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Silence. Every guild member started exchanging looks, trying to examine every inch of the room in search of the Growlithe. As expected, she wasn’t there.

“ROSE!” Simon screamed.

“I’m going to check upstairs. Verm! Make sure those four don’t wake up.” With the order, Gren climbed up.

“R-Rose…” He clutched his arm tighter. “T-that Abomasnow. It has to have been him. He took her…”

Mark’s heart was breaking at seeing this. It was the first time that he’d seen the Squirtle so… scared. Simon’s breathing was uneven, his legs trembled, his eyes were darting around everywhere.

Gren didn’t take long to come back, and their expression already said everything they needed to know.

“Simon, are you-”

“I’m going to kill him…”

“Hey. Hey, look at me.” Mark pulled his head up, making eye contact. “Calm down, okay? We’re going to find her and she’s going to be alright.”

Simon didn’t respond. Instead, staring at the four unconscious Pokémon the Abomasnow teamed with. He approached the Dragonite and immediately punched it across the snout.

“O-ough, w-what? What is- Oh. You. Right.” Luckily Verm had already tied them up in case they woke up.

“What did you do to her?”

“To who?”

“You KNOW what I’m talking about!” And that was another punch. “Where the HELL is your leader?!”

The Dragonite recovered from the recoil and smirked. “Oh, so he went for Plan B. Cool.”

“Plan B?”

“If you think I’m gonna tell you where he went, you got it wrong. You can attack me all you want, I ain’t talking.”

“Let’s see how much you don’t talk when I rip your scales out of your-”

“Angel’s Window.”

Nobody expected the new voice. It was from the Poliwrath.

“He went to Angel’s Window. Or at least, that’s what he told us he would do.”

“Bruce? What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m done, Gwen. Look at where following Zigg has led us. And all for what? For petty revenge against this guy? We don’t even know what happened between them, why are we fighting with him?”

The Dragonite seemed to reflect for a second before ultimately shaking her head. “I’m not talking anymore.”

“Ok, Gwen. Ok.” The Poliwrath seemed to stare at the ground, pensive. But Simon didn’t care about them anymore.

“Simon, Mark, come to my room.” This time Gren talked, pretty much pushing the two into the Guildmaster’s office. “Please sit.” So they did.

The silence was deafening, the tension was insufferable.

“So, I know this is a really bad situation, but we have to-”

“I’m going after him.”

“No, you’re not. You’re still weak from the fight just now, the last thing you need is to get into another. You’re going to stay here and rest, and we will take care of it.”

“I didn’t ask for your suggestion. I’m going after him, and that’s final.”

“Simon, think carefully about what you’re doing.”

“If you REALLY think I’m going to let my sister die to the hands of a bastard like him, you got it WRONG. And if going to help my sibling costs me the stay at the guild, then I wouldn’t want to be part of it anyway. So NOW…” Simon slammed the guildmaster’s desk. “… I’m going to rescue her, and you’re not going to stop me.”

And so he left, slamming the door shut too. Mark didn’t wait for Gren’s permission to get out of the room.

“Simon.”

But he got ignored.

“Simon, please.” Mark tried to walk faster to catch up to him, but damn he was fast. They got out of the building, but Mark managed to get near. He put a paw on his shoulder. “Simon-”

But Simon slapped it away. “Don’t touch me! You’re not going to convince me, okay?! I’m going after him!”

“I know.” Those two words made the Squirtle stop for a second. “I want to go with you.”

Mark saw him think about it. “No.” He made a gesture to turn around but Mark grabbed him before he could get away.

“Please.”

“No, Mark. You’re a guy that I met some days ago, that has nothing left in his life, and lost his memories. I’m not putting you through more danger.”

“You’re not doing that. I’m the one wanting to save Rose too.” Simon hesitated. “Besides, weren’t we friends?”

Simon closed his eyes, trying to breathe deeply to calm himself down. The couple of tears falling down his face were an easy tell that he was struggling to do so.

“I’m not leaving you behind, Simon. Neither you nor her.”

Exhaling, Simon nodded. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“I’ll go for the bag. We know how this so-called Zigg is, we need items.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll… I’ll go to Kecleon’s, meet me there.”

Mark rushed home, grabbing the bag with the few items that they still had left in it. Running back, Simon was already buying what they needed. They filled the bag with everything, and left.

The way was silent. Mark didn’t even know where they were going. But something about seeing Simon so devoid of… well, anything, really, incentivized him to start a conversation.

“So what exactly is Angel’s Window?”

“You’ll see.”

“Simon, please. I know this is tense, but if you want me to help, I need to know what’s happening.”

Simon sighed. “So you see where we’re headed, right?”

“I see a mountain right in the way, yes. Is that our destination?”

“That mountain is Angel’s Peak. We call it that because of all the snow that accumulates in it. Angel’s Window is an opening near the base. A cave, pretty much. Also, a Mystery Dungeon.”

“Oh, great.”

“Mostly Rock and Ground-types, so nothing I can’t handle.”

“Right…”

They kept on walking. No other conversations. But Mark could feel a presence nearby. He looked around, and immediately noticed what was wrong.

“Verm?”

As if on cue, the ghost appeared from Simon’s shadow.

“Hey.”

“Why were you following us?”

“Gren’s orders. They wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I don’t need them.” Simon turned around and kept going forward.

“Simon, c’mon. You’ve known me for a long time. I care about you, and I care about Rose. I don’t want this to go badly.”

“Can’t you see?! It WILL go badly if nobody goes and saves her!”

“I know, okay? I’m also worried about her, but look at you! Your shell is chipped, you have bruises everywhere, and for fuck’s sake, your arm is STILL bleeding!” Verm was clearly done trying to play nice. “You go in there, it’s a suicide mission. You get that, right? Is that what Rose would want? Or would she want to-”

Simon snapped at that. “Do NOT speak of my sister like you know her better than I do.” He was panting, like simply speaking was tiring him off. “She needs me! And I’d be dead before I let ANYTHING happen to her, you got me?!”

“I’m just trying to get some sense into you, Simon! Why are you so defensive? This isn’t your fault, you don’t have to go alone!”

“Those guys went for ME, Verm. They got Rose to make ME suffer. How is it not my fault?!”

“Are you even listening to yourself? You’re blaming yourself for the things they did!”

“Verm, stop. Just… please stop.”

The ghost deflated. “C-Can I at least go with you? I want to help…” But the silence the Squirtle gave as a response made the answer clear. “I need the three of you to get out of this, Simon. Please.”

Simon looked at him in the eyes and simply shook his head. Verm sighed. “Ok, just… at least let me give you this.” The Gengar opened his hand, revealing an Energy seed and a berry that Mark thought was a Sitrus.

“It won’t patch you up entirely, but… It should help.”

Simon stared at the items with an expression that made it impossible to guess what he was thinking. But after a deep breath, he took them, and immediately gulped them in. “Thank you, Verm. We will be fine, I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that.” Contrary to these last times, the silence here was comforting. “I should get going. We’ll see what excuse I manage to bring to Gren. And Simon? I trust you.”

So Verm turned around and left. But not teleporting or floating like a ghost, just walking away.

“C’mon, let’s go.”

“Y-yeah. Okay.” Mark didn’t really know what to think at this point. There was something more going on with Simon, but he didn’t feel confident enough to ask, especially in a situation like this one.

The entrance to Angel’s Window couldn’t arrive soon enough.