Chapter 6: The birth of a new team

I was expecting lots of things from a so called Mystery Dungeon, but definitely not what happened.

The tunnel which we were walking though became progressively bigger and darker, until it suddenly became a huge empty room, just like the ones at the maze at the dojo. The room was also illuminated by something, despite being completely devoid of any objects. I felt very dizzy, and Kit had to catch me before I fell to the ground. Then, I realized that the entrance where we came from was gone, replaced by a solid wall of stone.

"Hey! The exit! It's gone!" I yelled, running to the wall and knocking on it.

"That's what MD's are, Jake. Spatial distortions. Nothing you know makes sense here. The only way to exit is to keep going forward" Explained Kit.

"How do you know so much about dungeons?" Asked Ember.

"Spark and I kinda explored this and other dungeons several times... That's where we found that MP3 thing as you call it"

"WHAT? You entered an MD without being an explorer team? You know how much trouble that could bring you?"

"Not much more than what failing this will bring us"

He then began to walk forward, but suddenly stopped before turning to look at me. "Jake, how about you lead? I'll cover your rear"

"You want me to go first?! Why?"

"Consider this a training session. The Pokémon here are mostly rock types with just a few ground types. It should be easy for you. Now come on, we don't have the whole day!"

I gulped, but decided to trust Kit. Ember went behind me, and the Zoroark waited until we were a distance in front of him to walk behind us.

"Alright, so this dungeon has 4 floors. We have to scout this whole place for any signs of the kid, but keep an eye for ferals. Or if Jake manages to scan the floor with his aura sense, we may be able to save up some time. Can you?"

I nodded and tried to concentrate, but something was blocking my ability to use my aura sense. I couldn't see anything behind the walls, and there wasn't any sign of any Pokémon other than us in this room.

"I can't... Something's blocking it!"

"Really? This dungeons sure are weird. Alright then, manual scouting it is. Keep an eye for any hostile Pokémon and let's find that Igglybuff!"

I nodded. We exited the room and followed a small corridor that curved and twisted for what felt like kilometers, but finally, we arrived to another room, which was empty except for what looked like stairs going down to the earth, and another pair of hallways.

We walked towards it. Kit seemed to know what this was. "Hey look! The stairs! Looks like this was an easy floor. No enemies, and just two rooms before we found them. Hopefully the other floors are as easy as this one"

"Where do these lead to? I only see infinite darkness!"

"It's just an illusion, and trust me, I know a lot about those. Just walk down, and you will arrive to the next floor eventually. You may feel dizzy, just like when entering the dungeon, but you'll get used to it"

I reluctantly took a step on those stairs, and after confirming they were just regular stairs, I started descending normally, and heard Ember doing the same behind me, followed by Kit. We walked down and down, until a flash of light blinded us all, and we arrived to another rocky room.

"Huh?! Where are the stairs? Where are we?" I yelped, looking around.

"Relax! We are in the next floor. Don't you see how the room is different?"

I looked around and realized what Kit meant. This room had four possible exits, in contrast to the other one, which had only one.

"So where do we go? Do we split?"

"No way! That's just straight up dangerous! You are the leader, aren't ya? Then choose a way and we'll follow!"

"..."

Ember was quiet. She hadn't said anything ever since we entered the cave. Ignoring that, I chose to go to the right side. The corridor was not too wide, but it balanced that with its length. We kept walking for a very long while, until we arrived to another room. A Boldore was inside, and it looked at us with a blank stare the moment we entered, as if it...wasn't alive.

"Alright, Jake! There you have your first real, non training, enemy! Take 'im down, and then we'll continue!"

I nodded and walked towards the Boldore. Both of us prepared to fight, but the feral moved first. It used one of his claws and picked a ball of what looked like mud, and throwed it at me.

Luckily, I managed to dodge it, and ran towards it, preparing a Force Palm. The Boldore may have attacked first, but I was a lot faster. I arrived at its side before it could react and attacked it, knocking it out instantly.

I heard a loud thud, and looked back to see the big rock golem downed on the floor.

"Yeah! Nice one, Jake! You did it perfectly! Now let's move on, we have a kid to save!"

I nodded and walked through one of the hallways. It was very long, to the point where we spent minutes following it, just before we hit a dead end.

"Wrong path!" I yelled in frustration.

"Don't worry, let's just go back to the start and choose another one!"

And that's what we did. We walked, and walked. We kept following hallways until we found the correct one, and arrived in the room with the stairs... which were being guarded by another Boldore and a Geodude.

"I guess we'll have to take them down?"

"Yep! I'll take the Geodude! You and Ember get the Boldore!" Exclaimed Kit as he ran off to fight the Pokémon.

Ember still didn't say a word.

I quickly ran behind Kit with a Force Palm prepared and struck the Boldore. This time, however, the Pokémon didn't faint. Instead hurling another mud ball at me.

I couldn't dodge it in time, so it hit me point blank. It hurt. A lot. I couldn't believe it, it was just a mud ball!

Steel types are weak against ground type attacks...

Groaning from the pain, I quickly stood up and attacked the Boldore again, finally making it stumble and fall to the ground.

"Nice one! You also experienced your first super effective attack! You were lucky these 'mons are weak. Take this and let's go. How about next time you help him out, Ember?" He said while grabbing one of the Oran berries Spark gave us from the fire type's satchel.

Ember didn't answer and she just headed to the stairs. I looked at Kit, but he was just as confused as I was. Not wasting any time, we followed the Braixen and walked down the stairs.

The first thing that we noticed when we arrived on the next floor was not the fact that we were suddenly in a completely new location, just like what had happened a few minutes ago, it was that the usual silence inside the dungeon was interrupted by a sudden voice.

"Come on! I heard him over here! We can't let them find us before we get that kid! "

"You think those are the criminals?" I whispered.

"Yup. Lets run, quick!"

We bolted towards their direction, tracking down their steps using their voices. There weren't enemies on the way, which meant that they had most likely already been defeated.

When we turned one of the corners, I saw a siluette with red fur going down the stairs towards the last floor.

"I think I saw one of them! Come on!"

We ran down the stairs at a speed that could be compared to Kit using his Agility. There, we saw them. A Mawile and a Lycanroc, both of them cornering a small Igglybuff.

"You can't run now, kid! Now stop resisting before we actually hurt you!" Yelled the Mawile.

"NOOO! I WANT MY MOMMY!" Cried the kid.

"Then shut the fuck up! You are starting to annoy me!" She shot back.

We exchanged looks, and after a silent nod, we walked towards them and surrounded the two criminals.

"Hey! How about you leave that kid alone, thughs!" I yelled.

With a shocked expression, both of the criminals turned to look at us.

"Shit! They found us!"

"Told you we shouldn't have come here! They sent an explorer team after us!" The Lycanroc exclaimed worriedly.

We took a battle stance. "So, you wanna do this peacefully..." Began Kit.

"Or do you need us to knock some sense into you?" I finished.

The Mawile clenched her fists. "I'm not going to get beaten by some pathetic looking teenagers!"

The Lycanroc cracked his knuckles and his neck. "You can try us, though..."

Sweat began dripping from my forehead. These were actual criminals, not a feral or a sparring match with Kit. If I failed here, it was over. Yet, the adrenaline of the moment made me excited for all of this.

I only know a move. This is going to be hard. I'll have to focus on the Lycanroc. He's the one that is weak against my attacks.

"What are we waiting for, then?" I taunted.

"Bring it on!" Yelled both of them.

Kit was the first one to react. He launched himself against the Mawile, with a Night Slash prepared. The attack hit her, but she didn't even flinch. A Fairy Wind later, and Kit was knocked backwards.

"Tchsk. Not even a scratch!"

At that moment, I wished I learnt a steel type move. With a Force Palm on my paw, I ran towards the Lycanroc, hoping to at least wear him out a bit.

He seemed to know my intentions, though, so he picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at me with big force. I narrowly dodged it and managed to land a hit on him. I heard him wince from the pain, but he still seemed healthy enough to continue, as he kicked my back.

Meanwhile, Ember wasn't moving. At all. Even though a fire attack could be of great help against the Mawile, she didn't attack. She looked...scared.

"Ember, hate to break it to you, but it would be very helpful if you actually did something!" Yelled Kit trying to attack the Mawile.

Ember didn't answer.

I managed to attack the Lycanroc another two times before he parried my third attack. "Do you only know Force Palm? I'm starting to get bored!" He said as he used Crush Claw on me, the impact knocking me onto the floor.

Despite the fact that my Force Palm gave me advantage over the Lycanroc, the Mawile countered both of us with her fairy type moves, and both of them seemed to be a lot more trained than me at least. The only one that had any sort of advantage over her was...

"Ember! You have to fight! What are you doing? We can't do it without you!" I said looking at her. She was still trembling, and she didn't even seem to be aware of the current situation.

"I-I can't do this..." She said.

"Quiet!" Interrupted the Lycanroc as he ran towards her, trying to use another Crush Claw on her.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I yelled back, grabbing his tail, and pulling him towards the floor, followed by kicking him on his stomach. The Lycanroc whinned in pain and rolled out of the way.

"Is she your girlfriend or something?" He taunted.

"Oh, shut up!" I said preparing two Force Palms, but the wolf suddenly jumped in the air and grabbed both of my paws, trapping me on the spot.

"Shouldn't have done that" He said.

Before I could question what he meant, the Mawile crashed into me with Iron Head, knocking the air out of my lungs.

I rolled on the floor and stopped next to Kit, both of us groaning from the pain. The Mawile offered her hand to the Lycanroc and helped him stand up.

The Zoroark was trying his best to also stand back to his feet. "It was too long since I fought for real..." He mumbled.

The Mawile kicked him in the face and knocked him back down. "Shut. Up!"

We lost. Our tactics weren't good enough. We should have...stayed outside...

"What type of explorer team are you? Rookies?" Teased the Lycanroc.

"Where even are your badges?" Said the Mawile.

They both looked at each other and bursted out laughing.

"You aren't explorers?! What kind of joke is this? You really thought you could take us down?"

Every time I tried to stand up, it was either a kick, or an attack that threw me to the ground. Same with Kit. My energy was almost completely depleted, which wasn't good.

The Lycanroc then turned to look at Ember. "Hey, Mawile! We ain't done yet! We still have a another ass to kick!"

Both of them slowly walked towards Ember. She still didn't seem to react.

I-I'm sorry kid. I'm so sorry.

I wanted to stand up, but I didn't have any energy to do it. I closed my eyes as tears started falling from my eyes.

I'm sorry, Ember.

...

Suddenly, I felt a huge rush of energy come back to my body. It was as if every single pain dissapeared and was replaced with energy. I snapped my eyes open and jumped to my feet. Both of the criminals whipped their heads at me, with both a confused and an angry expression.

"I said..." I began running towards them. "Do not..." I jumped high in the air. "Touch..." My fist was enveloped in an orange aura. "HER!" I punched the Lycanroc with everything I had, throwing him against one of the walls. He then fell down to the ground, unmoving, swirls in his eyes.

I looked at the slowly fading orange aura in my fist. Reversal. That was Reversal. I just learnt a new move.

Ember seemed to snap out of her trance.

"What the fuck?! What do you think you are doing, mutt? Attacking someone from behind is a dirty trick!" The Mawile exclaimed.

"Says the damn criminal!" Kit yelled back, walking towards me while munching the second oran berry. "Eat this" He added, tossing me the last berry.

I munched it and most of my injuries began healing up.

"Heal all you want, you still won't win against me. You may have knocked out that weakling, but I won't go down that easily!" Yelled the Mawile.

"This is where you come in, Ember!" I said.

She looked at me, gulped, and walked to our side. At least that was something.

"What have you been doing this whole fight?" I whispered to her.

"I-I can't do this Jake. It has been at least four years since I used an attack! " She whispered back.

"Does it have to do with the incident?" She reluctantly nodded. "Listen. I don't know what happened, but please, Ember. There is a kid that needs your help. If we don't knock out this Mawile, we all will be goners. After this is over, I promise that you won't have to attack anyone ever again if you don't want to. Deal?"

She thought about it for a while, but she finally nodded. "You know what? I said I wasn't gonna slow you down because of my past" She pulled the stick in her tail out, and lighted it on fire, something that looked like it took a lot more effort than it should have. "I'm not breaking that promise" She added.

"Ughh! Come on! Stop with the chit-chat and fight!" The Mawile interrupted.

I smiled. If her previous attacks were an indicator, she was a tough foe, but we had the number and type advantage.

"You can do it! I-I believe in you!" Cheered the small Igglybuff.

That's what I hope.

"Alright, guys! Let's go!"

Surprisingly, Ember was the first one to react, and charged at the Mawile. She was enveloped in flames as she hit her, pushing her back a small distance.

Woah! That was a fast Flame Charge!

"You think that hurts? Take this!" She yelled, before using Fairy Wind on us. I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, preparing to endure it, but the attack never came.

When I dared to open my eyes again, I saw Ember in front of us, forming an energy barrier with her stick. A Light Screen.

"How many moves do you know?!" I yelled in confusion.

"You thought I was just a regular cashier?" She answered, her eyes fixed on the Mawile.

The Pokémon suddenly disappeared in a flash. "Where did she go?" Kit yelled, raising his fists.

"Use your aura sense, Jake!" Ember yelled.

Nodding, I closed my eyes and looked around. The familiar outlines and blurs of colors appeared shortly after. The grey one was Kit, and in front of me...there was something else. A flaming red aura was emanating from Ember. That almost looks like an actual fire!

Despite that, something told me she was just putting a brave face, and in reality she was as scared as the Igglybuff.

Shaking that out of my head, another blur came to my view, brown in color. And it was approaching Kit.

"Kit, behind you!" I shouted.

He turned around and barely dodged the Sucker Punch aimed at him, kicking the Mawile back in turn.

"Agh! Fuck you and your species, Lucario!" She screamed in frustration.

"Guys, distract her! I know how we can win this!" Exclaimed Ember.

"Got it!" I replied, running with a Force Palm prepared.

"Whatever you are planning, I'm sure I can tank it!" She said, blocking my attack.

"Let's see!" Answered Kit while his body glowed crimson. He raised his arms above his head, preparing a Night Daze.

Better get away from that.

Kit slammed his arms on the ground, creating a dark force field that expanded rapidly, hitting the Mawile. The attack didn't hurt her too much, but it knocked her back a good distance.

"You think that a Night Daze will do anything to me?" She was interrupted by me using another Force Palm on her back, knocking her to the ground. This time, she seemed actually hurt. And angry.

"You bastards! How dare you! I'll show you what I have trained for!"

"No, you won't!" Yelled Ember, waving her stick at the Mawile, launching some sort of fireball towards her. She didn't have enough time to dodge it, getting hit by it instead. The attack didn't actually hurt her, making her faintly glow orange instead

"That's a Will-O-Wisp attack on you! Enjoy your burn!" She retorted.

I could feel how the Mawile was starting to get nervous. Now that Ember was actually fighting, she was in a three versus one, and her fire attacks really hurt her. Nonetheless, she still stood proud and clenched her fists.

"You can burn me, freeze me, or even paralyze me, but this isn't over until I am down!"

I ran towards her as fast as I could, but she jumped up, and dodged me. Kit was next to me, and tried a Night Slash, but wasn't fast enough and also got dodged. Ember backed us by using Flame Charge. This time, she couldn't dodge, and got hit by a super effective move, knocking her down to the ground. Add that to the burn status, and she was running out of forces to keep up.

"Why didn't they give us money..." She mumbled to herself, shakily standing up, and looking at us. Ember and me surrounded her, while Kit was taking care of the Lycanroc.

"Alright, Mawile. You can give up now, or we knock you out, your choice"

She grunted. "Giratina's domain will freeze before I surrender to you!"

Another Flame Charge from Ember shut her mouth. She was barely conscious. I walked towards her, and kneeled down.

"Then we'll have to knock you out"

"You son of a-!" She was interrupted by my Force Palm to the face, which finally made her fall unconscious.

This was it. We... We had won. Thanks to Ember, we had come out victorious.

"Ember! You were amazing! You never told me you knew how to fight! If it wasn't for you, we would have lost!"

"Thanks, but I hope I never have to do this again. Congratulations on learning Reversal, by the way"

I smiled and walked towards the kid. He had covered his face with his hands a long time ago, and was trembling, tears falling from his eyes.

"Hey kid! It's over. Don't worry. We'll take you to your mom, ok?"

He slowly stopped crying and removed his hands. He nodded shortly after. Kit had just finished tying both of the criminals up with a tope when we heard voices coming from somewhere.

"I heard something! Come on, move!" Said Spark

Spark and his team must be coming.

"Hey! We're here, Sparky! Follow my voice!" Shouted Kit.

"Kit?! Oh shit, move team!"

Not too long after, a whole squad of Pokémon appeared from one of the hallways.

"Those two are the criminals?" Asked one of them.

"Did those three seriously beat them?" Asked another one.

"You! Take the criminals. Miles! Get the kid. You three!" Said Spark. "You are in a bit of a mess. Use this Escape Orb, another squad is waiting outside. They'll take you to the mayor's office. He has to...reprimand you.

I sighed. "Let's not make him wait" I walked towards Kit, who was holding the orb, and he crushed it. We got out of the dungeon in a flash of light.

The mayor's office was a small room, with some decorative plants and pictures. The walls were white, with some paintings hanging from them.

In the middle of the room, there was a table, where loads of paperwork were present, of course, unreadable to my eyes.

And behind that table, was the mayor. The Alakazam was looking through the window behind his desk, while thinking about what he should do with us.

"State your names" He said.

"Kit"

"Ember"

"Jake"

There was obvious nervousness in our voices, but we tried our best to hide it.

The mayor sighed deeply, before turning towards us.

"Let me get this clear. You enter a Mistery Dungeon, knowing that only qualified explorer teams can enter due to their danger, with the objetive of taking down two trained criminals, while a hostage was at stake?"

I nodded. "Y-Yes sir"

"And why did you? You know that if you are not explorers, you cannot accept missions posted in the bulleting board? Why did you do it?"

"We-We bumped into a Wigglytuff. She was trying to get help from explorers to save her child, but there were none available, so I guess we were the first ones that she came across? I don't know. But she needed help and we couldn't refuse that!"

The mayor listened to my explanation, and nodded. "You arrived at the entrance of the dungeon, and got warned by official guards that you had to wait for reinforcements so that they could enter and help the hostage safely. Yet, you entered anyway, is that correct?"

I nodded again. "There was no time to waste! When we arrived, the kid was cornered! If we had waited any longer, he would have been gone!"

The mayor nodded again, and sighed. "Were you aware that if you had failed, you could have gotten kidnapped, or even died?"

A shiver ran down my back, but I nodded again. "We were"

The mayor turned around again. "Normally, breaking this rule would cause me to have to fine you a large sum of money. I am sure you are aware of that"

I sighed. "We are. Sorry for wasting your time, mister"

"However..." He interrupted, making us perk up. "The mission was not official, as it was not posted in the bulleting board, so technically you have not broken that rule. Secondly, the exact Wigglytuff you helped has personally asked me not to be too rough on your punishment. You have also completed the mission by arresting the criminals and saving the child, demonstrating huge fighting abilities and great teamwork"

"What does that mean?" Asked Kit.

"That you got lucky, and I will let you three off the hook this time" He said, turning and smiling. "Not all Pokémon have the ability to do what you three did, so my most sincere congratulations"

"So we are free? No fine?" I asked. The mayor shook his head. "Thank you a lot, Mr. Mayor!"

"I also have a proposal for you three youngsters" He said.

"A proposal? Like what?" Asked Ember.

"As I said, you three demonstrated big fighting and teamwork skills. That's exactly what the town needs to be protected"

"Wait..." I began. "You don't mean..."

"Yes, young Lucario. I am offering you a chance to become explorers, so that you can have more chances to help Pokémon, and not commit another foolish act like today"

I looked at Kit and he smiled. "Go for it! I haven't battled like this in a long time! I am joining you for sure!" He exclaimed.

I looked at Ember. She seemed reluctant at the prospect of accepting. "I don't know, Jake. I may know how to fight, but I don't think I'm cut out for being an actual explorer. And I still have a job to go back to..." She said.

"Screw the job! You can win tons more money like this! And it's thousands of times better than being a cashier! Come on, Ember! You are a great battler! We need you!" Kit tried to convince her.

"Yeah! Please, Ember. We couldn't have won without you! We need you with us! Pleaseee!" I pleaded.

She still seemed a bit reluctant. "I don't know... I need to think about it"

The mayor cleared his throat, catching our attention. "If you are not sure, you can have the rest of the day to think, and come here tomorrow morning. I will be waiting for your answer"

"Alright, we'll do that. Thanks again, Mr. Mayor!" I finished.

"Before you go, promise me you will never do something like this ever again" He said.

"We promise! We'll be here tomorrow morning!" I replied waving to him, and exiting through the door.

"Bye!" Said Kit.

"Goodbye!" Said Ember.

Today's weather was lovely, and the streets were still filled with Pokémon running around. Something to truly match how I was feeling that day.

"I can't believe it! Not only did the mayor not fine us, but he also congratulated us and offered us to be an explorer team without having to pass any exam!"

"I can see you are excited, huh? I think you forgot we already had enough of an exam today..." Sighed Kit, before laughing.

"Yes, I am! And you Kit are coming with me! Why? I thought you were just my trainer!"

"I don't even know myself! Battling like that gave me a bit of nostalgia, and I remembered that what I really want to do is help Pokémon in need! Sadly, the dojo wasn't enough, so I'm going with ya!"

I chuckled. A while of walking and small chat later, we arrived at the fountain. The Sun was already beggining to set, which casted an orange glow all over the firmament. Ember hadn't spoken a word since we got out of the town hall.

"Ember? Are you okay? I'm sorry for pressing you back there. Excitement got a hold of me..."

"It's okay" She answered bluntly.

I frowned. She had never been so...conflicted before. It was strong enough to give a mild headache, but not to make me feel like last time at the dojo. I just grew more frustrated. Something about Ember being like this... didn't feel right.

She's so beautiful with a smile... But look at her now. She looks so...gloomy.

My face reddened slightly. Why did I just think that?

"Guys, stop" Ember suddenly said. We did as she said, and turned to her.

"What is it?" I asked, taking those thoughts off my head.

"Remember earlier when I told you that I'd tell you about the incident? I think... I think this is the moment"

"Are you sure?" Asked Kit.

She nodded. "You guys have tried to help me, so I think it's time you get to know. Maybe then you'll understand why I'm so reluctant to give an answer to the mayor"

"If it makes you feel any better, it's worth it. Let's sit on one of the benches"

Once we had taken our seats, she began with a simple statement. "Only Agatha knows about this and it's been such a long time, so I don't even know if I remember correctly"

"Don't worry, Ember! You are already telling us, which is more than enough. Who cares about some details?" Kit replied.

"Alright then" She took a deep breath. "Here it goes"

Back when I was sixteen, I was just a small Fennekin. I lived with my parents: a Meowstick, my mother, and a Delphox, my father, both of them were explorers.

I did what every normal kid did: Go to school, play with my friends, and, of course, dream of becoming the best explorer to ever exist.

"I'll be the best in the whole town! And I'll punish the criminals that try to do anything wrong!" Was what I used to say.

Back then, it had been a year or so since one of the most dangerous and notorious criminal organizations was taken down. What happened is a very long story, and I can't fit it here, I won't dwell too much on it.

One fateful night, my parents told me that they had just received intel about some criminals over Darkness Cave, and that they had to go there immediately.

I was beggining to get bored after all that time of being alone at home. All of my friends were busy with their families, so I made the worst mistake of my life, and thought about just going and see what they were doing.

When I arrived there, I hid in one of the nearby bushes, but couldn't see anyone anywhere.

I waited for a long while, until I heard yelling coming from inside the cave. Not too long after, a Delcatty was thrown to the ground by a Fire Blast.

The Pokémon tried to stand up, groaning.

"Alright criminal, I've got a daughter to go back to, so give up already!" Dad yelled, coming out of the cave and pointing his stick at the Delcatty.

I snickered. Even when fighting for his life, he would never act seriously.

The Delcatty finally stood up, spat some blood and looked at the both of my parents with an angry face...before bursting with laughter.

"You really are that dense, huh? What do you think the whole plan was? A member of such an organization just enjoying a walk? And alone?"

"What do you mean?" Asked my mom.

Another loud chuckle.

"It's a trap, you assholes!" Said a voice from behind the Delcatty.

From behind the bushes, a Dragonite emerged. He had a scar along his whole face, looking like he had gone through lots of battles.

Then, from behind my parents, a Mightyena and an Abra appeared. They were surrounded.

"Now, you can do this the easy way, and come with us, or we do this the hard way, and we beat you up and bring you by force" Added the Delcatty.

My parents however didn't look scared at all. "You think this is our first ambush? We've gone through worse. A regular Monster House has at least triple the Pokémon you have brought" Said Dad.

"You'll have to do more than just the five of you!" Shouted Mom before her eyes flashed pink.

A pair of Psychic attacks blasted the field, knocking all of the Pokémon except the Mightyena back. That was followed by a Fire Blast aimed at the dark type and a Sucker Punch aimed at the Abra. Both of the attacks connected, and before any of the Pokémon could retaliate, the duo disappeared from their view.

All of them looked frantically for them, before another Fire Blast and Sucker Punch were fired at the same targets, knocking both of them out. That's when my parents jumped from between the bushes and into the middle of the battlefield once again.

"When does this get hard? I'm getting bored" Teased my dad.

The Delcatty was starting to get angry. "You fools! How come you haven't even moved a muscle! Two of your teammates are down!" Yelled the normal type, adressing the other Pokémon.

"Sorry, miss..."

"FIGHT, FOR ARCEUS' SAKE!"

The three remaining criminals went off to attack, but they couldn't even lay a finger on them. I was silently cheering for Mom and Dad from the sidelines.

They are awesome!

That's when the worst thing that could happen to a fire type happened. From sheer excitement, I puffed a small Ember that flew directly across the battlefield. The fight immediately stopped.

"Who's there?" The Delcatty demanded.

I tried to run away in a fit of panic, but before I could even turn around, I was suddenly lifted from the ground by Psychic, crushing my bones in the proccess.

"Would you look at this, boss! Looks like we've got a little kid spying on us!" Said the responsible for the attack, a Bronzong.

I will never forget the look of horror that was present in my parents' face. Unfortunately the Delcatty took notice of that too.

"What's wrong? Not so brave now that there is a little kid in our possession, are you?"

I was squirming inside the strong psychic cage, trying my best to set myself free, but to no avail.

"Let her go!" Mom shouted.

"No way!" The Bronzong answered.

"Let her go right this instant or I'll burn you to a crisp, you piece of tin!" Snarled Dad.

The Bronzong's response was tightening his grip even harder. "Not a very appropriate way of adressing someone who has a hostage, is it?"

The Delcatty walked from behind them and stood in between me and her parents.

"Good job, Bronzong. Now, you have two options: You come with us and we let her go, or..."

The Bronzong tightened his grip, making my bones feel as if they were about to break apart.

"...the kid doesn't make it"

"You wouldn't dare..."

"Are you sure?"

After sharing a glance that lasted what seemed like years, they both nodded to each other. "Ember, promise that no matter what happens, you'll stay strong, okay?" Mom told me, tears in her eyes.

"What?" I managed to ask.

"We give up" Dad said before raising their paws in the air.

The Delcatty smirked. "Good choice. Now, Dragonite, if you please"

"On it"

The Dragonite picked two weird objects that looked like handcuffs and placed them in my parents' paws.

"Let her go. Now" Snarled my dad.

"Heh. You are lucky that I'm in a good mood today. Bronzong, let her go"

The psychic grip suddenly disappeared, leaving me to fall onto the ground, struggling to even breath.

"Alright, we are done here, team. Lets get back to HQ. Boss will be happy to know that we captured these two"

"Aye!"

"N-No! I won't let you!" I exclaimed getting on my paws and using Flame Charge.

Unfortunately, the Dragonite reacted faster and grabbed my mom from the scruff of her neck just as she was about to use some sort of move to free herself and used her as a shield to block my attack.

I didn't land properly, and fell to the ground with no more energy remaining. The Delcatty's laughter was the only thing I heard.

"Hah! Thanks for the help, kid! See you around!"

"Never! A-A good explorer never gives up!"

"Face it, kid. You'll never be a real explorer!"

Fading laughter was everything I could hear, as I saw the looks of worry and reassurance my parents gave me.

Don't worry, honey. We'll get out of this, I promise. My dad's voice resonated in my head.

No... Please, don't go...

No more words came my way, as the Dragonite forced the two to walk away. Tears rolled down my face as I watched my dearest family members get escorted away from me. I could only cry and cry until I fell unconscious from exhaustion.

I'll never be a real explorer...

When I woke up, I found myself in the town hospital, surrounded by Agatha and her parents.

"Ember! You are awake!" Yelled the female Glaceon.

"A guard found you unconscious near Darkness Cave while he was patrolling!" Added the male Beartic.

"What happened?" Agatha finished.

"..."

Words didn't come to my mouth. I could only think about what had just happened. My parents fighting, sacrificing themselves for me... They had been taken hostage by who knows who, and it was all my fault.

I began crying again.

"Ember! What... What's wrong?" Asked Agatha.

"I can answer that"

Everyone turned to the source of the voice. It belonged to my parents' boss. The Ampharos had walked inside followed by a Mawile, who had a folder in her hands.

"Her parents were sent on an urgent mission a few hours ago. It hurts me to say that they... haven't come back"

To say we were both shocked was an understatement.

"I...never would have thought something like that happened to you. I'm... so sorry Ember" Was the only thing I could say.

Tears were present on her eyes. "I feel so much better now"

"So that's why you didn't want to be near the cave?" Asked Kit and she nodded.

"Remembering what happened back there made me freeze, but seeing that a kid was helpless against a pair of criminals reminded me of what I didn't want to be repeated again"

Silence fell over us for what felt like a long while. "Sorry for pushing you to join the team. If you don't want to, I guess Kit and I could make it work with just the two of us. And, hey! Then you won't have to worry about taking care of me anymore!"

She sighed. "I guess. I just...I didn't expect that at all! I just need time to make up my mind about it"

"Do you need some time alone? Jake can come to my house again, if you need"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just meet here tomorrow around nine in the morning, alright?"

"Sure" Kit replied, not too convinced. "Goodnight, guys"

"Wait! Before you go..." Interrupted Ember.

"What is it?"

"Thank you for being my friends, guys"

"Of course, Ember. Gotta go now. Have a great night" The dark type said while waving us goodbye.

"Bye Kit"

"Goodnight to you too, guys"

The trip back home was spent mostly in silence. There wasn't much to talk about. I tried to get my mind off of Ember's story.

Alright so let's do a quick summary of what happened since I woke up here.

I turned into a Pokémon, I learned two moves, saved a kid, somehow avoided a fine, and now I have the chance to become an explorer? All of that in four days?

Wait a minute. If Ember decides not to join us...will that be a goodbye?

"Thanks for telling us what happened. It must have been hard for you"

"I told you I would. I didn't expect it to be the same day, but I needed to get that weight off my shoulders sometime" She added, smiling"

"Nice to see that you trust us this much. I'm happy to see you smiling again. Being sad doesn't suit you at all"

Ember began laughing. "And to think that it's been four days since you appeared in that river..."

We finally arrived to her home, and she went to the kitchen to cook our dinner while I waited sitting on the sofa.

I really don't want to say goodbye to her. She's the first friend I got here... Kit is cool and all, but it won't be the same without her...

I don't want her to disappear from my life...

I sat in silence, looking at the ceiling for what felt like hours before Ember finally called me for dinner.

I sat down and started eating. Despite me trying not to, I couldn't stop thinking about it, and Ember took notice.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Come on, I know when something is going on with you. What are you thinking about?" She asked again.

I sighed and looked at her. "It's just...after the mayor told us that, I am so excited to become and explorer! But... you aren't. That's what's been bothering me. You don't want to become a member, and I won't force you, but it's not going to be the same without you. You are the first friend I had, and without you saving me that day, I wouldn't even be here"

I took deep breaths and took another bite of the steak. "The point is, I don't want to lose you"

She shook her head. "Jake, you are not going to lose me! We'll still we each other around! Just... not as much as now!"

"Yeah... But it won't be the same again..."

I finished my dinner and went off to sleep. After getting comfortable, I closed my eyes. "Goodnight Ember. Please, think about it really hard. If you don't want to, don't force yourself"

After some time, she also stood up and switched off the lights. Before going to her bedroom, she looked at me for a bit and sighed. The fire type then entered the room and closed the door.

Today, it took me more than normal to fall asleep. Hopefully it was just the fact that I was going to become an explorer tomorrow.

I hope I don't have to say goodbye...

Before falling asleep, however, I could swear I felt as if I was being watched, just like yesterday

Nonetheless, I shrugged it off and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, outside, a Mismagious was peeking through the window of the house. He opened his bag and grabbed a small badge with the shape of a rocket, before pressed a button on it.

After some silence, a voice was heard from the other end, as if it were a phone.

"What do you want? You know how late it is? This better be important! " Answered a femenine voice on the other end.

"Shut it, L! This is important news! And don't act like if you had a regular sleep schedule! I'm sure you were still in front of your whiteboard, making your damn plans!" He answered.

A sigh came from the other end, followed by a small chuckle. "You are lucky that you are my friend, you know? Or I swear to Arceus I would have demoted your ass this instant. Now tell me, what is it? "

"Remember the stupid undercover mission you made me do in this town to search for potential threats to our goals?"

"Uh huh "

"And remember the 'suspicious guy' our other undercover agent said he asked me to follow?"

"Yeah? "

"Alright, so remember the 'threat to our plans' you took out?"

"Just as if it had been yesterday. What about him? "

"I think I have some bad news..."

"Well? What are you waiting for? Spit it out! "

Mismagious looked back inside and watched my now unconscious body laying on the sofa.

"I think he may have survived"

...

...

...

"Jake"

"Huh?"

"Jake?"

"What?"

I opened my eyes and found myself in a black void. I couldn't see anything, and I felt as if I was floating in a swimming pool. I looked around, and tried to find the source of the voice, but there was nothing. Just black void.

"Jake? Can you hear me?"

"I...can? Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter! Listen, you have to stop them from getting away with their plan!"

"What?! Who's them?! What plans?"

"I...everything...next time..."

Just last night, I woke up with a gasp and covered in sweat, a slight headache was also present.

What was that?

Apparently, Ember had woken up before me, since she was walking towards me holding a pair of apples, but stopped when she saw me.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just... a nightmare, I guess"

She handed me one of the apples, and I ate it. Ember took a bit longer than me to eat it, and looked thoughtful about something.

"Did you feel as if you were being watched yesterday too?" She asked me.

"You also did? I thought it was just me!"

She shrugged and finished her apple.

"So... did you think about the offer?"

She tensed up. "I still haven't decided"

"Listen, if you don't want to join, don't force yourself. I may miss you if you are not with us, but it will be worse if you are with us and you are not feeling okay!"

She softly smiled. "Can I have until we arrive at the mayor's office?"

I nodded. "Sure. Let's go now. Kit should be waiting for us, and you also have to go to work later, don't you?"

The walk to the fountain was spent in silence. Once we arrived though, there was no sign of Kit.

"You think he's late?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't think so"

"Where is he then?"

"Right behind you, Jakey!"

I whipped my head around, but saw nothing. That was, until I realized who I was talking to.

"Alright Kit, very funny. Mind appearing again?" I said, rolling my eyes with a smile.

Just as I thought, Kit appeared from nowhere, as a crimson mist faded from his body.

"How'd you like it? Thought that being invisible could come in handy for future missions, so I decided to practice more! You know that you have aura sense, right?"

I forgot about that completely!

"Anyway! Did our little Braixen make up her mind? I guess you have decided to do it if you are not at work right now, huh?" He said, patting Ember's back.

"Actually... I am still deciding. I can think about it on the way there"

He sighed, but motioned us to start walking. "I get it. Come on, don't wanna make the mayor wait"

And with that, and an increasingly feeling of excitement, we began making our way to the town hall.

"Jake, Ember and Kit! All three of you! I guess that means that you will accept?"

"Hi, Mr Mayor" Kit said, waving.

"...!" Words didn't come to my mouth. I was just too excited to express any coherent words. I felt my new tail twitch slightly, but I just wasn't bothered enough to care.

"I think that is a 'yes'" Kit laughed.

"So everyone is okay with it, I assume?" He asked, eyeing Ember, since she didn't look too convinced.

"Actually...I still don't really know. I just...don't feel ready" She answered.

The Alakazam walked to her and smiled. "It's alright, young lady. Not everyone feels ready to change their lifestyle so drastically. That's normally what puts Pokémon off signing up for this. However, I can assure you that your friends will always be by your side, even in your darkest moments. And, maybe this is what you need to move on, don't you think? So I will ask again, do you wish to become an explorer?"

She looked at me. I smiled, and gave her a thumbs up. "He's right! We will be with you forever! You won't get rid of us anytime soon!"

She looked at Kit, this time, with a bit more confidance on her face. "What he said! We will help you overcome all of your traumas, and that's a promise"

She looked back at the Alakazam, now smiling. "This is what they would want..." She mumbled.

"So?" The psychic type asked.

"I'm in"

END OF CHAPTER 6

Chapter 6 rewritten. Half of the story done, another half to go.

Classes have started, so expect slower progress from now on, cus exams suck.

Thanks to Skywalker405 for his (her?) kind words.

See you next time!