Warning: Mentions of violence/gore.

Chapter 29: Exchanging Information

-Growlie's POV-

All of us were out of our Poké Balls as Meowth introduced us to his team, sticking to the story that we had given. I had been nervous when I saw the same Gengar that we encountered yesterday, as had James, but he curtly offered his name and then ignored us. The Breloom, whom another introduced as Mel, was looking at him.

"So since we met dis team yesterday, an' they asked ta train wit' Rio an' me, we'll be working wit' them."

The Manectric, Dash, spoke up, "So are you and their leader friends or something?"

Realizing that they were talking about me, Meowth and I looked at each other, and I said, "More like acquaintances. He's worked with my other teammates before, though. Also, I'm not the leader. I actually joined latest." Technically true, since I stayed at the manor before James had me transferred.

Before meeting with Meowth's team, he gave us a crash course on inconsistencies of this world to avoid any slip-ups. Trainers do not exist here, Pokémon only evolve at a place called Luminous Spring, and do not talk about Poké Balls.

Hogan, the Machoke, grinned and said, "Hey, any friend of Meowth's is a friend of ours! Just watch your step around Savage. He's kinda punch-happy."

"F*** off."

Mime Jr. tapped Cacturne on his leg, "Cacturne, what does 'f***' mean?"

Cacturne looked at her in shock, "Uh, you don't need to know. Just don't go repeating that."

"Anywho," Meowth said, "since we'll be busy trainin' wit' Growlie an' da others, we'll hand out jobs now, and then leave it to ya."

The Gengar, Vlad, rose his hand, "I'd actually like to request the day off. I'm still feeling lingering pains from yesterday's undertaking."

Rio nodded, "Sure, Vlad."

Vlad nodded back before walking out of the room. On the way out, I could've sworn that he sent me a glare, though I don't know why. We met yesterday and he interrogated us, but I haven't done anything to him.

Meowth and Rio gave out the rest of the "jobs" to the teammates, who all nodded and passed around bags as they grouped up for different tasks, some of them going solo. Their self-sufficiency stunned me. I guess it's similar to being a wild Pokémon, but you can train yourself. Maybe this world has slightly smarter Pokémon than back home if they can learn moves and strategize by themselves.

"Oh, an' Levi, before ya leave, we got a question for ya," Meowth said, holding out his paw.

The Honchkrow tilted his head, "Hm? And what would that be?"

Rio motioned for him to walk with them, "We'll need to visit your home. We need your help finding a book about a particular subject."

Levi nodded, "Well, if I have it, I'll gladly loan it to you. Follow me." He lifted off the ground and flew up the stairs, waiting at the top.

Rio turned around and said, "We'll meet up at the dojo. You can go ahead and start without us." I nodded in response and I knew that James had nodded as well.

After Rio and Meowth left, the Absol spoke up, "Very well; you all have your assignments and-" I turned when he stopped speaking. Damus looked around, "Where is Mel?"

Everybody looked around, and the Glaceon, Cathy, said, "Maybe she left already? She was going solo, after all. Just a simple outlaw mission; maybe she wanted a head start."

Damus frowned slightly, but shrugged it off, "Just as well, so long as she gets it done. As for the rest of us, let's move out."

The team broke off in sets of one or two. The Muk, Siltram, left last and whispered, "Good luck with training. Hope Rio and Meowth don't decide to kick things off with a sparring match."

Carnivine said, "We've worked with Meowth before. I'm sure it'll be fine."

The Siltram nodded, "Yeah, but I'm guessing you've never seen them fight together. No better tag team. Between you and me, us recruits have actually been voting on who would win in a fight between them."

Chimecho huffed, "Well, that's not very nice!"

Siltram shrugged as he left, "If you saw them fight together, you'd wonder too."

After he left, James cleared his throat and said, "Well, let's go. The dojo awaits."

-Mel's POV-

I headed straight to the beach, deciding that stocking up for the mission could wait. Something is off with Vlad. He's never acted so cold when meeting someone. Granted, I've known him the least amount of time, but I know that he likes to interact. One major sign that something was wrong was that he walked out instead of going through the ceiling.

Sure enough, once I arrived, Vlad was sitting on the beach. He was staring at the ocean. I walked up and he just wordlessly patted the ground next to him. I sat down, and waited patiently for him to start.

He paused for a long time, "…Thank you for seeing me. I suppose you're wondering what was going on."

I wrote in the sand, "I just wanted to check on you. I've never seen you act like that."

He chuckled darkly, "Nobody has. Because, whether through luck or because Meowth knows that the type is obsolete with our type coverages, there isn't a single Fire-type on this team."

I raised an eyebrow. What do Fire-types have to do with this?

Sighing, Vlad said, "It's nothing personal against the Growlithe, but… Fire brings back bad memories for me. That's why the ocean calms me down."

I put my hand on his shoulder and tilted my head. Do you want to talk about it?

Vlad looked back at me and seemed to consider it for a long time before saying, "If I tell you, I need your word that you won't tell another soul. I'd prefer to avoid the pretended sympathy. I received enough from my old acquaintances several decades ago."

I crossed my heart. Promise.

Vlad's eyes glowed and the beach disappeared to be replaced with a forest. Vlad had also disappeared. I heard his voice in my head.

Unlike the other times, it's not necessary for me to be visible. I'm simply controlling your dream to show you a memory.

I nodded and looked around. I seemed to be in Apple Woods. I heard footsteps padding and turned. A Raticate charged a tree and rammed into it, making it drop a few Apples. He picked them up and put them in a sack, which was already quite full.

He smiled, "Very well, this should be enough to keep us stocked. Hmm, maybe I should get a little extra. We are welcoming a new family member after all." I was shocked when I recognized the voice.

Yes, I was quite handsome for a Raticate.

I said out loud, "You had a family?"

Vlad was silent for a long time as his past self continued gathering Apples. Yes. Had a family.

The scenery changed again and I was standing by a crude house made out of large pieces of wood on a plain. The wood itself looked like it was bitten off from the trees that it came from, but the house looked pretty cozy. I smiled. Vlad must have built that himself.

Raticate-Vlad scurried into the house with the bag of apples, "I'm home, my sweet angel~"

I heard a giggle and stepped forward looking in the next room. A Vulpix was curled around an egg on a straw bed.

"Welcome home, sweetie. You're just in time; I think the egg is about to hatch." Putting down the apples, he rushed forward and stood next to the bed as the egg started wiggling back and forth. It shined brightly and then, once the light faded, a baby Vulpix was curled up, letting out a yawn as it woke up.

Vlad's mate nuzzled the baby, "We still have to name him."

Vlad thought, "A boy, hm? How about Jason? Sounds strong and smart; is that all right with you?"

She smiled, "Sounds wonderful."

I felt something run down my face and wiped it away. I'm crying. This is just such a beautiful moment. But-

You must be wondering why I'm showing you this. I listened as Present-Vlad continued. I have to say that while I still consider this the best day of my living life, it was also my last. I suppose I just wanted to remember fonder times before cutting to the center of the issue.

The scenery changed again and I was still in the house, but it was night now. Past-Vlad was asleep on the large straw bed with his family. They were all sleeping peacefully until he sniffed the air in his sleep. His fur bristled and he started waking up, rubbing his eyes as he sniffed the air again and said, "Dear… Dear, wake up!" The two of them woke up and the baby Vulpix started whining.

Vlad said, "We need to get out of here! There's-"

He was cut off as fire poured in through the window, eating away at the walls and ceiling of the room. Vlad's mate jumped in front of him and absorbed the flames shielding Vlad, but the room started crumbling apart. Beams of splintered, burning wood started falling and Vlad's mate quickly grabbed their son by the scruff of his neck with her mouth and threw him to Vlad, pushing them out of the room as it caved in.

Vlad got up and looked on, horrified, "Isabelle!" Jason was feebly digging at the wood, revealing a paw underneath. Vlad dug also, biting apart large pieces of wood in his way, careful to avoid the flames on them. Once her upper body was revealed, cut and bruised but otherwise intact, he started digging further to get her out. But she stopped him.

She shook her head, "Get out of here. I'm not going to make it. Leave me."

Vlad shook his head, "I'm not leaving you! I'm going to get us all out of here and get you help, and everything will be all right, you'll see!" He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than her; continuing to dig her out, heedless of the spreading fire.

Isabelle shook her head, "I can't feel anything anymore, Derek." As Vlad dug further back, a pool of blood on the ground was revealed. She smiled, "You gave me more than a lifetime's worth of happiness. Leave and save yourselves. I'm… already… too far… gone." She closed her eyes and took her last breath.

Vlad shook with grief, but as the house started creaking, he picked up Jason and ran away. He barely made it out of there before the house collapsed and burst into flames. Vlad looked back at the house sadly, before closing his eyes in resignation and turning away.

"Come, Jason, we need to go get…" Vlad trailed off as he saw footprints of burnt grass leading to and away from the house. Further down the plain, an orange light shone, as if from a walking fire.

I shook my head, "No. No, don't."

And yet I did.

"Jason. Wait here, and don't follow me, whatever you do." Vlad put Jason down on the ground and ran off. Jason followed, but Vlad looked back and turned around, putting him back at the same spot and pointing to the ground for him to stay. Jason sat down and Vlad left again. I followed after him.

He eventually caught up with the source of the light, revealed to be a Magmar. Vlad rushed and his body became outlined with purple as he used Pursuit on its back. The Magmar put a foot forward to balance itself and grunted in surprise.

The Magmar turned around as Vlad jumped back with a burn on his face from attacking Magmar's flame body. "Well, well, seems a rat escaped my fun. You would have done better to flee without me knowing. Now, I'll make sure to leave no witnesses."

Vlad just growled back and leaped forward, fangs bared. The Magmar just barked a short laugh and used Fire Punch, intercepting him mid-flight.

As Vlad fell to the ground, Magmar spat, "Pathetic. Don't you know that an enraged opponent is the easiest to beat? Are you mad that you're the sole survivor of my playtime?"

Vlad growled again and rolled to his feet, his teeth bared and glowing.

"Ooh, there goes your temper again. Is this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated?" He laughed as he shot a Fire Spin, surrounding Vlad with a ring of flames. "I'm done here. As fun as this is, I have plans, so I'm going to have to cut this short."

He opened his mouth and flames started gathering, but then an Ember attack hit him in the side of the face. Cutting off the attack, he slowly turned and looked at Jason.

Vlad called from the ring of flames, "Jason! I told you to wait!"

"So, more witnesses? No problem." He walked over towards Jason who shot another Ember attack, but it didn't faze Magmar in the slightest. When he was about to reach him, Vlad charged through the flames, gritting his teeth as his fur caught fire. With Magmar still focused on reaching for Jason, Vlad jumped on Magmar.

"You stay away from my son!" Vlad latched onto his shoulder and bit down, using Hyper Fang on Magmar's eye. Magmar screamed out in pain and pulled Vlad off, but not before Vlad bit down again, leaving a sizable cut across Magmar's now gushing eye-socket.

But the victory was short-lived as Magmar held Vlad up and hit him with a Flamethrower at point-blank range. He threw Vlad away and then grabbed Jason, who was paralyzed in fear. He turned to Vlad, his fur burned and parts of his skin burned off, but still alive, and said, "Your son, eh? Well, that'll make it all the sweeter for me when I do this." Gripping the top of Jason's head, he twisted it, snapping his neck with an audible crack.

I put my hands to my mouth and Past-Vlad stared in horror.

Magmar threw Jason like a ragdoll. Vlad's eyes followed his form as he landed with a final thud, and he whispered, "Jason…? Jason! NO!" He sobbed bitterly, "I promised that… you would be safe!"

Magmar laughed, "Pity that he was immune to my fire attacks. I would've liked to make his death much slower." Vlad growled and tried to stand, but his legs buckled underneath him. This just made him laugh harder, "Don't bother; you're not going to be long for this world either. I'll tell you what, since I'm feeling particularly merciful this evening, I'll go ahead and send you to apologize."

Vlad growled something, and the Magmar leaned closer, "Excuse me?"

"You… won't get away with this…! I'll make sure… you… suffer!"

The Magmar smirked, still bleeding out of his eye socket, "Duly noted." He used Flamethrower and Vlad writhed as his flesh burned away.

The scene disappeared and we were on the beach again, Vlad facing the ocean. He didn't look at me as he said, "Now you know the truth. Derek died, and I was born as a byproduct of anger and vengeance; unable to be with my angel and my son. I suppose you want to leave-"

I pulled him into a hug. He stiffened in surprise, "W-why-"

"You idiot. I'm your friend aren't I? Why would I leave now? Why would I have any reason to do that?" I pulled away, "And you have every right to be angry at that Magmar. But you're not just anger and revenge. You're full of mischief and cheer and even caring."

He smirked, "Hey, don't go spreading that last one. I have a reputation to uphold."

I smiled, "See? There it is. Revenge isn't your sole driver. You're right that Derek died, but you have a new chance, so take it."

He looked over the sea, "I aim to. But, first, I made a promise. One that I mean to keep, as soon as I find him."

I nodded, "Your secret's safe with me."

"I believe you. You should get going on your mission. You know how Sunshine feels about tardiness." The dream vanished and I woke up on the beach. Vlad was gone, but I smiled, glad that he trusted me with his secret.

-Rio's POV-

Meowth and I watched as Levi flitted from stack to stack of books. When he said he stashed a lot of books, he wasn't kidding. It's a wonder his nest hasn't crashed to the ground.

He hovered in the center of the stacks now, "Sorry guys, I don't have any books on space or its distortions."

I sighed, "I see. Thank you anyway."

"But…" He flew down to a short stack of books, which I guess was his "frequently read" pile as indicated from the feathers acting as bookmarks. Taking a slightly thinner one, he put it on the ground and used his feet to turn the pages. Pointing with his wing, he indicated a picture of a massive Pokémon with gems in its shoulders. "In this book it gives a detailed description of the Pokémon that oversees all of space."

I picked up the book for both Meowth and I to read. "Palkia"… Closely related to Dialga, this being can distort space itself. It is said to reside in Spacial Rift.

I handed Meowth the book and said, "So if we meet Palkia, we can learn more about the space distortions!"

Levi sputtered, "Meet Palkia?! I mean, I know you've met Dialga, but… I hate to burst your bubble, but Spacial Rift is, as the name implies, within a crack in space itself. Nobody can get there, unless you're Palkia."

Thinking it over, I turned to Meowth, "Maybe we could go to Brine Cave and ask Lapras if he knows where it is?"

Meowth shook his head as he kept reading, "I don't tink dat's Lapras' turf. He's da guide to da Hidden Land, but I don't tink he'd know anythin' about it. Plus, we don't know if we could call 'im again." (AN: In my fanfiction, Lapras left after dropping Meowth off. I just changed this because I would've found it extremely weird for him to be waiting at the beach all the time, and disappearing whenever I have a scene there. Which, as you've probably noticed, is a lot of times.)

After Meowth handed the book back, Levi lifted off into the air and tilted his head in a slight bow, "Sorry that I can't be of more help…"

I waved my hand, "No, no, it's no problem. Thank you for the information, we'll continue investigating this after training."

We dropped down from the nest in the tree, and Levi flew off to do his mission. Meowth seemed to be deep in thought. I tapped him on the shoulder, "Poké for your thoughts?"

"Uh, nothin'. Hey, can I borrow da Treasure Bag? I wanna go restock our items from da last exploration."

I raised an eyebrow, "…Meowth. The last time you were this deep in thought was right before you pretended to side with Dusknoir. You're not planning another 'strategy', are you?"

He looked at me shocked and said, "No! No… 'S just… I had forgotten about Palkia an'… I gotta bad feelin' that… Since Cresselia couldn't disappear us herself… I tink that she might go straight to da big man 'imself about it."

I balked, "But you said-!"

He nodded, "I said it was probably a mistake, yeah. But I don't tink Palkia'll know dat. An' if Cresselia were ta tell 'im dat we were ta blame, he'd be over faster than ya can say 'uh-oh'."

I stared at Meowth and he took my silence as a sign to continue, "You go ahead an' head to da dojo an' meet up wit' James an' da others. I'll stock up our Treasure Bag an' drop it off at da bluff before joinin' ya."

I nodded and passed him the Treasure Bag, before we headed back to town and split up. I pinched the area between my eyes in frustration as I waited for the others to exit the maze. Why us? Haven't we been through enough with stopping the planet's paralysis? Now we have another legendary Pokémon after us, supposedly just as powerful as Dialga, whom we could barely beat when he was half-crazed.

I sighed. Still, I suppose it's better to be aware of the threat, rather than be caught off-guard. I sure am lucky that Meowth thinks these kinds of things through.

I heard a voice call out, "Ah, Rio! Did you find what you were looking for?" I looked up and saw Cacturne in front of me.

I shook my head, "No, but we found a bit of useful information. Meowth will be along shortly. So, let's start training."

Cacturne paused, as if noticing that my heart wasn't in it, before saying, "You know, I've trained with a really good Grass-type trainer in my world. I bet I could take you on!"

My blood stirred at the challenge and I leaned forward, smirking, "You think so? I'm pretty strong myself. And I've fought against opponents that are thrice my size, and some even larger than that. How about we take this inside my training ground?"

Cacturne laughed and said, "That's what I like to hear! Let's go!"