Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Tales of Vast! Chapter 6, a pokémon fanfic

I didn't really wanna split this whole section of this arc into multiple chapters, so I just bundled it all into one. Just wanted to let yall know that this WILL NOT BE THE NORM. Not much else to say, except this one's gonna be a bit more D&D inspired than usual, and all that jazz. So as always, read and review, and without further adieu...

Let's get right back into it.

DISCLAIMER: Any references to people, places, events, or products, real or fictional are purely coincidental.

DISCLAIMER 2: Any songs in this chapter will be listed at the end, with title and author, in order of appearance. I do not claim any rights to these songs, and I hope you will check out the artists who made them.

Vast Guildhall

As I awoke early in the morning with sunlight flitting through the window, I quickly remembered my deal with Glitter yesterday and rushed to prepare.
"Woah, what's the hurry?" Ember said, perplexed.

"Oh, I just have something I gotta go do today!"

"Alright, just don't take too long, we've got a mission all picked out."
"I won't!" I yelled as I rushed out the door. As soon as I made it outside, I saw Glitter standing there.

"Glitter!? How'd you get here?" I asked.
"I have my ways. Now come on, let's get some smoothies at the cafe already!" She replied, waving a feeler around in a pointing motion. I subtly looked over where she was pointing, noticing Ash trying to follow us.

"So, how's your day been so far?"
"Been fairly good, I've mostly managed to stay out of trouble. How about you, has your team figured out yet?"

"No, not yet. So, what else do you wanna do today?"
"Eh, we'll figure out on the way!"
"Sounds good, lead the way!"

Vast Guildhall- Ash's POV

I burst into the team's room, trying to process what the fuck I just saw.
"Woah, you ok there Ash? You look like you saw a ghost." Ember said, walking forward.

"Ben... Glitter... Date..." I stuttered.
"I'm sorry, what?" Ember responded with a tilt of her head.
"I h-have no god damned idea..."

"Well, where are they now?"
"They said they were off to the cafe, apparently to get some smoothies."
"Well then, that's where we'll go!"

"Where's Alex?"
"I don't know, you go on ahead, I'll find him and tell him to stay behind and let the guildmaster know."
"Alright, see you there!" I yelled, dashing off.

Spinda's Cafe

I waited outside the entrance for a solid five minutes before Ember walked over, and we slowly walked in, sitting down and just listening.

"Hey yall, what can I getcha?" Spinda said, walking over to us.
"Oh, we're not ready to order yet." Ember replied.
"Alright hon, just flag me down when you're ready!"
I quickly pricked my ears up, eavesdropping on the conversation.

"So, how's your day been, Glitter?" Ben asked, seemingly unbothered that he was hanging out with an outlaw.
"Fairly good, I've mostly laid low for a few weeks. How about you, how's your team been?" Glitter replied, finishing a smoothie.

"Well, we've been pretty good, we've actually got a mission later today. Other then that, we've been settling in well!"
"Great to hear! Say, you guys wouldn't mind if I tagged along for that mission, would you?"
"I'd love that! Only problem is, my team might not agree."
"I totally get it, it happens."

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Glitter asked, quickly glancing around the room.
"Huh, I dunno. You wanna just take a walk?"
"Sure!" Glitter replied, getting up and leaving, with Ben close behind.

"Alright, let's follow them." Ember said, hopping off her seat. "They're probably heading in the same direction of the dungeon we've gotta go to, so we can grab Ben on the way. Come on, let's go!"
"Alright, let's swing by the guild and grab Alex, too." I replied, rushing off.

Unnamed Trail- Ben's POV

As I strolled along the trail with Glitter, I heard rapid pawsteps in the distance, coming closer.
"Gotta go, we should do this again sometime!" Glitter said, diving into the bushes and vanishing.

"Ben, there you are!" Ember said, running up with Alex and Ash close behind. "Where the hell were you?"
"Long story. So, let's go deal with that mission, eh?" I replied, silently sighing in relief.

"Yeah, here, I've got the poster." Alex nodded, pulling out an old, yellowed piece of paper. "This one's been on the job board for a month, apparently."

Location: City of Kyora

Description: This is a message from the Kyora merchants guild, we need some explorers to escort our cargo.

Reward: 100000 Poke

"Shit, we're going to Kyora? That's 33 miles of walking." Ember groans.
"Well, we had better get to the guild and get some supplies. I mean, how bad can it be?" Ash quips.

Alex and Ember both groan, and I turn to Ash.
"Ash, rule one of adventuring is never say ANYTHING along the lines of 'How bad can it be?' cause it NEVER ends well."
"Aw come on Ben, it'll be fine!"

Unnamed Trail- 12 hours later...

As we watched the sun set low, I made the decision to set up camp for the night.
As we began to roast some berries over an open fire, I watched as Ash picked up a lute and began to strum, saying "This one's a ballad from my home country!"

"I was born on a Dublin street, where the loyal drums did beat, and those loving English feet, they walked all over us..."
"And every single night, when me 'da would come home tight, he'd invite the neighbors out with this chorus..."

"Come out ye Black 'n Tans, come out and fight me like a man! Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders!"
"Tell her how the IRA, made you run like hell away, from the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra..."

"Come let us hear you tell, how you slandered great Parnell, when you thought him well and truly persecuted!"
"Where are the sneers and jeers that you loudly let us hear, when our leaders of 16 were executed?"

"Come out ye Black 'n Tans, come out and fight me like a man! Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders!"
"Tell 'er how the IRA, made you run like hell away, from the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra..."

"Come tell us how you slew, them ol' Arabs two by two, like the Zulus they had spears, and bow and arrows..."
"How bravely you faced one, with your 16-pounder gun, and you frightened them damn natives to the marrow!"

"The time is coming fast, and I think this day is near, when each Seoinin traitor, he will run before us!"
"And if there'll be a need, well our kids will say 'Godspeed!' with a verse or two of singing this fine chorus..."

As she set the lute down, the group seemed in high spirits, cheering loudly.
"Aw, thank you, guys!" Ash squeaked out, blushing.

"Damn, you've got some good vocals, Ash! You could probably go professional if you wanted!" Alex cried, amazed.
"Oh come on, it's not that good!" Ash replied, laughing.

"Hey Ben, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ember said, beckoning for me to follow.
"Sure thing, what's up?" I replied once we were alone.

"Doesn't this job seem a bit too good to be true? I mean, think about it. A hundred thousand, just to escort some supplies with some merchants? Something smells off about this, so be on your guard once we get there."
"I will, but for now let's just have some fun! Enjoy the moment, you know?"
"Yeah, sounds like a plan!"

We sat around the fire and chatted for a few more hours, eventually retiring to our tents for the night.

I awoke to birdsong, quickly exiting my tent, to see Alex putting out the fire, and Ash and Ember already packing up to get back on the road.
"He lives!" Ember quipped, sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah." I replied, stretching. "Let me pack up my tent, and we'll get back on the road. How long do we have left until we hit Kyora?"
"Let me see." Ash said, checking the map. "We've got about 9 miles to go!"

"Well we should go then, we're burning daylight. Let's pack up and head onwards!" I said, watching the rest of the team collapse the tents, as I packed my bag.

Unnamed Trail- 8 hours later...

As we continued down the trail, sweating buckets from the sun pouring down on us, I began to see the faint outline of a wall over the horizon, roughly a mile out.
"Hey, I see a wall, that must be the city!" I said, putting on a burst of speed.

"Thank god, I think I'm literally melting out here." Ash said, dashing forward, with Alex not far behind.
"I don't see the issue with the temperature, this is nice!" Ember said, catching up to us.

"You're a fire type Ember, this is normal for you." I replied.
"True."

As we walked towards the city, we were quickly intercepted by two guards. "Welcome to Kyora, friends! Please state your names and reason for travel." The first guard said, while his comrade stood there, looking like he wanted to rip the heads off of everyone there.

"I'm Ben, and these are my friends, Ember, Ash, and Alex. We're here for a job from the merchants guild here. Says here they want us to escort them and some cargo."
"Ah, you lot with the guild? Well, come right on in then, we've been waiting for someone to take that job for months!" The guard replied as the gates opened, and we took our first steps into the city.

Kyora

As we stepped through the gates, I was immediately greeted by a row of mansion-like homes, stretching out as far as the eye can see. I heard the chatter of several residents, noticing a few stopping to look at us quizzically. We walked past them, winding up in a market. As I looked around, I heard several men and women trying to peddle various goods and services.
"Fresh meat here!" One cried.

"Come to our forge, we sell only the finest steel and ironworks!" Another yelled.
"Come on over friends, you look like you could use a couple of pints!" A third man spoke, as we slowly walked through the square.

As we continued to walk along, the shine of jewels and gold caught my eye, as well as the tantalizing smell of various food and drink. Regardless, we continued on, looking for the merchants guild.

As we marched through the square, we eventually stopped in front of a massive stonework building, with a large gold coin serving as an icon of sorts.
"Something tells me this is it." I quipped as we walked in.

"Ah, welcome! You must be those explorers we were told to expect. Team Horizons, was it?" A Lucario spoke up, greeting us as soon as we entered.
"Yep, that's us!" Ember cheered.

"Great! The cargo we contracted you guys to escort should be loaded up on some carts out back, we're just waiting on you guys! Don't worry, you most likely won't have to do much, just help the group out if they get into trouble, okay?"
"Sure thing, you can count on us!" Alex said, smiling.

We walked outside, to find several pokemon milling about, loading barrels and crates onto carts.
"So, you lot the explorers we were told to expect?" Said a Mismagius, who floated over to us.

"Yep." Ash replied.
"Great. Hop on the cart, and let's go!" A Vaporeon piped up cheerily, as we all bundled into the nearest cart.

"So, where're we going?" I asked.
"Well, we're heading to a city named Salia. You see, someone from there helped us figure out a transport solution for our cargo, in exchange for us delivering them alcohol every once in a while."

"Wait, didn't the government there institute a prohibition?" Ember said.
"Now you see the problem." Vaporeon said, groaning. "You see, this damn Meowscarada is the only one who knows how these fucking carts work, given that she made them. As well, she's responsible for giving us more, so we kinda have to uphold the deal, even if the law prohibits it. Now do you see why you're here?"

"Yep. By the way, how DO these carts work? I don't think you ever answered that." I asked.
"Oh, they run off of heat turning water to steam, which powers the wheels. We just need to keep the water levels good, and we don't even have to stop!"

"Damn, I think I see the problem." Alex replied.
"Yeah, it sucks."

Road to Salia- 3 hours later...

As the cart continued chugging along, we suddenly lurched to a stop.
"Aw shit, seems one of the carts ran outta water." Mismagius said as the seven of us climbed out of the cart.

I was surprised to see the sun going down, as I wandered over to the broken cart.
"One of the wheels broke off too, we'll have to set up camp. We can't hope to repair this and still make it into town today." Mismagius muttered, cursing under her breath. "Guys, break out the tents!"

After 15 minutes, the sun had fully set, and we gathered around the fire and began to chat.
"So, I don't think we've been introduced to you guys yet, but you've heard about us."

"Well," Mismagius spoke up, "I'm Maggie. Yes, I know that my parents were very creative people. The vaporeon here is Wake, that heracross sitting menacingly in the corner is Spartan. Don't worry about him looking like he wants to kill you lot, that's his neutral face. The noivern checking out the broken cart is Glory, she's sorta the guild's mechanic. The luxray trying and failing to roll that barrel over to us is Astari, and that's about everyone! Well, except for that sylveon over there, but we didn't get her name before we set off."
I glanced over to the sylveon in question, to realize with a sinking feeling that it was Glitter.

I walked over to her, concerned. "Glitter!? Why are you here!?" I whispered.
"To follow you, dummy! When I said that I was gonna tag along for this mission I meant it." Glitter replied.

"If they ever find out who you are, you're probably dead."
"I know, so let's keep them from finding out, m'kay?"

"Glitter, why not come back to the rest of the group with us? You're gonna raise suspicion if you're sulking away from everyone."
"Alright Ben, I'll come with ya!"

I returned to the little party we were having, to see that Astari finally got the keg of ale over to the group, and someone else grabbed several shot glasses.
"Hey you two, welcome back!" Glory cried. "Come on, grab a pint and join the party!"

"No thanks, I don't drink." I politely declined.
"Eh, I could use some social lubricant. Pass a glass, buddy!" Glitter cheered.

I watched as Glitter downed the shot in one gulp, before hearing a familiar strum. I looked to my left, to see Ash, clearly a shot or two deep, holding up her lute once more.

"Aye, how's about I regale you with a song from my homeland?" She said, letting an accent slip in.
"Sure thing, hit us with it!" Glitter said cheerily. Ash quickly cleared her throat, as silence fell over the camp.

"Well, you're walking through a city street, you could be in Peru! And you hear a distant calling, and you know it's meant for you..."
"Then you drop what you were doing, and you join the merry mob, and before you know just where you are, you're in an Irish pub!"

"They've got one in Honolulu, they've got one in Moscow too! They got four of them in Sidney and a couple in Kathmandu!"
"So whether you sing, or pull a pint, you'll always have a job, 'cause wherever you go around the world, you'll find an Irish pub!"

"Sorry to interject, but what species is an 'Irish'? I haven't heard that one before." Wake questioned, as I silently prayed that Ash wouldn't reveal we were human.
I was, however, quickly proven wrong.

"Oh, it's a country from the human world! I'm actually from Ireland, or my parents were. They moved to the USA during the tail end of The Troubles, and I was born a couple of months later!"
"Wait, YOU'RE HUMAN!?" The rest of the camp screamed.

"Yeah, and so are Ben and Alex over there!" Ash replied cheerily, oblivious as to how bad this could be.
"She's telling the truth, we're human!" Alex cried, also oblivious, as Ember performed her closest approximation of a facepalm.

"Well, fuck. Liquid courage, don't fail me now." I muttered, grabbing a shot glass and starting to chug.

Merchant Camp- 12 hours later...

I then promptly woke up, my head pounding.
"Damn it." I muttered, the sunlight forcing me to close my eyes as soon as I opened them.

"Damn dude, you alright?" Glitter said, walking over to me. "You really can't hold down your alcohol, huh?"
"No, apparently not. Now can we get something to deal with this hangover? My head feels like it's bursting..." I groaned.

"Here." Glitter said, sliding me a few oran berries, which I promptly inhaled.
"Ah, that feels so much better..." I sighed. "So, what happened after I had that shot?"

"Not much honestly. We talked for a while and retired to our tents after another hour. As a bonus, I think I'm starting to form a little friendship with Ember, so she might not take it as badly if she ever finds out. Anyway, we just fixed up the cart that broke, and packed up camp."
"That's a relief. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get in!"

"Hey everyone, just a heads-up." Wake said as we climbed in. "We're close to Salia, should be there in about another hour!"
"Alright, thank Arceus that we're almost there." Ember cheered. "Everything's turning up gold for us, let's do this!"

"Hurrah!" The group cheered, as the carts began to roll.

Salia- 1 hour later...

As the carts rolled into town, it quickly became clear this city had seen better days. You couldn't find a building that wasn't in some state of disrepair, homeless littered the streets, robbers in broad daylight, and the town guard brutalizing in broad daylight. I won't even go into the smell.

"Yeesh, this is like all the regions' crime was shoved into one city." I said, a little stunned.
"Having grown up here, that's actually stupidly accurate." Glitter deadpanned.

I felt our ride lurch to a sudden stop, and hopped down onto a rough dirt road, looking to our left to see an abandoned building.
"Well, here we are everyone! You all know the drill, let's unload our cargo and get inside!" Maggie yelled as everyone got to work.

"Wait, this is the place?" Ash asked, looking around. "This is an abandoned shop."
"It's not what's on the outside, it's what's hidden within." Wake said as we bundled inside.

Baityl Speakeasy

As we walked in, wheeling several kegs and boxes down a flight of stairs, we saw a Meowscarada standing in the center of the room, and several other assorted pokemon drinking, playing cards, and what-have-you.
"About time you showed up, I see you finally got some explorers to help you lot out! Oh, where are my manners? My name's Willow, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Pleasure's all ours, Willow. I'm Ben, and these are my teammates, Ember, Ash, and Alex."
"Hold on a second..." Willow said, stepping forward towards Glitter. "And why are you here, Glitter? I was under the impression you were banned." This caused the entirety of my team to stop dead in their tracks, and turn directly to Glitter.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that this whole time we were trying to find you, you were just HERE!?" Alex screamed, stepping forward.
"Please Alex, I can explain!" Glitter tried to say.

"No, I don't wanna hear it." Ash growled. "We're catching you, and we're getting that fucking bounty."
"Hey everyone, let's just calm down." I stepped in between them, trying to resolve things peacefully. "I'm sure we can all work something out-"

"SHUT UP!" Ash screamed. "Get out of the fucking way, or I'll take you down too."
"Please, just hear me out-"
"You know what, this is too fucking much! I'll just kill both of you and sort it out later!"
"Damn." I sighed, standing next to Glitter.
"I guess we're doing this."

I quickly was knocked into a table by Ash, who rammed into me, before getting restrained by Glitter's ribbons.
This caused Alex to fling himself towards Glitter, slicing the ribbons holding Ash in place, before I rushed in, tackling Alex away.

"This isn't your fight, Alex!"
"Oh, like hell it isn't!" He screamed, stabbing into my leg with his claws, eliciting a scream of pain. He was quickly struck with a moonblast from Glitter, who then grabbed a chair, flinging it at Ash.

"Come on, we gotta go!" She cried, as we both dashed out of the room.
"Now what!?" I yelled.

"Now we run, idiot!" Glitter yelled, seeing Ash and Alex hot on our trail. She quickly tipped over a nearby keg, making a temporary barricade as we lept into an alleyway. This didn't deter them, as we soon heard the sound of splintering wood. Panicking, we lept through the window of a nearby herbalist, diving over the counter and out the back door, to look back and see them still chasing us, now joined by the people within the shop.
"Shit!" We both screamed, dashing down the main road.

We rapidly turned the corner, seeing some unattended bottles of alcohol, with nearby rags.
"You thinking what I'm thinking, Ben?" Glitter said, quickly making some molotov cocktails. She then held the rag over a nearby torch, before throwing one into the road, blocking the path of anyone who wanted to chase us. We then ran down the main road, seeing various town guards storming out of their barracks in the distance.

"Shit!" We cried, diving into the nearby alley.
"Come on, we gotta hide." I whispered, moving as silently as I could.

We ran for a few more feet, quickly diving into a nearby temple. We looked around, to find it thankfully empty. After around five minutes, we made our way back to the speakeasy, only to find Ash, Ember, and Alex there, being forcefully sat down by Willow.
"Ah, there you two are. Sit down, I have a contract for you all."

"Woah, I'm not working with her." Ash complained.
"Feeling's mutual, bitch." Glitter snarled.

"I'm sorry, did I ever say you had a choice? Now shut the fuck up, and listen." Willow yowled, instantly causing the room to fall silent.
"Good. Now, here's the plan. You see, we've gotten word from the mayor that he wasn't the one who ordered the prohibition, but instead, it was the Thieves guild in the nearby city of Serica, they call themselves 'Lunala's Blades.' Your goal is to track down their hideout, and kill every last one of them. Once you do that, we'll start working above board again, and donate 10% of our monthly profits to your team directly. As a bonus, we'll work to clear your bounty, Glitter. So, do we have a deal?"

"I'm in." Glitter and I responded at the same time.
"Not like we have a choice, so I'm in too." Ash said.
"So am I." Ember quipped.
"Same here." Ash responded.

"Great. With all that being said..."
"Get a move on."

Songs in order of appearance:

Come Out Ye Black and Tans- Derek Warfield

Irish Pub Song- The High Kings