"Captured?!" Miss Daisy gasped. She gasped so loudly that it alerted Mister Messa, who suddenly appeared in a cloud of sand right beside her.
"What happened?" Messa said.
Cheese coughed, "Something... big in the ruins. My long body allowed me to escape..." He coughed again, "Big... big thing..." And with a gasp he fainted.
Messa scooped him up in his arms, "Miss Daisy, I think you know what I have to do."
Daisy nodded, "Yes... I'll take care of-"
"Wait." Messa suddenly looked towards Row, who was standing in shock. "Where's Chester?"
Row looked to his side, expecting to see a Chespin but instead seeing a trail of footprints running into the distance. He let out a gasp, "He isn't-" He looked back at his seniors, "I-I'm sorry I'll go get him!" He burst into a sprint, kicking up a ton of sand in the process.
The ruins quickly came into view. A towering building of aged and worn stone that at once point must've held dozens of Pokemon. Chester was in front of the big open entrance, panting heavily. Row managed to catch up with a cloud of sand trailing behind him. Chester looked over at his friend in shock, "How did you get here so fast?"
Row paused and looked behind him, and saw just the sheer amount of distance he made without realizing it; complete with a big trail of footprints right behind him. "I don't-" He shook his head, "No that's not the point! What are you doing?! We need to wait for Mister Messa!"
"But-" Chester began, but Row shouted over him.
"Chester! As the little voice in your head I'm telling you to stop rushing in!"
The Chespin sighed, "I'm sorry..." He looked sadly at his friend, but quickly changed it with a slight smile.
*Fwip*
A large vine shot from the entrance, entangling itself around Chester's leg. He screamed as he was pulled up into the air, and right into the ruins. It all happened so fast, Row didn't realize what was happening until his friend was already through the entrance.
"Chester!" Row gasped. Panicked, he ran in alone to try and catch his friend.
CRYSTAL RUINS
The inside of the building was a stark contrast to the dull exterior. Beautifully carved walls depicted detailed patterns that invoked thorny vines. But what stood out far more were the crystals growing on the ceiling, all of which resembled the one Row found with the Gyarados. Their weird emotive energy gave him a headache, but he was far more concerned about saving his friend.
Meanwhile, Chester was being pulled through the halls with a sharp force. He tried to grab onto anything he could, but every time he got close to the walls or floor the vine tugged on him back into the air. Finally, the vine brought him towards its owner: A larger than normal Venusaur. And in his grasp was Pepperoni, Leaf, and Falina. All of them struggling.
"Hey guys!" Chester yelled, drawing all their attention.
"Wh- You?!" Leaf gasped, "Where's-" She sighed, "You ran in first didn't you..."
"Heh... sorry."
Falina let out a noble sounding laugh, "I have to admit, he's growing on me!"
"Guys!" Pepperoni yelped as the vine tightened around his sizable waist, "Less banter, more getting out please!"
"Why don't you use your claws?" Chester asked.
"I did! But these vines are tougher than they look!" To demonstrate this, the Zangoose brought down a fierce claw strike onto the vine around him. Despite looking like it hurt, complete with the Venusaur cringing, the vine remained tight around him.
It was then a new idea popped into Chester's head. He noticed that unlike the senior Pokémon around him, his smaller size meant that the vines wrapping around him were far closer to his face...
So with a grin, he opened up his mouth and chomped down hard as the vine wiggled towards his awaiting teeth. The Venusaur let out a massive yelp of pain as he thrashed around the Chespin, but Chester's bite remained clamped. Having been left no choice, the Venusaur resorted to slamming Chester onto the ground. Despite grunting in pain, Chester still refused to let go. Finally, the Venusaur released his grip on the Chespin, and he landed onto the ground with a thud.
"Alright big guy, get ready for-"
Although Chester tried to put up a cool persona, it was dashed mid line by way of a far bigger slamming right beside him.
"Hey! I was being cool!" Chester growled, delivering a low sweep onto the vine. Again, despite clearly hurting, the vine remained almost undamaged.
Then from behind him, a flaming fist arrived to slam right into the vine. The Venusaur yelled as the vine was scorched, retracting it quickly.
"Row!" Chester cheered.
The Ralts couldn't help but appreciate the encouragement, even if he wanted to wait for Mister Messa. "So what's the plan?" He asked.
Chester grinned, "So I was thinking-"
But then, yet again from behind, a large watery fist fly in and socked the Venusaur square in the face. Despite the type mismatch, the Venusaur was left reeling from the sheer power of the blow. With a massive thump onto the ground, Mister Messa- Or rather the Aquatic Avenger had appeared to put this angry Pokémon in his place.
"Fear not everyone! I'll handle this!"
With a smirk, he unleashed another jet punch towards his captive allies. The fist struck the vines holding them, and right before they began to plummet to the ground...
"And I'll support!" Web Mother let out a battle cry as she managed to catch all the team members in an expanding net. She hopped down to the ground, letting the net lie flat and safely releasing them. Once they were all safe, she gave a confirming nod towards her partner in heroism.
With a big grin, Aquatic Avenger charged forwards with his fist clad in ice. With one massive blow, he uppercut the Venusaur into the air. The Pokémon kicked his stubby legs as he flew, then came back down so hard he left a slight crater into the ground. And just like that, he was out cold.
"That'll teach you to mess with my friends!" Aquatic Avenger flexed his muscles, as did Web Mother who had ran to his side.
Chester clapped and cheered like a sports fan, and he even tried to whistle to no effect.
"Ah..." Aquatic- Mister Messa turned around to face Chester, a stern expression on his face. "Chester."
Chester stopped his mirth, realizing he was in for a lecture.
"I understand you feel confidence in your strength," he knelt down to look at him eye to eye, "But this was a truly dangerous situation you should've left to the more experienced. Please don't do that again."
"I-I'm sorry." Chester frowned.
"Now now, no frowning. Treat this as a learning experience, and keep your chin up."
Chester did just that, raising up his head and crossing his arms as a big smile grew on his face.
*Grrrrrrrroooooowl*
And now that smile was gone and replaced with a amazingly embarrassed look as the Chespin's cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "R-Right..." He wrapped his arms around his middle, "Forgot to eat while in that last dungeon..."
"Oh yeah, we did exert ourselves a lot didn't we?" Row said, scratching his chin. Then a shade of red began to grow on his cheeks as he realized what was about to happen...
*Grrrrrrrroooooowl*
Row let out an awkward chuckle, "E-Excuse me... Think we can have some dinner when we get back?"
Mister Messa let out a big heart laugh, "Alright! I just hope everyone's ok with apple pie!"
*RRRRROOOOAARRR*
"Row!" Chester gasped.
"Wasn't me!" Row replied.
Pepperoni raised his hand, looking very resentful. "...Sorry that was me. I-I really like apple pie."
There was a pause, then everyone slowly began laughing in response.
The next morning, Row awoke in his bunk with a stretch. Above him, he heard a loud belch, followed by a sheepish giggle.
"Chester..." Row sighed.
"Sorry. Ate a little too much yesterday." Chester peered at him from over the edge of the bed, "So what do you think will happen today?"
Row looked over to the other beds, seeing Fernand and Samuel sleeping in them. Samuel was covered in tiny bandages, and looked angry even as he snored. "Honestly," Row said, "I don't know."
The answer came in the form of Miss Daisy peeking her head into the tent and noticing the two awake Pokémon. "Dears? Can you please come outside?" She asked, then went back outside. The two both gave worried looks at each other before getting up and following her. And when they went outside, they quickly realized they were the only ones out save for their leaders.
"There you two are." Mister Messa, still in hero form, nodded, "Come, I want to discuss something with you." He gestured to a large seat-like log.
"What's up?" Chester asked, sitting down with Row beside him.
"See, we have a problem..." Messa sighed, "While we've made great progress in a single day, there still remains the cave to explore. And..." He placed a hand to his face, "I'm afraid you two are the only ones that can do it."
Chester tilted his head, "Huh? But what about Team Beauty? Or Trouble?"
"Unfortunately, Team Beauty seems to have been a little too tightly squeezed to be in fighting shape this morning. And Team Trouble are still nursing the stomachaches they got from eating too much apple pie."
"And what about you sir?" Row asked.
"An Emolga mail came in, and I've been summoned away from here. You'll have to answer to Miss Daisy for the time being."
"Well don't worry sir!" Chester hopped onto his feet, "We'll do a good job!"
Mister Messa smiled, "Good! Remember to run right back to camp if anything happens. And no funny business." He waved a finger at Chester, "You know what I mean."
"Yes sir!" Chester nodded.
And with that, Mister Messa sprinted off into the distance. Right into an awaiting cart carried by a Donphan painted yellow who ran off at an outrageous speed.
"...One day I wanna be just like him." Chester sighed wistfully.
"Overworked?" Row said, and got a light punch to his shoulder in response.
"Come on! We got a cave to explore!" Chester grabbed a hole of his friend's hand, "Together!" And he ran off, dragging the poor Ralts behind him.
THE... CAVE?
1BF
Stone walls... dirt floor covered in sand... this was indeed a cave. An unremarkable cave. But there was something very off about this cave that caused the two to get concerned.
"Where's the Pokémon?" Row peered around the naturally formed halls, noticing how empty they were.
"Maybe they're... on the next floor?" Chester pointed to the stairs, in a completely empty room.
2BF
Nothing. No items, no Pokémon... The two friends walked slowly down a hall, keeping listen in case there were anything sneaking up on them.
"I'm... getting scared now." Chester admitted, "Like you'd think it'd be a good thing there isn't any Pokémon attacking us but..." He nervously looked around, "Found the next stairs..."
3BF
Still nothing. The two yet again slowly walked down a hall towards another room.
But as they approached the entrance to the room, they heard something...
Footsteps.
They quickly laid up against the wall, keeping out of sight. Shadows began to approach, showing two small individuals. Row looked at Chester and gently whispered, "On my word, we charge." Chester nodded. The shadows got closer and closer... until they were almost right next to them.
"Now!"
*CLONK*
Instead of a valiant charge towards danger, Row and Chester instead found themselves bonking heads with their supposed opponents. All four of them were now hobbled on the ground, clutching their sore heads as they writhed in pain. Chester was the first to recover from the unfortunate attack, and sat up to see who he had collided with.
"What the- Are you guys guild members?"
In front of him was a pudgy looking Treecko and a Sneasel, both with blue scarves tied around their necks. The Treecko recovered and sat up. "Yeah, you guys too?" He said, rubbing his still sore forehead.
Chester nodded. Row recovered next, shaking the pain out of his head. "Ugh, I'm ok." He said to himself, "Something soft cushioned the blow."
The Treecko blushed, "S-Soft?" He shook his head, "A-Anyways, what team are you guys?"
"We're Team Hero!" Chester said with pride.
"Well we're Team Berry!" The Treecko tried to match him.
"Team Belly?" Row replied, slowly getting onto his feet.
"Berry!" The Treecko snapped back, turning to his Sneasel friend. "You told me no one would notice!"
The Sneasel just snickered as he pulled himself to his feet.
"But... I don't think I've ever seen you at Sacred Strength..." Row squinted, curiously staring at the two before him.
"Eh?" The Treecko looked confused, "That's not our guild."
Row and Chester looked at each other, also confused. Row looked back at the Treecko, "Where are you from?"
"Smoothie." The Sneasel replied.
"Oh, I know Smoothie! That's the region that's... very... far away." Chester looked shocked, "W-Wait what are you doing in Arenoak?"
"Wha- Arenoak?!" The Treecko looked incredibly confused. "How'd we- you-" He rubbed his head as a new found pain entered it. "Uuuugh, this is so weird..."
Row and Chester looked at each other again.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Row asked.
"Place of Power!" Chester grinned, "We found one!"
"Whats that?" The Treecko didn't look any less confused. "That a thing where you from?"
"Yeah, its kind of a 'our problem' issue. Don't worry about it." Row placed a hand on his chin, "So... if we go down a few more floors will we exit through where you guys entered?"
"I guess?" The Sneasel rubbed the back of his head. "And I thought the camp out front was the weirdest thing."
"The what." Row said, his eyes widening.
"Yeah there's like a big camp out front that looks like it hasn't been used in years." The Sneasel explained.
"Wanna check it out Row?" Chester asked, looking excited.
Row pondered. "I mean... we should go report back to Miss Daisy." He looked up at Team Bel- Berry. "Hey, can you guys do us a favor? There's an expedition camp where we came from, and there's a Leavanny there. We just need you to go to her and explain what's going on here."
"Don't see why not." The Treecko shrugged, "Stay safe you two." He directed the Sneasel to follow him as he got up and walked past Team Hero.
"Oooooh man... this is amazing..." Chester was still in awe, "Some kind of magic teleporting cave thing! Come on I wanna see what this camp looked like!"
He grabbed Row's hand again and ran like crazy towards the the stairs...
The cave exited into a sunny grassy cliff area. The cliff overlooked a good chunk of the region, with forests and towns visible across a great distance. And indeed, right next to the cave was a large old camp, with a raggedy tent and a neglected fire pit. Chester looked at it like a work of art.
Row meanwhile was searching through the mess in the tent out of curiosity. After a while, he managed to find a single interesting item... a book. A journal.
"Hey Chester." Row stepped out of the wreck of a tent, "Found a journal. Think it belonged to whoever owned this camp?"
"Oh, maybe!" Chester reached out his hand, "Gimme it, I wanna read it out loud!"
Row smirked and handed over the book. Chester wasted no time in cracking it open and flipping through it quickly, "Hmm... lots of rambling. Here, lemme pick out the more interesting stuff." He went back to the first page and put on his most dramatic voice:
"It has been a few days since I've arrived in this strange form. I acquired this book to write in to focus my thoughts. The Pokémon that surround me give me looks. I miss my home."
Chester flipped through some pages.
"I found this cave. It took me to a desert. In this desert is a building that contains crystals. I can feel them, they contain some kind of power that makes me feel stronger. Yet it also makes me feel sad whenever I'm near them, as if I can empathize with whatever negative emotions that seemed to have formed them from times long past."
Flip flip...
"I have to accept it. I cannot remove myself from this form, nor can I bear to live in this world far removed from my home. I have to find a way out. Even it meant the destruction of this one."
Row cringed, "This guy doesn't sound very nice..."
Chester frowned, "Yeah... It gets worse though." He flipped closer to the end and continued reading.
"I found it. A way back home. I managed to contact others like me, not in spirit but physically. Together we have formulated a plan. It turns out these crystals are formed through a specific process involving fear and anger. If we can find a way to create a sustainable source, and use these crystals to further our goals. Yet I still feel sad whenever I think about the Pokemon around us. What will become of them when I succeed. I must find a way to fix that."
Chester went to the last page.
"I've decided on what I want to do. I focus my plan on the region of Arenoak. The chaos I will bring will bring me back home. This is my strength."
Chester closed the book. The two Pokemon were completely silent as they took it all in.
"This... this is bad." Row shuddered, "You think this is connected to the Strange Ones?"
"Not just that... this might belong to their leader." Chester was angry, almost uncharacteristically so, "Wanting to hurt others because you miss home?! What kind of a guy does that?"
Row shook his head, "Come on, let's show this to Miss Daisy."
The two left the came behind them. Yet as they entered the cave, Row couldn't help but look back one last time.
He could only hope that whoever was here before... that he would never meet them.