Sol scowered the edges of the room, lifted up the edges of the bed, rifled through the messy heaps of collected gear, looking for that much valued glint of shiny coins.

"Why don't you just keep your money in the Duskull Bank?" Eevee asked, watching his partner comb the room for any misplaced currency.

"'Cause he really creeps me out. And do you see how posessive he gets with the money? I wouldn't be surprised if he rolls around in it at night. I do not want the money I handle touching that."

Eevee rolled his eyes but didn't say anything more. There comes a point when you just have to accept a person's eccentricities.

Duskull really did creep Sol out. Sol was too embarresed to openly admit it, but she thought that it was mostly because he was a ghost Pokémon. They just made her uncomfortable, always flitting about, floating off the ground with no explaination as to how that was even possible, alive but still somehow a ghost. Was that racism? Sol wasn't sure, but she was careful not to let it effect her actions.

Sol counted up her money, turning a messy pile of coin into a row of neat stacks. So close yet so far. After her staff had been destroyed (cough, Jak's fault, cough), Sol had been saving up to buy another and had her eye on a nice staff of polished oak. The Kecleons said that if she brought down a deposit of half the price, they'd keep it reserved for her until she had enough to pay the rest.

She collected the coins into her pack.

"Let's go," Sol said.

Eevee led the way down the hall followed by Sol with Jak trailing behind. Some sort of commotion could be heard from the main room ahead, the sounds of lots of people talking over each other. What was going on? They quickened their pace, and when Eevee suddenly stopped just inside the doorway at the end of the hallway, Sol almosy crashed into him.

"What's going on?" Sol asked, unable to get a clear view.

"It's him! He's really here!" Eevee practically screamed in delight, his body shaking with excitement.

"Who?"

"The great Dusknoir!"

Eevee ran in to join the crowd of apprentices watching a large ghost Pokémon, presumably Dusknoir, talking with the Guildmaster. Everyone seemed to be in awe, even Chatot, in the group with Dusknoir and Wigglytuff as he tried to be a part of the conversation like a child trying to fit in with the grownups. Everyone except for Sol and Jak, that is.

"Who's Dusknoir?" Sol asked.

It was scary how quickly everyone turned on her. It was like a whole 'Blasphemer!' moment.

"WHAT! You haven't heard of Dusknoir? The famous explorer?" Loudred yelled.

"How can you not have heard of him?" Eevee asked, completely aghast.

"That's, like, not surprising, really," Sunflora said, coming to her aid and calming the angry horde. "He's a totally new arrival on the scene! He, like, came out of nowhere! He became famous, like, overnight! They say his talents as an explorer are totally superexceptional!"

"He does things unlike anyone else!" Eevee said with stars in his eyes. Yep, this was one serious case of hero worpship. "First, he doesn't work in a team. He does all his exploring on his own. He's got to be sure of his skills to do that! But what's even more incredible? His wealth of knowledge! It seems there's nothing in the world he doesn't know!"

"So many Pokémon revere Dusknoir for his achievements," Sunflora said. "That's how I know the claims about his mighty knowledge must be true!"

Well if lots of people must believe something then it must be true. Still, there must be something to this Dusknoir to get the whole guild drooling over him. Really, Bidoof looked like he was about to faint.

"Has Dusknoir come here before? Wigglytuff's looking pretty friendly."

"No! This is his first time," Loudred said. "That's just how the Guildmaster is, even if it's the first time he meets someone."

Sol watched along with the others, wondering what they were talking about. What would bring a famous explorer down here?

"Everyone, this is Dusknoir!" Wigglytuff eventually announced. As if everyone in the room wasn't well aware of he was by then. "He's going to stay in Treasure Town for a while. Mind yourself around him!"

"Now everyone," Chatot added, "our guest might be famous... but don't embarrass us by asking him for autographs!"

It was funny how everyone deflated at that.

"No, no!" Dusknoir cut in in a deep, booming voice. "If it's autographs you want, I'm sure I can oblige!" Everyone perked right up. "But I'm afraid you flatter me. I'm no different from all of you!"

He turned around as he said this, giving Sol a clear view of his. When she caught sight of his single red eye, her heart nearly stopped and her blood turned to ice.

Sol was running, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Leafless branches scratched at her face, gnarled roots threatened to trip her. Everything is dark, so very dark, the world just a series of vague shadows and silhouettes.

Were they gaining on here? Was she going to be caught? Were the others all right?

She took a sharp right, veering onto a wider path. She stopped in her tracks and nearly fell, faced with a shadow and one cold, red eye blocking her way.

Sol blinked and shook her head. What was that? Another memory? What was the point of having these flashbacks if she couldn't see everything clearly? Just unidentifiable shadows.

"However, I would be delighted if I may be of service to you," Dusknoir continued. "If there is anything you wish to ask of me, please don't hesitate."

Spontaneous applause. Dusknoir left, and everyone chatted excitedly amongst themselves. As it turned out, the famous explorer had come to the guild to see how their expedition had gone. Wigglytuff had held true to the promise, however, and told him that they had found nothing of interest.

"Golly, that sure was something," Bidoof gushed.

"That was, like, totally the greatest experience of my life!"

"Did you SEE that? Dusknoir was definately sizing my up. It's only natural I would catch his attention, being a great explorer myself!"

"Wasn't that amazing, Sol?" Eevee asked. "Meeting such a world renown explorer!"

"I wouldn't say we met him. More like was in the same room for a few minutes," Sol muttered.

"Jak does not trust him," Jak said with narrowed, suspicious eyes, standing apart from the main group.

"What?! How can you say that?" Eevee looked completely shocked at such a prospect.

"Jak does not trust him," she repeated. "He is hiding something."

Considering Jak didn't really trust anybody, that wasn't too surprising. Sol wasn't sure what to think. She wasn't star struck like Eevee was, but she didn't instantly assume the worst of him. Sol was quite curious to actually talk to him. There must be something to him to have earned such a reputation.

"Before you go all 'burn the heretic', let's get a move on," Sol said. "I still need to get to the market."

Sol grabbed each of them by the arm and dragged them along behind her. Jak didn't like going into town, but Sol thought it was past time she got used to it. Jak couldn't hide on the outskirts forever, no matter how much she might want to.

Treasure Town was already abuzz with news of Dusknoir's arrival. He really was quite the celebrity figure. Sol wondered if anyone asked for his autograph yet, and amused herself with the mental image of him getting chased down by a horde of fangirls, Bidoof and Eevee leading the charge. If Sol's teammates thought it was weird that she burst into laughter for no visible reason, they made no mention of it.

"Ah, Sol, what can we interest you in?" Grecks asked when Sol made her way up to the counter. "A warp orb, perhaps? Maybe a reviver seed?"

"Just here about the staff."

"Of course!" Boln said.

He disappeared for a moment behind a curtain where they stored the goods not on display. He returned with a long object wrapped in a sheet of thin leather. He set it down on the counter and unwrapped it, revealing the the light brown oak wood polished to a bright sheen, the ends capped with bits of metal.

Sol wanted it.

"Here's the deposit," Sol said, dumping the money on the counter.

"Perfect!" Grecks exclaimed. "We'll be sure to hold it in reserve for you. Now, about this reviver seed..."

It never ended with these two. With an amused smile Sol watched as they tried to peddle their wares. Sol wasn't sure how they did it, but instead of it being annoying it was actually pretty funny.

"Oh my gosh! It's you! It's an honour to meet you, Dusknoir sir!"

Sol turned to see Eevee fawning over a slightly uncomfortable Dusknoir. Jak had retreated when Sol wasn't watching and was now glaring at the scene from between two buildings across the road.

"Please, you flatter me," Dusknoir said. "I am just a simple explorer."

"That's not true!" Eevee exclaimed. "All you've done is nothing short of amazing! I'm Eevee, a member of Team Wanderers. This is my partner, and there's another one but I don't know where she went off to..."

Dusknoir glanced over to Sol then back to Eevee, but then swiveled back to her as if he had noticed something shocking. He stared hard at her for a long moment.

"You have the most unusual eyes," he finally said.

"Yeah... I'm surprised more people don't mention that."

Dusknoir looked like he wanted to say something more, but was drawn away by Eevee's constant barage of questions on his previous exploits.

"Is it true that you took down the infamous Magmar brothers? Or that you scouted the shadow plains all by yourself? Or what about the time you set out on a rescue mission to the Evernight swamp? Just, wow. I can't believe I'm really talking to you right now! Or am I? Is this a dream? It better not be a dream! Sol, pinch me!"

Way to keep your cool, Eevee.

"Um, Eevee, how about we head back to the guild, get a start on those jobs?"

From the look on his face one could have guessed he was told his house just burned down. But he followed Sol as she led them out of town and Jak eventually reappeared while on the road back to the guild.

"Oh my gosh, that was incredible!" Eevee went on, snapping back to his usually cheerful self pretty quickly, "I still can't believe I've actually met him! Spoken to him, even! I mean, me! Who'd have thought that I would meet the famous Dusknoir!"

"So you've said. Several times."

"This one thinks you should be wary. He is hiding something. Jak can tell."

Eevee completely ignored her. No one would ruin his hero for him.

"What do you think? Regular job or a bounty?" Sol said, trying to change the subject.

"You know, Dusknoir usually sticks to rescuing and scouting out unmapped areas."

"We are not Dusknoir!"

"No need to snap! I'm just sharing an interesting fact I thought we all could enjoy."

"'That we all could enjoy'? You do realize we're not all in love with Dusknoir."

"I'm not in love with him! I just think he's a great explorer!"

"So not love, just a serious case of hero worship. You think Chimecho has a remedy for that?"

"A dose of reality, perhaps," Jak said in a voice full of barely contained disgust. She really wasn't liking this whole Dusknoir situation. Sol supposed that back in the wild one doesn't idolize someone they've never met, and words of his exploits aren't worth the wind they're carried on. Jak would have to see first hand Dusknoir prove his skill before he earned an ounce of respect from the Charmander.

Sol still wasn't sure what to think of him just yet. He seemed like an all right sort, putting up with Eevee's antics without complaint or turning into an arrogant, demeaning douche. But was he has skilled as his reputation claimed? She would have to wait and see. Sol hoped it was true, not only because people like that were sorely needed, but because she did not want to see Eevee's idol turn out to be a fake. That would crush his spirit to a fine pulp.