Chapter 5

Nothing more

Ruby!

I can't believe you're actually coming back somehow! There's so much I want to say... I'm not sure where to start. I should probably apologise and explain what I can. You deserve at least that much.

I'll admit, I've been taking full advantage of Dialga's little gift. It's still hard to believe, to be honest. Whatever little doubt I had in them faded with how many times they've saved my tail.

These visions of the future are getting more and more distorted in my old age, though. When I saw you sleeping on top of your own grave, I thought that I had to be going senile! Not even a few days after, and I have a Legendary knocking at my door.

I barely got a word in as he forewarned me of countless omens and predictions. I didn't pay him much mind until he actually mentioned you. He knew about my vision and showed me some pretty awful things.

He won't tell me all the details, but you and I are apparently vessels and crucial to their plan. I have no clue how they managed to bring you back to life. I just hope you don't have to suffer for whatever this plan is.

That blue bastard of sprite had me go halfway across the world to prepare for your… arrival by finding the third vessel. He refused to allow me to bring my daughter. I had my suspicions, but after the vision I had this morning… I know why.

I'm not sure of how much I can write for you here without changing too much of what's going to happen. Hell, I'm already changing so much with my decision as it is. I know what I'm putting at risk.

I refuse to let these self righteous bastards cut my daughter's destiny short since it's "convenient" and it'll set me on some kind of war path. This can't be the way things are supposed to happen. Even now as I write this, I'm filled with such a sense of foreboding. I don't think I'm making it out of this.

I don't want to abandon you like this, Ruby. But… I can't let her die, not before me. It's time I finally retired from this hero business. I hope you'll one day forgive this old Pokemon's foolishness.

After what I'm doing, I probably deserve nothing short of hate from you. I'm sure you can find someone to replace me as a vessel. Get to the snowy continent and find Grayson. The smartass little cub is difficult to deal with at first, but he'll grow on you. I'm sure you'll appreciate his… honesty. He'll be able to help you.

I know you can do this, even without me. It's not fair to put this on you again, but please… save our world, Ruby. I know you better than anyone, you can do this.

It looks like I've run out of time. The shore is getting closer. I'll drop this off in our account with your old pendant. I'm sorry, Ruby. I wish I could tell you more. No matter what happens, I'm proud of every moment I got to spend with you. I love you so much.

Please destroy this letter after you read it. Hapi doesn't need to know about any of this.

-A foolish old friend

~Mai~

Am I a bad partner?

I pulled myself up from my bed, yawning. Across from me was Ruby's bed, which was still occupied by the Vulpix, herself. She was fidgeting in her sleep again, holding onto that gem around her neck tightly. I started towards her but stopped myself. I frowned and shook my head before leaving the room.

As much as I want to comfort her, I've gotta give her space. After taking a quick drink, I stepped outside into the brisk night air. I unconsciously reached up to check that the simple purple ribbon adorning my neck hasn't unfastened. I did it myself, but tying a knot was difficult so it looked a bit rough.

The moon was nearly full tonight. I rubbed my eyes and stopped by my mother's grave for a moment. I sighed as I spoke to her in my mind, imagining her standing before me.

I know I told you just the other day that I wouldn't be here much longer, but I guess I was wrong. I hope you don't mind. Hapi said she was working on getting us a room at the Guild, but she doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all. We might be here till winter.

Ruby doesn't seem to be in the mood to travel right now, either. She's not even wanting to take missions. She won't tell me what's wrong, she won't even look at me. Did I do something wrong? If you were still here, I'd just ask you what I should do...

I can't even make one person feel better. I feel like such a loser! I've done some really awful things. I'm so scared that I'm going to end up like him that I can't even think straight. I want to be like you! I'm such an idiot. Would... would you be disappointed in me?

The Vaporeon looked down to her daughter with a sad smile. Her scarred tail gently swaying behind her as she opened her mouth to comfort the one she cares for most. If she actually spoke, I couldn't hear it. I don't even remember her voice. A single tear escaped her cold blue eyes that matched my own.

Her figure faded away as I pressed my paws against my head. No matter what I tried, I couldn't remember her voice. I'm struggling to remember what she even looked like. I want to ask her for help, but I'm only insulting her further.

Ruby's gloomy mood was infectious. I know I haven't actually done anything against her, but it feels like I failed her somehow. I stepped by the grave and slowly made my way up the short path that wrapped around my den to the lip above the entrance.

The wind picked up every few minutes as I tried to organise what thoughts I had. It's been a whole two days since we joined the Guild and found that letter. I didn't read it to respect Ruby's privacy, but after seeing her step on it and set it ablaze I found myself a bit worried and curious about what it said.

After that, she was almost completely unresponsive. I maybe got four words from her before she went to bed. Since then, she hasn't moved for anything short of food, water, or to relieve herself. What concerns me the most is that I can't even tell if she's sad or angry or whatever else. She won't tell me anything!

She's too hard to read. She just keeps telling me that she needs a little while to calm down, and she's constantly sleeping. Whenever she's actually awake, she's too distracted with whatever's plaguing her mind to have much of a conversation with.

Every time I try to talk to her or comfort her in any way, she looks more disturbed than anything else. I'm starting to get worried that whatever friendship I have with her is fading by the day.

I don't want to bother her. I've been overbearing for her enough as it is. She'd been alive like a day and I shoved my life story down her throat and she let me join her team out of pity. She helped me so much in just two days. More than anyone else ever cared to, that's for sure.

And for what? A teammate that has no idea how to help her like this? I can't calm her down from whatever this is, I can't even distract her. I'm so weak, too. I must be the most useless partner in the world. I really suck.

"Oh, Ruby..."

I grumbled as I thought about how enamoured I am with her. It messed with my head so much. I never really thought much about the whole "girl-on-girl" thing before. I've heard of it, but my granddad called it taboo and wrong. Then she shows up and I can't stop gawking at her. Is it really so wrong?

I barely even know her. I know the stories I've heard about the heroes, but not who Ruby really is. Would things still have happened the way they did if I didn't fall head over paws for her? I might not have chased after her.

As soon as fear filled that glowing amber in her eyes, I couldn't stop myself. I wanted to protect her from all the harshness of the world. Not that I thought she was weak, apparently she's crazy strong. But... there are times where she seems so fragile. Like glass that could crack at any moment.

If I didn't feel this way, would I have actually believed anything she said? I wanted to do anything to make her as happy as she was when I pulled her from the ocean. Even if it meant going along with such a crazy claim. At this point, I couldn't even begin to doubt it though. I freaking died and came back!

Even after experiencing such a crazy thing, all I could do was worry about her. I heard her scream and my heart nearly stopped. Even thinking about it now made my tail shiver. It was almost unnatural how much I cared for her.

Is this love?

I never believed that love at first sight crap, it's just not believable and sounds stupid. Not that I'm super knowledgeable on this sort of thing. I never really found anyone captivating before. There's more to a Pokemon than their appearance, right?

You can't just love someone from the way they look. Even if their fur literally shines in the sun. That beautiful red fur, and how elegantly her tails swish around in the air behind her. It's just not right to obsess over someone's appearance like that!

...How the fur between her ears just barely curls out of the way of her eyes. Arceus those shimmering eyes... Every time she really looks at me, I feel like I could just melt. Even her voice! She's quiet, but my tail goes crazy almost every time she talks to me. She has a really cute laugh, too!

Her scent was almost intoxicating. Even just a little of it makes my mind go blank, being close to her makes me feel like my brain is about to short circuit. The sweetness was not unlike the aroma of pecha berries, but it also reminded me of vanilla.

I grabbed my head and shook it aggressively. This isn't helping anything! This feeling was one-sided. I know that well enough. It's not fair to Ruby. She just lost so much and is constantly reminded of it. The last thing she'd consider...

What am I doing? My partner is probably going through hell all by herself and I'm thinking about silly stuff like this. What can I do though? It's not like I can relate to her or anything. Wow, I really do suck.

If it's possible, I want to make her happy. I want to become a great explorer and make my mother and Ruby proud. I don't want to hold her back. I'll do whatever I have to. Even if I have to risk my life. It's okay if she never feels the same about me, it's just a silly crush. She's my friend.

My thoughts began to quiet down as my eyes started to droop. I rested my head on my paws and looked at the moon again. The silence of the night mixed with the wind brushing through my fur lulled me to sleep. The seconds turned to minutes as I closed my eyes.

She's my best friend. Nothing more.

...

...

...

"You'll get a cold like this." A familiar voice softly said.

A sudden warmth pressed against my side as I started to wake. I yawned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes only to be bombarded with sunlight. It was still early, but the sun was now rising.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you right away."

"Ruby?" I nearly gawked at the Vulpix. I was visibly surprised to see her outside, let alone starting a conversation.

"Good morning, Mai." She replied barely over a whisper with half-lidded eyes.

"Morning..."

She looked off into the distance over the ocean in silence. Wind billowed through our fur and tails. Her nose wrinkled just slightly as she took in the picturesque sunrise. The heat she emanated from her flank she had pressed against me was beyond comforting. I felt unsure of what to say so I was left awkwardly staring at her.

She's so pretty...

The Vulpix sighed. "You're probably wondering why I finally got up." I didn't reply. I was curious, but I'm more glad she got up than anything else. She faced me. "I wanted to apologise. You've been looking forward to being an explorer for so long and because of me you've been cooped up at home."

I shook my head. "No, no! It's okay! Without you, I wouldn't have even joined the Guild to begin with."

Her gaze drifted off to the side for a moment before she continued. "Maybe, but it still isn't fair to you. I've been out of it for I'm not even sure how long. You've been helping me so much, and I haven't even told you what's troubling me."

I tried to comfort her. "It really is okay. I understand a lot of crazy things have been happening to you. You don't have to tell me what that letter said. You said you needed time, I'm not gonna hold it against you."

She bit her tongue, trying to find her resolve. "Right... the letter." She raised a paw and scratched at her neck nervously. "I want to tell you, Mai. You're my partner and I shouldn't be hiding things! Especially now that..." She trailed off.

"I don't mi-"

"No. I need to talk to you about this." I felt my face heat up as we locked eyes again, now she was much closer and determined. "You're all I have. I can't push you away like that. There's some very important stuff that, if you're gonna be my partner, you need to know about."

She's so close... Our noses were almost touching. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my head.

"The letter was from Lyn. He knew I was coming back to life. Dialga did give us a gift when we saved the world. He was able to see little bits of the future and saw me come back. Some other Legendary came to him and-"

"H-Hold on! Slow down." I tried to bring her down a notch. She was speaking too fast for me to keep anything in. "Guildmaster Lucario could see the future?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes... He and someone else were supposed to be waiting for me apparently, but Lyn had another vision. He acted on it and it most likely resulted in his death."

I frowned. "That makes no sense. If he could see the future, wouldn't he have known that he'd die and not see you?" Her ears fell flat as soon as I asked my question and my heart panged with guilt.

"He had to choose between his daughter and me."

"Oh... So he saved Hapi instead. And that's why you've been out of it?"

"Part of it, I guess? I'm not sure. I wanted to feel sad or angry or something, I still do. But all I feel is emptiness. I don't know how to react to it at all." Her front paws started fidgeting and clawing into the ground as she looked around. "I'm not sure if he knew that she'd be in danger when I woke up or that we'd save her."

"Would you have preferred that he picked you instead?" I asked before I could stop myself.

She seemed to try and hide her frustration, but her tails were betraying her and quivered uncomfortably. I tried to ignore the side she had pressed up against me that was heating up considerably. "I'd be more upset if he chose me... I think. I'm being awful, I just feel so thrown out of my element. Everything feels wrong and none of it feels real. Like it's a bad dream and I'll wake up any minute."

I gave a sad sigh as I patted her side with my tail. "What did you mean by part of it?" I tried to change the topic a little in hopes of calming her somehow.

"Yes. It's the reason I need to talk to you now. I want to give you the choice instead of just dragging you along." She took a moment to figure out her words. "Mai, something big is about to happen. Something dangerous. I don't know exactly what will happen, but a lot of pokemon may get hurt or worse."

"I'm not leaving your side, Ruby." I said with confidence.

She shook her head. "Just... listen. I plan on doing what I can to save however many Pokemon I can. I would appreciate having you there with me, but things may not go well. We may die." I nodded, undaunted. "No, we will most likely die."

She sighed as she saw me nod again. "It won't be like whatever luck we invoked last time. If we die, we'll stay dead. I don't have any special powers that prevent me from dying. You didn't ask for any of this. I'll understand if you want to switch teams."

She tells me I'm all she has and then asks me to abandon her? That's so cruel. As if I could even consider doing that. I don't want to leave her, no matter what happens.

"Please. Think about this thoroughly. I don't even know what this threat is. Hell, we could even end up fighting Legendaries."

"Ruby!" She stopped and sniffled, fighting back tears as I continued. "I want to help. Please believe me. I don't care if we have to fight thirty Alakazams, I want to be with you. We're partners, right?"

She sniffled again and covered her eyes with one of her forelegs as she grabbed her pendant with the other. "Why do you trust me?! I just told you that the world could be in danger and you just accepted it like it was nothing. I've put you in danger and even gotten you killed. Why do you trust me?!"

I bit my lip worriedly. Telling you the truth would only make things worse.

"Because I want to trust you." I cursed to myself as my voice faltered.

She didn't reply as she whimpered for a few minutes. I started to worry if I said something wrong. "Fine..." was all she said. I felt at a loss for anything else to say. This was all from out of nowhere. I didn't expect her to say a word to me today, let alone come outside and give me this talk.

"Well, what now?" I finally managed.

She stood up and stretched forward, bringing her rear and tails into the air. Her voice was now a little strained. "We go to the snowy continent."

I tried unsuccessfully to not stare. "The snowy continent?"

She sniffled and rubbed her face. "We've gotta find someone. But before that, I think we should take our first mission and get you leveled up a bit."

My tail swished through the air behind me excitedly. "Really?!"

She nodded as she turned towards me. I almost flinched as she reached over and unfastened my ribbon. I nearly held my breath as my tail sped up while she fixed the knot so it cleanly wrapped around some of the fur around my neck. "It's about time we did. With the way our Guildmaster seems to be, I'm surprised she hasn't charged into your den and forced us to take a mission yet."

"Heh, I'm sure she's too busy to worry about us taking only two days before taking a mission." I got up as she pulled away and jumped down in front of my den as I tried to calm myself.

"Two days? Huh..." She hopped down before going into the den to grab her bag and then followed after me as we made our way to the Guild once more.

I wonder what our first mission will be like. I can't wait!

"This one has missions for this continent." I recounted what I could to Ruby as she started reading through each of the requests. "The further down you go, the easier the missions are. Also, it's left to right when it comes to distance, since we take missions from Capim and all the other smaller towns in our continent."

Ruby's tails were twitching as she read through several of the requests. "What about the board inside the Guild?" she asked.

"Warrants and missions from other Guilds across the world. They're usually either super difficult or super important to be spread world wide. High risk high reward stuff." Ruby took off her bag and set it down to the side as she skimmed through the missions again.

I saw a few missions that peaked my interest, mostly lost items and even some requests for guiding Pokemon through mystery dungeons. The whole thing was finally starting to sink in.

I'm finally going into a mystery dungeon! I can't believe it! The last time I tried, I got lost in the drenched bluffs and had to get fished out by Jeremiah. I sorta hope she doesn't pick something too easy. I could even be saving someone's life today, that's incredible!

"Mt. horn has several..."

"That one's a few hours of a walk, but I hear the ferals out there have been much more aggressive lately." I honestly expected her to choose something much closer. I wouldn't have been surprised if she chose the bluffs or the beach cave nearby. I shrugged and assumed it had to do with how she wanted to level me up quickly.

"Mating season probably just ended. So long as we avoid nests and dens we'll be fine."

"Mating season?" I frowned. I know they're ferals, but do they all sync up like that? That's weird to think about.

She glanced back at me and nodded indifferently. "Most of the time, we just have to worry about the females that already gave birth or laid eggs. They'll be a bit hectic about their territories. Still-pregnant ferals won't come near in fear of harming their young. Males usually abandon anything they impregnate."

I didn't know ferals were capable of such things. Then again, they're probably just running on instinct. I never really put thought into any of this.

"Alright, we're taking these ones." My eyes widened as I saw her take multiple missions off the board. As in more than one, and she kept pulling more and more off.

"W-What? How many are we taking?"

"Hmm." She counted through the several sheets she ripped from the board. "We're just gonna start out with nine today." She told me this calmly as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Nine?!" I gawked at her in disbelief. She couldn't be serious! That's nearly all the missions for mt. horn and some from rocky path!

"Yep, just nine. Do I gotta give these to whoever's at the front desk? I used to just take these with me."

She's joking right? She was so down before, how is she in the mood for jokes now? She can't be serious. "Y-Yeah."

Instead of revealing it to be a ruse like I hoped, she walked over and opened the doors to the Guild. She stopped and waited for me to follow, but it took me a moment to break out of my stupor. I shook my head a bit and started towards her, but noticed her bag she left on the ground.

I ran over and grabbed the strap in my mouth and started to run back. Only for the bag to weigh much more than I expected. I nearly flipped and landed on my face, which now burned in pain along with my teeth. I glanced back and saw Ruby cover her mouth and give a small laugh.

My face burned with embarrassment. "What the hell is in this thing?!" I barked. I got back up and tried to pull the bag again, now going much slower as I struggled to drag it along the ground. If anyone else outside at the moment noticed, they weren't showing it.

"Necessities and some things needed for training." She informed me and walked into the Guild.

She had grabbed a few more things at the bank right before and gave me some poke to buy several berries that she tossed in here too. I had no clue it'd weigh this much though. I was literally leaving a trail in the ground behind me as I made it through the door.

She muttered a "thanks" as she took her bag from me and swung it onto her back.

How?!

I shook my head and sighed as we made our way to the front desk with our... missions. The Monferno from yesterday was at the desk again. I couldn't remember much about him other than his accent from overseas. Seeing as Ruby was deliberately taking smaller steps than me, I decided to start the conversation.

"Good morning!" I chirped and got his attention.

"Hm." He looked up from the book he was reading and reflexively pulled another out from the desk. "Oh, it's you lot. Nice to finally meet'cha, the name's Naric" He stretched his arms behind his head and pulled out a feather pen and opened the second book. "Mai... and Ruby, right? Finally taking ye first mission?"

"Yep!" Ruby silently nodded as she padded up to the desk and set the missions on the table.

He started to reach for it but hesitated. He moved and separated each one before glancing between the two of us with suspicion. "Yer not pulling me tail, are ye?" I sucked in air through my teeth and looked away as Ruby shook her head.

The Monferno sighed and pinched his nose. "I know I got word from Jer' about dropping the limits for you lot, but I urge ye to reconsider. Even just taking three missions is a bit much for a day and yer tripling that."

Not hearing an answer, I assumed she only shook her head again. Naric groaned. "A'ight, not like I can stop ye." He took the sheets and started writing into the book. I recognised it as the same one I stole from Jeremiah.

Guess it really wasn't a diary then.

He checked something from each of the requests and copied it into the book. After finishing, he handed the requests back to Ruby. "If anything goes wrong, there's no shame in asking for help, remember that."

We thanked him for the advice and made our way out. "Luck be with ye, little ladies." Naric called after us. I rolled my eyes as I instantly stopped liking him.

"We can grab some breakfast before we go if you'd like." Ruby said before we left the town square.

"Yeah... I'm starving."

~Gray~

The chalk in my claws clacked against the blackboard with each stroke as I wrote out each of the common berries from memory. I heard a snicker behind me, but deep glare from my golden eyes upon the Poochyena responsible cut that short. I yawned as I went back to the board.

They think just because they're in the back of the class, I won't be able to single them out?

They are just cubs and young. It's only natural, you can't blame them.

I finished writing about fourteen of them and scratched at the black and red fur of my head. My long mane was comfortably thrown back and tied off as always, helping me keep balance and stay on my back legs. Other than my yellow eyes, I looked like a completely normal Zoroark. If only...

I haven't slept in a few days, and I was feeling it. I tried to shake the woozy feeling away as I brought the chalk up again. I felt like I was missing one of the more obvious berries, but nothing was coming to mind.

Yache.

Ah right, thanks.

I wrote the last berry down and sighed as I spun around and tried to hide the tiredness in my voice. "Alright class, today we're going to be focusing on berry types and uses. Do any of you recognise the names on the board?"

Of the twenty Pokemon sitting in or behind improvised desks, about eight raised their paws or something similar. I sighed inwardly as I guessed why so many raised their hands for once.

They're thinking with their stomachs.

I've told you already, they're normal young. You can't expect them to know stuff like this.

I knew it at their age.

You're... a special case.

I huffed. "What about the ailments each of these berries help?"

Remarkably, two paws were left up. I pointed a claw at the Poochyena from before. "Ah, Um…" He started with a big grin and I immediately regretted my choice. "You can eat them when you're hungry!"

I suppressed a growl as the whole class filled with laughter. I pinched my nose and shook my head. "Quiet down, class."

I'm going to murder the child.

You can't murder a child just because you don't like them!

I absolutely can murder a child just because I don't like them!

You know what I meant. You shouldn't. Just drop it.

It's called sarcasm, have ya heard of it?!

Yes, I am aware of what sarcasm is.

Then you should be aware that if I really wanted to murder a child, you couldn't stop me.

This isn't the time for jokes. You have more important things to do, you know.

Right, I've gotta teach a bunch of kids and then spend my nights reading every book in existence.

We're waiting for our colleagues. They could show up at any moment.

It's been two years! I've been waiting for these "colleagues" for so long and I've heard nothing! I'm pretty certain they're just dead.

Just be PATIENT.

I can tell, you know. That you don't know what's going on either. You're afraid.

We're not talking about me. Focus on your class, you've been glaring at them in silence for over a minute.

"Mister Nox?" The female Sneasel with her paw still up sounded concerned.

As I looked at her, my scowl softened. I gave a heavy sigh as I shook my head. It's my own fault I gave the boy a chance. I knew he was gonna say something along those lines. I should've called upon Ari first. She's the only one listening half the time.

"Gray is fine. Go on, Ari."

She nervously pressed her claws together. "I remember you mentioned pecha berries before. You said they can cure most kinds of poison, right?" I nodded and motioned for her to continue. With a bit more bravery, she recalled what she could. "My father sells a few of these, too. Chesto gives you energy and aspear can help Pokemon suffering from frostbite."

At least they aren't all a lost cause.

That's cruel to think. You're their teacher, so if they aren't learning it's your fault. It's not fair to play favourites as well.

I gave a small smile, ignoring the voice. "Very good, Ari. You were pretty spot on. I hope the rest of you heard that. I'm not joking when I say information like this can very well save your lives and others' lives as well."

I could tell some of the students were half listening, but I didn't mind. Natural selection will do what it does best. "First, I'm going to go over their appearance and how to differentiate them and their effects."

~Ruby~

"If I remember correctly... the first time I came here with Lyn, we were around level fifteen. Which you're pretty close to, I think. You're pretty far ahead to be just starting out, Mai."

Mai's ear twitched as she looked back to me. "I... I am?"

We were nearing the rocky path while making idle conversation. It was mostly questions about the first few missions I did with Lyn. The trees along the path were growing more sparse as I stayed in step behind Mai. For some reason, she was trying to stay in front of me. It didn't really bother me, though.

"Well yeah. You said your mother taught you most of your moves, right?" She nodded and I continued. "Your moveset is pretty incredible for your level. Eevee usually learn moves like last resort at much higher levels. I really can't think of any moves Eevees learn that you don't already know. Maybe swift, but that's about it."

Her face turned red as she faced away with her tail swishing happily behind her. I scoffed, amused by how proud she looked. She was really easy to read.

She glanced back again, looking confused. "What is it?"

She must've heard me.

"Nothing important." I yawned, still feeling a little out of it from my days off.

She huffed and slowed down till we were side by side. She brought her face close to mine, as if she was examining me. "I'm serious, is there anything wrong?"

Is she worried about me?

"Just a little tired, Mai. I'm okay."

She frowned and stared into my eyes as if she was trying to read my mind. She sighed and pulled back slightly with a worried look. "Are you sure? We don't have to do these missions right now."

I was touched that she worried so much. "I'm alright. I promise." She sighed and nodded as the stone entrance to the rocky path came into view. "Now that we're here, though. It's about time I got more of these weights on you."

"More?" She lifted one of her back legs with a thin blue bracelet right above her paw.

"We've got a lot of work to do, and we've got to build your endurance fast. I'm not willing to leave for the snowy continent until you're at least level thirty."

"Thirty? That's over twice my level!" She whined, but as she looked at me it seemed something changed her mind. She quickly shook herself out of it. "I can do it. Gimme more weights."

I exhaled out of my nose as I set my bag down and dug through it until I found what I was searching for. I pulled out four more and the magnets immediately locked together as I brought the anklets together. Now she had two on her hind legs and one on her front legs.

The only thing more insane than their resilience is how fast a Pokemon can get stronger under the right conditions. My mind went back to my original life for just a moment as I thought about training Pokemon. There was that kid that had just started the gym challenge and was close to challenging the champion in only 3 months.

Mai took a few steps and skipped a bit. "This isn't too bad. I can handle a little more."

"That's already nearly fifteen kilograms. Are you sure?" She nodded, lifting each leg to awkwardly look at the anklets.

She's at least double her weight and she isn't even noticing? I've used these weights before too, though. Even more than this actually. It's really hard to wrap my head around how Pokemon's muscles work. Even after tearing, they'll heal up and be stronger in a few hours if that.

I picked up two more and put them on her front legs. "Just don't force yourself too much. I've got plenty of oran berries, but there is a limit. I'll be ready to help you if you need it, at least until you really get used to those weights."

She tried to run ahead, but immediately almost tripped. "W-Woah, okay. Yeah... that's noticeable." She started forward again, only speeding up after a few steps. I jogged forward to keep up as we ran into the rocky path.

"Do you remember the missions for rocky path?" I asked.

"Yeah... find a lost Psyduck, give some food to Zigzagoon, and find a stolen necklace with a big pearl."

I nodded as the cave around us changed its paths, trapping us within the mystery dungeon. "Remember, avoid nests and basically any cave mouth."

She didn't answer as she saw the first feral Pokemon in our path. I slowed down and she did as well. The Shroomish gave a small cry as it ran towards us, hellbent on attacking. Mai looked very nervous, but with one supportive look from me she nodded and built up a shadow ball.

She ran towards her enemy and threw her attack. Before it even hit, she started a quick attack. Albeit much slower than usual. The shadow ball hit the shroomish as it tried to shoot some seeds at the Eevee. She didn't get hit by a single one as she closed the distance and crashed into the mushroom and threw it into the wall, immediately knocking it out.

She spun around to me. "I... I did it!"

I gave a slight smile. "You did well, don't overexert yourself too much. Let me know when you need a berry." She cheered happily and met with me again as we ran through the dungeon. We saw a few more weak Pokemon like the one before, that Mai was able easily dispatch by herself.

We found the hungry Zigzagoon pretty quickly. He was pretty rude about how long it took for someone to take his mission, so while Mai yelled at him I gave him a bit more food to make up for it. Mai expressed how glad she was to be away from the guy by insulting him under her breath..

We made it up to the next floor eventually as Mai started chasing down some Natus and Pinecos. She was doing very well considering, and was only outnumbered a handful of times. I quickly stepped in whenever she panicked or seemed to be outmatched. Once we got to the third floor, I could tell she was losing some steam.

"Let's take a quick break."

She didn't argue as she sat down and caught her breath. I pulled out a few oran and leppa berries and placed them in front of her. "Thanks." She muttered between breaths.

I blew out some flames away from her to cool myself off. I'm normally pretty resistant to heat, but my inner fire felt like it was building up too much. I took out maybe three or four Pokemon and since then it feels like there's almost too much fire in me. I started panting as the stream of fire built up a bit.

"You okay there?" Mai asked.

"I might be a little sick or something." I panted as I reached into the bag, grabbing a rawst berry and making short work of it. It surprisingly helped quite a bit. I sighed in relief. "I'll be fine, just try not to get any burns. I might end up eating all of our rawst berries."

Mai started to say something, but was cut short by a scream. We both shot straight up as a Psyduck ran around the corner, still screaming.

"Behind us!" Mai suddenly said, taking initiative. The Psyduck immediately followed her order as she cowered behind us.

"Y-You're not ferals?!" The female Psyduck cried. "Thank Arceus! There's a monster chasing me. I just barely got away."

A monster? I instinctively took a step forward to be ahead of Mai. Might as well make use of this abundance of fire... I built up a big flame in my chest as I heard steps coming closer. The Psyduck cried even harder.

"If there are multiple enemies, focus on protecting our client." I ordered Mai quietly and she nodded.

I got ready to attack with bated breath. We held our breath for what seemed like minutes as the steps got closer and closer as a Teddiursa turned the corner. I nearly choked on my flames as I tried to keep my composure.

Why was it walking instead of running?

Mai started giggling. "That's it?" She asked. "Thank Arceus, I was terrified."

The Teddiursa growled angrily as I noticed the round stone around its neck. "Mai, there's the pearl."

She saw it too, and cockily stepped towards it. "You don't seem that strong at all. If you give us that pearl back, I'll let you go." She offered, only succeeding in pissing the little bear off more.

"N-No. That's not it." I heard Psyduck weakly say.

The bear charged Mai and she easily sidestepped the attack before hitting him with a tackle. The cub hit the ground pretty hard and immediately started crying.

I turned to the Psyduck. "That's not it? That's not what? The monster?."

The Psyduck was shaking as she pressed herself into the ground as if to make herself a smaller target. "Its... its… its mother-"

My heart dropped as I realised what she was trying to say. "Mai!" I screamed. "Get back here, forget the pearl!"

"What? Why? It's right here." She reached down to the crying bear as the ground shook. She froze as we both looked over to where they had come from. My fears were realised as an Ursaring with pure fury in its eyes tore a chunk of the stone corner out of the wall as it roared.

I-I-I... Ruby... " Mai stuttered as she slowly backed up to me.

It's evolved so it's a fairly high level. It can't be much more than forty though. I can probably handle it alone. With Mai's help, I shouldn't have much difficulty. We've got to get Psyduck out of here somehow. If we can distract the Ursaring, she might be able to run away and wait for us up ahead.

Mai is too close to the Ursaring, I've gotta get in between them!

"Mai, back up! Focus on support for now!"

I felt something grab onto my bag and I took a terrified glance only to find Psyduck instead. She was completely horrified as she pulled an orb from my bag.

Everything felt like it was going in slow motion as the Ursaring charged for us and the Psyduck threw the orb onto the ground. "No! I'm too close!" I tried to scream, but it was too late. The orb shattered on impact as light filled the area, forcing me to close my eyes.

The light blinded me for what felt like an hour until I could finally see again. In an instant, I was outside. The Psyduck gave a big sigh of relief as she fell onto her back. My heart raced as I quickly looked around.

She's not here.

SHE'S NOT HERE

A/N: Hope you're not getting tired of all these cliffhangers. It's about time I got this chapter out too! Only like 2 or 3 weeks late I think? I don't remember. Mai's true feelings are exposed and a few new characters! Exciting. We got a pirate, and a teacher. Yes he's actually supposed to sound like a pirate. The point is that oversea travel is becoming more of a thing, so there's tons of ships out in the ocean. So pirates do exist. As for the teacher Gray, "what is his story?" you may be asking. (Or all of this is in my head, and nobody really cares about Gray) Maybe you'll find out soon! All I'm gonna say is get used to the name. Cuz as soon as I hit post I can't change it again!

On to something a bit more fun. We're finally generating some review traffic here and this may not be a thing right away, most likely later on, but would you lot be interested in asking the characters any questions directly? If I get enough questions I'll post them in future chapters. They won't be revealing anything for the story and they won't remember the questions as the story continues so really its like an Ama. And I do mean anything. I dunno whether or not I'll repeat this question later on, but I'll still be looking for questions.

Does Mai is the gay?

Yis