Author's notes: Welp, probably gonna go into hibernation after this one. This chapter is the longest so far, and took quite a lot out of me to write it.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokemon, because obviously. Damn I've been forgetting to do these shitty disclaimers haven't I?
Chapter 7 - Dryad guardian
"Palkia damn it! Where in the Distortion World did that little mink run off to?" The impatient Wurmple brushed her way past a pile of snow. She'd crawled up the side of an evergreen after losing sight of the Bramblin, quickly realising Angel wasn't behind her and that she was trapped alone in a Mystery Dungeon.
She fought her way out of greater messes in the past, just think back to the Monster House she ploughed through the day before! She comforted herself, but without Angel, the thought didn't thrill her.
Silkie grimaced, no need to be worried. She'd been in and out of these woods since she was a small(er) Wurmple - she practically knew this place like the back of her head, what's one more time? Even if… she couldn't even reach to the back of her head to begin with. But that wasn't important right now!
Atop her perch on a hefty branch, her flaxen eyes scanned the premises, a Nidoran duo were nuzzling each other amidst the snow. They were probably on the verge of making out soon, she cogitated. Silkie gagged at the sight, rolling her eyes at such displays of sentimentality.
There were numerous Exeggcute trotting along the ground in a well-organised pack… or were they a group? Silkie wasn't sure if the six of them counted as one Pokémon or each as different individuals.
Far and away, a Swanna flew along, accompanied by a flock of Ducklett, the whole lot of them humming their swan songs like an out-of-tune choir. Silkie pressed against the tree and shifted her weight on the branch, a drastic urgency in her mind telling her to avoid Flying types. As the flock disappeared into the distance, her eyes drew elsewhere, revealing a tiny figure chowing down on a Big Apple not too far from her tree, blissfully oblivious to its surroundings.
Her Big Apple.
Springing herself from the branch, the Explorer made a rolling dive to the ground with a resounding plod. The Bramblin gave a terrified squeak at her reappearance, turning away to escape.
"Are you hungry? Then how about you chew on this, you slippery bastard!" She fired her poisonous stingers, sending the Bramblin reeling. Strangely, it didn't fight back. The tumbleweed merely rolled away, disappearing behind an extra large mound of snow, leaving a half-bitten Big Apple. Silkie blew a silent raspberry at its retreating figure.
Silkie examined her treat, a portion near the stem was bruised, and a chunk of it completely missing because of the dastardly Bramblin. But she didn't survive off of being picky, throwing caution to the wind, Silkie tuck in.
Halfway into savouring her first bite, she felt a tremor in the ground not far from her. She dropped the Big Apple, taking up her traditional defensive position with her spines splayed in front to deter would-be aggressors.
She swallowed the food in her mouth, but wished she hadn't taken such a large bite - the audible gulping noise was nearly an invitation to her exact location.
Detecting movement beneath her, Silkie hopped out of the way as the very earth she trod bloomed into a shower of frozen soil and frost.
Silkie pivoted on her many feet, backing into the cover of a nearby boulder. She heeded the abnormal scent of pollen, despite only being a vine, so much powder filled the air her view became fogged - she desperately wanted to sneeze.
Emerging dramatically, almost as if it wanted to take its time, a wriggling green vine rose from below. Yellow thorns dotted its tapered surface, which glared into Silkie's vicinity like it had a will of its own.
Silkie held her breath, pressuring the sneeze down. She only wanted one enemy as of the moment - being the imposing looking vine, she didn't want to have to fight her own body's allergies while she was at it. At least the vine wasn't sentient - it was probably an extension from some hidden source projecting its power into physical manifestations. But whichever Pokémon was the creator of the vine, they were definitely powerful. Not everyone, even Grass types, had enough strength to centralise their energy into these clustered atrocities.
In short: Not someone she wanted any business with.
Without warning, the vine sprung forth, slamming the ground near Silkie. Undeterred, her Poison Sting punched a solid hole through the twitching mass, leaving a gaping, purple perforate as it retreated back underground.
Silkie let out the breath she'd been unknowingly holding, crisis averted. Her mind mentally pictured the needles on that thing - owch! She most certainly didn't want to get caught by it.
She gave a passing glance to the Big Apple, which mercifully survived. Though it was laid under rubble and dust. Anyhow, she retrieved the dirt-encrusted Apple and roughly cleaned it on her chest. So far, it has fallen on the floor at least twice. Thrice if she counted the location where she found it, (also on the floor in this very Mystery Dungeon) but would this stop her? No, it really didn't.
She took a second bite, delighting in the sweet and sour juices that flooded her taste buds. Arceus, Big Apples were a gift sent from higher planes.
The same rumbling from earlier proceeded again, Silkie rolled her eyes, bit what she could and tossed her Big Apple to the wind. Looks like she was never going to finish a meal today. At least she took a slower bite this time.
Bracing herself, she gripped the uneven bark of a nearby pine tree. The suction cups on her feet made short work of climbing and positioning around said tree until she discovered a good angle in which she could observe the battlefield.
And it was a good thing she did, too. Because half a dozen vines all exploded out of the ground at once, swatting the air and dousing pollen all over.
Silkie frowned and started to circle the tree's circumference, aligning herself parallel with the tree's height; the morbid plants were no doubt searching for her, she figured. Quieting her breathing, the Wurmple remained as immobile as possible, hoping the vines had a short enough attention span that they'd go bother another part of the forest. Fighting, as much as she enjoyed the rush of combat, was out of the picture. She couldn't beat them, their numbers advantage would tear her to shreds before she had the chance to even down a single one.
Faintly, the burrowing sounds drew further away. A confident triumph sprouted in Silkie's chest, were they gone? She peeked past the protective layer of bark, and a floral smell filled her (nonexistent) nostrils.
The Wurmple's pupils dilated, shrinking back in horror, but the damage was already done. Like a creeping terror, the urge to sneeze filled her head. Not now, not now, not now! Her fear crescendoed into a peak of chaos, her dust allergies flared, and all hell broke loose.
Achoo!
And then they were on her, like flies to a corpse.
"Um… wait, Laz. Aren't Mystery Dungeons always randomised? Every floor we enter should be slightly different the next time we come here, right?" Angel pointed out the trees and crevices to the Shuckle, who barely made an effort to turn her head.
"Snowfell Forest is fairly tame for a Mystery Dungeon, there's a berry patch and a waterfall that are never randomised. Items do change, but not much else is different. Besides, there's only five floors in total. Even if we don't find Silkie, she can probably get out by herself if she makes it to the dungeon's end."
"That's a relief!" Angel heaved a sigh. The Shuckle, however, gave her a quizzical glance. "This would be great for a beginner's first Mystery Dungeon…"
"You didn't… know that before we came in here?" Angel's embarrassed gulp was all Lazuli needed to shake her head and give a fake social smile that Angel couldn't help but feel was somewhat condescending. Especially when her mind thought now would be a wonderful opportunity to remind her of her greatly inferior battle skills and knowledge of dungeons in general. "Geez, you probably would've gotten hurt poorly if this was an actual mission."
Angel knew that was Lazuli being polite - her existence to the team was practically just a misspell of the word 'burden'. If Lazuli was Silkie she'd probably just yell at her for being useless and swat her away…
In spite of Lazuli's unwavering, courteous reassurances to her lack of skill, Angel ached - it didn't hurt any less.
The Surskit frowned, "Yeah, I know: I'm not good at fighting - or anything, as a matter of fact. I'm sorry for dragging you with me, and asking you stupid questions. And forcing you to fight that entire gang… I-I'm rambling, aren't I?"
The firm gaze of the Shuckle softened, She reached out and patted Angel lightly, almost as if consoling a child, "I'm not a particularly skilled battler myself, nor have I a way with words. But I… uh, could put in a word with Tavish for you. M-Maybe you can go see him after we find Silkie…? It was a while ago but he'd be willing to give you some pointers."
"That would be nice, thanks, Lazuli." Angel responded, the Shuckle dipped her head. And the two continued on in a comforting, blissful silence.
The rustling of a nearby bush caught both girls' attention. Lazuli stuck an arm out; much to her relief, Angel retracted her curious steps and slid behind her.
Nothing came of it, sans a lobbed off vine. The twitching plant matter soon laid dormant on the ground before beginning to evaporate into a stream of neon green light. Its colour reminded Angel of the moss she'd seen from the doctor earlier. So pretty!
"It's some kind of residual energy a wild Pokémon's attack left behind." Lazuli explained, "It must have been fairly powerful to summon vines as large as this."
Interestingly, Angel noticed something off along the severed edge of the disappearing vine, "Laz, is that poison…?" She pointed to the thorny plant's side, partially obscured by the underbush, a piece was blown clean off and what remained dripped an acidic purple goo.
"Wild Pokémon don't usually fight each other unless it's a personal grudge… Wait, Silkie can use Poison type attacks, can't she?" Lazuli reached to pull a flipbook from her shell.
"Yeah, she knows Poison Sting. I've seen her use it a couple of times." Angel recounted, "Let's follow the vine, then! It might lead us straight to her."
Lazuli nodded, shoving her flipbook away without even opening it as the two cut through the undergrowth. "... Good eye." She complimented. Though Angel couldn't help but realise the forced nature of her tone, the Shuckle was forcing herself to talk, probably more than she'd ever done in a long time. Or perhaps she was just overthinking it. She chalked it up to the easy answer, as the implications of her other option didn't uplift her crushed mood.
Just as the pair parted a nearby bush, the frightening sound of a stampeding group passed them by. A pair of Nidoran, a Rattata, and a cluster of Exeggcute approached them. Angel was already in the process of reaching for an item again in preparation of a fight, however, the Pokémon crowd dispersed around her and darted into the berry plants nearby without so much as an argumentative phrase between them.
"Peculiar, most wild Pokémon are always itching for a fight…" Lazuli gave a blank gaze at the flock of Swanna and Ducklett flying overhead, "It's almost too bizarre."
Angel rubbed her head… she was drawing a blank, though between the eerie emptiness of the forest and the rugged road before her - she certainly didn't want to continue.
"Something's comin'… get down," Lazuli ushered, Angel complied, not wanting to be the next victim of the source of frightened wild Pokémon.
Huddled in the shrubbery, Angel squeezed up against Lazuli. Her honeyed scent of berries grew stronger by the second, Angel caught herself almost drooling. Get it together, girl, this is serious! She berated herself.
A gust of chilling wind stirred up several dried leaves, tainting the sky a wane hue of red and orange against the azure blue. Angel was glad they weren't holding this stakeout in the open, though, for the insulation the plant provided made the passing autumn flurries more comparable to a subdued springtime breeze. A quarter of an hour must have passed by now, or perhaps only five minutes.
Without anything to do but stew in her own thoughts, something she found she quickly began to loathe more than all the travesties of fate put together, time ticked by as slowly as watching paint dry. Angel had half a mind to strike up some form of conversation with Lazuli. But the comforting emptiness was welcome. Well, maybe not so blissful, Angel found the silence a bit stifling. This isn't hard, girl, she inwardly reprimanded. Come on. Think of something to ask.
Bored out of her mind, Angel slipped her eyes through a narrow curtain of leaves to get a better look at the world around her, only to be stung by a bold slice of sunray that forced the water strider's pupils back within her protective barrier.
"I don't really want to sound mean," She began, "But can we get a move on, Laz? I mean, we've been here for goodness knows how long. I don't think what we're looking for is gonna just come to us while we sit here and wai- Gah!"
Out of the blue, as if on cue. Something dropped out of the sky, thudding against her skull like a rock as her legs gave out. Dazed by her headache, the Surskit crashed against the floor, feeling as if her brains had been pumped out of her head.
"No concussions, right?" Lazuli held up the 'rock', upon closer inspection, it revealed itself as a half-bitten Big Apple.
"... I-I'm fine." She managed to hoarsely whimper out in a straggly voice. Gratefully, she took Lazuli's offered appendage and pulled herself from the floor. Feeling as though she had fallen faint, she stumbled back into the bush and fell against the thorny branches. Not even bothering to wince as they pricked her all over.
"Back off!" A gasp, followed by a wheeze, shook Angel back to sentience. Guess Lazuli's stakeout was on point, the only problem being that trouble was coming, like a thick sheet of rain downing her parade. She fished through her bag for anything that might be of use: Oran Berries, Tiny Reviver Seeds, a Golden Bow, Max Ethers, another Warp Seed (she definitely wasn't gonna rely on this thing now, what with the hell its kin had put her through yesterday)… She continued to grope around, there were a lot of utility tools, but nothing to actually help in combat… The Surskit's search only ended when she felt a wooden staff with a fiery, heated blaze warming her limb. Ah, perhaps this Wand ought to help.
Silkie wriggled in her bonds, every limb flailing wildly as she felt her energy being sucked straight out of her. Damn this thing's Leech Seed! The Wurmple tried to make an effort by biting down on the vines, but they changed shape and tied themselves right over her throat, further squeezing the life out of the poor Bug type.
A burst of bubbles collided with the vine keeping her in place, several explosions of water covered the leaves, which only seemed to sprout ever greener under the water's nurturing presence.
"Darn it, guess spraying and praying didn't work." A feminine voice called out - Angel's, did that Surskit follow her all the way here? Ignoring the spots of darkness obscuring her vision from a lack of air, Silkie renewed her attempts to free herself. "Okay, let's try this instead!"
A burst of flame soared through the air, or was it more in line with a fireball? Silkie's blurry eyes couldn't tell. Whatever it was, it exploded against the root of the vine holding her in place. Scattering ignited ashes that caused the remaining vines to recoil in an eerie display of mock-sentience.
Hacking and coughing indignantly, the Wurmple felt as if she had coughed up half a lung before her vision regained clarity. "Silkie, there you are!" Angel ran up, holding an orange Wand in one hand. "I guess that's one for one, then? You've saved me once, so now I'm returning the favour!"
"I was… doing just fine without you-" The Wurmple stopped briefly to continue gagging, much to Angel's amusement. "Be quiet!" She barked, "But… I suppose it's better now that you're here- Wait, is that my Blast Wand that you're using?!"
"It's perfect for the situation, see?" Angel launched a flaming projectile at a group of encroaching vines, the resulting explosion ashed several and caused many more to disperse.
"Gimme that! Those are expensive!" Silkie lunged for the Wand, tackling Angel to the ground as the girls wrestled one another for control.
"I thought you'd be a bit more grateful to be freed!" Angel yanked the Blast Wand up to her face, dodging a sock to the head by a slim margin.
"Not when it's by you, of all people!" Silkie wrenched the Wand over, staggering Angel.
"Who would you be glad to see, then? Your boyfriend? No, wait. I forgot, with a personality like yours you'll never get one!" Angel mocked Silkie's cringing expression, only to get a faceful of silk that blinded her view. "Argh! You cheater!"
"All's fair in love and war." Silkie retorted, yanking the orange Wand from Angel's grip, only to be instantly swatted aside by another vine.
"That's not how you're supposed to use that phrase!" Angel had barely managed to peel the sticky substance off of her head when she felt herself lifted by something stiff and pointed. "Ow!" She cried out, feeling the vines press against her thin legs.
She jammed her eyes over to Silkie, who was not faring much better, the Blast Wand all but forgotten on the forest floor.
"You… Argh!" The Surskit felt her voice crushed by the grip of the vine, almost as if it had completely removed her of her vocal cords.
Silkie opened her mouth to shout, but the growing asphyxiation turned her speech into nothing more than a murderous look.
Before the situation could accelerate any further, the same wheezing, gravelly voice, now commanding a tone of authority, befell both of them.
"For the love of Arceus, can the two of you just SHUT it!" Lazuli fumed, having finally arrived on the scene. The Shuckle's arms wrapped around the Blast Wand and fired it; Angel had never felt such instantaneous relief before in her life. The Surskit took in lungful after lungful of air after her established chokehold was freed. Lazuli's second fireball allowed Silkie's feet to touch the floor again, who looked at the Shuckle with a joshing smirk.
"Huh, wondered when she'd break that stony facade." Silkie thought out loud, only to be met with a backhand from Lazuli that, while it didn't hurt, left a stinging mark that definitely encapsulated the Shuckle's anger at the current situation.
"Get it together, both of ya!" She spat, "We're in the middle of a bloody battle over here, and you bloody pikers are doing naught but prancin' about like show Ponyta!" The more the Shuckle's temper flared, the more an accent was beginning to dawn in her words, adding a distinct bite to her voice, "All of this over a single Blast Wand, huh? Crikey, I've seen newbie teams work together better than the likes of ye."
"We're not exactly a te-" Silkie felt the sting of another slap, this time on the right side of her head. She shut up reluctantly.
"I've watched the two of you argue so much today… I just wanna go home and be done with all this - why do the two of you have to make it so hard with your constant bickerin'?!" The Shuckle slammed her fists on the ground in the midst of her rant, something Angel would have found adorable if not for the fact she was a Diamond ranked Explorer absolutely infuriated with their behaviour.
"She started it!"
"She's a bitc-"
"Like I said, please. I've had a long day watching the two of you squabble over petty things while being dragged to places I didn't want to go. Can we please just get this over and done with?! I don't want to repeat myself." Quieting down by a margin, Lazuli cleared her throat, her accent vanishing in the process, "And if the two of you still wanted to shout at each other, can you do it after we leave the dungeon, okay?" Her smile was back, one that both Bug types felt was more of a coercion, or a threat, than anything of a genuine article. But both of the girls faltered the moment Lazuli's gaze fell on each of them.
"Okay, okay. We'll get on with it!" Angel replied, fetching the Blast Wand, which cleared out hordes of the vegetation with all the effort of a single flick.
Silkie's Poison Sting cut down the vines like child's play, without them getting the jump on her, they were easy pickings. Every Poison Sting felled another vine each, with the rest withdrawing from whence they came. "Piece of cake!" Angel cheered, dusting her hands.
"'Cause you were using my Wand, look what you did to it!" Silkie jabbed at its splintered handle. Scarlet and violet energy leaking out from within, it looked like it only had one more shot left in it before it split into splinters.
"Oh, hush. I'll be the bigger 'mon this time and buy you another one, 'kay?"
Silkie wanted to continue their argument, but Angel's answer was not only fully valid, but completely reasonable too. So she left it at that, "Fine! I- Okay… that would be nice, I guess."
She knew she heard Lazuli mutter something along the lines of 'Arceus, it's like I'm babysitting over here,' that made her blood feel as if boiling hot with rage, but the Wurmple chose to hold her tongue for once.
As the final vine cratered into a pit in a hurry, Silkie wanted to feel relief. Their debacle had finally reached the end of its course, right? The cavilling side of her told her there was still more to come, and with Lazuli tensing up so suddenly beside her, she believed every bit of it.
A wreath stepped out of the verdure, with a brown bark body and hanging olive fruits from its branches, all but two varying in shape and colour from a chestnut hazel to a pale egg white. A collar of leaves surrounded the Pokémon's white, ovular head, with circular buds sprouting all over. Its trunks split off into tapered roots accented by speckles of a scorched shade of coal-black, like its body was almost withering. There were bits of shredded plastic stuck to its charred body, possibly being the reasoning behind such a rather grotesque appearance.
An impassive pair of eyes stared with a stony expression as the sentient olive tree surveyed the three of them with an expression of disdain. As if they were nothing more than primitive beasts.
"Explorers who wish ill harm to my home. I am one of the forest, a protector - One that despises you." The Pokémon's voice was almost telepathic, considering it had no conspicuous mouth (though it could have been under the collar) but the words still resonate through the forest. Carrying with it a maternal tone, as if the trees themselves were servants tasked to relay the dryad guardian's speech through their thick branches and sturdy bark.
"What did we do to piss off someone from the forest this time?" Silkie let out a bored yawn.
"Tell me, what is the state of your village as of the moment?" The olive wreath's question sent Silkie into full alert, Angel could practically see the Wurmple connecting the dots together.
"Not great. Thanks to you, considering you were probably the culprit behind the swarm of those tumbleweed things, I don't find that surprising in the slightest." Angel surmised. The olive tree let out a hollow laugh, shaking its branches.
"Excellent, I am glad." The evergreen's voice took on a mocking tone, which was only amplified by the collective voices of the trees. "Let that be a message-"
"So it was you sending all those pests into my home! I thought I'd have to spend time looking real hard for who did it, but it looks like you decided to lead me right over. So thanks for making my job easier, you prick!" In spite of her previously stultified demeanour, the Grass type's words caused Silkie to leap into action, spitting out one strand of silk after another to wrench the entrapped Pokémon into her Poison Sting. The thread managed to hang against one half of the wreath's leafy… arm(?) but it didn't matter how strenuously the Wurmple strained - the olive tree didn't budge one bit.
Instead, the evergreen simply lifted the arm the silk was connected to and abruptly sent Silkie lurching for balance. Angel noticed that one of its pale green olives twitched, before a blob of semi-transparent goop blasted Silkie back-first into a tree trunk, creaking as splinters came spraying out in all directions.
"It's no good if I can see your attack coming, you know." The tree stated flatly, staring condescendingly as Silkie slipped in the puddle of goo trying to stand up.
"Eugh… what did you just fire at me?!" The Wurmple demanded an answer, to which she received none. The only reaction Angel saw from the olive tree was the lifting of its other arm, taking aim at Silkie once again.
"Silkie, run!" Angel shouted from the sidelines.
"I-I'm trying!" The silkworm responded, but her many feet couldn't find any balance in the viscous, greasy liquid. She toppled over to one side as she endeavoured to clamber to safety.
Angel took that as a sign to go on the offensive herself, readying her legs, she skated over to Silkie with a Quick Attack (she knew Silkie wouldn't get hurt considering she probably couldn't hit the ground if she jumped off a building) and lifted the Wurmple in her arms. Evoking a spiteful 'oi' from the agitated Explorer as her second Quick Attack brought them out of harm's way not a moment too soon.
"Goodness, you're slippery!" Angel found Silkie falling from her grasp, not helped by her wiggling, the two tumbled to the floor in a pile.
"No thanks to the weirdo for covering me in… whatever in the Distortion World is this stuff!"
"Olive oil." Lazuli informed, shutting her book and tucking it back into her shell, she seemed to be back to normal now. Quiet, sedentary, and composed. "That is an Arboliva, a calm Pokémon which can shoot oil out of its olives with enough force to punch holes into slabs of steel."
"It certainly doesn't seem calm to me," Angel tilted her head, the Arboliva, as it was called, gave Angel a patronising glare.
"You filthy bugs… You should leave if you know what's good for you."
"'Filthy bugs'?" Silkie repeated, still glazed and dripping with oil. "Well, you can go shove it!" She reached for the Blast Wand, only to have it completely fall out of her hands.
"Do you really think you can grab anything when you're covered in my oil, dear?" The bite in the Arboliva's term of endearment was not lost on the Wurmple, whose face heated up with a fierce blush. From embarrassment or anger, it was tough to tell.
Thinking fast, Silkie grabbed Angel by the arm, "You're fast, aren't you? And resistant to oil, too. Since you produce that stuff all the time on your legs. Go spray and pray and cause a distraction. I've got a plan to teach this creep a lesson. And leave the Blast Wand. It's critical." Silkie then turned to Lazuli, "Do you have anything that can help get this icky oil off?"
Lazuli rubbed her head in thought, one of her tentacles snaked into her shell to reveal a bud-sized Seed, with plain green and pale stripes congregating into an indistinct yellow circle. "I've never seen an Arboliva, so I am not aware if those oil attacks count as a Status Ailment. The Heal Seed may not work."
"It's worth a shot." The Wurmple looked as if she wanted to snatch the Heal Seed right out of Lazuli's hands, but since said hands were dribbling with oil, she retracted that idea. "How about you throw it at me once I tell you to?"
"Hypothetically, even if we do manage to remove the oil, what if she reapplies the oil immediately after?"
"... Eh, we'll cross that bridge once we get to it."
What was the worm cooking up? Angel thought, the last time they had been in a similar situation fighting an oversized opponent who had them outmatched and outgunned she came up with a fairly creative method to get the job done. Maybe her Icy Wind can be of use again? Probably not, seeing as the Arboliva didn't possess a water bubble over its head. She dispelled herself out of her mental rabbit hole, it was time to focus on the one thing she could do, not strength, not cunning - but speed.
"Come on, focus on me!" She yelled, producing bubbles all around her body. A deluge of water rained down on the Arboliva, who shrugged off the attack, looking no worse for wear.
The Arboliva tsked at her meagre attack superciliously and started to turn to where Silkie and Lazuli were standing, the former of which was now rolling the half-fractured Blast Wand between her arms while simultaneously wiping the oil off of her face with a leaf.
Like a snap of the fingers, vines emerged from the ground and grabbed at Lazuli and Silkie. While the silkworm was just barely fast enough to leap from danger, Lazuli couldn't with her heavy shell. In a split second, the blue Shuckle was hoisted into the air as glowing green light absorbed her energy, disappearing down the soil and revitalising the Arboliva. Angel's heart started to pound, and not like the same way it did when she saw that muscular Scizor…
"H-Hey, wait! Don't do that. Look over here, please?!" Angel whimpered, realising her patheticness. This turn of events was… not exactly fantastic, so much for being a distraction. She berated herself. If all else goes wrong, resort to her items. The Surskit hastily stuck her arm in the bag, nearly wedging it against the zipper. Please, Arceus, let her bring something to help! She vaguely recalled having kept at least one Golden Fossil on hand in case she needed to distract someone while she made a hasty getaway.
The only item she yanked out was a stone of some kind. Its crimson sheen indicated that it was a ruby - definitely not the item she was looking for, but given the circumstances, she didn't have time to go back and nitpick. It wasn't large in size - only being the size of a pebble, enough for her to haul and carry easily. But it was also heavy. If it hit someone, it'd definitely give them a headache for days to come.
"Here goes nothing!" Her improvised weapon's vermillion glow sparkled in the air as it flew. Ending at its destination with a painful sounding 'bonk' against the Arboliva's head, leaving a purple bruise that clashed with its colourless head.
The olive tree turned on her virtually reflexively, now that had gotten its attention! It readied its arms to blast oil into her face, but only vines ever came of it. A shining orb from Lazuli sparkled all over the Arboliva, causing a spotlight to form overhead. Those overgrown, energy-sapping leeches continued to sprout from the earth, though they were no match for her speed, neither was the oil, to be honest. But at least Silkie wouldn't have to be worried about getting covered in more of that icky stuff now.
"... Why can't I switch off from Leech Seed?" The wreath pondered aloud, to which the shining spotlight only grew brighter.
"Encore… Nice reflexes, Lazuli. Toss me the Seed!" Silkie commented, an unhinged grin settled on her face as the oil washed off with the Heal Seed's heavenly light. She lunged for the Blast Wand, Angel saw a twitch in the Arboliva. Even if it couldn't use its oil to mitigate Silkie's items, it could still snatch the Wand from right under her nose!
Despite being well-aware of her recklessness, she flung another gem. This one being a golf ball-sized sapphire, it hit like a ton of bricks. Sufficiently staggering the Arboliva to the point where it held its head in an injured disconcert.
Silkie grabbed the Wand easily, twirling it in her hands for style. She pointed the flaming fireball straight at the bewildered Arboliva. "Of all the villages and rural little towns you could'a picked on. You shouldn't have chosen Snowfell! Since you're filled with so much oil, I sincerely doubt you'll enjoy this fireball very much!"
The Wand's cracks grew as its durability neared its limits, Silkie knew there was enough potential for one more blast, however; And by the looks of which, one blast was really all she needed.
"Any last words?" She goaded.
"WAIT!" A shrill, yet all-too-recognisable voice cut the air like a hot knife through butter. A creature sporting a Y-shaped antenna with a dwarfish, rounded profile appeared over the horizon. Although the figure was on top of a dirt mound a while away from the action, even then, nearly everyone knew who the stranger in question was.
"Kid? What are you doing here? Did you get lost again?" Silkie still held the Blast Wand tightly, the Caterpie ran down the hill, waving his stubby limbs cartoonishly as he urged them to lay down their arms.
"... Is that you, Jo-" The Arboliva's eyes widened an incremental amount as the Caterpie stumbled, revealing green and black irises.
"Hold on! D-Don't fight! I-woah!" Failing to realise the pebble in front of him, his desperate sprint left him sprawling in the air. Gasping, Angel skated from the Arboliva and reached out with her arms up, catching the Caterpie right before his plummet. Though not without a great deal of energy expenditure on her end, given the furious shaking of her stalk-like limbs as she lowered the Caterpie down. She'd need to work out at some point, honestly.
"Th-thank you, Miss Angel." He stammered, squirming out of her arms over to Silkie, who was the only one who still had some form of attack pointed at the Arboliva. "It's okay, Miss Silkie," His hand grabbed onto hers and gently eased the Blast Wand down, "Kii is a friend. She means no harm."
Apprehensively, with her eyes still trained to the Arboliva like a Braviary would to its prey, the Blast Wand fell unwillingly by her side. The cracks that were illuminated by its power fading as the energy Silkie wanted to summon gradually dissipated like her will to battle.
"... 'Kii'? That thing has a name?"
"Everyone has a name. Well, everyone who is someone has a name. So I guess that probably excludes you, doesn't it?" 'Kii' smirked, Silkie instantly raised the Blast Wand back up.
"Say that again. I dare you."
A yellow feeler towed the Wand straight from her clenched hands, Lazuli's exhausted expression blinked boredly as she tucked the Wand against the ground beside her.
"Please don't get angry with each other. Kii, Silkie. You're both my friends, you two shouldn't be fighting!" The Caterpie shoved himself directly between the two, his protests caused the Arboliva's stance to ease. It would be a perfect moment for a sucker strike, Silkie reminded. However, another look at the Caterpie who slotted himself between her and the stupid dryad made her mentally discard her dirty battle tactics.
"Well, considering your 'friend' just sent half of the Sand continent's flora and fauna to raze our village into the dirt, I think I see a pretty damn good excuse, don't I?"
"Kii is good! I promise," The Caterpie flung himself between the Wurmple and the Arboliva, arms spread as wide as possible. A gesture that finally convinced Silkie to drop the Blast Wand once and for all. "She doesn't actually want to hurt anybody!"
"Look, you're not making a convincing argument there, considering we just fought her tooth and nail."
"Did she even directly attack you, or did you just go to her, huh?" The Caterpie frowned at Silkie condemningly, the Wurmple found herself unable to glare back against the dirty look in his eyes.
"I guess she sprayed oil and… tried to kidnap me. But she did send all of those underlings into the village to do the dirty work of roughing it up for her, explain that, would you?"
"She must have a valid reason for this!" The Caterpie blurted out, Kii the Arboliva stepped forward, as Angel rounded over and joined up with Silkie and Lazuli, the latter of which now freed from her bindings.
"It has come to my attention that disgusting Explorers have been coming to trash my domain," Kii's eerie voice echoed throughout the woods, "Several reports of a Bug type from the village revolve around dumping chemicals into the lake nearby, nearly polluting the water." As the dryad spoke, the soft bushes of her arms turned to needles, like painful bristles on a worn-down brush.
"But we just went to Snowfell Falls yesterday, and the water seemed just fine to me - Pristine, even." Angel hummed.
"Tch, it was only made pristine after the denizens of the forest had spent nearly days purifying every last drop so our precious ecosystem wouldn't be disrupted by your shameless Explorers!" Kii stomped, Angel was sure if she had fists they would be balled shut with rage.
"Well, did any of the Wild 'mons living in the forest find out anything about the perpetrator? We could go find them in the village and interrogate them when we leave."
"The perpetrator in question was blue," Kii began, "Witnesses reported that it also had long legs and a rounded body."
"Wait a minute, so how does sending a bunch of those tumbleweeds into our home turf solve any of this?" Silkie huffed, the scowl she had donned earlier still plastered over her features.
"Yeah, if anything it'll just make us despise you guys all the more!" Angel added, when Kii didn't respond, Angel took the initiative. "Look, I can't say I know you well. But you don't seem like the type who goes looking for trouble willy-nilly unlike Silkster over here. We may not be friends, and we certainly don't ever have to be. But let's at least try not to be enemies, okay?"
When Kii didn't respond, Angel slunk a smidge behind Silkie and Lazuli: Did she not like what the water strider had to offer? It didn't seem like all too bad of a proposition to her in her head. Maybe she should brace herself to run in case a massive attack was incoming.
A few browning leaves fell from the wreath, "You're correct; And I would like to apologise, I let the heat of the moment get to my head. But if it may be possible for me to ask yet another favour in addition to the village's forgiveness. Please find and punish that culprit for me. When Explorers appear, they leave behind Berry cores, empty Ether bottles and shattered Orb fragments. They cause commotions and stir up riots from the citizens of the forest. Even if I confront them directly, it never ends well for either side."
"I'm pretty sure Mystery Dungeons will eventually dispose of junk themselves. After all, I think it's all made of that same weird ancient energy these places are imbued with anyways. So what leaves it will inevitably return back. Even Ether bottles and other inorganic objects." Silkie held a bottle of said elixir in her hands, examining the tags before placing it back into her bag. "Cite me on that one, will you, Lazuli?"
"Little is known about the proper energy that fuels a Mystery Dungeon, but yes. The Wurmple is correct, though I believe the official term is something akin to 'digesting' the items. But I cannot be certain," The Shuckle's bland voice was hardly a hair higher than a whisper.
"If only…" Kii sighed melodramatically. "That logic doesn't work here. This Mystery Dungeon doesn't 'digest' anything."
"Oh, yeah. Snowfall got stuck with the lamest Mystery Dungeon this side of the Mist continent." Angel reminded, "Then, what do you do with all the empty bottles and trash?"
Kii made a noise, crossed halfway between a growl and a sigh, and the Surskit took this chance to give her a tiny pat on the back. She didn't even quite reach that high, however. But it was the thought that counted, she consoled herself.
"If it makes you feel better, can we help carry the stuff out from here?" The Caterpie's voice struck the forest air like a light from the heavens above, shining justice against this darkened hour. If there was an issue, they'd help fix it, clean and simple.
Except, it wasn't so simple. "What? Objection!" Silkie protested, "There's no space in the village for trash; And if you think I'm gonna help the bastard who tried to turn my home into dust then you've got to be joking!"
"Yes, of course! That's a wonderful idea!" Angel repeated, clasping her hands together; and turning Silkie's dissent into nothing more than background noise. "That's the spirit!" Angel gave the little worm a fist bump, "See, we're ready and willing to help. Laz, you on board?"
The Shuckle merely hummed, "Not particularly, but since when do I ever get what I want?"
"Then it's settled! Can you take us to the site of all the pollution?"
Kii shook vigorously, "I wouldn't wish to be a bother to drag you into something you don't really have much business in."
"It's okay. We're friends, Kii. So we have to help each other out in times of need!" The Caterpie encouraged, pumping his circular nubs for hands in the air as he motioned his inclination.
"Thank you, all of you. From the bottom of my heart. If you wish, then follow me." The tree blended away with the swathe of evergreens; and all but Silkie began to trod forwards to follow.
"Where are you all going? We don't know if we can trust that jerk!" The Wurmple groaned, "This could all be a trap, or a ploy. Who knows if that thing is telling the truth or not?"
"Calm down, Silkie!" The Caterpie dragged her by one of her stubby arms, "I've known Kii for a long time, so we can trust her. Also, I'm going too, so if you want to keep me safe- Hey!"
"Nope! I'm not having any of this." Grabbing the Caterpie by the tail, she abused her superior strength to yank the kid off his balance as she started to back away, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to his thrashings, only to be swiftly intercepted by a blue water skater.
"Hold on just a minute, Silkie. Don't you want to do good? Isn't that the whole point of an Explorer? You know, to help those in need who can't help themselves?" When she saw the disdainful, almost downright ignorant response she obtained from the Wurmple, she felt too compelled to push back. "You're being unreasonable, she even apologised for what she did!"
"An apology doesn't do anything! You could say you're sorry one moment and then turn around to stab that same 'mon in the back the next!" The jaded tone made the still air rife with the two bugs' tension. "You have to prove that you're willing to change, words don't hold any weight at all!"
"You're right, but it's a good place to start reconciliation, isn't it?" Angel reasoned, folding her paper-thin arms in front of her, "I mean, if you just start helping your former enemies without telling them anything they'd probably still think you're a lunatic - A mute, crazy, lunatic."
"That's not what I meant." Silkie deadpanned.
"I know," Angel winked, to Silkie's annoyance, "Point is: Would it hurt you to trust her even a little? You're acting like you're gonna lose an organ if you trust anyone for more than a couple milliseconds. It's not a bad thing to have friends, though you probably wouldn't know that, eh?"
When Silkie pulled out the Escape Orb from her pack and began to hold it upright with the squirming Caterpie still in tow, Angel panicked and rushed to their side.
"Okay, t-that was a joke! Don't take it so seriously. I just meant that since Kii already apologised, we should follow her just to see if what she's saying rings true. 'Sides, if she does lie, we can just beat her up again." The Surskit held her breath and gritted her teeth at the Wurmple's response. It was the second time she had to wait with such bated breath, she mentally tallied, she needed to hang around less stress-inducing folks to call friends, didn't she?
When the Wurmple stuffed the Escape Orb away and let out a despondent sigh, Angel threw herself an internal party. "... I hope she lies." Was all the grumpy worm responded with as she trailed through the evergreens.
The Caterpie and Angel passed one another silent exchanges, while the pond skater decided it was better not to comment and move on. While she adjusted her hat, a sniff came from the caterpillar standing a couple paces away.
"Miss Angel, why is miss Silkie so… unhappy all the time?" The tone of his voice shook Angel a little, and not in the same way Silkie's grouchy or even Lazuli's fierce tones had prior.
"Maybe she's just missing something in her life. I mean, the family I lived with were in the upper echelons of society. So stuff was real complicated, it was too busy for me, though. I'm not Silkie, but speaking from personal perspective, the few things that keep me joyful and vested are good food, a roof to cover my head with and some nice friends to make life's crappy moments not seem so bad." Angel gulped, the memories of them flooded her mind, and she willed herself to quash that train of thought before it could reach its terminal station.
"I hope I can be better friends with her, then. It feels like she desperately needs some."
"Maybe a boyfriend, too. She just needs to get her rocks off every once in a while as well, that ought to keep her happy." Angel giggled to herself at the dirty joke, though the Caterpie only gave her a questioning look, "I can't think off the top of my head as to who would want to spend more than a few hours with her at most." A smile snuck onto the kid's features, Angel found herself smirking instinctively as well. "C'mon, let's not keep Kii waiting."
"… Quite the diplomat, aren't you?" Lazuli stopped her outside of the grove, the five of them were standing by a waterfall beside a pond. The very same cataract she surfed up yesterday, and by proxy, the very same location they went toe-to-toe with the Araquanid… Angel wanted to squish the memories of said pond down as well, but unlike her recognition of them, said memories weren't hazy in the slightest. She could only hope those azure eyes didn't shine through the still waters and churn them into whirlpools of fear.
"I, uh… do my best, heh…" Her meshed response was in part to her distracted brain, which felt as lost as a floundering Wooloo, and not really knowing what to say to the Shuckle, who almost never initiated conversations as far as she could tell.
Kii brought a protruding leafy branch to her collar and whistled, the shrill noise travelled throughout the forest, as if bouncing off of the bark of every tree. At first, nothing came of the resounding cry, but soon enough, the group were alerted with a splash in the water.
Those cold eyes, two front and foremost with a tinier pair behind, glared at the bugs from beneath the murk. Vividly, Angel recalled that the Araquanid didn't even have a second pair of eyes, as its head only had glowing bumps. Though they were equally no less filled with malice as its glow sized them up and pinned them down.
Angel trembled on the spot, while Silkie opened her bag once more for the Escape Orb. Only the Caterpie didn't react, he waved to the silhouette in the water and looked otherwise to whatever other object attracted his attention. Ignorance was indeed bliss.
By the time Angel mustered enough courage to not have her insides feel like jelly, she found that the Araquanid's eyes were already fading into the gloom; and left only an open cataract in its wake, inside was a rocky outcrop, guarded by a cascade of leaves and vines. The cave's edges had lichen almost competing to climb out for greater access to the life-giving water.
Kii led them through the moss, and Angel rapidly found herself wincing at the rank odour which permeated throughout the cave like an airborne sickness. Goodness, if that wasn't the smell of fermenting garbage, she didn't know what was!
At the interior of the cave, where the horrid smell was at its most powerful, the four Bug types found themselves reeling against its source – a filthy heap piled several metres tall, Angel saw empty Max Ether bottles, dried-up Berry cores, colourless Orb shards (all the power having been drained by their usage) among other… things.
Truth be told, there was so much mouldy trash she couldn't even tell what they all blended to at this point.
"This is a conglomeration of accumulated litter dotted in the forest across many years," Kii presented the disgusting lot, "I'll pitch in, too. To get as much of this terrible poison out of this forest as possible." Angel nodded dumbly, hardly following along. The slimy gunk pooled around the bottom of the dump was not a substance she wanted in her hands.
"Regretting your decision already? We can still turn back." Silkie taunted, leading to Angel steeling her guts and fighting the disgust and revulsion to puke.
"Shut it," Her tone shook like a leaf - she felt as if she nearly lost the fight before it even began. "Let's get this place clean, spick and span!"
"I'd take you a lot more seriously if your voice wasn't quivering so much." Silkie heckled the aggravated pond skater, who rolled her eyes and opened her bag. "How are we even going to do this? There's loads more trash than any of us can carry, even if the kid and I have extra sets of hands!"
Angel cleared her throat, "Since both Silkie and I possess Explorer bags that can hold quite a quantity of different items, we can bundle the garbage into bunches and conserve space that way!" The Surskit commanded, "Silkie, you can use String Shot to clump the debris together, so hop to it!"
"Forget that I asked. Hey, get over here, kid." The worm groused, beckoning the caterpillar over, "You can think of this as your training or whatever."
Nonplussed, he spat out a strand, puffing out his cheeks as he ran circles around a pile of trash. Naturally, he tired out before half of a second circle could even be formed.
With a sigh, Silkie approached him to help. Her own silk joined his, and together they managed to wrangle the first tangled mess into her bag. Holding her breath as she shoved it in, she hoped her equipment wouldn't also be stained with the 'delectable' scent of rotting waste for the next week.
After her physics-defying feat of stuffing trash into a space way too small for it to properly fit was completed, she realised it wasn't so hard. It was only textbook dimensional transcendentality, after all.
Then the Wurmple took one look at the heap and faltered. Nevermind - they were gonna be here for a hot second.
"The rest of you, start grabbing clumps of trash for Silkie and the lil' one to bundle up! We're gonna need to get our hands dirty for this!" Angel spat water onto her hands, rubbing them together as she prepared to dive headfirst into the sea of trash.
"Oh, Arceus. My aching back! How close are we to being done?" Silkie griped, jamming what she felt was the thousandth pile of collected trash into her bag. Where were they even gonna put this once they got out? Snowfell had no garbage dump!
"Yeah, it's… a bit more gruelling than I'd have imagined…" Angel let out a heavy exhale, working to scrub gunk off the cave with a soapy leaf. She took a step back, examining the cave. They'd worked to get about three-quarters of it done, though that was a rough estimate. Just a little more…
Lazuli kept quiet, busying herself by sweeping up the trash into a nearby corner for her long arms to pick up all in one go.
"But if it's for… a friend. I'm… happy to…" The Caterpie panted breathlessly, his String Shot dissipating weakly. His head nearly glowing in the dank cavern with sweat, he was like an overheating machine: ready to break down at any given moment.
"Go take a seat, buddy. You're more tired than a melting ice cream on a hot day!" Angel nudged the Caterpie, whose reddened face puffed, appearing as if he was coming up with a retort, "It's the last of this disgusting stuff, we'll be fine - we're adults, we've got enough stamina." When the swallowtail bug didn't move, she wiped the sweat off his brow and ushered him away, "Just… relax while we wrap this up, okay?"
"I would like to let you know that I am ever so grateful for your work," Kii remarked, scooping up armful after armful of filth and compressing them together into a crumpled cube. "And I would like to once again apologise for my impudent behaviou-"
"Yadda, yadda, yadda. Yeah, we get it. Don't have to talk your olive branches off to send us the message." Silkie rudely barged in, tossing a squashed aluminium can at her head.
Kii dodged Silkie's throw, furrowing her brow, it was clear she was making an extremely difficult effort to ignore the pestering Wurmple, "In that case, I assume you don't want the Empowerment Seeds I had been planning to give you?"
"The hel-heck are those?" Silkie nearly sliced her sentence at its midway point when she saw the kid stand up from where he sat.
"An extremely rare Seed that only grows in the most arduous of places, consuming it boosts your strength on a visceral level to which even modern science has been unable to replicate. The specific term is called 'Awakening'." Lazuli declared. "Ingesting it boosts euphoria as well, making the user extremely motivated. They will feel as if they can climb whole mountains in mere seconds. In all likelihood, however, the book is probably bluffing."
"How powerful are we talking about?" Silkie's efforts to pile trash into her bag suddenly became redoubled in speed and efficiency.
"According to this manual, certain Pokémon can even channel this surge of energy to change into a new form specifically oriented for combat, so you can imagine how much stronger they become."
"A new form built purely for combat and strength, you say? You've gotta give me one of those."
Kii huffed, nodding amusedly. "We'll see. Judging by your work ethic so far, it's not looking up."
"I'm getting that Seed no matter what! I'll finally be able to beat Vivi!" Silkie bellowed, shovelling another cluster of waste into her bag. Like a 'mon possessed, she weaved her silk expertly, dumping truckloads of detritus into her bag.
"Who's Vivi?" The Caterpie perked up, Silkie's eyes sharpened with a predacious hatred.
"An old enemy." Silkie punctuated her words climatically, "He's bested me for years. He's a top Explorer in some wealthy city all because he knows the right people to talk to. But with this Empowerment Seed… Hehehe~" She returned to her work, evidently consummating her plans to defeat this so-called 'Vivi'.
Angel observed from afar, she knew the Wurmple liked being called tough and mighty and whatnot - who didn't, honestly? But to seek dominance to such an extent… She seemed even a bit desperate, truthfully. Did this Vivi character give her past such a hard time that she's forever trapped in his phantom? She inserted the tidbit into her growing encyclopaedia of information she had on the peculiar Wurmple.
"Alright, then. Let's… just get back to work, hm?"
"As promised, four Empowerment Seeds for all of your hard work." Kii, with a sleight of hand, materialised four rainbow-coloured Seeds and handed one each to the quartet in front of her. Silkie grabbed her Seed the quickest, snatching it before it even hit the ground.
"I wonder if mum's gonna evolve into a new form if she eats this Seed…" The Caterpie implored, Angel shrugged.
The Seed hadn't much point to her, "Even if it does make me powerful, it probably won't stop my moves from missing, though." She tittered dryly, tucking the Empowerment Seed into her refuse-filled bag.
"Moves used by an Awakened user will never miss, and will curve should the target move." Lazuli set a picture of a swerving Hyper Beam attack crossing the side of a cliff to chase after a fleeing Swellow down on the floor.
"R-Really? That's… pretty neat, ho-"
"If I just eat this, I'll be stronger?" Silkie rolled the thing in her palm, examining its multicoloured hue, which seemed to shift down the colour wheel depending on the angle she looked at it from.
"Apparently so, but it only works in a Mystery Dungeon," Lazuli explicated, closing her book and crawling away from the group. "Anyways," She approached Kii, "Would you, by any chance, have or happen to know the location of any Rare Candy?"
"That…" Kii's voice thrummed with thought, "I believe it is an invention by those we call… 'humans', correct?"
"That is correct. They typically come in blue wrapping paper. Made of an elusive 'plastic' substance." Lazuli pointed to the picture of one in her treasured history book all about humans. Though it was rather short - information about an extinct species gone before even the days of yore was pretty scarce, rather unsurprisingly.
"Apologies, but I have none, why do you need it?" Kii tilted her head, "Other than to become stronger, I assume. You can just use Joy Seeds if that is the case."
"Ah, well." Lazuli languished, "It doesn't really matter anyway. Joy Seeds don't really work for me. Mainly because I'm analysing the composition of such candies, which don't exist in Joy Seeds. Well, thank you kindly for the Empowerment Seed, we will be on our way."
Bidding farewell as Kii's figure camouflaged into the woods, the quartet walked on towards the Mystery Dungeon's final floor. However, it wasn't until after a dozen or so minutes of pacing did Angel come to an alarming conclusion.
"We never did figure out who the perpetrator was, did we?" The pond skater scratched her head.
"Kii said the culprit was blue and rounded, and had many appendages." Lazuli mumbled quietly, gazing into the distant forest.
"Oh, wait. Laz, you're still here. I almost forgot about you," Silkie's blunt comment earned no irksome response from the Shuckle, whose faraway, dopey look shifted onto Angel.
Immediately, the Surskit felt the sting of a thousand suspicious eyes on her. "I-I know what you all are thinking, but it's not me - I-I promise! I literally just got onto Snowfell's territory last night, I wouldn't have had any time to accomplish anything! Let alone pollute the water." Frenetically, the Surskit waved her front legs in front of her flustered face.
"I believe her." The Caterpie replied innocently, Angel let out a stale breath she wasn't aware of holding in as the accusatory gazes were moved elsewhere.
"Wait, kid. How'd you get to us? You literally got lost in this same place like, two days ago! And… you're not hurt, at all! Did you fight your way through the mob of Wild Pokémon?" Silkie threw her head back with so much tension she slapped against Lazuli's shell.
"I don't know what you mean about that, but I did go past this big group of fainted Pokémon grumbling about some 'Explorer Bug types' who gave them a run for their money."
"And did you defeat them? Did my training finally pay off?" She shook the Caterpie, who stammered awkwardly in place.
"I managed to sneak by, since they didn't think I was on your side without anything except this headband." He pointed to the encroaching black bandanna that now appeared on his formerly pure pink antenna.
Silkie cried out in disappointment as Angel took over in the questions department, "So how did you find us, then? If what Silkie said is true, shouldn't you have gotten very lost here?"
"It wasn't so bad when you all left such an obvious trail!" He cried, to Angel's, and especially, Silkie's, dismay.
"I suppose the groups of defeated Pokémon definitely counted as evidence," The Bug and Water type rubbed her arm sheepishly. "But wait – what about your mum?! Isn't she gonna be worried about you disappearing?" Angel gasped, putting her limbs over her miniscule mandibles.
"Oh, right. When she dropped me off at Silkie's house for training today, she said Miss Silkie was probably busy today with helping to clean up all the mess those tumbleweeds left behind. By the time we arrived, she thought it was weird that Miss Silkie would leave her house's back door wide open. I managed to sneak away when she was busy closing the door for you!" His exposition shocked all three of his companions, who stared at the Worm Pokémon dumbly until Silkie finally broke the quiet.
"I wonder if your Mum's gonna run in to try and save you from getting mauled in the Mystery Dungeon this time, instead of sitting outside and watching carnage unfold like she did two days ago." Silkie pondered aloud for all to hear, the Caterpie nodded vigorously.
"She told me she'd 'never let me go' after I accidentally wandered too far into the Mystery Dungeon the day before. So she probably will! She's… not great at battling though…" He whimpered, the consequences of his actions dawning on his psyche.
"Welp, guess we might be going on a Rescue Mission for a certain Butterfree sometime in the near future." Silkie snickered incredibly insensitively, until a slap from Lazuli terminated her mockery.
"It's a good thing you didn't get lost a second time, though, even if what you did was pretty reckless and dangerous!" Angel chastised.
"Yup, my mum's gonna give me an earful when we get back." He grimaced, teeth chattering as he imagined all the ways the Butterfree would scold him for his immature actions.
"In any case, kiddo, have you got any more massively powerful Wild Pokémon friends I should know about?" Silkie's sarcasm obviously went amiss, as her recipient disregarded what she just said with only a shake of his head.
"Nope, Kii's the only one!"
"How did you even meet… that tree? Last time I checked you got lost in this forest and it had to come down to me to save you from this crappy place."
"I actually never went into the forest! Kii found me around the outskirts and we had a very lovely conversation. She even gave me this instrument, so I can call her to the forest's edge whenever we wanna talk!" From seemingly out of nowhere, he procured a thin flute whose craftsmanship was… unique. It looked as if it had been directly stripped from a branch and fashioned into an instrument.
"If you can summon that stupid thing whenever you want, then why didn't you just call her the other day to take you out of the Mystery Dungeon you got lost in? It would've saved me a long trip." Silkie's dry question caught the Caterpie off guard, whose brow furrowed, locked in contemplation.
"I… forgot?" He did his best to feign a shrug.
"Right. Well, stick that stick right back where you pulled it from, the only conversation I'll ever have with that stupid tree is reparation damage for all the crap she caused." She carefully slung her bag over her shoulder - it was overflowing with dross.
"That's very rude! Didn't we go over manners, Silkie?" Angel gave the Wurmple a rough shove, though due to her wimpy arms the self-proclaimed Explorer only barely budged.
"Feh! You're not my mum, unless you get off to acting all parental and crap."
Sensing an opportunity, Angel prodded the silkworm, "Actually, real question: Where are your parents, Silkie? Are they away or is it something else? I'm not gonna pry too hard, don't tell me if you don't want to."
"Eh," Silkie shrugged, "I wanna extend this conversation a bit more so we can spend more time here. I don't want to get back to Snowfell in time to continue cleanup duty your tree guardian thing left behind." She gave a side glare to the Caterpie. "Anyways, I never met my parents, maybe the whole lot of them died, or they ditched my Egg. Who knows? I found my way to the Grass Continent and after being rudely told by some stuck-up Normal type snob that someone like me wasn't cut out for one of their Guilds, I wound up here. The end." As abrupt as that story had been, Angel couldn't help but feel moderately sorry for the Wurmple, it must have been tough growing up without any guardians…
"Rare of you to give us so much information," Angel replied, "I've got a rocky relationship with my parents, too. But I guess it's better than not having any at all." She hesitated for a second, before hurrying out, "Wait, that came out wrong. I'm not that shallow, I promise!"
"Don't bother flaunting your condolences." Silkie rolled her eyes, grumbling something that Angel couldn't hear.
"Tch, the glass is always half empty to you, isn't it? That's such a Silkie thing to say!" Angel crossed her arms, the Wurmple glared knives at her.
"D-Did you just use my name as an insult?! You little…!"
Lazuli found herself stepping in once again, as Angel playfully blew raspberries while running circles around a furious Wurmple. The two really got along like oil and water, didn't they?
After they'd calmed themselves, Angel brushed herself clean of Silkie's String Shot, "C'mon, let's hurry back home!"
"As if you've got any strength left in those twigs for arms to continue cleaning! Besides, I bet you want to get back quicker so you start convincing that Scizor to shag you where the sun don't shine, huh?"
"What? You saw- No, I meant to say, uh…" Angel's reaction was so priceless, the way she blushed and hissed in a pathetic attempt to defend herself – it was delicious.
"Miss Silkie, what does 'shag' mean? And why do you want Angel to get 'shagged'?" An innocent voice popped up next to the Wurmple, who realised it was now her turn to become flustered.
"Uh…" Her eyes flicked left, then right, for any sort of release from this terrible confinement she trapped herself in. She even briefly contemplated throwing the Escape Orb in her bag out again. "It's… complicated. Just… don't write it on your next test, okay?"
"I don't think I get it…" He mumbled, "Could you repeat it?"
"Hey, speaking of which, who got you that accessory?" Expertly deflecting the question, Silkie pointed to his antenna, the once pristine pink now invaded by a jet black from his newly acquired headband.
"Oh! The Clefable at the shop gave me this for free!" With his minuscule attention span now redirected by Silkie's question, he dizzily pointed at his own head, straining his eyes to show the bandanna, "He said that this crabby Wurmple sold it to him, even though he didn't want it. He helped tie it around my head, so now I'm one step closer to being an actual Explorer!"
"That doesn't feel right." Angel griped, sighing despondently.
"What doesn't?" The kid asked, playing with an overhanging piece of the bandanna.
"This whole exchange! Come back to the shop with me, since Silkie sold the headband to that Clefable, it's not right for us to profit off it like that - I'll help pay for it."
"Oh, you did, Miss Silkie?" With the truth now realised, his voice became infinitely more melancholic. It made Silkie feel a bit broken on the inside…
Nah, since when did she care so much about what other 'mons thought of her? If they didn't like what she was doing, then they could just screw off!
But… Argh! She couldn't look him in the eyes and tell him to buzz off. She felt like her mind was a fickle traitor, never deciding on one side for long. Maybe she should have just kept the accessory to herself then…
"What does that headband even do? Most scarves and wearable accessories have some type of beneficial effect, I think."
"I don't know, actually. But the clerk just told me not to expose it to a great deal of force. Otherwise something called 'spontaneous combustion' might happen." He hummed, scratching his chin.
"Wait, wait, wait – what does 'spontaneous combustion' mean?" Silkie's head twisted to Lazuli. An expression of alarm flashed over the lapis Shuckle's face, as she fearfully pulled out a book to identify the bandanna to answer Silkie's question.
"A black headband… Ah. The Explosive Band, it contains a massive amount of energy contained in an all-too-tiny headband. Attacks may cause such energy to leak out. Causing an enormous… ahem. Look for an engraved or stitched explosion mark in the fabric." The quiet Shuckle soon found her tense look now shared by Angel and Silkie alike. The latter of which wormed away from the kid, who was the only one seemingly completely unaffected by the news.
"Why's everyone all frozen up? C'mon, I thought we were in a hurry to get back home- Woah!" He pushed, neglecting the tree root jutting out of an evergreen that had been somewhat obscured by the silver snow. He toppled over, face-first. His antenna, and by proxy, the headband brushed against a nearby pebble.
The smell of gunpowder now emanated in the air. Six pairs of eyes were now glued to the headband, which turned a foggy orange and yellow hue. Underneath its folded black wraps, all three girls could make out a hidden, nigh indistinguishable, tiny stitching of a cartoonish explosion.
"It's a good thing I left my Rare Candy cache at home." Lazuli frowned, giving up and falling limp onto the ground.
"I hope the doctor doesn't charge us for repeat visits…" Angel clutched her hat quietly.
"… Shit." Silkie hoped Angel had remembered to bring enough Tiny Reviver Seeds for all four of them, otherwise, it'll be a humiliating trek back to the doctor's clinic.
"Ach, ye all good ta' go, lads!" The doctor pulled back with a grin, admiring his work on the four patients.
"Thank you so much! Sorry for bothering you a second time today," Angel bowed, though the bandages around her face crinkled rather painfully.
"Think nothin' o' it. Ye all had fun with Laz?" When various shrugs and nods were exchanged, he pursed his lips, "C'mon, will it kill ya for a more concrete answer?"
"Well, she was incredibly quiet." Silkie began.
"Never had a bad thing to say; and never did she say all that much, to begin with." Angel continued.
"Wait, who's Lazuli?" The Caterpie finished with a tilt of his head.
"Well, so long as ya helped get her mind off her Rare Candy experiments, it's good 'nuff fer me." He showed his patients to the door. Though right as he gripped the knob, a quiet tremor went through his whole body and he stilled for what felt like an eternity. Twisting it left, the door just wouldn't budge.
"Uh… doc, your doorknob's supposed to be twisted right, yeah?" Silkie eyed the Parasect with no small amount of confusion, an action the other Bug types followed.
"Ah, right. 'Scuse me, I just forgot!" He fiddled with it for a few more seconds before successfully opening the door, letting the other three file out.
"Thanks, doc! We'll see you later."
"How does someone forget how to open a door?"
"Don't question him, Silkie, I'm sure he had a lot on his mind just then!"
Silkie, Angel and the Caterpie trailed out the door, with the Wurmple confiscating the Explosive Band and pocketing it into her bag. Angel snickered, "What goes around comes around, huh?"
"Shut up."
Back in the clinic, the Parasect addressed the Shuckle, "Ye feelin' better, ol' friend?" She pulled herself off the table, clutching onto one of her bandaged limbs.
"Mm. I'm fine."
"Aye, that's a relief. I don't s'pose ye want to be goin' back to yer experiments anytime soon, yeah? What with the last one's outcome an' the state yer in!" He held up a container, the inside of the beaker squirmed with a viscous, colourful fluid.
"Not today, at least. I'll get that Rare Candy cache ready for tomorrow." Hobbling, the Shuckle plucked the vial from the Parasect's claws and continued down the clinic.
"What're ye gonna do with that?" He called after her disappearing figure. "Dump it in the lake again?"
"Probably not. The folks in the forest are onto me. I'll hold onto it for a moment, and dispose of it some other way that they won't notice."
"'Ey, wait a sec, Laz. There's been somethin' I've wanted to discuss with ye-"
Without much fanfare, Lazuli disappeared down a hatch to a lower level of the building, slamming the wooden trapdoor shut and leaving the Parasect standing out in the hallway holding the box and feeling like an idiot.
"Oh, Laz… What's gotten into ye these days…" He brushed the box aside by the front door. He needed help… but where was the contacts book? This damned mushroom… Why was thinking so hard for him? He brushed aside a pile of old papers in a wooden drawer, rifling his claws through them until he produced a torn yellow notebook. Where was he…? Wait, who was he looking for again? He felt like his own mind was slipping away! Oh right, right… Flipping to the 'J' section, something finally clicked. Clarity came to him, it felt as if he'd been dumped with a bucket of cold water. With the look of someone who knew he was going to regret this decision, he fetched a pen and started to scribble on a nearby parchment.
"Jack, I know by the time the letter gets t'ye it'll be late. But I know ye were always the nocturnal sort'a folk. Even if Snowfell's rather far, I still hope ye don't mind me callin' in a favour."
Folded paper in hand, the doctor scuttled away to the post office, making sure to leave the wooden door to their home ever so slightly ajar.
And that's that. Many thanks to VGS2_the_Sexy_Sausage, Moths0nFire, and Sunhat_Leafeon for helping beta read this chapter and pointing out the many mistakes within.
Also, I'm pretty sure 'Ki' is Japanese for foliage or wood, so hence the name.
Inspired by these writers/artists, check them out in your free time!
VGS2_the_Sexy_Sausage - Questing for respect
(A story about a Buneary's day-to-day life in a chaotic guild, slight bits of lewd so be warned!)
ShrubSparrow - Team Rowanberry
(Not a story, but rather a comic of a trio of lively little explorers trying to make a living in the world. Very warm and fuzzy.)
ThePrinceOfPuddles - How my partner will think of me eventually
(Whether or not two very different Pokemon opposite each other on the food chain can work together, or be doomed to nature's whims!)
Next chapter: A thief strikes in the night, causing Silkie, Angel and Caterpie to chase after them to a nearby town, inadvertently uncovering a greater plan in the process.