Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Shadows of Ganderosa

Chapter 14

Night Terrors


Dillan ran through the street with a ferocious speed. His eyes swept through the strangers, trying to keep his sight fixed on the white locks of charred hair as Kieth blended into the crowd. Dillan plowed between pokemon, shoving some to his left and others to his right. Pokemon were shouting at him, "Watch it!" or "I'm walking here, buster!". Some shouted profanity. Dillan didn't care. His mind was directed towards Kieth. He ran as fast as he could. His source of energy was the feelings of self-resentment. He hated himself for not trying. Always not trying! I never try! I don't try to defend my friends, I don't try to make a decision until I have to, I don't try to help others! I can't NOT try anymore! I need to fight for the pokemon I left behind!

Dillan watched as Kieth laughed maniacally and leapt with surprising agility and power onto the brown, wooden roof of a building to Dillan's left. Dillan looked for a way up. Lucky for him there was a group of painters standing on the brown roof Kieth had leapt to. They had a ladder leading to the roof from the ground. Dillan darted towards the ladder and climbed it as fast as he could. The painters looked at Dillan with curious glances as he climbed the last ladder rung and started scanning the surroundings. He took a thee-sixty degree turn. He saw no sign of the shiftry.

"What 'cha think you're doin'?" one of the painters asked Dillan. The first painter was a small pokemon with a spring at its base that it used to stand. The pokemon had the snout of a pig and two pointed ears that supported a pink gem. The pokemon had stubby paws with no fingers. It also had no mouth. Its eyes were black with the sun reflecting off of it, giving it white pupils.

The spoink's partner was a little bigger. It had a short, white skirt with green legs protruding from its body. It had white arms and a white head that was covered by long strands of green hair. The hair was parted at its eyes, revealing a smile. Its eyes were red with black pupils. It had two pink discs coming off of the top of its head. Its hands were covered in brown paint. It was holding a paint-brush that was also brown. The pokemon reminded Dillan of Reya.

Dillan looked at the painters with a hopeful gaze. "Do you know where that pokemon went?" he asked.

"What pokemon?" the kirlia asked.

"The brown one with the white hair!" Dillan said persistently. "It literally just came through. Please, this is very serious!"

"I haven' seen anyone up here except for us;" the spoink said as he gestured to himself and the kirlia. "and, of course, yourself. Ain't that right, Ignus."

"That's right." the kirlia replied.

Dillan looked on with confusion. Before he could protest, Ryan shouted out to him from the ground. Dillan looked to him and Hazel. He saw there was a crowd of pokemon staring at him from the cobblestone path. The pokemon were giving him dirty looks. They were whispering to each other. Ryan palmed his face. Hazel looked relieved for some reason. Dillan wasn't embarrassed. He had a good reason for going onto the roof. Kieth was up here.

"You need something from us?" Ignus asked.

Dillan looked at the kirlia. "You had to see something." Dillan insisted. "He's a pretty big pokemon!"

"Again," Ignus said again. Based on his tone, Dillan could tell the kirlia was starting to become annoyed. "I haven't seen anyone. Now, if that's all, please get off my roof. Me and my friend have some more work to do and your shenanigans have made our job harder."

Dillan looked at his feet. He didn't notice it while he was chasing Kieth, but now he could tell he had stepped in a new coat of paint. The bottoms of his feet were stained brown. The while situation felt wrong. Even if these pokemon saw Kieth, they seemed intent on keeping to themselves. Dillan decided it was best to leave. He gave one more quick glance around at the surrounding buildings for a sign of the burned shiftree. When he couldn't find anything, he apologized to the two painters and left down the ladder as carefully as he could as to not track paint on the ladder.

When he got to the ground, Dillan found the crowd that was previously gawking at him had dispersed, leaving Ryan and Hazel giving Dillan a couple of confused glances.

"What's wrong?" Hazel asked worriedly. She could tell by Dillan's expression that he was disturbed.

Dillan tried to answer, but he couldn't make out any words. He started to grimace slightly. His mind was racing to Kieth's torture. He started unintentionally leaning on his right leg. His left one became sore.

"Where did he go?" Ryan asked quickly. He looked like he could tackle a bull.

"I-" Dillan started. "I'm not sure. He jumped onto that roof and vanished..."

"Who are you two talking about?" Hazel asked.

"Kieth." Ryan said to Hazel quickly. He turned his attention to the roof. "Did they see him?" he asked Dillan. Ryan pointed towards the painters. They were working on the roof again.

"No." Dillan told Ryan. "No, they didn't."

"Are you sure you saw 'Kieth'?" Ryan asked.

Dillan turned to him. He wasn't annoyed with the question, even though he knew what it implied. "I don't know..." Dillan said. "He looked... Different... He had burns all over his body... And he wasn't small anymore. He had a white mane and big, yellow eyes like his boss." Dillan started to grimace. The pain in his ankle started to spike.

"Kieth wasn't a Shiftree, I know that." Ryan stated. "How could you tell it was him?"

"I just could!" Dillan said harshly.

Ryan looked annoyed by the sudden outburst. "All right." he said. "Don't snap at me. I'm only trying to help."

Dillan started breathing heavily. His ankle started hurting even more.

"Who is Kieth?" Hazel asked.

"He was me and Dillan's care taker when we were prisoners." Ryan said. "He was nice enough to put me into that coma you helped me out of."

Hazel looked worried. "And he's here?!" she asked quickly.

Dillan fell into a sitting position and started groaning. He grabbed at his leg. It felt like splitting open. He began to push on it in an attempt to numb the pain.

"Dillan?" Hazel asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"It's my ankle!" Dillan shouted. Pokemon walking by stopped to see what was wrong with Dillan. Other's stopped to see what they were looking at.

"How does it hurt?" Hazel asked as she kneeled next to him. She started searching through her bag.

"What do you mean?" Dillan asked through gritted teeth. The pain was getting worse by the second.

"Is it a burning pain, sharp pain, or a dull pain?" Hazel questioned hurriedly.

Dillan thought about it for a second. "Sharp!" He yelled. The pain was becoming intolerable. The pokemon around started whispering amongst themselves. Some broke free of the crowd and left while others continued to gawk.

Hazel pulled out a seed. "I need you to eat this." she told him. Dillan grabbed the seed quickly and ate it.

"What does it do?" Dillan asked.

"It's a heal seed." Hazel said quickly. "I think it'll help, but I'm not sure. Can you stand?"

Dillan tried to get up. His ankle started hurting even worse until he felt a "snap" followed by his rear hitting the ground. Dillan shouted as loud as he could. His ankle folded in on itself. He looked on in horror as his disfigured ankle tilted sideways. Hazel gave a gasp. Ryan looked on in horror. The crowd was giving them confused glances.

"Move aside!" a massive voice demanded with such volume, a window could crack. "Move right now or so help me I'll throw each one of you out of my way!" A gap parted in the crowd. Dillan didn't seem to notice, nor care. His mind was focused on the crevice that seemed to grow with the pain in his ankle. Dillan's vision started to go black from the pain. He could hear voices around him. He felt paws and claws trying to grasp his body. He instinctually tried to struggle out of their grip.

"Dillan!" Hazel shouted.

"Miss, we need to get him to a hospital." a new voice said.

"We need you to move or be moved." the booming voice proclaimed.

"We're coming with you!" Ryan shouted.

"Dillan?" a female voice called out to him. He recognized the voice almost instantly. "I need you to let us help. We can't help you if you struggle."

"It hurts!" Dillan shouted.

"I know, but struggling won't help. You need to trust us. Your friends are going to be with you every step of the way. Do you understand?"

Dillan thought about it for a few seconds; but how hard can you think when it feels like your leg is rejecting your foot?

"Alright!" Dillan shouted. "Just make the pain stop!" He stopped struggling. He kept his claws pressed against his ankle. The claws and paws started grabbing at his body again. They lifted Dillan up and put him on a cloth. They then carried the cloth away with Dillan on him.

"Dillan?" Ryan asked worriedly. "Can you hear me?"

"Ryan!" Dillan called out. "It hurts so badly!"

"I know, man." Ryan said. "Hazel is going to be with you. I need to get help. I promise I'll be back."

Dillan felt a surge of pain in his ankle. He felt the scales start to tear away from each other. Dillan gave another yell of pain. Dillan couldn't tell you what happened afterwards. Everything became a blur of noises and intense pain. He felt himself slip into the void of his mind. Dillan blacked out.


Dillan bolted upright as he woke up. He could feel himself sweating heavily. His breathing was rapid. His eyes darted around his room. There was a pokemon leaning against a wall. It was a bipedal pokemon with two yellow stripes going vertically from his shoulders and ending at the waist with a set of three yellow stripes that were perpendicular. Its fur was a brick-red with tan fur markings on its stomach and muzzle. The pokemon had a thin, brick-red tail that had a tan, fluffy end. The pokemon had its arms crossed. The pokemon had big, puffy cheeks. It also had a set of bucked teeth protruding from its mouth. Its eyes were closed, as if it was thinking. Dillan thought differently when he heard the watchog snore. He looked at the room he was in.

He was in a bed made of hay. He had a red blanket covering his lower-half. The room was a small room. His bed was the only piece of furniture. There was a window to Dillan's back. It was the only light source. The floor was made of wood and the ceiling was stone. The walls were made of green wood. Dillan was facing a spruce door with a yellow only thing that worried Dillan was his lack of company.

"Ryan?" Dillan called out. "Hazel?" He didn't get a response. He started thinking about the previous events. His eyes drifted to his foot. He looked at the blanket. There were two lumps. Dillan tried to move his left foot. It responded without any pain. He flung the blanket from his feet. Dillan gasped from what he saw.

His foot was fine. It looked as good as new. Nothing seemed out of place. Dillan was very shocked. Dillan looked at the watchog who he had awoken with his gasp.

"Wha's happening!" the watchog shouted as his eyes darted around the room. When he didn't find anything important, he looked to Dillan. "Well?"

"I-" Dillan tried to say. He couldn't seem to think of anything to say. His attention then turned towards his ankle. "What's wrong with my ankle?" he asked.

The watchog put his hand up as if to answer, but he didn't. "One second." he said as he left the room.

Dillan had seconds of the quiet room before Hazel came in. She looked worried, which was understandable considering her friend was fine one second and the next, his ankle was ripping in two for some unexplained reason.

Dillan waited for Ryan to come in. He wanted to talk with his whole team. Sadly, the watchog was the only other person who came. He shut the door behind him.

"Where's Ryan?" He tried to ignore the pain so he could talk properly.

"I'm not sure..." Hazel said with a frown. "But what happened to you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that."

"Are you in any pain?"

"Not anymore..." Dillan turned his attention to the watchog. "Who are you?"

"Oh, me?" he asked. "W-well, I'm Wallace. I work at the guild."

"Nice to meet y-you." Dillan held up his claw and waved. The watchog waved as well. He then looked around the room again. "Where are we?"

"The guild." Hazel said.

"Why are we at the guild?"

A large "thud" came from outside the room. Dillan jumped from the noise. Wallace threw his hands up into a fighting position. He tried to look confident, but his eyes and jaw betrayed him. His yellow eyes were dilated and his teeth were chattering together. Hazel looked at the door with curiosity. About three seconds went by before the door to Dillan's room flew open. Hazel jumped up as the door slammed against the wall. Wallace gave a shriek of fear and leapt at the doorway. He flew over the small pokemon who had forced the door open.

Ryan was standing in the doorway, looking at Wallace soar over his head. Wallace skidded on the floor. Ryan looked half way between confused and disturbed.

"He's suppose to guard Dillan?" Ryan asked Hazel.

"Why are you being so loud?" Hazel asked Ryan. She sounded annoyed.

"I wanted to see how the 'guard' would handle an attacker." Ryan answered. "Apparently, he wouldn't do so well." He turned his attention towards Dillan. "Sorry I left. I went to get the guild's help." Ryan answered.

"What for?" Dillan asked.

Ryan gave a grim look towards Dillan. "I'm not sure what exactly happened to you, but if I were to guess, I think you were led into a trap."

"By who?" Dillan asked.

"I'll give you three guesses."

"Kieth?" Hazel asked.

"Yup," Ryan acknowledged. "though I'm not sure how. He didn't attack you visibly which leads me to believe that you were attacked with a psychic-type move. Kieth was leading you into a trap." He looked towards the doorway. "Wallace, can you get a doctor?"

The watchog was on his feet, leaning against the doorway. He gave a quick nod and left Dillan's view.

"Hey," Dillan began. "Why are we at the guild?"

"Because of Kieth." Ryan said. "The hospital wasn't a safe place to be. Since the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with you physically, they decided it was safe to move you here. Who would attack someone if they were in the guild?"

Ryan had a point. If Kieth was targeting Dillan, the guild was probably the safest place to be.

"Yes?" a pokemon called out with a deep voice. Dillan looked at the doorway to find a quadrupedal pokemon. It was a feline with a red gemstone on its forehead. Its fur was tan with black marks on the tips of its round ears. The pokemon's eyes were white with a red outline to its white pupils. The pokemon was about three feet tall.

"Doc., can-" Ryan began.

"Doctor Valentine, Mr. Simon." the persian interrupted.

"Whatever-"

"No, not whatever. Doctor Valentine. Address me properly because one of these days, you will be in my care."

"Sorry, Doctor Valentine," Hazel interrupted. Ryan was about to say something before Hazel interrupted, but she didn't give him the chance. "but what happened to Dillan?"

Doctor Valentine took a deep breath and then stuck his head up proudly. "Dillan is your name?" he asked.

"Yes sir." Dillan responded.

"Are you prone to night terrors?"

"Night terrors?" Dillan asked. What's that?

"Yes, night terrors. It's like a nightmare, but it happens while you are awake. You start to see things that aren't really there. These visions look real to you, but they don't exist."

"I'm not making this up!" Dillan said accusingly.

"Oh, I do believe you." Doctor Valentine said calmly. "I just do not believe it was real."

"Then how do you explain my ankle? It was messed up."

"No it wasn't. Have you had any past trauma involving your ankle?"

"W-well... Yeah. But-"

"Dillan, understand that nothing was wrong with you or your ankle. You should not have been in any pain. The night terror could have been brought on by remembering a traumatic experience."

If what he's saying is true, then does tat mean I made up Kieth, too?

"Ryan," Dillan looked towards his friend. "You saw Kieth as well, right?"

"W-well..." Ryan said awkwardly. No, not really..."

I'm not making any of these things up! I have a sister! I met Reya! I did... Dillan stared at his foot. I met someone last night in my dream... He told me things that only I should have known... He told me that I felt like I didn't belong... Because I don't. This was the first time Dillan's thoughts truly felt complete. He told me I was... "Human..." Dillan whispered to himself.

"I'm sorry?" Doctor Valentine asked.

Dillan looked up from his foot. Doctor Valentine looked confused. Hazel's face was full of worry. She was obviously concerned about Dillan. Ryan looked pale, like he was horrified by Dillan's mumbling. Dillan realized he was causing an upset. He straightened his back in a confident way. He looked at Doctor Valentine and said, "Alright. You're probably right... It was just a... Night terror... My leg is alright, right?"

"Correct." Doctor Valentine said suspiciously. He was eyeing Dillan with concern. "Are you feeling alright?"

Dillan swung his legs to the side of the bed. He was about to plant his foot on the ground when he hesitated. Will it hurt? I need to believe it won't. I need to get out of this room and think things over. He jumped out of bed for effect. HE winced when his left foot hit the ground, but he didn't feel any pain.

"Dillan." Hazel started.

"I'm fine." Dillan proclaimed. He put all his weight into his left foot. "See?"

"Alright." Hazel said. She smiled.

"Thanks Doctor Valentine." Dillan said.

"Your welcome..." he said with concern. "Are you sure you are feeling alright? Usually patients don't accept they were seeing things that aren't there very well, but you're alright with that."

"Doctor," Dillan started. "I'm fine. It was all in my head. I feel great and my team has work to do. Bye!" Dillan turned towards the door and pulled on the handle. He walked out of the room with Hazel and Ryan reluctantly following.


Dillan recognized the room he walked into. It was the lobby room of the guild. They were at the west wall. To Dillan's right was the guild's exit. Janette was at her counter talking to the Guildleader. Team Force just walked out of the guild. Dillan started walking towards the exit when Hazel grabbed his arm. He turned around to face her.

"What's going on with you?" Hazel asked. "You're acting strange."

"No, I'm not." Dillan said. "I was just told I keep seeing things. My brain seems to be at war with itself, making things up in order to make sense of things I see. I mean, why not? I don't belong. Period. I don't know where my home is. I don't know what I am. I don't even know if my own sister exists. I could have made her up."

"Dillan," Ryan started. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" Dillan asked. "Thinking? My brain is messed up. Why else would I have amnesia. Kieth wasn't really there, I get that. The painters from before can prove that much. Should I just give up? Should I not try to make sense of things?"

"No-" Ryan started.

"Then what should I do?"

Ryan just sat there, staring at him.

"Well?"

He didn't answer. He just kept staring.

"Ryan?" Dillan asked. "Stop staring at me."

No response.

"Ryan!" Dillan looked at Hazel. "Hazel."

No response.

Dillan walked up to her. He waved his hand in front her eyes. She didn't flinch. What in Ganderosa? Dillan put his hand under her mouth. She wasn't breathing. Dillan looked at the Guildleader and Janette. They seemed to be frozen in time like statues.

"What's going on?" Dillan asked. "Dang it! Why is this happening?" Dillan felt like breaking down. He was tired of being here. He was tired of not being able to remember his family or any friends he used to have. Do they even know I'm not with them? Why is nothing making sense?

"Dillan?" a female voice called to him. Dillan turned around to face the exit. Reya was standing in the doorway.

"Reya?" Dillan said. He turned away from her. He looked at the ground. He felt mad and confused. "You're not real."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"None of this is real. Something is wrong with all of this."

"What makes you say that?"

Dillan looked at her. He walked up to her. He was about one foot from her face. She was taller than him by about six inches. He looked her eye to eye. "Remember the art gallery in my mind?"

"Yes." Reya said nervously. She didn't know where this was going, but Dillan could tell she was afraid to find out.

"Someone else visited me last night."

She looked terrified. "Who?!" she asked fearfully. "Who visited you?!"

"Someone who will give me answers."

"Who is it?! You need to tell me!" Her eyes drifted to Dillan's buff. Her face grew even more terrified. "Where's the Star?" she asked slowly.

"The Star?" Dillan asked.

"The Sapphire Star! Where is it?!"

"It was stolen." Dillan said. "Someone took it from me in Kerroshia Castle."

Reya turned away from Dillan. "No no no no no!" she started mumbling to herself.

"What's wrong?" Dillan asked. He was getting frustrated. "It wasn't that important."

Reya turned to him. "You are the stupidest pokemon I have ever met! How could you lose the Sapphire Star and be ok with it?! You don't know what it even does, do you?!"

"Should I?" Dillan asked. "I didn't get an instructions manual."

"That is your tie with... With... Augh!" She turned towards the ceiling. "You make it very difficult to do anything with this numbskull!"

Dillan had enough of her nonsense. "Why are you here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be in my dreams?"

"Oh, believe you me! I would if I could, but since you decided to lose the Sapphire Star, I need to talk to you in person, which is very annoying!"

"What do you mean?"

"The Sapphire Star is my way to communicate with you from far away! Since you lost it, I can't do that!"

"So you knew I lost the amulet?" he asked.

"I hoped I couldn't talk to you for a different reason!"

Dillan's eyes drifted towards a string on Reya's neck. A small stone hung from a chain around her neck. It was the same color as the Sapphire Star.

"What's that?" Dillan asked. "You didn't have it before."

"It's a gift. It's like the Sapphire Star, but it's not as powerful." A groan came from the room. Reya looked above and said, "I'm sorry! I'll stop!" She looked towards Dillan. "now then, who did you talk to in your dream?"

"Why is it important?" he asked.

"I can't say!" Reya said. "Don't you understand? I'm not allowed to say anything!"

"Why?"

"Because of this!" She put her hand in the air. Dillan didn't notice it before. She had a massive slash from her wrist to her elbow. Judging by the scabbing, it looked fairly new. It looked like a razor blade sliced her.

"How did you get that?" Dillan asked with concern. He thought about it. Is she getting hurt because of my questions?

"I can't tell you. Right now, you need to understand that some really awful pokemon want the Sapphire Star and you need to answer my questions! If you don't, pokemon will suffer!"

"You were trying to help other pokemon the whole time, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"No more questions!" Reya told him forcefully. "Just answer mine! Who did you talk to?"

Dillan felt bad. He didn't know or even think about why Reya kept asking him questions. He just wanted to know about himself. "Alright." Dillan said. "I'm not sure who was talking to me."

"Ok..." Reya said. "What did he tell you?"

"That I don't belong here. He told me things I should have only known. He told me that nothing felt familiar to me because I'm not from around here. He said I was human."

A massive "boom" came from the ceiling. Reya looked up with fear. She then looked at Dillan and said, "Anything else?"

Dillan thought about it. "No... Nothing else."

Reya looked around the room. Her eyes fell upon Ryan and Hazel. She looked at them for a while. She then turned towards Dillan and said, "It's true. You are human and you're not from around here." A massive, thundering roar came from outside the guild. Reya looked at the ceiling and said, "He needed to know! The enemy has gotten to him! If we kept it a secret, he would have trusted the enemy more than us! We can't fail again!"

"Fail again?" Dillan asked. Another roar sounded. Reya gave a groan. She slapped her hand to her scar. Blood started leaking from the re-openned wound.

"Are you ok?" Dillan asked with concern.

"I-" Reya started. "I'm fine." She looked at Dillan. "I need to leave." she said. "Don't tell anyone about you being human. I'm begging you." Reya started walking to the exit.

"Reya!" Dillan called out.

Reya turned towards Dillan. "Yes?"

"Please tell me one thing."

"What is it?"

"If I'm not suppose to be here, why am I in Ganderosa?"

Reya thought about the question. "I'm very sorry..." A tear started falling down her cheek. "I can't tell you. Dillan, you need to go to the Castle Ruins. Not now, but in four-days time. You need to go there alone."

"Alone?" he asked. "Why?"

Reya turned towards Dillan's friends. "One of your friends works for the enemy. I'm not sure which one, but the aura of your team is tainted with evil. Be careful." Reya left the guild. Dillan ran towards the door. He looked outside. She was gone. He stared at the blue sky.

"Dillan?" Ryan said.

Dillan looked back at his team. He wanted to say something, but he was too surprised that they were moving again.

"How did you get there?" Hazel asked as she and Ryan approached him.

"I-" Dillan stopped himself. Reya said I can't tell them about her... Should I trust her? Even if she is lying, that slice was real... If I tell my team about her, she would fail whatever job she was sent to do; that would mean she get's hurt... I can't do that. I can't tell them.

"Dillan?" Ryan said.

"What were we talking about?" Dillan asked Ryan.

"Uh..." Ryan was caught off guard with the question. "You were asking me if you should give up on thinking things through."

"Thinking what through?" Dillan asked.

"Dillan," Hazel said worriedly. "Are you sure you're all right? Do you know where you are?"

Dillan was confused. "Yeah. I'm in the guild at Palando Town. Why?"

"You were just yelling at Ryan a few seconds ago, yet you don't remember it."

"Oh, right." Dillan said. He felt stupid. To them it feels like a few seconds ago, but to me it feels like ten minutes. "Ryan," Dillan looked towards the pachirisu. "I'm sorry. I lost it back there. Things are just confusing right now."

"Hey, I get it." Ryan said. "Not being able to recognize anything sucks. So do pe-..." Ryan stumbled, then added, "Pokemon. Doctor Valentine needs to work on his pokemon skills."

"So do you." Hazel said with a playful tone.

"Ha ha." Ryan said with a grin.

"Guys," Dillan started. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Why don't we go and get a job for the day."

"What day?" Ryan asked. "It's practically gone. Sure there's light, but by the time we find a job and get to where we need to be, it'll be night. Best to just hang out until tomorrow."

"But we don't have any money." Dillan said. "Right?" he asked Hazel.

"Don't worry about it." Hazel said. "The guild gives us free meals every night. We don't have to worry about food, just flavor."

"Excuse me!" Janette cut in from her counter. Team Rapture looked towards her. She was smiling. "Don't judge the food until you try it. Adelina's a really good cook."

"Adelina?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. She's our cook." Janette said.

"I know that much." Ryan said. "Where does she come from?"

"Castellum Town. Why? Do you know her?"

"Which way to the kitchen?" Ryan asked.

"Down the door behind you is the dinning room. The room at the end of that room is the kitchen. If you're hoping to see Adelina, she's there cooking."

Ryan broke from the group and ran towards a door at the west wall. He pushed it openned and disappeared into the room.

"What's with Ryan?" Hazel asked.

"Want to find out?" Dillan asked.

"Gladly." Hazel took the lead. She pulled the door openned and went inside followed by Dillan.


The dinning room was pretty big. There was an elongated, sycamore table in the middle of the room with eighteen matching chairs surrounding it: eight chairs on one side, eight opposite that one, and a single chair at the other two ends. The table had berry-filled plates at every chair. The walls were stone with Ganderosa's purple banners hanging from them. The banners were of a dragon's skull with two golden spears making an "X" below it. The banner said "All Hail the Arvaine's" below the spears. Dillan could hear talking coming from an exit from the dinning room on the north wall. He and Hazel started walking towards the exit. He could hear Ryan's voice coming from the next room. He was talking with a person who had a higher, feminine voice. Dillan turned the corner to find Ryan was face-to-face with a pokemon that disturbed him beyond words.

The pokemon was about four feet tall with light pink skin. It had a yellowish-tan striped pattern on its stomach. Its body was big and elongated. It had stubby arms that ended with paws that had tan palms. Its legs were also stubby with a single, white talon coming from its small feet. It had a pink tail that came up to its neck and then folded in on itself and stretched downwards. Its face was a sphere with small black dots for eyes. The part that made Dillan wince was the massive tongue that draped itself down the pokemon's chest to the floor where it rested.

Dillan was surprised to hear the lickitung speak in coherent sentences with it's tongue hanging out.

"After everything I did for you and you expect me to treat you like a stranger?" the lickitung asked Ryan as it put its hand to its chest in a profound way that showed it was insulted.

"Addi," Ryan said. "That's not what I meant and you know it. I just don't want you telling my friends about you-know-what."

"Ryan," Adelina said with shock. "I wouldn't tell anyone that even if my life depended on it and you know that. You insult me with your assumptions."

"I just wanted to make it clear-" Ryan said feebly.

"I don't want to hear it." Adelina said as she crossed her arms and stuck her head in the air for effect. "You went missing for a month. No one knew where you went. I thought you went and got yourself killed tracking down that stupid "Amber whatever you call it"."

"You know that's not what it's called." Ryan said. He was obviously starting to get annoyed.

"You're correct. And I don't care! Hear me? I. Do. Not. Care! Why don't you go to your new team for emotional support. I am positive they'll at least tell you when you are no longer wanted!"

"Maybe we should leave." Dillan whispered to Hazel.

"And these must be your 'new friends'." Adelina said to Ryan. Welp, there's no leaving now...

Dillan and Hazel entered the kitchen. It had counters all around with pots and pans stacked in what looked like a sink. There was a massive pot at the back of the kitchen with a stepping stool for the chef to cook. It wasn't big enough to hold more than eight pokemon at a time and that's pushing it.

Hazel walked up to the lickitung and put out her right paw. "Hi. I'm Hazel. You must be Adelina the chef. Janette tells me your a great cook."

"Thanks." Adelina said. She sounded kind and polite. She then turned towards Dillan.

"I-I'm Dillan." Dillan said feebly. He tried not t stare at Adelina's tongue .

"Excuse the tongue ." Adelina apologized. "It's a curse for my species that makes us look barbaric, but it's what I am and not even a sword can change that."

"How would a sword help?" Dillan asked.

"It doesn't." Adelina assured. "Trust me."

Dillan gave a brief smile. Adelina turned away from them. She went over to the sink and washed her hands.

"Why don't you mons go into the dinning room and talk. I tried to make something special for you new-comers. Just don't eat until we've said grace."

Grace... Dillan thought. Ryan started waving his hands, pleading for Dillan to ask what grace was. He didn't intend to. He couldn't bring himself to ask what "Grace" meant. He wanted that word to be a special word that meant only one thing; his sister and his connection to his past. Dillan stopped dwelling on his sister's name as well as the probability that she didn't even exist. He decided to think about other things such as the earthquake going on in his stomach.

"Could you guys give us a minute?" Ryan asked his team.

Dillan was confused. He never thought about Ryan not wanting him to be in the same room.

Hazel grabbed Dillan by his arm and said, "They need a minute to themselves." She then started leading him out of the room.


They sat at the end of the table for about five minutes. Dillan tried to ignore the whispering that went on in the kitchen. It wasn't like he could hear what was being said. He just heard the sounds that came from the kitchen and thought it was annoying.

"That's it, Ryan Simon!" Adelina shouted. She sounded hurt. "I'm tired of you trying to cheer me up! You don't understand when you leave your friends, it hurts! Let me show you how it feels!" She stormed through the dinning room, waddling on her stubby feet with tears going down her face onto her tongue. A layer of saliva traced its way across the floor and out of the room. Ryan came running out of the kitchen. He slipped on Adelina's spit and slammed the back of his head on the wooden floor. He skidded across the floor and stopped behind Dillan and Hazel's chairs.

"Are you alright?" Hazel asked.

"What do you think?" Ryan asked through gritted teeth.

"Who is she?" Hazel asked.

Ryan stood up. The back of his fur was covered in saliva. "She's a friend of mine; at least, she was."

"What happened between you two?" Dillan asked.

"Sorry to say this, but that's none of your business. And don't tell me that we don't keep secrets from each other because we're a team. This has nothing to do with how I treat you guys or how well I do my job on this team, so it doesn't matter."

"Apparently it does have to do with how you treat us." Hazel said with concern. Dillan could tell she was making an effort to not get annoyed.

"It doesn't anymore." Ryan said. They sat in silence for a few seconds. Ryan then said, "You know what? I'm not hungry anymore. I think I'm gonna go get this spit out of my fur and then go to bed. See you guys tomorrow." Ryan left the room. Hazel and Dillan didn't try to stop him.

"I lost my appetite as well." Hazel said. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Hazel said as she got up from the table. She waved goodbye to Dillan and left the room. Dillan waved back, then turned his attention to the plate of food in front of him. He looked around the empty table. It was just him. Is it going to only be me in the future? This sucks... I don't know if I can get to the Castle Ruins alone. What if Kieth really is here? Can I make the journey safely? Can I risk it?

Suddenly, Dillan lost his appetite as well. He was too tired to eat. He decided he might as well go to bed earlier as well. Tomorrow, he would have to plan for the trip to the Castle Ruins. For that, he would need to be well-rested. Dillan got up from the table and departed for his bed.


With some directions from Janette, Dillan found himself in a big room filled with bunk-beds along the walls. It was made of hay supported by metal wires that extended from a metal frame. There were metal poles coming from the corners of the frame leading up to another frame which supported another bed. Each bunk bed had a mini shelf protruding from them to support the guildmembers items. There was a circular rug with Ganderosa's symbol in the middle of it. There was a pokemon in one of the bunk beds that Dillan recognized. It was the scyther from the arena. He was laying on his stomach with his arms to the bed for support as he read a book.

"You were in the arena today, right?" Dillan asked the scyther. The pokemon jumped from surprise. He slammed the book shut and his head darted to Dillan.

"O-Oh. It's you!" the scyther said. "You're one of the new guildmembers!" He jumped from the bed and walked over to Dillan. "I'm Koa." He stuck out his claw for a hand-shake.

"Koa?" Dillan asked.

"It means fearless, if you can believe that." Koa said.

"That's not what I meant." Dillan said quickly. "It's just a name I've never heard before... Like most names..."

"What do you mean, 'like most names'?" Koa asked.

Should I tell him? I don't know him... Then again, it's probably safe. He is a guildmember, after all... Then again, so is Dean.

"Are you teammates with Bolt?" Dillan asked Koa. He decided that the best way to find out if someone is trust worthy was to use your knowledge that's available; his team.

"Yeah..." Koa waited. "That isn't your answer, is it?"

"No. Just wanted to know if you two were a team."

"Well, it's not just us. We also have Adelina on our team, but you probably haven't met her yet."

"I have." Dillan stated.

"Do you like her?" Koa asked.

"She seems cool."

"Oh, she is. I like her!" Koa thought about what he said. "A-as a friend! Not as a girl-friend. What I mean is I like her as a friend who is a girl, not a girl friend. That would be weird... Not that she isn't attractive, just that I don't like her in that way... I did it again..."

"Did what?" Dillan asked.

"Rambled on about things... It's a problem I have."

"It's alright. I don't mind."

Koa smiled brightly at Dillan. His cheeks then grew red. "Sorry. Here I am rambling on about myself when you haven't even introduced yourself."

"I'm Dillan." Dillan said.

"Well, I should be off. I forgot about dinner. Adelina's probably waiting for me and..." His voice trailed off at the end. "Anyways, I'll just go. See you later, Dillan!" With that, Koa left.

Dillan smiled. He seems cool and so does my other guild members... Other than Dean and his team. This should be cool. Dillan walked towards a bed without things on the mini balcony. He got into the bottom bunk. He looked at the shelf. He had no personal items to place on it. He tried not to dwell on that. He thought about his sister's voice. He was starting to forget what it sounded like... Again... He hated that thought. Please show her to me tonight... With that thought, he drifted off to sleep, wondering about what tomorrow would bring.


(Author's Notes)

Hey guys, MasterKnight here! I wanted to apologize for A. the delay on this chapter and B. the length of the author's notes. My family went out of town for Thanksgiving which made everything crazier than it needed to be which included my story. Now, this "author's notes" area is longer because I have a lot of important things to say. Special thanks and shout out to the new fans (ArchAngel319, Aatxe360, person316, and QuietKnight'sWrath)! You guys are awesome! Also, Thanks to everyone who's stuck around this long! When I started this, I wasn't expecting to have this many fans. I just want to thank everyone who's stuck around, even if you don't read this "author's notes" section. Also, just wanted to let you guys know that I am going to be going back through the story chapters and making some grammatical changes, so your inbox might be flooded with notifications from me. Enjoy! (No, seriously. I am making grammar changes and I'm sorry for the flooding that will occur over the few weeks)

Now, I found you guys love the action scenes. Maybe some of you like it more than others. You might have realized, "Hey, there wasn't a fighting scene in this chapter. I waited two weeks and a half to see some fighting, but all they did was talk and show their issues. What gives?" (This is not how I see you guys talking). Well, what gives is I have decided that I can't keep doing it like that. No action? Oh, well that's because this chapter wasn't about the fighting. It was about character development. Get bored? Sure. Skip the chapter. That won't help you. I drop hints about characters through the story and if you skim or skip the chapter, you could miss it. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Now, the reason I won't have a fighting scene every chapter is for two reasons. A. It ruins a reader and spoils them with what we call "Instant Gratification". Now, instant gratification ruins the story because it doesn't leave room for things like character development because all the reader wants to see is action in a chapter. The second reason (and the best one) is it gets clumsy. For instance, and I'm not sure if you guys thought the same, "A Test Of Strength". I'm gonna come clean. I came up with that fight scene out of nowhere. It felt too clumsy and just plain unneeded. I promise that every other things in this story is planned, but that wasn't because people wanted a fight and I wanted to oblige. And my final reason, C. Making up reasons for a fight doesn't work. It becomes a chore in its own and at that point, the story is no longer writing itself.

Hope you guys liked this chapter! I will attempt (Not a promise) to get another chapter up over the next two weeks. At the least, December 13th. Anyways, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!