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Chapter 15:
"The Legendary Panacea Elixir"
"Wow Fée! You look great!"
As Blue and I exited the Guildmaster's Office with our brand new explorers' kit, Sunflora, Loudred and Corphish crowded around us while wearing congratulatory looks on their faces. Sunflora rushed up to me and, before I could even react, pulled me into one of her overly friendly embraces again while Loudred and Corphish went up to Blue and shook his paw.
"Congratulations on becoming apprentices!" Sunflora said as she lifted me into the air, "Hurray for Fée! Hurray for Blue!"
"Geeh!" I struggled to escape her choking embrace, but it quickly became impossible once she began to spin around, blissfully unaware of my discomfort. I could see everyone else giving me pitying looks as we twirled around like an out of control Hitmontop.
"Sunflora, you're gonna send her to the infirmary before she even gets to start her training," Loudred snickered, "now come on, let the poor Eevee go and let's show our new buds around the place."
"Ooh, alright," Sunflora pouted as she reluctantly let me go. I gasped for breath as I quickly ran beside Blue, wary of being captured again by the friendly sunflower. Sunflora looked a little dejected when I ran away, but she quickly brightened back up as she clasped her leaves together.
"Ooh, I just had the most wonderful idea!" She addressed the two of us with a beaming smile on her face, "I'm gonna go grab a friend of mine, and we can show you around the base, Fée! Ooh, this is going to be exciting!"
She merrily skipped off toward one of the larger entrances around the cavern and waved at us to follow her before vanishing through the archway. Feeling excited and curious, I pranced across the cavern little child while Blue and the rest followed along. The two bags I was wearing bounced up and down as I skipped through the grassy floor.
The elation I felt from finally having my own explorer's pack was still flooding through my body. Every few seconds, I couldn't help but stop and glance down at the weighty brown bag at my side. It made me feel a sense of pride and happiness that I finally got my paws on something that I coveted so much.
Blue wasn't wearing his bag yet; his was still in the little golden box that the Guildmaster gave us. He said that his shoulders are too sore to wear something as heavy as an explorer's pack right now. I found it a bit of a shame. I'd imagine he'd look really handsome wearing an actual explorer's pack! He did, however, agree to wear his explorer's badge though!
Speaking of badges, I stopped and reached up to my right ear. The ribbon that Blue gave me was still there, but I had added something to it. My explorer's badge was attached to the little bow that he tied onto, making it look like something of a fancy fastener for it! I giggled a little bit to myself as I touched the pink gem on the badge. A flood of elation surged through my body. Even though I was just an apprentice, wearing this badge made me feel like I was a real explorer already!
"Come on you guys!" I turned around and urged the slow boys to hurry up with a big smile on my face, "Let's go!"
Giggling to myself, I skipped through the archway that Sunflora went through. I found myself standing at the end of a long, earthy hallway that was covered from top to bottom with tree roots. One massive root – originating from the tree trunk in the main cavern I assumed – raced across the ceiling and splintered off into a web of roots that crawled haphazardly down the walls and onto the floor. Small lanterns hung off the main root on the ceiling, filling the hallway with a bright, orange glow.
As I walked down the hallway, I noticed that there were several cute, rounded doors that were expertly fitted in the gaps between the roots. I walked up to one of the doors and found that there were several small letters carved into the wood. They appeared to be names.
"Loudred and Corphish and –"
Suddenly, the door opened up on its own, preventing me from reading out the last name. I quickly stepped back before it struck me on the nose. I took a quick peek past the door, but my view was obstructed by a stray root. Annoyed, I tried to take a step inside to get a closer look, but my foot suddenly collided into something soft.
"Golly, y – you're...!" The soft thing yelped something strange and hurriedly jumped back into the room. He quickly tried to close the door. Thankfully, he paused right before the wood smacked me in the muzzle. I saw the timid Pokémon poke around the side of the door, peeking out at me.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" I quickly apologized to the Pokémon. Thankfully, the Pokémon shook its head and slowly revealed himself.
"I ain't hurt at all," The Pokémon said, looking a little sheepish, "just startled, is all. I wasn't expecting a Pokémon to appear in front of the door, Ms. Eevee."
He slowly moved the door aside and walked out of the room. He was a small, brown – furred Pokémon. He had a black snout with two large front teeth sticking out from the bottom, while the fur around his eyes was colored cream. His beady little eyes stared nervously at me. Maybe he was a little shy?
"My name's Bidoof, miss," he said in a quiet voice that was almost a whisper, "yup, yup."
"Thank goodness you weren't hurt," I sighed out of relief and smiled at Bidoof. He seemed like a nice Pokémon. I pointed a paw at the room he was in and asked, "do you mind if I come inside and take a look around?"
Bidoof gained a worried look on his face when I said that. He bit his lip as his eyes began to nervously dart around the hallway again. I looked around too, trying to see what he was so anxious about. But all I could find were more doors and the empty hallway around us. But and the rest of the boys were nowhere to be found. They must be taking their sweet time to follow me, I figured.
"Golly, I don't know," he said after he took another cursory look around the hall, "I'm ain't supposed to let other Pokémon inside without permission, Ms. Eevee."
"Really?" I said, my ears drooping out of disappointment. "I kinda wanted to see what was inside. It looks cozy in there."
"Gosh! I, um," Bidoof stuttered, looking startled. He shuffled his feet nervously before saying, "well... I reckon it's alright if you take a quick peek... but don't tell no body about this, alright?"
My ears perked up again at what he said. I clapped my front paws together and nodded enthusiastically at Bidoof. He turned around and slowly opened up the door to the room more so I could go inside.
"Wow..." It was a small, cozy – looking den. Soft, green moss and roots covered the walls, making the place look nice and homely. A table made out of a tree stump lied at the side of the room with a lit lantern sitting on top. Three bales of hay were placed on the floor, each looking like they've been slept in for a while.
Bidoof nervously paced around the room as I walked around, gazing curiously at everything. Loads of junk were piled up against the walls, making the entire room look rather messy. Half eaten meals were littered all over the floor. I constantly had to watch my step in case I accidentally trod on something disgusting.
Some colorful posters displaying various Pokémon were stuck up on the dirt walls. One poster was advertising a group of attractive – looking female Pokémon lead by a pretty Lopunny that was making a suggestive pose. Flustered by the risqué poster, I turned away from it and walked over to the table, where several books were piled on top of in a haphazard fashion..
"Oh wow!" I exclaimed, making Bidoof jump with a start. I picked up a thick, black – colored book that was lying on the table and showed it to him.
"Is this your copy of 'Dusknoir's Travels?' It's my favorite book!" I asked him excitedly. Bidoof nodded slowly as I smiled widely at him, "I had my own copy once," I said, reminiscing fondly about my own copy, "but I've read the book so many times that the pages and the covers all eventually fell apart."
I gave Bidoof a sheepish grin as I sat down, holding the book, "I've been looking to buy another copy for a while now, but the price at Kecleon's was so high that I gave up," I looked back at Bidoof's book and said, "to have a copy in such good quality... I'm a little jealous of you."
"Gosh..." He suddenly spoke up as I put the book back down on the table. When I turned back around to look at him, he had a small blush on his face, "erm... if you want, you can have that there book."
"Really?" My eyes widened out of surprise. I glanced at the black book in my paws for a second, but then I quickly shook my head, "No, I can't accept this." I put the book back on the table and smiled at Bidoof, "Thank you for your kind offer, Bidoof, but I can't just take something so expensive from someone I just met!"
"Naw, it's fine!" he quickly said, his face still blushing furiously for some reason, "I can't really make heads or tails of that book anyhow. It's too complicated for little old me."
"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head curiously, "You can read, right?"
"Yes'm," He said in a low, dejected voice, "but y'see, I can't really understand all these fancy words you townfolk use here, and that book is full of those complicated sentences and paragraphs that I just confuses the stuffin' out of me."
"That's a shame... I kinda wanted to know which chapter you liked the most..."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Eevee..."
I shook my head and smiled, "Nah, it's alright, Bidoof," I considered his words for a moment before realizing something. I looked up at the bucktoothed Pokémon and asked, "You said you couldn't understand the words that the townsfolk used... does that mean you're not from Treasure Town, Bidoof?"
He shook his head, "Naw, I came from the other side of the mountain range. All the way from the riversides, I did," Bidoof glanced down at his feet, looking away from me, "I arrived here at Treasure Town but a few weeks ago, yup, yup."
"From beyond the mountain range? That's pretty far away!" I said, impressed, "And you're already an apprentice here at Wigglytuff's Guild? You're incredible, Bidoof!"
"I s'pose," his face turned bright red as I heaped mounds of praise on the guy, "I'm still just an apprentice though. Just joined up here at Wigglytuff's but two days ago."
"Then we're fellow apprentices!" I announced cheerfully as I eagerly pointed at the badge on my ear. I puffed out my chest with a small hint of pride, "You said you became an apprentice two days ago? Well, I became an apprentice just a few moments ago!"
Bidoof looked a little surprised, but he just nodded and pointed at my ear with his paw, "I figured you were an apprentice from that there pretty bow you have on your ear." I blushed a little as I patted my bow thoughtfully. Bidoof gave me a bucktoothed smile and said, "Though, I didn't know you just joined right now. I thought you might've been visitin' from other guilds."
"Naw, I ain't from any other guild," Feeling playful, I went and copied his mannerisms, making him blush a little. "Wigglytuff's Guild was the only guild I ever thought about joining." I looked at him and asked, "What about you, Bidoof? Is there a reason why you picked Wigglytuff's Guild?"
"Gosh, it's pretty embarrassin' for me to say," Bidoof said as he lowered his head, "promise me you wont laugh?"
I held my paw up to my chest and said confidently, "I promise."
Bidoof blushed as he raised up his head, "Well, I trust you, Ms. Eevee." His cheeks reddened as he began to recount his story.
"Y'see, the reason why I picked Wigglytuff's Guild was because Wigglytuff's was the only guild that would take me in." He held up his paw and counted his stubby little fingers, "When I went over t' Machoke's, those super strong Pokémon just took a single look at little ol' me and laughed me out of the guildhouse, they did." A sad frown appeared on his face as he reminisced, "Then, when I went over to try at Kadabra's, I ended up failin' the test they gave me."
He sighed dejectedly as he shrugged, "I couldn' really understand the questions they put on that test. I lacked the smarts needed for those questions. So I ended up gettin' the worst grade out of all the applicants."
"I'm sorry to hear that..." I said sympathetically. He shook his head and waved his paws around frantically.
"Y' don't have to feel sorry for little ol' me, Ms. Eevee!" He said, "'course, I ended up walkin' all the way over to Wigglytuff's. They were my last chance to become an explorer, and I was willin' to get down on my belly and beg them to take me in as an apprentice."
"And then you became one!" I said with a grin.
He nodded and returned my smile, "That's right. That Chatot Pokémon was really scary at first, but when I told him that my wish was to become an explorer, he suddenly became downright friendly an' helpful!"
A big smile appeared on his face as he chuckled sheepishly. I noticed that he had a familiar look on his face as he talked about his wish. It was the same expression I wore when I dreamed about becoming an explorer. I giggled. I felt a strange connection between Bidoof and I, since we were both explorer enthusiasts!
"I'm the same, Bidoof!" I said cheerfully, stifling my giggles, "I've always wanted to be an explorer for as long as I remember."
"You too?" He sounded surprised at my reply, "Golly, what are the odds?"
We laughed together for a while. Even though we just met, I could tell that Bidoof was a nice, friendly Pokémon. I had a feeling that we could be good friends eventually.
"Hey, hey!" Suddenly, the door behind us slammed open with a loud bang! I quickly turned my head toward the entrance of the room, my mouth wide open. Bidoof yelped and ducked underneath one of the piles of hay.
Corphish, followed by Loudred and Blue strolled into the room. The red shelled Pokémon glared at me while pointing one of his large pincers at my face. I gulped and scooted away from the sharp pincers, not wanting that thing anywhere near my face again.
"This room's off limits to girls and intruders, Fée!" Corphish bellowed, swinging his pincer to the side and hitting the door, "You're trespassing on private property!"
"Off limits?" I asked timidly. Corphish nodded furiously as he scuttled over to where I was sitting. He rushed behind me and began to shove me toward the door. As I slid across the room, I spotted Bidoof nervously peeking out at the commotion from underneath the hay.
"That's right," Corphish said, apparently unaware of Bidoof's presence, "there's important things inside that room that only Loudred and I are allowed to see! No intruders are permitted to enter!"
"I don't understand...!" I exclaimed as Corphish threw me out of the room none – too – gently. Blue leaned over and caught me before I hit the ground. I thanked Blue and turned around, staring confusedly at Corphish, who was now barring entrance into the room by extending his pincers out to the sides of the doorway.
"I can explain," Loudred replied with a wry smile on his face, "he just doesn't want you to see his 'Happy Evolution Diary,' Fée."
"Loudred!" Corphish shouted, looking betrayed. Loudred just reared back and laughed loudly at Corphish.
"It's not even that interesting to read," Loudred remarked, winking at me, "it's just pages upon pages of him making up stories about what he's gonna do when he evolves."
Corphish looked away out of embarrassment, his face somehow turning a shade redder than usual. Out from underneath his pincer, I spotted Bidoof slowly coming out from underneath the hay. I poked Loudred to get his attention and pointed at Bidoof.
"Oy Doofy, what are you doing hiding down there?" Loudred chuckled and waved at the little bucktoothed Pokémon, "Get over here and introduce yourself to our new buddies!"
Nervously, Bidoof crawled out from underneath his hiding spot and hid behind Corphish, his eyes were trained on the new stranger in the area, Blue.
"Erm... my name's Bidoof," he said in a quiet voice, "i – It's nice t' meet ya, Mr. R – Riolu."
"My name's Blue," He said casually as he held out his paw for Bidoof to shake. Bidoof glanced at Blue with a confused look on his face.
"'Blue?'" He said as he shook Blue's paw hesitantly, "Golly, I can't say I've ever heard such an interestin' name before."
"You're not the first," Blue remarked wryly as he shot me an amused glance. I coughed and looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. After all, I was the one who gave him that name.
Bidoof let go of Blue's paw and took a step back. He looked curiously at me, and then at Blue.
"...did the two of you join together?" He asked in an oddly quiet voice.
Blue and I both nodded together. I pointed at Blue and said, "Blue and I both came here this morning together and registered as apprentices," I smiled at Blue and he responded by patting me on the head.
"Oh... I see..."
"Oh, I never did tell you, did I?" I happily held out my paw to Bidoof, "My name's Fée. It's good to meet you."
Bidoof didn't accept my paw immediately for some reason. Instead, the bucktoothed Pokémon kept shooting wary glances at Blue as if he was scared of him.
"Bidoof?" I asked concernedly, startling him a bit. He quickly ran up and tightly gripped my paw with both of his, making me wince a little.
"Ouch!"
"Eep! I'm sorry about that, Ms. Fée!" He hastily let go of his grasp on my paw and stepped back, keeping his eyes squarely focused on Blue. I shook my paw, trying to get rid of the stinging feeling. It didn't really hurt, but his strength did startle me. He was a lot stronger than I expected.
I noticed that Bidoof continued to gaze warily at Blue. I looked up at my friend, wondering what was it about it that made Bidoof so nervous. Blue didn't really have a scary expression on his face or anything, to me, he just looked as he usually did. Though, his face and body was covered in several recent scars, so I guess that it was because of his rugged appearance that was making Bidoof nervous.
"You don't have to be afraid of Blue," I said cheerfully as I gave Bidoof a soft pat on his paw, "he's a little ragged looking right now, but he's a really nice guy!"
"I'm ragged looking?" Blue commented as he began to examine his body. He showed his arms to Loudred and Corphish, looking for confirmation. I rolled my eyes and looked back to Bidoof, who was now staring at me, his face blushing bright red again for some reason.
"I... I ain't really scared of yer friend, Ms. Fée," He stuttered as he quickly withdrew his paw from mine, "I'm just... really shy, is all."
With that, Bidoof hastily bowed in front of Blue and ducked back into their room, shutting the door behind him, smacking Corphish away from the doorway. Corphish stared at the door, stunned, before giving Loudred a puzzled look.
Loudred just shrugged and said, "I guess he really is shy," he nudged Blue with his elbow and winked, "maybe your scars and stuff scared the heck out of him."
Blue scratched his nose sheepishly and asked Loudred, "Should I go apologize?"
"Haha!" Loudred chuckled and slapped Blue on the shoulder, "Nah, it's fine! I'm sure he'll warm up to you once you're all healed up and clean!"
"Oh, that's right!" I was reminded of something important. I moved behind Blue and nudged him forward with my paws, "You said something about an infirmary earlier, right Loudred?"
"Mmhm."
I sighed out of relief, "Thank goodness..."
"What's the matter, Fée?" Blue turned around and looked at me with concern in his eyes, "Did you get hurt?"
"No, you dummy!" I shouted frustratedly. I shook my head at how clueless he was, "I meant for you!"
"Me?"
I nodded, "That's right. You've been walking around for two days now with all those wounds on you. It's time you got yourself some rest!"
Blue folded his arms and grumbled, "I don't need any rest. I'm fine, see?" He held out his right arm and flexed it. I sighed exasperatedly. I've already seen him try this once already. If it didn't work the first time, it wasn't going to work again.
"Blue, I know you're really strong, but I don't want to keep seeing you hurt all over like this..."
Blue opened his mouth to reply, but I gave him a sharp poke on his back, making him jump up with a start.
"You know, she has a point," Loudred commented as he looked over Blue's arms and legs, "I've gotten quite a few bad scrapes before on expeditions, but all those cuts and bruises on your body look way worse than anything I've ever seen before."
"Makes you wish you got a shell like mine, don't ya?" Corphish added, swinging his pincers up and down gleefully, "I don't bruise or get cut easily at all, hey, hey!"
I watched as Blue held up his arms to the lamp light from the ceiling, examining his old scars. When he held up his right leg, I quickly turned away. Out of all of the wounds he had on his body, the ones present on his right leg were the worst. I couldn't help but keep my gaze averted from him as he looked closely at his leg. It was too much for me to handle.
"Yeesh, did you get your leg crushed by a boulder or something?" I heard Corphish remark with a disgusted tone, "It looks horrible!"
"It was actually a bunch of pebbles, not a boulder," Blue corrected the pincer Pokémon.
"What?" Corphish sounded confused. Evidently, he wasn't expecting an actual answer from Blue. He looked as though he wanted to ask Blue for an explanation, but as he opened his mouth, someone else's voice cut through the corridor.
"Heeeey!" Everyone turned toward the source of the call. Sunflora was running down the corridor, waving one of her leaves at us. Strangely, every time she took a step, a light tinkling noise would echo down the hall.
"Sunflora!" I shouted and waved at the flowery Pokémon, "That's weird though... I thought she was bringing her friend with her?"
"L – Loudred..." I heard Corphish speak with a strange, nervous quiver in his voice. I turned around and saw a strange sight. Both Loudred and Corphish had similar, anxious expressions on their faces, and they appeared to be sweating nervously.
"T... this ain't good at all," Loudred said in an oddly quiet voice. I tilted my head questioningly at them, wondering what was making them look so strange.
"What's going on?" I asked curiously. They didn't answer though, and instead, for some reason, their eyes kept flitting toward Blue, who just looked confused as usual.
Corphish edged closer to Loudred and whispered something inaudible into his ear. Loudred seemed to agree with the red – shelled Pokémon, as he nodded quickly. The two of them separated and suddenly surrounded Blue.
"Wha –?" Blue couldn't even voice his confusion before he was suddenly hauled up into the air by Loudred's strong arms.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" I shouted at them out of surprise.
"I'll explain later," Loudred said as he hoisted a struggling Blue onto his shoulder. He glanced over to Corphish and gave him a nod, which Corphish reciprocated. He turned back to me and said, "for now, it's best I get this guy outta here before those two get any closer!"
With that, Loudred spun around and made a mad dash down the hall and toward the main cavern with Blue still struggling in vain to get off his shoulder. I looked over to Corphish, who looked torn between following after Loudred or to stay guarding the door to his room.
"Ergh..." He noticed my gaze and made an odd coughing noise. He glanced over to the slowly approaching Sunflora, then back at me.
"Y – you know what?" He suddenly said in a panicky voice, "The mighty Crawdaunt trusts that you wont go and trespass into my room, but only this once!"
Suddenly, he turned around and scuttled off speedily after Loudred, leaving me alone and confused in the hallway.
"W – wait, where are you going?" I shouted after them, but by the time I said it, they were already gone and out of sight. I stared at them blankly, still trying to puzzle out what just happened.
"Oh my gosh, where did they go?" I heard Sunflora speak from behind me. I turned around and shrugged.
"I don't know!" I said, frowning, "They said something about having to get away before you get any closer, then they suddenly ran away."
The flowery Pokémon shook her head and folded her leaves in front of her as she frowned. I noticed that, even though Sunflora had stopped running, the strange tinkling noise continued to ring.
"Sunflora, what is that strange sound?" I asked curiously.
"Strange sound?" Sunflora held up one of her leaves and looked around her. The sound rang out again, giving Sunflora a start. She turned around and clasped her leaves together with a big smile, "Oh! You mean Chimecho?"
"Chimecho?" I repeated the word she said curiously. I looked at where Sunflora was standing at before, and found that there was another Pokémon there.
The Pokémon resembled a cute little glass wind chime, the same kind that Kangaskhan and her daughter puts out over the entrance of her house during the summer. But this chime was floating in the air on its own, and it had a small face with an equally small pair of arms jutting out of its' side. A long, floral – patterned ribbon was flowing out from underneath the Pokémon's body.
"It's good to meet you, Fée. My name is Chimecho." Her voice was calming and mellow. She bowed her head and held out her ribbon to me.
I stared silently at the ribbon for a second before I realized that she wanted me shake it. I carefully put my paw on top of her ribbon. It felt incredibly soft and velvety, but it also had a fragile feeling to it. I was afraid that if I put even a little more strength into my paw, that I would accidentally tear it.
"You don't have to be so careful around me, Fée," Chimecho said with a cute giggle as she sensed my apprehension. She wrapped her ribbon around my paw and squeezed it surprisingly tightly. She gave me a wink and said, "I'm stronger than I look."
"It's nice to meet you too, Chimecho," I said with a smile as she unwrapped her ribbon from my paw. "Are you an apprentice here too?"
The little wind chime Pokémon nodded her head, making a quiet tinkling noise as she moved.
"I'm an apprentice just like you, yes," she said, "but I do more around here than just explore."
I tilted my head questioningly, "Oh? What do you do then?"
Chimecho giggled and floated past me in a delicate manner. She turned around to look at me, her face sly and a little scary.
"Oh, you'll find out when we find your friends..."
Suddenly, I felt as though the temperature in the hallway dropped like a stone.
"Let me go!"
Blue continued to growl indignantly as Loudred lugged his body through the corridor. Once they reached the main cavern, Loudred plucked the Riolu off his shoulder and held him over his head while he frantically glanced around. Blue struggled to wriggle out of the Pokémon's grip, but his arms and gets were both pinned together by the big – mouthed Pokémon's huge hands.
"Hey, hey!" Corphish cried out as he caught up to them. He quickly rapped Loudred's feet with his pincer to grab his attention, "What do we do? Chimecho's coming!"
"We gotta hide before she catches sight of Blue," Loudred panicked, "chaos will break loose if she sees him in this state. Come on!"
"Wait, what's going o–" Blue tried to say, but he was quickly silenced when Loudred jammed his body underneath his armpit like a textbook. He gagged as a rancid stench wafted into his nostrils from underneath Loudred's arm.
Loudred stamped the grassy floor loudly as he rushed over to the other side of the cavern, knocking aside cushions and tables as he charged across the room. He halted in front of Corphish's pool of water. He quickly cast a glance behind him before withdrawing Blue from underneath his arm.
"Wait... wait hold on!" Blue panicked as he realized what Loudred was going to do. He tried as he might to struggle against the large Pokémon's clutches, but it was futile.
"Sorry, but you'll thank me for this later!"
Blue tried to shout, but he was quickly shut up by a torrent of icy cold water flooding into his mouth. Loudred had thrown him bodily into the pool of water, making a huge splash and spilling water all over the ground.
Blue splashed around wildly for a few seconds before realizing that the pool was shallow enough for him to stand. He waded over to the edge of the pool and tried to pull himself out, but Loudred placed his large hand on Blue's head and roughly shoved him back inside.
"Blugh!" Blue spat out another mouthful of water as he resurfaced again. He shot angry glares at Loudred and Corphish, "What's the big idea?"
Loudred leaned over to the side of the water and gave Blue an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Blue, but you gotta hide yourself!" He took a quick peek behind him before saying, "There's a dangerous Pokémon on the loose."
"If she sees all those wounds on you, she'll go ballistic!" Corphish shrieked, clacking his pincers frantically, "You have to hide, Blue! Not even the mighty Crawdaunt can save you from her wrath!"
Blue gave the two of them confused stares. "Her? Who are you talking about? Sunflora?"
The two of them shook their heads wildly.
"No, it's not Sunflora," Loudred said in a hushed whisper, "it's another Pokémon by the name of Chimecho. She runs the infirmary, and she gets kinda... scary if she sees anyone with injuries on them."
"So that's why you have to hide!" Corphish jumped into the water and grabbed onto to Blue's arms with his pincers, "hurry, get below the surface!"
Blue, although still unsure as to what was going on, could sense the sheer amount of panic and fear emanating from the two Pokémon. He decided to comply and follow their advice for the time being. He took a deep breath and pulled his body underwater, but decided to leave his muzzle and eyes poking out from the surface. From a distance, he resembled an oddly furry – looking water lily.
"Loudred!"
Blue's ears perked up as he heard an angry yell from the other side of the cavern. Loudred and Corphish both leapt up, startled. They turned around robotically, sweating nervously as they addressed the voice. Blue peeked through Loudred's legs to see what was going on.
Sunflora was storming toward them in a huff, followed by Fée and another Pokémon he didn't recognize. The flowery Pokémon stopped right in front of Loudred, staring suspiciously into his eyes. Fée and Chimecho halted in front of them as well, with Fée looking around with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Where's Blue?" She asked, looking around for the missing Riolu.
"Blue?" Loudred looked away from Sunflora and spoke in an unconvincingly confused voice, "Who's Blue? Do you mean the sky is blue today? Because it's really, really blue today, right Corphish?"
Corphish jumped up, startled. Loudred shot a quick wink at the little lobster Pokémon, who responded with the smallest of nods and said, "Yeah! The sky's pretty blue today! Azure! Aquamarine! Um... cobalt?"
Fée stared at Loudred as if he had suddenly gone insane. Sunflora sighed in exasperation and covered her face with her leaf. Chimecho, on the other hand, stayed silent and lightly floated over to where Loudred was standing. She tried to look over his shoulder, but Loudred blocked her view by casually putting his hands behind his head.
"C – Chimecho! I didn't see you there!" Loudred said in a loud, casual voice, "G – good weather we have today, yeah? I really like it when the sky's all blue and shiny! Ha, ha, ha!"
Loudred clutched the back of his head with his right hand and bellowed out a forced – sounding laugh. With his left hand, he urged Corphish to laugh too by patting him on the back. Corphish winced as he felt Loudred's forceful hit, but he laughed anyway.
"Ha, ha, ha...!"
A plume of bubbles escaped Blue's mouth as he sighed. The two of them were absolutely awful at keeping secrets. As he submerged himself a little more, he felt an odd tingling sensation at the back of his neck. He looked around with his eyes as inconspicuously as possible, but he couldn't find anything around him.
"Loudred, Corphish," Sunflora narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the laughing pair, "where did you two hide Blue?"
"Hide? What do you mean hide?"
An acute sense of danger was flooding through Blue's body. The strange sensation was getting stronger and stronger, and he still couldn't find the source of it. He tried to raise his right arm, but he found that his arm couldn't move for some reason. In fact, his entire body was slowly becoming rigid and immobile, like a log.
"That's enough." An icy voice suddenly rang out from behind Loudred and Corphish. Immediately, Loudred and Corphish broke out in cold sweat as they slowly turned their gaze toward the wind chime. Chimecho was serenely hovering over the water pool, just a few inches behind where Blue's head was floating. Her cute little face wasn't displaying any emotion at all. Instead, her eyes were closed and it appeared as though she as focusing on something.
Blue noticed the odd looks on Loudred and Corphish's faces. He was curious as to what was making the two of them so scared, but at the same time, an unfamiliar feeling was rushing through his body, telling him not to move an inch. He gulped and tried to peek behind him.
Suddenly, the pool of water was illuminated by an odd blue glow. Looking down, he saw that his arms, body and even his legs were covered by a faint blue outline. He tried to move his limbs, but found that invisible strings had attached themselves to him. He was forcibly reminded of what Drowzee did to him in their battle yesterday.
"Gaaah!" Panic set in as he tried to struggle against the psychic attack, but for every inch he moved, more strings appeared to hold him down. Eventually, he was encased in an odd, invisible cocoon that completely prevented him from moving at all.
"Uh oh," Loudred slapped his face with his palm as he watched Chimecho slowly levitate Blue out of the water and over their heads. This is what he was trying to prevent, but the little wind chime Pokémon must've sneaked past them while they were distracted.
"Blue?!" Fée was aghast at seeing her friend soaked to the bone and floating in the air, "What are you doing in the water?"
"Mmfph!" Blue tried to reply, but Chimecho had bound his muzzle as well, preventing him from being able to talk. All he could do was give the Eevee an apologetic look as he was carried over the grassy floor like a strange, furry mannequin.
"Tsk, tsk," Chimecho made a disapproving sound as she floated around the frozen Riolu. She scanned all over Blue's body with her eyes, taking note of every single cut, bruise and scrape she found.
Blue could do nothing at all but hold still in embarrassment as he was held prisoner by the small wind chime. He suddenly realized why Loudred and Corphish were so afraid of this Pokémon. He tried to beg Fée to help with his eyes, but she was too stunned to move a single paw. As for Loudred and Corphish, the two of them seemed to be content with shooting him sympathetic and pitying looks rather than helping him.
"So..." Chimecho turned toward the Eevee and said, "this is your friend, Blue?"
"Y – yes..." Fée was a little taken aback by Chimecho's sudden change in demeanor, "that's him."
"I see. You weren't exaggerating when you said he was pretty badly injured, Sunflora."
Chimecho's eyes glowed a vibrant blue as she made Blue's body rotate on its own. It was a surreal sight for everyone to see. Poor Blue was forced to spin round and round like a museum exhibit.
"Especially here," Chimecho suddenly halted Blue's rotation and pointed her ribbon at his right leg. She hovered closer to his leg and prodded it with her ribbon, making Blue wince in pain.
"The sheer amount of abuse you have heaped onto this poor leg is unbelievable, Blue." Chimecho stated in a plain voice, "I'm genuinely surprised that you're even still capable of standing on it, let alone being able to walk."
"What?" Fée cried out, staring incredulously at Chimecho."What do you mean by that?"
"I meant what I meant," Chimecho said, turning to the startled Eevee, "just from surface analysis alone, I can see that this leg has been wounded by sharp blades, soaked in unsanitary seawater, exposed to poisonous gasses, suffered repeated physical trauma, and furthermore..."
"F – furthermore...?"
Chimecho gently wrapped her ribbon around Blue's injured leg. She closed her eyes and began to focus. Slowly, the blue glow around her ribbon began to intensify.
"Within his leg lies a large amount of paralyzing toxin," Chimecho announced to a horrified – looking Fée, "this toxin is usually secreted by a Pokémon by the name of Kabuto in order to weaken their prey so they can easily catch them."
Chimecho released her grip on Blue's leg, and in turn, released her psychic control over his entire body. The Riolu collapsed face – first onto the grass, his body was extremely sore from being forced into that immobile state for so long. He rolled over and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a worried Fée suddenly tackling him and cradling his arm.
"Geh!"
"Normally, having the toxin present within your leg for so long would render that limb useless within hours," Chimecho stated bluntly, ignoring his groaning form, "most Pokémon end up having to use crutches for the rest of their lives if they can't detoxify the afflicted limb fast enough."
"B – but..." Fée clung tightly onto Blue's arm, "there has to be a way to cure him, there has to!" She buried her face into Blue's fur and shouted, "We just became explorers! I don't want Blue to have to run around with crutches!"
"Wait a sec!" Loudred interrupted loudly, shoving himself into the conversation, "If that toxin really is so deadly, then why does Blue look like he's totally fine?" He jabbed a thick finger at the Riolu, "He's been walking and running around just fine yesterday! Maybe he's immune to that toxin!"
"No, that's impossible," Chimecho stated bluntly, making Loudred wilt like a dried up flower, "unless Blue suddenly became a steel – bodied Pokémon, it's impossible for him to become fully immune to another Pokémon's toxins."
"T – then... is there any kind of berry that can cure him right now?" Fée said hesitantly.
Chimecho folded her ribbon underneath her, making a zig – zag pattern, "I'm sorry to say that there exists no berry in this world that can cure the toxin when it has set in." Chimecho shot Blue a cold look, "If he had taken a Lum Berry immediately after being bitten, then he might've had a chance. However, as of right now, that possibility has been lost."
"Ooh... then what can we do?" Sunflora said worriedly, "You're the doctor, Chimecho! You should have a clue as to what we can do to cure Blue's leg!"
Chimecho closed her eyes and curled her ribbon upward, allowing the tip of the silky cloth to touch the bottom of her face. Everybody stared expectantly at Chimecho, waiting anxiously for the little wind chime to say something, anything. A minute of tension passed by, then another, then another. Every Pokémon continued to wait with bated breath.
Then, after about five or so minutes had passed, Chimecho's eyes opened. She pointed her ribbon at Blue and said in a hesitant voice, "I... do have an idea."
Fée sprung up from the ground, "Really?!" Her eyes were sparkling with hope as she ran up to the wind chime, "What's your idea, Chimecho?"
Chimecho didn't answer, but instead, she floated up into the air silently. She glanced around the room with a nervous glint in her eye.
"Hey, hey, Chimecho," Corphish said as he impatiently beat the ground with his pincers, "you can't just say something like that and then fall silent!"
"That's right," Loudred added, folding his arms, "spill it, Chimecho! What's your idea?"
Chimecho shot an angry stare at the two of them, making them falter and quickly back off, mumbling apologies under their breaths. Then, she sighed and lowered herself and floated toward Blue and Fée.
"My idea... is a little hard to believe," She said to the two, looking nervous, "but, it's the only thing that could come to my mind, no matter how hard I tried to think of another one."
"What is it then?" Blue said.
Chimecho took another nervous glance around the room again before sighing.
"My idea... was for you to take a medicine called the 'Legendary Panacea Elixir,'" Chimecho stated with a certain disgust in her voice. Fée, Blue and the rest of the guild tilted their heads simultaneously in confusion.
"'Legendary Panacea Elixir?'" Corphish said, his voice laced with disbelief, "What the hey is that?"
"It sounds like something out of a storybook, don't you think?" Fée commented, holding a paw up to her chin and mulling over the name, "I think I've actually read about it somewhere before though."
"That's why I didn't want to say it!" Chimecho shouted indignantly, making everyone flinch at her sudden outburst, "It sounds so ridiculous and unreal that even I don't want to believe that it exists!"
Her ribbon shot up angrily and she said, "I'd like you to know that I only prescribe medicines and berries that have scientific basis behind them! Not some fairy tale cure – all like this so – called Panacea!"
"Wait, hold up," Blue interjected, sticking his paw out in front of Chimecho's face, "you said that this 'Panacea' is a cure – all?"
"That's right," Chimecho said with a huff, "it's a legend amongst Pokémon who practice medicine like I do. It's supposedly a special drug that, when ingested, completely cures every ailment that the consumer is currently suffering from."
"Oh!" Fée suddenly piped up. She turned toward Blue and said with a certain glee in her voice, "I remember now!" She clapped her paws together eagerly, "It was mentioned in passing in a chapter of 'Dusknoir's Travels,' where the explorer Dusknoir cures his severely – injured partner with a single Panacea that he discovered on an expedition!"
"Seriously?" Sunflora exclaimed, "If that's the case, then it must exist, right? If it's in Dusknoir's own book!"
"That doesn't prove anything!" Chimecho fumed, "Just because it was in a story book – albeit written by Dusknoir himself – doesn't mean this stupid elixir exists!"
Fée's ears flattened onto her head as she heard Chimecho's remark about her favorite book. Blue noticed and gently patted her head comfortingly. He looked up at Chimecho and frowned.
"Then how do you say we get around to curing my leg?" Blue posed a question to Chimecho, who was still steaming from indignation. Blue took his paw off Fée's head and folded them angrily.
"You were the one who brought up the idea of a miracle cure in the Panacea, Chimecho," he waited for Chimecho to finish trembling in anger at the mention of that word before continuing, "if you're so adamant that such a thing doesn't exist, then why don't you come up with something else?"
"T – that's..." Chimecho suddenly fell silent. Her ribbon fell down and hung underneath her in a limp, defeated fashion. She sighed dejectedly and said, "I... I don't have any ideas on how to cure your leg, Blue. That's why I even bothered to entertain the notion of having you take a miracle medicine that doesn't exist."
Chimecho shook her head and gently lowered herself onto the ground, where she laid her little glassy body on the grass. Blue, Fée and everyone else all fell silent as well, crestfallen at the little doctor's announcement. Fée gently placed a paw on Blue's injured leg and gazed at him sadly.
"Well now, what's with all the sad faces?"
Suddenly, a new voice joined their midst. Everyone turned toward the source of the voice and saw Chatot sauntering toward them, with Guildmaster Wigglytuff following close behind. The two of them looked like they were in good spirits. Guildmaster Wigglytuff waltzed over to Fée and Blue and grinned widely right in front of them
"Friends! You shouldn't all be sitting on the ground sad and depressed when it's such a good day out today!" He gleefully grabbed onto Blue's arm and the back of Fée's ruff and hauled them onto their feet. Then, with the delicacy of a Wailord in a pottery shop, he began to roughly dust them off with his paws.
"Ouch!" Blue winced and cried out when the Guildmaster accidentally brushed against his leg. Blue swatted at the Guildmaster with his paw, trying to get him to stop.
"Oh my!" Guildmaster Wigglytuff took a step back and dodged Blue's attack. The Guildmaster gazed at Blue's wounded leg with a mischievous look in his eye. He suddenly bent down and prodded Blue's leg playfully, eliciting more yelps of pain out of the poor Riolu.
"Cut it out!" Blue shouted angrily as he yanked his leg away from the annoying Guildmaster and scooted away. He warily watched the Guildmaster as he tried to keep his leg away from the pink Pokémon's prying paws.
"Ahem," Chatot coughed loudly, attracting everybody's attention. He gestured toward Blue and said in an oddly theatrical voice, "Well Blue! It looks like your leg is pretty badly injured, is it not?"
Blue glanced at him with a puzzled look in his eye. Didn't Chatot already know about his injury from earlier? Blue wondered why the bird was acting so strangely.
Chatot apparently didn't notice Blue's curious stare, as he turned around and faced Chimecho. He stretched out his wing and pointed at the little wind chime Pokémon and said in the same theatrical voice, "But it shouldn't be an issue, right Chimecho? You are the most most skilled doctor we have here in Wigglytuff's Guild, therefore you can cure his grievous injury in no time, or am I mistaken, Chimecho?""
"Err..." Chimecho looked startled as she was suddenly put on the spot. She glanced around everyone nervously as she tried to think of a way to answer the pompous bird, but she simply couldn't come up with anything.
"What?" Chatot said in a loud, shocked voice, "You mean to tell me that our new apprentice has such a severe wound that not even our greatest doctor can cure?! What an appalling situation we have here!"
Chatot leaned backward on one leg while covering his face melodramatically with his wing. Guildmaster Wigglytuff attempted to do the same pose, but his larger size and weight made him suddenly topple over backward instead.
Confused, Sunflora glanced over to Loudred for an explanation. Loudred, however, just shrugged and gave her an equally confused look while scratching his head.
"Um... Chatot?" Sunflora asked in a worried voice, "Are you feeling alright?"
"Blue!" The bird suddenly sprung up from his odd pose and rushed over to the Riolu. He grasped Blue's paws with both of his wings and proclaimed, "As second – in – command of this guild, I must apologize profusely to you for not being able to aid you in your most dire time of need!"
"Uhm... that's alright...?" Blue was completely dumbfounded by the bird's incredibly strange actions. He tried to pull his paw out from within Chatot's wings, but the bird had grabbed onto his paw tightly and wouldn't let go.
Chatot looked up at the ceiling and continued speaking in his loud, melodramatic voice, "Alas! If only there was a medicine that could cure all that ails you! A legendary panacea elixir if you will!"
Blue mulled over the bird's words for a second. Then, something odd stuck out to him.
"Hey wait a minute, did you just say Pana –"
"Oh woe is us, Guildmaster!" Chatot said in an overly emotional voice, interrupting Blue's sentence, "If only we had a way to procure this mysterious legendary Panacea for our wonderful new apprentice!"
"Oh woe for our new friend!" Guildmaster Wigglytuff said with a big smile on his face. Compared to what he just said, his facial expression was incredibly jarring and out of place. Everyone gaped at Guildmaster Wigglytuff in stunned silence, even Chatot.
"Oh, whoops!" Guildmaster Wigglytuff turned around and quickly rearranged his expression. When he turned back around, he had a sad frown on his face instead of his bright smile.
"Ahem!" Chatot quickly coughed to regain everybody's attention, "I – if only there were a pair of experienced explorers around here that might possibly know the location of such an auspicious medicine! Alas! If only!"
Chatot withdrew his wing and closed his eyes. Then, silence. Nobody spoke at all for a while after Chatot finished. The bird, sensing that something was wrong, opened one of his eyes and glanced over to Wigglytuff.
"Guildmaster?"
The Guildmaster had bent over the side of the water pool and was playfully splashing water around with his paw, completely ignoring what Chatot said. Their audience looked at Wigglytuff, then back at Chatot. Panicking, the bird rushed over the Guildmaster's side and hurriedly prodded the pink Pokémon with his beak.
"G – Guildmaster...!" he hissed in Wigglytuff's ear.
"What is it Chatot?" Guildmaster Wigglytuff said innocently, "Did you want to take a bath?"
Corphish and Loudred both snickered at the Guildmaster's words while the multicolored bird blushed furiously. He rapped Wigglytuff on the foot with his beak angrily, making the chubby Pokémon squeak in pain.
"Guildmaster!" Chatot hissed indignantly, "We were supposed to act this out, or have you forgotten?"
"Act...?" The Guildmaster held his paw up to his chin and pondered the bird's words for a moment. Then, as if a balloon had just popped inside his head, he suddenly clapped his paws together and smiled widely.
"Oh right! We were supposed to trick Blue and Fée into asking us about the Panacea by pretending that we didn't know what it was!" He turned to an aghast – looking Chatot with a proud expression on his face, "But the truth is, we know everything there is to know about the legendary medicine! Isn't that right, Chatot?"
Chatot smacked his face with his wing.