Interlude: Days Gone
"Alright..." the interrogator, a Zangoose, rubbed his eyes with a heavy sigh. "You've had your juice. You've had your crackers. Now are you ready to answer some questions?"
The ensuing slurping sounded ten times louder in the cramped room. The Gligar across the table who made it didn't have a care in the world as he sucked on his juice pouch with aplomb. Basil licked his lips, exhaled in satisfaction, then nodded his head.
Zangoose paused for one moment just to make sure, then continued.
"Okay. Now first, can you te-"
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
He pinched his snout as Basil started to munch on his bag of crackers.
"Can you...wait until after we're done before you eat those?"
"Hmm? Oh, sure!" Basil chewed a bit more before swallowing. Zangoose rubbed the side of his head in exasperation.
When he'd first been given the assignment of questioning a set of Absol apprentices, he'd been ecstatic. His mind immediately conjured the image of shady, pompous, mad scientist types who would put up a cold, calculating front, only to start frothing at the mouth about how their schemes had been foiled once he broke them down with facts and logic. While he'd tempered this initial fantasy, he still held some expectation of what these mysterious people were like.
His first meeting with them being with a literal child did not meet those expectations.
Despite this, his agitation did not necessarily stem from the childish nature of his subject. Zangoose had done his homework. He knew how much this interrogation promised to deliver in terms of information, and knew what this Gligar in particular had been at least tangentially a part of. Plus, getting a child's perspective could be one of the most honest he could get, assuming there wasn't any disturbing kind of brainwashing going on.
With these thoughts running through his mind, Zangoose paused, gathered his remaining composure, and opened his mou-
"Hey, when do I get to go home?" asked Basil.
"...Gligar, listen. I really, really want to get you home, alright? I'm on your side here, but in order to help you, I need you to cooperate, okay?" Genuine concern entered Zangoose's voice. He crossed his claws on the table. "If the Absol guild has ever done something you weren't okay with, or hurt you in any way, this is a safe space to let me know."
"What? Why would you care if I get hurt? I saw how you guys were super mean and hurt all my friends when you pulled us out of the guild. Plus, this place doesn't feel safe at all! Like, I kept asking this one mean guy to let me go outside because it sucks in the cell, but he didn't even look at me! I haven't been able to do anything for like, days!"
"The hunters weren't being...mean, they were just, erm, doing their jobs," he said, almost lamely. Basil narrowed his eyes as he took one more sip of his juice pouch. Suspicion weighed in his expression, and Zangoose reasoned that he was dealing with a sharper kid than most.
"Well, whatever. It's a dumb question anyway. I don't even get hurt that much…" Basil crossed his pincers and pouted with a glance to the side.
"You feel safe at the guild?" ventured Zangoose, to which Basil nodded with enthusiasm.
"Mmhmm. Everyone there watches out for each other, and is really nice. Plus, there's only a fire in the Bio branch like, once a week, so it's super safe."
"A fire in…" Zangoose wrote that tidbit down for later. He consulted the rest of the preliminary notes he received about this apprentice. "…right. You're the only child in the guild?"
A nod.
"And they provide you with full room and board, plus training?"
Another nod.
"Do you ever get to go home to visit your parents? Family?"
A nod that paused halfway, before transitioning into a confused tilt of the head.
"Huh? What do you mean? The guild is my family."
Zangoose paused. That was new.
"They're your family? What do you mean by that?"
"Well, that's the right word for it, right? They care about me, they keep me safe, they teach me stuff and we have lots of fun together." Basil glanced up in thought. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure family is the right word. I didn't have anything like that before, so that seems right."
"What did you have before Absol's?" questioned Zangoose, pen eagerly on his notepad. One of the popular rumors that surrounded the Absol Guild was that they abducted children to conduct live experiments on. The news that one was actually found among them spread like wildfire amongst the Haxorus apprentices, and the rumors only intensified in their absurdity.
Zangoose didn't know if he believed them. He'd be lying if he said that didn't peak his interest in this assignment a bit after the initial confusion. The more Basil spoke, however, the less that theory seemed to hold weight.
"I dunno. A bunch of ships, I guess," Basil continued. "Other Pokèmon were nice enough to let me hop on one if I was hungry, so I just went wherever until I fell into an apple box that wouldn't open from the inside. I was scared for a bit, until I realized I had a bunch of food, so I just hung out in there until it opened into the guild. It's been really fun, I don't want to go back."
"Fun, huh...what kinds of things do they have you do, Gligar? Are you ever asked to help or participate in any tests?"
"Yeah! Well, sometimes. Mostly I get given homework I gotta do, but after that I get to help Mr. Brook grow plants in his greenroom, and Ms. Willow will let me go on to a Dungeon for a field test."
Brook and Willow. Those names definitely set off an alarm, moreso the former than the latter. The night the Lunarock Hunter Station had been gassed out had been on everyone's radar. Those two had their interrogation being handled by someone else, but while he was on the subject, he figured he could gain a better glimpse into the character of these individuals from this one.
"Can you tell me a little more about those two, Brook and Willow? How do you know them, are they your teachers?"
"Yeah. Well, I guess I've stuck closest with them for most of the time I've been at the guild so they do some other stuff, but yeah. I guess they're like my main tutors. Mr. Brook tends to give me assignments out of textbooks and tasks to help with around the Bio Branch, and Ms. Willow...I don't actually understand most of her lessons, but she likes to go out into Dungeons anyway, so that's pretty fun."
"Have you noticed anything...odd about them?" he asked, only for the Gligar to start laughing. "What is it?"
"Heehee...There's something 'odd' about everyone. You gotta be more specific."
Zangoose paused. How exactly do you talk to a child about at least one of their caretakers having a criminal record?
"I mean...are you aware of any activities the two of them might have been involved with before they were your teachers at Absols? Perhaps anything that sounded dangerous or out of the norm?" he asked. After a moment, Basil's eyes narrowed and he grew a sly, knowing grin.
"...This is about what happened at that Hunter Center, right?"
Zangoose blinked, causing Basil to release a sharp laugh.
"Hah! I knew it! You guys are totally still mad that we owned you when you tried to capture us. You shoulda just said so."
"...I suppose I don't need to lead into this, then," continued Zangoose, choosing to ignore his little comment. "Our reports indicate that a Wartortle and Serperior were detained in front of a Dungeon exhibiting behavior similar to others beginning to spread. While those two were taken into custody, a third member of their group, a Gligar, was tossed into the nearby forest and was unable to be found even after extensive searching. I'm guessing that was you?"
"Yup! I gave you guys the slip. None of the hunters even noticed me tailing them back, or when I sat on top of the building to wait."
"During which time, Brook and Willow escaped their capture by turning that Hunter Center into a biohazard."
"I'm pretty sure that's what happened, yeah."
"Gligar, you are aware that what you and your guardians did that night was very illegal, right?"
"Okay, but it's not like we actually did anything. We weren't even the ones who messed with the Dungeon, but you guys wouldn't listen anyway. Besides, Mr. Brook told me he only used Puffy Powder to put everyone to sleep, so nobody even got hurt."
Zangoose sighed and rubbed his forehead. He didn't feel like debating with a child on why certain actions were or were not justified, so he decided to redirect the conversation.
"Regardless, what's important is not what you did, but who you did it with. I am not sure how much you know about Brook, but he does have a history that may put his motivations into question, and this recent incident makes us as Hunters concerned."
"I don't think you need to be. He's just trying to help."
"Which is why your perspective as someone who is close with him is important. We want to know how much we can trust him, if we have to, and you'd be able to shine some light on that. I just need you to be honest with me."
"...Fine, I'll be honest, but don't get the wrong idea about Mr. Brook! He's told me that he used to work for a very bad Pokèmon and did things that he's not very proud of, like hurting others, but it's kinda hard to believe since it seems like he could barely hurt anything now. He's really working hard on being a good Pokèmon. Like, he felt really bad about the whole thing with the Hunter Center, y'know? And plus, he worked super hard to grow a bunch of fruits and stuff for the Rescue Guild to give out, since he felt like others could use the help. He always likes to be prepared like that."
Zangoose duly wrote down what he heard. "And, are those the only specifics you know?"
"Pretty mu-oh wait, there is one thing. Since Mr. Brook is so smart, one day I asked what the coolest item he ever made was. It was hard, but eventually he told me that a while ago, he had something that he used as a weapon, and it was really good at what he made it do, but he promised that he wouldn't ever use it again. I asked him where it was but he...kinda just stopped talking after that."
"I...see..." A potential weapon by a scientist with a criminal background? He'd have to make a note to have someone look into that.
"And Willow? Do you have any information on her origins, perhaps?"
"Ms. Willow doesn't even know where she came from," said Basil. "But, I can tell you a little about her. Like, there's this one time where she wanted to figure out what happened if you tried to water Blast Seeds with gasoline, and-"
Zangoose slowly stopped writing notes as Basil continued to talk about the Serperior, floored by everything he heard. Maybe they'd been worried about the wrong one this whole time.
"Our plans, you say? You're insinuating that our guild has some sort of diabolical plot that has to do with the Dungeons?"
"Banette, I'm just trying to figure out what interest you all have with them," urged Zangoose.
Esther squinted her eyes, but nodded slowly. A glance to the right. Then again to the left. She leaned over the table and motioned with her head for Zangoose to do the same.
"Closer. The walls have ears," she whispered.
Zangoose blinked, but cooperated. Esther fixed him with a glare that had the weight of the world behind it.
"Now listen, there's a lot that I'd like to tell you, but I can't."
"What? Well then wha-"
"Just like I would like to tell you that Guildmaster Absol has been coerced by a secret society of extraplanar Pokèmon hellbent on-hellbent on...!"
Esther kicked the table and urged with her eyes for Zangoose to pick up his pen and notepad. He got the hint, but his grip was shaky as he tried to write down her words, which shot out like bullets under her breath.
"...on securing a rare substance only found in the deepest Dungeons known as Dungeonium that can be used to breach the dimensional boundaries and bring their society to war against our own, but I can't. I would very much like mention that our guild has been forced to experiment with Dungeons to find the highest concentration of Dungeonium, but I can't, nor am I at liberty to say that we have all been exposed to a potent neurotoxin that will override our free will to make us think we are doing this of our own volition, and in the event that we somehow overcome its effects, will trigger our bodies to shut down to a catatonic state should we verbalize the truth. I would love to tell you these things, but I'm afraid I can't."
Zangoose paused in his frantic noteaking to look at Esther with wide eyes.
"But...but you've just-"
"I would most definitely not advise you to make direct eye contact or mention said secret society to any guard outside this room. I would not expect at least half but perhaps more of all members of the Haxorus Guild to have been slowly replaced over the years with members of this secret society, and I surely would not expect them to become hostile should someone begin to inquire into their plans."
Zangoose's ear twitched, and he threw a not-so-subtle glance over his shoulder at the closed door behind them. A door that separated them from two guards positioned just outside.
He shuddered. One of those guys even greeted him earlier.
"And surely, I'm definitely not in a position to tell you that the only reagents that can counteract the neurotoxin within me and my guild can only be found in the combined ingredients of a plate of pancakes drenched in syrup."
He stopped writing.
"...Wait, pancakes? Seriously?"
Esther's head smacked the table, and she groaned before sliding off onto the floor. Zangoose blubbered in surprise before he went to kneel down next to her. Her eyes blinked out of order, head lolled to the side, but she managed to surge her hand forward to roughly yank Zangoose down by the fur on his neck.
"It's starting...we don't have much time. You must replace the berry slop you've been feeding us since we were put here a week ago with a steady diet of pancakes now, or else all hope is lost."
"I don't...but, how much time do you have?"
"How long will it take you to get the pancakes here?"
"Um, around three days if I can make the requisitions officers hurry."
"I can hold out for three and a half days," she said. Zangoose nodded and backed up towards the door. He gave a hesitant, but reassuring look back towards the Banette on the floor.
"Okay just...stay here. I'll get you your pancakes."
"Remember, don't mention why you're doing this to any guards or my guild. It could put us all in more danger if you do."
Zangoose sucked in a breath, gave a respectable salute to Esther, and exited the room. Self sacrifice needed to be honored, regardless of where it came from.
When he finally left, Esther released the breath she held, got back in her chair, and rolled her eyes.
"Dungonium..." she chuckled. "I can't believe that worked..."
"It says here you were involved in the creation of very powerful technology, a band that changes one's form to their shiny form." Zangoose adjusted his notes and peered across the table. "Do you know anything about that, Audino?'
Audino Bell sucked on her teeth and leaned back in her chair, a neutral frown on her face.
"What band?"
"The accessories you apparently helped create in the Tailor branch. We received reports that they enabled the wearer to move about in their shiny forms, providing useful disguises and allowing you to evade capture. Several other of your guildmates in that branch corroborated that you were-
"What branch?"
"Alright, can you just-." He rubbed his eyes and stifled a sigh. "You've been doing this for the past twenty minutes. You know we have all of this information on file, right? There's no reason for this little game. We might not know everything about your guild, but we do know some things."
"What guild?"
Zangoose stared hard at Bell, who decided to observe the room as if she hadn't been sitting in it for the past fifteen minutes. No doubt done specifically to avoid eye contact with him. The tick tock of the clock on the wall bounced around in the silent room.
He glanced down at his notes on this particular apprentice again. Surely, there was some way to make this not a waste of time.
"...Listen. Bell-"
"Who's Bell?"
"For the love of-YOU ARE!"
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are!"
"I'm not Bell. I'm her twin sister." Her eyes flicked up for a split second before returning to him. "Shell."
"You're not even try-alright." He quelled the roiling migraine beginning to form and thought of a new tactic. Why fight, when he could just play along?
"...Shell. Do you want to tell me how your stay here in the Hole is going so far?" he asked. The ambiguously named Shell gave him a lackadaisical shrug as she twirled one of her feelers around a finger.
"I'm bored."
"Why are you bored?"
"Because there's nothing to do, duh. I can feel my brain cells shriveling up as the days go by. I've spent the past week and a half trying to figure out whose face the cracks in my cell most closely resemble, and I don't even have any of my usual people to share my findings with."
"Okay. What can I do to help you be less bored?"
"You can let me go home. That'd be a good start."
"How about something to help more in the short term? I can get things for you, you know. As long as it's within reason."
That got a mild reaction. Her eyes squinted just a tad, enough to show that now she was actually a little invested in the conversation.
"You're trying to bribe me." It wasn't a question.
"Yes." He saw no reason to lie.
"That's wrong. I thought you weren't supposed to make deals with supposed criminals." She leaned forward, paws folded. He matched her.
"I thought you weren't a supposed criminal. You were her sister."
"...Touchè."
"Tell me what you want, and I can get it for you."
"And what do you want in exchange?"
"Mmmm..." He made a show of checking the back of his claws. "Whatever you feel like telling me, I suppose."
"Seriously?" Her brows quirked up in surprise. "I can just tell you whatever I want? What about, like, the Dungeons or how you think we're some evil, super bad organization?"
"If you want to talk about that, that'd be neat. But it's not like I can make you say anything. Those weren't my instructions." He glanced up at the clock. "We have at least another hour, so we can either sit here in silence, or I can get you something to help alleviate your boredom so you're more likely to talk with me. What'll it be?"
The Audino drummed her cream colored fingers on the table, her dry expression not betraying any of her thoughts. Eventually, she rolled her shoulders back and released a breath.
"Books."
"Hmm?"
"Textbooks. Fashion magazines. Style guides. Sewing techniques. Romance novels. I don't care, I just need something to occupy my mind other than the monotony." She blinked. "Actually, I want books for everyone. If I'm going insane, I know everyone else is too."
"...Alright. Should I just get everyone romance novels or-"
"No. God no. Hazel wouldn't know how to appreciate one, he'd complain there's not enough punching." She put a paw to her chin in thought. "Unless you get a graphic action/romance novel, in which case that might work. Now that I think about it, Clara might like a romance graphic novel too, but knowing her, she'd be more into the saucier stuff, and I don't know how much you're willing to dig..."
It clicked just what kind of information he could potentially get from this meeting. Zangoose slowly grabbed his pen and started to jot some notes down. Unorthodox, but anything to shine a light on these Pokèmon would be welcome.
"Any other special requests I should know about?" he asked.
"Find Esther a joke book. The worse the quality, the better," she continued, not missing a beat. "For Reed, he's been reading this one book, "Warped Skies." Find that, he loves long epics. Let's see...Pandora loves a good crime and mystery story, so "The Silence of the Mareep" would work for her. For Otto, you can just get him a chemistry textbook or something, he'll know how to keep himself occupied with it. And..."
Shell/Bell continued to rattle off the reading preferences of her guildmates. Meanwhile, Zangoose settled in for a nice session of learning more about the Absol Guild apprentices on a more personal level. In some cases, more than he'd actually want.
"So, Ms…" Zangoose squinted at the name to make sure he got it right. "…Periwinkle?"
The aged Scrafty in a wheelchair, her proud, frilled mohawk faded to a less lustrous red, gave an affronted scoff.
"Excuse you, didn't your momma ever teach you manners? Keep my name out your mouth, boy. I don't know you." Periwinkle crossed her arms and shook her head. "Bad enough you got my babies locked up in this place, I won't be disrespected on top of that."
"R-right. My apologies ma'am." As much as he tried, he didn't think anything could prepare him for a discussion with an angry mother.
"Speaking of, when are you gonna let us go, huh? I ain't know hide or hair about none of this Dungeon crap that's apparently been goin' on, and frankly I got other things to worry about." Periwinkle's exasperated tone only worsened, which made Zangoose flinch.
"Who's gonna watch the shop while we're gone? It's been weeks! Are you gonna front the overhead? What about all the school time my kids are missing, my youngest is still learning his math, he can't be wasting time away from school like this. Not to mention-"
"M-Ma'am, just calm down," Zangoose managed to interject with a raised claw. "You can't leave yet because you've been detained for questioning, and the situation as dire as it is means we need to keep a very close, secure eye on everyone involved."
"And I'm telling you that we ain't got nuthin' to do with it!"
"But the thing is...you do. The Absol Guild was found taking residence within a warehouse that you owned. Not to mention one of your sons is not only an apprentice at this guild, but has been connected with the start of the Dungeon issue since the beginning. The facts as they are, your family has become intractably linked to the activities of the Absol Guild. All we want to know is what the nature of that link is."
"Nature of the li-Boy I should smack the stupid out ya , you think we was in cahoots with Absol's or something? Plottin'? Hell no! We let them stay there cuz they was paying good rent money! You think it's easy tryna run a shop and keep all your kids fed while you can't even walk? I got damn near fifteen mouths to feed, sometimes more if the lazier ones wanna try and dip in for seconds."
"Money has been tight for you?"
"What, you ain't heard? The ship business has been spotty for a good while now, maybe about seven years." Periwinkle gestured down to her wheelchair. "The incident that took my mate from me and left me like this spooked all the ships out the water, and not for no reason. The sea isn't as predictable as it used to be. Sure, there'll be periods where the waters are agreeable, but then sometimes there'll be times when the wind and waves seem to have a mind of their own."
She frowned, and ran a claw through her Mohawk with a tired, disappointed sigh.
"And no ships means no business in repairing 'em. 'Peri's Parts' used to be a respected establishment, but nowadays all we can do is fix a wheel here and there while my kids do odd jobs around town. Ain't exactly the most lucrative way of paying bills."
"So, you're saying financial troubles are what encouraged you to enter into an agreement with Absol? In exchange for sanctuary, you would have them...pay rent, you said?"
"As a matter of fact, they insisted that I be compensated for putting them up. Absol and Whimsicott were nothing but professional about our little agreement, and any help was welcome. Not to mention they had my son vouch for them, and I raised him to be a good judge of character."
"Yes, I'm sure..." He murmured with a brief pause. There had been several theories about how the guild had managed to evade capture for so long. A secret hideout in some Outlaw infested part of the land, managing to repurpose a Dungeon, even some diabolical base on the moon had all been ideas kicked around, albeit some with more credence than others.
Renting out a warehouse from a struggling family is one of the more...benign outcomes that he hadn't been expecting.
"Now, when your son explained to you the nature of the arrangement, did he share any details about what exactly transpired that made his guild feel the need to evade arrest? Did you get the sense that he was completely forthcoming with information, or perhaps he might have been keeping...something..."
He petered off as Periwinkle narrowed her eyes. The way she shook her head and deepened her frown sent a sense of shame down Zangoose's back that he hadn't felt since he was a kit living with his parents.
"Oh...I see what you're doing. If you think you can drive some distrust between me and my son, you got another thing coming." Periwinkle leaned forward and glared hard at Zangoose. "You got no idea who you're bad mouthing. That boy is special."
"Ma'am, I didn't mean to-"
She slammed her fist on the table. He shut up.
"Practically the head of the household after his daddy passed. Fourteen siblings, and he puts them all before himself. I didn't have to make him do that, he did it on his own. When the shop fell on hard times, he was the one to put in extra hours tinkering away, tryna earn extra cash however he could. It helps that he's smart as a tack, too."
Periwinkle gestured down at her body. She wore a disparaging grin.
"Not a night goes by that I don't feel I'm a burden on my children in some way, my oldest son most of all. He loves his family, but as a mother, I want that wonderful, passionate mind of his to flourish as much as it can. So when he came to me asking if he could go join that wild Absol guild, talkin' about how he'd make something to put us back on the map again, I didn't fight him on it. At that time, I'd never heard one good thing about Absol's, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my son's heart is only ever in the right place. All of that to say Zangoose...
"Whatever you think my son and his guild are guilty of, think again. You got the wrong ones locked up."
Zangoose nodded and lifted his notepad, mostly to try and make some kind of barrier to hide behind the look on the mother's face. The faces of other potential parents to the other apprentices popped in his mind. It hit him then, that he'd never actually considered the Absol Guild as a place where a family could be proud to send their kid to, yet here Periwinkle sat, adamant that her son made a good choice.
Maybe there was something to that.
"I admit, I don't think anybody could have foreseen someone like you among the Absol apprentices." Zangoose's tone carried a curious tilt as he scrutinized the subject for this questioning.
Leaning back on his large fluffy tail, the Pachirisu had an lopsided grin on his face as he twirled his admittedly charming bowling hat (how exactly did he get that in here, weren't the guards supposed to confiscate any loose articles?) around a paw digit. The ceiling light caused his teeth to glint in the room, highlighting the confidence the squirrel exuded. It threw Zangoose off.
Many things seemed off about this encounter, starting even before they walked into this room. For starters, Zangoose hadn't even been given a file for this individual, just a set of instructions that had apparently traveled down from the chain of command to be handed to him, with some basic information along with a note that read 'Stand by for special accommodations.'
Regardless, he still had a job to do, and figuring out how this Pachirisu fit into the picture was the first step.
"You're a...journalist? Reporter?" he asked. The squirrel seemed to mull over something as he stared at a point on the wall before answering.
"...You want to know what I am?" Pachirisu didn't even glance in Zangoose's direction. "I...am on the cusp of the defining moment of my career, and beyond. I am counting the seconds until I can release my magnum opus and cement my place both in history and for the days to come. I am, above all else, a seeker of truth, and I am someone who has not regretted a single decision he's made thus far!"
"That didn't answer my question," said Zangoose. Pachirisu smirked and shrugged.
"I go by many titles. If you need an official profession, freelance journalist is what I normally introduce myself as. Unofficially, I suppose I've come into something of a public image consultant for our resident Dungeon Research and Development guild. And personally, I have garnered a host of brand new names I am more than happy to share. Like Pickle. Let's go with Pickle, this time."
Pickle winked, flicked the bowler hat up in the air, then leaned forward onto the table, where it fell perfectly on his head. The smirk on his face sent Zangoose's hairs on end.
"I'll cut to the chase, friend, since we're both on short schedules. I already did most of your job for you." He pointed a lackadaisical paw at all of Zangoose's writing materials. "Personal testimonies, eye-witness accounts, not-so-diabolical plots, potentially-diabolical-plots and much more all in the paws of your superiors for their purview. I was not idle during my sojourn in Guildmaster Absol's abode."
"So, what? Do you think that means you don't need to be here?" grumbled Zangoose. "You were found at the scene, which means you need to be questioned, just like everyone else. And while we're on that topic, how exactly did you start your 'sojourn' with the Absol Guild? From all the facts we have now, it sounds like you were a victim of a hostage situation, but from your words, you don't seem to view it that way."
"A victim? Hostage? I can assure you, aside from some unfavorable sleeping arrangements, my association with Absol was completely voluntary. All that time ago in front of Match Quarry, where this whole mess began, I saw my opportunity to dig deeper into this mystery and I took it. I was given free reign to wander the guild, speak to who I wanted to, and was even offered meals. Quite hospitable, all things considered."
"And you would still think so, even when coming and going as you pleased no longer became an option once the call for their arrest was made public?" questioned Zangoose as he twirled the pen in his claw. "You were not allowed to leave them, unless they risk someone giving away their position. That doesn't sound like the most hospitable of behaviors."
"And why exactly would I have wanted to leave anyway?" countered Pickle. "Even if they had personally escorted me out, leaving simply was not an option. My calling demands I be at the center of the action in order to bear witness to it."
"Bear witness and, as you mentioned before, provide your...consulting services, you said?"
"Naturally. They may have the whole esoteric science thing down, but they are sorely lacking in their knowledge of good public relations. Particularly their Guildmaster. I just had to step in where I could and steer him right."
Zangoose's mind latched on to that part about steering Absol right. Any apprentice of Absol would obviously have a biased opinion of him, but Pickle wasn't an apprentice. This could be his chance to get an outside perspective of the most esoteric member of the already-esoteric guild.
"You make it sound like you have built a rapport with Absol. Obviously you're aware of just how central he is to this whole issue. What was your impression of him? Any information you can provide would be helpful."
"I'll just say this. Absol is my favorite kind of story. Nothing with him is as it seems. Every expectation was flipped on its head, and that right there is already gold. Throw in the underdog, noble mad scientist shtick? From here on, the spotlight will be on everything he and his guild does, and for all the right reasons; he'll make waves with every move he does. Trust me, I've seen it happen."
Pickle's smirk widened, and he pulled his hat down over his eyes.
"Besides, maybe I've grown to respect him. Just a bit. Not a lot of mon would take a fall like that just to deliver some relief supplies. A beating from Haxorus on top of that should convince anyone that he's someone who fully believes in his cause."
"A beating from...do you know the circumstances around Absol's wounds? He required some medical attention when we brought him in, but he has been...hesitant, to share much of anything relating to what might have caused them."
"Oh, you guys don't...heh. No, I suppose Haxorus would have wanted to keep that particular incident between him and those closest to him. Not like it matters, the truth will be out soon enough." His eyes widened a tad, and he put a paw to his chin in thought. "You know what, now that I think back on it, there were definitely witnesses to that. I'll need to see what news has already broken, and if I can get ahead of it. It's already been more than enough time for rumors to spread..."
Zangoose frowned at the Pachirisu's murmuring, and roughly tapped on the table.
"If you know anything, you should tell me."
"Hmm? I should?"
"Yes," urged Zangoose, frustrated. "Every piece of information brings us one step closer to the truth of this whole thing. This is more than about whatever good story you think Absol will bring you. Our homes, society, and potentially lives are at stake. If you have any inclination that he could be in some way connected to what is happening with the spread, you need to tell us!"
"And why would I be inclined to think that, when I already spoke with one of the ones who are actually responsible for the Dungeon spread in the first place?"
"...You spoke with-what?" Zangoose stood up and slammed his claws onto the table. Urgency and haste were painted all over his expression. "If you know something, then you must-!"
A knock on the door interrupted him. The sound paused, before the door creaked open to reveal a small squad of hunter apprentices on the other side, led by a Croagunk who took a few steps into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we're here on orders from higher up," he said, and pointed at Pickle. "He's free to leave the Hole. We're to escort him out and to a location of his choosing."
"Ah, and there's my queue." Pickle turned and hopped out his seat, tail flicked out as he adjusted his hat. Zangoose's eyes slowly widened as he processed the bizarre situation while Pickle merely passed him by with a smug grin.
"But...no, wait, who said he can leave? He needs to be questioned! What the hell is going on!?"
"Hey, easy. This is just what happens when you cash in a few favors. Or did I forget to mention that Absol's isn't the only guild I've been involved with?" He winked, causing Zangoose to stammer in confusion, then turned to look up at the Croagunk.
"Alright, let's head out. I got a lot of work to do, and only so much time to do it. The truth waits for no one! Although...this is a lot of pro bono work I'm doing on their behalf. Maybe I should look into a longer term partnership with them once this is all over..." He murmured to himself as much as his naturally projective voice would allow.
Despite Zangoose's frantic protests, the Croagunk began to close the door as the apprentices began to move out. He only caught one last glimpse of the Pachirisu's sparkling eyes over his tail before it closed in his face.
"Are you aware of the Law of Diffusion of Innovation?" asked the Alolan Meowth across the table.
Zangoose blinked, and glanced down at the file for this apprentice. The name read: Luster. One of the apprentices who had been with the guild since close to the beginning of its current iteration.
It had become clear to Zangoose that he needed to better understand exactly who he was speaking to, in the Absol apprentices. Their wildly different characteristics and the surprising facts uncovered about their hiding flew in the face of the preconceived mold he'd unintentionally created for them. As such, his goal with this questioning had simply been to gain a better understanding of the kind of Pokèmon that inhabited Absol's. What their motives, aspirations, characteristics might have been in their circumstances.
However, the Meowth had begun to speak before he could even broach a question.
"Meowth, I will be the one to ask the questions," asserted Zangoose, who shuffled his notes. "Now-"
"The Law is simple, really, and I would say rather apt, given the circumstances," continued Luster, who stuck his nose in the air with a digit pointing up. "I will strive to put it in terms your simple mind might be able to understand; if you want mass market success of an idea or technology, you cannot have it until you penetrate through eighteen percent of the population."
"What are you talking about?" asked Zangoose, baffled.
"This eighteen percent consists of a few segments of the population who vary in their acceptance. The 'early majority,' who represent those members of society who might be convinced to adopt a new idea if they see others doing so, but will not move on their own otherwise. Before them are the 'early adopters,' who are much more socially forward and willing to adopt, if those ideas meet their criteria. However, I would like to focus on the true minority, the trailblazers with whom without, we would still be feasting on each other's bloody corpses like savages."
Luster put both paws on the table and leaned forward. Even though his head tilted up at Zangoose due to the difference in stature, the sheer contempt in the sneer on his mouth made it seem like he had to speak down to an annoying child.
"The 'innovators.' The two point five percent of Pokèmon to whom the new, the bold, the unique, is not only accepted, but desperately craved. The convenient and common are of no interest to them, unlike the masses. Even when new technologies and concepts are prone to certain quirks or...failures..." His eyes rolled back as he gagged out the word. "Innovators simply must experience them for themselves. Do you know why this is, Zangoose?"
Zangoose frowned. The commitment to his assignment of interrogating the apprentices warred with his innate curiosity about what point Luster was trying to make, and it impeded his ability to speak. The Meowth took his half-second of silence as an inability to respond, and he scoffed.
"Because innovators are driven based on what they believe about the world, not by what is readily available to them. One of our number, an Ampharos, has spent roughly the past five years trying to make the perfect aether-compliant bow. His workshop is filled with snapped bowstrings, broken pieces of wood, and stacks upon stacks of books on archery, fletching, woodworking, Decidueye anatomy, and whatever else might possibly assist in his endeavor. After five years, he's gathered an intimate, borderline master level knowledge of all the components necessary to create a bow. His woodworking skills have become immaculate, an artisan of the highest order. He could leave right now and live comfortably selling the most intricate carved objects for the highest price and possibly be known throughout the four continents for his creations. And yet, in regards to his true endeavor, do you know that actually putting the components of a bow together still confounds him?"
Luster's eyes went wide and he held up five digits on his paw for emphasis.
"Five. Years. Of nothing. Failure, every single time. The same baffled expression on his face when he holds a string and a stick in his paws, Arceus, half the time he holds it backwards! And yet despite this comedy of errors, he still doggedly persists, night after night, in his pursuit to see his ideas made manifest. Our guild is only made up of Pokèmon like this, who are driven not by rationality or even common sense, but by a shared belief: that we must be the first to witness what scientific marvels lie hidden within what has been deemed the unknowable, the dangerous, and the infinite. What we do simply proves what we believe."
Luster took a breath and rubbed a paw over his face, whiskers drooped. During the pause, Zangoose wrote down the part about 'rationality' and 'common sense' and wondered if that counted as an admission of insanity on some level.
Rather than speak, Zangoose let Luster gather himself, as he had a sneaking suspicion he wasn't finished yet. Sure enough, the Meowth began to speak, although it was less a continuation of a conversation, and more of the mad ramblings of someone with too many thoughts in their head.
"And of course, we, the innovators, who would catapult our society to new heights with our discoveries, are labeled as fiends and feared due to ignorance," he lamented. "To mold Aether is to have the powers of creation at our paw tips. All that has already been accomplished thus far is but child's play when one considers the sheer potential of what is waiting to be unlocked. If only we had the level of funding and support we are properly owed…unlike you all."
Luster's eyes finally flicked up at Zangoose. His eyes smoldered with disdain and baleful scorn, enough to make Zangoose purse his lips.
"At the far end of the population distribution is where you and those like you are. The laggards. The ones so fearful of change, so obsessed with their traditions, the ones all the rest of us have to put up with," he bit out with clear venom, then glanced to the side. "If imprisonment is the price we must pay for our commitment to furthering the world's understanding, then I am tempted to say 'so be it.' Our genius would be wasted on those who can't appreciate it."
Zangoose opened his mouth to remind Luster that this was just an interrogation, that no verdict had been decided yet, but something about the Meowth's little speech gave him pause. The barbed words and thinly veiled hostility were to be expected, and frankly he had expected worse. He'd been in this position enough to not let a few insults bother him.
No, what interested him was just how deep that scorn ran against him and what he could assume to be the rest of the Hunter guild. Obviously, the Absol apprentices had been ripped from their home and put here, but Zangoose got the sense that this resentment had been simmering for a while.
"…Is that sentiment something shared by other members of your guild? That you're under-appreciated?"
"In grossly simplified terms, yes. As a matter of fact, my colleagues and I all went to Absol's because there is nowhere else in the world where our talents can truly be appreciated. And in regards to the Hunter Guild specifically…" his frown warped into a snide leer. "I assure you that if I ever were to scale the heights of Haxorus' blind self-righteousness and leap down towards his IQ, the fall would still be incomparable to the depths of disdain we all feel for every one of you Hunters."
Zangoose processed the metaphor and clicked his tongue. The urge to bite back with something in defense of his Guildmaster briefly flared, but died down with the realization that perhaps there was no reason to burn an already charred bridge.
These interrogations had already been hampered enough by the mutual distrust and uncertainty. Perhaps something needed to give.
"...Alright. I can acknowledge the...truth of your words. You're right, there is a lack of appreciation and understanding that me and members of my guild have towards your own." He set his notes down and gestured with his claws face up. "We don't know your methods, your ambitions, or even what you all are capable of. To be honest, this might be the first time any of the guards outside have even seen a member of Absol's that isn't Absol himself."
Luster's eyes widened for a split second, before being smothered in a grimace.
"What, did nobody tell you where your treasure bags came from? Where all those useful little items originate from when you find them in Dungeons? Oh, I forgot, some of you are too stupid to even bother using them, sometimes." The Alolan Meowth huffed and crossed his arms. "Everything ever designed to assist anyone in delving into Dungeons has our touch on them, whether mine, or my colleague's, or someone from hundreds of years ago. The reason you don't see us is because we are too busy with the crucial work of innovation. Not to mention our reputation makes it...difficult to maneuver in public."
"Could I venture a guess and ask if that's the reason why you all felt it better to run and hide when the warrant for your arrest came in? From our perspective, a move like that signaled that there must be something to hide, but there may have been more to it."
"Well, it's not like any of us were particularly thrilled at the threat of jail time. However, yes. When we heard the news, we realized we could not waste any time before we began our investigation into the Dungeons, and dealing with a guild who we already knew assumed the worst about us definitely sounded like a waste of time."
"If that's the case, then I am sorry that the relations between our guilds are proving to be such an obstacle to dealing with the current issue. If things were different, perhaps we wouldn't be here now," said Zangoose, with a sigh.
"I...well...hmmm..." Luster opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to form a response for the first time this whole session. Of all the things his sharp tongue had prepared him for, an apology was not one of them.
"...Regardless, that does not change the fact that currently you have all of us locked up in horrid cells due to a fundamental misunderstanding. And worse, it's highly possible my fate has already been decided, and this whole meeting has been merely a pretense."
"This is just an interrogation, Meowth. A verdict hasn't been reached. This is all part of a process for a formal trial."
Luster narrowed his eyes and pointed a claw at him.
"Well, then you had better hope whatever farce of a trial that comes next ends in a favorable outcome for the Absol guild. A time is coming where our genius will be the key to saving all of your sorry behinds. And when that time comes…"
A grin flashed on his face.
"All of you will finally acknowledge us."
"Sylveon, we received reports tha-"
"Yes, that's great, but one, very quick question before we continue? It's urgent."
A grunt escaped Purl as he adjusted in his seat, his free-flowing feelers clamped down along the sides of his body with a special adhesive binding. His baby blue eyes pleaded with Zangoose, who could only blink at the unexpected interruption.
"I...what is it?" asked Zangoose.
"Can. I. Please. Retake my mugshot?" Purl asked, and leaned forward with such intensity that it felt like the answer would determine if he lived or died. "And follow up question, can we burn the other one once I take a new one? Because listen, I have to tell you, this past month has been torture. I-I have been in mental anguish inside my cell over the thought of anyone seeing me in the state I was in-that you all put me in when you dragged us all out of our guild and forced us to wear these...gaudy things around our necks and told us to stand in front of a camera with no warning, no makeup, no fur styling-OOOOOOOOH..."
Purl released an abyssal gasp and put both paws on his forehead. The eeveelution let out a pitiful, mewling sound and just about crumbled on the other side of the table. Zangoose watched on in silent wonder as yet another Absol apprentice shattered whatever expectations he thought he could build from them.
"Um...Sylveon?"
"...sniff...Oh Arceus...Oh Mew..." choked out Purl. He arched his head up with his paws over his head to look at Zangoose. "Zangoose...my father is a fur stylist. A very particular and well-respected fur stylist. If he sees my mugshot and sees that I'm looking like some raggy hairball who can't even maintain composure in jail, he'll be so disappointed in me! I can't handle that, not after my last business went under and I had to crawl back to him with my tail between my legs...Mew, I can still remember the look on his face..."
Zangoose sat in awkward silence as Purl whimpered, apparently reliving some sort of traumatic memory. He glanced over his shoulder, sent a quick look at the clock, and wondered if this was a new record for how quickly someone had lost control of an interrogation.
"...I think we should get back to the task at paw. I have some very simple, straightforward questions for you, and then you can go back to your cell and think about..." He gestured vaguely at the Sylveon with a claw. "...Whatever this is."
"I don't even remember the last time I saw daddy smile..." Purl continued as if he hadn't heard, too caught up in his own misery. "And it's not for lack of trying, you know. I always knew that sewing and working with fabrics was my true calling in life, I just didn't have the proper outlets until I found Absol's guild and realized I could make things that exhibit beauty in ways outside the norm. All the studying and research and then before I knew it I was leading my own branch and...dammit, I've been trying so hard! All I want is to put beautiful smiles on people's faces! I try for my father, I try for my guild, I try for my new girlfriend, I even try for all of you ungrateful losers that barely acknowledge all of our hard work! It isn't fair! I'm trying so hard daddy, I'm trying SO HARD-"
Three hours later
"-o hold all this in because, they can't see me cry or cause a scene! I'm Tailor Branch's Guild Head! Vert entrusted me with that responsibility and, yes, I know my status as the resident "drama queen," rather proud of it actually, but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings too! I don't want to let them down! But it's just…just been so hard to…"
Purl sniffled again. Without a word, Zangoose pushed over the box of tissues he'd had brought in with one paw, while the other supported his head as he started half-lidded at the wall. Purl accepted a tissue and used it to wipe his eyes for the hundredth time.
"…You know, I think this has really helped me out. Things have just been so stressful lately, what with worrying about the Dungeons and now this whole getting arrested and not knowing my fate thing, that I haven't been able to properly express all of the emotions I've been letting build up. I feel...cleansed."
"...That's great." mumbled Zangoose, voice monotone.
Purl slid off his stool and came around to embrace Zangoose in a hug.
"You know, I really appreciate you for putting together this session, Zangoose. I feel like we were developing a connection." Purl patted him on the head, then leaned in for an affectionate peck on the forehead.
"You're a good friend. If we make it out of this, come see me in my workshop for a suit with your name on it!"
The Sylveon strutted out of the room, and Zangoose heard him call for the guards to escort him back to his cage at once.
Zangoose didn't look back. Didn't look at much of anything, really, except the wall. How could he, after being forced to listen to an hour of someone complain about why stripes were the bane of their existence?
Zangoose looked over his materials one more time before he glanced up at the Meowstic who stood next to the table, on his right. Except for reviewing and organizing what notes he had taken so far, this was his last assigned apprentice to question.
The last one for good reason. He had wanted to gather as much information before he spoke with this individual.
Lumi. An apprentice, but not one for that long. Plush blue and white fur, ears slightly larger than usual, and two bushy tails that flit from side to side denoted the Meowstic as young. Barely older than twenty, if that. An unremarkable past, spotless record, and wide, golden eyes that jerked their attention from him to around the sparse room in endless curiosity would have made Zangoose question how exactly someone like this would ever end up in this situation.
The news clippings and pictures in his folder that he had been provided painted a stark contrast to his initial assessment.
Satisfied he had all the materials he needed, Zangoose looked up at Lumi, who still hadn't taken his seat. Instead, he stood as if transfixed by something only he could see. Used to the idiosyncrasies of Absol Guildmembers, Zangoose allowed him a few more moments before he cleared his throat.
"Are you ready to begin, Meowstic?" he said, and gestured to the stool on the other side of the table. Lumi stood for a second longer before he shook his head and murmured some distracted affirmative, then took his place at the table. He brushed his fur down and held one of his tails in his lap, then gave Zangoose his full attention.
It could have been a trick of the light, but he swore a speck of blue shimmered along Lumi's pupils. The possible trace faded away as Lumi blinked a few times, so Zangoose simply shrugged it off as not getting enough sleep recently and focused on his task.
"When you first started your time with the Absol guild, did you think you would end up in a place like this?" he started. Lumi's easy eyes settled on him and they creased in amusement as he huffed out a laugh.
"Can't say I did, no. But then, I didn't really know where I would end up to begin with."
"If the timeline is correct, your career with them is around two weeks strong, up until your detainment. Does that sound right?"
"Sure. Accounting for the three days that passed while we were in Hollow Garden, that sounds about right." Lumi leaned back in his seat and pulled a leg up to his chest.
"And as of yesterday, you'd have spent a little over double the amount of time in this Hole than you have as an official Absol apprentice. Would that also be correct?"
The levity in Lumi's eyes slowly bled away. His light grin faded to a neutral line, and he stared at a point on the wall for a few long seconds.
He shrugged.
"You disagree? If you need help telling the time, it has been roughly a month."
"Nah, I can tell the time just fine," asserted the Meowstic, with a bit more firmness than Zangoose expected. He turned his attention back on him and frowned. "I just have a problem with how you worded that. I never stopped being an Absol apprentice while I've been in here. None of us have."
"Is that right?" asked Zangoose, interested. Lumi nodded.
"Sure, it's been shitty. The food sucks, except for those pancakes we got for a couple days for some reason. I haven't spoken to any one of my friends and family in what feels like forever, and even though you guys eventually moved us from those terrible cages and into more standard cells, you conveniently spaced us just far apart so that we can't hear or see one another. And yet despite all of that, I haven't stopped thinking about how to address the current problem, and I know for a fact that everyone else you locked up is doing the same thing."
The Meowstic leaned forward and, for a split second, those easy eyes sharpened into something more determined.
"No matter what, we'll do our part to help. If that means I need to be here in order to play my part in convincing you that we're on your side, then there's nowhere else I'd rather be."
"Your loyalty is commendable, but I'm curious where it comes from. We've already established you've barely been an apprentice for any significant length of time, and what exactly has it brought you? From what I've gathered from your guild mates, you've been thrown at life-threatening phenomena despite being untrained and with minimal information. You've come into contact with alleged terrorists who would do you harm. Not to mention you haven't even been able to go outside of your own volition due to being on the run for the majority of your stay with them. Frankly, I'm surprised you still want to be associated with them for all the bad cards they've dealt you."
"Oh, don't do that. You're the ones who sent us on the run in the first place, don't try and blame my guild for that," retorted Lumi with raised brows. "And for the other stuff, sure, my uh…onboarding is probably a little out of the norm, but it's not like I was forced into investigating the Dungeons. All that was my choice. Which, if I can just say, has actually been pretty fun, barring the whole, y'know, fate of the world stuff attached to it.
"I've been able to see things that the average explorer could only dream of," he continued. "The stuff going on with the Dungeons right now? The consequences if they're left to keep spreading? You can't deal with it on your own. You need us to go do our job and try to make sense of it."
"And it's precisely because of what you've seen that your perspective is so important. I agree that you've seen a lot. More than most."
Zangoose pushed the newspaper clipping forward that displayed the three bounty shots of Lumi, Absol, and the Scrafty from what felt like so long ago, back when they were first found in front of Match Quarry. Lumi glanced down at the picture and his eyes widened.
"Oh I remember this. Hey, did anyone actually claim my bounty? Cuz wow, 150,000 Poké is a lot of money."
"Given that Haxorus was involved, the reward was likely evenly split for all those involved in your capture, but never mind that." Zangoose tapped twice onto the paper. "You're one of the very few people who were there when this incident began, and were present in the most recent excursion. I want you to explain to me, in detail, everything you've seen up until now."
Lumi squinted his eyes and tilted his head, his grin dubious.
"You sure you want to take my word for it? Last I heard, you all thought we were the cause of this mess. It's a long story, it'd take all day. I don't feel like talking so long just for you to not believe me."
"It's not about belief right now. I'm giving you a chance to tell your side. Nobody has seen what you've seen."
Lumi held his unbelieving stare for a moment longer, before he sighed, rolled his shoulders back, and began to speak.
Zangoose listened in rapt attention as Lumi told him a story that pushed the boundaries of what he could reasonably believe. About Dungeons that stretched miles and miles long, and the crystals that governed their chaotic reality. About empty cities that floated on clouds high above a void of nothing, and a dangerous duel with a Noivern who could dance through space itself. About how he brought life to a silent forest that might have been a dimension in and of itself, and the enraged Legendary shackled by madness and despair, finally given a seemingly eternal rest from a burden they could have never carried.
Lumi told him this and much, much more without any issue, likely having had the memories sheltered and preserved in the back of his mind for the past month. Sometime through, Zangoose glanced up at the clock and realized that hours had passed without his notice.
What fascinated him almost more than the wild things he heard was the way that Lumi said them. He spoke of all these things in a casual, borderline conversational manner, as if catching up with an acquaintance over lunch about something interesting that happened the other day. Although on certain occasions, most notably when talking about moments where the Meowstic was clearly closest to losing his life, his eyes would drift off as his tone gained a wistful, almost yearning quality. Like he was reminiscing on some of the greatest moments of his life.
His seemingly loose outlook on life somewhat unnerved Zangoose, particularly as, by Lumi's own admission, he rarely had an actual plan or even sufficient ability to meet the challenges he described. Assuming he spoke the truth, the Meowstic was either very lucky, had very powerful allies, or was simply possessed of a very strange form of brilliance. Given the company he kept and certain details of his account, none of those three could be ruled out.
"...I have two questions," said Zangoose once Lumi had finally finished speaking. He actually had many, many more, but two burned hottest in his mind.
"First, at several points you mention coming into contact with an object you called a 'Keystone' and interfacing with it in such a way that it brought about drastic, irreversible changes to whatever Dungeon you were in. Most notably, mass petrification." Lumi nodded to confirm, and Zangoose continued. "Throughout your account, you seem to imply that, besides Noivern's group, you are the only one able to interact with the Keystones in this way. Is there anyone else in your guild able to do this?"
"Nope. Just me. We do have books that talk about what Keystones are theoretically capable of, but so far I'm the only one who's been able to put them into practice."
"How is that possible though? How is it that someone completely new knows more about this than an entire guild full of Pokèmon who have been studying everything to do with Dungeons for years?"
"Not entirely new. I'd had an interest in them before I joined, and read up on some things. But Haxorus asked the same question, and I'll just tell him what I told you. We all have our little specializations, and the Keystones are mine. Plus, when I say the books were theoretical, I mean they were really sort of pie-in-the-sky ideas. Not stuff that everyone else really spent much time with when there were plenty of other areas of study that could lead to more tangible results."
"Perhaps, but given the gravity of the situation, I find it odd that even after Keystones were proven to be real and very much central to Dungeon behavior, someone with more experience did not take over that area of study and investigation. Nobody else was interested in learning more about how they function after Match Quarry?"
"Learning about how they work is one thing. Everyone in the guild has probably developed an interest in them at this point. I think I even remember that someone brought back a chunk of one for further study. But research and application are two different things." Lumi gestured to himself and grinned. "Actually going into a Dungeon's most volatile areas to put those theories to the test is something that not everyone in our guild is willing to do, if you can believe it. Only a pawful of us wanted to take that risk, and I was always down."
"But is it possible for anyone to influence Dungeons? From what you've said so far, you make it sound like you are the only person besides these terrorists who can actually interact with Keystones. I have a hard time understanding this, since by your own admission, you only knew the bare minimum about Dungeons before you began your studies in an official capacity. If you can learn how to do it, surely anyone can, is that not the case?"
Lumi blinked and opened his mouth to respond, only for something strange to happen. His head turned to look at something on the side, and his expression changed. While not normally something worth noticing, Zangoose couldn't help but feel like something was off in that split second pause, as if several important moments of motion had just been skipped altogether.
The Meowstic brought his gaze back to look at him, and Zangoose couldn't shake the feeling that there was something here he was missing.
"...Oh, I'm certain anyone can learn. If you want, we can even share the little info we have on the subject to whoever wants to see more. But in case you haven't noticed, we've been kinda winging most of this. Haven't exactly had time to train anyone in this stuff, I've just been the guy willing and able to go interact with them."
"So, for all intents and purposes, you are our only hope of actually combating the Dungeon spread for the foreseeable future?"
"Look, I don't exactly like it anymore than you. If I had a Keystone and some willing Pokèmon in front of me right now, I would even try and teach everything I know about manipulating them, I just can't make any promises. It's not like it's an exact science yet."
But exact enough for him to decide to employ it, even with the consequences plain to see. Zangoose frowned, not thrilled that Lumi's explanation, if true, meant that their only recourse for addressing the Dungeons was essentially just him.
"...Alright. That brings us to the last thing I want to ask you about." Zangoose returned the newspaper clippings and swapped them for the photos taken of Hollow Garden.
"You mentioned you had 'paused' the flow of Aether at the Hollow Garden Leyline. You also mentioned you did something similar at Windy Spire. Can you tell me exactly what is happening in this photo?"
He pointed specifically at the sections of the surroundings that had become a dull gray beyond the normal borders of the Dungeon entrance. Lumi looked at it and bit his lip.
"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say that…because the concentration of Aether at a Leyline is so much more than a regular Dungeon, when I halted the Aether flow there it kind of impacted some of the surrounding area as well? As a sort of…amplified reaction, maybe?"
"Maybe? You mean you don't actually know?"
"We had a good idea of some things that might happen. Like, we had good reason to believe that pausing the Leyline would also pause the spread of Aether across the whole region." Lumi blinked, as if he just remembered something. "Oh yeah, did that work? How are the Dungeons looking now, any changes?"
"That's the problem!" yelped Zangoose, who dug in and threw out more photos from his folder onto the table. Each of them depicted a similar scene; an area in front of what could be the entrance to a Dungeon had been turned a dull, stony gray color. Lumi's mouth hung open as he looked down at the haphazardly strewn photos while Zangoose continued.
"Every picture you see here was taken in front of a Dungeon in the Bright Continent. Each one exhibited similar traits to what we saw at Hollow Garden, namely the area immediately around the entrance being drained of color and motionless. Scouts from the Mienshao Guild also confirmed these changes internally, as well as several other divergences." He clenched his teeth. "Even the three Dungeons that exhibited greater signs of spread have backpedaled and become completely inert."
"So, the spread has stopped, right? That's…that's great! This is all part of the plan." Lumi's grin lessened as Zangoose fixed him with a glare.
"And what exactly is the plan? When I look at these pictures, I'm not relieved, Meowstic. I don't think anyone would be, if I showed them. It looks like the ground is being petrified, like we've traded one bad spread for another."
Zangoose leaned forward, one paw on a picture, and leveled a heavy stare at Lumi.
"I ask again. What is the plan here?"
Lumi put his paw under his chin and glanced down at the picture. He didn't say anything for a long, long moment. Zangoose held his pen, ready to record his next words, before Lumi did something that almost made him drop it.
He shrugged.
"To buy us time."
"To buy...Meowstic, you realize this isn't a game? We've regulated what access to Dungeons we can, but word will spread and people will begin to panic. You need to take this seriously."
"Trust me, I am. I know it sounds bad, but until we're able to figure out the ultimate cause of the spread, this is the best solution we've been able to find. If we had time and the ability to investigate more, maybe we could find a better one. That's the plan, right now. So, because of that, I think you guys are gonna have to make a choice."
Lumi folded his paws on the table and leaned forward.
"Either, you can keep us locked in here, try to fight something that not even the Legendaries themselves seem to have a good grasp on, and hope you don't run out the clock. Or..."
The Meowstic placed a paw on the photo of Hollow Garden and slid it forward towards Zangoose.
He smiled.
"You can trust us."
Given how much he'd seen and heard, Zangoose wondered how much of a choice they really had.
A/N: For anyone curious, Pandora's interrogation was very brief. Rather than answer any question, she simply asked if the interrogator would accept her challenge for an official duel. She has asked this question to every Haxorus apprentice she has seen. She has not stopped.
Also I got a full time job in between updates. I would apologize if that impacts the update speed, but that would mean apologizing for getting all this schmoney, which I'm simply not about.