“So how many legendaries have you met, Garchomp?”
Just as had happened the night before, it was Althi who broke the silence as Team Twin Star, Team Eevee, and Weavile, the treasure hunter who learned of the dungeon in Ruined Roost, gathered around the campfire for the second night. The plan was a one-day journey, but Garchomp and Weavile had failed to account for Team Eevee’s very short stature.
All eyes shifted to Garchomp, except Pirth remained facing the fire, though his ears twitched accordingly.
Garchomp thought for a moment then said, “well, as you know Starmie and I are from Sahara Town, so it’s tradition for those of us on Sand who evolve to visit the Tree of Life. So we’ve both met Xerneas, who was a… bit of a strange fella."
“What do you mean,” interjected Weavile, “he smoked a bunch of kush or something?”
“Kush? Never heard of that term used before… but he did smoke… leaves. I mean, if you’re doing nothing but sitting around all day, what do you expect?”
Weavile, now bearing a shit-eating grin, then asked, “did you join him?”
Yeah, Gar, did you end up joining him? came the thought, and when I looked at Starmie I could see the fire glinted playfully off her gem.
Garchomp glanced at Team Eevee, then said, “well, since Team Twin Star is a very high-ranking part of the Federation, I am obligated to say no. I am also obligated to say that, if I were to have smoked your so-called ‘kush’ with a legendary, then it would’ve led to a very strange conversation that my partner would be happy to recall for you another day.”
After a wink followed by laughter, Garchomp returned to the question.
“Well, I’m sure excited at the prospect of even seeing an Articuno feather, so that should tell you everything. Legendaries are hard to come-by, but as explorers Starmie and I have come across our fair share. We’ve visited a Shaymin village over in Grass before, uh, we’ve spotted a Ho-Oh flying overhead in northern Mist, and I’ve seen-”
No, you haven’t.
“Yes I have!” Garchomp turned to the rest of us and said, smiling, “Starmie’s just jealous that I caught a glimpse of a Suicune running across the sea when we were sailing between continents.”
With a mix of playfulness and sarcastic incredulity I heard in my mind, I’d be jealous if it were real and you didn’t make it up just to spite me.
Holding one claw to his chest and another raised to the sky in a pledge, Garchomp said, “I promise, Starmie, that one day you’ll see a Suicune, too, and you can finally get off my fins about it.” He then turned to us and said, magic in his eyes, “and I’ll tell you what, that was the most majestic legendary I had seen.”
“You just said you saw Xerneas, the life Pokemon, right?” said Althi.
“Any deer Pokemon can’t be majestic, even legendaries. Too closely related to degenerate little Deerling,” interrupted Pirth.
Garchomp dodged Pirth’s remark, something he quickly learned was necessary to do with him, then said, “oh, majestic for sure until you, uh, don’t smoke leaves with him and see him talk out of his rear.”
“How about you, Weavile? Any legendaries you’ve run into?”
Weavile, with a grin, replied, “would you believe me if I told you I’ve met the god of space, Palkia?”
No.
Everyone looked at Arimis, who remained eyeing Weavile suspiciously as she had done throughout the whole journey. In the time we spent journeying she managed to “unlock” everyone’s mind to think into, except Weavile’s. He, however, assumed Arimis said something since everyone else’s attention shifted to her, and he asked Pirth “what’d she say?”
“‘No,’” replied Pirth.
“Well, that’d be correct, since I was just joking around,” said Weavile with a half-hearted chuckle.
You lie quite easily, don’t you?
Okay! I believe that’s enough for tonight everyone! Garchomp, anything else to say before we all rest for the night?
Garchomp, caught off guard, only said, “uh, no? We-we’re at the base of Ruined Roost so there’s not much journeying left, so you mates be ready to go dungeoneering first thing in the morning.”
We went our separate ways, but instead of curling up next to Althi and Pirth I immediately pulled aside Arimis.
Want me to use calm mind again~? came the thought in sing-song.
“Yes, but you know that’s not why I’m pulling you aside, Arimis,” I said.
d’Alin, I don’t like that Weavile. He looks like the one from the poster and his aura is… familiar.
Arimis, I thought, switching to thoughts so the others could go to sleep, firstly, I can’t really tell two Pokemon of the same species apart from each other. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my human eyes. But I don’t think this is the same one. He made a good point: why would any criminal carry around their own “wanted” poster.
I don’t care about that. As an… uh, Espeon, that relied on psychic to communicate, I managed to learn about aura. It’s something innate to everyone and I can’t explain a whole lot, but everyone’s aura is unique. And that Weavile’s aura, it’s familiar.
How familiar?
A pause. I think I remember seeing it as a kid, back on Mist.
And how long ago was that? I thought you haven’t been in Mist in-
A decade, yes… but that doe-
Arimis, so not only has it been ten years, but haven’t your abilities improved since then?
Yes?
Then likely back when you were at Mist you didn’t know how to see auras like you do now?
I am still not an expert in it; I can barely read outlines. My point is that it’s strangely familiar to me, okay? Just… keep an eye out. Please?
I let out a sigh. Sure thing, Arimis. Goodnight.
I made the conscious effort to not think of anything else until I was certain that Arimis had tuned out, then mulled over this whole thing. Why was she going on about this? It’s clear that this Weavile wasn’t the one she was worried about back on Mist. I know that even though Starmie and Garchomp like Arimis (better than Althi’s ego and Pirth’s weird speciesism, at least), they were at wit’s end with Arimis being so blatantly disrespectful to Weavile, who was trying his best to avoid contact.
I curl up next to Pirth, whose pink fur has been browning, a sign of the cold of winter finally catching up to us. At least once this is over it won’t be something we’ll have to deal with anymore are my last thoughts before I drift into sleep.
I wake up not remembering the dream, which means that Arimis’ calm mind worked. I walked a bit of distance away from camp to get a better view and looked up to the sky only to draw in a heavy breath.
There it was: Ruined Roost. The towering mountain bore a circle of clouds swirling around its snow-topped summit which glowed a bright orange and red, capturing the light of a rising sun.
“It won’t be that difficult, d’Alin. Only twenty floors, from what I know.”
I turned to look at Garchomp, who stood beside me eyeing Ruined Roost. Still looking at the mountain, he continued, “climbing the exterior might be the work of a day or two, but since dungeons screw with so many things, the ascent internally should be only as long as it takes to walk and find the stairs.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“I don’t know mate. Dungeons don’t make a lick of sense, so it’s fair to throw any logic outside the window. Not only are they little-understood, but the emergence of rifts threw away most of what little we did know. Like, for example, take reviver seeds.”
“What about them?”
“Way back when, if you had enough of those little shits you could fight Arceus Himself; it was a must-pack for all dungeoneers. Nowadays, they’re all but useless, which is why being a rescuer has gotten more dangerous.”
“Huh? Reviver seeds don’t work?”
“Did they not go over this back at Wigglytuff’s? Rifts have made reviver seeds not work. We think. I mean, sometimes they do work, but since rifts have appeared, that’s been declining in frequency. Mostly in dungeons but increasingly in the overworld. Like I said, no one knows why.”
Well shit, there goes one game mechanic out the window that would’ve been the most useful thing ever, I thought.
Garchomp must’ve noticed my sour face since he said, “it’s been getting worse, sure, but I still chose to be a recuser knowing that fact. So did Starmie. There’s always risk, but helping others is well worth it. Besides, you’re in good claws. Just don’t mull too much over it, yeah?”
“Thanks, Garchomp, I know I can count on you.”
“Yeah, besides Weavile went into Ruined Roost on his own before. Sure it’s a dungeon, but if he found the vault by himself, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“What’s the deal with thay by the way?”
“With what?”
“The vault. And the Articuno feathers.”
“Ah, well we know it exists since Weavile wrote to the Federation not only asking for yours truly, but also describing what “keystone” the vault was missing. I don’t know how half of the artefacts the Feds have managed to take nto their possession, but it’s sure as hell useful for reaping the rewards in times like these.”
I nod.
“As for the Articuno feathers,” said Garchomp, “that’s why I’m not worried about Arimis’ idea that Weavile is the criminal on that wanted sheet, though to be honest I couldn’t tell ’em apart. The deal we made was that Weavile would keep a feather as a finder’s fee, and the Feds get the rest. That’s why I’m not worried about Weavile being an outlaw; one is enough to live comfortably for a lifetime. You’d be hard-pressed to find even an outlaw greedier than that.
“And, well, if one more goes missing and winds up in the care of any team assisting us, who am I to say?”
My ears perked up on their own. “Does that mean we’ll get one to keep?”
A wink from Garchomp. “I’m not saying that, but what I am saying is that we might forget to count one. It’s not like the Feds will know any better. Though if that is to happen, I’d rather it be kept as a token of our time rather than sold. It’s always good luck for a team to keep their first piece of treasure.”
“What’s yours?”
Garchomp looked back to the camp, and so did I. I noticed that everyone except Arimis was up packing things, though Arimis and Starmie were aside staring at each other. He turned back to me then said, “well, it’s funny actually. I told you about how my mum found my pa? Well, in a similar way, in my first rescue mission as a Gible I found a Staryu. I’ve had her by my side since and I’ve been nothing but lucky since.”
“Wait, do you mean that you and-”
“Hush now, it’s not your business to know,” said Garchomp, though his prideful smile said enough, “but I figured that, if you’re going to share secrets with me, one with you won’t do any harm. “
With that, Garchomp turned around and pushed me forward, loud enough for everyone to hear, “now then d’Alin, enough talking about how you know Starmie’s lying about me not seeing that Suicune, now let’s get ready to go on an adventure!”
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jktPSwZ9fY
The base of the mountain that contained Ruined Roost was spotted with ruins, but the entrance to one temple carved into the side of the mountain shimmered with a strange mirage of light and darkness, a key sign it was the entrance.
“Remember everyone, this dungeon has some ground and dark types,” said Garchomp, “so be weary, especially you, Arimis.”
We follow Garchomp and Starmie into the gate of the temple, being surrounded by pitch black until we find ourselves in a large clearing, the walls composed of the clay-like ruins we had seen outside with jagged stone rising into the navy blue twilight skies. Right over the horizon is… wait a second, isn’t that-
“Why is Ruined Roost on the horizon if we’re inside of it?” asked Althi.
Indeed, there on the horizon, towering over the walls of grey stone and brown ruins was the mountain we had just entered, the orange clouds surrounding it despite it being almost nighttime.
“d’Alin,” said Garchomp, not removing his attention from the nearby hallways, “would you please explain to Althi what I told you earlier?”
“What? Garchomp, all you told me was that dungeons don’t make any sense and to not think about it too much.”
Garchomp laughed, “Haha, ain’t you ab-so-lutely correct! Some things you just don’t question!”
I glanced at Althi, who evidently didn’t hear that and repeated that to her; she didn’t seem pleased but shrugged it off, “alright, thanks anyways.” She returned to looking at Ruined Roost towering over us.
I have to admit, these things make less sense than I would’ve guessed, I thought and, upon seeing the stairs of the first floor, then thought, like these goddamn stairs. Just, in the middle of everything? And no one questions it?
But as Starmie took the lead and Garchomp stayed behind to make sure everyone ascended before him, I realized that there were just some things I’d have to accept possibly never knowing. After all, it’s not like astrophysics know everything about the universe.
As we continued, Garchomp and occasionally Starmie and Weavile fought the few ferals that appeared, it seemed that this dungeon was as easy as Garchomp assumed, leaving Team Eevee to sit back and walk leisurely. As Althi, who kept looking in fascination at Ruined Roost above, tried in vain to describe to Pirth what a “cloud” was, I fell back to “talk” with Arimis.
Arimis? Knock knock?
Yes, d’Alin?
You’re supposed to say “knock knock.
Is this some sort of human ritual?
Just do it.
Who’s there?
Kush.
A pause. Kush who?
Now I paused. Fuck. I forgot a punch-line… and you’re in my head and you can hear me, right?
Arimis’ eyes closed as if she laughed, though she made no sound. You invited me in.
Damn. Well I failed the set-up, but I wanted to ask what other unique terms come from Mist.
What do you mean, d’Alin?
Well I’d assume Pokemon from different continents have different dialects, right? Like how Garchomp talks like an Aussie?
I don’t know what an Aussie is, but yes, I suppose so. And what exactly do you mean? Are you pointing out that I speak much more… elegantly, than the rest of our teammates?
My attention quickly shifted to Pirth and Althi, where the latter screamed something about fog to Pirth before Starmie turned and told them both to quiet down. I chuckle. I suppose not, but that’s not what I meant. I was talking more about, I don’t know, terms? Words?
I don’t understand.
Ah well, take kush for example.
What about it?
Well, isn’t that what people from Mist call, weed? Leaf-drugs? I don’t know.
Arimis shot me a confused look. d’Alin, I’ve never heard of that term before. It has been a while since I was in Mist, but that sounds like something that was made-up.
Oh.
We ascended up another flight of stairs, and an awkward silence fell upon us. Which was especially difficult to address since Arimis was in my head.
Uhm, on another note, I thought, watching as Garchomp took care of the Sandile and Poochyena that occupied the next room on his own, what were you talking about with Starmie back at camp?
Arimis stopped walking then looked at me. You won’t judge?
Listen, I’m an inherently judgmental person, so that can’t be helped. As a human I’d just say “I won’t say anything,” but that can’t be helped if you’re inside my head, now can it?
Arimis looks back ahead and I let out a sigh. It can’t be helped but I can promise to hear you out, alright?
The sincerity seems to be enough for Arimis since I then hear, I was asking Starmie how to recognize criminals.
Ah, of course. Well, what did she say?
She said couldn’t read auras, which would normally help, so that was no help, unfortunately. She said that she and Garchomp rarely hunted criminals, just rescued, so it was never really an issue. All she mentioned was why criminals often hideout in dungeons.
Oh? And what might that reason be?
They’re not attacked. By the dungeons, I mean. Ferals attack explorers and Pokemon that get trapped, but that’s not always the case for outlaws. Apparently, the negative energy of the outlaws can sort of mesh with the dungeon, meaning that it sees them as one of their own ferals and doesn’t see them as a threat… basically, if they’re sufficiently evil, the dungeon won’t harm them. Hence why criminals hideout in dungeons, to make it harder for bounty hunters to get to them.
So am I to guess you’ve been keeping an eye on Weavile, to see if the ferals have been targeting him?
Not much of a guess, is it?
Well, has anything like that happened?
Arimis blushed. Well, not exactly; he’s been fighting the ferals head-on and we’re too far back to see.
Mhm. And that’s not too unexpected for a Weavile though, right? Especially one that’s a seasoned treasure hunter?
Arimis shot me a glance. No, d’Alin, I suppose not.
And this dungeon is pretty easy, meaning Weavile could’ve easily done this on his own.
Yes, but- but that’s not all. I- I don’t know how exactly to bring this up to you but… The thought in my head trailed off. But what? I thought.
Before Arimis could reply, we arrived in the next room which contained the stairs, and there were no ferals to be seen. “Come on, mates, just a few more floors,” said Garchomp.
Just a few more? Time really flies when you’ve got the actual fighting being taken care of.
“What floor are we on?” asked Pirth.
“Sixteen,” said Weaville, who then stepped to the back of the group and pointed behind us. “I can take the rear this time around, Garchomp. You go on ahead.”
“Sure thing,” said Garchomp, who then took point and climbed up the stairs, disappearing into the still-navy sky.
Weavile then motioned to the stairs and said to Team Eevee, “after you.”
We all climbed up, and I readied myself to ask Arimis what she had wanted to share with me, but I ran face first into Pirth’s ass.
“Gross! Christ Pirth, get a move on.”
But Pirth didn’t, and instead turned towards me, and had a strange look on his face, like a deer in the headlights. “d’Alin, I hear them.. t-there’s so many.”
I had never seen Pirth this scared, which sent a shiver down my spine to my tail. So many what? It was then I realized that the dungeon had become much more different. Although the sky was still as dark as ever, the dungeon itself was now no longer illuminated as if it were daytime. And although the ruined walls of the dungeon were near my hind and left, they faded into the darkness ahead and to my right.
Arimis appeared beside me, and was as confused as I.
What is this?
Monster house, a whole floor, came the thought from Starmie.
“We’re not entirely fucked,” whispered Garchomp, “only a few have moved towards us, and the rest are sleeping. We’ll engage the second Weavile gets up here; I don’t think there’s any need for me to use my ace quite yet, either.”
”WOAH! Why the fuck is it so dark in here?” said Weavile, emerging behind us and practically yelling.
His voice echoed against the halls, and even though my ears were nowhere as acute as Pirth’s I could hear the ferals all around us stirring awake.
Garchomp sighed, “well, shit.”
Team Eevee, get behind us, but get ready to engage. We’re surrounded. Weavile, front and center, we’re gonna fight.
Weavile began to hurriedly rummage through his bag, “yeah, just give me a second, I need to grab this orb.”
“They’re closing in, hurry up mate,” said Garchomp.
“Got it!,” said Weavile, pulling out an orb then throwing it to the ground, covering him in a blue energy.
“What was that?” asked Althi.
Weavile grinned, “quick orb.” In the blink of an eye he dashed ahead of Team Eevee towards Garchomp and Starmie who were ready to meet the ferals head-on. But he didn’t stop.
Using the momentum of his quick dash, he practically flew between Garchomp and Starmie, and in a single swift motion cut Garchomp’s bag, letting it fall to the floor.
“What the..?” let out Garchomp, but at this time Weavile had already ran past the two and headed straight towards the ferals.
But they didn’t attack him. Weavile bobbed and weaved between the two Poochenyas that were charging us, and they pretended like he wasn’t even there.
Oh shit, I thought upon seeing this, then looked at Arimis, who was clearly thinking the exact same thing.
It all happened so quickly that Weavile was already behind four ferals when Garchomp’s bag hit the ground, and out rolled the keystone for the vault.
Weavile jumped into the air and turned around, looking at us and bearing a wicked grin. “Sayonara, suckers!” he said as he pulled out another orb and smashed it to the ground.
I heard Pirth cry out “ow!” as a gummi flew by him towards Weavile. Then something to my right I couldn’t make out flew towards him. And… the keystone. As if called to him by magic, the keystone flew towards Weavile who caught it in his hand, then continued to run into the darkness until he faded into it.
We were all left stunned. All that had just happened took place in mere seconds. Garchomp was the first to say something.
“We’ll get him in a second, for now… Pirth! Do you know what we’re fighting here?”
“N-no?” he replied.
“A bunch of Deerling!”
A great silence fell over everyone as Garchomp’s words echoed throughout the massive floor.
Pirth said, “They sound just like the Pokemon of the last few floors though.”
“Arceusdammit Pirth! Fine, they love Deerling. They hate shiny Leafeons. What do you have to say to them?”
“Th-they do?”
“Yes!” Yes! “Yes, Pirth!” Yes! “Yes!”
said and thought everyone in unison.
At that moment I made note to thank God later that Pirth was blind, because upon hearing this he gained an aura that reeked of pure hatred and his face twisted so that, were he was able to see, I’m sure his look would be able to kill.
He stepped up beside Garchomp and Starmie, and the two for a moment lost their attention at the approaching ferals and glanced at him, fear at what was to come reflected in Garchomp’s eyes and in Starmie’s gem alike.
“Then… then… these Ooboshu bug 'fhalma h'Hastur 'bthnk hrii uaaah h'Yoggoth ehye Deerling-loving r'luh bug f''ai uh'enyth, f's'uhn uln ruin-dweller syha'h ehye hupadghot unevolved nnnathg shagg hlirgh fm'latgh 'fhalma misguided fucks must die,” screamed Pirth, with each indescribable curse he uttered making the air around him grow heavier and bulging his veins until he was brimming with tense muscles.
If we hadn’t been in mortal danger, I would’ve laughed at the sight of a muscular deer.
In a wave, the ferals lunged for an attack.
Starmie enveloped us all in a shimmering cloak of light of some sort before releasing a stream of water from seemingly thin air, knocking the midair Sandshrew to the ground, and a second stream of water left it to disappear in a puff of smoke.
At the center of the frontline stood Pirth whose ears twitched as he ascertained the position of the incoming Deerling-lovers. As a Poochenya lunged towards him, jaws open he deftly side-stepped it, turned around and began to headbutt it over and over while muttering another one of his specialist remarks. Only whenever the feral shimmered into light and smoke did Pirth, sensing there was no longer a foe, turned around to meet another feral.
“You three,” said Garchomp to Althi, Arimis and I, “I fight best going all-in, so you work together to hold this point, alright?”
“Y-you got it, Garchomp,” I uttered.
“Good,” he said as he crouched down and became enveloped in a purple-pink energy, paying no mind to the rapidly approaching Rhyhorn. He continued to crouch down and focus, the energy coalescing around him growing in intensity, and before I could warn him of the imminent attack, in a bright flash he disappeared from his spot only to almost-instantly reappear next to the feral, cutting it with his claw in a burst of speed and light that rendered it into smoke and light.
He glanced at us, his purple eyes having none of the playfulness they usually bore, and said, “you got this,” before disappearing in another flash of light, reappearing in the backline of the ferals.
It didn’t take long for the other ferals to notice the three of us, and a Poochenya and Trapinch in tandem began to approach us.
Althi! d’Alin! I can’t fight the Poochenya so you’ll have to take care of him, but I’ll get the Trapinch, alright?
“Got it!” I shouted before turning to Althi, “you ready?”
Although she had a worried look on her face, she tried to steel herself. “Yes, on my count we’ll attack together.”
We turned toward the Poochenya and, as I saw from the corner of my eye a psychic energy envelop the Trapinch, I heard Althi say, “Three… two… one… now!”
Together we both tackled the Poochyena , who fell to the ground in a whimper. “Again!” I heard Althi cry, and we both pounced on it. Although it got a good scratch on me, our concerted strike stunned it, and it was enveloped by smoke as it disappeared.”
We looked up again to see a Rhydon barreling towards us. “Oh, uh, let's do it again,” uttered Althi, “ready… now!”
At her call we attacked in unison again, but this time it barely pushed the Rhydon back. It swung with its claw at Althi and struck. I looked at her and, although I could tell she wanted to run away as before, she held her ground and, though visibly shaking, was ready to attack again.
Althi called out again with a shaky voice, “three… two… and-”
She stopped, stunned as the Rhydon was enveloped by a psychic energy, then hit with a jet of water, throwing it to the ground. Pirth ran to it and headbutt it, making the feral fade with the smoke.
I looked around us and saw that there were no more ferals remaining.
Is everyone okay?
“I got scratched and Althi got hit pretty hard so she could use a berry, but we’re still standing,” I said.
As Starmie got out an oran berry and passed it to Althi, I then heard Pirth? Are you alright? You were getting into the thick of it.
“Those Deerling-lovers couldn’t hurt me,” he responded, holding his head high and raising a leg.
Uh, sure. Arimis?
Not a scratch, came the thought, and Arimis likewise held her head up in pride.
“Ain’t that swell, and I didn’t even have to use my ace,” we heard in the distance, where we all turned to see Garchomp brushing off of himself some dark dust, “the ferals here were a bit tougher here than before, so I think it’s got something to do with the proximity to the treasure.”
He turned towards Arimis, “I’m terribly sorry, Arimis, I suppose I should've listened to you about Weavile.”
A small flare of anger rose in Arimis, but she suppressed it quickly. It’s… alright. I wasn’t entirely sure anyways.
Got it, well we need to hurry up and catch this son-of-a-bisharp before it’s too late, so while we get a move on, I’d like for you to tell us what it is you know about this Weavile criminal of yours.”
As we advanced towards the stairs, Arimis began to share what she knew: his aura seemed familiar from a Weavile she encountered when she was younger in Mist, he had a Litten and Zoroark partner that was dubbed the “Red-and-Black Gang” which eventually split up, and was never heard from again. Arimis assumed they all travelled to different continents under false identities to continue their own devious crimes.
But after we cleared the next two floors, Arimis paused. “Is that all?” asked Garchomp.
N-no. Arimis glanced at me then quickly looked back at Garchomp. I think he’s human.
Silence all around. Garchomp stole a quick glance at me before asking, “h-how would you know that, little miss?”
A deep breath from Arimis before I hear I was able to “unlock” all your minds to read, but not his. It was wired too differently, like that of a human.
What do you mean? I thought it was only non-psychic type Pokemon that used psychic moves that had to deal with that kind of roadblock? And how do you know what a human mind looks like? They’re myths, legends, not outlaws.
Arimis grew defensive almost immediately. I- uh, look, we’re all wired differently, so it takes more for me to read minds, alright? As for the mind reading… she trailed off and I could hear her think in my mind, do I tell?
Before I could respond, Garchomp interjected, “she must’ve met those Team KANTOOO weirdos.”
Starmie’s gem flashed with a look of surprise. So they really were human like they said… might explain some things.
“Well, now we know why I was wrong; I said I didn’t think any Pokemon could be so greedy as to need more than a single Articuno feather, but I guess it’s no Pokemon,” said Garchomp, who paused for a brief moment, then glanced at me worryingly before looking at Starmie, “if Arimis is right, then we got no time to waste. And since he is an outlaw, he should have no problem with ferals on the way to the vault. We need to hurry.”
This whole exchange made my heart drop. Am I going to lose Garchomp’s trust? Am I going to be removed from Team Eevee, my only friends in this new world? I looked at him but he turned around and faced the stairs of the floor. “Two more floors,” he said, ascending.
The rest of us followed, and we wound up in a room with the stairs right beside us.
“Fuckin’-A, not all is lost yet,” he said before turning to us.
“Now listen up, I want everyone to stick together unless I say otherwise. This is going to be very dangerous if we fight Weavile head-on, and this bastard knows what he’s doing, so the vault is likely rigged with traps. I’m going to use my ace, so Starmie’ll take care of you.”
“Isn’t it a last resort?” asked Pirth.
“Don’t wanna risk anything with y’all here. Like the Feds briefed Starmie and I, humans are cunning. Dangerous.”
He paused, then looked at me, then at Starmie, “not all of ‘em though. Team KANTOO, weird as they were, were good. I just think when humans go bad, they go really bad, yeah?”
Sure. I’d rather not think about that and just worry about the mission.
“Sure, Starmie. Let’s go.”
Team Twin Star and Team Eevee both ascended the steps, and we found ourselves in a small room, devoida of anything, and as dark as the previous floors.
Ahead of us was a single passageway, a cold breeze emanating from it.
“Must be the Articuno feathers from the vault chilling everything,” said Garchomp, before muttering a quick, “fuck.”
“What?” I asked.
Garchomp grimaced. “Weavile’s a quick bugger and knows ice-type attacks. That, plus we’re in a dark-type dungeon, and I’m starting to realize why he requested for Team Twin Star specifically.”
He turned to Pirth, “listen mate, there was something I didn’t mention about Weavile.”
“He’s an outlaw?!” replied Pirth.
Garchomp raised a claw up to his head. “No. I mean, yes but, he actually really loves Deerling. He kept it hush-hush this whole time.”
“S-seriously?”
“Yes! His bag even has a little Deerling embroidery on it, but of course you couldn’t see it.”
“Hmph! Makes sense an outlaw would be so evil.”
“So, when we see- or, hear Weavile, I want you to give him a taste of your mind, yeah?”
“You got it!” said Pirth enthusiastically.
We all turned and looked at the dark hallway ahead, walking towards it in cautious unison. As we entered the mouth, Garchomp turned to Pirth and said, “beside me, we’ll take lead,” before turning to Starmie to whom he said, “protect them from my attack, okay?”
She nodded and Garchomp leaned down and held his head against Starmie’s gen for a quick moment before turning back to the passage. “Let’s go,” he said.
Though the passageway was definitely long, each step felt like it took an entire minute. The cold wind blowing against us grew slightly stronger and much colder, and the stone-and-ruin walls lost their grey and brown coloration, turning white with steadily accumulating frost.
We stopped for a second, at where the passage gave way to a massive entrance to the next room, which wasn’t much of a room at all but rather the huge open-air summit of Ruined Roost. The mountain had disappeared from the horizon, though the
the summit of Ruined Roost, behind it was a wall with mysterious runes that was split down the middle. Evidently, the vault had been opened.
We proceeded with great caution until we heard a voice echo throughout the room.
“Ah! So you survived the Monster House,” said Weavile, who emerged from the shadows, standing between us and the vault, “I’m not too surprised that Team Twin Star did, but moreso that all of Team Eevee is still here.”
Get him talking, he obviously wants to gloat. We can hit him where it hurts while he’s distracted.
“Why,” asked Garchomp, readying himself for his “ace” attack, “did you do this? You would’ve been fine with just one Articuno feather, so why-”
“Shut. The fuck. Up,” interrupted Weavile, who then grinned manically, “you want to know something? You fucks fell for it, hook, line, and sinker! I mean, God, I showed you my own wanted poster, and you fucking bought it? Pirth, who’s blind, sure that makes sense, but you, a seasoned explorer? Arimis there almost screwed me over, but you were just too stupid to realize that.”
At this Garchomp began to grow visibly agitated, and Weavile noticed. “Oh? What’re you going to do now? Use your ‘ace’ against me? Sure, I deserve the easy way out. And you, Pirth! I’m just going to ignore whatever stupidity about Deerling you spew out of your ass, so you best shut up about it.”
Now Pirth was angry as well, and Weavile continued to taunt them. “So! What’s it going to be, ol’ Mr. Garchomp? Are you going to fight me one-on-one properly after I played you and your “partner” like a Goddamn fiddle, or are you gonna take the coward’s way out? And Pirth? Do I really deserve to hear your “truth?” Or should I just die never seeing your “light?”
Gar! Pirth! Don’t fall for his taunt! Just do what we agreed on so we can end this!
But Pirth and Garchomp alike didn’t seem to hear Starmie’s reasoning, their own thoughts and anger evidently stronger than her words.
“You’re right, you don’t deserve to be killed by me using my 'ace;' you’re human slime that’s a stain on the name, and I’ll gut you with my bare claws,” uttered Garchomp, the draconic energy once again forming around his body as it had in the monster house.
Pirth, in turn, said, “yeah, this guy doesn’t deserve to hear anything about the truth. I’ll take you down where you stand, and you’ll meet Giratina, never knowing about Arceus’ wisdom.
At this, Weavile grinned wildly, then let out a chuckle. They fell for it.
He took a step back, and as he was partially enveloped by shadow, from beside him on both sides emerged a pack of Mightyenas, their red and yellow eyes - full of mindless frenzy - cutting through the dark of the twilight.
At all of this I was rendered speechless, my only thoughts being that, noticing his use of the word “God,” that this was indeed a human-turned Pokemon. But why turn to evil?
“Pirth! Don't all Pokemon,” cried out Althi, “even Deerling lovers, deserve to hear the truth? You’re Arceus’ messenger, remember?”
Gar! Ignore him!
Pirth! Curse him out!
But everyone’s pleas fell on deaf ears. The two continued to stare at Weavile and the twin packs flanking him, Pirth refusing to “enlighten” Weavile and Garchomp thinking of everything save for executing his secret last-resort.
Weavile sharpened his claws, and they glinted in the little light that was in the sky before he disappeared into shadows completely, with the packs of Mitheyenas taking his place, steadily advancing. The battle, it seemed, had begun.
Suddenly, the packs entered a full sprint to us all, their numbers more numerous than that of the monster house. We all braced for the attack, and Arimis and Starmie enveloped the two teams in a twin layer of light, which I presumed was to protect us. As the Mighteyenas at the fore of the pack lunged, Weavile let out a cold, disgusting laugh that shook me to the bone. This, laugh, I thought as it echoed around me, it’s not only that of a Weavile’s, but its… it’s unmistakably human. Maybe I was the only person to hear it, but knowing such a vile laugh was laced with human undertones filled me with an inexplicable dread.
I stood beside Arimis and Althi, ready to fight. As a trio of Mighteyenas lunged towards us, I saw at the corner of my eye Garchomp disappear and, in a rush of draconic might, reappear before two of the Mighteyenas before us, uppercutting them both with his claws. Before they even began to turn into smoke, he disappeared again, reappearing at the hind of the pack and causing two ferals’ howls to echo on the summit of Ruined Roost.
The remaining feral still was midair, and without even discussing it Althi and I leaped together, meeting it head on and tackling it to the ground. We hit it again, and it disappeared into a puff of smoke.
To my left I heard the snap of jaws, and turned to see Arimis had narrowly dodged the bite of a feral. She tried to envelop it in her psionic energy, but although it coalesced around the Mightyena, it just as easily dissolved into nothingness. Arimis dodged its attack again, but before I could move to help, a burst of water slammed into it, reducing it to light and smoke.
“Pirth!” I heard Althi call out, and I turned to see that, although Pirth was surrounded by smoke, meaning he had just taken down a feral, another had jumped onto him, biting and tearing away at his side. But Pirth let out no cry of pain, and quickly turned around and, using both his hind legs, kicked it in the face, tossing it far away where it hit the ground and dissipated into countless tiny shards of light that shone through the enveloping smoke.
“Don’t worry about me,” Pirth said, his ears twitching to see where the next attacker was, “Arceus is on my side.” As he said this, a Migheyena appeared from the shadows and, instead of attacking Pirth, twisted its face into what could only be described as a horror.
Just looking at it left me almost immobilized in fear, my legs feeling heavier than ever to lift. But Pirth, blind, simply twisted his hind to the feral and once again kicked it, throwing it back into the shadows from which it emerged.
“d’Alin! Back with me!” cried out Althi. This time a pair of ferals attacked in unison, and Althi and I both tackled our respective attacker. Although Althi managed to gracefully - albeit barely - dodge the retaliatory blow, I couldn’t, and got smarted quite badly, throwing me to the ground. As the Migheyena approached and prepared to bite, a pitch-black wave of energy hit it, drawing its attention away.
To Arimis. It lunged at her, but she hit it again with the same attack, something I have never seen her use before. It swiped at her and, though she stood still, it missed entirely, the black shockwave seemingly having distorted its senses. A third shockwave emerged from Arimis and the feral disappeared into smoke.
“Arimis! Watch out!” I cried out, as a second Mighteyna emerged from the shadows and launched itself at her. By the time she turned to meet it, it was too late for her to move aside or attack, so she closed her eyes and braced for the hit.
But in a flash of pink and purple light, Garchomp appeared beside her, slicing the Mighteyena into two, both sides strewn midair shimmering away, the cut bleeding smoke. By the time it fell to the ground, it was almost entirely dissipated.
“Is everyone alright?” asked Garchomp, looking over us. He bore several cuts that turned his flesh a sickly pink, but seemed unbothered by it. Arimis and Althi both responded that they weren’t hit once, and Starmie reported she suffered only a minor attack but was unable to summon water anymore, apparently exhausted. I told Garchomp I took a hit but that I was still good to fight.
“And you, Pirth?”
He reappeared in my vision, more covered in dust than Garchomp was, a stupid grin on his face. “I’m alright,” he said, but his shivering body said otherwise, implying he was on the verge of collapse.
Garchomp took notice and said, “good, but stay behind Starmie, I don’t know what coming next, mate, but I-”
In an instant a flash of light appeared from the shadows by the vault door, and a shard of ice sped past us all, hitting Althi square on her side, throwing her to the ground.
Arimis quickly checked on her, then declared she’s unconscious.
Garchomp and the rest of us turned to where the attack came from, and we all saw a second flash of light appear. Almost instantly, Starmie enveloped us in the layer of energy she had summoned at the beginning of the fight, then moved between Pirth and the light.
She took the hit and was almost thrown to the ground, but she regained her footing.
Stay. Behind. Me. came the thought, almost labored.
Weavile emerged from the shadows, twirling a shard of ice in his claws that shone almost as bright as the moon.
Gar… please use the-
The thought was cut off by Weavile’s laugh once again, drowning out everything but his howl. “C’mon Garchomp,” taunted Weavile, lifting his arms into the air and presenting himself, “don’t you want to finally cut into me? Or even after all that you’re considering the coward’s way out?”
Starmie once again pleaded with Garchomp, but once again Weavile got Garchomp exactly where he wanted him: thinking of nothing but cutting him down.
“Oh, I’ll get you alright. I’ll win,” declared Garchomp, once again bending down and focusing his draconic might, the energy literally radiating off of him.
Weavile took a step forward and pointed the ice shard in his hand directly at him and said, “come at me.”
In an instant, Garchomp disappeared into a flash of light, and Weavile likewise moved at lightning speed, dodging an attack that was yet to appear. As soon as it had begun it was over, and Garchomp appeared behind Weavile, and Weavile appeared further to the side than where he had begun, with the shard of ice missing from his hand.
Weavile grimaced, and touched the top of his crown of feathers only for the whole top layer to fall off. “Well, shit. You got me, but I got you too, didn’t I?”
Garchomp said nothing but instead turned around, revealing a shard of ice lodged in his right arm.
“I thought so,” said Weavile with a grin, “these claws rarely do miss their mark.”
Garchomp in a grunt of anger mixed with pain once again enveloped himself in energy and prepared to rush down Weavile, who in turn coalesced another ice shard in his hands.
Again in a flash, the two disappeared, only to reappear once again, Weavile standing in a different position than before and Garchomp on the other side of Weavile.
Garchomp staggered as he reappeared, now with another ice shard stuck, this time in his chest.
Weavile appeared untouched, and just smiled. “Try again?”
Garchomp let out a guttural growl and, just as before, blanketed himself with draconic energy and rushed Weavile.
But Weavile didn’t move. He instead threw the ice shard directly ahead of him, and it caught Garchomp mid-rush, stopping him in his tracks. Another ice shard threw him to the ground, where he didn’t get up.
My heart sank. Weavile had won.
He turned his attention towards us and approached, another ice shard coalescing into his claws. But then he stopped and turned back to Garchomp, who was making a noise.
“I- I don’t believe this,” said Weavile, walking back to Garchomp, “you’re still alive, huh?”
But as soon as he bent over the prone Garchomp, he let out as menacing a laugh as he had at the beginning of the battle.
“What’s this!?” Weavile screamed wildly, “is this the legendary explorer Garchomp, crying?” Instantly Weavile let his guard down and laughed at Garchomp, “you get beat and you cry? Like a bitch? This is really too good to be true. If only you died a noble death, but I guess you’re alive and crying. Well…”
His voice droned off as he turned to us, then back at Garchomp, where he lifted his face and forcibly turned Garchomp towards us. “I guess, 'mate,' you’ll just have to watch as I either kill Pirth,” he said, and at this I looked at Pirth, whose exhaustion had caught up to him, leaving him collapsed on the ground, unable to move, “or if I kill Miss Garchomp who seems intent on guarding that lame deer.”
I looked at Starmie, who stood between the immobile Pirth and Weavile and remained where she was, reinforcing the reflective wall of light that surrounded her.
“Let’s find out who you’ll get to see goes first,” said Weavile, who began walking towards us and summoned a shard of ice, throwing it and hitting Starmie on her arm.
Still, she remained standing.
Once again an ice shard appeared in Weavile’s claws and was flung with deadly precision at Pirth, and once again it hit Stamire, this time directly in her gem, leaving a deep cut and almost throwing her back. But she regained her footing and stood her ground.
Arimis began to move to take the hit instead, but Starmie stopped her.
NO. I. WILL. NOT. LET. YOU. GET. HURT… now use your light screen Arimis, and get behind me, all of you. I won’t budge an inch.
A screen of light enveloped us all, and we all took shelter behind Starmie, with Arimis carrying Althi with her psychic power.
Weavile just laughed. “You- you do know that your light screen does absolutely nothing against these ice shards right?”
“Who said anything about ice-shards,” came the reply from behind Weavile, who turned around to see Garchomp standing once again, smiling. Before Weavile could reply, Garchomp’s grin widened. “Hey, fucker, these tears are fake.”
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, and a bright pink light appeared above us all. I craned my head skyward to see what appeared to be a meteor hurtling towards us.
Weavile was stunned. “Wh- how? You can’t know fake tears! That’s impossible!”
“I’ve got my mum’s eyes. Like I said, my ace in the hole is a secret for a reason.”
The light shone brighter and brighter, and the summit of Ruined Roost shook even more violently. The attack was coming. And Weavile, visibly enraged, would not go out alone.
He turned towards us once again and readied himself for a mad dash to finish us off before the meteor struck.
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKLBhjeN27o
Garchomp, however, saw this and looked at us. I saw in his eyes Garchomp, in an instant, weighing the options he had against each other. Himself on one side of the scale, the rest of us on the other.
I saw his eyes dart to Team Eevee where he saw Pirth collapsed on the ground, Arimis covering us all with her light screen, and Althi, unconscious, and I could see in his eyes that Garchomp knew what should be done.
Garchomp's eyes then met mine and I could see in his eyes the same glint that he had when I told him I was a human what already felt like a lifetime ago, and he mouthed to me “remember your promise, remember to be right and just, to make this world a better place.” I nodded my head, and Garchomp, upon seeing this, steeled himself, and I saw in his eyes that Garchomp accepted what would be done.
Then he looked at Starmie, who was still between us and Weavile, ready to shield us from both him and the blast of Garchomp’s draconic meteor, and I saw his purple eyes meet with Starmie’s gem. What thoughts were exchanged between them I’ll never know, but what I did know is that I could see in Garchomp’s eyes that, after looking at Starmie, to him there never was any question as to what he was going to do.
“Weavile!” Garchomp called out, grabbing his attention, preventing him from charging us and instead refocusing the outlaw on himself, “don’t you want to get the guy who killed you?”
But Weavile refocused on us and said, “this’ll hurt you more.”
Garchomp, however, didn’t let up, and said with a grin that could be heard, “you fell for the fake tears, hook, line and sinker, didn’t you?”
At this Weavile turned around and stared daggers at Garchomp, who met his stare back and, with a smirk and tears - the fake now mixed with real - running down his face, said “come and get me, fucker.”
Weavile, consumed by rage, in a mad dash turned away from us and towards Garchomp, who didn’t close his eyes but instead looked to the sky, watching the meteor as it was about to crash into the summit of Ruined Roost, tears streaming from his eyes. He seemed at peace.
With a crazed laugh and a swift motion, a shard of ice appeared in Weavile’s claws and sliced across Garchomp’s neck.
Garchomp’s body fell to the ground, immediately followed by the meteor which enveloped everything in a flash of brilliant pink and purple, temporarily blinding us.
When I regained my vision, I didn’t feel any more injured than before; it appeared that Starmie’s stance paired with Arimis’ shield of light prevented me from getting hurt. I looked at Arimis and the rest of Team Eevee, who likewise appeared no more hurt than before. But when my attention turned towards Starmie my heart dropped; she was lying on the floor unmoving.
Don’t worry, I heard, she’s just knocked out.
I looked ahead and saw both Weavile and Garchomp on the ground, unmoving, right at the epicenter of the impact zone.
“Pirth, can you stand up?” I asked.
Pirth managed to get on his legs and, though shaking, replied in the affirmative.
“Okay, let’s get everyone, get the treasure so this all wasn’t for nothing, then get out of here.”
It took a moment for Arimis to psychically gather Althi and Starmie, so in the meanwhile I scoured the vault, which though still cold, was empty. I then went to where Garchomp and Weavile lay, first attending to Garchomp’s body. I closed his eyes and took his bandanna and badge which I immediately activated, sending out a distress signal, and put them both in my bag. I turned to Weavile’s person and found both the keystone and, radiating an almost extreme cold, a bundle of Articuno feathers. I took both and, likewise, stashed them away. For a moment I hesitated, then took the wanted poster from Weavile’s bag.
At the very least, I thought, the world will know that there’s one less outlaw running around.
As I readied to move away, I heard a cough and a muttering of gibberish. I turned back around and saw Weavile half conscious, looking at me.
“Kill me,” he managed to let out, leaving me in a bit of a state of shock.
He was fatally wounded, no doubt, and there was no way he would make it out of here alive, especially if help took a day like we expected it to.
But I looked at Garchomp beside him, and, though my blood boiled, I took no action. It’s not what Garchomp would’ve wanted from me, I thought. Instead, I began to walk back to Pirth and Arimis, who were ready to depart, and said, “let’s get out of here.”
As we walked away, my mind exploded in pain as the words D’ALIN! tore through my consciousness. I turned and saw Weavile, barely standing with a wild grin on his face, and a rapidly approaching ice shard. Too late to move, I braced myself for the worst, but Arimis stepped in front of me and took the hit, throwing her back onto me and pushing us both to the ground.
I looked back at her and was horrified to see her now enveloped in black smoke.
“N-NO! Arimis! Don’t go!” I cried as I tried to approach her, but she wasn’t there anymore.
In her place was a Zorua, wincing in pain and looking back at Weavile. I was left utterly speechless, and the Zorua, paying me no mind, ran towards the Weavile and, gracefully dodging another ice shard, hit him with another black shockwave, seemingly knocking him out for good.
Suddenly, the Zoura turned towards me, with a bashful look in its eyes.
d’Alin…
Suddenly I pieced it all together.
d’Alin, I’m sorry to have not-
“You’re alive!” I shouted, running and hugging her. She seemed shocked at my reaction, only responding with, y-yes. I am. You’re not mad at me?
“Christ, no! I- I thought I lost you! But, but why? Why disgu-”
d’Alin, I’d prefer if as few Pokemon knew about this as possible, Pirth included.
I looked back at Pirth, who was facing towards us but, being blind, had no clue what was going on. “Are you alright over there?”
I’m fine Pirth, just took a hit for d’Alin. she looked at me and I heard, I will explain all this later, you have my word.
I was just happy to not have lost anyone else, but I nodded all the same. “Come on, let’s get out of this God-forsaken dungeon and wait for help.”
It took a day for help to arrive, and everything was just a blur. I recovered from the shock at having lost Garchomp, but tried my best to keep watch when Arimis was asleep and, when it was Pirth’s turn, going foraging for berries.
By the time the other rescue teams converged on our location, Arimis had already returned to her Espeon disguise, Pirth had regained some strength, and Starmie and Althi both regained consciousness.
We were all treated for wounds, but I felt hurt all over again when the rescue team returned from the summit of Ruined Roost with the two bodies that were left behind.
We were ushered back to Pokemon Square and questioned extensively. At the insistence of Starmie, we were able to keep one of the four Articuno feathers that had been recovered, and received a hefty bounty reward from Weavile. One that we were told must be reported in Wigglytuff’s Guild. After everything we were let out and met up with Starmie one final time.
I suppose this is the end of our story together, isn’t it, Team Eevee?
"I- I wouldn’t say that… maybe we can work together in a dungeon once we get more experience?”
Starmie only shook her head. I’m quitting being an explorer. After Gar, well, I don’t really see a point in any of it.
We all nodded solemnly. Anyone could understand losing a partner. It was especially difficult for me when I remembered the secret Garchomp told me, and I couldn’t bear to look her in her gem.
I- I’ve arranged for the Federation to still cover your trip back home. However, I know Althi told me you might have other plans while you’re here on the Water Continent, so you can catch the ride back to Grass at your convenience.
“Thanks again, Starmie. For, well, not just that, but everything. For protecting us.”
She just nodded. It’s what Garchomp asked of me. He has- er, had great expectations for all of you.
After exchanging farewells and Starmie insisting that, even though she would quit being an explorer, to visit her in Sahara Town if we were ever there, we regrouped and discussed what to do next.
“Well first,” said Althi, “this Articuno feather is cold. I’d say Pirth, since you’re getting your special Leafeon winter coat, that you hold onto it for the team. Sound good?”
After tying it in a string and putting the new necklace on Pirth’s neck, Althi quickly changed subjects. “If we want to honor Garchomp’s sacrifice for us, then I think it’s our duty to evolve, me and d’Alin. Seeing that, uh, Pirth, you’re already a Leafeon, you can’;t evolve, so no worries there. Same with you Arimis, as an Espeon you’re already set. And I think it’s important that we’re all able to be evolved and ready to fight as best as we can!”
We all agreed, and were left surprised at how good a leader Althi had become. Though she’s still as much of an egomaniac as before, she’s really gotten better at leading.
I felt a pang of pain and remembered the dream I had been avoiding this whole time: being trapped underwater, leaving my team to face the storm. After everything, I was just too exhausted to want to face that, so Arimis’ calm mind had helped tremendously.
I glanced at Arimis. Both exhausted, we still hadn’t discussed what it was she wanted to explain, but while that didn’t matter to me all too much, it was important to her, since she kept mentioning that there’d be a better time and place. She looked at me and gave a quick smile, then back to Althi.
I don’t care what kind of Pokemon she is, I thought, so long as I have her, and Althi and Pirth by my side, then that’s all that really matters to me. That and making sure I’m able to honor the promise I made to Garchomp.
“Are we all ready?” asked the now-confident Eevee who very clearly was determined to be just an Eevee no more, and after receiving an affirmative from all of us, shouted, “follow me!” and confidently led us in triumph across pokemon Square all the way to a cliff where a Pelliper Post office was. We stood there for a moment, the only noise being the flap of Pelippers above and the crash of the waves below, the smell of sea fresh in my nostrils.
Arimis broke the silence of the moment, sort of. Uh, Althi, are you sure we’re heading in the right direction? came the thought. So not technically making any noise since it was all in our heads, but I digress.
Althi was quiet, overlooking the sea from the cliffs as if in sagely compilation, then turned to us and smiled sheepishly, “we should probably ask for directions, right?”