Trevor opened his eyes to find himself back in the same world of morphing colors he had been in a month prior. He remained completely silent as he continued to float aimlessly amidst this sea of blinding lights.

"This dream again," he mused internally, his thoughts echoing in the silence. "Why am I-"

"Human?" A familiar voice rang out from the distance, significantly clearer than last time. "Is that you?"

Trevor eagerly called back. "Y-yes! Hello? What is this place? Who are you?"

A silhouette suddenly apparated itself in front of Trevor, small and with two feather-tipped tails. His heart began to pound ferociously as he awaited the shadow's next words.

"Human, it's about time you learn...wake up.

"Huh?"

"Wake up!"

"I don't..."

"C'mon, Treph, wake up!" The shadow quickly vanished as the world of colors began to tremble violently before dissipating into nothingness. Trevor wrenched open his eyes to find Aiden grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him violently.

"We're here!" Aiden remarked, motioning towards a massive expanse of red earth in the distance. Upon squinting, Trevor could just barely make out a cluster of massive volcanoes jutting out from the landmass, some of which erupted trails of smoke from their crevasses. Aiden took a deep whiff of the smoky air with a reminiscent expression. "Welcome to the Ash Continent."

Lily swam adjacent towards a pier which jutted from the red earth and motioned the pair to hop off. "You two have fun, now," she shouted while waving a fin, "I'll be right here when you need me!"

"Everything's gonna be fine," Aiden muttered to herself as she waved back dazedly, "Yeah, everything's gonna be juuuuust fine."

-

After walking through a winding path of blackened stone, the pair wound up in the center of Ore Point: a busy plaza bustling with tough, stern looking Pokémon. Instead of scarves and satchels, the Pokémon in Ore Point preferred hard hats alongside thick belts holding a variety of tools, many of which Trevor did not recognize. Stalls selling berries and incense were replaced by merchants displaying an array of shiny gems and colorful rocks. Between the screaming vendors, the stifling heat, and the overbearing smell of ash which lingered in the air, Trevor couldn't help but stagger slightly as he felt his head begin to spin violently. Nonetheless, he continued forwards while squinting at the flyer.

"I think we're supposed to meet our client here, the center of the plaza. You doing okay, Aiden?"

Trevor looked upwards from his flyer to see Aiden jittering nervously, a strained smile plastered across her face. "Yep, everything's gonna be juuust fine. Let's just find our client and get this over wi-"

"Hey! Long time no see!"

Aiden instantly tensed up upon hearing a deep, gruff voice which Trevor did not recognize. As he turned his head to find the voice's source, he found himself face-to-face with a lean Raboot, his yellow eyes burning with intensity as he pulled his jacket down to reveal a sly, condescending smile. His entire body was stained with soot and ash.

"It's been too long," he stated while shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, "...Lil' Sis!"

-

Aiden's uncanny smile stretched to the corners of her face upon seeing the Raboot face-to-face, beads of sweat travelling down her neck. "H-hey, Sid! Good to see you, man! How've you been?" Aiden abruptly turned towards Trevor with wide, manic eyes. "Treph, this is my big brother, Sidney! Sidney, this is my friend and fellow explorer, Trevor! I'm sure that you'll become the best of pals!"

Trevor tentatively extended a paw out, only for Sidney to remain completely still with eyes filled with disgust. He hastily retracted it.

"Seriously though, how've you been?! How're Mum and Dad doing? C'mon, talk to me here!"

"Don't pretend like you care," Sidney stated flatly. The siblings stared silently into each others' eyes for what seemed like hours as Trevor awkwardly stood nearby.

Aiden began swiveling her head, looking around the plaza. "Aaanyways, nice catching up and all, but we've got a client to meet for a mission. Y'know, explorer business and all, haha! We need to get going, let's catch up later!"

Sidney's eyes lit up. "Oh, a mission! Sounds exciting! Dreamstone, right? At the Forlorn Mines?"

"H-how did you..."

"You needed to find your client, right? Well, search no more, he's right here! I managed to catch word about you forming your little team, and knew I had to celebrate face to face! So, I decided to make a little request to have my mission delivered straight to your home so that we could have a little...face-to-face chat!"

"So that flyer was a trap..." Aiden quietly murmured. Trevor ashamedly looked away, having completely and utterly fallen for it.

"Well? I'm your client, so shouldn't we get going?" Sidney raised his hands, then placed them firmly on Trevor and Aiden's shoulders. "It'll be fun, we'll enter the dungeon, search for the stone, and maybe even...break the ice in the meantime!"

Aiden forced a large, bucktoothed smile. "Yeah," she proclaimed through gritted teeth, "It'll be fun, alright! Just like old times!" Trevor felt his heart strain from unease as the three left the plaza in absolute silence, waves of tension emanating from the stone-faced siblings.