PMD: Broken Mirrors in The Sky

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:49 PM

Darkness.

A Friend.

A Fall.

A… Loss?

Confusion.

...Restoration.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Not gonna make a move to get take that back? Too scared?" The Koffing laughs, floating beside Zubat.

Flora, the nice Chikorita who I just met, just whimpers in place.

"Meh, c'mon let's get outta here." Zubat snickers around the strange-looking rock in his mouth.

Well, I didn't really know what was going on here; maybe it isn't hers? Maybe she owes them and they've come to collect? Anything, anything other than the stereotypical nonsense I'm guessing is happening.

"That rock… It's yours, isn't it." I whisper, stretching out the stiffness in this(my?) body, feeling the damp sand under my feet as I stare straight at the two that were just floating/levitating away without a care.

"Eep!" Huh. Did she forget I was here with all the cowering?

Sure my voice came out a bit flat, but c'mon!

"Yeah, it's my treasure…" She sniffs, looking all teary-eyed and miserable and… damnit.

Oh, hell. Here we go again, I guess. Don't even know if I'm about to get my ass whooped, but fuck it, we ball.

"Hey! Asshats! Drop it, or I drop you!" I snarl, already running at the two bullies just as they're turning around, a few sparks apparently flying from my cheeks and fur defensively. That's probably Static, instead of Lightning Rod then.

"W-Woah!" Zubat squeaks, dropping the rock as he backs away from me warily. Yeah, type advantage is a bitch when it isn't on your side, isn't it?

"Mind your own business, unless you want to get beaten!" Koffing huffs, inflating a bit to show his point. A gasbag's still a gasbag, though, and I ignore him to focus on taking out the easier target. Still kept him in my vision though; I'm no amateur to a street fight, or a fight in general.
Alright; how does this whole move thing work? Type Energy? Power Points? Aura? I'm not a Riolu, so I'm not even sure if whatever mystic stuff they were spouting in that movie is gonna work for me, being a Pikachu and all.

I apparently took a bit too long thinking instead of doing, though, and Zubat darts back down at some unspoken signal to grab the rock in his mouth, winging up to try and fly over me.

"Hey!" I cry, looking up and crouching to try and snatch the skinny fuck out of the sky, Moves be damned-

"Have a taste! Smog!"

-And I immediately eat a blast of one of the foulest things I have ever smelt in my entire life, straight to the face, knocking me on my furry ass.

"Oh god," I gag, "Rotten eggs!"

I hear more than see Flora get bowled over as she apparently tries to stop them herself, but I was too busy holding back the urge to dunk my head in what I'm pretty sure is seawater to gargle the smell out of me by all means.

I fail.

By the time I'm done spitting up some surprising okay saltwater, the two Poison-Types are long gone into some weird distortion in a cave.

Flora waits for the Smog to clear, before bounding over to me, worry in her eyes.

"Uhh, Flora, is it?" I ask, slowly getting up from where I had flopped down near the water.

"Yes, Watson?" She answers, still a bit awe-struck for some reason? No, seriously; why's she giving me that look? It's not like I even did anything…

"Aren't we going to get your rock back? Please don't tell me I got stink-bombed for nothing."

"Y-you want to help? T-thank you! Let's go right now!" She thanks, turning around and making her way down to the cave opening, but I stop her for a sec with a hand on her shoulder.

"Heh, we're pals, for now at least. Call me Watt, okay?"

Beach Cave B1F
"So... Just how is this cave this big?" I ask, walking alongside Flora down a corridor.

The Beach Cave entrance we passed through closed off once we came in, so we couldn't go back out that way. When we took a few steps in, the cave stretched into a corridor.

Flora herself looks surprised at my question, too. Maybe I shouldn't have asked?

"Uh, we're in a Mystery Dungeon." She answers with a raised brow, so at least it's not too bad a question to ask, I guess?

"Ah, right. Just, er… forgot the name? Anyway, what moves do you have?" Can she tell I'm trying to seem less suspicious?

…Nah. Doubt it.

"Um… So far… Tackle and Growl?" She replies bashfully, looking down.

…Ah. So she's real weak. Makes sense then, about how those two seem to have kept pushing her around.

"Is your low Level why you didn't stand up to those two?"

"I guess? Not so sure about the level part… And no... I'm also pretty timid- look out!"

I thought for a second that Flora'd snapped as she runs into a Tackle… right into a blue Shellos that just dropped down from the ceiling right beside me the fuck.

Big, slimy slug! KILL IT!

"RAAAHHH!"

By the time I snap out of what I was doing, the Shellos is deep fried and lying there, twitching.

"Huh. So that's how you use Thundershock."

Beach Cave B2F
"So... Do you have an explanation for the stairs?" I ask, still a bit weirded out by the random, perfectly white marble-like stairs leading down to another near-identical floor.

"Actually... No. I don't." Flora answers after a bit of thinking; she's been a lot more thoughtful after all the questions I asked about Dungeons while we were on B1F.

"Huh. First time you haven't had an answer for me." I muse, retreating a bit back into the room we were just exiting after spotting a pair of a Shellos and Kabuto smack dab in the middle of the corridor.

Flora doesn't even answer me verbally; an admittedly cute pout is all I get even as she sticks to my right as we set up in the middle of the room to wait. We don't wait long; the two apparently Wild Pokémon come right at us with unintelligible cries.

"No one really thinks about it…" The Chikorita mumbles after quickly dispatching the Shellos with a nasty Tackle to the gut. Oof, sure hope none of those crits come my way any time soon; I don't remember Pikachu being that durable defense-wise.

The moment the Kabuto comes in range, I fry it with Thundershock, and it drops something as it falls over on its side. Ooh! Are these actual drops, or held items? I mean, I don't recognize this thing; doesn't look like a Berry. Why would a Rock/Water type be holding something like this?

"Hey... What's this strange seed?" I ask, picking up the yellow seed with a light spray of dust on it with my mouth; pretty sure the fact that it looks like an edible means it may be okay to chow down, right?

"B-be careful! That's a-" Flora starts, but it was too late.

The moment my teeth prick open the seed, it promptly explodes in my mouth with green powder.

The last thing I heard before I conked out was Flora finishing her sentence.

"-Sleep Seed..."

Beach Cave B3F
"Why?! Why did you take their Oran Berry?!" Flora yells over the angry chattering of the four furious Kabuto that were chasing us.

After I woke up from my embarrassing nap, we didn't have anything else to do on the floor, apart from me soaking in Flora's explanation on Wonder Tiles; the green arrows on the floor that heal any stat changes, negative or positive. Great for debuffs, shitty for buffs.

This got me thinking about Pokémon Centers, and how the fact that I was a Pikachu meant that I wouldn't be able to just waltz into one to get myself and Flora healed up after this if need be. Then when I thought about how clueless Flora was when I started mentioning most of the normal stuff that I remembered about the Pokémon world…

…I kind of panicked, okay?

"You said this could heal all wounds! They won't miss it!" I shout back, already a good way ahead because of my natural speed.

"But I have stubby leeeegs!" Flora screamed, nearly tripping as she said so.

Beach Cave B4F
Flora whips her head in a circle, releasing a flurry of tiny leaves which fly through the air across the room. They completely decimate a Corsola that popped out from around a corner in a corridor.

Wait, what? Razor Leaf?

"Did you level? Why didn't you do that earlier?!" I gape, confused and a little drained; all these Thundershocks are starting to make my cheeks throb. And you're telling me she had a super-effective move on her this whole time?

"I just learnt how!" Flora retorted, a bit offended, "And I still don't get what you mean by level!"

"…Alright, I get it, but just explain it to me like I don't, OK?" I ask after taking a deep breath to calm down.

"Pokémon perfect and learn new techniques as they grow and become battle-hardened. I've been trying my hardest to release the leaves, but they never came out hard! Until now, that is."

"Huh. That's basically what I'm talking about by level; do you guys, not get that? I'm decently sure I'm probably Lv.6 right now…" I ask, casually releasing a few sparks and checking on that feeling deep inside me that felt like advancement and progress and prowess.

Yep; still feel a relative bump in power when combing through that. I'm sure at this point that we both started at five, so that's probably a level.

"No? We just train and get stronger; is this a human thing, Watt?" Flora asks, eyes shining as she seems to get excited at learning some more human stuff.

Adorable.

"Hm… You know what? I'm gonna stand back for a bit; if you can take out every Wild by yourself with Razor Leaf by the time we get to the stairs? I promise to answer a few questions."

It'll give me a chance to take a breather, and hey; If I take the chance to hide behind my current partner and feel like an actual Pokémon Trainer, then it's not like Flora has to know, right?

Beach Cave Pit
The last stairs go on for a bit longer than usual, before suddenly terminating into a short, dark tunnel with a bright light pouring in. Like, really bright; I can't see anything past it, which is bullshit because up until this point there's been some sort of omnipresent light pouring down from the ceiling of this Dungeon.

Okay, this is obviously some kind of boss room. The question is, is it dumb and dumber in there? Or something that might actually be a challenge? In any case…

"Even odds the two thieves are past this; are you ready Flora?" I have to ask, to which the Chikorita takes a few deep breaths, steps a bit closer to me, and nods.

"Then let's kick some ass, okay?"

"Y-Yeah!"

We run through together, and find ourselves on a small island which has a small path of sandy ground leading to a white light which… seemed to be the same cave opening we used to get in? Palkia must be pissed at these places, huh?

On the 'island', looking at the surrounding waters, were the two thieves, Koffing and Zubat. Flora's treasure was on the sand, near the water. Too near for me to think I could just dash in and grab before dipping. Meh, I was hoping to beat them up first anyway.

"I'm... Gonna face them." Flora says, still unsure despite her hyping herself up a bit in the tunnel.

I roll my eyes and yell at the two idiots as I run forward a bit, hoping Flora follows; thankfully I can see her coming up from the corner of my eye.

"Hey! Give her back her treasure!"

"Woah-ho-hooo!" Koffing wheezed in surprise, eyes widening, before sending out a Smog at me, which I backtracked from wary of getting hit with that… smell again.

"Heh-heh-heh! Afraid, are we?" Zubat taunted, setting off towards my side; towards Flora, only to falter in the air for a second or two as Razor Leaf left nothing but very shallow cuts on his body.

Damn quad-resistance.

"We're not afraid! Give it back!" Flora roars, firing off another barrage to little effect on Zubat, despite him trying and failing to dodge. Guess she found her courage, then.

Well, let me see if I can pull this off this time. I feint running right at Koffing again, and the moment the gasbag takes a second to inhale deep for and attack, I immediately dart backwards, facing Zubat and letting out a cry of my own as I push my aching cheeks to work. My Thundershock lances out!

...And sparks uselessly into the ground beside him as the lucky bastard manages to just drop to the floor out of the air!

"Flora!" I yell, pointing at Zubat as I turn back, just to eat a Tackle to the face from Koffing.

"Oho! Take that!" He huffs, taking his sweet time to inhale for another attack while I stumbled to a stop.

Before he could capitalize on that though-

"Gah!"

-Zubat, who had just tried getting airborne again, was shot right in the back by a brace of Razor Leaves; the way he shudders midair before flopping right back down to the sand, looking like a weird pincushion? Crits don't care much about type advantage, heh.

"Z-Zubat!" Koffing sputtered, abandoning his attack to look at where the bat had fallen.

Well, his mistake!

"Wanna give up?" I asked loudly to get his attention; Flora was already whipping her head around for another barrage, so he didn't need to see that.

Although he flinched before swiveling back around, inflating himself some more, it was too late.

"Thundershock!"

"Razor Leaf!"

And that was that.

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:50 PM

"Thank you so much!" Flora thanks, smiling broadly as we once again stand on the shore.

I mean, I only helped because she looked so sad about it, and because I hate bullies. Well, in any case, it does feel nice to be appreciated.

I get to listening as she basically pours out her history on me, nodding and answering at the right moments, even looking at the Relic Fragment she had. It's obviously some Key Item she'd need later, maybe connected to a Legendary? I mean, that's how these usually go; the Silver Wing and GS Ball come to mind.

Eventually, she asks me the question I've been ruminating on since I woke up here.

"So, Watt," She starts, cocking her head at me cutely, "What are you going to do now? I mean, you say you're a human, and you know all these weird things I've never heard about… But you haven't told me anything much about what you're going to do…"

I'm not an idiot. I know where this is going, and I cut her off, since I'm already done trying to convince myself otherwise. This is just how things are going to play out; It's pretty obvious that one of us is the MC of this adventure, right? Why wouldn't I stick close? Sure, maybe she's been blinded a bit by some propaganda, and there's a whole lot of other stuff she either hasn't told me or doesn't know about, but…

…An Exploration Team seems to be the way to go. I'll probably find out what the big bad that one of us eventually has to deal with that way, and we'll get strong enough to actually do it. Besides, it already seems my knowledge's gonna be a big boon; why not start off with something I'm already somewhat good at, right?

"Flora?" I ask, and she stops psyching herself up for her big question, a bit curious.

"I'd love to be on a team with you."

"W-Wait, really?!" She squeals, and she leaps at me and-

Ah. Hug. Neck hug feels nice, actually. Do all Grass Types smell this herby? Or is it just because she's a Chikorita?

Either way, I bleed off a little momentum on the sand with a huff, and carefully pat the ecstatic Johto Starter on the back.

"So? What's next?" I ask, and she pulls away,

"We have to go to Wiggytuff's Guild."

"Umm, Guildmaster?" Chatot asked, cocking his head.

After a slight misunderstanding about why they were here, and some very concerning information about just what they were signing themselves up for, we finally get down to the Guilmaster's office to get registered as apprentices. Right now we're in the Guildmaster's personal quarters... Where the pink evolved Balloon Pokémon seems to be admiring(?) a banner with a heavily stylized version of his face on it, absorbed in his own world... Or so it seems.

Hopefully.

…It would really suck if he was the dumb himbo type, but…

"Umm, is he dense or something?" I whisper to Flora, who giggles a bit. Luckily, Chatot and probably Wigglytuff don't hear anything.

All of a sudden...

"Hiya!" Wigglytuff greets, turning his big body around in a millisecond to stare at us with wide, unblinking eyes.

I… do not take it well.

"What the flying ffff-!" I begin, being stopped by that bastard Chatot swiftly slamming a Wing Attack on my head and shushing me with the other.

Holy shit he's strong! I nearly passed out, and this is with a type disadvantage!

"Ouch. That looks like it really hurt, Watt, sorry." Flora whispers soothingly as I barely keep tears from coming to my eyes with shear fucking will.

"Mmmph... You think?" I manage to groan, rubbing my head and silently wondering at how durable Pokémon were, and how I could get away with deep-frying a fucker in the future as long as he didn't die.

Meanwhile, Wigglytuff continues on as if nothing happened; creepy guy didn't even blink.

"I'm Wigglytuff! Guildmaster Wigglytuff! You want to form an exploration team?" He asks, as if that isn't the very reason we're here.

"Uh-" Flora starts, only to be cut off.

"Then let's go for it!"

Wigglytuff's large eyes stare into my fucking soul for a few more awkward seconds, before asking a simple question.

"Sooo... What's your Team's name?"

… And Flora's looking pretty stumped.

"T-team name? I... I didn't think of one... I never thought I would even make it this far!" She groans.

Suddenly, she perks right back up, before staring at me. Don't tell me she's-

"Hey, Watt. What do you think we should name the team?" She asks, making everyone else in this room look to me like I have the answers.

God damn, I am not good with names! It's either something simple like a colour, or and element, or mythical like the name of a deity or divine thing of some sort. Hell, maybe other crossover stuff too! Plantback the Venausaur, Wukong the Infernapes or hell, even Napoleon the Empoleon would agree with me!

Okay… Time to think really hard on this; what are we here to do? What's our overall goal?

…Who can we hope to be? To overcome?

With my knowledge and whatever else I haven't figured out I have from me being here, I just know that we're gonna hit the top; how else would Red, Gold, Brendan and the rest have reached the peak? Even Legendaries were eventually no match!

…Huh.

"Legendary. Team Legendary" I whisper, tasting the words together and nodding to myself when I felt something click deep in me when I was sure enough.

"Guildmaster? We're Team Legendary." I declare to the Wigglytuff, eyeing Flora nodding along beside me.

After enduring the heart-attack inducing thing that was Wigglytuff's 'registration', the two of us freshly-minted apprentices were given a room with hay beds -which I immediately despised- and soon got to sleep... But not before some small talk.

"I can't believe I'm finally here, Watt. I'm so glad I found you; you helped me with those two bullies and even formed a team with me." Flora whispers, staring at the ceiling as she lays on her side.

"Thanks. I'm happy you found me too. Who knows what kind of weirdo or dangerous Pokémon would have found me by now. I'm not that good at small talk, Flora, but I'm promising you right now; we're gonna be the best Exploration Team this world's ever seen. Trust me on that, 'kay?" I whisper back, before yawning.

"Mhm… Good night, Wattson..."

Huh. She fell asleep really quickly; guess I'll just… do the same, I guess.

Tomorrow I'll see what we're working with in terms of training. Hopefully things aren't too bad here.

Please don't punish me, Murphy?

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:53 PM

In which we get assaulted, and then told to suck it up and climb a mountain.

All was peaceful in the guild room of Team Legendary... The two members; Flora and Watson peacefully sleeping in the early hours of the morning. Until...

"HEY! WAKE UP! RISE AND SHINE!"

Now, I'm a light sleeper; it took me a bit to even fall asleep last night, especially after I lamented not having access to modern technology anymore (My poor games!). Normally, just stepping into the same room as me would wake me. This, however, was the sound of a foghorn mixed with the world's loudest loudspeaker.

"What the FUCK?!" I yelp, leaping up high, more like a cat than the Electric Mouse I am because what the HELL was that?!

Is this hazing? Are we under attack?!

I barely hear Flora groaning about something over the ringing in mine. Pokémon really are a lot more durable; this would've burst my eardrums instantly when I was human.

"What?! I think that fucking foghorn deafened me!" I yell, rubbing my ears and looking around blearily in the morning light of the room for our attacker.

"C'mon, snap OUT of it! I'm Loudred! A fellow apprentice!" The Pokémon who oh-so-nicely just put himself on my shitlist right under Chatot bellows.

"God damn! Volume down, boombox; we get it! You're an apprentice too! Gah! I think my eardrums are bleeding..." I whine, rubbing my ears a bit more after I wrestle myself out of bed and onto the tamped down earthen floor.

Leaf barely looks coherent; I can see her eyes are spinning. She's also closer to the door than me, which probably makes her situation slightly worse. This has to end at some point, right?

I barely take a step to unblock my ears when I'm hit with a blast of sound again, nearly knocking me on my ass again as I cringe at the volume;

"If you two are late for morning assembly, Guildmaster Wigglytuff will get MAD! And if he gets mad..." Loudred shouts again, surprisingly dropping off into a sane tone to mumble to himself in what he probably thinks is a whisper.

"Finally... The ringing..." I grumble, getting up again and helping my partner to her wobbly feet as the normal-type keeps up with his mumbling.

"Hnng..." Flora whimpers, still dazed, and hey! At least I can still hear her, right?

"ANYWAY-" Loudred booms, pulling a Wigglytuff on us and turning around on a dime.

NO MORE FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

"FUCKINGZIPIT!" I roar as loud as I can, eyes bloodshot and cheeks sparking as I very narrowly stop myself from hurling a Thundershock at his purple ass. No way that attacking your fellow apprentice on the first day's gonna win me any points.

I have to make my point clear though!

"We heard you, asshole! Now. GET. OUT!" I snarl, loosing a weaker Thundershock right in front of me.

The snap of electricity stops the loudmouth from making any further comments, and he wisely scurries out of our room, eyes wide.

All was silent after a while as we both recover from all the yelling. Then...

"Wait a sec, Watt. He said something about being..." Flora starts only to trail off while scrambling to her stubby feet again.

"Late. Shit! Come on, Flora!" I finish, running out with Flora in tow.

When we get out of the quarters and into the larger hall we first went through the day before, we're met with a group of eight Pokémon, barring Chatot, with Loudred being one of them. Quickly skimming, they're a Croagunk, Chimecho, Dugtrio, Diglett, Sunflora, Corphish and… Bidoof? A Bidoof?

He's either hopeless or is gonna turn into a beast later on. I'm keeping an eye on that one.

Anyway, as soon as the smug bastard spots us trudging on in, he seems to gather up courage and yells in that ridiculous volume as usual.

"You two are LATE!"

"HUSH! Your voice is ridiculously loud!" Chatot growls, his wings spread and shining dimly.

Rightfully fearing a Wing Attack from Chatot, he shuts up.

"Hmm. Looks like everyone's here. Guildmaster! We are ready for our morning address!" Chatot called, looking to the big double doors leading to the Guildmaster's office.

Said wooden doors soon swing open and the pink Balloon Pokémon waddles out, eyes wide and unnerving as usual.

…

…He's just… Staring.

Oh god, did he fall asleep? What the hell did I sign up for?

"Guildmaster? Umm, Guildmaster?" Chatot whispered to Wigglytuff. Not very softly, if I could hear it though.

All he got were a few snores and a snort. Holy shit I was joking, he's actually asleep?!

Just like that, whispers break out amongst the apprentices; some are already sucking up to him about how amazing his feat of being standing and asleep was. I just think that shit's creepy as hell; I sure don't want to follow someone who can just turn their brain off at any time.

Flora herself was starting to glance around, looking a little uneasily as I have no doubt her image of this guy's being shattered right before her eyes…

Ignoring all the byplay behind him, Chatot nods at the sleeping Guildmaster and turns to face us apprentices.

"We have all heard our Guildmaster's... Words of wisdom! Let's take his words to heart! Now everyone, let's not forget our morning cheers! All together now!"

"Wait a second... We're going to get an item that someone dropped?!" Flora huffed, dissatisfied.

After the cheers which included some very concerning rules, we were taken upstairs to get our very first job from the Job Bulletin board. Needless to say, it was about a certain Spoink losing his pearl somewhere. This curse… Even here, fetch quests have followed me.

But first, I need to remind my partner that she has the lowest ground to be speaking up to this absolute monster of a parrot; I'm pretty sure he's holding back a lot, so what Level could he be? He seems easily 6th or 7th Badge at the least. Worst case? Elite 4. In any case, I wouldn't want to piss him off too much unless I know I'm either out of range of those wings or will be able to get away with it.

"Uh, Flora... You're a Grass type..." I mutter, a little too late.

"HUSH!" Chatot ordered, wings spread wide and glowing.

"Yikes!" Flora yelped, backtracking a bit.

"Now! You rookies are to pay your dues! If you understood what the job entails, then get on with it!"

"Hmm..." Flora whimpered.

Drenched Bluff BF1
"How did this happen! Where they waiting for us?!" I yelp, getting Scratched in the face by an Anorith.

"I don't know! I didn't go much into dungeons before I met you, remember?" Flora replies, taking out a Lileep with a critical Razor Leaf.

The moment we entered the Bluff proper, we were ambushed by a Lileep and two Anorith. The Pokémon had dropped from the ceiling above them. Freaking campers, man! Even in Pokémon they're around every corner.

I finally get enough space to work my stuff, and immediately throw out a nasty Thundershock at my attacker, knocking it out. I was about to take a second or two to take a breather, but the second Anorith-

"Why my face, damnit?!" I curse, stumbling back from yet another Scratch to the face, eyes watering and trying my hardest to not grab at the stinging lines of pain. How did Ash and co ever manage whenever Meowth managed to pull his Fury Swipes off?!

"H-Hold still, Watt!" Flora says, and I look back at my partner to see her squinting an eye at the Anorith right in front of me.

"F-Flora, I got it!" I plead, dodging another Scratch, but still trying my hardest to not be a victim of friendly fire if she doesn't listen.

I let out a totally manly sound as I dive to the floor; a sharp brace of leaves passing overhead after winging the Wild on its own head, taking it out.

"Hehehe, sorry?" She apologizes sheepishly.

It's not a laughing matter, ya peach! I almost got an unwanted haircut!

Drenched Bluff BF2
The moment the Shellos I just blasted unconscious drops to the ground the way I wish Chatot might one day, I feel it again.

Something expanding in me, a slight click somewhere behind all that I am? Whatever it is, I look deeper again, and I feel like that slight bump of progress and advancement has about… Doubled in size? That should be Lv.7 then. I'm starting to think that I shouldn't be able to feel this that accurately; maybe this world runs more on the game's logic than the anime? I mean, I don't have some screen floating in front of me helping me out, right?

Wait, shit!

"Status." Zip.

"Menu." Zilch.

"Pokémon?" Nada.

"Uh, Watt? Why are you saying random words?" Flora asks me, as if I'm not too busy trying to figure out if I have a freaking system at my back or not.

"Not now, Flora; it's a human thing I'll explain later, okay?" I bluff, focusing on saying the words mentally to no effect.

"Oh, Ok!" Heh. Still cute how easy she believes me.

Team? Party? Options? Statistics? Character Sheet? Player? System?!

"Okay, at this point I'm like… maybe 60-70% wrong, then." I huff, a bit disappointed.

"So… What was it?" The Chikorita asks as we walk through an empty room, passing a Wonder Tile before getting taking a random corridor out of it. The floor has random puddles that I'm weirdly okay about stepping in, but I draw the line at trying to swim in the big-ass pools randomly strewn around. Everything just seems so damp too; the air's not too humid, but I can see the walls glistening with moisture. I may or may not have licked a wall, just to check if it was real water or something, don't ask. Flora's already embarrassed me enough about it.

"Flora? Remember how I told you we were gonna be Legendary?" I start, taking a moment to bring my thoughts together; I want to tell her the truth, but I have to put it in a way a Pokémon would understand. Hell, even most humans in the Pokémon Universe wouldn't get me. Except maybe a Super Nerd or two.

"Yeah? What of it?" She asks, curious even as she snipes a Shellos from across the corridor with Razor Leaf.

"Well, there are a lot of ways to get stronger in this world, and from where I come from, there are a lot of ways to get stronger that don't even apply normally here. I thought I was able to do it, but I guess either it's hidden from even me, or nonexistent. I can still train us up, but you're gonna have to listen to me a lot, okay?" I explain, getting an affirmative nod before I'm even done speaking.

"Got it! Secret human training! Of course I'll listen, Watt! You lead, and I'll follow!" She gushes excitedly.

Wow. She is really trusting. I'm starting to even feel bad about this.

"Okay! Let's make our way close to the top and then do some live-testing before whatever we're obviously going to meet at the top of this!"

"Yeah!"

Drenched Bluff BF3
"Huh. So we just, find these Apples and other food on the ground and just… Eat em?" I ask, a bit concerned as I look at a Big Apple that we just found.

"Yep! Sometimes, but not all the time, Dungeons seem to make us a lot more hungry faster." She answers, as If she didn't just say this magic stuff around us isn't messing with our freaking guts.

But then again… The scratches I got are already fully healed. Maybe it's some sort of metabolic exchange? But wouldn't that have a lot of heat? Or am I trying to pull logic in a world where things like Max Revives and Full Restores exist?

Wait, no. It's magic, no one has to really explain shit. Think of this in game mechanics, then. Food heals in games, and Oran Berries here already heal you to full unlike the pitiful amount in the main games and the anime. Let's just leave it at Hunger=HP and call it a day.

Now for the more important question;

"Are these like, clean? Or am I gonna get some horrible stomach bug from eating floor food? I mean, some of this might have a bunch of germs, right?"

"What're those?" And there's the cute head tilt.

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

Drenched Bluff BF4
"Flora?" There's just no way.

"What is it?" She doesn't look like she's joking?

"There're these… Geo Rocks just lying around as ammo, and we just chuck em at Pokémon?" I clarify, having vivid flashbacks to countless Safari Zones, let alone Legends Arceus' nonsense.

"Yeah! They're great for Pokémon that don't have real ranged options. Something about the dungeons make these hurt, even when they probably shouldn't. I heard someone took out a Rhyhorn outlaw with a few of them when they were cornered and tired."

T-TRUE DAMAGE-DEALING ROCKS?!

I immediately snatch my precious treasures off the filthy, undeserving ground and stuff them in the Explorer Bag that we got as part of our kit. It's still weird that it's technically a Bag of Holding which's size expansion is tied to our Guild Rank, but all that means to me right now, is that I can horde as many of my new favorite thing as I want!

"W-Watt? You're making a pretty weird expression right now…" Flora gripes, taking a step to the side away from me for some reason.

Heh.

Drenched Bluff BF6
The fifth floor wasn't anything much, but I had used the opportunity to explain how I wanted to use the fact that dungeons were technically secluded instances that somewhat accelerated growth in some way to get us started on training.

It was basically a way to train in certain ways to get certain skills. Flora already told me that the Gummies that spawned in dungeons were a way to actually boost intelligence and what seemed to be some mix between brain plasticity and some esoteric shit like a TM or Tutor? They were also one of the best ways to get Wild Pokémon, or Ferals if they were particularly weird or 'uncivilized' into being closer to standard. I'm still not sold on them not being a bunch of mind-boosting drugs, but I'm the kind of guy that tosses whatever protein or zinc I find at whatever my favorite Pokémon in-game was at the time, so I have no right to complain. Not when I chewed down a slightly bitter purple one and I could literally feel my mind expand a little.

It basically boiled down into;
Eat Gummy: Raise IQ
Raised IQ: Take advantage of to reorganize your skillset and what you really thing you can do.
Start Training to see what you can do better: Eventually fall into a niche that some governmental Guild body has standardized into being called an IQ Skill.

Basically? We started playing catch with Geo Rocks so I could get us the skill called 'Quick Dodger', without gummies. It was one of the many skills that it seemed we could both learn eventually, and I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track, honestly. Not much progress, but I managed to catch one in the middle of a fight!

…Granted, it was with my face, and I dodged into the projectile instead of away from it, but still, progress.

We had made it to what we're pretty sure was the last floor of this dungeon without incident, so we were going around, occasionally taking out whatever Wilds managed to get into the room with the stairs we were camping out in.

I mean, we were doing that, but I decided to conserve PP (I was pretty sure it worked like that at this point; even if I hadn't learned any new move yet) so we were just smacking them between us while I tried to get Flora to pin down the feeling of a Level Up after describing it the best that I could so I can finally prove I'm not just hallucinating whatever I'm feeling.

She had just headbutted a Shellos into unconsciousness while keeping her eyes closed in focus, before gasping and turning back to me with even wider eyes than usual.

"I-I felt something!" She gasps. I'm about to start questioning her on what exactly she's feeling, but then we get attacked by a couple of Lileep and I have to put it all to the side.

When we do have some more free time between throwing around Geos and splitting the only other Big Apple we've found so far between us, we finally start getting into the nitty gritty of the whole pseudo-system thing going on here.

Turns out, this is probably background noise for everyone, which means the only reason I even noticed is because I have a frame of reference for not being able to feel myself getting stronger. We aren't able to do anything special with it, but I'm just happy that I'm not alone in this.

Time to wrap things up, then. That Spoink's pearl ain't gonna find itself!

... Wait a second, I thought they had heart issues without those things? Or was it without hopping? Am I technically going to find a psychic pacemaker?

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:54 PM

In which we're extorted, get a much needed Tutorial, and... things go sideways.

"Oh, wow! 2,000?!" Leaf exclaims, nearly making me fumble the reward drugs I'm hastily stuffing into our bag, before my ears perk up as I process what she actually said.

Wait a sec, that's a serious reaction.

"Is that a lot?" I discretely whisper to my partner, side-eyeing them as Chatot speaks to our client.

"Yeah! We're rich, Watt! All of a sudden, we're -mph!" She squeals before I slap my paws? Hands? Whatever the fuck these are on her mouth to shush her before she finishes broadcasting to everyone that we just got a huge payout.

"Flora, never be loud about having a lot of money, you got me? Nod if you understand." I hiss, looking deep into her eyes as she mumbles affirmatively and nods. Hopefully nothing bad comes from this-

"Well done, team!"

God. Damnit.

The freakishly strong parrot flutter-hops over to me, a talon outstretched expectantly.

"Now hand that money over, if you please!"

Is he fucking mugging us? Is this still hazing? I have no idea, but even Flora's shock isn't enough for me to work on, so I begrudgingly hand the entire pouch of currency over to him.

"Now, don't be too surprised! Most of the money from jobs goes to the Guildmaster, you see!" He explains as he roots around and dumps a worrying amount of our hard-earned cash into his own personal pouch before handing me back a much lighter pouch.

I immediately pass it over to Flora since I have no idea how to value their currency. Please don't be a stupidly high tax cut-

"That's not fair; why are we only getting 200?!" Leaf cries out.

"90 percent?! How?! Why?!" I nearly shriek, because if there's one thing that I hate more than wasting money?

Is losing it for no reason.

The tyrant just shrugs.

"It's the guild rule; you just have to accept it!" He says, turning his back on us with that ludicrous statement like I can't find out what his favorite food bowl is and maybe piss in it.

I… Will do so much damage when we hit the top! This is highway robbery!

So, with a lot of miscellaneous berries and grains and such I have never seen in the anime or games filling my belly for dinner, I can actually ruminate a bit more on the travesty that occurred today.

"You're right, Flora. It's just… The cost of training us." I grit out as I look to our ceiling, before taking a deep breath to calm myself down a little more.

"You still seem really upset, Watt; I know I am too." She shares softly, before getting up from her own bed and walking over to nudge me.

"Hm?"

"We may be upset about losing out on that much money, but look at how happy Spoink was that we got his pearl back! We did that, as a team. Isn't that the best part of the day for you too?" She says, smiling so bright that I'm nearly blinded.

Gah. Damn optimists! Let me be pissed a bit longer, damnit!

…

Eh, what the hell.

I roll over to look her straight in the eyes, ignoring her little eep at my direct attention.

"Y-Yeah, it felt kinda nice, I guess." I mutter grumpily, before nodding to myself, "Flora? We're going to either do enough jobs that even the 10 percent we get is still good enough, or find out a way to supply ourselves without spending much more money, okay?"

"Mhm!"

"Alright, let's get some sleep."

"H-Hey! It's-"

"WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU YESTERDAY, JACKASS?!"

*ZAP!*

While Flora's telling Chatot the Tyrant about how scared she is of going against outlaws, I'm busy skimming the board.

Holy shit! Some of these guys have bounties in the hundreds of thousands! I mean, sure, most of them are fully evolved Pokémon that look like they can kill me with a single hard stare, but still!

Trying not to be an Icarus, I start looking for lower bounties for my partner to get used to 'civilized' violence. Weird how she can beat up Wilds without much fear. I'd understand it if it was a human thing; a human with a knife or a gun is vastly more dangerous than something like a chimpanzee, if only because the human can strategize on the same playing field as you. Even though a chimp can probably rip you limb from limb if need be…

…Maybe that's a wrong analogy? Meh.

Before I can even finish making my selection though?

"Hey! Bidoof!" The feathered fiend calls.

"Yup yup!"

What in the hillbilly hell is that accent?!

I ignore his huffing and puffing, trying to just understand whether I misheard that, but-

"Yes sirree! By golly, I'll do just that! Yup yup!"

I'm dying here!

While I try not to explode from holding in my laughter, I barely notice the fowl fiend leave the vicinity to probably plan on how best to… scam babies or something, I guess.

"Are you okay, Watt?" Flora, bless her naive soul, fusses over me, a bit worried. I don't have the heart to tell her why I'm probably turning as red as a Cheri berry.

"I-It's nothing, Flora. Just… gimme a sec." I huff before slapping my cheeks to get my grinning mug under control.

Meanwhile, Flora finishes talking to Bidoof, who thankfully doesn't look offended at all, and nudges me when I feel like I'm not about to lose my marbles over this.

At least it's confirmed that he's probably nothing but a goof, especially with that accent.

"S-So, what're we doing now?" I ask, arms crossed as I try and look a bit more composed in front of my technical senior.

"Bidoof here's going to show us around!" Leaf explains with a cheery smile.

"That's right; follow me please." The normal type asks before he makes his way back down the weird ladder-stairs combo we have going on in this place.

Now, let me see if I can organize this tutorial stuff in my head.

The Watering Hole, and yes, I can feel those capital letters at this point, seems to be a gathering place for Pokémon to share tales of their adventures with others. There's apparently always at least a few Pokémon there, either explorers, travelers or town dwellers. Which makes sense since it's a huge deal, being a source of proper drinking water and such. Although it's kinda weird how the town wasn't practically built around it; it's closer to the guild than the town, actually.

Treasure Town's main square's always pretty lively, but we didn't get to see or do much apart from listen to our guide.

Well, Flora did that; I was gawking at the well and proper budding civilization around me. I mean, they have a bank! And it's run by a ghost type, which makes me feel very secure about storing my money there. Nothing much safer than peeps that are already dead handling your cold hard cash.

As an added plus I'm pretty sure the ghosts working there do their jobs piggybank style with vaults and make any changes the same way. Most ghosts can turn somewhat intangible, so I'm pretty sure they can make things far more secure when only they can properly get in and out.

And the market! Oh sweet capitalism gods, the market.

Flora had to remind me that Bidoof was still teaching us stuff, because I was about to blow them all off to see what I could window-shop for. Weirdly enough, its managers are two Kecleon brothers that are the proper faces of this huge merchant clan of 'em. Gave me some mafia/Illuminati vibes, but I'm ignoring that because there's no way in Distortion that Arceus would let that slide, right?

…Right?

…Oh Alpaca Jesus please save us from the Kecleon cartels?

Yeah. That counts as a prayer. Hope I don't need it…

Anyway, the final part of this tutorial was Kangashkan Storage. We got ourselves an account with them, which was basically putting down our names and some guild stuff down. They gave us neat little wooden slates for a sort of ID too!

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that all of these buildings were shaped just like the Pokémon that owned them? Must be a weird cultural thing. What if they pass the business on to another Pokémon not of their line? Do they reshape the building? Are… Are they all just clans of family Pokémon controlling everything?

…Oh god, this is probably way worse than the Illuminati.

"Um, Watt? What's the Illuminati?" Flora asks me out of nowhere-

-Waitaminute.

"Uh, h-how much of that did I say out loud?" I whimper sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Watt! I've lived in Treasure Town forever; if there are any mean cartels around, I'll make sure to tell them off. We're a team now, after all!" She promises with another blinding smile.

This sweet summer child must be protected.

Flora just barely gets me to stop all my questions about how the hell these Orbs work when two adorable tots come up to the stall and buy a few apples before leaving. The Marill and Azurill's were just so cute and high-pitched that there's no way they weren't tots to me.

"See, those delightful children are brothers." The shiny(?) Kecleon explains while his brother closes a sale with the team with a goofy name; Seedgey, was it?

"Lately, their poor mother has fallen ill. So those youngsters come and do the shopping for her."

"Aww, they're so responsible already! Especially Marill! I remember seeing him practically bounce everywhere when it was just him." Flora coos at the kids' retreating backs.

Huh. Why're they coming back so fast?

"Misters Kecleon!" Marill says, leaning up on his tiptoes to drop one of the apples on the counter.

Maybe it's not good? It seems fine to me, though.

"Oh, what's the hurry? Why the rush?" The purple chameleon asks.

"There's an extra Apple; we didn't pay for this much." Azurill chirps from behind his brother.

Why are there so many cinnamon rolls around?! Is it to balance out the guild's quirkiness?!

The Kecleon chuckles, explaining that it's just a gift to the cheers of the kids, before they decide to sprint off back home, nearly skipping.

Of course, this is when Murphy, that bastard, decides that they were having too much fun, and Azurill trips and eats dirt. The apples he was balancing on his little leaf head wrap bag thing go flying.

"Oh no! Are you okay?" Flora's immediately on the ball, though, and then she's right by the sniffling kid, helping him pick up his produce with his brother.

I decide to pitch in because my partner does not have a pair of forelimbs like I do; so unless she wants to try her luck with her leg stubs or her leaf, her only other option is to pick them up with her mouth.

But just as I give the apple back to the kid, I brush against him…

Ping.

…Why? Why am I so… dizzy?

"F-Flora? I… don't feel so good." I mumble, staggering back to lean on my partner, because ow, my head!

Ping.

"W-Watt! What's wrong?!"

"Is he okay?"

"What's wrong, mister?"

I… Can't even answer them; I feel so numb… so floaty…

PING.

So… Floaty…

PING

PI-

*Crack*

Oooowww! It hurts!

*Crack*

"H-Help!"

I… I!

*CRACK*

I fall.

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:55 PM

Remember kids; racial profiling is bad, but stereotypes exist for a reason. Don't be part of the reason.

Darkness.

A cry for help.

…Confusion.

Restoration.

Ugh, my poor, tender head…

…Was someone saying something?

"Watt?! Watt!" Somebody nearly screams in my ear, and I only just manage to not slam a foot in the speaker's direction because god damn my ears!

I crack a bleary but quickly-refocusing eye and see my partner, the two brothers, and the little tots staring down at me from where I lie, clearly worried.

Ah, right. I was in town buying some stuff and prepping when…

"H-Help!"

With a grunt, I roll to my feet, my eyes and ears swiveling around.
"Watt? Are you… Alright? What's the matter?" Flora says slowly, trying to spy what I was looking at.

I know no one just passes out for no reason; I could've sworn I heard a cry for help too! The fact that it hurt like broken glass should mean something too… No one else seems to have been affected?

I mean, it's either that, or even Flora and two kids have a higher pain tolerance than I do.

The probable-mafia Kecleon don't count.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine; it's nothing. Let's go." I rasp, taking a few deep breaths to compose myself and not give the game away, especially if someone was watching.

Flora's still a sweetheart, so she supports my side as we walk away from the market.

"Take care, mister!" The little Azurill yells before we're out of range, and I wordlessly wave backwards, hoping he could see.

Cute kid, hope nothing happens to him…

By the time we're back at town square, the aches are little more than a memory, and I guide my partner over to a secluded spot near an empty stall to tell her what happened to me.

"A voice crying out for help?!" She asks, eyes widening, before she looks a bit more thoughtful instead.

"But I didn't hear anything… Neither did the brothers and Kecleon. Are you sure that you heard that, Watt?" She reasons.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Maybe it was something only I could hear? I mean, between everyone there, I think I have the best ears, right?"

I sure as hell hope it's not a faulty quest system or some shit; I've read a few stories about broken or faulty systems, and this is not up my alley.

"I think… That it's something related to how I'm a Pikachu now, Flora. Me hearing things is weird enough, but getting a painful dizzy spell before that?" I muse, rubbing my head at the phantom pain that just thinking about it caused.

Flora notices that though, and her frown deepens as she starts to step closer.

"Hey, are you sure you're fine?" She prods, looking right in my eyes.

Oof. Worried friend powers are too… Strong!

"I… may have downplayed how much it hurt back there-mmph!" I start, wincing as her stare becomes a full-on glare, before she whirls around and I find something juicy slammed into my mouth.

I immediately plan on spitting me out, but Flora stops me as well.

"Chew and swallow! It's an Oran." She orders, before stepping back to watch me like a hawk as I eventually swallow the health berry down.

Huh. The lingering pain's gone!

She must see my surprise in my face, and smiling Flora is back, giving me a playful bop on the head with her leaf.

"Most stuff isn't nearly as potent outside the dungeons than in, but Orans seem to still do quite a bit." She explains, before bringing back a little of Frowning Flora; "Never try and hide your hurt from me, okay? I'm your partner, and we have a bunch of berries thanks to you!"

Yeah, I guess my instinct to hoard healing items seems to have come in clutch, huh?

"Alright, alright! I promise. Now can we head back to the guild? We're burning daylight!"

Just like that, I banish Frowning Flora, and my partner takes one look at the bright sky above us, before she yelps and pushes me out of our spot from behind, whining about how late we currently are.

While I, amused, let her push me all the way to the more busy parts, I see the two tots talking to a… Drowzee? The dude seems to be listening real intently to them, and from what little I can hear of his voice and see from here, he's an older guy. Maybe a few years older than me? I dunno how Pokémon ages work, though.

Wait. A Drowzee and kids?

Must… Not… Profile…

…Okay, sure, he may look sleazy, but he seems nice enough! And most of all that stuff's from the Pokédex, and only the great llama knows how accurate that stuff is.

Although there was that creepy-ass sidequest with that Hypno and little girl in Fire Red…

…Nah. I'm sure they're fine.

Why, oh why, did I tempt Murphy again?!

"I fucking called it! He's a criminal! Maybe even a kiddie fiddler! C'mon!" I roar, startling Bidoof, my partner and the other Pokémon around as I practically yank my partner away from the Outlaw Notice Board and up the stairs.

Flora, bless her heart, takes one look at my face and puts on all the speed her stubby legs can muster, letting me drop to all fours and lead the way even faster.

"What's… Going on?!" She pants behind me as we try not to break our necks sprinting down the stairs outside the guild.

"The kids! With Drowzee earlier! No time!" I grit out, hoping that they hadn't gone too far yet.

I have no idea where they went or when they're meant to come back; my only other option is to head to the Kecleon and ask them for their address. Hopefully they give it to me when I explain what's happening and I can find out from their mom or neighbors.

I practically soar off the stairs, ignoring the last few ones to get a head start on getting to the square, when-

"Marill's over here!" Flora yells, bringing me skidding to a halt, before what she says registers in my head.

Marill. Not the brothers.

Shit.

By the time I reach the blubbering kid and my partner that's trying to comfort him, she's already gotten most of the story out.

Something about looking for a lost item together, and Drowzee seemingly disappearing with his brother and not coming back.

"S-So which way did they go?!" Flora asks, alarmed.

"No time! Just lead us there, kid!" I order, before I pick him up and secure him on my back with a spare strap I got for our Bag. He's not too heavy, thankfully, even though we're nearly the same size.

Hopefully we're not too late.

"So you think they went off in this direction?" Flora asks the kid as I look around the mountainous area the kid led us to.

Thankfully, it wasn't too far from town; hell, I could see that outrageous pink from here, blob as it is.

But still; what the hell did they lose here? And more importantly? Why did they come here in the first place?

Questions for later, I think; Flora's gotten all the info she can out of the kid anyway, since she's coming over here.

"Drowzee has to have taken Azurill up here; it's a Mystery Dungeon." She informs, and with a nod, and an order to have Marill either wait for us to come out or to go to the guild and send for help if we don't, we're off.

Mt. Bristle 1F
I waste zero time; we drop in from a crack in the wide room's wall that seals up the moment we pass through. The ground is barely flat, more uniformly jagged than anything else, and once again I'm happy that I'm a Pokémon for this, as my feet would probably have already been cut open on this. A quick glance reveals that we seem to be inside the mountain, before a pretty big Doduo makes its present known with a screech.

Flora takes aim, but I'm faster, and I let my attack snap out at the feral; the Geo Pebble has a beautiful arc that I'll probably appreciate later, and crashes straight on a head, cutting off the screeching. It stumbles a bit and starts running at us, but the moment it leaps to the side to completely dodge a salvo of Flora's Razor Leaf, my second rock slams into the other head, leading it to tumble to the floor.

I heft yet another one of my new favorite things from our Bag, but by the time I start aiming… It runs away?!

"Hey! Get back here, ya exp bag!" I growl, ignoring the snort from my partner, who soon does her best to follow me as I follow the fleeing, squawking bird into a corridor after missing a throw and wasting tine recovering ammo.

The Doduo has no chance; it's a straight corridor, and my perfectly thrown stone lands right between its necks, knocking it out in an ungainly sprawl. I also feel a Level Up after a moment of checking.

"Sucks that these things are one-use." I grumble as we leap over the fainted feral at full sprint once again.

We've got a kid to find.

Mt. Bristle F2

We find ourselves face to face with a Starly and Geodude combo, and Flora shows off something new.

She hops forward a bit, head already in the motion of swinging, and a faint spray of purple powder erupts from her leaf, coating the Geodude in front of her, which flinched as the color started leeching from the powder right into its body.
By the time I deep-fry the Starly with Thundershock and she takes the Geodude out with a Tackle, I already know what just happened.

"Poison Powder?" I ask, to which she nods, excited at getting it, but still a bit bummed due to the reason we're in this dungeon in the first place.

However?

"Great job; poison's super useful! I'm gonna teach you how to be a toxic staller later on." I praise, and her smile's a bit more genuine.

Have to keep morale up, ya know? Plus, it'll be great to see that Drowzee fall to poison while we're wailing on him; his bounty wasn't that high, so he's obviously bottom of the barrel in terms of strength. Still doesn't mean we don't stack the deck, obviously.

Mt. Bristle 5F

"HAHAHA! DIE!" I roar over the sound of my new best item; Blast Seeds. We found a trove of them from previous floors, and after I did my best dragonborn impression when I tried one to see how spicy it could possibly be, I realized that these things were practically grenades.

Grenades of fucking true damage, just like the Pebbles.

I am going to try and grow these. I will do anything for a stable supply!

"Uh, Watt? Watt?! WATT!"

Sorry Flora! Can't hear you over all the DAKKA!

Mt. Bristle 6F

With level ups come power.

"Unlimited Power!" I cry out at a Nidorino, several weak arcs jolting out of my outstretched hands to lightly dance over and through the Poison-type, leaving twitching paralyzed flesh in their wake.

"It's time for status stacking, bitches!" I laugh, targeting another wild Pokémon, a Geodude this time, with my brand-new Thunder Wave, just after a Poison Powder from Flora sinks into its craggy body.

Unlike the mainline games, both statuses seem to be working just fine.

Thunder Wave came to me like a flash of inspiration with my level up; I suddenly had the though of turning down the power of my Thundershock way down, while leaving everything else alone. I have no idea if that's how actual electricity works with volts and watts and such, but I do know this probably wouldn't have been impossible to pull off without that insight from my level up.

This means tutoring moves can happen.

This means I can possibly break the Four Limit over my knee!

Maybe I can even make my own moves.

Holy shit; this has potential.

Mt. Bristle 9F
We were currently taking a breather in a roundabout dead-end; we'd been rushing through the whole place as quickly as possible, and still took a few bad hits. Me getting slowed by a Spinarak's String Shot absolutely sucked; first off, the threads became somewhat ethereal the moment they properly settled on me and I couldn't clean or shake them off no matter how hard I tried. Secondly, the world seemed to abruptly skip between being slightly sped up, and also normal speed. It didn't foul my aim with my pebbles, but it was annoying enough that Flora had to play bodyguard as we retreated out of a hall; sniping down threats from across the room like a sharpshooter. All that Rambo-ness slashed down her PP though.

Luckily, we found a… Max Elixir, just lying there on the ground.

I've stopped questioning how the fuck the dungeon sources its stuff. It's even worse when Flora told me that dungeons are the only place to find these things and the Kecleon cartel runs a 'small' continent-wide business funding Teams to get some.

Anyway, I got her to down the thing, and she felt completely refreshed as I expected.

Murphy decided to be an asshole though, so the next floor after that she got poisoned, and I had the grim realization that Poison and Burns persist through floors.

Now here we are, having used up all the Orans we had on hand to keep her stabilized until we finally, finally, found a Pecha.

"Ugh, I'm so lucky this is tasteless; the texture's already chalky." I groan as I finish chugging down the Calcium I had in the Bag.

"The Iron and Protein tasted all weird too; are all drugs this bad? I think I prefer berries…" Flora moaned, curled up on her side after chugging the two as well.

Those were after all the drugs we got as a reward, apart from the money we got cheated out of when we retrieved Spoink's pearl. I had a hunch that they would work better if we took them in the dungeon, and Flora confirmed with me that it was already a known case.

In any case, I pulled out an Apple from the Bag, split it with Flora, and had to eventually feed the stubborn peach her food when she just didn't want to "give herself more tummy trouble".

Yeesh, what a precious baby. She still ate it out of my hands when I threatened not to eat mine in solidarity though, heh.

Next stop? The peak. It's time To Catch a Predator.

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:58 PM

Mt. Bristle Peak

We clear the last few steps leading to the surprisingly flat peak, and get to searching. There's a bunch of rock spires and formations here which hide the entire area from view, but maybe a grid-pattern would-

"H-h-h…HELP!"

There!

I'm sprinting on all fours before I even know if Flora's following after me, although the patter of her legs are a bit behind me.

I dodge around a large spire, make a leap and scramble over a huge formation, and then the moment I make the jump to the top of a natural arch, I see them! The kid looks unhurt, but Psychic Pokémon mean that looks may not actually mean much…
"Stop right there!" Flora's taken the lower ground, and is skidding to a stop a few paces in front of the startled duo.

"Who're you?!" Drowzee exclaims, frowning.

"I'm a member of Team Legendary; an Exploration Team! We're here to apprehend you!" She yells, and now the Psychic type's properly spooked now.

I'm still on the arch, and while his eyes are darting around, presumably trying to find me since she mentioned more than one member, I decide to try and flank this bastard. It's not easy, and there was a moment where I thought I would've fallen to my doom while ending up near the cliffs, but Pikachu are built for bursts of speed. Even without Quick Attack, I manage to finally leap down to see…

…Flora trembling like a leaf?! The constant wind steals some of his words away, but I know I heard this ass talking shit about us not being able to do the job!

Screw stealth then!

"Fuck him up, Flora!" I roar as I start off with a solid throw, a Geo Pebble arcing right at him as I run in on him at an angle, cheeks sparking.

"Oho! Are you the other teammate?! Guess you're just rookies after all!" He laughs as he faces me, not even looking as he makes a short backstep to dodge Flora, who sails just past him with Tackle…

…Only to get nailed right on the head by my thrown pebble.

It seemed to startle him more than hurt.

Shit. He might actually be a challenge. We didn't even call for backup as we left; only Bidoof knows that we probably went for an Outlaw mission.

This is actually dangerous!

So… Why the hell am I so excited about this?!

"Rookies or not, we'll beat your ass!" I growl, smile turning more into a snarl as Flora clashes with a glowing Pound from Drowzee with Tackle again, losing the exchange and being forced back with a whine of pain.

...She's too close for a Blast Seed, so I pull off my best pitcher impression and hurl another Pebble at the outlaw. He sees that a bit too late, and it nails him right on the schnoz.

"Gah! Why you little brat!" He growls, his playful demeanor dropping as he once again dodges Flora's third Tackle by leaping forward to close the distance to me. Oh boy, he looks pissed.

Good.

"Watt!" Flora cries out, stumbling, and I point at Azurill, who's been frozen by the side in fear and thankfully out of the way. I'm gripping another Pebble with my free hand, and Drowzee's staring right at it as I also run him down.

"Clear the kid first!" I order, and the outlaw's eyes widen, before he turns to do something; maybe try and intercept Flora? Take the kid as a hostage?

Gotcha.

I let the Pebble clatter to the ground unused as I skid to a stop, arms already throwing out arcs of Thunder Wave, and somehow, he drops into a roll to avoid the most of my move, smoothly coming out of it just a few feet away from me.

Is this random fatso UI Goku or something?!

Flora's just about done with the kid; she's nudged him to either get away from here completely, or just stay way out of range, so I'm on my own for a few precious seconds. Time to throw some hands then!

I throw a hook as hard as I can into his side, and realize my mistake when he barely flinches at the pain before his hand lights up dimly with Normal-Type aura, a Pound is crashing into my sternum and I am slightly airborne.
It hurts. A lot. I think I felt my bones creak. Is this what a critical hit feels like? Thanks, I hate it.

"W-Watt!" Flora cries out, her worry evident as I tumble roughly to the ground a few feet away, dazed a bit, but lucid enough to see my partner way behind Drowzee, whipping her head in a circle-

-A slight whistle in the air.

"Gah!" Drowzee yelps.

"Fuck!" I cough out, rolling to the side to avoid the last few Razor Leaves that didn't hit Drowzee, who's clutching one arm with leaves stuck out like a dart board.

A chance!

"Drown him!" I order as I scramble to my feet, cheeks already sparking once again.

"Drown him?" Drowzee parrots, looking straight at me while trying to keep her in the corner of his eye.

I don't explain anything; my Thundershock is already flying through the air, and just like I dreaded, the possible offender practically dances back to avoid the attack like some fucking ballerina precog…

…Right into the now thickening purple cloud of Poison Powder, that is.

While his eyes bulge and he starts off sprinting back out of the cloud in my partner's direction, said partner goes around and manages to get to me before he manages to figure that out. The cloud's already dispersed by then, but it's done its job; I can already see a few splotches were the powder's irritating his skin. His eyes are also getting a little bloodshot, although it could be the fury of getting caught unawares from a bunch of 'rookies', instead of the poison.

"SCREW THIS!" He suddenly shouts, before locking eyes with Flora.

A ding is heard in the air, and before I know it? She's shaking again.

"Flora, get it together! I'm right here, okay?" I try reassuring her while still keeping my eye in Drowzee, but the asshole starts laughing before I can even get a reply.

"Ha! Your little partner's too stiff to do anything! Now c'mere!" Drowzee laughs nasally, before lunging at me.

"W-W-Watt!" Flora grits out, making stuttering steps towards us as I try my best to backpedal away from a Pound. Maybe I can stall for the poison to do its job?

"P-Paralyze! He Paralyzes!" She finally manages to spit out, and I only have a second to process that info, as Drowzee seems to get even more desperate at those words, trying to get in range.

Does he not have any Psychic moves? No, he paralyzed her, so it has to be something. Can't be powder or wave, no visible effect. Most of the other stuff seems too conditional, what is it!

"Stand… Still!" Drowzee growls, both hands constantly alight with Pound right now.

"Fuck you!" I spit, taking a gamble and making a short hop backwards to try and turn the tables on the bastard with Thunder Wave, but his now-bloodshot eyes just widen and he's freaking sidestepping before the first arc can even hit the ground!

How?! Is he spamming Detect?! Is this why he hasn't been caught yet?!

But I have no more time to wonder how he's pulling this hax off, because my failed gamble slowed me down too much, and with a raspy laugh, the fucker's once again in close combat range.

I decide to try for another quick attack, throwing a right hook at his slowly-swelling face. It connects, and his head snaps to the side, but his hands are once again alight, and I'm looking straight at him to find out where to brace-

-His eyes flash with a ding-

-And my body locks up.

"Mister!/W-Watt!" Both little Azurill and my partner cry out as my suddenly-aborted side kick makes me flop down to the ground, spasming a bit.

Paralysis sucks; I thought I'd mostly be free of this since I'm an electric type, but apparently this world's mechanics seem to be different, because I feel like there's static in my nerves, phantom fingers skittering across my muscles. It's not unbearable; I can still mostly move just fine, but the moment I try and make any explosive movement, it immediately gets worse. Meanwhile, my… Aura? PP? It all seems to be out of sync; trying to call up a Thundershock to fry this guy is just sputtering out before it even reaches my cheeks.

Drowzee's a bit more smug now that he's gotten both of us down, somehow, and he opens his mouth to… gloat maybe? But instead has to hack out a cough. The poison's really getting to him! Good news!

Bad news, he's stopped trying to monologue and turns away from me to stare daggers at Flora.

"You! This would've been an easy job! I would've let the kid be eventually!" He growls, eyes alight with psychic power as he finally unleashes his first Psychic move of the fight; Confusion.

It's like a barely visible purple haze manifests itself around her, and the moment It reaches critical mass? It explodes in a muted flash, blasting her across the floor.

"Ah!" Flora cries, covered in dust and cuts. Her cries only make Drowzee smile wider, and he steps closer, eyes lighting up again for another go. I can hear little Azurill, who thought we were here to rescue him, begging for Drowzee to let us go.

…No. we can't just fall here to the first boss like this! We're meant to be greater than this! We're meant to reach the pinnacle! To swing with and at fucking Legends and not miss!

FUCK. THIS!

I grit my teeth so hard I think they're going to crack, and I reach into our bag, freezing when Flora cries out again.

I look over at her and Drowzee again; she's lying on the ground, breathing a bit heavy, looking really scuffed all over, still lightly shaking all over. Drowzee's well and truly poisoned now, and he's too busy coughing up a hopefully literal lung to go for a third go right now.

We lock eyes though somehow; she sees what I'm doing, and makes a very small nod. She trusts me. I truly realize it now; she fully and totally trusts this random stranger she met a day ago. It's baffling! It's naïve!

…I think it's very Flora. I guess we are stuck together, huh.

I throw the Blast Seed, and it cracks open on Drowzee's blotchy, irritated hide with a muted explosion that dies out almost immediately. He screeches out, completely caught unawares, and whirls around, hate in his eyes, before firing off a Confusion at me.

I'm still too slowed to dodge.

It hits.

It hurts.

I crumple to the ground, feeling like I've been put through a wringer, but I push through the pain and try my best to scramble back to two feet, when-

"Leave him alone!" Flora thunders, paralysis gone, back on her feet and throwing her head to the side to summon a brace of Razor Leaves that Drowzee tries his best to dodge. He succeeds, twisting his body around in ways that may have looked a little ridiculous, but seemed to do the trick, before he did a little half-rotation to build momentum, throwing a Pound at her.

But Flora stood her ground, and though his fist smacked her right in the head?

It did no damage.

"What the?" Drowzee mumbles, taken aback, before he decides to presumably put down the easier target while he's got the chance-

"Shruprise, m'fcker!"

I crunch down on the Blast Seed, and my world shrinks down to spice and flame. Almost involuntarily, my mouth is thrown open and ethereal flame and explosions pour out of me, washing over the outlaw, who's now well done on both sides now.

"I'm going to kill you runts!" He snarls, slapping away another brace of Razor Leaves with Pound, giving me enough time to recover from using the Blast Seed and scamper away from a quick Confusion, which pits and scores the rocky ground I once stood on.

While I run back a bit, I take a quick mental inventory, and send a quick prayer up to RNGesus and the great big alpaca in the sky, before palming a seed and yelling at Flora, who had just stumbled away from a Pound to the side in retaliation for landing a Tackle on his.

"Shotput!"

She perks up and quickly drops and rolls to the side, my thrown seed flying right over her head to shatter open on Drowzee's head. His eyes widen before he stiffens suddenly.

Immediately, he's petrified thanks to the Stun Seed, and both of us immediately retreat a bit to get our bearings. Flora refuses it, so my eyes are still on the steadily increasing rage in the bloodshot eyes of Drowzee as he sees me slam back our last Oran Berry with barely any chewing involved.

I feel completely reinvigorated just as soon as Drowzee breaks out of the petrification; panting, cooked on both sides, with bruises, scuff marks and a few shallow punctures where leaves stuck in his flesh.

I share a look with my partner, whose smile is yet to fully return.

"Potshots?" I ask, palming a pebble.

"Mhm!" Flora accepts, getting ready to swing.

"You'll… regret thiiis!" Drowzee slurred tiredly, already knowing what was about to befall him, probably.

All in all, I threw a pebble, he slapped it out of the sky with Pound.

Flora fired off her move, and he fell forward to dodge it.

I threw another rock, and he was too busy getting up from his dodge, so it beaned him on the top of his head.

Flora fired off one last Razor Leaf, and Outlaw Drowzee fell backwards in a dead Faint, chest riddled with leaves like a dartboard.

We had caught a predator.

Chris would be proud.

NOTES
Concerning the fight; most of it was lifted word for word off what happened when I played the fight against Drowzee; I have my plot points ready on paper, but I'm also playing along on my phone while I type.

So we had stupid unluck here. I did nail him with a Pebble at the start of the fight, but not only did my follow-up paralysis miss, but he had Forewarn to dodge Flora's Razor Leaf. This bastard then proceeds to proc Forewarn throughout the fight! The last few sequences in the fight were also on point; he just kept dodging pebbles and triggering Forewarn on Flora's Razor Leaves, and when they did hit, at one point they just outright did zero damage. Flora apparently has a sharingan, because she did the same thing for one of his Pounds right after.

Note that this is base PMD: EoS, not a hacked version. This has never happened before to me.

Here's what Bulbapedia says about Forewarn here;
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers series and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (WiiWare) games, a Pokémon with Forewarn occasionally evades moves, even moves that never miss.

This means RNGesus wanted to either give me an epic fight scene or personally screw me over. I'm not optimistic enough to think the first.

OriginTrainer · Monday at 8:59 PM

AN: In which we find out that the DLC's been cancelled, the Help Desk is unhelpful, and First Time Rewards are king.

"ZZZT! I am Magnezone. I am the primary officer of this region. ZZZT!" Magnezone buzzes as their subordinates, some Magnemite, force Drowzee into chains. Said chains are then magnetically suspended between a pair of Magnemite, forcing him to walk to their pace or be dragged.

I'm trying my best to not fall asleep on my feet as they drone on and on; once we managed to get down from the peak and thus exit the dungeon, all the support the dungeon gave disappeared, and it hurt. I was generally achy all over despite the healing from the Oran. Flora looked worse though, even after we waited around for the dungeon to speed up her healing. And yet she was standing just as tall as I was; I can't let her down by whining now.

Thankfully, the officer mentions something that woke me right up a little;

"ZZZT! The monetary reward will be delivered to your guild. Thank you again for your support. WZZZT!"

"So… Any idea how much this would be? I didn't exactly take a look at his bounty before we ran out." I whisper to Flora as Drowzee is lead away and the law enforcement pack up and leave.

"Er… I'm sorry, Watt; It must've slipped my mind?" She answers, shrugging.

"Meh, it doesn't matter much; we'll know when we get back."

"AZURILL!"

We both startle at the voice, and quickly turn around to see Marill, the little tyke's brother, sprinting as fast as his little legs can take him. Flora sees Azurill, who's been mostly polite and silent this whole time after we saved him, start shaking and sniffling, but I pat her and the shoulder to stop her from going to him right now. Just as she takes a look at my face and nods, still a little unsure, what I've been waiting for happens.

"M… M-Marill!" The kid's stumbling towards his brother, who catches up to him midway and once they embrace, he starts bawling, fat tears rolling down his water repellent fur as his brother swaps between hugging him and looking him over repeatedly.

"I-It was so scaaary!" He cries, before devolving into blubbering.

"You're safe now, Azurill… Are you ok? Are you hurt?" His brother fusses, finally looking up at us, and I step back a bit and let Flora take the lead.

"He's perfectly fine, Marill. He wasn't hurt in any way, ok?" She assures with a soft smile.

"R-Really? That's a relief…" The older brother whispers, before the tears he's been holding back all this time begin to fall as he goes back to hugging his brother tight, whispering his name over and over.

While the two of them are reassuring each other, I sigh, feeling far lighter as I crack a smile of my own. I wave Flora over and we just… Sit there together, watching over the kids. While we're doing that, she gives me a teary side eye before whispering to me;

"We really did good, right Wattson?"

What else can I say? I gingerly put an arm around her as I answer;

"Yeah, we did. We really did. Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Mhm." She mumbles, blearily blinking at me.

"Don't fall asleep though; remember that we still need to get yelled on by the feather duster for running off." I chide, poking her in the side with a smirk.

"Eek! S-Stop that!"

Heh. Knew she was ticklish.

"300! We almost got our asses handed to us for 300?!" I snarl, the thought of the remaining 2,700 resting in the feathered freak's pouch nearly making me do something very foolish.

Flora's still disappointed, but she doesn't say much on it, which helps me calm down a bit-

"…But of course! It's all part of the training! And we expect just as much effort tomorrow!"

HATE. HATE!

"Watt, no!" Flora whimpers, leaping on my back to stop me from plucking ever last feather out of that smug bastard's body and feeding it back to him or dying in the attempt!

After I calmed down and we had a very late dinner that we nearly missed, Flora and I, feeling even more sleepy, decided to turn in for the night.

Too bad this thunderstorm's so freaking loud!

"Hey, Wattson? The night before we met was storming just like this." Flora says as she turns to face me on her bed, and my grumbling stops dead-cold.

"So do you remember anything about being out cold on the beach?" She asks softly, and I'm wracking my brain trying to figure things out.

She's believed me so far about all the human stuff I've been spouting, but there's no way I'm telling her everything about the world I came from. Especially, you know, the whole fictional part.

Although she raises a good question; how the hell did I get here? I… Don't remember dying or anything like that. Pokémon doesn't really do Isekai, right?

Well… Apart from Fallers from the Wormholes in Alola.

Did I die? I remember a regular day of browsing on my phone and reading a bunch of fanfiction, but then… Nothing.

Nothing? Nothing at all?

Nothing.

… It doesn't matter, then.

"I… don't remember how I got here, Flora." I answer, turning away from her and staring at the wall.

"We have to get up early tomorrow; let's get some sleep."

…

I hear the patter of her stubby little legs as she makes her way over to me. I say nothing.

She sits. I say nothing.

"I'm your partner, right? You told me a bit about humans and Pokémon before, and how trainers work… I know I may get it wrong a bit from how you know it, but please… Just know I'm right here, alright?" She whispers, softly butting her head against my side before getting up and heading back to her bed.

…

"Goodnight, Wattson."

"Yeah, 'night Flora."

The next morning, we're practically given free reign of the day; the feathered fiend just told us to do some jobs and sent us on our way. I mean, this organization seems pretty freaking loose, if you ask me, but maybe it's just because I'm a human with far higher standards, and Pokémon obviously all learn by doing.

Anyway, I decide that this is going to be the first of many opportunities we have to get ourselves into shape, so…

"Ooh! Let's go check out all the other teams around this morning in the lobby!" Flora squeals excitedly, before practically pushing me up the stairs, derailing my training plans!

…Meh, let's see what the competition is like; won't hurt to see what we're working with here.

"The three of us are the Poochyena brothers! We're Team Poochy, and we stick to tracking outlaws!" One of the triplets I'm looking at introduces proudly, puffing up as the other two look over the Outlaw Notice Board.

Would've called 'em Team Cerberus, but maybe that's my inner edgy teen speaking. I guess when the game's your life; you don't have the luxury of picking the most efficient and effective team composition.

Well, I'm sure they all have specialties in their group to balance themselves out, right? Not like it's something too straightforward; these are Dark Types! They should at least be a bit good at ambush tactics!

"We chase and chase and chase our targets… And then we catch them when they're too tired to move!"

… I stand corrected. Well, whatever works for them? Although I wonder what happens when they face someone with far more stamina than them?

"We're the exploration team that delivers happiness! We're Team Glee!" A Togepi presents, pointing at his teammates, a Politoed and a Ledian.

Huh. That's… Actually some decent coverage, actually. These guys might be the real deal! I mean, sure, the Togepi has to evolve to see any real use, but his teammates are full evos and can obviously carry him until that point.

While Flora's busy chatting with the lady Ledian and guy Politoed- something about gardens and ponds? I get to talking shop with the obvious team leader.

"So, I'm sorry if this may be offensive in some way, but… Why aren't you evolved when your teammates already are? I'm thinking of evolution in the future, and I want some advice." I ask, to which the Togepi raises an eyebrow.

"Uh, haven't you heard? I don't know if it's because time is going out of control or not, but… No one can evolve lately."

FUCKING. WHAT?!

After freaking out about the fact that evolution was a no-go for everyone at the time till who-knows-when, I calmed down after realizing that I could make this work even better. Who hasn't kept Pokémon cute and cuddly for moves and exp gain? Hell, look at the anime; Ash barely evolves some of his team and they still absolutely kick ass, like the titular Pikachu and Bulbasaur.

You know what? Yeah, this is completely fine! Sure, it would royally suck for Pokémon like Caterpie and Magikarp, but we're not them, so it's not our problem!

While I was pacing, trying to rearrange most of my training plans, Flora was asking some guild members for pointers like the sociable little peach that she is. Eventually, she was pointed towards a little nook in the hall, and so here we are.

There was a little Q and A board in that corner that we didn't notice the first few times. Now, while most of the info was pretty useless to me, one part stood out;

According to the board, the Exploration Team Federation, or ETF, is a 'mysterious' organization to which all excellent explorers belong. While I did immediately have my secret society senses tingling, the fact that we already have the Kecleon cabals out in the opening and the fact that this info is straight up just out here means that Pokémon are once again far more straightforward than humans; the society isn't secret at all, so I just assume it's the governing body. Further reading kinda proves me right;

The Federation collects dues from guilds nationwide for producing badges and items used by Exploration Teams like the Wonder Maps and the Bags. Meaning they're probably the ones closest to figuring out Pokéball-like technology here, if Apricorns exist at all; they've already cracked the bag of holding after all.

After the factoid that the ETF runs a bunch of services for explorers, the rest of the info is just propaganda saying they're indispensable and incredibly great.

…Feh! I'll believe it when I see a rep with my own two eyes.

Stop giggling at me Flora! I can hear you!

There actually weren't many teams within the building right then and there, so we headed out to town for ~~me to salivate over the Kecleon Wares~~ us to find out some more info!

"C'mon, Watt! The Kecleon brothers' stock won't miraculously vanish if we take our time, you know." Flora giggles, nudging me away from that side of the square, like a nagging nagger!

"You don't know that!" I hiss, nearly causing a scene by petulantly digging my feet in like a child.

"Just a bit more. Please? For me?" She pleads, pouting…

Goddamn adorable peaches making me do shit I don't want to!

"Ugh. Fine, you little manipulator! When I told you to act cute to get what you want, I didn't mean for you to use it on me, damn it!"

"Hehe!"

"Ah! To arrest a criminal so early in your career! You must be exceptional! It's hard to believe you've been on an exploration team for a short while!" The shiny Kecleon bro praised while his brother nodded enthusiastically before continuing.

"For saving little Azurill from that despicable outlaw, please accept…" Oh yeah, time for some side-quest rewards! "…our sincere thanks!"

Huh? Not even a discount? A one-time coupon? A free sample?!

Ok, sure, the fact that I was squinting at possible Pokémon mobsters would seem kinda dumb, but…

"Hey, not even a teeny, tiny discount?" I ~~beg~~ ask with dignity.

The two brothers seem to deliberate, looking me over before turning around to whisper to themselves for like a minute or so, constantly giving me and Flora side-eyes that made me remember that these guys had the monopoly on selling most Explorer products despite the existence of the ETF. These guys are the face of that group, constantly out in the open and yet obviously not afraid of any retribution.

Now, I may be exaggerating and looking for things that weren't there, but riddle me this; what's more likely? Them being simple charismatic merchants? Or them being so freaking strong that they're unafraid of said retribution?

Yeah, maybe I should walk this back.

"Er, s-sorry about that; I was just-" I stammer, before a claw is raised in my direction to interrupt me, making me break out in a cold sweat, and Flora to cock her head at me, obviously confused. I don't have the heart to tell her how I many have fucked things up for both of us right now…

"We've decided… To give you two a free sample each of some of our finest products!"

OhthankllamaGod.

While I'm busy feeling like a deflated balloon, Flora takes the opportunity to nudge me with her head.

"Are you okay, Watt? Is it another dizzy spell?" She asks, turning her face away from the two brothers to discreetly whisper the last part to me.

"Nah, it's nothing." I huff, straightening up and getting excited for our free stuff.

Flora takes my word for it and turns over to the two, just as soon as they get out a tray with two items on it; another seed, slightly glossy and golden, and a clear blue orb with what looks like shattered glass panes shimmering within.

Once again, I have no idea what I'm looking at, so I look to Flora for guidance. Her eyes are wide and looking very intently at the seed on the tray, back to the slightly smug looks on the two shopkeeps and then back to the tray.

"What, is it good?" I ask, finally tired of her eyes moving back and forth as if trying to convince herself that the stuff was really there.

While the two brothers raise a brow in sync at my abysmal knowledge, Flora startles as if suddenly remembering that I was there. Rude.

"Those're a Reviver Seed and Escape Orb!" She says with near reverence, and now it's my turn to look on in disbelief.

That's a Revive?! Holy shit, a get outta death/K.O. free card, just like that?! And a way to just dip from the dungeon at any point?!

"W-We can really have these?" I ask, slowly reaching towards the tray while keeping eye contact with the two in case there's a catch.

"Yes, we're sure. Those boys' mother has been a good customer for a long time, and the boys are just precious. We know you haven't been a team long, and yet you went on to rescue little Azurill anyway. This is a simple token of our appreciation!" Purple explains with a little bow as his brother takes the two items and drops them in my arms.

"Thanks a lot, Misters' Kecleon!" Flora thanked with a bright smile while I was too busy squireling away our absolutely vital gains into our Bag like the pack rat that I am.

"There is no issue, miss Flora; just promise to keep up the good work, alright?"

"Yes sirs!" We both salute before scampering off.

I think we've done enough info-gathering; it's time for action.

It's time to train.

NOTES: Next chappie we're breaking the game mechanics over our knee. A little. Softly.

PMD: Broken Mirrors in The Sky

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Catching them all is hard work, right?

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Catching them all is hard work, right?

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Catching them all is hard work, right?

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Catching them all is hard work, right?

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