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PMD The Twilight Brigade Chronicles Ch. 3 - Forest Mystery

"Quite the maze we got here... you say this place changes constantly? I wonder how it does that." Artomis stepped over a fallen tree branch and landed in a light leaf pile. The small crunches from the frail, dried up leaves sounded like explosions in his mind. His head-ache had gotten worse as they progressed through the forest.

The missions sounded like a walk in the park, but they were really deep into the forest and there was no sign of a single Pokémon. That made Art uneasy, seeing as how there was much activity the day before. "Hey Zaphiel, any clue on where the Pidgeotto is? We've been here for hours. The sun's going to set before we even leave the forest."

"Well, his little brother said that they were on floor 12, and according to my map, we're on floor 10. It's not that much farther, just hang in there." Zaphiel started to put his map away and tossed Art a smile. "You'll get used to this, we go out on missions that sometimes take weeks to finish. Trust me, with just Cyrus and I on one of those missions, you would be glad for a new recruit if you were me." Stopping suddenly, Zaph looked at Art and reached in his bag. He then tossed an apple at Art, who looked back at him confused. "You don't look too well again, eat up, it'll help."

"It's just a light head-ache, I'll be fine. Thanks for the food, though." Art was feeling a bit famished. The only thing he had to eat was at the Twilight Brigade base, and that seemed like forever ago to him. He took a small bite out of the apple and looked up into the trees. No sound. No movement. Something was wrong, that he was sure of. Zaphiel turned his gaze the same direction and looked at him again, confused. Art smiled and let out a small shrug, stepping forward, past his friend. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we have a clean rematch at our race for dinner."

Zaphiel started to slowly follow behind him. "Yeah, well, I hope you enjoy that apple, 'cause that's gonna be the last thing you eat today!"

Walking deeper into the forest, trees became more dense and the air seemed to get thicker. Artomis could feel they were close to the heart of the forest. Walking around a curve, the pair entered a dark path, completely covered in moss. When they got to the end of the path, they peered into the next room and Zaphiel let out a gasp. "Art, it's him... There's Pidgeotto, but he has company."

Looking where Zaphiel was staring, Art soon saw the familiar face of his former enemy, who had the Pidgeotto tied up and sitting next to a fire. It seemed unconscious, but there was no way to tell with how far they were. "So... this time we gotta fight this creep in his turf. And I still don't know anything..."

Zaphiel turned to Art and gave him a cold look. "Don't say that, you are smarter than you think. Just let your instincts guide you, and you'll know what to do."

Artomis gave a nod, taking Zaph's words to mind. That's all he had really done for everything up to this point. "Ready to fight us a baddie, Zaph?"

"Lead the way, Art." Zaphiel replied with a smile.

"So, Cyrus, I hear you have a new recruit, is this true?"

"Yes it is, in fact, he is quite skilled, though he doesn't know his true power yet." Cyrus was sitting in a chair beside his desk, levitating an open book, cycling its pages. His eyes were on the Blastoise across from him, who was standing next to his bookshelf. "I believe he will be quite the explorer once he's done with his training."

"I'll have to take a look at the lad, maybe test out his power a bit."

"Well, I suggest waiting on that for a little while, you see, he's a special case, Froan."

Froan laughed, "Special case? What, like 'secret agent' or 'assassin' like?"

"No, he's got a slight case of amnesia."

Confused, Froan shifted into a chair across from Cyrus. "...What? So you're saying that this secret weapon of yours doesn't even know who it is?"

"Moreover 'what' it is, not who. He remembered his name fine, in fact. The thing is, he thinks that he was a human."

Froan looked at Cyrus in shock. "That Riolu thinks it was a human? What kind of crap is this, man? Why did you even call me here today?"

Putting up a hand, Cyrus turned the book towards Froan, stopping its pages from turning. "Read the pages there, you will understand. I have sent them to the forest on a mission and they are there now, most likely in its core by now."

Froan's gaze turned harsh as he stared at the book a second. "Why would you do that to this pair, huh? You're crazy sending new recruits in that place on the night with no moon... I really hope the rumors aren't true about that."

Cyrus returned the gaze, "We shall see when they return. If they prove successful, I may let you have your shot at the boy."

"What'ssss thissss? Guestssss over to join dinner or here to sssspoil it?" Looking at the incoming Riolu and Pikachu, the Seviper slithered closer to its catch.

"Let that Pidgeotto go, you creep!" Zaphiel said, his ears now tucked back and sparks becoming active on his cheeks. Artomis stood just behind him, looking at the captive. It looked to have no injuries other than a bump on the head.

"Or what will you do about it, ssssmall fry? I'm not alone thissss time."

"What are you talking about? There's no one else here!" Zaphiel got on all fours and sparks really started flying. "Now you're angering me, let him go now!"

"You're sssuch foolssss." The snake slithered forward, a wide grin slowly forming on its face.

Zaphiel dashed at it and jumped into the air, launching a Thunder Shock at his target. The snake swiftly dodged the attack and leapt at Zaphiel in midair. Zaphiel gave a shocked look, and narrowly dodged the bite attack the Seviper used. Art was about to step in the fray when something landed hard in front of him. He jumped back a few feet and looked ahead into the small dust cloud. "Hee hee, your fight's with me little boy!" The dust started to dissipate, reveling the identity of his opponent. The Sableye before him let out a sharp laugh as it stared at Art.

Looking uneasy at his foe, Artomis stood his ground. He watched the Sableye as its own laughter almost made it fall backward, but it caught itself and dashed at Art, full speed. Jumping to the side, Artomis countered with a kick to the foe, but the attack went right through it. The Sableye let out a squeal of laughter. It swung its claws at Art and hit him right in the chest with the scratch attack.

Letting out a grunt, Art landed on his feet and jumped back about a yard, holding his sore chest, quickly trying to think of a new strategy. That's right... This is a ghost type. What can I do against this thing ...? The Sableye didn't give Art too long before he had to avoid another attack, this one barely missed his arm as he side-stepped away. Deciding quickly, Artomis leapt back toward Zaphiel and ran as fast as he could towards his friend.

"Hey! No fair!" The Sableye chased after its target, but as it neared Art, he jumped straight up in the air and landed on the Sableye's head, biting as hard as he could. "Ouch! Hey! Get off of me!"

Looking over at Zaphiel, he noticed a difference in the playing field. Zaph was being wrapped up tight by the Seviper he was fighting. Art leapt off Sableye's head, knocking it into the ground. He made a mad dash to his struggling friend but as he got close, Seviper used its Iron Tail attack and knocked Art away.

Starting to feel the pains of battle, Art dashed up one more time, letting out a loud cry. The Seviper laughed as it lashed its tail again, but this time, Artomis caught it before it hit him. "Nice try, but not good enough! Reversal!" using all of his might, Art lifted the snake from its resting place and slammed it into the ground hard. The snake straightened out, writhing in pain as Art moved up to his friend. "Are you okay, man?"

His ears tucked back and hands covering his aching head, Zaphiel slowly stood back up. "...yeah, I'll live, just watch the friendly fire, that hurt more than bein' squeezed to death!"

"As long as you're alive we can patch ya up, but we still have two guys here that don't want us alive for long." Looking ahead, Art saw the recovering Seviper, but no Sableye. Where'd that creep go...?

Before Artomis knew it, Zaphiel began charging ahead and tackled the giant snake. It flew back, eye's rolling back in its head. "Alright, mines down, what about yours Art?" With a wide grin on his face, Zaphiel began to make his way back towards Artomis.

"Well, I-- huh?" Behind Zaphiel, Art watched as a black ball flew directly at his friend. His heart pulsed as he jumped ahead and pushed the Pikachu to the side, his body flashing a light blue as the Dark Pulse hit him in the back. He flew back and landed hard on the ground, face first.

"Artomis!" Zaphiel turned to where the attack originated from and glared at the Sableye. Sparks crackled heavily from his cheeks. "That's it, you're finished!" Releasing the built up energy, Zaphiel's Thunder Shock hit its target dead on. Letting out a sharp cry, the foe fell to the ground, grunting something about them being punks. Zaphiel turned back to Artomis, who was slowly getting to his feet. "Damn, you took quite the hit, how are you still standing?"

After reaching into his bag and pulling out an Oran Berry, Art popped it in his mouth and felt his energy start to slowly return. "Good question... That really hurt." Standing upright, he looked at the struggling Sableye. It eventually got back on its feet, but looked in no condition to fight. "You done yet? I don't think you or your friend here can take much more punishment."

"Friend? Hell, I only met this guy today. He offered me a pretty little amount to help fight you, but now that he's out, I don't think I wanna get my butt kicked." It let out a sharp laugh and walked up closer. "In fact, you guys are part of a guild, right? Well, making money sucks lately, but everyone in a team gets part of the cut. Would you mind me joining you?"

Artomis looked at Zaphiel, unsure of what to do. He didn't even know that there was even payment involved. Zaphiel was showing a more than happy expression. "Sure thing! The more the merrier! What's your name?"

The Sableye gave a wide grin. "It's Ruby. Ruby the Mercenary at your service!"

"Hmm... I wonder if this is the end. I don't see anywhere else to go." Zaphiel let out a small sigh, looking at the single stone wall in front of them. The room was quite bare besides the trees. The trees were so thick that no light could seep through the branches to help guide them. "You think this is the end of the line?" "Maybe, I see no shinnies in the walls. That's all I could care for." Ruby said, her hands touching the solid rock.

Artomis stood in the center of the small, dark room and looked around. He felt like there was something they were missing, he just couldn't figure out what. He still felt a little dazed, his head in a light blue fog, but that wasn't going to stop him. He decided to take a quick look at the wall as well, and walked up next to Ruby.

"You're not gonna find anything, I've searched up and down and have nothing. You might as well--"

"Hey, a hole..." Art said, cutting Ruby off completely. She gazed at Art's find for a second, in disbelief that she had missed it. The hole wasn't that big, only enough to fit a hand in. Being curious, Art reached his paw inside the hole and felt around. At first it seemed empty, but then he brushed up against something and all three of them heard a small 'click'.

Zaphiel's ears fell back as he took a step forward. "How come I don't like the sound of that?"

Ruby looked at the Pikachu funny, but was soon replaced by a look of shock as the ground started to shake under them. Looking down, they all noticed the ground start to break apart. Before they knew it, the party was falling into darkness.

"Ouch... Hey, are you two okay?" Attempting to stand, Artomis called out to his friends in the darkness. Once he was on his feet again, Art turned around and saw his party on the ground, unconscious. "Damn, talk about a turn for the worse... Come on guys! We got to get going!"

"They won't be able to hear you."

Turning around, Artomis searched for the face to the new voice. "Who's there? Quit hiding in the dark!"

"As well as I should. I hate dark places. You're not awake either, you know."

Confused, Art looked down at his feet to see a Riolu lying there. "...That's me? Yeah, I guess it is. Wait, then how am I standing?"

"You are using your Aura, just as I am using my psychic power, to see the world as it is." The air around Art got thick as a green form began to emerge from the ground.

"...A Xatu? How do you know all this?"

"That I will explain when you wake. For now, I wish for you to see something." Xatu stretched out its wings and turned the Riolu around.

Artomis let out a small grunt of discomfort, but looked ahead at the tree line just before him. Little shimmers of light started to shine through the hole he guessed they had fallen through. As more light filled the room, the trees began to shine and sparkle. At a closer glance, Artomis noticed that the trees were crystallized. "The forest's name must have come from this secret cave. How about that?"

"So it would seem. Now that you know this, you should wake up and show the others. They will come around soon."

"So how do I wake up? I don't exactly know how I even got into this mess." Xatu gave a nod, seeming to understand his plight. "Oh, it is quite simple, really. Just open your eyes."

Confused, Art sighed as he decided to close his eyes. Instantly, his body became heavy and he could feel a slight bit of pain in his back. It was quite hard to open his eyes back up, a burning sensation covering his whole body. Eventually, he began to open his eyes, letting the green shimmers from the trees shine in. As Artomis began to stand, he could hear the grunts of his team mates as they started to rouse. "Well, Zaphiel. Take a look, I would have to say mission complete." He tried to stretch out his tense muscles, the pain slowly starting to dissipate.

After gathering his bearings, Zaphiel looked out at the tree line. His eyes began to shimmer in joy, his gaze shifting back to Artomis, then the figure standing beside him. "Whoa, who's that?!"

"We don't have time to discuss that here, we must go back to your guild. I have much to explain and little time to do it." the green headed bird gazed at Art, who only gave a slight nod.

Zaphiel pulled his badge out from his bag and handed it to Artomis. "Yeah, I think I've had enough of this place for a while... You found this one so you do the honors."

Holding the white badge, Artomis looked at the Xatu and held it up to him. "We'll see you there."

Xatu gave a nod as his body turned a solid white and faded away. Art turned to Zaphiel and Ruby, who were dazzled by the sparkling trees. Her eyes were in awe as the light continued to get brighter, reflecting more light off of the crystallized forest. "Oh man, just one of those would make me rich... I've gotta get one!"

"How would you even carry the tree back, Ruby?" Artomis chuckled, but the other two turned to him confused.

Ruby looked at him funny for a second. "I didn't say anything, did I?"

Feeling uneasy, Artomis looked at Zaphiel, looking for a little reassurance, but he just shrugged. "I didn't hear her say anything, trust me, she's hard to ignore."

"Hey! That's not even funny!"

Zaphiel's laughter echoed through the forest, but Art couldn't even force himself to. There were too many things on his mind and his head-ache wasn't helping any. Zaph looked back at Art and showed a weary smile. "We should head back ourselves, I think I can hear my bed calling for me."