Chapter 5: Silver Temptations 1
For several days, Team Marmalade found a comfortable routine. Listen to the daily meeting, go out to town to prepare, choose a job, then find what had been asked for or locate a lost Pokemon or arrest an outlaw Pokemon, then come back to the Guild. Stacy would spend time with her brothers, Trey would study sign language, Kip sometimes checked in with his parole officer Mika or found some chore to do around the guild, and Sally found sewing projects to do when she wasn't helping Trey with sign language.
Kip still wasn't allowed any money or treasures, but Trey and Sally came to a secret agreement to split the reward money unevenly, so that Stacy got plenty of money to take care of her brothers. "I'm used to making do with much much less," the Treecko said to the human. "And you seem to be all right with that new armored skin you've got."
Sally had to agree with that. Now that she remembered even having it, she could activate her armored skin with the press of a button on her strange armbands. She saved it for the dungeons, though. When coming back to town or the Guild, she would switch back to her usual accessories. Except, she had also figured out how to change them. When she put in a command for either her armored skin or different accessories, a column of light would come over her. When it vanished, she would be in her new outfit. They came in lots of different colors and styles. Sally told Trey that the tops were properly called 'shirts' and the bottoms… well the bottoms were known by various names depending on what they were. Long ones that covered both legs were 'pants', short ones that covered both legs were 'shorts', and the really loose ones that went around both legs were called 'skirts'. One time, she wore something called a 'dress', a one piece outfit that covered her from shoulders to knees.
It seemed very complicated, but a few pictures in the human sign language book seemed to show that this over-accessorization was common among humans.
There came one morning that Sally had a question, which she related to Trey right before the daily meeting. "I probably could have answered it myself, but she wants to know if it's really all right for us to be fighting the wild Pokemon," Trey explained to the others. "Because they're like us."
"They are not like us," Larry argued. "They're wild, after all."
"That's not true," Chiaka said. "You can help wild Poemon become civilized, sometimes."
"But then they're not wild," Larry said.
"Yes, but they were."
"Like I was wild at one point," Trey said. "But I got brought into Treasure Town as a young child."
"To answer the question," Charlie interrupted, "if wild Pokemon approach you, it's okay to fight them. They might be looking for a challenge too. And some of them are half-wild, speaking and sometimes even having their own name. Those ones might want help in becoming more civilized. So you let them tag along with you and talk with them. Most of the time, though, they won't want to leave their home dungeon."
"Although sometimes you come across ones that just want to protect their home," Bartleby added. "If you know you're dealing with a wild Pokemon like that, it's nice to make them think you're intimidated by them."
At the end of the meeting, Charlie added, "And we have a special announcement. In the coming days, our Guild will be setting out for a full exploration of an unknown region."
All of the apprentices got excited. "Really?" "How exciting!" "Oh my gosh!"
The Chatot held up a wing for quiet. "We have yet to decide who we are taking on this expedition. It will take several days to complete it. So do your best the next few days and prove that you deserve to go on the big trip!"
There were cheers and happy talk about working extra hard to go on the big exploration. Team Marmalade grinned at each other. "That would be awesome," Trey said.
"Kip couldn't go," Stacy said, a little disappointed for him.
He touched his paw to his nose. "Well, it depends on my parole officer's judgment. Maybe I'll actually be polite to sparky for a bit. Would be nice to get out of this neck of the woods for a few days."
Charlie called Team Marmalade to stay after the daily meeting. "I've got a new kind of job in for you. All of the others are already off on missions, so you get the special one. And it will be good practice if you get picked on the big trip."
"A special mission?" Stacy asked, curious.
The Chatot nodded. "Yes, quite exciting. You get to explore an unexplored Mystery Dungeon!"
"Really? Great! Where do we find it?"
"Here is the report we received," he said, handing over a paper. "It will give you the coordinates for the entrance that was found. The witness did not go inside, so we have no idea what lies within. However, it shouldn't be too difficult."
They looked over the paper. "I think we can find the place," Trey said. "it seems to be just up the river."
"Great! Good luck, Marmalade."
They followed the river upstream. Trey and Stacy talked excitedly about exploring a new place. Sally seemed excited and happy too. Kip kept quiet, looking around for one reason or another.
At the end of the path, they came upon a strong waterfall. The energetic water had carved out a deep crevice below the ground, crashing into a pond a hundred feet below them. The pond fed into the main river while a good sized rocky hill led them right to the edge of the curtain of water. "Well this is where the dungeon is supposed to be," Stacy said. "Doesn't look like much."
"I don't like the looks of that waterfall," Kip said. "If you slipped off there, boom! You'd be out like a light and you wouldn't know where you'd wind up downstream."
"You're right. Maybe there's some trick to this. Look around, guys."
They searched. Sally went up to the waterfall and put her hand under the spray of water. As it turned out, the water was coming down so forcefully that it stung her hand. She jerked it back. As she did, she seemed to have one of those headaches. She stumbled back.
"Hey, careful there," Kip said, darting away from her foot. "Don't go stepping on my tail."
"One of those things again?" Stacy asked, coming up to her. "I wonder what it is."
Once her mind cleared up, she knelt down and put her fingers over Stacy's eyes. She transferred another vision: at this waterfall… it was a bit dim… a shadowy figure came up and looked at the waterfall… it backed up, then rushed at the water at full speed. It went right through the water and landed in a cave behind the waterfall. Past that, there was a strange cave opening, a Mystery Dungeon.
"Whoa, huh?" Stacy looked at the waterfall. "You think it could be like that?"
Sally nodded; she seemed to have confidence in it.
"Like what?" Trey asked.
"She showed me something. It looked like someone ran at the waterfall as fast as it could go, then passed right through and found the dungeon past the water."
"Aw, so somebody else has already been inside?" Kip asked.
"Jump into the waterfall?" Trey asked.
"Do you have some kind of magic power, Sally?" Stacy asked. "You get those headaches, and then you see something you can show the rest of us."
She nodded, then put her hand back in the waterfall.
"I think it happens whenever she touches something or someone," Trey said. "Like that vision with Azeri, she had touched his apple and gave it back to him. And then later, she touched the Drowzee guy, Fred, right?"
"Mr. Fred," Stacy said with some disdain. "You're right."
Kip twitched his ears. "That's some crazy power, though, since you have to have a headache to see anything. I wouldn't want it."
She shrugged, then pointed to the waterfall.
"Yes, let's try it out," Stacy said. "I trust Sally. And, I can be brave."
"Easy for you to say, Water type," Kip countered. "Well, I'll give it a shot. I'll curse you all if I drown, though."
"Okay, so we have to run at it really fast." Stacy moved back. "Okay, here I go!" She raced at the waterfall and jumped.
"Did she make it?" Kip asked.
"I don't hear her, but that waterfall is loud. I'm going!" Trey ran at and jumped in the waterfall.
"Well, I guess." Kip ran through, soon followed by Sally.
Behind the water, there was a surprisingly large cavern. A tunnel at the other side emitted the wild magic that Mystery Dungeons contained. Stacy's eyes seemed to sparkle. "So the vision was right!"
"This place looks undisturbed," Trey said. "So maybe we are the first."
"But Sally showed me someone coming in here," Stacy said.
"Well the Azeri thing was in the future, by several days the first time. So maybe someone will follow us."
"Huh, that could be. Okay! Let's go!" They went inside.
The dungeon was damp and cool, with the sounds of the waterfall rushing by or over them. The passages were stone stairs that tended to be slick. As they went deeper inside, the cave grew warmer.
After ten levels, they came upon a dead end level. But not just any dead end. Dozens of beautiful gemstones littered the floors and walls. On the ceiling, a large white crystal shone, giving the room light. Dark tunnels sat on either side and it was impossible to tell if there were drop-offs back there.
"Wow, this place is so beautiful," Stacy said in awe.
"Yeah… hey, look at this!" He moved over to a red jewel that sat in the wall. "This is almost as big as the two of us!"
The Skitty, though, was hunkered down, looking at the ground. "I don't want those, I don't want those," he muttered over and over again.
"I guess he has to overcome his thieving habits," Stacy said quietly. Then louder, she added, "Maybe we can pull it out and bring it back to show everyone."
"Yeah, they'd all be amazed." Trey took hold of it, then pulled backwards with all the strength in his body. "Ugh…. It's… really stuck in there." He let go and flexed his hands. "Ooo, that hurt my fingers."
"Why don't you try, Sally?" Stacy said. "You're biggest."
She nodded, then tried to pull it out. But although she was the biggest, she had problems getting a grip on the red jewel. Eventually, she shook her head. She couldn't get it out either.
"Maybe if the two of us try," Trey suggested.
"We can try." She went to take hold of it with the Treecko.
Sally grimaced under another vision, but snapped out of the confusion sooner. She clapped to get their attention, but something else had happened. Stacy had managed to push it into the wall, triggering a clicking sound.
"Well it moved," Stacy said. There was a trembling underfoot. "Wh-what's going on?"
Sally looked around but before she could find a way out, a wall of water rushed at them from the left side of the room, sweeping them all away. The force of water shot them up a strange tunnel, then fired them into the air. The three Pokemon were flung far into the air, landing into a hot pool of water.
"Oh my goodness," Stacy said.
Kip thrashed in the water until he found his way out. His fur was weighed down, making him look smaller than usual. "Ugh, my cute fur. I went out of my way to avoid getting wet!"
"Oh dear," an elderly Torkoal said. "Where did you three come from?"
"We were in a Mystery Dungeon at the waterfall…" Trey said.
"At the waterfall? My, you've come a long way. This is the Hot Springs."
"Elder Torkoal? So this is where you hang out?" the Treecko asked.
He nodded with his ember-red head. "Most days, yes."
Stacy looked around. There was a Mankey and a Primeape also in the hot springs pool. But, "Wait a sec… where's Sally?"
"Well she was bigger and heavier than us," Trey said. "She probably didn't get flung as far."
The Squirtle went out of the water. "We should go find her. She might have got hurt."
Before they left, though, Sally came up the path to them. Her armored skin looked muddy, but she seemed to be okay. She clapped her hands and smiled when she saw them.
"Oh good. Well that was strange."
"Why don't you relax here a little while before you head back?" the elder suggested. "It seems you kids have been through some crazy adventure."
"We have. Thanks. Anyone have any objections?"
"I'm gonna find a sunny spot and dry off," Kip said in irritation.
Sally indicated that she was going to find another pool of water to wash off the mud, so Stacy and Trey went back into the hot springs and chatted with the other visitors.
On their way back, Sally showed Stacy and Trey what she had seen when she had touched the jewel (as Kip was still mad and wet-fur spiky). The same shadowy figure they had seen jump in the waterfall had also found the red jewel. It had tried to get it out, but wound up pushing it. That Pokemon had gotten swept away by the indoors tsunami as well.
"So that's what you were trying to warn us about," Stacy said.
"Probably all of those jewels were booby-trapped," Kip grumbled. "Dungeons tend to do that to be cruel to treasure hunters."
"I know that Pokemon!" Trey said. "That was Guildmaster Bartleby!"
"Really?" Stacy thought. "It did seem like him, at least the outline."
"And how many other Wigglytuffs do you know of? Especially in exploring? I think it was the Guildmaster. We should ask him if he was ever there."
When they told Bartleby of this over dinner, his reply was, "Maybe I was there. Ah, sweet memories!" He whistled happily.
"Maybe?" Charlie asked. "You told me you didn't recognize the coordinates yesterday."
Bartleby rolled the day's Perfect Apple across his head. "I think I was. A great big whoosh that drops you off in the Hot Springs? Yeah, that sounds about right. But good work! That's a nice little dungeon there in… what's it called?"
"It doesn't have a name yet," Charlie said in exasperation.
"You could just call it Waterfall Cave," Trey pointed out. "Just warn everybody that the jewels at the end are probably all booby trapped."
"We'll definitely record that," the Chatot noted.
-+-
Trey picked a paper off the Job board. "How's this one, Stacy? A collector wants us to find a Silver Acorn from Apple Woods."
"Oh that sounds relaxing, compared to the last few missions," she said, looking over the paper. "Especially that Voltorb mess yesterday."
"My fur's still singed in places from that," Kip grumbled.
"You're going into Apple Woods?" Charlie asked. "Could I ask you to do an errand for the guild?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"We like to keep a good supply of Perfect Apples around," he told them. "As you've probably noticed, the Guildmaster is nuts for them. But Perfect Apples only grow deep in large forests, on trees over a hundred years old. If you could bring some back, that would be great."
"We'll look, but we also have to find this Silver Acorn," Stacy said.
Apple Woods was a cheery forest, thick with trees that were leafy and full of fruit. Patches of violets and pansies grew all over, underneath apple trees, oak trees, cherry trees, and walnut trees. Finding the singular kind of oak tree that would produce a Silver Acorn, a Grand Silver Oak, would take a thorough search.
Kip went with Trey this time. The Skitty hopped over to a shiny blue orb on the ground. "Ha-hah, I have found a… ah rock smash, it's just a Hurl Orb." He hurled it into the trees.
"It would be pretty funny to see you use that with a large Pokemon," Trey joked.
"Bah. 'mon, it ain't no fun no more."
Trey looked over his partner, concerned. Kip seemed restless, looking around and darting to anything he saw, then getting disappointed when it turned out to be regular dungeon items. He didn't even seem happy to pick up coins, even though he had to turn them all over to Trey anyhow. The former thief was supposedly improving, but what if he got restless and bored, only to slip into his old habits?
"Now if that had been a Trawl Orb, that would be something different." His tail moved a bit higher and he seemed slightly cheered. "Use one of those things and bam, everything in the dungeon comes right to your feet. Well every thing, not everyone. Although I did love to use Rollcall Orbs to mess with everybody. That's one sure fire way to get away from a pesky outlaw hunting team; get a few steps from them and call on every single wild Pokemon in the dungeon to beat on them while you skedaddle." He paused, twitching his ears. "Course, now I got to watch for outlaws who do that to me instead. Bah." He looked disappointed again.
Maybe if he distracted him. "What kind of treasure is your treasure, you think? That light of the darkness you mention sometimes."
"I don't know what that thing is," he stated. It seemed to work; his mind focused on that. "I just know that when I see it, I'll know it. I think I might have owned it one time, you know, like Stacy owns that weird stone charm with the winged wheel or whatever that thing is. But the darkness blurred my old memories, seems like. I was pretty far gone."
"Maybe it's… oh hey, look at that tree."
They had run across a massive, broad, tall, and ancient looking oak tree. The leaves were intriguing: dark green on top and silvery green on bottom. The trunk and branches were so snarled up that even Stacy would be able to climb up it. There were a great many acorns hanging on the branches.
"Hey girls, I think we found the right tree!" He looked back up it. "Or at least one that's very close. I would call that a Silver Oak. Not sure if it's a grand."
"Certainly looks like a grand old dame," Kip stated.
Stacy and Sally came up to them. "Oh wow, that's an amazing tree," Stacy said.
"You're impressed by everything," Kip teased.
She ignored him, or was too awed to notice. "So we need to search it for a Silver Acorn."
"The reference I checked while we were shopping said that the Silver Acorn should grow highest." He saw that Sally had plucked an ordinary looking acorn from the lower branches. "No, not that one. Can you get up that high?"
The human looked. Now that she was standing by it, Trey could guess that the Grand Silver Oak was some fifty feet tall. Sally gripped hold of a low branch, but then slowly made some signs.
"The upper branches are… are what? Too small?"
She nodded.
"Yeah, they might not support her weight," Stacy said. "One of us should go up with her."
"Me or Kip would probably manage up there," Trey pointed out.
"Right. Do you mind going up with her, Kip?"
"So long as Miss Long Limbs is doing most of the climbing," Kip replied, then let Sally pick him up and hold onto him.
Sally seemed quite confident in climbing the large tree. While she nearly slipped a time or two, she didn't hesitant when picking out her next hand or foot hold. Three times, they ran into Pokemon that lived in the tree who didn't like them being there. Sally was restricted in movement to fight effectively, but Kip was able to manage just fine balancing on the narrow branches to scare off the natives. Although one time, Sally managed to send a Nuzleaf flying down several levels of branches.
Finally, they got near the top of the tree. Sally couldn't climb up further, as the branches bent under the lightest grip of her hands. Kip climbed up the last few feet, but even some of those began bending to his weight. Up there, there grew an acorn that was different than the brown ones below. This one was a shimmering silver, sparkling like a pond with the faintest of ripples. Otherwise, it seemed to be the same size and shape as the other acorns.
It was pretty, Kip thought. And very rare. He carefully crossed branches to it, then plucked it from its nub. Almost immediately, the darkness slithered to attention. It is yours, it is yours, it is yours, take it and run.
He had resisted well before, but his native love for treasure also latched onto this Silver Acorn. It had been a trek to reach, difficult to climb to, and risky to pick. They… he had done all the work. Why should it go to some lazy collector in town who probably had dozens of these, without having lifted a finger for any single one? It was a strange thing of their society, as powerful and rich Pokemon often didn't have to do a thing to ensure their continued fortunes and power. They just had to bully and trick smaller and weaker Pokemon like himself to get what they wanted. Lazy bums who didn't deserve the thrill of treasure because they shied away from the thrill of the collecting…
Sally clapped, getting his attention. But it made him paranoid. "No," he hissed, the darkness slipping back into his voice. "It's mine, mine! You can't take it from me!" He jumped and tried to escape.
While he was smaller (therefore able to handle the small branches better) and nimbler (able to handle obstacles better), Sally's long limbs and five-fingered hands gave her an even better advantage high in the trees. She managed to get in his way down one branch. When she reached out to him, he hissed and lashed out with his claws, trying to keep hold of the Silver Acorn. But her armored second skin didn't get a scratch from his attack. She managed to grab him.
Unfortunately, he dropped the Silver Acorn. Putting the struggling Kip close to her chest so he had a harder time squirming away, Sally moved down the branches, somehow following the tiny sparkling acorn on its way down. It would get stopped in a nook, but once she dropped onto the branch, it got knocked out of place and continued down. She had one opportunity to pick it up, but decided to toe it off the branch instead, so she could keep a better grip on Kip.
It fell out of the tree near Stacy. "Oh, this must be the Silver Acorn!"
"That is really beautiful," Trey said, as the Squirtle picked it up and Sally dropped out of the tree.
Kip took his chance, finally slipping out of the human's grasp. He grabbed the Silver Acorn from Stacy and ran off. "It's mine!"
"Kip!" Stacy called, right before they started chasing after him.
"Oh, why now?" Trey grumbled. "Why'd he have to revert back to a thief now when that big trip is coming up?"
"He didn't sound right, though… Trey, you get ahead of him."
The Treecko nodded, then took off into the trees. With his special paws, he could grip onto surfaces and race across them, even if vertical, upside-down, twisted, or smooth. Trees especially; his kind had developed in forests thicker and darker than this. He got ahead of the Skitty before the next clearing, then leapt down and tackled him into stopping. "Stacy, that orb!"
"Right!" When she and Sally got into the opening where the two were wrestling, she grabbed the orb off the ground and smashed it. In a split second, she regretted not checking what it was before doing so.
