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teamconductors · 3 years ago

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Lost Tracks of Time, Chapter 5

Summary: Ingo and Emmet conceited to visiting a tailor to fix their suits. When the tailor offers to buff their uniforms for a special cost, will they be able to pay her price? Or will an unusual dungeon be the end of our hero's plans?

Author’s Note: This is the chapter that uses that one idea from the one anon! I always had the idea that Ingo’s and Emmet’s hats were stat-boosting items, but it makes more sense for someone to have made the hats that way, y’know?

As always, thank you @furiouskettle for inspiring this AU with your designs of the submas as Sneasels!

(Shippers DNI)

“Emmet, this doesn’t pass inspection, and I don’t think we are qualified to make these repairs,” Ingo said, looking over the singed edges of Emmet’s coat. The morning after Chandelure joined the rescue team, Ingo and Emmet both discovered that Emmet’s coat burned slightly from their new partner’s tears. Chandelure floated in a corner of the tent above the twins, obviously upset. “Chandelure, please don’t be hard on yourself.”

“We fixed our own clothes before,” Emmet said. “A burn would not be different.”

“While I would normally agree, I think we need to leave this part of maintenance to the experts. Just for today, let’s find a tailor.” Emmet and Chandelure followed Ingo, who left their tent and made for the Pearl Guild’s main building.

The sun finished rising over the horizon. Palina the (Kantoian) Arcanine stood at the job bulletin board, pinning up requests for any of the teams in the guild to accept and complete. Next to her, though, was Lian, hammering nails into a second bulletin board next to the first one.

“Good morning, Palina and Lian!” Ingo said as he and Emmet approached the board. “I see you have already begun morning preparations.”

“Oh, you’re early today!” Palina said, not looking away from her stack of letters from the Pelliper’s postal service.

“That is a large number of letters,” Emmet said. “Do we really need another board for them?”

“Yeah…” Lian said, pausing his work. “We’ve been getting a lot of rescue jobs lately, like more than normal. It’s a lil worrying, but I think we can handle it, right? Are you here for early job pickin’?”

“My coat is burned. I need a tailor,” Emmet said, showing the two his folded coat. “Do you know a good one?”

“Hm… Let me think…” Lian continued hammering the new board, which graded on Ingo’s and Emmet’s ears. When he finished, a realization came over him, and Lian’s face showed it. “Oh right! Palina, do you remember that one tailor south of Eterna Town? What’s her name?”

“South, south… Oh, yeah!” Palina finished covering the first board in requests and began pinning the rest to the second one. “Her name is Anthe. She made accessories for Irida and some of the other guild members. I think she can help you.”

“You heard her, Emmet!” Ingo said. “We have our destination!”

***

Out of the way from the Pearl Guild and the nearby Eterna Town was an above-ground path made from concrete and metal. The path led to the southern half of the land and was devoid of pokemon. Trees and vines took over the bridge, weaving itself into the concrete and overtaking the columns. Underneath the path was more signs of humanity’s footprint, including wood houses that only inhabited mildew and small pokemon.

Among the buildings clinging onto structure was one that appeared functional. Neither paint nor woodstains decorated the walls, and fur-like tarps haphazardly covered holes in the roof. Next to its entrance was a small bell. A wooden sign displayed a single word burned onto it: “Tailor”.

Ingo and Emmet approached the entrance. Emmet held his folded coat in his arms, while Ingo still wore his. Chandelure was behind them, just happy to be there. Ingo rang the bell.

“Come in,” a woman’s voice said from inside. As such, they opened the door.

The first thing the twins noticed was the scent of freshly cleaned clothes. In front of them stood a desk with a countertop that crossed the entire room and notched with ruler marks. Measuring tape, circular scissors, chalk, and a sitrus berry-shaped cushion with numerous pins sticking out were among the items sitting on the desk. On the walls to the conductors’ left and right hanged several accessories, ranging from bow and ribbons to capes, hats, and even suits. Several pre-made fabrics in a rainbow of colors lined the walls behind the desk. And at the desk itself was a Furfrou. At a distance, she looked like she was wearing a white top hat, but it was really fur trimmed that way.

“Welcome to my tailor’s shop, little ones,” the Furfrou said. “I am Anthe. What can I do for you?”

“I am Emmet. This is my coat. Please don’t drop it.” Emmet laid the coat onto the counter.

“How dare you assume I would! But… let me see the damages.” Anthe brought her front paws onto the counter and carefully unfolded the coat. She stared at the coat for a moment – not just at the burn marks but all over the white uniform. “What is this?”

“It’s my uniform,” Emmet said like she asked a silly question.

“This is… This is a human’s coat! How did you get this in such good condition – well, “good” might be an exaggeration, but still, how?”

“I told you, it’s my uniform. It was made for me.”

Anthe sighed, visibly annoyed. “Okay, if you’re not gonna answer me, then never mind. If you’re willing to pay me… I will match the material of the coat with what I have as best I can and then make it look brand new.” Anthe stroked her hand across the coat and looked up at the Sneasels and their ghost friend. Then her eyes darted to Ingo’s coat. “Oh my goodness! Little poisonous Sneasel, let me fix your coat!”

“Excuse me?” Ingo asked. “What’s wrong with my coat?”

“”What’s wrong with it?!”” Anthe hopped over the counter (being careful not to touch Emmet’s coat) to approach Ingo face-to-face. “What isn’t wrong with it?! The collar is in tatters, barely hanging onto its shape. The ends have seen better days, and the cuffs are completely gone. And comparing this one to the other “uniform”, the browns have lost their vibrancy! Please let me fix it!”

“My coat does not need repairs, so I respectfully decline,” Ingo said.

“It absolutely needs repairs, sir. I will give you a discount, just please let me mend it!”

“NO!” Ingo never had an indoor voice, but his shout made Anthe’s ears ring. Emmet widened his eyes at Ingo. Chandelure watched over his trainer with a worried expression.

As for Anthe, she was stunned and left her mouth hang open for a couple of seconds before recollecting herself. “…Okay… fine… If you don’t want your coat’s rips and tears mended, then I won’t. But I can offer both of you a service. I can tell you’re a rescue team and apparently deal with fire-type pokemon often. Without changing your coats’ appearances, I can make them fireproof. I will ask for a fair bit of compensation, but you won’t have to worry about burn marks again.”

“Would that change the coat’s weight or feel?” Ingo asked.

Anthe’s nerves calmed from hearing Ingo’s (still loud) normal voice. “If I do my job right – and I will – your coats will feel the same as they did before.”

“Very well…” Ingo took off his coat, though each motion was slowed like he was forcing himself to do it. He folded up his coat and placed it on the countertop next to Emmet’s.

“Before I start, your payment is going to be 5000 poke dollars. Will you be able to pay that?”

“Yes. We are more than prepared for whatever price you would list.”

“Fantastic. Then I will begin.” Anthe took the coats and entered into a room behind the office Team Conductors stood at.

Ingo stood still, only moving to pet Chandelure on the head.

“Your reaction was strong,” Emmet said. “Wouldn’t it be better to do proper repairs of our uniforms?”

“It was rather improper of me,” Ingo said. “It… scares me, how much I do things without knowing why. Objectively, my uniform must be kept at an acceptable condition, so why do I feel a tug in my heart each time I think of fixing it completely?”

“I don’t know. You talk about these things, and I still don’t get it. But I am Emmet. I am your brother. I will be with you until you find out why and beyond.”

“I expect nothing less,” Ingo said, almost smiling.

“Done,” Anthe said as she left her private work room. The coats hanged on metal wires that Anthe carried by her mouth. With a swift motion, she swung both coats onto her counter, revealing Emmet’s coat was patched up to normal condition and Ingo’s still had the same rips, fraying, and wear. They both took their coats and put them on at the same time, much to Anthe’s surprise. “They’re not gonna block fire-type moves, but they’ll survive everything up to getting dipped into lava. …Don’t actually dip them in lava, please.”

“I will take your word for it,” Ingo said. “Emmet, what do you-“

Ingo watched as Emmet brought a sleeve – and his arm with it - into Chandelure’s flames to test Anthe’s claim. Emmet failed to realize his mistake until it was too late. Chandelure stopped letting their flames hurt Emmet, but the super-effective damage was done. Ingo presented his brother an oran berry to munch on. “I am impressed,” Emmet said between bites. “No damage was done to my coat. Well done.”

Anthe found her mouth hanging open once again. “Well… before you go… I offer one more service to improve the quality of and customize exploration equipment. Do you have any items like scarves or ribbons that you would like more use of?”

“Oh, neither of us use those,” Ingo said. “The uniforms we use now are more than enough for our jobs.”

“But they’re normal clothes. You… You’re…” Anthe looked at the badges that the two weird Sneasels attached to their coats. “You’re an S-rank rescue team and you haven’t been using protection equipment during your dangerous trips and battles??”

“Yes,” Ingo and Emmet both said at the same time.

“…Well… with the right price, I could turn your “uniforms” into something that could actually help you. It would have to be the hats since I just altered your coats. Here is my list of offers.” She reached under the counter and presented them a wooden plaque with words painted on. The list was: attack, defense, special attack, special defense, critical hit ratio, health, persim, pecha, rawst, chesto, leppa, stamina, and all-rounder. The last one had an additional description: “combines effects of the attack, defense, special attack, and special defense options”.

Ingo and Emmet both pointed at ‘all-rounder’.

“Oh, you two want this one? Fine, but you’ll need to bring me some items first.” Anthe reached under her desk and pulled out a paper.

All-rounder customization. In addition to 10k poke dollars per article, bring me one of the following: defense scarf, power band, special band, and zinc band.

“Wow! These are verrrry expensive materials!” Emmet said. His signature smile remained on his face, but his eyes let Anthe know he thought the price as ridiculous.

“It’s the best customization option I have, and not only will it make you stronger, but only you two will get to benefit from its strength. What do you say?”

Ingo looked at Emmet and saw his brother almost shaking with excitement at the possibility of improving his battle experience. “Allow us to return with the appropriate supplies, then we can complete this trip.”

***

For three days, Team Conductors travelled through three dungeons – Cottonridge Prairie, Hooftrack Heights, and Grueling Grove – looking for the scarves while completing missions. Seven pokemon were rescued, three bounties collected, and two lost items retrieved to their clients. Ingo and Emmet had more than enough money to pay for the upgrade, but they only found 3 power bands and 1 zinc band.

On the fourth day, when all of the Pearl Guild teams gathered in the assembly hall for morning announcements, a gloominess hanged around Chatot and Irida.

“…And now, the Guildmaster has a major announcement,” Chatot said to the room of eight rescue teams and several Guild housekeepers. “Pay attention!” He stepped aside and let Irida take center stage.

“I know everyone is probably eager to get right to getting missions, but unfortunately, I must instruct everyone to hold off on entering ANY mystery dungeons until further notice.”

“WHAT?!” said several of the guild members. Whispering between pokemon broke out.

“I know, I know.” The crowd settled down to listen to Irida. “But I have a good reason. As you may have noticed, we’ve been having a large increase in rescue jobs with lost pokemon. Well, there’s been a trend with the newer requests: all of them describe entering a floor in a mystery dungeon unlike any of the others. They’re dark, near impossible to navigate, and worst of all, no stairs nor doorways can be found. Neither escape orbs nor Teleport or guild badges allow them to escape.

“…And the reason we know our badges don’t work is because… one of our very own, Team Stardust, entered a dungeon and haven’t returned.” Irida paused to allow Chatot to get them to calm down. “We received word from leader Lucian that, while they are not in immediate danger, they are completely unable to progress through the dungeon. Today, Chatot and I will be leaving to converge with the Diamond Guildmaster and all 10 Nobles about what our next step is. For today, I ask everyone to either stay around here or Eterna Town to help with housekeeping. You are dismissed!”

Most of the pokemon in the hall scattered around the Guild. Ingo, Emmet, and Chandelure still stood in the center of the room.

“…We have to help them,” Ingo said. “Irida didn’t say their location, so we will have to find out before we can leave this station.”

“You think we can rescue them without guaranteeing that this is a round trip and not one-way?” Emmet asked.

Ingo grabbed onto the brim of his hat to think. “…It would be better than just shutting down operations for today. If nothing else, we can deliver food and medicines.”

“Okay. Maybe we can challenge Team Stardust to a battle. Battling a hyper-ranked team would be fun!”

“Very well, but now we need to face the issue of finding their location.”

Ingo and Emmet silently brainstormed for a moment, even taking up identical poses. Chandelure spun around, waiting for a response. Then the two Sneasels opened their eyes and ran off to one of the hallways, Chandelure following right behind.

At the job bulletin board, Palina was taking down job requests. She paused upon hearing two sets of footsteps running toward her.

“Good morning, Miss Palina!” Ingo said with a salute. “By any chance, do you know where Team Stardust is currently at?”

“Perhaps…” Palina narrowed her eyes at the Sneasels. “Why do you ask? You don’t plan on going after them, do you? You heard Irida’s order.”

“We are going to visit Team Stardust!” Emmet said. “I’m going to challenge them for a battle.”

Palina was understandably astonished by Emmet’s bluntness. “Are you sure you wanna do that now??”

“Yes.”

“We’re actually going to check in on them and ensure their safety,” Ingo said. “We will deliver to them food and berries. I realize Guildmaster Irida asked us to not enter mystery dungeons, but I cannot rest while others are out there in need of help.” Chandelure nodded with him.

“Well, I understand not being able to sit still, but you heard the guildmaster…” Palina finished taking down all the jobs and gazed at her sad little pile of calls for help. “…I mean, I was the one who saw Lucian’s letter first and showed it to Irida… I still have it on me… It would be a shame if you guys found that letter after I finished taking down the jobs from today… It would tell you where to go…” Palina turned and left, but a single piece of paper dropped from her stack and floated to Ingo’s foot.

Ingo held up the paper so that all three of them could read. After a moment, Ingo and Emmet nodded to each other and agreed on their next destination.

After finishing and rechecking their morning checks, Team Conductors made their way to one of the coldest areas of the land when they saw a familiar face about to pass them.

“Good day, Lady Sneasler!” Ingo pointed at Sneasler and at the ground. Emmet saluted her, and Chandelure waved with one arm.

“Yo, weirdos.” Sneasler waved at them as she approached. “Looks like you’re on a mission. What’s your plan for today?”

“Our destination is in the Bonechill Wastes! We are going to help a rescue team. What is yours?”

“I’m going to the Guild. Irida called me for some meeting or something, and I wanna get there before Chatot gets the urge to write another letter.”

“Oh, yes. Please have safe travels, Lady Sneasler!”

“Alright, alright. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Very well!”

***

Ingo and Emmet found themselves breezing through a dungeon where missions often ranked at 4-stars minimum. The icy landscape of Bonechill Wastes hardly bothered the Ice-type Emmet, and Chandelure provided light and additional warmth to Ingo’s coat. All of the pokemon they faced fell in one strike from either Ingo’s new Drain Punch or Chandelure’s Mystical Fire.

Packed snow lined the walls, floors, and ceilings. Not even a heavy pokemon like Mamoswine was able to form footprints in the ground. The snow held up to Chandelure’s flames and never melted. The pure white landscape almost blinded the twins in the first few floors, but the light dimmed as they travelled lower and lower. The snow sparkled the entire time.

“The next floor is B23. That is where Team Stardust was forced to send a rescue request to their own guild. Are you ready, Emmet?” Ingo asked as the three of them stood next to a flight of stairs.

“Always,” Emmet said.

“Chandelure? What of you?”

Chandelure nodded, energized after consuming a max elixir.

“Very well.” With Ingo leading, Team Conductors entered the next floor.

The difference of the 23rd floor from the rest of the dungeon was immediately apparent. Chandelure’s flames were the only thing that told the team they entered a small room on the floor. Beyond the flames, the walls disappeared into darkness. The snow sparkled, but the darkness combined with the glittering snow to form an illusion that Team Conductors was in outer space.

Ingo pulled an orb from his satchel and held it up. It lit up the room and some of the halls connected to it for a second before returning them to darkness. Ingo frowned more and took out the map. Chandelure’s blue flames provided enough light for them to read the map of the entire floor, thanks to the orb. The map showed hallways that twisted around rooms, numerous dead ends, and overall, a dungeon floor larger than Ingo or Emmet ever saw. Worst of all, the stair’s location was absent.

“So the luminous orb worked… but it’s supposed to provide a light to show the way. Where is it?” Ingo asked.

“At least we have Chandelure to help us,” Emmet said. “Let’s watch our step and keep going!”

“Guide the way, my Chandelure.” At Ingo’s suggestion, they floated ahead of the Sneasels and moved through one of the halls.

As the three walked through the floor, the eeriness of the situation grew. No items were on the ground in any room. No pokemon wandered around to challenge them to a fight, either. Team Conductors roamed the hallways with only themselves for company.

Or that’s what they thought. After a half-hour of exploring, they heard a calm but authoritative voice. “…There! There’s the blue light!”

“I just wanna go towards it!” a second voice piped in, sounding like they were half-asleep.

“Pull yourself together, Nidorino…” a third voice said, also sounding like he just woke up from a nap.

“Hello? We’re a rescue team! Come here!” Ingo called out, pointing at the direction of the voices and at the ground.

“You’re a rescue team? So are we!” the first voice said. Two sets of footsteps ran towards Team Conductors. Though Chandelure braced for battle, Ingo and Emmet did not.

The three pokemon got close enough to be lit by Chandelure’s flames. One was a Musharna with a satchel identical to Ingo’s. The second was a Nidorino wearing a thorny scarf. The third – the leader – was Lucian the Medicham, wearing his signature X-specs.

“Greetings, Team Stardust! I am Ingo. The fellow to my right is Emmet, and the fellow to my left is Chandelure,” Ingo said with a hat tip.

“Oh, you’re Team Conductors!” Lucian said.

“You guys are the ones who wake everyone up every morning…” Musharna said with a yawn.

“You’re the ones helping us?” Nidorino asked, obviously concerned.

“Well, we wanted to ensure your safety by visiting you and providing items.” Ingo and Emmet reached into their bags and pulled out a total of three apples and gave one to each member. “But while we were on route, Emmet and I came up with an alternate route escape plan.”

“You didn’t have a plan before?” Nidorino asked between massive bites of his apple.

“I’ve been meditating for the past day trying to come up with an escape method but had nothing.” Lucian took a single bite from his apple and gave the rest to Musharna. “I would love to see what you came up with.”

“Emmet! Prepare for departure!” Ingo said.

Emmet held up his claws and struck the floor, cracking the snow. “Follow the rules and drive safely. We’re headed for victory! All aboard!” Emmet proceeded to continue Digging down. “Don’t decouple from me, Ingo!”

After a minute, Ingo dug his claws into the walls of the hole and began climbing down. “Once we confirm we entered another floor, I will have Chandelure safely lower you down. Please remain seated,” he said. Once he was inside, Chandelure held its arms up to fit and floated down after the Sneasels.

Lucian, Musharna, and Nidrorino watched the weird rescue team descend.

“Would this actually work, Lucian?” Nidorino asked.

“Hm, not sure. In regular dungeon, it’s theoretically possible but unlikely since the density of ground between floors is too hard and dense to dig through. But this dungeon is made entirely of snow…” Lucian hummed while thinking over the twin’s plan. “It’s worth a try, at the very least.”

Ten minutes passed. Chandelure’s light disappeared long ago, returning Team Stardust to darkness. After fifteen minutes, a hole appeared in the ceiling above them. Blue light shone through, followed by Ingo and Emmet’s voices.

“I see something!” Emmet said above them.

“Wait… Pull the brakes! Brake, Emmet!” Ingo was too late. Emmet broke through the ceiling with his claws and fell down. Lucian jumped to his feet from his meditating position and ran to where Emmet would land, catching the Sneasel in his arms.

“Strange. Verrrry strange,” Emmet said after looking around. He dusted loose snow off his coat and stood back on his feet. Chandelure let Ingo climb onto their arms and floated back down to ground level. Emmet looked up at the hole. Emmet’s face smiled. His eyes did not. ”How did that happen? I dug straight down.”

Lucian grabbed a radar orb from Musharna’s bag and dropped it down the hole Emmet made in the ground. A few seconds later, the same orb fell from the hole in the ceiling and shattered on landing.

“That is not the round trip we needed…” Ingo said. Chandelure floated to Ingo and frowned, almost begging for reassurance that they weren’t trapped.

“So much for that… We really are stuck here…” Musharna said, once again yawning.

“I appreciate the effort, Team Conductors” Lucian said. “But it’s back to waiting for proper assistance.”

“Please forgive me and Emmet for not being able to free you,” Ingo said, his shame more evident in his voice than on his face. “Please forgive us…”

#pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon legends arceus spoilers #pokemon legends arceus #pokmeon ingo #pokemon emmet #submas #pmd au #not too happy with this one but it's a setup chapter and i had to split this story into two chapters #i usually call it when i get to 10 pages in my word doc #PMD lost tracks of time

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