Chapter 9: Recon Mission
...
...
"Hey. Jake, can you hear me?"
...
"It's you again"
"Yes. How have you been doing until now?"
"Pretty good, but I assume this is not a regular chat? Who are you?"
"I cannot tell you that. It would put you and your friends in danger. All you need to know is that I will answer whatever I can about what happened"
"I think the first question is pretty obvious. What happened to me?"
"You got turned into a Pokémon because this world needs your help"
"What does that mean?"
"You will know when the time is right"
"That doesn't answer my question at all! You said you would answer whatever I asked!"
"I can't risk telling you information that will put you in danger. They already know about you, and they won't stop until they hunt you down"
"Who's they?"
"It's the guild that terrorized the region a few years ago. They are back, and want to try again at what they failed so long ago"
"And what's that?"
"Using the power of an abomination to take over everything"
"..."
"And who thought that I was the right person to do this?"
"It wasn't easy, but we finally settled down on you to help. We were going to get you, but they found you first"
"Do you mean..."
"That girl was one of the Pokémon that wants you dead"
"Who...who is she?"
"I don't know. I know as much as you do about them"
"..."
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but our time is almost up"
"Wait! What do I do now?"
"I'd ask you not to tell anyone about this. Not even your friends"
"But why?"
"They can't know about this. At least, not for now. I'm sure they will find out sooner than later"
"What does that mean?!"
"Be careful today, Jake. Not everyone is what they say they are..."
And everything went black.
I woke up, covered in sweat, just like yesterday. This time however, it was much worse. I felt as if I hadn't slept at all, which I doubted had something to do with yesterday's adventure. My head was pounding, and almost made me faint from pain.
Why can't I tell them? Is it really that bad?
I couldn't stop thinking about the warning that voice gave me.
Not everyone is what they say they are...
"Jake! Are you alright? You look horrible!"
That was Ember. Apparently, waking up at the same time was starting to be part of our routine.
"Yeah. It was...just a nightmare"
"Don't lie to me! You look like you haven't slept at all! Look at those eyebags!"
"It's nothing, don't worry"
"Of course I would worry! You are my friend!"
"I'm fine, Ember. Might just be a side effect of being a human. Having nightmares and all that. Don't worry about me, please"
She sighed. "If you say so... But please, if you need anything, you can tell me, okay?"
I smiled and nodded. "Always"
After having breakfast, and grabbing our things, we set out to the plaza, arriving at the same time as Kit, who also looked like he didn't sleep too well.
"Rough night?"
"Ye"
"Same, dude"
"Well, you'll have to drink a tea with a bit of Energy Powder later, huh?" joked Ember.
"Is that the equivalent of coffe? Because I could use some"
"I'm not even going to ask what's that" sentenced Kit.
"Lets go to the town hall then"
We didn't need to walk far, but for me, and probably Kit, it was painful. Every step was harder than the last one, and it only got worse the more we walked.
I swear I slept like a log last night, so why am I so tired? Maybe it has to do with those dreams...
Finally, the town hall came into view, and even in my sleep deprived state, it still managed to impress me. We went to the bulletin board and took a look at it.
"What do you guys want to do?" Asked Ember.
"Something that doesn't requiere fighting strong enemies, please. I could faint at any moment"
"Same here"
She laughed, but didn't talk. Some silence later, she took a piece of paper and showed it to us.
"What do you think of this one? It's just fetching a box full of stuff. And it's in a small dungeon too!"
"Fetching things brings me back bad memories..."
"This dungeon is for kids! Come on, you two, we have a mission to do!"
"Hold it!"
That shout came from Blaze. The Quilava was just exiting the building, followed by Mismagious and a pair of Misdreavous.
The bigger ghost was, to say the least, not very happy to be where he was, but at the moment he saw us, he changed his look to a friendlier one.
The warning that voice gave me resonated in my head again.
"Team Indigo! You don't need to pick a mission today. You will be sent to a special one tasked by the Expedition Society that doesn't appear on the board"
"Special mission?" I asked.
"Yep. A team of explorers found a strange place near a dungeon, and apparently has been deserted for a long time. It also appears that no one has taken a look at it either! Isn't that exciting?"
Mismagious rolled his eyes, with a clear meaning behind it: "Whatever you say, pal"
"I guess?"
"Hell yeah! Exploring an ancient place, completely untouched by civilization? Can't wait to go!" Yelled Ember, with almost childish excitement.
"Who's the kid now, huh?" Retorted Kit. Ember either didn't hear it, or didn't care.
"That's the spirit! I hadn't seen that excitement in ages! Not since-"
Mismagious cleared his throat. "That's right, I almost forgot! You will go to the expedition with Mismagious and his teammates"
"We are team Shadow. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but we already did, didn't we?"
"We did. Nice to see you again"
He took a look at Kit and me, and grinned. "You look like you haven't slept at all, not like your Braixen friend"
"How could you tell?" Said Kit.
"Well! Apparently the place is empty, with no ferals to fight, so equipment isn't really necessary. Carry healing items, though. Who knows what's inside."
Each one of us nodded.
"Now, take a look" He extended a map, and showed us the region. He pointed to a small dot in the map. "This is the village"
He then pointed to a small mountainous area on the north. "And here is where the place should be. The trip will probably not take long, but you should be prepared to set up a temporal camp in case it is necessary"
Kit and Mismagious looked at the map for some time, seemingly thinking about something.
"Isn't that Windscorched Mountain?" They said at the same time.
"Yes. The team were setting a perimeter around the dungeon area when they came across that place. I see that you are already familiar with the dungeon?"
"Yep. Took a few trips there a few years ago. The scenary is amazing, you know? A pity we are not going there" Said Kit.
"You explored the dungeon a few years ago, and you've been in a team for less than two days?" Said Blaze, raising a brow.
Kit's face went pale. "I-...Uhh..."
Blaze laughed loudly. "Don't worry, Kit. Snitches get stitches, don't they? I won't say a thing"
The Zoroark sighed in relief, while Ember and me were trying to hold our laughter.
"So that's our mission, isn't it? Lets get going then" Sentenced Mismagious.
"Aye" Said his teammates, eerily at the same time.
"Good luck, team Indigo and team Shadow!"
"Thanks, B! We'll be right back with some results!"
"I hope so!"
"So, where do we start?" The Lucario asked just as we left the village.
"We should head as fast as we can to the area and set up a camp as soon as we arrive. That way, if anything happens and we have no time before nighttime, we will already have one"
"That sounds like a good plan to me!" Answered Kit.
We began our march to Windscorched Mountain. The trip was going to be a walk where I could focus on my own thoughts and not be bothered by anything at all.
"Hey, Mismagious"
Or it would be, if I didn't have to go with these guys.
"What?"
"You and your team, for how long have you been together? Like, as an explorer team?"
"For one year, six months, two weeks, four days, three hours, fourteen minutes and eighteen seconds" Answered Kate.
"Nineteen seconds. Twenty seconds. Twenty one seconds..." Added Nate.
"Geez, that's creepy" Jake responded.
"Oh, if you think that's creepy, wait until you see them angry"
"I'd rather not"
"You will" Said Kate.
"We just know it" They added at the same time, with a toothy, but eerie grin.
Team Indigo collectively shuddered.
A few hours had passed since the trip began. The sun was halfway through the sky, signaling that noon was near, and the two male members of team Indigo were progressively showing more and more signs of their sleep deprived nights.
"Can we stop?" Whinned Kit.
"Please! The night is taking its toll on me" Added Jake.
"Come on, you pair of Slakoth! You can't be that tired! We are halfway there, and we set out like three hours ago!"
"You are fine because you have slept like a log!"
"Yeah, show some empathy!"
Those three were definitely full of surprises.
"It's fine, we can stop. Floating everywhere is tiring too" I said.
"We agree" Said Kate.
"Some leisure time would be nice" Added Nate.
"It's settled then"
Both Kit and Jake dropped to the ground immediately.
"Finally!"
"Thank god"
I couldn't help but let out a laugh, which I quickly drowned. I can't forget what I am supposed to do here. Slowly floating downwards, I began pondering what we should do.
We obviously need to arrive there, but do we need to go back together? If I betray them, I will obviously reveal my identity. Maybe just act as we have done for the last year and a half: As a rescue team.
A few minutes later, and Kit and Jake had both fallen asleep, leaning on a tree, while Kate and Nate were floating while sleeping. At least I thought they were sleeping. That only left me alone with the Braixen, Ember.
I could not believe what I was about to do.
"You haven't fallen asleep. Are you excited?"
"Yeah! I always dreamt of being an explorer, and all of that stuff. It's thanks to him that I actually am doing this" She said. pointing to the sleeping Lucario, and smiling.
This better be worth it.
"You are attached to him, aren't you~?"
Her face went red as she looked at me with an angry face. "Not you too! I already have Kit to say those kind of things, which is enough!"
She looked back at Jake. "But it is true that he is a good friend. Never expected to meet such a strange guy, you know? But I wouldn't change him even a bit"
Oh boy. I don't need to be a psychic to know that those two will end up becoming a couple.
"That's good, I guess. In which way is he strange?"
"Well...He is amnesiac. He says he fell from a cliff and lost his memories. The fact that he survived is already impressive. At first, I didn't believe his story, but now, I am happy that I did"
You lie pretty well, my girl, but not enough to fool me. Looks like L's plan went wrong after all.
"Of course you wouldn't believe it. It's kind of a one in a thousand chance, so naturally it would be difficult to think that he was telling the truth."
"Yeah..."
A few moments of silence passed. "Do you really believe him?"
A humming sound came from the vixen. "If you asked a few days ago? I probably would have said no. But now? I do. There is no other explanation. He doesn't seem like the type of Pokémon that goes lying to people"
I looked at her with a teasing smile. "You really like him, huh?"
"Don't you dare!"
Both of us laughed. At least this expedition wasn't going to be boring.
"Well, if you excuse me, I'm gonna try to sleep a bit. See you in a bit"
"Sure. Good night. Or midday probably"
I closed my eyes and tried to rest for a bit.
Pretending to be nice is very tiring.
And just like that, sleep overtook me.
I stirred and slowly opened my eyes, covering my eyes as to not get blinded by the sun.
I really needed this. I feel just as new!
I stood up, no longer feeling tired or with a pounding headache, and saw that I was the first one awake. Kit was still asleep to one side of where I was, while Ember was now sleeping to the other side.
Looking back, Mismagious was sleeping on the grass like if he were sleeping in a bed.
I suppose this is not the first time he has had to do that.
"Oh! You are awake at last" Said a voice behind me.
"And you don't seem to be on the verge of collapsing. Congratulations" Said a different voice, also from behind me.
I turned around as fast as I could, fearing for my life, but realized those voices came from the pair of Misdreavous that accompanied Mismagious.
"It's you" I said sighing. "Don't ever do that again"
"Did we scare you?"
"What a Torchick!"
Both of them giggled. I decided it was best not to dwell on it.
"I never got to ask your names"
"I am Kate"
"And I am Nathan, but everyone just calls me Nate"
"Are you twins, or something?"
"What gave it away?" They responded at the same time, with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. "Just intuition"
The sound of someone stirring made me look back, and I realized that Mismagious was already awake.
"I see you met these two" He said.
"More like they scared me"
He smiled, and then looked at my two teammates.
"Looks like your Braixen friend went to sleep after all"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you remember that she was the one that didn't want to stop? I had a bit of a talk with her just before going to sleep myself. I think she really values you as a friend~" That last sentence was accompanied by a small teasing smile.
"Oh, please, not two Kits! One is already enough for everyone!"
"That's the exact reaction your friend had"
A few seconds of silence passed.
"Should I wake them up?" I finally said.
Mismagious looked towards the sky, and answered. "I'd say that we've been asleep for at least an hour. Our destination is not very far away from here, but if we wanna explore the ruins before sunset and make a camp, we ought to set off now, so yeah, wake them up"
I walked towards the tree and touched one of Ember's ears. That always managed to wake up our family's Skitty, so there was no loss in trying that here. Sure enough, her ear twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"It's time to wake up already?" She asked groggily.
"I thought you didn't want to rest?"
She laughed. "Shut it and help me up!" She said while extending one of her paws to me. I took it and pulled, making her stand up, but almost knocking her down again.
"What was that?!" She yelled, now fully awake.
"Sorry. Seems like I still don't control my strength..."
She giggled. "No problem. Just wake up Kit; It's time to set off!"
I nodded and walked to the other side of the tree. I tried the same strategy I used with Ember, touching one of Kit's ears. Sure enough, it twitched too, but he didn't seem to wake up at all.
"Ugh, come on!"
I tried again, and got the same result. I began wondering if he was awake and was just playing with me.
"Having trouble?" Ember asked from beside me.
I nodded. "Don't worry. I got something that always works"
She walked in front of me and cleared her throat. "Would you look at that! I think I have some gummi shakes in here!"
Immediately, Kit's ears perked up, and he practically jumped up, looking around frantically. "Where?!" Was the only thing he said.
When he realized the trick, he frowned at Ember. "I told you that's not funny"
"I disagree" Was all I managed to say while holding my laughter.
"Gotta admit it, it was funny" Said Mismagious.
"We agree on that" Added the twins.
"Oh, so everyone thinks it's funny, huh? Next time, you could actually have those shakes"
"But then it wouldn't be that fun" Ember responded with a smile.
"Now that we are all awake, lets move. If anyone is hungry, I have are some apples I can give you"
"I'm down. That little prank made me hungry!"
"I can cope with it for now"
"Same here"
"Agreed"
Mismagious pulled a pair of apples from his satchel, gave one to Kit, and munched the other one.
"Lets...move...guys" He said between bites.
Another hour passed, and we arrived at the foot of Windscorched Mountain. We still had a few hours left before nighttime, but Mismagious urged us to make a camp as soon as possible, which took another half an hour. After that time, however, three small tents had been built, each with space for two people.
"Was this really necessary?" I asked, brushing the sweat off my forehead and looking at the inprovised tent we built.
"You'd be surprised. Once, we went on a mission and we got there, rain started pouring. I then realized we should have made a camp first thing"
"Wouldn't the rain just phase through you?" Asked Kit, having finished anchoring the stakes that held the tent on the ground.
"That's not how it works. How would I get hit by any attacks if that was the case? You out of everyone should know the best "
"Huh?"
"Nothing"
I could swear Mismagious muttered something, but I decided not to press any further.
"Can we explore now? Please!"
"Alright, big explorer, lets do this" I told Ember.
"The place should not be too far ahead. Lets go before the sun sets. If we miss something, we can just come back tomorrow"
"Sounds acceptable"
"Yeah, lets roll"
And so, we began our first real recon mission. This time, to explore an apparently untouched site. I hoped it wasn't too big and we didn't need to spend a lot of time exploring here.
Well, the site in question wasn't too big. In fact, it was so small I could understand why it had gone under the radar for so long.
The twins had decided to look outside in case there was something else, but I highly doubted that.
After removing all the rubble from the collapsed entrance, we found out that the misterious site was just a room hidden in the wall of the mountain.
"This is it?!" We all yelled at the same time.
"Surely this can't be it. There must be some hidden entrance or something!" Tried reasoning Ember.
"Lets just look around for now. There may be clues nearby. Ember, if you may..."
Nodding, Ember lit the end of her stick-wand, creating a small torch for us to see. Immediately, we noticed a big machine that occupied one whole half of the whole small room. It seemed almost...human.
"What is it?" I asked.
Mismagious floated closer and took a look. "I don't know. This is the first time I saw this technology. It also looks like it has been abandoned a very long time ago"
"And why is this thing in a room not larger than a small house?" Ember questioned.
"Because there is more than just this room. Look!" Said Kit while pointing to a map on a table in the other side of the room.
"What is it?" Mismagious asked while all of us stepped closer to see what Kit was talking about.
As it turns out, the map showed a small room, which I assumed was the room we were in, and a whole lot of paths underground.
"There is a whole structure below us! And apparently we enter from here" He added.
"But from where exactly?" Was the ghost's response.
I looked around, trying to find any clue of where the secret entrance could be.
"Can't you use your aura sense to find it?" Mismagious asked.
"That would requiere a living being underneath here, which I doubt we have"
I suddenly saw what looked like a very old and rusty machine against one of the walls.
"Someone help me out here"
I pulled the machine while Kit helped me push it, revealing another small room with what looked like a rope falling onto a hole.
"You found it! Nice, Jake!"
This room was completely dark, with the only light being the one provided by the hole we made. Ember stepped first, lighting the way, and making us see that the hole had a small ladder to climb back up.
"Well, seems like this is the entrance. We'll have to rapel our way down one by one, and use the ladder to climb back. Everyone be extra careful, since, as far as we know, either the rope or the ladder could break at any moment"
"I'll go get the twins"
"We are already here"
This time, even Mismagious jumped in shock. "You'll never stop surprising me"
He then turned towards us. "We'll go first. We can float down, and we can try to catch you if the rope breaks"
"Try?"
"No promises!" He said while floating away.
I sighed. "So who goes first?"
"I'll go. You'll need light and I'm the only fire type here" She commented while walking to the rope and pulling down to test its sturdyness.
She then grabbed the rope with both hands and looked at us. "Wish me luck" She proceeded to jump into the abyss.
After a few seconds, we heard a thud, signaling that Ember had already hit the ground.
"It's safe! Come on down!" She shouted.
"My turn"
"Careful there, Kit"
"Don't worry. If I die and become a ghost, I'll be sure to haunt you for the rest of your days"
"Don't joke with that!"
As with Ember, he jumped down, and hit the ground. "Come on, Jakey! The ladder extends until here, don't worry!"
Gulping, I grabbed the rope, looked down, and regretted it instantly. I was never a fan of heights.
Closing my eyes, I decided that as long as I held the rope tight, nothing would happen. And with that confidence boost, I jumped down.
...
"You can open your eyes, dude. There are no ghosts here apart from our mates"
Realizing I still had my eyes closed, I opened them and looked at our surroundings. This didn't look like fancy at all, and looked just like an old mineshaft.
"Mismagious is scouting left side and the twins are scouting right side. They told us to wait here until they came back just in case"
I nodded. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long, as the pair of Misdreavous came from the right with their blank expressions.
"Nothing on our side" Declared one of them.
"Just a collapsed hallway" Added the other one.
I still didn't know who was who.
"Lets just wait until Mismagious comes back then"
Several minutes passed, and finally, rushed breathing was heard coming from the left side of this mineshaft.
"Guys!" He shouted while he came into view. "You have to see this!"
All of us shared a quick look, and we bolted to see what Mismagious was talking about.
The left hallway was extensive, and I almost tripped with a stone several times, but we finally managed to arrive at the destination.
The room was big, but we couldn't see exactly where we were. That is, until Ember found a switch, and flipped it, making the lights work.
Polished marble walls surrounded us. Contrasting with the rocky and small mineshaft, this place was huge, and despite being abandoned for who knows how long, the only sign of that was dust all over the place.
"Woah!" I said, making my voice echo through the whole place.
"This place has working lightning?" Exclaimed Mismagious.
"I have a better question: What is this place?"
Looking around, this looked like a lobby of sorts, with branching hallways that led to somewhere, even though half of them were collapsed.
"This looks like the main room of a bunker. It still surprises me how there is electrical power"
"There are three paths here, the rest of them are collapsed"
"Lets split then" Mismagious suggested.
"I'll go with Jakey"
"I'll go with Mismagious then"
"We'll go together"
"Who would have guessed?"
Nodding, everyone set off for their respective hallways.
"Remember, in three hours at most we'll be here. If anyone finds problems, that way we'll know"
And so, everyone dissapeared, leaving me alone with Kit.
Walking down the hallway, it didn't ever seem to have an end. We might as well have just picked the longest hallway in all of history.
"So much silence. It's almost...creepy"
"Not used to not hearing yourself all the time, huh?"
"Maybe" He said giggling.
"But you are right, it's too silent for my liking"
That was an understatement. Not only was so silent that even the smallest of water drips could be heard. The worst part of it all, was that everything we saw until now was too familiar to me.
"Look there!" Exclaimed Kit, taking me out my thoughts.
A small open door was present a few meters ahead.
"Finally! I seriously was beggining to think that this hallway was endless!"
Kit looked at me. "I'll race you there!" He shouted while running away.
"Hey, that's not fair!" I yelled back running after him.
We practically bolted to the door, both of us eager to find out what exactly was hidden down here.
Great. So I was stuck alone with the Braixen. Again! It could have been worse. I could have been stuck with...him.
"You think that we'll find something here?"
"Probably. This structure seems too bizarre to just be formed naturally. It almost looks like..."
"...it isn't from this world..." She finished.
No more was said until we arrived at a big rusty metal door.
"This looks so old!"
I tried to push the door, but it didn't budge. Pulling didn't work either.
"Indeed. Luckily, it's not the first time I have to force a door open"
Before she could respond, I phased through the door, and hit the other side with a Shadow Ball, making a few bolts fly, but opening the door.
"Your idea of forcing a door open is very different to mine" Ember commented while fully opening the door.
Shrugging, I answered back. "You are not a ghost, and I can't shoot flames"
"Fair enough"
Satisfied with this little victory, I turned back, and took a look at the room we were in.
In comparison, the lobby we just were in was nothing. This room was massive. If I didn't know we were underground, I would have thought this was a whole building.
Not only that, but the room was also filled with strange machines, most of them broken and rusty, but those that weren't, were emitting a buzzing sound.
What were these things?
"I think we are going to have a bad time looking through the whole room. And we have to do it in under three hours"
"Sounds like a non-ghost problem" I said floating towards one of the operational machines, and tried phasing through it.
It was a bad idea, as suddenly I felt as if a tenth of Zapdos had used their strongest attack on me. I flew backwards, crashing onto the wall near Ember.
"Ghost problem, huh?"
"Shut up"
"Manual scouting it is. Better not try that again"
With all my energy, I managed to levitate and follow the vixen, a clear displeassure in my face.
She approached one of the machines carefully and looked at it.
"This looks like some sort of generator"
"You mean that all of these things are generators?!"
Taking a look around, she nodded. "Yes, it seems like it"
"But how? I don't see any electric type powering them, so how do they do it?"
"I don't know"
She looked at me. "But I think there is a more important question"
"And that is...?"
"If all of these things are generators, what do they need this much electrical power for?"
"I won!"
"No fair! You started early!"
Kit stuck his tongue out. "They don't call us 'dark types' for no reason, bud"
"Weird way to say that you are a cheater, but okay"
Rolling his eyes, Kit tried pushing the door, but it didn't move. Since pulling didn't work either, he decided that the best way to force the door open was by kicking it open.
"Thank god there are no enemies here, or else you would have already alerted a horde!"
"What was your plan there exactly? Ask it to open by itself politely?"
"Touché "
"What?"
"Fair enough"
"Then say that"
"Already did!"
Rolling his eyes, Kit mumbled something. "These interdimensional travelers and their funny ways to speak..."
"Shut up! I'd like to see you try to learn my language!"
"Not gonna happen anytime soon"
"Lets just get in the room" I said while stepping inside the just opened door.
Smirking, Kit followed me close behind.
The room wasn't too big. What worried me was what was inside. Some sort of capsule was in the middle of the room, the glass that made its middle section completely broken down.
Three thick pipes connected to the bottom of it, and the inside had signs of having been wet for a long time.
"What the hell?!"
"What is this thing?"
"It looks like...a life support capsule or something like that"
"And what even is that?!"
Kit sounded stressed. I couldn't blame him.
"Wait, you don't know what this is?"
"No! Nothing we've seen makes any sense to any of us!"
What?
"But..."
"How do you know about any of this? I dunno, Jake"
It couldn't be that this place...was built by...
"Lets just...have a look around"
Going around the capsule revealed a small table, with a lot of moldy papers on and hung above it.
"Kit, take a look at these papers. I'm gonna check the capsule"
The fox nodded, and got closer to the maps while I went to check the capsule.
I had never seen a life support chamber outside of video games, so seeing one in real life looked surreal.
The glass was broken, as if whoever, or whatever was inside broke out by force. The inside had some sort of tubes that were hanging from the upper part of the capsule, probably used to give food to the occupant.
On the right side, there was a small keyboard and a screen, both of them nonfunctional due to the high humidity of this place.
This keyboard was weird. Most of the keys were either missing or damaged enough to not be able to distinguish the letter. The only one that was visible enough, didn't have a bizarre simbol, or any of those weird letters I had seen during my time here, but the letter "B". The human B.
Before I could question anything else, I heard Kit call my name, so I gave the keyboard a last awkward glance before walking away.
"Kit, you won't believe what I saw on the capsule"
"Tell me"
"There was a keyboard, possibly to control the capsule, and it had the letter "B" in one of the keys! The human one!"
"Keyboard? I have no idea what's that. Are you sure you saw the letter correctly though?"
"Yes! I swear it was the human letter!"
"Then, that may explain this"
He gave me a paper. It looked like a report of sorts "Most of the papers are completely erased. This is the only one that has readable text. The point is that it's illegible"
I scanned the report. It was indeed moldy and humid, but there were some parts that were readable.
"
Report 261 on subject 000
Day 2_ of incubation:
Subject appears _tient and reacts to outside stim_ as expected.
All re_arche_ are jumping in j_.
We have done it, we have created life from not_. The boss of this ope_ was skeptical since we had to literally break through _ _ , and we didn't want to repeat the 'Mewtwo Incident' in a whole different _.
Below all of the medical details of the subject will be put.
"
I handed Kit the paper back. "The rest is blank"
Kit was dumbfoolded. "Did you just..."
Realizing what he meant, I felt my face go pale. I checked the paper again to see if I didn't just make up everything I said, but sure enough, there it was. Plain and simple.
"I..."
I looked around. "This has to be human. No way it isn't" A clear fear was audible on my voice.
"There has to be an explanation, right? Maybe...what if the guys working here learnt how to write like humans as a way to make anyone too curious think like we did? Yeah, it has to be that!"
"What would be the point though? And Pokémon here can learn how to write English?"
"A few schools teach it as a 'mythical language'. There are no oral lections, though, as no one can speak it. Apparently it's physically impossible"
"Everything is possible if you try hard enough" I said rolling my eyes...which landed on a small black rectangle.
Walking to it, I picked it up, and realized it was relatively light, and probably made out of plastic.
"Is this...a laptop?"
"Great, so another human device"
Placing the laptop on the table, I opened it, and pressed the 'on' button. Unsurpisingly, it didn't work. It was either out of battery, or its insides were completely broken. I hoped it was the former.
"What are you doing?"
"This is a laptop. A device used by humans to...do a lot of things. If this is some sort of human place, it probably was used to store all documents about that...subject. I am not gonna enter in the details, but we need electricity. Again"
Kit got closer to me and whispered, a serious tone present on his words. "Listen, Jake. We can't tell anyone outside of our team about this"
"What?! Why?"
"If this is really a human facility, and we tell Blaze about it, the Expedition Society will waste no time in closing this down. We need this place to be left as some useless ruins, got it? Only then we will be able to come again, more prepared to explore further"
"You are right. This place...has to have answers. And this laptop..." I picked the object up. "Has to have something. We need to make it switch on"
"I'm happy that you agree"
"Pick anything that you cannot read and hide it somewhere in your bag. We can't let anyone find about the true nature of this place"
"But what about that...laptop?"
"I'll just make an excuse for it. Now lets go, there is nothing more to see here. Lets go help Ember and Mismagious"
"Got it"
"In the name of Arceus, does this place never end?!"
I was beggining to grow desperate, having to go through every single one of these machines one by one. Apparently I was the only one that thought that way.
"Oh come on, I'm sure there has to be something here!"
And I really did hope so, because I was going to lose it if there wasn't. After what felt like hours (and probably were), we hit the room's wall. All that we had seen were just electrical generators, and some sort of plastic card. Nothing else. Whatever they needed all of these for, had to be huge. Then again, almost all of the ways are blocked, so who knows what's behind them?
If it was just me and the twins, we could just phase through the rubble, but noooo, that Quilava had to send us with these guys!
"Huh. So there is actually nothing here"
"I'm going to blow this whole place up"
"Lets go back. Maybe if we pick another way, we will actually find something?"
I sighed. "Whatever. Lets just get out of here and hope the others have had more luck"
This time, we walked through another corridor, and the scenary seemed to change. Not a very long time after, we found a new door, but this one was made out of really heavy metal, and didn't look aged at all.
"I think you are not going to break this door" Ember said while walking to one side of it, and looking at something that looked like...a completely new object?
"What is this thing?" She finally said.
Looking closer, the device looked like a scanner of sorts, but this technology was too bizarre to be from this world. Maybe it was from a far away continent?
There was a slot in the form of the same card I found earlier.
"Hold on" I inserted the card in the slot, and swiped it down. A small beeping sound was heard, and the door began to lift with a loud sound.
It took a long time, but it finally opened enough for us to enter, before stopping completely.
"Too old to open completely, huh?"
"I'm more concerned by how you opened the door"
"I don't know. I just used this weird card on this weird device"
Nonetheless, I entered the room, and immediately noticed the big sign in the other end of the room. It was written in some sort of language that looked a lot like Unown, but not exactly. As far as I knew, in that sign was written "Armory", followed by more Unown letters in an apparent random way. It said 'Armería', 'Armurier' and under that, bizarre simbols were present.
The contents of the room were...bizarre, just as this whole place. Weird metal sticks were present hanging in all the walls, each of a different size and shape. On one of the tables, there was a box full of weird metal cilinders with a pin.
Picking one up, I inspected it, drawing Ember's attention. "Seriously? Of all the weird things in the room, you pick the most normal looking thing?"
"I can assure you this is everything apart from normal" I said pulling the pin. At first, nothing happened, but suddenly, a big sound was heard, and I got blinded and deafened at the same time.
I felt myself fall to the ground out of shock, and stood there, laying and unmoving, until my vision and hearing slowly came back.
That allowed me to see Ember on the ground, practically in the same position as me.
"I-I told you it wasn't normal"
"How about next time you don't use things you don't know what they are for? I can still feel my ears ringing... What even was that?!"
Shaking my head, I floated up again and checked the box again. A pair of these things still there.
"It looked like the move Flash, but like if it were contained in a seed?"
"How is that even possible?"
"I don't know. But maybe, lets not mess around with the rest of the room's content"
"Please"
This room, the "Armory" was small, but packed of those weird metal sticks. There also seemed to be a helmet lying on the ground, next to a vest that looked tough with what I guessed were the letters S, W, A, and T. What did they even mean? No idea.
The helmet didn't fit me, and probably any Pokémon that lived in this world, so I decided to check what my Braixen partner was doing. She had picked one of the small metal sticks, though this one looked too small to even be considered a stick. Maybe a boomerang?
"You think we should take this? As proof, I mean"
"As long as it doesn't flash us again..."
A few more minutes of looking around, and we decided we were done here, so we headed out and off to see what the others had done. Ember carried the weird metal boomerang and I carried one of those cilinders in my bag. I'm pretty sure she didn't noticed that I did.
Just in case I need to do a quick getaway. Not today, but maybe in the future...
"Lets go back then. Kit and Jake might have finished already, and I don't want to get jumpscared by the twins"
"Then lets move. Lead the way, Ember"
"Where are these guys?" Kit asked to no one in particular.
Looking back, I was glad we bought our bags at Agatha's shop instead of anywhere else. When I compared them to a size of two laptops, I wasn't kidding. I had enough space to put the laptop on top of all the items I had inside.
"I don't know. If only we had some way to comunicate..."
Kit and I looked at each other, and facepalmed. "The badges" We said at the same time.
When we were going to pick them up, however, the sound of footsteps was heard. Ember and Mismagious were back.
"Heeey! You guys found anything interesting?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. Just some junk"
"Then you'll be happy to hear what we found"
"But lets wait until we get outside. I can't stand this place anymore!" Said Mismagious.
"Same. We are just waiting on the twins, and we should be able to go" Answered Kit.
"We are coming!"
"Yeah, wait for us!"
All of us turned to the remaining hallway and saw the pair of ghosts flying towards us. They had leftover food around their mouths.
"We are here" Said one of them, which I assumed was Kate.
"Yeah, we didn't find anything too interesting" Said the other one, which had to be Nate.
"Then, why do you look like you just ate a whole room worth of food?" Asked Mismagious.
"That's because we did" Said Nate, but Kate gave him a small headbutt, which I assumed was the equivalent of a nudge for Pokémon without arms.
"What my dear brother means, is that we found what looked like the canteen, and decided to check the quality of the food" Answered Kate.
"You had to see it! There was so much! And all of it was in either cans or in these weird plastic envelopes! We had a very hard time opening them"
Kate proceeded to give him another headbutt. This time, a bit stronger. "We also brought some of it for us to eat, as we don't know how much food we brought" She added.
"And that's because I told you to! If I didn't, you would have just eaten everythi-" This time, Kate blasted her brother with a Shadow Ball.
He did not add anything else.
"Shall we get out then?" she said, blushing.
"Sure?" I answered, confused. These twins were full of surprises.
"Let's head back then," Ember said, lighting the small improvised torch. "I'll lead the way."
"How the hell is it dusk already?" I yelled, looking at the sky.
"Being underground makes you lose track of time pretty quickly" Kit told me.
We were arriving at the small camp we had built earlier. I thanked Mismagious for urging us to build earlier, as I couldn't bring myself to do it now. Not after what I had seen down there.
Questions flooded my mind, but I couldn't answer any of them. What was that place? Who was that capsule for? And most importantly, why did it have human things inside?
"Hey, Jake. I noticed your bag seems a bit more...square than before" Said Mismagious.
"It's just junk. I brought it just because I wanted to see if I could do something with it"
The camp was exactly as we left it. Thankfully, the tents hadn't fallen down, and we could just eat and sleep, ready to head back tomorrow.
"So where's the food? I'm starving" Ember said.
"Right here" Said Kate, using some sort of psychic power to pick the small cans that they brought. Nate used the same energy to pick some food wrapped in plastic.
"This, and the food we brought should be enough"
I didn't bother looking at the cans, as what bothered me the most was the looks of the food inside the bags. One of them contained long lost chocolate cereals, at least, that's what they looked like. They were moldy, and looked like them alone could give you food poisoning for at least a whole day.
The other bag contained a small salad, which needles to say, was completely rotten and moldy. I think this salad would skip the food poisoning and outright kill you if you dared to take a bite.
"I think the food in the bags is moldy as hell"
"I was going to say that too"
"Yeah"
"Agreed"
"Moldy? It didn't taste like it"
"Wait, you two ate food like this?"
"Yeah?"
I gagged. Since they were ghosts, the negative effects of the food probably didn't happen. Still, it was gross.
"I'll take the apples out"
I grabbed one of the cans. The label was mostly gone, but it looked like this was tomato soup.
"Kit, lend me your claws for a bit"
"What?"
"Just extend a finger"
I grabbed his hand, and used the sharp claws to cut through the cans as if they were butter. The inside soup was in perfect condition.
"Thanks"
"Seems like you did this already"
"Just eat the soup" I said to the Zoroark as I handed him the can.
Reluctantly, Kit took a small sip, and his eyes widened.
"This thing's awesome!" He said while handing the can to Ember. She too drank a bit, and had a similar reaction, passing the can to Mismagious, and then the twins.
All of them were delighted, and finished the can faster than lightning.
"It was awesome!" Said Ember.
"Awesome? Even better!" Commented Mismagious.
"We. Need. More!" Said the twins.
"Relax! There is just a can left, and I still haven't even tried it!"
I took a few sips, drinking half of the content and handed them the rest. All of them looked at me as if I just spit in it.
"What?"
"No reaction at all?"
I shrugged. I never was a fan of tomatoes, much less tomato soup. It was the typical food you had in a bunker just in case an apocalypse broke out.
What a coincidence.
"Whatever, more for me!" Yelled Kit.
"No way! You aren't drinking it all!" Shouted Ember.
"Hey! What about me?"
"We were the ones that found it!"
All of them pushed and pulled the can as if their lives depended on it, until they dropped it, spilling the contents on the ground.
All of them were out of words. No one moved. It was comical, to say the least.
"It's just a bit of soup, don't be like kids. We need to save food, though, so the apples have to be reserved for tomorrow!"
That just made them groan. I rolled my eyes. "Hey, if it makes you all feel better, I think I know how to make it, but it probably won't be the same as the one in the can"
In the blink of an eyes, I was surrounded by a bunch of hungry Pokémon, fire burning in their eyes.
"You do?"
"You'll be cooking this everyday from now on, new house rule!"
"Teach us!"
"Yeah!"
"O-Ok"
They stepped back and I sighed. I couldn't believe the moment the most fear I felt was when I was surrounded by my teammates.
"I almost forgot!" exclaimed Mismagious. "The tents are two per 'mon, so we'll have to pair up."
"We'll go together"
The twins floated to their tent, and didn't say anything else.
"Okay then, I guess that leaves us four. Any ideas or preferences?"
Kit's smile was growing wider for every second we spent talking about this. "What about I go with you, Mismagious? Then we can leave some space to Ember and Jake, who are soooo tired, am I right?"
Ember and me looked at Kit with a death stare. Mismagious looked between us and Kit, before finally sighing.
"Fine then. Lets go to sleep, I'm so tired" He floated inside another tent, and disappeared from our view.
"Well, good night you two. And I wanna sleep, so don't kiss too loudly, ok?"
"Shut up!" We said at the same time.
Satisfied, Kit went to the same tent as Mismagious, leaving us alone to enter the last tent.
"I'm going to kill him" I said.
"And I will help you. For now, lets get inside our tent" She added.
The inside was bigger than I thought. It wasn't like the tents you could buy at the infamous Lilycove City Departament Store, but it would do for the night.
"We're gonna be a bit squeezed in here..." Ember said.
"I don't mind. It's not the first time I had to share a bed with someone. Though, it is the first time I share a bed with a Pokémon this large"
"Hey! What are you trying to say?" She said, giggling.
Smiling, I laid down on the floor. I didn't know what I expected, but I felt a bit shocked when I felt the rough floor under me.
Ember did the same, laying down with her back turned to me.
"You wouldn't believe what we found down there"
"What?"
"Some weird room full of metal sticks of all shapes and sizes"
"Metal sticks?"
"Yeah. I brought one if you want to check it out"
"Maybe tomorrow. I'm crushed, and we didn't even do any fighting today!"
"Same. Goodnight, Jake"
"Goodnight Ember"
Everything was silent. Not even the sound of wind was heard. It was peaceful. It took me back to when I went camping with my parents so long ago. A small tear fell from my eyes.
Who would think I'd end up like this? At least I am alive, which is enough for me.
I yawned and decided to stop thinking, and let myself fall unconsciouss. At least it wasn't too cold, though Ember being a fire type may have something to do with that.
...
I woke up in the tent, as good as new.
"Good morning, Ember!"
...
No response.
"Ember?" I looked around and realized she was nowhere in sight.
"Kit? "
A small meow made me realize that who was next to me was not Ember, but Skitty.
"Wait, Skitty? What are you doing here?"
"Skit? " She said, before stirring and curling into a sleeping position again.
Alright, what is going on?
I exited the tent, and took notice of how it was a regular fabric tent and not one of the inprovised ones we made. Exiting it, I looked around a bit.
I was in a complete new location. No longer surrounded by forest, but by plains. It looked beautiful, and I looked around in awe before falling over.
Did I just trip on myself? And why do my feet feel so different?
I examined myself, and found out that I had no longer the blue and black fur I had grown used to, but my regular, human skin. Of course, the reason I tripped was because my feet were back to being feet, and I had to get used to it. Again.
Alright, what is going on?
"Hey, honey! Looks like someone decided to wake up!"
"How did ya sleep, my boy?"
I recognized those voices instantly. Standing up as fast as I could, I looked at their source, and I saw them. Those who had long been gone. Mom and dad.
What...
Seeing my troubled expression, both of my parents frowned and got closer.
"What's wrong honey?"
"I-"
This is that time when we went camping last year, before they were called from work... This-This has to be a dream, right?
Tears began to fall from my eyes. All the good times we had, everything we lived together. It was all coming back.
Without thinking, I ran towards them and hugged them as tight as I could, earning a pair of confused looks.
"Hey! What happened? You are pretty grown for doing this, you know?"
My mom punched my dad in the arm. "Shut up, James! Don't you see he needs a hug?"
After that, we spent what felt like hours hugging each other, something I couldn't do for what felt like years.
"I don't know what is going on with you, but remember that we will be with you forever"
I wanted to believe it so hard. To just give up and spend just a day with them again. But as quick as they appeared, I felt my grip on them slowly fade.
"N-No. Don't leave me!"
Everything started melting and vanishing in front of my eyes. Then, I was alone, in a black void. Only my sobs could be heard.
"Please..."
Why. Why am I dreaming this? Is a normal night too much to ask?!
Footsteps. I looked up and saw something slowly walk towards me. It was a Lucario. But not just any Lucario. It was me. Those piercing crimson eyes looking at me with an expression of disgust, before walking away without saying a word.
"Wait!"
I got on my feet as fast as I could, and ran behind him, but he quickly vanished like everything else before.
"Are you content now?"
That voice. It was that girl.
"You wanted to remember things; Here you have them"
"Shut the fuck up! I didn't ask for any of this!"
"You didn't? Oh, that's right! You are too happy living your little second life with your friends you forgot about your past!"
"I DIDN'T FORGET!"
I fell to my knees. "Did I?"
The girl made herself visible and walked in front of my face, with a smug grin. "You think that whatever happened to you made you forget, huh? If you really wanted to remember, you would have already done it"
"You-"
"Cut that out already! I'm not her!"
"Then who are you?"
"The form your brain chose to personify your little lost memories. And you are going to remember, whether you want to, or not"
"Of course I will!"
"Then quit bitching around and wake up! "
"Jake! Wake up!"
I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was blurry and dark, my eyes were wet, but I managed to identify the siluette of Ember.
"E-Ember?"
"Jake! Thank Arceus!"
"What happened?"
"You were shaking and crying while you were sleeping"
Everything I just lived through rushed back to my mind. Was she right? Did I really not want to remember what happened?
I couldn't hold it any longer, and began crying. Ember pulled me into a hug, which I happily accepted.
"What happened?"
"I-I had a dream. I saw my parents again. We were camping in the plains. But-But then everything faded a-and the same girl that pushed me off told me that the reason I couldn't remember anything is because I didn't want to. And-And-"
"Hey, Jake! Calm down, alright? It was just a dream, and it's over now. Don't worry, I'm here with you. Just let everything out"
After some time of crying on Ember's shoulder, I broke the hug and sniffed. "Are you alright now?"
"A lot better. Thanks. I will never be able to repay you for everything you have done for me. I-...just thank you"
She smiled. "You are welcome, and I don't need any repayment. Now how about we go back to sleep? You look like you need it"
I visibly tensed up at the thought of going back to sleep. "I don't want to. I'm...scared. I'm such a coward"
"Hey! You are not a coward! Everyone has nightmares bad enough to make you want to stay awake at night, but remember that if you need anything, I am literally less than a meter away from you"
I was still reluctant, and Ember took notice. "Ugh, fine!" She finally said while hugging me again and forcing me to lay down.
"Not a word of this to Kit, understood?"
"O-Okay..."
"I heard everything, don't worry!" Said Kit from his tent.
Both of us sighed. I closed my eyes, wanting this day to finally end. I felt so at peace like this. Being hugged by her felt so warm, and most importantly, confortable.
"I think this was exactly what I needed"
"Shut up, please. Save the comments for when Kit can't hear us" Her face was red.
I shrugged. I didn't mind at all. Kit was already going to tease us a lot tomorrow, and I didn't need to give him more reasons to do that. But honestly, it didn't matter anymore.
I have been thinking about this since yesterday. Being around Ember is just everything I need to cheer up. It's literally the only thing that is going to let me sleep tonight. I can't believe Kit is right after all. I think...I think I love her.
I think I love Ember.
Smiling, I fell asleep, feeling grateful for whatever god decided to give me a second chance at life.
END OF CHAPTER 9
10k words.
I'm so proud of this chapter, as it is the longest I have ever written. It was originally going to have more, but I decided that this was enough and moved the rest to the next chapter.
Overall, I had a lot of fun writting this one. And if someone noticed, the entrance to the underground facility was based on the COD MW2 mission 'Recon by fire'. You know, like the lighthouse part? Yeah.
Anyway, if you liked or have any ideas or comments, don't forget to review, and see you on the next chapter, where I will have to search the recipe for tomato soup!
P.D.
Yes, Ember is now armed and dangerous.
: )
