We make our way to a place called 'Hazy Heights' to deliver an oran berry to someone. I don't get it, why can't they just find one for themselves? Scanning the area, the Pokédex's sensors are picking up the presence of tons of oran berries nearby. Why they can't just grab one and go on their merry way is beyond me.
I voice my concerns to the group, but Cradily is dismissive. "Sometimes our clients are too lost, scared, or weakened to think straight—that's where we come in!" She says cheerfully, "they send out the request, and we deliver! It helps them regain their wherewithal enough to continue whatever they were up to." I guess…but I still feel like it's a waste of our time when they could just as easily help themselves.
"So who are we delivering to?" Noivern asks. "Not sure, they never signed off. But they said they'd be on the lookout for us, so I think they'll stop us when they see us! A team of four explorers is pretty hard to miss, after all." "Wow…I can't believe it…we're really going exploring!" Seviper says, wagging her tail back and forth in excitement. "Hey! Watch what you're doing with that!" I say, barely dodging the blade. "Anyway, 'exploring' is a strong word, I think. More like 'running errands,' if you ask me," I add before I can stop myself.
I'll admit, I was a little disappointed about this mission. Gwen and Dragalge get to arrest a guy, Stephanie and Serperior are rescuing someone—I can't help but feel like we drew the short straw being stuck with making deliveries.
"Don't forget, all missions are important missions! Especially to the clients!" Cradily says excitedly. "I guess…" I sigh, still not feeling convinced. "Well, easy mission or not, I'm excited! I've never done anything like this!" Seviper says, matching Cradily's sunny disposition.
We enter the 'mystery dungeon,' which wraps around a small mountain enshrouded in mist (more of an extra large hill, really; it's nothing in comparison to Permafrost Mountain!).
"Hey, Rotom? Do you think it's…y'know, safe to be in the Pokédex here? What if it gets damaged?" Noivern asks as we walk. Huh, I hadn't thought of that—would some feral pokemon really have so little respect for such a magnificent piece of technology as to brutally destroy it?
Well, as Gwen only just bought me this one…how inclined would she feel to get another if it came to some premature end?
"Cradily? Could you put this in your bag, please?" I say, pointing to myself. She tilts her head, "put…what in, exactly?" "Noivern, a hand?" "Sure," he says, grabbing the Pokédex before I fly out. I feel so…naked without it. So much less like myself. "That. My Pokédex. I don't want it getting damaged," I clarify, as her eyes go wide. "Wow, that's amazing! I didn't realize you were…that it was…" "yeah? I'll show you what it does when we finish here!" I say, feeling a little more cheerful with the extra attention.
"I'd love that! But for now, of course it can go in here for safekeeping," she says, regarding the Pokédex curiously before carefully putting it in the bag.
We continue through the dungeon, working our way up. We run into a few flying types—nothing Discharge can't deal with. Seviper looks at everything with excitement, while Noivern keeps wondering off to investigate every little nook and cranny.
"Hey team, let's try to stay together, ok? Harder for one of us to get lost or knocked out that way," Cradily says, trying to keep Noivern under control as he fights to open a box he found lying around. "Huh? Oh, sorry!" He says, hurrying over. "You know, I bet that thing would open if you used your teeth!" I grin, seeing him continue to struggle with it. "Oooh, it's so shiny! Maybe I could pry it open with my tail!" Seviper says eagerly. "Hi! So I know everything is new and exciting, but it's very important we stay focused on the mission! Ok?" Cradily says, sounding just the tiniest bit frustrated—I think she's realizing she's slowly losing control of the team. Seviper and Noivern are basically babies, after all; the only one in our household who can out-baby them is Elliot, and in a couple of years I bet even he'll lose the advantage. "So when we find a mysterious item, we put it in our bag and deal with it back at the Center, alright?" she continues, holding the bag open expectantly. "…got it. Sorry…" Noivern says, handing it over with his eyes downcast.
We continue on, Noivern making an effort to stay with the group (and only failing a couple of times—after all, how could he resist when he saw another shiny box?), while Seviper asks buckets loads of questions.
"So…what's the most exciting mission you ever went on?" "Gosh, what a question!" Cradily pauses for a moment, running through her memories. "Probably the one where we met Giratina…it had really been years in the making!" She tells us about her, Delcatty, and Ampharos finding the Griseous Orb, and how that was the key to finding Giratina. It really sounds like seeing us through that portal again was what got Delcatty seriously thinking about how to get us all back here.
I'm honestly glad she did. Despite everything…I'm glad we have time to really get to know her and this place better. Last time I was here I was mostly lost, in my pokeball, and finally on that mountain. While life was peaceful in our world, it could get so boring! With Gwen working and Stephanie always busy, the highlights of my day were twisting my teammate's words and dodging their retaliatory attacks—but even that gets old.
As we keep walking, battle the odd pokemon, pick up more items, I eventually realize it's gone oddly quiet. I look around and see Seviper's wearing a funny expression. "Hey, feeling ok? You're not looking so good!" I say, zipping around her head. "I…don't know. I feel a little…I dunno, off," she replies. "Don't tell me you're tired already! You only used like, one move!" I tease. "It's nothing to be ashamed of! Part of the training is getting more comfortable with using moves and increasing one's endurance," Cradily chimes in, trying to sound authoritative yet understanding. "Plus, we've gone quite a way up! It could always be the altitude. So please, do let me know if you need a break," she offers. "N-no…I'll be ok…the sooner we deliver this thing, the sooner we'll leave," Seviper says, not looking fully convinced herself.
We slowly continue our ascent. "We should be coming up to them soon…" Cradily says, sounding a little nervous. I wonder how comfortable she is with a leadership position like this? Knowing Delcatty, I assume she always takes the reins when they go exploring together.
Suddenly, in a blur of movement, Seviper races ahead. "Seviper! What is it? Come back, we need to stay together!" Cradily cries, rushing after her. It's the strangest thing…she was looking so unwell a moment ago, so why the sudden…?
We hear a scream around the corner at the same moment a realization dawns upon me. Only one thing had ever demanded her complete and utter attention like this. So that must mean…
"Zangoose! Seviper, what are you doing? Get off! That must be our client!" Cradily shrieks upon seeing the rather one-sided battle unfolding before us. Seviper is going absolutely nuts, biting and slashing with her tail, while Zangoose looks bewildered, swiping back in a feeble attempt at self-defense.
I wonder if the two species fight like this in Delcatty's world? Based on how confused Cradily and Zangoose seem, I'd say not likely.
I'm not sure what to do. Whenever this happened before, Gwen and Stephanie were there to deal with it. But they're not here now…and only Noivern and I know why she's doing this, and that she couldn't stop, even if she wanted to.
I zip over and use discharge on the pair of them—sorry Zangoose, but this is definitely less painful than the alternative—and they stop for a moment, stunned. Noivern swoops in a second later, grabs Seviper with his feet, and leaps into the air, while she continues writhing and hissing, struggling to break free to continue her onslaught.
"Rotom, what the heck is going on!? You guys can't attack a client!" Cradily says furiously, her cheerful facade finally cracking. "I can explain when we get back, but Zangoose needs help! We need to leave, now!" I say urgently. Even injured, Seviper is still looking feral, eager to return to the carnage. Noivern appears to be struggling to stay aloft.
"But we haven't—" "Cradily it's an emergency! We have to go! We can take Zangoose too, right?" I say, regarding the injured pokemon. Cradily looks defeated as she starts rummaging in her bag for our badges—apparently they can teleport us home. "Alright, fine. But we're going to have a serious talk about all this with the rest of the team when we return," she says sternly.
She shines her badge, first on Zangoose, who's still moaning in pain, then on the rest of us in turn, sending us back to the Center.
Well, Stephanie's not going to be happy to hear about this, I think as I'm enveloped in the badge's light.