Sorry! Update was postponed on account of driving school.

Chapter 16: Family Emergency!

-Rio's POV-

"G'mornin', Rio." Meowth's call started to wake me up and I heard him continue, "G'mornin', Mana- AAH!" I jolted out of bed and looked around, seeing that Manaphy was gone.

Both of us looked around and I said, "Manaphy! Wh-where…!"

Meowth looked around behind the barrels, "He's not here. He can't 'ave gotten far; let's go look, Rio!"

We ran up the stairs and looked around the top of the bluff and through Treasure Town. When we got to the crossroads, we ran into Chatot.

"Ah, Team Righteous!" He smiled, "I was just on my way to see how Manaphy is doing! I trust Manaphy is doing well?"

I was hesitant to tell Chatot that we misplaced Manaphy, since I was the one to insist we take care of him. But Meowth spoke up first, "There's trouble! Manaphy… He's gone!"

"Wh-what?! Didn't I tell you two to take proper care of that baby? Didn't I?!" He flapped his wings, "Squawk! I'll look too! Manaphy's still a toddler. That baby couldn't have gotten too far. I'll look through the guild! You two search outside!" He flew back up the stairs.

I crossed my arms, "We already looked through Treasure Town, and surely one of our recruits would report to us if Manaphy wandered into Spinda Café…"

Meowth turned and started running down the road, "Meanin', if he's not at da beach, we need ta get da recruits an' fan out ta search." I followed him down the road to the beach. When we arrived, Meowth put his paws on his knees and caught his breath. He looked up and his eyes widened, "There he is!"

I looked past him and saw Manaphy standing near the ocean waves. I moved forward to Manaphy and said, "Manaphy! What are you doing here? Do you have any idea how worried we were?!" Meowth put his paw on my shoulder and walked up to Manaphy, "Kid, if ya wanted ta come here again, ya coulda just asked us." When Manaphy didn't answer, Meowth moved closer, "Manaphy?"

Suddenly, Manaphy fell towards the ground. Meowth caught him, "Manaphy? Manaphy!" He put a paw on Manaphy's forehead, "Oh no! Rio, help me out here! Manaphy's burning up!" I ran forward and picked up Manaphy and ran as fast and smoothly as I could, following Meowth back to Sharpedo Bluff. I laid Manaphy down on the bed.

Manaphy was still breathing, but we both stood by. I gnawed on my knuckle, trying to figure out why this could be happening. Chatot came down the stairs and said, "You've found Manaphy!"

I looked up to him and said, "Chatot! Manaphy is-" He rushed forward and placed a wing on Manaphy's forehead, "Ma-Manaphy! My goodness! He's running a frightful fever!"

Meowth sighed, "We know. We found him at da beach, but then he just fainted."

Chatot cringed, "… His illness must be caused by being in the wrong environment." He turned to us with a sad look, "Just as I'd thought, Manaphy is a Pokémon that needs to grow in the sea. Our environment is entirely unlike being in the sea. That's why this infant is ill."

I instantly felt terrible. "So, it's our fault…"

Chatot shook his head, "Hmm… Well, as things stand, remorse and regret won't help now. We need to focus on curing Manaphy's illness."

Meowth grew serious, "How do we do it?"

"Here's something I've heard… According to the Pokémon living in the sea, it seems that there is a cure-all item known as Phione Dew. That may be what it takes to cure Manaphy's illness."

Meowth nodded, "Got it. Where do we find it?"

"There are Pokémon called Phione that drift along the sea. They are said to produce Phione Dew. I believe the Phione live in an area to the west called the Miracle Sea."

"Gotcha."

I nodded, "We'll find the Phione Dew, no matter what!" We ran off to Spinda Café, and Meowth said, "Dash. Rose. With us; I'll explain on da way. Da rest of ya; figure it out yaselves. Damus is in charge." He ran out and I muttered a quick apology before I followed, Rose and Dash leaving as well.

Lagging behind, Rose said, "Um, Meowth, may I ask where we're going?"

He didn't look back as he said, "Miracle Sea. It's an emergency."

"Wait; if it's a sea dungeon then I can teleport us to the start of the ocean paths."

We all screeched to a halt and turned to look at Rose. "You can do that?" I asked.

She nodded, "I can teleport to any place that I've been to and take all of you with me if we're all touching."

I smiled, "Thank you." We all joined hands (or, in Dash's case, put them on his shoulders) and the scenery instantly changed to the ocean paths. As we started moving, Dash spoke up, "By the way, what's the emergency?"

Meowth started wading through the water on the path, "We need to find some Phione Dew. Manaphy's sick." I felt the mood instantly shift and we started wading through the water in silence.

-Vlad's POV-

A palpable silence stretched for a bit, before it was broken.

"Okay. The f*** was that all about?"

Damus turned to Savage, "Obviously, there was an urgent matter that needed their immediate attention. What it could be, I'm not sure, but we were told to pick our own tasks today." He looked through the missions that we had saved up and held up the gold-sealed envelope.

He looked at me, "Vlad, your report on the Pokémon in Mt. Avalanche?"

I rested my face in my hand as I drummed my fingers on the table with the other, "Well, Sunshine, I must say, if you've seen one frozen area, you've seen them all. They are the exact same ones found in Blizzard Island and Crevice Cave, the only differences being that there are no Glaceon or Snover and that there are Armaldo. It was quite dull, really." And still no trace. Perhaps I've looked in places that are too obvious…

My mind was prevented from wandering as Damus said, "Well then it's a shame that Rio is on a mission already; he would've been ideal for leading a mission there. Regardless, missions for today; Cathy, you have a Numel outlaw in Waterfall Cave. No type advantages, but you should be able to handle it."

Cathy nodded. I was briefly curious about how she would fare, but before I could think on it further, Damus continued.

"I will be going after a Dodrio-"

"Err…" Damus turned to Siltram, seeming offended that he was interrupted, "Yes, Siltram?"

Siltram cleared his throat, "Doduo and Dodrio outlaws are known to run away, I think that I should handle this one. I've been training a new technique since yesterday, and I'll be able to catch him right away."

Damus raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

Siltram nodded and Damus said, "Very well. Then I will be after a Cacnea outlaw at Mt. Horn."

"Savage and Penny, you have a rescue mission at the Northern Desert. Hogan, you're going after a Swinub outlaw in Crystal Cave. Vlad, you're on training today."

I groaned. I haven't had any fun missions since Foggy Forest. I know that it has merely been two days, but come on, these trivialities are getting quite annoying.

Hogan raised his hand, "If we're going our separate ways, we should get the bags that Meowth was making. We'll all be able to carry items with us to the dungeons."

I raised my hand, "I'll get them. Some of us aren't restrained to taking the long way." I floated over the table and slipped straight through the wall of the café, moving through the earth towards Meowth's home. I chuckled to myself as I passed by some tree roots. Sometimes, it's fun to show off.

I passed into the hollow of Sharpedo Bluff and was struck by the scene in front of me. Chatot squawked as I appeared in the room, but calmed down once I explained that I was one of Rio and Meowth's recruits (he didn't recognize me since I joined after their graduation).

I looked at Manaphy lying on the bed as I collected the four bags, "What happened?"

Chatot shook his head, "Manaphy came down with a fever from being outside of the sea. Rio and Meowth are on a mission to find Phione Dew for a cure."

My eyes widened, "Such a shame for a child to be suffering." So that's why Meowth was so short with us this morning. I can only imagine that they blame themselves and wish to get the cure as soon as possible. After all, they are the child's quasi-parents.

As I took my leave, I decided to keep this information to myself until all is said and done, as it would only cause undue worry on the rest of the team. In that case, it's actually very fortunate that I'll be training alone. Not that I'd tell anyone I was working with for the day.

I reapplied my usual apathetic mask and phased back into the café, "Here they are." I placed the bags on the table and practically shooed everyone away, "Go on; leave poor little old me all by my lonesome and have fun on your missions. Don't forget to write; you have until the count of three to leave, or there will be trouble." They all laughed (except Mr. Sunshine) and took the bags and left, probably to Kangaskhan Storage. After they were gone, I floated down to rest on a chair as I thought about Meowth and Rio, what I had observed of them in the past, and what I would do, were I in a similar situation to theirs.

"Jason…? Jason! NO!"

I shook my head clear and left the café to go to the dojo. Woe to anyone who stands in their way…

-Rio's POV-

"So… you got a new bow?" I fell into step next to Rose, since I couldn't stand the grim silence on the path anymore. But I knew that Meowth wouldn't be up for talking. He was far ahead of us and Dash was currently trying to cheer him up, with no visible effect. I needed to get my mind off of the severity of the situation. The bow was actually very nice; magenta with green trim on the edge.

Rose looked over and said, "Um, yes, Hogan found it for me two days ago. It lets my psychic attacks affect Dark-types. But I'm going to keep training my ability. The speed-boosts could come in handy." She looked down, "But I'm still not very far on the striking power."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Have you tried kicking? I mean, running around a lot should increase your leg strength, right? Why not give it a-" I stopped, seeing that she wasn't next to me anymore.

A few feet back, she stood stunned and then said, "That's brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?" She caught up and we kept walking, "Not only have my legs gotten stronger, but I can easily keep my balance afterwards. I was so focused on trying to punch things that I didn't consider trying anything else!"

"Because you were trying to impress someone?"

She turned to me again, confused, until she caught the undertone. She blushed, "Well, of course I want to be useful to the team."

"Rose."

"And, if something like this could impress them, then I guess-"

"Rose, it is written all over your face; in red."

Her arms dropped in defeat as we kept walking. A while passed before Rose finally asked, "Does anybody else know?"

"Meowth notices that you act weird when you're near Hogan, but it seems, for all his strategy, he's a little dense about stuff like this. As far as I know, everyone else, including Hogan, is entirely clueless. And, just so you know, I fully support your efforts."

She let out a sigh, "Well, since the secret's out, can you offer me some advice? Hogan was one of your first recruits; what can you tell me about him? I try to ask, but I always get too nervous…"

I thought about it for a while as we walked. "Well, he's very focused on his goals, which revolve mainly around getting stronger and pushing past his limits. He cares about others in his 'tough big brother' way. However, if you want to try getting his attention in that way, you might want to try a more direct approach. Hogan's never been one for dodging around things; he faces things head-on."

"But what if…"

Dash was suddenly in front of us, "What if what? Did I miss something?"

I waved my hand, "No. Did you have something to say, Dash?"

He looked over his shoulder, "Meowth is at the entrance to the dungeon. I came back here because he noticed you two were lagging behind. Anyway, I'm going back ahead; try to hurry a bit. Meowth's really on edge." He ran ahead and Rose and I started running as well.

I spoke up, "To answer your previous question, you won't know until you try." Rose remained quiet and after a bit, we caught up to Meowth and Dash at a shiny expanse of water where the path ended.

Meowth stood at the front, "Everybody ready?"

I said yes and Rose and Dash nodded. The four of us lined up and took a deep breath before jumping into the ocean. I felt the same pulling sensation that I felt at the Surrounded Sea. Soon after, we breached the surface and were in the dungeon. No escaping the tension now.

-Dodrio's POV-

I took a step back, but immediately retreated when I heard a squelch sound, "H-How did you find me? I made sure to cover my tracks going into this cave!"

The Muk in front of me pointed where his nose should be, "It's 'Brine Cave'. Everything in here smells like the sea. I just had to pin down the one thing that didn't." He was very small and had a pink bowtie, but that didn't matter when I was surrounded.

I looked at the corridor and the web of slime blocking it. If I jump and use Drill Peck, maybe I can tear straight through it…

"I wouldn't, if I were you. My slime is filled with poison; you won't be getting through unharmed. I'm giving you a chance to surrender peacefully." (AN: Pokédex entries from Silver, Crystal and all three Sinnoh games say that Muk's body contains/is made of deadly poison.)

I decided to try stalling as I figured a way out, "How are you doing this?! Why are the puddles moving?" When he arrived, after blocking the way out with that annoying slime net, he shot pieces of himself around the room, making puddles of slime everywhere. When I tried to jump over them, they moved outward and kept me boxed in before ferrying me into a circle. And they didn't just sit there; they writhed, like they were alive.

He chuckled, "It was just an idea first, but then after some training, I found out that everything is connected. I can control the pieces of my body, even when they're not touching me. Still needs a bit of work, though."

They're all connected? In that case…

I ran forward at double the speed I was running earlier and jumped over the perimeter, "Then if I attack you, they'll disappear!" Rapidly closing the distance, I readied Drill Peck and got ready to mow him down.

*Psh! Psh!*

My eyes widened and I looked back. The puddle closest to me had snagged my legs with slime tentacles. I cringed as I felt the poison affect me and the Muk said, "Yeah, no. See, I told you that I control the pieces of me, but my first fighting style was stretching and contortion. Now let me show you what else I learned, since you're interested in how I fight."

His left arm disappeared into his body and his right one swelled to double the size. "Expansion. Night-night~" The fist hit all of my heads and I blacked out.

-Rose's POV-

Going through here, after having just recently been through the Surrounded Sea, I am downright sick of sea dungeons. The scenery is nice, don't get me wrong; but after the novelty wears out, it gets tiring wading through water to get everywhere.

On top of that, Rio got separated from us at the beginning because of a Warp Trap. We met back up, and he was okay since he had the items, but he was really annoyed about being separated.

For me, personally, things got a lot smoother after I traced a Mantyke's Water Absorb ability. And since I'm the fastest of our group right now (not naturally, but still), I take on all of the water attacks, protecting the others when I can while healing myself. But other Pokémon knew other types of moves, so it wasn't a perfect plan.

While we were going through, the dungeon, just like the last one, put me through my paces. I learned Imprison. I didn't see much use of it, but it shows that I'm making progress. Also, Meowth learned Night Slash.

Unfortunately, we all took quite a beating throughout the dungeon. Even Rio and Meowth, the strongest members of our team, were struggling. I think the only thing that kept them on their feet was the fact that it wasn't just for fun; this was for Manaphy's sake. After using up three Reviver Seeds, we finally got to the waypoint.

Meowth and Rio walked up to the Kangaskhan Rock and hastily wrote in the book before leaning against the wall to rest for a while.

But it was only for a short time. Soon, they both stood up straight again and Meowth said, "We gotta move on. We gotta be gettin' close now."