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"Winter storm's been hovering out on the Western Ocean for a few weeks. "Grimmsnarl's storm", we call 'em. But the way it's placed, it's been disruptin' travel ever since it appeared. Our ships' been disappearin' into that thing, and they don't come out. Takes a couple days to go 'round it, but lately those ships' been disappearin' too."

~ Zweilious, sailor from Grass

~\({O})/~

13.

The Dungeon Runners, Pt. I

~\({O})/~

Principal's Office

~Artemis~

Everything felt cold. For once, Artemis didn't feel like bouncing off the walls or sneaking out after school to explore mystery dungeons.

She sat on the floor of the principal's office, still slightly shivering all over. It was cold, but that wasn't why. In the other room, Pops was talking with the principal. Even though the door was closed, she could still hear their hushed voices. They were talking about her. They were talking about what to do with her, now that she had killed Budew.

Now that she was a murderer.

She should have been crying. She should have been mourning somehow, now that her friend was dead. But she felt nothing. There wasn't even anger, just… nothing.

Just… quiet. Sadness. Crushing her inside. And nothing to do but wait for Pops and the Principal to finish talking and think about what she had done.

Her ears pricked up as the sound of a stool sliding back came from inside the Principal's office, and then the door slowly opened. Pops trudged out, followed by the Principal. Artemis did her best to make it look like she cared what their decision was anymore. If she was going to spend the rest of her life locked up in an apricorn ball, she probably deserved it.

Pops sighed. He looked at Artemis, and his eyes did the talking for him: "Why?"

"As you know," Simipour began, "the penalty for killing another pokemon is lifelong imprisonment via apricorn ball, regardless of age. Effective only when undeniable proof of the murder has been presented, or if the pokemon accused confesses to it."

Simipour walked forward, and sat on the bed next to Artemis.

"This will hurt, but that is why I have to ask: Did you kill Budew?"

Artemis had known the question was coming from the moment Pops had dragged her to the Principal's Office, but she wasn't prepared for it. Her body locked up, and even though she knew that she was guilty, that she deserved to go in that apricorn ball for the rest of her life, she was so scared and she couldn't bring herself to say it…

"N-no", she managed to stammer out, quivering all over. She lied. She felt like the world's worst pokemon.

"No, you didn't," Simipour spoke. "You and Budew were the victims of circumstance. No-mon here is a murderer. Do you understand that?"

Artemis nodded, but deep down she knew it was a lie.

For a brief moment, there was silence between all three of them. Artemis just felt cold. Nothing but cold.

Then Pops began to trudge towards the door, motioning for Artemis to follow him.

"No more mystery dungeons," Pops muttered as he walked out the door after Tricky. "Never go into one again."

~\({O})/~

~Espurr~

The day after the Deerling Day festival was somber and cloudy, like even the sky was tired from shining so hard yesterday and needed a break. The cold and dampness of the early morning chilled Espurr's bones, and even though she had planned to go to the library today and get ahold of a few books she was looking at, she wasn't particularly keen on walking out into all that cold.

It only meant she'd be waiting a while longer. The books she wanted to check out were history books—specifically, books detailing the previous three crises that had affected the world. Something she knew she should research. It felt so easy to just ignore it all and be a kid in a village, that was all she wanted to do. But Tricky's words from the day before last were still fresh in her head, as well as what she had said that day. If Espurr was here now, then that meant something bad had to be coming. And if something bad was coming, then that meant she needed to be as prepared as possible… right?

But it didn't change the fact that she felt too cozy in the warm building to trudge out through the morning cold and search for books she didn't know the titles of. For somemon who was destined to be a legendary hero, that felt pathetic.

Maybe being a kid in a village was fine for now. She just picked a book from the small shelf of books that Audino kept around in the school clinic, curled up in the straw bed near where Audino had apparently crashed at some point in the night, and began to read.

The book was a very old one, one of the 10,000 year old relics from the Human Age that had been rewritten and printed for the Pokemon Era. It was about a ponyta roped up into an impromptu road trip by a sirfetch'd who was convinced he was a knight, and every journey they went on was more ridiculous than the last.

Espurr was so absorbed in the book that when a muffled bang from the windowpanes jarred her out of her trance, it felt like being ripped from the pages. Shaking off her disgruntlement, Espurr didn't think she had to hazard much of a guess at who that was.

"Are you just gonna read all day if I don't come get you?" Tricky asked as she and Espurr walked down the pathway leading to Serenity Village. "We're part of a mystery dungeon team! We have responsibilities now!"

"But we haven't even registered as a team yet," Espurr pointed out, shouldering the exploration bag she had taken to carrying around with her. "So technically we have no responsibilities at all."

"Good point. I have something better than a dungeon!" Tricky gleefully announced. With that, she began to prance down the path faster than Espurr could keep up with her, and she was almost the entire way downhill before she noticed Espurr was lagging behind.

"Come on!" she yelled back at Espurr. "We'll never reach it at this rate!"

The village square had been crowded and lively yesterday; today, it was deserted and half-dead. A few pokemon were out and about picking up the debris from the party that lay everywhere, and the logs that surrounded where the bonfire had been weren't picked up yet. Tricky guided Espurr through the mess and then down south, until the buildings grew smaller and they were walking across the massive lakeside. They could see the Hill With The Big Tree coming up quick, which meant…

When they passed the Crooked House, Espurr briefly stopped to study it. She couldn't say what kept drawing her to the place. It was like there was some kind of pull that tugged her to go there, even though she really didn't want to. The house stood out on its lone rock like a pillar of evil, marring the lake with its presence. Today, a thin shroud of mist surrounded the island, veiling the blackened walls and windows boarded over with rotting planks. But this mist felt different from morning fog, thicker, colder. Espurr felt a chill looking at it that wasn't from the cold. It only made the house look spookier.

Tricky backtracked over to where Espurr stood, staring at the Crooked House as well.

"No-mon goes in there," she said. "Ever. I don't like that place."

"Me neither," Espurr agreed, clutching the bag's strap tightly with a paw like it was a stuffed animal.

But she kept looking at it until they were out of sight.

~\({O})/~

Serenity Village Outskirts

The grove of trees stood before Espurr and Tricky, the remains of Pancham and Shelmet's treehouse still hanging from its branches and littering the grass around it. They were a ways out from the village, so much so that the buildings were only tiny specks in the distance, and would fit in Espurr's palm if they could see them through the trees.

"It was Pancham and Shelmet's work," Tricky spat, staring up at the wreckage from below. "But I was thinking—what if we had a team base? Like a treehouse or something? All the great teams had one, and this place is perfect!"

Espurr looked up at the trees, observing their branches. It was true that the placement of the branches made for a very promising treehouse… but the materials Pancham and Shelmet had apparently used were less than ideal. There was even a scrap of paper in there somewhere. Which begged the question: How were they going to build a treehouse if they had nothing to build it with?"

"Maybe we should just stick to exploring for now," she told Tricky. "It's not like we have to build it today, right?"

Tricky's face slowly fell.

"I guess you're right…" she said. "I still call dibs on this spot though."

~\({O})/~

~Eevee~

A pebble whizzed through the air and clipped the tip of Eevee's ear. She flinched and grit her teeth. Stupid wind… And even stupider floppy long ears. Debris was always getting caught in those things. And she worked in lumber. The noisiest pokemon profession in the world. In other words, a pokemon with ears as sensitive as hers was bound to go deaf sooner or later. If not from those pebbles—ow, another one—it would be just from hearing things. Oh, she couldn't wait to evolve… preferably into something with smaller ears.

"Oi," Eevee called out, walking up to the fletchinder that had currently taken a seat off the left of an obscure, strange-looking tent decorated like a large bird. The smells coming from inside were pungent enough to nearly knock her off her feet. "You that 'mon from the construction company?"

Fletchinder looked up from the leaf-full of seeds and berries he had his beak halfway dug into, staring up at Eevee.

"Yeah, that's me," he said once he had swallowed all the seeds in his beak. "And you are… ?"

"Eevee to you. I'm representing Lively Town Lumber."

"So…" Fletchinder began. "This has something to do with why the lumber for that classroom hasn't arrived yet, right?"

Whizz—crack. Another pebble. Eevee lowered her right ear annoyedly, then cleared her throat. "Alright, so I'm technically supposed to be all formal about this, but I'm tired, you're probably tired, so I'm gonna give it to you straight: Big storm last week. Lumber from Grass Continent. Barge sank. Lapras barely got everymon out of it safely. Lumber shortage. No lumber."

Fletchinder sighed, and covered his face with one wing. "And how long until lumber becomes available again?" he asked.

"This week," Eevee answered. With great difficulty she managed to work her four-legged-friendly bag over to where she could remove the sack that was in it, then set it on the ground in front of Fletchinder. "There's a fraxure travelling into town on Thursday. He has the last supply of lumber south of the Lively Mountain Range. On behalf of Lively Town Lumber, I'm here to provide you with the necessary funds for purchase…" she paused for a moment. She still couldn't believe what she had been told to say next. "…And help you pay for it myself."

Another pebble whizzed through the air, clipping both Eevee's ears. That one was too large to have just been propelled by the wind. "Alright, who's throwing pebbles?!" Eevee yelled in the direction the pebble had come from.

Realizing he had been caught, Pancham quickly dove back behind the back of the Café Connection with his slingshot in hand. He was gone before Eevee could even get a good look at him.

~\({O})/~

~Espurr~

"But… aren't you just kids?" Teddiursa asked in confusion. "I appreciate the gesture… but I kind of wanted a real rescue team to help me out with this."

"We are a real rescue team!" Tricky gleefully announced. Espurr showed them the expedition gadget as proof.

"We're here because of the mission you posted," she said, letting the gadget project the mission straight onto the ground.

"Huh." Teddiursa looked at the sigil on the gadget skeptically. "I didn't know they let kids join the Expedition Society."

"They don—"

"—If we want to make it through Foreboding Forest before dark, it's best to leave now," Espurr cut in before Tricky could finish her ill-fated sentence. It had taken them a good hour to find Teddiursa in the first place, and the afternoon was already beginning to fade. "Unless you don't want our help?"

Teddiursa seemed to consider that for a moment. "I… guess if you have the gear…" she finally concluded hesitantly. "…Alright, fine. Let's do this. Just… please don't make me regret saying that."

~\({O})/~

Foreboding Forest

Now that Espurr thought about it, Foreboding Forest wasn't all that foreboding after all. It was just a run-of-the-mill mystery dungeon. And even though there were actual floors this time instead of just the one solitary anchorstone, Espurr and Tricky had little to no trouble traversing the dungeon's insides. In fact, it was just a little too easy. There were no dungeon ferals out and about like Espurr had hoped there would be, which left her and Tricky at a loss. How were they supposed to help Teddiursa evolve if there wasn't anything to beat up?

"Oh, pokemon don't have to evolve during battles," Teddiursa quickly said once Espurr brought it up. "You just… really have to want it. Or need it. And your body has to be ready for it. Me? I've been training for months. I want this so bad. Hoping beating up some dungeon thugs'll finally let me get it." She danced on her feet and punched the air a couple of times to prove her point.

"Then why don't we just make some noise?" Tricky asked.

"Don't wanna attract that many dungeon thugs," Teddiursa said. "I wanna go home in one piece, thanks."

Halfway through the dungeon, they took a short break to rest. Espurr hadn't properly gone through Gabite's supplies ever since she'd swiped the bag from the Drilbur Mines. Inside, she found some dusty berry husks—eww, how had those made it this far?—and three very peculiar sticks with intricate markings etched onto their sides. It looked like somemon had worked hard on these. But they had been rotting away in a dungeon for around forty years, and Espurr doubted anymon cared about them anymore. It would make a good torch.

"Hey, Tricky?" she asked.

Tricky pried her eyes off Teddiursa's lunch and looked towards Espurr.

"Can you light this on fire for me?"

Tricky's face lit up. She gleefully grinned and nodded. "Tell me when you're ready!"

Teddiursa, who had been in the middle of eating a quick lunch she had packed for the dungeon, looked up at what Espurr and Tricky were about to do. Her eyes settled upon the stick that Espurr held high above her head and widened.

"Wait NO—"

Too late. Tricky took a deep breath, and then spat out an ember that caught the top of the stick perfectly—

—It burst into bright green flame at the top, burning brightly enough to illuminate the entire room they were in.

"Put that out!" Teddiursa cried.

"Why?" Espurr tilted her head in confusion. Why should she put it out? It wasn't like they were attracting ferals, and the stick burned steadily enough to light the room nicely.

"Yeah, why?" Tricky echoed.

"That's not a stick!" Teddiursa continued. "That's a—"

Then the stick began to fizz. Then it popped. Sparks flew everywhere like it was a firework, and then the stick exploded—

Teddiursa took cover. Some of the fire caught Tricky's tail as she ran, but her fur was immune to burning. Espurr was thrown back by the blast. She landed by the dungeon wall, rolling to a stop.

Espurr carefully caught her breath. Most of the fur on her arm had been singed, and where her paw had held the wand, it stung badly. The smell of burning plant drifted by Espurr's nose, and she quickly looked up from where she had been thrown to see that some of the sparks from the exploding stick hand landed on the dungeon and caught fire.

Espurr began to panic. What was going to happen if the mystery dungeon burned down while they were in it? She… she didn't have an answer. And that scared her. Forgetting the stinging from her paw, she immediately leapt up from her spot on the ground and got to snuffing out the fires the best she could.

"Help me!" Espurr yelled to Tricky, who was still cowering by Gabite's exploration bag. Tricky peeked out from behind the bag, and saw the fires. Her ears flattened in panic.

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Help me stamp them out!" Espurr yelled back.

"I… I…" Tricky glanced around in panic for a few seconds at the fires that were rapidly catching onto the shrubbery on the ground, then tried leaping straight onto one of the larger flames in front of her. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" she gasped, leaping off the flame just a few seconds later. "That hurts!"

Espurr wasn't having any luck at all quelling the flames that were getting larger by the second. Teddiursa was petrified, and could only take a few shaky steps back as the flames spread.

Everymon went quiet as a low roar began to rumble through the dungeon. It grew higher and higher, louder and louder, until an ear wrenching high-pitched shriek wreaked havoc on the false canopy above them. A strong wind suddenly blasted through the dungeon's corridors, and once it reached them it blew all three pokemon off their feet. It was strong enough to snuff out all the fires, and then only the acrid smell of burning plant and the rotting breath of the mystery dungeon greeted Espurr's nose as the dungeon's screech died down.

Espurr pulled herself off the ground once again, not met with the sight of orange flickering flames but instead with blackened shrubbery and the dim blue light that filtered in from the false canopy above.

Teddiursa got her feet and checked her coat for dirt and plants. "I can't believe you guys—" she brushed some grass off her arm "—lit a wand on fire! What kind of rescue team are you? You nearly killed us!"

Tricky was cowed. Espurr was equally cowed. How were either of them supposed to know it would have exploded? She didn't even know what a 'wand' was. And Tricky obviously hadn't studied.

"Look." Teddiursa looked shaken. "The mood's gone. I'm not gonna evolve today, thanks for that. Let's just get out of this place—"

—She was interrupted by the echoes of countless loud snarls and barks from the distant halls. Everymon fell silent, listening to the noise and trying to figure out where it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere all at once. Tricky's ears went flat against her head.

"Dungeon 'mon," Espurr said. Her voice shook a little. She didn't like that.

Those two words sent everymon into a frenzy. Teddiursa grabbed an unused wand. Espurr ran for and grabbed Gabite's exploration bag. Tricky ran over to Espurr, and they all grouped together near the sides of the room.

"How many is that?" Teddiursa asked, brandishing the wand like a weapon. Espurr didn't know. She could barely hear Teddiursa over all the dungeon ferals' howls and screeches, let alone tell how many there were past 'a lot'.

And they were coming from everywhere.

Espurr waited with bated breath for the mob of ferals to converge upon their stretch of the dungeon. For almost ten seconds there was nothing but the sound of the ever-closer screeches, and then it got deafening to hear and just seconds after that the mob arrived—

There were so many Espurr couldn't even count. It must have been all the ferals on the floor. She thought she was ready, she wasn't at all. All three of them were swarmed before Espurr even knew it, and it was all she could do to do the first thing she could think to do—shunt out as much mental power as she could. Several of the ferals closest to her went flying back into the ones behind them, but others quickly moved in to fill the gap. A loud bark flew past Espurr's ears amongst the other noise and she turned to see a rabid furfrou that was quickly stumbling its way towards her in all the chaos. A rotting pink bag was stuck to its side, covered in leaves and dirt. Its eyes stayed trained on her no matter what. Espurr picked up a rock from the ground and nailed the dog pokemon's face with it. She was violently pushed to the ground in the chaos by another feral who wasn't even after her in the first place.

Thrown to the ground, trampled, barely keeping her head above it all, Espurr could only do her best to stay alive, let alone try to get to the others. But she had to. She had to. She couldn't let herself give out here.

And then there was the sound of Teddiursa yelling. Not fear, not pain, rather… Espurr quickly snapped to attention.

"Hey!" Teddiursa yelled, deftly fighting against the ferals that were attacking her. She still had the wand in her hand, and her eyes were split between the ferals she was fighting and Espurr. "You! Get your friend to help me light this!" she slashed the face of an encroaching bellsprout, then sent Espurr a quick prompting look.

Espurr quickly ducked just in time not to get knocked unconscious by the hooves of a stantler, quickly scanning the swarm of ferals. Where was Tricky?

"Espu—"

Now that she was looking for it, Espurr could hear Tricky's faint cries over the noise of the battle that was taking place. Northeast of where she was standing.

"Epferr—" Tricky briefly managed to get her head over the swarm of pokemon taller than she was, but she was dragged down almost immediately after. Espurr immediately hit the dirt. She took a deep breath, and focused on the furfrou that was currently between her and Tricky. If she could just…

The furfrou let out a confused yelp as it was dragged away by an invisible presence. Tricky was quick enough to take advantage of the escape route she had been given- she dove out from the circle of dungeon 'mon that had been attacking her, running over to Espurr was. Espurr rolled to her feet and pointed to Teddiursa—

"Espurr watch out!" Tricky suddenly screeched. Espurr turned around to see what was happening, but she wasn't fast enough and the stunky that was behind her gave her a powerful kick to the head with its hind legs.

"Espurr no!" Tricky screamed. She spat out a flame that sent the stunky reeling back, then sprinted straight over to where Espurr had landed. Espurr managed to sit up. She felt dizzy.

"Hey!" Teddiursa screamed at Tricky, waving the wand up in the air. "Light this for me!"

Tricky didn't ask questions. She took a deep breath, and exhaled an ember that caught the top of the stick and set it alight.

"Now get down!" Teddiursa yelled, and then she threw the stick as hard as she could. It soared off into the hallway, catching the attention of many of the dungeon ferals. Espurr heard it go boom only a few seconds later.

Nearly all the ferals took note. They looked up from what they were doing, and then the swarm continued down through the hallway and left Espurr, Tricky, and Teddiursa all alone.

Teddiursa slowly looked up from her spot on the ground. So did Espurr and Tricky. The howls of the swarm faded into the distance, and then the dungeon was deserted.

"…Is that all of them?" Teddiursa dared to ask once they could no longer hear the howling.

Espurr slowly got to her feet again. "I think so."

Then the furfrou attacked. It came from behind, so Espurr hadn't even noticed it. There was a loud snarl, and then suddenly she was pinned under the dog pokemon as it bared its fangs and made to sink into her face—

Espurr suddenly saw a bright flash, followed almost immediately by a loud boom. The furfrou looked up from Espurr, suddenly worried, and then there was large stomping and the dungeon feral barely jumped out of the way of a large ursaring's claws. It scampered down the hallway away from Espurr, with only a parting snarl.

"Espurr, are you okay?!" Tricky was suddenly all over her, checking Espurr for cuts and scratches. Espurr barely managed to nod amongst all Tricky's prodding.

"Yeah. I think I am," she said. She sounded beat up. That was how she felt.

"Huh," Ursaring said, examining her new claws. "Sick."

~\({O})/~

Serenity Village

"Oh, Uncle's gonna be pissed." Ursaring lazily stretched her arms as she, Espurr, and Tricky all walked back through the underbrush to Serenity Village. "But you know what? He can go suck on a lemonberry. This is hecking awesome."

Tricky had been studying the ground the entire way back. Espurr sent her a concerned glance every so often, but didn't want to start something in front of Ursaring. Eventually, Tricky's mood began to affect Espurr's, and she felt somewhat depressed by the time they finally walked into the village square.

Ursaring turned to leave, but then she stopped. "Oh, I forgot. I know I have it on me somewhere…" she clumsily pawed through the bag that was now far too small for her to use, eventually pulling out a leaf-sewn tube of something Espurr didn't recognize. "It's not much, but… here's the thing. The… the mission reward."

Espurr took it in her paws, looking it over.

"What is this?" she asked. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't taken a look at the mission reward before they had taken the mission.

"It's a tube of bluk berry toothpaste," Ursaring replied. "I took it from Uncle's room. You could sell it for a bunch. Just don't get the stuff in your eyes. I did that once and they stung for days."

Then Ursaring went home, and Espurr and Tricky were left to their own devices for the rest of the day.

"I think I'm gonna go home now," Tricky muttered. The negative vibes radiating off her were almost smothering. "Night."

Before Espurr could say anything to her, she left.

~\({O})/~

Café Connection

"Your order?" Kangaskhan looked down at Eevee from the other side of the counter.

"Just wait a minute. I've got to get this stupid bag off me first." Eevee struggled with her bag (which had been advertised as quadruped friendly, but was actually on the lower side of quadruped tolerable), finally managing to slip it off her back and root through her personal belongings for her wallet. Kangaskhan waited patiently while she dug.

The sound of something loud clattering to the floor rattled through Eevee's ears. She lowered them annoyedly. At least the restaurant wasn't as noisy as it could be. She extracted the necessary poke from her wallet, then pointed out the dish she wanted on the menu to Kangaskhan, who jotted it down on a note and passed it off. Eevee slumped down against the counter, looking to her right where a Watchog was taking a long swig of a mago berry drink. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, then quickly set his drink down so fast he nearly spilled it.

"You're new in town," he slurred after a moment.

"I'm not staying," Eevee replied. "I'm just here to help a client."

"Yeah?" Watchog took another swig of his drink. "What do you work?"

"Lumber," Eevee replied. "Well, actually I'm just the secretary. But of course I'm the 'mon who gets to come out here because 'Well, four paws equals twice the speed! Be a good 'mon and do what you're told!'" she coughed, then switched off the impression of a deep voice she had been doing back to her normal one. "You?"

"Education." Watchog curtly answered.

"You don't look like the kind of 'mon who works in education," Eevee replied.

"I'm in charge of discipline," Watchog said.

Eevee raised her eyebrows, staring at Watchog dryly. That made more sense.

"Guarding the school right now," he continued. "Sundays and Thursdays. Work sucks. I've got better things to be doing with my summer."

Eevee couldn't disagree with that.

"Well, that makes two of us," she said.

~\({O})/~

~Espurr~

Once Espurr had left the sphere of Tricky's thoughts, her own began to invade on her walk back to the school. Being just a kid in a village was carefree and fun… but two kids in a village were very out of their depth today. It wasn't enough. They weren't enough. They had to be better.

She had to be better. She was infinitely more skilled than she was a week ago, but she still had a long way to go until she could call herself ready to have anything thrown at her. And no idea how much time she had to train for it.

The dark silhouette of the school clinic up on the hill stood before Espurr once again. It was almost nighttime, and she could clearly see the building displayed against the pink and orange-toned sky, its lights still covered. Espurr tilted her head as she walked up the forest-shaded path to the school. Usually the lights were uncovered by now. Was this just how the clinic was left in the summertime? A pity. Espurr had wanted to finally get those books from the library after she got herself cleaned up.

"There you are!"

Audino ran down the path towards Espurr, a menagerie of herbs and belongings Espurr assumed must have been from the medicine cabinet stashed in the two exploration bags she carried. "I've been looking for you all day!"

Audino ushered Espurr along before she had time to ask any questions. "We're relocating for the summer. I have a house in the middle of town." Espurr took a breath to ask why, but Audino answered for her: "Before you ask why, I just wanted a change of scenery. You can't be up in the school all by yourself."

She tried to look calm as she walked, but Espurr could feel the tension hanging in the air. The corners of her vision blurred yellow when she focused on it: Fear. Danger. Escape.

Espurr stayed silent for a minute. "You're sure it's nothing?" she asked.

"Yes, it's nothing you need to worry about."

That was a lie. Espurr could tell.

"What about the library?" she asked, instead of calling it out. "I wanted to go sometime."

"You'll have to get somemon older to go with you," Audino responded. "Watchog has guard duty most days this summer. He'll probably help you."

Espurr briefly thought of Watchog and his overreactions to everything under the sun. Probably not.

But to leave so suddenly… a single glance back at the darkened school buildings, sitting on that hill. What had spooked Audino enough to make her flee the school so suddenly? And why did she have the feeling it had something to do with her?

~\({O})/~

Audino's House

The door clicked open for the first time in almost a year. Audino walked in, setting the bags of supplies against the wall next to the door. Espurr followed after her. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of dust that pervaded the air, and she could even see a light film of it on the floor.

"We'll clean it up tomorrow," Audino said. She pulled the old, ragged cover off the lights, and the luminous moss inside the orbs weakly glowed. The insides of the orbs were dusty.

"Hmm," Audino muttered. "We'll need to replace those too."

Now that Espurr could see better, she could make out the interior of the house. It looked like a mirror version of Tricky's house–the parlor that they were standing in, a small kitchen to the left, and a hall down to the right with a washroom and a bedroom on either side.

"When I lived here about a year ago, I always kept this room tidy just in case of emergencies," Audino said as they walked down the hall. "Hopefully, it's still usable." She turned to the bedroom on the left, allowing Espurr to walk in before she followed. Like the rest of the house, the bedroom was covered in a light layer of dust that managed to cover everything. There was a straw bed in the middle of the room that somehow hadn't been eroded or fallen apart with time, Espurr caught sight of a tarped luminous moss orb sticking out of the wall above.

"You can sleep here tonight," Audino said. "And then tomorrow we'll have a housecleaning. I'll be in the other room if you need me." And with that, she began to leave the bedroom.

"Ms. Audino?" Espurr asked before Audino could step out the door completely. Audino, half out the doorframe, turned back to look at Espurr.

"How long can I stay here?" Espurr asked.

There was a moment before Espurr got her answer.

"As long as you like," Audino finally replied. "Good night."

And then she left the room, and Espurr was left in silence for the night.

A large bang came from the wall, jittering Espurr in her bed a little. She stared alertly at the wall for a second, where a large dresser sat, but it remained silent.

After watching it for a moment, Espurr flopped her head back down on the bed. She was too tired for this.

~\({O})/~

It was almost dark by the time Tricky made it back to her house. Pops was already setting dinner on the table when the door slammed open with enough force to slam into the wall and shut itself and Tricky entered. He looked at her coat, which was dirt-ridden and covered in grime.

"Clean up before dinner," he said. Tricky hurriedly trotted off to the washroom.

It was leftover night once again. The leftovers were made up of whatever the other pokemon of Serenity Village hadn't wanted of the Deerling Day feast. It was also Tricky's favorite night of the week. Their dinners were completely silent most of the time. Pops wasn't one for talking much. Which was why when she heard Pops draw his raggedy breath as if to say something, she gave him her full attention.

"So… what did you do today?" Carracosta asked. He took a sip of the soup from his spoon. "How did you get so dirty?"

"…Not much," Tricky answered, taking care to eat her food politely instead of the right way. "I just played with Espurr. Fell down a hill. Landed in some mud." She looked up at Pops to make sure he was buying it.

"You and Espurr…" Carracosta began. "You're friends now?"

Tricky pulled her face out of her bread roll, then nodded and trilled in confirmation. Carracosta slowly took another sip of soup.

"…Be careful."

"I will, Pops."

That was all that was said between them for the rest of the meal.

Those two words hung in Tricky's head, even as she went to her bedroom and flopped down upon her mattress. No matter which way it was cut, mystery dungeons were dangerous business. Could she be careful? Could Espurr?

~\({O})/~

Serenity Village School

Then

~Artemis~

Everymon showed up for school the next day. Everymon but Budew. Principal Simipour must have told the other teachers, because Farfetch'd left her alone, and Watchog was giving her suspicious glances the entire time.

Pancham and Shelmet talked and snickered behind her back; Deerling just waited patiently at her desk. Artemis was slumped against hers.

Eventually Farfetch'd walked up the teacher's desk and began the class. Artemis saw Deerling raise her hoof.

"Where's Budew?" Deerling asked. Farfetch'd didn't answer her.

Classes went on like they usually did, but Artemis couldn't bring herself to care about any of them, not even Dungeon Class. All her ears heard were the words of the teachers which got filtered out into mumbling, and Deerling's questioning as she got more and more uneased with every single moment Budew didn't come back.

He wasn't coming back. She wanted to scream that at Deerling. She wanted Deerling to feel stupid for not knowing that he was dead, he wasn't ever coming to class again, and it was all her own fault, and—

—And then classes ended, and Artemis was no longer chained to a desk. Before yesterday, she would have pranced off to a mystery dungeon and ignored Pops when he admonished her about how dangerous that was. But today she didn't really feel like doing much of… anything.

Her ears pricked up as she caught a snippet of a nearby conversation. Between Deerling and Farfetch'd. Tricky quickly looked in their direction. She didn't hear everything Deerling said, but she got enough: Deerling wanted to know where Budew was.

Farfetch'd hesitated, clutching his leek in his wings. "I… think we should discuss this up in the school clinic," he said, and then he led Deerling up there and out of earshot from all the other students still packing up.

Artemis was still collapsed against the desk when Deerling came out. Deerling didn't say a thing. She just gave Artemis a look that said 'I'll never forgive you', and then she walked out of the classroom without a word.

Artemis went straight home.

~\({O})/~

Music of the Week!

A Quiet Family - Marco Beltrami