DarkFoxKit: Sorry about not updating for a while. It's not that we didn't have time, we just forgot.
Traveling Master: Wish we could say more as to why, work related, personal life related, but anyways, despite the long wait, we finally got the next chapter ready for ya.
Dust: Took you long enough, despite not being a main character in this story, I'm still invested in it. So hurry up and get going, I'm not the only one waiting.
DarkFoxKit: You, and like, two other people are invested. But we'll get on with it now.
Chapter 5: A Thief's Nightly Adventure
The sun was already setting by the time Alec had gotten back from Mt. Silver, he had brought the Poke Balls with the reconstructed Stantler, and the strange cybernetic Tyranitar and gave them to Professor Wess.
"I'll… leave those to you," Alec said. "Whatever those Swinub people did to these poor Pokemon wasn't natural. You might want to study them in a controlled environment since they could go on a rampage the minute they are out of the Poke Balls."
Wess stared at the two Poke Balls Alec had handed him. If it wasn't for Duster sharing his encounter with the Stantler, the Professor would have had some doubt about this cybernetic Tyranitar, but now, he could feel the weight of the Pokemon inside, the burden and heartache this single Pokemon had done. All thanks to some mad scientific desire, but for what? Wess couldn't fathom.
The professor sighed before placing the two Poke Balls within his coat. "Thank you Alec…But still, first a Stantler, and now even a Tyranitar? Something tells me this won't be the last time we've seen those Swinub people."
"It probably won't," Alec replied.
"What does Flint plan to do now?" Wess asked. "He should be at home with Lucas, right? He's the only one he has left."
"Flint… believes Claus is still alive and on the mountain somewhere," Alec answered. "During our battle with the Tyranitar, the dagger was suddenly thrown at the Tyranitar's cybernetic eye. That couldn't have been an accident, someone had to have deliberately thrown it, and it wasn't either of us. And when Flint dropped the empty Poke Ball to catch the Tyranitar in earlier, it rolled back to him. I doubt that was an accident as well."
"Hmm…" Wess looked back towards Duster's room as a thought occurred to him, but he quickly shook his head. "Well whether it was Claus or someone else, be glad they provided assistance. From what you told me, it seemed like you two were lucky enough to be able to defeat this Tyranitar."
"Lucky is an understatement," Alec agreed. "Any idea on how long until the Tyranitar is back to her old self?"
"Physically…I can't say. It may even be impossible, but I'll do what I can," Wess answered as he noticed the sun was almost gone. "And it seems like it's getting late, and I unfortunately already have a busy schedule. You'll have to excuse me, but will you be fine traveling back to your home? Or do you plan to stay at the inn for the night?"
"I'll head back. I've stayed here long enough. I also need some time to grieve…" Alec admitted. "I have Krow with me if a hostile Pokemon attack though. Good luck with whatever business you have tonight, Wess."
"Be careful getting back. It seems dark times are ahead of us," Wess warned.
Duster was in the basement of the lab. Normally he would be sleeping, because he needed to get as much sleep in as possible before his father sent him out on his nightly assignments. Normally it was to study nocturnal Pokemon due to being a Pokemon professor, but that was mostly an excuse for a different type of training.
However, Duster had trouble sleeping. He laid away in bed, unable to get his mind off of something. Leblanc took notice and she went over to Duster, and gently poked his arm to get his attention.
"Sne?" Leblanc asked.
"Oh… are you worried about me, Leblanc?" Duster softly asked.
"Sneasel," Leblanc answered.
Duster let out a sigh. "I guess I just… have a lot on my mind. I mean… why me? Why would he trust me of all people? We… hardly knew each other… unless…"
Duster paused and shook his head. "I just can't fathom that though. He could've trusted anyone else, especially his own father, but he chose me…"
A sudden knock on Duster's door interrupted his thoughts, causing him to sit up and see the door open. He was surprised to see his father, since normally he'd let him sleep and prepare. Then again, Duster hadn't really been keeping track of time, so being unable to sleep didn't help either. So he wondered how much time had passed since he last saw Flint.
"Hey Dad, is there something you need?" Duster asked.
"... Come, let's talk in the lab," Wess said. "Bring Leblanc with you."
It sounded serious, whatever Wess needed. Duster frowned, but he nodded. "Come on, Leblanc."
"Sneasel," Leblanc replied as she followed after Duster.
Duster and Leblanc met up with Wess in the lab. It was quiet tonight. Duster noticed the egg Lucas was clutching onto when they found him and Claus the day before was sitting on a pillow nearby.
"Why do you have the egg Lucas had with him?" Duster asked.
"You mean one of Flint's boys? He gave me the egg himself," Wess explained. "Said he believed the egg was better off with me instead of him."
The thought of Lucas only confused Duster more, then again, seeing how so much had happened, he figured it made sense. "Any idea what kind of Pokemon it will be?"
"Come now, you tell me," Wess replied. "With all the studying I had you go through, surely you can determine which Pokemon this egg will be.
Duster sighed as he looked closer at the egg. He could already tell it was going to be some Grass Type Pokemon, due to the coloring of the egg, but that still left a whole huge number of Pokemon he'd have to guess from. Duster wasn't very interested in Grass Pokemon himself, so he normally skimmed through those parts of his studies, but thankfully, Duster recalled what Pokemon were involved during that Tyranitar's rampage. It was a stretch, but as he recalled hearing about how a Meganium had died during the whole event, Duster decided to go with his guts and share his answer with his father.
"It should be Chikorita," Duster answered.
"Hmm…looks like you aren't as useless, or perhaps it was a lucky guess," Wess remarked. "But credit must be given where it's due. You're right, this egg is indeed a Chikorita egg."
Duster frowned, he had heard that Hinawa's first partner had been a Chikorita. It seemed fitting one of her sons would inherit their child. But it seemed Lucas felt like he couldn't handle it. Duster felt even more confused about something.
"You look a little pale, Duster. Are you feeling sick?" Wess asked.
Duster shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Wasn't there a task you needed me to do?"
"Yes… Listen, Duster… I speak to you now as not my son, but my pupil," Wess stated.
That got Duster's attention. The only time Wess would say that was when something serious was about to take place. Even Leblanc was now invested, only having seen Wess get this serious a few times.
"The time has come…" Wess let out a tired sigh. "No… it wasn't something we've been looking forward to either."
Wess turned around for a moment. "In fact, it was something I had hoped would never come…"
Duster frowned, his heart starting to hammer in his chest.
Wess turned back to Duster and Leblanc. "But we have been preparing for this day, in the event it did come. So it appears you and Leblanc finally have the chance to try out what I and Shadowstar have taught you."
"Weav~" A new Pokemon suddenly appeared behind Duster and Leblanc, startling them both. It gave a hearty laugh as it watched their reaction.
"Snea!" Leblanc snapped.
"Weavile~" The Pokemon itself was a bipedal, it has a pale, gray body that resembles a cat and a weasel. It has a bright red crown and collar made of wide feathers and a single, thinner feather on each ear. The ear feathers were smaller than a male Weavile's, indicating this one was female. She also had two tail feathers and three claws on each paw. There was an oval, yellow gem-like protrusion in the center of her forehead. Her eyes were red with three eyelashes, and four fangs protrude from her upper jaw.
"Ah, speaking of Shadowstar, it's time that these two are tested as our pupils," Wess remarked to his Weavile.
"Oh?" Shadowstar gave a curious look at Duster and Leblanc before turning back to Wess. "Really? Are you sure they're ready?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Wess replied, having guessed Shadowstar's doubts before he looked at Duster and Leblanc again. "The enemy form is still unknown. But we must now change the way we live. Are you two prepared!?"
Duster and Leblanc stood up straight. "We're ready, Dad!"
"Sneasel!" Leblanc answered in agreement.
"Good… now then… Duster, Leblanc, I am now going to give you a very important mission. You will sneak into the old, abandoned temple that was once used to visit a Legendary Pokemon that had long since left us. There, you will find a certain important item and bring it back here," Wess explained. "As for what this item is… no, there's no need for me to tell you. If a thief can't determine the value of what he steals, then he's a disgrace to the profession."
Both Duster and Leblanc gave a confused look but also knew the meaning behind those words. And thus their true purpose was revealed, while Wess was indeed a Pokemon Professor, with Duster being his assistance. But during the night, that's when their true profession came, thieves in the night. Though from what Duster had always been told, a thief was someone who was a master of the night, able to get into any place without alerting anyone. They tested their skills for the ultimate challenge, seeking objects as Wess described, something truly valuable that only a Master Thief could truly know.
While Duster had some pride in his training, Leblanc couldn't help but frown as she looked at Duster's bad leg. She remembers how badly Duster had wanted to make his father proud, enduring all those training, to the point where his leg was now permanently damaged. If it wasn't for the partnership between Duster and Leblanc, she wasn't sure if Wess would've allowed Duster to continue down the path of becoming a Master Thief.
"I'd go myself, but there are two Pokemon I must study as soon as I can," Wess explained. "I must also put them somewhere they can't hurt anyone. I doubt they will want to be trapped in their Poke Balls forever now. This is why I must entrust you and Leblanc to do this. It's of utmost importance. You have your thief tools on you, right, Duster?"
Duster patted his side bags, having grabbed them before following Wess to the lab. "Yes, sir."
Wess nodded. "Good, still…Would you two like to know more about this item?"
Both Duster and Leblanc nodded, hoping to get as much help as needed.
"Very well. It's a very important looking item," Wess explained, causing the duo to blink at the advice. "Like…very shiny."
Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down? Duster and Leblanc thought at the same time.
Shadowstar noticed Leblanc's expression as she responded to the Sneasel. "Come now, daughter. You've both been trained well enough that finding this item should be child's play. You can't expect us to always be holding your claws~"
Leblanc gave an annoyed glare at Shadowstar. "Of course, we'll bring back that item and show you that we can be Master Thieves without you two breathing down our necks, mother."
"I'll say no more than that," Wess said before taking out two Poke Balls from his lab coat. "Now go. I need to get these two to a secured location in the lab."
"Yes, of course," Duster replied. "Let's go, Leblanc."
"Sneasel," Leblanc said back.
Duster and Leblanc walked out of the lab. It was dark outside, night was upon them.
Because it was night, most people were inside their houses at this time. It was quiet in New Bark Village. Duster heard the ambiance of the night. Noctowl and Hoothoot hooting, the nocturnal Bug types chirping, the cool, night breeze blowing. Duster liked the night, it gave him peace and quiet. But this was no nightly stroll.
"Can you believe it, Leblanc? Dad is finally letting us do an important thief mission tonight on our own," Duster said to his partner. "It almost feels like a dream."
"About time too," Leblanc huffed. "Maybe your dad will finally show you more respect after tonight."
"Still…I do wish Dad gave us some better hints than just, 'It's shiny.' We better keep our eyes open," Duster remarked.
Duster and Leblanc walked through the village's plaza, where they had a well. They had to get past through here to head into the route outside. However, as they were walking, Leblanc stopped, but Duster hadn't been paying attention and ended up bumping into someone.
"... Oh, pardon me." The person Duster bumped into said in a polite tone.
Duster blinked, seeing a rather fat looking man in front of him. The man was wearing what looked to be a peddler's outfit. He had white garbs on, with a dark brown vest. He had a hat on his head. The man also had a black mustache, and blue eyes. Next to the chubby, peddler man, appeared to be… almost like an Aipom, but it was very different from an Aipom. In fact, this was a Pokemon that shouldn't be found in this region.
The Pokemon was bipedal, it resembled a chimpanzee. Its fur was primarily a shade of orange, although its face, outer ears, underbelly, hands, and feet are light yellow. Its ears were huge in comparison to its head, and has red insides. The Pokemon also had red markings around its eyes, as well as two pointed teeth in its upper jaw, a swirl-like symbol on its chest, and five fingers on its hands with three toes on its feet. It has a swirly crest of hair on its head. Its rear had flames coming out of it, which reminded Duster of the flame on a Charmander's tail. At the very least, it was obvious this Pokemon was a Fire type.
But there was also a strange blue collar around the Pokemon's neck. It looked rather troubled and sad as it stood next to the man.
"Excuse me, I wasn't paying attention, sorry about that." Duster apologized. "That Pokemon… I don't think I've seen a Pokemon like that around here."
"A-ah! Well we aren't exactly from around here. We are traveling…entertainers. And this Pokemon here is called Chimchar, who happens to be my assistant," The strange person explained. "But I'm sorry, we are in a terrible hurry, so you'll have to excuse us. Come along, Salsa."
Without giving Duster a chance to ask another question, the peddler continued onward, with the Chimchar following behind. The Pokemon paused for a moment and turned to look at Duster and Leblanc. Salsa looked like he wanted to say something, but then turned away to continue after the peddler.
"I hope it was just my imagination that Chimchar looked troubled…" Duster frowned. "But we have a mission to do, so we should get going, Leblanc."
"Yeah…" Leblanc frowned as well, even she could tell something was going on between that peddler and the Chimchar, but like Duster said, they had other matters to attend to.
The two of them moved forward, only to stop when they noticed someone familiar nearby. It was a rather chubby man, he wore light blue overalls, and had the smell of Swinub on him. This man was Butch, he was the Swinub farmer in the village. Swinub were usually pretty difficult to take care of in this environment due to their Ice type nature, which was why Butch and his family worked hard to make sure their Swinub were taken care of.
Duster and Leblanc noticed Butch had a large brown bag in front of him, and he appeared to be counting wads of papers and coins. Upon closer look, Duster realized it was money Butch was counting, but a lot more than what Butch and his family could make in over a year.
Upon noticing Duster and Leblanc approaching, Butch hastily put everything back into the bag, placing it behind him as he tried to cover it. Duster normally wasn't one to pry, but even seeing Butch's strange behavior made Duster curious.
"Uh…hey, Butch…What brings you out here so late?" Duster asked.
"Ah, h-hey, Duster," Butch nervously replied. "I see you're out on another one of your night research. Professor Wess working you hard again?"
"You could say that," Duster answered. "But I saw that bag of money you had. Where did you get it? Have you been saving up money from your farm?"
"W-well, um…" Butch looked around to make sure they were alone before he turned back to Duster and Leblanc. "Okay… I guess it can't hurt to tell you, since you and Professor Wess did help me provide the best care for my Swinub. But this is just between us, alright?"
"Sure," Duster said.
Butch brought out the bag of money again. "That traveling peddler visited me earlier today, and he took a real liking to my Swinub. He talked about how rare it was to find good, quality Swinub around here, since the wild ones could only be found in places like the Icy Cave, which is really hard to get to. Then he begged me to buy most of them off of me."
"Really? And I guess you took the offer, considering that bag of cash?" Duster asked.
"Y-yeah, it was strange at first but the man seemed so friendly that I decided that he was trustworthy. He mentioned that a 'new era' was coming, whatever that means, so having a lot of money will be good," Butch gave a slightly embarrassed smile, but it quickly faded as a worried thought came to mind.
"Hey, can you keep this between us, it's not that I don't trust the other folks here, but this is the first time any huge amount of money has come to our little town, and I don't want any ignorant folk running off with my money. I plan to hide it in the well for the time being, at least until I know a better secure location," Butch explained before getting real close to Duster. "Remember, this is a secret between you and me! So don't go telling anyone about it!"
"I have no reason to announce it to anyone," Duster replied. "But… out of curiosity, how much money did that peddler pay you?"
"About 500,000,000 Pokedollars," Butch answered.
"W-whoa, that's even more than what my dad makes…" Duster said in shock, and being a Pokemon professor, his father got paid quite well.
Duster noticed Leblanc giving a wide grin upon hearing that. … She was trained to be a thief by her own mother.
"But what are you going to do with all that money?" Duster asked. "Aren't you going to share it with your family?"
"No! I mean…not yet. I still need to make sure it's safe," Butch hastily answered. "Then after it's safe…I'll figure out what to do with that much money. Maybe get a bigger farm…more Swinub?...I'll think of something."
Butch then picked up the bag of money and went over to the well. Duster and Leblanc followed, watching him.
"But for now… I guess this will do as a hiding spot until I can get a bank account or something," Butch said as he tossed the bag of money down the well.
"It might just be easier to keep it with you, but do as you will I guess," Duster sighed, finding this whole thing to be quite illogical.
"Now remember, this is a secret between us, so don't go telling anyone else," Butch stated before heading off back to his farm.
Duster watched the young man disappear in the distance, confused by his whole mannerism. Butch always seemed like the kind of man who didn't worry about money, then again, Flint always seemed like the kind of man who wouldn't have such a violent emotional breakdown… though seeing how someone paid him so much money, Duster figured it was something Butch was still trying to get used to. He just hoped it didn't change him too much. Duster was about to continue on with his own mission when he noticed Leblanc staring at the well with metaphorical dollar signs on her eyes, already knowing what was going on through the Sneasel's mind.
"Leblanc, I know what you're thinking. We have a mission tonight, so forget the money," Duster reminded his Pokemon.
"What?! But think of what we could do! We could get far away and no longer have to deal with your dad or my mother!" Leblanc looked at Duster, hoping to perhaps convince him otherwise, but Duster had already made up his mind, causing the Sneasel to sigh in defeat. "Fiiiiiiiiiinnnee."
"Come on, Leblanc, let's get going. The night won't last forever," Duster said before he and Leblanc continued on.
Duster gave a small sigh as he and Leblanc headed north from the route outside of the village. They came to a stop when they saw the old, abandoned temple.
"The Old Tower… a place where a Pokemon of Legends used to visit the people of New Bark Village…" Duster commented. "It had been long abandoned before I was born though… so I never got to see this Legendary Pokemon. The important item my dad wants is somewhere in that tower…"
"Oh, is that you, Duster?"
Duster nearly jumped, he saw the old gravedigger walking up to him. "Oh, hey, Nippolyte."
"... A tragic time, isn't it? I was hoping I wouldn't have to make any graves any time soon, or at all anymore in my lifetime," Nippolyte sighed, remembering how he had to dig a new grave for Hinaway just the other night. "I was worried I would have to dig another grave so soon when I heard Flint went to go find his son, and had to face that violent Tyranitar. I'm glad I was wrong."
"Yeah, same here," Duster said. "Hopefully my dad will be able to do something about that Tyranitar."
"Yes," Nippolyte agreed. "By the way, what brings you here? Nobody really comes to the Old Temple but me these days."
"Oh, I'm just doing my nightly studies for my dad," Duster answered, somewhat lying, though technically it was also true.
"Ah, Wess having you doing his errands and what-not," Nippolyte gave a slight chuckle. "Though the Old Tower is home to certain Pokemon, I suppose it would be an ideal place to study these Ghost types. But are you sure you and just your Sneasel can handle it alone?"
"We've managed to get by before," Duster replied.
"Fair enough. Though this Old Tower used to be a place for the Forest Guardian to visit," Nippolyte said. "So there's bound to be some unusual things going on in there, even after all these years."
"Well, it was nice seeing you, but I got a busy night ahead of me," Duster waved goodbye.
"Oh, well if your night involves going to the Old Tower, I'm afraid the gate won't budge. Best follow me, I know another way to get closer to the tower," Nippolyte replied as he started heading towards his shack.
Duster wondered just how much Nippolyte knew about the tower. He and Leblanc walked towards the entrance, but there was a gate blocking them. Leblanc sharpened her claws. Leblanc went over to the gate to try to pick the lock. But the gate's lock was so old that she couldn't get it to even move. Getting annoyed over the old lock, Leblanc prepared to use an attack to see if she could break their way in, only for Duster to hold her back.
"Hold on, Leblanc," Duster interrupted. "I get wanting to get inside, but we shouldn't be breaking the gate just to do so. I know it's old, but there's a lot of history surrounding this tower. We shouldn't break it out of respect, so let's go find another way in, okay?"
Leblanc rolled her eyes but agreed against her better judgment. "Sneeeas."
Duster frowned as he thought of how to get through. "Old Nippolyte visits the temple often, maybe he might know of a way through."
"Sneasel," Leblanc nodded.
The two of them went to the shack that Nippolyte went into. But they didn't see Nippolyte anywhere.
"Where is he? I know he didn't leave." Duster frowned.
Duster and Leblanc looked around, not seeing the old gravedigger anywhere.
"I wonder… did Nippolyte have some kind of secret passageway in this house? People are full of surprises after all," Duster remarked.
Leblanc felt a bit of a breeze coming from the bookshelf. "No way, is it really going to be that obvious and cliche?"
Leblanc pushed each of the books on the shelf until one of them clicked. Duster noticed the bookshelf moving away, revealing a hole in the floor. Duster went over to investigate he hole. There was a ladder leading down into a tunnel.
"Come to think of it, Nippolyte did own a Dugtrio before," Duster remarked. "I guess it would make sense he'd dig a tunnel through here. We might as well see where this goes."
Before, Wess had Duster and Leblanc train in the dark before, as to help them hone their senses. Duster was expecting this to be the case as they climbed the latter, but fortunately, it seemed as though Nippolyte had already set up lanterns across the tunnel.
"Good to know Dad's training paid off," Duster joked, but was glad for the light. "At least we won't have to wander through the dark."
Leblanc groaned, having fresh memories of that particular training, not only did they have to navigate through the dark, but her mother would be launching ice cold snow balls at them. She recalled Duster getting a cold after Wess had finally decided to end the training session.
As the duo traversed the tunnels, they were surprised to see a few Caterpie climbing along the wall.
"Caterpie? I was expecting to see at least a Zubat," Duster noted, though he wasn't complaining, seeing how the Caterpie didn't seem to be hostile.
It was only deeper in the tunnel when Leblanc suddenly shoved Duster to the side. He was about to ask her what she was doing, only to see a Water Gun barely miss him. Turning towards the source of the attack, Duster was surprised to see a Krabby reading its claws for another attack.
Before the Krabby could make another attack, Leblanc had already used Quick Attack to get behind the Water Pokemon, followed by a Rock Smash to the top of its head. All it took was that one blow for the Krabby to get knocked out.
"Woah, thanks Leblanc," Duster said as he got up, but was confused when he saw Leblanc scowling at him. "What?"
"Duster, we may be partners, but you can't be expecting me to watch out for every little encounter," Leblanc huffed. "We've trained to be better than that, and just as you rely on me, I need to be able to rely on you too. We are on an important mission tonight, you said it yourself, we need to do our best here."
Despite not knowing what Leblanc was exactly saying, Duster was able to guess the Sneasel's annoyance. "Sorry, Leblanc, I should've paid better attention to my surroundings. This is an important night, and I can't afford to make any screw ups. But thanks for having my back though, I can always count on you."
Leblanc still tried to appear angry, opting to ignore that last compliment, but her own ego was starting to get the best of her. "Sne Sneasel~"
Duster smiled at seeing Leblanc try to hide her true feelings to appear tougher. Duster then reached out and scratched behind Leblanc's ear, knowing that was her favorite spot, as well as her weakspot. Leblanc let out a hiss at first, but then she leaned into Duster's hand, enjoying it too much to stay mad.
"Alright, let's get going," Duster chuckled.
Duster was on higher alert now. This time he and Leblanc avoided the Krabby that were moving around easily. They kept going until they reached the end of the tunnel, finding another ladder. They climbed up. They found themselves standing outside somewhere.
Duster noticed they were right next to the temple now, on the other side of the locked gate. He and Leblanc also saw Nippolyte tending to a small garden.
"Nippolyte?" Duster asked.
"Ah, Duster, was wondering when you would show up. Was starting to think you decided to call it quits and head back home," Nippolyte remarked. "Guess that shows how determined the son of Wess can be. Anyways, here's the Old Tower, unfortunately this is probably all you'll be able to see. The entrance has long since broken down, so there's no way to actually get inside. Well, unless you climbed up along the side, but who's crazy enough to do that?"
Duster knew Nippolyte was old, but he wasn't senile. Nippolyte wouldn't make a careless comment like that without reason. I guess he knows I need to get in there. Heh… thanks, Nippolyte. You're a lot more supportive than my own father.
"Leblanc and I… will just have a look around," Duster said. "So don't mind us."
"Sure, I'll be busy tending to my humble little garden. At the very least, the soil around here is good," Nippolyte chuckled.
Duster and Leblanc began to look around the exterior of the temple. Duster saw a wide open hold near the top of the tower. We should be able to get in through there… but we need to find a wall that we can scale. If we tried to climb a wall that's not stable, we could fall.
"Leblanc, do you see any walls that look safe to scale?" Duster asked the Sneasel.
"Sne Snea," Leblanc replied before running alongside the outside walls. A moment later the Sneasel returned, having a satisfied look on her face. "Sneasel, Sne!"
Knowing that Leblanc had found something and wanted him to follow, Duster followed after the Sneasel, going towards the eastern side of the tower. Towards the end of the wall, Duster saw a space running up along the wall that led towards the open hold Duster saw earlier.
"Good job, Leblanc," Duster remarked as he grabbed several staplers from his side bags. "Ready to scale these walls?"
"Sneas~" Leblanc grinned, reading her claws.
Leblanc jumped on top of Duster and started to place the Wall Staples, while Duster placed his Wall Staples from the bottom, just like they did when they were helping Flint and Boney climb up a mountain side. Before long, they reached where they needed to be.
"Okay, the hole is just over there," Duster pointed. "Hopefully it doesn't lead us to a pitfall or something."
Concerned over Duster's bad leg, Leblanc opted to go in first, being more agile out of the two. Duster watched as his Sneasel entered the hole, waiting for any response from his Pokemon. After a few seconds, Duster was starting to grow worried, only to see two claws grip the side of the hole as Leblanc's head popped out.
"Sneasel, Snea!" Leblanc beckoned, reassuring Duster it was safe to enter.
"Okay, I'm coming in," Duster said as he lowered himself into the hole, carefully.
When Duster managed to step on solid ground, with a creak, he looked around. He saw what looked like a giant, old painting of a woman with a Gengar next to her. The Gengar had realistically creepy eyes, and… so did the woman. Duster decided they should get going, because it felt like they were being watched by the creepy painting.
"This place is definitely old… it kind of looks like it's falling apart here," Duster noted as the floor under him kept creaking. "We need to find a way down from here…"
"Snea," Leblanc agreed, already surveying the corridor.
To the right seemed like a dead end. The only thing Duster saw was this statue of a Machamp holding what appeared to be a Golem. He questioned the design of such an art piece in the first place, but figured whoever used to live here must have had some…unique interests.
To the left of the duo was a door, and seeing how there weren't a lot of options, they decided to enter through, hoping it would lead them further into the tower. To both Duster and Leblanc's disappointment, they saw it led to another hallway, similar to the one they were just in, except this hallway was blocked with heavy debris. Duster spotted another entrance on the other side of the wreckage, but with no way through, he knew he had to look for another path.
"Looks like we won't be able to get through any of this debris. Maybe we missed something in the previous hallway," Duster suggested.
Leblanc frowned, knowing Duster was right. She could try to squeeze through some of the small openings within the debris, but she had no way of knowing if that other entrance would circle back to Duster. The last thing she wanted was for the two to get separated, especially in this old tower.
The two of them went back, but not before seeing a Gastly looking at them, and laughing mischievously before disappearing.
"Looks like there are Ghost Pokemon here after all," Duster sighed. "Better prepare for a long night, Leblanc."
"Sneas…" Leblanc grumbled. Ghost Pokemon are always showing up when they're not wanted.
They went back to the Machamp holding a Golem statue, and the creepy painting. Duster was trying to figure out what to do. He couldn't help but notice the crack on the floor juster under the statue.
"Hmm… this might be a bad idea, but…" Duster said. "Leblanc, can you break the Golem off of the Machamp? It might lead us to the lower floor that we need to get to."
Leblanc gave a curious look at Duster, wondering what he was planning, but then noticed the crack floor where Duster was looking at earlier, resulting in a grin coming from the Sneasel.
"Sneasel," Leblanc proudly stated.
Leblanc climbed on top of the Machamp statue, looking to see where she needed to strike. She figured that with the tower being so old that there were cracks on the floor, then perhaps this statue would have some sign of cracks too. To her satisfaction, Leblanc saw small cracks on two of the Machamp wrists, just begging for release. Showing off a toothy grin, Leblanc struck with precision, using Rock Smash against the very two wrists she targeted. They easily shattered against her claws, and with them now broken, Leblanc hopped off the statue to spectate her works.
Seconds later after Leblanc had jumped off the statue and onto Duster's shoulder, the Golem statue started to shift, no longer have the support of the Machamp's hands. With gravity pulling its weight down, the Golem fell off from the statue and right on top of the cracked floor, crashing through and creating a rather large hole. Seconds later Duster and Leblanc heard a loud thud as the Golem most likely landed against the lower level floor.
"Snea~" Leblanc smirked.
"Good job Leblanc, now let's see where this hole goes," Duster replied. "From the sound of it, that Golem didn't fall for too long, so it shouldn't be that deep of a fall."
Duster looked down at the hole before he jumped down. Despite his bad leg, Duster was able to land just fine when he hit the ground. He saw the statue Golem halfway in the ground.
"Oh good, looks like there are stairs leading down from here," Duster noted in relief, he hadn't been sure what he and Leblanc would do if the way down was blocked as well.
With Leblanc still on Duster's shoulders, Duster headed down the stairs. They soon came into a large room with many doors.
"This must be the entrance," Duster concluded. "Leblanc, go ahead and unlock the front door while I take a look around."
"Snea Snea!" Leblanc replied, having already gone to the front door to work on the lock.
While Leblanc worked on the door, Duster was surveying the room. He noticed there were four entrances, the one where they just came from, the front door where Duster believed led to outside, only leaving the door on the left, and the door that was opposite of the front door. What really grabbed Duster's attention was that on the ground, there was a large intricate image. Duster couldn't figure out what the symbol meant, perhaps it was meant to represent the tower, or perhaps it was only meant for decoration. What he did know was that attached to the floor decoration was a path, one leading to the front door where Leblanc was currently at, and the other leading in the opposite direction.
With a click, Leblanc grinned as she finished unlocking the door.
"Sneasel!" Leblanc called.
Duster walked over to Leblanc and opened the door, seeing that it led outside. "Good work, Leblanc, now we can just leave when we're done here. For now, let's travel deeper into the temple to find this important item that Dad wanted us to find."
Duster and Leblanc went further into the temple, and they saw a few Gastly floating around. The Gastly looked to be snickering when they looked at Duster and Leblanc.
"Looks like we have a visitor~"
"It's been a long time since we've seen anyone actually come into the Time Traveler's Temple~"
Leblanc watched the Gastly, willing to defend her partner if she had to from them.
"Hmm…" Duster looked at the 3 doors ahead of him. "Might as well try these different doors."
Duster and Leblanc walked past the Gastly, the Gastly didn't seem to be hostile. Duster opened the door, and saw a couple of Spinarak in the room, but there didn't seem to be anything important. So Duster and Leblanc headed to the next door. They saw a sign that seemed to have suddenly appeared next to the door.
"What the?" Duster blinked.
The sign read 'Through this door is the Ghost Bazaar. We trade items for items. Your trash could be a treasure here, and our trash could be your treasure.'
Duster blinked at the sign. "What an odd sign… so it's some kind of shop? It doesn't look like they take money though."
Leblanc just shrugged.
"We should probably get going, but… I'm a little curious to see what a Ghost Bazaar would have. They might even have that important item Dad may need," Duster decided.
Duster opened the door and walked in. He was surprised when he saw a… 'Pikachu' sitting on a large looking rag. The 'Pikachu' didn't look normal… its ears were bent, and wrinkly, its head was tipping to the side, its eyes and cheeks looked like they were colored in, and the smile looked to be a squiggly line. There seemed to be a pair of black, dot-like eyes on its torso. The color on the 'Pikachu' looked quite faded too. There was some kind of black tendrils under the 'Pikachu', and the tail looked to be made of wood.
"Why, hello there. It's been quite some time since the last human who visited this place," The 'Pikachu' greeted, and it shocked Duster because the 'Pikachu' spoke English.
"H-how are you talking!? You are a Pokemon, aren't you?" Duster yelped.
The strange Pokemon chuckled, finding the very question amusing. "Oh, when you live as long as I have, you tend to learn a trick or two. Luckily for you, I'm one of the more… friendlier Ghost Pokemon you'll find here."
Leblanc still had her guard up, knowing that Ghost types always have some kind of trick up their sleeves. "If you're supposed to be one of the friendlier Ghost types, why are you dressed up like you bought a knock off Pikachu costume?"
"My, your Sneasel sure knows how to give a good impression," The 'Pikachu' sarcastically remarked, still addressing Duster.
"Don't mind Leblanc, she can be a little protective of me sometimes," Duster said, knowing his partner well enough to know she would've said something a little rude to this… strange 'Pikachu'.
"Well, to answer your 'partner's' question, this is indeed a costume of my own making. It helps me to appear more friendly towards others. I'm commonly known as a Mimikyu, though if this costume truly does disturb you…" The Mimikyu then started to lift the Pikachu costume slightly, suddenly giving a cold sense of dread in the room as dark tendrils started to seep out from within. "I could show my true form. Though I must warn you, you'll find it far less friendlier compared to how I appear now."
Duster and Leblanc could feel intense pressure just from Mimikyu barely lifting up its costume. Duster dreaded the thought of what was truly underneath the costume and would rather prefer to keep things on a friendlier term.
"No, no, we prefer how you are now," Duster hastily said. "Sorry for offending you."
The Mimikyu stared at the two before laughing once again, the pressure immediately dropping as the shadow tendrils returned back into the Pikachu costume.
"Sorry, it's not very often I get customers, can't help but try to get a good laugh or two," the Mimikyu apologized while still laughing. "But now that we got to know each other, how can I help you? Perhaps you are interested in my wares tonight?"
"Oh, of course… but I am curious… you're not a Pokemon I usually see around these parts. Did you come from far away?" Duster asked.
"More or less," Mimikyu replied. "Unlike most Pokemon, Ghost types are able to traverse through a different realm. It allows us to get to places far away from where we normally… reside. We don't do it often, because we are aware it could break the ecosystem if we did, and we'd be punished for it dearly by the one who rules the Distortion World. So we only go to different regions for little get-togethers like a reunion or a party in an abandoned place. Tonight happens to be a party for Ghost types in this old temple, so you may see a lot of Ghost Pokemon you're not used to seeing around these parts. Some of them can talk, others may not. It depends on how old the Ghost Pokemon is."
"Wow… that's interesting. If I told Dad about this, he'd probably blow his brains out…" Duster sweatdropped. Or think I was crazy and call me a moron…
"In any case, I'm afraid I only have 3 items left. It's been a busy night for me," Mimikyu chuckled before he pulled out some items from a bag with his black claws. "Here we have a mint flower, good for curing that nauseous feeling of being sick. Next, we have some dried jerky, a tasty snack for the road. And last, and not least, this…"
Mimikyu hesitated for a moment. "... Unusual Ekans."
Mimikyu pulled out a serpent-like Pokemon. Duster and Leblanc stared at the Pokemon. The Pokemon looked to be reptilian, with a pinkish purple serpentine body and a white underside. It has white, three-pronged fins on the sides of its head, and a white bump on its forehead. About its round, white snout are oval, dark purple eyes.
"Hi! I'm an Ekans, nice to meet you!" The 'Ekans' greeted.
"... Yeah, and I'm a Furret…" Leblanc sarcastically said.
"Oooh, you are?" The 'Ekans' innocent asked in curiosity. "Well it's nice to meet you, Ms. Furret!"
"That's… not an-" Duster began before Mimiky put a finger over its costume's mouth.
"Tell you what, since you are new here, I'll give you a discount. You can trade me one item for this Ekans," Mimikyu said.
"Items?" Duster asked as he checked his bag. Seeing how staples filled most of his main bag, he thought he could offer some of them. "Would you be interested in staples?"
The Mimikyu laughed before responding. "And I thought that Dragapult was funny. You must be a comedian or something. But seriously, what else you got?"
"Oh… well, I haven't brought a lot with me," Duster admitted as he dug in his pockets.
Duster took out a few bottle caps. He had a lot more bottle caps back home, but he liked bringing a few with him for good luck. Collecting sea shells and bottle caps was a hobby Duster picked up whenever his father sent him out on field missions. He liked how different they looked, and how colorful they were.
"Would you be interested in a bottle cap then?" Duster asked.
"Duster! Don't sell off your bottle caps! You worked hard to find those!" Leblanc scolded. "Don't sell it for that… so-called strange colored Ekans!"
"Hey, I'm not that strangely colored! Come on, I can totally be useful as a product!" The pinkish purple 'Ekans' argued.
Sensing Leblanc's dissatisfaction, Duster gave her a reaffirming smile. "Hey, it's okay, something tells me this… "Ekans" will be helpful."
Leblanc rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything else. If there was one thing her mother and Wess had taught them, it was to follow their instinct. A thief could only get so far if he completely ignored his instincts.
"Let me take a look at the bottle cap," The Mimikyu said, holding out one of its black claws to Duster.
While at first glance, the bottle cap seemed like any other bottle cap, but Duster took pride in his collection, and had a feeling that this particular bottle cap would catch the Mimikyu's interest. On closer look, the Mimikyu noticed that beside it being a silver color, there was a pristine shine to it, showing great care was taken care of. But that alone would not be enough for 'Ekans', that is until Mimikyu looked at the other side and gasped. On the other side was an ancient Mew engraving.
"Where did you get this?!" Mimikyu asked. "I didn't even realize they still had these!"
"I got lucky when I found it," Duster responded. "I take it that the bottle cap is to your liking?"
"Oh it definitely is. This was something that had long been lost to time itself," Mimikyu stated. "Are you seriously going to trade this item to me for this 'Ekans'?"
"Like I said, something tells me this 'Ekans' will be very helpful," Duster answered. "I may be losing a rare bottle cap, but I believe it will be worth it."
"In that case, since you're willing to part with such a rare and valuable item, I'll throw in a few beef jerkies as well, just something to take for the road," Mimikyu said as it took the bottle cap from Duster, bringing it under its Pikachu cloth. "Alright, you're now this man's Pokemon."
"Really? This is awesome!" The 'Ekans' smiled as it slithered over to Duster.
Mimikyu dropped a few packs of jerky into Duster's hands as well. "Do you need a Poke Ball to keep your new 'Ekans' in?"
"Oh, uh…" Duster dug around his pockets, but he didn't bring any Poke Balls with him since he didn't think he would need to, he wasn't here to catch new Pokemon after all.
"I'd give you one, but I'm fresh out. The only one I have is too old to work, it's more of an antique," Mimikyu shrugged.
"That's okay. I can just stick with him, like this!" The 'Ekans' jumped onto Duster's shoulders, and wrapped itself around his neck like a scarf.
"Hey! What are you doing? You better not be trying to strangle him!" Leblanc shouted.
"I'm not trying to strangle him, I'm just getting myself comfortable so you don't have to worry about me falling behind or anything," The 'Ekans' replied. "You can use me in battle, or for some other purpose if you wish! I'll do my best to be an awesome product!"
"Hey, I don't mind if you want to help Duster here, but don't think of yourself as just a product," Leblanc lectured. "Duster is not like those who only treat Pokemon as objects. Duster is going to take good care of you, not because you're some awesome product, but because he cares about ya."
Duster looked at the 'Ekans' when it got itself nice and comfortable around his shoulders and neck. "Wow, you sure are an energetic one, aren't you? Well, since you'll be sticking with us for a while, you'll need a name."
"A name? I'm getting a name?" The 'Ekans' questioned in surprise.
"What, are you going to call her by her color? Like 'Strawberry' or 'Pinkie'?" Leblanc questioned.
"Hey, those aren't bad. I like strawberries," The 'Ekans' remarked.
"Too bad I can't understand you two," Duster sighed. "Well, uh… your color is definitely different from normal Dra- I mean, Ekans, you're a lot more on the pink side than purple. How about I call you… Sakura? It means cherry blossom."
"Oh… wow, didn't expect such a pretty name," The 'Ekans' blinked. "Well, hey, if you wanna call me that, that's fine. I don't think I deserve such a pretty name though."
Duster rubbed the 'Ekans's' head. "You seem to be okay with it, so Sakura it is."
"Is there anything else you would like to purchase?" Mimikyu asked.
Duster took one more look at the Ghost Pokemon's wares, but saw nothing else he felt he wouldn't be needing. "Nope, I believe I have everything I need. Thank you."
"A pleasure doing business," Mimikyu remarked.
"Alright, let's get going, Duster, we've wasted enough time here," Leblanc grumbled.
Duster walked out of the room. "Okay, time to start climbing this castle. What Dad wanted us to get must be somewhere near the top. That seems to be the most likely place that item would be."
"Item? So we're searching for an item?" Sakura wondered. "What kind of item is it?"
"We were given a special task to find a special item," Leblanc answered before sighing. "Thing is, we were only told that it's special, and that someone with our skills should be able to know when we find this special item."
"Oh…I wish I could help more, but since being brought here, I've mainly been by Mimikyu's side. So I never really had the chance to explore much of the tower here," Sakura responded.
"Oh…" Duster stopped when he saw a few Spinarak roaming around. "We better be careful, Spinarak are poisonous. I only brought a few Antidotes with me."
"I can handle them. I may not have poison, but poison never affects me for long. All I have to do is shed my skin when that happens… even if that takes a lot of effort for me to do…" Sakura sweatdropped, but still was trying to be positive.
"Hmph, it might better if I handled them. I can't get poison at all," Leblanc stated.
"Aren't Furret Normal type though?" Sakura asked. "Oh, I get it! You must have some kind of poison immunity ability, right?"
Leblanc almost fell at hearing Sakura's response. She was about to berate the 'Ekans' when she recalled about sarcastically calling herself a Furret earlier. "...Right…looks like there's quite a lot to teach you, especially if you're going to be sticking with us."
Leblanc regained her composure before shaking her head. Of all things, finding a Pokemon who thought they were an Ekans was something she wasn't expecting. Pushing the thought aside, Leblanc returned her attention back to the Spinarak, who were already prepared to pounce on her.
"Alright Leblanc, I'll pin them to the wall and you knock them out," Duster said.
Sakura blinked, surprised that the human was going to get involved in the battle as well.
Duster ran forward, not seeming at all scared about fighting Pokemon himself. He took out his Wall Staples and quickly pinned the two Spinarak to the wall before they could react. One of the Spinarak gave an angry shout before shooting out strings from its abdomen.
Duster moved quickly to get away from the strings. Sakura was glad she was on the man's shoulders, otherwise she likely would've been caught by the strings herself.
With the last Spinarak distracted with Duster, Leblanc took the opportunity to strike from behind. Her claws suddenly were covered in a silvery sheen aura as the Sneasel used Metal Claw, striking the Spinarak and slamming the bug Pokemon hard onto the ground. It only took one hit to knock it out.
By then, the other two Spinarak managed to break free from the wall staples, but upon seeing one of their own being taken out by a single hit, decided to flee, not wanting to meet the same fate.
Leblanc scoffed, somewhat disappointed at the little challenge the three Spinarak had given. "Well…it's not like we are here to battle, hopefully we encounter less Pokemon like them. Right now it will only slow us down."
"Wow! I didn't know you two battled together like that. I always heard human Trainers only gave orders to Pokemon to battle other Pokemon," Sakura noted in surprise.
"We operate a little differently from the big city Trainers," Leblanc smirked. " Our Trainers, or rather, partners, aren't afraid to battle alongside us."
Since Duster couldn't understand Leblanc and Sakura's conversation, he kept going, letting them chat among themselves.
Before long, Duster, Leblanc, and Sakura were in a large room that was filled with Ghost Pokemon. These Ghost Pokemon didn't seem to be hostile, however. Most of them looked like they were just eating gross looking food, playing the piano, and just having a party.
"What did I stumble into here?" Duster questioned.
"Oh, didn't expect to see you here," A familiar voice called out, noticing Duster and the others. He turned to see another Mimikyu, but judging from the way they responded, he assumed this was the same one from before. "Now don't give me that look, just because I run a store, doesn't mean I'm not allowed to take a break."
"Well, it's always nice seeing a familiar face. So what is everyone doing here exactly? I thought most of the ghosts here would be at least…well hostile?" Duster asked.
"Hostile? What do you take us for? A bunch of wild Pokemon?" Another voice spoke up.
Duster, Leblanc, and Sakura looked at who spoke. It looked to be a small green Pokemon, resembling a reptile or amphibian. Its head is a darker green, with yellow eyes, pink eyelids and gills. It had large horns tipped with pink. Its serpentine body has two long front limbs, as well as a darker green stripe near its tail with three fins surrounding it.
"You know, a lot of us used to be humans in our lifetime," The strange serpent ghost stated. "How do we think we can speak your language?"
"Really?" Duster inquired. He recalled some of the lessons his father taught him when it came to Ghost Pokemon, but it was more towards how to battle with them if one was encountered. "Do you remember much of your past?"
"Somewhat, I don't let it bother me too much," The serpent-like Pokemon answered.
"So do humans turn into Pokemon when they die?" Sakura questioned.
"Not always, it's just something that may happen, or may not," The serpent-like Pokemon shrugged before turning its attention back to Duster. "So what's a living human like you doing here?"
"We are actually looking for a special item that's supposed to be hidden somewhere in this tower," Duster answered.
"If you know any item that stands out, we'd gladly take any hints," Leblanc added.
"Hmm…Well, there are quite a few items here that are kinda special, but I don't think any of them would really match what you guys are looking for," The ghost serpent remarked. "Though…I do recall hearing some commotion going on in the upper levels of the tower. I haven't really been up there in a while, but it has drawn the attention of some of the other ghosts here, so maybe the item you're looking for is up there."
"Still can't believe a living human came here just to find something," A Gastly chuckled.
"I have my reasons," Duster said. "I'm just surprised to see a lot of Pokemon I've never seen before here."
"That's not surprising. Many of us aren't really native to this region. I'm what most would call a 'Dreepy', but you wouldn't find my species anywhere in this region naturally," The self proclaimed Dreepy remarked. "We only came here for an annual party. An abandoned tower was a good spot for it, not many people would come here."
"Next year's party is supposed to be taking place in Sinnoh, at this abandoned mansion. Rumor has it that Rotom will be hosting it, the party is going to be wild!" A Haunter excitedly exclaimed, having joined the conversation.
Duster only had more questions about the culture of these Ghost Pokemon, wondering how far they all would travel for a party gathering, but unfortunately he didn't have the time. He and Leblanc were on a mission, though perhaps one of these days he could return and learn more about the ghost, unless they all left after tonight.
"Well, thanks for the advice, Dreepy, do you happen to know any other way to reach the upper levels? The way we came from was blocked," Duster asked.
"Well… there's a way up there from here," Dreepy said as he looked up at one of the walls. "The stairs in the other room is supposed to lead up there, but it's blocked. It's normally not a problem for us ghost Pokemon, but for you that could be an issue. Unless you can fly or climb up walls, I'm not sure what you can do to get up there."
"If it's wall climbing, that's not an issue~" Leblanc grinned.
"Oh, you two are climbers?" Dreepy was surprised to hear. "Well, if you two have experience, then you should be able to climb to the upper levels. Fair warning, the higher you go, the more damage you'll see to the surrounding areas. Most of the walls and floors have fallen apart, climbing up isn't an issue, but trying to progress further can be a bit dangerous. Are you sure this item is worth the risks?"
"Anything we should be aware of?" Leblanc questioned.
"Hmm… well, I guess if you're good at battling, it may not be too much of an issue," Mimikyu said.
"Why would we need to be good at battling?" Duster asked.
"Well, some of the less friendly ghosts up there. They prefer to be left alone and don't take kindly to strangers trespassing on their floors," Dreepy warned. "Though the two most dangerous ones can be easily avoided. One of them usually like to stay in one room, and the other is usually busy practicing music and singing. As long as you don't run into them on your search for the item, you should be fine."
"Thanks for the warning," Duster remarked.
"No problem, good luck with your little treasure hunting adventure~" The Dreepy replied before floating off to commingle with the other ghosts.
Duster looked at the path the Dreepy had pointed out earlier before turning to Leblanc. "Well, you two ready to move onward?"
"Sne Sne!" Leblanc nodded.
"I'll just stay on your neck, it's comfy here. Besides, I can't fly or climb walls," Sakura chuckled sheepishly.
Duster looked at the wall before taking a deep breath and pulling out his Wall Staples. He and Leblanc climbed up the wall, heading to the next floor.
When Duster and Leblanc made it to the next floor, they were already hit with a snag. There was a large gap between floors. The gap was too big to make a jump for it.
"That looks deadly. If I fall, I could break both of my legs…" Duster frowned. "But there doesn't seem to be another way forward…"
Sakura looked down at the gap. "Can't you two use that wall climbing skill to get across?"
"It doesn't work that easily. We have to go up a vertical wall, not horizontal. And even then, the wall itself has to be scalable, otherwise the Wall Stables won't stick, or the wall could collapse while we're climbing," Leblanc explained.
Sakura frowned as she thought for a moment, wondering if there was something she could do to help. She noticed a candle on the wall just over the gap, as well as the candle holder that was melded to the wall.
"What if you had a rope that you could use to swing you across the gap?" Sakura asked.
"We didn't exactly bring a rope. We usually rely on the Wall Staples to make our climb, so we really never needed to use rope that much," Leblanc answered.
Sakura frowned once more until an idea came to her mind. Slithering down onto Duster's right arm, she wrapped her tail around his wrist. Once secured, and before Duster could even question what she was going to do, the 'Ekans' lunged forward, stretching her body as far as she could, reaching the candle holder and biting onto the handle.
Duster almost lost his balance from Sakura's sudden lunge, but managed to regain his composure. Once balanced, Duster now understood what Sakura was planning, using her own lengthy body as a type of rope. Though Duster was concerned.
"Are you sure about this Sakura? We can try and find another way," Duster asked, only to receive a muffled reassurance and nod from the 'Ekans'. Duster was still a bit concerned, but decided to put his trust in Sakura. "Alright, we'll try to make this quick. Leblanc, make sure you're holding on tightly."
Leblanc had already climbed on top of Duster's shoulder, gripping the collar of his shirt. "If you manage to pull this off, I promise to share my snack with ya!"
Sakura was already determined to help Duster and Leblanc get across, but hearing the promise of snacks did help bolster her determination even more. Okay, just gotta make sure to not lose my grip. Just don't think about losing it, they'll make it across fine.
"Here we go!" Duster warned.
Duster jumped from the edge of the gap and swung across it while holding onto Sakura's tail. Duster soon landed on the other side, and as soon as he did, Sakura let go of the candle holder and landed onto Duster's shoulders.
"Whew, we made it!" Sakura smiled. "Hooray! I was useful!"
"You did good there, Sakura," Duster praised, noticing how excited the 'Ekans' was. "We might find more gaps like that on the floor, I hope you're ready."
"Oh yeah! I'm a great rope!" Sakura nodded.
Leblanc jumped to the ground. "We should get going then."
Duster and Leblanc began moving forward, but stopped when they saw a small lump under the carpet moving around.
"What is that?" Sakura asked. "A carpet monster?"
"Either it's a small ghost or possibly a Rattata that snuck its way in here. Probably looking for a snack or something," Leblanc scoffed.
Seeing the small lump, Duster moved around, thinking that it could be something harmless. Still, he was cautious, the last thing he wanted was to step on it and make whatever it was hostile.
"A Rattata? Oooh! I should eat it then! Us Ekans love Rattata, and it'll be out of your way!" Sakura smiled as she hopped off of Duster's shoulders to slither over to the lump.
"Wait, Sakura!" Duster called out. "Don't go near that!"
Duster and Leblanc hurried over to Sakura just in case whatever was under the lump would attack her. Sakura used her tail to try to lift up the lump.
"Hmm?" Sakura blinked when she didn't see anything. "Aww, where's the Rattata?"
Both Duster and Leblanc were surprised to see nothing below either. Sakura gave a disappointed sigh as she put the rug back down. When she turned to face Duster and Leblanc, her eyes went wide as she gave a shocked gasp.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Duster asked, concerned over Sakura's sudden reaction.
Leblanc and Duster turned around to see what had made Sakura so scared, and they saw a large looking maw with sharp teeth opening up just behind them. They could only stare in shock, having no time to move out of the way, awaiting their ill-fate.
That is until the giant jaw suddenly moved back and a deep hearty laughter was heard. Duster had yet moved, still shocked over his near death encounter and trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Seeing that their new encounter was the one laughing, Duster took this chance to better see what it was.
Unfortunately it wasn't any Pokemon, if it was one, that Duster recognized. He could tell from the many red scales that it was some kind of reptilian like creature, and in a way it almost reminded him of Feraligator. He then noticed a small ball of flame on top of the creature's head, though upon closer look, it almost resembled some kind of small bird. Before Duster could even question what was going on, the small fire bird suddenly smacked the top side of the giant reptilian's head.
"That's no way to treat a guest!" The Fire Bird scolded, having what appeared to be a feminine voice. Seeing how Duster could understand it, he figured it must've been a ghost.
Hardly fazed, the reptilian creature was still chuckling. "Oh, come on Bertha, you know I can never resist a good prank."
"I don't care, Pepper," Bertha the Fire Bird chided. "I expect this kind of behavior back when you were a Fuecoco, but you're a Skeledirge now! You have any idea how terrified our guest were just now?!"
"Oh come on, what are you, my mom?" The giant fiery 'Feraligatr' grumbled. "I was the one who hatched you, remember? And you weren't even around when I was a Fuecoco."
"And yet I'm the more mature one," Bertha sighed before turning to address Duster and the others. "I do apologize, Pepper here couldn't help himself."
"Uh… well, uh…" Duster took a moment to calm down his beating heart. "No… harm done, right? … Are you two ghosts?"
"In a sense. We were both once human, until circumstances caused us to be reborn, I guess, as we are now," Bertha answered.
"I died and then was a Fuecoco, though I wasn't a Ghost type at the time," Pepper stated. "And when I evolved, Bertha's soul ended up as this little cute fiery chick. I guess all of my singing paid off, huh?"
"Wait, are you one of the ghosts we were warned about then?" Leblanc asked, remembering that they had been warned about a singing ghost.
"What's a Fuecoco?" Duster asked. "I've never heard of such a Pokemon before."
"Hmm? Well I doubt anyone would've warned you about me, otherwise you wouldn't have fallen for such an easy prank," Pepper chuckled. "They were likely talking about Gordo who thinks he sounds like me when I sing, and he gets mad… really easily. As for what a Fuecoco is… uh… just a smaller version of me, I guess? Well, actually, this is a different region, so you'd probably never see one yourself unless a Trainer comes here that has one."
"Interesting, but if you don't mind, we have to get going," Duster remarked.
"Oh, by all means, go ahead. I had my fun, but if you do run into Gordo, even though he isn't that great at music, don't mention it. He has a really hard time taking criticism," Pepper warned.
"Honestly he throws a tantrum the moment someone even remarks how they like his music," Bertha huffed. "You'll know if he's nearby when you hear his music."
"Thanks for the advice," Duster nodded before quickly walking past the Skeledirge.
Leblanc was close behind and Sakura had climbed back onto Duster, both not wanting to really stay much longer with the Ghost Pokemon.
"My dad would have a field day if he ever saw all these new Pokemon…" Duster muttered.
"I almost got eaten today, trying to find my own meal… I really should be more careful," Sakura shivered. "The circle of life is just so brutal."
"Hey, you live and learn," Leblanc remarked. "Learn from your mistakes and do better next time."
"You make it sound easy," Sakura frowned while replying.
"Trust me, it ain't easy. Both me and Duster have had our fair share of mistakes, and a good lecture or two on learning over our mistakes. But you improve and those mistakes end up happening less often," Leblanc smiled "Don't worry, you're already doing a great job so far, no one's perfect."
Sakura blinked as she looked at Leblanc. "So you're… not mad at me for making a mistake that could've costed our lives had that Pokemon been serious about eating us? … I know my parents would've exiled me on the spot…"
"It sounds like you have some really crappy parents. Though that's nothing we haven't experienced ourselves…" Leblanc sighed. "And don't make a big deal out of it. We lived, and now you know better next time."
As if sensing Sakura's worry, Duster gently pet the 'Ekans's' head. "Don't worry, it can get easy to get sidetracked, especially in a new place. Just make sure you stick close to us next time, alright?"
Sakura gave Duster a nod before smiling. "I'll do my best!"
Duster smiled at seeing the 'Ekans' having cheered up. He and Leblanc stopped in front of a door.
"Well… we shouldn't leave any rooms unchecked," Duster said.
Duster opened the door, and was surprised to see some kind of black armor statue standing on a pedestal.
"Whoa, what is that?" Sakura asked as Duster walked closer to the armor statue.
"I believe it's something humans used to wear when they went into battle, which is called 'armor'. They're not used very much these days though, so most people use them as statues as a showcase kind of thing," Leblanc answered.
Duster looked around the room, seeing that there was nothing really that stood out, besides the black armor. Walking closer to the armor set, Duster could almost see his own reflection from the metal pieces.
"Do you think this is the special item Dad was talking about?" Duster asked Leblanc while he still observed the armor.
"I guess it is shiny enough for you to see your reflection, but… I get the feeling we were supposed to look for something smaller? How does Wess and Mom expect us to bring a full blown armor back?" Leblanc frowned before she shook her head to Duster.
Despite not knowing what Leblanc said, Duster could tell from Leblanc's expression that they were thinking the same thing. "Yeah, still, makes you wonder what an armor set like this is doing all the way up here. It doesn't look damaged or worn. Hardly any dust, as though someone has been taking care of it."
As Duster was saying this, he reached out towards the helmet, to see if there were perhaps any clues or maybe some hidden item within. But just as he was inches away from touching the helmet, both Leblanc and Sakura felt a sudden pressure coming from the armor.
"Duster! Wait!" Leblanc shouted, trying to warn Duster.
But it was too late, as Duster turned around to see what got Leblanc so worried, his hand had just made contact with the helmet, causing his entire body to freeze up all of a sudden. Barely able to look back at the armor set, Duster was surprised to see it glowing as blue flames erupt from the gaps in between each armor piece, Sakura quickly jumped off of Duster and slithered away in a panic. A voice echoed through the room and the fiery glow from the armor intensified.
"THOU HAST TRESPASSED INTO MY DOMAIN, DISRESPECTED MY OWN SANCTUARY, AND THUS SHALL PAY THE PRICE!" The voice echoed, causing Leblanc and Sakura to flinch.
Before Duster could even reason with the voice, the black armor suddenly broke apart, floating in the air as each individual piece attached itself onto Duster's body. Within a matter of seconds his entire body was covered, with the only thing left was his head. The last piece that had yet to attach itself to Duster was the helmet, which he was being forced to hold onto with his right arm. His body acted against his own will as his arm brought forth the helmet and placed it upon his head, plunging his vision unto darkness.
"D-Duster…?" Sakura asked worriedly.
Leblanc quickly ran in front of Sakura. "DUSTER!"
But Duster couldn't answer back, and yet his body continued to move forward.
Sobbas: DarkFoxKit: So Flint having that violent outburst shows how hard it was on him to hear about his wife's death, showed that he cared and loved her a lot. But yeah, Flint doesn't get to be a better father because of circumstances.
Traveling Master: Considering in the original game, you had Lucas and then his party group. While they had their own dialogues, as well as helping as team members, the game really focused mainly on Lucas. So we took the liberty to get creative with the others, as well as determining which Pokemon would fit well for each. It was fun writing Duster and Leblanc's interaction, despite them only being supporting characters.
DarkFoxKit: The town seemed to not think about grief and tragedy a lot, they weren't used to it, so they don't know how to handle it. At least that's how I see it. But yeah, that was a jerk move to say the least. And yeah, Lucas has to bear the responsibility for his brother's actions. Now he's alone.
Traveling Master: It's hard on both Lucas and Flint, losing both a mother/wife and now having to deal with a missing brother/son. As mentioned before, we are using the game as inspiration, and certain key points will be kept in mind, but we plan on doing the ending a bit differently from the game. It will still be the tragic, bittersweet ending, but we'll adjust it to how we wish for it to end.
DarkFoxKit: Since in the game, Flint, at least during this point in the story, is still a silent protagonist, we don't really get to see what he thinks of Alec. So we had to think of what their relationship is like, and we could guess that Flint would find Alec annoying. Heck, Flint and Alec may not get along normally, and they're only coming together now because someone they both loved had died.
We like to think every Pokemon's got a backstory with their Trainers, though we try to focus on Pokemon we find more important to the story since it'd be too long, tedious, and unrealistic to have to focus on every single Pokemon. And we figured Firebolt (Ampharos's name) and Boney (who's a Houndour, not a Houndoom) wouldn't get along too well since dogs and sheeps have a complicated relationship.
Traveling Master: Not gonna lie, we took a good minute to discuss how to best incorporate the Magypsies. And while we hadn't outright stated what they were in the story, it is easy to tell that they aren't exactly humans. I would tell you exactly what they are, but we already have plans on how to reveal that later in the story. Not sure where you got the alien concept, I mean for the Magypsies, it was never really confirmed what they were. They could've been aliens, or some other weird species. For the ones in our story, they aren't aliens.
DarkFoxKit: Could you point out where it was said that confirmed they weren't from this planet? Because we went back to look and didn't see anything like that. And as for the whole confusion of the introduction, well that's not really an issue. They're meant to be weird and confusing regardless if you had played Mother 3 or not, they are based on the Magypsies, but I can tell you now, they are not the same as they are in Mother 3.
Traveling Master: XD Okay, love the theories, we did intentionally change it from Claus to Lucas for a certain reason. As for Duster being a Zoroark, not gonna lie, neither of us actually thought of that idea. Can tell you right now, he's a normal human, not a Zoroark. Though kinda wished you shared this theory way back when we were still brainstorming ideas for the story, cause I won't deny that we might've gone with that theory had we thought of it….I'm not saying we are going for this idea, we are still in the middle of the story itself…but you have no idea what kind of domino effect you just unleashed.