Disclaimer: I did not write this. This chapter is brought to you by my friend BronZeAden as a very nice birthday gift.

Enjoy


When Paths Cross

"Uh, an escort mission?" Meowstic Lumi asked. "Did this get sent to the wrong address?"

Lumi held up the envelope Dragonite Damia passed to him from her table. Rescue missions—heck, any missions at all were kinda sorta out of their paws. Absol's Guild made stuff. That's what they did. He double checked the address, but sure enough, an escort mission came in for them.

Damia shrugged. "I don't quite get it either. As if we don't take enough crap already…"

"But why me?" Lumi asked.

"You were drawn from a random lot," she explained. "They probably sent it here because it's a rare case where they need our expertise. Read it."

Lumi pulled, tugged at the paper, gave up, and ripped it open with his fangs.

"I need a member of the Absol Guild to help me find a royal heirloom lost in the Mystical Strait. There are puzzles and tricks that I need expert help with."

Client: White Star

Location: Mystical Strait

Goal: Escort to the end of the dungeon

Reward: ...

Lumi's eyes widened. Damia noticed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Uhm. Sooooo…" Lumi looked up. "This reward could pay the whole Guild for a month."

Damia snatched the letter. She glazed over it until she reached the bottom.

"No pressure," Damia said, nodding. "Just don't fail."


No pressure, just don't lose. Easy enough.

Meowstic Lumi packed his bag over his shoulder and set off on a half a day journey to Mystical Strait. According to what he read about it, the dungeon was funky, like Mr. Rhyme hitting the nae nae while moonwalking and dabbing levels of funk. It had little to no ferals, and almost no items. No one had ever really found a point to go there, so it sat desolate. Not even criminals used it to hide out.

But there had to be more to it, and Lumi would figure it out.

The dungeon entrance rested on a shoreline. To Lumi's left, a pale, gray rock wall blotted out the sun and buried him in its shadow. On his right, the ocean tugged on clear, beach sand. No one really lived around here, for whatever reason. Cool air swirled around in his lungs. He could totally see a vacation here.

That rock wall was just begging to be jumped off of, assuming he would reach the water, which of course he would.

The Dungeon entrance showed up before anymon else did. He stopped in front of a wall of multi-colored mist and looked around. The message never specified where they'd meet, or what pokemon they were. He came here out of a guess. Normally, the mons in need went to the Guilds themselves, especially for escort missions.

"Uh, hello?" Lumi called. "Anyone around?"

A few seconds passed.

"Who's there?" a voice called back.

"Uh... I'm from Absol's Guild! Here for an escort mission!"

The air fell quiet. A trail of pebbles fell from the rock wall on the left, and he glanced at the sound.

A Flareon hopped down between footholds; if Lumi could even call him that.

His color was completely off, and not even in the shiny sense. Across his body, all of the usually red fur was a pristine white, and the yellow, a dusty gray. His large tail followed him like a cloud stuck on his rump. When he hit the floor, his left blue and white right eye stole the show.

Assuming they were a he, by voice, just barely.

"Hi," Flareon said. "You said you're from Absol's Guild?"

"Yessir," Lumi blurted. "I mean, ma'am?... Mon?" Lumi noticed a white star earring dangle in front of their face. "Are you the White Star?"

Kind of a dumb question in hindsight.

"Yes. My name is Light."

Oh. Names right off the bat then. A bit friendly for someone he just met, but Lumi was open, so he would return the gesture.

"My name's Lumi, here to offer my, uh, expertise."

Lumi didn't even know different color eyes could happen. How did it happen? He realized he left a lull in the conversation and spoke up again.

"You got some real pretty eyes, you know that?"

Light's body tightened into a ball and his fur puffed up. "Oh, uh, t-thank you. You have nice… ears…"

"Hey, thanks! Anyway, what kind of heirloom are you looking for?"

"It's a ring," Light said. "A wedding ring. My grandfather proposed to my grandmother with it."

"How'd it end up here?"

"I have my suspicions, but I can't find a way forward in the dungeon. You guys study dungeon composition, right? Do you think you can help?"

"One hundred percent! Let's get this show on the road, mister… Uh, I mean, my mon."

Lumi walked with him into the dungeon.


Mystical Strait - 1st floor

A veil of crystal blue water covered their feet. The hallways aligned into aquamarine walls coated in bunches of rainbow coral and barriers of deep water. They ended up in a room alone, as expected.

"Huh," murmured Lumi. "There really aren't any ferals around here. That's crazy."

"That's how it is every time I come here," Light huffed. "I can't find anything. I guess no one has, but… it doesn't feel right."

"Yeah…"

It was almost like this dungeon had no Aether, but that couldn't be right. Every dungeon had Aether. They were made of the stuff. This called for some problem solving.

"Okay, let's check around."

Lumi walked with Light uninterrupted for a few minutes. His list of icebreakers almost always worked in situations like this, until now. All of his questions pointed at how… odd he seemed. He'd never seen anyone look even a little bit like him.

A feral Golduck rounded the corner in front of them. It reared back its head and belched out a jet of water. A sudden force pushed Lumi out of the way.

Light charged forward. He snaked underneath the Hydro Pump, bounced off the wall, and leapt over the Golduck. His foot came down right on its head. Golduck's neck reeled back. Light landed behind it, grabbed its head, and flung its body against the floor. It vanished in a burst of lights.

Lumi watched the lights carefully. They gravitated towards the sides of the hallway before they disappeared for good. Those lights didn't usually do that.

"Are you okay?" Light asked as he ran back.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course!" Lumi assured. "I'm not made of paper."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Light's eyes shifted away. "Since you're in Absol's Guild, I figured you don't battle very often."

"A lot of people seem to have that perception, for some reason. Anyway, how many times have you been through this dungeon?"

"Four."

"Okay. And how many enemies have you fought?"

"I think this makes five?"

A really low number. "Okay. I have a thing I want to try."

"What is it?"

"Alright," said Lumi. "So, I have a hypothesis. Both items and ferals are made out of Aether, so if neither of those appear very much here, this dungeon might just be an offshoot of something larger that's connected to it."

Light frowned. "Uhm, is that even possible?"

Dungeons can be connected to lead into other dungeons. If this place didn't go to it directly, then there could be a secret to continue deeper in.

Secret. Aha.

"Let's go around and check the floors from the rooms," Lumi suggested. He reached into his bag and fumbled around. "Here, I have Trap Scarves for us to wear."

Lumi wrapped a blue and white scarf around each of their necks. They were pretty valuable, but given the circumstances, Damia lent Lumi good supplies. He didn't expect these ones in particular to come in handy, but they would. Otherwise, they'd be walking into a lot of traps.


Mystical Strait - 3rd floor

They spread out and walked around each room. Scanning every room like this slowed progress to a near-stop, but they didn't have any ferals to bother them. It turned out to be a walk in a watery park.

Light kept his nose down to the wet floor. Lumi made sure to step hard enough to trigger any traps that would usually hit, not that any did. His Trap Scarf nullified them. He was on the hunt for a "different" kind of trap, one that explorers didn't think about or come across very often. There were no guarantees they'd find it, but they'd go through the dungeon as many times as it took.

"Gyah!"

Lumi whipped around.

Light splashed and yelped. Mist and yellow light rose up from the floor. Lumi's heart rose at the sight of gold blocks, stacked downwards.

Secret stairs.

"We got lucky," said Lumi. "Secret stairs. Whatever's past here is unmarked territory."

They shared a cursory glance. Light tensed up.

"Let's get what belongs to you back," Lumi decided. He rustled around his bag. "Cause I dunno what you know about Absol's Guild, but for us, the unknown is familiar territory."

Three small, clear orbs floated out of his bag. They aligned in an orbit around Meowstic Lumi's head. Light's frown eased up.

"Okay," Light said.

And they entered.


Mystical Sea - 1st floor

The water beneath Flareon Light and Meowstic Lumi's feet darkened, and the sky swapped out for a dark rock ceiling. They ended up in a room surrounded by a Croconaw, Palpitoad, and Piplup.

Light ducked and rolled away from a Bubblebeam and Mud Shot. Lumi's orbs floated into a triangle that glowed green with Protect. When Croconaw jumped for his head, its jaws smashed into it. Lumi shouted with Disarming Voice. Pink coalesced between his orbs and jettisoned amplified sound waves that flung the Croconaw away. He turned around to help Light.

But he didn't need it. He only turned around to see Light flip over Palpitoad's head and slam his foot down right on top. Both ferals vanished.

"Has anyone ever told you you're pretty badass?" commented Lumi, once Light stood up straight again.

Light looked around as if he asked someone else, then clenched his paws together. "U-uh, n-not really…"

"Really? That's weird, they totally should. Oh, but uh, be careful," Lumi warned. "The water types here will hurt pretty bad it looks like. Things could go south fast."

Light took a second to register what he said. "Oh, uh, yah. Sorry…"

With no ferals, they had a second to take it in. The layout of the dungeon changed. Lumi could be sure they at least swapped floors, but he had to check.

"Hey," Lumi said, "did the dungeon ever look like this when you went through it?"

"No," responded Light. "What does this mean?"

"Pretty sure we're in a different dungeon then. The one underneath Mystical Strait."

"There's one underneath?"

"There sure is now. Let's try and be careful. No one knows what kind of place this could be."

Light shifted his feet and glanced around with wary eyes.

"Don't worry," Lumi said, smiling. "This is my area of expertise."


Mystical Sea - 6th floor

Lumi had to admit, it felt like he was the one getting escorted sometimes.

Light barely used any moves, at least ones that Lumi could tell. He punched and kicked the crap out of ferals, sometimes in ways that made Lumi question his anatomy. Food items flowed in and out from Lumi's bag, more in than out. Things went well.

So well that they had barely spoken for a while. Walking behind Light, Lumi decided to ask: "So, did your grandfather put you up to this? I imagine it must be hard for him to miss something like that."

"He… died," Light said. "So, I guess this is just for me now."

"Oh."

"Yah…"

Damn. Welp.

"How do you think it got to this dungeon?" Lumi asked.

"I think some kind of thief took it and brought it here. I have enough evidence to say pretty much for sure."

"So, if it's a royal heirloom, does that make you some kind of prince?"

"Uh… W-well-"

Light stopped. His tail swished around in a circle. They entered an empty room littered with items and no ferals in sight. If Lumi had realized, he would've gone around this deathtrap.

Ferals dropped down from the ceiling: two Woopers, one Octillery, three Kingdras, two Kinglers, four Carvanha's, and a Drednaw. They surrounded them on all sides.

They had waltzed smack dab into the middle of a Monster House.

Flareon Light coughed out a Smokescreen. He whipped his head around and filled the room with it. Lumi ripped into his bag and dug around. His Petrify Orb had to be in the orb compartment, or maybe he chose to put it in the status one…

Mew damn it. Van was right, maybe he did need to get more organized...

A Carvanha clamped down on his tails. Lumi yowled and hopped in place. He bashed his paw against its forehead until it finally let go, then kicked it away. Light found a similar problem with a Drednaw, only he couldn't get it off. It weighed down his acrobatic movements. Two Kingdra's focused in on him.

This was about to go south.

Lumi frantically rammed his paw around in his bag. He should've kept it up top. He knew he'd need to find it quickly… Maybe he did. He breathed in, pulled his paw back, and checked up top. His paw hit something hard in his bag.

Lumi pulled out a Petrify Orb and raised it high. It burst into a cacophony of lights and fluttered around the room. The crashing, bashing, and flooding slowed to a stop. He looked around and sighed, then froze.

Flareon Light stood with his tail stuck in Drednaw's jaws and an uncomfortable grimace on his face. Lumi jogged over and yanked at jaw to open it. It didn't quite work.

"Hey, uh, sorry," Lumi said, smiling.

Light nodded with a frown. His face was hard to read sometimes, but Lumi was pretty sure he annoyed him.

Lumi used his Amp Orb and screeched with Disarming Voice in Drednaw's face. It flew back, hit the wall, and splashed into lights. Light immediately turned to brush out his tail. His eyes shook when he dunked it in the water and tried to get it perfect again.

Yeah, definitely royalty.

Light growled and slammed his paws down to stand. Lumi jogged behind him as he stormed out of the room, and grabbed a few of the items on the way. Once they turned down the hallway, and Lumi resettled his bag, he spoke up.

"Sorry about that, mon," Lumi offered. "Was mixed up with my items a bit."

"It's fiiiiiine," Light groaned.

Lumi sure hoped it was.


Mystical Sea Depths

The dungeon didn't have as many floors as Lumi thought it would.

At the end, they came to a dead-end room with a large waterfall. Dark bits of coral hung around the walls, along with decayed shells. Lumi didn't see anything shiny in here. The waterfall collected into a small pool at the end. They could check that at least…

"Now hold it right there!"

Like Light, Lumi looked around at the dome ceiling for the voice.

"Who are you?" the chipper voice demanded. "We haven't seen anymon around these parts for years…"

"My name's Lumi, and this is my guy Light." He was pretty confident Light was a guy now. "We're looking for an old ring that could've turned up here."

"Aha! I knew you thieves would be back!"

A blue blob jumped out of the water.

Lumi staggered back. Out of the ball of water, blue eyes trained on him. It formed arms, a head…

A Phione.

Lumi regained his footing. He met Phione's dead-on stare and formed words.

"Oh, hey, wait just a minute," Lumi pleaded. "We didn't come here to-"

"Time to settle this once and for all!" Phione declared.

Meowstic Lumi raised his Amp Orbs, too slow. A jet of water slammed against his chest. Flareon Light dove behind Lumi and cushioned him from the wall. He pushed Lumi back up to his feet, now ready with his Orbs.

From behind Lumi, Light arced a red Trump Card. It curved to hit Phione from the side, but they jumped over it. In the air, Phione shot a dense ball of water that soared down for them. Lumi raised his Amp Orbs in a triangle and blocked the attack.

He blinked. Light's feet ended up on his barrier.

Light jumped off and pushed Lumi back. Phione couldn't fire another shot in time, or dodge in the air. Light's flying kick hit them square in the chest. Phione flew back into the waterfall and splashed down back in the pool. Light pulled back to Lumi's side.

Phione rose out of the water and screeched. Pebbles dropped from the cave ceiling. Water gathered around Phione's body, grew, and lurched forward in a massive wave to drown the entire room. Phione rode on top, scowling.

Lumi roared with Disarming Voice through his Amp Orbs. The wave swallowed up his pink notes without even a big splash. The shadow of the wave pushed forward and covered his eyes.

Light turned. "Can I borrow those?" he asked.

Lumi shrugged. "Go for it, bruh."

Lumi raised the Amp Orbs to float in front of Light's face. Light's fur stood up. His body heat pushed Lumi to step away.

Light used Overheat.

The Amp Orbs exploded into flames. A swirling inferno plunged into the water and kicked up a storm of steam. Phione rocked back and forth on top of their wave and capsized over the edge, lost.

Lumi covered his face away from the hot steam and droplets. The steam lingered. Against the black, charred wall in the back, Phione laid with a black trail of smoke rising from the top of their head.

Lumi gaped at Light's blank face. Of course! Why did he never think about having other people amplify their moves with his orbs! His thoughts started to swarm with possibilities and testing ideas, and a giddy grin started to grow on his face.

"Thank you," Light said, jogging him from his thoughts.

Light passed them gently back to Lumi. Lumi juggled the red hot orbs and one by one caught them and reoriented them in his psychic grip. Together, they approached Phione. Light hung a pace back from Lumi to let him speak.

Lumi focused up and cleared his throat. "So like, we didn't come to steal anything. The ring belonged to Light's grandfather."

Phione coughed. They rolled over to sit up. It seemed like they could battle on still, barely. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"Look into my eyes," Light said. "Please."

Light entered a staring contest with Phione. Lumi glanced between them. He had no idea what was going on, but it seemed neat.

Phione blinked and shook their head. "That's freeeeaky…" they said. "So, you really aren't thieves then… Sorry I attacked you. I took the ring when I helped out some mons who were attacked by bandits, but they came back for it. So I hit it here. I thought you were one of them. I'm sorry."

"We're all good, mon. So, you do have it here?"

"Yup! One sec!"

Phione stood, hopped over to the pool of water, and swam down inside. A few seconds passed until the water shifted again. Phione's arm raised over the surface, holding a gold ring with a sulfur gemstone. In a way Lumi hadn't seen before, Light's eyes glimmered. Phione jumped out of the water and presented it to them.

Lumi nodded at Light to take it. The Flareon took a tentative step forward, reached, and held it. He looked between Lumi and Phione misty eyed, then bent down.

"Thank you both…" Light mumbled. "Really. This means… everything."

Lumi and Phione shared a smile.

"So," Phione said, "do you plan on giving that ring to someone someday?"

Light's eyes widened. "Oh! Uh, n-not anytime soon or anything. I mean-"

Phione giggled. "Aha! I can see it in your eyes that you do! Teehee~! It's okay! We won't tell anyone."

Light's smile warmed.


The day flung itself by. The dungeon spit Meowstic Lumi and Flareon Light outside at sunset. They ended up back on the beach. The sun passed over the rock wall and hung over the ocean, finally having its chance to warm the sand under their feet.

"I can't thank you enough," Light said for the fifth time.

"Aw, no need," replied Lumi. "You practically escorted yourself to be honest."

"I never would've thought to search for those secret stairs without your help. You're the only reason I got it back."

Light traced his paw around his ear, took off his earring, and handed it to Lumi, who accepted absentminded.

"It's made from white gold," Light said. "I'm pretty sure it'll cover all the trouble. I have to go now."

Lumi smiled. "Call us again if you ever need some of our expertise. I'll be sure to answer."

Light nodded. "I will. Take care."

And they separated. Lumi walked down the beach while Light climbed back up the rock wall.

Lumi wondered what other kinds of dungeons had secret stairs. There could easily be dungeons with rare ones that led to places completely undiscovered, with new never-before-seen goodies and items. Maybe even more mons to meet.

"Mreeoeeeeow!" Lumi cried out as a loud blast came from somewhere.

He checked around himself, and turned up to the sky to see if he could see anything.

A red comet streaked across the sky towards the sunset. Lumi raised his paw over his eyes and watched it fly.

"I love sunsets."

Lumi blinked.

A Pikachu stood next to him. His crystal orange eyes reflected the violet in the sky. He wore a brown leather jacket, heavy, given a gust of wind barely moved it.

"Uh, yeah," Lumi murmured, confused. "Do I know you?"

The Pikachu turned and smiled. "Mhm. We've met before, in a dream."

"Uh… Wat?"

"It was very nice what you did today," Pikachu continued. "You didn't have to accept the letter, really, but you did. And you didn't have to give that much effort, but you went above and beyond to make it happen. What motivated you?"

"I mean, someone needed help, my help. Of course I'd give it. I don't really have a complicated answer for you."

Pikachu closed his eyes. "You have the heart of a real explorer. I wish you luck, Lumi."

Pikachu patted him on the shoulder and walked past. How did he know Lumi's name?

Lumi turned around to ask, but the Pikachu had vanished. He shrugged to himself and smiled on his walk back.


Lumi arrived back late, close to midnight, but Dragonite Damia was still there at her desk. Her eyes had dulled since Lumi left. Her arms moved so slowly, Lumi wondered if they were moving at all. As Lumi walked up to her, her eyes glued on his face.

"Did you do it?" Damia asked, voice still clear and strong despite her dead expression.

"Yup!" said Lumi. "Mission success…" He glanced away.

Damia's face fell. "What is it?"

"Well," said Lumi, "not so sure I want to sell the reward."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"It was a gift. From a new friend."

"Whatever," she grunted. "You did the mission. It's yours. If anyone has any complaints, they should've volunteered instead of leaving it to a lottery."

Lumi smiled. "Thanks Damia." He yawned. "Good night."

"Night."

As Lumi walked away to turn in, he pulled out the white star earring and hung it on his bag, as a keepsake.


What powers does Light have? What was that weird explosion at the end? Who was that well-dressed Pikachu?

If you have any of these questions or more, then you should read PMD: Stargazer Chronicles. It has alot of cool stuff that I can't all fit in an author's note.