Chapter 4: Treasure Hunt

Olisberg Village, Fepusa nation, 25th March Year 1468

The next day Edgar and his students were gathered in the hall. Edgar slow opened the iron ingot which he cut halfway through before. He holds the shard in his paw and showed it to the three of them. It was blue in colour little transparent but not enough to see through it. The three of them were astonished to say anything.

"Whoa! This thing is so beautiful." Reina said excitedly.

"Right, This… beautiful thing has caused nothing but suffering for four years. Just for this tiny orb people killed each other." Ray said then his expression changed to gloomy. "I wished this orb never existed. The world would be peaceful." He then chuckled. "Maybe I am being too optimistic."

Reid comes closer to Ray and puts his arm on his friend's shoulder. "Come on, there is nothing wrong with being optimistic." Then he turns his attention to Edgar. "I wanted to ask you? Did you see the whole orb when you fought in the war?"

"I did." He replied in a monotone voice. "I even held it in mine. I wanted to use it for myself but then I… never mind I'll tell you another time." He stopped midway.

"Then what, what did you do?" Reid asked.

"Heyyy!"

Their conversation was interrupted by long greetings. They turned around to see a Sneasel standing at the entrance. Edgar rolled his eyes.

The Sneasel walked towards the group enthusiastically. "Edgar, my friend. How are you? It's good to see you again after so long. Well, in person that is. I write you letters all time but you don't write back to me."

"How rude, you can't just waltz in here like you own this place" Reid scoffed annoyed by the loudmouth weasel.

"Oh, I am sorry where are my manners" He apologized sincerely. "My name is Adrian and I am Edgar's old friend. Well, childhood friend to be exact."

"No way I refuse to believe you two are friends." Ray said in disbelief.

"What's this Eddie, you didn't tell them about your friend?" Adrian asked.

"Eddie?" Reina tried to stifle a giggle.

Edgar gritted his teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that name? I never told them about you because I thought it was unnecessary." He then sighed. "Never mind that, but what are you doing here? What brings you here?"

"Ahhh! Don't be like that. You won't welcome your friend here." He walks over to Edgar and took the soul shard from him. "I just came here to see it this made it here safely. Never thought I would see this or even touch it with my own hands." He then gives the shard back to him. "I don't think it will be safe in Olisberg city."

"Even now this shard cost someone their life." Edgar said in a sad tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Adrian asked.

Edgar explained all the events from the last day.

"It's unfortunate what happened to that Pidgeott" Adrian sighed. "Anyway, you three didan amazing job. I mean taking down a lieutenant is not anyone can do. You saved this shard from getting into the wrong hands." He then looked at the three of them. "I have an idea. Why don't you become a treasure hunter? It's more fun going to different places. It's like an adventure." He then turned his attention to Edgar. "So, will you allow them? I can show them the ropes. I'm sure they will become great treasure hunters." He eagerly waited for Edgar's response.

Edgar remained in silence for a few seconds. "Fine, I am alright with your suggestion. However, it's thier decision. If they don't, then they are out."

"Of course, it's not like I am going to kidnap them if they refuse." Adrian laughed loudly. Edgar shakes his head from that terrible joke.

"I am interested in this. So, count me in" Reina said enthusiastically.

"Count me in too. It would be fun to go to different places." Reid said

Everyone waited for Ray's reply.

"Fine, I'll tag along" He sighed. I don't want to be a treasure hunter but it doesn't hurt to try something new once in a while."

"Very well, I'll take you as a trainee. You don't have to make official documents for that" Adrian said.

"Just where are you taking them?" Edgar asked.

"To Olisberg city. From there we will go to a mystery dungeon.

"Mystery dungeon? They aren't ready for that." Edgar warned.

"Relax, if they can handle the Vile bandits then this one will be breeze." Adrian assured. "I'll come again in five days and I'll take you with me. Be ready because it's going to be fun.

Olisberg City South Gate Olisberg City, Fepusa Nation, 30th March Year 1468

Olisberg city is the second biggest city and also the second most populated city in Fepusa Nation. Olisberg city is surrounded by Olisberg forest on north, east and south. On the west side is the sea. This city is divided into three districts. Paiwlot is the northern district where high-class people like nobles, government officials, politicians and rich folks live. Slicton is the middle district and it is the biggest district in Olisberg city. Slicton is for middle-class people. Dalmool is in the southeast part of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by the poor and immigrants. Most of these immigrants are illegal.

"Here we are Olisberg city." Adrian said loudly. "Beautiful isn't she?" He asked.

"Yeah, It's beautiful." Reina agreed.

"But is it same from the inside? You know what I mean by that" Reid asked.

"You are right, it's ugly from inside but Slicton is safer than the other two districts." Adrian replied.

The four of them walked towards the entrance of Slicton district. Ray was mesmerized by the view inside the district. He then accidentally bumped into a Breloom who was standing in the middle of the path.

"Hey, don't stand there in the middle of the road." Ray scowled at the Breloom.

The Breloom defensively raised his hand. "My apologies." He said sincerely. For Ray, it was difficult to tell if it was sincere or not.

Ray then walked towards his group but stopped and turned around. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

The Breloom chuckled nervously. "It's fine, accidents like that happen."

"Well, have a good day" Ray replied and turned to walk towards his group.

Reid tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Ray to catch up with their group. "Stop lollygagging!" He yelled.

"It's a little too early for lunch so why don't we go sightseeing. Then we'll go for lunch." Adrian said. "Oh, I remembered that I had an important task to do at the Treasure hunter's office. It's just around a corner there. You can come with me if you want or you could just stay here."

"How much time will it take?" Ray asked.

"My friend is here!" someone yelled loudly. The four of them turned towards the direction from which the voice came. A Vigoroth was screaming nonsense. A Breloom tried to calm him down but to no success.

"Shut up!" A Buizel yelled at them. He was annoyed by them.

"Screw you! My friend is here! He's going to rule the world!" The Vigoroth yelled back.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever we'll see that when he becomes emperor." The Buizel scoffed.

The Breloom calms his friend down and then they go their way.

Reina sighs. "Oh dear, that must be embarrassing. I pity that Breloom"

"Back to the topic, it will take me about fifteen minutes." He replied.

"Then I'm not coming with you." Ray replied.

"Same here." Reid said. Reina nodded with agreement.

"Okay, I'll be back just don't go too far from here." Adrian warned them.

As soon as Adrian was out of their eyesight. Ray walked away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Reina asked.

"To take a walk. Don't work I won't go too far" He assured them.

Ray then wandered towards a road leading towards the east. There a bulletin board caught his attention. He walked closer to the boards and found out that it was a wanted board. Wanted posters were pinned on it of various pokemons. It also stated their crimes, danger level and reward. He examined a few of them and a poster of a Shiftry caught his attention. The Shiftry was wanted dead for the crime of murder and robbery. The danger level was SS rank and the reward was eighteen thousand pokes.

Another poster was about an Electravire. The Electravire was wanted for murder and arson. The danger level was SSS rank and the reward was twenty thousand pokes.

Looking through some other he found a poster of someone familiar. A poster of a Garbodor, It was none other than Bryant the Garbodor he fought in Olisberg forest. The Garbodor was wanted for robbery. The danger level was B rank and the reward was five thousand pokes.

"Hmm, we could have got those pokes" He muttered to himself.

A Sceptile came up to the board and was looking through. He then looked at a poster and gritted his teeth.

"Hey, are you a bounty hunter?" Ray asked. The Sceptile ignored him and walked away.

"How rude, a simple yes or now would be fine" He groaned.

An Ampharos with a shoulder bag comes up to the board. He removes some posters from the board.

He removes the poster of Bryant the Garbodor from the board and puts it in his bag. "Shame, a registered bounty hunter didn't catch him. Five thousand pokes just got wasted." He muttered.

"That Garbodor was caught six days ago" Ray pointed out.

"Yeah, so what? These things take time to process. If you think I'm slacking off on the job then you are wrong." The Ampharos replied.

"Do you know what happened to this Garbodor? I mean who took him down?" Ray asked.

"I don't know what goes on inside of the office. I heard that the mon who caught him asked to remain anonymous." The electric type replied.

"Can you tell me about this bounty hunter job?" Ray asked.

The Ampharos sighed. "You first need to register in the office and get your badge. Then you can go after these scums. How you do it it's all up to you. You bring them dead or alive to that other building there. They'll examine the dead body in case you didn't bring someone else of the same species. After the process is done you get paid the said amount. If you don't have the official badge then you won't get anything. The ranks start from D, C, B, A, S, SS and SSS being the highest. If you have any more questions ask in that building." He pointed at the building of bounty hunter's registration. "Goodbye." He said and went his way.

"B rank not bad I guess." Ray went back to his group. He saw that Adrian still didn't come back. The trio waited in silence.

Adrian comes back jogging. "Hey guys, sorry I'm a little late. So who is up for lunch?"

Adrian's Apartment, Slicton District, Olisberg City, Fepusa nation, 30 March Year 1468

Adrian's house was small. It had on big room and a small kitchen for cooking. His room was messy like it's not been cleaned for a few days. The kitchen was messier.

"Welcome to my little home. Make yourselves comfortable. I know it's not as big as Edgar's house but I have my own place to call home."

"No offense but I thought you would have a bigger house" Reid said.

"Ouch! None taken but I am saving to buy a big house." Adrian replied. "You all should get some sleep. We are leaving early in the morning."

White Woods Entrance, Olisberg Forest, Fepusa Nation, 31st March Year 1468

Adrian stopped the group. "Before we head in I want you to follow some rule. First, you must stay behind me at all cost. Don't engage an enemy if don't tell you. Do you agree or not?"

"Before we go in I want to know what kind of trouble is up ahead." Ray asked.

"There will defiantly be hostile mons and some traps. Don't worry I know how to deal with this stuff." The ice type replied.

White Woods B1F

"So what kind of treasure are we looking up for?" Reina asked.

"I don't know. I just hope we find something valuable. Like antique coins or some jewels." The Sneaseal replied.

"Have you been here before?" Reid asked.

"If I did there wouldn't be a treasure anymore"

The Machop looked away realizing how dumb that question was.

"Through your career what kind of treasure did you find so far?" Ray asked.

"Now that's a good question. On my first hunt I found an antique ring. There was something written on it ina n ancient language that we don't know of. I got fifty thousand for that one."

The three of them gasped.

"Oh here is another good one. This one time I thought I found a tooth of Kyogre but after examining it was just a piece of marble" He laughed at himself. The others weren't amused by that.

B3F

"So what's your story? How did you become a treasure hunter? How did you become friends with our mentor?" Reina asked.

"Oh dear, I was afraid you would ask these questions but I am willing to answer your questions. What if I told you that I am actually from a noble family?" He asked.

"I would say that you are making stuff up." Ray replied.

"My full name is Adrian Nightford. I was raised with a silver spoon. I easily got what I wanted. There were maids and butlers to fetch me anything I want. Even though I had everything I still felt like I didn't have everything. One day I met a Riolu and he was very happy despite being poor. He was always smiling and very energetic. He had a dream to become a soldier. He wanted to follow his father's foot. Soon we became good friends."

He suddenly stopped walking and turned around to face them. He had a sad look on his face. "Then I discovered something horrible. My father's wealth came from illegal sources. His spice business was just a facade for something else. I then ran away from my house. When I told this to my friend he said that I should follow my own path. In my mansion, there were lots of antiques. I always like knowing about where they came from. So then I decided to become a treasure hunter."

"I don't know how much of your story is true but I'll believe it." Reid replied.

"Enough of these sob stories. Come one let's continue"

B6F

Two Cacnea noticed four of them they fired Poison Sting. Adrian quickly reacted by using Ice Beam as a protective wall.

"That's an interesting way of using ice beam" Reina thought to herself.

"You three stay back. I'll deal with them."

The dark type jumped from the ice wall and slashed one of the Cacnea. The healthy Cacnea attacks with Needle Arm. Adrian dodges his attack and freezes him with Ice Beam. The injured Cacnea fires Poison Sting. Adrian evades them and uses Feint attack to knock the Cacnea out. The other Cacnea breaks out from being frozen. Before the Cacnea could do anything Adrian knocks him out using Metal Claw.

"Impressive!" Reid was amused by the Sneasel's skills.

"Come on let's go before more of them shows up." Adrian replied.

B9F

On this floor, there is open ground with a big circular stone floor. A stone statue was in the center but it was chopped horizontally. It was a statue of Suicune. The upper part of the statue was lying upside down nearby. Besides the statue, there was a stone slab with something written on it.

Ray inspected the stone slab. "I can be seen from all the sides, yet I am hiding behind someone. Where am I?"

Reid inspected the half statue and saw a hole. The same hole was on the other part of the statue. "Something was inside this statue but what was it? Just what happened here?"

"I think there was a battle between two pokemon." Reina suggested.

Adrian examined the floor. "No, other than this statue nothing has been damaged. The statue has been cut clean like someone used guillotine."

Ray sniffed around the statue. "I can barely smell it but there were two different Pokemons here."

"Can I ask you something? Did you take something from here?" A feminine voice asked from the entrance. The four of them looked around and saw a Female Gardevoir.

"What do you mean?" Adrian asked.

The Gardevoir sighed. "Let me rephrase. Did you take something from here?"

"No we just came here now" Adrain replied. He subtly motioned his hands signaling the three to get behind him.

The Gardevoir started slowly walking in a circle around Adrian. "Then I would like to check your bag."

"Ok, you are asking for too much now." Ray replied to the Gardevoir's demand.

"I'll ask again. Can I check your bag, please?" The Gardevoir pleaded.

Reina got behind Adrian. "What if you are a thief and then run away taking my bag."

The Gardevoir chuckled. "Excuse me but do I look like a thief to you?"

"I didn't know that thieves are so polite these days" Reid laughed.

The Gardevoir was angered by Reid's joke. She jumped towards Reina's bag.

"Watch out Reina." Ray quickly pushed The Gardevoir away from Reina midair.

"Nice save, Riolu" She complimented Ray for his quick thinking. She then used Psychic to lift him in the air. As soon as she was going to slam Ray down. Adrian's Ice bean froze her. Ray recovered from the fall and quickly took a few steps back. The four of them kept their eyes on the Gardevoir. The Gardevoir broke free from the ice. Her body was shivering. "That was cold of you".

Reid sneaked in and tried to attack with Low Sweep. The Gardevoir jumped and used double team. Her clones were shuffling to make confusion. They then started moving towards Adrian and Reina. Adrian was standing ahead of Reina. He was carefully watching the clones to find out real one. When the Gardevoir was close enough. He ignored the closest Gardevoir and attacked the second last one using Feint attack. The Gardevoir flinched in pain.

"How did you know" She asked.

"If you want to get to them you will have to go through me. Also, you are still shivering." Adrian pointed out.

While she was distracted Adrian froze her leg immobilizing her. Ray and Reid used Force Palm and Karate Chop respectively sending the Psychic type flying away.

The Gardevoir slowly got up. "It seems that I underestimated you. However, it's about time I let myself loose."

Ray and Reid rushed again to attack.

Adrian realized that something was wrong. "Wait you two don't rush in." He shouted.

The two of them crashed into an invisible wall. It was a Light Screen move. The Gardevoir lifted the two of them with Psychic and send them flying into the broken statue.

"She lifted two mons with psychic" Reina was impressed.

"Now is not a time for complements" Adrian fired Ice Beam at the Gardevoir. She easily blocked it using Light screen. The Psychic type fired Psyshock. The ice type quickly reacted by forming an ice wall. The psyshock was too strong to stop. The ice wall broke sending ice shards flying everywhere.

"Unfortunately, I don't have anything in my arsenal to fight to directly." She then looked at the remains of the ice wall. She lifted an ice block with her psychic power and hurled it at the dark type sending him flying. She turned her attention to the Meditite. Reina jumped to fake a high jump kick. "Pathetic." The Gardevoir scoffed and used a light screen for defense. Reina quickly switched to Brick Break shattering the barrier.

"Take this!" Reina landed her Brick Break attack on the Gardevoir's shoulder. Knocking some wind out of her lung.

The Gardevoir recoiled in pain. "Impressive!" She said while breathing heavily. She glared at the Meditite with an ice-cold glare. The Meditite was immobilized by her stare for a brief moment. Her glare sent a chill down her spine. The Garedevoir took her chance and lifted Reina upside down dropping her bag and spilling the items. She looked at a few oran berries laying down. She looked through the bag for a few seconds until she was satisfied. She dropped Reina gently.

The Gardevoir let out a long sigh. "Not what I was looking from. All this trouble for nothing. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you just let me check your bag." She looked at some berries on the ground and then picked a handful of them. "I'll be taking some of these for the trouble you have caused me." She then walked away towards the exit.

Adrian looked at the three of them in concern. "Are you folks alright?"

"I am fine she didn't hurt me." Reina said as she gathered all the berries.

Reid walked limping. "I am fine, just got my leg bruised up. Some berries will fix me up."

Ray came by clutching his left shoulder in fury. "You are not hiding something from us are you?"

Adrian hesitated. "I, I will explain to you everything but first let's leave this place. We will go to Edgar's house. We will go by Rapidash cart"

Edgar's Villa, Olisberg Village, Fepusa Nation, 31st March Year 1468

Adrian explained all the events at the mystery dungeon. Edgar was angry at Adrian for putting his students at risk.

"You did what?" Edgar yelled at him. "First you put these kids in danger. Second, you are going after soul shards. Third, you kept me in dark."

"Listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me. I don't want anyone close to me getting involved with soul shard and that also includes you"

Adrian tried to calm down his friend. "Listen, I am not going around collecting these. I found the first one purely by coincidence. I only wanted to sell the second one. I was going to share the money with you."

The word money made Edgar even angrier. "Money is not the issue here. You know that I don't care about money. You put my kids in danger for your greed and that's unacceptable. Look, just leave now. I don't want to talk to you."

Adrian sighs. "I'm sorry, I didn't think that the topic about soul shard would still be sensitive to you. I'll be leaving now but first I want to hear their experience on this treasure hunt." He looked at the three of them for answers.

"Like I said before I wasn't interested in treasure hunting in the first place." Ray said.

Reina was hesitant. "I thought it would be a fun experience but if it means being in danger then I'm out."

Reid looked at the two of them as if hoping their response would be different than what he expected. "Yeah, I'm also out."

Adrian stood up. "I understand I'll be leaving now. If you need any help you know where I am. Also take care of yourself Edgar, and these kids." He turned around and left the house.

AN: Characters

Edgar, Male Lucario, Ability: ? ?

Move set: Bone Rush, Heal Pulse, ? ?, ? ?

Ray, Male Riolu, Ability: ? ?

Move set: Force Palm, Quick Attack, ? ?, ? ?

Reid, Male Machop, Ability: ? ?

Move set: Low Sweep, Karate Chop, ? ?, ? ?

Reina, Female Medittite, Ability: ? ?

Move set: Confusion, Bide, Brick Break, ? ?

Adrian, Male Sneaseal, Ability: ? ?

Move set: Ice Beam, Slash, Feint Attack, Metal Claw

?, Female Gardevoir, Ability: ? ?

Move set: Psychic, Double Team, Light Screen, Psyshock