Arc One: Mystery

Chapter Eleven: A Growing Threat


"Take these things off now, you stupid kid."

*SLAM*

"...ouchie ouchie..."

"Man, they don't shut up."

"I am so happy I know Metal Claw."

After we calmed down Eve and found out what she could do, we decided to take all the apples and the two baddies out of Apple Woods. Thankfully, Eve was able to use Psychic in order to carry all but two of the seven apple bags, with me and Lucas carrying one a piece. That only left one thing to do: Take the Gengar and Stableye with us and turn them in as soon as possible.

At first glance, you may think that it's too much for two kids to do by themselves, but thankfully they were part Ghost-Type, meaning that they were surprisingly light. Not that it was easy, but it wasn't hard either. The only thing we really had to worry about was them waking up and trying to escape. Thankfully, not only do we have special cuffs (called Magic Braces) that disabled Ghost-Types from doing that...disappearing thing ghosts do, but it also doesn't allow Pokemon to channel into their aura, so they can use moves like Flamethrower or Hydro Pump. Scary, right?

Whenever one did wake up, however, all it took was one swift Metal Claw from Lucas to knock him back out again. The Mystery Dungeon was still a pain. We had to climb FOUR staircases this time in order to get out. Right now, I can see the end of the Apple Woods with a patch of flowers in front of me with the sun almost touching the hills in the distance.

Eve is the first one to exit the Woods. "Thank goodness. I was starting to get tired from carrying all those bags." She places her five bags on the ground and kisses the ground. Tears started to form in her eyes. "I've never been so happy to be out of Apple Woods since...well, last week."

I carefully place my bag on the dirt and fall to the ground on my back. "I have to agree with you, Eve. I'm beat."

Lucas is the only one to not fall. "Hey guys, the badges are glowing again. I think that means they're working."

I hop back on my feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go home."

"Wait!" Eve says and points to the KO'd Pokemon. "What are we going to do with them?"

Lucas smiles. "Right, you've never done this before. Don't worry, we got it. We've done this enough times that we know what we're doing. All we do to call Officer Magnezone by hitting this small button right here." He said, pointing to a tiny blue button on the edge of the badge. "We then teleport to the Guild and wait for them to pick them up. It's as easy as pie."

Eve stares at the Emanation Pokemon dumbly. "Really? Just like that?"

I laugh. "Yeah, I thought the same thing too. Pokemon sure are smart." I then cover my mouth before I let anything else out. I can't say stuff like that. Lucas and Eve give me a look but then brush it aside. Thank goodness.

Lucas then hands Eve her badge as I grab mine. He then says, "Well then, let's get going! I'm starting to get hungry."

We all hold them up high in the air and press the center button. We close our eyes for only a second as we are covered in a bright white light. When I feel the light disappearing I open my eyes and see the Guild right in front of me. Teleportation is very fun.

I turn to my side and see Lucas with his bag on his shoulder and his badge in his hand. I think he's calling the officer to pick up the crocks.

I then feel someone tugging my arm. "Red, Lucas. You may want to turn around." I then start to hear voices coming from behind us. It sounds like some sort of mob of Pokemon.

When I do turn around, I do, in fact, see a crowd of Pokemon, and they look very stressed. I can't tell what they are saying, it's too much chaos. Whatever one says just blends in with what another says.

"I'm going to drop these bags off at the kitchen and then find Mom." Eve says. "I'll be back soon." She uses Psychic to pick up all seven bags and races into the literal mouth of the Wigglytuff tent and disappears, leaving me and Lucas alone with the mob and KO'd bad guys.

I look over to Lucas and ask, "What do you think is going on?" He smiles and says, "I'll check, but I don't think it's anything good." His bags then rise into the air. He closes his eyes and starts to focus.

I sigh. That's so cool. I want to do that so bad. You know what, I'll give it another try again. I close my eyes and try to focus. Second time's the charm, right?

...

...

...

Nope it isn't. I can't get anything. How does he do that?

I then see him frown as he opens his eyes. He turns to me and says, "Red, I think there might be some Pokemon missing."

"WHAT!?" I exclaim.

"Excuse me, *BZZZZZZT* pardon me. *BZZZZZZT* Officer coming through! *BZZZZZZT*" A Magnezone followed by two Magnemite are making their way through the crowd of panicking Pokemon. They then go up the staircase leading up to the Guild where Lucas and I are.

"Good evening, *BZZZZZZT* Team Adventure. I can *BZZZZZZT* see that you have caught some criminals. *BZZZZZZT*"

Lucas nods and smiles. "Yep, Shard Stableye and Fang Gengar have been caught." His smile, however, is short lived, as his focus returns to the troubled group of Pokemon. "Officer Magnezone, what's going on?"

The officer makes some buffering noises, a sign that he's thinking. He is a machine, after all. After awhile, he says, "There are some *BZZZZZZT* Pokemon that have gone missing. *BZZZZZZT*"

I'm scared to ask, but I just have to. "Where were the Pokemon last seen?"

The Magnet Area Pokemon makes more noises, and then replies, "*BZZZZZZT* All three Pokemon *BZZZZZZT* were last seen *BZZZZZZT* going to Apple Woods. *BZZZZZZT*"

And my worst fears have been realized. Both me and Lucas panic, with the latter screaming, "You can't let anyone in there, anymore. Apple Woods turned into a Mystery Dungeon!"

The entire town then changes their focus to the little Rilo. Voices then come out of the crowd. "Mystery Dungeon? I thought Wigglytuff had that covered?" Said a Marowak.

"IF THAT'S A MYSTERY DUNGEON, THEN WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL US ABOUT IT?!" Yelled a Loudred.

"When are we going to be able to go back in?" An Eevee crys out.

"And what about the Pokemon trapped in there? Are you going back in there to rescue them?" The Kecleon brothers wonder.

Lucas stops and turns to the crowd of Pokemon. I don't think he wanted to say that out loud. Oh boy. He then starts shaking, trying to figure out what to say. "I-I-I...w-well...heh heh..." He's not prepared for this.

"Everyone!" A voice comes from behind us. We turn and see a familiar pink fluff ball walking out of the tent followed by a Chatot and Eve. It's the Guildmaster, and she couldn't have come at a better time.

She pats Lucas on the head and says, "Don't worry about responding. I've tackled stuff like this before." She then spins and winks at us. "I got this."

She then approaches the Steel-Type Officer and says, "Thank you for your help, Officer Magnezone. Can you please take those criminals away so we don't get another problem."

He responds with, "Of course. *BZZZZZZT* Good luck, Ma'am. *BZZZZZZT*" The two Magnemites then take the cuffs on the Pokemon and start to make their way with the lead officer as the Stableye comes to.

"...ow, ow, ow, what happened...HEY! You can't take me away. I've got a life. I'm too young to go to prison. Letmegoletmegoletmego..."

Soon, all five of them are out of sight, heading straight to the police station. Both me and Lucas are relieved. "Thank goodness they're finally gone." I say with a smile.

"You can say that again." Lucas responds.

*AHEM*

Wigglytuff clears her throat and both me and Lucas turn our focus to the Balloon Pokemon. Soon, everyone quiets down to listen to what the Guildmaster has to say.

"Thank you everyone for calming down-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WE'RE FREAKING OUT! DIDN'T YOU SEND A TEAM TO FIX THE PROBLEM IN GREEN FOREST A WEEK AGO?!" The Loudred causes everyone to go back in an up roar, much to the Guildmaster's dismay.

"Come on, really? *sigh*" She turns to Lucas, Ray, Eve, and me and says, "Cover your ears. I need to get their attention again."

This time I know what's going on and cover my ears before the Wigglytuff uses-

"HYPER VOICE!" Yeah, that move. Why does it have to be so loud? I look at her and see a vein on her head. She clearly is a little mad at the Loudred for causing the up roar.

The Loudred, who is now sweating, says, "S-sorry, please continue."

The Guildmaster smiles and makes her statement. "Please be quiet, everyone. I know this is scary, but we have to calm down if we're going to get anywhere. Yes, last week I did send Team Forever into Green Forest in hopes of finding the problem out and fixing it. However, they could not find the problem, which is why the forest is still closed. We're trying to find out what could be causing this, but we also have other things that we, as a Guild, have to do, like delivering supplies to the other islands around here, catching criminals, and helping you guys as well. I want to find out the problem as fast as possible like all of you, but this won't happen overnight. We can't just snap our fingers and solve it right then and there. I don't know when we'll be able to go back in, but as of today." She takes a deep breath. "No one will be allowed to enter Apple Woods."

The crowd gasps, but the Guildmaster presses forward, "And on a side note, anytime someone sees something like a Mystery Dungeon, they should get out and report it immediately to us here at the Guild. I know you don't want Apple Woods to close down, but most of you are not as strong as us here at the Guild and it would be dangerous to go in there alone. I will, however, send teams in there to grab as many apples as we can for all of us in Treasure Town. If anyone would like to join them, they would be allowed, but they would have to stay close so they don't get lost. I know this is hard, but like everything we've faced, we must fight this head on. Thank you for your time. I'd like for you all to go back to your homes. I've already sent teams to Apple Woods to find the missing Pokemon. Thank you for your time, and good night." The Wigglytuff takes a bow and walks back to the entrance of the Guild.

Ray congratulates the Wigglytuff for her performance. "That was incredible, Guildmaster. You seem to get better at it everyday."

She is then hugged by her daughter, who says, "You're the best."

Wigglytuff smiles. "Thank you." She then sighs. "That was probably the hardest speech I've had to do in a long time."

Lucas raises his hand. "Wigglytuff, do you want us to go to Apple Woods to look for the missing Pokemon?" To my surprise, she shakes her head.

"I think Team Forever and Team Current can take care of that. Besides, you two have got to be tired after fighting that Gengar and Stableye. It's not easy dealing with Pokemon like that, and I'm a Fairy-Type."

"Are you sure?" Lucas asks. "We aren't that-"

"Yes, I'm sure. Both teams are more than capable of handling the problem. You two can sit down at the table and wait for dinner. They should be back soon, anyways. I'll just be heading to my quarters. Ray, can you come with me, please?"

"Sure thing, Guildmaster." Ray says.

The Alolan Vulpix turns to us and says, "I'll see you guys soon. I got to go talk to Mom about something. I'll see you at the table." And makes her way down the ladder.

I then hear Lucas' stomach growl. I laugh. "We aren't that tired?"

He smiles. "I guess fighting those two really made me hungry. Well, I'll beat you to the table." He says and races down the ladder. I go after him only to turn around.

I see everyone heading back, but I can still hear parts of what they're saying. They all sound very worried, some are even doubting the Guildmaster about her decision.

I then get a bad feeling in the back of my head. "Am I here for a reason? Am I the cause of this, or am I here to solve it?"

I think about it for a while until, "Red, are you coming?!" I hear Lucas from the bottom of the ladder.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" I answer and go to climb down the ladder. I shouldn't think about that on an empty stomach. I need some dinner. Besides, I'm not the reason for all of this...

Right?


The Guildmaster opens her doors to her room and heads for her desk. She opens a drawer in her desk and pulls out a large silver plate with a screen on it. On the screen it displays a map of the island. Also on it are different colored dots. "Where are Forever and Current? They should be out by now."

She interrupted by a knock on her door, with a Chatot sticking his head out. "Ray, come in. Thank you for coming."

Ray walks to the Guildmaster and grabs his writing broad. "Is there anything that you'd like me to do?"

The Guildmaster nods as a White Vulpix makes her way quietly into the room.

"I'd like for you to write a notice." Wigglytuff says. "We need to close off Apple Woods ASAP."

Eve stops and stares at her mother, who has grabbed her apple and started doing her usual: Juggling and spinning. She then starts to shake. She's scared of what will happen.

"What would you want me to put on it?" Ray asks.

The Vulpix, however, gathers enough courage and clears her throat. "...ahh Mom?"

The Wigglytuff, however, doesn't hear it. "Write: Apple Woods is off limits for the time being."

The Vulpix tries again, this time a little louder. "Mom..."

"If you want to find some apples, then head over to the Kecleon brothers shop or call a rescue team to help you through."

Eve tries once more. "Mom."

"I know this is hard, but this is for the-"

"MOM!" The Vulpix screams. Her mother almost drops her apple, which is very rare for her to do.

"Yes, Eve, is there something you'd like to say?"

The Vulpix begins to shake again, but she manages to say, "Mom...I-I-I lost it today."

A pen and an apple drop to the ground.

"Y-...you WHAT?!" Ray screams.

Eve breathes in and out, trying to calm herself down. "When we ran into the Ghost-Types back in the woods, Red and Lucas fought them, but things...weren't going so well. The Gengar tried to grab me as the Stableye was going to kill Lucas and then...I lost it."

The Wigglytuff, who is just as freaked out as Ray, goes to her daughter. "Oh sweetie, are you ok?! You didn't go over aboard, did you? How did you calm down?"

The Vulpix stops. A tear slowly rolls down her check. "I-I-I..."

The Wigglytuff pets her head. "Don't worry, I'll understand. You don't have to be afraid." She then crashes into the Wigglytuff, crying. "I WAS GOING TO KILL RED! HIS AURA WAS SCARY AND I WAS ALREADY SO STRESSED OUT THAT I-I-...I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING! I WAS TOO SCARED OF WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!" She continues to cry loudly as her mother softly strokes her fur.

Eve then takes a second to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. "B-but then Lucas came and calmed me down before I could do any else."

Wigglytuff sighs. "Really? Normally I'm the only one that can do that."

Ray then starts sweating. "I can only imagine their reaction after you calmed down."

"They said I was amazing. Besides the fact that I went a little overboard, they weren't mad."

This makes Chatot raise his eyebrow. "Hmm, well that's a first. Even after you tried to harm Red?"

"He forgave me. I guess he was just happy that the Ganger and Stableye were knocked out."

Wigglytuff hugs her daughter and wipes her tears off her face. "I'm so happy you're safe, just try not to do that again, ok? That might have been a lucky break, so you should try to keep thing under control."

The Fox Pokemon nods and smiles. "Ok, Mom!"

The Guildmaster turns her head back to the screen and spots two more lights. One of them is yellow and another is green, but both of them are right next to each other. "Well would you look at that. Team Current and Forever made it out." She says.

"Guildmaster." Ray says. "What do you think?" He then hands her his board with the notice.

She reads it for a while and then gives it back to the Music Note Pokemon. "I think it's great." The Balloon Pokemon says. She then heads back behind her desk to put the screen back but also takes a small jar of black ink. She dips her hand in it and then places it on the piece of paper on the board.

The Guildmaster then smiles. "There we go. Now that that's over, let's head over to the dinner table. I can't wait to have some Perfect Apples."

She then looks at her daughter. "You did bring back apples, right?"

Eve smiles. "Yep. Along with some Perfect Apples."

Wigglytuff jumps into the air and screams, "Yeaaaa!"


"Now I know why you found Green Forest strange. I never want to go back in another Mystery Dungeon again." The Luxray said to his little brother.

The entire Guild is here at the dinner table enjoying some wonderful food. I smile. It's fun to find out more foods Pokemon can make.

Today's meal: Rice with a spicy tomato curry. Yum. And it's even better now that I know Eve's the one making it with some help from Zack. She really is a good cook.

I lean over and spot her using Psychic to eat her meal. I never would have guessed she be so powerful, but then why doesn't she use it more often.

"Team Adventure." I hear Wigglytuff say from the other end of the table. "I have something for you to do tomorrow."

Lucas, of course, gets very excited. "What do you need us to do? Do we have to go to Apple Woods or Green Forest to-"

The Guildmaster laughs. "Nope, I'm leaving that for Team Forever and Sparks to handle. Now that there're two Mystery Dungeons, we can find out if they share things in common. We can then use that information to find out how to find more sighs of them before anyone can get trapped in one. Besides, we REALLY need to fix our badges so that they can get out of them."

"Don't worry, Guildmaster." Sparks says. "We won't let you down, right Daisy?"

She nods. "Of course. Once the badges start to work, it should make everything here a lot more easier.

"That's the spirit." Wigglytuff says. She then turns to us and says. "As I was going to say, I'd like for you to go with Bolt and Melody to Ocean's Island."

Bolt is confused by this. "Wait, why do you want them to go with us? We don't need any help loading or unloading."

The Wigglytuff smiles. "Because we're all a team, and we should all get to know eachother better. Red and Lucas just joined, so I'd like for you all to get to know one another better. Besides, Eve seemed to have a good time, so it should be the same for you two."

Melody smiles and says, "Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Don't you agree, Bolt?"

Bolt looks her straight in the eye and sweats. "If you think I have a problem with this, I don't. I'm perfectly fine with what the Guildmaster said. I just thought that they would help out over here."

Lucas jumps in the air. "Yeah. I can't wait. We're going to see a brand new island." He then licks his plate and hops off his seat. "The sooner I get to sleep today, the sooner tomorrow will come. Good night, everyone."

He then makes his way out of the room. "He sure is a go-getter." I think to myself.

"Hey Red." Bolt barks at me. "We leave this island after breakfast tomorrow, so make sure your bag is ready by then."

"We will." I respond and make my to my room, where Lucas is probably trying to sleep, but he'll most likly be too excited to go to bed just yet.

Tomorrow sounds like a lot fun. I mean, this is the first time we'll being seeing something new, and it's off of this island. Maybe our rank is going up faster than I thought it was.

The moment to finding out about myself is getting closer and closer, and I can't wait.


I'm laying on the ground, twisting and turning once in a while, trying to go to sleep.

Dang it. I guess I'm excited to go to bed too. Guess that makes two of us.

*roar*

I then faintly hear something and I sit up as fast as I can, but insteed of being in my nest in our room at the Guild, I'm just sitting down on the ground in the middle of nowhere. "Well this isn't the black void" I say to myself. "But this isn't my bed either."

I start to wonder as I get up. Weird. This is the first time where I can move around freely in a dream, because this is a dream, right? There's no way that this is real. I never sleepwalk, and I would have never have walked this far anyways. Wigglytuff said that there was a desert her, but she also said that was on the other side of the island.

*ROAR* I hear the roar again, but this time it sounded a little louder.

I turn to where the noice came from. "Who's there?" I yell to the wind.

...

...

...

I get no answer.

I prepare myself for an attack. "Where are you? SHOW YOURSELF?!" I yell again, hoping to somehow scare off the roaring Pokemon.

*ROAR* This time it even louder. I cover my ears. It's so loud that it's causing the ground to shake. But even after the roar dies down and I put my hands down, the ground still shakes. In fact, I'd said it's even worse now.

I then see the ground around me start to crack. I panic and see that it leads to an empty abyss. I begin to run away, trying to find some solid land that I can rest on. I look around to see if the Pokemon is near by. Something in the distance then catches my eye. I see a towering figure standing far away from me. It's mostly black, but is also glowing with a green aura. It then speaks to me, saying, "DIEEEE!" And then roars again.

"WHAT?!" I yell. Suddenly, I don't feel anything below my feet. I look down and see only black. "WHERE DID THE GROUND GO?!" I scream as I fall down into the abyss.

I then try to use Ember to slow my fall down, but it does nothing.

This has to be a dream. This can't be real, but it feels too real.

I turn my head below me and see deadly spikes that have some red on them as I head towards the bottom.

"GAHHHH!" I scream. I then jump in the air and slam my forehead on the roof of our room and then fall back down. Been a while since something like that happened.

"Owwww!" I say as I rub the top of my head. I then look around. It seems to be our room at the Guild. No desert. No spikes. And no evil Pokemon that's trying to kill me. "Thank goodness that was just a dream." I say as I breathe a sigh of relief.

I look down and see Lucas moving a little, but then he continues snoring. I then try to calm myself down. "Easy, buddy, it was just a dream. You're good. You're good. Everything is fine." I say to myself. I then lay back down on my nest and go to close my eyes.

"That was just a nightmare, right? Nightmares have no meaning. That had nothing to do with me. That had nothing to do with Mystery Dungeons. It was just a dream. Just. A. Dream." I then open my eyes and stare at the ceiling.

...

...

...

"Gaaahhhhh!" I go as put my hands over my face and pull my eyelids down.

This is going to be one long night.