A/N: Here's the last pre-written chapter, sorry it took a while to update, my crappy computer wouldn't let me back on. Again.
Also, I have been reliably informed that this chapter has a bit too much Italicization, and that it brings away from the actual conversation. Unfortunately, while I understand the point, when I tried to re-read the sentence without the Italics, it just didn't have the same angry, pointed feeling to it, so I made the decision to keep the italics.
Anyways, please review!
Pokemon Mystery Dungeons:
Explorers of the World!
Chapter Two:
Summer Festival
Time passes, and with it, Abby finds a home. She meets the many store-owners with their various characters and personalities, the citizens who live in Beach Town, even a few different Pokemon just passing through. And she learns.
She learns that Old Man Gyarados will yell at you to get off his lawn, despite not really having a lawn, and that the Magikarps who work for him make horrible water-related puns whenever they can. That Quinn will give you a discount on the Reef Ride if you give him something spicy to eat. That Aloe the Feebas gets lonely sometimes and is happy to sit and chat while her mother and sister's work on raising Pokemon's beauty stats. That Barbara the Barbaracle, owner of the Marooned Messengers, will pay you if you sweep and mop her floors because she loathes doing it. That Finn is always happy to explain anything and everything she gets confused about, no matter how strange or simple it is.
And she learns from Sagara and Morie and Mano. She learns to identify plants and berries that can help or hurt from Sagara. She learns how to tell how well-off a visiting Pokemon is from Morie. And she learns how to hunt down illusive Tympoles and their young friends from Mano (she once found him in a tree. Actually inside it, because he apparently tumbled into an opening near the top and found out the tree was hollow. Seriously, Mano?).
Abby grew to love Beach Town and it's inhabitants. She grew to see it as her home, the Pokemon living there were her family. She loved them and all their quirks and clashing personalities, but she especially loved how they always come together, despite those clashing personalities. Like during the Spring Storms, where heavy rain stirred up the sea and threatened to flood. The entire Town worked together, easily and without complaint, setting up sandbag walls and helping brace their neighbors' homes, and, after the storms, they would help with any repairs. The storm Abby had been found during had been the worst of the season and had lasted three days.
But the Spring Storm's were done, moving to the East, towards Bronze Island for it's Summer Storm Season. This meant that it was time for the Gold Island Summer Festival.
"Come on, Abby!" Mano called excitedly as he balanced a basket of shell-decorations on his head, gleefully following his two best friends, Amelia the Azurill and Pauly the Poliwag, who were also carrying baskets of decorations.
"Coming!" Abby replied, picking up her own basket, this one holding rolls of strange lights that Finn had asked her to carry. The entire town was bustling, Pokemon setting up decorations and little games and food-stalls, even Pokemon from out of town were there, chatting with one another and lending a helping hand when they could. A large Snorlax and her three Munchlax sons were setting up what looked like an eating contest at the far end of town, and a pair of Skarmory brothers had set up a stall filled with metal objects made from their melted down feathers. There was a glass-blower Magmar and his Jynx assistant, a Blissey and her Happiny daughter and Ditto husband had a First Aid Tent, and Finn had set up an Exchange Stall which was where Abby would be helping out.
"Come on, come on!" the three young Pokemon called, Pauly giggling as Amelia skipped and Mano bounced to-and-fro.
"You three troublemakers are only so excited because Shelly promised treats if you helped carry the decorations," Morie declared as she walked past, balancing a plate of star-shaped cakes on her head.
"But she has Cheri Cakes, Morie!" Amelia squealed, beaming brightly as she bounced in place. "They're soooo good!"
"I've got them, Morie, don't worry," Abby reassured the Palpitoad with a small smile. "I'll make sure they don't get in trouble."
"Of course you will, Abby," the other girl sighed. "They'll listen to you." Abby chuckled.
"Who else will dig them out of trees and caves and holes in the ground if they didn't?" Immediately, the three younger Pokemon denied needing anyone's help and that the last time they got stuck wasn't their fault, really!
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Morie declared as she walked away, rolling her eyes as their little group continued onward.
"Ah. There you are, Abby!" Finn declared as he popped up from no where on her right side; instantly, Abby reacted just as she always did to being startled, twisting towards him with a glare, fur standing on end and bristling aggressively as she glared, muscles stiff and static flickering around her tail. "Eh heh, heh, heh... Sorry," the Finneon chuckled weakly, forehead beading with sweat as he quickly backed up. Abby took a slow, deep breath as she forced herself to calm down.
"One of these days, Finn," she complained as she straightened the basket hooked over her back. "I'm going to accidentally shock you unconscious or something, or some other Pokemon will. And then, you'll find Sagara unsympathetic, since I know she's warned you about sneaking up on Pokemon!" The Finneon chuckled again, wiping the nervous sweat away and offering a sheepish smile.
"I just can't help it, Abby," he told her, shaking his head as the Shinx rolled her eyes, fur once more relaxed. "Anyways, if you'll follow me, those lights come over here. Shelly's waiting for you three over by the glass-blowing stall," he informed Mano and his friends.
"On it!" The Tympole declared cheerfully. "Bye Abby!"
"Bye!" Pauly and Amelia chorused.
"Stay out of trouble, you three," the Shinx told them. "And don't bother the new Pokemon too much! We want them to want to come back for the Fall Festival!"
"Okay!" The three called back as they hopped away, chattering excitedly as they ducked under a Rapidash who was wandering around, waiting for the Festival to start; Abby rolled her eyes with a sigh as Finn chuckled.
"Come along, then," he told her, leading her over towards the Evolution Solutions shop, where Lyra the Leafeon was bouncing around happily, her mother Vanora using Bubble to entertain a couple of young Mudkips. "Ready to place the lights, Lyra?" Finn asked; immediately, the Leafeon whirled around and skipped over.
"Ready!" She chirped; immediately, vines shot out from her shoulders, darting into the basket on Abby's back and lifting the strings of dark lights away. As they watched, her Vine Whip lashed up into the air, and elegantly dropping the strings of lights so that they hung artfully over streamers, lines of hanging wire, and over the edges of rooftops. A job that would have taken a few hours, at least, took the Grass-Type less than two minutes.
"That was amazing!" Abby told her; Lyra beamed, leaf-like tail flicking cheerfully.
"Thank you!" She chirped. "The rest of the lights are in another basket over at the other end of Town, so I'll head over there as soon as Erica is back with the snacks from the Snorlax Food Stall."
"I thought they were doing an Eating Contest," Abby said; Lyra nodded happily.
"Yes, but they're giving out free samples and you can by Snack Baskets from them too!" She chirped; as if summoned, the Eevee in question appeared from around the side of the building carrying a small basket of berry-studded cakes and what looked like large jellybeans...
"Ooh, gummies!" Lyra squealed, bouncing over as her older sister rolled her eyes.
"You can wait until later!" Erica scolded, dodging her sister's attempt to tackle the basket. "Here you go, Mother," Erica declared, dropping the basket next to her mother.
"Thank you, Erica," Vanora told her warmly, before digging through the basket for something the curious, hopeful Mudkips could have.
"Come along, Abby," Finn urged happily, nudging the Shinx's shoulder with his tail. "I'll need your help at the stall, and then to help with the lights again later," he told her; Abby nodded.
"Right," she agreed, following along behind him. The Exchange Stall was a simple little thing, made of driftwood Abby had helped gather and painted blue with gold writing. Finn would be helping every so often, but he'd also been voted by the Town to do the Raffle Prizes, so he would be manning the Raffle Stall with Karen the Clampearl. He would only be back to give her new baskets of items to offer, but the stall would be hers alone, for the most part.
She was excited for the Festival to begin.
"Now, usually the Guild sends a few teams to help with the Festival set-up," Finn told her as he darted behind her stall to nudge at the Items settled there. "But this year there were far more storms that traveled inland, so they're running behind. Thankfully, we've had more volunteers thanks to the delay, but they'll still be by later, likely to see the Festival and maybe help with breaking it all down in the morning. Ooh, I can't wait!" He declared happily, bouncing in place and beaming, and Abby nodded back, smiling as she hopped up onto the stool waiting for her. "Now, are you sure you've got everything you'll need, Abby?" He asked. "You remember the Exchange Rates for the Items and how to judge authenticity and the like?"
"I remember, Finn," she reassured, smiling. "After all, I had a great teacher." The Finneon flushed and laughed.
"Oh, stop that," he told her, chuckling, before shaking his head. "I'll come by later to get you, so that you can help with lighting the lights, alright? Be good!" He teased her, grinning before darting off, leaving Abby to man the stall alone. A few Pokemon wandered past, asking what the stall was and what Items they had, but for the first two hours no one Exchanged anything, but Abby didn't mind. She enjoyed chatting with the new Pokemon and her friends as well and even helped the neighboring stall (a plant-stall run by a Roselia named Violet) set up some of their potted plants.
Soon enough, however, the Festival began to get into full swing, and groups of Pokemon began to wander the streets. Most of them were young children who went straight to the game and food stalls, or ooh'd and ahh'd at the Workshop Stalls (The Glass-blower's were particularly popular). And Abby had her first customer, a Persian who wanted to exchange a pair of Pretty Feathers for whichever Items she could.
"I can give you any five of these necklaces," Abby offered, pulling the box out from behind her table. "Or and three of these miscellaneous Items," she added, setting a basket of different collection-Items down. "Or, I can get you a nice bag and one of either offered Items," she added, smiling at the Persian, who poked consideringly at the two groups of Items.
"What's the bag look like?" She asked; Abby pulled the three bags she had to offer out (A red one, a blue one, and a green one, each with a different colored gem sewn into the side). After a little longer considering her options, the Persian chose the blue bag and a particularly large, shimmering stone that was shaped almost like a Butterfree.
"Thank you for your Exchange!" Abby told her, returning the Items and setting the Pretty feathers into a different basket where the higher-priced Items went. Her next few customers were young Pokemon who wanted to trade whatever shiny bits and bobs they'd collected, most likely on the walk from their homes to Beach Town. As the day stretched on, more and more Pokemon arrived, including, she heard from some excited Pidgeys who were trading their four Sleep Seed's for some sparkling stones and a pair of matching necklaces, a few Exploration Teams. Abby soon found herself too busy to go see the Teams, however, and she definitely didn't want to just abandon her job to satisfy her curiosity.
As busy as she'd been, however, Abby was having fun. Chatting with new Pokemon, hearing about how they got this or that Item or how they'd once traded such-and-such for something, it was fascinating, and Abby listened eagerly to everyone. No one asked why she was so curious about seemingly common things, simply happy that someone was listening to their stories, and more than one Pokemon returned to chatter at her when she had no customers.
Morie stopped by to give her food, and Sagara wandered over to give her some strange smoothie that was supposed to keep her energized but not hyper. Mano and his friends stopped by as well, although that was to show off the cute little masks they'd won at one of the stalls, brightly colored little things that were supposed to be based on the Legendary Pokemon.
"I'm Victini!" the Tympole told her eagerly, bouncing about in such a way that told Abby all about the high level of sugar he'd no doubt eaten.
"Easy there, Mano," she coaxed, but it was too late, and his hyper bouncing sent him rolling into the path of a Mankey with a strange headband that bore a large steel-like pendant in the shape of a twisting snake, sending the Pokemon's snacks scattering onto the ground.
"Oops," Mano said, mask knocked askew. "Sorry..." Abby sighed.
"Oh, Mano," she said, shaking her head; the Mankey stared blankly down at their empty hands, then at the food on the ground, and a vein began to throb in their forehead.
"I'm really sorry!" Mano told them; instantly, the Mankey turned, glaring furiously at the Tympole who froze, wide-eyed.
"You little brat," he, as his voice denoted, growled as he took a threatening step towards the smaller Pokemon.
"Whoa there, easy," Abby snapped, standing on her stool with her front paws on the stall table, frowning at the Mankey. "Accidents happen, and he already apologized. We'll happily replace your food, but there's no need to get violent, okay?" Mano nodded nervously along, hopping backward towards his friends, while Pauly and Amelia watched, wide-eyed and nervous.
"He just knocked my food to the ground," the Mankey snapped. "Right out of my hands!" He continued glaring furiously at Mano, barely sparing even a glance at Abby, who frowned heavily herself.
"And he apologized," she stressed firmly; the Mankey growled.
"That's not good enough," he declared, smacking his fists together aggressively; Mano gulped, and Abby had enough. Swiftly, the Shinx leaped over the Stall Table to stand between the Fighting-Type Pokemon and the Tympole, static sparking around her tail and fur standing on end, offering a fierce glare of her own.
"That's enough," she told him sharply as he froze, flinching back slightly from her as her tail lashed, sparks darting up and down her body. "He apologized, we'll get you new food, and there's no need for anyone to get hurt. Understand?" The Mankey flinched slightly as she growled, hesitating when a new voice called out.
"That's enough, Michael," a female voice called; a Luxray wandered over, a mask of her own on the side of her head, this one of Celebi. Around her neck was a dark red scarf that held it's own snake-pendant, only bright gold.
"But Miss Emily!" Michael the Mankey tried; the Luxray simply stared at him, red eyes calm, and he fell quiet, dropping his gaze to the ground.
"I believe your Teammates are waiting by the food stall, Michael," Emily told him calmly. "I'm sure if you tell the stall owner what happened, they will happily reimburse you," Abby spoke up calmly.
"If you tell them that Mano knocked your food down, they will know to get payment from either his mother, sister, or me," she told them; the Luxray smiled faintly, nodding.
"As the Shinx said before, Michael, there is no need for anyone to get hurt. Yes?" Emily told him; the Mankey nodded, and hurried off when the large Electric-Type tossed her head at him. "I apologize for my younger Guild-mate's actions," she told Abby and the three young Pokemon. "I shall make sure to speak to his Team's Tutors about this incident. Although," she added, amused. "I believe your Intimidate Ability had it well in hand." Abby blinked, confused, before nodding back.
"I apologize as well," she offered. "I'll make sure that he's fully reimbursed, and Mano will be sure to inform his mother and sister, right Mano?" She asked, making the Tympole, who had been trying to sneak away, freeze with his friends.
"Eh, heh, heh... Right!" He offered sheepishly.
"Mmhmm," Abby agreed, amused as she let her fur resettle. "And no more treats. You've had enough sugar." Instantly, the Tympole slumped, pouting.
"Aww, but Abby!" He whined; she sent him a firm look and he settled, nodding sulkily.
"Come on, Mano," Pauly coaxed from behind his Mew mask. "I saw a game stall over by Shelly's that's giving out bags of marbles if you guess the card right!" Instantly perking up, the three ran off, Amelia declaring that she would win the most marbles as her Jirachi mask bounced along behind her. Abby shook her head, turning and hopping back over her stall and onto her stool as Emily chuckled and padded over.
"Children are always so easy to distract," the Luxray mused; Abby nodded in agreement, eyeing the older Pokemon's pendant curiously, which Emily, of course, caught. "I see you've noticed my Guild Ribbon," she said, sitting down as Abby nodded cautiously.
"Why's it a different color?" She asked curiously; Emily smiled faintly.
"I am a member of a Gold Team at the Superior Guild," she told the Shinx indulgently. "There are six different Levels of Teams, and each Level has specific Missions they can and can't take. Michael is from a Steel Team, which is the second-lowest level. He only started at the Guild last year and was then a Wood Team. Wood Teams are freshly joined Pokemon who are learning to be productive members of the Guild. Steel Teams, like his, are apprentice-level Teams who only do low-level Missions, usually around town, and are under the Tutorship of the next Level, the Bronze Teams. Those Teams are below the Silver Teams, which are below my own, the Gold Teams. And the highest-level of Teams are the Platinum Teams."
"Whoa," Abby murmured, wide-eyed. "So you're a high-leveled Team, right?"
"Mm-hmm," Emily agreed. "As a Gold Team, my Teammates and I are allowed to take more dangerous Bounties, travel to different Islands, and even compete in the harder competitions at Tournament Island once a year. We also make more money and get more attention because of that," she added, smiling.
"Do you make a lot of money?" Abby asked curiously; Emily shook her paw back and forth in a 'so-so' manner.
"Sometimes we do," she told the Shinx honestly. "It usually depends on the Missions. Each customer offers what payment they can, which the Guild can negotiate on, and the level of difficulty, the location, and the agreed-upon payment determines which leveled Team will get it. Sometimes we get paid in gold or treasure or rare Items, and sometimes we get paid in goods, such as a large shipment of hard-to-get gummies or Berries or the like, although that's mostly the lower-level Teams," the Luxray admitted. "My own Team, which is called Team Bite, has only recently come back from exploring an old Treasure Map. We went to this place called Foghollow, which is supposed to be haunted and cursed," she told the fascinated Shinx cheerfully. "And while there are a large number of Ghost-Type Pokemon living outside the forest, the inner-most part is just dead, really."
"Really?" Abby asked; Emily nodded.
"The trees were all twisted and gnarled and the fog was too thick to even see my paw in front of my face," the Luxray said. "There was no wind, just this heavy, moist fog, and sometimes it felt like something was watching us, you know? And there were these whispers at night, loud enough to wake you up but not enough to hear what they said. We were lost for days, and we almost gave up, but then we found the opening to the Mystery Dungeon."
"Mystery Dungeon?" Abby asked, confused; Emily smiled.
"It's a Guild Secret, I'm afraid," Emily told her. "But just imagine a very difficult, multi-leveled Maze, and you'll get the picture," she reassured, and Abby nodded. "Anyways, this Dungeon had seven floors, and, when we reached the end, we found out that there was a secret entrance to an even deeper and more difficult part of the Dungeon," she huffed. "That part had another five levels, my Teammate Bruce, he's a Gabite," she added absently. "Well, he was ready to chew through the walls, it was so frustrating down there," she complained good-naturedly. "But, anyways, we finally get to the end of that and find this weird statue of a Mismagus, and it turned out that the place was cursed, but it was actually more of a Hex by this Mismagus from over a century ago, who had apparently been betrayed by her Gengar best friend and swore that the sun would never shine on the forest again until the thing he'd stolen had been returned to her, even in death."
"What was stolen?" Abby asked eagerly; Emily shook her head.
"No one knows," she told the Shinx seriously. "The inscription describing the object had been worn away, but there was an ancient Map that leads somewhere on the far side of Silver Island, so a Platinum Team is going to take it. We still get credit for the discovery, which boosts our reputation, and the Guild gave us a large sum of money as a prize, but I wish we could have gone to find the object," she said wistfully, and Abby nodded. She would have wanted to finish it as well. She hated leaving things half-finished and, if Emily was anything like her, then that had to be seriously frustrating.
"Ah, well," the Luxray sighed, shaking her head. "It's the Platinum Team's jobs to take on the most dangerous missions, and I don't really envy them having to go through Emperor Guild Territory. I hope it's worth it, whatever it is." Abby frowned a little.
"If it'll raise the Mismagus's Hex off of Foghollow," she started slowly, frowning, "and set the spirit to rest, wouldn't it be worth it?" Emily blinked at her.
"Well, it depends on how difficult the Dungeon is, really," she replied. "And if the end prize would be worth it." Abby frowned harder, sitting up.
"If you're only doing something for the prize, then it's not really worth it," Abby told her firmly. "If all you care about is the prize, then the act itself loses its worth. It's like," she paused, thinking her words over carefully. "It's like, if you get a coin every time you say 'thank you', then you start saying it just for the coin, and the actual reason is lessened. Rewarding the same behavior, or insisting on getting a reward, promotes certain behaviors and attitudes that shouldn't be promoted. After all," she concluded firmly, "what if you can't get a reward? Does that mean you shouldn't do the work anyways? What if a Pokemon needs help, and you can help, but the Pokemon can't pay and you'll get no reward? Does that mean you just don't help? Even when you can help?" The Shinx shook her head. "I think that, as long as you're actually doing good, you shouldn't expect a reward. The knowledge that you're helping, that you're doing something significant and worthwhile should be reward enough." Emily stared at her, thoughtful, a small half-smile on her face.
"You know something, little Shinx?" the Luxray murmured, smiling still. "Our Guild's Second in Command has said something very similar to that, before." Abby huffed, her tail flicking a little behind her.
"Well then, you should listen to them more often," she muttered; Emily chuckled.
"Perhaps we should," she mused; before either of them could say anything else, however, Finn appeared out from behind Emily, startling the Luxray into leaping to her feet.
"Abby, come with me!" He ordered the Shinx happily. "It's time to light the lights!" Abby lit up, smiling.
"Coming!" She chirped, pulled a 'back in five minutes' sign from under her stall and leaping over the table to follow after the Finneon. "Come on, Emily!" She called; the Luxray sighed and followed along, amused.
"Here, here!" Finn declared, pushing Abby toward what looked like a strange metal device. "All it needs is a little electricity, Abby, and the lights will turn on!" Abby nodded, eyeing the cylindrical generator curiously, before taking a deep breath and focusing. She'd only learned how to use Thunderbolt during the last storm, after all, and the last thing she wanted to do was accidentally electrocute her friends. Static sparked through her coat brightly, and her tail began to glow.
"Thunderbolt!" She cried, as she forcefully released the built-up electricity from her body; instantly, a bright, yellow streak of lightning erupted from her and slammed directly into the generator. Something in the machine began to whirl, and, one by one, the decorative lights all around the town began to glow brightly, like little white fireflies.
"Ooh," the crowd of Pokemon murmured appreciatively before applause rang out and made Abby smile happily. Yes, she decided as Finn thanked her happily. Sometimes just giving a helping hand for the sake it was its own reward, indeed.
Chapter End
Chapter Notes:
Michael the Mankey was originally going to be interrupted by a Platinum Team-member, but then I decided Emily was more interesting since she was a Luxray.
I forgot which of the other two Islands were to the East of Gold Island and spent ten minutes debating with my best friends on whether it would be East from Gold Island based on the map or East based on Beach Town.
The Legendary Pokemon Masks were based on the Japanese festival masks from various other anime's I've seen such as Peacekeeper.
Gold Island gets Spring Storms, Bronze Island gets Summer Storms, and Silver Island gets Fall Storms. During the Winter, Tournament Island stays warm, humid, and occasionally stormy, while all three of the Treasure Islands gets snow storms.
Foghollow is based around the Foggy Woods in Pokemon Mystery Dungeons: Explorers of the Sky, only there is no Groudon or Time Gear, just a pissed off Ghost who wants her shit back, thank-you very much.
Michael's team is called Team Muscle and has a Machop, Meinfoo, and Hawlucha on it.
There is a Festival for every change of Season, as well as for every Eclipse (Both Solar and Lunar) and for every Solstice/Equinox, and for the beginning/end of every Tournament. This means that, on average, there are ten-to-twelve Festivals a year, depending on whether or not there is an Eclipse or more than one of them.
Emily's teammates are Bruce the Gabite and Rico the Hippowdon.
Guild Levels:
(Lowest To Highest)
Wood Teams - New Recruits: Training for a year and their "Missions" are really just glorified Chores inside the Guild and around Spiral Town.
Steel Teams - First Years: Mentors to New Recruits, can take only the lowest level missions around/near Spiral Town, supervised by Bronze Teams
Bronze Teams - Low Level Teams: Able to take the Lowest Level Missions without supervision, and join as back up on other, mid-low-level missions. Able to join Tournament Island Meeting.
Silver Teams - Mid-Level Teams: Able to take mid-rank Missions unsupervised, and help on high missions. Able to joun Tournament Island Meet
Gold Teams - High-Level Teams: Able to take all but the highest Missions without aid, often supervising lower teams. Able to join the Tournament Island Meet.
Platinum Teams - The Top Tier Teams: Highest Level Teams, able to take Solo Missions, Mission on other Islands, and most dangerous missions. Best Paid Teams. Able to Join Tournament Island Meet.
HINT/SPOILER: The Second in Command of the Superior Guild is Sir Geoff the Gallade