-?-

Seven figures were each sitting on what appeared to be giant rocks in the format of giant thrones. All of them had their eyes closed and seemed to be in deep thought. Not that it mattered much, for each was shrouded in darkness, mere illusionary silhouettes. They knew who each were by their voices and instincts alone.

Their surroundings were pitch black, and the ground under them was an endless abyss of nothingness. They seemed to be having a discussion, their minds linked as they debated and reported how each of their missions were going. That's how it would normally go anyway, but their topic of interest now was one of their member's mission in particular, the one they all wanted to be a part of.

"My lady, would it not be wise to simply raid the town and capture the target?" Came a mature female voice, questioning the one in the middle, "We are wasting precious time by just waiting for… him to do something. The guardian can't be that strong- Shouldn't any of us stop the search for the artifacts and go aid him? Surely she can't deal with two of us joining together."

"Did someone say 'Raid'!? Raidin' is my speciality, boys! I ain't gonna let no jeeper creeper take my title from me!" Came a rough, strangely jolly male voice sitting right across the previous female, ignoring most of what she said, "Just gotta say the word, ma'am! Me and the crew will go in a jiffy!"

"Finally! Lemme go too, I've been ACHING to have a real fight for once! I've spent MONTHS just walking around the damn DESERT!" A loud and tough male voice agreed with the previous one, he'd be cracking his knuckles, if only they weren't merely projections, "I just want an excuse to stop looking around those damn dungeons and WRECK some FACES!... Erm, not the shaytan's though. They're no fun."

"You rock-heads really believe that a bunch of villagers in the middle of nowhere would be a 'worthy fight'?" Another male butted in, this one much more serious and composed, chastising the two rowdier ones, "What are you, a bunch of primeapes? Please, have some standards." He would be rolling his eyes really condescendingly, if only they were having their reunion in person.

"Oh cut the high and mighty act, Ifrit. We all know you've been thirsting to have a serious fight too. You're pretty pent up, hmm?~" Yet another one, this time a somewhat flirtatious female, whose voice seemed to be packed with mischief, "Or you're gonna tell me you get your kicks by just staring at mossy and stinky dungeons whilst kicking braindead void shadows?"

"Pokémon, please. Hush now."

All of the voices immediately quieted down as soon as the calm, yet stern female voice spoke, belonging to the smaller pokémon, sitting in the middle, and higher above the others.

"As I previously said, we must not attack a settlement like that. If Oni did so, it would only bring us unwanted attention. Plus, with her being there, it has a chance of not working out at all."

"But ma'am, if ya'd like, me and my crew can guarantee no scallywag will be harmed. My crew can get in and-" The previous rough male tried to argue, only to be interrupted.

"Must I remind you all? We have remained undetected and unquestioned for decades. Even as time crumbled down and as pokémon turned to stone, even when a meteor threatened our planet and as ice froze our land, we were unfazed and untouched." The small figure declared, her words were strict and self assured, almost like a mother talking to her young, though with a hint of arrogance and pride.

Before any other pokémon could speak, the leader continued "Would you throw all that away simply because you cannot contain your battle lust?" She once more rebutted, never once raising her tone, for it was not necessary, "Would you, my dear Yako, throw all that away because you're feeling impatient?"

"No, my lady…" The serious female from before lowered her head.

The two rowdy males from before also seemed to be quiet now, afraid to press any further and risk angering her.

"Furthemore, by what Oni has reported, it would seem the target is unaware of our motives. Which… certainly twists things up." She sighs, pondering and weighing their options, "The risk is simply too high. You shall keep doing… what you are currently doing with the search. Oni, do look for a window of opportunity, and when it comes, take it."

One of the silhouettes, a very tall one, remained quiet during the entire debate, barely if at all moving, let alone speaking. As soon as his orders were given, he left the reunion, his seat now vacant, still without uttering a sound.

"...Creeps me the fuck out." Whispered one of the unruly male voices from before.

"Language." Said the more mature female.

"I shall be taking my leave also. There is still much to be done. I wish you all good luck on your endeavors." The leader declared, before also vanishing from her seat and leaving it vacant.

The remaining five shadows remained quiet for a few moments, before the rowdy male broke the silence, "Did you seriously just say 'Language', unironically?"

"Yes, I very much have." She quickly responded, clearly annoyed at him, "Our lady highly dislikes such… uncouth speech. Especially at reunions. You should at least pretend you have some manners, Inugami."

"Oh, we're not hatchlings, Yako. We all know what that word means, we've all probably done it." The much less serious female said, not really trying to, but still sounding flirtatious, as if it was her natural tone, "It's not like he was using swear-words after every sentence either, love. Cut him some slack."

"As fascinating as your sexual life might be, Yuki, I prefer living without knowing those horror stories." Sighed 'Ifrit', the composed male, "I have better things to do. I'll just resume the search in the dungeon. It would be much easier if those explorers stopped meddling. Call me if you need me." And just like that, he was out too.

Now only the loud voice, 'Yako', 'Yuki' and 'Inugami' were still on their seats. "UGH, why must we keep using these damn CODENAMES!? I swear I miss what y'all mean HALF the time because I forget we even have those!"

"The codenames are important to keep our identities anonymous. You know that." 'Yako' once more replied, surprisingly patient with the brute, as if it was a common occurrence.

"Yeah, YEAH… but I mean, c'mon! We're using our MINDLINK THING! Who is gonna spy on us HERE?" He had his little arms closed, grumbling a bit at the needless formalities.

"I will side with her this time. You neeever know who's peeking~" 'Yuki' said in a singsong tone, and a feminine giggle.

"Say what, you gonna tell me ya don't like your codename, 'Samebito', bud?" Teased the rough male from before.

"OH SCREW YOU H-... I mean, Screw you, 'Inagummi'." 'Samebito' quickly corrected himself.

"It's 'Inugami'. Not… the gibberish you just spoke. Seriously, we're doing this for years and you still haven't..." Yako sighed once more, "Well, as much as I would enjoy remaining here, I'd rather keep the remaining brain cells I have. Goodbye." She quickly left as well.

"She talks like she actually knows what those damn names mean…" Growled Inugami.

"Aw, don't get so huffy, love!~ You know how much she respects our lady. She picked those cute nicknames for us, so you bet 'Yako''s gonna be the one to enforce it~" Yuki giggled once more.

"Welp. Whatever ya say, shawty. Anyway, the boys must be gettin' impatient. Got a dungeon to loot, ya know? Later, folks." Inugami finally left, waving at the other two.

The remaining two kept quiet for a little bit, until the silhouette of the female began waving her tail and her head in a merry way.

"You've been thinking a bunch, don't think I haven't noticed~" Suddenly she spoke to the only other one remaining, in her singsong tune.

"Hm? Yeah, SO?" grumbled Samebito.

"That's a bit unlike you. You usually leave around the same time as Ifrit. It's like you have a thing for him~" Teased the ever-playful female, "You can tell me what's on your mind. I loooove secrets~"

"Love TELLING them, more like…" Sighed the burly male, "It's just… I feel like he's hiding something…"

"Who? Inugami?"

"No, not that IDIOT. That loudmouth BARKS whatever is on his mind all the TIME. I mean… him."

"Hmm… Oni, then?"

"Yeah. That weirdo's hiding something. I don't think his report was completely genuine."

"He's not the talkative type, but silent, stoic guys can be fun too~" Yuki teased once more, "Oni's not the kind of dude who would lie though. I don't believe he can lie, for that matter."

"Still, seems fishy to me."

"Oh yeah, why so?"

"He didn't tell us the SPECIES of the POKÉMON involved, including the TARGET, only the types. Nor did he seem very interested with SHARING many details on his report."

"That's surprisingly perceptive for you. You were paying attention... Cute~"

"Oh please, SPARE me. I gotta GO, but keep what I said in mind."

"Sure thing, try not to think about me too much~"

"The LESS of you, the BETTER."

With one last giggle from the female and a grumble from the male, the two of them finally left the little pocket dimension they used to talk, leaving it empty.

...Or so they thought, as 'Oni', the figure who seemed to leave before, reappeared. Seemingly invisible, the one sitting before that left was just a decoy. Inside his alien and unreadable mind, there only seemed to be one thought.

He needed to hurry, else others would catch on.


"Those weak pokémon hide in their huts behind their walls, clinging to their so called 'civilization', their packs and clans reliant on books and artifacts rather than natural might… but trust me when I say that all those things they hold dear mean less than nothing when you're crossing those deserts." -Alpha Garchomp of Clan Dragonblood.


-Chapter VIII: Question-

-Mirari's home-

"Okay… would you rather…" Pondered a young Jangmo-o, deep in thought, struggling a bit to come up with something, "Lawry, this game sucks! I can't think of anything to say!"

"C'mon, I believe in you. Just think of two things you think I would have a really hard time choosing between." Lawrence encourages his friend, whilst the two stand right outside the dragoness' house, staring at the endless dunes of the desert. The little fairy was also fidgeting his beautiful necklace, trying to tinker with the ornamented 'egg' in the middle.

"Hmmm… How about…" She digs deeper, trying her hardest to think of something, "Would you rather… Eat mama's delicious pecha pie… or… explore the World's Edge?"

The togepi had confusion written all over his face, so immediately the jangmo-o explained, "...That's a really difficult dungeon, that is often spoken of in legends, where they say that only the worthy have the honor of ever witnessing! It's said there's an epic treasure at the very end of it too, naturally! And all the deadly traps and shaytans (that's the crazy pokémon in the dungeons if you've forgotten!) you'd expect from such a place guard it!"

Mirari had a merry, joyful expression as she explained it in extensive detail, her voice filled with passion, as her scalie tail wagged behind her a bit. Lawrence merely had a dumbfounded face.

"...Yeah, I'll stick to the pie thanks." Sweatdropped the male, shaking his head with a sigh, "You're not really making this any difficult Mirari. You're asking me if I'd rather eat a delicious sweet pie, or go to my literal demise in some place that probably doesn't exist…"

"Uh? I think it's a tough choice! I'd rip off my scales to go to the World's edge someday! But mama's cooking it pretty hard to deny…" Her mouth watered up at the thought alone.

"Geez, you really are hopeless…" He smiled at her, noticing how easily she could lose herself on her own thoughts, very similar to himself, but oh so very different at the same time.

"I'll give you something to really think about!" He proudly declared, whilst formulating his question, "Mirari, would you rather lose your claws… or have to walk only backwards?"

"W-What sorta question is that!? I need my claws to fight and walking backwards just… doesn't work!" She illustrated both declarations by showing both her claws on her paws, and the walking backwards on the sand, her red eyes still looking at Lawrence. She eventually tripped, her frontal legs making her crash on the sand, facefirst.

"Sheeh?" She declared, face still buried in the sand. The togepi couldn't help but giggle loudly, hands on his shell covered belly.

"But that's t-the whole point of the game, silly! To choose between two evils!"

"Well!" Mirari freed herself from the sand, spitting some and shaking her body to clean her scales, making them clang melodically, "I would rather not choose between anything evil! I'd rather fix everything, or die trying!"

"That's a bit rash! It sucks, but sometimes you gotta choose, I guess."

"I don't like that. If there's even a slight chance I can make everything right… Even if it's almost impossible, then I'll try! No… I'll succeed!" She ever so proudly declared, even posing a bit as she did.

Lawrence, even if conflicted with the idealism in her words, couldn't really argue back. "Y-Yeah… I think you're right…"

Mirari smiled down at him, happy to have a common ground. Such agreement was quickly followed by some seconds of comfortable silence between them, something Lawrence greatly appreciated from time to time. It gave him some to look down on his little pendant again, still feeling somewhat blue when he remembered how he actually got it. But the fairy felt hopeful about the future. He felt like things wouldn't go bad, they couldn't when he was at the side of such kind hearted people… or rather, pokémon.

Oh wow… He still couldn't believe how calm he was with this whole turning into a pokémon affair. He must be going crazy. Or just going with the flow and trying his best is the best alternative, it's either that or go completely insane.

Besides, being a pokémon wasn't that horrible. As long as there wasn't any stalker after him, nor was he anywhere near one of those hellish dungeons, it was… fun, even. Y'know, other than the fact that he was a puny, frail fairy that barely got out of the egg.

At least miss Kommo-o and Mirari protected him. That was enough.

"... That game of yours still sucks." She dryly commented, breaking the silence, and his little inner monologue, "I would rather continue with our session of 'guess the move'."

"Your g-game's highly unfair! I barely know any moves other than like… Tackle and Grow!" Huffed the togepi, "It's even harder since there are two names for each move- The mawal and the shimabara! I mean, if I barely know what dazzling gleam is, how in the world w-would I know it's also called 'Magical Shine'?"

"Hey, at least you're learning something new with mine!" She then winked playfully at her petite friend, "Plus, you're starting to stutter way less too! That's great!"

"Hm… Guess that not having my life threatened really helps with the stutter." shrugged the fairy, continuing with a similarly playful tone, "Talking to you is okay too. Maybe."

"Just maybe?" Smirked the dragoness, suppressing a giggle.

Lawrence smirked just like her, also holding his own laugh. Seemed that she was understanding his sense of humor, and hers was rubbing on him too.

Perhaps living in here wasn't so horrible after a-

Before the little fairy could think any further, their moment was suddenly interrupted by a loud thud that came from behind them.

Both of them jumped, startled. Mirari assumed a battle ready position whilst Lawrence recoiled and tried to see what made the sound.

Both of them quickly lowered their guard when they saw a small, yellow rodent fallen face first on the ground, seemingly paralyzed. She was hugging what appeared to be an old bag, which was similarly buried in the sand.

The two kids quickly ran to their friend's aid, Pichu still remaining still as a rock as the duo helped her up, "A-Are you okay, Pichu!?"

When she got up, it was clear that the electric type was quite flustered, her usual neutral expression was one of sheer embarrassment, her face redder than lava, sand falling from her yellow fur.

"Hahah! Did I look this silly when I fell earlier?" Giggled Mirari, seeing her friend was not injured making her immediately switch back to her lax side.

Lawrence only stared daggers at her, while Pichu still struggled to recover. Surprisingly, Mirari quickly stopped her joyous enjoyment and took on a more serious demeanor, hastily the dragoness started to clean the sandy bag Pichu carried, with her draconic claws if only to aid in calming down the tiny female.

Soon enough, the electric type had recovered from the paralysis, still blushing madly, "S-Sorry about that… I didn't want to interrupt you two… And when I did try to approach, I tripped…"

"Oh trust me, I know…" Mirari playfully nudged her.

"Weren't you supposed to be at school, Pichu?" Questioned the togepi, carefully wiping some sand off her fur still, much to Pichu's continuous embarrassment.

"Y-Yeah… It just ended early today…" She answered, though Lawrence could sense something was wrong. It was that weird feeling he had from time to time, that he just knew to be right.

Despite that, he felt that the poor female already had enough on her shoulders as it was, better to not nag her about it, least for now.

"Soooooo…. What's in the bag?" Mirari pointed with one of her frontal claws, her ever present innocent smirk.

Pichu froze again, gulping and feeling the red returning to her. Shifting uncomfortably as the two other kids stared at her, expecting an answer.

"You never bring any bags when you come to play! Did ya forget to go to your home to drop it there?" Mirari continued, curiously nudging the bag.

Pichu possessively pushed it away from the dragoness, not wanting her to discover anything, "Y-Yes. That would be very correct Mirari, you are very smart…" Lied the rodent, thankful for the dragon to have somehow answered her own question.

Mirari just smiled at the compliment, proud of her 'detective skills', "I guess you just really wanted to see us, then!"

"Yes…" That wasn't really a lie, so she didn't feel as bad by saying it, "I looked forward to spending another day with you and Lawrence…"

The duo just smiled at her, making she feel like she shrunk, so she merely nodded.

"Besides… I was really looking forward to asking the Elder what that item-" She points at the pendant hanging on his neck "-Actually is."

"O-Oh yeah, we gott-"

"So we have an adventure for today!? YAAAY!" Mirari jumped at the chance, almost knocking the two smaller pokémon down with her chaotic movements.

"Mama's still recovering and doing that weird map thing she's obsessed with. So I guess it's okay if we just go! Lemme just go grab some scarves for us! Be right baaaack!~" Mirari said, in her ever so hasty voice, running inside her hut to grab the items.

"B-But Mirari we'll just-" Pichu meekly tried to stop her, only to be ignored and thrown more sand as the dragon sprinted and left the two of them alone "... Talk… With the Elder…"

"Just… Let her. She's been looking for an excuse to use those scarves anyway. She even made me use every single one of them to see which one I'd like more…"

"Really? How long did that take?"

"...T-The entire day." Gulped the Togepi, remembering the nightmarish day he had to keep switching clothing, and his friend coerced him into giving his detailed opinion on each single one, "She has a lot of scarves."

"Wow… So it would seem. Guess she could dress an entire family of buneary if it took that look to wear them all…"

"H-How big is the average buneary family?"

"... Pretty big."

"Then she could fit thrice as many with her scarves…"

The pichu could only stare dumbfounded at the traumatized togepi, patting him on the back with a slight redder cheek and an increased heartbeat that she sure hoped was not noticeable to the male.

"HEEEEEY!" The dragon came dashing back from inside the hut, with three scarves wrapped around her right frontal leg like little armbands. She halted at mere inches from the other pokémon, her sudden stop throwing a huge cloud of sand in front of her. "So, I got three of my favorites here! Scarlet red, sky blue and baby green!"

Mirari was pretty confused when she realised her friends were nowhere in sight, only two pointy, bright yellow furred ears and a stumpy, light colored arm who were both poking from underneath the sand. The muffled groaning from under there quickly prompted the embarrassed dragoness to move in and dig out the two tiny pokémon.


-?, Sand Continent-

Loud thuds could be heard, the unmistakable sound of a pokémon running through the sand. Not only that, the large clouds of sand each step produced implied it was a particularly heavy one, who was going as fast as his bulky legs could carry him.

Though his own weight was holding him back, the pokémon still ran around as fast as he could go, chaotically stomping on the ground. He was a graveler, a big, bulky rock and ground type that looked like a giant boulder with four arms.

And by the looks of things, he wasn't only grievously injured, but extremely terrified.

The big rock pokémon had one of his eyes closed shut, as well as various cuts and scratches on his armor-like body. Worst yet, some parts of it seemed to be removed by clean cuts, thus making his body seem less stocky and more irregular, with parts missing.

Behind him, a slim, dark blue furred figure casually walked, matching his speed without really trying. He merely honed his claws, sometimes playing with and grooming his fur. Looking quite bored by the 'chase'.

"So? Feeling talkative yet?" his pursuer shouted, in a emotionless and somewhat taunting tone, enough to make the rock type grunt in both pain and fear. Despite how hard he tried to run, the mere walking speed of the pokémon behind him was enough to slowly catch up to him, "Tired works too."

"L-Leave me alone, frost brain!" Shouted the slow brute, not daring to even look at the sneasel behind him.

"It's almost midday, you know? I have better things to do… Such as beheading your boss." He sighed, his right claws creating a large icicle, big enough to look almost like a dagger.

He had already taken out the rest of his small gang just as easily, after he downed the scout, it was just a matter of waiting around until the others presented themselves for him. It was far too easy, really.

Though he almost regretted leaving the giant boulder that was pitifully trying to run away from him as the only survivor. He seemed to be the closest thing their band had to a leader, so he expected the graveler to at least be reasonable and surrender.

...Which he vehemently refused to do.

So the sneasel threw the icicle at the big pokémon, hitting him in the right leg with deadly precision, the sheer power of it enough to cut it clean off. The icicle got stuck in the ground right across the graveler, his rock-like leg falling uselessly right beside it.

The now one legged graveler stumbled around and rolled on the sands below, eyes closed while he cried in agony, clutching his right stump with two of his four arms.

"So? Feel like telling me where your boss is now?" That cold voice from before spoke down to him, his intimidating golden eyes filled with contempt.

"F… Fuck you, frosty… Whatever you do to me is a rocklet's play compared with what she has in store for me if I tell ya." He smirked, still squirming and grabbing his severed leg.

"Oh? Is that a challenge?" His expression slowly twisted into a malicious smirk, now putting one of his thin legs on top of the graveler, his feet stomping his chest and keeping the criminal still, "Because lemme tell you… I hate to lose."

"D-Do your worst, snowflake…" Grunted the rock type, clearly afraid already.

"Hm. You have teeth…" Suddenly said the sneasel as he looked closer to the downed pokémon.

"W...What did you say?"

"Teeth. Didn't know your kind had 'em. You have a tongue too, fascinating. Thought you just smashed rocks with the inside of your mouths…" Cryptically replied the ice and dark type.

"S...So...?"

"So it means that after I remove your fingers…" He slowly backed his face from the graveler's, still pinning him on the floor with his foot, "And after I slowly remove your arms…"

"Then when I'm done cutting your only leg..." He clashed his wicked claws on one another, both his paws making an almost metallic like sound as they touched one another, some icy sparks even flying off them, "And gouging out your other eye with my bare claws…"

He slowly moved his left claw to touch just under the rock type's eye, cutting his rocky hide slowly, moving it down to just the side of his mouth, "...I can pull out every single tooth you have. Use them to better sharpen my claws, so after you're done screaming and crying for your mother, I'll force you to literally swallow your own tongue and have you regret the moment you refused to say what I wanted to hear."

The criminal under him felt his heart stop from pure fear, his muscles frozen and unable to muster any will to move, he felt like a mountain was on top of him, not just some thin dark type, the deep cut on his face, from under his good eye to his mouth a proof the sneasel wasn't bluffing. Rather, the ruthless bounty hunter seemed to get an enjoyment out of sadistic brutality…

… And he was his next plaything.

The unbruised and calm pokémon smiled down at him, leaning his head creepily, "So. Still think your boss is scarier than me?"

The graveler could barely move, let alone speak, muttering only incomprehensible sounds, his mouth shaking in pure fear, before he finally managed to utter something understandable, "... N-No."

The sneasel closed his eyes and crossed his arms, chuckling a bit to himself. But before he could intimidate the criminal any further, he was surprised by a giant, pointy and large stone coming from the ground, right under the sand, aimed straight at him, so sharp it would easily gore any pokémon.

It flew towards dark and ice type, the impact provoking a large cloud of sand to form.

The terrified graveler quickly crawled away, still shocked. Glad his dirty sneak attack worked. He was surprised he even managed to do it, considering the overwhelming fear he experienced.

Even still, that humiliating feeling had faded away completely. The criminal had outsmarted the hunter!

His belief was only strengthened when the cloud dissipated, revealing a big hole the stone edge created on impact, the huge rock stabbing the sand at the center.

"Hah… Ahahahah… AHAHAHAHAH!" The graveler's deep cackle boomed through the empty desert, "Not so scary now, are you!? GAHAHA! You Ice headed little BITCH! That was for my left eye and my right leg! Fucking cunt." He kept laughing maniacally, not noticing the shadow behind him.

His heart froze completely when he heard slow, sarcastic clapping coming from behind him.

"Congratulations. If I had a brain as small as yours, perhaps you would have hit a bit closer to home." The still untouched sneasel said, smiling cockily as he lazily sat on the sand, yawning right at the outlaw's face, no longer clapping, using his paws to groom his pinkish feathers and remove the sand from them.

"B-But h-how… How are you so… How did you…" The rock and ground type's life flashed through his eyes, and his heart sank, his spirit now crushed completely.

"Don't be sad. Your prize will be an anesthesia free, full scale tooth extraction. Then we can move up to those useless arms next..." Sneasel stood up with his signature smirk, slashing his claws against one another once again, whilst slowly approaching the now hopeless pokémon.

The victim could only scream and try to beg as those cold, vile yellow eyes approached him, with their brandished, wicked claws.


-Oasis Village, Plaza-

The trio were walking through the sandy streets of the village, the huts and dunes surrounding them making him feel like he was in a maze, even if the village wasn't actually that big. Guess it was the effect of being so little in scale to everything else.

The male stopped when he felt his scarf once more untie from his 'neck'. The two pokémon halted to wait for him too, both looking at him as he stumbled to catch the bright green scarf he was given. Mirari had the red one, while Pichu got the blue scarf, all neatly wrapped around their necks.

"Awww…. The wind again, Lawry?" Mirari frowned, impatient from his constant stops, but trying her best to be supportive.

"Yeah… Wearing this thing around my neck plus t-the pendant just doesn't work…" He sighed, cleaning the fine cloth from the sand that drenched it, trying to place it around his neck again, "My little hands also refuse to help."

It was Pichu who took the initiative, standing right by the togepi's side, touching both items he wore, "Hm. I have an idea."

The down to earth electric type picked both the green cloth and the beautiful necklace, biting the metallic object to hold it, as she tied the scarf around Lawrence's neck with extreme ease. Then she put the pendant on top of it, leaving it exposed for all to see.

"Won't do a good job at hiding it if that's what you wanted, but the weight of the necklace will surely hold the scarf in place." The electric type commented.

"Thanks, Pichu! I really appreciate it! You can say I'm a bit awkward with my body, hahahah…" The fairy smilled sincerely at her, making her heart skip a beat.

"I-It's fine… You're welcome…" She gulped, "I think it looks really good on you" was what she thought, and wished she could say, but her throat, tongue and mouth refused to move a muscle to fulfill that desire.

"Plus, green is not your favorite color. That would be cyan." She talked to herself, as the trio resumed their walk towards the Elder's house, "It's why I…"

She clutched the bag she carried, something hidden inside she simply didn't have the will to unearth.

"C'mon, stupid. Just pick it up. Just show it and words are gonna come naturally…" She said, her little paw shaking as she tried to put in the bag, almost as if there was an invisible shield blocking her from reaching it, her eyes closed shut, "...Won't they?"

When Pichu opened her mouth to try and speak, Mirari interrupted her. "Pichu! Isn't that where the Elder lives?"

She pointed at what seemed to be a big space with nothing.

"Yup…" Muttered the female, sighing.

"Um… Am I getting blind? I don't see any stone house there!" Lawrence declared, genuinely confused.

Both pokémon looked at him as if he was crazy, and pointed down.

"Oh…!"


-Elder Crustle's house-

The bug/rock pokémon was still as stone, resting on his little underground home, feeling at ease under the protection of his little cave, crafted by his own thick claws. The only way in was a-

With a loud thud, a small rodent suddenly appeared in front of him, sliding down the hole on the surface, falling right by him on her rump.

"Hm? Little Pichu? Why, a fine day to-" He was quickly cut off as a loud shriek pierced the silence of his cave, a round togepi coming down the entrance like a rolling boulder, screaming for his life, slightly startling Crustle.

"AAAAAAAAAAH-" Was all Pichu heard, before Lawrence collided with her, sending her forward, back on the floor with him on top.

"Hm… Hello there, little one! Let me hel-" And as if on cue, he was once more interrupted by loud sounds, but this time around, they were of pure glee.

"WEEEEEEEEEE~" A heavy, scaly dragon came sliding down the hole on the surface eagerly, with her eyes closed and a thrilled expression on her muzzle.

The other two desperately tried to move out of the way, but it was in vain, they were all run over by the much heavier pokémon, making them all fly forward to the sand wall.

"Elder Crustle, we have a question for you!" Declared the dragoness, still pressed against the wall, receiving only groans in response.

It was then Mirari realised she had all three pokémon pinned against the wall, some buried inside.

With a blush and a sheepish giggle she helped them out.

-A few minutes later-

"WHY DID YOU PUSH ME!?" Lawrence screamed at the top of his lungs, the red scarfed dragoness had her head down in shame.

"I already apologized… You wouldn't get in otherwise…" She said, almost whispering. Using her frontal paws to fix Lawrence's bent scarf, as well as wipe the sand off it.

"What's with today and pokémon falling on the sand?" Whispered Pichu, coughing up some more sand, whilst dusting off her bag, making sure everything inside was fine.

"Ohohoh... that's Mirari's legendary youthful spirit her mother always talks about!" Crustle smiled.

The older pokémon looked like a small bug or crustacean, what made him appear bigger was the large rock he carried on his back, which looked really sand-like in form. Some of it was broken thanks to Mirari's stunt, though.

"We sincerely apologize, elder! We didn't mean to disturb you in any way!" Pleaded Pichu, the other two nodding in agreement and embarrassment/shame.

"Ohohoho… Ah, hatchlings. When I made the entrance of my home a free slide, I assumed the risk!" He smiled, clicking his claws on one another playfully, "Now then, I assume you haven't come here just to experience my slide, eh?"

"No, sir… We came because of our friend here." Pichu pointed at Lawrence, who just gulped and waved.

"Yeah! He's got some super duper strange neck thingy and we don't know what it is!" Mirari explained, nudging Lawrence with her muzzle, "Show him, Lawry!"

The togepi nodded and slowly made his way to the bigger pokémon, removing the necklace and showing it to him.

The crustle carefully picked it up with his powerful claws, slowly eyeing and examining it, he seemed to change from a calm expression to one of curiosity, and then shock, "Little one… Where did you get this…?"

The togepi stared at Mirari, who nervously stared down at him and gulped, "A-A friend… G-Gave to me…"

The crustle tilted his head in confusion, but accepted the vague truth, "Hm. I would need some time to properly appraise this item, but it seems to be some sort of Mawal relic…"

All three pokémon perked up at the revelation, raising more questions than answers, "I wasn't feeling too good today, hence why I stayed in my cave to rest… Yet I still have duties that I must attend to… I don't think I have the necessary time to tell what it is for sure."

The bug pokémon almost crushed their hopes, but Mirari of all pokémon was the one to come up with an idea, "How about we do your chores, sir? Then you can look at this thing and tell us what it is for real!"

"You hatchlings would really do this old bug that favor?"

The trio nodded in unison, all smiling.

The crustacean smiled at the cute scene, chuckling to himself, "Very well. Then I promise I'll have this mysterious item figured out when you all return!"

"Yay!" Once more, the trio said in unity, earning more laughs from the old pokémon.

"So, sir. What do we have to do?" Pichu questioned.

"I'm glad you asked! It's not much really." He used his free claw to grab something inside his rock-shell, giving it to the rodent.

When Pichu opened the paper, it tripled in size, revealing an enormous list that easily covered the ground.

The three children's mouths were agape at the realization of what they just got themselves into.

"And don't forget to have fun, little ones!"


-Oasis Village, hours later-

For the rest of the day, the three pokémon walked around the village doing all sort of menial tasks, from helping the shops around the settlement with any cleaning they needed, as well as calculating their profits and what they needed to keep supplying the village. Pichu was surprisingly good at handling this sort of work.

They also had to help some houses who seemed to be weakening from the current weather, supplying them with stone slabs and other materials to reinforce their homes, Mirari easily delivered it, often with time to spare.

Lawrence helped with the smaller things, such as talking with the toddlers of the village, and asking if their mothers needed anything. It seemed that the living conditions of the settlement were quite good. Either that, or the families just refused to be honest with the little fairy, which he didn't believe was the case

"T-Thanks for your time, Miss Sandslash!" He sighed, wiping some sweet off his crested forehead, "I think that concludes my interviews for the day!"

"You're very kind, little Togepi." The quiet yet sweet female adult complimented, smiling sincerely, "It's heartwarming to see such passion from such a young hatchling. Perhaps you can be the Elder of your own village someday!"

"Oh, thanks… But I don't think I-I can! It's just so much work!"

"You've got spirit. That's the first step. You'll go far if you can keep this up. Kommo-o did good by adopting you!"

The togepi turned his gaze away, uncomfortable receiving so much praise. He was surprised to see Pichu dashing towards him, holding her old bag close to her chest.

"Lawrence! I have a delivery for-" She shut herself as soon as she saw the adult sandslash staying on the door, "I-I mean, togepi I have s-s-something to deliver… right here…"

The sandslash just quietly stared at the two. She connected the dots, and proceeded to simply leave the two at the door, without a word.

"What w-was that, Pichu?" Asked the perplexed fairy, "She was being so nice and talkative just moments ago…"

"Probably shouldn't have said your name out loud, sorry. It sounds very… Human. Hence why some of the pokémon here can get pretty…" She stared at the now empty door, "Angry."

"Plus, most of them loathe me. That surely doesn't help either." The blue scarfed pichu looked down in sadness at her blunder.

Lawrence felt his heart racing, and his blood pumping. He felt that it was unfair and unjust, even if he didn't quite get it what exactly happened, he hated it.

The togepi shoved his hands inside Pichu's bag, almost giving her a heart attack, but thankfully for her he only picked up the delivery, waving it around like a maniac.

"HEY! There's something for you here!" He said, a bit louder than he expected, quickly he lowered his voice to not embarrass him or Pichu, "Come pick it up!"

He didn't expect a much smaller pokémon to appear in the doorway, a sandshrew. That silent boy he met when he made his way to Pichu's house some days ago.

"Hi." Was all the ever silent male said, "Mom can be like that, sorry."

He surprised the togepi by genuinely apologizing. Though what caught his attention was the faint flush on the ground type's cheeks as soon as he saw pichu.

Pichu turned her gaze away, remembering the unpleasant interactions she had with the armadillo pokémon's gang of friends.

It seemed as if the sandshrew immediately understood what happened, lowering his head, ears and tail.

Feeling completely awkward and unsure what to do, Lawrence just walked up to the sandshrew and whispered something to him. The other male whispered back something, and he was handed the package.

The togepi waved to him, while he and Pichu left to regroup with Mirari.

Sandshrew just weakly waved back at him.


-10 minutes later-

"We still gotta do W-WHAT!?"

"You heard me Lawry! It says right here!" She pointed a single claw to the giant piece of paper, "'Check the water supply on the dungeon under the village'!"

"Apparently, some villagers are saying that the water has a weird taste." Pichu completed, pondering on what could be the cause, "Perhaps sand has contaminated the aquifer or something of the sort."

"Who cares! We'll be going on a real adventure! Yay!" The dragoness couldn't help but move her hips in a little quadruped dance of joy.

"Didn't your mother tell us to not go in a dungeon?" Lawrence huffed at the jolly Jangmo-o.

"She's not here, is she?" Winked the mischievous dragon.

"I can say that, despite never going there myself, the dungeon under the village is known for being very small and simple. Sometimes the kids from school hang out there, even." Pichu commented.

"See? Pichu's with me!" Mirari came and hugged the female electric type, much to her eternal embarrassment, "She wants to help the elder and find out the truth about that pendant of yours! Don't you want the same?"

Lawrence looked down, still afraid, but unable to deny the crafty dragon's words. He just moved his head up and down meekly, whispering "Yeah…"

"Then it's settled! Let's gooooo!" She picked her two friends and ran towards one oasis right outside of down, the one who was nearby, still in the limits of the town and that had the entrance they sought.

The trio were giggling and merrily talking with one another, all worries cast aside as they continued their merry day.

And as if on cue, Oni was floating right behind them, using his invisibility to more boldly stalk the kids, his quiet breathing the only thing that could give them away to an untrained pokémon.

He was waiting for his chance, seeming weary of something nearby.


A/N: There I go again with not knowing how to separate chapters! Originally, this and the next one where the same thing, but (surprise) it was just too insanely big to put up, so for pacing's sake, it's better this way. That aside, I sincerely hope you enjoy it! I posted this one way early 'cause I guess you guys waited for too long XD As always, thanks for all the support!

Lupercus1944: Thanks for always coming by to say what you think! Your reviews are always a joy to read! I do hope I can improve more things than just the dialogue, but hearing that you like it so much makes me quite proud, thank you! About Mirari outshinning Lawrence... It's honestly a bit expected, especially this early. Though I'll sure try to be sure our fairy gets his time in the spotlight too! Oh, and I implore you to not be as hasty as me on writting, patience is a virtue I throughly lack XD

Rycorop: I'm honestly quite happy to hear you like Sneasel so much! I quite like his species too, and to hear he already has a fan so early in the story brings glee to my heart! Thanks for reviewing! And regarding fanart and stuff like that... It's completely fine! If anything, it's quite flattering. Feel entirely free to draw 'em! Only thing I ask is a link for me to see it when it's done, 'cause I'm curious! :3