Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Bluer Skies - Side Stories

Maltus - Necessity

I trample through the hall as an announcement kept ringing through my head.

"Maltus, Zalgen wants to speak to you in the meeting room."

Damn it. I thought he'd have been back later. I can't let this distract me from my duties as a Guildmaster… if either the guild or any member of this organization - Cocoon - were to find out I'm a double agent, I'm screwed.

Reaching the meeting room doesn't take long - as a Pikachu, it's incredibly easy for me to move around without any obstacles in my path, so long as I use Agility a few times. The facility is labyrinthian in design, twists and turns accompanying the numerous identical doors that stretch further into confusing arrangements. Luckily, I have a map, given "graciously" by Zalgen himself… after all I've done to "help" Cocoon, I'm still surprised he trusts me so much. Still, I don't need the map; I've been around here so often I practically have the layout memorized.

"You called for me, Zalgen?" I hide my suspicion - and disdain - for the Floatzel as much as possible underneath my frown.

Zalgen's sitting straight up in a chair, drinking from a cup. If it weren't for the fact that he's the leader of Cocoon, I wouldn't even bother talking to him… I'd be able to defeat him in a fight, if only because he's incredibly weak to electric moves.

(Cocky bastard. When I bring him down, I can go back to being just a Guildmaster, because I'll have gotten rid of Cocoon for good.)

He narrows his eyes at the cup in his hands as it suddenly disappears. I still can't seem to understand how that happens. "Get rid of Trila. She's revealed our existence to the Boralo Exploration Guild, and we can't let anyone interrupt the plan. There's no benefit to keeping her alive. You'll have to push the timeline forward… is the Vessel progressing well?"

I keep my response short. "Yes. The Vessel is progressing fine. I'll take care of Trila; I've gotten more than enough information out of her."

Gray lines slowly spread symmetrically over his body as golden rings appear around his arms. I've never seen a move like this before… if it even is a move. "Someone had to have been working against us… perhaps they were taking advantage of this opportunity to stall the plan. Find out who did this. I have somewhere to go."

I feel a menacing aura over him, as if something's changed in him, but all that's changed is his appearance and clothing. I manage to hide my suspicion underneath a veil of seriousness. "I'll look into it."

I don't explain further as I walk out of the meeting room. Talking about the guild would make him more suspicious that I have any relation to it, and I can't risk that. On that note, I heard from Trila that some members of the guild were able to defeat her… she mentioned a Garchomp among others. If they were able to defeat her, do they stand a chance against Zalgen? I think I could stand a chance against him, but with all the guild members combined, they could try… and they'd be able to do much more than me alone.

The Vessel - shorthand for a Pokémon who's been branded with a marking that'll turn them into a Legendary or Mythical Pokémon, a particularly vile method of extending the Legendary's or Mythical's life - is doing fine, if fine means being abused - which Zalgen calls "training" - and eating the same bland food every day. She shouldn't be forced to have this fate. I'll do as much as I can to destabilize the plan for her sake. Whichever Pokémon wanted to revive through her will have to die, but I doubt whoever made her a Vessel in the first place doesn't have an ulterior motive...

As for how Legendaries and Mythicals get Pokémon to become their Vessels, I don't know. Maybe there are some that don't turn other Pokémon into Vessels, but I don't know of any. If they do exist, however… they could be powerful allies. But because one member of the guild, any member, might just be a Vessel themselves, as was discovered a few years ago, I can't give any credence to that theory.

Wait. The Vessel's due to be moved to another location eventually… I could sabotage the transport, send her into the path of some guild members… she'll be safer at the guild than here, that's certain. As for when she'll be moved, I don't know, but I'll be ready when that time comes, I hope.

Getting to Trila isn't hard; she's lying face up in a pool of water, as she normally does. Being an Empoleon, she normally has water around her regardless of what circumstances she's in...

"I always wanted to see you like this." My voice drips with contempt. I might as well blow some time here; it's better to let it sink in that Cocoon's soon to be destroyed.

"Why are you here? I thought you were supposed to be surveying the Vessel." Her voice is impatient, also normal for her. "Or are you tired of doing Zalgen's work for him, hmm?"

(Ridiculous. I need to get this over with now. I have more important things to do...)

I look at her with no remorse at what I'm about to do. "Zalgen wants you dead. Anything else left to say?"

Her face twists into an expression of shock as she slowly gets up from the water. "W-what?! He can't just do that! I can still work, o-or fight!"

"You really thought you could get away with spilling information to a guild, even unintentionally? You can't even understand someone's tone when they're trying to kill you." My voice is cold, so different from how I usually am at the guild; I don't have any sympathy for her or any other Pokémon in Cocoon.

"W-what do you mean, understand? I swear, the information was leaked from another source, not me! I was fighting members of that guild, trying to get them off my tail! I didn't even reveal the name of this organization, what we do, or anything we want!" She's almost out of the water, which means she wants to fight me, or run. I'd better end this now before things get messy; any signs of a fight or worse, her running out of this facility, will mean I spent too much time talking to her.

"It's over." I shock her with a Charge Beam as I get closer and closer, the pool of water acting like a conductor as the electricity continues to shock her.

"G-gahhhhhh!" Her body convulses, but she's not dead. Not yet.

I'm standing right next to her now as her breathing gets heavier. I shock her as I stare directly into her eyes. I don't need to hold back any information now, since she'll be dead before she gets out of this room. Zalgen or any other Pokémon in his circle can't hear everything in this facility, even if they'd like to. "Cocoon will fall. I'll make sure of that. I'll kill every member of Cocoon if I need to, to ensure the guild doesn't get involved in this any further."

Her eyes glimmer with rage. "The guild? You're related to that guild… the Boralo Exploration Guild?! I'll tell Zalgen… you'll die before I do, I swear-"

I glare at her as I slam a paw right through her chest, the water in the pool turning more and more crimson.

"Brick Break. A move I've kept secret until now. You're done for." I remove my paw from her chest as she looks at me, her twitching eyes now full of malice.

"Y-you bastard… you'll get what's coming to y-you… if Cocoon's plan fails, you won't be able to g-get what you want e-either..." She struggles to get out of the pool, but I'm already two steps away from her. She won't reach me, much less the door to the hallway.

I shock her again, this time with a Thunderbolt, as she screams. As she falls to the floor, just outside of the pool, I stop shocking her. It's done.

I take a deep breath, stepping over her lifeless body as I mutter, "I did what was necessary."

The room is silent, save for my breathing. Blood pools below Trila's body, and her once bright yellow eyes fade and become duller. I can't believe what I've just done, but there's no time for me to think about it. I glance at the doorway, fearful of anyone looking in... but I don't need to be afraid. This is what Zalgen wants, and it helps me to eliminate members of Cocoon, regardless of what he says...

I walk to the meeting hall again, not bothering to wash the blood off my paw. I don't need to worry about that right now; it serves as proof that I did what I was asked to do.

(I'll save the Vessel… I don't want that child to suffer at the hands of Cocoon. She'll be able to grow into what she wants, without the interference of anyone else… and that's what's best for her.)

I hate killing, and I hate being in Cocoon... I must do this for the Vessel.

Tomorrow, I'll return to Boralo Town, to the guild… and someday, someday, Cocoon will fall. Whether it's by me or other Pokémon, it will happen, and we'll all be happier for it.

It's what's necessary.