Chapter 8: Team Indigo
Our trip to the dungeon was uneventful. Kit lead the way, but we didn't talk much apart from the usual 'Are we there yet?'.
The first sign that we were arriving was the fact that the trees and bushes had begun growing in number. Then, the path stopped being flat. That's when Kit signaled us to stop.
"Alright. We are not very far from it now. I'll give you a quick summary of the dungeon before entering. As far as I know, there are six floors. There are mostly bug types, with a few flying types sailing the skies overhead, so it will be a piece of cake for Ember. Remember that the mission is to retrieve the Power Band, which if I'm not mistaken, is brown, so we'll have to keep an eye for it. Got it?"
"Yep" I said while smiling.
Kit can be so tactical sometimes... Where does it even come from?
Pushing my thoughts aside, I began walking forward, making my way between more and more trees. Finally, I caught glimpse of a sign, but I didn't know what it meant.
"Hey! I found a sign here! Tell me what it says!"
"Never would I have thought that I'd hear those words coming from anyone other than a kid"
"I'm no ordinary Pokémon, you know that"
"Can we focus?" Interrupted Ember.
"Yeah, sorry. I'll read it for ya, Jakey. You gotta promise you will learn to read soon, though"
"I would if I knew how!"
"That's a pretty lame excuse! Anyway, the sign reads: You are entering Treeshroud Hills! This is a Mistery Dungeon, and only trained explorers can enter! Turn back now!"
"So this is the place..."
"Did you not trust my sense of orientation?"
"Not really. Do I need to remind you of the time you took me hiking? That time we got lost and almost couldn't find our way back?"
"Oh yeah! The good ol' times..."
"Alright, let's enter then"
Both of them nodded, so we headed deeper into the woods.
The fact that we entered the dungeon wasn't as seamless as with the cave. Since it was coated in darkness, I couldn't see anything back there, so the change from darkness to apparent full brightness was instant.
This time however, I could see a gradual change of scenary. Firstly, the trees began increasing in number exponentially, to the point that you could barely pass through them. Then, the sunlight became stronger and stronger, until you were almost blinded by it.
The last indication that we had entered a Mistery Dungeon, was that we stumbled upon a clearing, and when I looked back, there was no sign of the path that we just followed, and the space between the trees was too tight to squeeze through.
Despite that, I clearly saw how Ember and Kit passed through the gaps without any issues.
"Alright, we must be inside now! Let's go, we've got a band to find" Kit commented.
We both nodded.
It's just looking for a piece of clothing. It can't be that hard, can it? Worst case, we will just have to enter and search again.
"Alright, so now that we have these badges, should we split? I think it would make looking for the band a lot easier, and we can just keep in touch with each other through them" I suggested.
"You are the leader, aren't you? You decide"
"But I think you should have a say in the matter, so tell me, Ember. What do you think?"
"I don't see why not! You two should go together, though. A few bug and grass types will be no match for me, but they could be for you"
"I agree. You okay with that, Kit?"
"Sure! I'm not sure about needing the badges, though. I'm certain that we will hear her screams from the other side of the dungeon when she gets swarmed by a few Spinarak. I hope she doesn't forget how to fight when that happens~"
Ember punched Kit on his shoulder, a clear redness on her face as she did so.
"Anyway, I'm taking left. Whoever finds the stairs first should tell the other group"
"Okay. See ya soon Ember"
She pulled the stick in her tail out, and began marching out of our sight.
"Alright Jakey! Now that we are alone, let's discuss the plan"
"The plan? Walk around and search for the Power Band. What else is there to do?"
"Ohh, come on! Don't be one of those boring bosses! Let's make it fun!"
"No. Come on, Kit! We are in the middle of a mission now! Can you not act like this, just this one time? We can't fail this mission if we want to be recognized as a real team! I promise I'll do something fun with you when we are done"
Kit frowned, but nodded. "Fine... It's what you want to do and all of that. You better be talking with me for the whole mission, though"
I chuckled and began walking, to which Kit followed. "You really are like a kid, you know?"
"That's the only thing I kept from my evolution! The only thing I miss is the style of fur I had. You had to see me back then! I spent hours in the bathroom brushing it every day, and I didn't have even half as much as I have now!"
"Really?"
"You know how hard it is to make a tuff of your fur stand still for the whole day with just water and your front paws, while also trying not to fall? Well, remove those limitations but add more fur to the mix. That's me every morning. I got lucky the day you slept at my house, cus normally I can take even half an hour in the bathroom"
"I'm pretty sure we have something back in the human world to help with everything you are telling me about"
"Well, I could have found that thing instead of the music player! It sure would have been really useful!"
"But why do that when you were just a kid? I suppose it was a trick to flirt with the girls in your class?"
"Just so you know, I was in the 'cool kids club' as my classmates would call it, so I was constantly getting haunted by girls! I hated it, though. It wasn't my thing"
"Yeah, act humble just after you bragged about being one of the populars and saying that you had a lot of girls wanting to be with you"
"I never bragged! I literally said I didn't like it! I just wanted to tell you that grooming yourself is a good way to increase your chances! Maybe for a certain fire type~?"
"Shut up, Kit! Don't start with it already!"
A small Scatterbug jumped from the bushes, hissing at us and interrupting our conversation, but I quickly kicked it away back to where it came from. It didn't come out again, so that was a good sign.
We scouted all the area we could, with just a few lonely bugs ocassionally jumping at us. We only found a few remains of burnt leaves, signaling that Ember had already passed through here.
Not too long after, we found the stairs leading to the next floor, and Ember was there, doing her best to find a way to use the badge as a communicator.
"Maybe if I press this... nothing. How does this work?"
"Have you tried pressing the big button on top?" Kit said, making her jump.
"You scared me!"
"Yeah, I can see that! Did you find anything?"
"No, just Pokémon"
"We are wasting time, then. Let's go! I am still waiting for a real challenge!" Said Kit while running up the stairs.
Ember just sighed, pinning her badge back on her bag. "I hope he didn't give you a lot of trouble"
"Nah. In fact, I feel like our bonds are going to strengthen after this adventure"
"Maybe you can finally make him act like a decente adult for once!"
"Nope. I like this Kit"
Ember rolled her eyes, but chuckled. "I honestly do, too. Wouldn't change him even a bit. Let's go, we already waited enough"
I nodded and walked up the familiar stairs.
The familiar dizzyness once again presented itself to me, and then we were on the next floor. Kit was dealing with a Combee, who didn't last long at all.
"Alright, same plan?" He asked, tossing the unmoving body to the bushes.
"Yep. I'm going to the left side again. See ya!" Yelled Ember as she disappeared out of view, leaving us Kit and me alone again.
Sighing, I motioned Kit to follow me, as we prepared to scout yet another floor.
And here I thought she didn't like exploring...
"Sooo... about that lot of girls that were after you..." I began after a few silent minutes of walking.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?" I said with a small teasing smile.
It did not have the reaction I thought it would have, as Kit's ears droopped and his smile faltered.
"I used to, yeah. At first it was great! Loved to be around her, you know? But... things didn't work out. To put things simply, she... changed. Drastically. I haven't heard of her in a long time..."
Oh...
"I'm... sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have asked..."
"It's okay. It was time for your payback for my teasing anyway" He said while recovering his smile, as if it never disappeared in the first place.
"You sure?"
"Yeah! Let's focus on the mission again, shall we?"
I turned around to face him, and sure enough, he didn't appear upset ir sad at all. He has probably got over it a long time ago.
Suddenly, something caught my attention. It wasn't Kit, but the thing that was behind him.
A Scyther. And it was preparing an attack!
"Kit, behind you!"
It was too late. The Scyther had already prepared the attack and launched it at Kit, throwing him forward... and to my direction.
We both fell on the ground, but Kit was quick enough to stand up and help me do the same.
We looked at the Scyther. It pointed one of his scythes to us, and then it did the 'I'll kill you' expression.
I shuddered. "Is that supposed to be normal?"
"Honestly? I dunno. But what I am sure of is that we should kick some bug ass! I have something special for 'im!"
He ran towards the bug type and kicked it in the face, who responded with kicking Kit back.
I ran behind him and jumped over the Zoroark, readying a Force Palm, but the Scyther was quick enough to dodge my attack. It also managed to land an Air Slash on me, which knocked the wind out of my lungs, and knocked me backwards.
I got up and barely dodged a Slash attack coming from the feral. Now that it was close, I kicked him in the stomach again, but it endured it, and quickly used another Air Slash on me.
I was starting to grow tired, but I couldn't show it. If I really felt like I couldn't keep fighting anymore, I could try to use Reversal again.
I charged one last time, and in the last second, changed my path to slide between the Scyther's legs.
Now that I was behind it, I used Force Palm and hit it with a painful blow. However, it did something I didn't expect. It used the momentum from the impact and its wings, to fly upwards and use another Air Slash, knocking me onto the ground this time. A few drips of blood fell from my nose.
The Scyther landed, and proceeded to do a victory pose.
"Nice distraction! Let me heat things up!" Shouted Kit from nowhere in particular.
Suddenly, a stream of flames appeared from thin air, enveloping the Scyther fully. When they disappeared, the Pokémon was nothing more than a charred body laying on the ground.
On cue, Kit appeared in front of me and helped me up.
"Was that an illusion?!"
"Nope, it was Flamethrower! Me and the girlfriend I told you about bought a pair of TMs a long time ago. It was ages since I spat some flames!"
"You could have told me that!"
"It wouldn't have been a surprise then, would it?" He grinned.
"Hey! Is this thing working? Can you hear me? " Came Ember's voice from our badges.
"We hear you loud and clear. Did you press the big button?"
"Shut up. I called to tell you that I found the stairs and I will move forward to the third floor, so don't wait for me "
"Got it. Leave a mark to let us know what path you took"
Saying that, Kit pinned the badge back on his bag. "This thing is cool, isn't it?"
"Yeah! How is that even possible? It's just a piece of metal!"
And it acts exactly like a phone!
"A piece of metal coated in psychic energy. You'll see, and most importantly feel what that can do, I'm sure"
"Let's keep moving"
We scouted what was left of the floor, but there was still no sign of the Power Band. I was starting to grow bored. With only a few bugs appearing from time to time, I began to miss the thrill of fighting those criminals yesterday.
Wait, yesterday?!
After more uneventful and unsuccesful room searches, we decided to give up and look for the stairs, climb them and keep moving.
"Third floor, half of the dungeon explored!" Cheerfully yelled Kit.
"Do you celebrate every small victory?" I said rolling my eyes.
I looked around the room, and found that this time, there were three paths to choose from. The mark Ember left for us was on the center corridor.
"So she went to the center... Do you want to go left or right? You choose, Kit"
"Let's go left. I have a good feeling with this one"
"Hey! I am supposed to be the one that feels things!"
"Not this time! Let's go, I'll cover your back"
We took the corridor and walked for a long time. It didn't seem to ever have an end. Luckily, being with Kit made this exploration everything except boring.
"Jake"
"Yeah?"
"I wanna know more about you. Time for some more questions!"
"Didn't we get attacked the last time we got distracted talking?"
"So what? It's not like it will happen everytime!"
"Fine, you win. Ask, but remember that I still don't remember a lot about me!"
"Alright! So, how do humans look like? There is nothing written about how they are physically in any books I read"
"Well, the most important part of humans would be that they are very tall compared to Pokémon. Even with your age, you wouldn't be taller than the average human teenager"
"No way"
"Yes. In fact, I think that the last time I saw a Zoroark, I was almost as tall as it, and it was like five years ago!"
"If you say so... Now tell me more, I want to hear everything "
"You aren't planning on wrecking chaos disguised as one, are you?"
He grinned mischievously. "It depends on what you think..."
Trying not to think on the repercussions of telling Kit about the appearence of humans, I began explaining everything I could remember.
I told him how we looked like, with our almost hairless bodies and our limited limbs. I told him how there is not a human that is exactly the same as another one both in personality and in appearence. I told him how we were probably the lamest creatures in the entire planet, as we couldn't breathe fire or spit water.
Honestly, I never knew I needed to tell this to anyone.
"Not even moves like Quick Attack or Leer?"
I shook my head. "Heh. Now I understand why you didn't even know how to use your aura thing. It must have been tough what happened to you"
"Oh, you don't say?" I replied, rolling my eyes.
After some silence, Kit spoke again. "What actually happened to you?"
"I think a girl pushed me off a cliff. When I woke up, I was like this, with no other memories except that moment and the fact that I am human"
"Huh?! What do you mean a girl pushed you off a cliff?"
"I don't know, I still don't get why that happened or why someone would ever want to do that, but it's something that definitely will make me think twice about being near any height again"
A Crustle jumped from another set of bushes. We knocked it out with a combo of Force Palm and Night Slash.
"Do you remember anything else? Did she say anything useful?"
I tried going back to that moment. It hurt to even think about it, but I kept trying. Some things she said came to my mind.
"She said a lot of things, but the most important things are something about me being nothing more than a obstacle to their plans, and also something about chasing her..."
"What?"
"It's crazy, I know"
"Why were you chasing a girl? I knew you were desperate, but I don't think that's the way, y'know?"
"No, you dork! I was not chasing a girl! I was chasing a Pokémon! At that time, I had no time to think, but now it makes sense! That girl must have been a Pokémon!"
"Does it really? How could that be possible? Did you see how they were at least?"
"Uhh" I tried thinking about the appearence of the Pokémon, but I could only picture the girl, with her innocent looking eyes and smile.
Nothing more than a murderer.
"I can only remember the girl, but I doubt that's gonna help"
"So a Pokémon disguised as a human girl attacked you because you were chasing them? That doesn't make any sense"
"What are the suspects, detective Kit?"
A Lokix tried attacking Kit, but he kicked it towards me and I used Force Palm again, making it retreat.
"Well, not many Pokémon can do that, you know? That helps us greatly, as the main suspects are either a Ditto, a Zorua, or a Zoroark. It could also be a Ninetales, but that's a lot less probable"
"Did you say a Ninetales?"
"Yep. Maybe you came across a really powerful one. Those can create small illusions that can trick those who aren't careful enough"
"It could be. I don't remember the appearence, but I do know that the culprit was a biped for sure"
"So we leave the Zorua out! See, this is going great!"
"It would be even greater if I remembered correctly..."
"Come on! You can't feel guilty if you can't remember! You survived a fall and a transformation! That's more than enough"
"Thanks Kit. I think I needed that"
"No problem. Hey, look! The stairs!"
Sure enough, the stairs were right in front of us in a small empty room.
"How long has it been since Ember passed through here?"
Kit walked to the plants and bushes that surrounded the room, examining the big amount of burn marks present.
"Not too long. Judging from the burned plants, I can say she fought against a Monster House by herself. Just what is she doing? I'm pretty sure that not even a day ago she didn't want to fight against criminals, and now she fought a horde of ferals! They grow up so fast, don't they?"
"Come on. The next floor is the fourth one, and we still have no sign of the band. Not even from Ember. Let's go up before she decides to keep going"
Kit nodded and we walked up the stairs. The room where we appeared was huge. It could probably fit a whole truck and still have room left. Next to us, there was Ember, who was sitting down to take a rest.
"Finally you guys show up! I had to fight a whole horde of Pokémon by myself! I had to use one of the Orans and I almost didn't make it!"
"Hey, it's not our fault! We had a pretty relaxed scouting walk" Said Kit.
"Of course you did, because everyone was waiting for me in that damn room! For Arceus' sake, I think the whole dungeon was there!"
"But you beat them, didn't you? Thanks to you getting focused on by that Monster House, we were able to talk without any interruptions!"
Kit cleared his throat. "With almost no interruptions!" I corrected myself.
"So what? Do you know each other better now?"
"You could say that. And we were just discussing how Jake was brought here"
"Really? Tell me!"
I quickly summarized to Ember everything I told Kit. "I see. So you think it could have been either a Ditto, a Ninetales or another Zoroark?"
"Those are the most plausible options in my opinion, though there could be more. It will all depend on what Jake can remember"
"Well, good luck with that, I guess. And that girl really pulled and act on you"
"I know, but let's keep moving. We have this, and two more floors to explore, don't we?" I said standing up.
"We do" Answered Ember
"Let's keep it up!" Exclaimed Kit, raising a fist.
"Do we split again?"
"No way! I'm not fighting a whole Monster House alone again"
"If I'm not mistaken, you were the one that wanted to go alone, weren't you?" Smiled Kit.
"That was before I knew there were Monster Houses here! You could have told us!"
"I can't know every single thing about every dungeon! Plus, what's an adventure without surprises?"
"Whatever" Sighed Ember.
"Come on, this floor has to have something! I know it!"
"That's the spirit, Jake! Let's keep it up!" Yelled Kit.
"You two are exactly the same, you know that?"
"That's what you get for leaving us alone!"
We began walking to the other end of the room, avoiding a pair of sleeping Scizor, and keeping our eyes open for any sign of the band.
"Guys! I think I found something!"
There was a small piece of clothing on the ground. It looked like a red scarf, with both of its endings being white.
"Do you think that could be what we are looking for?" I asked.
Kit walked a bit closer to it. "No, that looks like a Detect Band. It's also useful, but not what we are looking for"
"Detect Band?"
"It's a band that increases your ability to evade attacks" Answered Ember.
"Let's take it then! That sounds useful"
I grabbed it and took a look at it. It didn't seem any different from the scarf you can find in a regular store.
"Who should wear it?"
"Not me. I think that my Agility is enough to dodge attacks" Said Kit.
"I think you should take it, Jake. You aren't exactly the best at dodging, no offense" Ember suggested.
"None taken"
I tied the scarf around my neck, hoping to feel anything different, but... everything looked the same.
"It looks awesome on you!"
"If you say so... Let's keep moving"
We scouted the whole floor, but there were only feral Pokémon that we took out with ease, without any sign of the band.
"Really? Nothing here either?"
"Nothing"
"That's a pity. Well, at least the band seems to be working, I think"
"Hey, Jake?" Suddenly said Ember.
"Yeah?"
"You said that a Pokémon turned into a girl and pushed you off a cliff"
"Yes?"
"You also said that girl talked to you before attacking you"
"Get to the point!" Pressed Kit.
"How did she talk to you if she was a Pokémon? Didn't you almost have a heart attack the first time we met because 'Pokémon can't talk to humans'?"
That made me stop. How could I have not thought about that?
"Humans can't understand Pokémon?"
"Not now Kit. You are right, how could that be possible?"
"So our suspect is bipedal, can transform into other creatures, and can also talk for you to understand..." Summarized Kit.
"I never read anything about Ditto being able to mimic voices"
"That just leaves two suspects then..." Began Ember.
"The Zoroark and the Ninetales" Finished Kit.
"Wait... Something doesn't feel right"
"What is it?"
"There's one detail I forgot to tell you! I think it has to do with the Pokémon's fur! Something about... light gray? I think it was the color!"
"Light gray? Ninetales aren't that color, not even those ice type ones... And Zoroark aren't that color, as you can see right here..." Explained Ember, pointing at Kit.
Kit meanwhile was... sweating? "L-Light gray? Girl? Shapeshifter? Could it... no, it can't be possible..."
"Is everything alright, Kit?"
He shook his head. "Yeah, just thinking about stuff. I don't know what 'mon it could be then"
I sighed. "Don't problem. I'm sure we'll find the answer sooner or later. Thanks for trying"
"Anytime" Ember said.
"We are friends, aren't we?" Kit added.
With all the talking, I forgot where we were headed, and tripped with the first step of the stairs.
"Ember, I think Jake found the stairs"
"Oh yeah? How could you tell?"
Both of them were trying to hold their laughter. I stood up, and removed all the dirt and grass from my fur.
"Guess I couldn't sense that, huh?"
"Let's just... continue"
The next floor was... different. Instead of the usual small room that branched into a few paths, this one was just a big room, with no paths coming out of it. There were also no stairs anywhere.
"Oh no"
"What's wrong Kit?"
"This is a boss floor"
"A boss floor?! But we are on the fifth floor, aren't we? I thought boss floors only appeared in the last floor of a dungeon!"
"Maybe this dungeon has five floors and I just forgot?"
"Woah, hold on. Boss floor?"
"A floor where a powerful Pokémon resides, and you can't escape until you either beat it, or get beaten"
"But we didn't find the band!"
"I don't think we need to, look!" Yelled Ember while pointing to something in the sky.
A Beedrill flew overhead, and changed its direction to land in front of us. A pair of Weedle crawled from in between the trees and near the Beedrill, which was... wearing the Power Band.
"This guy's wearing the band!" I yelled.
"We have to beat all of them, or else we won't get out of here nor get the band!"
"Do we have a plan?"
"Ember pushes the Beedrill with her fire attacks while we take the Weedle out! You may not feel it, but bug type attacks really hurt me!"
"It's settled then. Let's go!"
"Aye!" Yelled both of them.
Did we have a plan? Yes. Was it a good one? No. But what else could we do? That Beedrill had the band, and we needed to defeat it to get out and get the band to complete the mission anyway, so what better plan that attacking as much as possible?
Ember began her offense with a Flame Charge, but the Beedrill began flying up and completely dodged the attack.
Meanwhile, we rushed to the two small Pokémon that were near the Beedrill, with a Force Palm and a Night Slash prepared.
The small bugs used Poison Sting, which hit us, making Kit stumble and miss his attack, but thanks to my immunity to poison type moves, I didn't budge, and hit one of the Weedle.
Despite my attack being far from effective, it was enough to throw it against the wall, making it fall unconscious.
"You okay, Kit?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't get poisoned, so let's keep it up"
The other Weedle screeched in terror as he saw both of us closing in, but it quickly used String Shot, trapping me in a cocoon. As much as I squirmed, I couldn't break the silky prison, rendering me unable to help for now.
"You okay there?" Yelled Kit dodging a Pin Missile attack coming from the Beedrill, and a fire attack coming from Ember.
"Yeah! Just focus on knocking the Beedrill out and help Ember! I'll find a way out!"
"Got it!"
Kit used Agility to run behind the Weedle and kicked it towards a wall with unnatural force, making it faint like its partner, followed by him running after the biggest Pokémon.
Alright Jake, think quickly. How to get out of here?
The cocoon seemed strong and sticky, and no matter what I did, it didn't look like it was budging soon. I couldn't battle like this, but I needed to help Ember and Kit fight that Pokémon.
This thing is too strong to break it using brute force. If only I had a knife, or anything sharp enough to cut through this...
That's when I realized something. My body was tightly wrapped, but my chest area was surprisingly losser, and something shined from within the cocoon.
Then I remembered what Pokémon I had become.
That's it! What's a better way to get out of here than a pure metal spike attached to my chest and hands?
I made myself sit down and started squirming inside as to force the spike to tear the cocoon. Surprisingly, after a few bounces, I began to feel how the cocoon slowly began ripping, until...
The cocoon teared apart after making a hole with my chest spike, which set me free, making me able to stand up at last.
Natural anatomy, you saved me this ti-
Ember was thrown at me, launching us both back to the ground. After processing what happened, I got Ember off me, leaving her on the ground and realizing she was unconscious.
"Kit! Ember's down!"
"Shit!"
He backflipped his way out of an attack, and searched in his bag.
"Jake! Grab this!"
He throwed me what looked like a seed, which I caught in the air.
Is this the Reviver Seed?
"Break it near her head!"
I pressed the seed against Ember's forehead and cracked it in half, which made it glow for a few seconds before it turned into a differently shaped seed. Just then, Ember loudly gasped for air.
"Ember! You are alright!"
"This is what Reviver Seeds do? That's amazing! Now let's go kick some bug ass!"
I offered her my paw, and helped her stand up. Today was 'throwing Pokémon' day apparently, since Kit rolled next to us, thankfully still conscious, but heavily hurt.
He grabbed an Oran berry from his bag, and ate it quickly, healing his injuries and remaining energy.
"That band is making it hard to win!" He said.
"How are we doing on moves?" I asked.
"I'm pretty good!" Answered Kit.
"I think I'm done with Embers!" Ember added.
"Alright Kit, cover us from afar! Ember will use Flame Charge and I'll try to use Force Palm!"
"Got it!"
"Lets do this, team!"
Kit's eyes glowed red, and suddenly the Beedrill was surrounded by tenths of Zoroark, while Ember and me were quickly running towards the Beedrill, covered in an illusion.
All of Kit's clones jumped at the Beedrill, before suddenly disappearing, and revealing us at a hair's length from it.
Before it could realize it was tricked, Ember slammed against it with Flame Charge, followed by my own Force Palm.
The Beedrill buzzed in annoyance, readying a Poison Sting, but was quickly stopped by the real Kit using a Flamethrower on its back.
The feral screamed in anger, as it flew upwards, preparing to tackle Kit.
"Watch out!"
He quickly used Agility to get away, and tackled the bug type the moment it hit the ground.
"You aren't doing so great against the three of us, huh?" Teased Ember
The Beedrill screeched in a pitch that almost blasted my eardrums, and flew at its top speed against Ember.
Caught unprepared, she didn't manage to dodge, and was thrown against the room's walls, knocking her out again. That attack must have used a lot of its energy, as I could swear it was panting.
"Kit! Ember's down! AGAIN!"
"We haven't got any seeds now, just make sure she doesn't get hit again!"
ThEmber was down, which meant that all we had were fighting and dark moves, with the occasional Flamethrower. And even though Kit's moves were probably far stronger than the Beedrill's, it didn't look too good. Despite that, I was confident we were going to win.
"Let's give it our all!"
"That's what I want to hear!"
Kit used Dark Pulse, and aimed it to the Pokémon's wings. It was a direct hit, breaking most of them, and forcing the Beedrill to stay on ground.
"All yours, Jake! Use every bit of power you have!"
I nodded and closed my eyes, focusing on the Beedrill and its aura. It didn't have one at all, but it didn't need one for me to know that it didn't have a lot of energy to spare. Added to its broken wing, it couldn't escape from us.
You are mine!
With every bit of strength I had left, I ran towards the Pokémon and unleashed the most fierce Force Palm I had ever used. The shockwave was huge, and it hurt both the Beedrill and me, raising a very big wall of dirt that blocked our vision.
My heart was beating so hard I fell on my knees panting. I used all of my energy on that attack, and if it wasn't enough...
The smoke slowly settled. And on the ground... was the Beedrill. It was still buzzing, but this time, it sounded more like a plead.
I forced myself to stand up, and walked in front of the Beedrill. It looked up, and our eyes met.
"You put up a good fight, but it's over. Good luck next time, I guess"
Just then, the Beedrill's head fell limp, leaving the Power Band unprotected. I untied it from its neck and picked it up, showing it to Kit. A smile formed on my face, and I raised my hand with the band on it.
"WE DID IT!"
"Hell yeah! That Force Palm was amazing!So much that I also got hurt from the shockwave!"
I smiled even more. Our first mission, passed with an straight up A grade. It was then that I felt my body began to feel heavy.
"You okay Jake?"
All the power I used for that attack was taking its toll on me. And I could feel myself beginning to feel faint.
"No" Was everything I could say before everything went black.
...
...
"...ke up!"
Ugh... what?
"Come on, sleepyhead! Wake up already!"
I slowly fluttered my eyes open, and saw Kit looking at me with a worried look on his face.
"Kit?"
He sighed in relief. "Thank Arceus you are alright. Couldn't take using that attack on your first mission, huh?"
I slowly straightened myself on what looked like a hospital bed and looked around. Next to me was another bed with Ember, still unconscious. The room looked like a typical hospital room, so I decided to ask Kit about it.
"Where are we?"
"The town's clinic" Answered a familiar voice.
I looked down next to Kit, and saw Blaze. The Quilava had a wide smile on his face. "Exactly. You don't know how hard it was to carry both of you here. If it wasn't for the Power Band, I wouldn't have been able to bring you both here" Kit sighed.
Speaking of the devil.
"We did it, didn't we?"
"Yep! Congratulations on that, by the way. Seems like it was a bit harder than I originally thought, huh?"
"Nothing we couldn't handle. That's why we are the best upcoming team! We still have to think of a name, you know?"
"Yeah, but that can wait for later. Where is the client?"
"Both her and her daughter are waiting for you outside. When you are ready, go to the waiting room. I have to leave for now, but if you need me, I'll be in the town hall!"
"Bye!"
And just like that, Blaze left the room, and left us alone again. "You carried us both back?"
"Yes. What was I supposed to do, leave you there?"
I giggled at that. "You look in perfect shape, though! How?"
"Those types of bands have some magic, Jakey. That's why it makes you strong"
A groan suddenly came from the bed next to me and Ember began to open her eyes.
"Where...?"
She sat down and looked at us and looked at us, her expression displaying a good amount of tiredness.
"Did we do it?"
"Does this answer your question?" Said Kit, showing her the band.
"Heh. We did it. We actually did it! I can't believe it!"
"Well, it's normal you miss things if you faint twice..."
"Shut up, Kit!"
He snickered. "Anyway, the client is waiting outside, so we should head out if we all are okay" I interrupted.
"Sure! I was waiting for you to wake up"
"Let's move, then. I feel completely fine" Ember said, standing up.
We exited the room, and headed to the waiting room. We came across a lot of what looked like nurses and doctors going back and forth. Chansey, Audino, Indeede, and more were rushing through the hallways, some carrying a clipboard, others just medicine or berries.
Sure is weird being in a clinic and seeing no Nurse Joy...
Not too long after, we finally arrived at the waiting room, and saw the Emolga and Pachirisu waiting for us. The latter, however, was looking down steadily.
"Hey!" I waved.
The Emolga perked up, and jumped from her seat to greet us.
"You three! Thank Arceus you are alright! When I saw your Zoroark friend carrying you here, I was so worried!"
"It was nothing, ma'am. We are an exploration team after all! This has been just one of the many injuries we will probably suffer from"
"I suppose so, but still..."
Kit rummaged through his bag, and pulled out the band. "Is this what you asked for?"
The Emolga looked at it, and jumped in joy. "Yes! It is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you all three for getting it back! Is it okay if I ask where it was?"
"A Beedrill managed to put it on and give us a bit of a headache in a boss floor, but we managed to beat it and take it home"
"A feral Beedrill was wearing the band?!"
"Yes ma'am, but don't worry. It was nothing we couldn't handle, as you can see"
"That is good to know! Thank you for everything, team! I think I owe you something. Dinny, if you please..."
The Pachirisu jumped from her seat too, and without looking at us, pulled a small bag of coins, an orb, and a seed.
"Take these items as a token of my gratitude. The promised money, a Totter Orb, and a Blast Seed"
"Ma'am, we can't accept that..." I began.
"Hush! I insist you take it"
Reluctantly, I picked up the items and the money, and placed them in my bag. Taking another look at the Pachirisu, she still looked upset about something.
"Umm... Kid, are you alright?" Asked Ember.
She took a good amount of seconds to answer. "...I'm- I'm sorry"
"What?" I asked.
The Pachirisu began crying. "I'm sorry! It was me! I was the one that took the band to the dungeon!"
Silence fell over us. Kira eyed his daughter as if she just had confessed to murder. "What do you mean, Dinorah? Is that true?!"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just that you are always working on your bands and ribbons that you never have time to play with me! And dad is always away! I wanted you to play with me, so I took the band to the dungeon! But I never knew that a Pokémon would use it, much less put a team in danger! I'm so sorry!" At this point, the kid just bursted in tears.
"Dinny, is that true?"
The Pachirisu weakly nodded. Her mother smiled and caressed her head. "I never knew that you felt that way. Despite not liking the way you acted, I can understand your reasons. And you are right that I'm always working and never have a chance to be with you, but that's not an excuse to do something like that! Promise you won't do that again, and that you will tell me next time"
"I-I will mom" The Pachirisu sobbed.
"Now come here"
Both mother and daughter hugged each other, both visibly crying.
"That's cute" Ember whispered.
After some time, both of them broke the hug. The Emolga turned to look at her daughter again.
"Now, I think you owe this team an apology"
The kid, Dinorah, turned to us. "I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me" She muttered.
"Of course we can! I know how it feels to not be given attention by your parents..." Replied Kit.
"Yeah, and you gave us the chance to take on a big fight! I never fought against something that big!" I added.
"The point is, don't worry about it. But listen to your mother and don't do that again, got it?" Ember finished.
"O-Okay. Thank you!"
The Emolga looked at us, and said one last thing before going away. "You are welcome to our home whenever you want to. Maybe next time we can have a chat and drink something?"
"Sure, ma'am" I waved.
"Goodbye! And thanks again!"
We all waved the duo goodbye as they exited through the door.
"So... what now?"
"We should go to the town hall. We have to pick a name, don't we? And it's almost nighttime, so..." Said Kit.
"Nighttime!?" Yelled both me and Ember.
We went outside and sure enough, the sun was beggining to set, casting an orange light on the sky.
"We've been the whole day in that dungeon?!"
"More like until the evening. You took a few hours to wake up"
"Let's head to the town hall before it's too late then!"
The building's reception was neatly decorated, with a few orbs brightening the area. The walls had a bunch of posters, which mostly were old pieces of news and 'Keep quiet!' posters.
The receptionist was a Chansey, who I presumed was the same that wrote the info while I was with the mayor.
We walked towards her and she looked at us, smiling. "Welcome! I suppose you are the team that are still to choose their team name?"
"Yeah! We have to get one, don't we?"
She giggled and showed us a paper. The same one that she was writing on back then.
"Just write your name down there. You have all the time you need, don't rush!"
I looked at the paper, and then back to my friends.
"Any suggestions?"
"How about team Unbeatable?"
"That sounds a bit too much egocentric, don't you think Kit?
Kit grumbled, but nodded. "Maybe something with our initials? Like, EJK?" Suggested Ember.
"That sounds a bit weird. How about our species' name? Like BLZ?" Kit shot back.
"Really? I think we should..."
While those two were discussing, I searched my mind for a name that inspired confidance withing everyone that heard it.
"I have an idea" I interrupted.
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think of... team Indigo?"
They both pondered my idea for a bit, and finally, Ember answered. "Honestly, it may not be the best name, but we don't have a lot of options, so that's fine by me!"
"Yeah!" Added Kit. "Like the color of the sky when it's about to become night! That's a sick name! And indigo is one of my top favourite colors too!"
"So team Indigo it is!"
I turned around and prepared to write our name in the paper, when I realized something. "Umm... guys?"
"Gotcha"
Kit took the pen and wrote our team name on the paper, using that weird alphabet I still wasn't used to.
"Alright, so that's done. Now we will send this file to the Expedition Society and we'll notify you when you are officially approved by them! For now though, you should go back to your house and rest, you guys earned it"
"Sure! Goodnight, miss!"
She waved us goodbye. "Goodnight, team Indigo"
We exited the building, and headed towards the plaza, which was beggining to be our little place to hang out.
"What a day, huh?" Sighed Kit.
"Yeah, I'm beat. But somehow, I still want to do more of that!" I exclaimed.
Ember giggled and answered. "You don't have to worry about it! I'm sure you'll have more tomorrow, but you have to rest for now"
Kit stopped, and turned to the street where his house was. "Well guys, I'm off to sleep. See ya tomorrow, here at the same time?"
"Sure!"
"Night, Kit!"
And with that, the Zoroark turned around and walked away towards his house.
"Man, I'm beat! I don't know if I'm gonna make it back home!"
"Same here. For our first day and what looked like a simple quest, it was harder than I thought. Especially when I had to fight that Monster House alone"
"You gonna keep reminding us about it every day?"
"Until the moment I die"
Our laughs echoed through the soon to be empty street as we made our way back to Ember's house. It was warm, and I liked to feel the soft breeze hitting my face.
"I'll never get used to this. The peacefulness of this town... No sound, no chatting except the small couple of people going to their houses,... Back where I'm from, this was an impossible experience"
"Really? I'm glad you like it. And honestly, I do too. This town is always a pleasant place to be"
After a small moment of silence, Ember spoke again. "Thank you"
"Huh?"
"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have dared to test my luck with joining a team. It was thanks to your efforts that I got over it. Thanks to you, I'll finally get to live my childhood dream. Just... just like they would want to"
She turned to me. "So thank you"
"You are welcome, but I think Kit did a lot more than me, y'know?"
"Kit gave up a long time ago. You gave him enough hope to make him want to try again"
"Is that so? I'm sure you are happy you took that chance with me back then. I know I told you already, but I wouldn't be here without you"
"Are we even, then?"
"I guess so!"
Another moment of silence. "Thank you too, Ember. I'm so happy you joined us. It was so fun exploring with you and Kit. I think... we could actually become a really famous team!"
"Oh come on, don't say that! It was fun to explore with you too! For being a human, you sure do fight well!"
"Well, you can thank Kit for that" I smirked and opened my arms. "Thank you hug?"
She laughed loudly. "Really? Fine, but just this time!"
And just like that, we hugged each other for a good couple of minutes.
Thank you for everything.
After we broke the hug, we began walking back to Ember's house. I could feel a bit of heat rush to my cheeks for some reason.
Finally, we arrived at the wooden building that was her home, and got inside. "You wanna eat anything before we sleep?" She asked.
My answer was just throwing myself on the sofa, giving a loud pained groan.
"Alright, I see you don't. You gotta eat anyway though, so have an apple"
We munched the fruit sitting on the sofa in silence. Once we were finished, the Braixen stood up and walked away.
"Goodnight, Jake"
"Night, Ember" I replied, laying down.
As always, she switched off the lights and walked inside her bedroom, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I swear that hug felt... different somehow. Ember and I already hugged, but I never... blushed after it.
I shifted my position on the sofa and let the sleep overtake me, trying to suppress the thoughts that were roaming my mind.
"Come on, where is it?!"
Rummaging through the stacks of papers in the office was not an easy task for a certain undercover Mismagious.
After what seemed like hours, he finally found what he was looking for: Team Indigo's team file, or as he would call them, 'Those losers'.
"Let's see, what do we have here..."
Team Indigo? That's a stupid name. Befitting for a group of stupid Pokémon.
Apparently, they had completed their first mission with flying colors. He now had no doubt about how they beat those rookies at the cave.
He looked at the file with all the possible missions the team could be tasked with once they were officially accepted by the E.S. and...
Oh no. This has to be a joke!
The sound of footsteps made him jump. Someone was coming, so the ghost type acted fast. He quickly left the paper back where he found it, and used his powers to disappear under the floor.
From the door, a Quilava entered.
Him. Why is he always here?
"I swear I heard something..." He said looking around. After a long time, he sighed. "Whatever, I must have imagined it"
He quickly checked every part of the room one last time, and when he was sure that everything was still good, he left.
Mismagious floated from below the floor, mentally cursing to himself.
I'm sure this guy had to be the one that had that idea.
He left the room, and began making his way back to their base.
All this better be worth it.
END OF CHAPTER 8
My life is so hard, why did I have to decide to rewrite this. Class sucks, but what am I gonna do about it?
Remember that a review is always appreciated! (Seriously, they make my day)
Goodbye, for now. Have a great day/night!