Chapter 6: Silver Temptations 2

After Stacy broke the orb, the whole opening shimmered, then vanished in a golden light. When the light cleared, the area looked completely different. The trees were larger, older, taller, and broader. A canopy of leaves blocked out the sky. The grass had changed from the long soft variety to a short thin type. The flowers turned to orchids and shade-loving varieties. Even the air felt different.

Sally dug into her Treasure Bag, then pulled out a yellow seed. She came over and cracked it under Kip's nose. The struggling Skitty fell asleep immediately.

"Sorry," Trey said. "I thought that would be a Petrify Orb."

"At least it warped all of us to the same spot," she said. "So what happened?"

Sally knelt down and used her power to show both of them what had happened to Kip.

"So he saw this Acorn and missed that chance to resist his darkness," Stacy said.

"I was worried about him, but then didn't think to offer to go up instead," Trey said, feeling guilty. "He was getting restless and bored with the regular treasures and all the apples we were finding."

"He'd been doing so well. I don't think any of us expected him to break. So now what?"

Sally dug back into her bag and brought out a Stun Seed.

"Oh right, the Sleep Seed will only keep him out for a little bit. But the Stun Seed will keep him from doing anything until either we release him or something attacks him."

"So we could hopefully talk him out of his dark state," Stacy concluded. "Good thinking, Sally. We're going to end up being late getting back. Then again, maybe time and luck will be on our side. Let's find a good place to camp, just in case."

Sally gently picked Kip up, to keep him from waking. After checking out several openings, Trey found one that had a stream and only one entrance. They set up near the stream, by a large tree. Sally put Kip down and cracked the Stun Seed over him to paralyze him. They put the Silver Acorn away in Stacy's bag.

A short time later, the sleep effect ran out. Kip blinked, then realized that he couldn't move. He grumbled and cursed quietly. That tone of darkness was still in his voice.

"Kip, calm down," Stacy said, sitting by him. "You're stronger then your darkness."

"You don't know anything about that," he growled. "You're a worthless optimist who gets starstruck over every little thing. You worry too much for a leader and you'll fail catastrophically in the end, only to be paralyzed by guilt and dread."

Sally touched Stacy. The Squirtle gave a slight nod. The darkness, whatever it really was, was just trying to throw her off. "Kip, think of your light. And we're your friends; we just want to help you. Find your light again."

"I can only find the trail of that light," Kip said sadly, in his own voice. But then the darkness slid back in control. "It is useless to struggle. The darkness will claim the ultimate victory. There is nothing you nor anybody else can do." His forehead scrunched up, as if he were thinking of something hard. "Ain't no guarantee of that, you bodiless entity."

"Let him go, whatever you are, darkness entity thing," Trey said.

"You foolish bookworm; I am Kip. You don't know anything about the true dangers of the world. You knowledge won't save you when you need it most. Your dreams are ridiculous and… shove off back into your dank little corner!"

After a few minutes of quiet, when they were just near him, Stacy asked, "Kip?"

"Yeah, I think I got it to just sit there and whine," he said in his normal voice. "Thanks and… I'm sorry. I lost control for a moment and would have hurt you all."

Stacy smiled. "It wasn't you, so…"

"It was me," Kip stated firmly. "The darkness… later, maybe." Sally picked out a Cheri Berry, but he said, "No, no, not yet. Let me just sit here quietly for a while and calm my mind down. I feel awful tired."

"You can nap for a bit, but we have no idea how much day we have left," Stacy told him. "Trey, Sally, why don't you forage around this level and look for more food and such? I'll protect Kip."

"Sure." The two of them took off to look around.

Thankfully, the dungeon was kind enough to stay in one form, not opening their camp meadow any more than it was. When Kip seemed to be better, they gave him the Cherri Berry, then they set off to find their way out of wherever they had gotten.

"This is probably the Deep Apple Woods," Trey said. "This would be where Bartleby's Perfect Apples come from."

"Why are they called Perfect Apples?" Kip asked. "They look like any old tummy filler apple to me."

"There is a difference, but one that only matters to gourmands like Munchlax and Snorlax, or apple connoisseurs like Bartleby. According to some books I've read, every food has a balance of things like starches and sugars. The starch-to-sugar ratio of the Perfect Apple is said to be, well, perfect. Sweet, but not cloyingly so, and crisp. But to most Pokemon, the difference isn't all that noticeable from really good regular Apples or Big Apples. And the Perfect Apple Tree is said to spend a full century without producing any apples whatsoever. Then, once it's over a hundred years old, it produces bushels and bushels of Perfect Apples." He looked around. "Thing is, Perfect Apple Trees tend to grow very deep in forests, so they require a long trek to reach."

"Do the stores stock them?" Stacy asked.

Trey shook his head. "No. It's a matter of profit, see. All shopowners need to make a profit. But as Perfect Apple Trees require long trips to reach, they're quite expensive. Even if the shopkeepers put them at the same price they were bought at, most customers would balk at paying over a 100 Poke for a food item that isn't enchanted to give boosts like Gummis, or has some other use like the status seeds. They would much rather buy the regular old 10 Poke Apple. So even if a shop had a regular customer for Perfect Apples, they would lose money keeping them fresh and in stock."

"That's quite a bit of fuss over a gourmet food item," Kip said.

"You wanna know what the biggest book I've ever read was?" Trey asked them. "It was a book written by a Snorlax called Chef who went on and on for over twenty-five pages just on the Oran Berry, without any of the recipes! People who love food really get into stuff like Perfect Apples and rare berry varieties like the Cornn."

"Huh." After swishing his tail, Kip got a huge grin. "Hey Trey…"

The Treecko looked at him, wary of the mischievious tone to his voice. "What?"

"I've been thinking… even though you're technically the weakest member of the group,"

"Only because all of you are more experienced," he insisted.

"Yeah. But you're good at sneak attacks and loads of info. Therefore, I dub thee the bookworm ninja!"

Stacy laughed. "Well that's suitable."

Trey gave Kip a skeptical look. "Kip, dubbing is used for knights. Not ninjas."

"Aw, now don't be picky, bookworm ninja Trey."

They went on through a few more levels, then found another explorer team. It consisted of a Skuntank, a Koffing, a Zubat, and a Ghastly. "Hey, are those the guys from Beach Cave?" Stacy asked quietly.

"I dunno," Trey said. "I'm not sure how to tell one 'bat from another."

"Hey, ya big lugs!" Kip called out. "Where in the blazing heck are we? Picked up a Portal Orb by accident."

"Ugh, don't you just hate those things?" Koffing asked, then going, "Heh heh."

"Hehehehe," Ghastly cackled.

"We're deep in the Apple Woods," the Stuntank said. "The exit ought to show up in a few levels."

"Well that's good," Stacy said. "Thank you."

"Well?" Zubat asked.

"Sure," Skuntank said. "Hey, you wanna see something neat? Double Noxious Attack!" Both Skuntank and Koffing let off a cloud of horrible yellow gases that made all of Team Marmalade gag. Sally wound up collapsing where she was, thankfully not landing on anyone.

"Whoa, watch out for the big one," Koffing said. "Heh heh."

"You both got 'em good," Zubat cheered, staying upwind of the attack.

"Eeehehehe," Gastly added, floating down and sniffing at Sally.

"Let's see if these weaklings managed to get anything." Skuntank took Stacy's bag and pulled out five Apples. "Ah, very nice and… hey, check this out!" He pulled out the Silver Acorn.

"Wow, now that's a treasure worth talking about," Koffing stated. "There's some old dude in Treasure Town who'll pay a small fortune for those Silver Acorns."

"Well then we deserve that, don't we?" He put the Apples and the Silver Acorn in his own Treasure Bag.

At that point, a little bell sounded. It sent green sparkles over Sally, Stacy, Trey, and Kip. Stacy quickly whipped up a fountain of water to sweep the noxious gas away. "Hey, that's our stuff!"

"Dang it, you're not supposed to recover!" Koffing shouted.

"Here, I gots them." Zubat pulled out an orb and threw it at them. A golden light surrounded them, then dropped them off in yet another part of Apple Woods. Hopefully. It looked the same. However, it had abruptly gotten dark.

"Pirate teams are the WORST!" Kip shouted into the woods.

"Is Sally okay?" Stacy asked, going over to their human teammate.

"She's still warm, but her breathing sounds bad," Trey said, putting his paw on her cheek.

"Wait, that mask thing… can we get that mask thing on her? That's what she did last time."

"Maybe." After searching her helmet, they found it hidden and were able to pull it out. Trey connected the tubes to the other side of the helmet; they softly clicked in place. Then a hiss of moving air could barely be heard. Her weird device was working.

"This is bad," Stacy said, stroking Sally's forehead. "Do you guys think we should call for a rescue?"

"You're the leader," Kip said. "Do what you like."

Trey rubbed his nose. "It'd look bad on us and they wouldn't show until tomorrow, but… well, we don't know where we are in this dungeon or when Sally will wake up. You'd better, just to be on the safe side."

"Right, that's what I was thinking too." She took out her leader's badge and slide a switch aside. That would send an SOS signal back to the guild.

They formed another camp. This clearing wasn't as good as the last, but Trey managed to find some medium sized rocks throughout the dungeon. He placed those across two of the three entrances to the large clearing they had appeared in. It would discourage wild Pokemon from entering.

By the time it was fully dark and night, Kip had managed to get a fire going near Sally. Trey kept his distance from the flames, but not too far. Sally woke up, then tried to sit up.

"You don't have to get up," Stacy said. "We're waiting on a rescue. How are you feeling?"

She patted her chest, then made a few signs.

"I didn't get that all," Trey said, "but her lungs are still bothering her, I think."

Sally nodded, then lay down again. She left her mask on.

"Those guys were a pirate team," Trey told her. "They stole a bunch of Apples and the Silver Acorn from us. Those cheaters."

"They're not far into darkness, but may be worse because they're not as influenced by it," Kip said. "It doesn't allow you to work with others well."

"What were you going to say earlier about darkness?" Trey asked. "You called it an entity, but then said it was you."

"It was me," he restated. "It was a part of me that I'd rather not have. It's a part of you that you'd rather not admit to having. I think all Pokemon have darkness within them. Probably humans too."

"But not every Pokemon is bad," Stacy said.

Kip looked into the fire. "It's the part of your mind that you keep restrained so that you don't hurt people. The selfish side of you that wants everything and would stop at nothing to get it, if not stopped by the rest of your heart and mind. The side of you that wants to take revenge through pain, or just to cause pain for no reason. Everyone has those thoughts and feelings from time to time, but to get along and be in peace, we don't act on them, don't speak of them, don't listen to them. But then the darkness can take over. It's due to the wild magic."

Stacy nodded. "The stuff that makes Mystery Dungeons and empowers them."

"Right. The wild magic encourages the darkness. I don't know why; I can't figure it out. But all the folks I knew had similar stories. The darkness came into control in a Mystery Dungeon, usually under stress or in presence of something the 'mon strongly desires. When you give in to your selfish side, you open yourself to the wild magic. That's why outlaws are reliably found in Mystery Dungeons; they are drawn there because they feel strongest, clearest, and best there.

"But you also lose things giving into darkness. You lose all feelings of security, as you are paranoid that someone will come after you, that someone will take your treasure, power, or whatever. You lose all feeling of peace, as the wild magic makes you crave noise, action, and fighting. You can lose memories or have them clouded; you can lose identity as the darkness and wild magic turns you into a completely different 'mon. And you lose all sense of friendship. Pokemon embracing the darkness never have friends, because they suspect everyone or try to get the best for themselves out of everyone. Like those four pirates. They helped us only because they were plotting to knock us out and take our treasures. Or at least all our Apples. Darkness makes you lose your sense too, because there's Apples all over this dang dungeon and the first thing they went after were our Apples."

"At least we're all okay," Stacy said. "I'm glad for that."

Trey was thinking. "Hey Kip… if you knew Heal Bell all along, why didn't you use it earlier?"

"Shhh!" he said, swishing his tail. "I try not to let my dark side know that, bookworm ninja."

From where she was, Sally laughed.

In the morning, Sally seemed a little off still. After some exchange with Trey, she related that her head felt light, but her lungs weren't hurting anymore. Stacy managed a trick with her Water Gun and a bottle to produce clean water they didn't need to hunt for, so gave her that until she said she was fine. They then waited and continued to talk.

Although it took a little while, Sally managed to relate a little story to Trey.

There was a pained scream of loss.

Sally opened her eyes. She found herself curled up in a white room, lying on a bed of straw. She didn't remember how she'd gotten here, just that scream and… something that terrified her to her core. Her thoughts tried to connect, but it seemed as though things were missing. As if everything was missing.

She saw a few devices on the table. After some struggle, she came up with what they were. A pair of hearing aids; the world was silent if they weren't in her ears. A master… master… something, that she wore on both forearms, around her waist, and on her feet. It did… something, something important. And there was a portable artificial lung and air purifier, which she needed to breath.

She panicked for a moment, but then realized that she was breathing just fine without it. Something about the simple act of breathing seemed strange, and wonderful. But that clean air was still silent. She sat up and put the hearing aids in her ear. It seemed to be a comfortable action, something that she knew well. On sitting up, she was able to look out a window onto a bright sunny day. It was beautiful.

She heard a group of Pokemon coming into the room. She turned to see a Blissey and a Wigglytuff come in. "Oh, she's up, how wonderful," the Blissey said. "How are you feeling, dear?"

Her hands automatically came up and signed, "I am fine, thank you," without thinking that it might not be understood.

The Blissey didn't understand. "Can you speak?"

"She says she's fine, and thank you," the Wigglytuff said. "She speaks with her hands… isn't that interesting? I thought I wouldn't ever meet someone who actually spoke that way!"

She blushed, but had a feeling that she would like him.

"So that mask thing of yours cleans the air?" Stacy asked. When Sally nodded, she added, "That seems an odd thing to make. I wonder if it would work in a sandstorm."

"Probably," Trey said. "But I never thought the air could be so dirty that you'd need something on you always to clean it."

Sally shrugged. She didn't remember, but for some reason, she had it and had reason to use it a lot.

"Sounds like you're from a strange place," Kip stated. "Maybe it's smokey all the time."

"Could be," Trey agreed, grimacing at the thought of dirty ashy smoke.

"Eeek! Is that you Team Marmalade?!" a voice came through the trees.

"Flora, it's us!" Stacy called.

Flora the Sunflora and Bobby the Bidoof came into the opening, soon followed by Mika the Magnemite. "Oh golly, you've gotten yourself really lost," Bobby said. "This is way deeper in Apple Woods than I usually go."

"Is everyone okay?" Flora asked. "What happened?"

"Sally's still weak," Stacy said. "We encountered a pirate team that really got to her."

The Skitty gave her a questioning look, but said nothing.

"Oh my gosh, pirates?" Flora said, putting her leaf arms up to her flower head. "How awful. No wonder you had to call for help."

"Yeah. They stole the thing we were looking for and some Apples, but Kip managed to scare them off before they took everything. Still, we couldn't do much with Sally out."

"How has he been doing?" Mika asked, suspicious. "Causing any problems?"

"No, not at all," Stacy said.

"Thanks to his dungeon expertise, we were able to keep this area safe for the night," Trey added. "And if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have gotten the Silver Acorn in the first place. But that's what the pirates made off with, so it's a pity we don't have anything to show for his hard work."

"Really? I suppose that means he's improving." Mika blinked her one eye, then looked at Kip.

Kip stuck his nose in the air, although he felt bewildered that they weren't ratting him out. "Well I'll take any opportunity to show off."

"Are you okay with going on, Sally?" Flora asked. "We've got four more levels until the next exit point, but we've got enough people now to split up to search for the passage quicker.

"We already know where the next passage is," Bobby said, pointing down a path. "Except, um, the quickest path is blocked by rocks."

"We can move those," Trey said.

Sally nodded, so the group set off to leave the Deep Apple Woods.

Back in town, Mika left to make a report to the Sheriff. While Kip went with Sally to the hospital, just in case, Trey and Stacy went to meet with the client who asked for the Silver Acorn. She was a Gyarados who had one of the largest houses in Treasure Town. It was made up of giant pools with underwater furnishing and high domed ceilings that could be flown through. Silver Acorns were used as decorations in every room, although they were a scarce few, attesting to their rarity.

"We went into Apple Woods for a Silver Acorn, but lost it to a group of pirates. We're sorry."

"It happens. But I appreciate your sincerity and coming forth to apologize. Here, I'll give you a fraction of the reward." She handed over a thousand Poke.

Back at the guild, Stacy felt a temptation to keep the payment. But her heart told her it was wrong. And Kip seemed to suggest that it only took small slip-ups to invite the darkness to begin harassing you. So she handed off 900 Poke to Charlie as Guild dues.

"Did you happen to come across a Perfect Apple?" the Chatot asked, getting Bartleby's attention.

"Um, no," Stacy said, blushing. "We forgot all about it with the pirates and Sally passing out. So we failed at both."

"Yes, you failed enough to require a rescue," Charlie stated.

Bartleby tapped his assistant on the note crest that stood behind his head. "It's okay. Things like that happen. Right?"

He looked embarrassed at some thought. "Um, right."

The Guildmaster smiled. "But you had a generous client and your priorities to your teammate's safety were true. So one failure does not make you a total failure."

Stacy smiled back. "That's right. Thank you, Bartleby."

"I'm going after a Perfect Apple!" he then called in a sing-song voice, then bounded away down the ladder.

Charlie put a wing over his eyes. "Hmm, maybe I'll have to go after those Perfect Apples after all. I wish there was a shortcut, though."

The pirates, Team Skull, entered the house of the Gyarados. Skuntank showed the Silver Acorn to the mistress of the house. "We found this on an expedition recently, and thought immediately of you. Would you like it?"

"Hmm… it's a bit cracked and squashed."

"It will be unique in its imperfection," Skuntank stated, having expected this resistance. "True perfection does not exist, right?"

"Right. When did you get this?"

"Yesterday, in the Deep Apple Woods."

"Hmm… it is nice." She narrowed her yellow eyes. "But that means you were the pirates who harmed that sweet young team who came and apologized earlier. It is rare to find a group that apologizes."

Skuntank, Koffing, and Gastly felt worried. "Um, no, that must have been some other group," Koffing said.

"Right, and they didn't have a human," Zubat said, trying to help and failing spectacularly.

"Yeah right!" the lady Gyarados yelled, shaking the loose items in her house. She then called up a giant wave from her pools to sweep the pirates away.

That night, Kip and Trey knocked on the girl's bedroom. "Mind if we come in?"

"No, come on in." When they did, Stacy added, "Be quiet; my brothers are asleep in the next room already."

"Okay," Trey said. "Kip said he wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah." The Skitty closed the door, then asked, "Why'd you cover for me? I just about hurt you and I attacked Sally up in the tree."

"Well you lost control of yourself for a short while," Stacy said. "But you managed to snap yourself back before permanent harm was done."

"Aren't you afraid that I could do that again?"

"You could," she admitted. "But I believe that you'll try harder now to resist the darkness. And now I know to be more careful about putting you in a situation where temptation would be great. Besides, you're one of us. I don't want to see you get your freedom stolen away by being put back in prison."

"What freedom I have," he said sarcastically. Then he bowed his head. "But thanks, really. I… I haven't had any friends like you, who would take a risk on a loser like me."

"You're not a loser," Stacy said, patting him on the head.

"Yeah, you're not," Trey added. "And I meant what I said about your experience. Seriously, there's been many times lately where I think we would have gotten into a nasty mess if not for your observations and experience."

Sally smiled and scratched his head.

Kip gave a slight purr. "Heh. Just put me under more pressure to be good, right?"

Stacy giggled. "Right!"

The next morning, Stacy picked up a job from the post board. "'Please find my Persim Band; it has great sentimental value to me. I lost it somewhere in the Drenched Bluff.' That sounds important."

"That sounds stupid," Kip countered. "You could buy a dang Persim Band at the Kecleon shop! Why would you pay out three thousand Poke just to get back a sentimental Persim Band when you can pay eight hundred Poke for a shiny brand new one?"

"Let's take that one," Trey said, then added as a joke, "We know he won't steal that."

The group, even Kip, laughed.

Days passed. On a cool morning with a crisp autumn breeze, the daily meeting commenced with a note of expectation, excitement, and anxiety. "Today, we will announce those that will go on the big exploration trip with the Guildmaster and myself! We set out tomorrow, so you will have plenty of time today to get supplies and arrange things while you're gone. Please come forward if your name is called. Now, those coming are…" Charlie looked at the paper.

The apprentices all whispered. Who was going?

"We have… Flora."

"Oh my gosh, yay!" the Sunflora cheered, bounding up to join the Guldmaster and Charlie.

"And… Bobby."

"Golly, me?" the Bidoof asked, completely surprised. "Wow… I'll do my best."

"Go on," Chiaka encouraged, flicking her ribbon forward.

Bobby trembled. "Ooo, but I'm so excited… my legs have gone weak. I can't move right now."

"Right, well just stay where you are then." Charlie checked the paper. "And then Junior."

The Diglett came further out of the ground. "Really? I've never been on a trip."

"Me either," Bobby said.

"I'm sure you'll do well," Senior said, patting his son on the head.

"Okay, that's…"

"Not all!" Bartleby cheered.

"Oh, really? I thought we were only taking three. Oh, here's some notes. Phil, Chiaka, Mimen, Senior, Trey, Charles, Larry…"

"YIPPEE!" the Loudred cheered, causing everyone to wince or grab their ears.

Chiaka rang slightly in echo. "Oooo, not right in front of me…" she complained, letting her colored ribbon go limp.

Charlie shook his head to clear it. "Ahem. So that's… oh wait, Stacy, Sally, and Kip. Can Kip come along?"

"Sure thing," Bartleby said. "I talked with Mika and she said so long as he's with me, it's fine."

"I can live with that," Kip stated, curling his tail as he was pleased.

"But that's every one of the apprentices," Charlie added, after looking back at the paper. "Plus all of the staff."

"Yes!" the Wigglytuff cheered, jumping up happily.

"But is it okay to leave the guild empty for several days?"

"We'll lock up good and tight. We'll be laughing, and noisy, and exploring all over. This is going to be such fun that I got all excited thinking about it and I could barely sleep!"

"Ah yes, well… it wil require some plan changes if everyone's going… okay then, you all have the day to prepare. Be sure to prepare well, as the trek will be long and over difficult terrain."

"Where are we going?" Flora asked. "I have to know what to prepare in order to prepare."

"Good point. We're headed to Fogbound Lake. It is a mysterious place far to the east of here. However, the place is perpetually covered in dense fog, so no one has fully confirmed the existence of either an actual lake or a simple mirage. But the place is said to hold a magnificent and beautiful treasure. And be sure to prepare for cold weather. Time has decided that winter is approaching and we don't know if we'll encounter snow, hail, or ice."

"Isn't hail ice?" Kip pointed out.

"You know what I mean. So those of you sensitive to the cold, make sure you have fire starting equipment and things to keep warm with. We will discuss things further tonight so we can set out as early as possible tomorrow."

Everyone cheered and chatted excitedly as they set off to make preparations. Sally even overheard Senior and Junior talking. "Wow, I get to go on an exploration with you, Dad!" Junior said.

"That's great," Senior said. "I'm sure you'll do really well."

Sally smiled at that, then left with Trey to take care of business around town. "Do you think Cece the Chansey would mind watching my brothers for a few days?" Stacy asked the others.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Trey said, rolling his eyes. "But the thing is, would they mind? We might ask Kazza, or Casey."