#HURRY. cyndaquil. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dorminchu · 4 months

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Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

a/n: Illustrations commissioned from the one-and-only @addictivities. You can read the first chapter of the fic here with better formatting (it was written in 2013, so beware the jump in quality) but it's not required to understand this chapter.

Chapter Two: Hidden

Crimson light filtering in through miniscule cracks in the wooden walls could signify dusk or daybreak. Condensation tricked down in random droplets from a ceiling high above. He walked the perimeter of the room, then doubled back the way he'd come. Glancing down at the single poké ball on his belt. Red-and-white paint chipped away around the button, revealing the plastic beneath.

The straps of his bag did not bite into his shoulders. He took it off and rummaged through it. Empty pockets. Nothing in his wallet either, save his old trainer ID. Blocky, illegible text adjacent a familiar photo taking up half of the card's face. The kid in the picture smirked at him, wearing the same ochre sports jacket, the gym-shorts and sneakers with that cap to match.

He flipped the card over. The lower half detailed a series of portraits numbered one through eight, two rows of four. He could barely make out their faces.

An inexplicable sensation of deja-vu gripped his stomach.

His POKéGEAR, discarded a few steps away, gave off its own illumination. He picked it up. Its screen—cracked, warped, flickering—frozen on the MAP setting. A pixelated avatar marched in-place over a black void.

He reattached it to his wrist. There are only five places in the Johto region that I could be. The lighthouse in Olivine. The Battle Tower. The Burned and Tin Towers in Ecruteak. And in Violet City, there's one more. I haven't been here since I got my first badge from Faulkner. Where are all the sages?

Floorboards creaked beneath his shoes as he approached the central pillar. Upon closer inspection, he found a small aperture on the other side, just large enough for one person. There was no visible sign of a bottom, and the only way down was a wooden ladder.

With a sense of resolve, Gold brought out his lone poké ball. Flash of red light limned the room and faded. The cyndaquil began snuffling at the floorboards. Gold looked down at the poké ball in his hand. Above the button was an inscription: no. 155, HURRY.

His cyndaquil had long since evolved into a typhlosion. He'd neglected to give her a nickname—at the time, he wasn't thinking about it very deeply. Wasn't there a guy from Johto who specialized in rating nicknames? He must've visited that place. He'd have plenty of time to ask around, once he was somewhere familiar.

"Hurry?" The pokémon turned at the sound of his voice. Gold crouched down and it stumbled over to him, nosing at his palm.

I'm probably just on one of the upper floors of Sprout Tower. Whatever the case, I'll go check in at the pokécenter in Violet City. Once I have my team back, I can try to figure out how I got here.

Gold walked over to the ladder, took the poké ball and recalled cyndaquil. The ladder creaked once he put his foot in the first rung. The air got colder as he descended, his bare legs prickling. His POKéGEAR buzzed unexpectedly to life, causing Gold to momentarily lose his footing on the next rung and gripped on tightly, catching his breath. The frequency resolved into discordant humming.

He'd tested the effects of the radio with wild unown before. The Ruins of Alph were pretty close to Violet City, as was the sprawling Union Cave. It was unlikely, but not impossible. But it didn't explain the cyndaquil.

Once his feet touched solid ground, he could relax a little. When he looked up there wasn't any sign of the room he'd come from. The air tasted damp and stale.

He released Hurry again. In the brief flash of illumination, he could see he was at the start of a long tunnel but couldn't discern any details.

Gold said, "I don't suppose you know Flash?"

Its back sputtered, then flared up, settling into a gentler glow. Gold had to squint to make out his surroundings. Hurry just squeaked happily. It started walking down the corridor, turning back and chirping at him.

Gold chuckled. "Are you gonna lead the way, too?"

Despite its energetic temperament, the pokémon seemed reluctant to stray too far from Gold's side. As his eyes adjusted he could see that the walls of the tunnel were carved out of hard-packed earth.

They must be somewhere under Violet City. If they kept walking, eventually they would get to Union Cave. Evidently, there was some secret passageway from Sprout Tower to the Ruins of Alph he didn't know about. If they weren't so far underground, he could check his map.

Hurry made better company. The echoing frequencies of the POKéGEAR hadn't stopped. He switched over to the radio screen. The dial was stuck directly on 13.5. When he tried to change the station, then switch to a different application, it didn't register.

He hadn't explored Union Cave or the ruins too excessively, focusing all of his attention on the Indigo League and building up his team. The POKéDEX only required a single unown to register as caught.

The light seemed to grow dimmer as the cyndaquil kept moving. Gold quickened his pace.

He was hyperaware of his own breath, his thumping heart. His head throbbed along with the radio. If it wasn't strapped to his wrist, he'd throw it against the wall just to hear himself think.

He needed it in working condition. Maybe someone would pick up the signal and rescue him. No use working himself up over a stupid radio signal, but that was a hell of a lot easier to say when he had six high-level pokémon on his side. A cold sweat formed under the heavy jacket.

He couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

"Where'd you go?" he called. The cyndaquil was lagging behind. Its light was so dim now that Gold could just make out its silhouette against the encroaching dark. Gold broke into a run, crouching down next to Hurry. It didn't seem to notice. The embers on its back had all-but extinguished. He recalled it immediately, using his POKéGEAR's as a primitive source of light. As long as it stayed in the poké ball, it wouldn't be in immediate danger.

The only benchmark was a wooden sign planted in the middle of the tunnel. Above it, five unown floated serenely, giving off their own light. They had arranged themselves to form a single word:

LEAVE.

Gold looked at the sign. A crudely-carved message took up its entire face: TURN BACK NOW

He scoffed. "Yeah, sure, I'll turn back."

The unown seemed to sway in time with the blips from the radio. Their eyes, glassy and unmoving, could have been hewn from stone.

"What do you want? Do you want me to say no?"

His response swelled, echoing around the chamber. The unown quivered.

His surroundings plunged into darkness. He cried out, ducking down instinctively to shield himself from a strike that never came.

When the light came back, six unown hovered gleefully above him.

TOO BAD.

Overcome by shock, Gold couldn't formulate a response. A strong gust of wind blew from within the depths of the tunnel, pushing him back the way he had come. The unown radio signal meshed with the frantic pounding of his pulse.

He groped along the wall, blind. Part of the tunnel had a give to it like rotting flesh. It caught on his fingers, porous and thin, and tore like wet paper. Gold was falling forward into an unfamiliar chamber.

Six unown hovered before him, giving off their own light. Frequency on the radio degenerated into white noise. As they came closer, he could make out the letters clearly.

HE DIED.

A phantom force bound his arms to his sides.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he cried out, "I need to heal my cyndaquil, please juh—just let me go. I'll take him to a pokecenter, he's going to be fine."

His feet left the ground.

"Please!" he wailed. "Please, he's going to die!"

The unown flickered.

A sharp twist behind his navel. Violent, rippling pain coursed up the length of each arm. The wet severing of muscle and bone. His vision blacked out briefly and he couldn't scream.

Just as quickly, the pain abated. Vision blooming into an unfamiliar room. The sight of his hands elicited a ragged whimper. He clasped his arms, squeezing hard enough to bruise.

Inhale, exhale. Too fast. Lightheaded.

Inhale, hold.

Exhale. Fighting for composure. Just a nightmare. A trick of the unown.

Inhale, hold.

Exhale, hold.

Opened his eyes again. Four bone-white walls, a ceiling hidden in shadows. If he stretched his arms out, he'd be able to touch the walls around him no matter where he stood.

One of the walls didn't look right. A facade of stone, disintegrating at the edges. He'd barely touched it when it crumbled into powder. Gold, coughing, covered his face with the crook of his elbow. His skin and clothes were coated in ash. In the vast and formless expanse there was no other sound except his pulse, uneven breathing. He was walking down a corridor he'd never seen before. At the end, he could only turn left and continue down another hallway. Each time, it took a little longer to get to the next corner.

His wrist was still lit. He craned his head in desperation, staring into the harsh light of the LCD screen for an answer. The map hadn't changed.

Is it possible I'm so far underground there isn't any signal?

His thoughts interrupted by a dead-end, and a hole. There wasn't any ladder. If he doubled back, he'd just be wasting time. He screwed his eyes shut and focused on breathing. He couldn't risk bringing out the cyndaquil.

He took a cautious step towards the hole and peered down. The dark was more like a void, out of time or space. As soon as he lifted a leg over the apeture, the world shifted on its axis. The hole in the ground moved to meet him, as if he'd simply walked through another threshold. Gold swallowed down his nausea and continued walking. He could see a faint pinpoint of light in the distance. As soon as he got out, he'd take a nice long evening at Violet City's poké center. He'd check in with his mom.

The pinpoint of light was growing faster than his feet could carry him. An invisible pull behind his navel, as if transported by an ally's Teleport. Loss of footing followed by an abrupt solidity. Fresh, nighttime air pulled into his lungs. Initial shock gave way to a wave of nausea and he doubled over, dry-heaving. Thin layer of perspiration clung to his skin. His arms tingled.

"Are you all right?"

He looked up. The girl was around his age. Her hair was dyed an intense shade of blue and pulled into twin ponytails. A pair of bright yellow athletic shorts and sleeveless red shirt, white jacket that was fraying at the cuffs. She had her own POKéGEAR, clipped neatly on her bag. The bayleef standing next to her approached him, nudging him with its head. The smell of the leaves around its neck was spicy, but tasted bitter in the back of his throat if he inhaled deeper. His upset stomach settled gradually into queasiness. He patted the side of its neck.

"Had my pokémon use teleport," he said hoarsely. "For some reason, I wound up here."

The last time he'd teleported anywhere was at the behest of the old guy and his abra, at Indigo Plateau. He'd only said yes to be nice, and thrown up in front of the Pokécenter in Mahogany Town. Given the option, he'd rather take the hike across Johto on foot, or on his own pokémon.

"Wow," the girl said, "you look like you've seen a ghost."

"Teleporting makes me sick." Gold straightened up and tried not to look as shaken as he felt. He noticed her belt—two standard poké balls, plus a moon ball and a lure ball respectively.

The girl extended a hand. "I'm Kris." Gold shook, even though his hands were still clammy. She didn't seem to mind. "C'mon, let's go report back to the lab. You can catch your bearings."

Back when he was working on the POKéDEX, the scientists at the lab would always warn him not to stick around the ruins any longer than he had to. It was important to pace himself. The unown were quick to flee, and poké balls didn't always do the trick.

He glanced at the single poké ball on his belt. The sooner he could get cyndaquil to a pokécenter, the better.

Inside the lab, the girl introduced Gold to Ken, the tech who fixed his POKéGEAR. Kris took a seat on the edge of the desk. "Where are you from, Gold?"

"New Bark."

The girl frowned. "I grew up in New Bark. I've never seen you before."

"I live right next to Prof. Elm's lab. Maybe you just moved in before I left."

"What are you, my extra-dimensional twin?" She glanced at Ken, who didn't laugh. "It's just, I've never seen you before. Are you sure you're from New Bark?"

Gold stood a little straighter despite the nausea. "I'm surprised you've never heard of me."

"Why?"

He smirked and said, "I'm the youngest champion of the Indigo League, to date. Among other achievements."

Kris shot a side-glance at him. "Cool. What's a champ like you doing in the Ruins of Alph?"

"Oh, you know. Sometimes you just want to get out of the public eye." He hesitated. "It gets boring when you're stronger than most of the trainers you meet."

Kris nodded. "I basically live here during the summers and go to the Trainer's School in Violet City for the rest of the year. Ken's doing an internship right now."

"So, you've been all over Johto and Kanto?" Ken remarked. "How many pokémon have you seen?"

Before Gold could answer, Kris motioned towards the 'DEX at his hip, suddenly very businesslike. Gold stood up. She smirked. "What? If you are what you say, this shouldn't be a big deal."

"I didn't say—"

Kris hopped off the desk, offering her hand without waiting for him to finish. With a sigh, Gold handed over the POKéDEX. Kris walked over to the nearby desk. She clicked on a lamp and studied the screen for a few seconds. She whistled. "Wow! Two-hundred and fifty one."

Gold groaned under his breath. "Look, I really need that back."

Kris huffed. "Just wanted to check if you're the real deal." She handed it back, but kept her hand over the 'dex. "Ken and I are working on the Unown Mode feature of the POKéDEX. You've only ever seen three. Lucky for you, I just so happen to have seen twenty six kinds of unown. Maybe I'd even be persuaded to trade data if you help me fill some of my missing entries."

"It doesn't work like that," Gold said. "Does it, Ken?"

"Sorry, Kris. Looks like you'll have to earn that heracross after all." Ken got up. "This could take a while. Kris, make sure he doesn't break anything."

A small, wooden box that would take up the entirety of his bag. The lid was sealed shut. A line of runes engraved onto the sides and top of the box were too small to decipher. "What's this?"

"Professor Shuri thinks these ruins are connected to the Pokémon Communication Center in Goldenrod City," Kris added. "The runes on the walls appeared not long after the Pokécom Center was built."

Gold stared at the box.

"If you want it," Kris said, "you can hold onto it. Nobody here knows how to open it anyway."

Gold froze. "I can't take this."

"Ken is only here because of the internship," Kris muttered, "and I'm not half as interested in the Ruins as Prof. Shuri is. Was." She side-eyed Gold. "You must be a pretty tough trainer to have beaten the League, even if I've never heard of you. Maybe you can figure it out."

Kris feigned a scowl. "Battling's not something I could do forever. I'm more interested in the research." She shot Gold a semi-apologetic grin. Gold smiled back. He was about to suggest that they trade. Once he got to Violet City, maybe.

"There's still a lot we don't understand about these ruins, or unown for that matter. Professor Shuri thinks the unown communicate with each other using electromagnetic waves. They might also have the power to perceive the feelings of other creatures."

"Where is he now?"

Kris frowned. "He's been away. The assistant keeps telling us he's sick."

"I've never heard of him before. He sounds a lot like Professor Hale." Kris and Ken looked at him in confusion. "The guy from Greenfield? He had a wife and kid, and they went missing shortly after he came back from an expedition. It was all over the news."

"Never heard of him, sorry."

Gold shrugged, playing off his feelings. "Maybe I got the name wrong."

Once Ken fixed his POKéGEAR, Gold was free to go back into the ruins with Kris. He told them he was going to make a quick stop by Violet City first—to heal his pokémon and check the PC. His old team was surely in there. He stepped into the crisp air. Nighttime breeze incurring gooseflesh. He was lucky to have his jacket.

The poké ball at his waist began trembling. He'd barely even touched it when it burst open, as though its occupant had been physically restrained.

Houndoom burst free. It caught sight of him and barked.

Gold tore his eyes to the poké ball. The red paint was peeling, and he had to squint to make out the inscription.

FOREVER, no. 215

The houndoom's jet-black eyes caught the sunset. It turned around, disappearing into the main entrance of the ruins. His chest tightened.

"Come back!"

It turned and yipped at him.

He could just make out the shape of houndoom's horns. He tried counting his steps. When he looked back he had no idea where they were. The houndoom yipped at him if he stopped for more than a minute. He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I hope you know where you're going!" he called.

They walked down the long hall of idols. Where there should have been a dead-end, the wall was missing. The hall continued, narrowing until there was just enough space for the houndoom to pass through. Gold had to turn himself sideways just to fit through. He couldn't take his pack with him. He could just come back out and retrieve it.

The walls were widening. The stone was pale white, enscribed with runes he couldn't decipher. None of this was familiar.

Gold pursued deeper. The houndoom was sitting on its haunches. A plinth and pedastal, on which rested a single poké ball. It wasn't one Gold had ever seen before. His best approximation was a Safari Ball but the make was wood, rather than plastic. Faultless, like something Kurt would obsess over.

A pack of unown peeled themselves from the dark to hover in front of him, flashing scarlet: RELIVE.

"What do you want?" he shouted up at them. The unown merely blinked and disappeared.

The houndoom yelped, twisting its body towards something Gold could not see. Houndoom began to sink through the floor itself, wailing. Gold quickly recalled it to him, but he was sinking too. The shadows coalesced around him, like an ariados's web. Clutching the poké ball tightly, he held his breath as the ground closed up above him

subsumed, thrashing, gasping, all he could taste was the bitter cloying ash and burning wood

on solid ground.

Looking out over a mountain peak. A small flight of steps led to a narrow path, blanketed by a thick layer of snow. The sky was bright blue, unbroken by clouds. When he took in air, there wasn't any burning sting in his lungs from the elements.

The boy standing next to him gave no indication Gold was there. His skin was almost translucent. Gold didn't turn to look at his face. Nurses from the pokécenter never made it this far up the mountain.

"It's over," he said hoarsely. The wind howled low around them. "Isn't it?"

The other boy raised his hand and adjusted his worn cap. His attention shifted to Gold, and he gesticulated towards his belt. Gold glanced down at his own waist, experiencing a fleeting moment of déjà vu. Houndoom already stood patiently at his side.

He clicked it open. Nothing happened.

Something heavy caught hold of his shirt, pulling him down.

A typhlosion, fur flecked in snow. The bottom half of its body was torn away. A trail of blood and entrails led from the gap in the rock's face. The pokémon shuddered, maw agape, fire sputtering weakly across the span of its neck and shoulders.

Gold didn't have any medicine. It wouldn't make a difference now, any more than returning typhlosion to her ball. As she clung to these last moments in stasis, he'd only be delaying the inevitable. What kind of trainer would allow their pokémon to suffer like this?

Hooking an arm under the typhlosion's, they began to move haphazardly towards the mouth of the cave. They had only taken a few steps when typhlosion fell, and Gold was dragged with it, falling to one knee. Anticpating the sharp shock of falling through snow, instead ash. As he struggled to free his arm from its grasp, the pokémon's grip on him was too strong.

The ash beneath them clung to her fur and his skin.

"It's okay," he whispered. "It's not going to hurt anymore." His throat tightened. The pokémon wheezed, and the arm that held its prize pushed against his chest. He looked down at the egg, tan, flecked with earthen spots and sticky with crimson, then back to the typhlosion.

Gold placed his hands upon the egg's shell as if to retrieve it. The typhlosion slumped forward. Its grip on him slackened.

He couldn't bury his friend in the mountain face. He looked back towards the trail of blood.

A pack of unown burst from the shadowy mouth, stopping above him to spell the word: DENY.

Gold moved past them. Clutching the blood-slick egg in his arms, into the cave.

The egg began to shudder in his arms. A jagged crack marred the egg's thick shell.

Gold crouched down upon the cold stone, cross-legged and hastened to remove his jacket. Houndoom came closer, shielding the egg from the elements. The cyndaquil poked out, chirped at him. There was no trace of injury.

Gold's eyes welled up.

"It's you," he whispered, losing composure. "I knew you'd be okay."

He didn't have enough poké balls. He'd buy a new one and register it properly. Just another reason to keep going through this.

The cyndaquil did not protest when he put his jacket back on and scooped up into his arms. When it had made itself comfortable, Gold resumed his trek through the eerily silent cave. The water around them was still, the air stale.

A gap in the cave's face. Light shone through. The cyndaquil began to squirm. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Cyndaquil exhumed a thick puff of smoke. Setting the pokémon down at his feet, it chirped.

Gold shook his head.

"There could be something dangerous up ahead. What kind of trainer would I be if I put you in harm's way?"

Last time they'd battled, the same place at Indigo Plateau, Silver had mentioned the Battle Tower. The trainers who fought there told him about breeding and a pokémon's genetics. As they stood by the gate, a light fog curling over the grass, typhlosion and feraligatr were wrestling each other for a bit of Gold's RageCandyBar.

Silver rifled through the pockets of his old sports coat for a cigarette and lighter.

"A male pokémon can pass its moves down to its offspring. The pokémon that hatches will always be the same species as the female. So, if you were to breed your typhlosion with my houndoom, you'd get a cyndaquil that knows the move Reversal from the start."

Gold shrugged. "I'd trade you an egg for the houndoom."

Silver took a drag, exhaling. "Houndoom?" he reiterated, like he hadn't heard correctly.

"You don't want to?"

Silver scowled. "It's getting too old to battle."

"You've had that feraligatr a lot longer."

Silver's jaw twitched. "He's not for sale." He pushed himself off the wall, one hand going to his poké ball. He stifled a cough, and barked, "That's enough, Feraligatr!"

The feraligatr released its faux death-grip on typhlosion's throat and raised its head. With a huff, Silver recalled his pokémon. "I want to be sure Houndoom will be looked after. Not just sitting in the day-care or in a box."

"It's just for my 'dex," Gold muttered. "You can have her back."

Silver scowled. "I'm not interested in raising a pokémon that can't fight." He discarded the butt. Crushed it under his boot.

Gold bred a couple cyndaquil, offering each to Silver for appraisal. Silver only ever called if he wanted a match. Next time they talked, the same spot at the Indigo Plateau, Silver brusquely mentioned that he and cyndaquil were getting stronger, and that he was going to take a break to focus on training. Next time they crossed paths, it would be for a rematch.

Life as Champion didn't lend itself to small-talk, just a constant barrage of calls from his POKéGEAR. Televised interviews replaced by speculation on his whereabouts. There was no mountaintop on which to seek seclusion. The wild pokémon on Route 28 offered more of a challenge. Silver was the only trainer whose power was tantamount to his own.

The poké center was more like a hotel. Besides a state-of-the-art healing machine, the nurse stocked max repels and full heals. As he walked into the pokécenter, the nurse looked up with a small nod. "Going up the mountain?"

"Yes, ma'am."

He didn't ask if there were any rooms. There were always vacancies. "You know, you and Lance are the only trainers I see on a regular basis," the nurse said. "Apart from that boy." She forced a chuckle. "He used to come here and train, like you do. He'd tell me about how he lost the title of champion to his friend, so he was working for his grandfather. Of course, I'd tell him, there are other paths in life. This one just didn't work out for you." She shrugged. "Last I heard, he's a Gym Leader in Viridian now. His friend is still up on Mount Silver."

"Did you ever talk to him?" Gold asked, without thinking about it. The nurse didn't answer, turning instead to dust off the stock of full restores behind the counter. "I didn't mean to pry," Gold said. "I was just wondering what Red was like."

The nurse moved on to the hyper potions. "He didn't talk much. I just remember that he was young. Couldn't have been much older than you are now." She sighed, shook her head. "If he's still alive, the least he could do is leave a note for his mother."

Gold added, "I'll talk to him. If I see him up there."

In the tiny room, he checked his bag. Heavy winter clothes, a bivouac, lots of spare batteries and dry food. Once he stepped foot into the mountain, there wasn't any outside help. The wild pokémon were particularly vicious, having to adapt to the freezing climate. Lance told him once, in confidence, that sooner or later you'd trip over a trainer's forgotten poké ball or items. The pokémon inside couldn't live or die, trapped in a state of hibernation. Some of them had been there longer than Red.

Gold repacked for the next morning. He couldn't relax. Might as well practice his moves with typhlosion.

His POKéGEAR rang. The caller ID read Silver. Gold picked up.

"What's up?"

"Quilava and I are getting stronger."

"That's great. How's the training with Lance?"

"He's busy. Clair has her responsibilities in Blackthorn. Anyway, you shouldn't get complacent just because you're working for Oak."

Gold scoffed. "Are you my rival or my coach?" Silver wasn't saying anything. Gold tried a different angle, "The pokécenter on Route 28 has got spare rooms."

"They won't let me through the gate without sixteen badges."

"So tell them you're with me. The guys on duty don't really care. Nothing interesting ever happens out here."

A beat. Maybe Silver would lose patience and hang up, and he could toss around instead of sleeping.

"Tomorrow morning. I want to battle for old time's sake."

Gold said, "Can't do that. I'm about to go up the mountain."

A short scoff. "You need a chaperone?"

"I'll make time for you," Gold insisted. "Unless you want to come."

"I'm coming over now."

Gold scoffed. "What? This is serious, man, you can't just go up the mountain. You need to have the right gear."

"Not up the mountain. Just to battle." Another pause. "For old time's sake."

Gold exhaled. "Yeah, uh. That's fine."

He didn't bother clicking any buttons. Silver always hung up first. Gold put his shoes back on. Before he left, he made a quick stop by the PC to swap out houndoom for typhlosion.

The sunlight was somehow fainter than it should have been. The grass came up to his waist. Colors seemed washed out, subfusc. No wild pokémon rushed to greet him.

The poké center was close. He'd explain his situation to the nurse and figure something out.

Silver turned to the feraligatr at his side, nodded. The pokémon struck an imposing figure in the dead light.

Feraligatr were massive, fast moving and deadly even on land. It could do serious harm to him or any of his pokémon without much effort. Gold had a Houndoom that ignored orders. This could only end in failure. And then what? Did pokémon centers exist in this timeless void? Would he die alone and afraid?

"This won't fix anything," Gold said.

Silver's mouth thinned, shoulders set. Gold clicked open his only poké ball.

Houndoom eyed the feraligatr. Its head inclined forward, like it was sizing up its opponent. It snarled, fangs dripping with saliva. The feraligatr cowered, arms raised.

Feraligatr was a fast, vicious breed. Silver didn't give the order to attack but watched Gold intently.

Houndoom dug its fangs into the tough scales. Feraligatr groaned, barely moving at all. A plume of bluish fire erupted from Houndoom's muzzle. The feraligatr began to convulse.

Silver flinched.

"Stop!" Gold shouted. "That's enough!" He thrust his arm out, activating the poké ball. "Return!"

The light engulfed Houndoom. It wailed and the recoil shot up Gold's arm, freezing him in place. His skin tingled.

A shot pierced the heavy air. Houndoom yelped.

Two more shots. The feraligatr's jaws slackened. It slumped to the ground and didn't get up.

Silver lowered his arm, breathing shallowly. Acrid smell of gunpowder permeated the air. Colorless grass stained a deep red.

"It hates to take orders from me. Maybe it would be better off with you."

Silver lowered the gun. He didn't say another word, but his lower lip quivered. He swallowed, and turned to walk down the riverbank before disappearing into the space a poké center should've been.

Houndoom barked at the empty mouth of the cave.

"There's nothing there!" Gold exploded. He took a shaky breath that did not help his temper. "You've always been a fucking pain in the ass, it's no wonder Silver would give you away. You know why I boxed you? Because you wouldn't listen to me. You still don't listen to me! Every day, I wake up and try to convince myself that nothing would change. But now I think I was right. Typhlosion would be alive right now if you'd taken her place." His voice strained, faltering under the weight of something he couldn't take back. "Damn it, I didn't mean it. I just want to go home," he whispered. "I want to see my friends again."

The houndoom didn't respond. It was staring at him over its shoulder, awaiting further instructions.

Gold put his hands to his face. "I don't know what to do anymore." He took a shaky, gradual breath. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you want me to do."

Movement in his peripherals. Perched above the mouth of the cave. It opened its beak and crowed once, mournfully. Houndoom wailed. Gold's legs wouldn't move. It spread its ashen wings and swooped down, extending its talons. Gold couldn't even make a sound. He raised his arms in front of his face.

The bird swooped over them, circling back over the empty horizon to alight on the grass. It lowered one wing, and Gold recalled his pokémon. He clambered onto its back, holding onto his cap as they took off. Soaring above Johto. Its plumage, slippery, reeked of ash and smoke.

Touching down in Goldenrod City, he felt an emptiness in his chest.

The streets were unnaturally silent, aside from the gentle de-tuned whine coming from his POKéGEAR. The longer he walked he felt the prickle of eyes on him, but no sign of activity. Only the windows in the poké center were lit. Breaking into a choppy sprint, he crossed through the doors, walked up to the nurse.

"Good evening," she said, giving him a second glance. "Would you like to heal your pokémon?" Gold nodded, wordlessly unclipping the poké ball from his belt. "Wait here."

She walked over the machine. Gold made an effort to get his bearings. The same posters on the walls. Trainers he'd never seen before. None of them were from New Bark.

"Here's your pokémon back."

Gold tore his eyes away. "Thank you very much." He clipped the ball onto his belt, and hesitated. "On the radio, have you heard of any trainers who came from New Bark Town?"

The nurse paused. "I don't think so. Are you looking for someone?"

Gold pulled out his trainer card from his pocket. "You checked me in, at the center on Route 28. Your sister works in Olivine. We talked about the previous champion of the Indigo League. I promised that I'd talk to him. He's off the mountain. If you see his mother," he took a breath, "tell him her son is alive."

The nurse glanced slowly from the card to him. She had gone pale. "I'm sorry. I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

Gold glanced at the posters. He put the card back in his wallet. No matter how desperately he insisted, there was no convincing her without causing a scene. "You looked like someone I know." He swallowed dryly. "Sorry to bother you at this hour."

He stepped outside, calling on houndoom. "I shouldn't have treated you the way I did," he said. He looked at the darkened windows for a sign of movement. "All I've done is blame you for my own shortcomings. You deserve a better trainer." A light chill caused him to shudder. "I'll let you lead the way."

Through the checkpoint towards Route 35, there wasn't anyone stationed behind the counter. Gold went ahead and stopped, mid-stride. "This isn't right." The forest path wasn't Route 35. A thick blanket of leaves decaying at his feet. The smell of decomposing flora hung in the air. The sun's rays limned through the gaps in the leaves in hues of crimson.

Houndoom came to a stop, attention drawn towards something Gold couldn't see.

"What's wrong?"

Crunching of leaves underfoot. A boy's white and gold cap through the grey foliage and disappeared.

Gold called out, "Hey!" He gave chase. He didn't see the boy anywhere.

The old entryway to Tin Tower. Gold stepped through. A shadow passed over the room. He spun around. Where a door should have been, there was old, damp redwood. Grain kissed his palms. He threw himself against it to no avail.

"Welcome back."

Gold whirled around with a cry. Silver leant against the pillar. One hand in his pocket. "Why are you here? Did the unown take you?"

Silver averted his eyes. The houndoom growled, teeth dripping with saliva. Silver didn't flinch.

"There's a way out of this," he said at length. "You just haven't found it yet."

His eyes returned to Gold's face. His usual stoicism seemed to falter. That wasn't like Silver at all. "I don't have time for this," Gold snapped. "Just give me a straight answer, or get out of my way."

Silver tensed. In the low light, the shadows seemed to coalesce around the ceiling. Giving way to an impossible volume of unown, their eyes blinking, glancing around. The darkness itself seemed to swell of its own volition.

Silver's expression faltered into naked guilt.

"I'm sorry," he croaked.

Gold had never heard him talk like that before.

"Silver?"

The unown covered the walls, coursing down the pillar. Silver opened his mouth to speak but was subsumed. Gold's cry was swallowed up by the darkness. The unown had no true solidity to them, but he couldn't move his limbs no matter how desperately he struggled.

Wait.

A resonant voice, clear as a bell, broke through the cacophony. The unown scattered, melting into the walls and pillar. Houndoom was gone.

A shape fluttered down towards him from the empty void above. Gold's breath caught in his throat. The celebi hovered a foot above him, its pink skin translucent like the petals of a flower. One green eye luminous and sorrowful. Half of its tiny body was burnt beyond recognition. The muscle and bones blackened. He could almost taste the rot.

It made a revolution around the pillar, then chirped at him. Gold swallowed. He walked over and reached out with trembling fingers.

The moment he made contact, the tower's wooden interior melted away. Blades of grass sprouting under his feet. The quiet burble of the river, the whisper of the breeze through leaves. The sky obscured through thick foliage.

His stomach twisted, on reflex. He swallowed down the urge to retch. His legs wouldn't hold him, and he collapsed. Grass scratched at his bare skin. Eye-to-eye with a small wooden shrine. Under its eaves, the twin doors were ajar. A single poké ball, white and gold, offered up to the forest's protector. There was no ID, just an etching above the button. Two letters.

"Wh-what is that? I've never seen one before. It looks a lot like a poké ball, but it appears to be something else. Let me check it for you."

He felt for the poké ball on his belt. Clicked it open, and in a flash of red light stood his old friend. A plume of smoke emitted from her shoulders.

Gold couldn't stop trembling. Suddenly, he choked out a sob. Each breath, he took in real air, the stench of grass and mud and fur, not some paradox of his memories.

"I'm home," he whispered, "I'm finally home. We're alive."

As he gathered his composure, scratching the side of Typhlosion's head, the first thing he was going to do was call his mother. A dead-end. He circled back towards the maze. There was no other path. As he returned to the shrine, Celebi was sitting on the roof. Its eyes—whole and blue—were impassive.

"This is over," he said. "I did whatever I was supposed to do. I'm back now, and I'm going to—"

Inexorable stabbing sensation behind his temples. Series of images flickering behind his eyelids in smooth succession. The tarnished celebi and the red pillar. Ilex Forest, ablaze. Sensation of fire licking at his skin, the curling flesh blackened. The pain abated as quickly as it had come. Gold, on hands and knees in the grass, retched a little but couldn't make himself throw up.

Typhlosion snarled. The embers on its back flared.

"It's all right," Gold panted. "Celebi isn't an enemy." He forced himself to his feet, tense. He wiped his sweaty face with the butt of his palm. "So, you know future sight," he said. "What else can you do?"

It chirped again, brusquely.

His mood soured. "I know," he grumbled. "I know where I'm supposed to go." He shouldered his bag, still heavy with an unhatched egg. "We should get moving. We're already late. I want to drop this off at the poké center in Goldenrod before we go."

END ACT II

a/n: It has been ten years since I updated this bad boy. (Technically a little longer since I posted the first rough chapter/prologue on Deviantart back in 2012.) Given the abstract nature of the original creepypasta, this fic's plot has deviated for the sake of maintaining a narrative. It also takes a few cues from the Lost Silver: Hidden hack by Reidd Maxwell. In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, a researcher in the Ruins of Alph states "According to my research... Those mysterious patterns appeared when the Pokécom Center was built. It must mean that radio waves have some sort of a link...", indicating that the Unown's appearance in said ruins are influenced by Goldenrod City's Pokémon Communication Center.

#lost silver #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3

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mikiappreciation · 6 months

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Okay; lemme show you guys what we got at the comicon/collect-a-thon.

Red got a pokeball christmas ornament for Blake; Blake loves Christmas.

Red also got this pair of green Pokémon GB cartridge earrings for himself and the other Gen One alters to wear

Gold managed to nab Hurry the Cyndaquil for Hibiki, and Red got a little Ditto buddy who turns into a “Pikaditto”

and ash SOMEHOW managed to get ahold of this VHS tape of the og Pokémon anime; this is the very first episode of the very first season. it’s in perfect condition and works great!

#not miki post #comicon #collect-a-thon #pokemon

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gildead · 8 months

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CONTENT WARNING: THIS DRABBLE CONCERNS THE DISCUSSION OF THE GRAPHIC DEATH OF A CHILD. IT IS RECOMMENDED YOU DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE RECENT ARG. ALSO VISUAL DEPICTION OF BLOOD, GORE, AND FACIAL HORROR. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Picking up right where the thread with Petrel left off.

"You knew. You... all... knew."

Perhaps it was inevitable that this day would come. The day where they finally had to talk about what had happened to Gold on that day. Celebi just didn't think that day would be today. Evidentially, neither did Gold's Typhlosion, given the fearful stare she looked at Celebi with. Even Forever had stopped chewing on Gold's discarded shoe to listen in.

"Yes, Gold. We knew." Celebi's eye flickered to Forever, then Sable. "Most of us."

Gold went quiet, so much so that the only noise came from Hurry peeking out from behind his mother. "Did... Did Silver know too?"

"Boy... be reasonable. Why else would he have come back?" Please heaved out an uncomfortable sigh.

As soon as he received his confirmation, Gold's sleeves immediately began disintegrating. He froze in place, his expression despondent. "...Everyone knew. And you... you let me forget."

"Your friend... Lugia betrayed you. My fellow titan." Celebi gazed sympathetically. "We worried that the memory would hurt you more than you already were."

"More than being physically ripped apart and left to bleed out." Gold's stumps blossomed open, revealing the bone and sinew within. Black sludge began leaking from his eyes and nose. His tone was dangerously even.

"That's not what they... Gold." Please approached Gold, a paw outstretched towards his shoulder. "We wanted to make sure you'd be okay before we talked about it."

"You think I'm okay?" Gold wrenched himself away violently. "You think I-- that I was okay with any of this?!"

"Enough." Celebi's voice hardened. "She humbly requested that I save your life. I gazed into her memories, and I saw your pure heart. How you put your own safety on the line to protect your team. How you came so close to opening-"

"I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO BRING ME BACK!" Gold coughed violently after he screamed before continuing. "You think this is... that this is living? That I want to stay like this forever? That I can't see anybody I love 'cuz I'll just make them upset all over again? I'm dead! I should've stayed dead! You should've just left me alone!"

He turned to the tree and rammed his head against it repeatedly in between choked sobs, denting and splintering the wood under the sheer force. With each hit, he slowed down until he fully came to a stop, sliding to the ground. For a while, he just sat there, crying.

Hurry waddled over to him. "G-Gold-?"

Gold whipped around. His sockets had turned black, and his face contorted terribly as he rose up again. As he let out a primal screech, a cluster of Unown fanned around him, spelling out a terrible message.

S T A Y A W A Y F R O M M E

And just like that, he disappeared into the woods.

Forever's jaw dropped, along with the shoe. Hurry, sniffling, rushed back over to his mother, burying his face in her fur as he wept. As for her, she and Away watched after where Gold had fled, at complete losses for words.

Sable also watched, her tiny face scrunched in concentration. A couple of Unown from her own flock came out from behind her, and she shared glances with them. After a moment, she nodded.

And stepped forward, ready to follow her trainer. He was there for her before.

It was time to repay him.

#FACE THIS NIGHTMARE. ic.#MEMORIES ALL TWIST AND SHATTER. drabbles.#PLEASE. typhlosion.#AWAY. celebi.#FOREVER. houndoom.#HURRY. cyndaquil.#WORDS SPELLED UPON THEIR FACES. unown.#SABLE. wigglytuff.#arg spoilers #death tw #child death tw #blood tw #gore tw #meltdown tw #suicidal ideation tw #self harm tw #[[remember: y'all voted for the monochrome jumpscare icons]]

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starsaver94 · 8 months

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Memories of Gold and Red (A Lost Silver Story)

Footsteps echo off of the wooden floors and empty walls of Sprout Tower. The only other sound that filled the usually dead air was the creaking of the giant wooden beam that acted as support for the tower itself. Gold looks around with worried eyes at his current environment. He didn't recognize this floor of the previously explored tower, memories of his previous fights against the wise sages and their barrage of Hoothoots and Bellsprouts flashing in his mind. There were no widows, the only things that allowed each floor of the tower to be lit. There were no ladders that acted as entrances or exits, making him wonder how he even got to the room in the first place. There were no windows either, the only light being the flickering flames Hurry's back.

He frowns when he looks down at the Cyndaquil that he chose for his first Pokemon. The small fire-type was quite sickly when he received it from Professor Elm, he was even warned that it was born with a eventually terminal level illness. However, Gold was determined to raise him and help him grow big and strong. He lets out a gasp when Hurry suddenly lets out a flurry of coughs and collapses onto the floor, wheezing breaths coming out of the fire mouse as it was being scooped up in Gold's arms and carried down a hall that suddenly appeared.

"It's ok... You're going to be ok, Hurry." Gold mumbles softly as his eyes dart between the dimming hall and his weak Pokemon. His racing heart manages to beat faster when he sees several eyes staring at him from the dark walls. He soon comes to a screeching halt when he eventually reaches a lone sign, a few Unowns hovering over it and spelling out L-E-A-V-E. Gold nods frantically, trying to fight back tears of fear for his sick partner.

"Yes... Yes please. Let me leave." He mutters loud enough for the letter-like Pokemon to hear, hoping that they would somehow get him and Hurry out of this hellish version of a familiar tower. His eyes widen in panic as the flames on Hurry's back grown dimmer and dimmer. "No... no, no, no, no, no...." He cries softly, shaking his head and choking back tears. He holds Hurry close, tears finally slipping past his eyes as the usually warm Pokemon was now cold and lifeless in his arms.

"Hurry... Hurry, I'm so sorry..." He cries, quickly falling onto his knees and quietly sobbing. Gold doesn't realize that his arms were now empty until he went to wipe his eyes. He looks around his new location, an empty field filled with grey stones. The Unown had answered his plea, he was out of that tower. However, he was now all alone. Well, save for a few new Unowns that hovered above a blank stone, their letters spelling out H-E D-I-E-D. "Wh-What... Who died?" Gold asks before looking back down at the stone. Etched into the stone was a phrase that read, R.I.P Hurry.

Gold didn't have time to cry or even react as the eyes of the Unown soon began to glow with psychic power. He soon finds himself in a new hallway. This one was lined with red wooden panels on both the floor and walls, the sudden brightness of the scenery made Gold's eyes hurt. He stands up to start walking before he feels immediately collapses back onto his knees. A sharp pain goes through each of his arms and legs, preventing him from moving. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. His face contorting in pain along with his silent scream. He grits his teeth together and clenches his jaw as the pain continued to ebb through his body, though it soon started to fade when the Unown picked up his body and sets him on his feet.

"Thanks..." Gold croaks out, wiping any remaining tears from his eyes before pausing when he looks at his hand. His tears were... red? Surely that must've been a trick of the light in the room. The red coloration was just getting to him. He lets out a breath before he starts to walk down the long hallway, feeling more eyes on him as he glanced at the walls. He continues down the seemingly never ending path until he reaches what seemed to be the end. A lone person stood at the end, facing the wall. His cap covering messy looking black hair, a familiar gleam in his eyes when he looked at Gold.

"Red...?" Gold whispered in shock. Red, as usual, didn't say a word and instead lets out his Pikachu. The electric mouse looked differently than how Gold remembered. Its usual cheerful expression was replaced with one of sorrow, like the Pokemon was about to burst into tears at any moment. Without even moving or saying a word, one of Gold's Pokeballs pops open and summons a pink Celebi.

Gold remembered when he first met the Onion Fairy Pokemon in the Ilex Forest. Though now, it appeared to be badly hurt. Half of it's body looked like it had been viciously torn off, leaving exposed insides loosely hanging from the missing chunk of its body. Celebi's good eye looks at Gold, clearly expecting a command from him.

"Perish Song..." He says, his voice monotone as if someone else said the name of the move for him. He watches as Celebi nods and begins to sing, a sorrowful but beautiful and haunting melody filling the air. The move seemed to only last a single turn as Pikachu refused to attack, instead choosing to look at Red. The former champion gave Gold and both Pokemon a sad smile before collapsing to the ground, all life in his body seemingly sapped away by the song. Pikachu lets out soft sniffs and sad squeaks as it moved over to Red, going underneath his arm and nuzzling under his chin before closing its eyes and joining its trainer in tearful eternal slumber. Gold feels his eyes slowly close as well before falling unconscious.

He wakes up with a gasp, panting softly as he looks around a new location. Celebi and the bodies of Red and Pikachu were gone. Now he was back in his bedroom in New Bark Town, a small smile growing on his face when he realizes this. "A nightmare... It was all a nightmare." He breathes in relief, letting out a laugh as he gets out of bed and runs down the stairs. His smile grows more when he hears the voices of both his mother and Kris in the living room. He soon stops once he reaches the bottom of the stairs, his smile fading slightly when he realizes that both of their voices sounded sad and remorseful. His smile fading completely when the sound of crying hits his ears.

"Oh Kris, I wish I could've held him one last time before... before he..." His mother cries before her words turn into heartbroken sobs. Kris gives her a worried look and gently rubs her back, her blue eyes filled with sadness.

'Before what?' Gold thought to himself. He walks closer and his eyes widen when he sees what was clutched in his mother's hand.

A framed photo... His photo...

That's when he noticed the other items that were on the coffee table. Flowers, cards, unlit candles and little statues of Pokémon. A mini memorial.

For him...

"Mom...? Mom... I'm right here. I'm ok..." Gold says as he attempts to get his mother's attention.

Only for the pain from before to return. This time it felt like his neck was being shredded from the inside, a metallic taste hitting his tongue as he coughed harshly. Tears flowed from Gold's eyes as he coughed and gagged, red droplets soon scattering onto the couch.

"Mom! Please! I'm right here!" He hoarsely cries out, his voice merely a rasp "I'm ok! Mom! Kris! Please... say something!"

It was no use... No matter how much he screamed and begged... He knew that they wouldn't hear him...

"Please... Mom... Kris... I'm scared..." He whimpers before collapsing to the floor. Sniffles and hiccups fill what soon turned back into the stone filled field. He peeks his head up and looks around, a new set of Unown hovering over a new stone. This one had a new set of words etched into it.

R.I.P Ethan Gold...

"What...?" Gold asks, shaking his head as he looked at the tombstone. His tombstone. This wasn't possible. How was it possible? The chirps of the Unown gain his attention as he looked up at the Psychic types.

"I'm dead..." He read aloud, his voice a whisper of shock and horror.

As soon as the words left his lips, a pain that was stronger than before ripped through his body. He screamed and cried as he collapsed to the ground. Every part of his body feeling like it was being torn and shredded from his body.

Even as it eventually came to an end, he cried. An unending stream of tears flowing from his eyes. He sobbed louder than he had been able to. Painful and sorrowed wails as every memory he had flashed through his mind. His journey. All of the people he had known. His mother, Kris, Silver, Professor Elm. He would never see them again.

He was alone... mournful... scared...

Lost.

(Extra scene below the cut)

Footsteps echo off of the wooden floors and empty walls of Sprout Tower. As he walked, Gold thought to himself...

Haven't I been here before?

And... why does it feel like I've done this more than once?

#lost silver fic #creepypasta #lost silver #gold #silver #red #celebi #unown #pokemon creepypasta #cyndaquil #sprout tower #pikachu #gold and silver #pokemon gold and silver

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cyndaquilenthusiast · 5 months

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Hurry with Steven’s Charizard, Miki!

They’re friends!

#cyndaquil #lost silver #pokémon #plush photography #hurry the cyndaquil #miki strangled red

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teamsunfluff · 1 year

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The sun began to peak through the window as the cloud cover dispersed...

Avin finished off one of the apples from the basket that had been given to them by Hope. It was a really kind gift, and despite the traumatic topic of discussion, the food was doing wonders to settle their nerves. Still, they could tell the same could not be said for Kaji. Avin could somewhat understand. The topic had always been more sensitive for Kaji. Avin wished they knew what to say or do to help but at the moment, they were still trying to process it themself and hardly felt equipped to help Kaji with it, beyond being there to support him through it just as he was for them.

"I think I'm going to head back to the guild," Avin said after a moment, "check in with the others and see if they need help with dinner or sentry duty. Is that okay?"

Kaji looked up from his apple and thought it over for a moment before nodding. "Yes, don't let me keep you. I think I'm going to order another drink to finish these apples with," he said with a smile.

Avin smiled and hopped down from their seat. "I'll see you back at the guild then when you get done!" they replied with a quick wave before trotting out of The Gigaton Brew.

A warm sea breeze ruffled their leafy hedge as they made their way through the town. As it was the middle of the day, the townsfolk were bustling about in a hurry. Avin waved as they passed by the bank, a flustered young Sandshrew barely able to return it in between counting out the coins for one of his customers. The Sandshrew flinched a bit as a voice boomed from down on the beach, the local Shellos ferryman making a last call before the boat headed out on the hour. Avin barely stepped out of the way in time as a pair of Tandemaus rushed past them, heading towards the local dojo where a Munchlax and Wormadam were currently conducting their latest lesson.

Avin trotted their way through the town square and approached a tall tent with a Beldum on the top. On the ground in front of it was a small bell with a sign that said “ring for service”. Avin lightly smacked their paw against the bell and sat back on their haunches as they waited. There was a bit of a ruckus inside the tent. The shopkeeper's grumbling was very audible amidst the rustling and shuffling of various items as they made their way to the front of their tent. After a moment, a Beldum poked their head out and surveyed the area before glancing down at Avin. They narrowed their eye at the Shaymin before letting out a low hum. "Can I... help you?" they asked in an uninterested tone.

"Are you Nox?" Avin asked in return.

“Yes, that is me. Who is asking?” Nox paused for a moment before quickly interjecting again to answer their own question. “Ah wait yes, you’re the Shaymin that Prisca was telling me about. Yes yes, come in.” Nox beckoned Avin inside before disappearing into the tent.

Avin tentatively followed, cautiously sticking their head inside before fully committing. The place looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There were piles of books, boxes, and baskets all over the places, containing everything from books on lost legends to jars of Cyndaquil hair. It was slightly unnerving, since Avin couldn’t think of a good reason as to why Nox, or anyone really, would have a bowl of Persian claws, but it wasn’t their business. Instead, they focused on what they came here for and followed Nox through the veritable maze within the tent to a section where many maps lay.

“I searched my stock after I spoke with Prisca yesterday,” Nox said, “and unfortunately I do not have any of the Gracidea Flowers that you seek.” The Beldum searched through the shelves before telekinetically lifting up a curled piece of parchment. “However, I did manage to locate this.” Nox floated the map over to Avin and opened it in front of them. “This is a map to an area in between Sky Peak and Cosmos Town. It is said to reside deep within a dungeon known as the Lost Forest.” Nox turned the map back to themself, scanning it quickly as if to affirm the information they were about to give Avin before giving them false hope. “According to this map, at the end of the dungeon, there is a field of Gracidea Flowers. You might be able to find one there.”

Avin sat in silence for a moment, almost in shock. There was another flower field outside of Sky Peak? They had always heard that Gracidea would only grow on the mountain due to the soil composition being so unique. But perhaps this dungeon was close enough to Sky Peak that it had a similar enough composition to support Gracidea Flowers as well. It was nothing short of a miracle to say the least.

“That sounds wonderful!” Avin said as they reached out to take the map. “So how do-”

“However!” Nox interrupted as they rolled the map closed, “This dungeon is no walk in the park, young one.” Nox narrowed their eye at Avin and seemed to almost frown, despite their lack of a mouth. “You are not a trained explorer and though your history as a tour guide on Sky Peak does give you some dungeon crawling experience, you need to be prepared before you walk into this place. I will not have your blood on my hands.”

Nox hovered the map over to Avin, holding it just out of reach as they continued their stern lecture. "Do not get your hopes up. You would be foolish to think a dungeon so close to Cosmos Town wouldn’t have been thoroughly explored already. Ask anyone at that guild you're staying at. They'll confirmed there's nothing there but a bunch of rocks with moss at the end of the dungeon.

“With that said, I have requested that Prisca pack you some supplies for the journey. In it, along with your normal items such as food and water, is an Escape Orb. Should you fail to find the flower field, since you don’t have an exploration badge, you will need to use that to escape instead. Understand?” Avin nodded their head silently. “Good.” Nox offered Avin something akin to a smile. “Then I wish you the best of luck, young Shaymin.”

Avin thanked Nox for their assistance before exiting the tent. Heading back to the main part of town, they spotted Prisca assisting a customer at her storefront. The hybrid began to wave as soon as she spotted Avin. “Hey! Avin! Come here for a second!” Avin quickly trotted over as Prisca fished something out from one of the cabinets in her store. After a moment, she approached the front again and plopped a small bag onto the counter. “It was hard to find a bag that would suit your size so I had to make some alterations but with some Psychic Gem powder, it should be able to hold about twenty items without adding any extra weight. Right now it has a bottle of water, some apples, a couple oran berries, an escape orb, and two heal seeds. Should be enough to get you started.”

Avin stared at Prisca for a moment before asking, “That’s a lot of supplies. A-Are you sure?”

“Of course!” Prisca answered without hesitation. “Sure Nox asked me to do it but I was planning to give you some supplies anyway. It’s dangerous to go into dungeons unprepared and I had a feeling that you were going to be heading into them sooner or later. I can tell we’re a bit of kindred spirits. The adventurer in you isn’t going to stop until you find those flowers.”

Avin sat in shocked silence for a moment before starting to tear up. “Thank you,” they said in a wavering voice, “I… I really appreciate all you and Nox are doing for me.”

Prisca gave Avin a big smile and patted the Shaymin on their head. “Just make us proud, alright? Go get that Gracidea flower for Kaji.”

“Yes ma’am!” Avin quickly scampered off to the crossroads by the guild and began to follow Nox’s map towards the Lost Forest.

[Kaji is temporarily not available for asks. Avin has begun their journey towards the entrance of Lost Forest.]

#shaymin #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon ask blog #written ask blog #shayminlandform #teamsunfluff #avinshaymin #priscamightysol #noxbeldum #kajishaymin #chrono #let's get this moving again shall we

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