Chapter 22: Happy Science Dog

He couldn't take his eyes off of them.

Within a dingy alleyway between a warehouse and the shop he had seen Meowstic enter into, Boon watched with a strange feeling as he snuck glances at the scene inside.

An uncountable number of Scrafty moved and shuffled around carrying bowls of soup in the small home part of the shop, yet his eyes were always glued to the three non-Scrafty members.

Meowstic had a grin on his face as he spoke to a smaller Scraggy at the dinner table. A snicker escaped him as he remembered the poor kid getting kicked out of Mauve's dream. Although he attempted to think through what he should do about this potential wrench in his plans, his thoughts repeatedly ground to a halt at the sight of the Mawile and Espeon who had entered with them.

Anytime he glanced their way, his mind went blank.

Right now, they were chatting with presumably the matriarch of this Scrafty household, and yet he could barely form a coherent thought. He could only stare. Meowstic said something which got their attention, and they all laughed, and Boon had the inexplicable urge to be there laughing with them.

He backed off and leaned against the wall to shake his head. He didn't even know who those guys were. At a glance, he could tell they were strong. It sounded like they might even be that kid's parents? He wondered how this would affect things moving forward.

An hour or two passed, and he almost dozed off before a creak from the left got his attention. In a blink, he warped up and peeked his head from the rooftop above, and watched as Meowstic and Scrafty entered the warehouse from the shop's side exit.

Curious, he dropped down without a sound to follow and...

Huh. Well, would you look at that!

Hidden almost in plain sight, the Absol Guild tents stood tall and proud as if they had been here forever. A grin formed at their hilariously simple solution, but he crept forward as the two apprentices entered the main tent.

To save steps, Boon simply appeared wherever he looked, and as soon as he caught a glimpse of the interior, he slipped up to the darkened ceiling, shadowed enough to conceal him from view. By this point, it had almost become midnight; the guild seemed practically empty.

For a second he thought the two below would simply go off to bed, but then he honed in on the bowl of piping hot soup in Meowstic's paws.

Why would he...

"...be there soon. Just want to drop this off for her real quick."

"Seriously? Ugh, whatever mon. Don't take too long, yeah?"

He watched Meowstic nod and depart from Scrafty towards a tent from the opposite side.

Oh. Well damn. Kid really was too nice for his own good.

Boon seized the opportunity, and stalked Meowstic through this guild that seemed much, much bigger on the inside than the outside. Bathed in the shadows of the ceiling, he kept his eyes trained on the cat who would hopefully lead him to his goal.

Idly, he toyed with the idea of simply grabbing Meowstic, teleporting to the ship, and locking him up while they completed their mission. Sure, it'd be easy, but then Boon remembered how much the kid had accomplished despite having literally no training or clue what he was doing whatsoever. Frankly, the thought of seeing what else he could do was too tempting to simply snuff out right here and now.

It could be fun. And if it became too problematic, well, he knew where he lived now. Certainly, he could afford to indulge just a bit.

They entered a long room with strange platforms throughout the floor. A multicolored dome covered one of them, and illuminated the dark room. Boon took one look at the large, fluffy Absol within the dome doing...something, and warped up high into the ceiling. A second later, Absol stood up, stiff as a board, and whipped his head around with an agitated growl.

Those guys and their disaster sense. He'd probably be on high alert as long as he stuck around.

Or at least, that's what Boon thought, until Absol visibly deflated at the sight of Meowstic approaching. The natural amplification built into Boon's ears made it simple to listen to their conversation.

"Oh, Lumi. For a second I thought something unstoppable and completely out of our control was about to happen, but as usual it's just you."

"I'm gonna take that as a compliment. How's progress on the...uh..."

Meowstic petered off, and even Boon raised an eyebrow as he got a closer look at whatever Absol tinkered with inside the dome. He warped to get a better view, and saw what looked like metal pieces, stone tablets of various sizes that glowed, and a whole lot of other junk that he couldn't place the name of.

A buncha nerd shit, that's what it was.

"I'm almost at a breakthrough. I'll need to thank your parents again for giving me the missing link. Another all-nighter, and I should have it ready for testing tomorrow. And before you ask, I took a two minute power nap about six hours ago, so I'm perfectly fine."

"...Well, you're the Guildmaster for a reason, so I'm gonna trust that you know what you're doing. And if you drop from exhaustion tomorrow, we can carry your unconscious body around to celebrate!"

"Looking forward to it. And where are you going with that?" asked Absol, nodding at the bowl.

"This is for Weavile. Van made enough for leftovers, so I figured I could give this to her for dinner."

"Do you think you're any closer to getting anything out of her? She's all but closed herself off to me."

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm mostly doing this because she at least needs to eat, and I doubt anyone else wants to give her food," he said. Absol grunted.

"Maybe there's something to that. Just be careful, don't want to get taken advantage of. Or worse."

"Don't worry, I won't do anything dumb. Plus I think she likes me."

"Only other person I expected to make friends with a terrorist was Clara, so I guess you have her beat there."

Meowstic chuckled and waved off Absol, who went back to tinkering with the materials in the dome. He entered a flap at the far end, which Boon snapped to and found to be a storage closet. He stopped in front of a large chest, and Boon's focus turned razor sharp as he drank in every detail.

First, Meowstic levitated a pair of keys off of a hook next to the chest. Then, he inputted a code on a keypad engraved on the chest. Interesting technology, but Boon's eyes stayed locked on the figures inputted to commit them to memory. Once Meowstic entered them, his form phazed from existence, presumably blipped somewhere else.

Boon slunk from the shadows, and waited exactly fifteen seconds before he tried to input the same code. After a couple failed attempts, he felt a tingle on his body before he warped to an unfamiliar room. He stumbled, not used to teleportation that he didn't control, but recovered and dipped out of the open. He heard a door open from down a hallway, and made his way to the sound.

A resounding clunk signaled the door Meowstic just closed, and the sound sent a jolt of excitement through him. In half a second, he warped to the door that made the sound and leaned his head in to hear voices.

He smiled.

Bingo.

"...'s like...tamato berry soup? I dunno, I thought it was good. Here," came Meowstic's muffled voice.

"Thank you," replied Mauve from the other end.

"Hey, so I heard from my friend that you almost dreamt last night?"

"..."

"Well...good for you! I know you were bummed about not being able to do that."

"...I had a real one, only a few hours ago. The first one in a long time."

"Awesome! What was it about?"

"I was at peace. I can tell you that much." A pause, then she continued. "...Meowstic?"

"Hmm?"

"We are not friends. For your sake, you should remember that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Should I get the chance to leave, we will be enemies. And if you get in our way, I won't hold back."

"I woulda thought you'd realize by now that I don't really care." he heard him chuckle. "I'm gonna do what I think is right, and if you ever get in the way of that? Then, you're just another problem to solve, one I'll figure out when the time comes."

"Those are strong words. Get stronger so you can back them up."

"It's always about strength with you, isn't it? Geez...hey, but can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Right here, right now, before anything gets crazy, and I have a feeling it will, do you think we were...y'know...sorta kinda maybe friends...?"

Oh yeah, this kid was waaaaaaay too nice for his own good. Boon withheld a snicker from the other side of the door, almost certain that Mauve was sending the meanest glare she could at Meowstic.

But, then again, given her dream...

"You don't want to be friends with me," she stated. After a pause, her voice picked up, a tiny bit softer than before. "Although we have become...familiar. And your general strangeness, combined with your ridiculous fighting style, has made an impression on me. I expect an intriguing battle with you."

"Those are funny ways of saying general 'niceness' and 'awesome' fighting style."

"Give me your name," she demanded.

"Say what?"

"I wish to know the one who has made it his mission to be a thorn in my side. It only seems proper, don't you think?"

"...Sure, I guess when you put it like that." Meowstic cleared his throat. "My name is Lumiere, but everyone calls me Lumi. And what about you, weird and hardcore Weavile?"

"...Mauve."

"Mauve?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No! No, I just...wasn't expecting that kind of name."

"What were you expecting?"

"I dunno, in my head I was thinking, like...Razor, or...Glace...but Mauve is cool! I like it."

"Don't forget it. I expect you to use it should we face each other."

"You keep talking like you're not still our prisoner. Do you know something I don't?"

"A girl can dream, can't she?" she mused. "Now...I am tired. Leave my cell."

"Yeah, yeah. Night, Mauve."

"Goodnight...Lumi."

Boon slipped out of view and watched as Lumi shut the door and walked off back to the entrance. He waited for a solid five minutes, before he teleported back to the storage area, snagged the cell key off of its place, and then snapped right back in front of Mauve's door.

A touch of vertigo assaulted his head from the quick jumps that made him woozy, but he shook it off.

He inserted the key and dramatically pushed the door wide open.

"Hey kiddo! I'm here to pick you up from school! You have fun?" he said as he waltzed right in. Mauve jolted, and looked at him as if he were a ghost.

"Oh Ma...I didn't expect you to get here that quickly..." she uttered. Boon placed a claw on his chest and gasped, kicking the door shut behind him.

"I'm hurt! You would really doubt me?" He walked over and freed her from her chains. Before she could even think about falling into a bow, he threw a wing over her shoulder and sat up against the wall.

"Gimme a sec, been hopping all over the place..." he said. Mauve seemed hesitant to settle against the large Noivern, but after a moment sighed and leaned against him.

"You meet me in my dreams, and then rescue me with barely any information at all...I can really count on you for anything, can't I, Master? I'm sorry to have caused you such trouble. It won't happen again," she vowed. He gave a tired chuckle, and patted the feathered crest on her head. Now that he knew she was safe, he began to feel the exhaustion from moving around all night.

"Don't sweat it, kid. I promised I'd look out for you, didn't I? All the work you put in, it's the least I could do."

"No, that isn't true." Mauve leaned over and stared up at him with intense, orange eyes. "I swore myself to you, you owe me nothing. You shouldn't-"

Boon frowned and boopped her nose with a talon.

"Is this more of that Shade stuff? Knock that out! I've told you already I don't think of you like a servant. And you shouldn't either! Honestly, if I ever get the chance, I'll slap the shit out of whoever thought it was a good idea to brainwash a bunch of kids into thinking like that."

"It is a...difficult habit to overcome." She tried to remove his talon, but he booped her again, so she just went with it. "Nobody in my clan knows who truly operates the Shades, so you would have a difficult time in that endeavor. We have our paws full as it is."

"One more thing to add to the list," he murmured with a yawn.

"Perhaps our current goal will be more simple. We both know the location of the Absol Guild now. All we have to do is tip off the Haxorus Guild this location and finally get them out of our hair."

"From how you were talking to Lumi, I would have thought you'd look forward to clashing with them. Guess you're trying to make that dream come true, huh?" He wriggled his eyebrows and elbowed her, chuckling at the annoyed expression on her face.

"Stop your teasing Master, it was simply a courtesy. I chanced on his name earlier, and it felt wrong for me to know his but for him to not know mine. In the highly, highly unlikely event that we meet again, it just seemed right."

"That's a funny way of saying you wanted to introduce yourself properly."

"I can assure you, I will have no issues putting him down should he oppose us. Name or no."

"I believe you Mauve. And, you're right, it would be easy to leave an anonymous tip that these guys are hiding out in Verdant Port. But then we lose an easy scapegoat for the guilds to pin their attention on..."

Boon closed his eyes and put a claw to his chin in thought, before he heaved a heavy sigh and lolled his head back.

"I'm too damn tired for this, I'll figure it out in the morning. Let's just head back, the others miss you anyway, Nook especially." He raised a talon up to snap.

"...Boon," muttered Mauve. He paused and looked down at her.

"...If you mention what you saw in that dream to anyone, you won't have any claws to snap with anymore."

Boon stared down at her, mouth open in shock. Her severe gaze slowly morphed into one of worry.

"...Was that...I'm sorry, I-"

"HA! Atta girl!"

He cheered and pulled her close, and snapped them away with a wide smile.

The night passed.

After another session with Celebi, Lumi began his normal routine of putting together some breakfast for their prisoner before the guild cheer. Now that he had her name, he wondered if he could get her to tell him more about herself.

Needless to say, that didn't happen.

"Stupid...stupid...stupid..." he moaned into his paws for the third time. Van leaned against the wall with him and patted his shoulder in consolation. In front, Vert scoured the inside of the empty jail cell while Pandora had an absolutely evil look in her eye as she wrote unholy things in her notebook.

The rest of the guild had been put on high alert to search for the missing Weavile, but Lumi had a sinking feeling that it was in vain. He doubted she would stick around longer than necessary, and after a full night, she would probably be long gone.

And it was all his fault.

"Fuuuuuuu...why am I like this? Why don't I think anything through..."

"C'mon mon, this ain't like you. Don't beat yourself up, we know she's tricky. Probably had, like, eighteen backup plans."

"But...but why was the key on the floor? I swear I locked it and put it up and everything I-"

A dark snout interrupted him. Lumi sat stunned as Vert sniffed all over his upper body, and then rushed back into the cell. The Absol's nose stuck to the ground, and his blue tail stood stiff as he took deep sniffs around the room. He combed the room for another full minute before a deep growl rumbled in his throat, and he stood alert.

"Someone else was here," he stated. "I smell you, Weavile, and...something else. Swoobat?" sniff. "Deino?" sniff. "Or maybe..."

"Noivern!" exclaimed Lumi. His little nose wriggled as he focused on using his own sense of smell, and sure enough picked up an unfamiliar scent he hadn't noticed before.

Van looked between the large dog thing and the small cat thing and crossed his arms.

"Damn mammals..." he muttered.

"It's gotta be Noivern! He probably did some weird space stuff and got her while we were sleeping. Wait, but that means he figured out where we are..."

"Then perhaps it's time we got on with our own plans. Dear, how far along is that prototype?" chimed Pandora. Vert thought for a silent moment.

"I need to do some final calibrations, but it should be ready for a live test, at least. Can you do me a favor and get everyone situated upstairs? When I'm ready, I'll call for our three heads. Shouldn't be more than an hour. "

"Of course," she nodded and walked off. Vert turned to the Meowstic and Scrafty.

"I'll also need your parents here, Lumi. Are you able to get them?"

"Uh, yeah! They stayed the night in Van's house. I'll ask them to come."

"Sounds like another big meeting," commented Van. They got up to match Vert's stride, who was already on his way.

"It is."

An hour later, everyone mentioned (plus Clara, who kind of just wandered in) had gathered in the Dynamo Branch. Damia had shooed out all the apprentices to go somewhere else for the time being, and had reorganized the main floor to accommodate Vert's latest invention. The assembled pokemon took a moment to marvel at the strange device that had been moved to the center of the room.

A round, metal circle about three meters across rested flat on the floor. Large, clear orbs were engraved around its circumference. Indentations ran across the surface of the circle that connected the orbs in an incredibly complex pattern that seemed to swirl towards the center. Connected to the circle via a bar stood some kind of console, with what looked like various controls, and a thin slot in the front.

Vert sat off to the side, fur unkempt and eyes clearly exhausted. Despite this, the way his tail wagged and his gaze locked on the device belied his excitement. After he gave them a moment to look, he sat up.

"Ladies and gentlemon. You are looking at the latest in cutting edge Aether technology. First of its kind in all of history, built over the years by countless hours of study and trials, and only finally completed thanks to the timely donation of our resident heroes," he gestured to Opal and Clement.

Whispers ran rampant in the crowd. Lumi leaned over to Van.

"Seriously...did he get any sleep?"

"Forget about that mon, I ain't never seen him this excited about anything. It's almost like this guy's tryna sell us something."

"Ah, so you two sense it too," came Pandora's voice. They jolted as she placed her paws on their shoulders. "Science is his first love, yet recently he hasn't been able to give her proper attention. Until now. Isn't it marvelous? He's made history in just over two days of intense scientific pursuit. Be proud," she whispered.

"I spent a long time thinking of a name that wouldn't divide our guild like the Prosperity Scarf," continued Vert.

Half of those present spoke up.

"North St-"

"And I think this one will work. I present to you..."

Vert pulled a small card from his bushy mane and walked to insert it into the slot in the console. He reached up with a paw to pull a lever, and the dull orbs inlaid around the circle began to light up. A low thrum of energy began to emanate as, from the console, a trickle of colored energy poured down and into the complex channels engraved on the circle.

One by one, the orbs began to shine as the lines across the circle lit up with energy. The mouths of all present were open as a distinctive pattern alit on the surface of the circle, but their expressions changed as the thrum of energy grew more powerful, and a sound like rushing wind began to emanate from the device.

Vert's eyes stayed locked on the activity of the device, and for the first time since he'd known him, Lumi saw a full fledged, mad smile on his face.

Vert placed a paw directly over a big red button on the console and actually yelled.

"The Dungeon Nexus!" exclaimed Vert as he slammed onto the button.

Energy crackled.

Sparks danced.

Breaths were held.

All eyes were on the metal platform as the energies at play reached a boiling point before it...

Fizzled out.

A pin drop could echo in the ensuing silence. Purl demonstrated herculean effort in not busting out laughing, while the rest exchanged awkward glances.

Vert did not falter.

"The Dungeon Nexus!" He yelled again, and pushed the button.

The same result.

"The Dungeon Nexus." He pushed it again, gentler this time.

Nothing.

"...Dungeon Nexus." Yeah, same thing.

"Dear, maybe if you-"

"Hang on."

He clicked the button again, and again, and again, and pretty soon his paw blurred as he clicked clicked clicked the thing. This went on for about fifteen seconds.

Then it exploded.

"AAAHHHHHHH!"

"OOOOH SHIT!"

"SON! ARE YOU OKAY!?"

"PPPFFFFFFHHAAHAHAHAH!"

Everyone got blown back by the force of the sudden activation. Lumi got thrown far, but thankfully his fall got cushioned by Damia's stomach. He craned his neck up from his position on the Dragonite, and his mouth dropped at the sight of the circle. Damia looked too, and mirrored his expression.

"Holy..." they both uttered.

A large, ovular portal hovered in the center of the circle, presumably sustained by the glowing lines of energy in the device. On the other side, the clear view of a snow covered forest could be seen.

Vert peeled himself off of the wall, took one look at the device, and scrambled to get in front of it and point with a paw.

"There it is, the Dungeon Nexus! Oh Mew it worked, it actually worked!" Vert's tail whipped back and forth like a rudder and he giggled.

He actually giggled.

"Do you know what this is? This is science! Oh my God this is awesome. This means, whichever Dungeons we have the coordinates of, we can instantly transport ourselves to! Do you know how revolutionary this is!? We can...fundamentally shift the foundations of society with this! We can...we can..."

The large grinning Absol blinked, and glanced out at the crowd. He cleared his throat and schooled his features into his standard neutral frown. His tail slowed to a standstill.

"We can better accomplish our goals of proving our innocence and thwarting terrorism," he stated, previous energy gone.

"No! Go back to being cute Vert!" demanded Clara. She went unacknowledged.

"Hold up, hold up, wait a minute. You did not invent this in a day and a half. That's not how this works," asserted Van, eyes creased in bafflement, and still locked onto the portal.

"Correct. To be frank, this has been a long time coming. Mistress Myrtle had the original entercard idea and created preliminary schematics for a device somewhat like this, but I took it upon myself to improve her design. This has been a personal project I have worked on and off on for years now, but it wasn't until the final piece was delivered that I could fully devote myself to completing this prototype. Given our current circumstances, I determined that finishing it would be a primary goal."

As the group digested that explanation, Opal raised a paw, a bemused smile on her face.

"To be clear, pretty much everything that happened in the past three minutes has gone way over my head. With that said, I'm pretty sure that," she pointed to the portal, where flecks of snow began to blow through inside. "Is not where the entercards took us last time. Our contact gave us cards for a Dungeon near the Borderlands, and last I checked it doesn't snow there."

"Unless he reverse engineered them," mused Damia, a discerning glint in her eye. Vert nodded.

"I can explain in more detail later, but this functions by uploading a Dungeon's signature into the device, and then matching it to its proximate location in the world via channels of Aether. The tablet you gave only had the signature imprinted for the one you went to, however with those cards I was able to piece together a few more signatures with reference to Myrtle's theoretical cards."

Vert stepped to the console and pressed a few buttons. The portal in the center blipped from existence, and soon replaced with a holographic globe of the earth. A few points on the four continents were lit yellow, and he pointed to one on the Bright Continent.

"All the dots you see are the current Dungeons we have access to. If we want to add more, we'll need to go to a new Dungeon and get its signature from its latent Aether."

Lumi, along with some others, started to ask about Dungeon signatures, but Vert put a paw up to staunch the growing number of questions.

"One thing at a time. I can explain how this works later, but the important thing is that it gives us the mobility we need to accomplish our goals. One of those being the safety of this continent's Leyline."

Unbidden, Opal and Clement stepped forward and faced the rest of the group. Vert gestured to them both.

"Some of you may recognize these two from our time in Thistle town."

"Oh right, the couple who ran the item shop! Wait, how did they get here...?" questioned Purl, who rubbed his chin with a feeler.

"We're here to help with your terrorist problem," stated Clement. "We have some experience handling outlaws, so we will go and make sure whoever is targeting this Keystone doesn't get close."

"...Aren't you forgetting something?" piped Opal. Clement stared at her for a bit, before he thumped his forehead.

"Oh, right." He pointed at Lumi. "He's our son. We would like for him to not get arrested, so that's why we're doing this."

"OH!" exclaimed Purl. He glanced between the Meowstic, Espeon, and Mawile. "...I can see the resemblance!"

"Leylines are a struggle even for the most prepared teams, and a destabilized one could potentially be that much more dangerous. Additionally, our only means of permanently stopping a destabilization is Lumi and his blessing, so the added strength will improve our odds of getting him to the Keystone."

"And, so we're on the same page, throwing our son at this mess is the only plan you've managed to come up with?" questioned Clement, arms crossed.

"Yes. I understand you aren't comfortable with that-"

"I'm not."

"And neither am I, but based on all the information we have, this is the only option to address the larger threat of unchecked Aether."

The Mawile stared at him long and hard, silent. Before his dad could say something else, Lumi stepped forward.

"So they're coming with our team, right? When are we leaving?"

"If you accept, later tonight, if our information is correct. Yesterday morning, another Dungeon was found to be destabilized, so it will only be a day or so before Hollow Garden is a target. Since we can't predict exactly when that will happen, it's best to have a presence near there leading up to it."

Lumi nodded at Vert's explanation, and then crossed his arms with a wide smile on his face.

"Awesome! Team Nova accepts this mission!"

"Did you ask your team first?"

"Oh...uh," he glanced back at Van, Damia, and Clara. "Do we accept this mission?"

"Your parents are the greatest bounty hunters in history. I would never miss the chance to see them in action, of course we're going," stated Damia. Clara nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! Plus, I've never been in a Leyline before, just think of all the cool stuff we'll find!"

His eyes flicked to Van, who shrugged.

"Don't even gotta ask, mon."

Lumi bounced on the tips of his feet. Excitement and gratitude bubbled in his chest, and he turned to Vert with a decisive nod. Vert made to say something, but Clement stepped in front of him and put a hand out.

"...Each of you, stand in front of me. Together."

Lumi blinked at the request, but motioned for the three others to stand next to him. Van stood with his claws in his pockets, Damia seemed to stand up unnervingly straight, and Clara bopped her head to some song that only she could hear.

The Mawile stepped down and swept his gaze over them as he walked along. Opal followed behind, and sat back as he seemed to measure each of them, including Lumi. At some point, Lumi's eyes met Clement's, and he matched his father's scrutiny with curiosity.

It reminded him of whenever he would ask to see his son's homework assignments. Actually...

"Wait a minute. I think I know that look. Dad, what are you planning?" asked Lumi, only a bit concerned. His father sent him a small smile, before he went to exchange words with his mother.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"About what'd you expect. Damia's got some experience, but each of them could use some shaping up."

"I can think of a few drills to get warmed up."

"...Okay. Let's go now, then."

Clement's words stunned everyone into silence. He glanced back to Vert and pointed at him.

"Open the portal to the Dungeon nearest to Hollow Garden."

"That...are you sure you're ready? Do you want to take time to-"

"Here's the situation. You have asked us to infiltrate not just a Leyline, but an unstable Leyline. Hunters and explorers use those places as final testing sites, and my son has been in a grand total of three Dungeons in all of his life. If we're going to do this, we need to make sure that the novices we're escorting aren't too green. The sooner we do that, the better our chances. Now please, open the portal."

The Absol bowed his head and calibrated the Nexus to open a portal with a view of dust and rocks. Clement looked back at Lumi and Van, and whipped his horn to beckon them forward as he walked. Lumi walked behind his father without any hesitation, and Van followed after only a few steps.

"W-wait, we're going now!?" exclaimed Clara, paws to her face. "Uh...can't I use the little Spinda's room first?"

She yelped as she got wreathed in a pink Psychic glow. To her left, Damia grunted as she was also lifted up as if she were no more heavy than cotton.

"You'll go when I say you can go! We're burning daylight, and I've been itching to see what you're made of!" yelled Opal. She levitated their bags, along with the travel bag that Pandora helpfully held out, and bounded towards the portal. She cackled as she jumped through to the other side.

"We'll notify you when we see any signs of Hollow Garden acting stranger than normal," informed Clement, as his mate began to juggle three of the helpless younger pokemon. Van got spared purely due to his typing.

From across the portal, Vert nodded.

"I wish I could tell you more, but at this stage, all I can say is stay safe. And thank you."

The Mawile grunted, and the portal closed.

He turned to survey their surroundings. As Vert explained, they were now back in the Borderlands, with its hot air and dusty ground. The warm wind whipped around them, and Clement realized that they had appeared on a wide ledge on the side of a tall mountain, high up enough to look down at the dusty plains below.

From here, they had a perfect vantage point of the massive stone tree that marked Hollow Garden. Plus, their position stood high enough away from any outlaws that might be around, which meant this would be a good place to make camp while they waited.

He turned to the Dungeon they appeared in front of, and nodded at its simplicity; merely a cave in the side of the mountain, with the fluorescent film over its entrance that denoted its presence as an otherworldly anomaly that warped the foundations of reality with its very existence.

If this was what simple looked like, he shuddered at what they'd face in Hollow Garden. Thankfully, he had the perfect antidote for any apprehension when it came to a job.

Training.

"Mom, can you do me a favor and set us down? I'm getting kinda dizzy."

Clement turned to witness the Espeon still twirling the three in the air with a grin on her face.

"Use your psychic and make me, boy!"

"Actually, can you set them down? We should get started soon," he asked her.

She glanced his way and shrugged before she cut off her telekinesis completely. Damia fell with a grunt on her back, followed by Clara on her stomach, and then Lumi on hers. Off to the side, Van snickered at the pile.

Clement waited for the younger pokemon to collect themselves before he addressed them.

"Alright. Behind me is what looks to be a very simple Dungeon. We are going to use this as a training site to warm up before it's time to go down there," he pointed at the stone grove of Hollow Garden.

"Because of the time dilation, we have very little time to get warmed up together, so this will be an intense session. Opal and I will do our very best to try and prepare you for what is coming, but we can't cover everything."

"That should be fine for apprentices in Absol's Guild, though, right? You guys are supposed to thrive on the unknown," commented Opal. Clara's ears flicked and she smiled.

"Yup! We do our best work when we have no idea what we're doing!"

"That's not...entirely true. But we promise not to disappoint. Well, I promise not to disappoint," stated Damia, a hint of pride.

"Ooh, I'm gonna have fun with you, girl scout..." muttered Opal.

"Does anyone have any questions so far?" asked Clement.

Lumi raised a paw. Clement answered before a word left his mouth.

"Yes son, we will single you out. We will make sure to go harder specifically on you, out of everyone else here." he said. Lumi groaned loudly.

"But...why!?"

"Simple, Lumi," stated Opal. She stalked towards her son, head low to the ground. Lumi blanched and began to back away.

"Wait, mom..."

"It's because..."

"Seriously, chill."

"You're..."

"Please not in front of everyone, I-"

She pounced.

Lumi yowled as his mom bowled him over, then licked the fur on his head with a pleased smile. He tried to crawl away, but she simply held him down with a paw and continued to lick and nuzzle him.

"Our baby!" cheered Opal, enjoying the absolutely mortified look on his face.

"Van, do me a solid and get her off!" he smirked and took a step back.

"I'm not gettin' dragged into that. That's all you, mon."

"So precious..." uttered Clara, paws to her chest. Damia snorted and glanced away, a blush on her face.

"It's like this, boy," started Opal as she casually held him down. "You are the VIP of this mission. Not only are you our son, not only are you apparently the key to this mess, you are also the least experienced and most likely to not take this seriously. I know you, and I know you're here mostly to have a good time."

"That's not-"

"And that's fine! It's good to be enthusiastic, you just have to have the right mindset to go along with it. You're bold, and not much phases you, which is a good foundation. Now all you need is a little hell thrown your way to really grow."

She licked his nose again, and he sighed before he unfurled his ears a bit. Opal blinked as she herself got caught in his telekinetic grasp, and got shunted up and over next to Clement. Some dust kicked up as she landed on her feet. She hummed in approval.

"You've gotten better control! See, you're a quick learner. That will make this easier for you."

"I understand each of you have particular items you're fond of using?" asked Clement.

As one, each of them pulled out their personal items; Van brandished his Seeker Spike with a flourish, Lumi floated out his Amp Orbs, Clara whipped out her Confuse Staff, and Damia thought for a bit before she pulled out a simple ring and slid it on a claw. Clara glanced up at her.

"Still holding out for emeras?" she asked. The Dragonite shrugged.

"Maybe with all of this chaos, they'll become less rare. If that happens, this special looplet I made will do me well."

"You kids have been busy..." muttered Clement as he observed the items. He held a hand out towards Van, who gave him his spike to inspect with an interested gaze.

"I'm sure these are all very useful and practical, but for now we want you to do this training without them."

They all groaned.

"Stop whining! We're working on fundamentals," stated Opal. She levitated a bag and made each of them drop their items into it. "Should get comfortable with that before you get fancy with custom items. Now c'mon, I'm sick of talking."

She turned to face the Dungeon, but paused as Van raised a hesitant hand. She groaned and rolled her eyes, but nodded at him.

"Real quick, exactly how hard are you gonna be working us here?"

Opal turned to Clement. A wicked smile cut across her face, while the Mawile simply cracked his neck and looked at the group with a steady gaze.

"We have reviver seeds."

AN:

I get a special joy when I get to write Vert actually happy about something.

A shorter one this time, but then I've been meaning to make these not as long for a while now (and mostly failing). On the bright side, next one won't be long at all.