughing.

"Cmon, that all you got? What was Rowlet even worried for-AHH" She squealed in surprise when a rage filled pink blur knocked her aside, scythe akin to a golf-club. Again, as she skidded to a halt, she allowed those horrid flames to gather around her, before once again charging at her target with another loud, BANG!

Agatha was ready this time, rolling to the side, leaving Litten to collide with the shelves of boxes, smashing through three of them. As the precious objects flew across the tent, Rowlet (still being clumsily wrestled by Leafeon) called out. "Litten! We told Bewear that we WEREN'T going to mess up the-"

In the midst of his shout, and Litten's recovery, Agatha was already on her again. She scooped up Litten in her scythe and hurled her towards her partner, and subsequently Leafeon. The three, bundled together through sheer velocity, tore through the tent's wall and even further, flying out onto the street.

Almost immediately upon the cloth's tear, the temperature soared back to it's terrible heights, heat sinking into Agatha's body. Irritation now added to the fire that fueled her flame, she tore through the two holes that had been made to the Dojo's layers, following the cries of surprise.

The area, a loose collection of market stalls, was quickly being fled by it's previous inhabitants, who only seemed to move faster once Agatha emerged from the Dojo's new exit. Rowlet had been the fasted to recover, having gotten to his talons to face her. Leafeon was trying to steady herself on a nearby stall's remains, while Litten, beside her, was shaking wildly.

As Agatha advanced on her two targets, Rowlet held up a wing, reaching another into his satchel. "L-Let's calm down a second here. I'm sorry for my partner's brazenness, but we're just going off the information that Zoroark spilled. If you come back with us to the Association, we can all just-"

His eyes suddenly widened, and his head did a one-eighty. "LITTEN, STOP USING FLARE BLITZ YOU'RE GONNA-"

Sure enough, as the flames gathered forth once again, this time, Leafeon was caught in their glow, and let loose a pained scream. As she stumbled back, trying to shake the flames from her body, Litten boosted forward again, rocketing towards Agatha.

Steeling herself, she raised her scythes's blunt-side towards the incoming fireball. While her mind hissed at her that this was a spectacularly stupid idea, her inner flame howled in expectancy for the attack.

They collided. For a brief moment the two stood, mighty force pushing upon a sturdy defence. By the time Agatha, pain seared across her scythes, had been pushed a few feet, the attack spluttered out.

WHAM! Litten crashed onto the ground from a hammer-like-use of one of Agatha's scythes.

Rowlet watched the display of might in horror. It took him a moment or two to snap back to reality, reaching a trembling wing into his satchel, reaching for something once again.

The action did not go unnoticed. Agatha, who's flame had been basking in the defeat of Litten, snapped her head hungrily in his direction. This movement elected an "EEEP," of terror from Rowlet, who stumbled backwards, right over Leafeon and unto his back. Items from his satchel, an oran berry, a blue orb and a number yellow seeds spilled out across the sand.

Continuing her march forward, an unconscious Litten behind her, Agatha's breathing began to worsen. The heat was taking it's toll, now on top of the glowing injuries she'd received. Even this, a brief respite from battle, was causing the feeling of the burns to worsen ten-fold.

Her attention, seemingly piercing through his soul, by Rowlet's reaction, was brought off of him when her foot almost splattered the oran berry that had escaped the satchel. Seconds away from destroying her attackers precious lifeline, a pitiful, soft sniffling caught Agatha's attention.

Right. Leafeon.

She didn't even look, merely kicking the oran berry in the direction of the whimpers.

This was enough of a pause for Rowlet to, again, back to his talons. "A-Alright. L-Listen, none of this is gonnna-gonna help your case when we get to the Association. In fact, if you weren't an outlaw before this-" hope suddenly struck him like a thunderbolt. "SANDSLASH HELP, THIS LURANTIS IS CRAZY!"

The flame burst back to life and Agatha whirled around to find, the heat and pain still burning into her as she was met with…

…an extremely disappointing sight, at least to her flame.

Out-of-his-depth. That was the first word that would come to mind upon seeing the Sandslash. He had clearly been in the middle of shopping, a small bag, bread poking out from it hanging around his arm. A familiar, yellow-scarf hung from his neck.

Agatha-

And just like that, she had been kicked through three market-stalls. Her body was screaming in pain, while her flame roared at her to fight back before she had even realised what happened, met with the sight of the whirling sky, now on her back.

She-

Sandslash was on top of her, claws raised and striking her in a blur of silver and yellow, pummeling her head. Following her flame, Agatha tried to swat him off of her, but struck nothing but air, forced into working the movement into a clumsy jump to her feet, she saw that Sandslash had nimbly dodged, bag disposed of and hopping speedily from one foot to the other.

Fast. He was very fast.

The flame egged her on and Agatha's body complied, raising her scythes in preparation, once again steeling herself. Sandslash almost seemed to sigh at this, warily, as he lowered himself into a striking position, preparing for the clash.

However, the clash never came. Something small and light cracked off the back of Agatha's head. It was a familiar feeling, and her recognition of it was her last thought before darkness took her.

Sleep seeds. The seeds that had fallen from Rowlet's bag had been sleep seeds.

How many times was she going to be knocked from her battle-crazed-state and into unconsciousness? That was Agatha's first, groggy thought as she floated back up to the woken world. There was a hollowness in her chest where the flame had once been.

Groaning, she rolled onto her side, opening her eyes to the sight of a cell, albeit a large one. Straw beds were strewn carelessly across the area, along with the occasional, low-down, wooden table. The room's bricks were a dull, yellow colour, and beyond it's metal bars was a long corridor, alit by torchlight. It would have been cozy, if it didn't carry with it a feeling of confinement.

She didn't even want to think of the consequences of said confinement. Staring at the torch's flame, swaging and spluttering, a pesky thought nipped at her. Was she going to have to break out of here as well?

"You're awake." A voice said, matter-of-factly.

Bolting up in surprise, she saw the owner of the voice, Leafeon, curled up at the foot of her straw bed. She was staring straight-ahead, eyes wide and inspecting the cell's walls with a blank look.

Agatha watched her for a few beats, before answering slowly. "So…are…you." When this elicited not even a flicker of a reaction from the grass-type, she continued. "…what…exactly are you doing here?"

"Rowlet told them I attacked him." Leafeon said simply. "I mean, I guess I sort of did. So they locked me up here. With you. In the Association's jail."

As she spoke, her head slowly turned, until her wide, brown eyes were staring into Agatha's. "The Association head will review our situation. Once he's decided we're guilty, he'll call a member of the Knights of Divinity, and then they'll drag us off to be locked up."

'So not dissimilar to how we are now.' Was the reply that Agatha bit back. Another was, 'Well then you shouldn't have helped me, moron.' Guilt swirled about in her chest.

It forced the thoughts of consequence upon her. She'd been told by Malamar not to make a scene, and she'd put on a full on play. Property destroyed, Association members beaten, and the one store that had hopefully given them any sort of chance had just had it's daughter locked up. How long had she been here? Maybe Excadrill had made the wise decision to forgo any sort of connection to her, leaving her to her fate. Did he even know? Would it matter if he did?

She stared into Leafeon's eyes and managed a weak, "I'm…sorry."

"Sorry?" Leafeon repeated the word. "Sorry. You're sorry…"

"Look, I-"

She began shaking, still staring at Agatha. Uncurling, she began to stalk across the straw towards Agatha, eyes growing wider and wider. "What are you sorry for?"

Before she could answer, the most curious thing happened. Contrasting everything, Agatha's own thoughts, the state of the cell, and even the oppressive atmosphere, a wide, ecstatic grin tore across Leafeon's face. "WHAT ARE YOU SORRY FOR? THAT WAS AMAZING!"

"A FIGHT! A FIGHT, A FIGHT, A FIGHT, A FIGHT! WE WERE IN ONE! AGAINST ROWLET AND LITTEN." As she squealed, she hopped from the bed, zipping about the cell in wild excitement. "GAH! Those two always told me stories of how their adventures went and we! We took them on!" She faltered, growing a little red. "W-Well, y-you took them on. But I helped, right? R-Rowlet probably would have pulled something out of his bag way faster if I hadn't been there, right, right, right?"

Agatha blinked, speechless.

"I did something, I made a difference! That was like a REAL adventure! And I had it with you! A real, REAL-LIFE LURANTIS! That's just so….GRAAAH!" She had hopped onto a table at this point, jumping up and down. "D-Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely terrified of what Mom's gonna do to me when she finds out. But this was the greatest thing to happen to me since…since I dunno when!"

Choosing not to point out that she didn't really consider going to this world's version of a gym and getting beaten up an adventure, Agatha tilted her head. Was this just how the little mon dealt with being locked up?

She nodded, having decided. "So, you make no sense. Got it."

Leafeon's smile was as wide as could be. "Sorry. I, uh, guess you might not be feeling what I am. I…I need to be honest with you…especially after all…that." She said the word with such joy. "I'm…I'm kind of a Lurantis nerd."

"NOT IN A WEIRD WAY!" She corrected correctly. "B-But when I was an Eevee, I thought you guys were amazing. I hardly ever saw grass-types, only ever in books! That's how I found out about Lurantis. You guys LOOK awesome, you're SUPER tough, and you even came up with one of the coolest! Moves! Ever! If there's one thing I regret about yesterday, it's not getting the chance to learn Solar Blade."

Agatha had many regrets too. "Wait, yesterday? How long have we been down here?"

"Oh, ages." Leafeon supplied cheerfully. "Once you got hit with that sleep seed, Rowlet got Litten back up and then they dragged us both to the Association. We've been down here for hours."

"And the Sandslash?"

"Oh. I dunno. I was sort of shaken after the fight, so I don't really remember what happened to him. He didn't come with us to the Association."

Recovering from her surprise Agatha cursed. "Well. However you think it went, I'm…sorry for throwing you through the tent or whatever."

She somehow kept smiling. "It's alright. I mean, that hurt way less then that Flare Blitz of Litten's that I got caught in. Now THAT hurt."

"Tell me about it." Agatha noted the lack of soreness across her body. Had they healed her up? "Weren't those guys your friends? I know they thought I was involved with some Zoroark guy, but it seems like they were a little too eager to throw down. Or, at least Litten was."

"She's always like that. And, yeah, they're my…my friends…" Her mood dampened slightly, her tail stopping it's wagging. "…it's kinda complicated. Do you have something to do with Zoroark?"

"Never even heard of him. You know about him?"

Leafeon hopped down off of the table, padding towards Agatha and sitting down on the bed beside her. "Only stories. He's sort of Team Flint-Feather arch-enemy. He's a member of Broken-Call, some outlaws who are causing trouble out in the desert."

Broken-Call? Again? "I know about them. We dealt with Broken-Call a few days ago." Agatha said before thinking.

"So you HAVE been on adventures." Agatha thanked whatever higher-power there was here for Leafeon's more controlled smile. "I knew it. Legends, I bet Excadrill is super cool too. I wished I'd been a little braver when we first met. Maybe I could've asked him some questions…maybe 'd have come off as a little less weird, haha."

"Yeaaah, don't worry, you're still plenty weird." Agatha sighed, managing to cross her scythes and lean against the wall.

She just kept on smiling. "Maybe. Feels better then being all nervous though. Haha, ahhh, Mom's gonna kill me."

Agatha watched her for a few beats. "…you seriously never joined the Association? I get that you get nervous or whatever, but it seems like once you get past that you'd be bouncing off it's walls instead of this place's."

Leafeon flopped onto the straw, gazing up at the roof. "Maybe…but…like I said. I realized a long time ago that I wasn't cut out for it. I mean, don't get me wrong, that was amazing but…I don't ever think I could get to your guys's level. I'm…I'm fine at the Eeveelution." She curled back up again. "It's where I belong."

A few more beats, and Agatha stared at the wall across the cell instead. If she ignored the…weird enthusiasm that had been radiating from her, she could sort of understand Leafeon's love for what had just happened…her rambling had reminded her of Jack's after he'd beat a particular 'awesome' part of one of his games.

But it wasn't for Agatha. She'd created nothing but another roadblock for herself on the way to her brother. And she wasn't going to find him by sitting in a cell.

Her preparation was stopped by the sound of a door slamming open, followed by a, "LURANTIS! UP AND AT EM, YOU HAVE A VISITOR!"

As Leafeon squeaked, Agatha's heart soared. Excadrill had come for her. She couldn't think of anyone else who'd come looking for her.

Getting up off the straw bed, she walked towards the cell's bars trying to get a peek at the approaching Pokémon. Curiously, however, there was only one set of footsteps to hear. And they certainly weren't those of her companions.

The first to come into view was a Lycanroc, adorned with red fur and a scarf. Around his belt were a set of keys, denoting him as at least some sort of warden. He looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else then his current predicament.

Agatha barely paid him any attention however. Her visitor, was in fact, not Excadrill. But it was a Pokémon she recognized.

"Well." Malamar said. "You've been busy, hm?"

Fun fact, this is the first chapter to not have Excadrill speak.

Thanks for reading!