Relic of the past: Intro

It was a sunny day in Relic Town, the perfect day to go out and just enjoy what the world has to offer, the town was full of mons working and just living. Someone however did not agree, a Riolu stood alone in the shade of a building watching the town plaza with annoyance.

"Why are they so happy? What reason could they possibly have?" He reflected while looking at a group of baby Pokemon playing, despite belonging with them according to any bystander. "I should get back to work, my hidden stash will last me a long time if I just live but it's gonna run out at some point, and giving up my second chance this early just feels wrong." His memories wandered to the fuzzy past."What could be worse than death anyway?"

The small explorer started wondering in the direction of the guild while reflecting on how he found himself in this situation. His memory was better than down in the Abyss but a lot was still missing, his human life prior to this on the other hand was perfectly clear, not that there was much to remember anyway. He used to be a student, only by name as he spent most of his time playing video games, pokemon being one of them. He was pretty good at it too, not competitive level but he knew the theory behind it at least, all the natures and IVs and EVs, type matchups, he just enjoyed playing the game normally more. When he was isekaied he was overjoyed, now he was wondering if he was being punished instead.

The chaos in front of the guild hall shook him out of his downward spiral, the place was full of wannabe adventurers looking for new jobs, it was time to join them again. The job board outside was swarmed, literally today apparently as a team of Combee led by a Vespiqueen was taking up much of the space, a Blastose was covering up half of it by itself. Lushian briefly considered waiting it out, but the sight of even more teams crowding around made him go with a different option. Slowly approaching the door he did not bother to avoid the crowd, one of the few advantages of being a Ghost Type now was that he could just go through others, the crowd did not seem to appreciate as they got a cold shiver on contact but the chaos was enough for them to not figure out it was him.

The inside of the guild was equally active but less chaotic, all the mons outside were the ones that lacked the patience or time to look inside, they also hurried to get the best jobs. The inside is also for mons looking to relax and exchange information, even recruiting but that was not important for the bitter explorer, he was just here for a job. The last time he was here he had to start over from scratch which made him want to give up even more, they had no record of him being part of the Delver Association, despite the badge with his name proving the contrary. The badge itself was also very old, the clerk did not recognize the model but the guild mark was undeniably real, the result was that he was accepted as a member but had to start at the lowest tier because he did not take the aptitude test.

Before he could approach one of the less popular boards he was called out by the bubbly voice of the clerk. "Lush! Here to look at the boards again? Will you take a job finally? I can help you if you want!"

The clerk in question was a Chansey, and she targeted him from the first time he got there."Great, I was hoping to avoid this, sometimes I wish I could also turn invisible" "Hello... I am looking at the boards, and I don't need help, I have done this many times in the past."

"Of course you have, you are a brave veteran returning from the grave after all!" The tone was way too playful for her to believe that. It was a strange story so it's normal not everyone believed it, but this was on another level.

"Why is she so fixated on treating me like a child? Is it a Chansey thing, maternal instinct? I am a baby Pokemon I guess but this is a bit too much" "I just want a job, I know where quests of my rank are."

Lushian approaches the board, feeling the gaze of the clerk never leaving him. "Does she not have a job to do?" The quests of low rank are mostly gathering and lost objects quests, the important jobs like rescue and research are for more experienced delvers, which he is but the Association will not recognize that on words alone, he needs to prove that he knows what he is doing."Lost a golden gummy? Lost a golden ribbon? Lost an escape orb? How do people keep losing shit like that" He murmurs to himself. "And how do they expect anyone to accept the job when the reward is less than what you would get by just selling the item at the market? The last one sounds more believable at least. This one looks interesting." The tiny mon would have to jump up to take the notice, were he not able to float.

The ad reads (Please save my baby), at first glance it seems like an oddly low-rak rescue mission, on closer inspection however it's a lost item quest. A Happiny lost her egg stone and wants someone to get it back, it seems the kid posted it herself going by the strange name and rewards, (some shiny stuff I found and my gratitude). It was ignored both because it's on the interior board and because it's low rank, but Lushian can see it as an important job. He looks over to the counter, all other clerks are occupied with an almost interminable line, only the Chansey is free. After thinking of going home he steels himself for the worst.

"I want to take this quest."

"Oooh, the little hero wants to help the little girl! Do you have a crush? Do I have to be jealous?" Lushian was now debating is Foresight also works backward.

"Just register it, I'll be back before noon."

Without waiting for an answer he heads for the nearest wall instead of the door to minimize the amount of time spent in the presence of the clerk. The reason why Lushian took that quest was the location, the stone fell from the border of the Abyss as the kid was playing, the kid even had a little drawing of the spot. He knew that spot, he spent a lot of time there contemplating life and how shit it is, he can just fly down and get the egg stone, no matter how low rank if he completes a quest in record time like this they will have to take him seriously, they may even upgrade his rank on the spot. With delusions of grandeour still in his mind the Riolu arrives at the spot, he even sees a Happiny sadly looking into the Abyss.

"The kid is just here staring at the place she dropped it? I am not sure if that's dedication or obsession but at least I know it's the right spot." Lushian slowly steps to the edge of the Abyss, the guardrail is taller than him but it's a net so you can see the other side, he takes a deep breath concentrating and then jumps. A pair of ghostly wings made of strange dark aura sprouted on his back, he still cannot believe that he was able to learn that MN, and he dives into the pit. The descent is fast and easy, the first strata not having a barrier makes this mission even simpler, the ground is reached in record time. The ghost lands after slowing his fall and observes the surroundings, the stone is very round so it could have rolled a significant distance away, even to another layer of the strata. Being fast does not mean that he should not be careful, missing the stone because of haste would just mean more time spent searching, better to scour the place now than having to search twice.

The search does not take long, this place seems to be an outcropping normally unreachable by normal means, only flying Pokemon would come here and since it's just a relatively small step with some grass not many have an interest in it. The stone is nowhere to be found, but there are a lot of objects here clearly dropped by passersby just like it. "Wait, that's an escape orb, is it the same as the other quest?" Just to be sure the small delver decided to gather some of the objects, the rewards could be worth it. After making sure the small landing was clean it was time to move to the next, mad pokemon could start appearing from there on, this place was not even under the influence of the Mystery Dungeon properties it seems. Just as he was about to take flight again Lushian is surprised by an unusual sight, a Rattata was playing with something on the floor just below the landing, it was the egg."That rat has the egg. Could be worse, there are more dangerous Pokemon down there, but it's still annoying that it's a normal type."

With a jump the delver dives right to the small Pokemon, not even bothering to open his wings until he is halfway down to the ground. The Rattata on its part manages to look up in time to avoid a dropping punch, the Riolu lands properly and stares down the other Pokemon that still has the stone in its mouth. Moments pass that feel like hours, Lushian prepares for the attack but still gets hit, Bite, he flinches. "Of fucking course." After the attack the rat just runs away. "Oh you wanna play this game then, joke's on you, I am a Ghost now." The chase is on, immediately after recovering Lushian bolts for the Rattata with Fly. The Rat is fast and knows the place better, almost instinctively moving in the most efficient way, the Ghost type does not need to worry about obstacles, they both pass by other Pokemon that barely have time to react. In one final maneuver the Riolu overtakes the Rattata and uses all his momentum to hit a tree, blocking the way out.

The chase is over, the rat prepares to fight, following only instinct; the delver slowly turns around, the look in his eyes changed, wilder. "I got you now." the words drip with more than anger, it's bloodlust, presented with an opening the Rattata attacks, another Bite. Lushian makes no attempt to dodge it, just raises an arm to block the bite, the attack connects. "My turn now" CRUNCH. The rat falls to the ground, dead, the taste of blood fills Lushian's mouth and he snaps back to his senses. "Oh fuck." with this simple exclamation adrenaline starts leaving his body and he falls to his knees, the egg stone rolls out of the Rattata's mouth. He slowly picks it up, cleans it of the blood splatters, then he tries cleaning his mouth, the taste is still there. More Pokemons started gathering, attracted by the noise and the sight of the chase, the delver took flight before they got there. When he gets to the lookout from where he started he is clutching the egg very hard and barely manages to not lose his balance.

The little Happiny that is still there runs up to him. "Woah, you're back! I was so worried when you jumped down there, I was sure you wanted to suisede."

The shrill voice of the kid is enough to make him regain his focus. "I think you meant suicide, and no I did not mean to do that. I am a delver, I finished a mission."

"What mission?! Did you beat the bad guys? Mom says it's full of bad guys in there so kids should not go there. But you are a kid too."

"I am older than I look. I got an egg stone back, and from the sad expression I found you with before and your empty pouch I assume it's yours."

"Yes! It's my baby! I would recognize it anywhere! Gimme gimme."

"I need to bring it to the Association to prove that I did the job. But if you come with me there I can let you take it."

"Yes! Now gimme!"

With a sigh Lushian relents the stone. "Fine, here. Now go and tell your mom or whoever that you are going to the guild. The last thing I need is to be also accused of kidnapping"

It does not take long for the kid to communicate with her mom and go to the guild, Lushian follows at a safe distance. The clerk is surprised to see the quest completed so fast and makes a note to have it as part of the report. "That was impressive, really." Her voice has less of a sing-song tone this time, it may be a genuine compliment."You should rest here a bit, it looks like you need it."

A bit surprised by the genuine concern he felt from the clerk Lushian decides to humor her for at least a little bit. The guild hall is noisy and chaotic, the boards are kept in order but the recreational area is a mess, it's not really the best place to relax normally, it does however have a lot of rumors floating about. The most interesting thing going on right now is the appearance of a couple more isekai humans, pokemons tend to not believe them and consider them mad but there is a surprising amount of Pokemons claiming to be humans, Lushian himself had to deal with this in the past. The two subjects of the current rumurs are the closest the small delver has ever been to others that claim to be human, both were in this hall at some point. One was a never-before-seen pokemon, strangely met more with curiosity than diffidence. The other was a normal Klink at first glance but it used strange terms in communicating and displayed advanced knowledge of technology. The rumors are vague but they seem a bit too detailed for it to all be fake.

"Other humans uh. I never even considered it an option, I also assumed they were just mentally ill. Maybe I should try to at least meet them, if they really are humans someone needs to warn them about the dangers of this world."

So thinking about the future Lushian manages to calm down, thinking about what he needs to get back in business, if maybe being part of a team would be better than being always alone.

In the back of his mind however the taste of blood lingers, and the rush of adrenaline, a feeling of being alive. He used to hate biting the first time around, it felt strange and wrong, this time he was uncomfortable for a different reason, he liked it.