And so the story goes on. I'd say the pacing gets a little slower for the time being, but considering how much I may have shoved into the chapter, it may not feel that way.
I have also created a map of Haven Archipelago using the Inkarnate mapmaking site. The Fanfiction website doesn't support images, but you can find it on the AO3 version of the story (at the beginning of Chapter 6). It'll be a long while before the duo can explore all those islands, and perhaps some won't ever be featured, but it's there for your convenience.
Now then, enjoy.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Altered Bonds
Chapter 6 — Transition
One last mighty exhale and Vulpix's Powder Snow again went flying, traveling almost twenty feet before slowing, the vixen panting for breath. "That good?" she whispered to Lucario, relying on her Vulpix-speak.
Her guardian had his eyes fixated on the Powder Snow as it melted into nothingness over the grass, giving a nod of approval. At last Vulpix dropped to the ground, glancing at the hillside upon which a cozy cottage stood, then at the moonlit sky above. All this training was exhausting her.
Trying to learn the language had already been a lengthy process, one that went on until the afternoon. All the while she'd been asking Lucario questions, using her growing list of words to learn everything he knew that she didn't.
The answers she got were a lot to unpack. For goodness's sake, when she was told they were stuck in this 'Haven Archipelago' place, for example, she didn't know giant human-repelling towers in the ocean were literally trapping her inside! How did I ever get past in the first place? she wondered.
But thinking about the weirdness she was knee-deep in only made her head want to let loose an Extrasensory blast — best to stay focused on the present. A check on her Level showed her efforts were not in vain. Reaching Level 6 gave her a sense of satisfaction, especially considering this was her first full day as a Vulpix.
From what she understood from Lucario, it was indeed a marker of growth in her moves and power. The higher it went, the better she'd be as a fighter, and the better she'd be with her abilities. Her guardian had said something else — something about the spirit? — but she didn't get that part.
She had a guess, though. As she called upon her Powder Snow, chest rising and cold air swirling in her lungs, a sensation she was starting to get familiar with came from within her very soul. It responded to her will, energizing the snow pellets forming within her, but it faded the moment she dismissed the move and left the pellets to melt away inside her.
It was clear her spirit, if that's what that was, lended power to her Powder Snow. It was the same with Tail Whip. When she wanted to use the move, her soul churned on instinct, making her tails wag with a hypnotizing effect. More Levels make the spirit stronger, she guessed.
When she tried calling upon Extrasensory, however, all she got was a forced headache for her troubles. Unlike her other moves, her mind had no instincts that explained how to use this move, never mind how to call upon her spirit for assistance. Why was that?
Lucario had turned to his own devices, Vulpix watching as his body glowed an icy blue. Moments later he blew out, Powder Snow pellets flying out in an almost straight line before drifting downward, joining fresh markings of ice and white snow that littered the grass in the darkness. "What are you—?" she asked, before waving at the melting snow.
The jackal glanced once at her before giving a casual shrug. He didn't actually know Powder Snow, but he knew a power that let him do a perfect imitation of her attack. Copycat, she recalled the move's name, watching him glow up blue and repeat the move again. It seemed like he was experimenting, looking for other ways the attack could be used.
Earlier he'd been teaching her ways to use her move, like how to aim, how to spread out the pellets or narrow them down as she fired, and how to make them go farther. Copycat was a great way to show how to use her own powers, and Lucario was just as great a teacher, copying and outdoing her on a move he never used before. His range and control impressed her.
Goodness, Pokemon could be amazing. She wished she learned more about them when she was younger.
And now you can take your time doing just that, Eira, she told herself as a voice called out, Lucario stopping halfway with a Powder Snow and looking over his shoulder. A white, angelic Pokemon descended from the cottage hillside — that was Togetic, a member of the so-called explorer team she and Lucario were now a part of. Though it was hard to tell in the dark, she looked concerned.
"Get, ic to togetic oget, et tog?" she whispered, her scrambled use of syllables throwing Vulpix off. She didn't realize Pokemon speech could sound like that, it sounded verbose for some reason.
She caught a mention of 'Shaymin' in that sentence, though, and considering the lack of a green flying Pokemon at Togetic's side and how Lucario shook his head, making the angelic sigh as she began searching the grounds, it seemed her Shaymin friend was missing. Strange, she always saw them together.
Lucario returned to copying Powder Snow, testing the move some more while Vulpix watched. Rapid fire, slow but powerful bursts at close range, swarms of tiny pellets, he sure was finding some interesting ways to modify the attack. Her instincts only told her how to do the basic steps, but they didn't explain how she could change the way her own moves worked.
That she had to learn the hard way. What about Extrasensory, then? Did she need to figure out the basics before they were instilled into her head, and then she could try to modify that attack? She had to know.
She got up from her rest, Lucario eyeing her. "Extrasensory now?" she said, before shaking her head. "I-I mean, um, Extrasensory now?"
The Vulpix-speak sounded right, but her guardian frowned anyway. It took a moment before she took notice of her shaky limbs and ragged breath, her body still tired from huffing out so many Powder Snows. "I can, um — I can manage," she insisted. "Show me?"
Lucario told her the words for 'manage' in the Pokemon tongue before shaking his head, a strange look on his face. When Vulpix grew confused, he said another phrase, one she needed a moment to understand.
"You can't show, er, what you don't see?" she repeated, the length of the sentence a little much for her to repeat. Lucario nodded, his body bathed again in icy blue light, and something clicked.
Lucario's Copycat could not copy her Extrasensory until she showed it to him first. And she couldn't show it so he could demonstrate how to use it.
He doesn't know any similar moves to help me learn either, she thought, slumping back to the ground. Lucario threw her a pitying smile, as if to assure her she could learn another day, but it didn't help. It seemed her training was done for today.
Togetic was still around, fluttering over the flower garden beneath the hill cliffside before she shook her head and moved on. Vulpix watched her search the rest of the area, calling out to Shaymin. Her body curled up, six tails drifting over her forehead, and she stared at the extra body parts with an arched eye.
It was silly, come to think about it — here she was, sulking about being unable to figure out Extrasensory when she had far bigger things to be mulling over. For crying out loud, she wasn't a Pokemon to begin with, but a lost human. One stuck in a Pokemon civilization that wasn't friendly to her kind. For her safety, she had to be careful not to expose herself to Togetic, Shaymin, or that sharp-eyed Gabite.
She had to be careful not to expose herself to anyone.
Vulpix shook off phantom images of Ariados, the feeling of poison setting her nerves on fire clogging her thoughts. No, she didn't need to think like this, that would cause—
Lucario snapped his head over as Vulpix beheld the pink glow coming from her forehead. Togetic noticed too, rubbing the little spikes on her head before looking away. Well. That worked.
Extrasensory was bouncing around in her mind, a painful headache to go with it, but Vulpix grit her teeth and took advantage of the moment. If she was careful to neither fire the attack, nor let it fade away, she could study this move. She did want Lucario to Copycat it too, but first she wanted to get a feel for the Extrasensory power. Having two offensive moves would be good — Powder Snow was a cool attack, but this one would be a blas-
No, no, she wasn't completing the pun.
It was hard to make sense of the move. The force felt odd and inexplicable, supernatural even, but she could tell it was a Psychic power. Her soul powered this attack too, but so did her mind, fueling it with her stressful thoughts. It was like how her cold body provided her the means to create snowy pellets inside her.
As she relaxed, however, the mental energy her stress gave her waned, and the pink glow left her. She tried to hold onto the Extrasensory, examine it some more, but the power ignored her and slipped away. Her soul no longer nourished it either, it would soon be gone again.
Still she made a grab for the strange psychic energy it left behind, trying to place it back in her head. She fell short, however, and instead found herself placing it elsewhere.
And she felt something tingle in her eyeballs. Huh?
She tensed her eyes, and something changed. Not only did the psychic force listen, but her spirit flared up too, and her vision became tinted with a bright blue. More than that, a soft glow was coming out of her eyes. She strained them a little more, and the light intensified, Lucario grunting in wonder. What was this, some kind of night vision move?
It really stung her eyes. Vulpix slowly turned, first to the pond in the corner, then to the trees, and then to the flower field. Feedback struck her as something lit up within the patch of flowers, outlined in blue light. It had the shape of a hedgehog.
Vulpix recoiled and turned off the power as the flowers rustled. "S-shay?" hollered a tart voice as the hedgehog leapt out, sleepy eyes shot open in alarm as she whipped her snout around.
Togetic zoomed over in a heartbeat, a flushed look on her face, and Vulpix took the moment to hide behind a snickering Lucario. That was Shaymin, in her grounded hedgehog form! She hit her with a move!
Whatever that move was anyway. Vulpix took a peek into her mind, discovering 'Disable' had been added to her list of powers. A sigh of relief left her mouth — unlike Extrasensory, this move did come with instructions on how to use it and what its purpose was. It was like Ariados's Scary Face, except it would stun a Pokemon, and it also blocked him or her from using the last move used for a while. It wasn't a full-on attack.
But that didn't stop her from feeling like the scum of the earth as Shaymin turned to stare at her, Lucario still chuckling with a paw over his grinning face. She was sleeping in the flowers, wasn't she? In her flying form it would've been easy enough to spot her lithe body and winglike ears, but her green-furred hedgehog body blended too well with the flowers and grass.
She racked her head for how to say 'sorry' in Vulpix-speak, but as it turned out, Shaymin was already shrugging off what happened with an embarrassed grin. "Shaymin," she said in an easygoing manner.
Togetic looked at her too, and Vulpix resisted the urge to cower from their gazes. Neither of them seemed mad at her, she was very grateful for that, but she wasn't sure how to respond—
Shaymin twitched, her green back appearing to shimmer for a moment before she let out a little laugh. Togetic whispered something to her in the form of a question, and she gave a heavy nod. This made Togetic sigh, and the two of them shot a warm smile toward a very confused Vulpix before going up the hill to the cottage. Did she miss something?
No matter. They weren't going to make her apologize or anything, she was okay. She was sure Shaymin would make her speak up when she still didn't have much control over the language, but thankfully, she seemed laid-back and friendly enough for a Mythical.
Yes, that was what Lucario called her. Shaymin, a Mythical Pokemon that wielded powers a cut above normal Pokemon, able to fly using a special flower and who knew what else. She was in the presence of such a rare creature people would long to meet once in their lifetimes.
Yet, compared to everything else that happened in the last twenty-four hours, it seemed so tame.
Again the young girl found herself falling into painful thoughts. She interacted with an Abhorrent Eevee and his ghost sister Espeon, got sucked into a forest Mystery Dungeon, ended up on a team of Pokemon explorers — and that all paled to the fact she was even here in the first place, in a Vulpix body no less. On another day, it would have been crazy to learn underwater Pokemon could breathe on land, so long as their bodies weren't too dry. Now it was just another random detail.
Vulpix let out a sigh, then watched as her cold breath covered every blade of grass it touched with frost. The events leading to this point were all so surreal, yet there was no other way to go about this, was there? Mother was gone. Like it or not, this alien place was now her home. Her life had been upended.
She would just have to accept that, and adapt to her new reality.
So be it, she thought, steadying herself. No, she wouldn't forget her past, nor let it go. She could never let go of her beloved Mother, her one constant companion. There was a hole in her heart that could not be patched so easily.
Yet she wouldn't let it weigh her down. Lucario had saved her life, and she wasn't going to waste her second chance.
"Lu?"
Vulpix turned to a concerned Lucario, his red eyes seeing past her. "I'm good," she replied, putting on a shaky smile. "Best I've been since yesterday, I guess."
Lucario copied her smile, rubbing the spike on his palm as he fell into contemplation. She wasn't lying, she really did feel much better. Coming to terms with her situation lifted some of her stress away, leaving her more clear-minded and ready to take on her brave new world.
But as her worries drifted away, one of them kept on bugging her. When Lucario brought her up to speed, there was something he said that made her heart leap, a nameless concern that stuck to her like glue. Two powerful Pokemon had been fighting at sea, she remembered, and they caused the shipwreck.
Two Pokemon. One with a writhing shape Lucario couldn't describe, the other a giant, winged creature.
A storm, and two fighting Pokemon.
Something was on the tip of her tongue, but what? Two Pokemon locked in combat, a storm brewing around them. One of the fighters was something shapeless, the other a huge bird.
Huge bird. Storm.
Vulpix frowned. Traveling to other regions had been something she and Mother loved doing. Sometimes they went to see the native Pokemon, but many other times they took trips to various landmarks to learn about the culture. That meant she'd seen and heard a lot of myths about the fabled Legendary Pokemon.
And among those tales, she faintly recalled one about a Pokemon that had power over storms.
She just didn't know what it was. It had been a long time ago, and she couldn't remember what it looked like, only it seemed like a massive bird creature. It had a name, of course, but she didn't remember what that was either. It was on the tip of her tongue.
Her tails swished in frustration as she rummaged through her head for the mysterious creature, a Legendary being that could be connected to the tragic shipwreck that happened yesterday, the one that claimed Mother's life and many others. What was that Pokemon?
No answer came to mind.
"And that's the gist of it!" Shaymin exclaimed, short of breath. "That good enough for you?"
Lucario gave a weary look at the road ahead, going through hilly, tree-less fields and toward the stone brick walls of what was apparently Berrypark Town. "A little too much information about your species, maybe," he told the flying reindeer — her Sky Forme, she called it? And her default hedgehog self was her Land Forme.
"You did ask for everything," Gabite pointed out, Togetic trailing behind him. Both carried their own Treasure Bag. "It was part of the trade, remember?"
Lucario just shrugged, turning to a silent Vulpix. Her head appeared to be in the clouds.
It was the first day working with the explorer team, the sun having risen not too long ago, and they were headed their way to Berrypark Town to get started. Out of interest, Shaymin asked about what was up with his kind and their power over aura, and Lucario asked in return about her own abilities and her two forms.
He might've chewed more than he could bite with that question — Shaymin were quite an intricate race. Their flying forms were caused by being near the magical Gracidea Flower, but they couldn't maintain that form during night or if frozen solid. Not only that, but they were natural purifiers, able to turn even toxic wastelands into lush fields, make flowers grow wherever they roamed, and cure a variety of diseases and bad statuses. Mythicals had quite the assortment of strange powers, it seemed.
"I believe you skipped one very important thing," Togetic told Shaymin, Lucario hanging his head in exasperation. "Remember? It's what everyone associates your kind with."
Shaymin gave a knock on her forehead. "Right, we're known as the Gratitude Pokemon, how'd I forget that? We can literally sense gratitude like Togetic senses kindness and inner purity, or how you can sense aura. Vulpix was radiating that stuff last night when I forgave her for giving me a nasty wake-up call, heh."
Right, Vulpix learned Disable yesterday after fiddling around with her Extrasensory, and by mistake she used it on Shaymin. "Passive sense?" he asked.
Shaymin and Togetic looked at one another. "I mean, Shaymin senses gratitude without trying," said Togetic as she lit up her eyes with pink light, flashing them. "But when I want to take a look at another's purity, it's easier when I do this."
"Same." Lucario let his aura flare up over his eyes and palms for a moment, wreathing them in blue faux-flames. "I can't stand sensing aura passively. Having other people's emotions and thoughts flow into your head non-stop, it's enough to drive anyone crazy."
Gabite's brows rose as he stared at the black aura feelers hanging from Lucario's head. "You mean you have those things dampened?" he asked. "I thought they were crazy sensitive to aura."
Lucario nodded, tugging at his feelers. That sensitivity was the very reason he didn't like to rely on them. His own methods were better suited to control what he sensed and what he didn't.
It wasn't long before the group came upon the open gates of the town, a Granbull and a Houndoom standing guard. The inside made Lucario pause for the briefest moment as he took in everything.
This was nothing like a human town. Actually, it seemed more appropriate to compare this place to a city, except with a more rustic and rural look — yellow dirt pathways paved the road, but grass grew freely on the sides, mounds of flowers growing and trees here and there. As for the buildings, they all had different color palettes, with some being tiny, some large, some dome-like and some square, and some even resembling Pokemon. It was so disorderly, and yet so impressive.
And it blended perfectly with the landscape it was built on. Pokemon of various shapes and sizes roamed it, bringing the place to life. Simple, natural, and as intricate as any other human settlement I've seen, mused Lucario. I like it.
A look at Vulpix made her snap out of her dazed trance, the young girl falling into step with him. A slight quiver ran throughout her body, the town and its many Pokemon leaving her with a strong feeling of alienation.
Lucario's aura feelers couldn't help but twitch as more and more Pokemon surrounded them. It was nowhere as bad as some human cities, but it was hard to keep his powers in check around busy areas like these. The moment he opened up his aurasense, even for just a moment, a flood of unwanted emotions and surface thoughts could come crashing through.
"You and Vulpix doing okay?" Gabite asked, Lucario snapping to attention. "Both of you seem out of it, like you haven't been in a place like this before."
A Teddiursa running from her Ursaring father all but jumped over a startled Vulpix, the vixen looking over her shoulder as the brown bear yelled at the child to get back. "It's the crowd of Pokemon we're in," said Lucario with a smirk, avoiding contact with the rock-gray skin of a nearby Rhydon. "You could say we're not quite used to it."
"Yeah, I hear you," said Shaymin, shooting him a sympathetic look. A couple of Pokemon were throwing stares at the Mythical, some wide-eyed and others with arched brows, but she ignored them all. "Just wait till you see the marketplace."
Said marketplace was abuzz with Pokemon, flocking to merchants and shopkeepers selling their wares behind colorful stands. Gabite strode onward without concern, slipping through gaps in the crowd with practiced ease, while Togetic and Shaymin had the luxury of flying past. Lucario followed in the wake of Gabite's path, Vulpix right on his heels.
Both had their gazes wandering over the different stalls. One sold farm-fresh berries, another had all sorts of fruit, and yet another offered strange talismans. In one barren corner was a Medicham, the pink humanoid Pokemon arranging what looked like a set of scarves, bands, and hats.
"Hey," said Gabite, pointing into the distance. "You two can't go through here without feasting your eyes on the shop everyone knows about."
Lucario slowed down as he saw it — a large structure shaped like a Kecleon's face, staring back at him with its hollow eyes. Pokemon stopped by on occasion, a small line forming as two Kecleon worked to serve them behind the counter. Neither were the Kecleon he met though. The first one had slightly lighter green skin, and the other had a unique purple color with a shiny sheen to it.
"If you're going to be on an explorer team, you can't ignore Kecleon Wares," Gabite stated. "They're everywhere, but particularly in towns like this one, serving as a general market for anything you could get your hands on in a Mystery Dungeon. They're essential for explorer teams, and there's plenty of stock they reserve just for us."
Lucario's eyes met Vulpix's before she went back to staring down the structure. Since Kecleon said he lived in Berrypark Town, this had to be where he worked, but he wasn't around at the moment. I'll have to find a way to speak with him, he thought.
Obviously Kecleon didn't know of Vulpix's disguise — he would need to fill him in on that. This was one of the few people who knew he had a human with him, and he could use some advice from the chameleon. Part of him wanted to tell him about the Abhorrent Eevee who was helping them too.
Except that might be unwise, a part of him warned. Judging from Eevee's words, even Kecleon might not respond well if he learned about that part. What do I do if he gets nosy about where I got the band?
A problem he'd figure out in due time. Who said he had to find Kecleon right away?
Team Heavendust passed by a bank and a few more shops before leaving the crowd. "That's the marketplace for you," remarked Gabite. "I'd like to show you the dojo too, but that can wait for another day. You see that building up there?"
Lucario's pupils rose as they took in what must be their destination. Atop an elevation in the town sat a large facility, its outskirts a pretty sight. Cobblestone paths went past hedges and flowerbeds and under arches, making their way to the actual building. One of the more prominent arches had some words written on it, in two different scripts.
Shock shot through Lucario's spine when he got close enough to see the text. Funny thing about the Pokemon language — because crying out syllables of your own name in various patterns and pitches didn't translate well into written speech, another system would be needed for writing. The script on the bottom testified to that, being composed of a series of strange footprint runes. The text on the top was no different, but unlike the runes, there was something special about it.
He could read it.
And not just that, the script was familiar too. Unown letters, simplified to look like the human alphabet, he realized. His ability to understand human speech had helped him learn to read the latter.
This archway had the words 'Explorer Board' inscribed on it. "This is the place?" asked Lucario.
Togetic nodded. "Every major town has an Explorer Board," she said. "They contain services for explorers, such as a magic storage system and a database on various Mystery Dungeons, and they also give us tasks to complete."
"Really neat system," said Gabite with a faraway look. "So nifty, in fact, that Their Highnesses got off their throne for once and made it official policy to have these facilities installed."
Lucario bit back the urge to ask what Gabite meant by Their Highnesses, still staring at the simplified Unown script. Why was this human-like text the primary writing system of Haven Archipelago? And now that he thought about it, didn't Sapling Woods tell him the dungeon's name and floor in Unown script too? Not that he would complain, it was good that the writing system was so familiar. That meant he and Vulpix wouldn't need to learn how to read—
Lucario facepalmed as he noticed the empty space next to him. "You're kidding me," he groaned aloud, as if it would cover for his inner panic.
"Hey, what do you—" said Shaymin before she and the others turned over. "Oh. Uh."
"Vulpix is missing?" said Togetic, frantically looking around.
Gabite gave a hiss of disapproval, folding his arms. "Like we would've noticed, the kid's a silent shadow," he muttered. "She's your responsibility, Lucario."
Lucario nodded and gestured to them to wait, aurasense engulfing his vision as he ran off. She couldn't have gotten far, probably lost somewhere in the crowd.
Vulpix's unique aura signature was indeed back at the marketplace, amidst a sea of auras whose emotions he blocked out. Please tell me she's safe, please tell me she's safe, he kept repeating to himself, disgusted that he let her out of his sight for even a moment. He let her get lost! How could he let himself lose her?
There she was, her friendly blue aura standing still. Two Deerling, a Luxio, and a Miltank went by before he saw the snowy vixen herself, and for a moment his heart's thumping slowed down. Then he noticed that she was fidgeting, staring at someone right next to her, and the thumping sped up.
"Lucario." Kecleon, the one who had fought with Ariados, stared at him with eyes colder than the vixen beside him. "You shouldn't leave your little one unattended like this."
The slightest streak of red coursed through the merchant's aura, a fearful rage forcibly cooled by reason and foresight. Lucario's fingers squeezed his forehead as he stared back at Kecleon, a few Pokemon skirting away from the confrontation.
"Joined Team Heavendust, did you?" said Kecleon. "I saw you're with Gabite, Togetic, and good ol' Shaymin. That's a cute little wristband Vulpix has, by the way, it matches her fur well. Seems real useful too."
A glowering smirk went across his face, and Lucario pinched his forehead harder, rubbing the skin beneath the fur. He knew.
Of course he knew.
Kecleon took his time coming up to Lucario. More and more Pokemon edged away as he came beside him, leaving a circle of empty space around them and Vulpix. "Care to explain where she got it?" the old merchant hissed into his ear.
So much for having time to figure out what to tell Kecleon. Try as Lucario might, no good lie for explaining the magic wristband came to mind. What was he to say, he found it in a dungeon by sheer luck?
He'd have to dodge the question then. "With all due respect, Kecleon," he said, "I think you're sensible enough to know she and I aren't enemies."
Kecleon blinked multiple times. Only then did Lucario realize he still had his aura-eyes active and shut them down in a show of goodwill, but not before seeing the streak of red in Kecleon's aura turn pink-ish. Hope that won't cost me, he thought.
"Enemies." A strained look shadowed Kecleon's face. "Bah, of course I'm sensible enough to know you're not enemies. On the other hand? Your girl wields a treasure the likes of which I've never seen in all my dungeon explorations — I know I'm not staring at an illusion, I can feel the cold she radiates. She even can speak a little in our tongue. How exactly do you want this old coot to react to such an impossibility?"
The longer he spoke, the more frenzied his movement became, until he was flapping his arms around with great exasperation. "I'll ask this again, Lucario. Where in Haven Archipelago did she get it?"
It took all of Lucario's willpower not to step back as he struggled to say something. His eyes darted once to a still, meek Vulpix before he gave a sigh. "The person who gave us it would rather stay anonymous."
Too big a hint. Kecleon read between the lines in a flash, his lips curling up. Just like that, all the discomfort in his face faded without a trace, leaving behind a sense of clarity and peace of mind. "I see, then."
"You do?" said Lucario, raising a brow.
Kecleon's smirk grew wider. "Reasonable enough. You're the one who can sense thoughts and emotions here, you'd be a better judge of character when it comes to Abhorrents."
Of course he leaps to that conclusion. Lucario kept his face neutral, not wanting to give the merchant any more satisfaction in knowing he was right.
"Come on, those freaks have half as much reason to stay hidden like you two, you were far more likely to meet one of them than a normal 'mon." Kecleon backed away, and it was as if the tension in the air had been sucked out. "You really did come across one, didn't you?"
A rhetorical question, but Lucario answered anyway, checking if anyone was listening in on them. "We did."
"And not only was he friendly, he just so happened to have that wristband for her to use?"
"It—" hesitation made Lucario wince. "It's a faulty invention. It doesn't work on Pokemon."
Incredulity showed on Kecleon's face. He began humming to himself, trying to make sense of this piece of information, but after a while he shook his head.
"Then all I can say is fate's been more than kind to you," he said. "What are the chances of it all? Joining a noteworthy explorer team so soon, meeting an Abhorrent who gives you a transformation item only meant for her kind — and here I'm still scratching my head over how you reached the archipelago, dang it."
He shot Vulpix a sorry look before continuing. "I knew it was her the moment I saw you two walk past, and let me tell you, that disguise of hers threw me for a loop. Got the irrational side of me steamrolling, it did. You know what people would think if they knew not only did a human infiltrate our lands, but she was posing as one of us too?"
The thought of it made Lucario's gut turn into a pile of knots. From that perspective, Kecleon's move to hold up Vulpix made a little sense. As just a human, she was only a strange, possibly dangerous outsider. As a human with the form of a Pokemon? She looked like a spy.
"I can see the gears working in your head, you got my point." A bitter laugh left Kecleon's maw like a cloud of smoke. "I would have done more than just stop her had I not known better."
Lucario frowned, before glancing back to the elevation where the Explorer Board was. "We should be going," he said, coming closer to Vulpix.
"Of course, of course, I wouldn't want to keep your explorer team waiting." Kecleon's pupils moved to the side, distaste showing as they locked onto someone in the distance. "Ah, shoot. Hold that thought for now, we have a situation on the loose."
Before he finished his sentence Lucario's paw was lit up in aura. Emergency sirens went off as he touched a hostile aura amongst the swarm of Pokemon that was closing in on them. Oh, for goodness's sake, not her!
Ariados was in town.
Though she had yet to spot them, the spider was coming their way regardless. Not good. Kecleon had no trouble seeing through Vulpix's disguise, so if she spotted her, especially with him around—
"Get away," he warned Vulpix, waving a paw. When she looked at him funny, he shoved a nasty feeling into her mindscape, one that bubbled and boiled like acid burning through muscles, complete with the want to vomit.
There was only one person Vulpix could associate with the feeling of poison. Swooning from the imaginary feeling, she nevertheless wasted no time, slipping into the flow of the crowd.
And not a moment too soon — eyes burned into Lucario's nape, and he turned to face the enemy. Ariados was a short distance away, crawling past Pokemon with venomous grace. Tiny scorch marks could still be made out on her body.
"This'll be interesting," Kecleon whispered. "Just act casual and follow my lead. Oh hello, Ariados!"
The jovial tone slowed down Ariados, but that didn't stop her from shoving her face into Lucario's, her breath tainted with loathing. The jackal took it without batting an eye.
"Hey, hey, show some manners with my friend here," said Kecleon, pushing Lucario out of the way to take his place. "We never finished making that business deal, are we still arranging for a supply of assorted berries? I never got a confirmation."
Ariados glared. "Forget the deal," came her sweet, cruel voice. "Where is she?"
"Hm? Looking for someone?"
"Don't you two play dumb with me!" she yelled, increasing the circle of empty space between them and the crowd. Lucario held back a chuckle as he caught sight of Vulpix's tails in the mix. "I know you're hiding the human! Where is she?"
A few rattled heads looked their way. Lucario turned to Kecleon before giving an exaggerated shake of his head. It was acting time.
"A human?" Kecleon said with a snicker. "Oh come on, dear Ariados, are you still going on about this? Leave the Lucario alone."
"You think—"
Lucario cut her off before she could begin to speak. "Honestly, I tell you I met a human once — which again, I really didn't, it was just a little story I made up! — and now you're stir crazy over it," he said, arms spread wide. "Kecleon, please explain to this Pokemon how unreasonable it is for humans to be found inside Haven Archipelago."
Whether Kecleon was grinning at his improvisation or at Ariados's tomato-like face, Lucario couldn't tell. "Ariados, he doesn't have a human, they don't exist here. Though I will admit that if there was one, I most certainly would be interested in the challenge of hiding such a rare, eye-catching creature."
Ariados looked like she was about to learn Explosion. "Oh, this again!" she snarled, throwing her legs up for a moment. "Everyone thinks I'm some crazy spider, even my own people, and you're using that against me! You really think you can keep her hidden from me, don't you?"
Lucario put a paw to his face. "Please, I don't need this nonsense," he said in a calm voice. "I must ask that you stop bugging me with all this human talk, I have business to attend to."
Sputtering noises came out of Ariados's manibles. "Why, you insolent—"
"Ariados." Lucario was glad the stern undertone in Kecleon's words was directed toward the spider and not him this time. "Do leave the Lucario alone, we don't want any trouble."
For a moment Ariados looked ready to attack them inside the town walls, but she held herself. Instead she spat out a thread of string before leaving, appendages stomping tiny cracks into the pathway.
She brushed past Vulpix on the way, staring at her for a moment. The ice vixen stared back, as nonchalant as could be, and something shifted in the spider's expression. Lucario held his breath.
"Don't know why I'm bothering, of course I sound crazy," she muttered, before redoubling her gaze on Vulpix and waving a leg at her. "Do you mind?"
The kid turned her head in the opposite direction, leaving Ariados to march away. Only once she was out of sight did she let out a puff of her cold breath, running back to Lucario.
"Okay?" she asked, her voice tight.
"Yeah, we're fine." Lucario put a paw to his beating heart, wishing it still. "A little close, but fine."
"She thinks Vulpix is a bad omen." Lucario turned to Kecleon, who now wore a worn-out look. "People say it was when the Stringed Forest dungeon popped out of nowhere, two months ago, and sucked up her village that she ended up with a few screws loose. It was unheard of, a dungeon relocating an entire town inside of its spatial distortion, and she insisted there was some deeper, ominous meaning to it. She sees the human the same way, I'm sure."
A moment of silence followed. A merciful part of Lucario couldn't help but feel for the matriarch — it must be unsettling, to have your entire village gobbled up by one of those dungeons. Ariados might want Vulpix gone, but that didn't mean he couldn't pity her.
"Oh, there you are!"
Togetic flew right in front of a startled Lucario, her voice reaching them despite the noise of the crowd. "I've been looking everywhere for you two," she said. "Where have you been—"
Her eyes wandered toward Kecleon before her entire body locked up, words trailing off and her mouth hanging limp. The merchant drank up her moment of shock, a wry smile covering his face. Togetic slowly turned to Lucario, then to a fidgety Vulpix, and then back to Kecleon.
"Held them up for too long, did I?" Kecleon's lips stretched across his cheeks as Togetic made a slight nod. "Yes, yes, how rude of me to take Lucario's kiddo aside and make him come looking for her, and then make you come looking for both of them. Just give us a moment, I was just wrapping up."
With that Kecleon brought himself next to Lucario again, Togetic floating out of his way. "Look, you've got yourselves a miraculous situation here, and you can't botch that up," he whispered. "Keep up whatever you're doing to help Vulpix fit in. Don't let Ariados ever see you with your girl or your explorer team, that'll get messy fast, and never take up a job listing from Stringed Forest. Use your free time to learn all you can about this archipelago, you'll need it."
Lucario nodded, noting it all down. He could use any piece of advice he could get.
"That should do it for now. I'll deal with Ariados if she tries pulling any more stunts, you focus on your tasks, okay? We'll keep in touch." Kecleon began to leave.
"Wait, just one thing," Lucario blurted, the chameleon pausing halfway into his turn. "You really believe me? That despite the fact I'm admittedly getting help from an Abhorrent to disguise the human, and despite the fact she got past your towers wards, you're taking my word that she's not a threat or a spy or whatnot? That I'm not deceiving you into letting a terror loose on the archipelago?"
Kecleon stood in place for the longest time. "Deception isn't your forte, Lucario."
His colors faded out into nothingness, until all there was to see was one red stripe that refused to disappear like the rest of the chameleon. The stripe moved away, Lucario, Vulpix, and Togetic gaping as a Bulbasaur brushed against the invisible Pokemon, saw the stripe, and jumped into the air in sheer fright.
"Did he?" Lucario asked. Vulpix rubbed her eyes with one paw before nodding.
"I'm more concerned that Kecleon held Vulpix up." It wasn't hard to miss the blanched expression written on Togetic's face. "You met before? You didn't cross him, right?"
Awkward questions. "Maybe?" Lucario scrambled to his defense as Togetic shot him a panicked look. "There were some misunderstandings, we sorted it out. I assure you we're on good terms."
Togetic pursed her lips. "If you say so," she said. "I mean, no one would ever slight a Kecleon, but the one you were just with? Shaymin trains under him in the dojo."
Kecleon was a teacher for a Mythical? That sure left him with goosebumps. Good thing he was on his side, not Ariados's.
With a wave Togetic bade them come along, flying back to the Explorer Board. Lucario began to follow when something made him look over his shoulder. There, floating amidst the crowd, a pair of red eyes had been watching him.
Those eyes belonged to a ghostly, purple figure with a large witch hat and red gem-like spheres on her neck, a Mismagius. Lucario arched an eye at the observer, and she waved back with a cloth-like arm, uncaring that she'd been caught in the act. Wait, how long had she been there?
"Lucario?"
Lucario flinched at Vulpix's quiet voice, the kid shooting him an odd look before looking past him, her expression turning sour. The moment he turned back to Mismagius, however, the witch was already moving back into the crowd, a cackle coming from her W-shaped mouth. How suspicious.
But it seems she didn't overhear anything sensitive, Lucario noted, his aurasense detecting no undercurrent of bad emotions from her. No alarm, no shock, nothing to hint she heard any of his and Vulpix's secrets. Still, it concerned him that she was spectating them in the first place.
Vulpix seemed to think the same way. "Is she bad?" she asked. For someone who just survived a close-up with Ariados, her aura seemed oddly calm and collected.
Lucario frowned at the spot where the ghost formerly was. "No, not for now," he said, dismissing the Mismagius. They had other matters to attend to.
Over cobbled paths and under the Explorer Board archways they went, catching up with Togetic just as she met back with Shaymin and Gabite. The latter two were waiting at a bulletin board with news articles, just outside the building itself, and the angelic Pokemon began explaining what took Lucario so long before either could give him and Vulpix a scolding.
Vulpix gave the bulletin board a once-over as Togetic spoke, and Lucario smiled when she let out a gasp, bringing herself closer to the board with bright, disbelieving eyes. Yep, she noticed the localized Unown script too.
Already her gaze clung to the words, like a treasure hailing from her youthful past. Halfway through the papers, however, the light in her eyes faded as she froze upon a particular article. When Lucario asked her if something was up, she pointed at it.
It seemed so unimportant, hidden behind sheets of other papers, but there it was: 'Rumored Sightings of Strange Pokemon Flying During Freak Storm.'
Lucario read the title over and over, not sure how to feel about this. There wasn't much to the actual article, just random Pokemon claiming they saw some large silhouette out at sea during the storm. Any other person would dismiss it as rubbish.
He wasn't any other person. The coincidences keep on piling up, he thought.
"Weird, right?"
Shaymin popped in front of Lucario and Vulpix, making both jump. "Can't understand why this dingy piece of news's pinned here," she said. "They don't even describe what the Pokemon looks like. Wonder if there's something more to it?"
She shot him a grin. "But eh, it's not as interesting as you guys being buddy-buddy with Teacher Kecleon. How'd you manage that?"
Gabite strode over too, Lucario feeling a lump in his throat. "Really, though, what's up with him?" he asked. "Guy takes Vulpix, forces you to come over so he can have a word, and you say you're all chummy with him? Like, how does that—"
Togetic barged in, shielding Lucario and a nervous Vulpix. "Guys, please, let's not throw at him questions he doesn't want to answer," she said on his behalf. "We should get back to getting these two registered on the team, we're wasting enough time as it is."
Gabite and Shaymin muttered in agreement, moving aside. Lucario gave a thankful nod to Togetic before giving the Explorer Board one last glance. His eyes scanned every single paper up there, searching for something.
It just occurred to him. If someone else survived the shipwreck and reached the archipelago shores, surely that would go on the news. Unlike him, other Pokemon didn't have any reason to hide the fact they came from beyond the sea — there'd be headlines everywhere. And if a human appeared?
But nothing of the sort was on the board. Still just us two, he concluded with a sigh, following Team Heavendust into a large doorway that brought them inside the Explorer Board.
The inside had a lobby room with a Klinklang floating behind a desk, the gear-comprised Pokemon giving Lucario and Vulpix a once-over as they went past with the rest of Team Heavendust. The main part of the building was far more impressive, being a large indoor garden with a running fountain at the center. Flowers and berry-laden trees grew in the greenery, basking in the sunlight that pierced through the glassy triangular roof. The fragrance of roses, alliums, and other flowers brought life to Lucario's limbs, and Vulpix couldn't seem to take her eyes off the beautiful display.
A few Pokemon shuffled around the area using stony pathways, walking into side corridors with hung signs written both in the simplified Unown text and in the smaller, less used footprint text. Gabite and the others were headed down the path to the 'Task Management' wing, prompting Lucario and Vulpix to hurry after them.
They ended up in a simple room with an ovular machine powered by an assortment of Electric and Psychic Gems that had a computer-like screen and a keyboard affixed to it, an unexpected sight made stranger by a Porygon-Z manning the device from his desk. The artificial duck-like Pokemon rattled its head as he noticed them, his beak forming an odd smile.
"New recruits," said Togetic.
Porygon-Z twisted his neck at a right angle and nodded, taking two slips of paper and a pen from a desk compartment and sliding them over. There wasn't much to the slips other than a briefing on what it meant to be on an explorer team and a few terms and conditions. At the bottom were a few lines asking for one's Pokemon species, any applicable name, and the team one wished to join.
Lucario fumbled with the pen, having trouble gripping it. It was a simple task, yet it was so bizarre for him. He had never written anything before, and although he was familiar with the language of humans and could mimic the local Unown-script, he wasn't sure how to spell out his own name. What were the letters?
Vulpix sensed his trouble, luckily, and with a gesture she had him hand over both slips and the pen. It embarrassed him when she figured out how to best hold the pen despite having never done so as a Pokemon, filling in the information with elegant handwriting. She skipped over the part where she could write down her name, realizing that Eira might be a strange name for a Pokemon here.
Lucario could feel the stares of his teammates crawling down his back. "Yo, she can write but you can't?" Shaymin asked with a goofy look.
"Scratch that, you can read but can't write?" added Gabite.
In a deft motion Lucario took the pen and papers and handed them over for Porygon-Z to process. "We don't speak of this," he said in a flat voice, earning him a few chuckles.
Porygon-Z soon announced their acceptance to Team Heavendust with a beeping noise of fanfare, his blue nubs spinning in circles. "It's official then, you're part of the team," Gabite said as they went back to the indoor garden hall. "Now there's a lot we should discuss if we're going to get you two settled into this job, so listen up. For the time being, I'll be your mentor and show you the ropes, got it?"
Lucario nodded, prodding an inattentive Vulpix to have her do the same. Gabite gave her a frown before shrugging to himself.
"It'll be redundant to have Togetic and Shaymin with us, so they'll be doing their own tasks," he continued. "Togetic's in charge of her group, of course. You two better not slack off while I'm away."
Shaymin snorted. "Wouldn't dream of it. Hey, Togetic, could we go for a tough mission this time, something like S-rank or above? Gabite hasn't been giving me a challenge in a while and I'm feeling a need to go all out on something."
Togetic gave a lady-like chuckle. "Lucario didn't satisfy your battlelust?"
"Did it look like we had a conclusive fight?" Shaymin pointed at the Pokemon in question with a grin. "You and me, one of these days. Last time was a fluke."
She whizzed off in an instant, dragging Togetic along and leaving Lucario to caress his chin. Gabite gave a sleazy laugh, his claw moving to his throat.
"She'll murder you," he said with the appropriate gesture, making Vulpix bite her lip.
Lucario waved the thought of it aside. Maybe she would, or maybe she'd settle for just beating him down to a pulp. At least it won't be two on one, he dryly thought to himself.
Gabite kept a grin on his face as he walked onward. "But there's more important things to get on with. Why don't I introduce you to how this whole explorer team business works?"
Next time: the first dungeon exploration.
Rocky Shores is waiting.