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Mystery Dungeon Time- 4: New Outlook

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Published: Sep 25, 2015

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Literature Text

"WAKE UP, YOU GUYS!!" This came from Loudred, who was just doing his job.

"AAAH!!" Fang and Pawniard yelped.

Kirlia got up slowly-yet-gracefully. He said, "Well in that case, surely there's something I can do..."

Loudred replied, "WELL JUST START TODAY!!"

"Uggggh...!!" Fang groaned, dark circles under her eyes. Kirlia and Pawniard helped Fang up.

"Let's just get this stuff started, alright?" Kirlia said.

After some struggle, the team made it to the room with the requests and started looking for, well, requests to do.

"Okay, which one should we do next?" Fang asked.

"I'll choose." Pawniard said. Looking around, he just picked a random request, which read as such:

Request: "My Rival Is Missing."

"I won't claim that we're always friends, but we do respect each other a great deal. Which is why I was bothered when I didn't see my rival there to motivate my to go further. He went to go train at Mount Steel, but hasn't come back for several hours now.

If you would, please see to it that he is alright."

-From Hitmontlee

"His rival?" Fang asked.

"I believe that would be Hitmonchan." Kirlia replied.

"Obviously," Pawniard pointed out.

"Actually," Kirlia countered, "Another Pokemon in that specific evolutionary chain would be Hitmontop, so it's not as obvious as you may think it is."

"True," Fang added.

"Well, yeah..." Pawniard admitted.

Krookodile popped up. "Ah... taking it easy, correct? Not blaming you three. Two criminals in a row is a lot to handle."

"Well I think that we should rebuild our strength after yesterday," Kirlia said, "plus it'd be nice to just go and help someone out."

"I absolutely agree," Krookodile said. "Well, go on. Off you go."

As they were walking, they ran into Team Clashers.

"Greetings." Kirlia said. "It seems that we meet yet again."

"Yeah," Charmeleon said.

"Hey there, Zorua!" Fang greeted, but all she got was a silent nod. "Uh...Charmeleon? Does Zorua ever talk?"

"...Well...she used to talk just fine," Charmeleon answered, "but then...there was a bit of an accident, you see."

"You're joking." Kirlia said.

Charmeleon rubbed his head. "Yeah... not exactly a joke, I'm afraid..."

"Wait, you were serious?" Kirlia asked.

"Uh...Kirlia?" Fang asked in a slightly disturbed voice. "I think he was right. Look."

Kirlia looked and saw Zorua part her mane...revealing a rather grisly scar on her neck.

"It's amazing that she even survived," Charmeleon said, "but...the result damaged her larynx. She actually has tried to speak again, but...there are no words...just this really small squeak, and even then, it seems to put a strain on her throat."

"Let me guess: Bisharp." Kirlia guessed.

"Yeah...the other day wasn't actually the first time we fought with him," Charmeleon answered. "The first time...that was when Zorua was hurt and she lost her voice."

Zorua looked down, sad and ashamed.

"Zorua..." Fang whispered, pitifully.

'And I just thought she just hated to talk,' she thought.

"That's...that's just awful," Pawniard muttered, sadly.

"But listen," Charmeleon said, pointing at the three, "I didn't tell you this just for you to pity Zorua, you got that?!"

"I mean I know that my big bro can be unreasonable at times," Pawniard continued, "but MAN did he go nuts there..."

"Either way," Kirlia interrupted, "Bisharp couldn't be nearly as bad as the looming Pokemon Toxicroak."

At that, Charmeleon laughed nervously. "Ohohoh... trust me: Bisharp is a saint when compared to THAT guy."

"I can't help but notice that you seemed a little nervous," Fang pointed out.

Zorua just looked at Charmeleon flatly.

Charmeleon said, "Toxicroak is way more of a personal archrival to me. If you run into him, no matter what, don't let your guard down. Use Psychic if you have it."

"Thanks for the heads up." Kirlia replied.

"Yeah," Fang agreed.

"Also," Charmeleon turned to Pawniard, "I will not judge you for what your brother did, alright? That's my promise to you."

"Thanks," Pawniard nodded.

"Don't mention it," Charmeleon replied. "Now go on. Scram."

Sure enough, Team Alpha did just that.

When they arrived at Mount Steel, Pawniard asked, "Why the sudden interest in Toxicroak, Kirlia?"

At that, Kirlia stopped. "I don't know why, but I think he holds some of the answers to my past, or to who I really am."

"If you're sure," Fang answered, "then I won't question it."

"It's just..." Kirlia explained why he felt the way he did. "Unlike virtually every other Pokemon I heard the name of, for him, I suddenly had a flashback to my past. A past I didn't think I had..."

"Really?" asked Fang. "And Toxicroak was there?"

"Something along the lines of that..." Kirlia replied. "But it's still too fuzzy for me to work out..." After a pause, he said, "I've done some reading at night lately, and there's something that I read about that caught my attention."

"And that would be...?" Fang inquired.

Kirlia stopped right where he was, and replied, "Do you know... of the Time Gears?"

"The what?" Fang asked, tilting her head.

Kirlia explained away, "In one of the books I've read, there are supposedly 5 Time Gears across the land that on their own, moves forward the flow of time in order to keep the world from permanently freezing over and slowing to a halt. However, the flaw there is that there hasn't been any hard evidence of their existence, only legends and myth. This extends to the other myths listed on the book as well.

"So why bring it up?" Pawniard asked.

Kirlia replied, "I'm not quite sure, but haven't you ever wondered if there was a hidden lore to the world that was just waiting to be figured out?"

"Well...I have, sometimes," Fang admitted.

"For the time being," Kirlia said, "let's focus on the task at hand."

"Right," Fang concurred.

And so, they stepped foot on the mountain once again, though this time, it began snowing.

"Brr..." Kirlia said. He turned to Fang, "Y-You can keep us warm, right?"

"Yeah," Fang answered. "Just touch my ear hairs."

"I'm good." Pawniard said. "The chilling atmosphere actually helps me to stay energized and alert, since I'm a Steel-Type and all."

"Suit yourself," Fang said.

"The strange thing is," Kirlia said, "it just started snowing now. I wonder why..."

Regardless, they climbed upwards. As they did, Fang sneezed, causing small embers to fly out of her ears.

"Bless you." Kirlia said.

At that moment, they came across a fearsome Beartic, who was ready to rumble. "Are we gonna do this, or what?"

Fang scoffed before she approached him.

"Leave this one to me," she said.

Beartic growled before he attempted to slash Fang with his claws, but she easily dodged him using her smaller size and greater speed.

Pawniard quipped, "This is getting us nowhere. We have to move onward."

"Way ahead of you!" Fang shouted before unleashing an Ember attack in Beartic's eyes.

"Augh! It's in my eyes!" Beartic yelled. "Never mind!" He backed away, not in the mood to deal with prey that would give him trouble.

"We have to keep our guard up." Kirlia said. "We can't let our guard down."

"Yeah," Fang agreed. "Let's keep moving."

And so, they continued onward until they stopped, and saw what appeared to be a metal... thing fighting with an ice thing.

Kirlia held them back. "Have you guys heard of the Regis?"

"You mean like Regirock, Regice, Registeel, and Regigigas?" Fang asked.

"Quite an interesting myth..." Pawniard spoke up. "My older brother used to talk all the time about how he used to explore all of these cool Mystery Dungeons. You know, the thing he kept talking about was how there were these mythical being known as the Regis who created the land that we now stand on, or so I've heard. From the beast that was Groudon, the land had been risen from the conquring ocean that once stood there. It was up to Regigigas to pull all the land into continents that Pokemon could exist on. After its work was done, it created three of its own image to regulate the rock from the ground, the metal that enriched the ground and blood of us all, and to keep the winters and icecaps sustained to provide life for us Pokemon of this land." He then turned to the two beings duking it out. "I may not understand the myth, but I know that two of them are real now."

"Wow...!" Fang whispered...but then gasped as she saw Regice being hurled at them. "HOLY FIRE STONES, LOOK OUT!!!!"

With that cry, they all jumped out of the way!

Successfully dodging the Regice, Kirlia asked, "I must ask, why are they fighting like this?"

At that, a Hitmonchan popped up. "It's a beautiful match, isn't it? The two fight with absolute respect for one another."

Pawniard spoke up. "Wait, aren't you the guy we're looking for? Why didn't you come back to the village?"

At that, Hitmonchan bowed his head. "Forgive me, but I was indeed honing my skills here, and I was prepared to return from my training, but then it began snowing. Soon after, a warrior in ice had claimed foot here, which was met with a strike from a steel warrior who had come from a hidden entrance on this mountain. And so, I decided to watch, for I may not get to see such a match afterwards."

"But you have to get off of this mountain if you want to live." Kirlia pointed out.

"Yeah, man!" Fang cried. "Hitmonlee's wondering where the heck you are!"

At that, Hitmonchan looked up. "I see... I must have worried my rival, then. Fair enough, I will return."

"Good," Fang said. "Now let's get outta here before we get killed!"

Avoiding the clash, the team eventually made it back from the mountain to the village.

"You know what I noticed?" Kirlia asked.

"What?" Pawniard asked.

"We still have plenty of time to do another request." Kirlia replied.

"But Krookodile said only one request per day, didn't he?" asked Fang.

"Funny you should mention that," Krookodile said while appearing out of seemingly nowhere, "because while you normally can't do that, you are allowed to do that today, since we've had a slew of easy requests come in." Noting Hitmonchan, he said, "But then, you knew that already."

"Funny thing about the word 'easy':" Kirlia said, "we probably ran into some legendary Pokemon over at Mount Steel, if that makes sense."

"What's that?" Krookodile asked.

"Yeah! Regice and Registeel!" Fang exclaimed. "Heck, we almost got crushed to death by one of them!"

"Are you sure it was them?" Kirlia asked. "It was snowing pretty hard, and as such was pretty hard to see their faces."

"I'm definently sure." Pawniard answered. "My big brother told me about it back when he was an explorer."

"By the way...Bisharp was an Explorer?" asked Fang.

"Well yeah." Krookodile answered. "A really honorable one, at that, though he was on the violent side. Naturally, he was charged recently for attempted murder of a Zorua. Or, that Zorua. So when they turned in Bisharp in, well, he now has to do some service in, you know, in order to restore and renew his name."

"Well, it's good he's been brought to justice," said Fang.

"And it's also good that he's getting his life together," Pawniard said, "since, you know, he and I are-"

"Brothers, yes." Kirlia said.

"I shall go now." Hitmonchan said. With that, he dropped off the reward and wandered off.

"Anyways," Krookodile said, "it is indeed true that you have enough time to do another request. However, why not spend some time in the village instead? You know, get to know the townspeople, buy some things, the usual."

"That sounds nice," Fang replied with a smile. "What do you think, guys?"

"Of course." Kirlia said with a smile.

"Well I want to become accustomed to this town," Pawniard said, "because by virtue of the guild I work at, I live here."

"Then let's go!" Fang said.

And so they went around town, getting to know the place. As they did, they saw Buneary, walking by while holding a bunch of flowers.

Kirlia smiled and said, "Hello, Buneary! What brings you out here?"

"I'm gonna go see my friends," Buneary answered. "We're gonna make flower necklaces, today!"

"Hey there," Pawniard waved to her.

"He's new," Kirlia said, "so go gentle on him."

"Something else I'vd noticed," Buneary said to Kirlia, "is that you evolved. You're getting stronger everyday, from what I've heard. You guys have been the talk of the village lately!"

"Is that so?" Fang asked.

"Yeah! And Charmeleon's getting pretty jealous!" Buneary added with a giggle.

"Who would have thought?" Kirlia asked. He then asked, "How's your older sister doing?"

"She's just fine," Buneary answered. "Lately, she's been getting a lot of love letters, though. She's used to it, though. Every guy in the village sends her letters!"

"Every guy?" Kirlia asked.

Buneary paused, then said, "Well, save for one guy. Xatu. It's always the Psychic-Type that's hard to figure out." Seeing Kirlia, she added, "No offense, Kirlia."

"None taken." Kirlia replied.

"Pardon me for asking," Pawniard said, "but who's Xatu?"

"Yeah, this is the first I'm hearing of him," said Fang.

At that, Buneary sweatdropped. "Uh... yeah... Xatu is one of the more... unhinged citizens of this town. He's the appraiser of the town, and a talented one at that."

"Appraiser, eh?" Fang asked. "So why call him 'unhinged'?"

"He can, and will, space out whenever he pleases." Buneary replied. "He's a very content Pokemon, though. You should check his store out."

"Maybe we will," Fang said. "What do you think, Kirlia?"

"Well if we can learn something new, or have a new outlook on things, I don't see why not." Kirlia replied.

"Okay, then!" Fang answered. "But, uh...you go first. It's not like I'm nervous, it's just that you're the leader."

And so, they met up with Xatu at his appraisal shop.

Standing there, seemingly in a hypnotic stance, was Xatu, the visionary Pokemon.

"Welcome to my appraisal shop." Xatu said to Team Alpha. "I had predicted your arrival here."

Whoa...!" Fang whispered.

"Nice try," Kirlia said, "but I'm a Psychic-Type too."

"Have you any objects from the Mystery Dungeons that you wish to be appraised?" Xatu asked. "Surely, you have quite a few treasures now."

"Uhh...do we?" Fang asked.

It was then that Kirlia remembered the ore they picked up. "Remember the ore we got from Mount Steel?" He asked.

"Oh, right!" Fang said. "We'll have that appraised!"

Fang handed the ore over to Xatu.

Looking at it, Xatu said, "Ah, yes... I can see the feelings and emotions behind the ore you have brought me..."

"You can?" Pawniard asked.

"I can," Xatu said, "for it, like all items, is sentient in this world."

"Items are sentient?!" Fang asked.

"Don't read too much into it..." Kirlia told Fang.

"Uh...if you say so," Fang said.

"I have appraised the ore..." Xatu said. "It is revealed: 600 Poke is the treasure it yields."

"Only that much, huh?" Fang asked. "Oh, well. Better than nothing. Thanks, Mr. Xatu!"

"Come again." Xatu replied.

And so, Team Alpha made their way back to the guild. On the way, Kirlia asked, "How is it that we keep running into Team Clashers?"

"What do you mean?" Fang asked.

"They always have something that they're doing, you know?" Kirlia asked.

"If I were to guess," Pawniard said, "Charmeleon probably went through a lot to get to where he is now."

"Yeah," Fang said, "and who knows what Zorua was like before she lost her voice?"

"Probably not that much different." Kirlia admitted. "Anyways, with Bisharp in mind, I've decided to see how he's like when we meet him ourselves for the first time. Not that I don't feel bad about her losing her voice, but the heat of battle has brought worse."

"Anyways," Pawniard said, "even if Charmeleon really isn't that likable, we should still respect him all the same. As fellow explorers, we at least owe him that."

"Yeah, that's true," Fang concurred.

"Anyways, it's dinner time." Kirlia said.

"Right," Fang said. "Let's go, then!"

And so, they went to dinner. Afterwards, they headed off to sleep. Or at least, they tried to.

Truthfully speaking, Kirlia was still thinking about how they witnessed a fight between two of the Regis. So naturally, he asked, "Fang, remember when we saw those two Regis fight each other?"

"How could I forget is the more accurate question," Fang answered.

After a while, Kirlia said, "We should take a few requests away from Mount Steel until it stops snowing. More importantly, we should find a request to a new Mystery Dungeon in general."

"Hey..." Pawniard said sleepily. "I think I know of a place we can take a request to go to."

"Oh?" Fang inquired. "And what would that be?"

"It's a place just south of here called Misty Woods." Pawniard replied. "It's known for having a creepy atmosphere, and for hosting several different Types of Pokemon."

"Strange thought," Kirila interjected, "but what if that's where we find this Toxicroak person? Or at the very least find out about him?"

"Never hurts to find out...does it?" Fang asked.

"Well we'd have to find out when we get there." Kirlia replied. He then asked, "By the way, what if the legends are true? What if these legendary Pokemon actually exist? Could we figure that stuff out by just exploring?"

At that, Pawniard said, "Leader, are you alright?"

What makes you think he's not?" Fang asked.

"Lately," Kirlia said, "I've been thinking about the implications of me not having a past I can recall, and instead of it comforting me, it scares me. If I don't have a backstory-"

"Stop right there." Pawniard said.

Kirlia was caught off guard. "Did... you just interrupt me?"

"I don't want to hear about you not having a backstory, ya hear?" Pawniard said. "It doesn't matter how long it is, or how long ago it is: you began this journey when you entered this guild. Then you did a few missions and learned about the world of Pokemon. Your backstory ended the moment you evolved. That's your backstory."

Kirlia paused for a while. That's my backstory...?

"Yeah!" Fang answered. "That's right, Kirlia!"

At that, Kirlia sighed... and smiled. "You know what? You guys are right. I'm the leader of this team before anything else. While I'm still going to find out more about myself, I won't let that be an obsession that makes me lose sleep at night." Turning to Fang, he said, "Thanks for being there for me, Fang."

"Well, you were there for me," Fang said. "Why can't I be there for you?"

Kirlia turned to Pawniard, and said, "And thank you for snapping me out of my funk. You are a welcome member of the team."

"Any time, leader." Pawniard replied.

"Yeah, I'll remain the team leader, if that's alright with the two of you." Kirlia said.

"Heck yeah!" Fang exclaimed.

"Then let's get properly rested for tomorrow, then." Kirlia said.

"Right," Fang said. "Goodnight, guys."

"Good night, Fang..." Kirlia and Pawniard replied in unison.

And so, they rested up, ready for tomorrow's adventures and mysteries.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 4 of the story co-written by me and

In this chapter, Team Alpha goes on another journey to Mt. Steel, but this time, they run into two legendary Pokemon: Regice and Registeel! Meanwhile, Kirlia begins to wonder about his past.