Chapter 1-4
The First Mission
It had been a looong night, full of Kon waking up due to nightmares and Luke having to shock him to wake him up.
Eventually, both of them had fallen dead asleep. For an hour before they were very rudely woken up.
"HEY! RISE AND SHINE!"
The voice was so loud, Luke could feel his head pounding as his eyes snapped open. Of course, that could also be due to getting practically no sleep.
Luke could see Kon gripping some hay that was sticking out under the blanket, his tail ablaze in irritation and his body shaking with barely repressed rage.
"Ugh! Why are you both still ASLEEP! WAKE! UP! If you're late for our morning briefing, you'll be SORRY!" Then the loud pokemon neither pokemon had rolled over to look at continued. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff has got a BIG temper. If you make him lose it… I've got GOOSEBUMPS just thinking about it. I'm not about to get in trouble because you rookies were late. SO GET IN GEAR!"
Of course, Luke caught only about half of what was said, shakily getting up. "What did he say?"
"I'm going to kill someone. I'm going to kill someone. I am going to KILL someone." Konstantin hissed, demonstrating how his lack of sleep drastically affected his mood.
"I don't think he said that. Something about a briefing." Luke's mind slowly connected the dots.
"...Gah! We gotta go, Kon!" Luke rushed over, trying to pick the armored charmander up.
One scuffle later and the two pokemon stumbled into the center room, many pokemon gathered there in front of Wigglytuff's room. All of them turned to look at the two pokemon who looked disheveled and exhausted. Kon was giving off a barely restrained air of rage, causing many of the pokemon there to worry that just one thing that would cut that string and make him murderous.
And then there was the loud mouth. "You're LATE, rookies!" Luke barely managed to restrain Kon, covering his mouth so many of the child-unfriendly words were muffled to obscurity.
Chatot hopped a bit, "Hush, Loudred! Your voice is ridiculously loud!"
Loudred just harrumph-ed, ignoring the death glare Kon and Luke were giving him.
"Since everyone is here, let us conduct our morning address." Chatot turned to the door. "Guildmaster~! The guild is in full attendance!"
The fairy type opened the door and walked out… and was snoring.
Kon could feel his contempt for this Light forsaken pokemon rising rapidly.
The other pokemon where just whispering about how amazing it was that Wigglytuff was doing stuff while fast asleep.
Chatot muttered something before turning to everyone. "Okay, Let's do our morning cheers! All together now!"
"A ONE, A TWO...A ONE-TWO-THREE!" Kon covered his ears, along with Luke.
"ONE! DON'T SHIRK WORK!
TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!
THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!"
"OK, everyone! Get to work!" Chatot cheered.
"HOORAY!" After this, everyone moved out, Wigglytuff even going back into his room and closing the door.
And Kon pushed Luke off him as Chatot approached them. "Would you two follow me? We have a simple first mission for you today, even for you two. After all, no reports of Corrupted pokemon in the area."
Chatot hopped over to the ladder, the two sleep deprived pokemon following him. Well, more like Luke dragging Kon along, who was resisting the call of work.
Luke managed to get the charmander to climb up the ladder before following himself.
Chatot was at the billboard covered in papers on the left side of the room. And he was already holding a paper for them, which Kon took.
And Luke snatched it from him before he could burn it on his tail. "This…a spoink's pearl? Ah...We'll do it." Luke responded, knowing he'd have to explain why this mission was important to Kon on the way over to Drenched Bluff.
"Ah, before you two go." Chatot handed them some money. "Go down to Spinda's Cafe at the crossroads and get something to wake you two up."
"Thank you, sir." Luke weakly smiled, trying to ignore Kon's glare in the back of his head.
After the two left the Guild…
"Why are we going after some pokemon's expensive item?" Kon had to ask, really only seeing a pearl as something to be sold.
"It's more than expensive to spoink. It's lifesaving. You see, they're born with them and use them as focus points to keep bouncing right. The shock of bouncing keeps their hearts moving. The longer he goes without his pearl, the greater chance that he could die." Luke explained, looking at Kon to see if he would comprehend.
"...How is this species still around?" Kon simply asked, only getting a shrug from Luke.
The two reached the crossroads and noticed the sign for Spinda Cafe… and the stairs leading down. "Well, this is encouraging." Kon dryly muttered, following down into-THE DEPTHS OF DARKNESS!
He couldn't see! Oh Light he couldn't see!
Where-? There, there! A beam of light! He could see it! A holy relic of The Light! It called to him! The Light called to him, he had to answer, it was safe there in the light! It was safe, safe, SAFE SAFE SAFE SAFE LIGHT!
"The Light calls me!" He screamed desperately in a religious fervor! And he rushed toward The Light.
And then he blacked out.
Kon felt his head pounding as he opened his eyes...and he was face to face with something bright blue and wearing lipstick.
"Wobbuffet!" The blue pokemon cried before hopping away.
"Kon!" Luke's face can into view now. "Are you alright?"
"No. Can I die now?"
Luke gave off a nervous laugh before offering a paw to help him up.
With a roll of his eyes, he grabbed the pikachu's paw and pulled himself.
"I got us some coffee." Luke walked over to a low table, the groggy and mentally beat down charmander following and sitting down next to him.
Kon grabbed one of the hot cups before noticing a potion bottle full of some slightly blue liquid next to it. "What is that?"
"Oh, it's a Shuckle Potion, though I've heard my mom call it something called Alcohol or something when she drinks it." Luke explained, sipping his coffee. "It dulls pain and stops dreams if you drink enough of it but it apparently causes a loss of coordination, according to my mom."
Kon pulled down his face scarf and sipped on the hot coffee, face scrunching up at the bitter taste. He looked to the bottle, and then to Luke, who seemed to be enjoying the drink. Then he grabbed the bottle, taking the cork out, and taking a quick swig of it.
His mouth burned as soon as the liquid touched it but the flavor almost blew him away with the sweetness with a slightly citrus-y aftertaste.
The former human was so tempted to drink the entire bottle but… Luke was giving him a stern look.
…
He took another big mouthful, just to enjoy the flavor before sticking the cork back in and swallowing. He placed the bottle in the bag Luke had with him. "Let's go."
"Yeah." Luke put his coffee on the table before leaving some coin for payment.
[hr]
Kon exhaled, looking at the Mystery Dungeon entrance. Moist rocks and a lot of moss. So much moss it might as well be grass.
"Okay, the mission says Spoink's pearl is at the depths. Let's just be careful." Luke responded, walking in. "After all, even though there are no reports of Corrupted Pokemon, we can't just walk in all handy dandy. There's still the feral pokemon to worry about."
"Ah!" Luke suddenly ran forward, grabbing a random apple on the floor and hugging it. "Oh sweet apple, may you nourish us in the trek to come!"
Kon tilted his head. "What?"
"Oh, well, my mom told me that just walking in a Mystery Dungeon will sap your energy, and so to take some food with you at all times, even if it's the husk of a Reviver Seed." Luke sheepishly explained as he put the apple in his bag.
The charmander just shook his head in disbelief. "Then why didn't you bring more?"
"Well, this is just a small dungeon. I've heard there's dungeons much larger than the ones around Treasure Town." Luke shrugged, starting to move on, casually zapping an anorith that tried to scratch him.
"Still, the more provisions, the better, even for small stuff." Kon argued, following the pikachu. He picked up another one of those bug rock pokemon when they tried to scratch him but only met the metal of armor.
"It's seven floors, two more than the beach cave." Luke pointed out while tackling a lileep. "Did you get hungry while we were in there?"
"...Yes…" Kon smoothly lied, tossing the now terrified feral anorith into a pool of water. It scampered away, sure live a happy life as long as it never ran into the armor charmander again.
"Liar~! Your stomach didn't start growling until this morning." Luke then tossed an apple over to Kon. "Just go ahead and eat now."
The charmander shook his head, pulling his scarf down to bite into the juicy-What? Where did everyone-? No, no! He was surrounded! "Heretics! Scum! Sacrilegious profligates!" He screamed, firing off his blunderbuss at the twisting, laughing figures and charging at them, swinging his dagger wildly.
"Die, heretics! The Light will strike you down! Be judged, be judged! In the name of the Light!" he wailed madly.
"Kon! Stop!" Luke grabbed him from behind. "You're hallucinating again!"
Kon's eyes and mind cleared in that moment, noting the damage and hurt pokemon all around them. Even his dagger was right over the eye of a horrified pink shellos.
He pulled his hand back, putting the dagger back. At this, all the pokemon fled, either screaming or yelling for the others to flee.
Luke slowly let the Charmander go, who slipped the smoking blunderbuss on his back.
"Well, that could have gone a lot worse." Luke shakily laughed. "At least, no one's dead."
Kon didn't feel like it was that much of a laughing matter, looking down at the apple, obviously smashed during his delusion. He pulled his scarf back up, covering his mouth again.
"Kon…" Luke placed a paw on his shoulder. "We should get going. If we get the pearl soon, we can get you looked at sooner or at least get you a nap."
Kon nodded, walking on ahead, with Luke following.
As they went down a few floors, the fights being easy due to the only pokemon coming out brandishing false bravado, when Luke spoke up again.
"So, when are you going to try and use Ember?" He asked, zapping a shellos that tried to jump on him.
"Why would I need to learn to do that? My blunderbuss, dagger, and fists are enough." Kon shot back.
"Well, there are pokemon types weak to fire, such as grass, ice, and steel types." Then Luke remembered something. "Oh yeah, you don't exactly know about the different types pokemon can have, do you?"
"No. What you have been saying has been very confusing."
"Okay. Well, I'll just go over a simple trio of types and their weaknesses." As the moved on, Luke explained about the different types of pokemon and their strengths and weaknesses. Near the end, Kon had to ask a certain question.
"Are you saying that Wigglytuff could easily defeat a giant dragon type simply because dragon type attacks wouldn't work on him?"
"Well, it's not really just because he's immune to the attacks but it's true. I've seen it happen." Luke gripped the bag a little tighter. "He saved me when I had been kidnapped by a large group of dragon pokemon."
He could feel Kon staring at him now.
"Eh, you don't want to hear the story from me. It's pretty boring and a little muddled." Luke gave a small smile. "If you really wanted to know the story, Guildmaster Wigglytuff might remember but I doubt it. I'm just one of many pokemon he's probably saved over the decades."
Kon looked forward, thinking about what Luke had said about the Guildmaster and putting it against what he had seen of the fairy type. It was all really muddling and conflicting.
"Ah!" Luke's cry broke though his thoughts, watching the electric type run forward. He started moving some mud aside before taking out a large pink pearl. "We found Spoink's Pearl! Now all we got to do is get out of here."
Kon nodded, Luke putting the pearl in the bag.
The two started to backtrack, ready to leave, get paid, and take a good long nap on the hay.
But…-A shadow, a shadow moved!
"Who's there!?" Konstantin hollered.
And it was the Light, blinding and all encompassing. He fell to his knees in its presence.
"W-Wait! Please!" He begged to a voice only he could hear. "Forgive me! I-I have given penance! Truly with all my heart-!"
The Light lashed out, and struck him. He fell back, screaming in fear.
"Please! I beg you! I am faithful, please!" He wailed, unable to comprehend the agony.
"I will give everything, I say, everything to praise you!" Konstantin sobbed.
"KON!" Luke screamed, zapping the charmander weakly to snap him out of it. It was really one of the worst times for Kon to get a hallucination. A shellos had slapped Luke in the face with mud, briefly blinding him while a anorith jumped on the fire type, scratching at Kon's face.
Luke managed to knocked the two pokemon out alone before grabbing his still distressed partner. He could see lines of blood on his face, the hood having been knocked off by the attacks.
"Snap out of it!" Luke zapped him again, grabbing an Oran Berry from the ground nearby. He crushed it over the fire type's face, the juice running over the cuts.
Kon's mouth opened and out came a loud hiss of pain.
Luke stopped, jumping back when a small ember came of Kon's mouth. Then, Kon's mouth snapped shut with a audible clack.
"Are you snapped out of it now?" Luke cautiously asked before the charmander suddenly moved. Luke found himself laying on his back, Kon sitting on top of him.
For a moment, his heart skipped a beat… and then Kon smashed a Pecha Berry into his face.
"Now we're even." Kon snapped his hood up before starting to walk away.
Luke blinked before he started laughing.
[hr]
Thankfully, Kon only had one more delusion as they were walking back to Treasure Town and it was mostly harmless, what with him suddenly climbing up a tree and starting to praise a very confused swablu.
After taking five minutes to pull him out, they had gotten back on the road. By the time the two got back, the sun was just starting to make its descent to the West.
As they walked up the steps, Kon stopped to grab at his stomach, a sudden pain blossoming there.
"Kon?" Luke turned around, concerned.
Kon stood for a few more seconds. "I'm fine." He started walking up the steps again, but missed the worried look that Luke gave him.
They got into the guild, Luke giving the pearl to Chatot, the bird pokemon complementing them before hopping off.
"Kon, are you sure you're okay?" The caped pikachu asked, waiting patiently.
"It's just a stomach pain." Kon lied, feeling a lot worse than he looked.
Luke was about to say something else when Chatot came back, Spoink in tow with a few items.
"Th-thank you!" The pig looking pokemon cried, bouncing evenly despite all the bruises on his body. "I couldn't focus at all and I was just hitting everything. You have my sincere thanks."
The psychic type bounced over and handed over the items and a large bag of coins.
"That's all for us?" Luke exclaimed, Kon not really getting why the tree bottles of suspicious liquid seemed so valuable. Also, Kon was trying not to throw up.
"Of course! It means nothing next to my pearl! Farewell!" Then Spoink left, making a large bounce to leave the guild's first floor.
"Wow, look at all that money, Kon!" Luke cheered. "We're-"
Kon fell to his knees and hands, one reaching up quickly to grab his scarf and snatch it down.
And then, he just disgorged the contents of his stomach, much to the surprised horror of Chatot and Luke.
Just before Kon passed out, he made a mental note that his vomit was really red.
A/N: Whelp. That escalated quickly.
Got nothing much else to add. Loudred's a jerk, Zara wrote the delirious scenes, and those anorith scratches gave Kon Spasm of the Entrails. Basically, horrifyingly painful stomach spasms and blood puke. How fun. Right Zara?
Zaravan : Indeed. Some mechanics from Darkest Dungeon are still affecting Konstantin. In this case, being able to contract random diseases.
And since we've gone through another Dungeon...
Yes, that's right, it's time for more Quirks!
This time the random Quirks are...
God Fearing has replaced Hieromania.
And he has contracted a second Quirk, this one's Positive, thankfully.
The new Negative Quirk is God Fearing: In Town, will only Pray for stress relief.
The new Positive Quirk is Stress Faster: Eats -100% less food when stress is 50 or greater.