Chapter seven. Thank you to everyone who has come this far! We've still got a while to go!
Returning to the guild was done in a quiet affair. Alakazam was found waiting for them outside the border of the campsite and quickly warped them home. Sean especially was grateful for the quick exit, he felt eyes burning into his back, but glancing behind him afforded no answers.
"How was the adventure?" Alakazam asked after they appeared at the crossroads, but before an answer could be given he teleported away.
"He's a bit rude," Sean yawned. Now that all the excitement was over, he was tired. And sore. Sore everywhere. Even his tail hurt, the muscles at the root of his tail seemed oddly stretched out. "Hey, has my tail been doing stuff?" he asked as they began the walk up the trial of infinite steps.
"It was going up a few times during weird moments," Corphish answered. "You didn't notice?"
"Not in the least. Tails are weird anyway."
"Mmph." Was Rai's contribution to the topic at hand.
Corphish, having the most legs, was the fastest and he was the one to stand over the grate. They were quickly let in by Diglett and Loudred.
They trudged down and down further until they were at the lowest level.
"Ah, you three," Chatot said, spotting them. He hopped away from the pokémon he was talking to, Alakazam to the trio's annoyance, and looked them over. "How did you fare in the dungeon?" his voice was casual, too casual.
"We beat it," Corphish said, letting his body slump to the floor as his legs decided they didn't want to carry him anymore.
"We found the treasure," Rai added, slumping to his side.
"It was a Time Gear," Sean said, wobbling back and forth on his feet.
"A… A TIME GEAR!" Chatot screeched, flapping his wings furiously. "Well, well, well, well-well!"
"The guardian said Wigglytuff had already been there," Sean said, giving up and sitting down. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff I mean."
"Ah… pardon?" Chatot ceased his fluttering to blink at them instead. "The 'guardian' said the 'Guildmaster' had already 'been' there?"
Ignoring the odd choice of words to emphasize, the trio nodded.
"No." Chatot shook his head. "No-no-no. That cannot be right. It was the Guildmaster's plan to send you to the Boulder Quarry, overturning my suggestions for an easier dungeon. If he already knew what was there…?" Trailing off he looked to Alakazam and then past him to Wigglytuff's chambers. "Stay here, I'll return shortly."
There was no argument there, the trio just laid in place as Alakazam stared at them until Chatot came hopping out. His wings were a little frazzled, with too many startled flaps of the wings.
"Well, I have your answer," Chatot said, hopping to a stop. "Indeed, the Guildmaster has been to the chamber containing Boulder Quarry's Time Gear. Apparently, before he was well known before he even joined Team Charm even." Chatot's eyes did a curious thing at that mention. A twitch of sorts.
"In conference with the Guildmaster, he confirmed that he remembered the Time Gear. Eventually," Chatot added under his breath, remembering just how many times he had to word the question before Wigglytuff would stop dancing.
"But you will be pleased to learn that this was exactly the Guildmaster's plan! By confirming the Time Gear location, which is still there, we can send pokémon to guard it."
Of the trio, it was Sean who nodded. "We thought so too. Ditto, the guardian, said it'd be alright if the pokémon were careful." After a moment he added. "You need to walk through a wall that is in the middle of two path dungeons that just loop around. The rock wall is an illusion or something."
"You have done very well," Chatot said, sparking some attention from the other two. "Even if this adventure was perhaps not what you were expecting, you still solved a puzzle only the Guildmaster had previously properly worked out. This is very impressive. And to find a Time Gear at this sensitive hour, currently, that is worth more than any treasure."
Smiling through his eye, beaks didn't convey emotions well, Chatot tipped his head to them. "I will alert Chimecho that you need some medical attention, and I will inform Sunflora of her new task to be started tomorrow. That is all, you may rest now. After dinner, the three of you come to the Guildmaster's chambers for debriefing."
With that, Chatot hopped away, heading to the upper level to find Chimecho.
Corphish recovered better than they did, scuttling off after complimenting them. Rai was tired and drained from the experience and crawled off to have a cat nap, but Sean didn't feel as weary and decided to get to know Chimecho a little.
"So, uh, the Psychic Network has been mentioned once or twice but I still don't really understand what that's all about?" he asked as she went about her tasks in the medical wing. Cleaning tools, preparing some medicine-soaked bandages.
"Cut this would you?" she requested, levitating some dry cloth for him to cut. He did so absentmindedly as she began to explain.
"A properly trained Psychic can drift into a form of trance. This trance allows their mind to join a continent-spanning network of psychic emanations. No one Psychic can cross such a distance, however, with the network being a connection of impulses constantly, we can aid by creating 'platforms' so to speak. It's hard to explain to someone who cannot experience it themselves."
"Where did this idea come from?" he asked, really curious. Nothing like this was in the games. Even Super still used an orb system rather than a pokémon system. He supposed it was kinda like the Connection Orb in a way. Just with pokémon.
"From Lucario," she said as if that was an explanation. At her confused expression, she giggled bashfully. "My apologies. I am certainly not accustomed to someone not understanding who I mean when I say that."
"Is this lucario well known?"
She nodded. "The Legendary Lucario is the pokémon who built civilisation itself, starting a few hundred years ago even! It is said she is gifted powers from legends above legends and has awesome powers. It is said that she suggested the Psychic Network, after her own powers. She was the first pokémon to rescue others from dungeons, picking up on calls for help with her powerful aura!"
She bobbed in the air, her version of a shrug. "That's what I've heard at least. It can be hard to tell what is truth and what is just rumour distorted. The network is valuable, it's how we commune between towns and guilds swiftly, where outlaw notices tend to come from and the Federation in the middle of the continent can send out messages for aid for lost pokémon deemed to be in a dungeon somewhere."
That was a lot of information at once, but he was cutting cloth and took it all in slowly with a few nods here and there. "Thanks, Chimecho."
"It is no problem, thank you for your help."
With that, he was left to wander. His muscles hurt from getting beaten up all day, and he was dirty from all the dust and blood. He wanted to wash off, Rai licked himself which Sean adamantly refused to do.
"I don't think I've been alone for the entire time I've been here." Sean thought to himself as he walked to the beach to clean himself.
The beach was pretty, but he was distracted. He waded into the shore, still thinking deeply.
"Am I really in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon world?" He already believed in that fact, rational thought made it difficult to accept though. "Am I stuck here forever is the real question." With the aches getting a bit much, he sat down where he was standing. There were no seats at the table after all.
"What happened to bring me here? What is my family doing? Did I die… or did I just disappear? I hope they're alright." The thought hit him with a wave of emotion he hadn't let himself feel before, slightly tearing up as he thought of everyone he had left behind, Sean sank in on himself, fiddling with the Silver Bow he wore to wash it as well. "I miss them. I miss my friends, my family, my world."
If it wasn't for an interruption, he would have sat with those dark thoughts tormenting him until he fell asleep.
"Sean?" Rai's soft voice came from the beachfront, and he nearly jumped.
"Rai!" he gasped, covered in seawater. "What are you doing up?"
"I could say the same to you," Rai said, walking into the water as well. "I will actually. What are you doing on the beach?"
Sean hesitated, waiting in silence as the shinx walked towards him. "I." he trailed off, not able to admit it.
Rai came to a stop beside him and smiled. "Come on," he said, coaxing Sean out.
They sat in silence for a minute, an hour, a day. Sean wasn't certain.
"Okay, not a day," he said to himself before sighing, he needed to talk.
"I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"Stuff… stuff about where I came from."
"Do you remember anything?"
"A… a little," he said, it wasn't even a complete lie although the half-truth made him feel even more guilty. "I remember I had family and friends. I was pretty happy I think. They're a bit blurry though, I'm not sure if I remember my mother's voice." The truth was painful to speak aloud, every day Sean had lived as a pokémon, he was finding it more difficult to gather concrete facts about his life before it all.
He still couldn't remember anything firsthand about the dark future, only what he remembered from the game. Even his memories of human life were blurry at best, the game was clear but even then he hadn't remembered Boulder Quarry right away. How long had he been in the Dark Future?
A brief thought flitted through his head. "I wonder how I reacted when I arrived in the dark future? I must have still remembered everything. Is that why things are already different? Did I make a change in the future that is affecting the past? That's a weird thought. I wonder what Grovyle thought about me?"
"I don't remember my mother's voice," Rai said suddenly, catching Sean off guard. As the meowth looked at him curiously, Rai gave him a small, sad, smile. "But I remember how her voice felt to me. Safe. Warm. Loving. It's taken me a long time, but I think that's enough. It has to be enough."
Sean met the shinx's eyes for a moment and gave a small smile back. "I hope you never forget."
"Never ever." Rai nuzzled him for a moment, before pulling himself up. "Do you want to come to the guild now? Or stay here a little longer?"
Sean swallowed, hoping he wasn't going to offend Rai. He wanted to say he'd come, but that'd be another lie. "Stay, I think. Just for a bit longer."
"Okay." Rai smiled and nuzzled him again. "I'm your friend okay? You've got me. Take all the time you need." With that, he turned tail and left to give Sean some privacy.
Sean smiled after the shinx and sighed, leaning back. Part of him did feel better, not completely and not in all areas, but some measure of support simply felt nice.
He had other stuff to think about. Team Skull, what they did. They hadn't really spoken of it, but… they had stolen the Relic Fragment. Maybe they should tell Chatot and Wigglytuff, both of who seemed pretty reasonable. That thing was important too, he couldn't just do nothing.
He waited until he was mostly dry, now covered in salt and sand, and walked back up to rinse off at the water hole.
Dinner and then the debrief.
Chatot had been flustered the previous night during debriefing, having already spoken for both parties and thus not much was left to be said.
Corphish had good things to say about Rai and Sean's efforts, however, and so they were rewarded with some additional items.
They went to bed in a good mood, hopeful even.
"Ahem! As I was explaining." Once again, Chatot deviated from his routine. Some apprentices were getting worried about him. "There is a lake far to the east. Many aspects of that lake remain mysterious. We hope to unravel those mysteries."
Chatot threw up a wing as he continued with a pronounced chirp to his voice. "And so, our guild is planning to mount an expedition for the first time in a while!"
"An expedition you say?" Bidoof cheered. "Yes, please. Yes, sirree!"
"Oh my gosh!" Sunflora squealed, doing a twirl in all the excitement. "It's been a long time since we went on an expedition."
"But," Loudred began, at a reasonable level. "That means you are going to be picking members for the expedition from all of us AGAIN! Right?"
"An expedition, I've only been able to watch the guild depart on those before." Rai hopped in place, sparking with excitement.
"Precisely," Chatot chirped. "We will depart in several days." He waited as the apprentices calmed down to continue. "Over these next few days, we will choose the worthiest apprentices. The chosen few will form the expedition party."
The crowd fell into cheers again, even Sean couldn't stop himself from grinning even as the static from Rai began making his fur stand up. This was a great way to lift the mood, he never quite realised the timing of the expedition came with the bad news from the other day.
"Everyone work hard so that you may be chosen for the expedition. Sunflora stay back for a moment. That is all."
"Oh wow this is so exciting," Chimecho gushed.
"Yup-yup! I've yet to go on an expedition. I would surely love to go this time."
"Let's work at it to get picked as members!" Loudred roared right in Diglett's face.
"Right," Diglett replied, unphased by the volume. "I won't be a weak link."
"Hey-hey-hey-hey-hey!" Corphish seemed stuck on that word.
"Imagine going on that, Meowth?" Rai asked. "Do you think we could make it?"
Smiling confidently at his partner, Sean nodded. "We can do it." In the back of his mind, he thought over everything that had transpired with a satisfied expression. "Boulder Quarry proves that."
"Thank goodness!" He cheered internally. "I haven't screwed everything up so hard we're not going to Fogbound Lake! Phew, things are going to be back on track." Feeling considerably better about everything, Sean recalled what was going to happen next. "Next up we've got… oh. Oh, that's not right. Is that right? Please tell me that is… isn't… Ah no… no!"
While Sean's mind fell to a trio of unpleasant figures, Chatot dismissed the crowd. "All right everyone, it's back to work as usual."
The thunderous. "HOORAY!" Did wipe Team Skull out of his head for a moment, but unfortunately, that couldn't last very long.
"Hey, Rai, can we talk quickly?" Sean said before Rai could race off.
Rai blinked at him before flashing him a smile. "Sure!" And went to move, but Sean was edging the other way. "Ah?"
"On our own."
He took him into their room, Rai looking a little worried. "I was thinking about Team Skull," he said. "How they stole your treasure."
Rai blinked once at the name before shrinking a little. "Oh. What about them?"
"Shouldn't we tell Wigglytuff and Chatot?" he asked.
Rai looked surprised at the notion. "Huh? We can't bother them with something that small." Sean cursed Rai's lack of self-worth.
"They stole from you," Sean pointed out. "And beat us up to do it at that. They'd listen to us, and it might help us get it back."
"I… I don't know."
"Trust me?" Sean asked, almost pleading. He didn't want to be stuck with them on the expedition, he didn't want the Relic Fragment to be lost or destroyed if they couldn't sell it.
Rai still looked unsure but gave him a nod. "Alright."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sean hunted Chatot out right away.
"You two," Chatot huffed. "Surely you must be eager to get a move on! The expedition is coming up, you do not want to appear uninterested."
"We have something we wanted to tell you about," Sean said seriously, Rai still frowning behind him. Chatot glanced between the two and then nodded.
"Very well. With the Guildmaster or…?"
"With if we could," Sean said after looking to Rai for support.
Chatot led them in and Wigglytuff spun around on them cheerfully. "Excited you two?"
"Guildmaster, these two have something they wish to discuss," Chatot said stiffly, something in his tone unnoticeable to them but Wigglytuff picked up on it.
"Oh? Go ahead! Go ahead!"
Sean looked to Rai who opened his mouth, but nothing came out. So, he spoke up. "The day we met, Shinx got robbed by a trio of pokémon," he said, Chatot and Wigglytuff growing very still. "We tried to get it back, but they beat us and ran off with it."
"Who?" Chatot spluttered in rage. "Did. This?"
"Team Skull. A zubat, koffing, and their leader a skuntank."
"And what did they take?" Wigglytuff asked gently.
"M-My treasure," Rai said. "I called it the relic fragment because it looked like a piece of a bigger thing. A little stone with a symbol on it. It's not valuable!" he added quickly. "It's just a rock I don't think it-"
"Shinx," Chatot said seriously. "Do not undervalue the worth of sentiment. In any case, to be robbed is to be the victim of a crime. Why did you two not tell us of this before?"
Rai looked uncomfortable and Sean glanced away.
"I understand," Wigglytuff said softly. "There's no reason to be ashamed. You do not win every day, and that's not your fault."
"I still lost it," Rai muttered softly. "It's all I had left of my family."
Chatot held a stricken expression for a long moment, and he clucked gently. "It will be alright. This 'team' will be tracked down and brought to justice for this act. Look at me, Shinx." Rai looked up. "The guild stands with you."
Rai teared up a bit. "Th-thank you."
"Was that all?" Wigglytuff asked. Sean nodded, so he hugged them both. "It's very brave what you just did, thank you for telling us."
Rai chose an outlaw to track down that day.
Sunflora and Loudred had discovered the Waterfall Cave a short time before Chatot had sent Team Ion to Boulder Quarry, the excitement of their discovery had brought a few pokémon around, as well as some pokémon fleeing the law.
Sean had been silently impressed with Rai, leaping right through the waterfall without hesitation. He thought he'd still be able to salvage the words he had planned for the occasion, but Rai was too worked up to doubt himself.
If Sean had thought the Drenched Bluff had been uncomfortable, the Waterfall Cave laughed at that. There was thankfully stone as the floor, but an unpleasant amount of mud and slime scooped up the area.
The obsessive-compulsive part of Sean wailed at having to track through it all. The rest of him was far more concerned for Rai to even take notice.
Given time to prepare, Sean could appear as a quick thinker and clever conversationalist. He spent most of his time not speaking to Rai simply thinking about possible things to say in the future.
As it turned out, however, the reality was not so easy to deal with.
He had thought, a little, on Team Skull and had thought of a few things to say that'd hopefully lighten Rai's mood. Each time he turned to speak to Rai, however, he lost his nerve.
"Okay. Real people, real pokémon. It's not so cut and paste, but he's your friend. You don't have to say the perfect thing, alright? The perfect thing is not natural, it's not genuine, just… say… something."
While Sean continued to think away in a building panic, Rai continued crashing his way through the dungeon. On any other day, he'd be delighted to be here, jumping through a waterfall, combing through an almost completely new area for discoveries no one had found yet.
But they were here on business. Weepinbell was here somewhere, the cowardly crook was known for ambushing pokémon and threatening to eat them if they didn't give him their belongings. No record ever stated he had followed through with such a threat, but Rai was determined to bring the outlaw to justice.
And if stunning a psyduck with Thundershock before knocking it out with a Quick Attack was therapeutic, then he wouldn't complain.
"So, where do you think he is?" Sean started, gathering enough boldness to speak finally.
"Some corner," Rai answered, anticipating the rest of the question.
"Cool," Sean said. "Okay. Want to talk?"
"We've got a job to do here."
"Well, we can talk about that." Sean hesitated. "Still, we've got time, want to talk-"
"No."
Sean sighed, this time a little frustrated. "Come on Rai, please."
Rai stopped and sat down, grimacing at the slickness of the ground. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"
"I… I dunno. How are you liking the guild so far?"
"Better than I imagined," Rai answered, but it was strict. He relaxed a mite. "Not as scary as I made myself believe." He glanced down then back up. "I started wearing the relic fragment to try and be brave. I'm glad that if I had to lose it then at least I got you."
Sean flushed a little. He wasn't used to being praised. "Thank you for not thinking I'm insane."
"You're welcome. The poké is still out on that one though." Sean laughed, but Rai had said it so seriously. He laughed too.
Rai took a breath and frowned. "You do smell a bit, haven't you been grooming or anything?"
"I… no?" The very thought of licking his fur made Sean cringe. "That's why I was in the beach last night."
"Ooh. That's why."
"Yeah. So, uh… if you got the chance to tell those three off for what they did, what do you think you'd say?"
"Pardon?" Rai blinked in alarm at the mere thought of speaking his thoughts out loud.
"Have you thought about it?
"Of course I have, but… I can't just say that."
"Sure you can."
"M-Maybe that's easy for you."
"Rai," Sean said bluntly. "There is no judgement here. I want you to tell me, what you wouldn't say to him because it'd be rude." He took a breath, Rai looked uncomfortable, so he tried another avenue. "What I want to say to them was that they are foul, disgusting, bullies who stink. Worse than me even."
Rai blinked, not prepared for such blunt honesty.
"I wanted to call Skuntank a shitstain on society." Sean could feel himself blushing, and he fiddled with his Silver Bow in response, it wasn't in his nature to speak so nastily about another. But Skuntank's actions had sparked something in him. His neck still ached a bit from that blow. He had been more concerned about how Rai was feeling, but now that he was thinking about how he felt.
"I think he's pathetic that he snuck up on us. The kind of sad, spineless, piece of loose trash that is so aware of his own pitiful nature that the only way he can feel better about himself is to try and drag everyone else down to wallow in misery with him. Lonely, probably, but it doesn't excuse anything. Now." Sean took a breath. "That's what I wanted to say, but never would. What about you?"
Rai still hesitated, but Sean's own words, the admission, the equality he was affording him with this honesty, was too great to simply shun.
"I… I hate them," Rai admitted, ears falling flat. "I've never actually hated someone before. I don't even hate Koffing and Zubat, they were just following him. He was the real person who took my treasure and then attacked us both out of nowhere. We'd won fair and square! What kind of person does that? Even this Weepinbell we're chasing down, I think he's still probably a nicer person than Skuntank. At least he only threatens, Skuntank makes it personal. Y-you're right, he has to be someone really pathetic to even want to do this kind of thing. I mean, that was MY TREASURE!"
Rai's sudden shout echoed through the slimy halls of the Waterfall Cave, and Sean waited silently as Rai grew angry.
"How dare he take that from me? It's the only thing I have left of my family. It's the only thing that carried me through all these cold nights without my sister. It's the only thing that gave me the strength to continue on in this unfair world. It's the ONLY THING THAT GAVE ME HOPE AND HE THINKS HE CAN JUST TAKE IT FROM ME!?"
Rai breathed heavily, his fur sparked, and angry tears dripped down his nose. Sean took a careful step forward, then another. He could smell the ozone and saw his fur begin standing up but continued unmindful. He'd been zapped plenty of times.
Twitching only once at the loud zap that stung his paw, Sean ran his paw down Rai's back, flattening down his fur and picking up a lot of static along the way.
"Thanks," Rai said, pulling his head back up. "I think that helped. I'm still upset, but… it's nice to get it out."
"I'm glad." Sean smiled brightly, ignoring the tears for Rai's pride. "Sometimes you have to just say it, leaving the angry thoughts to boil over in your head can't be healthy. I would know, I'm sure."
Rai smiled back and shivered, letting the charge dissipate. "Okay, we should get going. Hopefully, Weepinbell didn't hear that, or else we're going to have an interesting battle up ahead."
"Meowth, may I have a word?"
Rai had decided to do laps around town after taking down Weepinbell, most aggressively at that Sean almost felt bad for him. Rai was a lot stronger than he might have expected, the battle against Team Gazer showed that.
Sean, however much he knew he needed to get stronger, didn't want to run. Rai was more so just working out excess energy, he reasoned, leaving him to relax up at the guild.
Where Chatot came hopping over to him.
"Sure," he replied, standing with an immediate plunge of nervousness around his heart. Your superior needing a word with you was never a good thing and he began to lambast himself for skipping out on the run. Chatot probably knew and decided he was skipping out on training, and he was going to be in trouble and-
"How are you finding your tenure with us so far?" Chatot asked pleasantly.
"Oh!" Sean relaxed a bit, was this just a friendly chat? "I'm enjoying it so far. Learning a lot."
"I am pleased to hear that," Chatot replied. "Have you found any concerns to raise thus far?"
"No?" Sean replied, a little thrown. "No, things have been good."
"Good. How have you been getting along with the rest of the apprentices?" The question was a little sharper, a little more pointed.
"They're friendly. Corphish is knowledgeable, so I feel like I've learned a lot."
Chatot nodded. "Good, excellent, yes."
"Sir?"
"I have noticed you do not socialise often," Chatot said carefully. "It has also come to my attention of a slip-up with names some few days ago. I hope this has not caused any division amongst you?"
Sean blushed. This was going to haunt him, wasn't it? Chatot of all pokémon was asking him this. He wanted to sink through the floor. "O-oh. No, I explained it to Sunflora, and things are fine. Bit awkward, but it'll blow over."
"Pokémon can be difficult at times," Chatot said strangely. "Impressions can be difficult to shift, but hard work and diligence is a powerful tool. No one has approached you on the street?"
"I stick around R-Shinx, so. No, besides some comments from Litleo and a few odd looks, no one's actually approached me."
He was flashed a curious look at the mention of Litleo, but Chatot nodded and dropped the subject.
"I suppose you might be interested to know that we have sent Sunflora to Boulder Quarry to aid in defence of the Time Gear. Excellent work the three of you in that excursion. Truly good…."
Debrief went quick and sleep was easy. With the mon on a mission, Rai charged for the jobs again, heading to the left again.
Whether he still needed stress relief, Sean still felt almost bad for Weepinbell yesterday, Rai chose another outlaw to track down this day.
Once he handed it to Sean, the meowth grew a little concerned.
"Uh, this is a." He hesitated, glancing at Rai. "A golbat."
"Yeah?" Rai asked, looking completely innocent. "Got to bring felons to justice and all that."
"Hmm." Sean decided not to make a fuss or point any claws. Nodding, he decided that this was fine.
Smiling, almost scarily, Rai began leading their way out of the guild.
"OH, MY GOOOOOSSSSSHHHH!"
Only for the entire guild to shake all over again. Sunflora had been absent during dinner last night as well as not present during Wigglytuff's episode.
As she had been sent to stand guard for the Time Gear first, trusting her as one of the most reliable pokémon in the guild.
Her voice had been caught by Diglett even before she arrived at the grate and had Loudred open up the guild to save her time. Fortunate, since she hadn't been planning on stopping.
"EVERYONE!" Sunflora screeched as she threw herself into the guild and down the incline to get to the second floor those few milliseconds faster. "THE TIME GEAR IS GONE!"
Gasping for breath, Sunflora fell to her leafy hands and shook. Her scream brought everyone to the second level of the guild.
Diglett and Dugtrio emerged from the ground on each of her sides and Sunflora grabbed a hold of Dugtrio and began to cry. Loudred and Croagunk came rushing up from below a few seconds before Chatot and Wigglytuff emerged as well.
Chimecho, the most immune to high voices, rushed to Sunflora's side and wrapped herself around Sunflora, easing her off the choking Dugtrio and letting her cry into her.
"Sunflora," Wigglytuff said, voice soft yet audible to everyone in the room. Even with their ears ringing.
The Guildmaster knelt by Sunflora and patted her on the back. He nodded to Chimecho, and she stayed wrapped around Sunflora as she cried her eyes out.
"Breathe, Sunflora, breath," Wigglytuff urged gently. "Take a deep breath… there we go. Let it out, breathe." He continued coaxing her for a minute, letting Sunflora regain control of herself naturally.
Once she was all cried out, he pulled her up. "Friendly friend. Have a hug." He wrapped her in a soft, warm, hug and Sunflora finally relaxed.
"It was terrifying," Sunflora whispered, still in Wigglytuff's embrace. "Everything in the deeper dungeon was just… wrong. Nothing moved, there was no sound, so many pokémon were frozen, unable to move, unable to live or die. I hope they aren't aware of what happened to them. It was so silent, so wrong."
She whimpered and choked out a sob when Loudred came up and patted her on the back.
"I got to the end of the dungeon, just hoping. But… but." She gave a keening sound, grating on the ears but filled with terror. "Ditto. It was… it was…."
"Shh-shh-shh," Wigglytuff whispered. "Take your time, Sunflora."
She took a shuddering breath before continuing. "Ditto looked like it had gone through a horrible fight and was… w-was trying to drag themselves out of the cavern. But, they were frozen, their face… they were so scared, they knew what was happening and couldn't save themselves."
Sunflora sobbed in Wigglytuff's arms, before being transferred to Loudred and Corphish, with Chimecho still wrapped around her, as Wigglytuff pulled Chatot down a level to speak with him alone.
Sean and Rai came up to the group hug that Sunflora was in the middle of, not sure what to say or do. They were still getting to know the other apprentices, it felt wrong to join in on the hug as if they weren't.
"Grovyle was there," Sean thought to himself as he watched Sunflora sadly. "I saw him. Holy- fuck. How didn't it click in my mind?"
They didn't join the hug, the apprentices just slowly broke apart on autopilot. Rai and Sean ended up wandering to the job bulletin board and selected a different job to do. Neither was in the mood for a fight with this sobering news.
"Alright, everyone." Chatot had returned without being spotted, receiving a few glances his way. "Loudred, Chimecho, bring Sunflora to her room. Everyone else, you should continue your work. We'll take care of her, but we can't let our work stop even now. Especially now. Continue helping, doing good, we'll find a way to fix this situation. Keep a stiff upper beak."
He waited until the group had given Sunflora another hug or three each before leading Loudred and Chimecho down.
He emerged right as soon as he was confident they could make it to her room.
"Very well. Shinx." The shinx's ears flicked when he realised Chatot had called him.
Stumbling over as quickly as he could. "Yes?"
"Loudred will be taking care of Sunflora today, leaving him unable to perform his duties. So, your task for the day is to take over as the gatekeeper. Alright?"
"Yes! Of course." Rai glanced back to Sean, who was watching with a concerned look. "What about Meowth? I don't know how he'll manage in a dungeon alone…"
"Not a problem," Chatot said, gesturing for Sean to approach. "While you two work d well as a team, it can be a good lesson to learn how to work apart. Meowth, if you would be able to spend your day sorting through the food stocks? With Chimecho also… anyway, take note of what is in good supply and what needs refilling and make your way to the market to obtain what needs to be restocked, alright?"
"Right!"
"Good." Chatot nodded and led them downstairs. He gave a few words to Rai as he showed him the pully, it was thankfully something a quadruped could manage, as well as the current list of outlaws and suspicious pokémon to bar from entering.
Afterwards, he showed Sean into the dining room and all the way to the back where a door lay. "In here," he said, oddly quietly, following Sean into the stockroom.
"Okay," Sean said, looking around. It smelled pleasant in the room, there were a few windows leading out to the sea that allowed light in. "Where should I…?"
"Be careful," Chatot said as the door closed behind him, giving them privacy.
"Pardon?" Sean said.
"Rumour spreads very quickly around here, Meowth," Chatot said seriously. "Especially with unpredictable forces around."
Sean looked only confused so Chatot ruffled his feathers.
"I believe you have run into Litleo again since bringing him down?"
"I…?" He paused, that wasn't what he was expecting. "Yeah? Yeah, we have." Litleo was around town, he glared at them whenever they crossed paths. Sean couldn't help but notice he was never with anyone.
"Litleo and Shinx's relationship isn't something for me to comment on," Chatot said stiffly, clearly uncomfortable. "However, there are extraneous details that it may be best that you are aware of."
How deep did this go? Sean wondered. Why did the partner have this backstory? He tried to push that thought away. It was wrong to think of Rai as a game character, it wasn't… it wasn't his reality now. He was actually here, and Chatot wasn't 90% tax man, but a concerned teacher wanting to help.
"Really?" Sean asked. "Is… is this something I need to know?"
Chatot ruffled his feathers slightly, but he didn't seem annoyed. "Perhaps not, but…." He sighed. "Litleo has shown some troubling behaviours over the years, undoubtedly caused by his family. He has long since had some sort of fixation on Shinx. I believe it wise just to tell you to keep an eye on him."
Sean nodded once, his gut twisted awkwardly at this warning. It felt wrong, wrong to imagine a pokémon could do anything that might need to be 'warned' about.
Chatot, however, seemed to read his face and his eyes widened. "Oh! You're not thinking I am implying he might hurt you or Shinx are you?"
Sean blinked, that's exactly what he was thinking. Chatot began to flap, flustered immediately. "Oh no-no-no. I am more concerned for him. Attention-seeking behaviour, or buying into shady sorts. No, I believe that." He immediately cleared his throat, cutting those words short. "Yes. Well. I just fear the damage to your reputation that can be caused, I think it best to not mention Team Ion's recent discovery of a Time Gear that has now gone missing, yes?"
Sean gave a nod. "I… what?" His paw came up to touch his bow, he'd found himself touching it when bored or nervous. It was calming in a way.
"You were the last to leave, the last to see that Time Gear, and with the guardian lost to the frozen time, if pokémon learn of you being the last there. They may mention that to another. The longer that chain goes, especially with matters of importance like this, the more likely it will become distorted, and its message twisted."
"Chatot, we didn't-"
"I know you didn't. But when no one knows who did, they are going to look at the stranger." Sean frowned, glancing down.
Chatot sighed, looking from left to right. "The guild has a tab with the Kecleon Brothers, so go through them if at all possible when restocking. That is all."
Chatot turned to hop and leave but hesitated halfway. Turning back, he said. "Is there anything you know? Anything that you may have thought unnecessary to tell? Anything you suspect but didn't want to say?"
Sean hesitated, torn between truth and lies.
"Th-there was more than us who found the Time Gear," Sean said, tripping over his words slightly. "Team Gazer, remember?" Was he damning someone to protect Grovyle?
"This is true," Chatot said sharply. "Hmm."
"Y-yeah." Ears drooping, Sean looked away from Chatot. He felt awful.
"Team Gazer…" Chatot muttered.
"But I don't think they did this!" Sean said quickly, returning Chatot's gaze to him. "They didn't seem the type, and we all promised not to say anything. I don't think they would have broken it."
Chatot stared at him for a moment. "Why do you think that?" he asked seriously.
Sean was flatfooted. Of all the things he expected Chatot to say, that wasn't it. "Uh."
"It is not difficult to let a small fact slip. You came straight back here and have had no time to risk telling anyone else, this Team Gazer on the other hand is unaccounted for. Hm. We should have considered that after the debrief, the Guildmaster and I."
Chatot raised his head at him for a long moment before holding up a wing. "We need to find this Team Gazer and see if they have any idea. They may have let something slip and we need to know if and where and who."
"Yeah, okay." Sean nodded.
"Is there anything else?" Chatot asked, waiting patiently. Sean shook his head after waiting for what he hoped was the appropriate amount of time, feeling guilt claw at him yet again as he lied once more.
"Alright. Do your work here, and do not worry." Chatot switched from serious back to pleasant in an instant, making it almost difficult for Sean to believe that conversation had just happened. "The expedition will still be going along. Work hard and you may be picked! That is all."
Chatot turned and hopped out of the storeroom, closing it softly behind him. Sean sighed, rubbing his face as he tried to bury the constant bad taste lying was leaving in his mouth.
"Should I have lied there? No. I had to. There's no way he'd believe me if I told him the Time Gears were needed. I have to protect Grovyle, maybe… maybe." Sean thought as he began looking through the guild's food stocks, taking note of only one magnificent perfect apple.
Figuring out what needed to be replaced wasn't difficult. But without a way to write anything down, Sean needed to rely on his memory.
Deciding that he couldn't hope to make just one journey, he decided to memorize a few items, retrieve them, and then figure out what ones he had to memorize next.
Rai smiled at him when he told the shinx he was going into town and the guild gate was opened for him without trouble.
As Sean left the guild, it struck him that he'd never left the guild alone. He glanced back at the blank eyes of the wigglytuff that loomed over the entire guild. He passed a bisharp on the way down and made his way into Treasure Town.
"This feels so weird," Sean thought to himself, looking around Treasure Town completely alone. "I don't have Rai to stop me from making a fool of myself. Oh boy, let's do this!"
Without someone to talk to, Sean just let his mind wander. Sunflora's news had shaken everyone, her reaction especially had drawn attention, but Sean could at least feel comforted that things were still going as they should be.
So, it wasn't the Time Gear or Grovyle that his mind focused on, instead, Team Skull was stuck in his thoughts like a tumour.
"It's shocking just how much changes when it's not a game." Sean considered as he went. "I didn't like them before, but hey the music was fun and Skuntank was… something not completely terrible in the end. We told Chatot and Wigglytuff about them now. There's no way they could come on the Expedition… unless?"
Wigglytuff was forgiving. If they agreed to give it back and then planned to steal it again, would they try that?
His mind worked feverishly, trying to remember all the mischief Team Skull caused throughout the story.
Sean snapped out of it by the time he spotted the twin kecleon and made his way through the transaction smoothly.
For the first run, he acquired a bushel of apples. A handful of mixed berries. A type of grain he wasn't sure existed in any world. And a set of seeds.
Even that amount was almost too much for him to carry.
"Wish I was taller," Sean laughed to the Kecleon Brothers and they chuckled as well as he stumbled off, arms filled with the items. "Never thought I'd think that again," Sean muttered once he was clear. "I was tall enough."
Carrying the items made him wish he'd taken the Treasure Bag, which was repaired easily after Ditto broke the strap. He couldn't change that now and had to walk with what he had.
At least the items obscured his vision, and he could pretend people weren't looking at him. Chatot's words were on his mind.
Diglett quickly called his species and Rai immediately opened the gate, Sean staggering into the guild with the last push to go.
The items weren't particularly heavy, but so many of them over such a distance were wearing thin even on his surprisingly strong arms.
He spent a little time resting in the storeroom before putting the items away and then walking back into town to do it again.
All the while, he thought and thought and thought about Team Skull, Grovyle, and a few thoughts about Dusknoir crept in as well.
He had a good idea of what was supposed to happen next, the one perfect apple tipped him off that it was probably that experience to come.
Weren't they supposed to be here already? Maybe since they had actually taken the item they were wisely sticking away from Treasure Town. That could be a problem.
Sean was mindless to less-than-kind eyes on him as he made his second trip.
With his arms so sore after the first trip, Sean decided to spread out the remaining items and made the journey four times in total, collecting all the items that seemed to need a refill. It wasn't the most thrilling of work, Sean was surprised he preferred the danger of the dungeons, but it had to be done.
The food made him hungry though. It still unnerved him slightly just how thin his body was, some weight had been put to hide a few of those ribs sticking out, but he restrained the desire to snatch something.
Chatot would know, Sean was sure.
An idea began to take root in his mind. A small plan for safekeeping, if and when something went wrong again. A little something.
He was scared to send the plot veering off too far, the world was at stake after all. However, something like this was small and innocent, surely it would be no harm?
Apple Woods was on his mind.
On one final trip into Treasure Town to top up the last of the baskets, Sean spotted someone and decided to approach them.
"Hello, Litleo."
In the original version, this and the next chapter were originally one before being split once it became too long. It also had Team Skull in it and Sean didn't even think of telling Chatot and Wigglytuff that Rai had been robbed.
In retrospect, a bad idea.