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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Hand of Fate

Chapter 1: New Horizons

The crashing waves against the ship

The straining of the metal frame

People running to and fro

But someone fell off the side

Whom that is we'll never know

The waves crawled up the coast, stopping before retreating back into the ocean blue that created them. The sandy shore were surrounded by cliffs, showing their age from the wear and tear from the sea below, while lush grass and forests darted the landscape above. Settlements could be found, if you looked hard enough, but not of people. No, no. Pokemon only lived on this island paradise, untouched by humanity for millions of years. The Pokemon live lives just like a human would, but fitting to their own style of course. Of course, with a world like this, comes different perils. Caves, buried for years and years have reopened due to the wear and tear of the land. Venturous Pokemon travel deep into these caves, looking for treasure or riches, but some either get lost or get stuck in by other Pokemon that wish to ruin others days. Exploration Guilds were formed to counter this issue, brave Pokemon of all shapes and sizes, rescuing others in peril and scouting these never ending caves.

Four white feet walked along the coast, those of Lugias Spirit and Raive. But they were not like most others of their own kind. Both of sported a humanized form, each fitting their genders perfectly, but included and extra set of wing-hands on their back for flight, neatly tucked away.. "Ah.." The words slipped from his beak. "Isn't this beautiful, Spirit?" He took a deep breath of the fresh sea air, the scent filling his lungs, letting out a gleeful Lugia song as he exhaled. With only few dotted clouds high up in the sky, and the sea was as calm as ever, the weather couldn't be anymore perfect for them or anyone else on the island. "A good day at the beach!" The two of them say in unison, causing them to laugh. "I said it first!" Said Raive, laughing more. "You're just mad because I said it first, love."

Spirit raised her hand as she was about to retort when she stopped, noticing something against the beach up ahead. Red, cream and orange, it looked like another pokemon, a Blaziken more or less. "Raive! Over there" She said, running ahead of her mate to get a better look while Raive quickly followed behind. It was a Blaziken, lying face down in the sand, not moving, either passed out or washed up on shore. Raive rolled the body over, noting a bit of water coming from the Blaziken's beak as he did so. He put his head down to listen for a heartbeat, a very faint one coming back in response. "Stand back" He said, Spirit complying as he put his white hands to the Blaziken's chest and pushing down against it over and over. Just as Raive went to try again, a spluttering cough came from the Blaziken's beak, bringing up a bit of water as it opened its eyes, showing them to be an usual brown into of the normal yellow and blue. "Where.. where am I?" It groaned, showing it was a male by its voice. It attempting to lift an arm or even a leg, but failed to do so, instead waiting for his vision to refocus from the light. Raive leaned over him, looking at his face. "Brown eyes? I thought most had blue" He said. "A.. a Lugia? How..." The Blaziken tried to finish its sentence, but felt too weary, closing his eyes back up and opening them again. "What? You've never seen a Lugia before?" Raive asked him, Spirit looking at the Blaziken slightly confused. "This.. this is dream.. isn't it?" Blaziken answered, finally getting strength to raise up his legs and arms, sitting and looking out at the ocean in front of him. "I.. I shouldn't be alive.."

The Blaziken seemed to come to as it snapped up onto its feet, trying to stand but tumbled over its legs and hitting the sand once more. "Blaziken, are you alright? What do you mean by survived? Are there others with you? Should we go searching for them?" Raive bombarded him with question, to which he didn't get a response. "Oh, we haven't done any rescue missions in a while!" She smiled. Raive held up a hand to steady the Blaziken back into a seated position. "Do you need aid, Blaziken? What's your name?" Blaziken dug deep into his mind, but failed to find anything relating to a name.. or anything else for that matter. His mind was a blur, thoughts he couldn't see clearly or even connect the dots. "I don't... I don't remember.. wait... how can you speak fluent English?" He put a hand to his face, and stopped. A look of fear came across his beak as he focused his eyes on his hand, slowly pulling it away from his face. He looked down at himself, the look getting worse and worse, his heart beating up against his feathers if it could. "This.. this is a dream isn't it? Isn't it?" He pulled out a feather on his arm, feeling the sharp pain run through him. He got up and tried to walk to the coastline, falling down on his knees to see his reflection in the water. He panicked, pinching himself, splashing water onto his face, but none of it awoke him from his apparent dream. Raive moved, grabbing his arms and stopping him from doing anymore damage to himself. "Whoa! Hold on a second, Blaziken" Says Raive "What do you think you were?" The two Lugias looked to one another, not even communicating. "Tell us what happened, starting from the beginning. We'll take you back with us." The Blaziken finally relaxed, realizing the truth of the matter. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on something, seeing a vision of a human running to another side of a boat with Pokemon in tow before the boat rips in two, launching him off the side and getting struck down by an unknown force, leading to nothing but darkness. "Human.." He muttered, opening his eyes. "I.. I don't remember a lot.. I don't even know my own name.. All I can see.. is.. a storm, then darkness." For some reason it pained him to think about it, but then he started to have other memories come back to him, visions of... his own pokemon. He assumed that he was the human in the dream, the one that fell off the side, but he saw his pokemon run away from him. He couldn't pin all of them down, but he remembers a Blaziken quite well. "Human?" Raive said, looking back at Spirit. "We're actually hybrids.. somewhat.. of humans and Lugias. It hasn't been easy for us to fit in.. as for you.. human, you say?" Spirit shook her head and looked at the Blaziken. "You can't stay out here, Blaziken. Come with us, we'll see if we can provide shelter and food for you" Raive tilted his head in response. "Will the Guild-master really be okay with this? I mean, I was like you, Blaziken, thinking I was human. I even though I had a human name, but, no, I'm just half human, half Lugia. Like Spirit--" "No, Raive" Spirit cut him off. "Unlike you, I remember my birth"

Raive sighed and helped the Blaziken onto his feet, trying to steady him. "Let's just go. Come" And with that, the three of them slowly headed back into town. "What do you mean by Guild-master?" Blaziken asked them, getting his walking proper before slipping up, thankfully Raive and Spirit stopped him from falling on the track which lead into the settlement, Treasure Town, one of the closest to the shore towns on the island. The three of them walked down the main street if it could be called that. Passing by various stores of different styles, all with a pokemon feeling to them, which surprised him. "This may be all a bit to much for you, Blaziken, so just follow us." Raive said as they crossed over the bridge, Blaziken getting another good look at his reflection in the lake before a Magikarp swam underneath to ripple up the image. "Not to be, well, blunt, but how do you two fit in?" Blaziken asked, getting his walking back into play. "Through years of hard work and perseverance, we managed to secure our place in this society." Raive answered, landing a small kiss on Spirit's cheek while she blushed and returned it back. A memory of a human doing that to a pokemon of his own ran through the Blaziken's mind, but that was brushed aside as they approached a building building into the side of the cliffs. It was a strange looking building for one, being of pokemon design, but to have a Wigglytuff on the top of a tent surrounded by torches was another in the Blaziken's mind. He saw a hole inside the tent leading to a ladder, which seemed a bit more confusing on top of everything else, that and a grated hole at the entrance. Spirit walked on the grate before a booming voice rang out, causing Blaziken to cover his head, the voice still loud afterwards though. "Pokemon detected!! Pokemon detected!! Whose footprint!! Whose footprint!!" The voice boomed. "It's Spirit, Loudred!" Spirit yelled out in an attempt to counter him. "I have Raive and a visitor with us." Raive stepped up next, no voice except a hum from down the bottom of the grate, then Blaziken. "Alright!! You can go in!!" The Loudred screeched out, as the trio climbed down the ladder into what seemed to be a common room with bulletin boards with papers all over each one, pokemon walking around with neckties of various colors, some matching other pokemon. "Down one more, we're taking you to the guild-master, to see what we can do with you" Raive said, grabbing Blaziken's hand to bring him down the ladder to another level, which looks like another common room with branching pathways. Once they all climbed off the ladder they were greeted by a Wigglytuff, the guild-master, who was in discussion with Chatot, his second in command. "--I know, but we can't just have pokemon walking into an area which is unsafe, for all we know it could all fall apart, and we have that storm coming off the ocean, which could cause havoc if it was to hit us. Why not send - Ah! Raive! Spirit! Just the two I wanted to see, and who's this? Another friend?" The Wigglytuff responded, patting Blaziken on the arm, while both Raive and Spirit bowed.

"Guild-master, we have brought along someone.. he claims he was brought in by a storm, and that there were others with him, but he believes he's the only survivor, for now.. could.. could we discuss this in a more private place?" Raive asked, to which Wigglytuff nodded and they headed into his chamber. "Now, tell me Raive, what's the issue." Wigglytuff asked as he sat down on his chair, more like a throne rather. "He believes he was once.. human.. like I was. But all the proof I have is in my blood." Chatot flapped his wings. "Blasphemy! Raive, we have discussed this too many times, there has been no record of a single human being setting foot on this island. He might have been on a fishing boat out in the storm." Wigglytuff put a hand to his feathered friend, silently telling him to finish up. "We will deal with this properly in time. We don't have enough evidence to prove he was or is human. For now, I want the three of you to do a special mission for me before the storm rolls in tonight. A wreck was reported by a few teams along the coast, buried under rock. I want the three of you to investigate it. We will be coming with you to try and figure out what it is."

The trio agreed heading back up top with the guild-master and his flustered feathered friend behind him. They moved down onto another section of the beach, rock pools scattered everywhere throughout, not a single true patch of sand was anywhere as they approached a large mass of rock covering something. Something big. Blaziken had a flashback to the ship memory and went ahead of the others, causing some confusion between them. "Blaziken! Wait, it could be dangerous!!" Wigglytuff called out, but the voice fell of deaf ears as all of them ran into the wreckage. It was the other half of the ship, destroyed, like it had only been here a few days, but most of the furnishing was waterlogged and unusable. As Blaziken climbed he found a room, wrecked with metal jutting out of the framework, but noticed something.. pokeballs. His memories flooded, each of his pokemon were on that ship that night. He grabbed one of them, noticing the engraving he had got put on them.. Val.. his Blaziken.. the pokemon he had since birth... his powerful girl as he called her. Raive and Spirit went ahead of Wigglytuff and Chatot, finding the Blaziken kneeling over the ball. "How.. how is this even possible?! You were on this ship that night this happened weren't you?" Raive moved closer, holding the Blaziken, memories of the Lugia's past coming back to him as did the Blaziken.

They used to be friends, but then that night changed everything. They knew who each other were. Spirit knew this too, she used to be Raive's best pokemon. Raive realized the truth, he was not Raive the Lugia, but Brenden the trainer and was Paul, the trainer now turned Blaziken. Wigglytuff and Chatot followed soon after, seeing Paul holding the pokeball, shock running across his face. "You were a human after all!" He said, not in angry, more of astonishment. Just then the metal beneath Paul gave way, causing him to fall down into the rocky surface below. "Spirit, Raive. We cannot let this get out of hand. If the people of the island found out a human was here.. it would mean the end..." Raive turned to look at him. "What do we do then, guild-master?" "We restrain him" Chatot answered. "We lock him away until we can figure out what to do." Raive jumped down the hole, Spirit following quickly after as they lifted him up and carried him out. Raive.. his memories fully unlocked; he wasn't Raive the Lugia he thought he was. He was Brenden, the human, but in a different body, a more idealized body. He and Spirit gently pushed the weak Blaziken along, smiling a bit, very small to be detected by anyone else except him.

"It's been a while.. Paul.."

Chapter 2: Lockout

The two reconcile

But for how long?

Because very soon, one will be gone..

Upon their arrival back the the guild, Brenden was instructed by Chatot to take Paul to an extra room, where he would be locked away from the others. "I remember what it was to be the human once.. family and friends and the like, but how I came to look like this and take the name Raive is a mystery to me that will take time to figure out. From this point on, neither one of us has control over what happens." As they reached the room, Brenden spoke once more. "Be safe, don't falter, and I promise that I'll find a way to make this right.." With that, after holding his friend's shoulders, he and Spirit left him, trapped.. alone.. isolated from everyone. Brenden continued to go by the name "Rave" even at dinner, but every time the name was said, he was reminded that he really wasn't that being. That night however, while the guild slept soundly in their beds, Paul had just slipped into the dream world once more, getting his dinner later than everyone else took its toll on him, that and the storm really didn't help either.

He saw a vision, not from his own eyes, but from a fly on the wall view. He focused on what seemed to be a cave, filled with lush plants and grass overlapping the stone walls and floor. A small lake was in the middle of this cave, a strange looking object hovering over the top, slowly rising and falling to cause the tiniest of ripples in the still lake. It reminded him of a gear, but one that seemed to be made out of pure stone. A blackened claw reached out, grabbing the stone gear, the light instantly disappearing from it as it left the lake, the world coming to an apparent stand-still, as if time had stopped. The grass' color faded from the lush green to a gray hue, the water and everything else doing the same as the black figure vanished into the darkness, leaving him to wonder what it all meant. Was this really a place? Did this happen, or was it just his mind playing back a memory of his past self? He couldn't figure it out.

Brenden tossed and turned in his sleep, stuck in his own dream, caught in a strange dimension where time and space seemed to be almost lost to it. He walked across floating chunks of rock and grass, gravity shifting each time to land him on his feet regardless of the platforms alignment prior. He crossed over them with ease walking along a stone path, while various gravity changes revealed themselves, such as a steam of water going up into the eerie blue sky, floating clumps of dirt with twisted flowers upon them. Brenden questioned the dream as Paul did his own, thinking it possibly could be a prior memory, although how it related he couldn't understand. He arrived at what looked like a gaping hole through the world itself, nothing but darkness was there. "Where am I?" He looked around, grabbing a small stone and throwing it in, watching it quickly vanish into the black void. He turned, thinking heading back would help him but a loud, unearthly screech came from the darkness, a large white clawed hand coming out and striking him down, causing him to wake up in cold sweat, his heart pounding. He turned, seeing Spirit still asleep in her own bed, realizing it was the dawn of a new day, rubbing his beak and cheeks to try and cool himself down. Once Spirit woke, she had plenty of questions for her mate. Brenden, now almost insisting that she call him by his prior human name, asked her time and time again why he wasn't told from the first encounter between them once he became the Lugia he was now, whenever that was as he was unable to remember his transformation. Spirit refused to answer, only giving him the response "For the good of all" All she asked was that he continue to go by Raive while he was out in town and in the guild, and that he keep Paul's name to just Blaziken. To this, he agreed, but now a rift of distrust formed between the two, something that, unmonitored, could drive them apart forever. The two headed to the mess hall for breakfast, cooked by Chimecho.

Paul meanwhile woke to the sound of a cheer, that and the sun warming him up. It was unusual for him, sleeping in a bed that was basically a giant nest, but it was comfortable for him, more comfortable than any other bed he could think of. "Three, smiles go for miles!" He heard from down the corridor, before a bunch of inaudible talking began. He was tempted to come closer to the door, but didn't want to cause any more trouble than what he had done already, instead slumping back into the nest and thinking about the events that had unfolded.

Brenden and Spirit as well the rest of the guild finished their morning cheers after breakfast, waiting as Chatot moved up to speak. "Now, everyone. We are a few days away from the lunar festival. This event only happens once every few hundred years. Today, I want everyone to continue their rolls as normal, but tomorrow, the guild will be helping the townsfolk set up on the beach for the festival that night. Myself and Wigglytuff will assign all of you people to work with throughout the day, as the special moment draws closer, you will be free of guild duties for the night, minus a few who will stay on sentry watch back at the guild." Chatot stated, looking towards Brenden and Spirit. "Raive, Spirit, I would like to have a word with you after. Everyone else is dismissed." With that, the other members went their respective ways while Chatot came closer to the rifted couple. "Wigglytuff and I have decided to keep our Blaziken friend hidden away for the time being. If word was to get out if that was a human, it would cause too much havoc. I have contemplated the idea of wiping his mind, but only as a last resort. But, another matter has come to our attention. We received a report from afar that earthquakes have been becoming more sporadic in nature. An expedition team has also reported in stating in far off places, time has seemed to.. well.. stop"

"Stop?" Brenden questioned. He was tempted to go into detail about his dream, but it would've given a bad image about himself to the guild, with what matters he was already involved in, he decided to keep quiet about it. "How could time.. stop? And how is this affecting things as it is?" "I don't know, we are still trying to figure it out ourselves. We wanted you to investigate this further, but with the festival in a few days, and our Blaziken friend arriving, I don't want to take anymore chances. After the festival is over, I want to get to the bottom of this. Another team reported finding a mass of various caves that weren't there before." "Caves?" Asked Spirit. "Was this just created? Or was this hidden all the time and the caves have been unearthed recently?" "Spirit let's not jump to conclusions. What do you like us to do with this knowledge?" Brenden joined back in. "I don't want you to do anything just yet. We will wait until after the festival and then we'll figure it out. Until then, I would like the two of you to have the day off before tomorrow. Dismissed." With that, Chatot flew off down the hall, and out of sight. Brenden mentally communicated to Spirit, as to not attract attention. "The nerve of Chatot.. I wonder if, when I was human, I wondered what Pokespeak sounded like if it was spoken to a human in their language. Now it just sounds like a language that I can understand--" "Brenden," Spirit answered him sternly. "Leave the past behind and embrace who you are now. I really should be calling you Raive, but.. you're not actually Raive, so.." They walked outside, speaking in that vein.

Paul heard footsteps coming to the door, but refused to uncurl himself out the nest-bed. It was Wigglytuff, bringing him a bowl of soup.

"Blaziken.." He started, opening the door and closing it behind him. ".. We.. we got off on the wrong foot.. Chatot did not want to feed you a true breakfast, merely scraps, but I can't let that happen." Paul heard his words and slowly got up, seeing the steam coming off the bowl, looking like it was carved out of pure stone.

"Why? I haven't done anything wrong... nor do I even remember doing anything wrong in the first place.." Paul answered back, watching Wigglytuff come closer, albeit cautiously.

"Blaziken, I don't see anything wrong in you. I.. well.. Chatot and I fear that if your true identity was to slip. It could mean havoc for the town. No one has ever heard of a human on the island, its all based on myth."

"That we, humans, are monsters?"

"No, not like that at all. Here, drink this before it gets cold, please." Wigglytuff handed the bowl over to him, with Paul taking in a whiff of it before taking a small mouthful. There wasn't anything that he could relate it to, no ingredient that he could really pin it down on. "From what we know from pokemon who have been in contact with humans, they make it seem like pokemon become enslaved to a human leader, which they must abide by"

Paul took another few mouthfuls before stopping to answer. "That's not how it is... well.. at least for most... I look.. looked at it as a choice for them. If a pokemon wanted to join, I would try to get close to them, understand them, then see if they truly wanted to be part of my group. It's not slavery, nothing like that. Its more on forming a relationship between a human and a pokemon, to help both of them grow."

"I.. I see.." Wigglytuff thought. "What will you do now that you're a pokemon, Blaziken?"

"I honestly don't know. There's nowhere for me to really go is there besides the island, but I'm sure news travels fast around here."

"It does, but the island is big, even to this day we are still finding new places to call homes. The main towns in this area are Pokemon Square, Post Town and this one, Treasure Town."

"Only that many?"

"There are more, but usually require long distances to travel, some are in snow, over water and the like."

"I see... Wigglytuff.. thank you." Paul finished up his soup, passing the bowl back to him.

"You're welcome. I hope to see you again for dinner."

"Not for just the soup. For not.. you know... revealing the truth."

"We already have enough on our plates to deal with. I hope that in time I will be able to convince Chatot to let you join the guild, that way you can still lead a normal life, but we can keep an eye on you."

Before Wigglytuff left, he gave Paul a pat on the back. "You're a kind spirited pokemon, I can see it in your eyes. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." He said as he left, leaving Paul alone again, but a bit more relaxed, having found an ally amongst the pokemon, and in the strangest of places. He just hoped that Wigglytuff would be able to work something out, so he wasn't cooped up in this room anymore. He wondered about the other places, maybe he could start anew there, but he would wait until dinner. By then he assumed that Wigglytuff would've talked Chatot a little.

Paul watched as the day grew to night, seeing the moon hanging in the sky from his window, the mirror image against the dark waters of the ocean. He slumped against the wooden framed window, noting that was merely nothing but wood and rock, but hoped that something would amount of him staying. His sense of smell was assaulted almost by the various foods being cooked down the hall, out of sight, occasionally seeing a pokemon or two head towards where he thought the mess hall was. He noticed Brenden and Spirit walk by, hand in hand, looking at each other, but not saying a word. Assuming they were talking mentally, he went back and lied down in his nest, looking out through the window upside down. It was then he saw two small creatures, one small than they other, fly up against the moonlight only to duck back into the darkness of the starry sky. The freedom he could have in this world, if he was given a chance.

The dinner went by rather quietly, he expected some talk, but there was very little throughout. He rubbed his stomach, feeling it growl almost as he was practically dying for a meal. Gritting his teeth, he sat through it, finally hearing many footsteps leave the mess hall and head in various places, causing him to get back up and rub his head a few times, taking his mind off food for the moment. A knock came on the door, looking up he could just an outline, very faint. The door then opened, it was Chatot, a small bowl in his hand with some soup, a different color and smell following quickly after. It was enough in Paul's eyes, anything would allow him to sleep on a somewhat filled stomach. "Human, here's some leftovers from the soup. It's not much, but I'm sure it will keep you going." Chatot placed the bowl at his feet and headed back towards the door.

"What do you plan to do with me? Keep me locked here forever?" Paul asked, putting the bowl in his lap. "No, nothing like that. We just don't know how to handle a human among us. I don't want to take chances with more possibly coming."

"If there where anymore, they would've found me before I arrived, then you wouldn't have had to deal with me"

"I don't mean to be harsh to you... Blaziken, but I have to at least be cautious about something I haven't seen with my own eyes. We have pressing matters to attend to first, after tomorrow, I will speak with you about all this, I can promise you that."

"Chatot... just... thank you" Paul answered him, looking back down at the soup.

"Again, I don't mean to be harsh on you simply because you are... well, were human in a past life. I want things to run smoothly for tomorrow. You're here for a reason, what that is we still need to find out. Goodnight, Blaziken. Sleep well." With that, Chatot left, the natural lights in the guild slowly dimming as Paul wolfed down the soup with ease, leaving the bowl next to the door as he curled up, his eyes slowly getting heavier before finally shutting. He knew what level he was on now with both Chatot and Wigglytuff, but he had to prove it to them that he wasn't a monster as myth's portrayed his prior species, but a pokemon that wanted to live in a pokemon's world.

Chapter 3: Proving One's Self

Run or fight

Its a tough choice

But do what's right.

"Up and at 'em, it's morning!" Loudred yelled out to the guild, waking them up for their usual breakfast routine, Brenden and Spirit sleeping side by side, wings curled over one another, Paul slowly waking up, his feathers ruffling themselves naturally, puffing himself up for a bit before straightening again. Brenden and Spirit slowly woke, but never said a word to one another. They both put their hands on the door to open it, looking back into each others eyes. "Spirit... I'm sorry. With this happening, I just want to know about my past.." Brenden spoke softly to her, taking his hand away from the door. "I know you do, Rai- I mean Brenden. I just grew to accept you as more than just another pokemon, but as a lover.." Spirit said, coming into a tender hug against the other Lugia, accepting it without question. "What do you know about my past, Spirit?" He asked her, holding the underside of her beak to look back into her eyes, seeing them water up. "We were.. we.." She took a deep breath, holding her arm and biting her lower beak before she finished. "Trainer and pokemon, Brenden. You used to be my trainer." Brenden stepped back, a look of shock across his face as he learned the truth, and it hurt. "Spirit.. why.. why didn't you tell me this any sooner?" "Because I didn't want to lose you!" She broke down putting her head against the wall, desperately trying to hold back the tears. "I was alone, scared, fearful of this world. I've been with you for almost my entire life, I couldn't just forget those memories... then I found you. You were physically different, but I knew it was you.." She put her hand to her mouth, muffling her sobbing as her clear tears ran across her white beak. Brenden swallowed, moving up behind her. "Spirit.." He held her firmly, turning her around to see the tears running down her face. "I.. I love you, and always will... if it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't be the person I am now" He held her against his chest, herself surprised but then quickly embraced in return, sobbing into his chest, her words incoherent as he stood there, a lone tear running down his beak. He held her head once more, seeing that her tears had subsided. "I'll be your Raive, Spirit." He kissed her, wiping her beak as she regained her composure, slowly standing upright once more. She didn't say anything, and didn't have to as the two of them walked out into the mess hall, looking slightly worse for wear but blamed it on tossing and turning throughout the night.

After their meals and morning cheer, Wigglytuff stood up. "Now as you all know, tonight is the lunar festival. This event is rare, and we may only see it once in our lifetimes. As such, we will hold a festival down on the waterfront to view it."

"Guild-master," Bidoof started. "What will we see?"

"A glimmering light which will light up all the coastal waters of the island for about two hours just before and after midnight. As such, today will not be a normal one. Instead, I have offered our services to the townsfolk, who have already begun work down on the beach as some might have seen this morning. Once you're assigned work is complete, report back to either myself or Chatot to see if there is any other work available. If there isn't, consider the day free. Now then, your jobs. Sunflora, Chimecho, you two will be working with the Kecleons for the day as they set up their stalls."

"Will I be cooking?" Chimecho asked.

"That is your choice. Corphish, Bidoof, you two will assist Kangaskhan set up a small ride for the children. Spirit, Raive, I would like you two to help Marowak and his two daughters set up their fire act stage. Croagunk, Dugtrio, you two will help Spinda set up a small cafe shop as well as your own stall for your merchandise, Croagunk. Loudred, Diglett, I would like you two to be on sentry watch as per usual up until the time comes, in which we'll let you come down. Everyone alright with their assigned tasks?"

"Yes guild-master" All of them nodded, breaking off into their groups.

With everyone leaving the building almost at once, Paul was a little worried to say the least, before he heard footsteps coming to the door, showing it was both Wigglytuff and Chatot. Paul sat in waiting, as Wigglytuff had another bowl with him, but no steam coming off the top and Chatot had something on his back, something big. "Morning Blaziken. I trust it you had a good sleep?" Wigglytuff asked, closing the door. "I did, I'm just surprised at the nest. Still nice and warm." Paul answered, smiling a little. "I'm glad, here, it's not much, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. In the meantime, we wanted to ask you about something, if you have any knowledge about it." Paul looked into the bowl, seeing nothing but oversized seeds. He didn't know if this was a jab at him being a bird or if it was truthful, but he took the latter and nibbled on one, finding it to not really have a taste of its own, but he was sure if it was mixed with something, it could be better. "What do you want to know?" Wigglytuff took the pack off Chatot's back, opening it to find a strange looking stone, poke-speak inscribed on one side of it. "We don't know what it relates to, nor do we know where it came from. Do you have any ideas?" Chatot asked, pacing a little. Paul looked at the stone, trying to piece it together with something he might have seen prior, but with no luck. "I can't say that I've seen something like this before. Couldn't someone in town figure it out?" "We've tried that, we're having a expedition team coming from another town to have a look at it in a few days. Thank you regardless." "It's fine." Chatot slipped the stone back into his pack before heading out. "I've spoken with Chatot, he's willing to let you join the guild. We need all the help we can get really. Strange incidents have been reported happening since your arrival. Something's up, but we honestly don't know what." Wigglytuff said, putting a hand to Paul's shoulder. "Am I connected to this?" "No, and I'm not blaming you for it. Seems to just fit in for some reason. In any case, I have to go." Paul nodded as Wigglytuff left him, heading straight out to Treasure Town to help out.

Spirit and Raive walked down the main road, going past Chansey's day care center, where she took care of young pokemon. "Oh Raive! Spirit! A word, please?" She called out, waving to them as they changed their direction. "What is it, Miss Chansey?" Raive asked her. "Tonight, I was thinking of bringing the children down to watch the festivities. I was hoping you two could give me a hand for a bit so they could see it before I put them to bed?" Raive and Spirit nodded in response, Chansey clapping her hands in delight. "Excellent, I'll see you later tonight." The couple headed inside finding the two girls already hard at work. First there was Val, or Valerie Saint as some pokemon called her, an average girl for a Blaziken, minus the unusual feminine bust on her and her ample bosom, she was still a force to be reckoned with. The next was Jessica, or Jess as most named her. An Infernape, powerful and strong, but like her sister still sporting the bust of a human female, but at least the two kept themselves clothed to a degree to not let anything slip out. Val turned, having just brought nearly thirty long planks of wood to the side of the door. "Raive, Spirit. How good to see you. Come to train again or are you here to help?" She asked, putting her hands to her hips. Brenden felt ill, the realization of the name of the Blaziken before him and the writing on the pokeball from before, it was starting to hit him and hit him hard. He felt sick, almost on the verge of bringing back up his meal. "Excuse me, please." He said, darting off into the nearby forest, finding a spot to hide out and recover, splashing water on his face from a nearby pond, trying to clear his thoughts. "A bit unusual for him. Did something upset his stomach from this morning, Spirit?" Val asked, trying to see him, but to no avail. "I don't know, maybe something from the night before, who knows. Shall we get started?" Spirit answered, walking around and finding Jess come past, carrying a bunch of sticks on her back in a self made back pack and some flowers in another. "There's a fair bit to carry, we might have to make two trips if Raive doesn't recover in time." She said, setting her bags down on a pile of long planks of wood, going to one end while Spirit went to the other, lifting on the count of three.

Brenden looked down into the pond, seeing the reflection stare back at him. He thought it was wrong to realize the true identity of Val, having it locked away in his mind for what seemed like an eternity. "At least... At least she's safe.. I'm sure they're all safe..." He said, sighing as he felt better, coming back to the trio, lifting off the bags off the wood, making it easier for the two girls as Val had gone ahead. "Something didn't agree with you, Raive?" Jess asked. "Somewhat, but I'm better now." He answered her, going on ahead to see how the beach looked. It was busy, extremely busy. Pokemon were everywhere, setting up their little stalls for the evenings events. He continued down, finding Val already hard at work laying down the foundations for the stage before her apparent sister and his love came. "How long do you think it will take to build it?" He asked her, watching her shift all the wood around like it was nothing. Paul's training had did it's job with her. "Probably an hour or so. Jess and I still have to get the final routine set up." She answered, seeing the others arrive. Brenden decided to leave the past behind, although unbeknownst to him, Val knew of her past vividly. She adored her trainer, she would've laid her life on the line to protect him. She had regrets since the night she was unable to save him, but found herself on this island, and hoped one day he'd come back to her.

The hours drew on and on, time seemed to go pretty quick for those down on the beach, but for Paul it was more of a long drag. With practically no one in the guild minus Loudred and Diglett at night, it was more of a matter of choice stopping him from coming out. He heard a tapping on the door before it opened up, showing Diglett. "Oh Blaziken. I didn't think anyone else was here." He said, bit surprised. "It's fine Diglett. I'm somewhat just resting up until the festival" "You're not going? I never heard your name get called out on the roster" "Because I'm not on the roster. I came from another town, lost my way and ended up here. I'm more or less just waiting until Wigglytuff and Chatot decide what to do with me." "Well.. I don't see the point in keeping you cooped up in here during the night. Just stay around the guild when we leave and on our way back, head back inside so no one knows." "Really?" "Sure" Paul was surprised to say the least, finding the pokemon to be trustworthy of others they didn't even know. Diglett left shortly afterwards, heading back onto the sentry watch as Chatot came inside. "Alright you two, the show's about to start, you can go now." He said, with the two pokemon sprouting sounds of enjoyment as they headed out. "Blaziken, guard the fort for them" Chatot called out as he left, leaving Paul for once, completely alone inside the guild. He headed out as well, sitting up in the cliff's bushes to look down at the beach. He could make out the faint outline of Val and Jess performing their dance, a mix of fire twirling and their overall abilities, with a crowd watching from a safe distance. "Come on bro, you'll miss the lights!" He heard looking over onto a rocky plateau, seeing a Charmeleon holding a Charmander's hand, thinking it was two brothers. He peered over more, watching the ground. "See bro, look how pretty it is" Charmeleon said, putting the younger Charmander in his lap, the young one giving off a surprised sound in awe of the view of the ocean, even though they were a few minutes from the actual lighting.

Paul moved a little forward, a strong breeze came through from the ocean, brushing his face, but he felt something else.. the ground. The bushes seemed to bounce up and down against the ground, over and over again, he knew what was happening, an earthquake. It was like something had just started shaking the island in its entirety, causing his hands to slip a few times, seeing the ground underneath the now panicked Charmeleon and his now crying brother. Down on the beach, pokemon ran left and right, Chansey protecting the children while Val and Jess went to her aid, trying to calm them all down and protect them. Paul saw the rocks give way under the Charmeleon as he tried to make a break for it back to the grass, but the ground slipped out from beneath his feet, knocking both brother's into the ocean below. "Oh my god! Look!" Loudred screamed out, pointing towards the two shadows against the sky, Brenden and Spirit quickly taking flight, they knew they couldn't reach them before they hit the water, but someone else did. Paul gritted his teeth and jumped off, diving straight for them, catching them against his chest as they hit the water with a loud splash, everyone on the beach looking on in fear. Paul righted in the water, getting the brothers to break the surface of the water before he did, pushing them towards the nearby shore as pokemon ran over to help the terrified duo. Paul felt weak, extremely weak. In the midst of all this, he forgot what he was weak to, but continued to persevere, going so far as to grab hold of the sand as he finally got his head to break the surface, struggling for a breath. He felt two sets of hands grab him as they brought him to the shore, but he was so drained he could barely see. Brenden and Spirit put him against the ground as Wigglytuff and other members of the guild came over, the Charmander and Chameleon being held onto by their mother, a Charizard of course. In the chaos, the earthquake subsided, dying down as quickly as it started.

He coughed and spluttered, slowly trying to get to his feet, but could only manage to kneel as Brenden held his weak form. "Blaziken! Blaziken, listen to me! Can you see me? Answer!" He begged him, but Paul was more focused on the brother's watching them cling to their mother. "They're safe.. thank god.." He wheezed out, falling against Brenden's chest, out cold. "He.. he risked his life for them?" Wigglytuff started. "He.. he's not a monster as we first thought..." Chatot nodded silently in response, Val overhearing his words as she came over, seeing the weak and unconscious bird against Brenden's chest. "He's back.." She whispered, getting a strange look from Jess in return. The crying and panic stopped as the moon shined down against the sea water, an usual blue hue over the moons surface as the coral below the water lit up, lighting up the entire coast in a dim mix of colors. "Paul.. wake up.. please" Brenden shook his friend, getting a weak eye opening from him, getting a glimpse of the natural beauty of the island.

It was meant to be a time of celebration, but the earthquake had caused more troubles than first thought. The Blaziken was carried back to the guild as the beach was deemed unsafe by the majority. The guild retired for the night, as did the townsfolk. Paul knew he had done right in saving the two, but at what cost?