Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Shadows of Ganderosa
Chapter 35
A Feral Feeling
Just real quick before you dive into the chapter, everyone who is NOT following the story, I have something to tell you that is important (see "Author's Notes")! And for those who are following, this kind of affects you as well (but not to such a level like the guest viewers).
Anyways, enjoy!
"I'm coming!" Hazel shouted.
The light began to bob up and down, but it wasn't fast enough. Dillan watched in fear as the flame disappeared behind , he felt the rope pull him upwards. As the rope ascended, so did he. Dillan continued upwards until finally, he heard a "smash", and his ascending motion ended, leaving him hanging upside-down by his ankle.
"Hazel?" Dillan called frantically. He began checking his surroundings.
Dillan found he could see clearly due to a lack of fog in the area. Looking below, he found himself suspended a few feet above a cobble-stone road which led to a flight of stairs that ended at a set of columns. It looked like some sort of entrance to the building ahead. Dillan could see a mace-like crystal hanging from the ceiling to the room. It looked as though a fire was in the crystal, illuminating the surrounding area. Dillan looked upwards to see a rope that was suspended by a pole sticking out from the fog. The remaining rope ran along the pole and into the fog.
"A... a trap?" he asked himself.
"Are you alright?" Dillan looked below him to see Hazel standing there with a worried look.
"Y-yeah..." Dillan answered. "I'm fine."
Hazel's previously worried expression had changed into an amused smile. "So you're just hanging around?"
"Is this really the time to make a joke?" he asked, worried about what the trap entailed.
"Cut yourself down," she said.
Dillan looked up at the rope. He focused on his fin. As it changed into a glowing blue, he swung upwards. He missed it by a few inches. He then bent his back to try and get closer to the rope. He swung once more, nicking his foot. The gabite grimaced, but swung again. This time, his glowing fin sliced the rope above. As he fell, Dillan realized a problem with this plan.
Hazel took a step backwards and attempted to catch Dillan as he came down. As he fell into her arms, Hazel had an epiphany. Dillan's force pulled Hazel down into the ground as well. He felt his fin bend under his weight and his tail-bone hit the ground as well. Hazel felt her hands come off of Dillan due to the gap between his body and the ground. Her paws slammed into the ground and her jaw came down onto Dillan's chest, forcing her tongue between her teeth.
The two got up as fast as they could, trying to deal with their pain in separate manners.
"No a goo ihea!" Hazel shouted with her tongue out as she tried to numb the pain with exposure to the air.
"Gah!" Dillan shouted as he looked backwards at his fin. Thankfully, it didn't look broken. One of these days, it will be!
Hazel shook her head as she glanced up at the frilled end of the newly-cut rope. "A trap? Here?"
"I don't like it..." Dillan said.
"I don't blame you," Hazel said. "Why is there a trap in a mystery dungeon? I mean, ferals can't put these up. They aren't smart enough."
"Well, then who put it here?" Dillan asked. The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a shiver run down his spine, remembering the last time he'd been here. "You... You don't th-think it w-was Thalia..."
Hazel smiled. "Nah. This is too elaborate."
Dillan thought about Hazel's point. Too elaborate... Well, Thalia had confronted us last time, determined to beat us with her strength, and not because of some trap she made. She seemed too prideful for that...
"She's too strong to rely on... this." Hazel motioned to the rope. "No, this was made by someone who isn't confident in their abilities."
"What in Ganderosa do you think you blokes are doing?!" a small, male voice shouted. Dillan jumped from hearing the new voice. It seemed to come fro behind him and above him at the same time. The gabite eyes moved up the stairs and set on a small, brown animal with white fluff around the neck. It also wore a small chain with a smooth, white stone resting on the end like some sort of charm. The creature looked very familiar to him. "You've ruined my contraption!" Upon hearing him once more, Dillan recognized him.
"Leslie?" Dillan asked, recalling the small eevee – Leslie Bartholemule – he and Ryan had saved from the Shadowed Brush.
"Hey!" Hazel said, realizing she too had met the little pokemon. "It's been a while!"
Leslie tilted his head in confusion. "Do I know you?"
"We saved you in the Shadowed Brush!" Dillan said with a smile.
A look of recognition dawned on Leslie's face, quickly followed by anger. "From the look of it, it hasn't been long enough!" the eevee announced. "Do you know how long it took me to set up that trap?!"
"What's goin' on, sir?" a feminine voice asked. "Did the trap work?" Almost immediately after Dillan heard the voice, a small quilava head poked out from behind the stairs. Dillan recognized Leslie's accomplice from before: Nancy Remington. She smiled widely upon seeing the guildmembers.
"Remember the guildmembers who saved us from before, Ms. Remington?" Leslie said drearily. "They've ruined my trap..."
"We can set it back up, sir," Nancy assured. "Besides, we can't be mad at them. We owe these here fellers for the last time we met."
"Well, now we don't owe them a thing!"
"An explanation would be nice," Dillan said hopefully.
"Good idea," Hazel complimented. She looked up at Leslie and Nancy before saying, "What are you guys doing here?"
Leslie looked at Team Rapture for a few seconds, contemplating on how best to explain before stating, "It would be best for you two to come and see for yourself."
"It's mighty cool!" Nancy said enthusiastically.
"Of course it is, my good lady!" Leslie announced proudly. He turned down to the guildmembers and said, "We don't have all day to meander about, now do we?"
Hazel turned to Dillan with a smile before she said, "We need to go up there anyways."
"I know," Dillan assured. "Besides, now I'm kind of curious."
Hazel nodded and the two began ascending the stairs to meet the two researchers.
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Dillan felt a shiver run down his spine. He felt a little off being here once again, as if this was just like his first time being here. He instinctually looked backwards into the fog as if searching for some unforeseen threat, but found nothing.
"Woah..." Hazel said almost immediately upon entering the room. Dillan looked ahead, seeing Hazel was staring at the mosaic art-work along the back wall. He watched the black creature in the center of the painting, seeing the fire surrounding it and it's tendril-like appendages outstretched as if lashing out at two white forms on either side. Dillan looked above the creature at the left corner. He saw a third, white form spewing brighter tiles – assumedly light – towards the right where a black form sat who sent fireballs towards the next. Dillan's eyes went down to the bottom-left corner where he found a fourth form with a massive wave of water flowing behind it. The white form seemed like it was about to go into a battle with the other corner, where a black form sat. The black form was accompanied by dark waves of water that seemed to be lit by black flames. Dillan noticed blotches in the mosaic that seemed morphed and twisted. The most interesting part is that it didn't seem damaged, but as if the blotches were intentionally put there by the artist.
Even after seeing the mosaic before, he was astonished by the art. It all looked very beautiful, and at the same time frightening.
"It's amazing..." Hazel said in awe.
"Yes, very astonishing," Leslie said. "But that isn't the reason I called you both up here."
Dillan looked down at the center of the room. He was surprised to see the little eevee stop at a desk with a massive amount of flasks and tubes scattered across the surface. Each flask was filled with different solids or liquids of different colors, shapes, sizes, and amounts. That wasn't there before...
"Leslie," Hazel began as she motioned to the table. "What's this?"
"A breakthrough, Ms. Charmeleon."
"In what?" Dillan asked.
"In Mystery Dungeons, Mr. Gabite!" Leslie announced. "What else would a researcher of the A. R. F. M. D. be studying, hmm?"
"Right..." Dillan said.
"The Sir's found somethin' in Castellum Town no one's ever seen before!" Nancy said proudly. She seemed to have sparkles in her eyes. "Not even y'all explorers have seen anything' this spectacular!"
"Well said, Ms. Remington!" Leslie said.
"Really?" Hazel said with excitement.
"Am I the only one who doesn't understand?" Dillan asked, not knowing what the big deal was.
"Mr. Gabite," Leslie said. "This could very well be the most important discovery we will ever make in years! Nothing that has or will happen for generations will come close to the sheer magnitude our findings! Do you not understand the gravity of the situation?"
Dillan gave a nervous smile. "N-... Not really?"
"Poppycock!" Leslie shouted. He smiled at Dillan. "My boy, allow me to teach you exactly what-"
"Sir," Nancy cut in. "Maybe it would be best if you showed the guildmembers the experiment instead of yellin'. Maybe they'd understand then."
Leslie turned to Nancy and said, "What a smashing idea!" He turned his back on the guildmembers and faced the desk. "Ms. Remington, the dirt if you would be so kind!"
Nancy waddled over to the table and grabbed one of the many flasks filled with a small pile of dirt. She carefully brought it to Leslie who took the flask in his paws and set it in front of him.
"Experiment three-twenty-four," Leslie stated. "Once more with feeling, Ms. Remington!"
"Yes, Sir," Nancy responded. She blew a small ember under one of the flasks. To Dillan's surprise, a fire began shooting up from underneath one of the flasks. Leslie poured a small amount of the dirt from the first flask into the other. He then took yet another flask filled with a purple liquid and poured its contents into the other. Before Dillan's eyes, the purple liquid began bubbling almost instantly upon touching the glass. Leslie began pouring even more liquids into the flask until it was filled with a murky, green liquid.
"Excellent, Sir!" Nancy announced excitedly.
"We're not done yet, Ms. Remington," Leslie stated, keeping a steady eye on the liquid. "Repeat the process with Sample Fifteen."
"Right," Nancy said. She picked up a new flask filled with dirt. She spat another ember under a new flask and repeated the process. In a little under a minute, Dillan was very lost. He wasn't sure if Nancy had followed the same procedure Leslie had, but she ended up with a flask filled with a murky, electric-blue liquid.
"Jolly good!" Leslie shouted cheerfully upon seeing Nancy's concoction. He walked towards Nancy and hugged her tightly. "We've done it, Ms. Remington! We've finally done it! And this proves yet again that it wasn't some simple fluke!"
"Yes Sir!" Nancy proclaimed excitedly, though she wore a nervous smile. "But-"
"Excuse me..." Hazel interrupted nervously. "Why are you two so happy?"
Nancy and Leslie stopped what they were doing and looked at Hazel with dumbfounded expressions.
"You... You don't understand?" Leslie asked slowly, breaking away from his quilava compatriot.
"Not really..." Dillan admitted.
"Sir," Nancy said. "If I could just say-"
"Ms. Remington," Leslie cut in with a proud smile. "You've helped me in this endeavor through thick and thin! It would be an honor to hear you explain our research to the guildmembers!"
"N-no, Sir!" Nancy said with shock. "I-I was only goin' to say that we still haven't made the breakthrough we were hopin' for... what with the trap bein' a bust an' all... and... not..." Nancy trailed off as she looked at Leslie who stared back blankly for a few seconds. Dillan couldn't tell if he was contemplating what she had said, or was embarrassed over his assumption.
"Right," Leslie stated with a smile. He turned to Dillan and said, "You blokes broke my trap, so you both will set things right!"
"I'm sorry?" Dillan and Hazel said in unison.
"You want our help?" Hazel questioned.
"Not at all!" Leslie stated. "I want your co-operation!"
"What's the difference?" Dillan questioned.
"Mr. Gabite," Leslie began sternly. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you're the one who wrecked my trap, so you'll be the one to fix the mistake." Dillan grimaced. Being accused like that made him uncomfortable to say the least, even if it was true.
"Why do you even have a trap?" Hazel questioned.
"Well," Nancy cut in. "The Sir isn't exactly capable in a battle, which means he can't be of much help capturin' ferals."
Hazel took a step back, astonished by what Nancy said. "Y-you want to catch a feral?!" she shouted in shock.
"Glad we have an understanding," Leslie stated.
Dillan was starting to get annoyed with all the questions he had to ask, not that he let it show. He just wished the two pokemon would tell them what they were doing here. What's with all the flasks? Why Castellum Town Why capture a feral? Then, he remembered what he was doing there.
Turning to his companion, Dillan said, "Hazel, we need to search for evidence."
Hazel looked at Dillan and nodded. "Right." She turned to Leslie and said, "We can't help you. We're searching for our friend."
"Poppycock!" Leslie protested. "Your group temporarily halted my experiment with your illegal wanderings, so it is in our best interest to assist me in my research!"
"Sir!" Nancy exclaimed. Her wide eyes were darting between Team Rapture and the eevee. "A-are you truly considerin' blackmail as an option?!"
"I'm sorry, what?" Hazel shouted.
"Indeed I am!" Leslie said. "The research we're doing here will effect the entire country! We can't allow our progress to be halted by these guildmember's shenanigans!"
"But we were only looking for our friend," Dillan said.
"Yes, but in a quarantined – and therefore illegal – zone," Leslie stated. "What would the Guildmaster say if she found two guildmembers breaking the law, hm?"
Dillan was speechless. He had completely forgotten about Castellum Town's quarantine. We're breaking the law by being here... And is Leslie's blackmailing us? He grimaced at his position.
"Wait a minute," Hazel stated calmly. "You're here as well. What makes you think you can blackmail us with the same crime you're both currently committing?"
"We're on guild business," Nancy said quietly. She had her head turned towards the ground as if ashamed by the whole situation. Hazel opened her mouth as if to say something, but was rendered speechless by Nancy's comment.
Dillan shook his head profusely. "No," he said flatly. "You're being unreasonable."
"Poppycock!" Leslie announced. "You interfered in our business, just like that nidoqueen from before! I let her carry on her way, but you're not getting-"
Dillan's mind went blank upon hearing that word. His breath became unsteady and his heart slammed at his ribs. It felt like the world had turned upside-down at the mere mention of her species. He had committed that name to memory after she took Ryan.
"N... nidoqueen?" he asked slowly.
Leslie stopped his rant and looked at the gabite curiously. "What the are you on about?" he asked.
"Did you say nidoqueen?" Dillan asked, hoping he had heard incorrectly.
Hazel's eyes widened as she realized what Dillan was implying. She quickly looked at Dillan, saying, "You don't think-"
"Did you say nidoqueen?" Dillan repeated.
The air seemed to become stagnant. Leslie seemed to feel very uncomfortable all of the sudden. He fingered the chain around his neck nervously as his eyes went around the room. "Did I say nidoqueen?"
"Y-yes Sir," Nancy said. Leslie slowly turned to the quilava with a menacing glare. Nancy shrunk down and backed up with a smile on her face and fear in her eyes. "Sorry..." she squeaked in a volume that was barely audible.
"She was here..." Dillan said to himself. He turned to Hazel and stated, "She was here. It must have been her."
Hazel nodded. She looked towards Leslie and said, "Was the nidoqueen with anyone?"
Leslie held his head up. "She might have been with a few pokemon: an elektross and a jynx... and two others..."
"Those are the same pokemon that attacked us," Hazel told Dillan. It was all he needed to know for sure that Thalia had been here.
"When did you see her?" Dillan asked. "Did she say where she was going?"
Leslie looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong with you blokes? They were just a couple of trespassers like you who caused trouble for me."
"The nidoqueen took our friend," Dillan said quickly. "We need to find her. She can lead us to our friend. If you know where they went, we need to know."
Leslie looked upwards and hummed to himself as if thinking. "Well, I might know where they might have gone to..." He slammed the side of his head with his paw. "But the stress of my job is preventing me from thinking!"
"Stress?" Hazel asked with a confused stare.
"If only I could complete my research! The joy might just jog my memory!"
Hazel leaned in a little closer as she and Dillan stared at Leslie with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "What?" Dillan asked.
"You're holding this over our heads?" Hazel questioned in frustration.
"Sir," Nancy cut in. "This is wrong!"
"Quiet, Ms. Remington," Leslie stated. "We can't deal with any of the ferals by ourselves. We aren't strong enough to capture one, and it's agonizing to think about! I don't know if I can recall anything in this state..."
"That's wrong on so many-" Hazel began.
"We'll do it," Dillan said swiftly.
Hazel turned towards Dillan with shock. "We will?"
"Only if you'll tell us what you know."
Leslie smirked at Dillan. "Then it looks as though we have a deal Mr..." he trailed off, obviously expecting Dillan to give his last name.
"Mr. Bartholemule," Nancy cut in. "We can't keep information from them! This is... This is wrong..."
"What's wrong is the simple fact that we haven't had a living subject to further prove our findings, Ms. Remington," Leslie said. "The simple fact is that we need these guildmembers, and they need us. So..." He turned towards Dillan.
"You want us to bring you a living feral?" Dillan questioned.
"Quite right," Leslie said with a smile that most would call friendly, though Dillan thought it looked more cold than anything. "And it only has to be living. If you must rough it up a bit, do so at your own leisure."
"Fine..." Dillan said. He turned away from the room and began descending the stairs. "Come on, Hazel."
Hazel glared at Leslie. "We saved you," she said flatly.
"Quite," Leslie said. "And now you're saving me yet again from your partner's previous blunder."
Hazel's eyebrow began twitching angrily. She looked towards Nancy in a last ditch effort for someone to show some decency towards a pokemon in need.
"I'm sorry..." Nancy said shamefully as she hung her head. "But I don't rightly remember much of what happened durin' the nidoqueen's visit here... I wish I could tell you more, but..."
"Poppycock!" Leslie said joyfully. "You're just as glad that our research may proceed!"
The ground became moist as a small tear rolled off of Nancy's cheeks. Hazel couldn't tell if they were from guilt, or from empathy, but she didn't care. The charmeleon gave a final scoff of disbelief as she walked away to meet Dillan.
They walked for nearly a minute into the fog-filled town. Dillan didn't know how they were going to find a feral in this weather. On top of that, they were surrounded by run-down buildings. A feral may be hiding in one of the houses for all he knew. Before he could even start to come up with a plan, Hazel reared on Dillan, shouting, "Why did you agree to this?"
Dillan stopped in his tracks, stunned by Hazel's sudden attack. "What?" he asked.
"You agreed to that slime-ball's demands before we even had the chance to talk about it!" Hazel said angrily. " You're not even considering why he wants a feral! On top of that, he black-mailed us!"
"Well... yeah." Dillan didn't understand what the problem was, but he was sure by Hazel's scowl that she was about to let him know.
"We're a team! Shouldn't we have made that decision as such?"
"I'm still not following," Dillan said calmly. "We came here to find Ryan, and Leslie has information. If he's going to bargain for it, wouldn't we do everything we could to get it?"
"But do you even understand what you agreed to?"
"Yes," he said with a nod. "We're bringing back a feral."
"But why?" Hazel questioned. It seemed to Dillan like she was starting to calm down, but she still seemed upset with him. "If he's doing experiments up there, what do you think-"
"Hazel," Dillan interrupted as calmly, but as forcefully as he could without seeming demanding. Although, he had to admit that Hazel's lack of help in the matter was starting to irritate him. "We need to save Ryan. If it means catching a feral pokemon, then what's the problem?"
"That's compromising our morals!" Hazel shouted. "How can you be alright with that?"
"How is helping Ryan compromising my morals?" Dillan shouted.
"What if we can save those pokemon?" Hazel asked. "What if somehow, somewhere, someone comes up with a way to reverse what happened to them? I mean, I want to help Ryan too, but we're guildmembers! We save pokemon from catastrophes! How can you be alright with this?"
"Ryan needs us, Hazel!" Dillan shouted. "Why can't you understand that?"
"I understand it perfectly!" Hazel gave a huff of anger before turning away from Dillan and began walking back the way they came.
"Where are you going?" Dillan asked.
"To find out what Leslie wants with a feral!"
"We're wasting time! That's time Ryan doesn't have!"
"I'm not killing anyone for Ryan's sake!" Hazel blared. Killing?
He watched as his friend disappeared into the fog, followed by her tail-flame. He felt frustrated by his friend. They needed to catch a feral. When was killing a part of the mission? Fine... If I need to find a feral pokemon on my own, then that's just fine. Dillan turned on his heels and walked away in the opposite direction.
The fog seemed to close in on him, amplifying the loneliness Dillan felt in his chest. The air seemed to freeze his throat with his every breath. Each echoing step on the cobble-stone path reminded him that he was the only one here. Dillan wondered where the feral pokemon were.
I should have seen one by now... Within nearly ten minutes of venturing into a cave, we find at least one feral. So why isn't there one, now? Dillan thought about the possibilities. Maybe the mystery dungeon is too new? Maybe there haven't been many pokemon who have been in here, yet?
Dillan's mind went back to his frustrated friend. Why was she so upset with me? And why did she say "Killing"? I've never killed anyone! Why did she think I would do so, now? Why did she think I was even considering it?
A loud, "cracking" noise could be heard from behind him. Dillan whipped around to face the noise. He expected to see some sort of attacker closing in on him. Instead, he saw the fog and darkness covering everything in front of him like a grey veil. His heart began beating in his chest and his breath became unsteady. All of the danger he was putting himself in by searching for trouble, let alone doing so alone, became more apparent to him. His breath became unsteady, and his neck was beaded with sweat.
No... Stay calm... You've fought Ignitus for crying out loud... What makes you think a feral is going to be any stronger?
Another "crack" came from behind him. Dillan jumped around once more and faced the noise. Yet again, nothing could be seen.
"H... Hello?" Dillan called nervously.
Dillan's heart stopped upon hearing a growling noise in his left eardrum. A warm burst of air could be felt on the back of his neck, and a set of pointed, white talons rested themselves on Dillan's side.
A squeak sneaked out of Dillan's throat as his fins glowed blue and extended a few inches. He whipped around quickly and slashed at whatever was behind him. The creature leapt back into the shadows before Dillan could get a look at it. Although, he was able to catch a glint of what appeared to be an orange crystal that was at about eye-level.
Another growl could be heard from in front of him. A-alright... There's obviously something there, but how am I suppose to see it with all of this fog?
A sharp pain originating from Dillan's right side spontaneously appeared. The gabite doubled back onto one knee as his claws slapped on the small wound. Dillan's eyes went down onto his side as he found a group of three shallow marks. When did those get th- His thoughts were interrupted by another burst of pain on his left side. Dillan sucked some air in through his teeth as he grimaced. He checked the wound, finding a new set of marks.
"What the heck?" Dillan looked up and into the fog just in time to see a blur of black and red darting towards him, only visible due to the blue glow of his fins. Dillan immediately rolled left and out of the way. He looked at the creature from before just long enough to see the white claws extended towards him as the form missed its target.
Dillan shot up to his feet, ready for a new attack. Sure enough, a set of white claws emerged from the fog, pointed straight at his face. Dillan had a second, but his eyes ran along the pokemon's body.
He wasn't surprised he couldn't see it as well as he'd hoped. Most of the pokemon's black body blended into his darkened surroundings. Dillan saw its round head with what looked like a red, trimmed, feathered crown sticking up from the top of its head. It had red feathers on either side of its head as if they were ears. Two, protruding, sharp teeth could be seen in the pokemon's wicked grin. Its red eyes contrasted the orange jewel that was set on its forehead.
Dillan dodged out of the weavile's way and slashed with his fin. He didn't have much range due to his previous jump, but it was just enough to nick its out-stretched arm. The weavile didn't stop grinning due to the attack. Instead, it quickly planted its feet and leapt at Dillan once more. He was astonished by its speed. So much so, that his mind slipped from the fight as the weavile clawed at Dillan's chest. He gave a cry of pain as the claws etched the top of his scales. Snapped back into the fight, Dillan slammed his foot into the weavile's ankle. The pokemon fell over onto its side, but jumped back onto its feet just as quickly as it went down.
"Woah..." Dillan was starting to worry for his own safety.
The weavile snarled aloud, lunging once more at the gabite. This time, Dillan noticed the weavile's claws were bathed in what looked like frost. Ice punch! He recalled the burning cold Molan had forced upon him in their fight during "Armageddon". The gabite took a deep breath as he slammed the back of his foot on the ground. Stones flew up into the air, colliding with the bottom of the weavile. A shriek of agony could be heard as the pokemon flew down onto the ground and the stones hovered in front of Dillan.
He watched the weavile with worry. That was close... Dillan slowly made his way to his feet, not taking a single eye off of the pokemon before him. It's only movement was its chest moving with each breath. Dillan ignored the flying stones and moved towards the pokemon.
He heard the pants coming from the creature at his feet. He slowly and nervously moved his foot towards the pokemon, tapping its body with his talon. It didn't make any attempt at attacking. It's... not moving... He finally let himself relax. He looked back at the way he came. So, now I have a feral pokemon... Time to go back. Dillan looked back at the pokemon, then his claws. Hm... I don't think I'll be able to carry it all the way there... He then looked back at the floating stones from before. Going back and forth from the stones and the weavile, Dillan had an idea.
As the stairs to the M. P. came into sight, Dillan wondered how he'd gotten the pokemon onto the stone, let alone if he'd have been able to do it again. He looked at the floating stone he had been pushing through the air, the weavile resting on top of it. Dillan's eyes went back towards the stairs. He noticed the charmeleon was sitting there, arms wrapped around her legs as she rested her head on her knees. She looked up at Dillan for a few seconds with a look of worry before going back to her original position.
"He's waiting for you," Hazel said half-heartedly.
"Hazel-" Dillan began.
"Just go," Hazel said. Dillan stood there, wondering why she was so mad. "Just go!" she shouted.
"Fine..." Dillan said. He began walking up the stairs, passed Hazel, towing the unconscious feral.
As Dillan passed out of earshot, Hazel buried her face between her knees. "Please don't be true..."
Dillan reached the top of the stairs with the weavile in-tow. He glanced back down at his charmeleon friend, waiting for her to come to her senses and join him. She seemed perfectly fine sulking at the bottom of the steps.
"Jolly good show!" Leslie's voice rang out from in front of Dillan. He shook his head profusely at Hazel's lack of co-operation before facing the small eevee.
"Alright," Dillan said. "Here's the feral. Now what do you know about the nidoqueen?"
"All in good time, my boy," Leslie said. He got behind the stone and began pushing it towards the table.
Dillan grimaced at his answer. "But you said-"
"I said my memory would be jogged once I complete my work," Leslie stated flatly. He grabbed the bottom of the rock and tipped it sideways, allowing the weavile to fall onto the floor. Dillan grimaced for the feral.
"Sir," Nancy began. "Do you want the sample?"
"Quite right," Leslie stated.
Nancy walked to the table and grabbed a flask.
"Leslie," Dillan said with an annoyed tone. "We had a deal-"
"One that I'm honoring, guildmember," Leslie finished calmly as Nancy walked next to him. He took the lip of the flask in his teeth and set it on the table. "I'll tell you what you want to know at the end of my studies. But for now, you need to be silent so that we may conduct our experiment and be out of this forsaken place."
Dillan looked down at the floor, thinking about what he should do next. He did technically say he'd tell me after his research... But how long will that take? If he really does know where Thalia is, then I should wait? But what if she leaves before I can find her? We would have wasted all this time for nothing...
"Hey," Nancy said. Dillan looked up at the quilava with an annoyed glance. She looked away from Dillan as if she was feeling guilty. "W-we're almost done as it is. The Sir'll tell you about your friend in a little bit..." With that, Nancy walked away and back to the table.
He didn't know why, but Nancy's assurance comforted his worries, but why? Why is it that she comforted him? It didn't make mush sense in the grand scheme of things, seeing as she's with Leslie. But at the same time, she seemed nice. He couldn't help but trust her.
Leslie walked towards the unconscious weavile. "Nancy," he called. "The knife." Knife?
Almost immediately after Leslie's words, Nancy grabbed a small blade from the table. She quickly set it on the floor. Leslie set his teeth on the handle and lifted it above the weavile. Almost immediately, Dillan heard Hazel's words in his head. "I'm not killing anyone for Ryan's sake!" Is this what she meant?
Leslie lifted the blade into the air, about to drop it on the pokemon. Dillan leapt to his feet and darted towards the pokemon. The blade dropped down as Dillan was inches away. He watched as if fell on the pokemon's hand. "Stop!" he shouted. Then, Dillan stopped himself.
Leslie took almost no note of Dillan's shouts as his knife cut into the tip of the weavile's claw, leaving a nub where it use to be.
"Only trimming the nail, Mr. Gabite," Leslie said. Nancy swooped in and took the claw into her paw. She immediately went up to the flask she had taken previously and looked inside. To Dillan's surprise, there was a white object not unlike the one Nancy was currently holding.
"Wait..." Dillan said confusedly. "What are you two doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Leslie asked as he walked over to the table. He began grabbing different vials filled with liquids and mixing them together over a fire in the desk. "Ms. Remington, Sample Four-Sixty-One, if you would." Nancy gave Leslie the vial in her paw to which he mixed it's contents with the concoction he had produced seconds ago, creating a black mixture.
"No..." Dillan answered, trying to think of what they could possibly want with the weavile's claw.
"Well," Nancy began as she set the weavile claw in an empty flask while Leslie mixed even more liquids in a new flask. "We're runnin' tests to prove our theory."
"Which is?" Dillan asked.
"We all know a mystery dungeon is constantly shifting, correct?" Leslie questioned. "Ms. Remington."
"What about it?" Dillan asked as Nancy gave Leslie the flask which contained the weavile's claw.
"Well, our theory is that the mystery dungeon changes on a molecular level." Leslie took a deep breath as he placed the weavile's claw into the potion in front of him. Dillan watched as the mixture changed into a murky, green liquid. Leslie smiled broadly as he jumped into the air. "Genius! It worked!"
"I'm still confused..." Dillan admitted.
"Look at this!" Leslie announced gleefully as he moved away from the green liquid which sat on the table, allowing Dillan to take a closer look.
"This proves that the chemical make-up changes when exposed!"
"Think of it this way," Leslie began. We're all made up of different elements, correct?"
"Yeah..." Dillan said. "And?"
"Everything on this planet is made up of elements and chemicals!" Nancy said joyfully.
"Even towns!" Leslie shouted. "Well, we came to Castellum Town to observe what may occur when those elements and chemicals are exposed to whatever is in a mystery dungeon. We wanted to see if they changed in any way."
"Which is why we used the dirt."
"Dirt?" Dillan asked.
"Quite," Leslie said. "You see, the dirt we used when you and your friend first got here was dirt found on sword fragments from the Ganderosan Civil War. That same dirt belonged to Castellum Town!"
"We also used dirt from outside!" Nancy said. "That was dirt found in the mystery dungeon!"
"You see, we would have used a different mystery dungeon had we acquired part of that place from before it changed. Since it's been hundreds of years, no such substance could be found. Yet since Castellum Town is a recent occurrence of a mystery dungeon, it had plenty of dirt and rubble preserved in museums/ Therefore, it became our primary testing ground!"
"And?" Dillan asked, urging the two to get to the point.
"The chemical make-up of the dirt was changed!" Nancy announced. "We found a mutation in the dirt!" Nancy grabbed two flasks from the table and showed them to Dillan. One flask was filled with the same green substance as before while the other one looked a murky, electric-blue.
"The mutation in the dirt caused the liquid in the flask to turn a murky green," Leslie said.
"That proves the mystery dungeon mutated the dirt!" Nancy stated.
"And just to be sure, we tested this same experiment on a multitude of exposed resources from mystery dungeons from across Ganderosa."
"So?" Dillan asked.
"This deserves more than a simple 'so', my good sir," Leslie stated.
"We needed to run a test on a livin' subject's DNA," Nancy said.
Dillan gave a sigh. He still had no clue what they were implying.
"Do we need to spell it out for you?" Leslie asked.
"Why not?" Dillan asked.
"The flasks speak for themselves!" Leslie shouted with joy as he motioned towards the remaining murky, green flask on the table.
"If the liquid turns green when a mutation is present," Nancy said, urging Dillan to realize the facts for himself. "And the feral's DNA turned green like the liquid," Then, it hit him.
"The ferals have a mutation in their DNA," he said with amazement.
"Bravo!" Leslie announced.
"How is that a good thing?" Dillan questioned.
Leslie looked at Dillan for a few seconds, saying nothing. Surprisingly, his joyful smile began to fade away into a frown of amazement. "How isn't it?!"
"We've begun to identify what causes pokemon to become feral!" Nancy shouted gleefully. "With this, we've taken the first steps to findin' out how to reverse the mutation!"
Dillan finally understood where this was going. "Then you can cure ferals!" he said.
"Precisely!" Leslie said. "It took you long enough to come to that simple conclusion. Then again, I am the Ganderosan leader in all things mystery dungeon."
"I mean, we can't necessarily cure it right away," Nancy said. "But we're a step closer than before runnin' into you."
"Which reminds me," Leslie began. "Since you've been oh-so-kind in co-operating with me, I'll tell you what I know about this nidoqueen you seem so intrigued in." Dillan looked at Leslie with happiness. He wasn't sure whether the little eevee would be able to sooth his worries, or if he was lying to him the whole time. Now, Leslie was about to give him what he'd been searching for: a lead.
Leslie cleared his throat before stating, "About a week ago, a nidoqueen with four compatriots came to Castellum Town. She barged in on our studies unannounced and ruined a previous version of the feral trap you stumbled upon."
"Do you know why they were here?" Dillan asked.
"Why, yes," Leslie stated. "When she arrived, all she could do was stare at that mural in the back of the room." Leslie pointed towards the mosaic art in the back wall. "She began to mutter to herself. Most of her words I couldn't make out for the life of me, but I did catch the occasional phrase belonging to the Ganderosan Prophecy."
"Sir," Nancy interrupted. "How does that have to do with where the nidoqueen is at the moment?"
"Hush, Ms. Remington," Leslie interrupted. "I was getting to that part." He cleared his throat once more and turned to Dillan. "Just then, one of her companions jumped in, talking about where they were meeting someone he referred to as 'the Master'. That nidoqueen gave me the sharpest glare in that moment, I was sure she was about to jump me. Just then, another one of her compatriots joined in, saying they had to stop at 'the island', as she put it. Before anyone could say more, the nidoqueen demanded for them all to stop speaking at once. Very strange, if you ask me. Then again, it had to mean something."
"The Island..." Dillan repeated, thinking about what that implied. He had no clue what that meant. Off the top of his head, the only islands he could think of were Jarondai and the Alkan Islands, but both of those seemed counter-productive to him, seeing as Thalia was last seen at the Alkan Islands. Jarondai felt like the least-likely place for fugitives to go, seeing as King Judah lives there. The security would be too tight for them to simply go in and out as a group. So where could they be? I guess I'll need Hazel's map if I want to get any further...
Just then, Dillan heard steps behind him. He looked back towards the stairs to catch a glimpse of a crimson horn descending.
"Your friend?" Nancy asked.
"Anyway," Leslie stated, completely going over Hazel's departure. "I've given you all I know. As of this moment, me and my companion can take our research and depart from this dreadful experience." The eevee swung around and began gathering up his vials, placing corks on top of each one; though that wasn't Dillan's main concern.
"Thank you for your help," Dillan said. The gabite turned around and darted down the stairs after Hazel.
"Hazel!" Dillan called as he reached the bottom. He found the charmeleon standing on the edge of the fog, staring into the abyss ahead. Dillan stopped behind her, though she didn't turn. "You heard them, right?"
"Yeah..." she said slowly. "I heard every word."
"And?" Dillan asked hopefully.
"And I think you took too big of a risk to get that information," she said flatly, still not facing him.
Dillan shook his head. "Too big of a risk? Where was the risk?"
"I saw you jump at Leslie when he pulled the knife," Hazel shouted. "You were worried he'd kill the feral, right?" The gabite said nothing. He just continued to stare at his friend, trying to wrap his head around how she wasn't as happy as he was to find something about Ryan's whereabouts. "You idiot!" she shouted.
Hazel whipped around and finally faced the gabite. Dillan was shocked to see her lip was quivering. One fist was rolled in a fist while the other was roughly gripping her flaring tail. Then, Dillan noticed her wide-eyes. Her eyebrows were lowered in a deep scowl while her pupils were dilated, as if she was frightened of something.
"What's gotten into you?" Dillan asked worriedly. "First, you agree this is a good idea: that finding Ryan is more important than helping anyone else. Now, you're mad at me for doing everything I can to find him."
"Everything should not include handing over a feral to die!" Hazel roared. "You heard Leslie! ferals are regular pokemon with a mutation that affects their brain! Him and Nancy identified what it was that made them turn into monsters, which means there has to be a way to reverse the effects! That weavile could take back whatever life it owned before being in this place! You want to throw that chance away?"
"Leslie didn't kill it!" Dillan shouted.
"Well, he might have needed to, but you were willing to give that weavile away!"
"Like I knew if he was going to kill it!"
"Isn't that the issue, Dillan?" Hazel asked. Dillan didn't say a thing. He didn't understand what she was getting so angry about. "You had no idea what he would have done to that pokemon! You were willing to ignore consequences to get to Ryan!" He grimaced. I thought about... I... I never considered it? "And do you want to know the funniest thing? Ryan did the same thing in Castellum Town with Bob! He didn't think about what he was doing, only what it would give him! And he almost killed the ditto when none of it was even his fault! The world around him threw the ditto into chaos, and Ryan would have ended any chance he had at getting a better life. And it was all for you! And don't you dare tell me that it was a different circumstance, because it's the same thing!"
"Hazel-" Dillan tried to say, realizing where he went wrong.
Hazel cut him off, shouting, "I don't want to hear it right now! Apologizing does no one any good, especially that weavile!"
Hazel was visibly seething with anger. She was breathing rapidly as she scowled at the gabite. Dillan felt all of her anger was justified. I wouldn't have handed the weavile over if I knew it would die... but that doesn't excuse the fact that I should have gotten more information...
"But why didn't you stop me?" Dillan asked.
"Because I actually found out what Leslie wanted with the feral!" Hazel said sharply. "When I left, I went to make sure he wasn't going to kill it! When I found out he wasn't, I let you bring it to him so we could find out more on Ryan!"
Dillan said nothing. The two just stood there, staring at each other.
"Hazel-" Dillan began.
"No," Hazel said. "If you're just going to stand there feeling sorry for yourself, then I'm leaving." She turned around and began walking into the fog.
"Wait!" Dillan called out as he ran towards her. He slowed down next to her, matching her speed, before saying, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to Snow-Point Cave to find Ryan," she said sharply. "Come if you want or stay here." Hazel didn't face Dillan. He didn't get an angry stare, a huff of annoyance, or even a sharp glance. Somehow, it made the gabite feel even worse than before. Dillan began walking a little slower than she was and trailed her from behind, thinking.
I didn't realize... Why didn't I think about that? It seemed to him like such a simple thing to do, yet he glossed over it. Dillan internally kicked himself over and over again. And for what? An extra lead? We already have one, but I wanted another one for back-up... How could I be so stupid!
Dillan looked ahead at the charmeleon. She was still gripping her tail, looking at it as if it were some sort of growth. She seemed unable to take her eyes off of it, though Dillan had a guess as to why. He thought it was because of its flaring when she got angry. It was like some sort of emotional meter. She's really mad at me... And all because I didn't think ahead...Dang it... What's wrong with me?
As Dillan stared ahead, he found the fog surrounding him felt like his emotions. They clouded his judgement, and he knew it. Fine... I can't take it back, but at least I have some more information on Ryan. I made a mistake, and I know that, but I can't let it go to waste. I won't let it go to waste. Dillan took a deep breath. Hazel, I don't know what's circling around in your head right now, but I promise you I won't compromise my morals for Ryan's sake... Never again...
(Author's Notes)
Hey guys... Uh... Sorry about the wait... I feel pretty bad for falling behind all the time, that now it feels like some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy... Well, my internet went out on me... Again... It happened around the thirteenth (August for any future-people who are wondering), and as a result, I couldn't post it, but low and behold someone fixed it yesterday! I would have posted, but College is back in session, so I was really tired last night. Today's classes got in the way of posting until late in the after-noon, by which time I'd uploaded the chapter to fanfiction. But while I was checking the document for misspellings, THE INTERNET CRASHED AGAIN! Thankfully, it was only for my laptop. So, I got on a different PC and have completed the story! Anyways, enough excuses! Time to get to the reason I have this section!
(IMPORTANT!)
Hey dudes! I will no longer be following the 2-week-schedule. I decided to go hard-core with the college classes this semester, and have pretty much annihilated my free time... I'm not sure when I can really sit down and write... Now, don't be alarmed! I don't plan on taking month-long hiatuses just to post ONE chapter! I never liked how slow those are... Although, what this does mean is that I don't know when I'll be posting to the story. What this means (and I'm not urging you to do so) is that if you want to stay caught up, I suggest you follow the story. No pressure. In the end, it's completely your choice. Just wanted to let you know what's going on with me. I'll keep you all posted if this turns out to not be a big problem.
Shout-out to "Amoebic" and "VickyVipper12" for following the story! It makes me very glad to see you guys are liking the story! Also, I haven't done this in a while, but Shout-Out to all the unnamed guests who are also reading! We don't have over fifty followers, but we do have over fifty views to the story! So thank you guys so much for continuing to read the story!
Two more things before I end these "Author's Notes". "Shadows of Ganderosa"'s birthday is right around the corner, and I wanted to do something special for it. Anyways, I was thinking, why not write a comic for the first (maybe second) chapter to the story! I'm on the fence about this idea based on the fact that that's even more free-time taken up for is, but at the same time, I wanted to say "Thanks" to you guys in a special way, and this was all I could come up with. Anyways, I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Last thing. I wanted to let you guys know that I'm beginning to post to my DeviantArt page with some of my characters! As of this moment, I have some art of Team Rapture, the cover of the story, and also a picture of the influential members in Team Armageddon! Here's a link if you want to check them out( popular-all-time/?section=&global=1&q=masterknight214)!
Anyways, that's all! Thanks for reading the chapter! I hope you guys liked it! I'll see you all in the next chapter!
