.5

"Air is a rich continent. We have culture going back centuries, all the way back to when Pokemon Plaza was just a small town in the middle of nowhere. Beautiful, deep culture that deserves to be preserved and cherished, not polluted by outsiders coming in from unsavory lands. And it is my opinion that that culture, and this continent, would only be richer without the presence of barbarians from Grass."

~ Mayor Honchkrow of Baram Town

~\({O})/~

4.

Nuzleaf

~\({O})/~

Baram Town ~ Air Continent

~Mawile~

"And that's why the Expedition Society has applied with Cloud Nine for Continental Aid," Mawile finished clarifying, taking a bite from a chesto berry as she talked. "With the Rescuer's Guild down for the count, we're the closest establishment to step in."

Archen lay in the room's one bed, sound asleep. That was fine. Mawile considered sleep to be a natural detriment to the activities of the mind, and with the help of chesto berries, scientifically proven as harmless stimulants, she had built up enough stamina to regulate her sleep heavily to once every few days. While the other Expedition Society members referred to this habit as "unhealthy", they could not deny Mawile's much faster work-rate, and that she did not have to worry about missing the morning role call. For now, she would take the path of maximum efficiency.

"Hmm… That's certainly troubling…" Ampharos responded, his voice crackling through the gadget. "But unfortunately not unexpected. You'll be meeting with law enforcement?"

"What little is left," Mawile replied. "It turns out the Air Continent relied on the Rescuer's Guild a little too much to establish a serious police department in its absence. Hence, why no-mon heard about this sooner."

"Troubling…" Ampharos' voice paused over the line again. He was likely weighing his next response. "I encountered a few of our shadowy nemeses on the way to Serenity Village as well. A trio of beheeyem, who used attacks much in the same vein as what you just described."

"What about the Wigglytuff's Guild?" A third voice butted in. "Or the Helping Adventurous Pokemon Prosper Institute itself? Couldn't they help?"

"This is a private conversation, Dedenne," Mawile chided.

"Not really," Dedenne's dry response crackled. "Don't forget, everything on the line goes through me first. Nothing's private."

"I'm afraid she has you there, Mawile," Ampharos' voice chimed in. Mawile was 67% certain she heard mischief in his tone, but she decided to write it off as voice distortion for his sake.

"HAPPI's main headquarters is primarily located on the Mist Continent," she answered. "They're currently experiencing a winter storm at the coast of Noe Town in direct opposition to our drought, and couldn't respond in time even with our early transmission. And the Wigglytuff's Guild is disorganized-as-usual, so they won't be of much help responding to off-continent emergencies. We're on our own."

"I see…" a pause from Ampharos. She assumed he was pondering. "Anyway, the main reason I called was to inform the Society that I may be staying here in Serenity Village a little longer than intended."

"What?" Mawile's voice was accompanied by Dedenne's.

"Is this because you're worried you won't make it back?" Dedenne asked. "Because we can send somemon. Buizel hasn't had any serious missions in a week; I'm sure he'd be happy to go—"

"—I'm afraid not," Ampharos cut in over her. "Although I do appreciate the offer. I've run into some… unexpected difficulties searching for the Human."

This was news to Dedenne.

"What?" her voice crackled through the gadget, ridden with disbelief. "You're searching for a Human? What led you to even consider that?"

"Why not?"

Ampharos' cheerful reply left Dedenne—for once—speechless.

"…Shouldn't you at least have some evidence to go on first?" she slowly asked. "There hasn't been one in fifty years."

"We do." Mawile put a word in before Dedenne could start another one of her one-sided rambling sessions.

"Jirachi picked up two pulses of immense teleportation energy on the Pokemon Nexus," Ampharos' voice explained. "Both occurred exactly a week apart, and both landed in this area. Such energy has only ever preceded the arrival of a Human, and the arrival of a Human has only ever preceded imminent disaster, which I fear we may be on the brink of. That is why it is of the utmost importance to find this Human and bring them back to the Society, where we can properly prepare them for the trials they were brought here to face."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense." Dedenne's cowed voice crackled through the line.

Mawile finished her chesto berry, grimacing briefly at the dry, bitter flavor it had.

"I'm afraid I now have work to focus on," she told them. "There are countless sheets of paper waiting to be filled in, and I must have them all at the Baram Town Hall by sunrise tomorrow."

"You guys aren't gonna make any more calls tonight?" Dedenne asked, yawning. "I'm gonna go home."

"I'm 98% certain of it," Mawile stated, inking her pidgey-feather pen and pulling the first sheet of a formidable stack of paperwork towards her.

"All agreed, then?" Ampharos asked.

It was all agreed. All three pokemon removed their connection orbs from the slots.

~\({O})/~

Kangaskhan Cafe Residency

~Ampharos~

Ampharos, under the blankets with his tail lantern snaking out, stuck his orb back in right after, flipping off the call function on his gadget. He didn't need to be hitting that button by accident; the last time had been… undignifying. Dedenne had grumbled for weeks.

The shiny, blue connection orbs never stopped amazing him. They could record decent sound of anything and relay it back to any gadget it hooked up with… or, in his case, a connection orb of the same frequency. Ampharos had Jirachi to thank for that little trick – the feature was designed for Bunnelby's spelunking missions, but this was a rather clever use of it, if Ampharos did say so himself. A foolproof way of determining whether the Human was on the school premises or not. And they said detective work wasn't easy.

But as the audio recording finally synced up with his gadget, his hopes plummeted and the lantern on his tail dimmed. The nighttime chirping being recorded right now was blaring through the speakers. Baffled, Ampharos flipped into the saved recording and sped it up. His lantern dimmed even more. The entire four hours of audio from where he started were just the same outdoor noises.

They must have left it somewhere outdoors, Ampharos realized. He suddenly felt far less clever than he had a second before. They were children. Of course they had lost the orb in the middle of the forest. What had he been thinking?

But alas, what was there to do but try to salvage this? He began to pour through the rest of the audio, stopping it every five minutes or so to see if he had stumbled upon a hidden clue. They were children, after all. There had to be something hidden in all the mess…

~\({O})/~

~Espurr~

Slowly coming to. A wall of darkness greeted Espurr's vision.

Confused, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and stood up. All around her was nothing but solid, featureless black, so dark it almost hurt to look at. She didn't think that was possible.

She moved her foot and heard something splash. Looking down, she noticed she was standing in water shallow enough that it barely covered more than her feet. Despite the lack of light anywhere, her reflection shone down on it like it was day, and she could see herself just as easily. She lifted her foot out of the water, and it came out dry.

It was all wrong. There were so many little ways in which everything was wrong that Espurr decided she must have been dreaming. That was the only way any of this made sense.

Great. She needed more unfamiliar things in her life, like creepy dreams with nothing around no matter how far she looked. The darkness was really beginning to hurt to stare at now.

They came. Softly blowing gusts of wind swirled around her in circles, and she caught the rancid stench of something dead from it. Everything else felt hazy, but that was vivid. Each gust of wind belonged to itself, and they travelled in a flock. They whispered things to her, things she couldn't understand but she could tell resonated with her deep down. One of them was louder than the rest, and that whisper spoke a word she could understood:

Human.

A sudden cackle erupted from the wind as Espurr fixated on that voice, and all of the sudden the breeze that was circling her swiftly took off into the unseen distance.

No. It had just teased her with some kind of answer. She was falling for the obvious trap if she followed it, but what else could she do? She wasn't going to let it slip away that easily! So she took off after the gusts of wind, but the dream must have made her clumsier than before. She kept tripping over her stupid legs and landing in the dry water, and she just couldn't keep up. Before long, the wind had completely disappeared, and Espurr felt tuckered out. She fell to her paws and knees in the water she couldn't feel, trying to suck in more air than she could hold.

Groaning in pain and disappointment, she unsteadily pulled herself to her feet again. She'd tripped, fell down, and lost it. Now what to do? It wasn't like this dream was getting any more full.

As she waited, another wind ruffled her fur. This wind was different. It was the bad wind, the one that smelled like something had died. But it wasn't soft like the gusts from before either; this was stronger. It blew against her from behind, not letting up even after ten seconds. And if anything, it was only getting more powerful.

She hadn't believed that anything could be darker than the black that was already around her, but somehow it was. She couldn't make out the outlines, but there was something massive out there behind her that was as dark as you could go and then darker, and it was getting closer by the second—

Just as she found her footing, the last of her courage was blown away. Dream or not, she wasn't sticking around for when the Black Thing arrived. With a terrified squeak, she turned and ran for it. The wind was getting stronger against her fur as the crashing void came closer, and the wind nearly knocked her down from how mercilessly powerful it was. She tripped again, her own feet tangling around themselves, falling face-first into the ground. The blow to her face hurt. The dream seemed to laugh. Dreams weren't supposed to laugh! Dreams weren't supposed to hurt! She rolled around as quickly as possible, trying to edge back as the massive void came closer and closer. It hovered over her like a storm, winds howling loudly and battering her harder than anything she'd ever felt. She whimpered, terrified, cowering before it. Surrounded by rotten wind, she could smell that terrible stench of decay again, so strong she felt like passing out. What would happen to her if she passed out in a dream?

The massive black void reached out, a swirling, cyclonic tentacle erupting from its being. As it grew closer to Espurr, she saw that it was made up of millions of frenetic black particles, whirling around like they were caught in a storm. Her heart nearly stopped just from fear. She had to get away, somehow! She needed help! She needed to keep moving!

Espurr rolled over on her left side to try and crawl away, but suddenly a blinding pain filled her left arm—

~\({O})/~

School Clinic

Espurr shot awake in the familiar school clinic, nearly falling out of the straw bed and just stopping herself from yowling in terror. It took a few seconds for her to stop panicking, glancing around at the perfectly normal clinic room with its bark-coated cabinets and peach-painted walls. It was all a dream… it was all a dream. Her left arm ached; she realized she was leaning against it uncomfortably. She heard Deerling shift uncomfortably in the bed behind her, undisturbed.

"Y'all are trippin' me. What do I know 'bout all this language-teachin' stuff?"

The hushed voice floated into her ears, mingling with the first blue-yellow wisps of daylight creeping through the window. Others? At this hour of the morning? As Espurr calmed down, she honed her ears in on the voices.

"You'll get a curriculum, of course. None of our teachers are left without one." That was Principal Simipour. Espurr recognized his voice from when he had spoken in the office that night.

"But I ain't one of them te—"

"You're the only pokemon we could find in a timely manner. Besides, your name was on the board—"

"That name was done marked up on the board years ago! Was… volunteerin' for janitor duty an' stuff like that."

"I see… Well, it is a bit of an emergency. Our students are all taught basic reading and writing by their parents—it's one of the Serenity Village School's base requirements. We simply can't teach without it. Now, on occasion, there has been the odd student who just hasn't learnt it all or is on the younger side, and we've employed independent tutors to nudge them in the right direction. But with the summer festival right around the corner, those tutors are all on leave, and we can't just call them back at a moment's notice. Therefore, we had no other choice. It takes a village to raise a child, after all."

"But…" The other voice tried to protest, clearly running out of excuses. "Ain't there hundreds other pokemon more qualified than me?"

"Just follow what's in the book, and you'll be fine," Simipour assured the unseen pokemon. "And if it'll make your day any better…"

Principal Simipour's voice lowered into a whisper, and Espurr had to lean in to hear what he was saying. Too far—too far! She almost toppled off the straw bed, barely catching ahold of the bed with her good arm and holding herself up. It made enough noise to make Espurr freeze up in fear. She pulled herself back up onto the bed, trying to make as few crackling noises against the straw as possible.

Too late. The two adult pokemon outside the clinic went silent–they must've heard.

"Ah…" Simipour sighed after a moment. "Nothing like the sound of students eavesdropping in the morning, though my Vice Principal might disagree with me there. I'll leave you two to get acquainted."

Espurr felt her face heat up, mortified. So much for stealth… She heard him spin around in the dirt, then saw the messy blue crop of fur adorning his head through the window as he passed by. She stretched in the bed, trying to prepare herself. A moment later, the door to the clinic creeped open, and a pokemon with a large leaf adorning its head walked in, carrying a large book in his bark-y hands.

"Mornin'…" he said, noticing Espurr. "I see you're up an' all."

He walked over, taking a seat in the straw bed that had housed Tricky just a day before and setting the book aside from him.

"My name's Nuzleaf." he introduced himself, holding a hand out towards Espurr. "I reckon I'm to be your language teacher until that blue monkey gets his priorities sorted out."

The gesture felt familiar in a way she couldn't explain. Espurr took it, standing up to reach Nuzleaf's hand with her good paw. She looked back at Deerling, who was sleeping on her side with her back against the straw uncomfortably. Her fur was mottled in places, dull, fading pink clumps of hair sprouting unevenly and falling to the ground. Espurr felt secondhand discomfort. That looked like a rough night.

"Now, I ain't the expert on teaching," Nuzleaf began, opening the book to its table of contents. "But I reckon you'll do just fine flipping through the book yourself."

"Wha–"

Before Espurr could finish her sentence, he lopped the heavy textbook into her one arm. Espurr had no chance of holding the large book with only one good paw. It thumped to the floor of the clinic loudly, jolting Deerling awake.

"Huh?" she mumbled incoherently, gazing at Nuzleaf. "Who's the… leaf-head…"

A second later, she groaned and flopped her head down onto the straw, fast asleep once more. Nuzleaf sheepishly picked the book up from the floor, glancing around to make sure he hadn't broken anything or disturbed anymon else.

"…Maybe we should do this outside," he admitted.

~\({O})/~

The school looked like a completely different place in the early morning. The blue light of dawn crested over the blackboard, and Espurr could barely see the sun beginning to rise from behind the desks. Nuzleaf directed her towards the seats, and she took the one she could smell herself and Tricky on. It was more familiar than the others.

Slam. The massive book was on the desk in front of her now.

"You okay practicing on your own?" Nuzleaf asked, kneading his hands together stiffly. Espurr just looked at the book, printed in symbols she couldn't recognize, then looked at him again, like it was obvious. Shouldn't it be obvious?

"You're… supposed to teach me that?" She could hear the bewilderment peeling off her voice.

A light breeze ruffled her fur, the cool, breezy kind and not the foul-smelling bad wind. Nuzleaf only seemed to grow more nervous in silence. She errantly realized she couldn't feel his thoughts like everyone else. He seemed… empty. Why was that?

"Oh. Right. Darn." He flattened the leaf atop his head back nervously as he picked the book up again. "Slipped my mind you can't read an' all. 'Guess I'll have to do the teachin', then."

He must've been really nervous.

He couldn't seem to stay in one place for long. Espurr watched him get sit down on the other desk, then get up again and walk over to the blackboard, picking up a piece of chalk and marking down several numerals on the board.

"This here…" Nuzleaf began, jotting the rest of the markings down. "Is the Unown Alphabet." He glanced back to make sure she had gotten that. Then he put down the chalk and flipped the book open again.

"Now, legend says pokemon borrowed it from the human language an' all, but… 't doesn't matter," Nuzleaf continued. "The most important thing is, just about ev'ry pokemon here on this continent uses this alphabet. Got any questions?"

Espurr just shook her head. He'd barely begun. What useful questions were there to ask?

Nuzleaf just picked up the chalk and began to write again.

"Now, I ain't gonna tell you the history an' all—I reckon one of your other teachers will cover that just fine—" he continued, his back to Espurr. "But I think we can get all these letter sounds sorted out before school-time. This one here reads…"

~\({O})/~

School Clinic

Espurr learned one thing by the morning's end, and it was that she didn't like school anymore. Nuzleaf had tried to jam twenty-six different sounds inside her head, and by the time the other classes had passed she could barely remember a single one. She knew she couldn't learn a language in a single day… but seeing just how long of a road she had ahead of her made her want to deflate. She wanted to learn it now. She wanted to be caught up with everymon else. Why couldn't she learn it in a night?

At lunchtime, eaten inside the school clinic, she accidentally dropped some of her lunch on the ground. She was bending over slowly to pick the pieces up, making sure her cast wasn't too jostled on the way down, but suddenly she realized one of them, a nut, was lifting off the ground. Was that… coming from her? The moment she noticed it fell to the ground, but with enough concentration, she was able to make it slowly rise, unsteadily wobbling in the air towards her–

"Psst!"

Espurr jolted in startlement, the nut missing her paws and clattering to the ground loudly. Restraining a sigh of annoyance, she turned around. What now? She wasn't in a good mood today.

She came face-to-face with the grin of Pancham, catching her off-guard. They hadn't talked at all since they had met outside the Foreboding Forest, and she was personally fine keeping it that way. Neither one of them had tried to change that…

…Until now. Espurr wondered why.

"What do you want?" she asked, suspicious.

"Yeesh…" Pancham raised his paws, falling back into one of the three nests in the clinic and stuffing them behind his head. "Cut your poor classmate some slack! I just wanted to congratulate you on saving that wimp Goomy back in the Foreboding Forest. Instant respect. You're his hero forever. But…"

Pancham sat up and leaned in towards Espurr, his voice lowering to a hush. "Wanna know how you can be my hero?"

If he expected an answer, he obviously didn't want to wait for it. He wasn't earning points, either. As far as Espurr saw, Goomy was braver than he was.

"The Foreboding Forest is a big deal," Pancham continued immediately. If she'd said anything, he would have just talked over her. "…If you're Vice Principal Watchdog. But see, to get in with the cool kids around here, you've gotta do something that's a big deal. Something that would give the Watchdog a heart attack. Something like, say, braving one of the nastiest mystery dungeons around, you catchin' me?"

Pancham had let his voice rise enough to grab Tricky's attention. Her ears perked up as the words 'mystery dungeon' wafted by, and she dug her snout out of a peachberry.

"What about mystery dungeons?" she asked loudly, still licking the juice off her muzzle.

"Nothing," Pancham snapped at her. "'It's not for your ears anyway."

Tricky stuck her nose up at Pancham indignantly and returned to her peachberry, but her ears remained upright. Anymon in the room could have said that she was still eavesdropping.

"Anyway…" Pancham leaned in again, his voice falling to a whisper. "I can get you in. All I gotta do is switch up Watchdog's detention cards, and you're good to go. Whaddaya say?" He held out his hand towards Espurr, smirking and bending the twig he'd put in his mouth at an odd angle. That odd gesture again…

"Deal!" Tricky had glanced up from her peachberry again, answering excitedly before Espurr could.

"How many times…" Pancham growled, all his swagger suddenly lost for an annoyed look at Tricky. "No-mon. Is talking. To you!"

His outburst captured the attention of Deerling and Goomy, who were chatting together in another corner of the clinic. They both glared at him before returning to their conversation. Blowing Tricky off with a paw-wave—she 'hmphed' loudly—Pancham turned back to Espurr.

"Oh, and did I mention the treasure?" he drew out that last word, making Tricky's eyes widen with excitement.

"Well, I'm having detention too!" the fennekin argued back. "So I count as fifty percent of the vote."

"Didn't I just say butt out?" Pancham groaned. "You got a hearing problem? What I say goes 'round here. Butt out."

Just like Nuzleaf, Espurr couldn't detect a single shred of… anything from Pancham. Words flew flawlessly off his silver tongue, but even without her sixth sense Espurr could tell they were mean. Her eyes narrowed.

"Just ignore the pest," Pancham sighed, holding his paw out again. "Unlike her, I know you're a class act, and I need an answer from you now. You in or out?"

"Ou—" Espurr began—

"In!"

Both Espurr and Pancham looked at Tricky, who had finished her peachberry and now had her attention fully set on them.

"We're in," she loudly proclaimed.

"I never said you could be in," Pancham replied with folded arms.

"Well, then I'll just go anyway!" Tricky shot back. "Maybe we'll go on our own terms…" she let it trail off with a clear implication behind it.

That wasn't happening.

"But I don't want to g—" Espurr began, but Tricky stuck a paw on Espurr's shoulder and cut her off. "And you wanna come along too, right?" she sang, oblivious. "I need a partner, and you don't wanna be the one explaining everything to the Watchdog…"

Pancham sighed, but gave in to Tricky.

"Alright," he said. "Fine. Be 'in'. Whatever. Not like I care." He pointed a paw at Espurr. "You. In or out?"

"Please be in please be in pleeeeaaase be in?" Tricky pleaded, widening her eyes for effect.

Espurr wasn't really enamored by what was an obvious trap.

"Hey, personal recommendation, I'd be in. I wouldn't wanna be dealing with the Watchdog when you're out," Pancham said. "The only thing he hates more than troublemakers is pokemon who cover up for the troublemakers. He finds out you covered for us, you're getting detention into summer vacation. And if your partner gets busted…"

He pointed over his shoulder, where Deerling seemed to be bugging Goomy. She sent him a glare. "Do yourself a favor, leave the yelling to Goomy over there."

He was in negative points now.

"What's stopping me from telling the teachers?" Espurr asked.

"Hey, the teachers aren't gonna do a thing," Pancham said, leaning back in the straw bed again. He was really playing up the smugness. "See, I'm untouchable. And you're not. Besides…" he clasped a fist, letting pale energy surround it before summoning it back into his paw. "I don't know if you paid any attention in Dungeon Class, but I'm a dark type. And you're a psychic type. I bet you're not even a good fighter like me, and even if you could… don't make me laugh. So one last time: in, or out?"

Espurr didn't know what that meant, and unlike Pancham, who'd been asleep, she had been paying attention in dungeon class. Still, she could catch a threat when she heard it.

"Is that a threat?" she asked levelly. Pancham just shrugged.

"Your call."

So Espurr made her call.

Out," she said. "Sorry."

"Well, I'm gonna be in," Tricky loudly declared. And just like that, Espurr's confident front fell apart. Berry crackers, they were having detention together!

"Great!" said Pancham, jumping on the chance. "At least one of you has common sense."

He pulled Tricky closer, wrapping her in a huddle. Espurr didn't have a choice but to listen in, and she was sure Pancham knew it.

"Alright, huddle in closer. Now, here's what's gonna happen…"

~\({O})/~

"Vice Principal Watchdog's gonna take you to the Drilbur Coal Mines today, whether he likes it or not. Be ready."

"Why are you taking him up on this?" Espurr tried reason next. She wasn't following Tricky in, but she couldn't just let her walk straight into whatever Pancham was planning. "He's laying a trap. You're walking right into it."

"Because it's fun!" Tricky chirped. "I go to the Drilbur Mines aaaalll the time. This beats detention any day."

"Watchog will kill you when he finds ou—"

"Shh!"

Right. Watchog was still in the room with them. He was standing off to the side, packing a bag that already looked like it was packed to bursting. Making extra sure he hadn't heard, the two of them went back to their whispered argument.

Reason had failed. Plan C: Appeal to fear.

"You'll just get us both into more trouble," Espurr pleaded. "If you disappear, Watchog will think we're covering for you, he'll punish everymon. You don't want to get more detention, do you?"

"Eh," Tricky said, waving it off with her tail and a flick of her ears. "Have you met Watchog? He doesn't notice anything. And the Drilbur will never tell on us. We'll just be a few minutes, and I go there every other week!"

That was plan C out the window. Espurr didn't have anything better, unless she tattled. But at this point, Watchog would just accuse them both…

"Hey," Tricky said. "Don't let Pancham distract you from the things that really matter! We can be adventure heroes, we'll just tell the drilbur we're here to help out and sneak off! Watchog won't know, he won't even be looking! Besides, even if it's a trap, what if we just go through it and win? That would get Pancham so mad."

That flipped a switch in her head. Even though Espurr really didn't want to go, the idea of one-upping an obvious bully did appeal to her. Pancham seemed to think he was untouchable… so if they proved they were more untouchable, he'd just get more wound up. And that would be cathartic to see.

"How do you know it won't be dangerous?" Espurr asked tentatively. She couldn't believe she was considering this. Tricky immediately perked up brighter than before.

"Well…." she trailed off, tail swishing behind her. "I haven't exactly gone to the dungeon…

"But I know how we can find out what's in it!" she picked up immediately after. "There's a book in the library that's full of mystery dungeons. I check it out when Watchog isn't looking, but I think he put it on a high shelf so I haven't been able to get it."

"I can't read it," Espurr said, magenta annoyance coloring the ends of her vision again. She didn't need a reminder of that right now.

"I can read it for you!" came Tricky's oblivious response. "You just need to help me get it. Pleeease?"

"Mr. Watchog?" Espurr asked as Watchog packed a large knapsack for the trip. Behind one of the straw beds, Pancham lay in wait.

"Vice Principal Watchog." Watchog muttered, trying to decide whether water or berries was more important, eventually deciding on both and stuffing them into the bag.

Espurr opened her mouth, then closed it. Behind her, Tricky silently urged her on. Put on the spot, Espurr just asked: "May I use the library before we leave?"

Watchog looked towards her in suspicion, one bushy eyebrow raised.

"I thought you said you couldn't read."

From the shadows, Pancham gave Espurr a double thumbs up. He quietly dashed out from behind one of the straw beds, expertly switching the cards hanging from Watchog's hitchhiking pack, and then it was like he had never been there at all.

"Well…" Another hyperactive nod from Tricky. "Tricky can read for me," Espurr explained. "And we won't be long."

Watchog almost let out a high-pitched chuckle of disbelief, catching himself in an attempt to remain dignified at the last moment.

"You want to make the troublemaker read for you." He said, his voice flat.

Espurr nodded lively. Watchog shook his head in disbelief.

"Whatever," he said. "I have to finish packing this vital supplies anyway. Five minutes. Understand?"

The sack was only two items from bursting.

Both Espurr and Tricky nodded, and then they were both gone long before Watchog could change his mind.

~\({O})/~

Library

The adults don't like me in here because I'm a 'hazard to the books' or something," Tricky said as they entered the deserted warehouse filled with packed bookshelves that leaned over them claustrophobically. Tricky rolled her eyes. She then accidentally walked into a pile of books lying around next to one of the right-hand shelves, stumbling in place and barely keeping her balance. Espurr's tired stare spoke more words than she could say.

"Not that they could stop me anyway," Tricky continued, righting herself and resuming her trot alongside Espurr. "but no-mon ever comes in here willingly, so they've never had to try!"

Unlike the other buildings, the library was made out of stone, with a creaky wooden floor, and the far end of the room was so far away Espurr could barely see it. Not that the place was well-lit enough for that anyway. There were only two or three windows on either wall, and the bookcases ate up most of the light.

Espurr walked over to a ladder attached to the main corridor of bookshelves. She pointed at a golden plaque that had been bolted to one of the bookcases, several Unown figures engraved into its surface, motioning for Tricky to read it. She wished she could actually do something other than haphazardly direct the fennekin in the direction of six thousand books.

"Archeology to Electricity," Tricky said, her eyes rapidly gliding over the text written on a large gold plaque hanging from one of the shelves. "Watchog always keeps this place organized from A to Z, so not here… come on!" she beckoned gleefully.

Tricky led Espurr further down the hall, pulling the ladder along with her. Espurr was too slow to keep up, still tripping over her feet and awkwardly pulling herself up with only one arm. Tricky had to stop to let her catch up every ten seconds or so.

Eventually, they reached the section titled "Mystery Dungeons (KEEP OUT, TRICKY)". Espurr would've climbed the ladder, but she had a broken arm. Tricky managed to gnaw her way up the separate rungs instead.

"Incoming!" she yelled, pulling the book out with her teeth. It slowly began to tip over, and suddenly fell–

If everything had gone how it was supposed to, Espurr would have caught the book cleanly and then helped Tricky down. One arm wasn't enough to catch a book. It whacked her in the face, stealing a confused yowl out of her throat and knocking her backwards. So much for that.

"There are two branches once you enter the mines. The one on the left is all boarded up; you take that one. It leads to a nasty mystery dungeon."

"Mystery Dungeons: A Complete Guide. Page 64, Drilbur Mines." Tricky read from the thick, dusty atlas. "It says there was an explorer who went into the dungeon soon after it popped up and never came out," she continued, tilting her head in confusion. "They even have a picture!"

Espurr looked at the illustration on the other page, detailing a shark-like pokemon cheerfully waving one of its fins, a brown bag draped over his shoulders.

"He wasn't famous…" Tricky went on, mild disappointment cracking through her voice. "I've never heard of him before this."

Had he died in there? If the dungeon was as nasty as Pancham had said… suddenly Espurr felt even less good about this.

And if he had died, what had killed him?

"Time's up, troublemakers!" Watchog yelled from outside the library. "We're leaving now!"

Tricky hurriedly slammed the book shut and rushed back towards the door. The drop from the shelf must have damaged the book; the spine looked bent and the pages tattered, but Espurr wasn't very concerned with that right now.

Right now, it looked like she was about to go dungeon spelunking, whether she liked it or not.

~\({O})/~

Drilbur Mining Grounds

"The only thing you have to do is bring me back some of the red gems that sit at the bottom of the dungeon as proof you went in. You'll know 'em when you see 'em. Do that, and you two are part of the cool kids. I made my way all the way down the bottom of that dungeon myself, just so you know. Ask the Drilbur if you don't believe me.

"W-well, see, we w-weren't really expecting you for a w-while," The poor drilbur who had drawn the Social Interaction Rock stammered out in front of Watchog. He sent a pleading look back towards the other drilbur who stood several good feet away, but received nothing but winces and looks of pity in return. The Social Interaction Rock had spoken.

The mineyard was craggy, dusty, and vast. There weren't any plants around to be seen, leaving the entire yard a dull rock color that felt like it was assaulting Espurr's eyes after a bit. Thankfully, it was vast and rocky enough for them to easily slip away without anymon else noticing.

"Psst. Over here!" Tricky quietly beckoned Espurr behind a largish rock, east of Watchog and the stuttering drilbur. Espurr cast a look towards Watchog to make sure he wasn't keeping an eye on them, then reluctantly followed. It was hitting her now: she still really didn't want to do this… Maybe she could stay and insist she didn't know anything.

But she'd agreed already. And she was following Tricky to the rock anyway.

"We can enter from there." Tricky pointed to the main mine shaft, guarded by several drilbur who were desperately trying to avoid having anything to do with the group out front.

"But it's crawling with pokemon," Espurr pointed out, peeking over Tricky. "Maybe it'd be better to wait for Watchog to let us in."

"That's 'Vice Principal' Watchog to you." Tricky heightened the pitch of her voice in an imitation of Watchog's shrill cries, falling to a hushed whisper immediately afterwards to mute the sound of her snickers.

"Still…" Espurr hid behind the rock once again. "We won't make it with that many pokemon guarding it. We're just going to get caught, and then Watchog is going to give us more detentions, and we'll all be in worse trouble than we already are."

"Are you talking about the drilbur?" Tricky asked, a hint of rare incredulity to her tone. Espurr nodded like it was obvious.

"Hah!" Tricky waved it off like it was nothing. "They're pushovers. I've made it past them tons of times, and that's when they're all guarding that door. We won't have trouble at all!"

Without another word, she leapt from the rock they were currently behind to another nearby boulder, landing cleanly and looking back at Espurr. Espurr glanced back the way she came longingly. This was her last chance to back out… but Goomy was already looking around for them. She found herself slinking back. No, no, no… if she came back, he'd see her, and she'd be in trouble. It was too late to back out.

"Espurr, come on!"

Jolted by the sound of Tricky's cry, Espurr quickly scampered from one rock to the next, tripping a couple of times along the way. She still wasn't used to her legs yet.

"Maybe we can get some treasure hunting in this time." Tricky snuck behind a third, closer rock, Espurr following not far behind. "Last time I got chased off.

"Hi again, guys!"

Espurr watched, shocked, as Tricky boldly announced their presence to the entire collection of drilbur with a paw-wave.

"U-uh-oh…" the drilbur all stared at Tricky collectively in shock and horror.

"I-it's the T-t-troublemaker…" one stammered out.

"A-and she brought f-friends!" another finished, pointing straight at Espurr.

Tricky sent a prompt 'I-told-you-so' smirk Espurr's way, before trotting right out into the open.

"Y-you're not here again for our g-gold, are you?" one timidly asked.

"Nope!" Tricky trotted towards the mine shaft. "That was last week. Today we're going exploring."

"Now where did those two troublemakers get to?" Espurr's ears pricked up, and she noticed Watchog glancing around the mine-yard angrily, the heavy bag still swinging from his shoulders.

"Goomy! do you know something about this?!"

Her heart sank as she watched Watchog angrily question poor Goomy, who seemed just as at a loss for words as the drilbur did. But it was too late to go back on the dare now. She just grit her teeth and focused on the present.

"Tricky." Espurr hissed quietly from the rock. "Watchog's onto us!"

Tricky glanced at Watchog, mumbling something under her breath Espurr didn't hear but was sure would have turned a few of the teachers' heads. She resumed her trot towards the mine shaft a second later, just like nothing had happened.

"So-o-o…. We'll just be going now, if you don't mind," Tricky stated, cleanly cutting her theatrics short and passing several of the drilbur.

"W-wait!" one of them cried out after her, in a vain attempt to stop the fox. "The m-mines aren't a safe place f-for children! You could g-get in danger down there!"

Somehow that seemed to get to Tricky. She stuttered a bit for a moment. Just for a second, the vibes Espurr caught off her seemed completely different—it was the same frenetic aura that she'd seen that first night.

She kept an eye on Watchog's movements, waiting for a safe opening to dart out. Goomy was confusedly loitering around where Watchog had previously been, and…

…And Watchog wasn't there. Espurr's heart skipped a beat. While Tricky distracted the drilbur, she quickly scanned the mine-yard to see where he had gone.

Until she realized with horror: He was heading right towards the mine shaft.

"What was this detention, anyway…" Espurr heard him grumble, since he was now close enough to hear. "Perfect spot for troublemaking…"

"...Ha!" Tricky laughed, regaining her confidence with the swiftness of a snap. It was almost rehearsed. She turned around to stare the drilbur down bravely. "I laugh in the face of trouble! See?"

She nodded ecstatically to drive her point home, oblivious to the approaching Watchog. Espurr studied all the drilbur. They weren't that intimidating… she glanced back at Watchog, suddenly darting to a different position behind the rock just before he could catch a glimpse of her. It was her best chance not to get caught.

Tricky stopped mid-nod as she saw Watchog suddenly storm straight into her line of vision. Her face of assurance quickly morphed into one of surprised terror as Watchog caught sight of her standing in the middle of the mineshaft.

"Hey! You shouldn't be over there!" Watchog barked, dashing straight after Tricky. Espurr's heart jumped once more as she heard him begin to run—she was out of time! Quickly, she darted out from behind the rock, running straight past the drilbur who did nothing to stop her from continuing—

"Run for it!" Tricky screeched, running further into the mineshaft. Watchog stopped at the shaft, both too large and too unwilling to go in after them.

"You two troublemakers better come right back out of there!" He yelled after them. "I mean it!"

"No can do, Watchdog!" Watchog heard Tricky's distant voice waft out of the mine and into his ears, making his face flush red with fury.

"It's Vice Principal Watchog, you lout!" he shouted after them in vain, furious.

When there came no reply from the mineshaft, he turned to the drilbur, who visibly shrunk in his presence.

"Find them." Watchog growled. "It's your mine!"

With gratuitous nods and whimpers of fear, the drilbur all scuffled into the mineshaft, more eager to get away from the steaming mad Watchog than they were to find the pair of escaped students.

A very confused and slightly frightened Goomy reluctantly decided to get himself some shade from the broiling sun, despite Watchog's strict orders not to move. It looked like Watchog was going to be a while, anyway. He wouldn't mind… right?

~\({O})/~

Drilbur Mineshaft

There was no getting out of this one. Watchog was going to report them to Principal Simipour the moment they left the mine, and Espurr doubted Simipour would see fit to let them off the hook so easily again. Would she have lost anything if she'd just refused to go? It was Pancham's word against hers, and everymon knew he was a troublemaker.

Why had she even considered this?

Tricky was still winding down from the rush of successfully escaping Watchog.

"We made it!" she crowed. "We're almost there! C'mon!"

She rushed ahead, and Espurr had to follow. She'd made her choice, after all. That thought continued to hang over her head as they continued in silence through the dark tunnels. Every so often, she thought she heard the distant sound of something tunneling through the ground above their heads, but it was too dark to tell for certain.

It felt like they had walked for an eternity when Espurr saw faint flickers of light emerging from around the corner. Tricky let out a sharp gasp of joy upon seeing the light, bounding straight for the turn up ahead. Espurr quickly tried to keep up, catching herself on the tunnel wall before she could trip again.

However, she soon realized, to her disappointment, that the light ahead didn't shine brightly enough to be a way out of the mine—instead, it came from a torch that hung from the low cavern walls, illuminating the twin shafts deeper into the mine Pancham had told them about.

Espurr couldn't hide the dismay on her face—she wanted to get back above ground!—But Tricky ran over to the mines, more excited than ever.

"This is it!" She shouted back at Espurr in glee. "We made it to the entrance! Now… which one did Pancham tell us to go through?"

"N-not so fast."

Both Espurr and Tricky spun around to look at the colony of drilbur who had approached them from behind.

"Y-you aren't supposed t-to be down here," one of the drilbur stammered out. "We a-aren't going to l-let a pair of c-children push us around anymore!"

"Come on, guys…" Tricky whined, letting her voice drawl. "We're fine! There's nothing to worry about!"

As Espurr's eyes adjusted to the dim light of the torch, she finally saw the drilbur clearly—saw their clearly frightened faces against the flickering flames, saw the way some of them were trembling despite themselves… Even the drilbur were being braver than her.

Was the brave thing to do just to go back with them? That didn't seem brave. That just sounded cowardly. She wanted to do something brave, to make it up to herself. She hated to do this to them, but…

Espurr cast her eyes to the torch flickering to their right, pouring all her concentration into nudging it. The light dramatically shifted as the torch rose out of its holder, and wavered in midair. For one swift second everymon's eyes were on the floating flame, before Espurr let it drop. The torch hit the ground and went out instantly, and the cavern was plunged into darkness.

Espurr couldn't see anything, and neither could Tricky. She could only hear the mix of terrified whispers and squeaks from the drilbur as they began to clumsily pursue the two students, and see the bright green hue of their fear. She could only rely on memory as she pulled Tricky towards what she hoped was the right mine shaft with her one good arm. Was this brave enough?

She painfully banged her head into a wall she hadn't even seen coming. Or a board. The rotted old board of a sealed-up mine shaft. She heard it break away amongst the many sounds the advancing Drilbur were making, and it didn't take the power of sight for both Espurr and Tricky to latch onto the same conclusion—

~\({O})/~

The drilbur were scared out of their minds, of course. But they were more scared of Watchog than they were of a couple of village children. They didn't want to return to the surface with nothing to show their new, brutal boss! That was why they were so horrified when the espurr and the fennekin grabbed ahold of each other, and jumped into the boarded-up mine shaft.

The labor of drilbur stopped short at the mine shaft, barely able to see the pair of children disappear into its darkness. It had been boarded up for a reason—one of the few times the drilburs' cowardice had been wholly justified. Something lived down there. Something wild. Something evil. Something that had gobbled up many of their drilbur coworkers for lunch, and would happily chow down a pair of unsuspecting children for lunch. And the drilbur were too scared to go after them.

They always were.

~\({O})/~

From Wartortle's Guide to Dungeoneering: Anchorstone

The original spot of land corrupted by a mystery dungeon acts as the dungeon's blueprints—and should one venture far enough down, still lies within the dungeon's heart unaltered. But even though the Anchorstone looks physically unaltered from the real world, it is still very much a part of the dungeon, and can host the same perils found in the Dungeon's other halls. Many explorers have made narrow escapes from dungeons after being caught off-guard when they mistook an anchorstone for the exit of the dungeon.

Music Of the Week!

Mine Mission - John Powell