Pokémon Mistery Dungeon: The Missing Project (Rewritten!)

by Lupingllogi111

Jake didn't know what happened when he awoke and realized he had turned into a Pokémon. All he knew was that his regular life had been replaced, and now, he will have to blend in, bond with new partners, and most importantly, try to unravel the misteries of the world he is in and save it from a criminal guild that plans to take over the world with the power of an abomination...

13. Chapter 11: Dawn of the final day

Chapter 11: Dawn of the final day

---

I woke up with an immense sense of dread that made my head dizzy. It lasted for a long time after I woke up, even after I had had breakfast.

"Everything alright?" Asked Ember.

"Yeah"

"Another nightmare?"

"No. It's just a bad feeling. Like something really bad is going to happen today and I just can't shake it off for some reason. Must be me being a Lucario that's making me overreact"

"Well, are sure you are not an Absol? That's the type of thing Damian would say" Ember snickered.

She sat down next to me and put a paw on my shoulder.

"Calm down, alright? We still have this whole day off and you can't just waste it over a feeling!"

I looked at her. "Yeah, you are probably right. It's just... I don't know. It's weird. Everything that has happened to me lately is so weird"

She giggled softly. "I can't even imagine. Turning into a Pokémon must not be a pretty common thing among humans, huh?"

"Hey, it's not funny!" I laughed.

A few moments of silence later, I decided to ask Ember about the past day's events. "Are you feeling better about the whole Rocket Guild thing from yesterday?"

"I guess... It's just that I can't wrap my head around it. How could they be back without anyone noticing? It's as if they'd been planing this since the very moment it was disbanded..." She said, a bit uncomfortably.

"Hey, let's talk about something else, shall we? You don't really look too keen on keeping this conversation"

"Yeah, but I have someone who hasn't been here to live that time sitting beside me, so it is what it is" She shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not that nosy!" I yelled.

Both of us finally bursted into laughter. After settling down, I rested my head in my paws and looked upwards.

"You think Kit's okay? Yesterday he looked a bit... upset. It's surprising he hasn't called us to tease us yet"

"That's the reason why you think there's something wrong with him? Because he isn't calling to mess with us?" She smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Well, yeah! After what happened yesterday morning, I would never expect him to stop so soon!"

After her cheeks went slightly red, she covered her face. "Please, don't remind me about that, alright? I was really tired and worried about you. And if he has forgotten, please don't remind him"

"Aw, but don't act as if I wasn't comfortable to sleep with! You said so yourself~"

I was rewarded with a small punch in my shoulder, and when I looked back at her, her cheeks were even redder. After some time though, she smiled and looked at me. "You'll never hear me saying it again!"

I smiled even wider. "Well, I'm not afraid to do it. You were very comfortable to sleep with. It was probably one of the best nights in my life!"

Her smile faltered in an instant. "Ugh, stop doing that! You've seen me flustered enough already, and that's not helping!" She yelled in a fake whinny tone.

I bursted into laughter again.

You're so cute when you're all flustered...

Shaking the thought out of my head, I stood up and stretched my muscles. After that, I grabbed my badge.

"If he isn't calling, I guess we'll have to do it, huh? Best to inform him that he's missed teasing us a few times"

"Don't tell me you enjoy it!" She yelled while snickering a bit.

"Only when he messes with you and leaves me alone" I laughed.

I pressed the button on the badge and a small click indicated that the call had started. "Hey, Kit? Are you there? I'm just calling to check if you are okay and all that"

After a few minutes of silence, I heard a small grumbling noise from the other side of the line and then the sound of footsteps.

"Mmrg? Jake is that you? " Kit asked in a groggy voice.

"Yeah, it's me. I was just calling to see if you were alright after yesterday's interrogation. I see you have slept well tonight?"

"More like the opposite. Stayed awake almost all night overthinking stuff. How about you? Everything alright with your little girlfriend? "

"You couldn't wait to say that, could you?" Ember sighed from beside me.

"Nah, I was going to say it when we saw each other today anyway. Speaking of which, we haven't decided when we are visiting Spark "

"I forgot! How about we meet an hour from now at the plaza and then we'll discuss everything in a better way?"

"Don't forget the Elixirs!" Added Ember.

"Alright, sounds good to me. Anything the little couple wants to add~? "

I smirked. "Nah. We'll see you soon"

I looked at Ember and winked. "Alright, girlfriend, let's get ready!"

She softly laughed and followed my joke. "Sure, boyfriend. Let's prepare to see Kit"

"Are you making fun of me? "

"Nooo" I answered.

"Who do you take us for?" Ember added.

"Anyway, we'll see each other soon. See ya, lovebirds! "

And then he hung up.

"That was completely unnecessary, you know?" She retorted, snickering.

"A little humor is never bad" I replied while smiling.

"I believe Kit goes by the same saying..."

"Well, guess I learnt something from him apart from moves, huh?"

"Shut up and let's prepare ourselves, babe "

"Oh, so that isn't completely unnecessary?"

After picking the laptop and putting it in my satchel, we got out of the house and set off for the plaza. Once again, there was no sign of the Zoroark anywhere.

"You think that he's invisible?" I thought out loud.

"Maybe? You should check it with your aura sense"

I nodded and concentrated. The familiar landscape and blurs of different colors became visible to me, but there was still no sign of Kit.

"Nothing. He's not here"

"Really? That's weird. Kit doesn't usually arrive late anywhere"

"Maybe the fact that he didn't sleep much is what's making him take longer?"

"Probably. I've never seen him that upset. Not since after he tried to-" She cut herself, before shivering.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just remembering unpleasant memories"

"May I ask what exactly?"

"I don't think Kit would like me to share it..."

"Alright then. I'll mind my own business"

"Let's sit down and wait for him"

We picked one of the benches that was closest to us and sat down, looking at the fountain. I felt oddly at peace. A quiet place and good company was enough to calm anyone down.

"This is relaxing..."

"Yeah. After the forest clearing, this is the second place I come too, though it's not too often"

I leaned on her shoulder and closed my eyes halfway. "I could sleep right here"

"Oh come on, you've already slept enough today!"

Not like this.

"Why do you sound just like my mom?"

"Shut up!" She answered, giggling and leaning on my head. "Honestly? I could also take a quick nap right here... Yesterday left me so tired last night was barely enough to keep me running" She mumbled.

I smiled. I wasn't normally keen on sleeping outside of beds or sofas, but this was going to be the exception.

We spent at least ten minutes in silence, trying to sleep just a bit when someone suddenly interrupted us.

"Aha! I knew it!"

Kit's voice startled us enough to make us jump and sit upright. We eyed him with a surprised look and our cheeks red.

"So this is what you do when I'm not around, huh?"

No answer at all.

"Hey, I'm just joking, you know? Sorry if I woke you up..." He added while rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry. We weren't asleep anyway" I said, a bit too fast.

"Did you bring the Elixirs?" Ember asked, without looking at him.

"You bet I did!" He exclaimed, showing us his bag.

Inside, there were five amber colored bottles with blue caps. They also had a white label with a pair of green arrows in it.

"A whole pack of five! Let's hope it's enough..." He finished.

"You know how to operate that thing quickly, don't you?" Asked me Ember.

"Yeah. It will all depend on how fast the laptop works"

"No point in discussing that now. So Kit, where's Spark?" Cut the Braixen.

"He lives in the police station's dorm rooms, so we should begin there. We can ask the Pokémon along the way if they have seen him"

"Sounds like a good plan"

"Wait, he lives in the police station?"

"Yeah. He told me that all workers are encouraged to live there to make the response against an emergency quicker, as long as they want to, of course. Since Spark has no family in the city he can stay with other than his parents who are a bit too old to keep him in their house, that's the best place to live, in his opinion"

"Woah"

"Exactly. How about we start our Raichu hunt now?"

---

"Hi team Indigo! How may I help you today?" Asked the Growlithe recepcionist.

"Hi! We are looking for Spark? I believe it's his day off and we wanted to see him. Is he here?"

"I'm sorry, but no. He's gone to pay an old client a visit, and he hasn't returned since"

"That's disappointing..."

"Would be okay to know who the client was?" I asked.

"Hmm... He said her name was Kira, I believe"

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Ember asked.

"Isn't she the Emolga we helped in our first mission?" Kit guessed.

"Yeah, you are right! Let's go to her house and maybe we'll find Spark there!" I exclaimed.

"Thanks, miss!" Ember thanked the other fire type before we walked away.

"You are welcome!" She said while waving us goodbye.

The walk from the station to the Emolga's house wasn't very long, since they were both in really close streets. It had been a few days since we last saw her and her daughter and I wondered how they were doing.

After some time walking, the familiar house came into view and we knocked on the door.

"Coming!"

The door opened, revealing Dinorah, the small Pachirisu with the headband. When she saw us, she instantly widened her eyes.

"It's you!" She exclaimed excitingly. "Mom! Come here! Look who's come to visit!"

After a few seconds, the Emolga walked next to her daughter and widened her eyes as well.

"You three! Team Indigo, isn't it? Welcome back! Congratulations on your success, by the way!"

"Thanks!"

"No problem! What brings you here today?"

"We were looking for Spark? The recepcionist at the police station mentioned that he came here to visit, so we were wondering if you had seen him" I replied.

"Spark? The Raichu?" Questioned Dinorah.

"Yeah. Has he been here recently?" Kit asked back.

"Indeed he has. In fact, he's in our living room at the moment. We were having a small chat just before you arrived"

"Would it be okay if we could talk with him?"

"Absolutely! Maybe you'd like to share a cup of tea with us?"

"Sure! If it's not an inconvenience, that is!" Ember added.

"Not at all!" Yelled Dinorah, running inside.

After a small chuckle, Kira gestured us to get inside. "Come on in! Make yourselves at home"

The size of the house still amazed me. It looked like working as a manufacturer for the shop where explorers bought their stuff was a very profitable way to make a living.

"Seriously, dude? Not even when I'm visiting someone?" A familiar voice suddenly exclaimed.

"You said that next time we wanted something, we should wait until you weren't working, and new's flash! You aren't working right now!" Replied Kit.

Spark was sitting on the sofa without his cap on, something which was new to me. He had a small smirk on his face as he saw us walk towards him.

We sat next to him and the Pachirisu made her way towards her mother's side.

"We'll go prepare the drink. I'll be right back" Kira told us.

When the two disappeared into the kitchen Spark finally turned to look at us. "Alright, let's talk business. What do you need me for?"

"Nothing important. Just some help with another weird device again" Replied Kit.

"Are you serious? Again? Don't you have any other electric types in your agenda?" He said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, you liked seeing that music player in action last time as much as I did!"

"True!" He laughed.

"So are you helping us out again?" The Zoroark pressed.

"If you can, of course" I added.

"Yeah, sure! I'd love to... except I have a lotta things to do today. Guarding the town for almost every day means I have no time to do other things! I've got the whole day full, sorry"

"Isn't there a way you could have some time free? We believe this is important!" Ember pleaded.

"Hmmm... I guess you could help me with my chores. I'd have free time and I could help you out!" He exclaimed, his tail twitching slightly.

"Deal!" I finished.

"Sorry for the delay!" Came Kira's voice from the kitchen. She and her daughter were carrying a few cups and a big kettle which I supposed was full of tea. After serving everyone a steaming cup of the drink, the mood enlightened.

"So how have you been doing, team Indigo?"

"Pretty good, actually! Yesterday we came back from a recon mission. It wasn't succesful, but we have today off thanks to it!"

"That's cool!" Exclaimed Dinorah.

"We've also done a few more missions after we helped you. It's been so cool and I can't wait to go back at it tomorrow!" Added Ember.

"You sound excited" Commented Spark.

"Of course I am!"

Kira chuckled. "This is exactly what the world needs: More explorers with this kind of motivation! You three have become really well known around town. I'm sure that will intimidate this horde of criminals enough to make them finally get away from here!"

Everyone except for the two relatives tensed up.

"Yeah..."

The conversation continued for a bit. It was a good way to pass the time, and I got to learn some small trivia from this world too.

According to Dinorah, there had been rumors of a demonic Wigglytuff that has been lurking inside a Mystery Dungeon. The only one who said they have seen it says it didn't look like it was able to use any moves, and claims that it kept repeating something along the lines of 'Why can't I sing?' coming from a femenine voice. Luckily, everyone seemed to get away just fine. At least physically.

A freaky story if you ask me.

"That doesn't sound too believable"

The Pachirisu just shrugged. "I don't believe it either. That Ponyta just keeps making things up over and over again"

"Well, I believe our time is up. We should get going" Spark interrupted, standing up.

"It was nice having you all" Added Kira.

"Are you going to visit us again soon?" Asked the small Pachirisu.

"Yeah, sure! If we have some more free time someday" I answered.

"Yeaaaah!"

After we said goodbye to the pair, we exited the house. It was time to help Spark with his errands.

"Alright, so are you going to help me?" Spark asked us.

"If that means we can see what this holds then, yeah!"

"Alright then. But be aware, I'll help you under one condition"

"Which is...?"

"That you tell me where in Giratina's domain do you get all of these things and how do you know what they are"

My blood froze in an instant. That meant we had to explain to him that I was a human.

"Can you give us a sec?"

"Sure"

We walked away from the Raichu and we formed a circle. "What do we do?" I started.

"We can't just tell him, right? What if he freaks out?" Ember replied.

"Hey, if there is someone you can trust a secret to, it's Spark. If that guy says he won't tell anyone, he won't" Kit countered.

"But what if we tell him and the laptop just turns out to be useless? That would put Jake and Spark in danger!"

"Hey, I told you that he won't tell anyone, and it's not like he's going to kill him while he's sleeping, or something"

"I'm still not sure..."

"Maybe we should ask Jake? "

"What do you think?"

Finding an answer was hard. On the one hand, if the laptop turned out not to contain any info, then we would have told Spark about it for nothing. On the other hand, if the laptop had anything useful and we decided not to check, we could miss a lot of things. Kit seemed certain that Spark would keep the secret, so that gave me some trust in him.

After thinking for a bit, I finally made up my mind.

"There's too much risk in ditching the laptop just because of the superstition that Spark won't keep the secret to himself. If Kit trusts him, I do too, so I see no harm in trying" I finally sighed.

Ember sighed. "So we are telling him?"

"Yep"

"Okay then"

We walked back to Spark. "Alright, deal. Now what do we need us to help you with exactly?"

"Alright, so..." From his bag, he pulled a pair of papers. "Kit, you are going to the post office. I have received a package there and I need you to pick it up. Just show them this and they'll give it to you" He said while handing him one of the papers.

"You two, I need you to go to the department store to buy a few things. Here, I have them written down" He told us, handing us the other paper.

"I will go visit my parents. They say their cooker is broken, so I need to fix it, and that can take a lot of time sometimes"

"That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. Do you have your badges here?"

I nodded. "Unpin them" He demanded.

After showing the three metal pieces to him, he took out his own, which looked like a police badge, and he touched our badges with his. He then put it in his bag again.

"What was that for?" Kit asked.

"Since we are going to be in different sides of town, we would best be in contact. Your badges can contact only other badges like them by default or your boss'. What I did was 'tell' the badge that it has permission to contact mine, so you can call me whenever you need it. Don't ask me how it works, because I have no idea"

So we basically exchanged numbers.

"Okay then!"

"Let's meet up at the fountain when we are done, alright?"

"Sure!" We all exclaimed.

"Then, see you!"

"Bye!"

---

The store's building was tall and imposing. Despite it being made out of wood, it looked really similar to Hoenn's Lilycove department store.

"Here we are!" Ember yelled, opening her arms.

"It's so big! How come I haven't noticed this before?"

"I dunno. It's hard to miss a building like this"

"Have you ever been here? You know, since you work at a different store?"

"I usually come here whenever I need to urgently buy something on Sundays, but Agatha's store is closed. Don't tell her I told you!" She giggled.

"What does Spark need exactly?" I asked while taking the shopping list out and eyeing it. "You'll have to teach me this stupid alphabet someday"

After a small laugh, she rolled her eyes. "I don't know, it's fun to see you struggling. Give it to me, please"

After I handed her the paper, she looked at it and gave it back. "He just needs a few eggs, butter and milk. I trust you know what those are?"

"Duh! I'm not that dumb, mind you!" I exclaimed with a small smile.

When we entered the shop, we were greeted by a small room with yellow tiles as floor, white walls, a small table and seats, and in the center, a counter. A Wynaut was acting as the recepcionist.

This was exactly like Lilycove's store.

"Hi, how may I help you?" He said, with no attempt to hide the fatigue in his voice.

"We are looking for consumables. Which floor is it?" Ember asked him.

"Second floor"

"Thanks"

We waved goodbye to the Wynaut and headed for the stairs to the right side of the room, going upwards.

"Ember, you won't believe this, but this store is exactly the same as a store back in my world"

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's a perfect copy! I knew it looked familiar from the outside!"

"It must be just a coincidence"

"But how? It's exactly the same..."

"I don't know, Jake"

The second floor was bigger than the first one, but it was almost identical in terms of decoration. The walls were the same color, but the floor was bright green instead of yellow. Shelves upon shelves and freezers full of food stood in front of us.

"It's exactly the same..."

"Hey, Jake! Calm down, okay? It's just a coincidence!"

I gulped.

Just a coincidence. It's just a coincidence.

"Search for the butter. I'll get the eggs and the milk" She stated. When she saw I was still a bit worried, she smiled. "Big drawing of a yellow prism, can't miss it" She added, hoping to cheer me up.

"Heh, thanks captain obvious!" I smiled.

We parted ways and I headed for the freezers. Since searching for the dairy was taking longer than expected, I began to question how these freezers worked in the first place, just to have something to think about in the meantime.

How do they have electricity herr? Are there even electrical plants here? And how would they work? Are they powered by electric type Pokémon? Aghhh! So many questions!

I picked what I thought was butter at first, but later realized it was just cream cheese when I took a better look. I sighed and left the food back where it belonged, earning a confused glance from a passerby Sawk. I just smiled and waved back, which made the Pokémon shrug and go back to whatever he was doing.

After I was certain that there was no one nearby, I went back to searching for the butter, which was proving to be harder each second.

"Excuse me, do you need help?"

I turned around, starttled by the sudden voice and saw a Marshtomp with a small basket full of products standing behind me.

For some reason, he looked oddly familiar.

"Thanks, but I'm okay"

"Are you sure? You seem to be having problems"

I finally sighed. "I just can't find the stupid butter anywhere"

His response was chuckling. "First time here?"

I nodded. "Heh. I was like that too when I first came to the store. Pretty big place, isn't it?"

"Yeah..."

He then walked to a freezer just to my right and picked something from the inside. He then gave it to me. "Here you go!"

It was the butter. "Woah, thanks!"

"No problem at all"

"I swear I looked everywhere! If it weren't for you, I would have taken ages to even come close to it!"

"I'm sure you'd have found it sometime"

A long silence followed, only broken by the buzzing of the freezers. "You know, your voice is kinda familiar to me" The Marshtomp finally said.

"Really? I was going to say that you were familiar to me for some reason..."

"Huh, what a weird coincidence!" He exclaimed, chuckling.

"Well, I gotta go. Hope to see you again!" I waved.

"Likewise!"

What a nice guy. I swear I feel like I've seen him somewhere...

I walked back to the stairs and quickly saw that Ember was already waiting for me with the two other things we needed.

"There you are! What took you so long?"

"Hey, it's difficult to find something when you can't read! Thank god that Marshtomp appeared from nowhere and gave it to me, because otherwise I wouldn't have found it anytime soon!"

"So you got yourself a new friend?"

"I guess so"

"Well, that's great! Come on, let's go back to the plaza now"

---

Arceus, this place is bigger than I thought!

Kit had arrived at the post office for the first time since its opening. He never had a reason to come, as he never had anyone to send him any mail.

He quickly shook those thoughts away.

Alright... He thought while looking at the paper. Counter number four; special deliveries.

Since it was a Wednesday morning, the place wasn't too crowded, as most Pokémon were working. The small lucky ones that had this time of the day off ranged from a Scolipede that was talking with the Pokémon behind the counter, to the big Kangaskhan waiting in one of the seats, playing with her kid.

The line to the counter was of two Pokémon, with an Ampharos being the last. When Kit took his place behind him, he looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, are you by any chance Kit?"

"Yeah? How do you know?"

"Kit! I finally get to meet you! Spark told me a lot about you!"

Kit stood a few minutes squinting his eyes at him. "Wait, are you that Louie guy?"

"Yeah!"

"Dude! I've been dying to finally meet you! Spark wouldn't shut up about how well you do your work even in the mornings!"

"It's not that big of a deal..." He replied, rubbing the back of his head.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm picking up a few things from my family. It's hard to get a day off, being a cop and all of that, so you gotta make the best of it! What are you doing here?"

"We are helping Spark with his chores so he can help us with something we found in a recent expedition"

"Really? Oh yeah, that's right! You are a part of a team now, aren't you? Team Indigo, was it? With... how was it... Jake and Ember?"

"Yep!"

"That's rad! You get to see the world with your friends while I'm stuck here working inside this town every day! I'm not saying it's bad, though, but what I wouldn't give for a few field missions..."

The Scolipede finished her turn and walked away, so Louie moved forward and spoke for a few minutes with the worker. He walked away with a few parcels in his paws.

"I'll wait for you outside. We can keep talking after you are done if you want"

"Sure"

"NEXT!"

Kit walked behind the counter and showed the Delibird the paper Spark gave him. "I'm here to pick a package for Spark"

She eyed it for a bit before nodding and taking it away. "Wait here, please"

She ran to the backroom of the building and came out a few minutes later with a big package. "Here you go. Do you need anything else?"

Kit shook his head. "Have a great day, then! NEXT!"

The Zoroark exited the building, and looked around in hopes of seeing the Ampharos, but nothing. There was no sign of him no matter where he looked.

Where could he be?

Kit took notice of a pair of parcels laying in front of the alleyway. He didn't like what this could be implying, so he walked inside the alleyway. Peeking from a corner that lead to behind the post office, he gasped.

Louie was being cornered by a pair of Graveler, one of them being a brownish color instead of the usual grey. A shiny.

"I won't give you anything! Do you know who I am, thugs? I'll kick your ass in no time!"

"Alright, Mr. 'I'm so strong', we wanted to do this the easy way, but since you don't want to cooperate, we'll have to do things the hard way" He said while the both of them pulled something from their bags.

They both took out a knife and swipped it at Louie. "Now, give us the parcels, or face the consequences"

"Tshck, you have this much confidence in your fighting abilities that you need the use of weapons to gain an unfair advantage? That sounds so like your type" Louie chuckled, entering a fighting stance.

Kit had heard enough. He silently left Spark's package on the ground and turned invisible using an illusion. Grabbing a bucket which had been left there that was full of muddy water from the rain, he slowly made his way to the two outlaws, none of them realizing he was there.

"You have three seconds"

"One" Kit was behind them and he raised the bucket above the two rock type's head, earning a smirk from Louie once he saw the floating object.

"Two" He uncasted his illusion, revealing himself.

"THREE!" He yelled, splashing both of the Graveler before they could turn back to find out the source of the voice.

"Aghh!"

"What the-?!"

Before they could even react, a Night Daze followed by a Bulldoze coming from Louie struck them, knocking them out.

A heavy sigh came from both of the Pokémon.

"Thank you, Kit. You are as clever as Spark says you are"

"It was nothing. I wasn't going to let you get stabbed! You know how hard it must be to find a replacement for you?"

"And also as big of a dumbass as he says you are!" He giggled

"What do we do with them?"

The Ampharos picked his badge from his bag. "Hey, Louie here. Requesting police assistance for the capture of two criminals. In the alleyway to the right of the post office that tried to commit a robbery act"

"Copy, on our way "

He left the object back in his bag. "Guess we couldn't talk after all, huh? I'll stay here with them. You can go if you want"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not a policemon just for my pretty face!" He said while striking a pose.

Kit laughed. "Alright then. Glad to have met you!"

"Likewise! I'm sure we'll meet again soon!"

---

"Hey, Kit!"

"Hello, little couple!"

It was around one PM when Kit arrived at the plaza carrying what I presumed was the package he was sent to pick.

"Everything went smoothly, I suppose?" Ember asked.

"Yeah. Had to beat a couple of bandits that tried to rob a policemon in an alleyway, but otherwise fine"

"Police... mon?"

"Yeah? What's wrong with that word? Is it said differently in your human language?"

"Yeah, policeman"

"Can we leave the spelling of words for another time? What happened?" Ember interrupted.

"I met the Ampharos that works for the police in the office. When I went outside to see where he was, it turns out he was getting threatened by a pair of Graveler with knives. I sneaked behind them and splashed water on them, so that left them vulnerable enough for us to beat them" Kit explained.

"They tried to mug Louie?!" Ember exclaimed.

"Yeah!"

"I really don't know how he keeps getting into these kinds of trouble every day..." She sighed.

"Well, your boy Kit saved his ass today!" He bragged.

"How lucky. The most interesting part of our task was when I met that Marshtomp..."

"Oh, so you made a new friend? Already thinking about replacing us?"

"As if! You guys are irreplaceable!"

"Aww, thanks!" Ember said.

"Yeah yeah, 'cus she's your girlfriend and all..."

"Shut up!"

After some small laughs, we sat on one of the benches and waited for the Raichu to come.

"You think he'll arrive soon?" I was nervously rubbing my legs while talking.

"Calm down, okay? You're getting worked up about something that may turn out to be nothing at all!"

"You're probably right, but it's just too much to bear! I just need answers. Just that"

"And I'm sure you'll get them!" A familiar voice suddenly answered me.

Spark just happened to be walking towards us, a big grin across his face.

"Hey bud! Did everything go alright with your family?"

"Yep! I also heard the call coming from Louie"

"Yeah, I was there with him"

"I knew it"

We stood up from the bench. "Jake?" Spark said.

"Hm?"

"You want answers, I want them too"

"Oh! Sure, but we have to go to a... more private space"

"Forest clearing?" Kit suggested.

"Forest clearing"

"I swear the whole town will end up knowing about that clearing at this rate..." Ember remarked.

The walk was uneventful, except for the questioning glances that Spark shot at us from time to time. Once we were seated on the ground inside the clearing and positive that there were no prying eyes anywhere, I sighed.

"I still don't get why we are doing this. Why be so secretive?" The Raichu asked, setting his satchel down.

"Alright, Spark. Listen clearly, and please don't freak out, okay?" I warned, preparing myself.

"Uhhh, sure?"

"Alright. So, do you believe in myths?"

"Myths? Not really. They are cool and all, but just fiction in my opinion. How does that relate to what we are discussing?"

I took some deep breaths. "What do you think about humans?"

He scoffed. "Humans? Those guys that are said to be the worst plague to ever exist? That enslave Pokémon all around the world?"

I winced. "Yeah"

"So overrated. So what if they bring wars and enslave Pokémon? Don't Pokémon themselves do that too? I could name hundreds of conflicts that ended thousands of lives, and I'm pretty sure that some 'mons around the globe are still enslaved. So what if humans do that too? Just because they are a different species doesn't mean that what they do is worse than what we do!"

He sighed. "Again, how does any of this relate to my question?"

I looked at my friends, and both of them nodded.

"I'm a human, Spark"

"And I'm gonna evolve into a Dragonite tomorrow. Look Jake, I really have no time for jokes"

"He's not lying" Defended Kit.

"That was the same reaction I had when he told me" Ember added.

Every single hint of annoyance disappeared from Spark's face, replaced by a look of confusion.

"But... you look like-"

"A completely regular Lucario, I know. That's what we are trying to figure out"

Spark clutched his head. "Arceus above..."

"Do you need a moment?"

He shook his head. "No. So what if you are a human? You are still the Jake I met, and your origins won't change it... Well, maybe just a bit, but not in a bad way"

"Yeah, so the weird device we found on that MD? It was human. A device to play music apparently" Kit explained.

"And the one you have now?"

"I can't explain it, it's too complicated"

He shook his head again. "And I was one that didn't believe in myths..." The electric type sighed.

"Those words sound familiar..." I said, eyeing Ember. "Anyway, can you help us now?" I added, taking out the laptop.

"Sure, I guess. Just tell me what to do, and I'll get to it"

"We need you to keep a constant flow of electricity... here!" I pointed to the small hole were you usually would put the charger.

Spark inserted one of his fingers in the hole. "How long? I may be an electric type, but I'm still not a battery, you know?"

"That's why we have this!" Exclaimed Kit while taking one of the Elixirs out.

"I suppose that means you expect me to be at this for a while?"

"Yep!" Ember confirmed.

I was nervous, but I tried not to show it. "Alright, Spark" I said, opening the lid. "Ready when you are!"

Suddenly, Spark's cheeks sparked with electricity, and felt how the laptop started taking in the energy.

"You okay there?" Kit asked.

"Yeah, no problem around here!"

I pressed the 'on' button and surprisingly, the laptop's screen lit up, making Spark wince. "Alright, now I did feel something..."

Ember and Kit sat behind me, looking expectantly at the piece of alien technology.

For now, the screen only displayed the 'loading' animation, until the screen suddenly displayed the default profile picture, the loading animation, and most importantly, a name. 'Adrian Gonzalez'

After some more waiting, the desktop finally showed up. And thank god that I know how to use the search bar, because it was a complete mess.

"Alright, so we don't need any password, which is good, but weird. Now, let's see if there is something useful around here..."

Ember and Kit didn't reply. They were too caught up in looking at the screen. I couldn't help but chuckle.

There were loads and loads of apps, but most needed some sort of internet connection, so I couldn't use them here. On the right of the desktop, there were a lot of folders, ranging from 'Photos', all the way to 'Ultra super duper classified documents (DO NOT OPEN)', which was full of pictures of different baby cat Pokémon.

"Aww..." Ember squealed.

"Why...?" Kit tried to make sense to it.

"Some people like taking photos of baby cat Pokémon. It's just a human thing"

Kit didn't seem too convinced, but he nodded anyway. I resumed my search. One folder in particular caught my eye. It was labeled as 'Work shit', and after clicking on it, there were two folders and a file. 'Log videos', 'Reports', and a png titled 'Complex map', which was the same map we found inside the small room in the expedition.

"Jackpot"

"Isn't that the same map we found?" Ember asked.

"How's it possible?" Added Kit.

"Can you leave the explanations for later?" Interrupted Spark, his cheeks still sparking and his face twitching.

"Yeah, sorry. Let's see the reports first"

A doubke click on the folder later, and we were met with a lot of documents and a .txt file: 'Report 1', 'Report 2', 'Report 3', and so on, until arriving to the last report which had '(Unfinished)' in its name. The txt file was titled as 'Erika README'.

The file stated the following:

"Erika, if you are reading this, I just wanted to let you know that I'm so sick of writting so many reports. Don't know what the higher ups are thinking, but why did they have to choose me to pass this insane amount of reports to digital form? P.D. what are you doing with my laptop anyway?" I read out loud.

"What does that even mean?"

"Kit, the report we found. Do you have it?"

"Yes!"

"Take it out"

Kit took out the worn out paper.

I double clicked on the first report, and... "It crashed" I sighed.

"Ow!" Exclaimed Spark.

"Did that hurt?" Ember said.

"A bit, nothing much. I suggest you begin taking out one of the Elixirs though, because that just took a lot out of my energy"

While Kit took out one of the bottled, I tried clicking on the second report, which didn't crash Word, but was full of illegible text. It looked as if someone intentionally messed with the document.

"That's a weird report" Commented Kit.

"It's completely illegible, even for me. Someone must have tampered with it"

"But why? And who?"

"I don't know. Let's see the next one"

I kept opening and opening the reports, but every single one of them was illegible, just like the first one. Someone had definitely sabotaged them.

The last document was completely normal at first glance. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but after I began reading it, my heart almost stopped.

"

Status report 96 on subject 000

Day 15 of incubation: The subject has started to develop a shape. One of the lead researchers, Ja_ _ has stated his concern for it, however. "The shape of the subject does not line up with what we have been looking for" He said. Its form has nothing to do with what we assume the Pokémon 'Mew' looks like. Despite all these drawbacks, the researchers have stated that they do not plan on giving up anytime soon.

Below all of the medical details of the subject will be put.

"

Kit's face went pale as he looked from the paper to the screen and back repeteadly. "That's..."

"Exactly like the report we found..."

"What does it mean? And what do you mean by 'the report you found?' And why does it talk about a legend like Mew?" Ember asked.

"I... don't know. Let's check the other folder for now. Maybe that will have some answers"

"Elixir, please" Yelled Spark.

"Coming right up!"

While Kit gave Spark the Elixir, I navigated back to the 'Log videos'. There were a few, 29 in total. Each of them about five minutes long.

I double clicked on the first one.

The video began with what looked like a Floragato trying to set up a camera.

"Aaaand done! Everything should be alright now!" The Floragato exclaimed, stepping back. Behind him, a Gardevoir and an Aggron stood. I couldn't recognize the background, but somehow, it was still familiar.

"Finally! You took about a whole hour to set up a camera" The Aggron commented, rolling his eyes and smiling.

"Hey, shut up, big guy! It's not my fault every single device got friend because of the fact that we are in a whole different world! Also, the only reason I took that long is because you can't do anything with those rocky claws of yours! They are too sharp to operate a camera, and couldn't even get close to it without cracking the whole floor under you, so I was the one that had to do it!" The Floragato teased back.

"At least I don't look like an animation movie character! Where did you leave your boots and your saber, huh?"

"Guys, please. We are supposed to be recording a log for the higher ups" The Gardevoir interrupted.

"Sorry!" Both of them exclaimed.

The Floragato cleared his throat and looked back at the camera. "Log one. All researchers have arrived at the base with no incidents, except the obvious transformation into Pokémon and the complete failure of every electronical device brought along. The boss has stated that all researchers have the whole day to get used to these changes and begin with the preparations afterwards. Today is the first day of God knows how many in the attempt to replicate Giovanni's try at cloning Mew. Hopefully we won't create another destructive legendary again"

"Good boy! I think you deserve a reward for speaking so fluently and without messing up! How about I bring you some tuna?"

"I'm going to end you, James. You know that?"

"Can you cut the video already, Adrian? Every second you spend talking is one more second that you have to edit later! Unless you plan on sending the video as is, which I don't recommend"

"Audrey's right, you know?"

"Yeah, siding with your wife, how unexpected" The Floragato said before he walked to the camera and the video cut to black.

...

...

"Well, that was something" Kit commented.

"Is this what a movie is supposed to be? And what does 'Giovanni's attempt at cloning Mew' mean? Did humans manage to find a mythical Pokémon?!" Ember asked, full of excitement.

"Jake, are you alright?" Spark asked.

Ember's excitement faltered, and Kit's eyes focused on me.

"T-The Aggron and the Gardevoir... That Floragato called them James and Audrey"

A pause.

"Those were my parents' names" I checked the video's properties. "This video was filmed the day when they left me to go to work on a secret project before they... disappeared"

"What? B-But how?"

"M-My parents were scientists. One day they were called to work for a project and they told me that they would be gone for a few days, maybe months. Thirty days later, they were deemed dead by unknown causes"

A heavy silence fell over us.

"I'm... so sorry to hear that, Jake" Ember said, ears drooping.

"Woah dude, I'm... so sorry to hear that"

"Sorry Jake..."

"It's nothing... I got over it long ago..." I sniffed.

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem like it..."

"Of course it doesn't! I thought my parents went to work to a regular lab and something went wrong, like, I dunno, a gas leak! But now turns out that they turned into Pokémon as well and managed to come to this world too!"

They fell silent. "Jake, I'm sorry to be the one to say it, but could you leave that for when you are done with this?" Spark suddenly interrupted again.

"Spark!" Kit and Ember exclaimed.

"No, it's fine. He's right anyway. I'll leave the sobbing for later" I huffed.

"Well, if you say so. Does that mean that the place we found in the expedition is the place they used as a base?" Asked Kit.

"And what does 'the obvious transformation into Pokémon' mean?" Added Spark.

"I don't know. I guess they somehow found a way to cross from our world onto this one, and tried to 'clone Mew', which went wrong? I really can't think of anything else"

"But how could they find a way to cross from the human world into ours? And how do you even clone a legend?! " Kit kept asking, still in disbelief.

"Wait, there are more humans?" Spark added

"Let's just... watch the rest of the videos"

The videos didn't have anything important. All of them depicted my parents and the Floragato, who I presume was the owner of the computer, explaining the current progress of the experiment. Apparently, everything was going smoothly, at least until our current video, which was number 28. Spark had already drank almost all of the Elixirs, leaving only one remaining, and one last video to play.

"Checking? One, two, three? Alright!" Adrian spoke to the camera. "Log number 29. Check this out!" He yelled, grabbing the device and walking around. He was in a dark room with a life support chamber in the center of it.

The same one Kit and I found.

Inside the capsule, there was... something. It almost looked like a Ditto, in the sense of being an amorphous blob. Was that... Mew's clone?

"We have done it! We've got something! I still don't know what it is supposed to be, but still! James keeps saying that it's not what we are after and that we should start again, but no one wants to do that! They have acknowledged that fact though, and they are deciding what to do to try and correct the formation before it's too late. Not much else to report. Expect a few more logs before I start with the editing and ship them straight to Danika and Quillon for them to check out! Adrian out!"

Just like that, the video cut to black once again.

"He says there are more logs, but I don't see them. What happened?" Kit asked me.

"Something had to happen! If the place in the video is the same one we found, there is no way it could be all destroyed if nothing went wrong!" Ember exclaimed.

"But there is nothing! Judging by the state if that bunker and the fact my parents were deemed dead... I really doubt anyone survived"

That soured the mood a bit. I decided we were done and closed the tab. I was about to tell Spark to stop with the power supply when my eyes caught something among the icons in the desktop.

Evacuation.txt and SafePlace.png

"I don't know what the higher ups were on when they asked us to do this, but they kept insisting that we found a safe place somewhere around the continent we are just in case something went wrong and we had to escape. I don't know what could go wrong though, but I'm still gonna do it anyway. Just how they say it back in Paldea, "Mejor prevenir que curar". Man, how do I miss it... Anyway, there is a photo with the place we settled with. I know it's kinda far away, but it is what it is, I guess. Everyone agreed to choose that as a safe place, so who am I to judge?" I read the document out loud.

I opened the photo showed a massive landmass. "That's a photo of the Water Continent. That's where we are" Ember explained.

The photo had something circled in red. It was an island to the southeast. "Where is this?"

"That looks like Seabound Town. It's the last town before the sea to the Air Continent. It's called like that because it's a town surrounded by water"

"And you'd know how to go there?"

"Uhhh, I guess so?"

"Spark, you can stop now"

He loudly gasped and the screen went black. The Raichu clutched his head. "That was harder than I thought... Ugh..."

"We have to go to that island" I deadpanned.

"Jake..."

"Come on, let's go"

"Jake!"

I stopped.

"Look, I know you want to know what happened, but that town is on the complete other side of the continent! And on an island! We can't just go there like that! We need money and time to prepare the trip!"

"But I can't just wait! Everyone told me my parents died, but no one told me why! And now that I have the chance to know, now that I have a lead, I just..."

Tears began to form in my eyes. "I just can't live without knowing anymore!"

I felt a paw on my shoulder. "Jake, I don't know what happened either, but it is important for you, we can tell that much. It may not be now, it may not be in a week, but I promise you that we'll go there as soon as possible. And I swear to almighty Arceus we'll find you some answers!" Ember reassured, raising a fist.

"E-Ember..."

"Yeah, what she said! We aren't just gonna drop the investigation here! We'll find some answers in that island for sure! But you gotta be patient" Kit added.

"Kit..."

"I don't know what you guys have been through or what any of this means, but I will do whatever I can to help!" Finished Spark.

"Spark..."

I pulled all of them into a big hug. "Thanks, everyone. I-I believe you. I believe we can do it! We will do it! I got over my parents' death a long while ago, and that was when I didn't know shit, so now that I have a lead again, it's not the time to lose hope! Thank you, guys!"

"You are welcome!"

"Of course we'll do it!"

"Yeah!"

I broke the hug and picked up the laptop. "Thanks for helping us, Spark. We wouldn't have been able to do this if you didn't"

"No problem! If you need anything else, just give me a call and I'll be there!"

After exiting the forest clearing and waving goodbye to Spark, we headed to Ember's house, since we had already left the whole morning behind us. "Lunch time?" Kit asked.

"Lunch time!" Ember and I yelled.

This laptop had more information than what I had hoped, but that just meant that I now had new leads as to what happened with my parents.

Why did they try to clone Mew? What exactly were they trying to do that and how? Why did they have to do it in a whole different world, and how did they travel here?

What was the catastrophe that led to the downfall of the researchers inside that weird bunker? And last but not least, if someone actually tampered with the reports in the laptop, who did it?

---

"Bombing Squad 1, 2 and 3, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Capture team, you ready?"

"Yes!"

"They don't stand a chance against us"

"Nothing more than punching bags"

"Alright, everyone else is confirmed to be set. Let's start with plan Z at once!"

---

"Your cooking is amazing! How do you do it?"

"Practice makes perfect!"

We had just finished having lunch, and by that time, it was already half past four in the afternoon. We were trying to think about what to do for the last part of our day off.

"Why don't we go to the cafe? We were going to do that yesterday, but we got called to interrogate those two and couldn't do it" Ember suggested.

"I think that's a good idea. It'll take my mind off... things" I agreed.

"Cool! I think I'll pass though" Said Kit.

"What?"

"Why?"

"I've got some things to do and they can't just wait for tomorrow. How about you two go to the cafe together?"

Alone!?

"Uhhh, yeah sure!" I managed to force a smile.

"What's wrong, Jakey? Don't wanna hang out with your girlfriend?"

"Shut up! It's just... what do you have to do? Maybe we could help?"

"Don't worry, I can manage. You two go to the cafe and have a nice afternoon!"

"Alright, if you insist..."

I was definitely not keen on going to a cafe alone with Ember, yet I was. It was a hard thing to explain. Maybe it was the clash of feelings I was feeling.

"If that is all, I'll be taking my leave. Have fun, and don't kiss too much in public!" Kit said, before waving us goodbye and leaving the house.

"Well, what cafe do you wanna go to?" Ember asked.

"Ummm, I dunno?"

"I forgot you're not from here!" She laughed.

"Anything you choose will be fine, I'm sure of it!"

"If you say so... Let's go then!" She exclaimed while opening the door and stepping out. I chuckled at her antics and followed her.

The streets were full of kids running around, playing all sorts of games. It was nostalgic to look at. We walked through the street, some of the kids and adults waving at us as we did. We finally arrived to a cafe which was a bit crowded.

"Welcome to Spinda's Cafe!"

I sniffed the air. "It smells nice"

"Wait until you actually try the drinks here!"

We took a seat in one of the tables outside of the cafe and waited, until a Wobuffet with what looked like lipstick in her mouth came walking with a small block of notes and a pen in her hands.

"Good evening! What can I get you?"

"Hmm... I'll take a Petaya Berry coffe"

"Alright, what will it be for you?"

"Oh! Umm..."

"You look a bit stressed. May I recommend you a Nanab Berry coffe? They say it's good to calm one's nerves"

"Sure, I'll take that one"

"Alright! Coming right up!"

The waiter walked away, leaving us alone. We stood in silence for a bit, which I used to look around. Everyone was eyeing us and whispering to their partners about something I couldn't manage to hear. Some of them even waved at us, to which Ember and me waved back.

"Wanna talk about something while we wait?"

"Uh, sure! What exactly do you wanna talk about?"

"Maybe... about what we are going to do tomorrow?

"Out of all of the possibilities, you wanna talk about work?" I laughed.

"That's what the crowd around us would like to hear, isn't it? Do you have something else to talk about?"

"Hmmm..."

I could maybe tell her...

"Alright, you win, but let me ask the question instead"

"Yeah, sure"

"What is your favourite thing we've done so far?" I began.

"You mean official?"

"Yeah, I guess! Must have felt good to finally fulfill your dream, huh?"

"Well, the time we went to get the band was fun. I got to finally fight something strong and seeing that Emolga and Pachirisu's faces was very fulfilling. The Beedrill was scary though"

"Totally"

"The recon mission was cool too. An ancient bunker, untouched for who knows how long? And turns out it was built by you know who?! That was amazing. I'm also happy that I got to help you, of course!"

"Thanks, Ember!"

"Don't mention it! That's what friends are for, right?"

That's when our drinks arrived, both of them smelling amazingly well. I picked my coffe and took a sip. It was warm, but what grabbed my attention was the flavor. I had tried Nanab Berries already, but that was when I was human, and the taste wasn't anything special.

It all changes when you are a Pokémon.

The taste was bitter, as was the coffe normally, but the berry added a sweet accent that for some reason made the drink even more delightful.

"Like it?"

"It's delicious! I think I never drank a coffe that tasted anywhere near this! And I feel more relaxed too!"

"That's the power of berries!"

We resumed drinking in silence for a bit of time. If I had my phone charged now, that would have been the moment where I'd have taken it out to check my messages.

"Mind if I ask something personal?" I broke the silence.

"Sure, go ahed"

"Why exactly is your dream being explorer?"

Immediately, Ember perked up and her tail twitched slightly. "Why exactly?! Because it's so cool! Helping people, exploring places, finding all sorts of treasures, traveling everywhere, meeting Pokémon, and hundreds of more things!" She almost yelled with a childish excitement.

"And you are supposed to be mature enough to have evolved?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, the smile on her face still present.

"Nevermind" I giggled

Grown up on the outside, still a kid in the inside.

We drank what remained of our drinks, with occasional bickering about what Kit could be doing at the moment, but otherwise stayed silent.

"That was really a good coffee!" I exclaimed, leaving the cup on the table.

"Told you you'd like it!"

Between the wait and talking, about an hour had passed since we arrived there. I was having fun, and didn't want it to end anytime soon, but I was suddenly struck by the same feeling I had this morning, only this time, it was extremely upscaled, to the point I felt myself tremble and sweat began to fall from my forehead.

"Jake!"

I snapped out of it for a second. "W-What?"

"Are you alright? You are shivering all of a sudden!" Ember asked worriedly.

I shook my head, and the feeling disappeared slightly. "I'm fine. It was just the same feeling I had this morning. It just hit me hard and by surprise"

"Are you sure you are okay? You are still shaking a bit"

"A-Am I?" I said while looking at my hand. True to the Braixen's words, it was shaking, more than what I liked to see.

Ember grabbed my hand and looked at me dead in the eye. "Jake, are you sure you are alright? You can always talk to me about anything you need"

I looked to the side, averting her gaze.

It feels nice to be conforted by her. Maybe... I should just tell her. I can talk with her about anything, right?

Right?

My cheeks turned a bit red. "There's something I need to tell you, actually" She tilted her head. "B-But promise not to get upset or anything!" I added, even more red.

"Please " I pleaded, almost whispering.

"Of course! Why would I get upset?"

Here goes nothing.

"Ember. I... I think I lov-" Before I could finish the sentence, I was interrupted by something hitting me in the back of my head, prompting both of us to look at what it was. The other Pokémon sitting at the rest of the tables were looking at the object too, so I looked down to take a look at it.

It was a small metal cilinder, big enough to be able to be thrown easily. It was identical to the one Mismagious found inside the bunker.

...

It was too late when I realized what it was, before all I could see was white and my hearing got filled by an endless beeping sound. It was followed by the feeling of being tackled onto the ground.

---

Kit had finished all of his chores and was walking down the street, headed for Ember's house, although he knew he probably wouldn't find anyone inside.

I finished everything I had to do so fast that I'm actually impressed with myself. Now to find the little couple... Hopefully they aren't making out in the sofa and they can hear me knocking on the door. That's if they are home in the first place... He thought with a smile.

As expected, after knocking on the door a few times, there was no answer.

I'll just call them then.

Kit reached for his badge and pressed the button on it. And he waited. And waited. Still no answer.

Where could they be then? Why don't they pick up? And what café did they even go to? Probably Spinda's Café. It's Ember's favourite after all.

Kit turned around and headed towards the center plaza. The café was a few steps from there. He noticed how the streets were empty, something never seen at this time of the day.

This is creepy. It almost looks like a ghost town...

Kit began walking slightly faster.

Finally, the plaza came into view. And it was empty. Completely.

Alright, that's just got to be a sign. This isn't normal at all. Why would this place be empty if it's still daytime? Really weird...

"You!" A voice suddenly yelled behind him.

Kit whipped his head around and saw Jessica, standing behind him. The ghostly Typhlosion was eyeing him intensely. She looked... angry?

"Oh! It's you! Jessica, was it? Glad to finally see someone around here! By any chance, did you happen to come across the rest of my team? I'm searching for them and-"

"Oh, shut up already! You don't even know the effort I'm making not punch you in the face right this instant!"

What the-?!

"What is wrong with you? I haven't even spoke to you since I first saw you! Why are you even angry?"

After a pause, Jessica bursted into laughter. "What does that even mean?!" Kit was starting to lose his patience.

The Typhlosion stopped his laughing fit and looked back at Kit. "You haven't talked to me, huh? Never? Are you sure about that?"

"Look, I don't know where you are going with this, and I just can't give less of a shit about it. I'm searching for my friends now, so just leave me alone" He said, turning around and beggining to walk.

"I wouldn't even bother to try, if I were you"

Kit stopped dead in his tracks. "What does that mean?"

"Your friends are being taken care of right now, and I'm glad to tell you that you are next"

Kit turned around and adopted a battle stance. "What have you done to my friends?!" He snarled.

Jessica chuckled. "I could explain it to you, but it would be better if I just showed you"

As soon as she finished that sentence, the Typhlosion's body began to glow in a blinding purple light, forcing the Zoroark to cover his eyes.

When he looked back, he gasped in shock. What was standing there wasn't a Typhlosion anymore. Instead, who stood there had mostly light gray fur all around her body, except in some places where there were some sort of red marks. Her head was mostly covered by a huge mane of the same wispy white fur as her body, all of its tips ending in a dark red color.

What stood there was a ghost-type Zoroark.

Kit's long forgotten girlfriend.

"Missed me, babe?"

"L-Lilith...?"

---

When my vision and hearing finally returned, I was on top of Ember, while she was out cold. I was also being pinned down by someone I couldn't identify.

"Well, that was easy! That thing you had actually came in handy!" The Pokémon on top of me said.

"Of course it did! What did you expect" A familiar voice replied. Mismagious floated down to a height where I could see him easily. He wore the most victorious smile someone could have.

"Wakey, wakey!" He chuckled.

"What the hell is going on, Mismagious?!"

"You know them?" Asked the other voice.

"Yeah. Remember the time we got sent to form a explorer team?"

"Like, a year and a half ago?"

"Yeah"

"So that's what you've been doing all this time? No wonder I haven't seen you around the guild!"

"Hey, hold up!" I interrupted. "The guild? You are with them?! I knew something was up the moment I laid my eyes on you, you traitor!"

Mismagious sighed. "Make sure the Braixen doesn't break free"

"Sure"

Suddenly, I felt how I was being grabbed by some sort of psychic energy. I was lifted from the ground, and even though I was trying to break myself free, I almost couldn't move.

"Listen here, mutt. I was never an explorer, much less your friend. I had a mission to complete, and that's what I've done"

He lied to us just to get what he wanted... That's... how could I have not realized that before? The warnings the mayor and that voice gave me... I was a fool for not listening to them...

"Mmrg? W-What?" Ember suddenly exclaimed, waking up.

"Exactly what you heard! Now, you'll be waiting here until the rest of the squad brings your little friend and then we'll take you to HQ!"

I looked around. Every single Pokémon that was at the cafe before was either unconscious, or getting held up by a Pokémon. They all shot pleading glances at us.

"As if Kit will let himself get caught!" I yelled.

Mismagious just began laughing loudly. "You think we didn't think about that? That's why the Boss herself is going after him!"

"You filthy liar! We trusted you!" Ember shouted, her tone seething pure anger.

"You shouldn't have" He plainly stated.

Anger. Mismagious, and by extent, his entire team had lied to us since we met them. It was a feeling I had never felt, but now that I did... Oh, how it hurt.

"You won't get away with this..."

"Oh, please. I already have! Who's the one getting held by my Psybeam?"

"Maybe you should consider learning Detect next!" Exclaimed another voice.

Before Mismagious could turn around, a Water Gun blasted him away and against a wall, setting me free. Without even looking at my foe, I turned around and blasted the Pokémon who was holding Ember with my most intense Force Palm. Luckily, it turned out to be a Furfrou, making the attack super effective.

"Ember!"

"I'm okay!" She yelled standing up.

"You guys alright?" The same voice from before asked.

It was the Marshtomp I met earlier this morning.

"Yeah, thanks to you!"

"Please, don't mention it!"

"Uh, guys? Hate to break the reunion, but... We are surrounded!" Ember interrupted, preparing to fight.

Both of us looked around. All the Pokémon that were guarding the unconscious civilians were now solely focused on us. Mismagious shook the remaining water off him.

"Get them! And the Marshtomp too!"

Immediately, a Golem lunged at Ember, but she narrowly dodged away from the attack. I blasted him back with Force Palm.

"Marshtomp! Help us and Water Gun him down!" I yelled, seeing that he was once again charging at us.

"Got it!" A stream of water erupted from the water type, launched at an almost inhuman precision. Needless to say, the attacker was knocked out instantly the moment he hit the cafe's wall.

"Woah, that attack was so good! You guys look like you've done this before!" Ember exclaimed.

We looked at each other and he smiled sheepishly. I followed suit.

"Ugh! Don't go one by one! ATTACK ALL TOGETHER, FOR ARCEUS' SAKE!" Mismagious yelled, clearly angry.

Every Pokémon jumped at us. Dodging their attacks was easy at first, but once the number and frequency of them started increasing, we started getting hit by some of them.

"We won't last too much longer like this!" Ember shouted, dodging an Air Slash.

"Lucario! You have a bag, use an item!" The Marshtomp yelled.

I quickly checked the inside of my bag for something that could be useful in this situation when I saw it. A yellow orb with an orange spiral.

A Totter Orb.

I picked it up and looked at it. "How do I use it?"

"Smash it!" Yelled Ember.

"Stop him!" Mismagious yelled back.

Three Pokémon suddenly lunged at me, but before they could catch me, I managed to shatter the orb into pieces. Luckily, I managed to scramble out of the attack, since it never came in the first place.

At first, I though the orb hadn't done anything, but then I saw the Heracross that tried to attack me holding the Furfrou from before.

"Boss, I got 'im!" He yelled

"Let me down, you moron!" The Furfrou exclaimed while looking around frantically, as if she didn't know who was keeping her prisoner.

"Quiet, mutt! You won't fool me by mimicking the voice of my teammate!"

The Heracross then suddenly got hit by an Air Cutter, knocking him back and releasing the Furfrou.

"Guys, I think I got him! Let's go back! Help me here!" The Swellow said, landing on top of the Heracross... before getting a Take Down attack used on her.

"Hah! I got you! That will teach you not to retaliate against the Rocket Guild!" The Furfrou exclaimed.

Finally, the three of them began attacking each other. It wasn't just them, though. All of the Pokémon that once surrounded us were attacking their teammates in their own confusion.

Meanwhile, Mismagious was shouting orders to all of them. Of course, it's difficult to make a wall listen to you.

"Come on, guys! We gotta find Kit before the effect runs out!" Ember warned. She then looked at the cowering Pokémon hiding behind the tables. "That goes for you all too! Get out of here! Hide from them!" She yelled.

Panicking, all of the Pokémon began running away, dodging the loose moves coming from the confused outlaws and mothers and fathers of little kids protecting their children from harm as they scrambled to run away.

"I'm going with you. You'll need all the help you can get!" The Marshtomp said, putting a paw on his chest.

"You can't do that" I replied.

"What?"

"We thank you for helping us, but you are still a civilian. We can't let you follow us, it's too dangerous"

"But I want to help you!"

"And that's much appreciated, but-"

"I think you should let him come" Interrupted Ember.

"What?"

"Yeah. I know we shouldn't, but he already proved that he has some guts. And he's pretty strong too"

"But he's still a civilian! What if he gets hurt? It would have been our fault for letting him come! I couldn't bear to carry that burden!"

"Weren't we civilians too when we entered that cave?"

The fact she reminded me of that took me by surprise. She was right about that, but we had the authorization of Spark that time, so it was a different thing, right?

I sighed. "Fine, you can come with us. But if anything happens to you, it will be under your own responsibility, okay?"

"Yeah, sure! I won't let you down!"

"Okay then. Follow us, quick. The effect probably won't last too much longer"

Standing up, we ran away from the café straight to Kit's house, as fast as we could. "Do you know where Kit lives?" I asked the fire type.

"Yes, just follow me! It's close to the plaza!"

"Who are we looking for?" The Marshtomp asked.

"A Zoroark!"

"Like the one over there?" He told us, pointing to the plaza.

When we saw there was something going on there, we immediately turned to run to the fountain. There laid a sight I would never have expected to behold. Kit was down on the ground, full of scratches, wounds and blood. He was almost unmoving. Next to him was what looked like another Zoroark, but with light gray fur instead of black and piercing yellow eyes instead of blue ones.

A Hisuian Zoroark.

Something in my mind clicked.

"Ember, remember the Typhlosion we met yesterday"

"Yeah? What about her?"

"That Zoroark is the Typhlosion"

"How do you know?"

"I just have a hunch" I said while running towards them. "HEY!" I yelled. The Zoroark's ears perked up, and she turned around.

"You are the Typhlosion from that bastard's team, aren't you?"

The Zoroark didn't answer. Instead, she began laughing like a maniac. "I see you can connect dots really well! You are smarter than you look, mutt. Or should I say... human?"

"What?! H-How do you know?"

"Human? What's she talking about?" Asked the Marshtomp from behind me.

"Tell me, Lucario. What do you remember from before you came to this world?"

"I... got pushed off a cliff..."

"By who?"

"A g-"

Wait a second...

"Wait, you don't mean..."

She began glowing in a purple light. Once it faded, my eyes widened. The same girl with the same blonde hair that I had seen so long ago was standing just in front of me. Ember widened her eyes. She probably didn't expect to see a 'real' human today.

"You! B-But how...?!"

She went back to normal. "As if I was going to waste my time explaining it to you"

"You..." The Marshtomp began.

"Hm?" All eyes turned to him.

"YOU KILLED MY TRAINER, YOU BITCH!" He yelled, lunging at her with a murderous look.

She killed his what?!

The Zoroark just rolled her eyes and dodged the Take Down, covering herself in a purple aura and launching it at the water type. The attack connected and Marshtomp fell onto the ground, barely conscious.

Bitter Malice. And a very strong one too... We are fucked, aren't we?

"Anyone else?" She taunted.

...

Mudkip…?

"R-Run..." Kit weakly said.

"What?"

"You have no chance against her. Please, just leave me here. Save yourselves"

"No way I'm abandoning you!" I yelled.

"Me neither!" Ember added.

"I'm not going out... without a fight!" Marshtomp groaned, slowly standing up and giving us a smirk.

"Ugh! The infamous team Indigo never gives up, does it? Guess if Mismagious can't catch you, I'll have to do it myself!"

"NO!"

All of us turned to look at Kit, who was now on his feet and looking slightly better, despite still being covered in blood.

"You want me, so leave them alone, Lilith"

She walked towards Kit. "How cute, standing up for your friends... quite literally in this case. I'm sure they would do the same for you, wouldn't they? Why don't you tell them who you really are and see if they would still do that? Why don't you tell them what of a traitor you are, huh?"

"Kit? What is she talking about?" Ember asked.

"I'm talking how your little friend, who you love and trust so much, is actually the worst scum that exists on this planet"

Kit winced. "Lilith..."

"Where do you think he got his combat skills from? The Dojo? Hah! Don't make me laugh!"

"Get to the point already!" I yelled, losing my patience.

"So impatient, I see. Well, if you insist..." Her grin grew even more evil. "Your little friend is, in fact, the old, bastard leader of the Rocket Guild"

Silence. Heavy silence fell upon us as everyone took in what those words meant.

"K-Kit, is that true?" Ember finally managed to stutter.

He just looked to the side shamefully. "Kit. Tell us she is lying" She kept pressuring.

"She..." He finally began

He paused, just as a small tear fell from his eye. "...isn't lying"

...

Ember looked hurt, as if her heart had just been stabbed with thousands of daggers. A few tears started rolling down her face.

"N-No, it can't be... N-Not you, it-it can't..."

I had nothing to say, but despite that, I was as hurt as the fire type. I wasn't around when that guild was active the last time, but what Ember explained to me made it sound horrible.

And now turns out that Kit was the one behind everything.

"Now, I'd love to see how this revelation hits you hard in the face... buuuut I have other things pending, like a city to blow up"

"Wait what?" All four of us exclaimed.

Lilith turned away and pulled something that looked like a rocket shaped badge out. "Everyone? Initiate phase 2"

"Roger that "

"Enjoy the fireworks. And try whatever you want to escape. We will find you" She laughed once again before disappearing.

"Wait!" Marshtomp yelled. "No, she disappeared! That's twice now!"

"What did she mean by-" I started to say, but I was interrupted, since suddenly, a lot of loud explosions were heard, followed by screams.

"Shit!"

"Agatha!" Ember yelled.

"Ember, you should go check on her and the rest of them. We will rescue anyone that needs it!"

"Okay!" She replied before sprinting away.

"Kit!"

He perked up, as if he wasn't expecting to be adressed at all. "Eat an Oran, and move your ass! We have a town to save!"

"But..."

"There is no time to care about that when Pokémon are in danger! Move!"

Kit reluctantly nodded, eating a berry and we ran off to the town hall, which was where we guessed the closest explosion had happened.

That's when we found a whole squad of Electrode fighting against the Mayor.

"Mayor!" I yelled.

"Team Indigo! I need your help!" He said, throwing one of the Electrode away with Psychic.

With the combined attacks and moves, and Marshtomp's inmunity to electricity, we managed to knock all four of them pretty quickly.

"Mayor! Are you alright?" Kit asked.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, that seems to be the end of the good news" He gestured to the collapsed building. "The explosion trapped a lot of Pokémon inside, and I do not know how many of them have survived. I am already too old for this, and the fighting has left me with little to no energy, and I cannot do it alone"

"We'll help!"

I used Force Palm to break the rocks, while Marshtomp used his Hydro Pump to make the rocks more easy to break apart.

The mayor was using his Psychic to lift rocks, which left Kit to resort to physical work, since he didn't have any moves that would come in handy.

"H-Help!" A voice exclaimed, weakly.

"You heard that?"

"That was Blaze!"

We began taking the rubble out from the place we thought we heard the voice from, until we saw a familiar Quilava under the debris. He was severely bruised, but alive.

"Blaze! Thank God you are alive!" I yelled, pulling him out.

"What..." He coughed. "What happened?"

"The Rocket Guild is bonbing the town. We need to evacuate!"

"The Rocket Guild?!" The Mayor and the Quilava exclaimed.

"It's a long story!"

"I will begin with the evacuation right this instant" The Mayor stated, closing his eyes.

"Any more survivors in there?" Kit asked.

"I... don't know" Blaze plainly stated.

Our faces saddened.

Dear citizens, this is the Mayor Speaking. Our town is under attack. Everyone, evacuate as soon as possible. This is not a drill. The Mayor warned through what I assumed was telepathy.

Immediately, the streets filled with Pokémon running away, screaming, crying, or even angry.

"Kit! Where is Ember?" Asked Blaze.

"She's saving Agatha, I think!"

"Go with her" Plainly said the mayor.

"What? We can't just leave you here!" I yelled.

"Those outlaws want you and your team. You have to escape, far away from here. We will do all we can to save the town and its inhabitants"

"Promise?"

"Of course"

I turned back to my team, specifically to Marshtomp. "Last chance to save yourself" I told him.

"Nah. I'll stick with you for now. I have a few things to discuss with that Zoroark"

After a quick goodbye, we ran off to the store, dodging hordes of Pokémon that were running for their lives. Finally, we arrived there, and the scene that was happening was strange.

Aiden was carrying Damian's body, as he tried his best not to touch the Absol's leg. By the looks of it, it was broken. Agatha was standing behind Ember as the Froslass tried to calm her down.

"You!" The fire type snarled. I hadn't seen her that angry in... forever.

"Ember, calm down, please" Agatha begged.

"For the last time, I don't know who the hell you are!" Exclaimed someone atop of the rubble that once was the store.

A Delcatty.

"Give. Them. BACK!" She yelled, lighting her stick on fire.

The Delcatty looked at her, and then widened her eyes.

"Wait... you are that kid from all those years ago, aren't you?" She laughed loudly. "Thanks to you, we got a pair of explorers rotting right in our little cells!"

"Ember!" I shouted, running behind her, followed by the rest.

"What's going on?"

"Ember came running and helped Aiden save Damian from under the rubble. We believe that Delcatty is responsible for it. And she's also the one that... took her parents away" Agatha explained.

Oh.

"You... heartless monster! How could you have done something like that and still be able to sleep at night?!"

"Oh, please. I was just following orders! And even if I didn't, I've done worse things than capturing a pair of explorers that had a kid!"

"You took my parents away from me when I was just a kid! You know the trauma I had to go through?! YOU TOOK MY DREAM AWAY FROM ME!"

"Boohoo, so sad! Why don't you go cry about it to your parents? Oh wait! You can't!"

What followed after happened so fast I almost didn't see it. Ember let out a shriek and charged at the Delcatty with Flame Charge. The speed at which she ran was inhuman, and the Delcatty definitely didn't expect it, as she took the full blow of the attack, and staggered back.

no

She didn't have time to process what happened as Ember quite literally kicked her in the face, and followed it with an Ember attack, which sent the Delcatty flying next to us.

She jumped from the top of the rubble mountain to next to her, in front of us.

"Ember?" I asked.

"You are not so strong when you are alone, huh?"

The Delcatty coughed and chuckled. "Say what you like, but that still won't bring your parents back"

"Ember..." I said, this time a bit higher.

"You... ABSOLUTE MONSTER!"

"Oh, you are so angry now, aren't you? Come on, you know you want to! It's as easy as a shake of that stick of yours, so why don't you do it? Kill me already! Oh, but you don't have the guts to do that, because you're still that same little kid from all those years back"

There was a pause.

"You took them away from me..." The fire type eerily said, aiming her wand at the downed Delcatty.

"EMBER!" I yelled.

She finally seemed to snap out of it and looked back, tears forming in my eyes.

"Ember, I know you are hurt because she was the one that took your parents away, but you can't kill her! As much as I hate to say it, she was only following orders! What happened to the Ember I know? The one that wanted to be the best explorer in the world? If you kill her, you will regret it for the rest of your life! There's no coming back from that!"

She slowly lowered her wand, and looked at the Delcatty again. "Please..." I begged.

The Braixen looked back at me. She was also starting to tear up. "I'm sorry" She whimpered.

I offered her my hand with a slight smile. She took it and hugged me tightly, and I felt her tears falling down my back.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry" She kept repeating.

"It's alright. I understand how you must feel" I reassured her, hugging her back.

"I-I almost killed someone. And I didn't even think it was a bad thing to do! I-I don't deserve to be called 'explorer'!"

"Hey! Listen, Ember. You are not a bad person just because you wanted to avenge your parents. Everyone goes through things like that from time to time. The important thing is that you realized your mistake and didn't actually do it"

"But I-... Thanks, Jake. I think I needed that"

"Anytime"

"Umm, guys? The Delcatty is gone" Interrupted Marshtomp.

True to his words, the Delcatty had somehow managed to escape. Ember's face twisted to an expression of disgust.

"There's nothing we can do about it now" Kit sighed.

"We have to get out of here" I stated.

"What? We have to help!"

"We've been with the Mayor. He said that they are after your team. We have to get out of this town as fast as we can" Marshtomp replied.

"But-!"

"Listen, girl" interrupted Agatha. "There is nothing you can help with. Every important building is destroyed, and there are hundreds of casualties. Trying to help will only result in getting captured"

"Yeah, look at Damian! He tried to save a costumer and now he has a broken leg" Aiden added.

"And that is something you do not want to have when you are escaping" The dark type stated.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Ember asked.

"My shop is destroyed, so I guess I'll have to live with my parents until everything calms down"

"I'll have to go back to another job while Agatha sorts everything out, but we'll come back as soon as the shop's back running! Isn't that right, Dami?"

"Indeed. You focus on escaping and making it out alive, got it?"

"See Ember? We'll be fine, don't worry"

"Promise?"

"Promise"

Another quick goodbye later, we were running towards the forest clearing. According to Kit, if they were tracking us, going through that forest would take us to a not very well known Mistery Dungeon, which doesn't have a fixed exit, hopefully losing anyone that followed us in the proccess.

That was the last time he spoke for the whole time we spent running there.

Once we had arrived to our destination, realized the clearing wasn't as empty as we thought at first.

"Ughhh! 'Archer, you'll guard that forest so they don't escape' she said. 'You know I am not going to send you to the city. We don't need another killing spree at the moment' she said. I hate missing all of the action because Boss treats me like a simple merc! It's not like they are so dumb to escape through here!"

A Sylveon was sitting on top of a tree log using his feelers to spin what looked like a knife, which was decorated with a pink ribbon and had some red stains on it.

I preferred not to think about the origin of those stains.

"Shit, not him..." Kit mumbled. "Get behind me, I'll cover us in an illusion. And don't make any sound. My illusions only mask so much. You really don't want him to notice you" He added.

Three silent nods were our answer. Slowly, Kit walked out from behind the bushes. Seeing that the Sylveon didn't react to his presence, he gestured us to do the same. I got out first, followed by Ember and Marshtomp covering our rear.

Before we could even start walking though, the bushes behind the fairy type started rustling and...

...

As if today hadn't had enough revelations already, Jacques was the one that walked from behind the shrubbery.

"Can't find them. Looked everywhere and still nothing" The Thievul said.

"You don't look too sad"

"Huh? You must be imagining it..." The dark type chuckled nervously. I felt how the fear of coming across us clashed with a feeling of duty. It was a feeling of conflict that made my heart pound.

Just like in the dojo.

Now everything made sense. "N-No... Not him... Not Jacques... Please, this has to be a joke..." Kit almost sobbed.

"Shit, Kit! Focus! If we get caught now it's over! Leave the crying for later!" I quickly shut him up, rather abruptly.

Kit looked like he was about to protest, but he nodded and shook his head. "F-Fine! Let's keep walking!"

When we were halfway through the clearing and just about to cross the river, the Sylveon threw the knife against a tree. It passed right in front of my nose and hit its target, getting stuck in the log.

Everyone held their breath, just in case we got caught.

"Saw that, Jacky? It's the product of waiting here for HOURS! I swear that if my position didn't depend on it, I would look for those three by myself!"

"Well, that's what we are tasked to do, aren't we? How many times have I told you not to do that when I'm around?"

"What, too scared of an actual weapon Jacky?"

"Please, don't call me that"

All of us sighed with relief. We resumed walking and jumped the river, about to get to the other side of the clearing when the Sylveon's badge lit up.

"Archer! "

"Geez, Boss! Don't need to yell! What do you need?"

"Akash told me he saw those four running towards you! Is Jacques with you?"

"Yeah, we'll be prepared" He responded, about to dismiss the call.

"Archer! "

"Whaaaat?!"

"Kit's with them! "

"So whaaaat?"

"He knows how to turn invisible! "

"Ughhh! If I use an attack right now, you'll leave me alone?"

Shit.

"Alright, Jacky. How about you get behind me and cover your ears? This is going to hurt you a lot if you are not careful"

Archer cleared his throat and screeched in a pitch that almost blasted my eardrums. Unfortunately, that attack was super effective on Kit, so when he kneeled down and covered his ears to ease the pain, the illusion behind which we were hiding fell apart.

Both Archer and Jacques took notice, the latter looking at us like if he just watched Giratina himself appear before him. "Hey!" The fairy type yelled.

In situations like these, there was only one thing someone could say, and pparently Kit knew it very well. "Run!"

I quickly shook my head and ran off inside the bushes. Both Pokémon were hot on our heels. "Hey, get back here! You may be able to run, but you can't hide from us!" Archer yelled. Jacques just followed him without saying a word.

The dizzyness from entering a Mistery Dungeon almost made me trip and fall, but luckily, Ember had appeared just in time to catch me.

"Don't you dare fall now!"

"Come on, follow me!" Kit yelled, running down one of the hallways.

Without any other word, we ran behind him as fast as we could.

"This MD has... seven floors. We have to... reach the fifth floor. There is a place... where we will... be safe" The Zoroark explained between breaths.

"Inside... a Mistery Dungeon?" Marshtomp asked.

"The ferals won't attack us there and they for sure won't find us, trust me!" He finished.

"Trust me!" Those words kept repeating in my head.

The trip through the dungeon was a blur. I couldn't remember anything other than running and dodging any ferals we came across for what felt like hours.

"Fifth floor! Last effort everyone! We are close!" Kit yelled, taking the right-most hallway.

"Stop running away, dammit!" Came the Sylveon's voice from behind.

Jacques was still silent.

After a few more turns and more feral dodging, Kit stopped in front of one of the walls and stood looking at it for a bit. He then walked towards it and managed to squeeze between one of the gaps in the trees.

"What are you waiting for? Get in here!"

Reluctantly, all of us followed Kit. Just when Marshtomp finished entering, Archer came running down the hallway quickly followed by Jacques, who gave a quick glance to the whole we were hiding in, before just resuming walking behind Archer.

"Where have you gone to? Come on, we just wanna talk~" He said in the typical tone someone would use to talk to a baby while playing with his knife, just like a serial killer.

Everyone shivered.

"Relax, no one knows about this place. They won't find us anytime soon. Arceus, it was so long since I came here..."

When we looked back and away from the hole, we saw a small fort made of wooden planks looking like it was almost about to crumble. The inside had a small blackboard which was full of words and drawings.

"Welcome to my secret lair!"

"What is this place?" I asked.

"This... is a small space outside of the regular paths of the Mystery Dungeon, but still inside of it. I don't really understand how it is possible or how it works, but what I know is that no one knows about this place, not even Lilith. We'll be safe here for now"

"So we are sleeping here tonight?" Ember questioned.

"You can sleep outside if you want, but knowing who's after us, you'd be safer sleeping inside a den full of feral Pyroar"

"Who are those guys, anyway?" Marshtomp asked, sitting on the ground.

"The Sylveon's name is Archer, and he's fucking sick in the head. At least 87% of the confirmed kills of the Rocket Guild come from that guy and his knife, and I'm pretty sure he sleeps pretty well every night"

"Dear Arceus!" He exclaimed.

Ember looked like she was about to say something, but she finally just sighed and sat down too.

"What about the other 13%?" She finally said.

"I believe that it's distributed in 8% Lilith, and 4% the rest of the guild"

That math was missing something. "What about the remaining 1%?" She asked again.

Kit's face turned almost as white as the fur of the Zoroark that was chasing after us.

"What about the Thievul?" Marshtomp asked again, changing the topic.

"He's a... well, he isn't anymore, but he was a friend I had back when I worked at the dojo. We had a lot in common and I really enjoyed being with him, but... guess he was just pretending"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" I interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"It's all making sense now. Remember that 'clash of feelings' Nash mentioned? He's... still feeling that. But it's not any clash of feelings or anything like that. He's doubting whether to do what he's tasked with or... following his heart"

"And what does that mean?" Ember questioned.

"I... don't know"

Silence fell over us for a while. Despite trying to hide it, I could see how Kit was trying to supress tears. "Won't we freeze if we sleep here?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

Kit shook his head and grabbed a few planks from the fort, putting them on the ground. "That's why we are making a fire. Marshtomp? Mind fire-proofing around the perimeter?"

"Sure" A few Mud Shots later, Ember lit the wood on fire. The warmth was comforting, but still wasn't strong enough to beat the cold of the wooded dungeon.

I sat next to Ember, and Kit moved a bit further away from us, without stopping looking at the fire. Everyone knew what needed to be discussed, but no one dared touching the topic at the moment.

"I'll leave you guys some space. You deserve it after all that happened. Goodnight" Kit sighed before standing up.

He then walked over to one of the room's corners and lied down. "I'm sorry" Was the last thing we heard from him for that day.

I wanted to stand up and confort him somehow, but I didn't find the strength to do so. I decided that leaving him some space was the best thing to do for now.

"Marshtomp" I called him.

"Hm?"

"Where did you come from?"

"I don't remember. I just know that me and my trainer got attacked by someone (which turns out it was that Zoroark) and then I woke up in the middle of a forest. I evolved while making my way out of a place full of grass types"

"Trainer? Like a personal trainer?" Ember asked.

"Tell me more about him"

"What? Uhhh, sure! He was the best friend I had back where I come from. His training was the only reason I managed to survive that forest. He made me strong, and I will always thank him for that" He smiled, but then his smile faltered. "But that Lilith killed him, and I... won't be able to ever see him again" He added, tearing up.

I fell in silence as everything he said sank into me. Trainer. The Zoroark killed his trainer.

"M-Mudkip?" I felt some tears start to form in my eyes too as he looked at me. "I-It's me, Jake!"

He immediately stood up. "Wait, Boss?"

Without any other word, I tackled him into a hug, which almost crushed him. "It's really you! I-I really thought I'd never see you again!" I told him, tears rolling down my face.

"I-I thought you were dead! I'm so glad to see you again, Boss!" He added, crying as well.

"M-Me too! And don't you dare call me Boss!"

After a few minutes of crying our ass off, we broke the hug and sat down again next to each other.

"Wait! If you are Jake, then how did..." He gestured to my body. "...this happen?"

"No idea"

"That's what we are trying to find out" Ember added.

"That's crazy! And you know how to fight too! Amazing..."

"Well, I wouldn't call it 'amazing', just 'forced adaptation'" I chuckled.

"I just... lost all hope of ever seeing you again... and not only do I do that, but I can also talk to you now? This is... the best day of my life"

I raised a brow. "Well, except the 'getting my town blow up' part" He added, rubbing the back of his head.

I yawned. "Alright, guys. I don't know about you, but all these revelations and running killed me. We should get some sleep so that we can set off early tomorrow"

"Agreed" Ember said.

"Sure"

"Wanna sleep with us?" I offered my partner.

"I'd love to... but that guy is going to freeze if he sleeps alone so far from the fire. I know I'm short compared to yoh, but at least I'll be able to do something, right?" He said, pointing to the slightly shivering Kit.

"Yeah... maybe you should go with him"

"I'm so glad I can see you again, Boss"

"Likewise. And don't call me Boss, I already told you!"

"Old habits die hard" He said, shrugging.

I watched how he walked over to Kit, and lied down next to him with a smile on my face.

"You know, I haven't understand what's so special about him, but you were happy, so I'm glad for you" Ember said.

"In the human world, people sometimes have Pokémon partners. My parents gave me a Mudkip to keep me company while they were at work. Of course, since they never came back, he was everything I had left of them"

"Well, he seems like he really likes you, so I guess you took good care of him"

"Yeah. I can't believe I can see him again..."

"Getting pushed off a cliff can do that to Pokémon, you know?" She joked, rolling her eyes.

The fire was beggining to fizzle out, despite having been lighted up a few minutes ago. It was probably a Mistery Dungeon thing, but it was still weird.

"Is it weird if I ask to sleep together? You know, not to freeze to death?" Ember asked.

"I thought you were a fire type" I answered, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, but you aren't! You can always freeze in a corner if you want to" She jokingly exclaimed.

"Nah. I prefer sleeping with you. They say that too much cold is bad for your health.

"Oh, you don't say?"

I laid down, and Ember did the same, laying in front of me. We huddled closer and I felt the warmth of her body.

"Before we fall asleep, what did you want to tell me?"

"What?"

"Yeah! What did you want to tell me back at the cafe? Before we got interrupted?"

"Oh, uhhh"

After all we've been through today, I don't think it's the right time to tell her about it. Maybe another time.

"Don't worry, it's nothing important"

"You sure? You were worried that I could get upset, remember?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing"

"If you say so..."

She closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Jake"

I did the same. "Goodnight, Ember. I'm so sorry about the whole incident"

"Don't worry, Jake. It's not your fault"

Despite the air being cold and hearing the steps of someone from the outside from time to time, I felt as warm and safe as I would feel in my bed back at home.

Can't believe what we've been through today. I find out the truth about my parents, then we decide to go to drink something, and suddenly the town is the victim of a terrorist attack. Can't forget that I found Marshtomp too. And... Kit's past. We may have to talk about it tomorrow...

For now, I'll just enjoy being with Ember like this.

And just like that, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

---

"Nothing! They are just gone!" Archer yelled, exiting the dungeon for his seventh time.

"There must be something we are missing..." Said Lilith from behind him.

"Tell me why you left them go again?"

"Because I like playing with my prey"

"Man, that's fucked up"

"Says the one that kills Pokémon almost every day"

"Got me there"

Just then, Mismagious and the twins came floating from behind the bushes. "Checked the surroundings. They are nowhere to be found"

"It's as if..." Began Kate.

"...they vanished into thin air!" Finished Nate.

"We wouldn't be in this situation if you had just taken their items!"

"And how could I have known they had a Totter Orb? Or if that Marshtomp would come to save them?"

Lilith sighed. "It's almost midnight now. Normally, I would order a barricade at the end of the dungeon, but that bastard knew that there is no fixed exit in this one, so it wouldn't be practical. Tomorrow morning, I want every single available Pokémon scouting this forest. Are the posters and the camp ready?"

"The posters are done, and the camp is about to be finished!"

"Good. We don't want to repeat what happened today" She added, looking at Archer and Jacques.

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!"

"..."

"Anyway, so the Braixen that is with the human is actually the daughter of those two explorers we caught around five years ago?"

"Yep. Miriam told us how she almost got killed. We gotta find a way to make her stop taunting enemies when she's downed before she actually dies for real someday" Mismagious replied.

"Duly noted. Now, let's have some rest. I believe we all need it"

"Aye!" Everyone yelled.

Jacques looked back into the bushes. "I... I'm so sorry Kit..."

---

END OF CHAPTER 11

I should stop writting at night.

Here you go, chapter 11 done. I loved this one so much, and we are so close to finishing the rewrite! Can't wait for that.

Have a great day/night!

P.D.

You can't deny that Floragato looks like Puss in Boots. Bulbapedia literally says that it may be based on that. I also couldn't think of another Spanish name that wasn't Mexican to call the guy.