Chapter 5: Offers


Rex woke up to Bristle's shrill screaming again. But as he came to a slow and groggy consciousness, he didn't want to wake up. He could barely understand the sound of her hurling threats and epithets about how lazy and useless he was. But why did that matter? Sleep was so nice...

Next, he felt his body shaking back and forth as something tugged at his tail. His arms and belly tore up the hay beneath him. He weakly pulled an eyelid open to see Bristle fuming, a vine from her buds encircling his tail and flinging him around. How annoying... Didn't she know he was trying to sleep?

She noticed his half-open eyelid and looked even angrier. Another vine slapped his face, leaving a faint sting. That hurt...

Strangely, her anger seemed to simmer a bit. Now he saw a hint of concern in her eyes as both vines slowly retracted. She said something he couldn't quite make out. Then she turned and rushed from his room.

Ah, that was nice. Now he could go back to sleep. He closed his eyes and smiled faintly.

Unfortunately, his peace didn't last long. A few minutes later he was being shaken awake again. This time faster. He peeled an eye open to see Dedenne had come now, with Bristle and Claydol watching anxiously from the doorway.

Dedenne shoved him onto his back and climbed over to his face. He stuck his paws into Rex's mouth and pulled it open. That seemed a bit intrusive, Rex thought. Then Dedenne reached over and picked up a familiar, oozing purple berry. Rex felt the tainted fluid seep down his face and into his open mouth.

It tasted really awful. He wished Dedenne hadn't done that. It was making it harder to sleep.

Dedenne ducked down and picked up his closed frill. He ran his paw along it and eyed it closely before forcefully pulling it open. Really, this mouse had no concept of personal space...

Dedenne said something to Bristle. Then sparks formed along his whiskers. He let the current loose, flowing directly into Rex's body.

Suddenly Rex was fully awake. And the instant he was, the taste of the berry hit him.

"Gah! What the hell!" he cried, hacking berry juice onto Dedenne as he jolted upright.

"Yepyep! Photoreceptors were understimulated! Helioptile was dangerously undercharged!" Dedenne nodded excitedly, completely ignoring the regurgitated berry on his face.

Rex was keeled over, desperately trying to choke out every last bit of berry juice caught in his throat.

"Well done, Dedenne," Bristle remarked. All of the concern had vanished from her face in favor of a smug grin. It was Rex's turn to taste Dedenne's experiments.

"What happened? Also someone get me some water," Rex groaned. Claydol's head clicked up and down in a nod, and he hovered from the room.

"You wouldn't wake up. I had assumed you were simply being lazy, but apparently you were... undercharged," Bristle slowed as she realized she had no idea what that meant. She looked expectantly at Dedenne.

"Your electrical charge isimportant toyour basicbodily functions aswell as your attacks," Dedenne explained. "If you allow yourcharge to get critically low it willinduce severe lethargy."

Rex nodded. "Alright, and how do I... charge? I didn't see a USB-port anywhere," he finished coughing. Blank stares met him in return. Right.

Dedenne stepped forward and grabbed his frill. "Hey, back off bud!", Rex wrenched his frill back and glared at him. He did not like that part being touched.

"Helioptile frills contain photoreceptors that convert sunlightto electricity," Dedenne ignored him. "Directsunlight generates charge."

He opened his mouth to protest about the frills making him crazy. But then it clicked.

"Low charge causes lethargy... Too much charge causes mania," he muttered, more to himself than Dedenne.

"Itshouldn't. Your body should naturally prevent overcharging. But some Helioptile have defective selfregulation," Dedenne instinctually began licking bits of the berry juice off of his own face.

Claydol returned with a small clay cup of water and set it down in front of Rex. It turned one eye to Dedenne. "You require something to clean your face," it noted.

"Nonono! I onlyhave somuch sample of reject thirteen left to workwith!" Dedenne shook his head vigorously. "Itwill takeweeks to growmore!"

"...Noted," the totem eyed Dedenne suspiciously as he continued to lick the sickening juice from his face. The stench of it was starting to fill the room.

Rex grabbed his cup and took a sip, swishing it around in his throat. The remainder of the reject berry washed down, relieving him of its awful flavor.

He continued, trying to recapture Dedenne's attention. "The other day when I first opened my frills it completely blotted out my sense of pain. I was totally energized, even though I'd been tired beforehand. That sound defective to you?"

"Firstopened?" Dedenne asked.

Rex groaned internally. He didn't want to have to explain this again.

"Where I came from it was super sunny. My frills got enough light without having to be fully open," he lied, praying it made enough sense to escape further questions.

"Verystrange. I have notmet a Helioptile from the farsouth before. I didnotknow," Dedenne seemed to buy the excuse. "Yourregulation maybe defective then. Exercisecaution. Evenif you don'tfeelpain, overcharging yourself doesnot prevent injury. Infact, you're morelikely to hurtyourself further without proper painsignals."

"Okay... " Rex contracted his frills and grabbed one between his claws. "And as long as I keep my charge at a good level, I won't go manic like that?"

"Yes. Regenerate charge through dailysunbath. Direct sunlight withoutmoving. Twentytothirty minutes. Charge will expendnaturally and asyourelease voltage. Unnatural light canwork ifnecessary, but sunlight isbest."

He must have been full of charge when he first woke up, Rex realized. When he first opened his frills he overcharged in the intense sunlight. And since he hadn't sunbathed since... That gave him a good idea how fast his charge depleted naturally.

"Alright, thanks Dedenne," he gave the mouse an earnest smile. This wasn't too bad. Light was easier to come by than food or water, and it meant he could open his frills without having to worry anymore.

"Youshould gocharge now. Myjolt was justoget you backup," it spit out, pacing restlessly around him.

Rex pulled himself upright and stretched. "Yeah, I guess I am still a bit tired. I just open them up and stand in bright light?"

"Yepyep!"

A groan from the doorway caught everyone's attention. "Of course..." Bristle glared up at the ceiling. "I wanted to be on the road almost an hour ago. We've got to make it to Solemn Meadow today."

Rex threw his hands up in defeat. "Sorry for nearly dying? Again? It's twenty minutes."

"Fine. I'll get my bath in too, to save time this afternoon," she huffed, gesturing impatiently for him to come.

"Solemeadow?" Dedenne perked up, and he started digging through the crushed berry remains on the floor. The more he broke it up, the worse its odor became. "Can youmake a delivery forme?"

Bristle's posture straightened immediately as she brought one rose in front of her dramatically. "Of course! The Rosethorn Guild would be happy to fulfill your request," she switched to a stiff professionalism.

Her confident stare wavered as Dedenne held up a pawful of seeds, coated in a foul purple ooze.

"Oh, stars... Who in the world wants these?" Bristle scowled. She held one of her own roses in front of her nose, desperately trying to overpower the stench.

"Deliverto Leafeon in Solemeadow. Tellhim special request fromDedenne," Dedenne continued shoving them at her impatiently.

"Fine. Rex, take the seeds," she ordered, recoiling away from them.

Rex glared at her. But what use was arguing? She was just going to whine until he did it anyways. He stepped forward and swiped all three seeds from Dedenne's paw. His face curled up at the rancid smell, but he quickly tossed them into his bag and closed it up. He could still smell them a bit, but the juice would dry before too long.

In return, Dedenne slide a handful of coins to Bristle. She eyed them skeptically before accepting.

"Very well. Your delivery will be made posthaste," she nodded.

"Thanks again for your help, Dedenne," Rex said while throwing his bag over his head with a big yawn. "We should get outside before I pass out again."

Dedenne walked them out front and bid them farewell with an overexcited wave. Bristle guided Rex back up on top of the chasm walls.

Again, her legs disassembled into roots, and she rose her flower buds high with a gentle smile.

Rex glared up at the sun anxiously. Guess he just had to...

He popped his frills open as wide as he could and let the sunlight bask across them. The last two times he'd done this, he'd been too busy fighting to pay attention to it. But now that he was able to relax and focus on the feeling of sunlight hitting his frills, it felt... nice. Like a warm bath.

He trilled and straightened his back up with a big smile. He shut his eyes, and he could feel his energy slowly restoring.

"Sounds like someone is enjoying themselves," Bristle remarked with amusement.

"I haven't felt this good since I first woke up here," he purred, stretching higher.

"Well, don't get too comfortable. We're just taking a quick bath, and then we need to hit the road," she responded with an uncharacteristic warmth. She seemed to be enjoying her bath just as much.

Of course, she wouldn't be happy for too long. Cause Rex knew he wasn't going into any more mystery dungeons. Being incinerated once in a lifetime was enough for him. He had never signed up to fight monsters. He just wanted to eat.

But he wasn't telling her that now. No, this was the first nice, peaceful time he'd had in two days. He would pick that fight when he absolutely had to. She'd whine, and pout, and make threats. But she still needed him, one way or another. He'd convince her of that.

"So, where are you from, anyways?" Bristle's even voice broke his thought process.

Rex froze up a bit. He'd never expected her to actually bother ask a question about him. It was honestly annoying. Now he had to come up with a lie.

Nothing he'd seen had suggested it would be dangerous to admit the truth to her. But it still felt wrong to confide in her. If she knew how desperate he was, it would just give her leverage. And he'd rather save that secret for someone who actually gave a damn about him.

So he'd have to exercise his specialty: spewing bullshit.

"Well, it was really far south..." he started, drawing on what Dedenne had said. "It was... an isolated community. We were all the same species, and nobody ever really came or went." He paused to bait more questions.

"What continent was it on?"

"Uh..." he didn't know any continent other than Trespis, which he'd already said he wasn't from. "It was a small island, I think? We never really left..."

"Did your village have a name? How did so many Helioptile end up on an island?" she prodded more.

"It was uh... Sunlight Village?" he tried to mimic the simplistic village naming scheme. He was about to correct her on his not being a Helioptile, since he'd already told her that, but thought better of it. If she hadn't been listening to him, maybe it was for the better. Especially since he had lied to Dedenne right in front of her. "Don't know much about the history of our village. Never really questioned it."

"I see... And you really have no idea how you crossed the sea and ended up in Trespis?"

"Not the slightest. Last memory I have was sleeping soundly in my house."

"Mmm..." she mumbled, and then fell silent again. Something about Helioptile's story didn't quite sit right to Bristle, but she couldn't place what. Eventually she shrugged it off and returned to sunbathing in peace.

After about thirty minutes, Rex felt the anxiousness setting in. Taking that as a sign he was done, he shut his frills and let out a sigh.

"That's much better," he smiled.

Bristle's roots retracted from the ground and reformed into her legs. "Alright, now that you're satiated we can finally go," she said with a look of relief.

"Uh-uh," Rex held out a claw with a grin. "One thing first. You told me to eat before we leave, to avoid cutting into supplies."

Wordlessly, she slipped a vine into her bag and tossed an apple at him. He grabbed it just in time to stop it from pelting him in the chest. "We're not stopping in any mystery dungeons today, and we're behind schedule. Let's go."

Rex groaned. "Do you people eat anything other than apples?"

"They're easy to carry, filling, keep well for a few days, and you can eat them while you walk. They're ideal for delving. If you want something else, get up early and eat it before we start in the morning," she said, her cold air slowly returning.

"Right, I'll try that next time I'm not dying," he grumbled as he chomped down on the apple.


Rex was pleased to learn that the road to Solemn Meadow was a far more peaceful route than the prior day's travel. No raining debris, no uphill trek, and most importantly, no mystery dungeons. After they'd descended down from the foothills of the mountain, they'd travelled northeast, into the sea of trees below.

As they went on, the forest grew thicker and thicker. The dense canopy gradually blocked out more and more sunlight, until they were wandering through a dim shade. But the shadows did nothing to quiet the activity of the woods. Birds sang, bugs whistled and skittered, and here and there smaller rodent-like Pokémon would dart betwixt the trees in hunt or in play.

All-in-all, it unsettled Rex. Watching creatures he was trying to accept as sentient, intelligent beings run wild in the woods was really messing with his perception. It was like if every time he went to the park there were feral, naked humans climbing up trees after squirrels or something. An image he was now struggling to get out of his head.

After a few hours he was relieved by the sight of a building through the trees. It was almost shrine-like in appearance, and its wooden beams would have blended in perfectly with the forest, if not for its sky-blue coat of paint. Then Rex noticed that the path split up ahead of it. It was subtle, but the singular path they'd travelled split off in several directions. And with that realization, he saw everything else.

The structure he saw was not the only one; dozens of similar buildings were all throughout the woods ahead of them. All in different sizes, and shapes, and colors, but all maintaining the same sort of dignity and cohesion with the woods around them. The various Pokémon roaming about the area didn't look wild, either. They'd nearly stumbled into Solemn Meadow without him even noticing.

"This isn't a meadow," he observed aloud, glancing around as he tried to pick out the various buildings.

"The meadow is up ahead. We're heading there first to drop off Dedenne's... delivery," Bristle glared at Rex's bag accusingly. She could still smell the rotten berry juice, ever so faintly.

"You seem to know the place well," Rex commented as Bristle guided them between the trees, down a path he could barely see.

"I've travelled back and forth between the villages for over a year now looking for delving jobs. You know, since no one gives them to me unless I specifically ask. Can't get lost in the woods every time I come here," she grumbled.

Rex could see light up ahead as they approached as the approached the meadow. Just beyond the sequestered village was a massive clearing, large enough to have fit a stadium. But instead it was almost entirely empty, a singular wide open space for villagers to enjoy. Many of them seemed to be appreciating the sunny day, resting in the light or playing with friends. None of them paid the duo any mind.

Instead of entering the meadow, Bristle led Rex around the side, to a corner of it that had been allocated to farm fields. Near the back of the fields, a large wooden house rose up along with the trees. It lacked the decorum of the other homes, but still had a bit of rustic charm. And it more than made up for it in size.

Bristle marched right up to the front curtain and snapped a vine against the doorframe loudly.

A moment later, a Vaporeon stuck its head through.

"Oh! Hi Roselia! Were you looking for dad?" she asked with a smile.

"O-oh! Is that you, Eevee?" Bristle asked with surprise. She had no idea that Eevee had evolved since she had last seen the girl. That was perfect.

"Yep!" Vaporeon beamed with pride. "A few months ago now! It's been too long."

"Yes, it has," Bristle said with an unusual sweetness. The little kit had been one of the few people in Solemn Meadow that Bristle was fond of. She'd always asked Bristle for delving stories when she saw her. Eevee had only been a kit, but at least she respected Bristle.

"Yes, we have a delivery for your family," Bristle returned to business. She added with distate, "More of Dedenne's... experiments."

"Mom isn't up yet, but Dad's out in the fields. Come on, I can find him for you," Vaporeon stepped outside and wandered towards the fields, glancing back for them to follow.

Rex eyed her over curiously. He was starting to appreciate the game of wondering what kind of creature would open the door whenever they knocked. Between the visible gills and the mermaid tail, he was wondering what this one was doing on land.

Vaporeon led them back through rows of crops, which Rex noticed were surprisingly normal. The bulbous and colorful berries he'd been snacking on were present, but he also recognized more normal crops. It seemed like almost everything was in season. Carrots, squash, zucchini. For the first time he was optimistic his diet might not consist of berries and apples forever. He just needed to find a Pokémon that could cook!

Eventually Vaporeon found Leafeon, blending in amongst the plants. The tired-looking Pokémon watched them approach curiously.

"Hey dad!" Vaporeon called out cheerfully, "Roselia came by with a delivery from Dedenne."

"Get them out," Bristle nudged Rex impatiently. He glared at her and pulled open his bag, digging through for juice-stained seeds.

"Here you go," Rex presented them to the plant-cat, wincing at the stickiness.

"More of his abominations, I assume?" Leafeon asked in a deep voice. He reached out to take the seeds in his mouth, but as soon as his tongue touched them he spat them out with a growl. A thin vine grew out from a small, leafy growth on his neck and coiled around them instead. It pulled back and stored them between the petals.

"Uh-huh," Bristle said. "Real nasty stuff."

Leafeon nodded and turned to look at Rex. "We haven't met. I'm Leafeon."

"Uhh... Rex," he said, instinctually throwing a hand out in front of him. After an awkward moment, he pulled it back. "Sorry," he muttered sheepishly.

Leafeon gave a deep chuckle. "Don't be. I actually need that. You two looking for work?"

"Yes!" Bristle responded instantly.

"Good. As you can see, we've got our work cut out for us this harvest season," he said, sweeping his gaze across the bountiful fields. "But I'm afraid we have too many paws and not enough vines and hands. Any chance you could help out with that?"

This was not what Bristle had meant. They were looking for delving work. Of course, delvers often helped out with various odd jobs. But this wouldn't do anything to improve her reputation. If she didn't spread the word around as soon as possible, people might hear about Team Pride before her. And tomorrow they had to head back to check the job board.

But turning down a request right now would also be bad for their reputation... Even if it was just labor today, what if Leafeon needed a real job done soon? No, there was only one solution to this problem...

"Helioptile can help you," she resolved without so much as glancing at him.

Rex spun and stared at her. "Excuse me?" The fact she had volunteered him and not herself meant something about this would suck, right? She was definitely screwing him over.

"Yes. I've got business in town tonight. And we'll have to be out tomorrow. But he can assist you for today," she ignored his protests. He was tremendously bad at taking instructions.

Leafeon looked them both over curiously, trying to figure out the nature of their relationship. "Well, it's eighty Poke to you for the rest of the day. Do a good job and I'll even throw in dinner," he raised.

Rex thought that was tempting. As long as he stopped Bristle from snatching up the money before he could, he'd finally have some coin of his own to work with. And he wanted to hope this farmer knew how to make real food, growing crops and all.

"Fine. I can lend a hand for a few hours," he said directly to Leafeon, refusing to validate Bristle by looking at her. "What do you need?"

"Hands, mainly. Claws will do, I guess. Can start off picking cucumbers. Toss 'em into the little bins, and when they fill up cart 'em back to the house. Stow 'em by the wall and Dusk will pick 'em up when she gets up. Spritz, you done with your break?"

The Vaporeon gave a nod. "Was close enough to done anyways, I can help out."

"Good. Assuming everything's been watered already, help ferry his bins back as much as you can. And wash off a few things for dinner tonight," Leafeon instructed.

"Seems like things are good here. I'll get to my own work then. I'll return for Helioptile, and hopefully dinner, a bit after sunset," Bristle said with a nod. She could use the extra time to work out how she'd recruit Vaporeon.

Leafeon raised an eyebrow at her self-invitation to dinner, but let it slide as she departed.

Rex couldn't shake the feeling she had just rented him out like property. What exactly was he getting out of her? So far all Bristle had accomplished was condescending to him at every opportunity, making him look like a fool to everyone they'd met, and getting him nearly burnt to death.

He shuddered at that memory. Sure, he hadn't endured any real, lasting damage from the experience. But for a few isolated seconds in time, the pain had been unbearable. Why would he ever willingly risk that again?

And in return, Bristle had given him... a few apples and a cheap inn stay. Which didn't mean a lot it seemed, considering how easily they'd just been handed work. Maybe this was a bad approach. This wasn't getting him any closer to his goal.

"Are you okay?" Vaporeon gave him a concerned look. She'd started guiding him over to the cucumbers. "You seem upset."

"I'm fine," Rex shook his head, "I've just been having a bad couple of days. These are the right ones?" he asked, pushing past enormous leaves and gripping his little claw around the stem of what he assumed was a cucumber.

"Yep. You're supposed to give them a little twist. Then just drop them in one of these bins, and once it's full I'll bring it back to the house for you," she pointed out a tiny wooden bin. Looking around, dozens of them were littering the area.

Rex twisted and the cucumber broke off easily. He pulled himself out from the brush and dropped the huge fruit into the bin. The singular cucumber filled nearly a quarter of it. Confused, Rex looked at the plants around them, wondering if his cucumber had been particularly large. But all of the ripe ones looked about the same size.

"The bins are tiny," he pointed out. "It'll take hundreds of trips to bring it all back."

"Yeah, that's how it goes..." Vaporeon laughed sadly.

"Why don't you use bigger bins?" Rex asked, diving back under the plant to find another ripe cucumber. When he emerged with his prize, she was looking at him with a funny smile.

"In case you didn't notice, we're lacking in hands," she raised a paw in demonstration. "We use small bins so me and mom can drag them. My little brother still has trouble with them though." That thought prompted her to sweep her eyes across the farm, but she didn't see him anywhere.

"I see," Rex said, on the prowl for his next fruit to pluck. It was interesting to see how these creatures adapted to civilized life in spite of their different physiologies. Even Rex could tell that that Leafeon had seemed exhausted. There must have been a lot of pressure on him to get things done with his vines.

"So, while we work... did you wanna talk about your day? It's okay if it's something personal," she probed.

"It's whatever," he grumbled. "Roselia keeps being an ass, I'm lost and not getting any less lost, and I got set on fire yesterday. Oh, got it!" he hopped out of the bush and turned to see Vaporeon staring at him incredulously.

"Whoa, that's like, a lot of things to unpack," she muttered. "You're a delver like Roselia, right?"

"Something like that... " he sighed as he tossed the cucumber into the bin. The tiny thing was full already. "I needed some work, and I didn't quite get what I was signing up for."

"Wow... That's awesome. I always wanted to be a delver," Vaporeon stared at him in admiration. He wanted to laugh. There was nothing impressive about being Bristle's errand boy.

"Well, if you enjoy being abused all day, Bristles recruiting," he snorted.

Vaporeon laughed. "She always has been a bit... prickly!" she said with a huge grin, looking at him expectantly. "It's a rose pun..."

Rex gave her a pitying smile for the unappreciated pun and threw another cucumber into the box. It was overflowing now. But Vaporeon still didn't pay it any mind.

"So like, Roselia aside, what's it like?" she asked eagerly.

"Uh... honestly?" he hesitated. Did this girl want him to break her disillusionment?

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I always imagined it had to be like, super exciting and all. But maybe that's just cause it's so quiet here all the time. I wanna know what it's really like!"

"Well, I've only been at this for two days. And it's kind of sucked? I mean, even putting aside Roselia, the first dungeon she dragged me into I ended up getting severely burnt. And otherwise we've just been doing little odd jobs that anyone else could have handled," he answered. Seeing the disappointment on her face, he decided to throw her a bone. "But I imagine it's probably different for real delvers. Roselias kind of a hack."

Vaporeon perked up a bit at that reassurance. Rex tossed another cucumber into the bin, which promptly rolled out and hit the dirt.

"Oh. I should probably bring that back now..." she giggled sheepishly. She bit down on the small handle and began to drag it towards the farmhouse, leaving a trail through the dirt behind it. Rex grabbed another one of the scattered bins to take its place and dove into the plant again.

A few minutes later, Vaporeon came bounding back. By this time, Rex had already filled up half a dozen more of the bins.

"Oh dear..." she mumbled as she surveyed the bins. "Guess this is what dad always means about 'paws'. You're so fast.".

That made Rex laugh. "Sorry if this is a rude question, but I've got to ask. Why are you guys farmers if half of you don't have the uh... fingers for it?" he inquired as he finished off another bin.

"It's a family farm. Great grand-pappy and his mate started it. They were both Leafeons, and so were our grandparents that took it over. Mom broke the trend, and I guess I did too now. If I don't find a Leafeon for a mate, and if Mumble doesn't evolve into one, we'd be the first generation without one."

Rex nodded as he quickly pieced together a theory of what she meant by 'evolve'. He picked up one of the filled bins. "Here, I'll help you clear these out."

She nodded and began tugging one herself. Walking through the fields again, Rex had a newfound appreciation for the insane amount of work that had to go into growing all of this. In the past fifteen minutes he had cleared out maybe a single plant and a half. And they still had to haul it all back. To plow these fields, plant all of this, water it all, monitor it all, harvest it all, sell it all, then clean it up to do it all again... It was no wonder Leafeon had looked exhausted.

"So it's just four of you then?" he asked in disbelief.

"Technically... " she dropped her grip a moment to answer. "Mumble can't really do much, so he usually goes off and plays with his friends."

"Whew. I've got to admit, I'm impressed. I can't believe four of you did all of this without hands."

Vaporeon didn't drop the handle to respond, but he could see her beaming.

They brought their bins up to the side of the farmhouse, where a massive field of similar ones were already lying, filled with the various crops. They set them down and then headed back to the patch they were in before, grabbing another two bins to drag back. Then another set, and another. Until they were all gone.

"Alright, that's about it. Back to plucking," Rex set down the last filled bin and wiped the dirt off of his claws as they walked back. The process was already becoming rote, and they hadn't harvested so much as a single percent of the field.

"Sooo... You said you explored a mystery dungeon, right?" Vaporeon asked him with starry eyes, as he went back to swimming through the sea of leaves for cucumbers.

Rex held back a sigh. This girl was clearly enamored with delving, as little as he wanted to think about it right now. He was surprised Bristle hadn't gotten to her yet.

"Yeah, yesterday. Wasn't a very nice place," he scowled. But when he turned again, he could see her pleading eyes. So he relented.

He told her all about Bristle's 'evaluation' as they worked. How she'd done nothing but watch for the first few quadrants, how the dungeon had apparently 'deviated' just to spite them, and how Bristle had fallen and he'd nearly met the same fate. He kept up his lie about defeating Magmortar though. Didn't want to risk the truth getting back to Bristle.

"Wow! That's amazing," she said, releasing her bated breath. She'd slacked off on dragging bins while she listened, and they were quite behind again as a result.

"Did you not hear the part where I got cooked alive?" he glared at her. Talk about insensitive. He walked over and grabbed one of the bins himself. It was clear she'd need his help again.

"Haha, sorry. Was it that bad? Fire doesn't seem like such big deal to me anymore, but I guess that's just me..."

"Yes, it was bad. It was the most painful thing I've ever felt. Probably," he growled.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "It sounds like you got super unlucky. I'm glad you seem better now."

Her genuine concern caught him off guard. He was used to Bristle's constant dismissal of his pain.

"Thanks... You really think it was just bad luck?" he asked cautiously. He'd brushed off Bristle's assurances that it was a freak accident instantly. But the Vaporeon had no stake in this.

"Well, I guess I don't really know. But I've never heard of anything like that happening. And I always try to keep up with the delvers that come by..."

"You want to be a delver, don't you?" Rex asked the obvious.

"It's a fun fantasy," she giggled. She gestured across the fields with a paw, "but I've already got a job. Without me, not only would dad have one less set of paws, but he'd have to hand-water everything. Mom couldn't even help, since that has to be done during the day."

"You enjoy this? Cause I've been doing it for a few hours now and I'm already bored," he confessed.

The question gave her pause. "Well, it's not exactly fun. But it's peaceful. It's a bit hectic right now, since it's harvest season and dad went overboard this year. But it's usually a decent enough way to spend your time. Very few surprises, and it's not too hard."

"Guess I'm just surprised. You seem so excited about delving."

"Like I said, it's a fantasy. I'm not going to let our farm fall apart so that I can chase a dream," she said solemnly.

Rex shrugged. "Well, I think the only way this farm is going down right now is if it drowns in cucumbers. Let's get these back."

Vaporeon nodded and clamped down on her own bin.


"So if you find yourself in need of expert delvers, send notice to the Rosethorn Guild in Tranquil Knoll!" Bristle finished her sales pitch to a skeptical Scyther.

"Noted." the Scyther said shortly, and pulled its curtain shut before she could respond.

With a huff, she stepped back onto the path and looked around. It was always easy to miss homes in Solemn Meadow, what with how they blended into the woods around them. But she was pretty sure she'd hit all of them, as well as any passerby she had wandered near.

Her campaign here had gone better, all things considered. Nobody had given her a job outright or asked to join. But at the very least she hadn't heard the name 'Team Pride' all afternoon. No, the problem here was that things were just too quiet. No one ever wandered near enough to a dungeon to need delvers.

But at the very least everyone knew they were here now. She just had to wait for something to go wrong.

And besides, her best shot at a new recruit was still ahead of her. The rambunctious little Eevee had been fixated on every one of her stories. There was no way the kid would turn down the chance to become a real delver. Though she was a Vaporeon now, which was even better. If Helioptile had done a half-decent job, he'd hopefully secured them both dinner with the family.

She squinted up at the canopy, making out a dimming sky behind it. It seemed like it was nearly nightfall. It was about time to go pick up her subordinate, and hopefully recruit a new one.

Just as she started on the path up to the farmhouse, she noticed a Pokémon she hadn't spoken with yet. Something small was wandering down the road, a large gray cloak dragging through the dirt around it.

"Greetings," she approached the Pokémon. The figure practically jumped, turning in a panic and staring at her in disbelief. Beneath the hood was a downtrodden Eevee. "Oh, you're Leafeon's kid, right?"

Slowly and silently, he nodded, still looking dazed. Roselia had barely seen Leafeon's other child before.

"I was just heading back to see him myself," she said, gesturing for him to walk with her. "I'm Roselia, Guildmaster of the Rosethorn Delvers Guild in Tranquil Knoll."

"Nice to meet you," he mumbled without meeting her eyes.

His head sunk down, and he silently walked beside her. Bristle considered asking him what was wrong, but it was probably not a problem she could help with. The child was no doubt feuding with some friends, or left out of a game, or something petty. There was no kind of job he could offer her.

The pair made their way up the winding path to the farmhouse. Bristle paused to knock on the threshold again, but Eevee wordlessly pushed past the curtain, and she followed hesitantly.

"Leafeon?" she called out, feeling like an intruder. Inside the house was a rustic living space. A few mats sat around a large, low table suited for quadrupeds. A softer bed lied by the hearth, and a few toys were strewn about the room that were collecting dust. A staircase spiraled up to a second floor.

"Roselia?" a soft voice emerged from the other room, where Bristle could see several bins of fruits and vegetables neatly ordered. A moment later, an Umbreon stepped out, rings glowing faintly.

"Good evening Umbreon. Leafeon mentioned coming by for dinner?" Bristle explained.

Umbreon tilted her head. "Oh... He had mentioned a Helioptile. But we can certainly have another... We have no shortage of food," she said with a gentle smile. "Good evening, Mumble," she turned her smile to the Eevee, who had silently thrown off his cloak and nearly escaped up the stairs.

"Good evening Mom," he muttered. Then he vanished from sight.

"Taproot and Spritz will be back in a bit," Umbreon returned her attention to Bristle. "Tap likes to work a while after dusk during the busy season, just to get a bit of extra headway in."

As if on cue, Vaporeon's head pushed through the curtain, shoving a small bin filled with various vegetables. "Evening, mom!" she greeted Umbreon cheerfully. "Dad told me to wash these for you, for dinner. We'll be done soon." She gave Bristle a friendly nod and exited the room.

Bristle cursed herself for not taking the opportunity. But the eager girl had been in and out before she could figure out what to say. That was fine though, she had all of dinner to recruit her.

"If you're going to stay for dinner, could you be a dear and start cutting the vegetables for us? I think Tap would quite appreciate it... and I don't think I can be much help with that," she said, raising a paw with a goofy grin.

"Very well," Bristle nodded. It was only fair, if she was going to eat their food. She followed Umbreon into the kitchen, where bins of fruits and vegetables were strewn about everywhere. Scattered cooking supplies littered a low countertop. Umbreon directed her to a stripped Pawniard blade attached to a wooden handle, which she lifted up with a vine and examined.

"Nice knife," she approved. Of course, she had seen far better ones back in Sapsion City. Somehow the engineers had drawn out the properties of a Pierce Orb to produce ones that could cut through nearly anything without dulling. But around here, a Pawniard blade was still a good find.

She dragged the bin over to the low counter and sat down to meet it. She pulled a potato from the bin and began to cut it into pieces. The knife was a bit dulled, but it did the job.

"So, how is Vaporeon doing since she evolved?" she asked, hoping to gain some insight on her target.

"She's great. She's happy, and she's been a huge help. Tap was so relieved to have more help during the day. I think that's why he went so overboard this year..." she laughed. "Just like him to finally get some breathing room and then snatch it away from himself. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he had to stop working."

"So, she's enjoying helping out?" Bristle asked with a frown.

"Well, she's hardly enthusiastic about watering every day. But she seems to be happy with her evolution, and at the very least she seems glad to help relieve the pressure on her father. Hey, you're not squeamish, are you?"

"Of course not," she huffed, offended.

She heard a loud thump and turned to see Umbreon dragging a Zigzagoon carcass towards her.

"Good," she laughed. "I'm going to start stripping the fur off of this... I won't make you carve it though. Tap can do that when he gets in."

Bristle turned in disgust as Umbreon began to rip fur off of the dead feral. There just had to be a more dignified way of doing that.

"It's kind of scary to think that she's evolved already though," Umbreon mused sadly between tearing into the carcass. "Once Mumble evolves, that's it, no more kits... "

"Does he know what he wants already?" Bristle asked while chopping a carrot into perfectly uniform bits.

"Well, I don't get to talk to him all too much... I watch the farm at night, after all. And I try not to prod about that when I do. We all know how much Taproot wants him to be a Leafeon. And I'm sure he wants to make his dad proud... But I don't want him to feel pressured."

"Doesn't seem like the type to say much anyways, even if you asked."

"Well, that's why the kids started calling him Mumble," Umbreon smiled. "He doesn't need to decide right now anyways. Stones are expensive, and it hasn't been too long since we found one for Spritz... Let him stay a kit for a while."

Who would want their kid to stay a kit? Bristle's own mother had wanted her to evolve as soon as possible. Bristle had hated herself as a kid for taking so long to evolve. The small and frail body of a Budew had held them back. The weakest apparitions were formidable foes to her, and her vines could barely lift up a supply bag. Her and her mother had both rejoiced when she finally achieved the capable form of a Roselia.

But she knew better than to question the strange Pokémon around here at this point. They wanted everything to stay the same.


Rex eyed the sky anxiously. He had been sure it would all be over once the sun hit the horizon. He was supposed to be free.

Instead, as soon as dusk fell, Leafeon came over and informed them that he was going to start cooking dinner. To keep working until he came and found them. So they'd continued on for another hour. And Rex. Was. So. Booooooored.

Working all afternoon into the evening, they had cleared out maybe a fifth of the cucumbers, tops. A mere fraction, of a single crop. And the worst part was that Leafeon had seemed impressed. How did these people not lose their minds? It would take weeks for them to harvest everything.

He felt bad for this poor Vaporeon. Kid had dreams, and instead she was doing the same menial labor, day in and day out. Had he worked a 9-to-5 when he was human? Was that why this was driving him so bonkers?

But finally, Leafeon came and relieved them. This was it, this was his payoff. He crossed two claws and prayed that the farmers had made some real food.

His nose answered his prayers as soon as they entered into the farmhouse. Six stone bowls sat around a low table, the lovely aroma of stew rising out of them all. A friendly-looking, black-furred fox and a drab brown one sat at the table. To his disdain, Bristle took up another seat. He sat down with Vaporeon and Leafeon in the remaining seats.

"This smells so good..." his mouth watered. He didn't even care that there were no utensils. Had he degraded so low he'd slop it right out of the bowl? Absolutely. He grabbed his bowl eagerly.

"Glad to hear it," Leafeon grunted with a stern nod. "You can thank Dusk for that. Fresh Zigzagoon."

Rex froze moments from lapping it up. Oh god, there was another Pokémon in this. Wasn't that like, cannibalism?!

He watched the rest of the table in a nervous sweat. They were all happily digging into their own meals. He had to assume it was made of ferals, but... that image of a naked man chasing a squirrel up a tree kept flashing in his head.

"What's wrong, Helioptile?" Vaporeon finally took notice of him frozen with the bowl at his face. Now all eyes were on him.

"I... uh... " he didn't know what to say. Everyone else was eating it just fine. Maybe ferals weren't capable of sapience? Maybe there was no moral conundrum here at all. But even so, it still made him kind of sick. "Uh, sorry! It's just been so long since I had real food that wasn't just fruit," he said. Trying his hardest not to think about it, he took a big gulp.

What did it matter? This feral was already dead. They wouldn't eat them if they were intelligent, right? He'd get Bristle to confirm that later, and then he'd just have to get over the discomfort.

And the stew was definitely making that easier. It was real, honest-to-god, stew! A bit under-seasoned, and the feral meat tasted weird, but it was real food! He wasn't doomed to eating berries and apples for the rest of his life!

Mmmm... his concerns slipped away into contentment. Based on Umbreon's warm smile, and Leafeon's look of approval, his enjoyment had been noticed.

"She been starving you?" Leafeon asked with a deep chuckle.

"Hardly," Bristle rolled her eyes.

"I've had nothing but apples and berries for two days," Rex explained with a wide grin between gulps. "Been missing real food."

Bristle cast him a side-eye. Did he need to complain while she was hoping to win over the Vaporeon?

"Well, hopefully we'll be hiring a chef before too long," she said. "Just need a few teams up and running, and then a guildhall."

"Feel like you're glossing over a few important steps, but okay," he muttered.

"What's this about a guild?" Vaporeon perked up. "Are you starting one around here?"

"Yes! The Rosethorn Delvers Guild is officially open for business in Tranquil Knoll. We're still getting set up, but you know where to look for all of your delving needs!" Bristle boasted with a huge grin. Just as she'd thought, the Vaporeon had pounced in.

"A whole guild, out of Tranquil Knoll?" Leafeon raised an eyebrow. "Where exactly are you getting teams? Or a workload, at that?"

Bristle held back a scowl. Always the same questions. The answer was that she'd find them both. And the first was right in front of her.

"That's why we're out advertising and recruiting. Between the three villages, I'm sure there's sufficient interest to get us started. And I actually wanted to come by your home today, in specific." Bristle turned to look directly at Vaporeon. "Vaporeon, I know you were always so interested in my delving stories. We could always use a strong, evolved Pokémon like you in our guild. How would you like to join?"

Bristle held a confident smile, but she was nearly shivering in anticipation beneath it. Flak Grotto was a bust, and nobody had come forward in Tranquil Knoll, but this was her best shot. Everyone in the room had frozen, and every eye was on Vaporeon now. Leafeon looked particularly agitated.

"I... I- uh..." Vaporeon got a strange smile as she shrunk back a bit, pawing at the bottom of the table and refusing to look up. "I'm sure it would be a ton of fun, but... I've gotta stay here," she said with a hint of sadness. She finally looked back up to glance at her parents. Umbreon was giving her a consoling smile, but Leafeon still looked angry.

"Oh." was all Bristle could muster. She was doomed. No one would ever join.

"If we're going to be poaching at the dinner table, I have my own offer to make," Leafeon growled. By the way his family tensed up, Bristle knew she had made a mistake offending the farmer. "Helioptile, you were a tremendous help today. How would you like to stick around for the harvest season? You can enjoy a real meal and a warm bed every night, and your share in our sales from the year's harvest."

Bristle nearly cried out. He'd entirely turned this around on her! If he took Helioptile, she'd be back at square zero. Getting a third member had been hard enough! No one would join a guild of one!

As tempting as the promise of real food was, Rex would sooner shoot himself in the head than spend every day pulling cucumbers from the endless sea that awaited outside the farm. Bristle was a pain in his ass, and delving seemed like a pretty poor deal, but somehow monotony had proven itself even worse. And trapping himself on a farm like this would effectively be abandoning any attempt to determine why he was here, or how he could regain his memories.

But Bristle was expressive to a fault, and he could see her squirming. He couldn't hold back the smug grin that curled across his face. There was no way he was putting his lot in with Leafeon, but that didn't stop him from leveraging this.

"Well, I don't know..." he started. His smirk betrayed his faux indecisiveness, but Bristle was too flustered to notice. "This stew is very good... And Bristle never gives me real food... That's quite the tempting offer."

"Oh, please!" she shouted, half with panic and half with annoyance. "We've been on the road. I can show you where to eat in town when we get back!"

"But will we even have time for breakfast and dinner with all that delving work?" he asked innocently. As if they actually had any real work.

"We can fit in a quick stop most mornings, as long as we're not too busy. This is a ridiculous thing to get hung up on!" Bristle hated to endorse his slacking, but she was on the verge of a crisis here. A few lost minutes in the morning was acceptable.

Rex on the other hand was having a blast. God, this was the most fun he'd had since he got here. She was even more torn up by this than he'd realized! Which meant this was the perfect opportunity.

"Well... I guess that's good... But if I stay with Leafeon I won't have to enter anymore mystery dungeons. I'm not so sure I'm comfortable going in one again, after what happened with Magmortar..."

"What are you even talking about? We won! Nothing happened!" she shouted with genuine confusion.

What did she even mean nothing happened? She'd endured his flames as well, and she was twice as flammable as him! How had she just brushed that off?

"We got burnt alive!" Rex shouted angrily, breaking his facade. "Maybe you don't have nerve endings, but I do! That hurt! That hurt a lot!"

Vaporeon, Umbreon, and Leafeon watched silently, not daring to interfere. Leafeon was no fool; he knew what was going on here. His offer was being used as a bargaining chip. It was a shame, but he at least enjoyed seeing Roselia put in her place for violating his hospitality.

Bristle seemed genuinely stunned and took a moment to formulate an answer. "It hurt me too. But I told you, the dungeon won't kill you. Less than a day later, you're totally fine!"

Rex slammed the table with his tiny claws, to disappointingly little effect. "I'm not totally fine! I doubt I would have slept last night if I wasn't literally dying. I can't stop thinking about those five god damned seconds! I'm not going anywhere near another god damned dungeon!"

The realization hit Bristle suddenly. Her voice lost its usual feistiness as she asked, "You never battled before coming here, did you?"

"I- I don't know?! Not that I remember?" he said, surprised by the question.

"I'd never even considered it... " Bristle muttered. "I've battled since I was born, so I honestly forgot what it was like entirely. Even most of the villagers around here get a bit of practice in."

Rex's confidence sank a bit as he noticed the three farmers were staring at him with equal surprise. Did they know something he didn't?

"What are you talking about?" he growled.

"Pokémon are made to fight," Bristle explained with unusual empathy. "It's healthy and natural. Most people even enjoy it. And as we fight we build up a tolerance, both physically and mentally, for injury. Even the most pacifistic people tend to train through play when they're young. But if in your village there really was no fighting whatsoever... you'd have no resistance built up."

"That's absurd. You're telling me that it just... goes away? You just stop feeling pain after you get hurt enough?" Rex scoffed.

"She's actually right about that," Leafeon interjected cooly. "And no, you don't stop feelin' pain. Pain is necessary, it's how your body talks to you. But you start to learn to see that pain as a message from your body, and not an attack. Course, if you just keep throwing yourself into agony, all it'll do is mess you up in the head. But if you train it gradually, it gets better."

Umbreon spoke up next. "Even if you don't want to keep delving, it's important to train at least a bit so you can defend yourself from ferals. Oh, I wish I still had the wound to show you... I got a nasty bite hunting down tonight's dinner... But I sealed it up quick with Oran juice. It was quite painful."

Rex wanted to resist this idea. He wanted to call them all crazy. But it wouldn't do any good. And truth be told, in a world of eldritch labyrinths and wild animals that shot lightning, it probably made a lot of sense for people to build up a tolerance for pain. But he didn't have whatever was in their heads that let them endure pain like that. His head was just human, right?

Or maybe there was nothing magical about it at all? Maybe that was just how tolerance worked? He was no psychologist; human or Pokémon.

Then it occurred to him what they were suggesting.

"So, you're saying I should just... get hurt?" he asked exasperated.

"Not just get hurt. You need to find someone on your level to spar with. Too weak and they won't test you at all. Too strong and they'll just mess you up," Leafeon explained.

Rex was starting to realize that what they were suggesting sounded a lot like working out. Maybe this was the equivalent for Pokémon. It made the idea sound less crazy at least.

Bristle sighed. "Fine, if you come back with me, we can train in Rolling Fields. You seemed to do okay in there," she grumbled. "I wanted to work on your attacks anyways."

Was that an acceptable answer? He'd have to go back into dungeons again... But truth be told, as much of a nightmare as it had been at the time, Rolling Fields hadn't been too bad. Most of the fear had come from his confusion. The apparitions there hadn't been much trouble even without Bristle and all of her gear.

Man, that was crazy. What had been the realm of his nightmares just two days ago was already something he was minimizing. What had changed in two days?

But either way, it sounded like he'd need to fight if he wanted to survive here. At least enough to be able to defend himself.

"I'll... give it a try," Rex finally relented. "Thank you for the offer Leafeon, but it sounds like I need a way to build up this tolerance. I don't think I'll find that here," Rex carefully worded his declination so as to leave the door open. He wanted to hold this over Bristle later if needed.

"I understand," Leafeon said with an earnest smile. "Feel free to come knocking if you ever change your mind," he played along, all but winking at Rex.

The tension relaxed across the table, but especially from Bristle. She looked like she'd just escaped the brink of death. Vaporeon and Umbreon seemed pleased that a fight hadn't broken out. And Mumble...

Rex tilted his head. "Where'd the kid go?" he asked, waving to the empty mat where Mumble had once sat. A half-filled bowl of stew remained in his place.

Leafeon shrugged and returned to sipping at his own stew. "Probably up to bed. He's good at slipping out quietly."

Umbreon and Vaporeon seemed less convinced, but neither said anything. Rex stared at the half-filled bowl with a bit of concern. But it was none of his business. He finished off the remainder of his own stew, wondering if seconds were available.


Mumble darted through the woods, concealed beneath his mother's shaggy raincoat. It was far too big for him and dragged on the ground around him, but it kept anyone from questioning him. Not that there was any risk of it. Nobody ever paid him any mind.

Maybe today they would have, seeing the distress on his face as he held back tears. But he didn't want their pity. He didn't deserve it.

He'd tried so hard. He really had. Dad was always so tired. He worked so much for all of them. Mumble just wanted to help him. But he was far too small, and too useless, and too...

He couldn't resist crying anymore as he ran. For all of his attempts to be a help, the Helioptile had come in as a complete stranger and done more for dad than he had in years. It was that easy, for anyone else. But not him. He couldn't do anything right.

The delver was so impressed with Spritz that she tried to recruit her. That was Spritz's dream! But she had to turn it down because he was too useless to do anything. Because she had to pick up all of the slack he had left behind.

Mumble saw his hideout in the distance. Outside of it sat a little field space, poorly plowed by tiny paws, and filled with dying plants of every variety. His every failed attempt to grow anything. That had only shown the truth: all he could do was mess up and kill stuff.

He dove between the tree roots and threw himself onto his stolen bed. He curled up into a tight ball and let his tears flow out. Why was he like this?

After a few minutes of indulging his self-pity, a glimmer caught his eye. Even the tiny bits of moonlight streaming down through the canopy and between the tree roots were enough to make it sparkle. He looked again at the stone lying in the center of his den.

It was an almost glassy orange crystal, and the tiniest bits of light bounced a thousand times through it, making it shimmer like it was filled with cinders. A fire stone, wrapped in an ornate cloth.

He remembered the shadow's words well:

Their spirits are fading away. You can help me save them. You don't have to hurt anyone. Just do as I tell you and trust me to do the rest.

It sounded totally crazy. It sounded like exactly the type of thing his parents would warn him to be wary of. But right now, the thought that he could do anything was so alluring... even if it was only a lie.

He got up and crept closer to the stone. Becoming a Flareon was pretty much the only choice he had never considered. What use was a Flareon on a farm? A Leafeon was the obvious choice. A Vaporeon could water crops, and an Umbreon could defend from nocturnal scavengers. An Espeon had telekinesis and a Sylveon had ribbons, which were both good for harvesting. A Glaceon or a Jolteon could at least fight off thieving birds.

But a Flareon? What did a Flareon do but burn and destroy?

He cast a glance to his dying garden out front. Perhaps a Flareon did suit him...

He thought of the emptiness behind dad's eyes each night after a grueling day in the fields. He thought of the sorrow hidden in Spritz's voice every time delving came up. Truth be told, it really did seem like their spirits were crushed. But that couldn't possibly have been what the shadow meant.

He wanted so much to believe. That all he had to do was touch this stone and play his part, and he could really help them. If it was all true, he'd really finally do something right!

And if it wasn't, he'd destroy things and make life worse for everyone... But if this wasn't his opportunity to turn things around, then he was probably fated to be useless forever.

The truth was, his choice didn't really matter, did it? If he didn't do this, he'd be a screw-up forever. If he did do it, then maybe he'd be a monster, or maybe he'd be a hero. But it was out of his control which he'd be. He'd be putting his trust in the shadow.

The Pokémon had hardly seemed trustworthy... but right now, if there was even a chance he could help them... that was better than being forgotten forever. If he was being tricked, then so be it. He was only accelerating the inevitable end of his own tragedy.

More tears forming, he curled his trembling paw around the stone and held it. It was so warm in his grasp.

"I'm sorry..." he mouthed impulsively, as his body melted away to light.