PMD Legends Of The Land Episode 3: Rolling In The Deep

December 7, 2013

Damn, Episode 2 took up much more time than I put aside for it. Maybe it's 'cause I didn't note it down on paper like I did

with Episode 1. I'd better make up for lost time and get the 3rd episode written. May I, Neoware, proudly present...

PokÃ©mon Mystery Dungeon

Legends of the Land

Epsiode Three

Rolling In The Deep

Prologue

The Invitiation

As the storm blew through Treasure Town early this autumn morning, the atmosphere somehow manages to retain its

bustling atmosphere. While a storm can sometimes be an explorer's worst nightmare since it slows them badly down on

missions and they risk missing the deadline for them, they have to agree that it changes things up from the usual sunny weather.

The loud noise of the storm aroused Team Storm's leader, James Quillinger, a true hero in the PokÃ©mon world. He

groaned and opened his dark-brown eyes, just as the noise of the lightning exploded into his ears. James shot up and clutched

his ears in slight pain.

''Ugh, damn weather...'' He cursed. Seeing how he was now up, James decided he might as well get dressed and wait for the

morning post. He switched on the radio and watched the omnious grey sky in the distance merging with occasional streaks of

yellow lightning, James looked around his home, the Sharpedo Bluff, and looked at his 4 teammates, all of which were still

sleeping.

In the corner, by the door, Chimchar slept in peace. He was the team's co-leader, and his knowledge he picked up in the field

helped Team Storm hurdle over many an obstacle.

Next to him, Treecko tossed and turned in his sleep, trying to get back into a comfortable position. Treecko was the medical

expert of the team, and could patch up injuries as well as expertly wield a knife.

At the back was Piplup, a small penguin. She may look like the quiet type you'd expect, but she was far from that. Her knowledge

of traps and tactics made her vital to the team.

After seeing that they were still sleeping, James turned around and stared at the bird PokÃ©mon in the last bed. Her name was

Starvia. She and James went back quite a long way, but not all of their run-ins were friendly. She agreed to come back to the

team last month though, so they could be complete once again.

James finished getting dressed just as Starvia's favorite song started playing on the radio. He smiled.

''Happy listening, Starvia.'' The main vocals started to play:

When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach

So she ran away in her sleep

And dreamt of para, para, paradise

Para, para, paradise

Every time she closed her eyes

Starvia opened her green, sparkling eyes to try and find out where the noise was coming from, then looked at the radio

next to James. It was playing her favorite song, 'Paradise' by Coldplay. Starvia smiled to herself. What better thing to hear

when you wake up than a song you love listening to?

When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach

And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on, it gets so heavy

Real bricks above her life

Every tear in the waterfall

In the night, the stormy night

She closed her eyes

''Good morning, Starvia.'' Said James without turning around. His intuition can tell him when someone's awake or not.

''Morning,'' Yawned Starvia. ''You sleep well?''

''Yeah. You're lucky, you know, getting to listen to this song in your free time.''

''Sure am.'' She replied. ''Know the lyrics?''

''Heh, you had to ask, didn't you?'' As the music swelled up, James and Starvia took a deep breath and started to sing the

chorus:

In the night, the stormy night

Away she flies

And dreamt of

Para, para, paradise

Oh woah oh oh woah oh oh

She dreamed of

Para, para, paradise

Oh woah oh oh woah oh ohhhhhhh

''Hey, not bad at all, Quillinger.'' Starvia said. James semi-sighed in exasperation. Starvia never calls James by his first name.

Sometimes, he doesn't mind, but it can get repetitive. Starvia only said his first name twice. The first time she said

it was 2 months ago, during the World Abyss case, and the second time was only last month, when Team Storm

were sent out to the Northern Desert. ''Hey, post's here.'' James turned around and found the Pelipper flying towards

the bluff. He stretched out his hands to catch the letters, but ended up getting a face full of them. Starvia laughed.

''You okay?''

''Ha, that didn't hurt one bit.'' James answered, as he leafed through today's missions and wanted outlaws. His heart then

missed a beat when he recognized the seal on the last letter. It was from the guild. James switched off the radio.

''Hey, what the--'' Chimchar's voice said. James glanced around and saw that he was awake. ''Hey, I was listening to that!''

''Sorry. Got an important letter from the guild. See if you can wake the others up.'' Starvia took up James' request and

crouched down by Treecko and Piplup.

''HEY, COME ON YOU LAZY BUMS, GET UP!'' She shouted.

''For God's sake, keep the noise down!'' Treecko yelled in anger. James sighed and rested his hand on his head.

''Well... I guess that's one way of getting them up.'' He muttered.

''Yeah, but it's not exactly the best, is it?'' Piplup snarled, rubbing her ears. ''You'd better have a good reason to have done that,

Starvia...'' James showed Piplup, Chimchar and Treecko the letter. Treecko gasped.

''Quick, open it.'' James broke the seal on the back and pulled out the letter, reading it out loud:

Dear Team Storm,

I'm glad to be telling you this. Thanks to continuous funding from the residents of Treasure Town and our good sponsers over

at Spinda's CafÃ©, we have the good news to announce that we're departing on another expedition, and you've been invited to

come with us.

We'll be holding a meeting tomorrow night on the guild's lower floor to discuss the details with everyone, and how the difficulties

of the trip are going to be surmounted. Everyone in the town's coming to attend the meeting, and Wigglytuff's already decided

who's coming on the expedition: Everyone in the guild, just like last time (Ugh). Looking forward to seeing you there.

Sincerly,

Chatot, Head Of Intelligence at Wigglytuff's Guild

James looked up and grinned. It's been over 4 years since he and his team went to an extremely far-off place.

''Well, would you look at that.'' Chimchar said.

''And to think I was dreaming of the events at the Fogbound Lake only a few hours earlier... *1This is fantastic news.''

''Wonder where we're going this time.''

''We'll see, Piplup. We shall see indeed...''

The next evening, Team Storm headed over to the guild and clambered down into the upper level. James, wearing his tuxedo,

looked around. Everyone from Treasure Town really was here. Duskull, Electabuzz, the Kecleon brothers, Xatu, even

Kangashan. Every single inhabitant.

''Hey, James!''

''?'' He turned around. Chatot waved at him over by the bulletin boards. James wormed his way through the crowd to get to

him.

''You made it!'' Chatot said with glee.

''What, you didn't think I'd turn up? Come on, I'm here now.'' James shook Chatot's wing. ''Man, look at this place.''

''Yeah. Mind you, Guildmaster Wigglytuff did suspect there would be this many. What a nice turnout.''

''How's Scizor? You seen him?''

''He's talking to Wigglytuff down in the Mess Hall. Shame he's not able to come with us, he's trying to straighten up some problems

back over at the HQ of the Exploration Team Federation.''

''Know what kind of problems?''

''I think it's best if we stay out it.'' Chatot called out to the crowd: ''OK everyone, thanks for coming, we'll get the meeting started

now, everyone head to the Mess Hall!''

''See you down there.'' James said aside before follwing the crowd downstairs into the hall. While everyone was finding a place

to sit down, James saw Wigglytuff and Scizor talking to each other as they prepared for the meeting. James walked over.

''Hey guys.''

''Oh, heya James!'' Scizor exclaimed. They shook hands. ''How you been?''

''Yeah fine, thanks for asking.'' Scizor was the co-founder of the E.T.F, and a close colleague of James. About a month ago,

James teamed up with Scizor and Team Charm to take down a band of smugglers in the Northern Desert. They were

succesful, and all the smugglers are either dead or in custody. As for the leader... well, suffice to say his cold body lies

motionless, covered in blood down a deep well.

''I heard you couldn't come to the expedition. Chatot said you had some 'problems' to sort out.''

''Hmm, sort of. I messed up a mission quite badly with Raichu a couple of days ago, and I got the blame for it. I'll tell you what

exactly happened later.''

''Right, is everyone here?'' Wigglytuff called out to the crowd. ''Thanks for coming everyone, settle down and we'll get started.''

James spotted his team at the back and joined them. Chatot came over to Wigglytuff's side.

''Well, let's get things underway,'' He said.

Ah, nearly forgot:

*1: All throughout chapters 7, 8 and 9 of PMD: Time/Darkness/Sky, the human-PokÃ©mon and his team were invited to an expedition

which Wigglytuff and Chatot were organizing to pierce the mysteries surrounding the Fogbound Lake, and answer the questions

about the legends of Groudon and Uxie.

December 7, 2013

CounterStrike seems to be easing off on my life these days. Good thing too, since I'll get more time to do this. Now, before

you change the page...

Chapter 1

The Briefing

''It's great to see everyone in the town make it to this reunion we organized.'' Chatot said. ''Now, let's properly go into detail

about why we called you here. Wigglytuff, if you please...'' Wigglytuff flicked the projector on, showing a map of the

continent. A small segment of the map was ringed in the south.

''This area here is known as the Midnight Forest. It's called that because absolutly no light can penetrate it, and so

it's like it's always night-time over there. We're trying to solve this mystery, and for that, we're mounting a new expedition.''

Wigglytuff changed the photo to all different pictures of the guildmemers, sorted into different groups.

''I've been there on vacation while we were seperated,'' Starvia said aside to James.

''Like last time, we should split up for greater mobility.'' Chatot continued. ''We've sure that all the groups can get along

with one another. The groups are as follows: Bidoof, Diglett and Loudred, like last time, you three are together.''

''We got along before, wonder if we'll get along again...'' Diglett murmured.

''Continuing on, the 2nd group will be composed of Corphish, Dugtrio and Sunflora.''

''Now guys, don't drag me down.'' Corphish said.

''Huh, like I do that.'' Dugtrio snapped at him.

''Team Storm, our guests, composed of James, Treecko, Chimchar, Piplup and Starvia should travel together.'' James nodded at

this request.

''I think the Guildmaster, I and Chimecho should be together for this trip...''

''Aw, I'm STILL stuck with him?!'' Wigglytuff whined, resulting in laughter from the crowd.

''Yeah, that's right, Wigglytuff was stuck with Chatot for the trip to the Fogbound Lake last time around, wasn't he?'' Piplup

said.

''He sure was peeved.''

''So those are the groups. We'll give everyone three days to get to the destination, and if there's anyone who doesn't make

it, we'll send out a search-and-rescue party. Wigglytuff, explain how the expedition goes...'' Wigglytuff nodded, flicking

the projecter to the next photo of the Midnight Forest.

''As you can see from this photo, the area we're travelling to is seperated into two areas: We have the forest inland, and

the coastal area on the outside. Once we've all arrived, we'll split into two main groups. I'll be the head of one group, exploring

the forest, while Chatot takes charge of the 2nd group, exploring the beaches and the depths of the ocean. We've made sure

that the groups are in equal balance.''

''The PokÃ©mon that are called are coming into my group,'' Chatot announced. ''James, Starvia, Piplup, Corphish, Sunflora and

Bidoof, you're all mine.''

''Understood. I just know we're gonna do this.'' Bidoof said confidently.

''That means,'' Wigglytuff reprised, ''That those who weren't called just now - That is, Treecko, Chimchar, Loudred, Diglett, Dugtrio

and Chimecho, you're coming with me.''

''The expedition should last about a couple of weeks at the latest. If not, then we'll just have to overstay our visit.'' Chatot said.

''I think that's about everything we have to say here. Thanks for being here, and may our expedition go well!'' And on those words,

everyone dispersed out of the room. James got up and approached Wigglytuff and Chatot, who were now talking to each other.

''You sure you can handle this without me?''

''Of course I can, Guildmaster. You've seen me.''

''He's right, Wigglytuff. We've seen what he's capable of.'' James replied. ''Well, I'm outta here; see you two tomorrow.''

James turned for the exit.

''Hey, wait!'' Wigglytuff called.

''Yeah?'' James stopped, looking over his shoulder but didn't turn around.

''Wanna travel together tomorrow for a while?'' Wigglytuff asked. James shrugged his shoulders.

''Why not? Let's meet up at the crossroads tomorrow. See ya then.'' James headed back to Sharpedo Bluff.

''You sure you got that right?'' Chimchar asked.

''Sure I have. Why would I be wrong?'' Back at the bluff, Chimchar, Starvia, Piplup and Treecko were discussing which route

they should take for the journey ahead.

''You know I can't swim, you idiot. So how the hell am I gonna do that?'' James was on his way back, coming down the stairs.

''But we don't wanna be late like last time.'' Starvia pointed out. ''Better late than never, don't forget.''

''And better on time than late, Starvia. Don't forget that either.'' James' voice echoed as he climbed down the last flight of stairs

into the room. Treecko sighed.

''You heard?'' He asked. James nodded.

''So what routes did you have in mind then?''

''We tried multiple routes.'' Piplup said as she showed James her Wonder Map, with all different kinds of markings and lines drawn

onto it.

''The first route we tried was the most direct one, cutting straight across the sea and Zero Isle.''

''But...?''

''Well, we all know Chimchar can't swim (Chimchar scowled at this, he hates it when someone brings up the face that he can't even

touch seawater without his H.P going down), and well... Zero Isle is like hell, and we all agreed never to go back there again.''

''Definately. Anyone had any ideas?''

''Seeing how we're quick on our feet, I did try a route which goes across as many plains and flat dungeons as it could.'' Treecko suggested.

''But on closer inspection, the distance we would have to cover going the roundabout way was gigantic, and there was no way we

would've made it in time, even at full pelt.''

''Hang on, lemme try something. Pass that pen.'' Piplup passed her pen she used to mark the drawings on the map to James. James

wiped the map clean, and for the next few moments, he tried out all different routes, calculating in his mind, but waving his hands

around in the air, as if he could touch the calculations he was solving. Soon enough, he managed to come to a solution:

''Right, I think I've got it. So, here's the kind of route all of us need: One that'll take us through the Mountain Zone as quickly as

possible, and then after that, is a straight path to the rendez-vous point. And I have a solution. But I'll leave it to you which route

we're taking. Seems history repeats itself...''

''...Oh, yeah, it does.'' Chimchar sighed. ''I wanted to go on another route this time, see different places.''

''We can in our free time, Chimchar. Right now, we need some rest, early start tomorrow.''

''Right. I'm gonna hit it, night guys.''

''Night, Treecko.'' Treecko clambered into his bed and soon dozed off.

''And let's do make some effort, we don't wanna be the last ones to arrive again...'' James said to Starvia.

''We've got this, Quillinger. You'll see.''

(Expect a delay between this chapter and the next chapter, I've got a pile of school-based stuff to do right now. I'll stay in

touch)

January 4, 2014

*flush*

*door opening*

*sound of computer turning on*

C:/WINDOWS/system32/notepad.exe

Now, where was I...

SMALL WARNING: This chapter contains one use of strong language.

Chapter 2

Journey

The weather was even worse than what it was a couple of days ago as Team Storm got up, checked over their supplies,

and headed out to the soaking crossroads, to wait for Wigglytuff and his team. They soon arrived. James approached him.

''Are the others still in the guild?'' He asked.

''Some already left, others are about to go out.'' Chatot answered. ''They had better get a move on, covering nearly the

width of the land in just 3 days isn't easy.''

''We should go.'' Piplup said, pulling out her Wonder Map - The one with all of her's and James' markings - and orientated

it correctly. ''Come on.''

The party of 8 set off to the east, with James and Wigglytuff leading the front, Piplup directing the team, Treecko and Chimchar

discussing something to each other as they walked, and Chatot, Starvia and Chimecho flapped along at the rear, keeping

their beady eyes out for any hostile wild PokÃ©mon. It was a fairly silent trip. Once Chimchar and Treecko had finished their

conversation, the only noises that came from their surroundings was the pitter-patter of the heavy rain, the footsteps of James

and company as they trudged their way through the aforementioned conditions, and the occasional wild chirp of a bird PokÃ©mon

that came from a nearby tree.

The light was starting to fade as they reached the Hot Spring, used as a landmark to signal explorers that they were coming

into the foothills of the mountains.

''Hey, I think we're at the Hot Spring!'' Chimchar called out to the others. Gazing at the light-brown waterpits, he could already

imagine himself relaxing in the hot waters in just a couple of weeks, when this was all over...

''Snap out of it, we're not here to go swimming.'' James said to Chimchar, throwing his hand as it collided with the back of Chimchar's

head. He exclaimed and looked up. James stopped; Wigglytuff, Chatot and Chimecho continued on.

''This is where we go our seperate ways, isn't it?'' Starvia said. Wigglytuff's group stopped.

''For now. We're taking different routes through the Mountain Zone, don't you remember?''

''Oh yeah. So which dungeons you going through?''

''The Landslide Cave, which'll bring us straight out to the outskirts of the Foggy Forest.''

''I don't need to remind you how dangerous it is in there. Watch yourselves.'' James reminded them.

''We know that.'' Chatot chuckled, quickly returning to his serious state. ''We'll be in touch.'' Chatot pointed to the mouthpiece

on his headset, then turned away.

''We'll hear from all of you tonight, see how you're doing. Well... May the rest of our journey go well.'' Wigglytuff, Chatot and

Chimecho walked off and soon disappeared from Team Storm's sight.

''Well, aren't we gonna go?'' Starvia said to James, who seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

''Hang on a sec.'' James was trying to picture a figure he caught a glimpse of during one of the team's adventures at the Frozen

Island. What was his name, it began with an S...

''James? Hey, James, get up.''

''Ah, crap, not again...'' James had briefly passed out again, and was lying on the wet grass. He got back up.

''What was that you were asking, Starvia?'' James asked.

''You know what I asked, Quillinger.''

''Huh? ...Oh, right. Well, if we can at least make it past the foothills and to the entrance of Mount Horn by the time the darkness

fully sets in, we can safely call it a day. Let's get moving.'' The team set off again. The rest of the day was uneventful, and true

to James' word, they made it to the entrance of Mount Horn, just as the light faded away.

''Jeez, I can't see my hand in front of my face.'' Complained Piplup. ''Well...at least we made it.'' Even in the pitch black, you

could see the mountain towering high into the sky. It didn't get much snow though, since it wasn't quite cold enough.

''Treecko, get some leaves and I'll get a fire going.'' Chimchar said. Treecko looked around, gathered up a stockpile of leaves

and set them down on the rocky ground, and Chimchar lit them with the fire on his tail. The leaves ignited, and soon enough,

the fire expanded all over the green foliage, giving some light and warmth. Everyone sat down around the fire. Piplup unfolded

her Wonder Map. James and Starvia lent over.

''Well, we did good, guys.'' James said. ''A third of the way in, and the first day comes to an end. Here.'' James passed around

provisions to the group, and they ate quietly. A line was soon tapped into their headsets:

''Hello? Wigglytuff here. Like I said to all of you this morning, we'd check in with all of you, and see where you'll up too. So...

Over here, we're currently coming out of the Foggy Forest, still going strong.'' James put his hand over the mouthpiece on

his headset so Wigglytuff couldn't hear him.

''They're already there?! Hell, they move quick...'' James took his hand off the mouthpiece and spoke into it:

''Hey, James Quillinger from Team Storm here. We're camping just outside of Mount Horn, and we're gonna tackle it tomorrow.

No setbacks of any kind.''

''Bidoof reporting in. Things aren't so well over here, Loudred's been knocked out; we managed to revive him, but we're gonna

have to camp out where we are for the night. We're approaching the exit of the Oran Forest.''

''My best to Loudred.'' James said, making sure Bidoof heard him.

''This is Corphish. James, we're still on the move, heading to your position. If we're lucky, we might see each other before long...''

''Maybe, maybe not. If you do make though, we can travel together and team up.''

''Heh, we sure can. But that's only if we make it. Right, I'm out, hope to see you in a bit.'' And with that, Corphish signed off.

''Wigglytuff...'' Bidoof murmured.

''Don't worry. You've got the Master Rank, remember?''

''Oh yeah, that's true, yup! Well, I should be getting a fire ready, so I'll leave you guys. See y'all soon.'' Bidoof signed off.

''Things are rough for those that are lagging behind,'' Piplup chipped in. ''My sympathy for poor Loudred.''

''He'll be OK, Pip.'' Starvia said. ''We just have to believe, remember what you said, James?'' James nodded.

''You think so?''

''I know so.'' Wigglytuff said over comms. ''Well, I'll be going. Don't give up, guys. Wigglytuff out.'' The line died out as Wigglytuff

left. James sat down and sighed with fatigue.

''I'd better get a bit of rest.''

''Aren't you gonna stay up for a while?''

''Huh? ...Nah. Another early start, don't forget. Well, g'night guys.''

''Night.'' James closed his eyes, and soon drifted off. The rest of the team watched him for a while.

''And I thought he said he had insomnia.'' Treecko commented. ''And he wondered he we did it. If that's the ca se, then I ask:

How the hell does HE do it?''

''It's James. I don't know. Sometimes, that guy is a mystery. Even an enigma...''

The second day was pretty uneventful. Sadly, Team Storm didn't see Corphish's group today; they had to make camp

yesterday before they reached James' team. By the end of the 2nd day, Team Storm had reached the outskirts of the old Concealed

Ruins, and were planning on getting through them tomorrow. Loudred had thankfully woken up, and he, Bidoof and Sunflora made

camp at the Foggy Forest. Corphish's team tried to tear through Aegis Cave, but were forced to beat a very hasty retreat indeed

when Dugtrio took a critical hit from a wild hostile's Water-type move.

Wigglytuff, Chatot and Chimecho had practically outdone themselves, and had already made it to the Midnight Forest, and were

setting up camp.

''God knows how they do it. If you ask me, I think Wigglytuff's the enigma, not James.'' Chimchar said aside to Piplup, Treecko

and Starvia.

''I heard that.'' James said. ''I have ears you know.'' He added curtly.

''Oh really? We didn't know,'' Treecko said, before he could stop himself. Now James was gonna kill him...

James laughed instead. Treecko sighed with relief. He had to get a control of what he was saying sometimes.

''Maybe it's true that I am an enigma, sometimes even I can't understand myself at times. Like when I first met you guys. I had

no idea where I was, why I was here, hell, even WHAT I was doing here.''

''And now you know?''

''Yeah. I know that this is my home.'' James sat down and warmed his hands over the fire.

''Not too far to go now. Wonder how the others are doing.''

''You think we'll run into them tomorrow?''

''With all of us getting this close to the Midnight Forest, chances are very high.'' Starvia said. ''Might even be Corphish's group.

I mean, they're right outside Aegis Cave right now, and we're just ahead of them.''

''And Bidoof's team?''

''Meh; Foggy Forest. They'd better pick up the pace, or we might have to double back on ourselves and look for them.''

They remained silent for a while as they ate.

''I know Bidoof well enough that he can step back for a moment, assess a situation, then step forward and say 'Right, this is what

we're gonna do'. He's shown that he's more than capable. Come on, he passed the graduation test at the guild for even better

measure.'' James said.

''And you're sure of that?'' Chimchar asked. James scoffed.

''Chimchar, it's been almost 6 years since we've met him. I've seen him grow up. Like you, Treecko, Piplup, Starvia, Chatot,

and everyone at the guild. Nearly 6 years we've been together.''

''How old are you anyway, Quillinger?''

''About 15, give or take a few months.'' Piplup gave a low whistle. James stared at her with a 'What-the-hell-did-you-do-that-for'

look. Piplup chuckled.

''It's getting late.'' Treecko announced, looking up at the stars. ''I'm gonna get some sleep.''

''All right, night.'' Treecko laid down on the grassy floor and closed his eyes.

''Guess I'll be next.'' James said. ''Night.''

''Good night, Quillinger.'' James shot Starvia with another glance. Starvia shrugged.

''I know. It's James.''

James woke up. Where was he? All he could see was a multi-colored pattern of swirls... Was he dreaming?

''Huh? ...Where...What is this place?''

''You're dreaming.''

''Huh? Who's there?'' A figure emerged out of the pattern of swirls. All James could see was its silhouette.

''Who are you?''

''I am...''

''No, wait, come back! Come back...'' The swirls and the silhouette were fading away into black...

''AAGGHH!!'' James leapt up with a start. Treecko and the others followed suit. Starvia was the only one who didn't leap up.

''W-w-w-what the hell, James?!'' Chimchar stuttered, breathing heavily.

''Sorry. Think I had a nightmare...'' James clutched his head in semi-pain with one hand, and rubbed his eyes with the other.

''Well, thanks for the alarm call, James.'' Piplup said. ''Look, it's morning.'' James grunted and got up. Piplup was right. It

was dawn.

''We should pack it up and get moving.'' James said. ''Come on, we haven't got far to go.'' He started to walk. The others

stayed put.

''Only a minute and a half he's been up, and already he's raring to go?'' Piplup said aside to Starvia.

''He's a human. He probably knows what he's doing.'' Starvia whispered back, before turning to James. ''Be with you in a sec!''

James grunted again and looked up at the sky. How long is it gonna last until it starts raining again? And what about the

others? Had they reached the Midnight Forest, and were waiting up for them, like last time?

''Only one way to find out...'' He said to himself.

''All right, we're ready.'' James turned around and rubbed his hands together.

''Then we're good to go. Let's get moving.'' And once again, they set off, this time for the Concealed Ruins. They reached the

area after a few hours. As they approached the entrance, James received a call from Corphish:

''Hey! How are you?''

''We wanted to warn you about the wild PokÃ©mon in the ruins you're heading for. They are so damn hard, I don't think you'd last

60 seconds against them.''

''If we can't fight, then we're just gonna have to...Huh? ...Corphish?'' The line was going static as Team Storm approached the

entrance to the ruins.

''There must be a ton of Steel-type PokÃ©mon in that dungeon. That's probably why the line's going static.'' Chimchar said.

''Hmm... Corphish, can you still hear me?''

''Jam--don't--in--Concea--''

''Listen to me! The line is going dead, and it's too late to turn back now! We - are - going - in - there!'' James shouted as clear

and as hard as he could to make sure Corphish could hear him. It was no use; the line had completely gone static.

''And there it goes.'' James sighed. ''If that's the case, then these headsets are gonna be useless in there. Unless we somehow

come across Corphish while in there, or anyone other friendly PokÃ©mon, we're on our own.''

''Like I said this morning. We're ready.'' Piplup said confidently.

''We're gonna need these.'' Chimchar added, passing torches he prepared earlier along the route, lighting them, and making

sure they stayed dry. James swallowed hard.

''Let's go in.'' James, Chimchar, Piplup, Treecko and Starvia entered the dungeon.

It was very dark. The team could only see around five metres in front of them.

''Just follow this path. According to the Wonder Map, if we follow this path through the caves, it'll take us straight out to the

other side.''

''All right. Stay close.'' Apart from the dripping of water droplets from the stalagmites and stalactities, it was a silent trip.

''Are you sure about this, James?'' Treecko asked nervously.

''Honestly? No.'' He said as he walked over the puddles on the stone floor. ''But like I said, our last chance to turn back was ages

ago.'' The team emerged a few minutes later into a massive cavern with a gaping hole in the ceiling. As they started to traverse

the cavern to the other side, a sickening roar came from above them, followed by small pebbles falling from the hole.

''I've got a bad feeling about this... Hold your ground guys.'' They remained silent for a while, then another roar came, and

about 4 or 5 massive boulders, varying in size, fell through the hole. Piplup's face was sick with fear.

''Sahoh mi tielo...'' Starvia gasped in the PokÃ©mon language. One more boulder, the biggest yet, fell through the hole and

landed on the pile of boulders. It seemed to have...eyes.

''Uh-oh. I know what this is...''

''What? What is it?'' Starvia asked. James gasped as the boulders started to move by themselves. The eyes opened, and

it roared, blowing the team back a few paces.

''Holy SHIT, wild Steelix!! RUN!!!'' Treecko screamed, as the Steelix whipped its rocky tail around to crush the team. James

ducked just in time to dodge it.

''Quillinger, up here!'' Starvia called down to him, as she flew up to the cieling. James grabbed her talons.

''Hang on!'' The two of them flew up and over Steelix's thrashing body. James dropped down once they were safely over.

Treecko was the next, as he jumped onto the walls and around the Steelix, dodging another blow.

''Piplup, come on!'' She was more focused on trying to take it down.

''What the hell are you doing?! You know we can't beat it!'' Piplup jumped around, avoiding Steelix's attack and hit it with

a Bubble, stunning it. Piplup and Treecko wated no time in running over to the rest of the team.

''The exit's this way! Let's get the hell outta here!'' Starvia yelled, and the 5 of them made off as fast as they could, with

the Steelix giving chase through the caverns leading to the exit.

''It's gaining on us! Come on, faster!'' Treecko shouted. James glanced over his shoulder to see the thrashing, berserk Steelix.

It clearly wasn't happy that they had trespassed in their territory.

''James! Is that you?'' A voice suddenly emanated from James' headset. The headsets were seemingly back online.

''Huh? ...Corphish?!''

''Yeah, it's me! Didn't know you were in here as well!''

''Where are you?''

''Just look over to your right!'' James did so, and saw that Corphish, Dugtrio and Sunflora were also in the cavern, and it

looked like they were also running to get out. But it didn't look like they were running from any Steelix though...

''Hurry up!'' James heard Corphish shout to the others.

''We're going as fast as we can!'' James said, unaware that Corphish wasn't talking to him. ''It's even harder when you know

there's a damn Steelix waiting to chomp you up!''

''No! Not that!''

''Not...Not what?'' James asked himself. Watching Corphish a little longer as they ran, James soon found out that they were running

from the fact that the cavern they were in was collapsing...

James seemed to slow down.

''Guys, go on ahead! I'll catch up!'' He shouted to the others.

''Are you insane?! You'll get yourself killed!'' Starvia shouted back.

''Then you really don't know me.'' James said to himself. He stopped in his tracks, and turned around to face the massive Steelix.

Just as it tried to crush James under it's body, James lept up into the air, dodging the attack, and landed, slamming both palms

of his hands onto the ground. A massive shockwave rippled out. James had just triggered an Earthquake.

''Go! GO!!'' Corphish yelled to James. He turned around, and finding an adrenaline boost, seemed to run faster than ever before.

''Come on! Hurry!'' James was only a few metres from the exit, and could see the other PokÃ©mon beckoning him to run even faster.

The Earthquake had caught up to him though, and with one last bound, James lept for the exit, just as the collapsing pile of

rubble buried his legs.

''James! You OK?!''

''Yeah, fine. I made it then,'' He laughed. James pulled his legs out of the rubble, stood up, and looked around.

''Sheesh, that was close...'' Team Storm and Corphish's group were back out in the rain.

''And what about the Steelix?'' Dugtrio asked. James looked back at the exit. There was no way of getting in through the exit now.

''...It's made itself a new home.'' James said, before turning around and studying his surroundings. ''...Where are we?''

''2 months, and you don't remember?'' Treecko said. James then cast his mind back to that period of time. He gasped.

''Yep. It's the ruins of the World Abyss.'' The place seemed more desolite and bleaker than he first remembered, when

he first came here. The whole case with Salamance and Giratina...

''We can't stop now. We're almost there.'' Piplup said, looking at her Wonder Map. ''Only a few more clicks, and then we'll have

made it.''

''Wanna travel for the remainder of the journey?'' James asked Corphish.

''Why not? 'Sides, we've got some catching up to do, heh heh.'' The two team headed south-west through the ceaseless rain,

following the shoreline. As the sun beat down on the final day of the journey, Team Storm, Corphish, Dugtrio and Sunflora made

it to the Midnight Forest. True to the legend, the sun seemed to simply vanish when they entered the forest, and the whole place

grew dark. Only the fire on Chimchar's tail lit up the way, until they reached the base camp. Wigglytuff was preparing the tents.

''Hey, Wigglytuff!'' James called to attract his attention. Wigglytuff looked up and smiled.

''Good to see you made it!'' He beamed.

''What, you think we wouldn't?''

''Pff...'' Wigglytuff looked past James, and saw that Bidoof, Loudred and Diglett arrived.

''Right on time, you three!'' James turned around and saw Bidoof.

''Hey, we all made it!'' Starvia exclaimed, and they all cheered.

''Where's Chatot?'' James asked.

''He's over by the beach, rigging up the camp there.''

''We'd better go and help him.'' Corphish said. James looked at Treecko and Chimchar.

''You can do without me for a few days?''

''Of course we can. We can't keep relying on you forever.''

''All right. We'll be in touch. Come on.'' James, Starvia, Corphish, Bidoof, Piplup and Sunflora made their way just north of

the forest base camp, and emerged out onto a crystal shore. Chatot was waiting for them, since he had finished the tents.

''Well, good to see you all.'' Chatot greeted them.

''So, what are we gonna do here then?''

''Explore the depths of the ocean, like I said at the briefing a few days ago. But we're not gonna do it straight away. I'm all betting

you're hungry.

''Are we ever.'' Piplup said.

''I've got the meals ready; they're on the table over there.'' The group all ran over and got stuck in. James didn't get stuck

in straight away though.

''Something bothering you?'' Chatot asked.

''What I want to know is how the hell you and Wigglytuff do it.''

''What d'you mean?''

''You got here at the end of the second day, didn't you?''

''That's right.''

''How? How?''

''I... don't know, to be honest. Maybe it's Wigglytuff, maybe he knows the best routes; the best ways to get through the dungeons.''

''Huh. Then you really did outdo yourselves.''

''Is that supposed to be a compliment?''

''Yeah.''

''Heh, thanks. Hey, your food's getting cold. Eat up.'' James and Chatot started to eat.

''Wonder what tomorrow's gonna bring... For tomorrow... the expedition begins.''

Now that... Was one hell of a chapter. I'm serious, I never thought this chapter would be this big.

Now, from Chapter 3 onwards, I'll be bringing in a small twist... I'm gonna divide the episode down into two storylines. On the

one hand, you've got Wigglytuff, Chimchar, Treecko and the others exploring the forest, and on the other, you've got Chatot,

James, Starvia, Piplup and co. diving under the surface to explore the sea. Can't wait to get cracking on chapters 3A and 3B.

February 12, 2014

Right, let's get the 2 seperate storylines started:

Chapter 3A

Into The Blue

James woke up, feeling groggy. He groaned and rolled over onto the other side of his bed in the tent. It was still pitch black

outside... Oh wait, it was supposed to be: He, Team Storm and everyone from the guild was on an expedition to the Midnight

Forest.

James got up. The grogginess was slowing him down a little, but he knew that it would soon wear off. Starvia was in the bed

opposite him. Piplup must've got up. Wonder about the others... He'd better go see. James got dressed, washed his face in the

bucket of water by his bed, and left the tent.

The little base camp Chatot had prepared prior to arriving was right by the beach. Handy too, since it allowed everyone to

dive in and out without too much hassle. James looked around. Chatot, Bidoof and Piplup were sat down at the table,

having their breakfast. The torches lit around the camp helped make it easier to see.

James sat down by Chatot.

''Morning,'' He yawned.

''Good morning, James.'' Chatot said. ''You sleep well?''

''I think so. Felt groggy on waking up though.''

''Here, this'll sort you out.'' Piplup said, passing a Heal Seed to James. James ate it, and was soon feeling better.

''Thanks, Pip.''

''Sure. Oh hey, Starvia's now up.'' The 4 of them looked over at her. She was clutching her left wing in slight pain.

''Anyone got a Heal Seed to spare? I think I slept on my wing last night.'' Piplup sighed in despair.

''The favours we have to do sometimes...'' She muttered, throwing another Heal Seed out of her bag to Starvia. She caught

it in her beak, and downed it in one.

''That was my last Heal Seed, Starvia. Don't waste it.''

''I won't.'' Starvia sat down and started eating.

''So, what exactly are we doing today?'' Bidoof asked Chatot.

''I'll wait until everyone's up before I'll tell you.''

So they did. Over the next few minutes, the rest of the PokÃ©mon, had got up, had breakfast, and were awaiting instructions.

James was down by the water, wondering what secrets this dungeon held. James felt the water. Bitterly cold. This may be hard

to get used to...

''Chatot's calling us together in about ten minutes.'' Starvia said, joining him.

''All right. ...So, you think you're ready for this?''

''I hope so. No wait, lemme rephrase that. I KNOW so.'' James grinned.

''Hope you don't run off too far ahead this time. Remember what happened in our first days at the Waterfall Cave?''

''Oh, come on, that was ages ago. Plus, that was eventually a wild goose chase. Which annoyed me.*1''

''Yeah, that was stupid. But hey, on the bright side, at least we also discovered the Hot Spring.''

''Oh yeah! I had forgotten about that.''

''Yes. I recall those couple of months back when Scizor wanted us back together to crack the World Abyss case, Chimchar

spent every single morning in the spring. Lazy.'' Starvia laughed.

''Speaking of Chimchar, remember the Smuggler's Run case? I overheard on the night before the raid on Sandslash, saying

to you that you were in love with me...'' James lept up in surprise.

''What, that? Pff, don't be ridiculous.''

''Come on, you can tell me. Is it true?'' James opened his mouth to speak, but Chatot tapped into their headsets at the same

time:

''Guys, it's time. Meet me by the table and we'll dicuss the plans.'' James sighed.

''Come on; We should go. And don't worry, you can tell me later.'' Starvia turned and started to walk.

''Hey.'' James called. Starvia stopped and turned around, not saying anything.

''...You gonna call me James on this one, or what?''

''I might do.'' James nodded. The two of them headed back to the table.

''Is everyone here? Do we have everybody?''

All of the PokÃ©mon were sat back down at the table.

''Good. We're all here.'' Said Chatot, rubbing his wings with glee. ''Now, I trust you all know how to swim?''

''Well, of course! Otherwise we wouldn't be in this group.'' Bidoof reminded.

''Good. Now today, I don't think we should go too far in. Just have a look around the immediate vicinity of the area.''

''And how are we supposed to do that if we have to waste time just to get some more air?'' Piplup asked.

''You won't need air underwater Piplup, you're a Water-type aren't you?'' Starvia said.

''Quite right. Same for Corphish too. But for the others, I bought these from the Kecleon brothers just before we set out.'' Chatot took out 4 long, gray-ish tubes.

''Breathing tubes,'' He explained. ''Each one gives you half an hour's worth of air underwater. Make sure you get back to the surface of the water before the air is depleted, otherwise your H.P will start going down the moment there's no more air in these.

Catch.'' Chatot threw the tubes to James, Starvia, Bidoof and Sunflora. Chatot then took out a blank map.

''We can use this for detailing the area and get to know where there's traps, potentially hostile wild PokÃ©mon, and the sort.''

''Sorry to cut in, but aren't you coming in the sea with us?'' James inquired.

''Well, someone's gotta stay back and note down any findings.'' James grunted.

''I won't say anything else, so I'll leave you guys to it. Good luck.''

The group got up from the table.

''We should work together this time. All of us. That way, we can divide the load, and the spoils as well.'' Corphish suggested.

''Who's with me?''

''We all are. Don't forget it.'' Sunflora said. ''Well... You ready?'' One by one, the group put all their hands in the center of the

table.

''And may our exploration go well!'' The team shouted, before dispersing into the water. They all swum out until they were

considerably far away, then one by one, dove under the water.

''Let's see if this works.'' Muttered James, as he put the tube in his mouth, took a deep breath from it, and plunged under the surface of the clear blue water.

Even under the night sky, you could see what was underneath with no problem at all.

James swam down to get a better look. It was mesmerizing. Corphish was already examining all the different fauna, Sunflora

was scouting around, Piplup was checking if her attacks work underwater.

''Wow....'' A line tapped into James' headset. It was Corphish.

''Heh, impressive, isn't it?''

''Yeah, it's amaz--Wait a second! I didn't know our headsets work underwater!'' Chatot joined the discussion.

''Normally they don't.'' He said. ''Last night wile you were sleeping, I took all of your headsets from you and tinkered with them

so they won't short-circuit when exposed to water. But enough of that, you're wasting your air.

''All right, We find anything interesting, I'll let you know.'' James terminated the line and began to explore the area with Piplup

and Starvia.

A little while later, James was swimming away from the group, and found a massive cavern. Looked like it lead to somewhere.

''Hey, guys? I think I found something. I'll go check it out.'' James swam through the hole, and followed the path. He emerged

out into a massive clearing. Nothing here, James though, until he looked straight down. It seemed to go on forever.

James squinted his eyes, and he could make out.... Looked like a sunken ship. James started to swim down to it, but

he soon started to become out of breath. His breathing tube was nearly empty. It was time to go back.

''James? Where are you?'' Piplup asked.

''Hang on, I'm coming back.'' James swam back through the cavern, but was just about the reach the exit when the whole

place shook. A landslide made several boulders block out the exit. James gasped, but managed to keep his tube in his mouth.

He tried to move the boulders, but they just wouldn't budge.

''Guys! I'm trapped!''

''What? Where are you, Quillinger?!'' Starvia cried.

''I'm over in this massive cavern! You'll know it because the entrance is blocked off!'' James said, desperate for air. ''Hurry up, I'm running out of oxygen here!''

''...I see it! Hang on James!'' James continued banging the boulders, but they wouldn't move, and he was too weak to use

a move. A tapping noise came from the other side.

''James, you in there?!'' A voice came from the other side. They had come.

''Yeah it's me! Do something!'' James could here grunting noises from the other side.

''I don't know, they're not moving!''

''Why?! Why are they not...moving...'' James vision started to black out. He was out of air, and his H.P was starting to diminish.

''James! NO!'' Piplup yelled.

''Huh? What the--Piplup, get back!'' A massive explosion rocked the place. Something had smashed the boulders apart.

''Oh my God, James!'' Bidoof shouted, as they rushed over to him.

''Quick, give him these!'' Piplup took a Reviver Seed and an extra breathing tube out of her bag.

''Where did you get that?'' Starvia asked, pointing to the tube Piplup had just pulled out. Piplup ignored this; there were more

important matters at hand. Piplup pulled out the breathing tube of an unconcious James, shoved the Reviver Seed into his mouth, and put the new tube in. For a moment, they waited. James coughed and opened his eyes.

''...James? Buddy, you hear me?'' Piplup asked. James nodded very slightly.

''Yeah... Thanks, Pip--''

to the surface.

Chatot glanced up. Back so soon? His beak then hung open when he saw what he saw.

''Holy crap... Guys, what the hell happened?!'' He yelled.

''Long story. Just get him in his tent, now!'' Chatot pulled James under his back and carried him the rest of the way.

Chatot put James - who had fallen asleep due to the lack of energy - in his bed, then turned back to the group.

''I'll repeat the question the way I said it: What the hell happened?''

''James went on to explore a cavern, but a landslide blocked off the exit. We couldn't get the boulders out of the way, then

someone - or something - blasted the boulders out of the way. We managed to get to him just as he blacked out. Piplup

managed to revive him, and we immediatly headed back for the camp.''

''God... I can't believe it.'' Muttered Chatot, looking at a now snoring James. ''...We're calling off the rest of the activities for the day. We need to let James rest.''

''And we also owe that... thing.'' Starvia said. ''Wherever it is.''

*1: During Chapter 5 of PMD: Time/Darkness/Sky, the human-PokÃ©mon and his team were called out by Chatot to investigate a waterfall which could have potential secrets. After clearing the dungeon and discovering the Hot Spring, they found out that their efforts were a waste of time when Wigglytuff revealed that he had

visited the waterfall cave before them.

February 22, 2014

Chapter 3B

The Dusk Forest

own here.

''You might as well give up, guys!'' He called down below.

''Yeah, that's only because you're better at this than us!'' Loudred shouted back. Treecko smirked and continued to climb

falling straight into thin air as the vine suddenly burst into flames. Treecko screeched as he hit the ground and lost some

of his HP.

Chimchar laughed and extinguished the fireball in his hands. Treecko groaned and looked at him angrily.

''No hard feelings?'' Chimchar laughed. Treecko gave a very sarcastic laugh in return.

''Very funny, Chimchar.''

''Yep,'' Said Chimchar, completely missing the sarcasm. ''Very funny indeed.''

Wigglytuff joined the group.

''All right guys, I think that's enough time for a break. Gather round and we'll discuss what we're going to do.''

Trecko took a quick glance around as he sat down. There was about 4 tents, each placed around a set of torches, to scare off

any hostile wild PokÃ©mon who came to sniff around at night. Wigglytuff checked everyone in his group was here, then began

the briefing:

''Now, while Chatot and his team of PokÃ©mon - and human, in James' case - are out exploring underneath the ocean surface,

we'll be heading into the nearby forest to solve the mystery shrouding the Midnight Forest. Like all expeditions, our first

objective should be to gather the maximum amount of info about the surrounding vicinity in the minimum time possible.''

''And how do we do that?'' Diglett asked.

''You know damn well how,'' Chimchar growled into his ear. Diglett rolled his eyes. Exploration, of course! How could he have

forgotten?

''So,'' Wigglytuff continued, ''We should start off by exploring the first few square kilometres of the forest. I'd say two hours

should be enough to find enough info about this place. Remember, if any of you run into any problems, make sure you call me.

Make sure you keep the public frequency as clear as possible. The place is pretty thick, so scambling of the line may be possible. I'll stay back to watch the results come in. OK guys, get to it!'' Everyone dashed along the path leading into the first

area of the forest. Chimchar and Treecko caught up with Chimecho.

''Hey, wanna travel together for a while?'' Chimchar asked.

''Yeah, sure. 3 heads are better than 2.'' They travelled a little further until the trees around them started to thicken.

This was Treecko's area of expertise.

''So, you guys sleep well last night?''

''Yeah, couldn't complain.''

''That's good.'' Chimchar said. ''Hey, Treecko, you sure were going fast through those trees.''

Yeah, I was, until Chimchar shot me with that fireball of his.'' Said Treecko, looking at Chimchar angrily. He sniggered. Treecko turned back to Chimecho. ''But I'm a Grass-Type, what'd you expect?'' Said Treecko, raising his arms.

''Well, you could go easy on us.'' Chimecho suggested.

''I WAS going easy on you.''

''Oh, really?'' Said Chimchar sarcastically. He obviously didn't believe him.

''Hey, Treecko, how about you dash off up into there?'' Chimecho suggested, looking up into them. You couldn't even see the

moon through the branches. That's how thick the trees were.

''Sure. There might be something up there.'' Treecko broke into a run for the nearest tree and jumped, grabbing its trunk and

rapidly climbing up it, soon vanishing into the leaves.

''Let's split up now. I'll see you soon.'' Chimchar said to Chimecho, before they went seperate ways. The small fire burning

on Chimchar's tail lighted the way for him through the pitch-black.

Treecko bounded between the trees, only stopping to see if anyone was following him. He kept on the move and as alert as possible, desperatly looking for something important that could be reported back to base camp. As he jumpd and outstreched his arms and legs to cling on to the trunk, he spotted a small light in the distance. Someone was there. Treecko moved slowly around the trees and landed beside the light.

''Oh, it's only you.'' It was Chimchar. ''Found anything?''

''Nope. You or Chimecho?'' Treecko shook his head.

''Sorry.''

''Wait, what's that?'' Chimchar fixed his red, burning eyes on the horizon. There were little treehouses erected around this part of the forest, all connected together by bridges, hanging 10 metres off of the ground. Counting them, he found around twenty of them.

''What are these?'' Treecko wondered, as they approached the ground below them. There was a ladder leading up into one

of the treehouses. Chimchar climbed it (While Treecko climbed up the tree trunk) and entered it. No one was in there. The place

''Hm? What's in here...'' Treecko opened a small chest next to the wooden bed. Inside was stacks of Luminous Orbs, all used

up.

''Whoever lived here must've been constantly been using thse to fill this area with light, so the wid PokÃ©mon below were scared

off.'' Chimchar deduced. ''Maybe they hated the dark.'' Treecko called Wigglytuff on his headset. But there was nothing but

static. He then tried the public line. Static as well.

''We must be too far in. Come on, we should get back and try again there.'' The two of them climbed back down to the ground.

''Ready to go?'' Treecko asked.

''Yeah. Come on.'' Chimchar started to walk when they heard a small 'click'. Treecko gasped.

''GET DOWN!!'' He yelled, grabbing Chimchar and forcing him onto the ground as a projectile hit Treecko square in the shoulder.

He yelled out in pain.

''Gragghh...''

''What the hell just happened? Treecko, you alright?'' Treecko pulled the projectile - which was a small corssbow bolt - out

Chimchar peeked around the tree they was using as cover, being careful enough to let only his eye past. He could see the

tile, a few metres from them.

''Crossbow Trap,'' He confirmed, whipping back into cover. ''I knew it.'' Chimchar tried to call Wigglytuff again, but remembered

that the line was no good.

''Dammit. So we're on our own then. What do we do?''

''We're gonna have to get in close enough to disable it. On three, we move in and out of any trees until we get close.''

''Then what?'' Trecko asked, applying a thick layer of moss and grass to his bleeding shoulder. It wouldn't fix it up, but it'll stop

the bleeding for now.

''Right, ready?''

''Yeah.''

''OK. One...two...three!'' Chimchar and Treecko jumped out of cover and made a beeline for the nearest tree. They rolled behind

the trunk just as the crossbow bolt that was freshly fired skimmed Chimchar's back. Chimchar breathed heavily.

''That was close.''

''Chimchar, we can't keep this up in the state I'm in. If we do, we'll get K.Oed, or worse, killed, sooner or later.'' Chimchar grunted, before a line was tapped into thir headsets. Chimchar answered it instantly.

''Wigglytuff!'' A voice chucked from the other side.

''Not quite. It's Chimecho.''

''What are you doing here? If I can hear you, then you must be still in the forest, why aren't you back at the camp?''

''You don't leave a friend behind.'' Said Chimecho, reminding Chimchar on of the golden rules of team morale. ''Listen, I can see

the situation from where I am. I'm right behind the Crossbow Trap, but I won't be able to get to it before it detects me and fires.

You'll need to dodge one more shot from it, then I'll be able to smash it to pieces. Think you can give it a try?'' Chimchar swallowed hard, before peering out of the current tree they're hiden behind. He could see Chimecho waving in the distance.

''We'll do it. Ready, Treecko?'' He nodded.

''...Now!'' Time seemed to stop as Chimchar and Treecko rolled out of cover, as the Crossbow Trap fired its last shot before

being smashed up into indistinguishable pieces by Chimecho. Treecko managed to launch himself onto the ground as the

bolt skimmed over his head. There was silence.

''...Did you do it?''

''Yeah.'' Chimecho ran over to join them. ''You guys OK?''

''I got the worst of it. Hit in the shoulder and bleeding badly.'' Treecko explained, not daring to lift his hand from his shoulder.

''Well, come on. Let's get you two back. Wigglytuff'll probably be worried sick about you two.''

''Worried? Wow, that's a new one.'' Chimchar laughed.

The three of them made it back to the came, where Wigglytuff awaited them.

''Huh? What happened?'' He asked, when he saw Treecko. The moss on his shoulder had reached saturation point, and trickles

of blood were running down to his shaking hand.

''Shoulder injury, from a Crossbow Trap. We owe Chimecho, he got us out.''

''I see. Treecko, come with me, you'll need my help to get that fixed.''

''Right. See you at dinner guys.'' Treecko said, before walking off with Wigglytuff.

''So, what exactly happened out there?'' Wigglytuff asked so naÃ¯vly.

''Well, we found these sort of treehouses, one or two clicks in. The place was deserted long ago though.''

''Treehouses?'' Wigglytuff repeated.

''Hm. Strange. Right, hold still, this is gonna hurt a little.'' Wigglytuff thrusted the juice of an Oran Berry right into the gaping wound in Treecko's body. He screamed in pain, breathing heavily.

''YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS HURTS!'' He yelled, before screaming again.

''Hang on, I'm almost done!'' Wigglytuff pleaded, as he withdrew his hand from the shoulder. Treecko's yells became quieter and

quieter. Soon, he was back to breathing heavily.

''Uh... Thanks, Wigglytuff.''

''My pleasure. Go on, get some rest, you've earnt it.''

''Uh-huh. See you later, and thanks again.'' Treecko walked back out of the tent.

November 4, 2014

Alright, after a period of this fanfic going limbo, it's time for me to revive it! I know, this is chapter 4B, but I've been focusing on this part of the chapter rather than 4A, but I'll post that later. For now, onwards I say!

Chapter 4B
Ariado's Ambush

Coming back to the real world from his surreal dream, Treecko slowly opened his eyelids, revealing his narrow blue pupils. They immediately
widened to let in what light was in the tent. Except there was no light at all. Treecko was lying in his hammock, the interior of the tent he and
Chimchar were sharing utterly swamped in darkness. He sat up, being careful not to bang his bandaged shoulder, and looked over where
he was sure Chimchar was sleeping.
''Psst! Chimchar!'' Treecko hissed. Chimchar groaned and turned in his sleep. Treecko sighed in frustation and started to claw for his bag
on the floor unsucessfully.
''Where is that bag...'' He mumbled, his long arms waving about trying to get a hold on his bag. Treecko leant too far out of his hammock,
landing on the floor with a loud crash. Treecko exclaimed in pain and clutched his shoulder. The noise stirred Chimchar and he shot
forward, alarmed.
''What the--'' He snapped his fingers to get a flame going. The flame lit up the tent on an orange glow. Chimchar looked down at Treecko,
who was fumbling around to get up.
''What the hell are you doing down there?'' He asked. Treecko got up and sat back down on his hammock.
''I fell out,'' Treecko explained. ''Trying to get my bag; leant too far.''
Chimchar snorted.
''You coulda asked me for a light.''
''You were asleep, damn it! I couldn't get you to wake up!''
Chimchar snorted again and shook his head. Treecko sighed.
''How long have we been asleep for?''
''I'd say...'' Treecko began, when he realized it was pitch-black outside. He jumped and gasped. ''It's still dark outside?!''
''Hey, don't forget where we are.''
Treecko remembered. The Midnight Forest.
''Oh, right.'' He murmured, reaching down and getting his bag. Chimchar swung his feet over the side of his hammock and used the flame
that was burning on the end of his fingers to light his tail. The place brightened up even more. The cover of the tent was being knocked on
from outside.
''Who is it?'' Treecko asked, wrapping his Defence Scarf around his neck.
''It's only me.'' Chimecho's voice came from outside. ''Can I come in there?''
''Just a sec, lemme clear some space...'' Chimchar moved some boxes that were on the floor out of the way. ''Cover's open, c'mon in.''
Chimecho pulled the cover back and floated in.
''Morning, you two.'' He said. ''You two sleep well?''
''Kinda,'' Chimchar replied. ''I'm still acclimatising to the fact it's pitch black here.''
''What about you?'' Chimecho turned to Treecko. ''How's that arm of yours?''
''Still smarts a little.'' Treecko answered, looking at his bandage. ''I'm trying not to touch it.''
Chimecho remained silent as he examined it. He made a noise of uncertainty.
''I would definitely recommend staying in there today, but Guildmaster Wigglytuff needs everyone's attention once we're all at breakfast.''
''Why's that?'' Chimchar asked, crossing his arms.
''He says he's found something that can shed some light on what exactly is going on with the Midnight Forest, and why light never dawns on this place. He wants everyone ready to head out in half an hour's time. I need to have breakfast and get ready myself, so I'll see you then.''
Chimecho turned and floated back out of the tent. Treecko pulled the knot on his Scarf tight.
''You ready?'' He asked.
''Ready to get some breakfast, that is.'' Chimchar replied, laughing. ''C'mon, I'm staving.''

When everyone had finished eating and preparing for their next assignment, Wigglytuff pulled out a map he had been sketching up last night
and spread it out on the table.
''This is where we all explored up to last time.'' He explained, pointing to a small area decorated with huts. Those must've been the treehouses Treecko and Chimchar saw. ''Where Treecko was telling me about. Now, while you were all asleep last night, I went in there alone, just a little further north from there - and I came across this.'' He then moved his finger a little bit up from the treehouses to a part of the map with a question mark dotted on it.
''And... This is...?'' Diglett asked.
''I'm not too sure myself, but it looked like a gate or something.''
''Locked, I'll presume.'' Treecko muttered under his beath, but the others heard him.
''What the-- How d'you know about that?!'' Loudred shouted.
''I remember reading something in the guild archives about this a while back. Something about a locked gate in the middle of the forest.
I saw on one of the pages a message coded in foot runes. When I translated it, it read 'When the innocent creatures without shells are returned to the place of rebirth, will the sun finally dawn on this place of everlasting black...' ''
''You could've told us before we set out fom the guild, Treecko!'' Loudred protested.
''Guys, guys, calm down. He's told us now.'' Wigglytuff intervened. Treecko turned to Wigglytuff.
''That's why we're here, guys. To crack this mystery. What do you say?''
''Question.'' Dugtrio asked. ''How do we get this gate open?''
Everyone turned to Treecko for an answer.
''...Oh, come on! You really expect me to know the answer to THAT?'' He exclaimed. ''But here's what I propose we do: Move all of our stuff to the treehouses. So that way, we'll be further in, we won't have to hike back and forth, and more importantly: We'll be in range for communications.'' Treecko added, pointing to the microphone on his headset.
''Good thinking. But moving all the big stuff is gonna take some time, and there's wild PokÃ©mon out there who might want to ambush us.''
''I can make some torches and light up the way,'' Chimchar proposed.
''All right then. You and Treecko go scout out the safest path for us, and we'll get packing.''
Chimchar nodded.
''Let's get to it.''

Some time went by. While half of the team were over at the camp, packing up their equipment and bringing it up, the other half were setting up their new base in the treehouses under the black, night sky.
Diglett was moving under the ground, leaving behind a ton of molehills as he dug. Chimchar watched him move by and smirked.
''I can see why the guild or the E.T.F don't send you out on stealth or infiltration missions.'' Chimchar said. Diglett stopped, turned around, and
poked his head out from underground.
''We can't master absolutely everything in life.'' Diglett pointed out. ''Where would be the fun in that if we were? We all have our strengths and weaknesses.''
''True enough. Like I just said, you're not very good and staying hidden. But, on the flip side, you'e fantastic at identifying PokÃ©mon, even it's from miles off. But, there was that ONE time where you couldn't figure out who it was...''
''Who are you talking about? James, or Dusknoir? *1''
Chimchar growled at the mention of Dusknoir's name. He hated that guy, mainly because duing the Destruction Of Time case, Dusknoir betrayed them and forced Team Storm into the future with him - with everyone in Treasure Town being an eyewitness.
''Whichever one.'' Chimchar replied. Dugtrio went by them and stopped.
''Come on, son.'' He said to Diglett. ''We haven't got all day.''
''Coming.''
Chimchar waved both of them off. When they had gone, Chimcha sighed and began to patrol the path again.
''I can tell you're bored.'' Wigglytuff said over the radio. ''Don't worry, we're nearly done. Just waiting for Diglett and Dugtio to pack up the last bits.''
''I hope they'll be quick about it.' Chimchar said, holding the mic close to his lips and looking around. He was beginning to feel uncertain. ''I don't fancy staying out here.''
''You wimp; since when have you been scared of the dark?'' Teecko mocked.
''You get me started on that and I'll shove a fireball down your throat.'' Chimchar retorted, snorting. He stopped when his eye caught a silhouette creep out of the shadows...
''Hm?'' Chimchar squinted, trying to pierce the black air.
''What's up, Chimchar?'' Wigglytuff asked.
''Hang on, standby, I think I saw...'' Chimchar trailed off, taking his feet off of the dirt path carved by the flaming torches. The light faded away behind him, and soon, he was back in the pitch black night, only the fire on his tail lighting up the few metres in front of him. Treading carefully,
Chimchar looked around him. A sound snarled through the air. He switched into his attack position, going up onto his toes. Something was out here...
A black figure shot out and made a beeline for Chimchar. Sensing it, he cartwheeled out of the way and countered with a Flamethrower. The red flames shooting out from his hands connected with his attacker, and the sound of burning flesh could be heard, followed by a screech of death. Chimchar was now alarmed. He moved forward to see what had attacked him.
''An Ariados...'' He murmered. Gasping, he spun back round to now be faced by loads of the Bug PokÃ©mon on the trees and the ground. He was now surrounded. Chimchar gulped.
''Um, guys...'' He said awkwardly. ''I might need some help here...''
One by one, the wild Ariados' screeched their cry, jumping off of the trees they clinged to and began to swarm their prey.
''Scratch that, I definitely need help here!'' He shouted.
''Hold on, we're coming!'' Wigglytuff answered. ''Who's attacking you?!''
''A swarm of Ariados! They must've been watching us while we've been here!'' Chimchar paused to throw a fireball into a group of these spiders. Ariados' were Bug type, meaning that they were weak to fire. But for every one Chimchar killed, another one would take its place. At the rate they were coming in, Chimchar feared he wouldn't have enough P.P left to take them all out.
''Where the hell are you?! I'm starting to take a pounding here, I can't hold them off much longer!''
One of the Ariados made a jump for Chimchar's exposed back. Chimchar turned around after throwing one of them off, but didn't have enough time to do anything about it as he was knocked down to the ground.
''Gagh!''
The one that had knocked him down began to move in for the kill. Chimchar tried a last-resort Flame Wheel, but no flames came out. He gasped. No P.P left!
''Duh, crap.''
He was finished. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the blow... But it never came. What did come however, was the chorus of death screeches. Chimchar slowly opened his eyes, wondering what had just happened. He saw a bright light not too far from where he was now standing. It shone with a brilliant radience, lighting up every tree in its vicinity with a white glow. In the center, a silhouette glowed. Chimchar slowly moved towards it. He had seen that figure before...
''..C.... Cel?'' He murmered. The entity that was in the light caught wind, and disappeared as suddenly as it came. The white glow died out.
''I swear, that looked like Cel--'' Chimchar began, before cutting himself off. ''No, can't be. She disappeared, didn't she...?''
''Chimchar!''
''Huh?''
Chimchar did a one eighty to see Wigglytuff, Treecko and Chimecho hurrying towards him.
''You okay?''
''I'm fine.'' Chimchar answered, brushing himself off. Wigglytuff noticed all the dead corpses that were once Ariados.
''What happened?''
''I was ambushed,'' Chimchar explained. ''That figure I saw lured me away from the pathway and brought me straight to a trapful of Ariados. I beat them back, but they just kept coming. I soon ran out of strength. I thought I was a goner, then there was that... light...''
''What do you mean, light?'' Treecko asked, sounding skeptical.
''I'm not too sure myself, but something drove the rest of them out. I only caught a glimpse of who was there before it vanished...''
The PokÃ©mon paused as they heard a series of cries and screeches echo through the forest.
''I don't think it's very safe to talk here. Let's go back to camp; we'll talk then.''
The group began to head back to camp. As they walked, Chimchar came up to Treecko and whispered in his ear:
''That thing that saved me.'' He said. ''I swear that was her.''
''Her? Who?''
''You remember the time when we were suddenly warped to the future?''
''That?''
Teecko pulled up what he remembered of that oddysee to that dark and bleak land: Escaping from near-death at the stockade, running from the Sableye that were on their tails, meeting up with Grovyle as he took them to meet--
''Celebi?!'' Teecko exclaimed.
''Sshh!'' Chimchar hissed. ''Keep it quiet! We don't want them to know. What did Grovyle ask us about her?''
''Oh, right. But if she's here, then that must mean that...'' Treecko paused to find the right words. ''If... James came from the future, and he was brought back after he disappeared during our finest hour at Temporal Tower, then does that mean that the others also came back after being wiped from the timeline?''
Chimchar shook his head.
''I don't know for sure.'' He answered. ''But it's possible.''

Okay, now for that event explanation:

*1 During Chapters 14 and 15, the human-PokÃ©mon and his team were warped into the future after a mishap and a sudden betrayal that left them demoralised and wanting answers, as well as finding out who the real good and bad guys are.

January 24, 2015

Oops, forgot to upload this:

Chapter 4A

The Sunken Ship

James was seeing things. Out in the distance, though the multi-colored waves and lines, there was an aqua-blue PokÃ©mon, just staring down at him as it drew ever near.

''Who... Who are you?'' James asked.

''My name is Suicine. You are James Quillinger, correct?''

''Yeah. That's me.''

''So what we were foretold was correct... The human really did come...''

''For...Fortold what?'' James asked. The figure was starting to disappear, and everything was going black.

''Wait! Wait....''

James snapped open his eyes. It took him a little while to get adjusted to the dark surroundings. His head ached like hell. As to not aggravate it any further, James slowly but surely turned his head to the right. Seems like he was back in his, Starvia's and Piplup's tent. Apart fom him, it was deserted. James wanted to get up, but his throbbing head forced him to stay down.

''Need more sleep... It'll go away...'' James yawned, closing his eyes and seeing if he could nap it off.

About half an hour so, James woke up from a light sleep. The throbbing in his head had gone, and he felt refreshed, not to mention more alert.

Scratching his wrist, James could feel something elasticy wrapped around it. James took it off and saw it was a Special Band. A note was attached to it. James read it:

You're gonna need this. Also, no running off on your own today.

Chatot

James snorted. Yawning again, he got up out of his bed, got dressed and washed, checked his backpack and left the tent, stretching his legs.

''What a rookie error I made yesterday.'' James muttered under his breath, angry with himself that he let curiosity take him over and headed

though that cave.

''Curiosity isn't a sin, you know James.'' Chatot said behind him. ''But always exercise caution.''

James laughed and turned to face him.

''I figured that out the hard way.'' James replied. He held up his right arm to show Chatot the Special Band he had gave him. ''You really want

me with you today?''

''If we stick together, we'll have a better chance of survival.''

''That's easy for you to say; you weren't the one trying to dig me out.''

''Well, SOMEONE has to stay back and get news. I'll with you all today in case something else goes wrong. By the way, Starvia told me that you find something?''

''Uh-huh. You got the map?'' Chatot nodded and took it out of his backpack. ''Let's find the others and I'll tell you all.''

James and Chatot headed for the table by the bivouac, where Sunflora, Piplup and Corphish were having a discussion.

''Look, I know he can take care of hisself and all, but it's our job as explorers to help others out.'' Piplup reminded the two others. ''It's even in the stupid rules! You don't leave a friend behind. No one does!''

''Alright, alright, you've made your point, no need to shout.'' Starvia said, taking a defensive postition. ''Calm down a little.''

''Nah, she's right. But I should be the one you're shouting at, Pip.'' James said. The others jumped and turned around.

''James! Oh, thank God you're okay.''

''Nothing a small nap couldn't fix.'' James yawned again.

''So what's on the agenda for today?''

''I'll tell you. Chatot, can I?''

Chatot nodded.

''Go ahead.''

''Thanks. Okay, before I very nearly drowned yesterday, I saw this sunken ship though that cavern I was stuck in. Maybe by having a look there

will we be able to find some answers as to what's going on.''

''Sounds like a plan.'' Corphish said. ''Are we going straight away, or...''

''Well, if you're all ready.'' Chatot said. Everyone let out a roar. Chatot chuckled. ''I'll take that as a yes.''

''I've recharged the breathing capsules so they can hold another half an hour's worth of air.'' Chatot explained, talking to the others though their

headsets. ''Now we'd better not waste this. James, you lead. Where did you see the ship?''

''It was this way.''

James led the others in the group back through the passage he was trapped in yesterday, this time heading a little further on until they were back out into the massive empty space.

''It's straight below us,'' James said, looking down. ''See it?''

''Nice and clearly.'' Chatot replied. ''Let's go down and look for a way in.''

The group swam down to the wreckage, searching its exterior for an entry point. Piplup noticed a hole in the side of it, which looked like it lead into the lower decks of the ship.

''Hey, I found something!'' She said to the others, and motioned to the hole. James and Chatot swam over.

''That'll fit us nicely. Hang on, I'll go in first and check if it's clear.''

Chatot went in, and came back out half a minute later.

''And?'' Starvia asked. Chatot nodded to answer her question. One by one, they headed into the hole, and noticed the water was receding. It had only flooded so much of the ship. James came out first, ringing wet. Chatot, Starvia, Sunflora, Piplup, Bidoof and Corphish followed, squinting their eyes. It was pitch black inside.

''Hang on, I'll flare up the place. Shield your eyes.'' Starvia said, before unleashing a Flash which brightened up the ship.

''Thanks, Starvia.'' Chatot said, looking up on the ceiling. There were shattered glass windows everywhere. A table was locked down, like it was stuck. That can't be right. ''Wierd,'' He added. ''You see that?''

James looked up, and noticed what Chatot was seeing.

''Oh yeah. We're on the ceiling. That's the floor above us.''

''Oof, that's gonna be mighty confusing for me...'' Bidoof stated. He didn't like it when things got complicated.

A hissing sound echoed through the ship, stopping the team in their tracks. James jumped.

''What the hell was that?'' He muttered. Looking at the stairs on the cieling, it looked like it came fom through there.

''I don't think we're alone,'' Piplup thought out loud. James and Starvia slowly moved over to the stairs. They wouldn't be able to jump high enough to grab the steps. James glanced around, and noticed some half-broken empty crates and barrels.

''If we shift those over here, and stand on them, we should be high enough to get above.'' He said, moving over and dragging a crate over. ''Give me a hand with some of the larger ones.''

As they worked, the hissing sound grew louder and louder. Every time the team heard it, they were frozen to the spot in fear for a couple of seconds.

''Whatever or whoever that belongs to, I think knows we're here.'' Bidoof said.

''And WE know that IT'S here, too.'' James added, perching on the stack of crates. ''Starvia, give me a boost.''

Starvia crouched down, grabbed James' legs, and pushed them up as James leaped. He grabbed one step, planted his foot on it, and hoisted up with his free arm. He paused to take in the new deck.

''See anything?!'' Chatot called up. James slowly looked around.

''Seems to be empty,'' James answered. ''Come on, I'll give you some help getting up here.''

One by one, James hoisted the PokÃ©mon up. Once they were all up, they scanned the deck, as the hissing noise flowed through the ship again.

''It's coming from the corner.'' Corphish noted, slowly and silently creeping over to where he thought the noise was coming from. A very small hole, no bigger than Chatot's wing, was carved into the ship, and was leaking seawater. The puddle it formed had a red fish with white fins flapping about in it, desperately trying to get back into the ocean it belonged in. Piplup and Sunflora shared a mildly amused expression.

''A Magikarp?'' Sunflora chuckled, picking it up and trying to push it through the hole. ''There you go, little fella.''

Starvia wasn't too sure about this. When they heard the hissing, it did seem... muffled. Wait... Muffled...

''Agh! Come on, why won't you go in...'' Sunflora exclaimed, trying to now force the Magikarp into the hole, no longer being careful.

''Sunflora, drop it!'' Starvia exclaimed. ''It's a trap!''

Sunflora let go of the Magikarp, a split-second before something tore through the side of the ship, sending wooden splinters flying everywhere as seawater poured rapidly into the interior.

''Breathing capsules on! Now!'' James shouted, as the water around his knees came up to his waist in less than a few seconds. He grabbed his capsule and shoved the mouthpiece into his mouth.

''It's coming back!'' Chatot warned, as his head went underwater. ''Get out of the way!''

James rolled to the side as the thing that came smashing through the ship came back for a second try. As it passed, James got a good look at it. It was a cyan-blue water dragon, with long, yellow whiskers.

''We're screwed,'' Starvia shouted to the others. ''That thing's a wild Gygardos!''

''Get out of the ship! If it tries to Slam into us and we have nowhere to dodge, we're a goner!'' Piplup advised, passing her knowledge of wild PokÃ©mon to the others. ''Get back out into the open!''

The team all turned tail and swam, with a extremely angry Gygardos right behind them...

May 16, 2015

I need to snap out of my current state of reluctancy so I can focus more on this. Anyway, here's the next chapter:

Chapter 5A
Underwater Pursuit

James clamped his jaws down harder on the mouthpiece of his breathing capsule and kicked his legs frantically. Taking a deep breath and looking behind him, the massive snake-like figure of the Gygardos flailed behind the group.
''Get to the surface! We'll have more of an option then!'' Piplup shouted, not paying attention to what her and the others' pursuer was now doing.
''What's it doing?'' Chatot noticed, seeing the Gygardos turn a sudden right angle and charging straight at the cliff face to the right of him.
James slowed down, but didn't stop, observing.
''I know what,'' Starvia said. ''He's triggering a Whirlpool! It's gonna turn this whole place into a wet cyclone!''
''Uh-oh.'' James gasped. ''To me! We gotta get back through the cave before we're trapped again!''
James turned around and began to move, followed by the others. The Gygardos let out a ear-piercingly loud screech as it summoned a Whirlpool bigger than James had already seen in his life. He and his team had already gone up against a Gygardos once. They should count their lucky stars that it didn't use a Whirlpool back then. Otherwise, they would've been finished. But right here was a different story.
Gygardos' were known for the torrential power their Whirlpools could cause. It's said that the lifespan of any and all Fire-type Pokémon who get trapped in one is five seconds. 'It's a good thing that Chimchar isn't around', James thought. 'Otherwise, he'd stand no chance'.
''It's coming! Swim!'' Corphish yelled. Starvia looked behind her again to see a massive Whirlpool, maybe forty foot high, rage towards them.
Calculating at the speed it was approaching the group, and the distance to the cave, she felt her heart sink when they realized they weren't going to make it in time.
''Quillinger! We won't have enough time before it catches up to us! What do we do?!''
James gritted his teeth and begun to concentrate. The force at the center of a Whirlpool by a Gygardos would rip their breathing capsules straight out of their mouths, and the damage inflicted would tear their strength completely apart. Since they were Water-types, Piplup and Corphish would only take half the H.P damage, plus they could hold their breath underwater for longer than the others.
''Corphish and Piplup! Listen to me, and listen good! You two are the only ones here who'll be able to survive the full brunt of that Whirlpool!
We need you two--''
''You're freakin' joking, aren't you?!'' Piplup cut James off in outrage at his suggestion. ''No way!''
''There's no other choice! Either you act as our shield, or we're all gonna drown down here!''
Piplup shook her head. Since when did her leader have such disregard for her safety?
''I'm not doing it!'' She said firmly.
''Pip! He's right! We've got no choice! We have to do this!'' Corphish begged, glancing at the Whirlpool. Within another twenty seconds, it would be on them, but Piplup looked like she wasn't going to change her mind. Then he remembered.
''Remember rule number four!'' He said desperately. ''Rule four, Piplup!''
Piplup gasped. Ruler number four of exploration was the one that made its mark the most.
'' 'At the end of the day...' '' She whispered, before suddenly raising her voice. '' '...Try to be the one left standing!' ''
''That's it!'' Sunflora said. ''You and Corphish'll only take half damage!''
''You'd better be sure about this, James...'' Piplup said. ''Otherwise, I'm gonna--''
''You can argue later! Brace yourself!'' Corphish shouted, grabbed Piplup by her foot making sure not to clamp down on it too hard, and thrusted themselves at the massive Whirlpool.
The intense force of the attack very nearly knocked the wind out of both of them. It felt like gravity had quadrupled around them, as well as if a
Machoke had just landed a Force Palm straight into their stomach. Piplup clamped her fin hard below her jaw, trying to not let the force knock the breathing capsule out of her mouth. Corphish on the other hand, was struggling against the torrential power, as he held on hard with both claws to his own capsule.
''Just a little longer! Come on!'' Piplup yelled, somehow managing to keep the capsule in her mouth. The Whirlpool suddenly died down in an instant, and the force knocked Piplup and Corphish in opposite directions. Piplup hit a rock formation back first and grunted sharply in pain.
''Piplup!'' James cried, swimming over to her.
''I'm fine! Get Corphish and let's get the hell out of here, now!'' She shouted back. Starvia rushed over to Corphish, who had the wind knocked out of him and was losing oxygen, letting the bubbles escape from his mouth. The Gygardos roared and slowly began to whip its tail around its body.
''Tail Whip incoming! Go down!'' Chatot shouted, stroking the water with his short wings as hard as he could. Bidoof span around to see the massive Pokémon bearing down on them.
''I've got an idea!'' He called out. ''Sunflora! See if you can paralyze him with some Stun Spores!''
''There's no way I'll be able to get close enough without him realizing I'm there!''
''Just try, will you?!'' Starvia shouted, helping Corphish to move. ''We're running out of options here!''
Sunflora paused to do a double take, then nodded.
''Alright, but someone give me some cover!'' She said, beginning to slowly sneak up on the Gygardos, who was fiercly staring down at James, who was taunting it.
''I'm over here! C'mon and get me!''
The Gygardos roared and charged straight for James, planning to Slam into him. James gritted his teeth, waiting for the perfect moment to roll out of the way.
''NOW!'' He shouted, turning upside down and kicking his legs off of the rock formation. The Gygardos whistled a few inches past him and crashed head-first into the rock, screeching loudly in pain, dazed.
''Go for it!'' Bidoof shouted to Sunflora, who nodded and swam over to the Gygardos and scattered Stun Spores all over him. The electrical discharge kicked in, constraining the Gygardos where it was. It roared and tried to move, to no avail. The spores had it locked down tight.
''He's Paralyzed! Go go go!'' James shouted, waving back to where they came in. The team began to swim back up to the cavern they followed to here. James stopped and waved the others on.
''Keep moving!''
He turned around to see that the Gygardos had managed to break out of its state of Paralysis, and was very angry.
''Ooh, man, that guy's might pi--'' He started, before Corphish grabbed him by the arm and swam.
''There's the exit,'' Chatot noticed, seeing the night sky above the water. ''Come on!''
One by one, the Pokémon swam through back out into the open. James was the last one through. When they were all out, they saw the Gygardos struggling to squeeze into the narrow gap of the cavern. Bidoof laughed.
''Too bad for you.'' He taunted. His cockiness was short-lived however when the Gygardos slammed his tail around the cavern, caving it in.
''What the--'' Piplup started. The Gygardos rose from the pile of rubble.
''You just HAD to open your damn mouth, didn't you?!'' Chatot scolded him. ''Now we're in the open, we're quite frankly done for!''
The Gygardos roared again and began to charge at the nearest Pokémon from it, this being Sunflora.
''Oh, no,'' James muttered. ''Sunflora! Look out!''
''Wha...'' Sunflora gasped when she saw the massive water dragon bearing down on her. ''NO!''
Crossing her arms over her face, she braced for the blow that never came. Instead, she heard what sounded like a hard impact and the Gygardos crying in pain. She uncrossed her arms and opened her eyes to see that the Gygardos had a massive gaping wound in the side if its neck, with smoke pouring out of it. The Gygardos began to flee, not knowing what its attacker was or where it came from.
The team watched in silence, then one by one, sighed in relief.
''Man, that was close.'' Starvia commented, before coughing and beginning to find it hard to breathe. ''Uh-oh. Guys, I'm starting to run out of air.''
Bidoof was the next to start finding it hard to draw some oxygen from his capsule.
''Same here,'' He said. ''Let's get back to camp.''

''Quite frankly, I think that was a wild goose chase.'' James suggested, as he took a bite out of his Apple. ''What do you think?''
''If that shipwreck did have any treasure in it, either it was taken long ago by someone else, or the Gygardos now has it.'' Chatot added, filling in a segment of the map with a small picture of a ship and the Gygardos. ''We got nothing out of it. We're out of leads now.''
''Oh, guys, I wouldn't be so sure of that.'' Bidoof said.
''What d'you mean?'' James asked. Bidoof smirked and reached into his bag, rummaging around. He eventually managed to bring out a silver key of unusual shape and size. The others gasped.
''What the-- When and where the hell did you get that?!'' Piplup exclaimed.
''When we were in the ship, I noticed a chest that hadn't been opened. When I opened it, I saw this key in there and thought that it might be of some use. I would've told you, but then that Gygardos came charging in.''
''Wow. Nice find. Might be a clue. Mind if I have a look?'' James asked.
''Yup, be my guest.''
Bidoof handed the key over to James, who examined its ridges and form.
''Hmm... Most keys we find in dungeons are usually a little bigger than this. I don't think it'd open any regular lock.'' Chatot stated, peering over at the key.
''A key always opens something. Doors, chests...'' James begun. All of a sudden though, a feeling of nausea began to flow through him and James's head began to pound.
''Argh!'' James clutched his head with both hands and fell off of the chair he was sitting on.
''Woah! James, you okay man?'' Corphish asked. James shook his head.
''I... I think I'm having... another one...'' James spluttered.
''What? Another what?''
''A... Dimensional Scream...*1''
The team looked at each other. Of course!
''James!'' Piplup crouched down next to him, who was struggling to keep his focus. ''Remember, there's no need to fight it. Just tell us what you see or hear.''
James nodded, then closed his eyes and went limp.

A passageway in the cavern...
Where the blue beast resides...
Leads to the prison...
Where two guardians are held...
One of water, and one of nature...
Bring the Keeper's Key there...
To make this place see the light...

James' eyes suddenly snapped open and he lept up, his reflexes forcing him to take a deep breath, which also made the others jump.
''Woah!'' Chatot exclaimed. ''James, you okay?''
''I think so,'' James answered. He looked like he was going to throw up. Piplup passed him a bottle of water. ''Thanks.''
''So, what did you see?'' Bidoof asked.
''Jeez, give the guy a moment. He was shaking everywhere just now.''
James held up a finger while he polished off the bottle, and passed it back to Piplup, who refilled it with her aquakinetic abilites just in case.
''I... heard a voice.'' James began. ''It said that there was a passage where that Gygardos lives. It leads to a prison or something, and said to bring the key we have there to set free two guardians.''
''Guardians?'' Chatot repeated.
''Yeah. And it said that when we did this, would this place see the light again... I think we now know what we need to do.''
''We need to bring that key to the prison.'' Starvia said. ''Chatot, are we going straight away or...''
''No way. We need to calm down and rest after that close call.'' Chatot said in a dismissive manner. ''And I need to check Corphish over. I think he said that him getting thrown into the wall gave him a small fracture in one of his claws.''
James looked over at Corphish in disbelief.
''...What?'' He asked. James turned back to Chatot.
''He looks fine, if you ask me.'' Sunflora commented.
''Well, he isn't. Sorry, but it's my orders. We recuperate until I give the say-so to go back out there.''
''Fine, fine...'' Piplup muttered, slinking away from the table and going back to hers, James' and Starvia's tent.
''Meh, I'm gonna relax for a while too.'' James said, getting up. ''That Dimensional Scream sort of knocked the wind out of me. Just give us a holler when you're ready to go again.''

James pulled back the cover leading into his tent. There, he could see Piplup staring down at him, tapping her foot.
''...I presume you, er... Got a bone to pick with me after what happened.'' James said nervously.
''Damn right I have.'' Piplup snapped back. ''I have no idea what you were thinking of back therem but lemme tell ya: I don't want to have to act as your 'shield'. You saved time, beat Darkrai, you--''
''Correction: WE.'' James cut her off. ''WE saved tine. WE beat Darkrai. Do you really think I care about just myself?!''
''Well, that's the impression you gave me back there! Since when do you rely on others to act a barrier just to prevent yourself from getting hurt?! Tell me! Since when?!''
James roared in frustration.
''We had no damn choice! We had to use you and Corphish! Look, if you didn't do as we asked you to, we woulda quite literally be sleeping with the fishes!'' He shouted.
''But WHY?! WHY does it have to be ME all the time?!'' Piplup yelled, kicking a crate in anger. James winced. He'd never seen her like this.
Piplup stared at the ground for a while, her loud breathing slowly becoming more quiet as she calmed down.
''I... I'm sorry, James. But I don't want to do this anymore.''
''We have to.'' James murmered. ''...Tell you what. We get through this, I'll get you all a round of Apple Juice back at Spinda's. Oh, and I'll let you have a week's recuperation.'' James held out his hand. ''Deal?''
Piplup thought about it for a while. Then she rolled her eyes and nodded.
''Deal.'' She said, shaking James' hand. ''Also, sorry. I'm not usually the angry type.''
''You don't have to apologize, Pip. I should be the one to be sorry for putting you and Corphish in that position.''
''No, I'm serious.'' Pip chuckled.
''I am as well.'' James laughed back. ''See? We've already forgave each other. Now how about we get some rest?''

*1: During Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, the human-Pokémon discovers across the course of the storyline a special ability he has which enables him to see either the past or the future of any important person or object he touches. This ability helps his team to discover the location of the Time Gears.

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PMD Legends Of The Land Episode 3: Rolling In The Deep

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