(This is a fan-fiction. I don't own Pokémon, Pokémon belongs to Game Freak. Insert more legal stuff here.)
Chapter 5 Pearl Hunting
Following the directions on the letter, Fang and I eventually find a place with lots of mossy boulders and tall grass.
"This must be the entrance to the Drenched Bluff." said Fang. He looked at the letter again before stuffing it back into the Treasure Bag. "The letter says the pearl is way down at the pit of the bluff. This looks like a dangerous place, so let's be careful."
"Gottcha. Let's go." I said. So the two of us went into the cave, but we had a surprise. A large gorge seemed to split the cave in two. The rocks were wet and slippery and they had wet moss that made a squishing sound whenever you stepped on it.
I had enough guts to actually peer down the gorge; I wasn't afraid of heights. It looked like a gaping mouth trying to swallow me up.
"I can see why Spring said it was dangerous." I said.
"Yeah, we put one step out of place…" said Fang and he shuddered. Because of the steep and slippery rocks, we have to walk painfully slow. I almost lost my footing at one point. Eventually we find a hole in the ground.
"I think this is another way down." I said.
"Let's just hope we don't fall to our death." Fang said sarcastically and hopped into the hole. I followed suit. I fell only a few feet before I landed on more rocks.
"I see; we're even deeper into the bluff." said Fang.
The gorge's still there, I thought to myself as I looked down it. We were closer to the pit, but it was still there.
And so it went on like that. We would explore the bluff's cave until we found another hole. We would jump down, enter another part of the bluff and continue with the cycle. Until we reached the sixth floor of the dungeon we experience some technical difficulties.
We couldn't find the next hole. We even double check but still we couldn't find it. Fang looked around dejectedly.
"Should we turn back?" asked Fang anxiously. I pinched him on the arm in disapproval.
"Now that we're this far? Sorry, but no. There has to be another way to find the next hole…" I said firmly. It was then something seemed to catch Fang's fancy.
"What's-oh!" he said suddenly and darted off to the left.
"Hey, wait!" I called and ran after him. Sheesh for once in his life, could Fang just take a chill pill. I just can't run as fast. When I finally caught up to him, the Fighting-type was standing next to a narrow stone bridge.
"We could try crossing this. Otherwise, we'll have to either jump or turn back." said Fang. I started to get a bit uneasy. The bridge didn't look stable enough to hold both our weight. If we fell, who knows where we'll end up. The Emanation Pokémon seemed to notice my uneasiness. (Well, he could sense auras anyway).
"Don't worry, I'll go first to make sure it's safe." said Fang.
That was a bit generous, since he is heavier than me, I thought. Fang crouched, calculating the distance from here to there. Then he dashed across the bridge and hopped onto the other side of the gorge.
"Come on its easy!" called Fang and beckoned me to come.
Great, I thought. Now that he's on the other side, I have to go too. My legs aren't strong enough to jump across and I can't just leave him there. So, I spread my arms out and gingerly took a step. Some gravel fell, but the bridge didn't break.
"You're doing great, keep going!" Fang encouraged. I kept going for a few more uneasy steps. Suddenly, Fang's eyes widened in fear.
"Slash! Anorith behind you!" Fang shouted. I turned around and saw this huge, grey, shrimp-like thing with bulging eyes. And it had pincers as long as my arm. Before I had time to react, it dug one of its pincers into my tail. Instinctively, I spun around and clamped my jaws around its pincer.
Why I suddenly did that, I don't know. Maybe since that I've turned into a Totodile, I've probably picked up a few of its instincts.
Anyway, the Anorith shrieked and started to shake me around violently. It raised its free pincer and was about to slash my face. I noticed this and the human side of my head reacted. I let go of its pincer to avoid the attack. There were deep teeth marks in the pincer I bit. I attempted to scratch it, but my claws bounced off its hard shell.
The Old Shrimp Pokémon then shoved me with its entire body off the bridge! Luckily, I reached up with one of my claws and grasped the slippery overpass. The Anorith moved on and crawled towards Fang. I was about to warn him, but Fang suddenly dashed at a swift speed. towards that shrimp and bopped it in between the eyes with a paw. The Rock and Bug type dropped to the ground, stunned.
Quick Attack, I thought. My claws began to slip from the bridge. Uh oh. "Help!" I cried.
Just as my claws slipped from that rock entirely, Fang swiftly reached forward and flung me onto the other side. I landed with a hard thump on my back.
Owww, I thought painfully. When I finally recovered from that shock, I pushed myself back up and saw Fang looking at me with worried eyes. Small beads of sweat dotted his head.
"You okay?" he asked nervously.
"Yeah… just a bit surprised that's all." I replied. "How did you manage to pull me up like that?"
Fang shrugged. "I'm just full of surprises." he joked. I chuckled; it was funny because it was kind of true. The Fighting-type turned to look at the Anorith that attacked us, which was beginning to twitch.
"That's an Anorith. They like to live in damp places like Drenched Bluff. I don't know how much longer that shrimp's gonna stay stunned, so let's get outta here." So, the pair of us left that Anorith and continued to look for the next hole.
xxxxx
As soon as we were as far as possible from the Anorith, I found the next hole. For some reason, this hole was… glowing? Fang and I hopped down the hole and landed in a completely different place.
The pit of the cave had a bunch of smooth, grey rocks stacked atop one another to make sort-of a small hill. A large pool of shining, crystal clear water was on the top of theses stones, some of it trickling down the sides. Small trees and scrawny bushes surrounded this "hill". The air also had a fresh scent to it, like a forest after a rainy day.
I looked up and saw that the roof of this place had a crack that let in light. The gorge, I thought in surprise. So this is where it leads to. And we could've just climbed down, I thought.
"I found it!" Fang's voice brought my back to reality. He walked up to me and showed me a large, round, pink jewel.
"The pearl!" I heard myself say. "Finally…."
"You must be tired. Let's go back to the guild and report that we found Spring's pearl." said Fang.
xxxxx
Later at the guild…
A very happy Spring was bouncing around and squealing with joy.
"Oh thank you, thank you, and thank you a million times over!" squealed Spring to me and Fang. Spring had a small grey body, the top a pig with a pearl on her head. The bottom was a spring, which she needed to bounce on to keep her heart beating.
"The pearl is now safe a top my head." the Spoink continued. "Oh, how I was quite a wreck without it! But now, thanks to you two, that long disaster is over! Again, thank you!"
The Bounce Pokémon then walked up to us and dropped a pouch at our feet. Curios, I picked it up and opened it. Inside were gold colored coins with the letter P on them.
"In there is 2,000 Poke. Spend it wisely." Spring explained.
Fang was beginning to spazz out. I was too. "T-two-thousand dollars! All for us!?" Fang squeaked excitedly.
"Yes, of course! Consider a token of my appreciation. Farewell, and hopefully we may meet again" said Spring and she left. Fang seemed to be on the brim of excitement and he was still spazzing.
"We're rich! We're rich! Just like that!" the Fighting-type exclaimed, snapping his fingers at the word "that". We began to squeal and hop around the room like 3-year olds.
Chatter, who was there the whole time next to the Job Bulletin Board, clicked his tail feathers in delight. "Nicely done, getting the assignment done without getting yourselves killed." Chatter said good humouredly. I chuckled. Chatter then walked over to us and said, "Now hand over the money, if you please."
Fang and I were shocked as the Music Note Pokémon took the pouch from us.
"WHAT?!" Fang and I screamed at the same time in disbelief.
"Well, most of the money from jobs goes to the Guildmaster to help pay for food, repairs, and other things of the sort." Chatter explained as he counted the coins. "And your share comes out to this much." He handed us the pouch back. To my dismay, it was lighter. Fang quickly opened it up and counted the Poke.
"What?!" the Fighting-type exclaimed in disbelief. "We only get to keep 200 Poke? And after all that hard work! Unfair!" Chatter shrugged. Clearly, he was used to this kind of complaint.
"Sorry, but rules are rules. Unless you want to complain to Guildmaster about it."
Fang looked down at his paws. "Humph." He muttered.
xxxxx
A sweet ringing sound filled the air around us. Fang and I were just climbing down the ladder and were heading to our room when we heard it. I then saw a blue, wind-chime shaped Pokémon (whose name I later learned was Chime) come from the mess hall.
"Everyone, dinner's ready!" she said in a sing-song voice. Everyone who heard Chime screamed with delight and raced to the dining room. Delicious smells wafted in the air.
"Ugh, I 'm starving!" I exclaimed.
"Mmmm… I can't wait to sink my teeth into a juicy apple." Fang chimed in. The two of us raced towards dinner.
Inside the dining room, there was a large oak table with two long rows of chairs. There was so much pushing and fighting for seats, Fang and I had a tough time trying to look for a place to sit. Finally, we both found a place at the end of the table for both of us.
Once everyone was settled, Chime came around using her Psychic attack to dish out portions of berries, apples, pastries, and other yummy things onto everyone's plate. As soon as I got my portion, I was so hungry I began to wolf down all the berries and pastries.
I noticed Velvet balancing an apple on his head. It didn't seem like he was trying to eat it, just playing with it. Sometimes I just can't help thinking he's a bit… strange.
Fang and I were able to share a few scraps of conversation, but we were mostly concentrated on eating. I even called for seconds. After what seemed hours of food heaven, it was time for bed.
We walked over to our room and I plopped down on my straw bed.
"Wow." I said. "I never knew exploring would make you so hungry." I stared at the moon. It always seemed to be full. Fang was lying down on his bed with his hands behind his head and legs crossed.
"Listen, Slash…." Fang whispered.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"Wasn't today hectic? My Arceus, so much has happened."
"I'm just glad we didn't get killed on our first assignment. I hope I never have to almost fall down another gorge."
"Yep, that was pretty scary."
"I'm still kinda ticked at how Chatter took our money and only gave us 200 Poke…."
"I guess that's just the cost of our training. Me and you can't do anything about it."
"Unless you became Guildmaster that is."
Fang chuckled good naturedly. "You know, I was pretty happy when Spring thanked us. She must've been pretty happy." he said.
Ya think? I thought. "It feels good to be apprenticed." I said instead.
"Yep."
Silence.
Fang stretched and yawned. "I'm getting sleepy. We'll do even better tomorrow. Night, Slash."
"Night."
(End of Ch. 5, PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks for reading!)