Halcion is not from the Grass Continent, most people who are typically don't go to the Dusk Continent unless they're travelling weirdos like Minstrel. She's just well-versed in guild knowledge and fairytales enough to know that when someone steals a mysterious object surrounded by glowing thingamajigs it typically means bad things for every pokemon in the continent. To think a petty criminal like Lucario would try to get their hands on something so ancient-looking is unthinkable.
It's a random crook being gifted the powers of a big-shot Legendary: it's going to go bad. Halcion was lucky enough to have found a Sleep Seed in the dungeon to stop him from escaping and leave with this thing. With this cold piece of iron in her hand, and nothing to pilfer from Lucario's empty pockets, she makes her way back holding a terrible treasure in her claws.
All Night and All Day, the Guild's Light Never Sways!
A dumb, corny motto but it's absolutely true. The Sundown Guild never sleeps. Lit by warm lantern light, its subterranean guild halls are as bright as the morning sun. Only slightly less populated than in the daylight hours, guildies passby on their way to their beds or to their night jobs. Fortunately for day folks, big stone walls made for good insulation and the doors of the dormitories were built twice as thick. Nothing short of a Lunatone or Solrock sending them a psychic ping's gonna ever wake them up.
With the turn of a key she slips into her dorm. Light from an open window shines on three beds, the largest of them was Halcion's, and the cabinet next to it held most of her worldly possessions. She pulls out a lockbox from the top cupboard, and cracks it open, covering the cupboard with a flood of coins.
How much did Lucario steal? It couldn't be too much. Maybe eight hundred or so? Probably even less than it. She'll just take as much as she can and ask later.
Halcion rips a fistfull from the pile of coins, shoving the rest back into the drawer. She turns around and sees two little red eyes and blue fur staring from a crack in the doorway.
The eyes blink. The moment she goes for the door they vanish. She guns for it, slamming the door shut only for it to be caught by someone.
"Hal."
"Mienshao."
Keeping the door open is guild mate, her look as tired and expressionless as ever. Halcion lets go of the door, and Mienshao invites herself in, closing the door with a light kick.
"It's just some Riolu - not related to your friend. He's a new apprentice." Mienshao wanders to the cupboards, and sighs. "Why are you back? Usually you stay out longer than two days."
"You don't enjoy my company?"
"If I didn't I would've said that already."
Mienshao pulls out the second-top drawer, her drawer, and pours a treasure bag's worth of baubles inside. She exchanges all her berries, orbs and trinkets for a box she opens with a spike on her badge. Inside is another guild badge, Five Points like Mienshao's. Did she have one all along?
"But since you evolved you've changed." Mienshao folds her arms, holding the extra badge close to the heart. "When you're not here sleeping you're out there taking bounties, putting yourself in dangerous situations. And for what?"
"For training, of course." Halcion snorts.
"I'm sure if it were just training you wouldn't have to paint over the scars on your shoulders, right?"
Mienshao gives her this stare, a stone-cold look of disappointment. Her glare stings more than the nameless poison-type who gave her these scars.
"I'm not interested in learning why you got those scars, but I am going to ask you to get a grip of yourself. Do some local jobs, maybe a supply run or two. You need to lay off."
And give up her training? Do some barrel-lugging for a bunch of wine merchants? A knight like her has to be out there protecting the innocent from thieves and bandits, not lining the pockets of merchants. Honor burns in her heart, and the smoke shrouds her judgement.
"Now? Lay off now?" Laughter gurgles up from the dragon's throat. "I bagged about three criminals on my own thank you very much. I'm doing fine, and I promise you I wouldn't have gotten these scars if you weren't here ditzing around in Calico Town!"
"What sort of jobs are so important here anyways? Defending wine barrels, finding a hatchling's lost ball? Nothing's more important than bagging criminals and I'm being chewed out for finally having the strength to do it on my own! It's stupid!"
She's shouting at a brick wall. Mienshao is unflinching.
"We should be doing jobs together, putting criminals in place together!" Halcion shouts. "We're Team Vanguard, not teams Halcion and Mienshao!"
"And we won't be much of a team if you get seriously hurt."
Like it wasn't obvious what Mienshao was so worried about, it takes her saying it for Halcion to finally consider the consequences. Her words take the winds out of the dragon's metaphorical warship, bringing Halcion back to reality.
"I don't understand the appeal of scars myself. Maybe you may find them attractive, I don't know, but you're lucky to have only injured your arms thus far. If one of those criminals were to go for your neck you wouldn't live to brag about it."
Mienshao looks over her scarred shoulder at an empty straw bed.
"I don't want it to be Team Mienshao again."
It's never Halcion's place to ask, she can't possibly grasp what this means to a person as lived as her partner. The pain is always there, under the surface in every conversation, a bad memory waiting to rear its familiar visage. It's a long story Mienshao has never shared with her, but Halcion knows enough never to ask. No matter how powerful of a partner she might be or how many criminals she turns in, she can be what Meinshao's partner was to her.
At the very least she can be here. Halcion puts a hand on her shoulder-
And it's like touching ice. Her fur feels like tiny icicles slicing into Halcion's hand, glacial and unnatural to the touch. Has winter come early? Why was she as cold as death? Mienshao rips Halcion's hand off of her, glaring with equal disgust and fear. She walks away, gripping her badge.
"Don't do that again. And don't you leave tonight."
Her warning stings like a threat. Mienshao's shadow vanishes behind the door, claws raking the floor in the distance. Halcion is speechless and alone.
Nevermind Halcion's habits, what's gotten into her? They've never worked the same job together, they've been Team Mienshao and Team Halcion since the moment she's apprenticed under her. They haven't done jobs together unless it were something they couldn't handle on their own, and if either one of them saw the other in danger, a quick throw of a Reviver Seed was all she needed to get back into the game.
She's never hugged her, barely ever touched her, and when she finally did she felt as cold as ice. Could she just be nervous? Nerves don't make the blood of pokemon turn to ice. And why is she so adamant about her leaving? Why is there a riolu snooping around?
Questions she'd rather save for another time. The empty third bed made her uncomfortable; staying here won't give her employer back their money.
She takes a fistful of coin into her hand, locking the box tight. She'll have plenty of time in between her own jobs thinking about Mienshao's weirdness; a pokemon needs their money back.
Stepping out of her door, she hoists her treasure bag over herself and under her cape, then makes her way down the lantern-lit halls. Around the corner, past the roaring furnace, she enters the central hall where the two bulletins and two bells are waiting for her. She walks up, rings the outlaw bell.
It takes longer than it reasonably should for a limbless, crescent-shaped rock to hover its way into the main room. Its bulging, glass-like eyes monitor her as it floats across the chamber.
"Hacion, Four Point Explorer of Team Vanguard." Lunatone speaks. "You have a job to turn in?"
"Yeah, I do. Lucario's gone off with someone's money again. I beat some sense into him, and took it back." She pulls out a small piece of parchment from her treasure bag. "The man who put the bounty on Lucario's head never specified how much he stole, you care telling me how much?"
"One Thousand."
Who on earth would spend a thousand coins on an aura reading? She didn't have the answer, but she does have her own coins which she fortits a thousand's worth.
"Thank you, Halcion of Team Vanguard, payment shall be sent to your dormitory."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll pick it up whenever."
She wants to ask if there's any far-out jobs, but there's much better things to do. She leaves the job boards empty handed, passing her dormitory, and heading straight into the subterranean tunnel whence she came. Her footsteps echoing down the corridor in pace with her thoughts.
Orbs and Three-Hundred Poke - nothing compared to a night's worth of exploring dangerous dungeons. What's more valuable than any bounty or treasure is this mysterious gear she's wrested from the hands of Lucario.
Tales of a Black Knight conquering the lands; a star falling over the Air Continent, nearly sending the planet ablaze; a thief threatening to take time itself. Tall tales like these are her reasoning for joining this guild, so she was more willing to believe anything. And it's this story of a thief from fifteen-or-so-years ago which has been looming over her since this cave.
No one but the members of that guild can really know what happened on the Grass Continent. It's not worth crossing The Sea to get an answer out of one of them - as if they'll want to tell their life's story to a stranger like her. But there is someone who knows a bit more than the average rumor monger, and he's probably in the tavern right now.
Sleeping underneath the giant lighthouse is one thing, it's gotta be impossible to snooze with a fake sun outside their doors. Whoever's selling curtains in these parts has to be making a killing. The amount of blotted-out windows she sees while wandering through town are too many to count.
The streets are vacant, no one seems to be awake other than the people in the guild or the light-crews making sure the lamps are running. The Hollow Dream's Tavern sticks out from the other side of the river as the only place with its lights on post midnight. Even if she's a guildie, and this place is an independent bar with no stake in any guild, there's still business to be had selling drinks to the night folks. She was an avid visitor, her friend was its regular preformer.
But to her surprise, she's not the only one wandering alone.
Standing at the apex of the bridge, a tall pokemon stares at the stars. With its arms at its sides it resembles a pillar. A gentle breeze rustles its blue-green feathers and the two quills draping from its head flap like a flag. It doesn't seem aware of anything other than whatever is twinkling above its head. Just a weirdo on a bridge who's conveniently in her way.
She tries to give this avian the same amount of thought it's showing her, but it being here makes her feel odd. Anxious, maybe. She is carrying a supposedly life-changing artifact under her cape. Just walk past them, Halcion.
Her eyes are on it the entire time. Getting closer and closer to it she can barely tell it's breathing. Its beak is pointed up at the sky, eyes are wide and unblinking. The only thing moving is the badge on its chest.
A badge unlike she's ever seen: a symbol of brass wings enclosing a diamond-shaped jasper. The gem-thing is rattling like a heartbeat; an alarm going off.
"You may never speak to me again. This is true."
She stops upon hearing its voice. Running off is a bad idea, she's just gonna let this crazy bird get it out of its system.
"You were warned. This has occurred."
Is it talking about Mienshao? It's talking like it knows things, is it a psychic? Is it Xatu who everyone talks about around here? She's not just standing there anymore; she's listening.
"You will be warned again, Explorer."
He finally moves, clasping a wing over the badge as if to snuff it out. The rattling stops, one of his unflinching eyes looks her way. His wing remains there, calling attention to the unusual badge.
"The interlopers will come bearing this mark. Stay vigilant, do not chase your Knight's shadow."
Wait, how does he know this? Don't follow the Knight - Zekrom? Maybe he's overheard a conversation or two and is trying to get into her head, but he doesn't seem malicious. Xatu isn't a bird who'd cause trouble with the guild who lines his pockets, so what is he on about?
Questions she'll never get to ask him, because he's already waddling away and shouting at a crazy bird at midnight is a bad look for her guild and herself. First Mienshao, now Xatu. She really needs a drink.
A couple minutes of bumbling through the empty streets she's in the empty square, one more she's past the purple tent and at the front door to the tavern. The music from below soothes her nerves with its familiarity, and the aroma of wine invites her inside.
Inside the tavern the usual riff-raff are already here. Seviper, and that Braixen dude are drinking away, a couple guildies in the back pretend like they don't see her, and Chatot serenades them all with a whimsical song. He sings in a voice not his own, mimicking a lady choir as he strums along with a lute. His talons pound on a small mechanism hooked up to a drum. He's a one bird-band. Despite this one of a kind skill he's been playing in this hopeless hole in the ground after nearly a year.
The Minstrel named Minstrel acknowledges her with a nudge of his big yellow hat, the skarmory feather on it catching the tavern's golden glow like a star. Her usual spot, the booth closest to the stage, was taken up by a Poliwhirl and their little partner both sleeping away - neither of whom she's seen before.
But she isn't here to defend her spot from random guests. Halcion slaps herself down onto the stage like it's an oversized bench, and folds her arms. The vocals stop.
"You know Hal, it's kinda rude to sit up here."
She looks at the bird on the miniature stool.
"I think stealing the spot of a regular is more rude, but what am I to wake someone up - a loudred?"
"Well if you put it that way, you are a loud mouth."
His laughter turns the insult to a friendly poke. She chuckles alongside him.
"I'm sure Vipleume doesn't mind, they don't have the gall to tell a girl like you to get off the stage." Minstrel smiles. "If you wanna dance I could make you part of my routine, but you're probably here to ask something from me, aren't you? If it's money - I'm broke."
"You perform here every other night and you're broke?" Halcion snorts.
"Lemme rephrase: I don't quite have the disposable income saved up and Vileplume only pays me in lodging."
Minstrel nudges something near his feet, a metal cup with a couple of coins piled in there. This was her queue. If she wants to hear a story from him she need only ask, but if she wants a good version of a certain story which has been wrapped up in rumor for over ten years, then she's gonna have to cough something up to sweeten up the pot. She's lost seven hundred today, so what's another three to even out the number?
She deposits three hundred worth of shiny poke into the Bank of Minstrel, an amount which makes the blue bird pause.
"If I didn't already know a guy who could send me back for free, then thirty-four more of those could buy me a voyage back home." He counts the coins with a glance. "You got any requests?"
"Yeah, I do."
She leans in, as if speaking from the top of a stage is gonna offer any privacy, but she gives him a look as if to say lining his pockets wasn't all about charity. Though his tune doesn't change in the slightest, the look on the bird's face says otherwise.
"You're from the Grass Continent, right?"
"I consider myself from there. Grew up telling travelers to steer clear of Mystery Forest, some place which me, my cousin - and some mysterious creature called their home."
She almost wants to ask what all of this means, but he's speaking from the heart, and playing his soul out to drown out his voice. He's an open tome.
"Okay, so about fifteen years ago - assuming I'm right, something weird went down there involving time and stuff? You're a storyteller, a story collector, and my only friend from the Grass Continent. You're the best shot I have to get a worthwhile answer which doesn't involve me sucking up to the Scholar's Guild."
A deep sigh rings over the music, and Minstrel's feathers ruffle out. Something is resurfacing. The look hidden under Minstrel's hat is one of exhaustion.
"You better not be thinking about taking Lapras over there and stealing those Time Gears or so gracious help me."
Time Gears. Is that the thing Lucario stole? Halcion shakes her head.
"Long story short, these fancy artifacts named Time Gears were put into place long ago to keep time from falling apart. They're gears for a reason because each one of them is part of a system, so if one goes missing or is bust the whole machine we call time itself starts falling apart. This is what happened fifteen years ago on the Grass Continent."
"Were you there when it was going down?" Halcion asks.
"For a spell. Treasure Town - and their guild everyone talks about - is the place to go in those parts. I make the trip to and fro from Mystery Forest every other month. When I got there it was apparently after the thief who stole them, and three big shot guildies vanished without a trace. When people said time still wasn't back to normal and the weirdness was spreading, I flew back with my tailfeathers between my legs."
He groans.
"I really hate how I missed out on a lot of it. But to sum an epic in as few verses: a man steals time artifacts, they're stopped, time is still distorting and the crisis is averted by returning them to a tower where a big time-dragon-type lives."
Minstrel looks over the tavern, eyeing each of the visitors from under his hat. He misses a note as he drags a wing down his face, mulling over what to say next.
"Then there's things only a person who was there would really know: like how the thief wasn't a bad fellow in the slightest, and where those four pokemon vanished to. If you ask around for long enough you might even learn where one of those gears were hidden."
"But I know you."
A brave look, the guile of a traveled bard leaks into his smile.
"You're the same person who makes me go digging around for those old Zekrom verses. So I'll give you something obscure, something only a pokemon who's spent a long time getting to the bottom of this would know."
The music stops altogether. Nothing but the distance between them conceals his whispers.
"A nightmarish pokemon set this time mess into gear. Don't know why, or what, just that the future it wanted to make was-"
"Didya say nightmares?"
A Poliwhirl barges into their question, flipping the proverbial table and letting so many answers out to rot. They have a desperate look in their eyes and it's clear to say why.
Behind them is a tiny poliwag bundled up in a cloth, breathing heavily and writhing in their sleep. A burn-like mark on their side is in the shape of three, ghoulish blots. Its tiny dot-like eyes are wide open with a lifeless look. The empty bottles surrounding their booth all have the navy-blue label of Chesto Wine.
"You're an explorer right? I need some help."
With their intentions made all clear, the guildless bird signs out and his song floods the tavern once more. Halcion steps off the stage, shaking the tavern floor with her presence.
"Everybody needs help these days, why can't you put something up on the pelipper post?" She's not gonna tell them they've gotten on her nerves, but she sure wants to. "Besides, I'm not a medicine woman. I'm the opposite, I break things."
That sounded way cooler in her head. Polywhirl's too scared to realize how lame it was, they're practically shivering.
"Look," they fumble into a small pouch slung around their big tummy, "guilds take a cut don't they?"
They hold out a paltry amount of coins totalling to about a hundred. That's nowhere near enough, even for an average job. They're in some seriously bad water if they're this destitute.
"This and whatever you want from the stuff we bought with us can be yours, okay? I just need someone to go check up on my village."
"Where is it?"
"It's - it's down the coast, Soapstone Swamp." They point behind them, through the walls and past the town to wherever they came. "There's a dock which used to have ferry-pokes go back and forth, there's a tiny lil village there. It's hard to miss if you're walking near the shore."
A settlement close to a dungeon is the same sorta place Minstrel came from. She's seen the name a couple times on the job boards, though she's never gone there herself. The nearby dungeon is considered a newbie place, Basalt Peak and the forest surrounding the mountain is where the real dungeoning is to be had. Still, a village cropping up around a place where water-types once ferried is not uncommon. There's plenty of abandoned docks to go around. Blame The Sea.
But since getting her hand on that gear-thing she's been wanting some time to herself away from the guild and whatever trouble this thing's gonna bring her. She doesn't want to train, she doesn't want to find more of these, she just needs the time to contemplate what she's gonna do with ancient and deadly temporal artifact. Run of the mill stuff really - just like picking what cape to wear.
And if she takes a job then disappears altogether because of weird timey-wimey stuff, Mienshao will at least have a starting point.
"And what exactly do you want me to do?" she asks.
"I just need to know if anyone's doing alright and to tell them where I am, I don't think my brother's the only one who got sick."
She takes a look at him, the puff-ball currently bug-eyed and comatose.
"I'm not gonna catch it, am I?"
"Gracious no."
A hundred's nothing, a drop in the pond, but any excuse to get away from prying eyes is priceless. Halcion resigns.
"Tell Vileplume where I went."
She swipes the hundred from their gloved hand, and walks away as they wave goodbye. She snags a bottle of Oran to go, vanishing into the daunting night.