Chapter 11

Ziggy was really worried.

He was curled up into a tightly wound ball of stress on the couch in the common room. There was nobody around. Tora had gone back to where Sparks was in case she was needed, and nobody else was in the room at the moment.

What in the world had happened?! He was still trying to wrap his brain around the bizarre events that had unfolded on the catastrophic visit to the market. The fact that he had been accosted by thugs solely because of his fur colour was nothing new. It had been frightening, but at least it had made sense. Then, just as he had done so in the past without issue, Sparks had stepped in to save the day.

Then he had simply self-destructed. Ziggy had no words to explain what he had just seen, and no-one had had the presence of mind at the time to tell him about it. He wished he had stuck around to get some answers, but he had been so scared at the time that all he wanted to do was get back to the building where it was safe.

Now he was simply left to worry. Was Sparks still out there, laying on the cold ground and suffering from whatever it was? Had he been hurt? Had things gotten worse?

Was Sparks…dying?

He tried not to think of such dark things, but he couldn't help but worry anyway. What was he going to do if Sparks got hurt or…worse? Ziggy had come to depend on Sparks, not to mention building a deep sense of trust in the Raichu. Sparks was the first Pokémon in Ziggy's life that he felt safe around. Sparks had promised to be there for him, and to protect him, and to keep him safe.

Finally, after what had felt like eons, Ziggy heard a commotion coming from the entry hall. He leapt off of the couch like he had springs in his paws and dashed over to the door in a matter of seconds. He quickly opened the door without hesitation.

In the grand entryway, he first saw Kandice. The Audino looked stressed and focused, and was presently making her way across the length of the hall towards her office next to the stairs. Ziggy turned to address her, and as he did he caught sight of a Raichu tail slipping into Kandice's office. Sparks! Was he okay? He was walking at least, it seemed like.

"Um…K-Kandice?"

The Audino glanced over her shoulder at him. "Oh. Hi Ziggy. I can't talk right now, sorry."

"B-but…!"

"He's going to be fine," Kandice said in a hurried voice, and then promptly shut the door to her office.

Ziggy stood there motionless, a mix of emotions running through him. She had said he was fine, which was relieving to hear, but why didn't she seem relieved?

He then heard the main doorway close with a much louder sound, and turned to look in the other direction. Kona and Lupe were standing in the doorway looking at one another. They both wore frowns.

Kona noticed him first. "Oh, Ziggy…" he spoke up, "You okay?"

"Uh…Y-yeah, I guess," the Buizel replied.

"You sure? I heard there was a fight."

Ziggy shook his head. "They didn't hurt me…"

"All right, well that's good."

A moment of poignant silence passed, which made Ziggy feel jittery. He wanted to shout, 'Would someone please tell me what's going on?!'

"I'm going to go make some tea," Lupe said, to which Kona nodded. She left his side and walked past Ziggy, heading through the doorway on the other side of the hall. She gave him a nod before disappearing, and then she was gone.

Kona then walked over to him and stood just outside the doorway. "Sorry, Ziggy," he apologized, "I bet you're probably pretty confused."

Ziggy could only nod.

Kona then suggested they go talk in his room so they would have some privacy, to which Ziggy agreed. It was a short walk over to his room, and before long they were behind its closed door. Kona went and sat on his bed, patting the spot next to him and inviting Ziggy to join him.

"So…" Kona said with a sigh, "First of all, Sparks is okay. He's not hurt. He's just…recovering with Kandice right now."

Again, Ziggy simply nodded. Kandice had already told him this, and these were not the answers he needed.

"I wasn't there when this all happened, obviously," Kona continued, "So, those two goons followed you and were acting aggressively towards you. Then, Sparks stepped in to defend you and had to fight them off. Is that right?"

"Uh huh…"

"He fought them with stuff like punches and kicks, right? Fighting-type moves and such?"

"Yeah."

He nodded curtly and said, "That's what I figured." He paused and took a breath. It seemed like the Dewott was trying to figure out how to explain things.

"Please, Kona," Ziggy spoke up in a quiet voice, "J-just tell me. I'm really worried…"

Kona gave Ziggy a serious look and said, "Sparks has PTSD, Ziggy."

Ziggy tilted his head in confusion. "What? What's that?" he asked. The abbreviation didn't sound familiar to him at all.

"It stands for 'Posttraumatic Stress Disorder'," Kona explained. When Ziggy didn't look any less confused, he continued by saying, "It's a, uh…a mental illness that affects him because of a traumatic event."

"…Traumatic event…?" Ziggy murmured.

Kona nodded. "Way back when Sparks was younger, back when he was still a Pikachu I think, something really bad happened to him."

Ziggy gasped and his eyes went wide. "What happened?"

"I, uh…" Kona immediately looked uncomfortable. "I don't think he wants me sharing that information. You'd have to ask him yourself, but I don't think he wants to talk about it, so I wouldn't recommend it…"

"Oh…" Ziggy murmured softly. That was rather disconcerting to hear. His mind immediately went wild with speculation.

"Anyway," Kona said, "That traumatic event hit him hard and deep. He never truly recovered from it, and it can cause symptoms like what you saw today. That's what the disorder is."

Ziggy looked up at Kona and frowned. "I…don't understand."

Kona looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "Think about what just happened. Those two goons came after you and were going to attack you. That was pretty scary, right? It was probably really scary." Ziggy nodded and he said, "So you probably felt all stressed out, afraid, sick to your stomach, probably felt like panicking… but then, after Sparks saved you and knocked them out, you felt better right? I mean before he had his episode. You felt relived. The scary moment was over, it was in the past, and you felt like you didn't have to worry about it anymore, right?"

"Uh…" Ziggy thought back to the moment before Sparks had started acting odd. In that moment, he had definitely felt relieved and even quite delighted that Sparks had saved him. "Yeah."

"Well, for Sparks and this traumatic event, that doesn't happen," Kona explained, "He can't move on from it. He can't get it out of his head. That relief never comes. What happened to Sparks today was that he was having a flashback. His mind was taking him back in time to when the event first happened and he was pretty much reliving it all over again. In a way, it's sort of 'stuck' in his head."

Ziggy was giving Kona a wide-eyed look. "Oh my gosh…" he murmured, bringing a paw up to his mouth. He still didn't completely understand, but what Kona had explained sounded just awful.

Kona glanced away and scratched the back of his head. "That's not really the best explanation, but it's the best I can do," he admitted.

"I…" Ziggy murmured, but his voice died on his tongue. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to react to this new information. "I just… Sparks has always been really strong…and brave… I didn't think something like this could happen…"

"He is strong and brave, Ziggy," Kona said, "This happened to him a long, long time ago and he's come a long way in learning to deal with this thing in his head. He's a lot better at handling it now than when I first met him. These days it hardly ever gets to him, honestly. It's just…some things can trigger a reaction in him."

Ziggy looked up at Kona questioningly. "Like what?"

"Fighting," Kona said simply, "Violence."

"F-fighting?"

Kona nodded. "That's his trigger."

Ziggy furrowed his brow. "But… I don't get it. He got into a fight with that Clefable and nothing happened to him. He was totally fine! A-and, when he first…y'know, when he first…caught me…it looked like he thought we were going to fight, even though we didn't. Nothing happened then either. He was so nice and calm…"

"That's because," Kona replied, "this time, he couldn't use his defense mechanism."

"Huh?"

"His Thunder Wave. Sparks has spent years training his Thunder Wave attack, making it stronger and more effective than most other Pokémon. You know, Thunder Wave is just supposed to make a Pokémon's body feel stiff and hard to move. It hinders them in battle but they can still fight back. Sparks can practically knock out a Pokémon completely with his Thunder Wave's paralysis."

Ziggy thought back to the fight with the Clefable again. One zap from his cheeks and she had been immobilized on the ground. She couldn't even talk afterwards.

"Sparks uses Thunder Wave to end conflict before things get violent. Before anybody has to get hurt," Kona explained, "But…I don't know if you know this or not, but Electric-Type moves don't work on Ground-Type Pokémon. Graveler and Sandslash are both Ground-Types."

Of course. That was the difference. That was the confusing piece of the puzzle he had been missing. He couldn't use his big fancy electric attack because it wouldn't work, and so he had to actually get violent.

"It was just a really unfortunate series of events…" Kona commented.

Ziggy gulped. This was a lot to process and he wasn't sure his stressed out mind could handle it all. "So…" he spoke up in a somewhat shaky voice, "Something…really really bad happened to Sparks…and if he gets into a fight…he thinks it's going to happen again and he freaks out?"

"Uhh…. Kinda…" Kona replied, "That's the basic gist of it, I guess."

A moment of silence passed. Ziggy glanced down at his hindpaws with a frown. "It was really scary…" he whispered.

"Yeah… I'm sorry we lost you," Kona said, "Luckily we found you before those two could hurt you, though."

"No," Ziggy interrupted, "I meant what happened to Sparks. That was really scary…"

Kona was quiet for a moment. "I guess…You've really come to rely on him, haven't you?"

Ziggy simply nodded.

"You can still rely on him, Zig. He still really likes you and cares about you, and even if there is a fight, his Thunder Wave still works like 90% of the time. He's still going to look after you, Ziggy. He made a promise and he's going to keep it."

Reassurance, unfortunately, did not come easily to the shaken Buizel. Frighteningly vibrant images of seeing Sparks convulsing on the ground were fresh in his mind. Sparks had been screaming. He had been crying. It was like the Raichu had become an entirely different Pokémon.

"Hey," Kona said, giving him a gentle nudge, "Don't worry, okay? Sparks has a lot of friends here and we all look after him. The big guy doesn't usually go anywhere by himself, so there's almost always one of us nearby to help him if the worst happens."

"Really…?" Ziggy murmured, "He was alone when we first met…"

"Yeah, we can't cubsit him 24/7, but he's smart. If he's going to the marketplace or something, there's Pokémon around who can get word to a doctor or hospital. Ziggy, you gotta remember, he's been dealing with this since he was a Pikachu, and he evolved years and years ago."

There was another period of silence. Ziggy twiddled his paws together as thoughts swam in his head. Some things were answered, but there was a whole avalanche of new questions. Since Kona didn't want to say what the 'traumatic event' was, some of those questions were simply going to remain unanswered.

"Um…" Ziggy finally spoke up after a while, "Is that why he's…not on the active team anymore?" He looked up at Kona and said, "He told me 'things changed' for him and now he just does whatever Carmen tells him to do. Is this why…?"

Kona paused for a moment and then said, "Yeah. It is."

"Because he might…That might…"

"Yeah."

Ziggy frowned and looked down at his paws again. He had been frightened before, but now he was just starting to feel gloomy.

"It's been a bit of time," Kona commented. Ziggy looked up and saw Kona was looking at the clock on the wall. "Want to go see if he's out of Kandice's office yet?"

The Dewott stood up, but Ziggy remained sitting on the bed with an unsure look. "Wh…What do I say to him?"

"Just treat him normally," Kona answered, "Believe it or not, that really helps. It makes things 'normal' for him."

Ziggy gulped and fidgeted some more. "I…I dunno…I'm nervous…"

"There's nothing to be nervous about. It's not like having a flashback makes him dangerous or anything. C'mon, Zig. I'm sure he wants to see you just as much as you want to see him."

It took a bit of reassurance, but eventually Ziggy was coerced into leaving the room. The atmosphere inside of the guild felt strange now. It was an unnerving mixture of a place where he felt safe and worried at the same time. The common room was still empty as they crossed through it. It weirdly felt as if the place were abandoned.

When Kona and Ziggy exited through the door leading to the main hall, Sparks and Kandice were just stepping out of her office. Ziggy gasped.

"…is no need to increase the dosage," Kandice was saying, "It will still be fine. Just make sure to stay on top of that."

"Okay…" Sparks replied. His voice was raspy and low, as if he had just woken up.

"Sparks!" Kona said, announcing their presence, "How's it going? Feeling any better?"

The Raichu first looked at Kona silently, and then turned his gaze down towards Ziggy. He did look tired and completely worn out. His ears were drooping and his tail dragged on the ground behind him. He wore a heavy frown, unlike anything Ziggy had ever seen in Sparks' expression before. He seemed…upset.

"You okay, Ziggy?" Sparks asked.

Ziggy simply nodded anxiously.

Sparks closed his eyes and sighed. "Good."

Silence filled the room for quite a while, making everybody within it feel awkward and uncomfortable. Ziggy felt like he needed to say something, or even simply do something, but he didn't know what.

"You, uh…" Kona eventually said, breaking the silence, "You wanna come play a board game with us, Sparks? Ziggy, you can come too. I've got a couple in my-"

"No…No thanks, Kona," Sparks interjected, drawing concerned looks from everyone else. He sighed again and held a paw to his head as if he had a headache. "I just…I need to be alone for the rest of today… I'm sorry…"

"Sparks…" Kandice spoke in a concerned tone.

"I'm just going to go to my room," Sparks said, ignoring her. He then looked at Ziggy and said, "I'm glad you're safe, buddy. And…Well…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." He started to slowly walk across the hall towards the door they had just come from. As he passed by, he said, "Ziggy, you can find some chores to do or something, right?"

Ziggy gulped. "I…I-I guess so…" he murmured.

Sparks nodded. "Okay. G'night…" That was all he said before he pushed open the door, shuffled through, and left the other three alone in the hallway.

"Oh dear…" Kandice commented.

"That's…not a good thing, right?" Kona asked. Kandice shook her head, which sent a jolt of fear through Ziggy's heart.

"Well, I mean, it's not bad per se," she clarified, "but it's a lot healthier if he recovers with his loved ones. He doesn't usually want to be alone afterwards, so this is a bit strange…"

"Should we…stop him?" Kona asked.

Kandice sighed and said, "No… I'll go check up on him later to make sure he's all right. He's a smart Pokémon. He knows what he needs, and maybe this is just something he needs right now…"

Ziggy tried to speak up, but a nervous squeak came out instead. The other two looked at him and he flushed in embarrassment. "Uh, er…I-is he gonna be okay…?" he asked.

"He'll be okay, Ziggy," Kandice said, "This isn't the first time life has knocked him down. He'll just get back up again. He always does…"

"Aw, I know you're worried about him," Kona said comfortingly upon seeing Ziggy's distressed look, "We're all worried about him. We're gonna take care of him. You should just go do something else to occupy your mind right now. Sitting around and stressing out about it isn't going to help."

Ziggy frowned and considered the suggestion for a moment. He was still shaken by the event that had taken place before Sparks' episode, and honestly wanted nothing more than to go hide in his room. It was only his concern for Sparks that was keeping him out here.

"Uh… I guess I could go help Danika…" he murmured. He realized that helping Danika with her work was pretty close to hiding away in his room, considering her small, confined workspace.

"That's not a bad plan," Kona commented, "She's the only one who's gonna be working at this hour anyway."

"Okay…" Ziggy said, still feeling gloomy.

"All right, well I gotta go talk to Carmen about this," Kona said, "You know where her office is, right?"

Ziggy nodded, and then Kona bid a quick goodbye and dashed off. Ziggy was left standing in the main hallway with Kandice.

"Come talk to me if you need to, sweetheart," Kandice said to him, "I won't be far."

"Y-you said you'd check on him…?" Ziggy asked anxiously.

"Of course, dear. I'll check a couple times."

"Um…" Ziggy shuffled on the spot for a moment, wringing his paws for a bit before asking, "Can…you please tell me if something bad happens? R-right away?"

Kandice looked at him for a moment, and then smiled compassionately. "You'll be the first to know. I'll ping Danika's badge." After a pause, she added, "It's sweet to see how much you care about him."

"He's…I-I've never had a…a friend…like him before…"

Kandice re-entered her office after that, leaving Ziggy truly alone in the hallway. He sighed gloomily and hugged himself tightly in the hoodie he was still wearing. It was just never easy. Things never, ever went right…

A couple hours later, Ziggy was in Danika's office, still sorting files. The sun had long since set, but they only knew that because Danika had a clock on her computer-thing. Such was the downside of having no windows in one's office.

The Sneasel had been surprised and pleased to see Ziggy come to help her with her work. Especially since it was late and he wasn't really expected to do chores after dinnertime. Unfortunately, being cooped up in her 'dungeon' all day meant that Danika had missed the entire episode with Sparks, so Ziggy had to fill her in on what had happened. It had not been a pleasant experience reliving it even once.

Regardless, Danika got work going for the two of them rather quickly. She had said that she trusted the other alumni to help Sparks out, having done it many times before. There was nothing to worry about unless somebody gave her a reason to worry.

Danika had just opened a new box full of old folders to sort, so there was no shortage of work to be done. These were more old citizenship records, but these were from other cities in the region as opposed to Radiant City itself.

"Let's do it like this," Danika said, "Go through and hand me anyone starting with 'A', 'B' or 'C', and then you can sort the rest while I type those up."

In truth, doing this work for Danika was taking his mind off of things. There were a lot of folders in the box and he wanted to make sure he didn't mess up and skip over an 'A', 'B' or 'C' name. He was mildly interested to see the old headshot photos of all the different species of Pokémon. Some of them were species he hadn't actually seen in real life before.

"Are ya getting along with everybody else?" Danika asked at one point.

Ziggy looked up from his work. He had started sorting the rest of the alphabet at this point. "Huh? You mean the Pokémon working here? Yeah, sure. They're all really nice."

"Good! That means we're doing our job right!"

"Heh… Um, do you always work up here?"

Danika actually laughed at that. "One fateful day, Carmen brought me a piece of paper to look at. An application to be a beta tester for this huge thing." She gestured up at the computer screen. "I foolishly got too excited and told her to order the bigger, better, more powerful model. Thus, my destiny was sealed."

"Oh… So you don't like it up here?"

"No, no! Of course I like it!" Danika replied quickly, "Working with the computer anyway. I like that. I like it a lot actually! It's just changed the types of responsibilities I have now." She glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled. "I make a promise to myself to get out and do something exciting for the guild at least once a month, though."

"Really? Like what…?"

"One time I got to help out with MD research!" she replied excitedly, "That was a lot of fun!"

Ziggy stopped what he was doing and looked up at her in confusion. "What's that…?"

"What? MD research?"

"What's…'MD'?"

"Huh?!" Danika blurted out, eyes wide, but then shook her head and said, "Right, right. Sorry. Keep forgetting you're not savvy to this stuff." She then cleared her throat, turned in her seat to face him, and explained, "MD stands for 'Mystery Dungeon'."

"Mystery Dungeon…" Ziggy repeated, but the phrase was unfamiliar to him entirely.

"A Mystery Dungeon is an unusual phenomenon that affects a large, isolated area. It messes with the very fabric of its physical makeup, making it so that every time a Pokémon goes into one, it looks like a completely different place. Most of them are so twisted and convoluted, they're basically mazes."

Ziggy stared at Danika in shock. "It…changes stuff? Just on its own?"

"Most of them are underground," she explained further, "So, like, it'll be a series of connected caves and caverns, but the way the caves go will twist around and change, so one tunnel leads somewhere one day and then leads somewhere else the next day."

"Wh-what…? Oh my gosh… But how?"

"Well…Nobody really knows for sure exactly. There's been studies, but there's still a lot unknown about them. Most Pokémon just accept them as a natural part of this world."

The folder Ziggy had been holding slipped from his paws onto the ground. "That's…r-really scary…"

"Oh, no! No, don't worry!" Danika quickly backpedaled, "No, they're not dangerous. Mystery Dungeons were discovered hundreds of years ago, and exploration and dungeoneering teams over the decades have discovered and explored them. They're all clearly marked on maps now and are usually cordoned off from the public. Pokémon used to get lost in them all the time because they stumbled into them without knowing, and a bunch of real nasty Pokémon used to live in them, but not anymore. They're better understood now and closely monitored so nobody goes in unless they have to."

"Oh…" Ziggy relaxed a little. He had been imagining wandering through a forest and suddenly having the trees all twist around him to form a maze he could never escape from. Hearing that they weren't something that randomly occurred quelled his fears.

"It's been years or maybe even decades since a new MD has been discovered, anyway," Danika commented, "Most Pokémon are pretty confident that we've found them all at this point."

"Um… Have you ever been in one?"

"No, actually!" Danika said with a chuckle, "That used to be what guilds like this were all about. 95% of a guild's work had to do with Mystery Dungeons, but these days not so much. But no, I've never been in one. I know Carmen's definitely been in one. I think you have to explore at least once in order to be guildmaster. And Sparks has definitely been in a couple of them."

The mention of Sparks immediately soured Ziggy's mood, reminding him of the fact that the Raichu was still sulking and suffering down in his room most likely.

Danika saw this and tried to steer the conversation elsewhere. "I think I have research pictures on this thing," she said as she turned to face the computer screen again. After a bit of typing, she brought up a display of a couple images. She showed him a few photographs taken from the entrance of the same cave. One showed the cave turn a corner to the left, while the next showed it splitting into two paths, and then the third just had a straight path leading into the darkness.

"You'll often see big signs like this on fences that surround Mystery Dungeons these days," Danika said, showing an image of a sign that read 'WARNING: Mystery Dungeon zone. Entry strictly prohibited without authorization. Entering without authorization is dangerous and possibly fatal, and trespassers do so at their own risk!'

"That's… kinda freaky," Ziggy admitted.

"Yeah, but so's nature. It's a freaky world out there." She then cleared her throat and said, "All right, let's keep goin'. How you doin' on that pile?"

Ziggy looked down to his sorting work. "Almost done," he said, "I didn't know Radiant City had all of this…"

"Yeah, it's the capital city."

"They must know everything about everyone…"

Danika laughed at that. "No they do not. Because it's all unsorted like that. Once I'm done digitizing everything, then they'll know everything!"

Ziggy picked up a file and glanced at the name, seeing that it started with an 'E'. He also noticed the date of birth, which was almost 90 years ago. "How far back does this go?" he asked.

"Not as long as you'd think. Only about 200 or maybe 300 years…"

He picked up another one and saw that the date of birth was only 25 years back. "Gosh, these really aren't sorted at all…"

"Yeah, I'm gonna be up real late workin' on this. I don't have to, but I wanna get a good start on all this. It's still gonna take me days and days…"

"Yeah…" Ziggy murmured, looking at the seemingly endless piles of old folders.

"But you're really helping, Zig! Thanks again."

"Oh, you're welcome."

"You feel free to head out whenever you want. Just keep workin' here until you get bored. I can handle the rest."

Ziggy had stuck around for longer than he had expected. In truth he had started to get bored eventually, but had been too compassionate to say he wanted to stop. However, long after the sun had gone down according to the clock on Danika's computer, Ziggy started to worry about Sparks again and this was enough to drag him out of her office.

He hadn't heard anything about the Raichu. He knew that Kandice or Kona or somebody would contact him via Danika's badge if anything went wrong. Still, though, he hated not knowing for sure. Even hours later, he was still trying to process this new information about Sparks and his trauma.

The intrepid Buizel quickly slunk through the halls. There were more Pokémon walking about at this hour. His nerves were shot because of this, but he just kept his head down and traveled as quickly as he could. He made it to the grand staircase and descended to the ground floor, whereupon he turned towards the door to the common room.

Ziggy opened the door, intending on passing through and heading directly to Sparks' room. In the common room, sitting at the table, were Akash, Liz and Jules. The latter two were having a lively conversation, while Akash sat quietly off to the side.

"Howdy, Ziggy!" Liz called over to him with a wave.

"Oh. Uh, hi…" Ziggy said as he came to a stop.

"We heard some stuff happened," she said, "You doin' okay?"

"Um…Y-yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

"Good, good. We're all glad to hear that," Liz said, and the others roused in agreement.

"Ah…Thanks, guys…"

"Wanna come join us?" she offered, "We're just hangin' out, talkin' 'bout stuff."

"Park yer butt and relax, Buizel boy," Jules quipped.

"Uhh…" Ziggy hesitated and glanced in the direction of the dorms. "I, uh…I was going to see…Sparks… Um, I…wanted to see if he's okay…"

The three also looked to the dorms, and then Liz spoke up. "Don't you worry 'bout him, sugar. Kandy went in there not too long ago and said he's fine. He's prob'ly tryin' to take a nap."

"Oh," Ziggy said, "Oh gosh, I don't wanna wake him up…"

"Yeah, no need to bother him now. He's not goin' nowhere," Jules said dismissively, "C'mon, I'll poke Liz and make her make food if it'll make you stay and relax."

"S'cuse you, I ain't a machine," Liz retorted playfully, "I been cookin' all day, sug."

"So you're gonna let Ziggy starve then? How heartless…" Jules remarked dramatically.

"He ate at dinner!" she quietly exclaimed, and then turned to Ziggy. "C'mon now, back me up. Weren't that the best berry salad y'all had? Ya had two servin's and then Cheri Berry pie!"

Ziggy blushed a little, feeling just a little silly hearing others talk about how much he had indulged himself at dinner. "Yeah, um…Cheri pie was really good…"

"See? I toldja!" Liz said, giving Jules a light punch on the shoulder.

"Is there any more…?" Ziggy asked hopefully as he slowly made his way over to the table.

Liz laughed at that. "Sorry but no, sugar-pie. You weren't the only one who liked it. I think rose-boy over here had two slices."

"I did not," Jules said, "You're imagining things ya crazy bovine!"

Ziggy eventually ended up sitting at the table. He was seated next to Liz and Jules, while Akash was across on the other side. Ziggy looked over at Akash and gave him a little wave, and the Deerling grinned softly and waved back. He noticed that Akash's coat wasn't as vibrant as before. It was a much duller orange colour, closer to brown.

He was about to bring it up when Liz captured his attention quite forcefully, by literally taking hold of his shoulders and turning him to face her. "Ziggy, hon!" she said, "I keep forgettin'! I've been thinkin' of tryin' somethin' new for dessert and I've been askin' everyone for ideas. Ya got any thoughts?"

"Buh, wh…" Ziggy murmured, slightly caught off guard by her forwardness, "D…Dessert? Oh gosh, I dunno…" He chuckled awkwardly. The truth was that he usually didn't indulge in her desserts very much, but that was because he ate so much of her food beforehand that he got full too quickly.

"I guess…" Ziggy eventually said, "I like chocolate bars?"

Liz looked thoughtful for a moment. "Chocolate bars…" she repeated thoughtfully.

"Oh great," Jules said sarcastically, "Now you've gone and turned her into the next Wiggly Wonka! She's gonna go build a factory and make chocolate bars for the rest of her life."

"…What?" Ziggy replied in confusion.

Liz looked back at him. "I'd smack ya again for yer smart mouth but…That ain't a bad idea actually." She then laughed jovially.

"I automatically get a golden ticket, right?"

"Ya don't even eat chocolate!" she shot back in exasperation.

"That's not the point of a golden ticket!"

Once again, a playfully but somewhat intense argument involving Jules was taking place while Ziggy just watched from the sidelines in fascination. Eventually, though, he lost interest in their squabbling and turned to look at Akash. The Deerling seemed distracted, looking off into space with a quiet, emotionless expression.

"Um…Akash?"

"Hm?" He blinked and turned to regard Ziggy. "Oh, uh…Yes?"

"Are you okay?" Ziggy asked with a concerned frown.

He was silent for a moment before smiling reassuringly and saying, "I'm fine, Ziggy. Thanks for asking."

"Okay…"

"I know the two of us haven't had a chance to talk all that much. I've been pretty busy these last couple weeks. I'm glad everyone was able to figure out a way for you to stay here."

"Heh…Me too…"

"I like having you around. I think everybody else agrees too."

Ziggy briefly glanced over at the other two and then said, "Really? Why…?"

"You're very friendly, Ziggy. You have a nice personality. I think we've all found it remarkably easy to become friends with you, honestly."

"Uh…" Ziggy bit his lip. Familiar dark thoughts passed through his head as he glanced down at his own paw for a moment.

When he looked back at Akash, the Deerling was yawning. "Oh, ah, pardon me," he said afterwards, "I've been a little tired lately."

"You guys…work really hard," Ziggy commented.

"Ah, but it's always worth it. We get paid in smiling faces."

Ziggy couldn't help but notice that Akash said that statement with a distinctly ironic lack of a smile.

"Hey, Akash!" The conversation was suddenly interrupted by Jules calling across the table. "You know where Rico is?"

"Rico? I think he's still out with Terry."

"Still? I thought he'd be back by now. Where'd they go?"

"I dunno," Akash replied, "They both just said they were going somewhere. Maybe they went to see a show and won't be back until late. Why do you ask?"

"'Cus he's out past his bedtime!" Jules said with a laugh before answering more seriously, "He owes me 10 Poké."

"Oh."

"I'm seein' my girlfriend tomorrow and I wanna treat her to somethin' nice."

Akash and Liz both gave Jules a flat look.

"I'm not gonna spend just the 10 Poké on her," he said with a roll of his eyes, "Sheesh…"

"You…have a girlfriend?" Ziggy asked. He covered his mouth a moment later in embarrassment. He had just spoken without thinking. Why had he asked such a rude-sounding question like that?

"Heh," Jules chuckled smugly, "'Course I do. I mean, look at me."

"S-s-sorry…" Ziggy murmured, immediately shrinking back with a bashful look. He had just been curious. Living on the streets all of his life, he was only vaguely aware of the concept of boyfriends, girlfriends and mates. He'd never really encountered any Pokémon with a partner besides long-mated couples.

"No big deal," he said in response to Ziggy's apology, "But yeah, she's a sweetheart. Obviously drawn in by my pure masculine physique. Heh heh…"

"Yer a fruit cupcake and ya know it," Liz said drolly.

"A very masculine fruit cupcake!" Jules said with a chuckle. He then stood up and stretched his limbs. "Well anyway, you all bore me so now I'm gonna leave." He stuck his tongue out to punctuate his remark, forcing Ziggy to remember that once again, most of what Jules says is a joke.

"Aw, get outta here ya Pecha Berry," Liz said with a wave of her hoof and a laugh.

"Get some shuteye for our mission tomorrow, Akash!" the Sylveon said.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sure," Akash replied.

Ziggy then watched for a moment as Jules started to saunter out of the room. He glanced over his shoulder and gave Ziggy a cocky wink and smirk before he lifted his paw to open the door. "Catch ya later, squirt."

About an hour passed by, and Ziggy remained in the company of Liz and Akash. He spent most of the time talking to Liz, or rather listening to Liz as she told him a thousand tall tales from both inside and outside of the kitchen. Carmen had briefly stopped by to talk with the two guildmembers about something, but she left just as quickly.

Finally, Kandice reappeared in the common room and made a direct line to the dorms without much more than a friendly wave to Ziggy and the others. Ziggy knew she was going to see Sparks again, and all of his apprehension and worries about his friend returned. Was Sparks doing better? Worse? Ziggy became distinctly less talkative for the next ten minutes or so as his mind filled with thoughts of the Raichu.

"Ziggy?"

Hearing his name so suddenly caused the Buizel to jump slightly. He turned back, unsure of exactly how much time had passed, to see Kandice standing in the doorway.

"He says he can talk to you now if you want," she said.

Ziggy gasped. "He…He can?"

Kandice nodded. "It's up to you."

He didn't need to be asked twice. Ziggy immediately stood up and hurriedly made his way over to the door where Kandice was. She led him inside, and escorted him to Sparks' room's door. She held up her badge to unlock the door, and then took a step back.

"He's pretty tired," Kandice informed him, "but other than that he's okay. I highly doubt you'll need to, but come get me if I'm needed." She then bowed her head to him and immediately turned and walked away, leaving Ziggy alone in the hallway.

Ziggy looked up at the door to Sparks' room, but hesitated. What was there to be expected on the other side of the door? Again, Ziggy's mind was subjected to vivid images of Sparks screaming and thrashing about on the ground. Ziggy worried that he would have to watch his tongue to avoid accidentally setting Sparks off. There was still so much he didn't understand about this thing that Sparks had.

He gulped. Ziggy had been in Sparks' room plenty of times before, but this time felt different. There was a distant, terrible part of his brain trying to convince him that he should be scared of Sparks now.

It was his memories of how Sparks had looked coming out of Kandice's office that convinced him to simply open the door. It was over and done with in a second, before he even realized what he had done.

Sparks was there, sitting on his bed. He was looking off to the side, his shoulders slumping. The only indication that he had noticed Ziggy's entrance was a single ear twitch. He didn't move or say anything.

Ziggy stood frozen in the doorway for a moment. It had been hours since he had last seen Sparks, and now he was finally in the Raichu's company again. That previously meant that everything would be fine, but now Ziggy knew it wasn't really the case. Ziggy knew that Sparks was weakened and suffering. He wasn't the same invincible, brave Raichu as before.

"S…Sparks…?"

It took a moment, but eventually Sparks turned to look at Ziggy, and the Buizel gasped. Sparks had been crying. His eyes were red and puffy, and the fur on his cheeks was damp. His muzzle was twisted into a heart-wrenching frown. "Ziggy…"

For a moment, Ziggy just stood there again. Sparks looked absolutely miserable, but not because he had been unwell or anything. He just looked so sad, and Ziggy's heart immediately went out to him. He wanted to ask Sparks if he could come in, but instead he simply came in anyway. He marched right over to Sparks' bed and sat down next to him.

Ziggy hugged his side and said, "Are you okay?"

Sparks didn't say anything at first, but Ziggy felt him slump forward even more. "I'm sorry, Ziggy…"

"Sparks…" Ziggy frowned and hugged his friend tighter. Whatever he had been worrying about when standing outside of the door was gone. Now that he had seen Sparks, he understood things a lot better. Sparks was upset, and right now that was the only thing that mattered.

"I'm sorry…" he said again in a glowering tone.

"…What're you sorry for?" Ziggy asked quietly.

The Raichu shivered a little and said, "For…failing you, Ziggy."

Ziggy stopped hugging him and looked up at him with a confused look. "What d'you mean?"

Sparks shook his head, not even looking at him. "I'm a mess, Ziggy. My head is a big mess inside. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before, but… I thought I'd been getting better…" He sighed before continuing. "I can't do what I promised I'd do, Ziggy. That's what I'm sorry for."

"What promise?"

"I promised to protect you, Ziggy. I promised I'd keep you safe when you're with me."

Ziggy gave him a flummoxed look and said, "But you did protect me! You beat those guys up before they could hurt me!"

"But I-!" Sparks started to shout in response, but then fell silent. He remained quiet for a moment and simply stared ahead. Eventually he sighed and said, "Sometimes I just don't know anymore…"

As more silence permeated the room, Ziggy felt the need to say something. He felt like he needed to say something or other, if for no other reason than to cheer Sparks up. "Um…" he faltered, "Sparks…?"

"Mm?" Sparks grunted.

Ziggy thought for a moment about what to say. What was the most important thing that needed to be said? What was it that Sparks needed to hear? Ziggy had never found himself in a position like this before in his entire living memory. It felt so strange peeking behind the other side of the curtain.

"…I was worried about you, Sparks."

At first the Raichu didn't reply, but then he slowly turned his head and looked at Ziggy with his tear-stained eyes. "You were?"

Ziggy nodded. "I…I was scared… I didn't know what was happening to you. Everyone kept telling me that you were all right, but I couldn't see you. I couldn't ask you myself. All day I've been…I-I just didn't know what to think. I didn't know…i-if you were gonna be okay…"

Sparks slumped a bit and said, "I guess I gave you a scare, huh?"

"Uh huh…" Ziggy said with a nod, "B-but, y'know, like a 'worried scared'…" He paused for a moment and bit his lip, and then said, "I'm still pretty 'worried scared'…"

"I'm sorry, bud…" Sparks said softly, "I didn't mean to scare you. I…didn't mean for any of this to happen. I should've just…Ugh…I should've done a lot of things…"

Ziggy frowned. He reached over and placed one of his paws on Sparks' larger paw.

With another sigh, Sparks looked down at him and asked, "What have they told you so far?"

"Huh? You mean about your… uh…" Ziggy furrowed his brow and tried to recall the four letters Kona had used to describe Sparks' thing. "Uh…PTSD…?"

"Yeah. PTSD."

"They just told me that something really bad happened to you a long time ago…and it's like 'stuck' in your brain, so it comes back and scares you again when certain stuff happens."

Sparks nodded sagely. "That pretty much sums it up…"

"They told me that…fighting…is what sets it off."

Ziggy jumped slightly as a brief but noticeable shiver ran through Sparks' whole body. Ziggy had felt it through the Raichu's paw.

"I…I can't fight," Sparks answered, "Not even a little bit. I can't fight anyone else, or I… It all…just comes back… I have to use Thunder Wave."

"Y-yeah…and you couldn't use it today."

Sparks closed his eyes and shook his head. "That's why I'm not on the active team anymore, Zig. To be on the active team, you need combat training and you need to be able to defend yourself properly… The stuff we do is mostly benign, but you never know when a mission or a job will lead you into confrontation with some whack job."

"Oh, yeah… That makes sense…"

Silence filled the room once again. Ziggy was frowning as he considered this. He had been confused and even a bit afraid of Sparks' condition after being told about it by Kona. However, looking at Sparks now, Ziggy could easily see how much anguish it was putting the Raichu through. At this point, Ziggy had nothing but sympathy to give.

"Um…S-Sparks?" Ziggy spoke up nervously. There was one big question still burning in his mind, but he was very hesitant to bring it up.

"Yes?"

"Would you…Would you be okay with…i-if I asked…" he stammered, "Um…What happened…? Back…b-back then?"

Sparks stiffened, and Ziggy immediately regretted asking. It looked at first like Sparks was going to get angry or upset, but he remained calm. After a very heavy sigh, he simply said, "Maybe another time…"

"Oh…O-okay…Sorry…"

"Just know that it was…i-it was horrible…"

Ziggy frowned even more. "Sparks…"

"Honestly, you'd probably be better off if I never told you…"

"I-it's okay, Sparks," Ziggy said quickly, "I-I shouldn't have asked…"

Sparks then leaned forward and buried his head into his forepaws with a groan. "Ziggy…" he said in a muffled voice, "I thought I was getting better. I've been taking pills for this. I've been talking with Kandice, and it hasn't happened in a long while. There were even times where I thought it was gonna happen and it didn't. I thought it might happen when I chased you out into the field, but it didn't…"

Ziggy fidgeted nervously as he looked at his despairing friend. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to cheer Sparks up somehow, but didn't know how.

"I'd better go find somebody else here who can look after you," Sparks said glumly, "Someone who can actually-"

"No!" Ziggy shouted.

Sparks was caught off guard by the outburst and looked over at Ziggy. "Buddy, I-"

"No, I don't care!" Ziggy continued, "I don't want somebody else, Sparks! I want you!"

"…I appreciate it, buddy, but I really don't think I should be…"

"S-Sparks, no…" Ziggy said in a softer, sadder voice, "No, please… Please don't leave me…"

"…Ziggy…"

"I…I need you, Sparks. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me…I…I can't…" Ziggy sniffled. He was starting to cry now too. "Sparks…You're my friend…"

Sparks didn't say anything. He simply looked down at Ziggy with an unreadable expression. Ziggy continued to sniffle and try to hold back tears. It was truly dawning on him how serious Sparks was about failing him. More than that, though, Ziggy was starting to realize just how important Sparks had become in his life, even in such a relatively short time.

"Sparks…" Ziggy whimpered, "Y-you're not broken. You're not a mess. I am. I'm the biggest mess. I'm a big messy freak and I'm just so useless. Y-you've been there…for more than a month now. You're always so big and strong and brave and kind…Always, Sparks! You've always been like that. You've been amazing, Sparks! And I think you're still amazing!" He started to raise his voice. "So what if you've got this thing? So what if you can't fight sometimes? I know you can fight sometimes! You fought off the Clefable. You…y-you could've run away from those guys today, but you still fought them. You still protected me. You…you're still so brave…"

Ziggy leaned over and gave Sparks another hug, shivering and sobbing softly. Sparks didn't react. For a while he didn't even move. Ziggy wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually Sparks did move. What he did caught the Buizel by surprise.

Sparks hugged him back.

"Thank you, Ziggy," he whispered, "It…means a lot to me to hear you say that…"

"Please don't leave me, Sparks," Ziggy sobbed.

Sparks took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, but then said, "I won't."

"Y…Y-you won't?"

"I'm sorry, Ziggy. For real this time, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out like this. I was just beating myself up. I was doing the one thing I hope you never do…Giving up…" He sighed heavily and ended the hug. Ziggy reluctantly let go as well. "It's…not easy for me, Ziggy. It's been so many years and even though sometimes it feels like it's getting easier, really it's not. I feel hopeless sometimes…"

Ziggy frowned. "I know what that's like…"

"I know you do," Sparks said compassionately, "And I know a lot of times you feel scared…Ziggy, the truth is that I'm scared too. I'm scared that I'm going to fail you. I'm scared I'm gonna let you down. That this damn thing in my head is going to screw something up and get you hurt…"

"Sparks…" Ziggy interjected, "I-it's okay… I think you're really amazing but…I-I know you're not perfect… I know I can't rely on you for everything."

Sparks looked down at him for a moment and finally smiled. "That's a very grown-up thing of you to say, Ziggy."

"Well…" Ziggy said as he rubbed his forelimb awkwardly, "I've had to rely on myself for a lot…"

"I shouldn't have shut myself away like this," Sparks commented, looking around at his room, "I should've talked to you right away. I'm sorry, Zig. I promised I'd take care of you, and I meant it. I'll just have to try my best…"

Ziggy perked up. "So you're not going away?"

"No," Sparks answered, "No, I never should've said that at all… I can't give up on you, Zig. You've already made steps forward. We can't stop now."

"…Thank you," Ziggy said softly.

"It's not going to be easy for either of us…" Sparks commented as he rubbed his temple, "This hit me a lot harder than I thought it would. I think I'm gonna try to stick inside of the guild for a couple of days."

"That's totally fine with me," Ziggy said, "I dunno if I ever wanna go outside again ever…"

"Ah, well, let's not go that far…But yeah, we can take a little break and just hang out here where it's a bit safer."

"Okay…"

Sparks looked over at Ziggy with a serious expression. "Are you…okay with this, though?" he asked, "Now that you know I have this…problem?"

"Mhm," Ziggy said with a nod, "Being with you even with that problem is a lot better than being without you…"

"Aw, c'mon Ziggy. You're gonna make me blush."

"Are you okay now, though?" Ziggy asked.

Sparks sighed softly but then said, "I think I'll be okay… A good night's rest might do me some good…"

"Okay…"

A moment passed as Sparks simply looked down at the Buizel. Then, he leaned over and gave Ziggy a shoulder hug. "Thanks for caring, Ziggy. It means way more than you could imagine.'

"Heh… Same to you."

"All right," Sparks said as he gave Ziggy a pat on the back, "I'm gonna relax and read a book. You'll be all right until the morning?" When Ziggy nodded, he said, "Sounds good. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day."

"Mhm…" Ziggy stood up, but paused before heading towards the door. "Uh…Sparks?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking me out today…" he murmured, "Some parts of it were nice."

Sparks looked at him in surprise for a moment, but then chuckles softly. "You're welcome, Zig. You just let us know when you're ready to try again."

Ziggy nodded. "I will…"

"G'night, bud."

"Goodnight, Sparks."

Danika yawned as she leaned back in her wheeled chair, stretching her limbs. She took a sip from her Sitrus Berry energy drink, feeling the strong flavour give her a warm rush through her body. Her computer screen was illuminated before her, casting a shining white reflection against her glasses.

She knew she should probably be in bed, but bedtime was a concept that was foreign to her. She had a huge workload ahead of her, so she wanted to get as much of it done tonight as she could. She promised herself she wouldn't do this much on subsequent days, though she wasn't sure that promise would hold.

Having Ziggy help her earlier today had been nice and had helped make that dent in her workload that much bigger. Still, though, she felt like she had a lot more midnight oil left to burn. Kandice had called her earlier to let her know Sparks was feeling a bit better, so that was a load off her shoulders too.

She reached over and picked up another file. Inside was information for an Incineroar. She dutifully entered all of the information from the file onto the computer, her claws zipping across the keyboard as if she had been using it her whole life. One down, five hundred bazillion to go.

The next file was a Simisage, which Danika realized was the Incineroar's mate. Since the two shared a surname, and since Ziggy had so helpfully sorted them, they were next to one another in the pile. Pokémon rarely ever used their surnames aside from official identification like this, but it was certainly helpful in this case. A quick check of the family information confirmed this. On her file was written, 'Mate: Incineroar'.

Danika shook her head. Why in the world had these old files been formatted like this so that they only listed the species of an individual's family? It was a weird relic of the past to be sure. Regardless, she typed up the Simisage's information as well.

Like clockwork, Danika picked up the next file. She opened it up, read the information, and typed it up. As she did, though, something caught her eye. She leaned in closer and adjusted her glasses to make sure she had read it right, and then her eyes shot open wide.

She quickly grabbed the next file on the stack. Inside was exactly what she had expected to find. Danika held up the two files next to one another and triple checked them.

"Oh, dear heavens…"