#the move morning sun... in pmd... (falls to the ground)

[aimer-arts]

more doodles of evolved team fate!

[esmecol]

Neverland Paradise Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of my PMD Fanfic I made back in March (still writing Chapter 2...)

Nothing can save you from the lightless, dark abyss of a Mystery Dungeon except yourself, and Monty quickly realized this as he sat outside the entrance to the depths of Ahajimi Cave, a familiar but unwelcome feeling making itself known. Fiddling with his fingers, the young Eevee sat apprehensively in the bright, beautiful grass field laid out before the cavern, dropping his bag from his back beside him. The cave, with its visible inside area being filled with dark browns and grays, made a harsh contrast to the surrounding area, a peaceful green grass field that transitioned into a small path surrounded by forest that served as a shortcut to Realza Town, Monty’s hometown. He tried to suppress this uncomfortable feeling, which was starting to resurface. 'Come on, you got to try, well, something. Can't be too hard,' he attempted to persuade himself unsuccessfully.

The topic of the cave brought him back to his older memories of Ahajimi Cave, when he would be dragged by the wrist through the clearing by his friend, a Teddiursa named Kobai. The marking on her head, shaped like a crescent moon, seemed to always shine brightest when she was getting pumped up. Just like each time they came here before, she rushed out of her home that morning, grabbing Monty by the arm and basically dragging him with her to try and explore the cave again, seemingly at random. Trusting her fists in the air and stomping with her boots in the grass, she took a look back at Monty, who was sitting down in the grass, fidgeting with his paws and looking at the ground nervously.

“You’re not gonna come with me?”

“N-no…”

“But we never go! You gotta conquer your fears or whatever Supervisor Leon said.”

“It’s a Mystery Dungeon, those are really dangerous! I haven’t even learned Vine Whip yet, and Fury Swipes can’t defeat a single Zubat. Even if we make it out alive, what would we tell our parents?”

“Okay, fine. But promise me.”

“Promise you what?”

“Promise me that you’ll explore the cave someday, and then we’ll both explore it together. Alright?”

“....Alright. I promise.”

“Great, then let’s go prank Matt again. Your dad taught you some new tricks, right?”

“Never doubt the tricks of someone with the blood of a Whimsicott,” Monty responded with a cocky smirk.

The two of them got to planning. Matt was a pretty clumsy Raichu, who always had a cold when he first came to Realza Town having come from Alola. Despite being an adult, everyone was close friends with him and were entertained when he told scary stories from his hometown or showed them a new move he learned.

Back to the present, Monty got to his feet and glanced up at the cave again. His stare turned into a glare, as if he was having a staredown with the dungeon. Monty wavered, trying to keep his cool, but it failed, and his face turned to an angry pour as he dropped to the ground again, slouching in self defeat. Tons of other people have entered Ahajimi Cave before, and Kobai would have definitely tried if it wasn’t for him.

A wind started to blow, pressuring the leaves in the grass to sway and dance, uncaring for anything in the world. Monty looked up to the sky. It was a bright light blue, signifying mid morning, and translucent clouds slowly inched their way through the sky, with a white ray of light, the sun, in the northwest corner, shone its warm rays upon everything in sight, giving him a lot of energy. For a moment, Monty forgot about his hopes of entering Ahajimi Cave and spent time basking in the warm light and soft grass, closing his eyes and leaning back to fully take in his surroundings and enjoy the warm comfortability of spring.

The wind swayed and moved everything nearby, particularly in the forest. There was a small rustling sound, probably some twigs falling from a tree. Then more fell. The sound got louder and louder, and then caught the attention of Monty, who sat up and glanced at the forest. ‘Is Kobai trying to scare me or something?’ This reminded him of why he came here. ‘What the heck, me? Kobai put this on hold for you. You have to try… something. The dangerous Pokemon only live in the lower levels, and you just have to go down to around the third floor. You just go in and leave. It can't be that hard, especially with the blood of a Chesnaught.’ The thought of his mother's strength gave him the boost he needed, as he began to walk towards the entrance. ‘Although I should probably tell Kobai first. … Wait…’ 

Kobai didn’t make all that noise when sneaking up on Monty, she just went for it. This wasn’t Kobai. This was probably some little kid from the village, who weren’t that good at walking through the forests without making a lot of noise and attracting attention to themselves. Or Matt. Monty stood up and turned around, facing the forest. “Hey, come on out. You really scared me for a second,” he called out to the green backdrop, waiting for a response. But there was only the sound of continuous rustling coming from the forest. Monty was growing nervous. “D-did I annoy you? Sorry,” a small blush of embracement powdering his face.

This time, the rustling stopped and there was a second of blissful silence. Then, a blur shot out from the bushes, clawing at Monty and dropping him to the ground with a soft thud as the figure almost fell to the ground themself. Monty turned around to  look at his attacker. It was a Sneasel, with a very expression on her face that bordered between anger and seriousness and bloodied claws. Feeling his face, Monty realized that this was his blood, as the pain started to kick in now. A second figure came out, a Machop with a piercing grin that communicated a more violent expression than the Sneasel. The two stared at Monty for a few seconds as if waiting for something, and finally the Sneasel spoke.

“Looke here, Chop. We got ourselves an idiot ready to call out to a suspicious sound from the woods. For someone my age, you sure are stupid,” the Weasel taunted in a cold and smug voice that didn’t match her expression in the slightest.

“Hey!” The Machop yelled at the Sneasel, turning towards her in a fighting stance. “My name’s Riley, not Chop, and you got another thing coming if you think you can call me that!”

“I would’ve called you Riley if you told me your name when you joined forces with me. Sweet Arceus, it’s been 10 minutes and you’re already bitching,” the Sneasel retorted, saying the last part to herself.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Monty very slowly reached for and grabbed his bag, and began to look around for places to escape, hoping the two strangers didn’t notice. ‘They’re straight ahead, so that rules out forward. Left leads to the mountain up to the Guild, but these two would definitely catch up to me before I get there, especially the Sneasel. Behind me is Ahajimi Cave, so that’s an instant no-go. And to my right… is the road beside the river. Good luck to them crossing it safely. So I’ll go ri-’

His thoughts were interrupted by a rough punch to the stomach by the one named Riley. Monty flew back, crashing into some rocks nearby, knocking the wind out of him and scraping up his back, as he slumped for a second. Before he could counterattack, Riley landed a second and third hit back-to-back on him, dropping him to the ground. Double Hit. As Monty dropped to the ground, coughing up blood, the Sneasel dashed over, pushing aside Riley and clawing Monty with another Scratch, but this time it was much stronger, trading speed for brute force. Monty dropped to the ground a second time, staining the grass in red once again as the strap on his bag ripped. The Sneasel gave him a smirk, ripping the bag from his hands as the Machop held him down.  “S-stop it… p-please,” Monty begged, stuttering through strained gasps.

The stranger with Monty’s bag stopped examining the bag and looked down at him, and dropped it to the ground, just out of his reach.

“P-... please…”

Riley let out a cruel chuckle, and the Sneasel stayed silent. “Please don't, Eevee,” she said, with much less malicious intent in her voice. “I feel bad enough as it is. We’ll just be taking your bag. Let’s go, Riley. You’ll get your part of the reward-”

“If you pieces of shit do anything else to Monty, I’ll-!”

All three of them swiftly turned towards the source of the voice, coming from the forest. Out came Kobai, fists raised ready for a fight. She slowly stepped towards the attackers. Monty pushed himself off the ground. “Kobbi, don’t come over here!” Riley turned towards the Teddiursa, cracking his knuckles and neck. “Sounds like someone wants to play the hero, eh? I can kick your stupid ass with a single attack. Just watch-” Before Riley could act on this promise, Kobai slashed at Riley’s arms and shoulders, making good use of her claws as he clamped over his shoulders and fell to the ground, holding back tears in pain and staining more of the ground in bright red. She then turned to the Sneasel with a glare of anger, while the Sneasel was standing her ground, but seemed visibly nervous.

“Where’s your confidence now, huh? For someone who felt ‘real bad’ about robbing a defenseless Pokémon, you sure seemed real smug about it. Give the bag back and leave, or I‘ll-” The Sneasel had lunged at Kobai, who had seen this coming and got ready to block. However, the Sneasel simply jumped off her arms, landing next to Monty’s bag. Grabbing it, she dashed into Ahajimi Cave without a second thought for her partner. Kobai and Monty stared into the cave’s entrance, very confused and thinking the same thing. ‘She went for the Mystery Dungeon instead of the river?’ Kobai then turned her focus towards Monty, lending him a hand.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s alright,” Monty lied, as he started to struggle to stand, holding Kobai’s shoulder for support. He fought to hold back tears. “I can’t even protect myself.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Kobai tried comforting him. “It was a two-on-one, and you don’t fight too good anyway. We should go call Supervisor Leon from the guild, he’ll arrest these assholes.”

“…Why don’t we follow that Sneasel and catch her ourselves?”

“Wait, really? I mean, normally, I’d be all for it, but you’re hurt pretty badly.”

“Please just trust me on this. Something’s up about that Sneasel’s behavior. I’ll tell you what I mean, but first, please. Something’a telling me to go after her.”

“I believe you one hundred percent, man. We’ll catch up to that asshole Sneasel, but before I forget, if you don’t excuse me-“ Grabbing rope from Monty’s bag, she walked over to Riley, who was slowly but surely crawling away. Pulling him back, she brought him to a nearby tree and tied him up, dropping an apple of her own on his head. “There. Let’s see you run now, Mr. Machops.”

Riley turned and struggled to escape from the rope, trying to kick at Kobai. “My name’s Riley, not Mr. Machops! Also, let me go!”

Ignoring Riley, Kobai turned around, grabbing Monty’s arm and dashing into the entrance of Ahajimi Cave. “I didn’t expect my first time exploring a Mystery Dungeon to be like this, but now I get to catch a criminal,” she hollered, turning her head towards the sky. “ALRIGHT,” she yelled at the top of her lungs, as the two of them made their descent into Ahajimi Cave.

*                    *                    *

Ahajimi Cave, 1F

By now, Monty had finally come to realize the situation he had put him and Kobai in. ‘Great, Monty, look what you got yourself into. You ran into a Mystery Dungeon with no items, and you’re gonna fight a Sneasel with the strength of a Nidoking.’ Monty gripped the sides of his head in anger at this realization, and afterwards began to finally look at his surroundings. Despite its reputation as a Mystery Dungeon full of wild and dangerous Pokemon, the cave itself had an aura of mixed peaceful beauty, which made itself difficult to make out from Monty’s lightheadedness. The dark browns of the cave’s ceiling and light grays of the ground were almost entirely drowned out by the shining rays of light coming from the ponds that lay about alongside the pathways. The walls were decorated with moss and shining crystals; Monty had heard that they weren’t worth anything, but they still shone beautifully with the sky blue water. Unlike the darkness of the entrance, the inside of the cave was bright and beautiful. Monty couldn’t hold back his admiration for the dungeon’s sights, and neither could Koabi.

“This place is really pretty,” Kobai mumbled in awe. “I wonder why no one talks about this?”

“Probably because Rana, that Piplup from the guild, is always going on and on about how he took down a Monster House here once before he joined the guild.”

“As if! I heard from Leon that he couldn’t even beat a wild Kabuto. Wait, there’s a Monster House here? He never told me that.”

“Because it was a test, and you just failed. I’d never come here if there was a Monster House.”

“Oh, come on, give me a heads up next time!” Kobai gave Monty a playful punch to his arm, and the both of them chuckled over it, their childish laughter echoing in the corridors ahead of them, as they both forgot about their problems. After they finished laughing, Monty began to analyze his surroundings, seemingly looking for something that wasn’t there.

*                    *                    *

Ahajimi Cave, 2F

“Weird, there’s nothing jumping out at us. You’d expect a Shellos or Shellder to come out of nowhere,” Monty said, stealing a glance of the corridor ahead of them. As if on cue, out came a wild Pokemon flew at them from a distance away by the pond. Upon seeing this shape swoop in, Kobai assumed a fighting stance to the best of her ability and Monty simply took a step down, as they both had fatigue from earlier. As the shape revealed itself as Golbat, it then… dropped to the ground and frantically ran right past them, screaming, paying no mind to the two Pokemon before it. They watched as it dashed in the opposite direction to the cave’s entrance.

“There aren't wild Pokemon because of something that even scared the Golbat…,” Monty mumbled. “I think we should-”

“You'll be fine. Please trust me.”

Monty stumbled back upon seeing this sudden voice. It sounded similar, but he had never heard it before. It was gentle and kind, like a parent speaking to their child in a moment of emotional anguish.

‘What the hell? Are you speaking to me through telepathy,’ Monty responded in his mind. ‘How can I know you’re safe to trust?’ But the voice didn’t respond, leaving his mind in silence once again. Thinking of this, Monty didn’t notice that Kobai was looking at him with concern.

“...Earth to Monty. Are you there, man?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Something was bugging me.”

“What was it?”

“Okay, hear me out here. I’m not insane, alright?”

“After that time you told me that you heard about these things that look like Lillipup called dogs, nothing else you say can make you seem insane.”

“Alright… I got the idea of coming here from a voice in my head, and I don’t know if it’s my head acting up, but that voice just talked to me again. I don’t know who it is, but they sound familiar.”

“Huh. Let's narrow it down. Are they a dude or girl?"

"Guy."

"Do you get the feeling of dark thoughts and uncomfortability? Maybe it's just a ghost type acting like a jerk."

"No, it was… oddly comforting."

"Well, I got no clues," Koa I shrugged. "Maybe ask Mana the Xatu about it later. My money's on a Ralts." She made a mock shocked gasp after Monty shot her an intense glare. "What? You two are probably just friends. Really close friends."

"Hey, stop it! I don't know any Ralts!"

"Then why are you getting so mad about it?"

“Well, um…Anyway, they sounded older than me, but they’re probably not an adult.”

“Maybe it’s some Haunter messing with you or something. I heard those guys are pretty sneaky.”

“But that voice sounded genuine, so I doubt- wait, look at this!”

Monty pointed to the ground ahead, where he found streaks of blood that were still bright red, signifying that they were quite new. Upon this revelation, the two Pokemon began apprehensively looking all around them for some sign of life and especially an easy escape. There was nothing, the corridor becoming completely silent except for the quiet waves and strained breathing from Monty. Their theory from earlier was confirmed. There was something in this dungeon, and it’s far stronger than anything else Monty or Kobai had ever encountered. There seemed to only be one way in or out, the entrance they had come from. From the floor they were currently on, there was no way that they could quickly make their getaway, as they walked for so long, they had lost track of time. Kobai was patting down the wall, looking for something. Then, she found a piece of cobblestone that felt particularly loose. Pulling at it with all her strength, she took the hole off the wall to reveal a giant hole. Looking into it, she found a rope going through a dark area, which was big enough to give a Lucario wiggle room and seemed to have no starting point, continuing up the hole in complete darkness, and vice versa for the end point. However, it wasn’t stationary, as the rope was shaking up and down. Someone was tugging at it.

“Monty, I found something,” Kobai called over to Monty, who was looking for something on the opposite wall. “I found this rope, and someone’s pulling at it. Come help me.” To her request, Monty rushed over, and the both of them squeezed their arms into the hole, tugging at the rope and pushing their feet at the wall just below the hole as they leaned back, Monty doing much less so. As they struggled, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness. With one final pull, the bottom of the rope flew out of the hole, with two figures coming up with it. They dropped onto Monty and Kobai, the four figures crashed to the ground, the rope dropping to the ground before sliding back into the dark depths.

“Let me help you up.” A voice directed itself to Kobai and Monty from a figure that swiftly got to their feet before everyone else. As they both grabbed for one of the figure’s arms, they finally identified the figure as the Sneasel, who now had blood dripping down her head, a mixture of her own and of an unknown source. Upon this realization, Kobai promptly shoved the Sneasel’s hand, opting to hoist herself up with Monty’s support.

“Helping someone up isn’t gonna make up for anything you did,” Kobai shot down with a glare.

“Who said I’m trying to make up for something? It was just a misunderstanding, because I thought that Monty had the item I really need. Here.” The Sneasel tossed the bag over to Monty, who managed to slip it on, and abruptly stopped himself from thanking her out of instinct. “Sorry.”

"Excuse me? You call that an apology, you bit-"

"Kobai, it's alright, it was a misunderstanding. At least I still have my stuff. But," Monty looked up to the Sneasel, who met his gaze. After a short second, Monty continued. "For now, I'd prefer that you just call me Eevee, since I don't know you and stuff. And I guess I forgive-”

“Hey, I’m over here,” a voice whispering from behind them. “Welp, guess they ignored me,” it mumbled to itself. Turning around to face the source of the voice, the three brought their gaze to an Espurr, getting to his feet and brushing dust and debris out of his bloody fur, blank purple pupils glittering like amethyst amplified by the sparkling gems encased on the walls. “Hi-” The Espurr’s legs gave way, and he fell to the ground, coughing up blood from the impact. Monty went over to him, helping him back to his feet. The feline wobbled, but kept his composure, standing uneasily. He walked up, turning to the group. “Sorry. It’s just… best not to stay here,” he said, turning his eyes to the wall.

Monty nodded in agreement. “Yeah, especially from the Golbat we saw earlier.” After the Sneasel and Espurr turned towards him and Kobai, with a look of mixed morbid curiosity and fear, Kobai continued for him. “Over on the second floor, there was this Golbat that saw us and ran away. There’s something dangerous here.” Upon finishing, Kobai closed the distance between her and hole with the rope, looking into the depths above and checking the rope with two strong tugs, which was now tattered and scratched in places but still seemed to be safe enough to climb. She jumped onto the rope, and called for the others. “Don’t worry, it’s safe!” She started to climb up the rope, as the others followed suit, Monty right behind Kobai and the Sneasel and Espurr short behind him.

Going into the hole, completely contrasting the bright and colorful corridors and rivers of the dungeon, the depths of the ‘shortcut’ were entirely pitch dark, and Monty found himself tightly gripping the straw cable at all times to avoid what could very well be a fatal fall, ignoring the uncomfortable friction made from the fur around his neck. “When did you guys find the rope,” Kobai questioned the Sneasel and Espurr from above, creating an echo that bounced between the walls.

“I found a hole in the wall,” the Espurr hollered, who turned his whisper into a yell into one that still came off quite quiet. “I was on the fourth floor, by myself.”

“So, if we dragged you guys up that quickly, then the floors below must not be that long,” Monty yelled. “Wait, why were you on the fourth floor?”

Silence followed, only occasionally interrupted by the quiet shifting of the rope from wear. Why isn’t he answering, a voice echoed in Monty’s head. I don’t know him so I probably shouldn’t push it.

A light clearly shone from a short distance above them, meaning they were now approaching the second floor, only a few minutes after the climb began.

“It’s coming, run.”

Monty flinched from the sudden reappearance of the voice, shifting in surprise. His movement slowed, scanning his brain for a hint at the voice’s source. ‘What’s coming,’ he questioned.

“It’s a giant Pokemon controlled by a force I can’t inform you of yet, but you must run,” the voice responded for the first time. “Get to the safe spot on the second floor before-” The voice cut off, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Monty quickly realized the urgency of this message. As the light was no longer a minusie dot but now an illuminated corridor that was now blinding, Monty climbed out of the exit hole after Kobai, which was larger than the hole they entered through, and faced the others. “There’s something dangerous coming for real,” he promptly informed them. “We need to get to the safe spot.”

The others had varying reactions, with Kobai giving him a nod indicating that she trusted his words, and the Sneasel giving him a look of doubt. The Espurr, on the other hand, jumped back, eyes widened. His attention swerved to Monty, fidgeting and quickly turning his eyes to the ground.

“What else did the voice… What else did they tell you?”

Monty felt the room spin around him, the colors and shapes blurring together as the Espurr’s fearful words fully sunk in and his lightheadedness finally caught up with him. Time slowed and sped back up again inconsistently, and he could feel each breath enter and escape his body as they became manual. He could only stand there as the more defined colors moved away from him, muffled distorted yelps filled the air as if he were underwater, and his vision filled with one giant purple blotch and small streaks of red.

One second, the room was a mix of shapes in liquid form, the next it was a corridor with a river set to its left as Monty finally focused back in. The ‘purple blotch’ was actually a giant Pokemon of near indeterminable species, as it had a giant crab mouth, eight long bent legs that seemed to twist in every way, plate-like indents in its scales, and numerous spikes lining its back and head. He noticed that the claws on two of its legs were colored red in blood. It wasn’t just his blood.

Monty felt something pull him away by the fur of his collar, prompting him to run. Turning around, he noticed it was Kobai, and going to her side, they met up with the Sneasel and Espurr as they all ran at full speed, with the Sneasel in the front. The creature’s numerous limbs made it difficult for the monster to gain speed, and taking advantage of this, the four of them lunged at the creature, hoping to make it lose its balance. The Sneasel let forth a short and concentrated beam of icy wind, the Espurr let out a cry as a beam of light shot towards the creature, causing it to stagger back, and Monty and Kobai slashed at the beast. This caused the monster to fall down upon its back, with a loud thud as it cried out in pain.

Monty took a second to pull out an item from his bag: a flare. Signaling to Kobai, she pulled the top off as a red mist began to spill from the contents of the flare. Monty then jerked his head in the opposite direction, tossing the flare in the direction of the monster as far away from it as he could.

“That should buy us some time,” Monty informed the others. And so, they continued to run towards the direction of the entrance.

“We can’t make it back to the safe area like this,” the Espurr murmured. “That thing could still outrun us. How will we even know where it is?”

“I don’t really know,” Monty immediately responded. “But we should still be on the lookout and hope to Arceus that this works.”

As they ran, everything around them. Their feet turned into blurs as they ran with all their power, the walls turned into constantly shifting light browns and sparkling whites. All of them were very exhausted, but this was a situation of life-or-death. Blood spilled from Monty’s head onto the ground, as he tried his new injury, which he found was coming from his head. He found his surroundings to spill into each other, becoming shapes once again before then separating and becoming whole again, causing him to stagger. But he couldn’t let it stop him. Not as the sounds of distorted screams broke through his delirious state.

“Here! Left side!”

The voice reappeared, and fizzled out right after. Monty stopped immediately. “It’s here,” he called out to the others. He scanned the wall looking for an opening, as his vision was now failing him, with the others joining in. Finally, the Espurr fell into something, hitting the ground below with a soft thud. The Sneasel followed after him, carefully climbing through the hole he had fallen through. After Kobai stumbled into the hole, Monty got onto Kobai’s arms as he slowly hoisted himself up.

That was when he was sliced by the distorted creature, cutting him in two.

˙ʇʍo ᴉu ɥᴉɯ ɔnʇʇᴉuƃ ,ɔɹǝɐʇnɹǝ pᴉsʇoɹʇǝp ʇɥǝ qʎ slᴉɔǝp ʍɐs ɥǝ ʍɥǝu ʍɐs ┴ɥɐʇ

***

Monty dropped to the ground, rushing with Kobai out of the creature’s grasp. The entrance was too small for the monster to get into, as it uselessly clawed at the air, and finally let out a piercing yell of defeat.

Monty dragged himself to a smooth slant situated in the middle of the room, too exhausted to study any part of his surroundings. As he dropped alongside Kobai, he fought to keep his eyelids open, a continuing struggle, with a million questions running through his head the most.

‘Who’s the Sneasel and Espurr? What was the Espurr doing on the fourth floor? When did this place exist?’

Three questions boggled his mind the most, just as he closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

‘Who’s that voice? What the hell is that monster thing? …And didn’t I die?’

*Chapter End*

[timegearing]

PMD: The Course Of Everything: Chapter Eight: At a Loss

For the first time since Lyre’s confession, Bayer was at a loss.

He knew what he had to do short term: help his team find the lost Pokemon, and return the lost Pokemon to her mother. It was simple -- until he had been greeted by his little sister and his boyfriend on the brink of an actual fight.

Pearlie knew what Lyre had done. Bayer shouldn’t have been surprised: Pearlie’s odd knack for seeing the future was always unpredictable like that. And, this explained her inexplicable hostility towards Lyre from the moment she laid eyes on him. What he hadn’t expected, though, was her complete and utter dismay at her brother’s request to help them.

“I don’t want to help a murderer!” she’d shouted, “I saw what he did!”

Bayer’s insistence that they only wanted to see if Harper was really dead or not didn’t help.

For his credit, Lyre hadn’t continued the argument. He was quiet, quieter than he had been in the dungeon, brows furrowed and muzzle wrinkled at the ground. What was bothering him was hard to say; everything about the situation was troubling.

To make matters worse, Cassander wasn’t found.

At least it was quiet now. The sun lay low on the horizon, and Bayer stood alone in the clearing he’d set as the team’s camp. Lyre was lying in the shade of an oak, back facing Bayer. Pearlie had gone off to who-knows-where, in such a foul mood she only nodded at Bayer’s warning to come back before dark. He hoped she would listen.

Bayer glanced at Lyre. The Jolteon hadn’t moved since they set up camp, and Bayer frowned. Careful to not wake him, if he was asleep, Bayer crept across the clearing. To his surprise, Lyre was looking at the map. It lay in between his paws, showing a wide view of the area. Lyre’s muzzle was scrunched in the way it did when he was concentrating, and his quills quivered on his flanks.

“Plotting a course?” Bayer asked.

“Huh?” Lyre twitched his ears, and dragged his gaze away from the map.

Bayer repeated himself, and Lyre made an odd gesture between a nod and a shake of the head.

“Trying to figure out where Cassander could have gone,” Lyre looked back to the map, “She wasn’t in Puddle Swamp, so she either cleared it or passed it by. But there’s so many dungeons around here, I don’t know where to begin!” His voice became sharp, but after catching the look on Bayer’s face, he sighed.

“I wish I knew where she went,” he said, head on his paws, “I don’t even know why she left.”

“Did she ever mention… running away, or something?” Bayer asked.

“Never to me, and definitely not to mother.”

Nothing else was said for a few moments. Bayer furrowed his brow at the map. From where they were now, there were at least half a dozen trails within half a mile. That wasn’t even counting the possibility that she had doubled back past Wisteria. What had the officers said, again? All they knew was that Cassander had last been seen walking home.

“Wait,” Lyre spoke, jolting upright, “Do you think...Cassander knows?”

“Knows what?” Bayer replied.

“That I,” he seemed to struggle with the words, “killed Harper? Do you think your sister told her?”

“Oh!” Bayer smacked a paw to his head, “That makes sense! She ran away after leaving our house, maybe she does know!”

“We need to find your sister,” Lyre said. He got to his paws in a blink, his face set and determined. “She can tell us if Cassander knows or not.”

Lyre led the way, following the path Pearlie had gone. Bayer jogged behind him, a spark of hope in his chest. He was willing to bet his badge that if Cassander knew, she was on her way to Bounty’s Keep to find her brother. If Pearlie could confirm this, they would have a solid lead on how to find her. Lyre seemed to be more hopeful now, too. His green eyes glowed in the sunlight, and his pace was brisk.

It was easy to track down Pearlie. Every few yards, Bayer caught sight of a tree or brush looking as if it had been shredded, or a puddle of water that seemed very out of place. She must have been particularly angry, Bayer decided. She was known to retreat into the woods to blow off steam, but he’d only seen her shred the bark of trees to this extent a few times.

“There,” Lyre stopped, and flicked an ear ahead of him. The path led to what looked like a clearing, and in the center was Pearlie. She lay, sprawled on the ground with her scallop a few feet away.

“Hey, you okay Pearlie?” Bayer asked.

Pearlie lifted her head up, saw her brother, and let it fall back to the ground with a thump.

“No.”

“You still mad at me?” Bayer approached her. Judging by an oak with extremely shredded bark, the answer was still a yes. Instead of speaking, Pearlie snorted and reached for her scallop.

The scallop soared through the air, hit Bayer on the chest, and bounced to the ground.

Lyre snorted in laughter. Pearlie’s ears flicked, and she sat up, glaring in their direction.

“This isn’t funny!” she exclaimed, “You’re working with a murderer! You’re my brother, and you’re working with a ‘mon who did the worst crime, ever!”

Bayer was taken aback to see tears forming in his sister’s eyes.

“Why haven’t you turned him in! He could hurt you, or me, or anyone, and you’re dating him!”

“I won’t hurt anyone,” Lyre exclaimed, taking a step back, “I haven’t yet!”

“You hurt that Archen! You killed that Archen!” Pearlie shouted. Her hand shot to her belly, and then to the ground beside her. Before she could grab it, Bayer kicked the scallop behind him.

“I didn’t want my first mission to be like this!” Pearlie’s accusatory gaze met her brother’s. Then, she flopped back onto the ground, and turned her back to them.

“I just wanna find Cass,” she whimpered, “I just want to apologise.”

Bayer glanced at Lyre once silence fell. The taller Pokemon’s eyes were wide and his ears were laid back. He shook his head, and Bayer knew he would be of no help.

“Pearlie,” he sighed. She didn’t lash out at his approach, so he continued, until he could sit on the ground next to her. He put a paw on her side. She didn’t jerk away.

“I’m sorry, about all of this,” Bayer said, “It was wrong of me to not tell you all of this before.”

“I already knew,” Pearlie replied, her voice muffled by her over-sized bandana, “I saw it in a dream, but I didn’t know you knew.” She turned her head a little and looked at him with wide, teary eyes. “Why are you okay with him?”

“Pearlie, I’m not okay with...what he did,” Bayer struggled for the right words, “That’s the reason I wanted your help to begin with.”

“Huh?”

Pearlie turned fully around to face him. Bayer, with a glance in Lyre’s direction, tip-toed into an explanation of what he and Lyre had decided to do, and why. At the assertion that Harper may still be alive, Pearlie’s face lifted a miniscule amount.

“We wanted your help so we could see if Harper is alive or not,” Bayer finished, “But I won’t ask you to do that right now. Right now, we need to find Cassander. Can you help us with that?”

“Yeah,” Pearlie rubbed her eyes and sat up, “It’s my fault she ran away anyways.”

“It is?” Lyre asked. Pearlie shot him a glare, and Bayer shook his head at him. Lyre sat back down with a sour look on his face.

“I told her what he did,” she said, “and she got mad at me. She thought I was lying to her. I was mad that she thought I lied. I don’t lie!” she looked at her brother, who nodded. “We went to sleep, and then in the morning, she didn’t even say anything to me. She just...left? And then she was missing, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Pearlie,” Bayer put a paw on her shoulder, “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He put a paw on his chin, and furrowed his brow thoughtfully. “Actually, you just helped us a lot.”

“I did?” Pearlie asked.

“Yeah,” Lyre spoke before Bayer could. He didn’t move from his spot, and kept his muzzle towards the ground, “Now we know where Cassander went-- to Clarity’s.”

These Pokemon were really strange, Cassander decided.

The Whismicott and the Archen in front of her were a lot different than the Pokemon from Wisteria Village. They didn’t ask her where she came from, and didn’t even seem to know that she ran away. In fact, ever since she told them she was looking for Lyre, they hadn’t spoken a word to her.

The Archen--Harper--pulled aside Winnie--the Whismicott--, looking as if Giratina themself had burst out of the ground. She spoke in hushed tones, but Cassander knew she must have said something really wrong to get her this upset.

She considered apologizing, but these Pokemon weren’t paying her any mind. Could she just walk away? They certainly wouldn’t notice. But, she reasoned, last time she went off alone, she’d gotten stuck in a dungeon. The only reason she was out now was because of these strangers.

“--I don’t see why we can’t help her?” Winnie’s voice became clearer, “We don’t have anything else to do.”

“I don’t get along with, uh, explorers!” Harper squawked, “She can find L--her brother herself, probably?”

Cassander’s heart sank. Would they not help her after all?

“I’m sorry if I said something wrong,” she said meekly, “You don’t have to help me.”

Harper’s feathers fluffed,  and Winnie’s gaze snapped towards her as if they’d forgotten she was there.

“Oh, honey, of course we’ll help!” Winnie exclaimed, pushing past the Archen and dropping to a knee to look Cassander in the eyes.

“Hey, I didn’t say yes yet!” Harper replied.

Winnie ignored her, and continued looking at Cassander.

“C-Cassander, right?” they asked. When she nodded, they continued, “How old are you, Cassander?”

“I-I’m eleven?” she replied with a nervous flick of her tail.

“See! She’s just a kid, we can’t let a kid just wander around! We gotta help, come on!” Winnie’s tone wasn’t angry, but there was a flash of intensity in their gaze that made both Cassander and Harper take a step back.

Harper made a groaning sort of whine, and turned away from them. Her plumed tail twitched as she muttered incoherently to herself, and Cassander glanced at Winnie, who looked back with a small smile.

“Come on, Harper,” Winnie said, “It’s not like we have anything else to do, remember?”

With a long sigh, Harper turned to face them. She ran a talon over her face, sighed once again, and then spoke.

“Fine, sure,” she replied, “I’ll help you out.”