"...Hm," Dante hummed thoughtfully, holding the yellow-colored dungeon flag up to inspect it. He seemed surprisingly interested in it, despite the fact that he and Luca had agreed to avoid yellow dungeons and thus far had found no reason to break that rule.
"What is it?" Luca asked.
"See these stripes?" Dante said, holding it at an angle that she could see. A pair of small, thin stripes across the full width of the flag broke up what was normally solid color. With a sharp bend in the middle to create an arrow shape, they seemed to imply some sort of motion.
"It means that this dungeon will dump us out somewhere else, and that it can be used for travel," Dante continued. "And given that this is a cave in the side of a mountain, it's likely that it leads to the other side."
"Are you thinking we could save some time?"
"Yeah, days. Plus, if I recall correctly, Harvest has a large mountain like this remarkably nearby. If this is it, we could arrive as soon as tonight."
"But it's yellow."
"Mhm. I imagine it'll be about the same as the last dungeon in the mountains after the Coalition."
Luca was suddenly flooded with memories. First of Dante's arm being lost, but these were quickly superseded by what had happened first: the event that had ingrained within her a fear of the dark.
"I—I don't want to do another cave dungeon," Luca quickly said.
"I know, but look closely at this cave in particular."
Despite her apprehension, Luca complied. She had to admit—this cave was immediately different. Whereas the cave in the mountains was cold, bare stone, this cave oozed humidity from its wide opening and harbored more ivy, moss, and even flowers than bare walls. Strangely, there seemed to be quite a few types of plants that glowed with a vibrant variety of colors, and even far back into the cave, through the hanging vines, Luca was able to see the colorful light.
"Dungeons mimic reality," Dante said, his voice soft. "And while I can't guarantee that the whole dungeon will be lit like that, it's possible that you won't have to worry about being in darkness at all. Even so, I think a yellow dungeon is actually much less dangerous than taking a path around the mountain. We're back in a populated area, after all—and while we've had to grow much stronger to survive, that's nothing to a wild clan or the White Spine. Regardless, I'm not going to force you to go into another cave dungeon. It's your choice, I'm just offering it."
Luca near-subconsciously plunged a paw into the bag she carried. In the orb pocket she located the Luminous Orb and, holding it tight, she took comfort in the artificial knowledge placed in her mind. The Luminous Orb would activate with a simple mental command and expel light for the rest of the dungeon. If she was separated, she wouldn't be entirely helpless... but still.
"OK, but if I get warped away, you had better come find me," Luca said. "You don't have to hurry like last time, but I don't want to finish a dungeon like this alone."
Dante perked up like he wasn't remotely expecting a yes. "Y-yes, of course! Are you sure you're up for—"
"Don't make me say it again. Are you ready now?"
"Yeah!" Dante said, still seeming surprised at her readiness. "Lead the way."
Stepping forward, Luca forcibly crushed the fear welling up within her stomach. Then, as she entered the dungeon and her gut shifted, she watched the swirling colors intently for any clue of what awaited her.
Inside, as Dante had promised, the dungeon was quite comparable to its real-life counterpart. A heavy humidity hung in the air that made it difficult to take full breaths, and while the stone walls peeking through the overgrown curtains of vines were smooth and unnatural in the same way as normal cave dungeons, they formed a strange jagged shape rather than the squares and rectangles typically seen, resulting in much less space. This effect was enhanced by the crowding of plant matter, and even worse, the normally high or non-existent ceilings were several times lower. Luca felt somehow lucky that her fear was based on open areas of darkness rather than claustrophobia, because this dungeon would be a nightmare for anyone with difficulty in tight spaces. In any case, it was lit well enough—more so now that Dante had arrived.
"Ah," Dante said, pushing the vines to one side. "A lot more cramped than I was expecting. If I start a fire, everything in here is probably dead."
"You think we could use that?"
"How?"
"If we cleared out a portion, we could set fire to only one side. Then we could just follow the fire as it burns."
Dante hummed, seemingly offering genuine consideration to her insane idea. "At a certain point we'd have to worry about smoke inhalation in your case. Besides that, it's not as if the ferals will just wait to burn to death. We might end up just clumping them together."
"Eh, well thanks for thinking about it," Luca said, moving towards what she assumed was a hallway hidden by mossy vines. "Let's do this."
Traveling through the strange, cramped dungeon was actually quite the task. While hanging plants of course blocked the path, the real difficulty came in the form of the messy floor. With each foot of ground covered, it seemed it was random chance whether Luca would have to scramble over a fallen log, step on something with a strange texture, or step on something with a different strange texture.
Behind her, Dante wasn't faring much better. He had to deal with the same things, of course, but he also had to carefully avoid allowing his tail to set things aflame. It wasn't especially likely given the humidity in the air, but an uncontrolled fire would be even more disastrous than Luca's idea.
Regardless, other than the fireproofing effect, the humidity was awful. In addition to breathing being a chore, it seemed like every surface was subtly wet—and after only a single hallway, Luca and Dante were both near-soaked.
It actually wasn't until the third floor that they came across their first feral, but it promised to be an interesting one. Rather than a single Pokémon, or even a small group, when Luca searched the room before them she could see almost two dozen Paras and Parasect densely packed throughout the room—and with so many visible, there had to be just as many hidden.
"I knew we were having too easy of a time," Dante whispered. "Let's see if we can find another way."
Fortunately, it didn't take long for them to find an alternate path. After only a few rooms, they found the stairs without seeing any more ferals.
"This is the emptiest dungeon I've ever seen," Luca commented as they climbed the stairs together. "Was every single feral together in that room?"
"Maybe?" Dante said, squinting. "You'd think a yellow dungeon would have more to offer, though."
"This humidity is plenty dangerous on its own," Luca said, eliciting a snort from Dante. "But maybe the danger does refer to those rooms. After all, we didn't have to deal with it that time."
"Let's hope we don't find out," Dante said, offering a hand.
Accepting it, Luca stepped up onto the final step and was transported onwards.
As Luca had come to expect from this dungeon, the following floors seemed entirely vacant of any non-plant life—that is, for the following three floors. On the seventh total, as the colors of the previous floor's greenery melted away, Luca felt sick with fear despite the dimension-transfer paralysis. All that remained when the colors began stabilizing was her own blue fur, Dante's orange skin, the grey of stone, and a disproportionately large amount of black—and once they were done and she was properly on the next floor, Luca saw what she already knew: as if they had been transported back to the very beginning, they were boxed in by cold, smooth, and so very dark stone walls.
Although Luca logically knew there was no reason to be afraid just yet given that she had both Dante's light and the Luminous Orb as a backup, that didn't seem to matter to her body. Almost instantly after they had arrived, the blood seemed to leave her extremities, her breath left her lungs, and somehow, although she wasn't blind, she was unable to register what she was looking at.
"Hey!" came Dante's voice, grabbing Luca's attention as a hot weight pressed onto her back. "You're OK. Here, turn to me. Focus on my eyes."
Although it felt as if she was moving a body that was not her own, Luca managed to comply. With a conscious struggle to focus on his eyes, she did her best to maintain eye contact.
"You're OK," Dante repeated, removing his hand from her back to cup her face on both sides.
Luca had to admit: the combination of heat from his touch and being able to look into his eyes had an immediate effect on her. Slowly but surely, the functions of her body returned—and with a single heavy breath, she was back to normal.
"H-how did you know to do that?" Luca asked, removing his hands.
"Ah, one of the things I did while I was at the White Spine headquarters was looking up how to help with panic attacks," he explained, looking a bit embarrassed. "I guess it's different for everyone, but that's one of the ways to prevent it entirely, so I thought I'd try it."
Luca was speechless. Dante wasn't even aware that she had an established fear of the dark at that time since he had been unconscious due to his injury essentially right up until he was kidnapped. Had he, without even knowing if he was going to see her again, researched such a thing just in case it would help her? Was that even possible? In any case, she had no earthly idea how to respond and stared dumbly at him.
"...Are you good to go?" Dante asked hesitantly.
"Oh! Yes, sorry. I'll lead."
Despite her offer to lead, Luca wasn't certain she was suited for it at the moment. Although the worst of her fear had been avoided, there was still a certain tightness around her heart that she felt certain would never leave her as long as they stayed in the cave. Regardless of how ready she felt, however, she needed to lead; if the leader was to step on a warp or pitfall trap, she wanted to be the one to stay put and wait for their partner to find them rather than the reverse. Stepping forward, Luca started in on the dungeon that was growing more intimidating by the minute.
Three floors later, however, the lack of humidity, plant growth, and tight spaces was actually beginning to feel like a boon. The dungeon was entirely lacking in ferals and traps just as before, and after a few floors of walking, they were both a lot less wet. Unfortunately, the shockingly safe time thus far had ended up serving to create a false sense of security; when a blue blur jumped out of the shadows as she approached a hallway, Luca's heart jumped into her throat and she lashed out purely out of reflex.
Her attack didn't connect; by grabbing her elbow on the pull back with impressive reflexes, Dante rendered it useless—and a moment later, Luca understood why. The blue blur that had jumped out at her was a feral Wobbouffet, meaning it had been trying to goad an attack from her that it could counter. At the moment, it was standing perfectly still and waiting patiently for her next move.
"Thanks," Luca breathed, forcing her nerves to calm. She could take her time; Wobbouffet could only retaliate, never attack. "It almost got me."
"It did," Dante said, gesturing to the ground. "Get you, I mean."
Following his gaze, Luca saw that he was right. Even if she hadn't attacked, it was now only a matter of time before she had to; her shadow was bent out of shape from where it logically should have been based on Dante's light. Instead, it stretched independently away from her feet to connect her to the Wobbouffet, forming a strange bridge of darkness.
Luca had, of course, read about the incredible feats that even the simplest of Pokémon were capable of. They seemed to defy the physics that Luca knew as immutable laws, but reading about these feats was so much different than seeing it in person. Testing its limits, Luca stepped away. Her shadow thinned, and as it seemed to grow taut against the stone floor, she felt a strange pull keeping her from moving too far away—as if an unseen hand had firmly grasped her ribcage and pulled. Not only that, but both of her feet couldn't leave the ground at the same time; if she tried to jump, the same unsettling pulling occurred to ground her. It was downright haunting, but as was written in the Coalition's books, it seemed untrickable.
"Kinda creepy how it just stares," Dante observed, approaching the Wobbouffet hesitantly as if half-expecting it to move. "It can't understand what we're saying, but it can think enough to ambush and wait for attacks."
"So what's the plan?" Luca asked half-distractedly, turning and inspecting where her shadow should be. Strangely, there was no shadow remaining behind her—as if the light was passing through her. It simply didn't make sense.
"Well, I definitely understand why this dungeon has such a high rating for such few ferals," Dante said, waving a claw in front of the Wobbouffet's eyes. "If we didn't still have items left, we'd both be dying here."
"...You're kidding," Luca said, giving him her full attention.
"I'm not. Without any special tricks between us, we can't hurt it without either a counter or a mirror coat tearing through us. Then, we obviously can't run with your shadow caught, so there's nothing we could have done."
"...But that's terrible."
"It is. Let's just be thankful we have options."
"What are we using, then? The Slumber Orb?"
"I figured we'd try the One-Shot orb, just so it doesn't wake up and catch up to us."
After briefly digging through the orb pocket, Luca brought it out. "OK. Let's see how this works, then."
Holding the orb out in an open palm, Luca gave the mental command. With a slight sting against her paw, it popped into blue glass shards. In the same instant, the Wobbouffet crumpled as if the small orb had been its consciousness.
Stepping forward, Dante pressed into the strange blue flesh. "Just knocked out," he reported. "I wonder if it'll ever wake up on its own."
"Let's not find out," Luca said, eager to move on as she finally stepped into the hallway. Now that the distraction of the Wobbouffet was gone, she was beginning to feel that familiar fear coiling around her heart once again.
Fortunately, the rest of their dungeon experience was just as unremarkable; save for the single Wobbouffet, there were absolutely no ferals in the barren cave portion of the dungeon. When Luca, for what felt like the millionth time, entered the dungeon stairs and felt herself being whisked away to another dimension, she didn't expect anything exciting. In fact, it took her quite a few moments of abnormal colors mixing into the swirl for her to actually notice, but once she did, a strange, dizzy kind of giddiness overwhelmed; the drowning blackness of the cave was quickly being erased by not only the vibrant greens of plant life that loved the sun, but a wide variety of colors that could only be a forest full of life. Luca waited excitedly for the colors to stabilize and for the paralysis to end.
As she was released from the transfer, Luca realized that she wasn't just in a forest: she was in a camp. With a small common area consisting of three downed logs for sitting, there were two large tents set up to create a semi-permanent living situation. Sitting on the logs were three Pokémon total: a Noctowl, an Accelgor, and a Politoed—and upon Luca and Dante's arrival, they all noticed them at once and had radically different reactions.
The Politoed's reaction was pure shock, to the point that it only stared with wide eyes. Conversely, the Accelgor let off a pulse of aggression and stood up with the intention of rushing them. However, the third and final reaction was Noctowl, and it was one of surprise and interest. It brought a wing across the Accelgor's chest and prevented any further movement.
"Hey, calm down," the Noctowl said calmly, though Luca couldn't shake the feeling that he was speaking through a smile. "You don't have to assume every visitor is here to hurt us."
"But—"
"Are you here to fight?" the Noctowl asked, cutting his companion off. "Or would you rather sit down and rest after making it through the dungeon?"
"We'd rather keep moving if it's all the same to you," Dante answered quickly.
"Oh, come on now," the Noctowl said, his voice still coming across with levity. "You two look exhausted. Don't worry about Accelgor, she's quite nice when you get to know her."
"Sorry. We've really got to get somewhere by the end of today."
"Mmm, fine," the Noctowl shrugged, the smirk in his voice beginning to reach his eyes. "We'll do it the hard way."
As what he had said was processed in her mind, Luca adrenaline suddenly spiked. Unfortunately she was currently maintaining eye contact with the Noctowl, and as his gaze grew more intense, her adrenaline waned; before she passed out, she had just enough time to register that she was being put to sleep by hypnosis. She didn't even have enough time to consider the reason they were being attacked or the allegiance of her attackers, nor even to say anything to Dante. She simply fell asleep, confusion and fear still managing to pulse underneath her dulling senses right up until she was gone.
When Luca awoke, she was dimly surprised to find herself alive. Everything ached, from her pounding headache to the screaming muscles in her limbs, but despite it all, and although it painted her, she was breathing.
Staying as still as she could, Luca opened her eyes and checked her surroundings. For the first time ever, she was in a proper human-style bed; a wooden frame held a firm mattress filled with what would otherwise be loose straw, and to Luca's delight, soft linens surrounded her to create an absurdly comfortable experience. After so long on the run, and with even her most stable times having her sleeping in rough bedding, a simple soft surface for her to enjoy was more than enough to convince her to not think too hard on her circumstance and simply relax.
At least, it would have been if an acute onset of both hunger and thirst didn't make itself known. Cursing her own bad luck, Luca opened her eyes once again and searched her surroundings more properly.
Luca's lovely soft bed was in a small room. It had both a smooth, treated wooden floor and roughly hewn wooden walls, and to Luca's surprise, a glass window allowing sunlight to stream in and fill the room. Thin transparent curtains framing it created a strange feeling of decadence in the relatively bare room, but that was about the limit of what Luca could see; separating her from what she assumed was the rest of the building was yet another thing she hadn't seen in the Pokémon world: a proper hinged door.
Her visual search hadn't revealed anything to eat or drink, so Luca pulled herself up and slid out of the bed. Walking was surprisingly difficult, with every moment threatening to result in her legs giving out. Rather than heading straight to the door, she stopped by the window. Leaning against the wall below, she stood up as tall as she could to peer out of the high window.
Through the glass there was an open market consisting of various stalls selling a variety of vegetables, fruits, materials, and crafts. Rather than any kind of well-worn surface, between the stalls was a field of lush grass and flowers. Either this area was not often used as a market, or the grass-types were putting an awful lot of effort towards maintaining plant life. For how long she had been traveling towards it, Luca knew next to nothing about Harvest. Was it possible this was it?
A growl from her stomach tore Luca's attention away from the window and drove her towards the door. Struggling to turn the doorknob with her stubby paws, she managed to push it open and step forward.
Most striking about the room beyond was not its contents of a large ornate rug, nor the half-dozen doors that implied a surprisingly massive building, nor even the large currently unlit fireplace seemingly meant to warm the entire structure. What arrested her attention was the Pokémon lounging front and center—one she hadn't seen for months.
"Absol?" Luca asked, hearing the hoarseness of her own voice.
"Hello, Luca," the elderly dark-type hummed. "Been a while, eh? You must be starving, so go ahead and eat your fill."
Following a nod from Absol, Luca saw that there was a full plate of what looked like roasted vegetables aside a large canteen. As much as she wanted to ask questions, she wanted to fill her belly more; Luca wasted no time kneeling over the food and devouring it.
"Oh my," came Absol's voice as Luca ate. "And here I'd hoped you'd come out of your ordeal still civil. Alas, she's gone wild."
Luca stopped eating for a moment. What Absol had said was clearly a joke, but something was strange about her tone of voice. "Are you OK?" Luca asked.
Absol's red eyes glinted with a hint of... disgust? Discomfort, maybe? "Your messenger mentioned that your Aura was recovering, but I didn't expect it to be that strong."
"It has nothing to do with Aura," Luca hurried to explain, recalling dark-types' tendency to hate having their Aura read. "You just seem... sad about something?" Luca guessed.
"Then I suppose I didn't expect you to have become so perceptive. Wasn't it not long ago that you mentioned struggling to identify emotions on Pokémon faces?"
"That's—"
"Shh," Absol shushed. "Finish eating before you worry. We're hardly short on time."
"Can you at least tell me how I got here?" Luca asked, not waiting to continue eating afterwards.
"You were within Lann's range when you were attacked. He ran out to save you two and brought you back. Dante, Isle, and Isle's friend are all out in town right now doing who knows what—and the story they told about your journey was an incredible one. Frankly, it's very impressive that you survived the mountains after your escape, let alone the rest of it."
"Did Darly ever make it?" Luca asked between gulps of water.
"Oh yes, though it seems her name is Decly now that she's a Decidueye. Lann has been training her occasionally."
"...Anyone else?"
"No."
Luca nodded—the heavy topics could wait until later, especially when she had more to eat. "So what happened to me? I don't remember, but something must have for me to be hurting this much."
"What's happened is an extended period of extreme exertion, stress, and malnourishment. Now that it's over and you can finally properly rest, you're feeling the consequences. It's why as soon as you were forced to relax, you stayed asleep until now."
"How long is 'until now'?"
"Not more than a day. I'd say you slept for about 12 hours, if not a bit more."
"And Dante didn't need to?"
"Not remotely as much. Say all you wish about fighting-type stamina, but at the end of the day, Dante has evolved and you haven't. He can simply handle more."
Luca jumped at the sudden wave of noise coming from behind her. The dull roar of a busy town in the middle of the day suddenly filled the room that was silent just a moment before. Turning to see, Luca could see that two newcomers had just entered from outside. A small Treecko stood on the back of an Absol infinitely younger than the one that Luca knew as they padded in.
"Hey, Mom," the Absol said, her voice reserved and calm. "Is Dad—" Surprise flickered in her red eyes as she noticed Luca's presence and cut herself short. "...Oh. I didn't realize you were awake."
"Dad will be back soon," Absol said in response. "Tonight perhaps, or tomorrow at the latest."
"OK," the younger Absol said, clearly uncomfortable with Luca's presence. "We'll be back tonight, then?"
"Sure. We'll have proper introductions then."
Awkwardly, the Absol turned and left through the open door. As she did, as if it was practiced, the Treecko on her back grabbed the door knob and pulled it closed behind him. At the very last moment before they were gone, the Treecko waved at Luca with a silly grin.
"...You and Lann are...?" Luca asked, the pieces coming together in her mind.
"Are what?" Absol asked, amused.
"Y-you know what I mean!" Luca said, beginning to feel a bit hot in the face. "Like... together."
"We are," Absol confirmed, though her amusement only increased. "I'm surprised you didn't know. We didn't talk about our children often back at the Coalition, but we also didn't make any efforts to hide our relationship otherwise."
"Where's Lann, then?" Luca said, seeing an opportunity to change the subject.
"He had to push himself pretty hard to save you two," Absol said, all amusement replaced by seriousness. "Killed a few Pokémon. He needs some time to calm down, so he's staying just outside town with Decly now."
Having finally finished the last scraps of her food, Luca fell onto her back and closed her eyes. The carpet was much rougher than the bed, but it was still leagues more comfortable than anything she had had in the past few weeks. Her body protested at the idea of moving. "Can I sleep more?"
"Of course. Do you want help getting back to bed, or are you fine here? I'll even light the fireplace if you'd like."
"Fireplace, please."
Luca opened her eyes and sat up enough to see past her snout just in time to watch Absol light the fireplace. To do so she breathed a collection of embers in much the same way that Dante did, to Luca's dim surprise.
"The others will be back tonight, so you can catch up with them then," Absol said as she returned to lounging. "Enjoy your rest in the meantime."
Luca finally allowed her head to fall back against the rug. She was close enough to the now-crackling fire that warmth was already beginning to surround her, and almost instantly, she felt sleep take firm hold.
Dante, not far from the house within which Luca slept, was watching as Isle intently focused on a small chunk of wood. Her eyes were sharp over her mask, and Dante could see that she was beginning to grow frustrated. She held the wood steady in one claw, and shaking ever-so-slightly, the other tried to carve. Rather than shave the wood, however, it simply rubbed against it without causing the least bit of damage. Isle snarled with displeasure and angled her claws to stab directly into the wood.
"Hey!" the wood-carving teacher shouted with surprising forcefulness. "I'm not giving you this wood for stress relief. Calm yourself."
"We've been at this for days," Isle spat, though she stopped threatening the inanimate wood.
"Weavile claws are clearly not meant for this, so can't I just borrow that knife?"
Despite the intimidating Weavile's aggression, the Poliwhirl didn't back down from her in the least: "First of all, I know a Weavile woodcutter and he's quite skilled, so you simply cannot use that excuse. All you need is a mixture of the correct angle and sufficient force, neither of which you've shown me yet."
"Every time I increase the force you yell at me!"
"Because your idea of increasing the force is using the tip of your claw and stabbing! As for the knife, Skarmory feathers are actually quite tough to obtain, even small ones like this. If you learn to use it and not your own claws, then you'll have to give up carving once you leave. I know it's hard, but practice is the only solution."
Isle redoubled her efforts, wearing an expression of intense concentration. Unfortunately, despite her focus, bringing her claw across the wood resulted in exactly the same result: nothing.
"Ohh-kay," Callula suddenly said, floating directly between Isle and the Poliwhirl. "I think we're done for today. Thank you for the lesson!"
Finally, the Poliwhirl backed off. "Sure, but at this point I've done all I can. She just needs to keep practicing, and you don't need to keep paying me for that."
"We'll be back tomorrow," Callula smiled. "Come on, let's go."
Dante eagerly stood up from his place in the grass and, with a small goodbye to the Poliwhirl, followed Isle and Callula out into the main street of Harvest.
"Well," Callula said as she guided them, "now that you've watched Isle almost gut her woodcarving teacher, what else do you want to do?"
"Now that we're done, why don't we go back to Absol?"
"Go back?" Isle repeated, having seemingly recovered from her anger despite Callula's snide comment. "The day has barely begun."
"Are you worried about Luca?" Callula gently asked. "Want to be with her?"
Dante shrugged. "It's hard to relax and enjoy myself when she hasn't even woken up yet."
Callula shared a brief glance with Isle. "Well, we tried. Go ahead back to Absol, and we'll be there tonight. Fine?"
"OK," Dante breathed. He didn't want to admit it, but until Luca woke up, their journey wasn't over—and when their journey wasn't over, trying to relax felt like a betrayal of sorts.
With Isle and Callula freshly gone, Dante was alone. Not truly alone, of course, because Harvest moved around him, but without anyone he knew. Feeling somewhat perturbed by the possibility of the White Spine spy or spies in Harvest watching him but being unable to act, Dante forced himself to walk with an unbothered gait as he made his way to the only building in town with four walls.
Back at the Coalition, if Dante had been told that Absol's home was the most expensive house in an entire town, he suspected that he wouldn't have believed it. The idea that the civil-est of civil Pokémon would choose to camp in the woods and make an organized effort to investigate the dungeons—a phenomenon entirely avoidable by a Pokémon in her position—seemed insane on its own, but for her to treat him, a former wild Pokémon, with as much respect as she did as well? Borderline unthinkable.
Still, despite these contradictions surrounding her, Absol's nature seemed obvious in retrospect. Where would all of the funds that allowed the Coalition to function have come from if not from its leader and organizer?"
In any case, her position was even stranger than that. She seemed to be the town's leader, but despite her advanced age, she apparently only arrived a handful of years ago and was far from an established figure. Still, here she was in the center of town as if she had always been there. Perhaps Dante would ask about it if Absol was in a talkative mood.
As he grew closer, Dante noticed that subdued, wispy smoke was rising into the sky from Absol's chimney. He had been privately hoping that he'd get to warm himself at the large fireplace, but having only spent a very limited amount of time in her home, he had felt awkward asking Absol about it. Now, he didn't even have to ask.
Having finally arrived at the front door, Dante tested the knob. It wasn't locked, so he pushed the heavy door open.
As he stepped inside, a refreshing wave of hot air washed over him; the fireplace was indeed lit, and had been lit long enough that the central room was nice and toasty. Slightly more pressing, however, was the fact that Luca was spread out on the rug just by the fire. Absol acknowledged Dante's entrance with a nod as he pulled the door closed behind him.
"Done having fun already?" Absol asked, her voice quiet to keep from waking Luca. "They didn't leave you behind, did they?"
"No, I came back on my own."
"Are you still tired from your journey, then?"
"Not really," Dante said, sitting on the rug between them. "More like it doesn't feel over."
"I understand," Absol said, her eyes returning to the fire. "When Lann and I made it here after the raid, it was at least a week before either of us could really relax. Luca is fine, by the way, in case you were wondering. Picked herself up out of bed just to nap here."
"Did she say anything?"
"Not much. I told her where we are and what happened. Now, while I have you here, I wanted to say something, Dante."
Dante straightened up. Suddenly, the air in the warm room felt much heavier. "What is it?"
"I owe you and Luca an apology, and it's important to me that you understand exactly what I'm apologizing for."
"Absol, you don't need to—"
"It's a bit of an open secret that I started the Coalition due to my sensing an impending disaster. When I sensed it, it was the strongest disaster I had ever felt in all my long years. I got to work immediately, gathering allies and resources. Then, I waited for something to happen."
"When the dungeons opened, I was certain it was what I was waiting for. Everything I had prepared sprung, and the Coalition was born—but as time went on, I became concerned. The dungeons have claimed many a life, but an Absol's sense is never triggered by scattered chaos—it's only triggered by acute events, sudden and contained disasters. When Luca appeared and it seemed there was some sort of conspiracy surrounding her, I began to suspect that my sense had been trying to warn me of something else entirely—but my suspicions came too late. The real disaster came."
"The raid," Dante guessed.
"The raid," Absol confirmed, nodding gravely. "I created an environment that guaranteed Luca would both be noticed and nigh-impossible to get to without drastic action. Then I failed to protect her, and nearly every Pokémon I had gathered together paid the price. Had I not meddled, the disaster wouldn't have even happened. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Surely you can't be expecting anyone to blame you for what's happened."
"I'm not saying I'm to blame necessarily, but I am saying I failed you. All of you. Once we managed to defeat the Zapdos, I didn't stay to save as many as I could. I gave up, I returned home, and I brought Lann with me. You and Luca are now both forever scarred by this mistake, near the very beginning of your lives—and although I can never apologize to those that are gone, I can apologize to you two."
Dante looked first at his missing arm. The Haxorus that had taken it was a dungeon feral, an unfortunate encounter just before they escaped the mountains. Regardless of whether or not he blamed her for it, Absol was right: it was a terrible pity. Whether he chose to continue fighting or take a more passive profession, it would get in the way for the rest of his life.
Then, he looked down at Luca's unconscious form. Although she could still breathe through it, the crookedness of her snout would mark her as a violent Pokémon. Her injury was less obstructive, of course, but somehow more upsetting. To him, it marked the unfairness of Luca's lot. She had been brought to the world to solve a problem she had nothing to do with, had her memory wiped for some unknown reason, and then been hunted for longer than not. Dante had been raised wild and was therefore prepared for such losses, but Luca wasn't raised at all. His stomach wretched with pity and frustration, but as hard as he tried, he could not direct any of these negative feelings towards Absol.
"I hope I don't offend you with my response," Dante finally said.
"And I hope you feel you can be honest."
"I think you're seeing yourself as something different from us," Dante said, keeping his voice even. "But just like us, you're a victim of what happened. You and Lann survived due to your strength, and you might feel guilty that you, the leader, survived when so many didn't, but was staying to fight really even an option? When you have children to keep safe? As far as I can tell, you've done the best for us you could within your means—and frankly, it feels awful to be apologized to as if any 'mon on the continent could have done better than you."
"I'm not sure who would be offended by such kind words," Absol admitted.
"It came out kinder than I intended. My point is that you're being self-centered and giving your guilt to me."
"Perhaps I'll refrain from apologizing to Luca, then."
"I don't think she needs it," Dante agreed. Then, he leaned into the fireplace. "So, when are we talking about the future?"
"Whenever Luca is awake and Lann is ready."
"Mmm." Dante stood, leaving both Luca and the warmth of the fireplace behind. "I think I'm feeling better, so I might see if I can't find Isle and Callula again."
"I'll be here," Absol said, turning back to the flames. "Thank you for what you said."
"See you." Standing up, Dante left Luca and Absol behind and pulled the front door open. Now that Luca was awake and they were safe, he should really find a way to relax—and given the choice between the heavy atmosphere with Absol and being in the pleasant air of Harvest with Isle and Callula, Harvest narrowly won out.