"Chimera, behind you!"
No sooner had these words left Argon's mouth when a pale white pikepek burst out from one of the many tall palm trees making up the forest canopy, perching itself upon the Bagon's rocky forehead and repeatedly pecking at his face and eyes. Finding that his arms were simple too short to pry the ambushing pallid away, Chimera dropped to his knees, bashing his head against one of the many large rocks lying on the narrow dirt trail. The Pikipek fled and was struck down in the blink of an eye by an electrified blur speeding across the Bagon's line of sight. Chimera patted Argon on the side of her arm as she recovered from her charging posture, celebration being cut off when a patrat and beedrill poked their heads out of the brush, grey outlines a stark contrast to the lush green layer of palm leaves making up the mystery dungeon's perimeter. The intrusions were dispatched without thought by crossbow bolt and thundershock respectively, leaving the duo to continue their daily mission.
Chimera dusted himself off as they walked, taking extra care to confirm that the shiny, gold-bordered badges recently pinned to their exploration bags were accounted for. Though the process of getting Binair to concur with the agreed upon terms had been a strenuous one, their voyage to Eastern Faire's mystery dungeon no. 27, better known as Exeggutor Jungle, had been surprisingly short trip. Passive forward gaze, once limited to Argon, spread to Chimera as he hacked away at the obstructing leaves with sharpened thorn crudely tied to a stick.
"Nasty little buggers...what pokemon did you say we'd be facing here again?" Chimera asked.
"Mostly bug and flying types, m-maybe a couple normals here and there. Sentrets, duodo, I-I've even seen some ditto around he—well, speak of the giratina..."
The brush cleared into a shallow riverbed. On each side on the randomly jutting river were nearly endless lines of trees. Each of the trees curved toward the center of the river, narrow trunks diverging into a sea of roots above the waterline, as if begging for sustenance in spite of the physics defying nature of the dungeon. Standing in the shallow river was single pallid, feral scowl betraying the fact that its visage was a dead ringer to the Bagon at Argon's side. Immediately, the pallid Bagon opened its jaw to let out a short burst of fire toward the Alolan Raichu. The attack caught Argon off guard, hasty dodge to the left forcing her to dip bits of singed fur into the waterline.
"You sonova...if I can't breath fire, this sad sack of tauros crab shouldn't have the privilege!"
"I-It seems that the feral dittos do a better job of copying pokemon's instincts than you do," Argon replied with a chuckle.
Argon dipped her tail into the waterline, attempting to recreate the trick that had worked in the previous dungeon. The pale Bagon, however, scrambled onto a large rock jutting out of the middle of the tropical river, attack having little effect. Noticing that its maneuverability had been severely limited, Chimera took another shot with his weapon from the treeline, bolt breaking into pieces when it collided with the rocky forehead of the Bagon. There was no time for the Pallid to release another draconic burst when the orange blur reappeared, tackling the Bagon from its high ground and pinning it against one of the riverside trees.
Argon drew her head back as the Bagon struggled, noticing that her partner was rushing over as fast as his tiny legs would carry him. With both paws occupied holding the Bagon in place, Argon closed her eyes, letting a small yellow seed levitate out of her exploration bag into Chimera's hands.
"H-Here, use this."
"What is it?"
"A stun seed. Q-Quick, we don't have much time!"
The pallid Bagon growled a malicious snarl at Argon. It would have blasted the Raichu with another burst of flames after opening its mouth, had a seed not been lodged into its throat, and two hands forced its lower jaw to chomp down. Immediately, all the muscles in the grey Bagon seemed to freeze in place, every part of its body shaking uncontrollably, but motionless in its standing position nonetheless.
"Well," Argon said, backing away from the paralyzed creature to let out a relieved sigh, "I-I guess we won't have to worry about him anymore."
Chimera nodded. He was just about to continue down the winding path alongside Argon when he turned back, lost in thought. While the journey had been short, the actual process of dungeoneering gave to the Bagon an impression of being somewhat tedious. Their foes, while relentless, had been more frail than even those before their recent encounter with Uxie. A part of Chimera questioned if this was the reason his partner insisted on going to this specific dungeon, having noticed that the Raichu seemed particularly familiar with this setting. Nonetheless, the pallid Bagon before Chimera sporting a feral imitation of his own visage was helpless, more of a prop against the riverside treeline than anything. And with this, thought Chimera, came some potential to relieve the monotony.
"Wait!" he shouted, forcing Argon to turn toward the two bagons with a concerned look. "Argon, I'm the real Chimera! You have to believe me, that bagons... nothing more than my evil clone."
It took a couple seconds for Argon to comprehend Chimera's playful intentions. Her incredulous stare quickly gave way to light giggling as she raised a paw up to cover her smile, intending to play along. Chimera did a similar movement with his hands, awkwardly positioning the paralyzed Bagon's hand to point towards himself as he attempted to throw his voice.
"What? No, he's the evil clone! You have to believe me Argon, think of all that we've gone through."
The grey Bagon wasn't able to resist the crude mockery, mouth being locked open mid-snarl. Eventually, Argon was able to control her snickering at the unexpected display, doing her best to portray a commanding posture toward the blue and grey pokemons.
"A-Alright...if one of you truly is the pure-hearted Chimera, you'll have to prove it by doing something only they could do."
"Of course," Chimera quickly replied, echoing the phrase to make it seem as though his supposed doppelganger agreed.
A moment passed as Argon considered what action would bring the most comedic potential. When a mischievous grin suddenly formed on her face, Chimera knew she had decided.
"Only the most pure-hearted of bagon can breathe fire. I-If you want to prove that you're not Chimera's evil clone, you'll have to do that."
She pointed towards the blue Bagon,
"You first."
Chimera shot back at the request, betrayed look only broken when he saw the Raichu mouth the words 'play along'. His head hastily shifted between Argon, the paralyzed Bagon, and himself. After a few seconds contemplation, Chimera forced his head downwards to chuckle towards the floor, laughter slowly deepening in tone into something much more villainous.
"This was all a trick, I deceived you. I, in fact, am the evil clone of Chimera. I am all the negative emotions that cloud his mind, his hate, his anger, his deceitfulness, and you will bow before me!"
"And as you should know," he continued, again covering his mouth to throw his voice, "good always triumphs over evil."
Immediately, the blue bagon pointed the weapon slung at his hip downward, releasing a bolt that landed just past his own foot into the riverside sandbar. He collapsed to the ground, shouting cries of pain only partly convincing toward the spectating Raichu.
"Ahh! Heathen, using my own weapon against me, I guess you win this round Chimera, but I'll be back!"
Argon let out her a hefty cackle as she helped the blue Bagon to his feet, a glance back at the Pallid confirming that it was still paralyzed.
"Y-You know," she said, turning her back to continue down the mystery dungeon's winding paths, "I think you played that part all too well."
"What can I say? I love a good roleplay."
And as they walked, Chimera could have sworn he heard a giggle, though a glance back at Argon found only a serious expression.
The two continued down the winding river, fighting off the seemingly endless stream of pallids as the went. Chimera was just about to ask Argon when they could stop to relieve the aching sensation again plaguing his feet when he saw the Raichu's eyes perked up. They had reached the river's end, and Argon instantly rushed toward the loose collection of dirt marking the shoreline. She reached into her exploration bag, revealing a wide yet shallow metal pan just beginning to rust around the edges.
"I suppose that dirt is the aforementioned 'resources'."
"O-Of course," Argon replied, scooping some of the mixed sediment into the pan and gently shaking, "this stuff is pay-dirt, it may not be as much as the teams who travel further inland get, b-but if we keep doing this, we'll have more than enough poke for the roof over our heads and the food in our stomach."
After some more sifting, Argon revealed to Chimera the fruits of their efforts: between the clumps of dirt inside of the pan were minuscule bits of pure gold, each speck seemingly flickering off of the river sunlight. Chimera gasped at the reveal, eyes seemingly glued to the unassuming pan,
"That's...amazing! I suppose we're rich now," he said with a chuckle.
"Not exactly.S-See, I'm not sure if you know, but this stuff is pretty common around Faire. Most of it is used for trading and decorations, but it was either this or chopping down trees and mining ore inside of mystery dungeons to use in construction, so I guess I got lucky in that regard."
Chimera glanced behind him, maneuvering the exploration backpack so that he was able to analyze his recently awarded badge. While the majority the shield's gold coloration seemed to simply be paint, a further analysis of the change in metal revealed a thin layer of gold forming the badge's circumference.
"So...you just go to this same mystery dungeon everyday?"
"Only when somebody hasn't already taken it from the missions list first." she replied. "Going here, taking this to the guild,i-it's a pretty smooth process, all things considered. Then the dungeon randomizes the next day, and we head out to find this spot again. Life's all about balance, and this...it helps me keep it."
Her head lifted, tension in her neck being relieved after a few seconds of analysis,
"On the bright side, i-it seems that all the pallids are gone, no harm in being sure though."
"I'll go and check," Chimera offered, letting out a deep sigh, "I've got nothing better to do."
"Do you want my help? I-I could always get back to doing this after we've made sure that the perimeter is secure."
The Bagon pulled his weapon closer to his chest,
"No, I think I've got this."
The minutes passed, and before long Chimera had ascertained that they had indeed cleared the area of feral adversaries. With eyesight of his companion long since broken within the dense jungle brush, the Bagon took a short opportunity to rest. However, the moment Chimera sat down, the visage of Argon again returned.
"Oh...you're back. I thought you were busy with the pay-dirt, do you need my help with anything?"
The Raichu gave a short nod. What truly amazed Chimera was that his companion had not walked over to his location as she normally did, but was slowly levitating toward him atop her oversized tail. She did so unhindered, despite a sudden reoccurring memory into Chimera's mind of the visual concentration she had exhibited when levitating even a thermos of tea back in their room.
"Alright then, what is it you want?"
The Raichu pointed downward, towards the golden badge pinned to Chimera's exploration bag,
"The badge? I...I mean no offence, but what do you need it for?"
She only pointed towards the badge again, this time with more urgency. Chimera was forced to pause at this. The pokemon before him was a dead-ringer for Argon, sure, but a cynical part of the Bagon's mind, first born in the undersea cavern, refused to relent. His hand lowered toward the badge, not for the purposes of giving, but protecting. His patrol up to this point had been a silent one, not another footstep being heard ever since he had first stepped out. Unless his partner was as stealthy as she was quick, and had suddenly lost the ability to talk, Chimera's suspicious remained. After all, what was the harm in checking?
"Uh...sure, no problem. Could you come here for a second so I can give it to you?"
The Raichu floated toward Chimera. As soon as it was within grabbing distance, however, he shot his hand out towards its chest, suspicious being only confirmed when it passed straight through, stopping at a short tuft of hair unlike anything he had previously seen on his partner.
"You're pretty good," called out the Raichu, voice while feminine, unquestionably more childlike than his partner, "how'd you catch on so quick?"
"Trust me, I've encountered far too many pokemon who weren't who they said they were to be fooled that easily," Chimera replied, toothy grin smiling back at the false Raichu.
"Well then...I guess I'll have to do this the hard way."
In an instant, the false Raichu vanished, not a second passing before a red and black blur took its place and shot across his eyesight. Chimera raised his arm to protectively hold up the badge, breathing a sigh of relief when it was still in his hand after the unknown creature's maneuver. Unfortunately, such an action left the crossbow slung at his side completely exposed, and when he turned around to face his new threat, the weapon had been ripped from his person.
The red and black creature was nowhere to be found. Holding the crossbow before Chimera was another Bagon, having figure identical to his own with blue and yellow scales to boot. It stared toward Chimera with a cocky grin all too familiar, holding weapon in one hand and escape orb in the other. Silence again filled the jungle as identical bagons looked toward each other, one protectively holding the guild badge, the other doing likewise with the stolen weapon. The only other perceivable difference between himself and the other Bagon were their new attire. Draped over the other Bagon's ill-defined shoulders was a regal, pure white cape, a high contrast to the dreary, angular black one that had suddenly manifested over his own shoulders. A short poke at the dark adornment found that Chimera's hand passed through it as easily as it did the false Raichu.
"Well, my evil twin" called out the white-cloaked Bagon, voice the same childlike, high pitched call despite its best attempts at sounding dramatic,"I believe we have reached an impasse. If you won't return that gold rank guild badge to its rightful owner, you shall suffer the consequences!"
Chimera paused, incredulous look frozen on his face at the absurdity of the situation. He considered yelling into the forest to catch the attention of his partner, but decided against it after glancing at the escape orb firmly held in the new Bagon's hands. While not as valuable to Chimera as the guild badge, the weapon had taken a large amount of effort to construct, and it would be a shame to see it stolen by an unknown assailant. Eventually, the ridiculousness of the predicament overtook its definite seriousness in Chimera's mind, and a resoluteness manifested to see where the impromptu skit would go. After all, a promise had been made with his partner, and the missions they went on in the foreseeable future would no doubt blend together into an unvaried blur. When the day was young, and fresh sunlight poured onto the two bagons like a theater spotlight, who couldn't resist a chance to be the villain of their own story?
"I...believe we have." he said, again putting on his best mischievous expression, "but before we settle this, may I ask, what is your name?"
"My name's Chimera of course," replied the white-cloaked bagon, "and I'm here to put a stop to your evil dee—"
"No, I'm not talking about that. Your actual name, I'd rather have the pleasure of knowing who I have the privilege of being stolen from."
The white-cloaked Bagon seemed to flicker at the statement, revealing a millisecond view of the red and black fox's terrified expression.
"Oh don't try to deny it. You're obviously trying to steal this form me. For what reason, I don't know, but...I'll make you an offer. I can only assume we both have nothing better to do, if you'll tell me why you're trying to steal this badge, I'll keep playing along."
The Bagon illusion reformed, blank expression no doubt concealing a pensive silence.
"You have my word I won't tell another soul."
Chimera waited anxiously for the escape orb in the Bagon's hand to shatter, and the thief to escape with his cherished weapon. However, this did not happen. Instead, the thief again spoke, previous boisterous nature being replaced by a voice much more vulnerable.
"It's...Cerise, the Dread Bandit Cerise for your information. The WFG is having a members only celebration in about a month, and with that badge, I'm gonna pull off the heist of a lifetime! I knew I'd need a gold level badge to access the more exclusive areas, and what better team to take it from than one that's just been promoted?"
Chimera waited patiently for Cerise to finish. The news of a supposed heist during such a celebration was in obvious conflict to his team's and the guild as a whole's interest, and with this came the conclusion that the thief had to be stopped. However, Chimera found himself unwilling to attack the Zorua, half in the knowledge that closing the distance between them would likely provoke a retaliatory shot from his own weapon, and half from the knowledge that, while Cerise had been a great inconvenience, her intentions and methods were completely nonviolent. If Chimera was to be the better 'mon, he figured that he'd have to surpass the Zorua in some other way. He scanned his memory, concealing a chuckle when he found one that would simultaneously incapacitate the Zorua and continue their roleplay.
"Well then, Chimera, I propose a battle of wits, in order to truly see who's more deserving of this badge. Though to do it, I'll need to procure some items from my companion."
The black cloak around Chimera vanished as he departed the way he came, stopping midstep when his counterpart seemed to tighten its grip around the escape orb.
"Hey, I'm not going to run away. So long as you have that crossbow, you can trust me. I'd figure that there would be honor among thieves."
With a heavy sigh, the illusion waved him away. Chimera himself was surprised at Cerise's sense of trust, but quickly pushed the thought away. With his walk back toward the river's end came the sight of his true companion, exploration bag at her side doubtless filled with the fruits of their effort.
"O-Oh, you're back. Are you ok? You were gone a bit longer than I imagined, and I thought I heard some noise back from where you went."
"Yeah I'm fine," Chimera replied, "just...talking to myself. Anyway, I got a bit of a situation that I got to handle, and I just need some items from your bag."
Argon couldn't help but tilt her head at Chimera's vague tone, but she offered the amalgamation of item's nonetheless,
"Are you sure you're alright? I-I'm about finished over here, I could come with you."
"No," he quickly replied, "this is something I got to handle alone. Although...if I'm not back in five minutes, could you come over? And please, bring some heal seeds."
The Bagon was definitely up to something, and it was obvious that the crossbow kept almost religiously at his side was nowhere to be seen, but Argon nodded nonetheless. Chimera had been a glutton for his own punishment, Argon figured, and he'd probably be able to deal with the consequences. If not? There always was the extra oran berries she had packed.
"A-Alright, if you insist. I trust you."
Waiting patiently in the forest clearing for Chimera was himself, meticulously running its hand over the escape orb. Chimera walked up toward the white-cloaked Bagon and, without another word, set two yellow seeds between them, identical in size, smell, and texture.
"As I was saying," he said, holding one of the seeds in the air before setting it in front of Cerise, "a battle of wits. Where is the stun seed? You will choose between that seed and this one. When you have decided, you will swallow the seed of your choosing, and I will do the same with the other, then we will see who is right, and who ends up paralyzed."
The cocksure expression put on by the white-cloaked Bagon broke apart at the proposal. It was all too like looking in a mirror for Chimera, except that, while his own face was neutral, his reflection was looking at him like he was crazy. The confident illusion returned to Cerise in an instant, and Chimera once again saw his toothy grin being mimicked. The white-cloaked Bagon stood up, brandishing its cape in a heroic fashion.
"Well doppelganger, your proposal is indeed...unorthodox. But as I said, good always triumphs over evil, and I wholeheartedly accept your proposal. Never again will your evils plague the region of Faire, and after you are paralyzed I will pluck that badge from your hand and take my leave from this dungeon!"
"Oh, and Cerise," Chimera quickly added, "in the event that you are paralyzed, I'm willing to make you an offer. I'll put in a good word for you once you are locked up, and do my best to make sure that you are left with a light sentence. In return, I'll be able to ask you someday for a single favor. I don't know what it is yet, but some time in the future I will decide, sound fair?"
"That's only assuming that I choose incorrectly," Cerise slowly replied, before quickly returning to character.
"True enough," Chimera said, lowering his voice to a dark tone, "you'll just have to take your pick."
A solid minute passed as the white-cloaked Bagon shifted its head between the seed adjacent to itself and the one to Chimera.
"Well, in your infinite wickedness, you would no doubt set the stun seed next to yourself, judging on my distrust of you to make me choose the seed closest to youself."
The white-cloaked Bagon reached for the seed, before stopping mid-grab,
"But...your cruel nature would also have you judge that I knew this, and you would put the stun seed closest to the real Chimera."
"Take your time," Chimera called out. He turned his head away as Cerise continued monologuing, under the guise of being distracted by movement from the treeline. His poker face returned as he turned back, unable to judge whether a movie script could accurately determine Cerise's actions.
"I...think I have decided. Shall we eat, my evil clone? I know for a fact that I have bested you in this battle of wits, for you stood no match against me. You have given away everything, and you do not even know it!"
A voice in Chimera's mind subconsciously joked that the supposed insult was actually a compliment, and with not a seconds hesitation Chimera held the seed up to his mouth, waiting for the white-cloaked Bagon to do the same. A second voice commented that Cerise could merely create another illusion of eating her chosen seed, but something about the Zorua's behavior told Chimera that this wouldn't happen. The white-cloaked Bagon mimicked his action, slowly raising the seed to its mouth while observing that he did the same. Eventually, two soft crunches echoed throughout the entirety of the mystery dungeon, followed by a brief period of silence.
"Well then, what happens now?"
"Now Cerise...we wait."
The cloaks atop both bagons disappeared in a flash, accompanied by one of the pokemon being replaced by a quivering motionless Zorua. Chimera would have let out a hearty laugh at the result, if not for knowing that the exact same fate would greet him. Both Chimera and Cerise lay paralyzed on the forest floor, smug grin on one being met by a look of panic from the other. The minutes passed, and a familiar Raichu walked through the treeline, letting out a sigh half of shock and half of exasperation when the scene was fully visible. Argon rushed over to her paralyzed companion, a million questions no doubt running through her mind as she forced a heal seed into the Bagon's mouth. A thankful smile greeted Argon as soon as Chimera had full control of his joints. He turned over to the paralyzed Zorua, giving one last comment before raising his guild badge to teleport her to the dungeon's entrance.
"A word to the wise Cerise, never take risks on something you can't afford to lose."
"What happened," Argon asked, "a-are you alright, who was she?"
"Just a petty thief, no more no less, one that tried to steal my guild badge. I'll...explain the rest of it on the way back."
"Huh, a thief" Argon commented, paw raised to her chin, "I can't say I've seen one of those in a while. W-We can take her back to the guild, they'll take care of her after that."
She looked upward, smile forming with the fact that light seemed to radiate through the jungle canopy as heavily as when they had arrived.
"I suppose we've done our job then, are you ready to go?"
"Of course." Chimera replied, giving one last grin toward Argon before the two were bathed in a flash of light. "Oh, and also...you wouldn't happen to know about a certain get together at the guild happening in about a month, would you?"
Authors note: Hello All! First I'd like to give a hearty 'thank you' to everybody who has taken the time to read my story, I can't express enough how much I appreciate it. Anyway, I was looking into getting a beta reader for my story, if anybody is interested, send me a private message and we can work out the details.