On Team Space-Time's day off in observance of the Explorers' Holiday, Pelame and her four friends were invited into the ocean by an old friend named Manaphy. They toured his undersea kingdom, and returned in time to hear a heartfelt speech from Chatot about the work of Explorers. After a fun night, Blessing was unexpectedly spirited away while everyone slept. The familiar abductors are clearly up to something.


Chapter 3 – The Grey Theatre, Part One


"START TALKING!" Weavile shouted as Blessing dodged her Slash attack. It wasn't easy to maneuver, being tied to an auditorium chair. "QUIT KEEPING ME IN SUSPENSE!"

"Suspense?" Blessing taunted. "You think I'm trying to keep you in suspense? You're cute, despite disgracing the species I'll be evolving into sometime."

Weavile was getting livid. This hostage situation wasn't going as she had planned.

"With all due respect, Boss," Arbok said. "We should have expected some resistance."

"QUIET, you two!" Weavile barked, blasting Arbok and Drapion with a dark shot of some kind. "I WILL get this insubordinate little brat to talk!" She turned back to the restrained Blessing. "You hear me?! You will tell me EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO GET OUT OF YOU!"

"What was that?" Blessing asked. "I think you just made me go deaf from your angry shouting. You're really bad at your job. Whoever put you up to this should fire you on the spot. You're a liability to him or her." She turned to Arbok and Drapion. "Same goes for you two failures."

"Okay, Boss," Drapion said. "Let's just beat it out of her."

Weavile had already gotten in five Faint Attacks on Blessing by the time Drapion suggested his idea. "Way ahead of you," she said. "Help me out. This half-pint will talk if we have to smash her damn teeth into her head!"

"Gimme your best shot, dullards," Blessing taunted. "Against me, you might as well be dishing out False Swipes. I don't need to be untied to take you on."

Before any moves could be made, a door was heard opening.

"You two show the guests backstage," Weavile ordered of Arbok and Drapion. "Leave the brat to me." The two did as told. Instead of attacking, Weavile simply put the Rawst Scarf back over Blessing's mouth. "As you may know," she continued. "We're putting on a show tonight. We didn't appreciate hearing you refuse to come. We heard you as we were on our way out of town after dropping off that flyer."

"Well, that explains why I stepped on it," Blessing thought. "Seems like this will be worth checking out after all, if only to foil whatever these simpletons are planning."

"But with you in our clutches, there's no possible way your friends will say 'no.' They'll come looking for you, but they'll never find you. All they'll find is a grand performance. You, however, will be safely hidden from them. I'd kill you right now, but you've been keeping your mouth shut about what we need to know this whole time."

"Heh, of course I am," Blessing thought as she laughed through the scarf. "And I kinda can't help that now with you using this Rawst Scarf as a makeshift gag on me."

"You won't be laughing once we're all through with this, smart-alleck. And since we've disabled all your moves, including your Dark Blessing powers, you won't slip away from us." Weavile removed the entire seat from the row and took it backstage with Blessing still tied to it. She tied Blessing with another rope and slipped it under the ropes tying her to the chair, keeping her bound when the chair ropes were untied. She then tied her feet to each other and put her into an empty closet, which she then locked and put a prop dresser in front of.

"We'll be back to retrieve you after the show. Try not to die of boredom until then."


"To Team Space-Time,
Tonight at the Grey Theatre, we're putting on a grand show you won't want to miss. Enclosed are free admission passes for you and your friends, as well as a map to the venue. It's a one-night-only performance about you, so don't miss it!

Sincerely,
The Grey Theatre Theatrical Troupe

P.S.—"

"Why's the post-script written in different handwriting?" Pugno asked as Pelame was about to read it out to the Guild.

"Grey Theatre?" Dugtrio asked. "Didn't Blessing read out something having to do with that place?"

"YEAH, she DID," Loudred answered. "Apparently YOU were passing by. Now let Pelame READ the note!" Pelame then continued reading.

"P.S.: The troupe is requesting your attendance, but we aren't. But it's up to you if you want to say 'no' to a demand. We don't care what happens to your dear friend Blessing, who happens to be in our clutches. If you don't want to enjoy the show, then come to free your friend. The choice is yours, meddlers!"

"So, a rogue Pokémon abducted one of our own Guild members, did they?!" Chatot squawked. "We're going to that theatre! No one spirits away a trainee and gets away with it!"

"Just a moment," Grovyle said. "This sounds like an elaborate trap to me. I support your decision, but we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious."

"I agree with Grovie," Celebi added. "We don't want to give an edge to brute Pokémon."

"If I didn't know any better," Dusknoir added. "I'd say someone is trying to target Team Space-Time specifically. Since Blessing is a member of Team Space-Time, they must be planning a first strike by using her as the leverage."

"That makes perfect sense," Pugno asked. "It's like when Team Skull baited us to Amp Plains using a Water Float that belonged to Azumarill's sons. We ended up being attacked by a nomadic tribe of Electrike."

"If things go right for them and wrong for us," Pelame added. "We could end up in a situation worse than that moment. I don't know what these rogues are up to, but it has to be something major if they're singling us out."

"It's decided, then," Chatot announced. "We're going to the theatre tonight to rescue Blessing and foil whatever whoever is planning. They won't have their first strike if we have anything to say about it. We'll all go along to ensure extra security for Pelame and Pugno, and increase the odds of success at rescuing Blessing. Pelame, tickets please."

As soon as Pelame got out the tickets, she suddenly became dizzy. Everything went dark until a flash cut through her vision. To her disbelief, she had experienced a Dimensional Scream vision. Everyone was stunned, especially Pugno, Grovyle, Celebi, and Dusknoir.

"Pelame," Celebi started, managing to speak through her amazement. "Since when did you have the Dimensional Scream? I thought only Pugno had that ability!"

"I have no idea," Pelame said, being the most baffled of all about this development.

"Well, what was it you saw?" Pugno asked.

"It didn't make much sense," Pelame answered. "All I saw was a huge dark object of some sort moving really quickly through space. It looked like a comet. I didn't get too good a look at it before the vision ended, but that was what I saw."

"Don't know what can be made of that," Grovyle said. "We'll have to figure it out after we're done at the Grey Theatre." Grovyle took the ticket Pelame was handing him.

Once everyone had their tickets and marked their Wonder Maps according to the note, everything was set. "All right, everyone!" Chatot announced. "Time to mount our rescue mission!"

"HOORAY!"


"Now remember," Weavile said to the group of Ditto backstage. "This production is about the Pokémon who will be sitting in the front-row seats." She took them to the stage and showed them the seats reserved for Team Space-Time. "Entertain them to distract them from the plan. Understood?"

"Understood, Lady Weavile," the Ditto actor said.

"Hey, genius," Skuntank said, barging into the auditorium. "They're on their way. If you're sure the leader made the right choice stationing you for this job, then everything will be ready by now."

"Everything is," Weavile retorted. "Now get back to your post already." As soon as Skuntank left, Weavile heard a pounding sound coming from backstage. She went to where she had hidden Blessing, finding that the prop dresser had been jostled slightly as a result of Blessing repeatedly kicking the door from inside. She put the drawer back where it was.

"Wearing yourself down already, are you?" she taunted. "Pity you won't be able to see the show. Have a Playbill." She slid a playbill through the crack of the locked door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Don't go anywhere."

"'Don't go anywhere,' she says," Blessing thought as she shouted muffled obscenities through the scarf gagging her. "She's a humor thief, too, it seems."


"Kinda SMALL for a theatre, isn't it?!" Loudred demanded of the Prinplup working as the theatre's ticket taker. He was clearly underwhelmed by how small the theatre turned out to be upon arriving with the group.

"It's more stage than building, sir," responded Prinplup. "Once you go in, all it is is concession stands, food booths, souvenir vendors, lavatories, and the back door leading to the outdoor stage. The backstage is another building entirely."

"An outdoor show?" Sunflora asked. "Oh my gosh! That's such a nice idea! A play under the stars!"

The group showed their tickets to Prinplup and entered the building. They all picked up playbills from the foyer. Inside the playbill was a map of the theatre and its surrounding areas.

"Prinplup was right," Pugno said. "This place is huge. We'll have to split the search party up."

"Great idea, Pugno," Pelame responded. "You and I will check all the seats in the front seating area." Pugno nodded in agreement. "Everyone else, where will you be going?"

"Grovyle and Celebi can help me search the entire foyer area," Dusknoir volunteered as Grovyle and Celebi agreed to the idea. "The Sableye can search the areas restricted to the general public."

"We're skilled in stealth, after all," the Sableye captain said. "They won't even know we crossed their lines."

"My son and I will check the VIP balcony seats," Dugtrio said. Diglett supported the notion.

"The Guildmaster and I will comb the upper-level seats," Chatot said. "If that's okay with you, of course, Guildmaster."

"Certainly," Guildmaster Wigglytuff responded. "I just hope we don't have to end up sitting there. Those seats are no fun at all."

"Well, there's a reason those seats are called the 'nosebleed section,'" Loudred said. "That said, Sunflora and I will check the backstage area."

"Oh my gosh!" Sunflora squeaked. "We can't go there! We'll get caught for sure!"

"Heh, let them TRY," Loudred boasted. "Besides, we'll be in and out of there in a FLASH!"

"The stage itself will be searched by Croagunk, Bidoof, and myself," Chimecho offered.

"I guess that leaves me to check the back seating area," Corphish said. "Hey! Hey! We can get to searching now, right?"

"Right," Pelame answered. "Meet back here when the play is about to start. While the play is on, the security could likely strengthen to a level that can overwhelm us, so this is our best chance. If we don't find Blessing now, we resume the search during the intermission, when security is sure to loosen up to give the actors and staff their breaks. Fail then, then we search again in the intermission after that. With three intermissions, we have a total of five chances to locate her. The first four chances being our safest: now, and the three intermissions."

"Then what's the fifth chance?" Chimecho asked.

"The fifth chance is after the play is over," Pelame answered. "That is when we'll just have to go for broke and risk taking on whoever came up with this plan, whatever it is. Hopefully, we'll find her before then."

"Sounds doable," Celebi said.

"All right. Let's go find Blessing!"

"HOOR—" Chatot suddenly hushed everyone. By his wing gestures, everyone inferred that to mean they should quiet down.

"Hooray!" everyone whispered.


From where she was stashed, Blessing could've sworn she had heard her friends getting interrupted as they were shouting "HOORAY!"

"Weavile is gonna get her butt kicked," Blessing thought. "There's no way I'm letting them have all the fun, though. Let me at her!"

In one swift maneuver, Blessing got to her feet. She managed to keep her balance as she hopped over to the door. Being tall enough to reach the doorknob, she crouched down and stuck her head-feather into the lock. She froze when she heard footsteps approaching.

"Ooh! What a cute dresser!" said someone Blessing instantly recognized as Sunflora. She resumed picking the lock. It was to no avail as her head-feather was too short to reach the locking mechanism.

"We don't have time to admire decorations," Loudred said, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Blessing, on the other hand, decided to go for broke by shouting as loud as she could to get Loudred and Sunflora's attention. Being gagged by a Rawst Scarf made the attempt unsuccessful.

"Well, I told him before that he does a lot of talking without listening," Blessing grumbled in her mind. "He's getting a punch from me when I get out of here." She carefully maneuvered herself to try using her tail to pick the lock, as her tail feathers were longer than her short head-feather.

"HEY! Sunflora, there's a door behind your dresser!" Loudred shouted. He moved the dresser aside and looked in the keyhole.

"Well, I take back that 'talking without listening' remark," Blessing thought with great relief. It wasn't easy standing on her head, but she soon inserted her middle tail feather into the lock. The timing of this action was very inopportune, as her tail poked Loudred straight in his left eye.

"WHY YOU LITTLE—" Loudred shouted in pain. He charged at the door and broke it off its hinges, unintentionally bringing the door down on top of Blessing with a punch aimed at the doorknob. It was no Mega Punch, but it had power to it. "Try that trick again, you smarta—" Loudred cut himself off when he uncovered Blessing, who looked hurt. A round bruise was left on her rear end, from where the doorknob slammed into her thanks to him. She glared at him and shouted a muffled insult.

"Oh my gosh, you found Blessing!" Sunflora squeaked as she entered the closet. With carefully-focused Razor Leaves, Sunflora tried to slice the ropes keeping Blessing bound. As Demon-type creations could resist anything, Sunflora's attempt was fruitless. Loudred at least was able to remove the Rawst Scarf from Blessing's mouth.

"Thanks Loudred, for breaking my tailbone!" Blessing reprimanded. "I'm billing you for this! But thanks for saving me, though."

"Well, you're paying for EYEDROPS I'll have to get for taking a tail feather to the eye!" Loudred retorted. "Why didn't you use your head-feather?!"

"Easy," Blessing responded. "I'm a girl."

"Point taken," Loudred answered.

"Good work, Loudred," Pugno said, having entered the backstage area with Pelame and Sunflora in tow. Pugno gave Blessing a Max Elixir to restore her Move usage, and Pelame broke the ropes with a carefully aimed Crunch attack.

"And thanks, Sunflora, for letting us know," Pelame added after she freed Blessing. "We should get out of here before we get caught. Loudred, you carry Blessing."

Loudred begrudgingly did as told. They all bumped into a Sneasel who looked exactly like Blessing, all the way down to the nearly pitch-black skin. The other Sneasel looked as though she was about to sound an alarm, but she was quickly stopped.

"Aura Sphere!" Pugno shouted, landing a direct hit. Blessing used her strange power to lift the ropes that were binding her earlier and tied up the other Sneasel.

"Nice try, Ditto," Blessing taunted. "Still!" The Ditto masquerading as Blessing was instantly paralyzed, preventing her from turning back to her true gooey form. She was then gagged with the same Rawst Scarf that had earlier prevented Blessing from speaking. As a final touch, Loudred put the door back to normal, shut it, and then locked it. Pelame and Pugno then pushed the prop dresser in front of the door to keep it shut. "Now, don't you go anywhere!" Blessing taunted.

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon!" a voice suddenly announced, signaling the start of the play.

"Leave this to me!" Blessing said. She opened a small Dimensional Hole underneath everyone, putting them in their theatre seats. "Ow! I really needed to feel that!" she shouted, having landed firmly on her injured rear.

"Hey, hey! You already found Blessing!" Corphish said. "That was fast."

"Is she hurt?" Grovyle asked. "I heard her yelp as soon as she landed in her seat."

"Speaking of seats," Loudred answered. "I kinda may have accidentally broke hers. Someone may want to go get something to relieve the pain."

"Heal Bell," Celebi said, using her healing power on Blessing. "All better?"

Blessing tried to stand up, but it pained her to try. "Nothing doing," she answered. "I guess you can't heal skeletal injuries."

"—met a young boy who had mysteriously transformed into a Riolu! The young Riolu meets an ambitious young Eevee—"

"I'll go get something for Blessing," Pelame said, getting up out of her seat and reentering the concession area.

"Bring back some FOOD too, will ya?!" Loudred demanded. Everyone's attention was then finally focused on the play.

"Now, join us! A whole world of mystery and exploration awaits!"

(The Narrating Noctowl exits stage right. The lights dim, and then, a sudden flash of light.)

?: Whoa! Wh-wh-whoa…! Are…are you okay?!

?: No! Don't let go! Just a little longer… Come on! Hang on!

?: N-n-no! I can't… hold on…!

? and ?: Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!


"I hope the others had better luck," said a Sableye soldier who was just leaving the employee break room.

"Hey, where is everyone?" asked the captain Sableye. "It sounds like the play started already. We'll have to wait for the intermission to resume our search. For now, we—"

"Whoa, Pelame!" said a Sableye who she almost knocked over in her hurry. "Running a marathon?"

"Blessing needs bandages," Pelame answered. "We found her stashed backstage, and Loudred broke her tailbone by accident while rescuing her."

"Wow, how clumsy of him," a Sableye responded. "Here's the Employee Break Room's First Aid Kit."

"This will do just fine," Pelame answered, relieved. "Let's take it to her."

"All right, I got the food for everyone," said a Sableye whose arms were full of food. "We ready to go report to Lord Dusknoir?"

"Yep, but we don't need to worry about Blessing any longer," answered the captain. "Loudred found her."


"Well, at least your Heal Bell could pass for a painkiller," Blessing whispered to Celebi.

At that moment, Pelame entered with the Sableye soldiers.

"Yummy! Dibs on the White Gummis!" Loudred said, catching sight of the copious amount of food in the arms of one of the soldiers.

"Here you go," said a Sableye, wrapping bandages on Blessing's rear end. Another soldier ripped a cushion out of another seat and hollowed out a hole in the middle. Another soldier lifted Blessing out of her seat to make room for the hollowed-out cushion, then put her back in her new seat. The soldiers settled into the row behind them, the captain taking the seat that lost its cushion.

"Are you comfortable, Blessing?" Pelame asked.

"Apart from feeling like I'm trapped in a toilet, yes," Blessing said. "By the way, you missed basically everything from the beginning. You and Pugno are about to join the Guild."


Pelame: Oh? Our Team's name? We didn't think of that. So what do you think would be a good name for us, Pugno?

Pugno: You didn't even think of a Team name? Sheesh, I hope you're not going to become a handicap I constantly have to carry around.


Pugno shrunk into his chair as Pelame glanced at him with an annoyed look on her face.


Pugno: How about Team Poképals? Since we're going to be making a few while training?

Pelame: That sounds great, Pugno! Then that's our Team name. It's a good name! It suits us!

(Pelame turned to face the Guildmaster.)

Pelame: Team Poképals is our Team name, sir!

Guildmaster Wigglytuff: All settled, then! I'll register your Team as Poképals.

(The Guildmaster registered the new Team.)

GW: All registered! YOOM…TAH!

(A Hyper Voice signaled the finalization of the registration process.)


"You weren't originally called Team Space-Time?" Grovyle asked.

"Nope, we weren't," Pugno answered. "I had almost forgotten about that."

"I recall when they changed the Team's name," Dusknoir said. "I suppose we'll be seeing that on the stage."

"Yeah, that was quite a day," Pelame added. "To think I'll be reliving it in the form of entertainment, as well as a ton of other—" At that moment, Pelame came to a dreadful thought. "Oooohhhhhh dear."

"What's wrong, Pelame?" Pugno asked.

Pelame simply pointed to Grovyle and Dusknoir.

"Is there a problem?" Dusknoir asked.

"Well, let's just keep it simple," Pelame answered. She opened her playbill. "You two aren't going to like Act Two. And Dusknoir, let's just say the rest of the play will bring back bad memories."

"Hey, speaking of the rest of the play," Pugno added. "Why does it end after Temporal Tower?"


The play had reached a particularly unpleasant spot.

"Chatot? Where are you going?" asked the Guildmaster.

"Oh… I just need some fresh air," Chatot answered.

"We're outside. You can get fresh air here."

"Yeah. But I… I need a break. I'll be back." Chatot left on that note.


Chatot (in complete panic): Whaaaat? You failed?! Are you serious? Oh no! What am I going to do?! Seriously! What am I to do?!

Pelame (timidly): There was nothing we could do. You see, Skuntank and his…

Chatot (practically screaming): QUIET! I don't want to hear any excuses! You leave me no choice. For the time being, you'll go without dinner tonight!

Pelame (shocked): What?! B…but we…

Chatot: You failed to complete an important job! Your punishment could be much more severe! I don't want to hear anything from you! (Chatot turned away from Pelame and Pugno) You've saddled me with this terrible task! I've got to report this to the Guildmaster now! Upon my report, the Guildmaster is sure to… Waaaaaaaaah! (He turned back to Team Poképals) I will report this to the Guildmaster after dinner. You two will come with me when I do so. If I had to face the Guildmaster's wrath all by myself, well, that would hardly be fair. Therefore, you two will come with me! That's an order!


"Ouch," Celebi said. "That's harsh."

"Hey, where did Chatot go?" Chimecho asked.


From backstage, observations were being made.

"Perfect," said Weavile. "Full house, as scheduled. The targets have taken the bait. The intermission is about to start."

"That's our cue, right?" Skuntank asked.

"Yes," Weavile answered. "Lock the theatre down. Make sure no one leaves."

"Consider it done, Lady Weavile." Skuntank and the rest of Team Skull and Team AWD were off to do their duty.

"Those fools make our job too easy," Weavile couldn't resist quipping to herself.


Suggested music for this chapter:

Grey Theatre – Spinach Rag Opera House (Final Fantasy VI)

Beginning of the Play – Explorers of Time and Darkness Anime Special Opening Theme

Registering the Team Name – Guildmaster Wigglytuff (PMDEoT/D/S)

Grey Theatre Lockdown – Unrest (Full Metal Alchemist 2003 Anime OST)