Chapter 21

Aquatic Forest

"I used to get their names mixed up a lot when I first met them," Inertia explained to Rose. The group of pokémom had found a lapras and were currently riding it out in the open waters nearing their destination. "Eventually, I had given myself a way of remembering which was who; Hocus has an h in his name and is a he, Pocus has a p in her name and is pink. H for he, p for pink!"

Rose didn't find it that difficult to remember the names of the two espurr. She just knew. She decided to let the donphan speak nonetheless. She looked back behind her and saw that the land was no longer visible which made her feel a little queasy, especially being this far out in the ocean.

The lapras began slowing down a bit before she addressed the group. "Alrighty! This looks like the spot. You kids be careful and enjoy the dungeon. I'll wait up top for your return."

"Thanks again, Arctica," Hocus praised.

Arctica waved a flipper. "Anytime. I enjoy helping you guys with your adventures whenever I can. I find it commendable that you all have such a knack for adventure. But don't let me keep you waiting! There's adventure awaiting you!"

Rose perked her ears to the sound of rushing water. She peeked over the lapras to investigate the sound. To her shock, a whirlpool spinning at a dangerous speed was ahead. What shocked her, even more, was that the lapras was headed straight towards it.

"H-hey," Rose said nervously, "aren't you going to go around this whirlpool?"

"Nonsense!" Arctica cheerily replied. "That's the entrance to the dungeon."

Rose felt her blood run cold. She quickly looked back towards Hocus. "You can't be serious."

"Of course we're serious."

Rose only stared incredulously at the espurr. She looked back at the whirlpool and then back at Hocus. "There's no way that's safe. We will die if we go in there."

Pocus lightly shrugged. "Hasn't harmed us in the past."

"I could understand your slight confusion, madam," Inertia began. "Mystery dungeons are a mystery for a reason. How they work and operate goes against all laws of science and nature. It's more like magic really..." he trailed off. "Ah, but enough of that. With that being said, this is the entrance to the dungeon and I assure you it is indeed safe."

"I am not going in that," Rose sternly replied.

"Suit yourself," came Pocus. "Last one there's a rotten exeggcute!" Pocus ran off Arctica's shell and jumped directly in the whirlpool, disappearing within seconds. She was shortly followed by both Inertia and Kazetarasu.

Hocus stayed back with Rose and tried to encourage her. "See? They all jumped in. It's completely safe, trust me."

She sighed, walking towards the water to stare into its vast blue beauty. "Okay, maybe it is. And even if it is... I...I," she nervously looked back at Hocus and meekly said, "I don't know how to swim..."

"Oh... is that all?" She slowly nodded. Hocus just rolled his eyes. "Here, I'll help you."

The espurr climbed off of Arctica's shell and into the water, which was admittedly cold despite the current humid weather. He gently pushed away from the shell a little bit and extended a paw towards Rose. She stared at it uncertainly and then again at the whirlpool. Her ears flattened and she looked away.

"It'll be fine, Rose. I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Rose sighed. "I still think this is a stupid idea..."

Slowly, she too climbed off of the lapras's shell gently dipping one hind paw in the water at a time. Eventually, she was floating in the water while still tightly holding onto the shell. She looked back at Hocus who gave her a reassuring smile. Everything in her body told her not to, but she pushed those thoughts down and took a deep breath before pushing herself away from the lapras.

And all of a sudden, she had no idea what to do next. Her body fell under the water and she began panicking immediately while struggling to stay afloat. She then felt a pressure against her and felt her body resurface. Confused, she looked around and saw that Hocus had helped her stay afloat.

"Well, we're about halfway there. All we have to do now is go inside the whirlpool."

Rose was frozen in place. Was she really going to do this? She saw the other three jump in without second-guessing it, so what was stopping her? She had no idea what was going to happen, how it would feel, what awaited inside the whirlpool. The uncertainty is mainly what scared her above all else. Maybe it wasn't too late to turn around and stay-

She was unexpectedly pushed into the whirlpool. She clenched her eyes shut as the waters eventually consumed her. She felt... something... but didn't know how to explain it. Her eyes were still clenched shut, but she realized nothing was happening. As a matter of fact, she didn't feel that weightlessness feeling one would have in the water. She cautiously opened one of her eyes. In front of her, she saw Pocus giggling, probably laughing at how awkward Rose looked right now.

She then fully opened her eyes and looked around, seeing the other kids were there too. She even examined herself to make sure she was unharmed. She was a bit surprised to not only see that she was unscathed but also her fur was now dry. Hocus eventually showed up and Rose immediately glared and marched over to him.

"That wasn't funny," she angrily scolded him.

Hocus just chuckled and ruffled the fur on Rose's head. "Lighten up! I was just having a little fun. You're safe, aren't you?"

Rose just looked away and mumbled under her breath. She took a moment to look at the environment around her, and she was speechless. The dungeon was somehow a pocket of air on the seafloor. Water swirled around the bubble but never did any drip inside. Things such as seaweed and coral populated the floor, and orange bioluminescent plants hung from the watery ceiling. The orange plants were bloomed open and shot spotlights of radiant orange colors into the room.

Before Rose could stare in awe longer, Hocus grabbed everyone's attention. "Alright, everybody. Here we are, Aquatic Forrest. We'll split up as usual and get the next floor as timely as possible. Kazetarasu, you do what you do best. Pocus, you and Inertia take the southern route. Rose, you can just stick with me for now."

The team then went their own separate ways. Kazetarasu buzzed off in a random direction while Inertia and Pocus disappeared into one of the various corridors. Rose and Hocus found themselves traversing the northern part of the dungeon. Rose was fascinated by how colorful and lively the dungeon felt, even if there weren't any pokémom around. She almost felt bad because she didn't think any other dungeon would be capable of competing with the tropical ocean scenery. This dungeon pretty much set a bar that she didn't think would be beaten.

After a bit of walking, the two found themselves in a circular room which had a large stone formation sprouting in the center. A quick observation also found flat platforms created in the edges of the natural formation. Among the platforms slept a few clampearl. Near the top, the two saw a chest.

"Ooo, treasure! This early, though?" Hocus mused. He shrugged. "We'll take."

"We could probably make quick work of these clamperl too."

"Whoa, not so fast. They're still asleep. No need to rush into a battle we could easily avoid."

Rose agreed and the two made their way up. The stone was a little slippery which was to be expected from the built-up condensation. Thankfully, the flat platforms proved to be rather helpful during their climb, the only real challenge was avoiding waking up the slumbering clamperl. Nonetheless, they eventually made their way to the top of the formation and were able to open the chest. Inside were three dark-blue spheres which had a metallic sheen to them and were cold to the touch.

"What are these?" Rose had asked.

"Beats me, let's just grab them and-"

As Hocus snatched the objects, water began rapid flowing from the top of the formation from an unknown source. The rushing water seemed to awaken the clams. Rose and Hocus had already jumped into a battle stance. Hocus unsheathed his wooden blade and leaped down towards his nearest foe. In a downward swinging motion, the blade connected and echoed throughout the room. The clamperl didn't seem to be too affected by the blow and instead tried trapping the espurr in its clam-like grip. Hocus dodged with much success and the clam continued its efforts. The espurr watched closely waiting for an opening. Finally, the clamperl jumped directly at him with its mouth open, to which Hocus stabbed inward penetrating its interior. His foe yelped in pain but Hocus carried his moment forward to shove his aggressor off the side of the cliff. The room echoed as the clamperl hit many jagged edges on its way down.

Rose had used a quick attack to zigzag her way down the side of the formation. Two clamperl desperately attempted shooting her with torrents of water, but she proved to be too quick for them to handle. Finally, she rammed into one of the two and sent it flying downward. The remaining one still kept up its efforts in defending itself. Rose gracefully leaped over the pursuing torrent of water and swung an iron tail at the clam. The force was strong enough to send the clamperl straight through the ocean wall surrounding the dungeon. Taking a quick moment to catch her breath, she noticed that the satchel containing the metallic balls had landed next to her, almost being carried away with the rushing water. She snatched the bag in time and decided to inspect them a little further. Upon closer observation, she noticed a symbol on them which gave her an idea.

Hocus was now already engaging the next clamperl, attempting to try his same tactic as last time but to no avail. As he was distracted by his current foe, he was completely unaware of the other one sneaking behind him. His current opponent continued trying to clamp him which he could easily avoid. Suddenly, the clam lunged at him with its mouth ajar. Just as before, Hocus jumped backward to avoid the attack. Only this time was different. This time, he was hit by a water gun from behind. The force caught him by surprise and he lost grip of his sword, but that was the least of his worries. He was now launched directly into the clamperl's grasp and it began squeezing tightly against him.

He tried squirming free of his confines, but nothing seemed to work. Now the second clamperl was approaching and began dousing him with even more water, making it harder for him to breathe. In a futile effort, he reached for his sword, but it was out of his reach. He then resorted to trying to use his psychic powers to try bringing it closer, but that too didn't work. He pounded a fist against the clam's shell, which pretty much did nothing. Both the squeezing and water began overpowering him and he could feel his consciousness slipping away. Something then rang in the air. It sounded like a whistle, one with a beautiful tone to it. The clamperl seemed to notice it too as their attacks stopped. The monotonous whistle eventually gained variation in its tone, creating a simple, sweet melody. It was rather calming.

BANG

The clamperl who had been blasting Hocus with water immediately fell unconscious. The clamp around him slightly loosened but then another loud bang followed and the other clamperl fell unconscious. Hocus scrambled to his feet and inhaled sharply, enjoy his ability to breathe once again. He then looked up to see Rose playing her instrument. As she did, the metallic spheres danced around her rhythmically. The balls also had music notes glowing while she played. As her song came to an end, the balls found a place in her bag. The stream of water also came to a calming stop.

Hocus let out a long whistle. "That was pretty impressive."

"I know, right?" She hopped down the ledge to meet up with him, a bit of a splash being created from her landing. "I'm really enjoying this a whole lot more now."

"Hah, I could imagine." Hocus had then retrieved his sword and flung as much water off of it as possible. "If only I could be granted some cool loot like you."

The rest of the floor didn't have much action. The groups eventually met up at the stairs and descended to the next floor. They all split up in the same groups once more in search of the stairs. Rose and Hocus were in a long winding tunnel just chatting to kill the time.

"-But I agree, I haven't the slightest clue why these stairs just existed. Just more to add to the mystery," Hocus laughed.

"It's a little creepy just how many mysteries these dungeons hold. And you were saying the layouts are different every time you enter one? I find that the most unnerving. Have you guys ever been lost?"

"Plenty of times, yes. But the dungeons have a weird way of making us feel at ease, so it doesn't really affect us much."

"I see." And it was silent again. However, there was still something on the eevee's mind. Something that had been bugging her for some time. "Hey, Hocus, can I talk to you about something?"

"Isn't that what we've been doing?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "This is for a different subject."

"Go ahead."

"So back during that night at the festival... when we..."

"When we kissed?" Rose nodded. "Yeah, what about it?"

Rose walked in front of him and stopped to grab his attention. "What about it?" She repeated with an insulted tone to her voice. "I mean, it seemed really out of the blue. Did you mean anything by it? Or what, am I just someone for you to kiss whenever the hell you feel like?"

"Hey, hey, calm down, Rose," Hocus said while raising his paws in defense. He sighed and then rubbed behind his head. "I guess you're right, it was pretty out of the blue. But I felt like we really bonded well that night. I haven't had that much fun in a while. That night on the roof, just everything felt right and I went with my gut instinct."

"But that doesn't exactly answer my question. Did you... mean anything by it?"

Hocus blinked. "Rose, I'm pretty sure that's a more than obvious sign that I really like you," he bluntly stated.

Rose could immediately feel heat building upon her face. "Right... Do you... think you made the right decision?"

"Oh no, you didn't enjoy it, did you?" Hocus asked now with a concerned look, "Rose I'm-"

"N-no! I did... I did enjoy it... it's just been on my mind for a while and I haven't been able to get you off my mind for some time."

"Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one."

Rose looked back at him. "Y-you feel the same?"

"I do. I haven't really felt this way with any other girl before and I really have no idea what I'm doing if I'm being completely honest."

Rose chuckled. "That's fare. I have no experience either and I'm not too sure what much to do about it either. But, what does this make us?"

Hocus tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is are we still just friends or something a little more than that? I-I don't want to rush or anything," she nervously backpedaled while circling her paw on the ground. "I just have been bottling these thoughts up for some time and they've become more prevalent now that we went through that educational class. I'm just so confused."

"If you're okay with it, I'd like to consider ourselves as more than friends. We could start right now and learn more about these feelings as time goes on. And if you ever feel like we're rushing into anything, we can always slow down and take it all step-by-step."

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I agree. So we're officially 'a thing' now?"

"If that's what they call it, then sure." Rose and Hocus shared a smile. "So, um... yeah?" Rose stared at him and tried to stifle her short laughter. "What's so funny?"

"I just find it funny how awkward this atmosphere is. Anyway, I guess we should get going."

"Wait, Rose." She stopped and looked back at him with a curious look. "Um, do you want to try it again?"

"Try what again?"

"Kissing."

Rose's eyes widened. "Right now?"

Hocus shrugged. "Why not."

Rose felt her heart rate pick quickening while she also slightly panicked having being given the choice now making the decision fall upon her. It made her feel uncomfortable a bit. Hocus could see the worry in her eyes so he brushed his paw against her head and behind her ear.

"We don't have to. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. Come on, let's get going."

The two then walked side by side and noticeably closer than usual. Rose released a sigh but also mentally cursed herself for freezing, as she actually would have enjoyed another kiss. She just really felt uncomfortable being asked as if it were up to her. Hocus probably didn't know any better and for that, Rose couldn't be upset at him.

The rest of the floor passed by without much activity. Rose assumed the other three probably encountered pokémon. Looking ahead, they noticed they were approaching the room with a staircase. Rose let out a sigh of relief and also took notice of how close they were to each other.

"Hey, should we let the others know about us or should this just be a secret between us?" Rose asked.

"I haven't really thought about that. It might come off as strange if we let them know now, so let's just play it cool for the time being."

Rose nodded and gave herself some space from him. The groups met once again at the stairs and descended further down. When they reached the next layer they noticed that it seemed a bit darker than a previous couple of floors. The orange plants weren't fully bloomed, but rather partially bloomed. It had a seemingly eerie vibe to the atmosphere.

"I have a sneaking suspicion of more hostile foe on this floor," came Inertia.

"Maybe we shouldn't split up this time around," suggested Pocus. However, Kazetarasu had already flown off on his own set direction.

"He'll be fine," Hocus offered. "Let's just stick close to each other."

Everyone nodded and walked through an open tunnel. Along the way, Rose showed off the new weapon she had found and gave a demonstration on how they worked. Both Inertia and Pocus seemed rather impressed. They then shared their previous events in the dungeon. It mostly consisted of walking around and stumbling into occasional water-types. Nothing much out of the ordinary. As they walked, they did encounter a few wimpod. They didn't seem keen on engaging in combat and instead scurried away. The group would share a laugh as they would see who could chase one down the longest (Pocus being the winner). But the group eventually grew bored and resulted in engaging in conversations to pass the time.

"Y'know, tunnels aren't usually this long and expansive," Pocus half complained.

"I was kinda thinking the same thing, sis. Usually, you walk no more than a couple of minutes and then you find yourself in another fleshed out room. It could just be something associated with this specific dungeon?"

"I don't recall if our last adventure was like this, but that was nearly a year ago."

Eventually, they did find a new room. More spacious than the others and had a few underwater rock formations which made for an interesting landscape. Seaweed and red algae had grown around a few of the formations and there were ponds sprouting kelp within them. Another noticeable thing was the many wimpod scurrying around like roaches.

"This definitely has to be a 'boss room' if I've ever seen one," Pocus blurted out.

"I agree. One problem though: where's the boss?"

Almost as if on cue, heavy footsteps and the sound of shifting sand could be heard behind the group. They nervously turned around to be met by a golisopod towering over them. It appeared it had been hiding underneath the sand as they walked in.

"You don't suppose we could just talk our way out of this one?" Inertia inquired.

The crustacean let out a roar before attempting to swipe at the group with its massive claw. The group pretty much expected this and all jumped a safe distance away. Inertia and Hocus decided to keep it distracted. Hocus charged in and slashed at it with his sword which appeared to be a fruitless effort. Inertia rolled up into a ball and charged directly at the golisopod. Both Rose and Pocus found their way to separate rock formations to take cover and attack from a distance. Rose summoned the three orbs by playing a tune and sent them directly at the bug. Due to her range, she was a little inaccurate. Pocus used her bow to launch her sticks at the bug's face. They really didn't seem to do anything more than irritate the golisopod.

In its irritation at Pocus, it swung its arm and released a swarm of pin missiles in her general direction. The projectiles exploded with extreme force and caused the pink espurr to retreat to a safer distance all while the remnants of her previous shelter rained from the sky. The enemy then took aim at Rose but was interrupted by Hocus swinging his sword in an attempt to deal damage.

The golisopod snatched his sword and shattered it effortlessly in its claws. Hocus looked absolutely dumbfounded, but the bug didn't seem to care in letting him express his emotions as it then grabbed him, swung him in a full revolution, and launched him into a few rocks. Rose gasped and rushed to his aid. Inertia kept the bug distracted in the meantime while Pocus focused on realigning her shots.

"Arceus, are you alright?" She asked with full concern.

Hocus looked rather tattered up and was coiled in a ball of pain. "I think-" he coughed, unable to finish the thought. "Wasn't expecting a pokémon who would overpower us this much."

"I need to get you to some safety." She tucked her head under him, lifting him onto her back and carefully carried him a safe distance away. "This should do." She gently set him on the sand.

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"You can owe me one later. How are you feeling?"

"Do I have to answer?" Rose deadpanned. "I'm in pain pretty much everywhere. He did, after all, chuck me into a rock."

"You'll probably need to sit this battle out." Hocus wanted to object but knew he wasn't in a suitable condition to get back in the fight. "I think Pocus has some Oran berries in her bag, I'll try fetching some for you. Here, take this for now."

Rose leaned her head to the ground so her necklace fell off. Using her fangs, she was able to put the necklace on him. Almost instantly, his pain lessened. Hocus gave his thanks.

Rose returned to a scene that looked as though no progress had been made in battling the golisopod. Inertia would rev himself up and launch himself at the large bug before scurrying back to a safe distance to catch a breath. During his downtime, Pocus would hop between several rocks and launch a projectile towards the foe. Inertia had been getting better with his timing; whenever the golisopod was prepared to launch a pin missile at Pocus, he would interrupt it with his own attack.

Rose jumped her way up Pucus's current rock and sat next to her. "Hey, Pocus, how are things going here?"

"Pfft, I don't think our attacks are even affecting it."

Pocus then peeked from her hiding spot and launched a stick at the golisopod before grabbing her stuff and scurrying away. She beckoned for Rose to follow her.

"I'll try helping out here. I need you to tend to your brother. His injuries aren't too bad looking, but he could still use a couple of berries."

"I'll see what I can do. You sure you'll be fine fighting this guy?"

"I'm confident in my abilities... I think. I mean, I'm already pretty decent during close combat, but these spheres are definitely handy for longer distances."

"Just be safe, we don't need any more casualties."

Rose nodded and Pocus was on her way. Rose noticed that Inertia was beginning to tire out from his continued efforts. She readied her instrument and began playing a steady tune. The metallic spheres arose once again and circled the eevee. She used her music to send them charging towards the golisopod. Just as before, her accuracy was quite lackluster due to the range between her and her determined target.

Rose grunted hopping off the rocks and began moving in a bit closer. This time, she was sure she was close enough to land a solid blow. Once again, she played a tune and launched her projectiles. This time she was successful. The first orb rammed into a giant claw, preventing it from attacking Inertia. The second one had charged into its stomach, knocking the wind out of it and causing the golisopod to hunch forward. The final sphere connected into its shoulder and caused the bug to topple onto the ground.

Inertia found a formation away from the combat and was uncoiled from his ball form to catch his breath. Rose smiled triumphantly and prepared another attack. The large bug let out a loud roar and kicked up a large tuft of sand. This caught Rose off guard to the point where she had stopped playing music. She was too distracted by the sand to see the large lump running underneath the sand towards her location. The golisopod lunged out of the ground with its claw glowing brightly. In a swift, effortless motion, it demolished the formation Rose was rested upon.

The force was enough to send Rose airborne for a few seconds. While midair, she shot a storm of swift down on the bug until she landed on the ground seemingly unharmed. She quickly looked to her left and right and noticed her instrument was nowhere to be found. She grunted in irritation but readied herself to battle, nonetheless.

She would be lying if she said she didn't feel intimidated in her current scenario. Truth be told, she was already shaking nervously just by how much she dwarfed in comparison to the golisopod's size. She had to set her fears aside. Flint wasn't there to protect her. She didn't want to constantly cower away from larger threats, she needed to learn to defend herself more. And these dungeons were the best starting point for her.

Both of the pokémon sprang into battle simultaneously. The golisopod hurled its arm to launch a pin missile attack while Rose had used a quick attack to weave her way through the combat and dodge her oncoming projectiles. Easier said than done, no doubt, but she managed to overcome the obstacle. After she bridged the gap between them, she rammed into the bug's stomach, similar to where it had been it just earlier.

The golisopod fell to its knees and held tightly to its stomach while angrily glaring at the eevee. Rose decided on keeping her distance, as she knew its close-ranged attacks were more dangerous. The bug stood back up and, once again, launch its pin missiles. Rose rushed her way through the volley and prepared to ram into the golisopod again. However, the bug had prepared a counter-attack. As Rose had jumped from the ground and aimed her head towards the golisopod's weakspot, the bug had used a sucker punch to jab the eevee from her underside and to throw her in the air again.

Rose landed a fair distance away and coiled in pain as she failed to find her breathe. The golisopod took this opportunity to ready it's next attack. Inertia sensed the urgency in the situation and rushed back into battle, not worrying how out of breathe he was. The golisopod noticed the incoming donphan before he had attacked and decided on engaging Inertia instead. A hailstorm of pin missiles found their way towards the oncoming donphan enough to stop his attack.

The donphan was now panting while deciding a new tactic for battle, but the golisopod gave him no time to think as it charged right at him. Inertia couldn't react in time and was hit hard by a razor shell, rendering him unconscious. The golisopod's arm lit up with energy as it turned around towards Rose and charged towards her. As the distance was closed, it brought its claw down ruthlessly and caused a shockwave to emit in the chamber.

The two espurr, who had been watching from a distance, both gasped. As the smoke cleared, the golisopod looked down towards its prey but was surprised to see a ninjask using protect. The blue energy around Kazetarasu slowly dissipated and he looked up calmly at the golisopod. The golisopod let out an irritated roar but stopped when he saw the ninjask disappear before its eyes. To top off its surprise, Rose wasn't nearby either.

The golisopod looked around confusedly until it felt something hit its back. It turned around sharply, swinging its claws but again found nothing. Another attack hit from behind, and then from its side, and then from its other side. The attacks continued until the golisopod fell to its knees and tried supporting itself with its arm. Panting, it looked up to meet eyes with Kazetarasu. He blinked slowly before finishing the fight with an x-scissor. The golisopod fell unconscious.

The group was now sailing on Arctica as they went back home from their dungeon experience. Most of the group was still sore, but this didn't stop Pocus from telling the whole story to the lapras. Inertia sat next to Pocus while happily eating a few oran berries and giving input to the story when needed. Rose felt really queasy after the blow she received from their foe. She was currently eyeing her instrument, which they retrieved on their way out. She enjoyed its texture, it reminded her of the same stones that made up most buildings in Whitestone. She then looked over towards Kazetarasu, he was sitting quietly atop Arctica's head.

Hocus was resting next to Rose, currently fiddling with the necklace she had lent him to recover with. He seemed to notice her stare. "He's a bit of a curious one, isn't he?"

Rose's ears perked up and she looked towards him. "Yeah... I'm just really surprised at how fast he is. He moved me to safety and finished the battle in just a matter of seconds."

"That's all thanks to his natural ability. Most ninjask develop an increased amount of speed as time elapses in battle. Kazetarasu uses that to his advantage in battle by drawing them out as long as possible and then attack full force with a frightening amount of speed."

"Who knows what would have happened were he not on the team."

"I don't think I'd like to find out. Enough of that though. What did you think of your first real mystery dungeon experience?"

"It's a lot to take in. I didn't realize just how dangerous it all was. That golisopod... he really could have done a lot more damage to us. And I felt confident enough to go one-on-one with it. Gah! That was so headstrong and reckless of me."

"Hey now, don't beat yourself up. Just because you lost a battle doesn't mean it came with its cost. Even if what you did could be considered reckless, you at least learned something. Didn't you? In fact, you probably learned the same exact thing I did today."

"And what's that?"

"My biggest flaw was always relying on the sword of mine. But the golisopod shattered it so effortlessly. Without my sword, I consider myself useless in a fight. I just need to learn how to harness my psychic powers somehow. I only really used the sword because I want to be like my father. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. You too pretty relied on your instrument as soon as you found those sheres. Being given such a strong weapon boosted your confidence in battling. But at the end of the day, we're still pokémom, we're intended to fight not with magical weapons and whatnot, but with our own bestowed powers. Our powers are stronger than any weapon because we don't forge our powers, we were born with them."

She just sighed and leaned her head onto Hocus's shoulder. He was hesitant at first but rested his head on top of hers. They didn't exchange much more words the rest of the trip and instead looked out into the horizon. The large, vast ocean reminded Rose of Flint. She wondered how his voyage had been going and hoped they'd be back soon enough.