It took a couple of seconds for Argon to adjust as her eyes, having long since adapted to the dark conditions of the cave, were invaded by a flash of white mid-step through her and Chimera's underground exploration. As she brought both paws up to rub the blurriness out and shake the faint ringing in her ears, she heard someone call out towards her, one instantly recognizable since the first day she had crawled into the world to meet the same overwhelming brightness and soothing voices.

"Hey Mausi, it's great to see you again."

A brief curiosity entered the Raichu's mind as she considered the unknown voice's words,

Mausi? I haven't heard someone call me a pet name like that since—

Argon opened her cobalt-blue eyes, letting out a gasp of equal parts dread and bewilderment as she stared towards the pokemon before her.

It was another raichu, one whose brown feet and sharp, lightning bolt shaped tail touching the earth just as she did. Around the other Raichu's black eyes were several noticeable fine lines and wrinkles, partly concealed by light orange fur that surrounded her entire body, of which a few hairs around her nose had turned a faint shade of grey. She stared towards Argon with a tranquil smile, the same recognizable smile that once greeted her everyday she would leave the house for another day of school. At the sight, only one word escaped Argon's mouth,

"M-Mom?"

The Raichu nodded, a gasp coming from her alolan counterpart born half by the discovery, and half from the reoccurring memory of what had transpired before. Argon broke her mother's gaze, eyes darting every which way as she surveyed her new surroundings. The room that abruptly became her present setting was a steep counterpart to the claustrophobic hallways of before, sporting smooth, rocky, walls that gave the appearance of being either artificial made or in some other way unnatural. And yet...there was something familiar about this space, a couple seconds passing in Argon's mind before the realization hit her that, though the room was otherwise empty, both its dimensions and color seemed awfully familiar, if not verbatim to her childhood home. It would have been a soothing sight, if not for the absence of a certain pokemon.

Argon's brought her eyes to bear on the raichu, head shooting back as her breaths began to quicken,

"Where is Chimera?"

"Oh, the Bagon?" her mother replied, tone retaining its euphonic smoothness, "he is in good health, I just...thought that we should have some time to catch up, I'll be happy to take you to him afterwords if you so wish."

Argon's inhalations returning to a steady tempo as she considered what was said. Her head raised up again at the raichu, blue eyes on the verge of disbelieving what she saw. Every detail since the last time they had met was present, from the long, curly, twists at the end of her ears to the consistent height that once seemed towering in comparison to her pikachu body, everything was there.

It's her, it must be her. But how?

She opened her mouth, a rapid amalgam of questions just about to leave her tongue before her lips again closed. With a heavy sigh, Argon gave a sign of acknowledgement at her mothers comment, a couple seconds passing before the alolan raichu raised her voice, mind contempt to see if conversation would give the desired answers,

"Alright then, I...I trust you."

The Raichu gave another solemn nod, smile having not left her face. Looking down at a minor angle to maintain eye contact with her mother brought a brief chuckle from Argon's lips, stemming from the fact that, until this moment, her neck would have to be perpetually craned up whenever they conversed.

"Y-You haven't changed much, four years and you look just like before."

"I can't say the same for you," her mother replied, "are you enjoying your new evolution? I still remember the look on your face when you unwrapped that thunderstone before you left."

Argon's smile froze to shock as she raised a paw up to shield herself from her mother's gaze, the other paws reaching to undo a set of straps keeping the bulky tail pressed against her body in place. The tail slid under her feet as she closed her eyes to concentrate, the gradual yet familiar tingling sensation of overcharging electrons returning as soon as the appendage, now emanating a pink aura, broke contact with the ground.

"I-uh...of course," Argon replied, mind split between struggling through the bouts of tension now invading her mind and trying to come up with a decent vindication, "couldn't be happier. Y-You know, I get so used to floating everywhere that I sometimes like to walk when exploring, helps put me at ease."

A worse lie could have been told, as with many it had a grain of truth to it. Argon exhaled in relief as her mother's expression remained unchanged, seeming ready to accept the proposition.

With any luck, the alolan raichu thought, Mom won't ask about anything else, or at very least not—

"I knew I'd find you here, Mausi" Argon's mother stated, grin forming on her face, "going through a mystery dungeon as perilous as this one. You always promised that you'd become a famous explorer someday, and I have no doubt that you've kept it to heart, just know that I'm proud of you."

The sharp feeling of dread now coursing over Argon's body amplified by the stress of levitation overcame her mental concentration, a sudden dip of her tail as the rosy light dissipated causing her to lose her balance and tumble to the floor. She hastily shuffled back to her feet, now seemingly unable to look at her own mother in the eye. Thinking fast, Argon raised her voice, a faint hope in the back of her mind saying that a change of topic would make the raichu forget the recent display,

"S-So...how's Dad doing?"

A couple seconds too many passed as Argon waited for a response. Despite her minds best attempt to deem her unworthy of gazing directly at the raichu before her, peripheral vision revealed that her mother had shut her eyes and was holding a brown paw up to pinch the end of her nose, the same face, the alolan raichu recollected, that she would make whenever she was asked a particularly difficult trivia question or in the rare instances that she would witness her mother be forced to make up a lie in front of her.

"Is he alri—"

"Yes, he's fine," her mother interjected "you know him, always moving around. He took it fairly well when you rejected a managerial position at the guild before you left, but he's since been trying to bury himself in his job. I'll snap him out of it, you need not worry."

The reply left a gnawing feeling in the back of Argon's mind, one that, despite her best efforts, worked its way to the forefront,

But...Dads been retired for years. He was always so excited about it to when I got to see him, how can he bury himself in his job if—

She shook her head, pushing the offending thought away as her mind shifted directions. A mild grin formed on her face as she closed her eyes, one born from remembrances of seeing the first glimmer of a thunderbolt pattern while tearing away the paper wrapping of her families parting gift.

"Well, I-uh, I hope he's doing well. He was always good to me, both of you were. Arceus knows there wasn't anything I could ask for that you and Dad couldn't provide, I just...wished he could have been around the house a little more."

"So do I," Argon's mother replied, smile fading ever so slightly, "but it was a necessary sacrifice, one we all had to make, I hope you can understand."

"Besides," she finished, "you never asked for much, nothing wrong with the occasional indulgence."

Argon gave an apprehensive nod, reply interrupted as she felt a chill run down her spine synonymous with all her fur beginning to stand on end. While the room the raichus occupied appeared to be otherwise empty, her mind seemed unwilling to relent from scanning every square inch in search of danger. The only other time, Argon pondered, that she was this focused and unable to relax was after hearing the scraping of claws that divulged the charmander previously shadowing them. A voice in the back of Argon's conscious screamed that there was some unknown force watching her, one that seemed ever more oppressive with every change of expression or stance, but her eyes validated none of these claims. She shook her head, letting out deep breaths as she decided to, at the moment, trust the latter.

"In fact," the maternal raichu stated, "we are very proud of all you've accomplished, but remember your father's offer does still stand. We'd love for you to come back from Faire and live with us, at least for a couple of years. And before you ask, money wouldn't be a problem, I'm sure you of all pokemon know that."

Argon's previously darting head snapped back to her mother, the feeling of eeriness being temporarily interrupted as she considered the proposal,

"I-uh...don't take this the wrong way, but I'm surprised you'd offer me something like that. When I first told you I wanted to be an explorer, you and Dad seemed pretty happy that I'd get the chance to live on my own."

"Pokemon change," she hastily replied, "I been missing you very much, Mausi, we all have."

The alolan raichu was silent as she considered the offer, not sure if the tingling that coursed through her body before being diffused through her tail into the floor was nostalgia or simply an excess of electrons.

"I-It would certainly be nice, living with you guys again. Being able to talk to with you and Dad whenever something is on my mind, having help with all the, uh...cleaning, and—"

She chuckled, the remnants of a once forgotten syrupy sweet sensation coursing through her tongue,

"—dear Arceus, those pancakes you make are the best things I've ever tasted. I would really enjoy it, but..."

Argon sighed, the electric, tingling, sensation ending as sentimentalism was cut down by resolution,

"I can't, you see I've-uh... I've found someone—"

"Found someone?" her mother interjected. "You mean the Bagon? I must say then that I've misinterpreted your relationship with him."

A shade of pink flushed on Argon's cheeks, before being replaced by a deadpan stare.

"T-That's not what I meant and you know it. Anyway...I've found someone who is looking for their place in the world. We've already agreed to work in a team together, and it wouldn't be right to just abandon him like that. Besides...he's certainly interesting company, and I think if given more time, we could become friends."

"He could come with us," Argon's mother proposed, a few seconds passing before the alolan raichu again spoke.

"I-I'm not sure he'd like that. Ever since I showed him around the guild, h-he's seemed really adamant on making a life here, I wouldn't want to deny him that. I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to say no, please send Dad my best regards if you can."

The raichu gave a solemn nod, the brief period of silence being all Argon's mind needed for the feeling of paranoia to return.

"But anyway, how are you here? I-I was only told the location of this dungeon hours ago, how did you know that I'd be here?"

The moment the words left the Argon's mouth, she couldn't help but notice a swift change in her mother's continuance. Any notion of levity in her mother's face disappeared, being replaced by a stern glare that seemed to peer into her very being. A sudden chill ran down Argon's spine as the raichu stepped up toward her to speak, voice lowering an octave into one that, while still recognizable as coming from her mother, was said in a tone unlike any she had previously used,

"The circumstances of my being are...unimportant. What truly matters is the message that I send."

The brown-footed raichu took another step forward, raising her paw in a manner that suggested she was to place it on Argon's shoulder. The action, however, only resulted in an incredulous look from the alolan raichu when her mother hastily stopped to pull the hand back to her side, as if their interactions were a play and merely touching Argon would be some unretractable breach of character. There was little time to ponder the moment before she continued,

"You have come here for a reason, to seek an item of great power, is that correct?"

Argon nodded, an inquisitively sarcastic part of her brain commenting that perhaps she wasn't the only raichu in the room with psychic powers.

"I know that your journey here hasn't been easy, but I must implore you to abandon your quest. For the betterment of all, what lies here must remain unsettled."

Argon remained silent, inwardly pondering what could be so important as to require a message as direct and personal is this one. The more she stared at the maternal raichu before her, the more surreal the circumstances seemed. The same raichu that, just four years ago, had refused to set foot on a ship of any size for fear of puking her guts out was below an island hundreds of miles away from any hint of civilization. The same raichu that was always a glutton for hugs and affection now seemed unwilling to even touch her. The same raichu that had, such a long time ago, warned her to not become overly concerned with the big things in life was now warning her of world shaking happenings. A theory began to develop in Argon's mind, one that drew an ever harder to shaking feeling in the back of her neck the more sense it seemed to make.

"Ok," Argon replied, blue eyes staring toward the raichu becoming narrower as her mouth twisted into a frown, "I'll get Chimera and we'll go, b-but first, I need you to answer a simple questions for me."

Her mother nodded, meeting the scowl with a look of indifference, "Sure, anything for my daughter."

"When I first hatched, you gave me the name 'Argon', years later you told me why, what was your reasoning?"

As the alolan raichu said this, she closed her eyes, mind fabricating a memory that would serve for an explanation. Right on cue, the pressing sensation that once precluded a flash of light gazed into her subconscious, before disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Of course I know that," the raichu stated, eyes gazing upward in nostalgia, "what type of mother would I be if I didn't? In the weeks before you were hatched, your father had worked on organizing the installation of an experimental source of illumination around the guild. They were clear spheres of glass that could brighten an entire room without any of the smoke or potential for flames that came with lanterns. It never went through, of course, the guild found that it was more efficient to simply use reusable luminous orbs, but when I heard about the innovation from your father, we decided to name you after the gas inside of the glass spheres that allowed them to function, argon. When I first looked into your eyes, I knew it would be a testament to the little pichu that would bring light into our world."

Argon gazed at the creature before her in horror. While what she said had been accurate to her previous recollections, those recollections were of a memory falsely imagined. None of what the brown-footed raichu said was factual, even the concept of the glass spheres was based on an idle conversation between her and Chimera on the Draeke over the technology of the human world.

"N-No, that's not even remotely true. Mom and Dad gave me that name because it was simple and easy to pronounce, they said they wanted me to always be first when they called pokemon in alphabetical order. You...you should have known that."

As she said this, Argon reached a hand outward towards the raichu, her horrified expression only being confirmed when it passed straight through its body as easily as a hand interrupting a stray beam of light. Before she could even gasp, the false raichu imitating her mother disappeared from existence, followed immediately by the clean corners and walls of her former settings morphing into nothingness. A loud voice telepathically burst into her conscious, one that held an exasperated tone only somewhat reminiscent of its former owner.

"Pokemon such as I make plans, and Arceus laughs...I suppose I should have expected this."