Marill had shown great concern for his brother Azurill and Drowzee, who had gone missing. May figured though, from a vision that she'd had, that the two had gone to some mountainous place. Though she didn't have any clear memories, she did seem to have some remarkable foresight. Especially as it turned out that Drowzee was a wanted outlaw.
"You think Drowzee and Azurill went in this direction?" Asked Serena with concern.
"After we all left, we went looking for our lost item together... But I wound up all alone when Mr. Drowzee went somewhere with Azurill. I called and called! But they didn't come back. I got scared... So I went back to the crossroads and ran into you two." Seeing that there was no one else who could immediately help, Marill guided the human girls to a rocky path that led up to a mountain known as Mt. Bristle. The three of them stood before the path.
"May, when you saw Azuril and Drowzee in your vision, you were saying you saw them in a mountainous place, right?"
"Yep, no doubt about it." The two turned to Marill.
"May and I will get Azurill back safe and sound. You wait here." Marill nodded and wished the girls luck. May turned to Serena. "Let's go, before it's too late."
The peak of Mt. Bristle was Drowzee's likely hiding place, so the girls made sure to waste no time as they set off to their destination. As soon as the girls entered the dungeon, multiple local Pokémon attacked them, already not taking kindly to intruders, the fact that they were humans made them far more aggressive. "OW!" May was knocked back by a Machop hitting her with Karate Chop. She quickly got back up and gave the bipedal enemy an uppercut with a watery hint, using the move Waterfall. She dodged an attempt at using Low Kick and used Waterfall again, knocking the Machop out. Serena meanwhile struggled with a trio of Starlys attacking her. She managed to take one out using Fire Punch but the other two used the opening to attack her, using Peck and Wing Attack in succession and actually hurting the girl in the process. Why are the Starly here so much stronger than any Pokémon we've faced so far? She thought to herself. As one of the Starlys decided to attack her again, Serena suddenly stood up, winked at it, and blew a kiss at it, trying to use Attract. Unfortunately for Serena, the Starly in question was a female, and seemed almost offended by the Kalosian attempting to flirt with her, and thus struck her again with a Wing Attack. As the other Starly charged in for the kill, it was suddenly knocked out of the sky. "Wow, you hit hard but you can't seem to take it." May noted as she stood over the unconscious bird, having used Smack Down on it. The other Starly lunged at May with a Peck but was knocked unconscious by a fiery punch. May ran over to Serena. "Are you ok? Those Starlys really seemed to hurt you. Have an Oran Berry." As Serena gobbled up the berry she felt much better. "Thanks for the save. We need to be careful here. The Pokémon here are the toughest we've faced yet."
That was merely the first floor. Mt. Bristle was only the third dungeon the girls had explored yet it was already proving itself to be quite a challenge. The girls headed toward the stairs and quickly went up to the second floor. There they encountered more Starlys and Machops but managed to take them down, this time not being surprised by the power of their new enemies. May came across intriguing blue spheres as well and picked some of them up. "Those are orbs. You use them once and they vanish but they can help us in many ways." Serena was quick to explain. "We didn't buy any from the Kecleons so let's keep any orbs we find here. That one's an Escape Orb so we can use it to get out of here if things get really bad. And the other ones you picked up are Rollcall Orbs, which we can use if we get separated to teleport us back to the same place, and Blowback Orbs, which you can use to send an enemy flying." May thanked Serena for the explanation and the duo pressed on. The third floor was a similar challenge but Team CrimsonVelvet managed to clear it, while learning about the peculiar behavior of one of their new enemies. "AH!" Serena yelped as she felt a strong peck on her back that shoved her forward and into May, almost sending the Hoennian down to the floor. Both girls looked back and saw a two-headed bird with no wings. It stood a distance away from them and lunged forward again. The resulting Quick Attack this time hitting May straight on as she approached it. "A Doduo. And its Quick Attack hurts!" May winced. But she went up to the bird as it then proceeded to attack her with Peck. May ignored the pain and rushed forward herself, using the move Aqua Jet. Doduo staggered for a minute before turning tail and fleeing, terrified of the brunette, who stood there confused. "Wow, it thinks it can just hurt us and then run away when we strike back?" "That's because it has an ability called Run Away." Serena explained. "It causes a Pokémon to become terrified when it starts getting weak and that prevents them from fighting back and makes them flee." May laughed in response and Serena started to laugh as well, relieved to have a moment of levity in their so far tense exploration of the mountain.
Team CrimsonVelvet continued to ascend. As they reached the seventh floor, they seemed to grow more confident. Especially as they found some Reviver Seeds and Heal Seeds, as well as a couple of new seeds May had never seen before, ones which Serena was happy to find. "That's an X-Eye Seed, one of our most valuable weapons for any dungeon. When thrown at an enemy's mouth, it makes them Cross-Eyed, and throws off their attacks for a few turns. It's a nice way to shut down dangerous foes who can't be hit with Sleep Seeds or Stun Seeds." Sure enough, a Nidorino rushed at them soon afterwards. Both girls jumped out of the way. May threw a Stun Seed but the Nidorino managed to dodge it so she had no choice but to throw an X-Eye Seed at it. The charging reptile swallowed it and went berserk, charging at both girls and even into the walls. Serena started to jump up and down while doing a dance and seemed to cheer for May, using the move Helping Hand, which caused the Hoennian to gain a surge of confidence and power. As the Nidorino rushed at her with a Poison Sting, she jumped over it and put her wrists together and smacked them onto the rampaging fiend's head, knocking it out in an instant.
As they ascended another flight of stairs, the girls picked up some gummis. May was already surprised when she saw how small they were at Kecleon Mart and was surprised to see the ones in dungeons were also only about the size of the palm of her hand. As she put the White and Blue gummis in the Treasure Bag, she and Serena tried to find the stairs. Though the many Machops, Starlys, Geodudes, and Doduos they encountered were by now easy pickings, what they hadn't seen coming was another enemy. One whose instinct upon seeing the two human girls exploring Mt. Bristle wasn't to immediately attack them, but stalk them instead
These spiders were lurking throughout the dungeon, as they'd made a home among the peaks. Though they could've easily ambushed them as soon as they entered the dungeon, after seeing how ferociously they fought off the Starlys and other Pokémon, they decided to follow the girls and wait for them to get exhausted before attacking. The Spinaraks had never seen anything like a human girl before. And while they usually fed on the occasional Starly that fell victim to their web if it couldn't bribe its way to freedom with a gummi or berry, they collectively felt a strange curiosity towards these new specimens, and a desire to not only taste them, but to keep them around for pleasure. Thus May and Serena seemed like perfect targets.
"Look out!" Serena tried to push May out of the way of a String Shot attack, but the girl was hit in the face instead, stunning her. "Serena!" May gasped, but she only ended up attacked as well. The sticky string was wrapped around their bodies at light speed, their arms pinned to their sides, and their legs stuck together. They both yelped as they ended up falling to the ground and struggling, bound up helplessly. The girls were dragged back to a large web and placed upon it. The Spinarak crawled all over them in the process, victorious. The new prey they had captured was already an absolute feast to the eyes, and they wondered what they'd taste like as well. They tore off the String Shot they had used to immobilize the girls only to see Serena swiftly strike one with a Fire Punch. But as May stood up she was dragged back down onto the web by a volley of String Shot from behind. A Spinarak jumped on May's exposed belly, and seemed unsure whether to crawl up her bra or under her bikini bottom. It already enjoyed feeling the girl's toned belly and this distracted it from further enjoying her. Seeing the spider treat May as a toy enraged Serena, who managed to keep the constant streams of String Shot at bay with her flaming fist and also used it swat away the Spinarak harassing May. The two girls dodged every subsequent attempt to web them as much as they could. Though both girls felt some attempts at String Shot strike their bellies, thighs, necks, or arms, the attack wasn't permanent as they could more easily free themselves once they got further away from the swarm, as thankfully they were eventually able to free themselves and make it out of there. Still, pieces of sticky webbing remained stuck to their thighs and chests long after the fact...
"Ugh, that was horrible! Are you ok Serena?" Asked May. The Kalosian seemed to be doing somewhat better. "Don't worry. I'm just glad we got away from those creeps. Speaking of creeps, we need to find Drowzee!" Thus the girls continued climbing up Mt. Bristle. It was a pain to walk around like that, and an even bigger pain to fight in that state as well as it slowed them down. Fortunately for them, by then they were able to take any opponent they came across with ease. And any Spinarak that approached them was struck with preemptively with Aqua Jet or Disarming Voice to make sure it didn't try to trap the girls.
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At the peak of Mt. Bristle, poor Azurill had run himself into a dead end and was cornered by Drowzee. Of course, he had been led along with a lie, innocent enough to believe it. Drowzee lured him into a false sense of trust, claiming that he would help him to find the item he had lost here. In reality, though, he never intended to be of help at all.
"Sorry, kiddo." Drowzee dropped the act. "Your lost item? It's not here, that's for sure." Azurill was surprised at first, and quickly became emotional, "My...big brother..." he was distressed, "My big brother's following us, right? He's coming soon?"
Drowzee shook his head though. "Nope. Your big brother's not coming. I'll let you in on a little secret. This was all a trick. I deceived you." Azurill was even more surprised to hear it. Drowzee continued, stating that he was only ever after the treasure that was supposedly hidden here in the heart of the mountain. That the only reason he had used Azurill, in particular, was because he was so small, and he would be able to fit into the tiny crevasse where the treasure was supposedly hidden. "Go crawl into that hole, and come back out with the treasure. Then I'll take you back to your brother with no strings attached."
Trying to run away back to his big brother didn't help matters, as Drowzee wouldn't let little Azurill leave. "I WANT MY BIG BROTHER!" The blue rodent made a run for it as he cried but Drowzee intercepted him. "H-hey! Stop that!" He blocked off the boy and warned him. "Sheesh! I said that I'll take you home when you're done! If you keep being difficult, it will mean big trouble for you!"
"H-h-h...HELP!" The same cry in May's premonition.
"Stop right there!" The two of them turned around to see two human girls approaching them. "Drowzee! How dare you abduct Azurill! You seemed like such a nice Pokemon but no, you're despicable!" Serena admonished him. The Psychic type was shocked to see Team CrimsonVelvet. "H-how did you find this place?!"
May stepped forward and declared: "We're Team CrimsonVelvet! We've come to apprehend you! Now let go of Azurill and this will be easy!" Drowzee couldn't believe it. "An exploration team?! You came to apprehend...me?" He panicked, but then noticed that Serena was shaking. May noticed as well. "Serena? What's going on?" Drowzee then had an epiphany. "A-ha! I've figured it out! You say you're on an exploration team, but you're total rookies! I knew it! You're humans so I should have known that you wouldn't be a major exploration team. And I also heard humans are helpless compared to us Pokémon. That's why you're shaking!" He pointed at Serena. The Kalosian had never been in a serious battle with an outlaw before and was indeed scared. But seeing May's concerned expression reminded her to get ahold of herself, as Drowzee continued to boast. "Heh. You're right pretty lady, I'm a wanted Pokemon with a bounty on my head. But can you two do the job? Can you confront this outlaw and bring him to justice? I've been chased by all sorts of exploration teams but never a sorrier-looking bunch than you two. Ha ha ha! You'd be better off as dancers for some club or pets for some rich Pokémon instead of being a third rate exploration team trying to bring in criminals."
Both girls were offended by the remark. And Serena put on a brave face as she responded. "We'd never lose to a bad guy like you!"
Drowzee laughed again and stepped towards the girls. "This should be a laugh. Let's see if you can take me down. Show me what you've got!"
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With that, the girls faced off against Drowzee. Despite still being rookies to this whole thing, they confronted him as bravely as they could.
Drowzee attacked them with Confusion straight off the bat, hoping to throw them into a stupor. May could feel her mind starting to cloud, but she powered through the attack, and fought back with one of her own. She tried to rush him with an Aqua Jet but Drowzee's ability Forewarn allowed him to avoid the attack; Serena's attempt to strike him with a Fire Punch also failed for this reason. Drowzee responded by smacking Serena's face with a Pound attack, knocking her away and leaving May to deal with the enemy.
The Hoennian had taken something out of the Treasure Bag, and thus she was carrying a Sleep Seed, and she took her chance to throw it at Drowzee, and it went straight in his mouth. However, her heart sank when it didn't seem to work. "Hah!" Drowzee mocked her, as the child abductor brushed it off. "Didn't you know I have Insomnia? There's no way that's ever going to work on me! You humans are an even sorrier bunch than I thought. How about I put you to sleep for real?" Backing up by a step as Drowzee prepared to use Hypnosis, May looked over at Serena for help, and saw the Kalosian blonde rushing towards her. Serena, in turn, pulled out a seed from her pocket, and Drowzee chuckled again. "Hahaha! What, are you really trying the same strategy twice? When will you actually realize it's not going to work? You two really are idiots- URK"
"I think you're the one who's an idiot!" Serena snapped and threw the seed straight into his throat. As it turned out, it wasn't a Sleep Seed after all. The X-Eye Seed petrified him like a statue on the spot as his vision became filled with hallucinations, and in that vulnerable position, they were finally able to take him out with a Fire Punch from Serena and a Waterfall from May. Drowzee staggered from the impact of these attacks, his Forewarn ability not helping much when he was under the effects of a hallucinogenic seed.
"Rrrrawrr!" Drowzee groaned in agony and collapsed face first onto the floor. Team CrimsonVelvet were exhausted but both girls smiled at each other, victorious. They stepped over the unconscious Psychic type and approached Azurill, who had watched the whole confrontation with his back to the wall.
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Azurill and Team CrimsonVelvet were at the base of Mt. Bristle. Drowzee was flanked by two levitating gray orbs, each with a single large eye in the middle and magnets attached to either side. They were led by a larger levitating being made out of steel. "ZZZT! I am Magnezone, the primary officer in this region! ZZZT! Thanks to you, we have been able to arrest a wanted outlaw! ZZZT! We owe you great thanks for your cooperation! ZZZT!" His magnet-like hands flashed red and blue in gratitude, as his two deputies, who introduced themselves as Magnemite, similarly expressed their appreciation. "ZZZT! We will send the reward to your guild. Thank you again! ZZZT!"
As Magnezone and his Magnemite deputies started to escort Drowzee away, another voice was heard. "AZURILL!" Team CrimsonVelvet turned to see Marill rushing towards them. Azurill, in response rushed towards him. "Waaaaah! Marill! It was so scary!" "Are you hurt, Azurill?"
"No, the human ladies saved me. They came and beat up Drowzee when he was going to hurt me."
"That's a relief! Oh, Azurill... Azurill..." He turned to the human girls in question. "You did this all for us, Serena and May. Thank you so much. We won't forget what you did for us." Serena and May smiled.
"It was a pleasure."
"We're glad your brother is safe."
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May and Serena stood in front of the outlaw bulletin board, where Chatot spoke to them. "I have to say I'm impressed. On your very first job apprehending an outlaw you went out and apprehended a dangerous one who's been at large for years. And you did so in a dungeon I wouldn't recommend to beginners. Well done, you two! " Honestly I've never seen such a quick success. Perhaps humans do have potential. He thought to himself. The musical bird praised the girls. Chatot continued. "I've gotten the bounty from Officer Magnezone for the captured outlaw! Here's your share for the job. It's yours to keep! " Team CrimsonVelvet received 300 Poké, as the bounty was originally 3000. Though a bit peeved, they understood why the deduction was necessary. "Also, as a reward for catching such a dangerous criminal, the Exploration Team Federation has sent us this for you." Chatot handed May an enlarged Treasure Bag. Within it was a note saying it can carry 24 items. Well at least this is a good reward. May thought to herself.
"This was excellent work, Team CrimsonVelvet. And we expect just as much effort tomorrow! Hee-heeee! " Chatot fluttered his wings and went downstairs. Serena sighed. "I thought bringing in such a dangerous criminal would've gotten us a bigger reward. Though I can understand why they take 90%, it's still annoying." May nodded but comforted her partner. "Well, I'm sure we found way more than 300 Poké just from walking around Mt. Bristle. Besides, the important thing is that we managed to rescue Azurill." The Kalosian girl perked up. "And it's all thanks to you, May! Because you had that dream, we learned about Azurill's trouble in advance."
May smiled but thought to herself. It's true! I can't explain it, but that first shout I heard from Azurill, and that dream I had... Both of these events... They took place in the future! Why was I able to see something like that? What was that dream about? But her thoughts were interrupted by a guttural sound. "Oh! My stomach growled!" A similar sound was heard. "Ha ha ha! Your stomach growled too, May! We must have worked up a big appetite! We were so focused on rescuing Azurill that I didn't notice at all!" Both girls blushed and then laughed. "Come on Serena, let's go eat."
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"Crunch-munch! Chew-chew! Snuffle-slurp!"
The sounds of the Guild enjoying dinner filled the dining room. May and Serena sat at the end of the table and ate in a more refined manner. This was only their second night having dinner at the Guild and they were already used to the sight of the other members eating in such a sloppy manner as they enjoyed the special meals Chimecho had prepared for them. After dinner everyone went to their bedrooms.
It was much darker than usual that night, as there was a fierce thunderstorm outside. "Wow, that lightning's intense!" Observed Serena. "It looks like it's really stormy tonight..." May noted. Serena sat down on her makeshift bed. "You know the night before we met, May? It was storming that night. I found you out cold on the beach the day after that stormy night, May. Well? Do you remember anything about being out cold on the beach? Can you remember anything at all?" May thought for a minute. "Hmm...There was a storm...But otherwise I don't remember anything and why I ended up unconscious there." Serena understood. "I guess it won't be that easy. But that's all right. Just try remembering a little at a time. We have to get up early again tomorrow so let's get some sleep."
The storm continued deep into the night. The lightning wasn't as strong as it was a few hours ago, but there was still a lot of loud thunder, so neither girl had an easy time sleeping. "Are you still awake, May? I've been thinking it over since it happened. That strange dream you had... Maybe it has to do with you personally. That's just the feeling I get. I sure don't know any other being who dreams about the future. And I was here for years as the only human around here but then you suddenly showed up out of nowhere. That's why I think those two events are connected. I can't help feeling that way." May contemplated Serena's observations. The key to unlocking my memory... Was it in that vision? But even if that were true, how does it relate to anything else? She thought to herself. "What can I say? I only have snippets and fragments of what happened back in the human world. All I know is that we both come from that world. And we seem to both know about certain things like contests and shopping." Responded May.
The two girls continued lying on their beds. But then May broke the silence. "Oh! That reminds me of what Chatot said. That the growing number of bad Pokémon has been caused by time going out of whack. Not sure what that's about to be honest."
"Well like Chatot said, time is getting messed up, bit by bit, all over the world. No one seems to know why. Though some people say it might have to do with the Time Gears." "What's a Time Gear?" "They're basically sacred treasures, hidden in the most remote locations. Some say they help stabilize the flow of time by protecting time and keeping it flowing properly. No one knows what would happen if a Time Gear is damaged or stolen. That's why everyone makes sure never to disturb the Time Gears. Everyone has long been certain that some kind of disaster would strike. So everyone stays away from the Time Gears and doesn't tamper with them. Even the most hardened criminal Pokemon know to avoid messing with them. Though given the rise in bad Pokémon lately, some say it might be the case. Which would be awful."
May thought over all of this but was too tired to discuss it further. "Let's talk about it more tomorrow Serena. Good night."
"Good night May!"
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Far from the Wigglytuff Guild, a shadowy figure was rushing through the rain. Occasionally she'd climb up a tree and use vines to swing across them. In the dead of night, aided by the downpour that drowned out the sound of her own movements, she was able to navigate the sea of trees with ease. As the area known as Treeshroud Forest was home to many Pokémon, and the intruder didn't want to disturb them. Eventually she arrived at a clearing, where she saw something truly beautiful. "Do my eyes deceive me? Could it be...? Yes, it is!"
Before her was a glowing wheel that emitted a large green light. Its glow seemed to pulsate. And the entire area was devoid of any other beings. The intruder was ecstatic.
"I've finally found it! A Time Gear! But... this is only the first of many..."
A flash of lightning revealed the form of a human girl. Though this one was quite different from May and Serena, with her voluminous purple hair and bronze skin, and a chest that was somewhat smaller. She wore nothing but a midriff wrap and a bra. "Now I can do what I came here to do, and fulfill my mission." She looked at her surroundings. The local Pokémon in Treeshroud Forest were asleep. And though there weren't any in the immediate vicinity, she felt sorry for any who'd potentially suffer the consequences of what she was about to do. It has to be this way. She thought to herself as she approached the Time Gear.
