When Riolu woke up, her first thought was how relieved she was to find herself anywhere but Giratina's void. Regardless, she had to take a moment to remember where precisely she was—watching the stars alongside Lann had begun to make her sleepy, so she had moved to her tree at the edge of camp before falling asleep. From her seat, she could see that everyone else was already awake and lounging around the campfire.

"Morning, Riolu," Lann called. "We need to talk about the plan for today, so come on over when you're ready."

Riolu hopped to her feet. She felt oddly energetic this morning, so she wasted no time in finding a seat at the campfire. The first thing she noticed when she sat down was how strangely Nineteen was acting: their center gem, normally either wholly on or off like a lightbulb, was filled with flickering lights deep within. It was beautiful—Riolu thought it looked a bit like fireworks on a cloudy night. Furthermore, the secondary starfish-shape attached to Nineteen's back was spinning independently from the rest of their body, changing directions seemingly randomly. More than once, it completed a full rotation. Riolu didn't really understand how the body of an organic creature could manage that.

"Nineteen is scanning the berries," Lann explained as he gestured to the small pile of berries at their feet. "I'm told it will take a few hours."

Riolu couldn't necessarily remember if the entry for Starmie mentioned they could scan things. Regardless, the fact that a living creature naturally had the ability to scan objects—and that Riolu was currently witnessing it—boggled her mind.

Riolu shook her head: this was no time to become enamored with what Pokémon were capable of. "OK, well, I'm ready. What's the plan?"

"You and I will be traveling back to base camp," Lann said. "We have a lot to report, and I have to sleep sometime. If we're at camp, we can do both—though I want to wait until Nineteen's scan is finished before we go."

That made sense to Riolu: if she was the target, she should be at base camp surrounded by friendly Pokémon. Though it was still possible that one of them hired the assassin, it was still leagues better than camping in the forest.

"Denver and Nineteen will stay here and manage the dungeon," Lann continued. "The only question is what you want to do, Dante. It's up to you."

"I'll come with you back to camp. I'm already very behind on filing, and if Riolu is going to continue to live in the archives, I should probably be there as well."

"OK," Lann said with a subtle smile. "Well, then we have a few more hours of downtime."

"It looks like we won't have much more time together, Riolu," Denver said loudly. It was as if she was a showman—demanding attention from not just Riolu, but everyone in the clearing. "How would you like a riddle? If you can solve it, I'll give you a prize."

"Huh? What kind of riddle?" Riolu asked. "And what kind of prize?"

"You'll have to wait and see!" Denver said, her smile only growing wider. "Do you want to give it a try? There's no punishment for failure."

Riolu took a moment to glance at Lann and Dante. Lann was watching the conversation with mild interest, clearly waiting for Riolu's response. Dante, however, had a strange expression that Riolu couldn't quite read. Her best guess was concern, but she had no idea what about.

"Uhh, sure," Riolu finally said. "Tell it to me."

"I am the only Pokémon in the Explorer Coalition that can translate for Starmie—in fact, I don't know for sure, but I may be the only Pokémon on the continent that can. Guess how!"

"That's not really a riddle. It's more like trivia, right?"

"Nah, you can figure it out. You have all the information you need, and more," Denver said knowingly. "You're not allowed to ask for help, though. Everyone at camp already knows."

Then, Denver gave a hearty laugh as a wave of second-hand mirth washed over Riolu. "Ahh, I can already see those gears turning. Take your time, think it over. After you leave for base camp, I doubt we'll see each other again for a while."

Denver was right about one thing: Riolu was already deep in thought. She was really only given three pieces of information: the "riddle" itself, the fact that the solution was common knowledge at camp, and that she apparently already had all the information she needed. Given that, it didn't make much sense for the solution to be something like 'She's really smart'—it had to be solvable.

Riolu's first thought was that there must be something special about Denver's species, Kangaskhan. However, from what she could remember, Kangaskhan were exclusively known for being fierce and protective mothers. Nothing there that directly related to translation, but… Denver didn't have a baby Kangaskhan with her. Additionally, when she arrived, Denver's pouch—normally reserved for her child—held Nineteen. Was it possible that Nineteen imprinted on Denver, and that special connection resulted in greater understanding—thus, the translation?

The imprinting theory, to some extent, made a lot of sense: Riolu couldn't imagine a Kangaskhan having an adoptive child was common, let alone specifically a Starmie, and the camp would likely be aware of such a relationship. Regardless, something didn't sit right with her. Denver had been so excited to challenge her with the riddle, and she seemed certain Riolu wouldn't solve it in the few hours she had left at the small camp. It was far too easy: Riolu felt sure that any Pokémon's mind would have started with the stereotype of Kangaskhan and reached the same conclusion.

"Hey Denver," Riolu said suddenly, catching the Kangaskhan's attention. "Do I only get one guess? Or can I guess multiple times?"

"Tell you what—you can guess as much as you want before you leave for base camp. Then, the next time we see each other, you'll get one final guess."

"OK."

"Oh?" Denver said, interest forming on her face. "But you don't want to guess now?"

Riolu shook her head: she had already gotten what she needed. The simple fact that Denver was allowing unlimited guesses meant that the solution couldn't be so easy. So—assuming her imprinting theory wasn't correct, what else could be going on?

If there was nothing naturally special about Denver, something must be special about her circumstance—or perhaps something was done to her. Riolu thought back to Denver's precise wording: "You have all the information you need, and more." Was that a hint that she should use the book of Pokémon? If the solution did lie somewhere inside, it certainly wouldn't consist of the entire book. It fit, and the comment seemed to be a bit inane otherwise. She couldn't remember a Pokémon that may be responsible off the top of her head, so Riolu made her way to Dante's satchel and dug out the familiar black book. She ignored the din of the conversation that had started by the campfire as she returned to her tree, eager to find her solution.

By Riolu's estimate, she spent about an hour skimming through the book looking for a Pokémon that might help facilitate translation. She looked at the main image of each Pokémon, recalling information about the Pokémon and gauging their ability to help with translation. More than once, she found herself unable to recall anything meaningful about a Pokémon and had to reread an entire entry. That is, until she came across a specific entry that stopped her progress in its tracks.

She had stopped on the entry for a particular unique Pokémon by the name of Ditto. Ditto could completely copy others Pokémon's forms, down to their instincts and unique abilities. Everything suddenly slid into place in Riolu's mind. The best way to understand a creature was to be that creature, and Denver was a Kangaskhan without a child. Denver must be a Ditto.

But Riolu didn't want to get ahead of herself—she had to consider the rest of the riddle. She already had the information she needed and more given that what she needed was in the book, and Denver being a Ditto would certainly be known throughout camp. What bothered her was Denver's insistence that she was unique in her ability to translate for Starmie: she could be the only Ditto in camp, but she certainly wasn't the only Ditto on the continent, which Riolu had gathered was huge. Why would she be the only one to figure out how to translate for Starmie?

Regardless, Riolu had a very good feeling about her solution. It was time to start taking advantage of those unlimited guesses, so Riolu glanced up at the Pokémon around the campfire. It seemed the conversation fell into a lull while Riolu wasn't paying attention, so she broke the silence: "Denver, are you a Ditto?"

In response, Riolu received two Aura pulses: one from Dante consisting of surprise and glee, and one from Denver consisting of disbelief and frustration. Lann gave off no strong emotions, but Riolu noticed that he shifted his head to look at Denver, his eyes glimmering with interest and amusement.

"How in the world did you guess that so quick?" Denver said disbelievingly. "And on your first try?"

"So, I'm right?" Riolu asked excitedly. She was relieved—when it came down to it, she had really only guessed based on a feeling.

"Yeah, you got it. Ugh, I was going to transform into you to confirm your answer if you ended up getting it, but you guessed it way too fast. I still need to be a Kangaskhan to carry Nineteen."

Riolu nodded. Ditto could only transform into Pokémon they were actively looking at. "Wait," Riolu said, blurting out a thought as it occurred to her. "Couldn't you transform into Lann? He could easily carry Nineteen."

"Well, I could. Unfortunately, the instant Lann became aware I was a Ditto, he told me to never transform into him—or even to be a Sceptile in his presence. No idea why, but I'm sure not going to test him."

Lann stayed silent but wore an expression of lazy satisfaction. It seemed he was quite content with Denver's fear of challenging him.

"But anyways, let's talk about your reward," Denver continued. "What you get is a favor from a Ditto. I've done a lot of them over the years, ranging from impersonating someone so they don't have to wake up that day, to journeying to find a mythical Pokémon to transform into. Now that I have a job, though, you may have to wait a bit for more complicated favors."

"Oh, huh…" Riolu trailed off. She wasn't expecting this, and no favors she would want immediately came to mind. She was wondering if she could wait to 'cash in' the favor, until Lann's unwillingness to see other Sceptile gave her an idea.

"Are there any Riolu or Lucario other than me in the Explorer Coalition?"

"Oho, looking for an Aura teacher, are we?" Denver smiled. "Lucario are much better teachers. Lucky for you, I know a Lucario a few towns over. I can—"

"No," Riolu interrupted. "I want my favor to be the same as Lann's: don't be a Riolu or a Lucario around me."

Denver's smile evaporated, replaced by a concerned frown. "That has to do with consent—you don't need a favor for that," she explained. "But can I ask why?"

Riolu clenched her jaw. She wanted out of this conversation, but the fastest way to get it dropped probably involved telling the truth. Ughhh. "I don't want anyone seeing my Aura," Riolu forced out, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible. "That's all."

Thankfully, Denver seemed to get the message and backed down. "Alright, well. You still have the favor for whenever you want it."

Riolu nodded in acknowledgement before she turned her head away, signaling the end of the conversation. She knew she had just made things a bit uncomfortable, but she didn't have a choice. She wouldn't allow anyone to see her Aura.

The remaining time before Nineteen finished scanning was quiet. Lann continued to recline in the sunbeams, seemingly unbothered, but Denver shifted around in her seat. She was clearly dependent on the conversation she had been fostering since arriving, but it seemed Riolu had irreparably ruined the atmosphere. Dante, on the other hand, was perfectly stationary where he sat gazing into the forest. Riolu had picked up on the fact that when there was something on Dante's mind, he would stare off into space. While that may be worth remembering for the future, she didn't have to ask him to know that he was likely thinking about what could be wrong with her Aura.

All in all, it was a relief for every Pokémon in the clearing when Nineteen's scattered blinking finally ceased and Denver, who had been anxiously watching Nineteen for the past quarter-hour, alerted the camp with a simple "Scan's done."

Riolu and Dante both perked up while Lann simply opened his eyes to look down upon Nineteen side-eyed. With the full attention of the camp, Denver began translating Nineteen's ensuing series of flashes in real time: "'I have learned a lot from this scan, but I will share only the most significant part. These berries have the unique property of healing paralysis when eaten. I estimate they would take a few days to fully heal paralysis, independent of body mass.'"

Riolu recalled reading about Pokémon paralysis in the electric-type chapter of the types book. Paralysis, typically caused by an electric-type attack, was a terrible affliction which made moving difficult—or even impossible. Riolu recalled that it was permanent without help from one of the relatively uncommon Pokémon capable of healing it.

"Are you serious…?" Dante asked, his eyes going wide. "If we can actually cultivate those, they could change the world."

"Well, I'm glad we waited," Lann said. "This will certainly be interesting to report."

"And they're not dangerous at all, Nineteen?" Denver asked.

"'Not as far as I can tell,'" Denver continued, now translating for Nineteen. "'Not unless you can't handle your heat. They're very spicy.'" After finishing the translation, Denver put on a strange expression before darting a large claw towards the pile of berries.

"What are you—Denver!" Dante gasped as Denver scooped up a single berry and popped it into her mouth. He watched with horror as she began to chew.

"Uh. What's the big deal?" Riolu asked. "I thought the scan said they were safe?"

"That doesn't mean she should just eat one!" Dante said, exasperated. "If there was something lethal in it that Nineteen couldn't detect, we wouldn't even be able to communicate with them."

"Nah, I trust 'em," Denver smiled, having finally swallowed the last of the berry. "And look what it got me—WHOO, that berry was spicy! Slathering something with this juice would be divine."

Dante sighed in response. Despite his tail-flame flaring up a bit, he seemed content to drop it and move on.

"Well regardless, we should get going soon," Lann said. "We'll already be arriving after the sun sets as it is."

"Oh, you should take some of the berries," Denver said as Lann moved to hoist his satchel on his shoulder. "It'd make sense to verify that they can actually cure paralysis."

Altogether, there wasn't much packing to be done. Lann had to repack a portion of the berries, but neither he nor Riolu had ever really unpacked anything from their respective satchels, so within a few short minutes the three of them were on their way.

The trip back to base camp was uneventful. As always, Lann silently basked in the sun as he walked, and Dante made a valiant effort to appear unfazed by the exertion. As she walked, Riolu began to wonder about the apparently interminable forest she found herself in. Since she arrived in the Pokémon world, despite traveling a considerable distance, she had only ever seen the exact same forest terrain. There were no hills, no mountains visible on the horizon, and not even any apparent variation in plant life. In fact, the only variation was clearly Pokémon-made—specifically the base camp and the small camps outside of dungeons.

Riolu wasn't exactly sure how to word her question, but regardless, she wanted to know. "Hey Lann," she said, pausing to let the Sceptile move his attention to her. "I wanted to ask—is the terrain being so uniform normal for this world? It feels strange to me."

"It's not especially normal, no. We're in what's known as The Great Forest. It's famous for getting people lost for exactly that reason. Our base camp is just inside the border because very few live in the forest anymore, meaning we can investigate untouched dungeons."

"Why does no one live here anymore? Is it just because of the easy-to-get-lost thing?"

"No, this is a grander phenomenon, as well as a history lesson to boot. Interested?"

After Riolu nodded her assent, Lann continued: "Many many generations ago, Pokémon were a lot less civilized. We were just as intelligent, but instead of living in cities, we were content to live out in the wild—typically in single-species groups or alone. Fighting, which is now primarily for fun and stress-relief, was for survival—and for food. At a certain point, more and more Pokémon transferred to city-living. The security, community, and stability were all attractive. Now, generations later, wild Pokémon are rare but not unheard of."

Riolu hummed to herself, absorbing the new information. It made some kind of sense that Pokémon, most of which had a strong resemblance to the animals of the human world, would have been wilder in the past. What caught her attention, however, was a relatively subtle aspect of Lann's explanation. "You said fighting was for survival and food? Did Pokémon eat each other?"

"That's right. Generally, giving up meat is a requirement for living in a city. You can't very well be neighbors with your predator."

Riolu nodded. In a world where every creature was equally capable of intelligent thought, vegetarianism seemed unavoidable in polite society. But now, with the introduction of dungeons, perhaps there was a solution. "Have you thought about trying to eat the Pokémon in the dungeons?"

"I'm sure many Pokémon have tried it, but we have almost no data on it. It's a bit taboo for a city Pokémon to even entertain the idea of eating meat. It's certainly an interesting idea, though there would likely need to be an accompanying social change as well."

"Huh. Okay, thanks Lann."

"Sure," Lann smiled down. "If I can ask, do humans eat meat?"

Riolu launched into a full summary of human meat-eating habits, beginning with an explanation of what an animal actually is, and ending with the fact that some humans simply choose to not eat meat of any kind. During her explanation, the forest gradually became bathed in the red/orange light of the sunset. Soon, even that light began to fade, and the forest was plunged into darkness. Save for a shallow radius around Dante's tail, the surrounding terrain was little more than vague shadowy shapes beneath the bright starry sky. Riolu was beginning to feel paranoid in the dark forest. When she was unable to see her surroundings that Weavile assassin could be hiding anywhere—and at night, she was in her element. Riolu felt certain: without Lann around, she would be dead dozens of times over.

"It makes sense that you would think of using the dungeons for food, then," Lann said once Riolu had finally finished her long-winded explanation. "It seems the ferals in the dungeon mirror your animals to a certain extent."

Riolu simply nodded in response. She was about reaching her limit for social interaction, so she was thankful when Lann didn't force the conversation and allowed her to resume walking in silence. In glancing over at Dante, Riolu noticed that he was doing surprisingly well for how long they had been walking. Perhaps he was already growing accustomed to the exercise—just in time to return to his stationary job in the archives.

By Riolu's estimate, it was at least three hours of walking in the pitch-black forest before she finally saw the dim, warm light of the Explorer Coalition base camp through the trees. While it was a relief to be finally exiting the dark, paranoia-inducing forest, she realized as they approached that the base camp had a strange, uncomfortable air to it at night. During the day, a constant dull noise filled the tents as all the various Pokémon went about their business—but now, even the occasional tent with light within was silent, and the camp felt dead.

Another unfamiliarity of the base camp was the occasional Aura pulse. The pulses she felt were all seemingly random emotions, but each was warped in some strange way that Riolu initially couldn't place. Only once she had actually entered the camp did she understand: she was feeling the dreams of the countless sleeping Pokémon surrounding her. The process of figuring it out had distracted her: only upon realizing that they arrived at the front of Absol's tent did it occur to Riolu that she had been blindly following Lann. If she had stopped to think, it would have made sense that the priority was to report to Absol, but for some reason she was anticipating returning to the archives.

"Back in a moment," Lann said under his breath as he pushed his way into the tent, leaving the two alone.

Riolu shared a glance with Dante. It seemed he was similarly caught off guard by their arrival at Absol's tent, but he gave a shrug as if to say 'Lann is leader now, so he'll handle it.'

"It seems like you're doing much better already," Riolu observed, keeping her voice as quiet as she could. "As far as traveling, I mean. You look a lot less tired compared to our first trip."

"Oh," Dante whispered as he lowered himself to sit on the bare earth just outside the entrance to the tent. "Really? I feel exhausted."

"Well, you look exhausted," Riolu admitted. "But that's all. Normally by the end of a day of walking you look positively miserable. That's progress."

Riolu felt a pulse of shame from Dante as his expression became confused and conflicted. Riolu figured he was struggling against his pride, as she had mentioned him appearing tired and miserable—something he very clearly put a lot of effort into trying to hide. She had faith he would overcome it, so she simply sat down alongside him in silence.

However, Riolu had to stifle a laugh as she felt a rapid series of emotional pulses from within the tent. First, a pulse of annoyance. Then, confusion—and finally, excitement. It seemed Absol was quite irritated with having been woken up in the middle of the night right up until she realized that she would be getting a report about the healing berries. Luckily, Dante seemed unaware of Riolu's mirth—it was unrelated, but her laughing while he was struggling wouldn't have helped.

"OK, come on in," Lann whispered without warning from above. Riolu jumped and looked upwards to see that Lann had poked his head out between the tent flaps. He smiled, apparently relishing Riolu's surprise for a moment before retracting his head back into the tent.

As the two entered, they were greeted by a particularly raggedy looking Absol sitting again behind the short desk. Her fur stuck out every which way, and despite the clear interest in them, her eyes were still half-asleep. Rather than looming behind Absol as he had before, Lann stood at attention just inside the door, facing Absol. Riolu and Dante took their places aside Lann—Riolu on the left, Dante on the right.

"Welcome back," Absol said, tilting her head to speak directly to Dante. "Do you have a report for me, then?"

Dante half-opened his mouth, appearing confused, but Lann spoke first: "I took command halfway through," the Sceptile explained. "So if you don't mind, I'll give the report."

"Oh? And why did you do that?"

"Well, that's part of the report," Lann smirked. His tone felt downright disrespectful to Riolu, but Absol smiled playfully.

"Go ahead, then."

"Feel free to chime in if I get anything wrong, you two," Lann said, looking down to Riolu. "Especially you, Riolu."

With that, Lann launched into a detailed explanation of what had transpired between Riolu and Isle, the Weavile assassin. Mercifully, he neglected to mention Riolu's panic attack, only including the emotions she mentioned feeling from Isle.

"Mmm," Absol hummed to herself once Lann had finished. "Well, it certainly is useful to have an Aura-reader around, it seems. Though I recall Mini stating in his report that you were unable to sense Aura, Riolu."

"Ah… Lann helped me figure it out. I can, now," she explained simply.

"I see. Well regardless, this affords us an interesting opportunity," Absol said, a devilish grin creeping onto her face. "Riolu clearly has significance to this Weavile—or rather, to her employer. This is our first and only lead on what precisely happened to Riolu, and why. Lann—do you think you can track this assassin?"

"I would have to sleep first. And depending on how well Isle can disappear, it may take a few weeks to actually find her. But yes, I can."

"Good. Please do," Absol nodded before turning her attention to Riolu. "Now, Riolu, I must ask you to stay within the boundaries of base camp until this is resolved. I understand you want to explore this world, and if you really need to leave we can organize temporary bodyguards, but otherwise it is simply not safe."

Riolu couldn't help but feel offended at that. How dense would she have to be to leave the safety of the base camp while an assassin was after her? "OK," she said simply, hoping her irritation wasn't noticeable.

"Great," Absol stated, seemingly unaware. "Now, is there anything else, Lann? Did Nineteen scan those red berries you mentioned?"

"Yes. Apparently, they are perfectly edible cures to paralysis—though they take a few days to work."

In response, Absol's brow furrowed. "Interesting, but not nearly as helpful as those healing berries. If we can cultivate them, though, they could certainly help our more distant expeditions."

"They do have seeds," Lann said, pausing to reach his clawed hand into his satchel. He brought out one of the small berries, held deftly between sharp digits. "And we did bring some of them back."

"Mmm. I'll try to find a grass-type willing to be the resident magic-berry farmer. Nothing you all have to worry about, I suppose. Is that all, then?"

Lann nodded.

"Good. I'm going back to sleep, then," Absol said, rising to her feet. "Well done, you three. You're dismissed. Sleep well."

As Absol turned to leave, she beckoned to Lann with her head. Lann reflexively moved to follow her, but hesitated. "It was good, being in your squad," he said, turning one large, lidded eye down towards Dante and Riolu. "I hope we can do it again."

With that, Lann turned back and followed Absol into their den, leaving Riolu and Dante alone. Riolu cast a glance over to the Charmander, but he appeared impassive—simply staring blanky at the tent flaps Lann had recently walked through. Then, she felt a pulse of confusion-tinged delight—apparently Dante's delayed reaction to Lann's statement.

Riolu padded to Dante's side and gently placed a paw on his shoulder. In response to a bewildered glance from Dante, Riolu did her best to silently communicate her thoughts with an expression, as well as a gesture with her remaining paw: Let's go back to the archives for now.

Dante nodded, and the two of them walked together out of Absol's tent and through the silent camp. As Riolu walked, she continued to feel the occasional dream emotion pulse from a random direction around her. It seemed insane to her that there were so many Pokémon feeling intense emotions in their dreams, but it was a big camp. Regardless, feeling the strange, warped emotions was enjoyable if distracting.

Upon finally entering the archives, Dante whipped around to Riolu, not even waiting for her to fully enter. "Look, I know you're still new to this world, but what just happened was unthinkable," Dante excitedly explained, barely keeping his voice below a whisper. "Lann is famous for his strength and high standards—not just within the Explorer Coalition, but throughout the continent. He's only ever worked alone, with Absol being the sole exception, but even then most of his work for her is done alone. That Pokémon just told us he'd like to work with us again—not that he tolerated us, not that he'd do it again if he had to, but that he would genuinely like to."

"But we didn't do anything…? Hell, I had an episode in the middle of the trip, so I was probably a net negative."

"I just can't figure it out," Dante said, full of disbelief.

"Maybe he was just being polite. Like, in the way you might say 'it was good working with you' to a business client, but that doesn't mean they're special."

"If, uh, you guys have those words here," Riolu added in response to a confused expression from Dante.

"I think I understand well enough. But yeah, either way, it felt good to hear that from him," Dante said. "Do you want help carrying the bedding up to your loft before I go to sleep, by the way?"

"Oh, no, go ahead and sleep. If you just show me where I can get the bedding I can manage."

"I have thumbs," Dante pointed out, spreading a hand out in front of him to emphasize his point. "And passing bedding to me while I stand at the top of the ladder will be leagues easier than climbing while carrying it."

Admittedly, Riolu had to use both hands to carry anything big, making climbing the ladder nearly impossible. "OK, yeah, I could use the help. Thanks."

As Dante flashed her a toothy grin and turned to lead her into his room, Riolu felt what she was pretty sure was the fifth Aura pulse from some dreaming Pokémon since she entered the archives. This pulse in particular seemed to be a warped version of fear and confusion—apparently someone was having a nightmare. Riolu hoped she would be able to sleep despite the near-constant stimulation.