"WHAAAAAT?" Loudred roared the next morning. The morning announcements had been given and everyone was preparing to go about their day.

Everyone had stepped apart, the notice board workers were mulling about while the sentries went to their posts.

Loudred's screeching brought everyone back down to the lower decks, concerned about what their guard was throwing such a fit about.

"Is it a dangerous outlaw like Salamence?" Bidoof guessed.

"Oh my gosh, what if it's Team Charm?" Sunflora gasped. "Loudred would totally throw a fit over them showing up!"

"Hey-hey, I've always wanted to meet Team Raider."

"YOU CAN'T IDENTIFY A FOOTPRINT?" Loudred screamed, causing everyone who had made the critical mistake of getting closer to the noise to flinch.

"I can't tell what I don't recognise," Diglett explained patiently, Loudred not even phasing him. "And that's that."

Sean had woken up feeling better rested than he had since he had arrived here. Sleeping without his conscious being so guilty led to nicer rests, he found.

He was feeling so good, the expected arrival of Dusknoir didn't scare him. He just edged his way further into the room as Diglett pulled himself back underground.

"Diglett is an outstanding sentry," Loudred growled, he was speaking quietly for himself. Still loud enough for everyone to hear. "For him to be stumped by a footprint is rare. If Bidoof or Sunflora were doing it, THAT I'd understand."

"You DID NOT just say that?" Sunflora yelled, storming up to Loudred. "You take that back right now."

"Oh YEAH?" Loudred yelled back. "What if I don't?"

"What if?" Sunflora spun to Bidoof who wasn't making a peep. "Tell him, Bidoof! Tell him what he'll get if he doesn't take those hurtful things back."

"Uh." Bidoof nearly panicked when an angry Sunflora and Loudred's burning eyes fell on him. "Uh… yup-yup, knock-knock, by golly?"

"HA!" Loudred laughed. "Bidoof won't."

"What's that?" Diglett's voice reached them all and Loudred paused. "You want to meet our Guildmaster? And you… oh." He quickly popped his head up to the assembled guild. "He says he's Dusknoir! Guess that explains it, he doesn't really have feet."

"D-Dusknoir?" Loudred gasped as the whole guild began murmuring. "W-well DON'T KEEP HIM WAITING!"

"Loudred you operate the door levy," Sunflora pointed out and Loudred immediately ran for it.

The rest of the apprentices who were peering out of the doorway ran into the room as Chatot yelled for order.

"Under no circumstances will you be discourteous to our guest," he said sternly, as well as quickly. "No asking for autographs or bothering him for exploration tips. You will not embarrass the guild. And now I'm… going to get the Guildmaster." He quickly fluttered off right as Sean's whiskers twitched as a shadow began to descend from the path leading up.

"Oh, that's a weird feeling."

Rai was frozen stiff, ecstatic expression of pure excitement on his face. Waving a paw in front of him didn't register at all.

And then, Dusknoir appeared. "Good morning," Dusknoir said pleasantly, and Sunflora, Bidoof, and Loudred all fainted.

"Oh, that's a reeeaaallly weird feeling."

He was of a similar consistency as Duskull. Dusknoir's upper body was more set and solid than Duskull's unstable form and brawny as all hell. There was a modest and somewhat worn grey ribbon tied to his right arm. Or it may have been a scarf, Dusknoir's arms were very thick. His lower body tapered to a wispy, genie-like, tip that was constantly moving as if it was blowing away in the wind.

Which, as Sean looked closer, was more accurate than he had expected. Dusknoir's lower form seemed to be utterly fading into nothingness as it flowed off him, but then a more shadowy texture replaced it as if a never-ending river of Dusknoir.

"What is this feeling?"

Dusknoir's single eye roamed through the guild. Unlike Duskull's eye which seemed to bounce without stopping, between his eye sockets, Dusknoir seemed to have control over his eye. Sean edged himself closer to Rai, to hide a little against him, as Croagunk came to stand with them.

Thankfully, Dusknoir's attention never had the chance to stop on him, as he was distracted when Chatot returned with Wigglytuff.

"Thank you for visiting," Wigglytuff said joyfully as he trotted up to Dusknoir. To the surprise of everyone, he didn't immediately grapple Dusknoir in a full-body beartic hug. "What an honour to be visited by The Great Dusknoir!" He still did clasp both of Dusknoir's large hands and shake them vigorously though.

With a voice as smooth as honey, Dusknoir said, "No, no." Shaking his head. "Think nothing of it. The honour is all mine. There is no greater honour than visiting the Wigglytuff Guild. It's far more famous than I." He then winced slightly. "And no need to refer to me as 'The Great Dusknoir', Guildmaster, I assure you I did not give myself the title."

"No need to be modest!" Wigglytuff insisted. "We are all friends here!"

"Thank you for your hospitality," Dusknoir said warmly. "As friends, I insist you call me Dusknoir." Wigglytuff giggled. "I have been meaning to visit here for some time. Once I heard the guild was mounting an expedition to find Fogbound Lake, I simply had to come around to hear the good news."

"Unfortunately, we didn't find anything," Wigglytuff said, still smiling even as his cheer dimmed slightly.

"Oh? You didn't find the lake?"

"Nope!" It was a little surprising to Sean to see how easily the lie flowed off Wigglytuff's tongue, not a hint of deceit in his face. "It ended up as a waste of time. Didn't learn a thing. We got to have fun as a guild though! And even make a new friendly friend!"

"…I see. That must have been quite a disappointment for your guild."

"Can't win them all," Wigglytuff replied, shrugging the idea of disappointment off. "And it was so wonderful to stretch our legs a little, wasn't it, Chatot?"

Chatot, who had been similarly besotted by Dusknoir's appearance, puffed up a little and fluttered his wings. "Indeed, indeed, it has been some time since the entire guild has endeavoured upon a task and many rewarding experiences were gained."

"I am certain it was rewarding indeed," Dusknoir said warmly, nodding to the guild as they were all still staring. "Returning to roots, I imagine?"

For a moment, just a moment, something else seemed to cross Wigglytuff and Chatot's faces. It was so brief that no one was certain they saw anything.

"I overheard your guild was travelling with another explorer?" Dusknoir asked. "Is this true?"

Wigglytuff's expression turned from mildly disappointed to ecstatic all over again. "Yes! Friendly friend Grovyle! He was able to help Team Ion through some dungeons and even I got to explore a bit with him!"

"Grovyle you say?" Dusknoir pressed. "What are they like?"

"He is an incredible friend! Very smart, very strong, very wise, very clever! Very resourceful, even if we didn't find anything in the end it was still worth it to gain a new friend. You should come on an expedition too, Dusknoir!" Wigglytuff gasped and then danced in place. "Yes! Yes! The next expedition the guild mounts, we could bring you! You! And invite Grovyle again! It would so much fun, so much fun!"

Dusknoir had been silent through Wigglytuff's moments before giving a slow nod. "Very interesting," he said and glanced out to the rest of the guild briefly. Sean fought the urge to crouch out of view, Rai was still a perfect statue, but he knew that'd be foolish. Thankfully Croagunk got bored of standing in place and decided to make his way to the front, walking in front of Sean in the process.

"Meh-heh-heh, we at the Wigglytuff Guild would be happy to learn from you Mr Dusknoir," he said as Dusknoir's attention fell on him.

Dusknoir nodded cheerfully before addressing the whole guild. "Well success of not, every expedition comes with knowledge and experience gained. I had hoped to come here to hear of your latest triumph."

"We didn't learn much," Wigglytuff said. "Sorry."

"Not at all," Dusknoir insisted. "It gave me an opportunity to visit you, and the timing wound up quite fortunate. When I arrived, there was some worry in Treasure Town I was able to solve in your absence. And so, I plan to stay in Treasure Town for a short while. May I visit with you occasionally during my stay? Your guild constantly receives the latest news. Any information would be of great help on my own explorations."

"No problem!" Wigglytuff beamed. "Other exploration teams visit us all the time. You will always be welcome here!"

Dusknoir paused briefly at that before nodding. "My thanks."

With that, Wigglytuff bounced his way to where the apprentices were all standing and addressed them all. "Everyone! This is Dusknoir. He is going to be staying in Treasure Town for a while! Mind yourself around him. Dusknoir is very famous and quite knowledgeable. So, I'm sure everyone would like to get advice from him. But let's not overdo it, we don't want to be a nuisance."

"And may I reiterate," Chatot said, hopping forward. "Do NOT embarrass us by asking the Great Dusknoir for autographs!"

"No, no," Dusknoir chuckled, waving him down. "If it is autographs you want, I'd be happy to oblige." He swiftly began to receive requests for such a thing, Chatot staring enviously.

"What does an autograph from a pokémon look like?" Sean wondered. "And holy crap, I never realised I wanted one from Dusknoir this bad!"

"But… information? I'm afraid you flatter me. I have very little information, even I am still learning new things. However, I would be delighted if I may be of service to anyone. If there is anything you wish to ask me, please do not hesitate. I would be happy to oblige."

The apprentices all began to cheer in various ways. The quadruped pokémon stamped their feet, while other pokémon clapped.

"By golly, this is such an honour to have the Great Dusknoir here among us."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so glad to have the chance to meet you."

"Hey-hey, I better get some waterproof parchment for you to sign, Great Dusknoir."

"Okay, everyone settle down," Chatot said. "You are dismissed to your daily work."

The guild gave a cheer and Diglett and Dugtrio buried down as Dusknoir turned to Wigglytuff. "I believe I'll go for a wander through Treasure Town. Feel free to approach me with anything. Good day."

"You too, Dusknoir!" Wigglytuff replied and Dusknoir floated out of the room.

"I can't believe you spoke to Dusknoir!" Chimecho said as soon as the apprentices were free to talk again. Floating above Croagunk excitedly

"Meh-heh-heh," Croagunk chuckled, giving a side look to Sean and Rai. "Well, he said he was just another pokémon."

Sean gave Croagunk a small smile and Croagunk returned to tinkering on his Swap Cauldron. He had only just put out the order for scizor carapace, but he had other work he could do for the time being.

Sean turned to Rai. The shinx still wasn't moving. "Uh, RrrrShinx? You okay?" He waved his paw again and, when that didn't work, gave him a slight push.

Rai began to tip over but blinked. "Hm?" He caught himself and shook his head. "Woah! Headrush."

"I'm not sure if you were breathing," Sean said, only half kidding. "Is Dusknoir that big of a deal?"

Immediately the entire room turned to stare at him.

"…Yes, I know I'm handsome, no need to stare."

"Oh my gosh. You don't know…" Sunflora said slowly. "About the Great Dusknoir?"

"Hey… hey? Have you been living under a rock for the last year?"

"YEAH? How could you NOT know of the GREAT DUSKNOIR?"

"Okay, first." Sean held up a paw. "Ow, volume. Second, amnesia."

Comprehension and a bit of shame took over the expressions of everybody. Rai had to ruin his fun though.

"I told you about Dusknoir," he said innocently, turning to cock his head at Sean. "Don't you remember?"

Sean hesitated, and everyone's eyes narrowed. "Well… I think I'm going to get a head start in Treasure Town," he said calmly as he began to move towards the incline. "Do some shopping… you know…." he licked his lips, Sunflora's leafy hand twitched, Bidoof's nose twitched, Corphish's pincer clacked.

"Get him."

Sean tried to run. He tried to evade. He really did. But he failed and was subjected to nearly half an hour's worth of Dusknoir facts from half of the guild.

Rai laughed off his pleas for mercy and instead took the time to go do the shopping, ignoring Sean's bargains to do it for him.

They eventually released a shell-shocked Sean who stumbled his way to the job bulletin board, grabbed a random piece of parchment without reading it, and continued stumbling his way outside.

He met with Rai who was loitering outside the entrance to what seemed to be a bunker. He smiled upon seeing Sean and began chattering at him.

All Sean could hear was white noise.

"Dusknoir's biggest record of rescues in a single dungeon is thirty-seven," he said numbly. "His favourite colour is either blue, yellow, orange, green, grey, black, white, purple, brown, red, blue, yellow…."

He finally came back to life after Rai had him imbibe something and he blinked as the noise receded. "Where am I?" he asked, looking around a faintly familiar place."

"Welcome… welcome." A dizzy and laboured voice greeted them, and Sean looked up from his cup to see Spinda wobbling in place. "You're in Spinda's Café! The greatest, most wonderful, most amazing, spectacular, tremendous, exciting, glorious, fantastical, funtastical, remarkable place you'll ever be!"

"Spinda's opened a shop," Rai explained as he led Sean to a table to sit at. "Has an exploration project going on as well. See them." He pointed to the other side of the, surprisingly roomy, building to where a wynaut and wobbuffet stood. "Project P. A recycling place that sponsors local explorers that aren't part of the guild."

"Why not the guild?" Sean asked.

"Well we get sponsored anyway I guess," Rai explained. "They didn't make it exactly clear. This seems like a pretty nice place though, Spinda had it built over only a week or so!"

"So that's what he was doing…" smaller lies were easier for Sean.

"Yep. But anyway, we've got a job to do! I picked out a mission in the Sunny Meadow today."

"Ah. I should… return this I grabbed then?" Sean looked down at the job he had taken, and his eyes widened. "Yep. Return this."

"What is? Oh." Rai leaned over to read it. "…Yeah, let's leave that for someone else."

After returning a job asking to arrest a pokémon on the other side of the continent. Sean and Rai set off for Sunny Meadow.

"Okay pokémon, time to get to work."

"HOORAY!"

A few days after the expedition, it was Team Ion's day off and they planned to wander out in a direction they hadn't gone yet.

"Ah, you two," Chatot called them over, Sean blinking sleep from his eyes. Day off or no, Rai still got up at dreadful times. "Before you leave to your own devices today, I would like you to go to Kecleon Market and ask if they plan to stock perfect apples."

"Perfect apples? Are we running low on them again?" Rai asked, having only twitched briefly at the word.

"Yes. The Guildmaster recently made a trip to Spinda's Café and… well, after a taste he decided to empty the entire stock of them in one night. I tried to stop him, but, well… the Guildmaster can be persuasive at times."

Chatot gazed off into the distance and Sean noticed his eyes were a little bloodshot. That certainly explained the musical, but also rather loud, singing he had heard last night.

A glance to Rai made it clear he had realised it too and was fighting to keep a smile off his face.

Chatot ignored their cheeky smiles. "But yes, the challenge of going all the way to Apple Woods and back every few days is quite difficult. And we cannot allow the Guildmaster to go, no-no-no." He shivered. "So, it would be of a great help if the Kecleon Brothers begin to stock them. We will pay handsomely. Anything to avoid… urk."

"If it's so much trouble, we could go get some?" Rai suggested but Chatot rounded on him in disbelief.

"You? No-no-no-no-NO! After the exceptionally near miss the last time, I cannot trust anyone with this task. I'll go retrieve them if necessary. You just ask if Kecleon is willing to sell them. Understood?"

"Understood," Rai replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Good. I know it is your day off so relax well after this."

They quickly left Chatot's side and walked to the middle floor in companionable silence.

There was an immediate, noticeable, divide in the room on this fine morning.

"Hm?" Rai cocked his head, looking right and left. To his right were the apprentices, all pointedly not looking at the job bulletin board but the outlaw notice board. To the right were three pokémon, speaking lowly among themselves.

"Wonder who they are?" Rai asked as Sean took in what pokémon were there.

Weavile, arbok, drapion.

"Ah," Sean thought, recognising that.

Rai was already wandering over there, not particularly perturbed by the energy in the room. "Good morning," he greeted brightly, and the three pokémon ceased talking. As one they turned to look at him and Sean quickly joined Rai's side.

He knew a little meowth didn't really help the cred of a tiny shinx, but he doubted Team A.W.D would do anything untoward inside the guild.

"Hello," Weavile said suspiciously. "What do you want?"

If Rai was put out by the unfriendly tone, he didn't show it. "Just curious about what jobs are posted today." He moseyed up to the board and began reading through them as Sean stuck very close to his side.

The whispers started up again and Sean's sharp hearing caught a bit.

"Still no word on Zero Isle."

"No one in thisss placce hassss been of any help."

"Stop whinging. We are not a group of whining children. The guild is the last place we'll check out before moving on."

"I was thinking we might get something from the café for later," Rai said, eyes sliding off the job listings. "Sound good?" Rai asked, and Sean nodded, happy to get out of there. As they were walking, however.

"Hey, you two?" Weavile called and Rai paused, Sean stopping as well. "Come over here for a moment."

Rai came over without hesitation, leaving Sean to wonder a bit about him, before he too came to meet Team A.W.D.

"I wonder why Arbok gets his initial first. You'd think it'd be Weavile, she's the leader, isn't she?"

"Tell me something?" Weavile asked, softly and with a purr. "Have either of you heard of Zero Isle?"

"Zero Isle?" Rai repeated.

"Yeah." Drapion nodded. "Rumour has it that the greatest of treasures can be found there. Some say it is the ultimate dungeon with the ultimate prizes, in the shadow of a great disaster, that even knowing where it exists draws you in eventually, for the temptation is too great."

"Drapion," Weavile said warningly, and he cut himself off with a grunt.

"…My apologies, Lady Weavile."

"We have been looking for clues about Zero Isle," Weavile said, looking back to the pair with a deadly gleam to her eyes. Sean couldn't help but eye her wicked claws. "We thought the Wigglytuff Guild may have some idea?"

Rai shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't heard of it. But we are only the newest recruits here! Someone older might know, Guildmaster Wigglytuff or Chatot?"

"Hm," Weavile hummed but besides glancing to the path to the lower areas, didn't move.

"We'd prefer not to involve them in this," Drapion said helpfully, getting another glance from Weavile. He cringed harder. "My apologies, Lady Weavile."

"Well, this is likely a waste of time anyway," Weavile said, looking back at them. She opened her mouth to dismiss them, but then her eyes fell on Sean. "What about you, Shy-Eyes?" she asked. "You look like you have something to say."

"I…." Sean glanced to Rai who looked surprised before shrugging. "I don't really know for sure. But I've heard it's an island to the south of here."

"Really?" Weavile asked, curiosity lighting her eyes. "And how would you know of this, small meowth?"

"I don't know," Sean repeated, meeting Weavile's eyes. "But when you said Zero Isle, it just sounded… familiar."

"Hm." She eyed him for a longer moment before clicking her claws. "Arbok, Drapion, we're moving out."

"Yes ma'am," they chorused and Team A.W.D left.

Sean relaxed once they were gone. He wasn't sure why he did that, but he did remember that the horrible dungeon was on an island to the south of here. "Directly south too I think."

Rai cocked his head at Sean once they were gone. "How have you heard about this place? Even I haven't."

"It just… came to me," Sean admitted. "I hope I'm right, I think I am."

"Maybe seeing Grovyle has helped some memory come back?" Rai beamed and got excited. "This is really awesome!"

"Yeah." Sean smiled at Rai's joy. "But we do have a day to get through. Let's start this."

"Right." Rai nodded, and they left for Treasure Town.

Even with the size of Treasure Town, the Kecleon Market was still large and easily visible from the other side of the bridge.

There seemed to be a greater amassment of pokémon around the marketplace than usual. Even more strangely, everyone was in place and was clearly pointedly looking away from something.

Rai gasped as he spotted the brawny figure of Dusknoir speaking to the Kecleon Brothers and said. "It's Dusknoir! Oh wow, I wonder what he's saying?"

Sean gave him a look as Rai began to speed up. "We've got shopping to do as well! With Kecleon too! I wonder if he'll talk to me if I go up to him?"

Sean stared uncertainly at Dusknoir. He'd managed to avoid Dusknoir pretty well up to this point, and Rai was too nervous to approach him directly. Sean knew Rai was hoping he'd do it first, give him that push, and he felt guilty he was avoiding it. He wanted Rai to keep getting bolder.

"Uh… maybe?"

"So, we should do it?" Rai breathed excitedly.

With Grovyle's words flashing through his mind, Sean glanced around looking for an out. Beedrill. Darmanitan. Machoke. Litleo. Electivire. Marowak.

"Marowak!"

Sean pointed to the powerful Ground-type. "I've actually been meaning to talk to Marowak," he said as Rai gave him a crestfallen look. "And it's not like I'm any good at the shopping. So, I could do that and you… talk to Dusknoir, that way we'll save lots of time! Productive. Energetic. Dynamic usage of time." Sean couldn't think of any more adjectives to spout. "That stuff!"

Rai cringed a little. "I, uh."

Sean gave him a friendly tap, maybe this would be the best of both worlds? "He seemed pretty nice, give it a shot!

"Alright… we'll meet back here?"

"Right here." Sean nodded and raised his paw for Rai to headbutt, but Rai was already running across the bridge. "…This is fine," he said, feeling awfully unpleasant Grovyle flashbacks.

Sean watched the shinx trot off with nervous excitement, going straight up to Dusknoir and beginning the chatter. Sean smiled slightly, he did like to see Rai happy but ducked away when Dusknoir looked up to where he was staring.

"Okay… Marowak is… not here. Where did he go? To the Dojo I guess."

Turning tail and walking quickly in the direction he remembered the large building to reside, Sean took in the image of Treasure Town on his lonesome.

He smiled.

"This place is beautiful," he thought as he looked around. He'd been here for a while now, but everything was still so fantastic.

Being able to watch a beedrill do his morning errands, carrying a postbag. Watching a teddiursa and ursaring gossip away like they did every day. Seeing a machoke carry a heavy piece of timber for a much smaller rattata while chatting pleasantly.

Seeing Flying-type pokémon soar above the town. See Water-types pop out of the stream and then wrap water around them to allow them to swim into town without issue.

A gothitelle and gardevoir combining their psychic might to carry a large, heavy, table between them, floating in place with it.

A pair of sableye melting into shadows and disappearing.

There were pokémon he didn't even recognise! And Sean just wanted to go over and ask them a thousand intrusive questions about what they were and where they came from. He didn't though.

Even a magmar having set up a temporary shop stall and was roasting fruits for curious pokémon to buy and enjoy.

"This place is wonderful," he said quietly. Sean wouldn't deny to himself that he did miss many things back home, even if those things were fuzzy at this point. But the Pokémon World was still a dream few could ever live out.

Sean was snapped out of his reverie by someone waving a blue furred paw in front of him. He blinked quickly, eyes focusing as he realised he had drifted off into daydreams in the middle of the street. "Oh sorry," he said, reflexively stepping out of the riolu's way.

"Oh, no need. Just making sure you were awake." Chuckling, the riolu reached out a paw to him in the classic sign for a handshake. Sean quickly took it, realising his folly and received a surprisingly vigorous shake. "I'm Riolu."

"Good morning," Sean said with a growing smile. "I'm S… Meowth."

With a smile touching the lips of the canine pokémon, he tilted his head slightly. "I heard your name is Sean."

He said it completely innocently as if it was no surprise whatsoever. Sean, however, recoiled with a fierce blush that darkened his lips. "IT'S A RUMOUR!" he yelled, causing some attention. Wincing at his own volume and the fact he just screamed in the face of someone he had met thirty seconds ago, Sean lowered his voice. "Sorry. Yeah, my name is Sean, but I swear it was just a misunderstanding due to… misunderstandings."

To his relief, Riolu nodded wisely, unbothered from his outburst. "Yeah, I heard," he chuckled. "Apparently you told the town gossip, and she took it all the wrong ways."

Blushing harder in two different kinds of shame, Sean sunk in on himself. "I can't believe I did that. It's so embarrassing. No one's really bothered me about it, but I can't help but wonder…".

"What they're all thinking?" Riolu asked, receiving a nod. "Don't worry. Mistakes happen, and word has spread it was just an accident. The worst you'll hopefully get is teasing. Sorry about that, by the way."

"Oh, no need to apologise!" Sean insisted. "I yelled in your face. I'm the one who should be apologising. Sorry."

"Second time you've apologised," Riolu pointed out. "Probably best to save those. Who knows what could happen next?"

He said it teasingly, but Sean grimaced. "Who knows," he sighed. "I tend to… um… hello."

"Hi." Riolu frowned slightly and glanced around.

"Sorry, I tend to start spilling my life story to anyone who listens," Sean apologised. "And I only just met you."

"Third time you've said sorry," Riolu said, raising his paw and wiggling the digits. "I only got three of these nubs to count on per paw."

"Heh." Sean smiled and relaxed. "We're probably in the way, want to step off the streets?"

"It's stuff like that," Riolu started, but decided not to finish that thought. Sean's expression was enough.

They stepped south, got out of the way, and continued the impromptu chat that Riolu had started. "So, if you weren't coming over to tell me I was in the way, what do you want?" He quickly grinned and then thumped his chest with false bravado. "Heard about the glorious exploits of Team Ion?"

"Yes actually." Riolu beamed, pausing Sean in his mock-bragging. "I'm new in town, moved in just before the guild left, and have heard some cool things that everyone's been up to."

"Oh!" Sean said, not sure how to react to this positive fame. "I see. Welcome to Treasure Town, we only get one calamity a season… joking of course. Um, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing really." Riolu shrugged. His eyes never left Sean's face, flicking all over him with pure excitement that Sean could actually feel himself.

It felt nice to meet someone so happy just to talk to him,

"I've done a bit of exploring here and there, and I just like to talk to teams that are around." After a moment of thought, Riolu added. "Do anything cool on the expedition? The locals here seemed to think it was a pretty big deal, but nothing's really happened since the guild returned."

"No," Sean said, sticking to the cover story. "Complete bust. A bit disappointing, but Shinx and I had fun getting there anyway. I think he may have had a better time of it though. Mount Horn was awful," he added darkly.

"I've heard of that place," Riolu said with a wince. "Let me guess… aerodactyl?"

"YES!" Sean cried. "Horrible thing carried me off! I didn't even know what I was going to." Was all he managed before being interrupted.

"You got carried off by a flying rock monster?" Litleo said from Sean's left shoulder. Startled, Sean jumped with a yelp and spun around on the invader-of-personal-space as Riolu tensed up.

"What the hell?" Sean demanded, retracting his claws after they had unsheathed themselves in preparation. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Or I'll get The Paw?" Litleo asked and chuckled. "Could be funny."

"Um, hello?" Riolu asked, stepping back into the conversation. "How can we help you so… suddenly?"

Litleo looked Riolu up and down and made an agreeable noise. "Nice," he commented before ignoring Riolu completely. Turning to Sean he asked. "So, I heard through eavesdropping that you got carried off by a monster rock monster of monstrous monstrousness?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Sean replied, giving Litleo a flat look. His eyes fell on the Silver Bow that Litleo was happily flaunting. "Thank you for the concern. I hit it with a sleep seed." Sean glanced aside as he remembered what followed. "I wish the aerodactyl was the worst part though."

Litleo perked up, intrigued, but Sean shuddered. "No. I'm not thinking about that or the glassy, hungry, so empty eyes… ugh."

"Sounds like you had a great time on the expedition!" Litleo chirped, smiling cheerfully. "Sorry about the utter failure in the whole 'finding something' goal. I've been great, been a bit bored during the guild being gone." He ignored the way Sean and Riolu were just staring at him.

"A Shadow Pokémon popped up in Mount Bristle," Litleo continued. "But The Great Dusknoir showed up and handled THAT problem. Anyway, I think the pleasantries are out of the way and I have something I want to talk about."

"What do you want?" Sean asked, a little interested even if the news recap of the past few days was completely unnecessary.

"I've been curious about something for a while," Litleo explained, cheerful expression falling away into a more thoughtful look as he trailed a claw through the dirt. "And I'm serious here. Tell me, Sean. Did you know that your partner had some fancy rock for a few years? It had a symbol on it that looked like this."

Sean blinked, not expecting that from Litleo in any sense of the word. Beside him, Riolu adopted a similar expression of surprise, but he masked it immediately. Looking down found an impressively accurate picture drawn into the dirt of the Relic Fragment's glyph.

"Uh… yeah?" Sean said. "That's a surprisingly good picture, although it's a bit wobbly. How did YOU know about it?"

"I've known Little Shinx for years," Litleo explained, waving a paw dismissively and brushing the sketch away. "And the symbol looked exactly like this. He never displayed it or anything, but a couple times I saw him looking at it. Talking to it sometimes too, especially after his sister left. But he never wore it in public."

"Okay," Sean said slowly, frowning. "But why do you care? I didn't think you liked Shinx?"

"Don't like him?" Litleo asked, gasping. "Perish the thought. I like him plenty, he just needed a few good pushes. I'll admit that I go a… little far at times, it's just so fun and no harm is really done." He said this like it was no big deal.

With narrowed eyes, Sean stared at Litleo. He looked too innocent to trust, but his voice was quite earnest. "Alright," Said allowed, not making any judgement. "Still, why do you care? How did you even know he lost the thing?"

"Well, that's easy." Litleo rolled his eyes. "I bought it off someone who bought it from someone else, who bought it… you get the picture."

"WHAT?" Sean yelled, masking Riolu's quiet gasp. "YOU have it?"

Litleo's expression twisted slightly. It was almost pained and almost guilty, but not either of them exactly. "I… did have it."

Sean's racing heart slowed, and he sighed. "You sold it didn't you?"

Litleo shook his head.

"Huh?"

"I lost it," Litleo admitted as Sean's stomach began flipping again. "Or, rather, it got stolen." At Sean's disturbed expression, Litleo explained why he was really here. "I'll be honest with you, Sean. I was intending on giving it back, really, in fact, if you had JUST STAYED at my house for two seconds more I would have shown it to you. But you left in a huff, and I thought, eh another day."

While Sean began to soak in the feeling that brought, Litleo continued.

"Then the expedition was announced, and I decided 'you know what? I'm going to give it back as a welcome home present'. Bury the bad feelings between us and start anew! But." Litleo frowned, lip curling into a sneer. "The day before you got back, my house got ransacked. And you know my house is nice, how dare someone invade it!" Shaking his head in impotent fury, Litleo's breath sparked a few flamed but he restrained himself.

He was in town after all.

"I got home to find the whole place torn up and so messy. It took a while to put everything back, I don't have hands after all."

"No one helped you?" Riolu asked. Litleo looked at him like he was stupid.

"No," he said slowly. "Then I had to work out what was missing. The weird rock with the weirder symbol. That was taken."

"That's all?" Riolu asked softly, frowning in concern. Litleo's face said something else, but he smirked it off.

Litleo shrugged. "Some food was taken, but that doesn't count. I'm not even too sure if any of my snacks were taken, but I think I have less. Shinx's rock. That's the important thing. And I'm thinking that whoever took it was looking just for it. I have some pretty nice stuff, and I put the rock somewhere safe. My whole place was taken apart, and that was the thing that was taken? Someone must have known I had it."

Sean was resisting the urge to bury his face in his paws and scream. It'd feel so nice, so exhilarating to let the madness loose. But he didn't, he took some heavy breaths and put his paws down.

"Okay," he began, looking anywhere but Litleo's eyes. "I still don't know why you are telling me this. What?" he demanded. "You had the Relic Fragment and now you don't? Are you doing this to mess with me or something? Raise my hopes only to dash them?"

"Normally," Litleo said, nodding. "Yes. That sounds like something I'd do. But not this time. Look," he insisted. "I'm serious. That rock belonged to Shinx, and someone was after it. Who's to say they aren't after Shinx too? If they knew so much to the point they knew I had the stupid thing, it wouldn't surprise me if they knew it belonged to Shinx first."

"You?" Sean said, in disbelief, hearing between the lines. "You are worried about him?"

Litleo narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what high horsea you think you are riding, but I'm not your enemy here. I've known Shinx for years, he's probably the only…." He trailed off briefly, something pained flashed across his face. "Point is, I'm allowed to be worried about him. You've known him for, what, a couple months? Try five years and then you can look down on me."

"Oh." And now Sean felt like shit. "Sorry, I didn't think."

Smiling again, Litleo nodded. "Yeah. You didn't, but that's fine. You're cute, and you ARE his friend. So… I forgive you," he purred, waggling his eyebrows.

Thrown off, Sean glanced to the side and saw Riolu. Litleo looked Riolu up and down again and nodded. "Nice. Anyway, when's Shinx getting back from mooning over Dusknoir?"

"He's not 'mooning'," Sean said.

"Did you SEE him?" Litleo asked, raising an eye.

"Well…."

"Yeah."

Sean stepped forward, out of the corner, and looked in the direction of the Kecleon Market hoping to see his friend. To his relief, Rai was trotting over the bridge alongside another pokémon and was beaming brightly enough to actually shine.

"He's happy about something," Sean thought as Rai spotted him and immediately began sprinting over to him.

"MEOWTH! MEOWTH! MEOWTH!" Rai shouted, reaching him within a few moments. "GUESS WHAT?"

Rai hadn't even acknowledged Litleo standing only a few meters behind Sean, or Riolu for that matter. Instead, he was vibrating on the spot with excitement.

"What?" Was all Sean dared to ask.

"SOMEONE'S SPOTTED MY TREASURE!" He squealed, causing everyone to wince. "I can't believe it, but they described what it looked like, and it was exactly the same! Team Skull must have dropped it or sold it and it's wound up somewhere else!"

"O-okay," Sean said, ears ringing. "Where is it?" Then the words Rai was saying clicked and his heart leaped. "WHAT?"

"I KNOW!" Rai beamed.

"And where is this supposed to be?" Litleo asked, not content to remain standing aside and ignored. Rai started in surprise.

"When did you get here?" he demanded, eyes narrowing slightly. He spotted the bow Litleo wore and growled. "That was Meowth's."

"I've been here the whole time," Litleo drawled. "Longer than you. I was just chatting to Sean here and Riolu here, thought I'd share a bit of news with him. I traded fair and square for this swanky bow, I offered something else, buut… well, Sean knows."

Sean glanced to Litleo and withheld a shudder. "Yeah, he told me something important."

"That can wait," Litleo cut through and shut Sean up for the moment. "First, who's your friend and where did he say your treasure was?"

Rai frowned and took a step to the side. Farther away from Litleo and closer to Sean. He glanced behind him as the pokémon he had been walking over the bridge with reached them.

"Don't run off before I tell you where it is!" the sableye gasped, panting for breath.

"Right." Rai nodded, deciding to ignore Litleo for the time being. "Where did you see my treasure?"

Sean had a sudden sense of déjà vu once the sableye came up to them, something that only grow heavier when he began to speak.

"At the end of a dungeon about a day from here," he explained, pointing to the exit of Treasure Town. "It's called Amp Plains."

Litleo gasped and Rai stiffened. The sableye looked between the four pokémon he had reached, from Rai to Litleo to Riolu to Sean. Sean withheld a shudder, experiencing large diamond eyes boring into your own was not pleasant. The sableye had a mouth too wide and claws too long.

It looked away.

"That's where I saw it alright. Right at the end of the dungeon. Now, can I have the apple?"

Rai rolled it over and the sableye took that as a good enough goodbye and stepped away before melting into a shadow of a braviary.

"So… Amp Plains?" Sean asked, Rai didn't react.

Looking between the three of them, Riolu decided it was time to say goodbye. "It was nice meeting you, Sean," he said. "You too, Litleo. And you too, Shinx." He waved and stepped off, he had some thinking to do.

Sean glanced between Rai and Litleo. There was that insufferable look on Litleo's face, while Rai was still staring forward perfectly blankly. "So… Amp Plains huh? Sounds scary. But we can do it!" Rai was still not blinking. "Rai? Are you alright?"

That received an answer. "Oh?" he croaked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Bit parched."

Litleo snorted. "Yeah, he's not fine," he said, getting a spark of anger from Rai.

"I don't need you to talk for me," he said hotly. "Especially lies. I'm fine."

"Because staring into nothing upon hearing two words is totally fine," Litleo shot back. "Forget it." He turned to Sean. "He's not going to Amp Plains. Not in a million years."

"What?" Rai growled.

"It's totally a trap too."

"What!?"

"And you really aren't ready for it." He gave Rai a pitying look. "You know that."

"WHAT?" Rai's whole body sparked, and Sean needed to lay a careful paw on him to calm him down. The crackling electricity popped and sparked when he touched him, but it didn't hurt anymore. "I can do whatever I want," he said tersely, turning away from Litleo. "And I want my Relic Fragment back."

"It's not there," Litleo insisted, trotting up to get in Rai's line of sight again. "I wanted to tell you under better terms, but I'm going to have to do it now. I bought the rock from machoke who bought it from whoever. I'm sure it gets back to those Team Skull thugs eventually."

"YOU HAVE IT?" Rai yelled.

"NO! STOP YELLING!" Litleo yelled back, managing to cow Rai. "I was going to give it back to you after you returned from the expedition." Rai gave a disbelieving snort at that. "But my home was ransacked yesterday, and it was stolen."

"Ransacked?" Rai asked, frowning as some of his anger left. "What? Why?"

"The only thing that was taken was your treasure rock thing," Litleo explained. "That's all," he insisted. "And I think you might be in some kind of danger. Whoever stole it, knew I had it and I had hidden it pretty well. They only took the rock. And you were the one who had it first, so whoever took it might be after you for some reason."

"What?" Rai asked, alarmed now. Zubat's words flashed into his head. "Why would someone be after me?"

"How should I know?" Litleo asked. "But I do know someone is up! Right after I lose it, someone just HAPPEN'S to know where it is? And in Amp Plains? Why would it be there of all places?"

At that, Rai's uncertain look vanished. Sighing, he shook his head. "I'm not sure I believe you ever had it." He ignored Litleo's insulted expression and shook his head. "No… no it makes sense that it would be there. That's where I found it."

He sighed again and looked at Litleo. "Look, thanks for… the concern I guess. But I have to get it back. Even if your crazy idea is true, and I don't think it is, I still have to try. It's the only thing I have left."

He glanced to Sean with a pleading look. "Will you help me?"

"Of course I will," Sean said, almost offended Rai had to ask. "I'll follow you anywhere."

Rai smiled, small and genuine, and stepped forward to butt him gently with his head. "Thanks."

"So, you're really doing this?" Litleo asked as Rai stepped back. "Going to Amp Plains to fall into an obvious trap?"

"Yep," Rai said. "I'm stronger now. Stronger than you."

Litleo scoffed and Rai smiled before beginning the walk. "I've got supplies, so let's go right away. It's going to take a while to get there."

Sean nodded and gave a small wave to Litleo.

"What are you waving for?" Litleo scoffed, stepping into place. "I've GOT to see this."

Rai stopped. Sean stopped. Litleo stopped.

Rai moved. Sean moved. Litleo moved.

"No," Rai said once it sunk in. "You are not coming."

"You," Litleo said teasingly. "Can't stop me."

"Why?" Rai gasped before shouting. "Sean run!"

He bolted off, Sean scrambling to catch up. And Litleo kept pace with them easily.

"I'm as fast as you," he said dryly. Once they left Treasure Town, Rai used Quick Attack and bolted off in a burst of speed.

Leaving Sean with Litleo.

"He'll figure it out," Litleo said as he and Sean came to a stop. Rai went a surprising distance before realising he'd left Sean behind, coming back with an embarrassed scowl.

"You're not coming with us," he said darkly, and Sean decided he'd just stay quiet and hope the problem avoided him.

"So, Sean," Litleo began conversationally, ignoring Rai completely. "Have you heard the story of Shinx and The Very Rude Tentacool?"

"Stop calling him Sean!" Rai demanded as Litleo began to regale Sean with embarrassing stories. At no point did Litleo let them leave him behind, even when Rai attempted periodically to do so.

All that Sean could think was that things were getting interesting.

Sean and Rai walked farther than they ever had for a dungeon run.

Avoiding other dungeons, giving polite greetings to similar pokémon wandering the well-worn tracks. Sean was amazed at how much there was.

Rai would point out other paths that would take them to smaller villages, other dungeons he hadn't heard of, and other interesting places.

The air was pure, the path was scenic, the day wasn't particularly hot, it would have been lovely even on his sore paws.

Except they weren't alone.

"And that is the thirty-eighth reason why Shine Village is better than Brooklet Crossing," Litleo said, tied in an argument with Rai. "It also is closer to the Dammed River dungeon, and we all know how cool that place is."

"YOU are a FIRE-type," Rai snapped back. "Why would you ever want to go do Dammed River? And Brooklet Crossing is closer to Simple Valley, that's a far better dungeon than 'Dammed River' so there."

"Excuse me for liking a challenge once in a while," Litleo shot back, but he was still grinning widely. "Going soft AND senile in your old age, are you?"

"I'm two months older than you," Rai grumbled. "I still don't understand why you like Shine Village so much. If it's so good, why don't live there?"

"And miss my best buddy, Shinx?" Litleo gasped and shook his head. "Never." He then bumped his side into Sean, who had been strategically not involving himself in their ramblings. "Don't worry, Sean, I still love you."

He moved in, and Sean pushed him back, tapping the bow as he did. He felt a small jolt from touching the silver bow and recoiled, but Litleo didn't seem to notice, already moving back to Rai.

"So a thirty ninth reason why Shine Village is better than Brooklet Crossing," he began, and Rai moaned in despair.

They walked until the sun began to set, and continued walking. They walked until the grass began to thin, and continued walking. They walked until the trees stopped growing, and continued walking.

Night had fallen, and Sean's legs were screaming at him now. All three of them were not so much walking as stumbling forward at this point.

"We're… almost… there," Rai panted, stumbling as a shot of pain went through a back leg. "Just a bit further."

"Rai, we've got to stop," Sean moaned, collapsing onto his paws and knees like he'd just lost a card game. "We can't go through a dungeon like this." He wanted to emphasise some words, but he was parched and tired and couldn't find the energy.

Litleo stopped too and slumped onto his side. "You really are crazy," he groaned, blinking wearily at Rai who also stopped and fell down. "I'm not sure if it was to get here in a blind hurry or you wanted to drive me off. Either way, we're here."

"We are?" Sean groaned.

"Yeah, the entrance shouldn't be much farther than this." Litleo feebly gestured with a paw, and Sean held his eyes open enough to spot a narrowing of the dark rocks in front of them.

"Oh."

Rai tried to rise to his feet, saying. "Come on, we'll go in and out and make our way back by morning."

Sean had long forgotten about names with how casual Litleo was with his. "Rai, no!" Sean said, finding some energy to stop the mad shinx. "Please just sit down, you're going to hurt yourself." He crawled forward and grabbed the shinx's tail, Rai stiffened before slumping to the ground.

"Okay maybe we can rest for a little while."

"I see Rai likes his tail being pulled," Litleo commented, slumping with a relieved sigh. Rai was too tired to shock him for that.

There were lightning-shattered trees around and Sean pulled himself up to collect some bits of long-dead wood. Most of it was scorched, but he couldn't care enough to look for less burnt wood.

He dumped some twigs between the three of them and Litleo breathed sparks on them until they caught fire.

Sean gathered a little more before giving up for the night and just resting against the Treasure Bag. The night was cold, but with the fire burning Sean and Rai weren't chilly themselves.

"Thanks," Rai said quietly, one of Litleo's ears perking at the word.

"Pardon?" he asked, grinning lazily. Rai gave him a reproachful look and Litleo's grin shifted into an actual smile. "No problem."

Rolling off the uncomfortable bag, Sean upended it to find some food and water. He tossed an apple to both quadrupeds and put some water between them. They dined in blessed silence, the cool fruit and clear water soothing their throats and bringing the tiniest bit of energy back to them.

"So the two of you are close right?" Litleo asked, breaking the silence the other two were deeply thankful for. When neither replied, Litleo continued as if they had given the obvious answer. "So, why don't you trust each other?"

"Excuse me?" Sean asked, mildly alarmed but mostly confused.

Rolling his eyes, Litleo said. "Well not YOU, more him." He jabbed a paw at Rai. "You haven't told him about what this place means to you. Why not?"

Rai turned away, mouth tightly shut and Litleo sighed. "I get that it's hard-"

"No," Rai said sharply, turning back to Litleo. "You DON'T get it."

Litleo grew comfortable, resting his head on his paws and staring at him with doe eyes. "Why don't you tell me why I don't get it then?"

Rai hesitated, frustration and something Sean couldn't figure out flickered across his face. He pursed his lips and swallowed, turning away. Sean glanced to Litleo, expecting yet another retort to anger Rai and wondered if he should say something beforehand. But Litleo was content to wait, he could see Rai was staring towards the dungeon.

He gave a silent gesture for Sean to look at Rai as well and he saw where Rai was looking. The need to know burned in his chest, and he debated on if he should say anything.

"I was hatched here," Rai said, voice clear in the silent night. Only the crackle of the fire gave anything else. Sean raised his eyebrows, not that Rai could see it, but he had already gathered that was the case.

Everything else, however, he was less sure about. From Rai's discomfort and Litleo's remarks across the day, he had a bad feeling about what Rai was about to say.

"I lived here when I was just a cub, with my mother and father, my two brothers and older sister. We were happy here; this place has commonly occurring thunderstorms which energize electric pokémon like us."

Sean swallowed, Rai wasn't facing them, just looking to the entrance of the dungeon.

"I don't remember much. I don't remember what my father smelled like, or what my mother's smile looked like. I don't remember their voices, only… only how they sounded when we were attacked."

Rai's eyes were bright with old tears, and Sean wanted to get up and do something, and yet he didn't. Rai was shaking his head slightly, staring sadly into the fire. "All I could really hear were the cries. Arashi and I were lucky but my brothers... it was just howls and the screams of the monster's broken words. My sister and I… w-we were the only ones who made it. She carried me all the way to Treasure Town."

Rai looked to Amp Plains. "This was our home, this is where I found my treasure. At the end of the lightning fields, in a small closed-off area, with this big glyph that matched the one on the fragment itself. I thought it meant something, I showed it to my family, and no one thought it was much, but they still supported me to find out what it meant. Even if it meant nothing, just finding out would be enough."

Rai shook his head. "I know it's stupid, but it's all I have left of my family. My sister left a long time ago to find her own path, I haven't seen her in ages." Rai sighed and crouched down, resting his head on his paws. "Happy now?"

Sean glanced to Litleo, who did not look happy. He didn't look shocked either. "If that's what the weird rock means to you, then it's worth coming here," he said and looked to Sean. "Even if it is still an obvious trap."

"I," Sean said, voice cutting off. He looked to Rai, almost disbelieving. Rai gave him a sad smile and Sean swallowed, got up, and curled up next to him. "We will do this together," he said. What else could he say? Sorry was truly not enough. Could never be enough. He looked to Litleo, who had a sad glow in his eyes. He had a feeling it wasn't Litleo who couldn't really get it.

"Thanks for telling me," Sean said, and a thousand words came to his lips as he nearly told him everything. But he looked again, and Rai's eyes were closed, Litleo was there, and Sean didn't speak. Instead, he went to sleep himself.

Three cattos.

The 'theory' that if the Sky Partner was a shinx then something must have happened to the luxray pack in Time and Darkness was in mind when I was making Rai's backstory.