Pokémon

Mystery Dungeon

Chronicles of Itori

by Lance Sunshine

Curated by Asa Owen

Sanne's Story:

The Runaways Stop Running

"To survive like this, here… Is there any honest happiness in that for you?" - Grovyle, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky; Special Episode 5: In the Future of Darkness

When you live the kind of life I do, there are sacrifices you must make. This is what I told myself as I left the bushel of tamato berries untouched. It was claimed by two Ursaring, parents with a young cub, and even though it'd been twenty-four hours since my last meal, I knew it wasn't worth the risk. We wouldn't survive another serious battle.

I limped through the marram grass, dragging my poorly-treated leg wound with me. Isbel did her best, Moltres bless her soul, but she's not a healer nor an adventurer. She's a librarian. Or she was.

Vijay held my hand as we tip-toed down the dune. We had to be very careful; if any sand were to slip through the bandages, it would require cleaning again, and I did not look forward to another wound-burning. They call it "wound-cleaning", but I'll tell you what it is, it's burning.

Isbel begged me to see a real healer, but the chances of us being reported are too great. Now Vijay's urging me to sit and rest on the rocks, but we don't have any time to waste lingering. This is dangerous territory for fugitives.

Kori-Kori Beach was a beautiful place. Gently-swaying coconut trees gave shade to peaceful coast-dwelling Pokémon, gentle cyan waves whispered to the shore, buildings with a naturalistic aesthetic looked out onto the horizon, and colourful shells were dotted here and there, enough to give the place character but not enough to draw the eye from the gorgeous golden sand.

But it also rested on the knife-edge between the coast region and the clifflands. In other words, treasure hunter territory.

"It's primarily the weaker teams that stick to their home region, I must point out," Vijay had said.

"It was a bronze rank team that drove us out of Chrome Pass," I'd reminded him, to no reply.

We fled to the woodlands. From there we carried on to the wetlands, fighting our way through dungeon after dungeon; anything to avoid the watchful eyes of civilised Pokémon. We made for the southern ends of Itori looking for an escape route. We couldn't travel by any of the official channels; every dock in the country being owned by the crown.

I slipped on the sand, landed hard on my bad legs, and my wound cried out yet again. It happened to me three months ago. I knew once it becomes infected it would be much harder to treat, but once we got to Tenrai, we'd be safe. If the rumours about that place were true, we'd be there very soon. Please God.

We picked our way through a small line of lagoons, ducking our heads under the sharp teeth of the cliff. Soon the sand became so wet and unstable it wasn't safe for me to walk. Vijay lifted me in his scarf-like (yet surprisingly strong) arms. Isbel splashed her way through the puddles until I had to hiss at her to keep quiet. Her smile falling from her face made my heart drop. But we couldn't risk being overheard.

We came to a stream of water trickling into the ocean from a fang-shaped gap in the cliff-face. Against the wall, an ocarina was carved in the stone. It wasn't simple chiselled away and placed there; it was actually carved into it. I marvelled at it for a moment. Feeling guilt for my earlier brusqueness, I allowed Isbel the honour of trying it first.

That charming smile returned. The Swirlix took a big exaggerated breath in, leapt into the air, and blew into the instrument's mouthpiece. A high-pitched keen skipped along the waves. Then somehow one note became a symphony, a soft yet melancholic tune. I braced myself to meet this mysterious traveller, keenly aware of the state I was in. I prayed they would not turn me away due to my injury, or the now painfully obvious fact that I could not take care of myself anymore.

The spray tickled our faces. The wind hissed through the gaps in the rock. Above us, an Esper Braviary on the hunt let out a spine-chilling war cry. We waited for the transport Pokémon to arrive.

But nobody came.

"Another bloody trick," Vijay spat. He'd become a lot more liberal with his curse words, it was actually very entertaining to watch.

"Maybe they're ferrying someone else right now," Isbel suggested.

I peered into the cave. I hold onto Vijay's arm so I can rest one leg on the sand. My horns flashed bright white light, illuminating the darkness beyond.

More than simply a crack in the wall, the crevice ran deeper than my light could penetrate. A stone bank just wide enough to walk along on either side. No signs of Pokémon, wild or civilised. Glints of blue and gold somewhere in the distance.

"This looks like as good a place as any to hide," I said.

"We would be trespassing," said Vijay. Despite everything, he was still a Pokémon of honour.

"If we go back to the café we'll be caught."

"You can't know that for certain."

"It's not safe for us there. I can feel it."

Isbel poked her head into the cave. "This is your idea of safe?"

"This is my idea of the lesser of two evils."

Finally, they relented. We entered the cave.

It was shrouded by a thin layer of fog. A blue chest lined with gold (paint, I'm assuming), a lapis lazuli-styled harp the size of a Walrein, each string giving off a faint glow. A tapestry showing two islands, split apart by what looked like a terrible shockwave, stylised as yellow-and-white spikes. A glass figure of three Pokémon: Vibrava, Wailord, and Relicanth. In the centre of it all, a three-tiered stone spring, cut down the middle by a stream of water flowing into a river, into the sea.

I sat down on one of its ridges and took stock of our items: two apples, a pp max, three grimy foods, and a wonder orb, plus this items we're holding. Vijay holds a sitrus berry, the last of a dozen plucked from a farmer's orchard. Isbel holds the stamina band we mugged off a single treasure hunter. Across my back rests Runaway, the sword my father crafted and left me in his will; yet according to the Skarsgards, this was stolen as well.

I wondered for perhaps the hundredth time if it was worth turning myself in, if there was a chance it'd buy the others their safety, if I confessed to everything and cleared their names. But that would require the court system in Itori to be rational, and I longer had any faith that that's the case.

"Isbel, take that out of your mouth this instant!"

Something clattered to the floor. "It looked tasty!"

"That is glass."

"Forbidden snack."

"No."

They probably wouldn't survive anyway, I thought to myself with a chuckle.

"What's this?" Isbel asked, batting at a pendulum hanging from the ceiling, the blue light from its crystal dancing in her eyes.

"Somebody else's property," Vijay said pointedly, ignoring the fact that those words meant very little to us anymore, "and it's not proper to disturb another Pokémon's resting place."

Isbel slumped. "I know…" Then a second later a hanging lantern caught her eye and her attention once again wandered to patterns of golden light it painted across the wall.

I thought yet again how ridiculous it is how two Pokémon like this could be accused of murder.

"Hey…" Isbel was rubbing at something on the ground. "What's this?"

She was at the back wall of the cave. I peered over to see what caught her eye: something inscribed in the ground. At first it just looked like random scribbles, but then I realised the text has been written in Unown.

Isbel narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow.

"Yuuuuuuu… tsuuuuuu…"

"Stand aside," Vijay said in his carefully-curated casual voice, "I can translate for you."

There's a long silence.

"It's too dark."

I lit the cave with Flash. We both grinned at Vijay. He folded his arms and huffed.

"No, please, after you. You read the ancient text carved into the mysterious cave floor."

I leaned down with my hands on my knees.

"Youuuu…" I read out. "Tsssuuuuuuuck…"

Isbel giggled. Vijay looked less than amused. He pointed at another column of text and said:

"Oh, but look at this one: Fuuuu… kyuuuuu."

"It doesn't say that."

"It actually does."

"You're so full of it."

"What does it mean?" Isbel asked.

"You would both know what it means if you'd focused more in your studies," said Vijay.

"I was a librarian!" Isbel says, indignant.

"Manga doesn't count as education."

"That is where we disagree."

I looked back across the waves. Darkness. The Braviary keened in the sky, it's eyes had locked onto its prey. There was no hope for the poor soul now. Once the hunter has it's sights on you… A sudden mournful sadness filled my soul. I rested my head against the damp cave wall. Then somehow the stone was moving, and I pull away, startled.

A horrible scraping sound filled the cavern. The wall split apart at a seem none of us had seen in the darkness. Light. Heat. Isbel took a step inside.

"We should wait," said Vijay.

"We'll freeze to death if we stay here," I countered.

The Braviary screamed again.

The Aegislash rubbed his eye. "Very well," he sighed.

We didn't dare use Flash. We felt our way along the damp, slimy tunnels. The fog was thick, and no moonlight penetrated the walls. Here and there our way was illuminated by phosphorescent plants, orange stars of light in a darkness like night. Isbel muttered under her breath:

"Left, right, left, left, right, straight, right, left…"

My friend was gifted with incredible memory, she'd been our navigator since the day we ran away together. I trusted her completely to find our way back.

Footsteps approached. Vijay put his arms around us and turned our bodies to shadow.

We clung to the wall. I could see the tunnel below me, but other than that, my senses had disappeared. All I felt was a cool chill through my whole being, one with neither shape nor form. A Crustle walked by. We waited until her footsteps disappeared down the tunnel, then remerged in our true forms.

"We should head back," I said to no dissent.

We turned back the way we came. Isbel ran her tail along the wall to feel her way along.

"Sanne," said Vijay, "you're limping."

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry you?"

"I'm not going to lose the leg walking, Vi."

Click.

My leg sank into the ground. Vijay ripped me away half a second before a fiery blast erupted from the tile and echoed down the cave.

"What was that?!" came a voice down the corridor.

We ran down the corridors paying no heed to direction.

"Wait!" Isbel gasped. "I can't keep track!"

Footsteps followed behind. We shoved thoughts of our journey to the backs of our minds, driven by the fear of capture. Something of a running theme with us. Running, get it? (I hate myself.)

Cyan light shone across the far wall. We paused to catch our breath, listening for signs of our pursuers. Silence. We were safe, for the moment.

Waterfalls flowed from the walls on either side of the room ahead of us into two pools dug in the ground. Relicanth, at least a full party, swam in the crystal-clear water. The room is well-lit, the water itself giving the room its ethereal glow. Pretty safe to assume they'd see a snaking black shadow slithering along the floor.

"Can I have the orb please?" Isbel whispered to me.

I handed her the slumber orb. Vijay and I both knew what was about to happen. To be honest, I was looking forward to the rest. The two of us got comfortable against the wall.

"You ready?" Isbel asked. "Three… two... one…"

Isbel chucks the orb and it shatters against the ground. A rose-coloured haze filtered in and settled over us all. My eyes were already closing when one of the Relicanth called: "Who's there?"

The last thing I saw was Isbel's body disappearing into the pink mist.

I opened my eyes to darkness. For a horrible second, I thought I'd been captured. I'm in a Skarsgard jail, and horrors await me. Then I sat up and saw Isbel smiling at me, Vijay slowly getting back into the air. We were still in the tunnel. Not ideal, but a far cry from the Forge. I chuckled to myself. I could be so paranoid at times.

We continued down the tunnel until we encountered our next signs of life. Isbel turned a corner and immediately leapt back.

"Did they see you?" Vijay hissed.

Silence. Darkness had come to our rescue.

Isbel described them for us: Two guardsmon, both over six feet tall (on four legs): a Rhyhorn and a Drednaw. I weighed our options. Ahead of us, two armed and armoured giants. Behind us, approaching footsteps.

"Stand aside."

I closed my eyes and focused my physic power. I lost feeling in every part of my body save my horns, which sing a symphony of psychic energy. I let instinct guide my footsteps, treading gently as possible. The guardsmon may have seen nothing but stone before them, but my powers couldn't distort what they hear. I walked until I felt Vijay's hand on my shoulder and knew we are safe.

I blinked myself back to reality. We were in some kind of chamber. Behind us were two closed doors. There was something underneath me; I ran my hand along the ground and found grooves had been dug in, making some kind of pattern. The fog was so thick I could barely see the back of my own hand, but I could make out the silhouettes of my friends beside me. We shared a moment of blessed relief and embraced one another. But it didn't last long.

"I did see something," came a voice behind the doors, "I assumed it was Spritz on her nightly patrols."

"She usually checks in with you, though, doesn't she?" says another voice.

Isbel mouthed: "But we were so careful!"

"Nothing to it," Vijay whispered, pointing the tip of his blade at the door, "if we must fight, then we shall fight."

But brave as his words were they couldn't mask the weariness in his eye.

It happened so suddenly. I was doing my breathing, controlling my emotions, I was present, focused, and then suddenly I was on my knees on the cold stone ground, sobbing. My friends dropped to be beside me. I felt a scarf-like hand on my shoulder and a fluffy ball snuggling into my side.

"Sanne," Isbel sounded shocked, "what's happened?"

I shook my head; words would not come.

"This…" Vijay stammered. "This isn't like you…"

"I'm just so tired," I gasped, "I'm so tired or running, I'm so tired of hiding, and I'm in so much pain…" It was all pouring out. "We didn't do anything wrong! We didn't hurt anyone, we had nothing to do with it! And we're going to spend our whole lives as fugitives!"

Vijay's hand moved awkwardly up and down my back.

"I know our exile left a scar on all of us," he said, "but we won't live as we do much longer. Once we reach Tenrai, we'll rejoin civilisation."

"I don't think that's true!" I swore to myself I'd keep my fears hidden, that I wouldn't burden them, but I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"But we'll be fine as long as we're together," said Isbel, looking at my with those soulful reddish-pink eyes, "won't we?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, I'm guessing not very convincingly, "it's just having to be…"

"We're not murderers," Isbel said, deathly serious.

"No," I said, "just kidnappers and thieves."

"We had no choice," Vijay echoed my own worn-out words.

"That''s exactly the problem. We have no choice."

Footsteps. Voices. They'd be here soon, I knew it.

"I'm just tired."

We sat together in a long mournful silence. It was brought to a sudden end by the sound of rock grinding against rock. The room started to shake.

"More tremors?" said Vijay.

We clung to one another as the ground jumped, it must have lasted five minutes at least. When it finally died down, there followed a silence I could feel running through the whole cave system.

The lines beneath our feet glowed orange. A sound like a low-pitched growl bounced off the cavern walls. Footsteps approached and we hid in the shadows. The guardsmon took our places staring at the floor. The look of horror on those giants' faces still haunts me. They turned and ran down the corridors in either direction, screaming:

"The chasm's opening! The chasm's opening! Where are the High Guardians?! The chasm's opening!"

Then the next tremor hit and I could hear dozens of voice scream as rock shattered. The fact that we were shadows clinging to the wall was the only thing that saved us as the chamber floor collapsed in. Debris fell far, far, far down… the sound of tiles shattering reached us from afar, followed by an orange humming light.

There was something down there.

We slipped away, across the ceiling, back onto solid ground. I wasn't used to being in the shadows that long, and it took both Isbel and I a moment to orient ourselves. In that moment a Dawn Lycanroc chanced upon us.

"What the hell is going on?!" she barked.

"You tell us!" Isbel replied.

"OKITERU!" someone was screaming. "OKITERU!"

The Lycanroc looked down the corridor, back to us, then growled and ran away.

"Which way is out?!" I called.

"The other way!" she snapped back.

So we went the other way. Eventually Isbel found a familiar patch of dirt (I swear that Pokémon is something else) and lead us the rest of the way. We were almost at the exit when we heard these words:

"The cliffs are going to cave in!"

"It's not safe here!"

"People are going to die!"

"Who woke them up? Who woke them up?"

Was that us? I thought with a horrible feeling in my gut. Then I heard:

"Was it that human?"

"It must have been."

Human?! What human?!

Mercifully, we found our way out of the tunnel. The inner sanctum we found was trembling violently; the canvas had fallen from its hook and water from the spring had soaked everything around it. The chest trembled so hard the glass figure fell over the edge; I reached out my hand and caught it with Psychic, then rested it gently against the ground. Outside dusk had fallen, yet a sliver of orange still cut through the sky. The wild Braviary was watching in horror.

"The cliffs are caving in!" I screamed. "Warn people! Warn everyone you can!"

The Battle Cry Pokémon nodded and made for the coast, screeching warning. A wild Pokémon, a killer for food, yet he still understood the sanctity of life.

The closest settlement was Paradise Strip, where we first heard the rumours of the Pokémon in the cave. Evidently not all the rumours!

Outside the café, Pokémon sat lazily along the beach, watching the sunset. There'd been so many earthquakes in the coast and cliff regions in the past eight years people had learned to simply ignore them. Grouped together were three Pokémon with coconut drinks: a Talonflame, a Froslass, and a Cinccino. Around their necks were purple scarves patterned with white clouds. Treasure hunters, thank Moltres.

"Hey!" I yelled, sprinting over to them. Sand kicked up and stuck to my bloody bandages, but I didn't care, I had to reach them, I had no idea how long we had.

The Cinccino looked annoyed we'd ruined this peaceful sunset for him. I saw a flash of recognition in the Talonflame's eyes, and genuine concern only from the Froslass.

"There's something…" I gasped for air. "There's something in the caves. You have to warn people. They said it's going to collapse. People are going to die!"

For a moment, the normal-type treasure hunter looks at me like I'm a lunatic. Then realisation dawned terrible in his eyes, and a grin spread across his face. He looked like he couldn't believe his luck.

"Sanne, isn't it?" he said with a voice like sweet venom. "Your reputation precedes you."

My heart dropped to my chest. Around us, the other Pokémon were stepping out of our way.

The Cinccino swished his silky white scarf sending a storm of Swift starts my way. Instinctively I turned my hip and take the full brunt of the attack on the soft part of my right , now both my legs were fucked. Thanks Sanne, thanks a bunch.

Isbel jumped in and waved her tail, kicking golden sand up in a bright-pink Fairy Wind. But the Talonflame has already spread her wings; a howling Tailwind overpowered her. I felt a thrill of fear and a stinging in my wound as we were buffeted by sand.

Two Confuse Ray orbs came bobbing towards us. I spread my arms wide and raised a shimmering green Safeguard, and the orbs turn to harmless purple wisps. Already I could see the Talonflame swooping down from up on high, fire trailing from her beak down past her tail feathers. I didn't have time to ready a counter. Luckily, Vijay was there with the King's Shield. Blue hexagons flashed tauntingly as its absorbed Flame Charge's force, draining the strength from the Scorching Pokémon's muscles in the process. Vijay thrusted his shield away, knocking her head to the side, and sliced upward with Sacred Sword, leaving a maroon streak in the air and across her torso.

The Cinccino's scarfs were rolled and ready to strike. Suddenly a flurry of cotton spores clung to his fur, dressing him up like a Wooloo. He laughed derisively, then tries to take a step forward. His eyes bulged as he realised he was moving like a Slowpoke.

I raised my arm to the sky. Runaway unsheathed itself and settled in my hand. The Froslass' eyes flashed neon blue as shards of ice shot at us. My sword danced through the air, cut block slash block and stab, until there was nothing but powder snow on the ground. I thrust both arms forward and the Froslass screamed as the blade left a deep scratch across her icy face.

The Cinccino takes a deep breath in, and the other two covered their ears. I saw the ripples Hyper Voice made in the air, but only for a second before my vision went black and I was on my knees and Runaway dropped to the sand beside me.

Vijay's and Isbel readied Shadow and Energy Ball. The Talonflame rolled in the air and dodged, then countered with Incinerate. Vijay cries out in pain and his blade glowed red from the heat; the sitrus berry dropped the floor, unusable.

The Talonflame soared up, ready to swoop back down. Runaway chased her through the air. She barrel-rolled to suddenly change direction, but a complex manoeuvre for her is a flick of the wrist for me. Runaway cut her down the side. She howled and blasted away wildly with Incinerate.

The blade glowed white-hot from the fire. She was landing, and I had the perfect chance to strike her in the soft spot on the back of her neck. But I hesitated. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I used to work for the Skarsgards, I know the pain a white-hot blade will bring.

Ice Shard collided with Energy Ball mid-air. The Froslass still had one hand covering her face. The Cinccino gestured as if saying: "Let me handle this." He puts his paws together. I focused on him, trying to get a grip, but it was too late. A Dazzling Gleam filled the air and burned in my eyes. Isbel jumped in front of me and took the full brunt of it before I can stop her.

My vision was blurry. I couldn't focus, I couldn't get a grip…

I turned my attention to Runaway. I know I can lift you, I thought, I know I can… I held my hand out, energy hummed through me, and the sword my father forged and left me in his will glowed brilliant pink.

Tailwind blew sand in my eyes. An ominous screeching sound followed, and pain sunk into my bones, dragging me backwards and to the ground. The last thing I saw was the smug look on the Cinccino's face and his treasure hunter's scarf flapping in the wind. I heard a hissing like the dead whispering in my ear as my vision went black.

The sound of scraping metal makes my teeth ache. I've spent the last two days staring at cold steel walls, sleeping on a thin layer of straw high atop a cold steel floor. Bangs echo down the hallway, making the mechanisms in the jail doors rattle awfully. I'm in a part of the Skarsgards prisons designed, built, and run exclusively by steel-types. They call it the Forge. Fittingly, they actually craft the arms and armour for the guards there, either to intimidate their captives or torture them with the sound. Most likely both. The rust in the air makes even breathing the air uncomfortable. I see now why Asa was so opposed to our jail systems. Hah. And to think I used to call him a pansy for it.

We were sentenced for quite a few things: escaping arrest, assaulting an ally of the crown (the treasure hunters who attacked us unprovoked), kidnapping, blackmail, (apparently one of the Pokémon from Chrome Pass wrote a fucking book about it), theft, and the big one: The murder of Lord Isbert of the Polar Region.

The arguments I'd spent months rehearsing in case the time ever came fell on deaf ears. They'd had time to think too, and they'd loaded up ways to dismiss every single thing I said. The only point they couldn't dispute right away was this: How did we manage to sneak through the tunnels if none of us were Pokémon capable of learning Dig?

After a few minutes of muttering to each other, their response was simply: "You must have had help." Vijay asked if they were going after the "help" in that case. They didn't answer. But they said they had more than enough evidence to sentence us, separate us, and seal us away in the Skarsgard prisons.

In my previous life I worked in the stables tending to the cart Pokémon before and after their long journeys across the country on the Queen's behalf. Isbel worked in the Queen Charcoal Library. Vijay was a blacksmith. None of us were soldiers, but we all worked very close with the Skarsgard army. We actually know quite a few people who work in the jails. Vijay's baby sister is one of the patrolmon in the Forge. I used to babysit her.

Isbel and Vijay have been my only friends through what I thought would be the worst days of my life, my brother and sister by water if not by blood. Now they're being tortured just the same by people they used to call friends. All three of us were sentenced to life. I wonder if I'll ever see them again.

I close my eyes and lean back against the wall. I drift in and out of a nightmare-riddled sleep.

I'm roused by a loud clunking coming through the walls. Mistaking it for the sound of chainmail or a chest-plate or a sword being forged, I ignore it, and close my eyes again.

Then I hear my jail door unlocking.