Chapter 1: Doubts and Omens

«ONE! DON’T SHIRK WORK!
TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!
THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!»

«Alright, Pokémon! Time to get to work!»

«HOORAY!»

This was the dialogue that took place every morning between the apprentices and Chatot in front of the (often asleep) gaze of the Guildmaster.

Despite the earthquake of the previous night, the enthusiasm of the apprentices had not waned. Although some slight damage was visible, things had already returned almost to normal. Only Sparx still seemed a little shaken, just to stay on topic, but for the sake of his team and the rest of the Guild, he kept his thoughts to himself.

The morning address was like a sort of ritual of good luck so that the day would go well. That was especially for the explorers, who exposed themselves to danger more than anyone else.

In general, just to be clear, all the Guild’s apprentices were explorers. However, some of them had other very specific jobs within the building, such as doing sentry duty for Diglett and Loudred, organizing teams and helping in the kitchen for Chimecho, and Croagunk’s mysterious yet useful Swap Shop. The remaining members, Team Spark included, were dedicated solely to exploration and were rarely assigned other kind of tasks.

The latter trio had remained behind, still in the main hall, talking among themselves about what to do.

«So, where do we go today, Sparx?» Ardin asked.

The Shinx tried to collect his thoughts and focus solely on work. He delicately grabbed between his toes a couple of slips of paper from his Treasure Bag. He placed them on the ground, where everyone could look at them, and he began to mumble.

«Mmm… there would still be that “A” rank Hoothoot that we couldn’t stop two days ago, otherwise there’s this “B” rank retrieval mission that we’ve been… ignoring for quite a while now…»

Yeaf looked at the sheet reading the second mission mentioned by the leader, then, once read, she let out a resigned sigh.

«A Blast Seed? Does the client really want us to retrieve a single Blast Seed? Can’t he simply buy another one from Kecleon’s Market? It costs just 150 Poké!» she exclaimed. «We deserve better, guys!»

Even if he partly agreed with the Eevee’s words, Ardin tried to bring her back down to earth.

«We’ve made a lot of progress, it’s true, but just try to think about that Hoothoot; he managed to deceive us all and slip out from under our noses. Although I must say that his Ghost Attunement certainly helped him… Unfortunately the rumors about that were true.»

But the Mudkip’s words did not dampen the Evolution’s spirits at all, and she instead shook her head. A joyful smile was on her face as she then raised a paw in a sort of a triumphant pose.

«Come on, Ardin! We defeated an “S” rank criminal! Who could ever stop us now?» she added, her emerald eyes shining with dreams of glory. «Ghost Attunement or not, we’ll catch him for sure next time!»

Sparx chuckled to himself while admiring his friend’s enthusiasm, making in the meantime the most obvious decision on how to solve such matter.

«Let’s go to the Boards and see if we have any more missions in one of these Dungeons. At that point we’ll decide what to do.» he said, putting the papers back in the bag.

The Mudkip nodded. «Nothing to object. Shall we go upstairs?”

The three explorers walked towards the ladder that would lead them to the upper floor with the Boards. However, a sudden Chatot’s call stops them in their tracks.

«Ah! Team Spark! May you come here for a minute?” he asked them.

The team exchanged a couple of quick glances, as if wondering what the second in command might have wanted, but they immediately turned around and Sparx spoke back to their superior.

«We’re here. Do you need something, Chatot?»

The Music Note Pokémon cleared his throat before explaining himself.

«I’m sorry to disrupt your routine. I assume you three are heading into town before going exploring, right?”

“Yes. We always check the shops before going to the Dungeons.” Sparx replied.

Chatot put on a smile and began to rhythmically swing his metronome-shaped tail.

“Magnificent! I have a couple of favors to ask of you!” he said, then becoming more formal again. «So, as you can imagine, last night’s earthquake caused a lot of discomfort in Treasure Town. I would like you, while you are there, to check on the situation and tell us a brief report about how the city is doing. Also, you should ask Marowak if he would be willing to help with the reconstructions, given the inconvenience in the Guildmaster’s room.” he explained them.

«Are you referring to the collapsed beam?» Yeaf asked him.

“Exactly, Yeaf, but also some other minor damage here and there among the Guild. Unfortunately, no one here has much knowledge in carpentry… A-ehm, or rather, I would have it, but it’s just theory. Practice is not for me!» he said, a little embarrassed. “Anyway, tell Marowak that of course, if he accepts, we will adequately compensate him for the trouble.”

Sparx nodded. It wouldn’t have been a burden to them.

«Sure thing, Chatot. We will be back shortly with our report and, hopefully, good news from Marowak.” he promised kindly.

The second in command gloated again. Even if he couldn’t demonstrate it openly to avoid showing favoritism, he was, for obvious reasons, very fond of Sparx, as well as very proud of him.

«Perfect! Then choose today’s assignments from the Job Bulletin Boards, go into town and, before leaving, come back to report the situation to me. I count on you!» he exclaimed happily.

{ ~~~ }

After a quick check at the Job Bulletin Boards, from which Team Spark left with a couple of “A” rank missions to the Crystal Cave (where Yeaf’s so beloved Blast Seed was also located). Right after that, the trio left the Guild to head towards Treasure Town.

During the short walk, after descending the imposing staircase that separated the Crossroads from the Guild, Yeaf glanced at Sparx, noticing that he looked a little different than usual. She knew him well enough to notice how much more distracted and thoughtful he was. Even Ardin most likely noticed ittoo. Was it still because of the events of that night?

Just as they both simultaneously took a breath to speak to him, he, unknowingly, nipped their speech in the bud.

«Uh? What’s going on over there?” he said, pointing in front of him with his paw.

The three explorers therefore saw that basically the entire population of Treasure Town seemed to be gathered in the main square around someone. They heard more or less excited voices, even if they were still too far away to understand what they were talking about. Only Yeaf could hear a few words: “earthquake”, “idiocy”, “… awakened?”, all along with some expletives and insults.

Sparx, however, sharpened his phenomenal eyes and, after a while, managed to see the Pokémon around whom that ferment had formed.

«It’s… Xatu.» he told to his teammates. «So he’s actually fine too. I’m relieved.»

«It doesn’t seem like the others share the same feeling…» Yeaf murmured, hearing the swears reserved to the Mystic.

«Either way» Ardin interjected. «Let’s join them. We might have to talk to Chatot about this too.»

Thus, the trio quickly approached the group of Pokémon. Meanwhile, as Chatot had requested, they looked around to check the conditions of the town. At a glance, they concluded that, indeed, the damage inflicted by the earthquake was fortunately far from serious. Given the stable buildings, they quickly agreed to have a nice breakfast at the Spinda Café later, once they had completed their task, obviously.

Yet, something seemed absolutely wrong, as even Sparx and Ardin were starting to be able to understand what the inhabitants of Treasure Town were talking about. It was everything but reassuring.

«What the hell are you babbling about, Xatu?!»

«He? Come on! This time you really crossed the line!»

«Xatu! Have you finally burned out your brains, you idiot?!»

Upon hearing those words, along with many other much more colorful ones, they closed the gap between them and the group. No one seemed to notice the young Pokémon, so the Shinx timidly raised his voice in order to be heard among the crowd.

«Uhm… hello… What’s happening here…?»

Then Zangoose, leader of Team Razor Wind, turned towards them. It took him a second before he realized he had to look down to see who had spoken.

«Oh, Team Spark!» he exclaimed. «You’ve arrived just in time: Xatu is putting on a great show! It had been a while since his last one.»

Yeaf blinked twice. «I understood correctly, then…» she commented, with a bit of resignation in her voice. «It indeed hadn’t happened in a really long time. What is he saying now?»

Little by little everyone realized the presence of Team Spark. The trio certainly needed no introduction in the city given their constant presence there, along with the growing fame as the talented apprentice exploration team they were.

«Ah, you three!» the purple Kecleon also exclaimed. He had a quite furious face. «After some years the weirdo woke up again, and now he’s talking nonsense about tonight’s earthquake!»

Sparx felt a slight shiver down his spine at those words. The feeling of tension from that night had absolutely not left him yet, on the contrary, it was slowly re-emerging.

Xatu’s gaze that fell on him a few moments later didn’t help at all. For a short moment, the Shinx had the impression that the Mystic Pokémon’s right eye shone briefly.

Keeping his eyes fixed and unmoving on the young leader, Xatu finally spoke. He was known for being someone who spoke very slowly and with many pauses between sentences.

«… Team Spark… You are finally here too…»

Ardin let out a short sigh. «Xatu… what are you saying about the earthquake?» he asked him, causing silence to fall on the square.

The Mystic closed his eyes for a few seconds and didn’t say a word until he opened them again.

«… This was… just a warning…» he said, looking up at the sky and gradually raising his voice. «… a calamity… is about to fall upon us! Not only now as we’re speaking, but even… later in the future… and later… and later and so on…»

«Of course!» Electrivire exclaimed, clearly sarcastic. «Like that time with the meteorite, right?»

«… It… happened…» Xatu replied, not at all touched by the sarcasm.

«It fell on the Air Continent, charlatan!»

«… This… Doesn’t prove it didn’t happen…»

«In fact, it didn’t even fall, since Rayquaza stopped it!»

«… Again… because… someone… had warned her…»

«People…» Sparx’s voice was heard again, this time a little more trembling. «Let him speak, please…»

Everyone looked at him a little strangely, but only Yeaf tried to object.

«Sparx…?» she muttered, just as confused as the others.

She remembered well, as did everyone else, that none of Xatu’s “predictions” had ever come true in the past. Not without a reason, it had been years since the Mystic had shared any of his divinations, yet Sparx was willing to listen to him.

Neither she nor Ardin took much effort to understand which, most likely, was linked to his distracted attitude that he showed since the earthquake of the previous night.

Making sure he wasn’t interrupted again, Xatu casted his soul-piercing gaze back onto the Shinx, ready to continue.

«… He… who was put into a deep sleep after having fought so hard against his own brother… He… who raised the lands from the sea… He… who was awakened from his slumber tonight… by a force yet to comprehend…» he suddenly opened his wings to their maximum width, revealing the weird patterns on his chest. «Groudon… is enraged!»

«And I’m Dialga’s niece!» the green Kecleon exclaimed, unleashing the buzz again with his taunting.

This time, however, it lasted just for a few seconds.

«Stop!»

On this occasion, it was Ardin who, surprisingly, spoke and calmed things down. The Mudkip took a step forward and cleared his throat.

«Listen. We won’t go anywhere this way. Let’s try to be reasonable.» he said, urging tranquility.

Yeaf smirked. Finally, the Ardin she knew well had come into action, the one who used facts and logic to solve problems.

«So…» continued the Mud Fish, looking at Xatu. «Groudon, you say. Following his last clash with Kyogre which occurred about fifteen thousand years ago, and whose real nature is still unknown to this day, he retreated under the sands of the Northern Desert, or under those of the nearby Shimmer Desert.» he began to explain.

But the smart Mudkip couldn’t manage to reach the point of his speech, as Xatu shook his head and closed his wings, then speaking during his short pause.

«… I have to stop you already, Ardin…» he interrupted. «…What you say is… right… However… the origin of the earthquake… was not in the northern deserts, but… in the remote and southern World Abyss…»

Thus the Mudkip opened his eyes wide for a moment, processing the information he had just received that went against his prior knowledge.

«But… the World Abyss…? It’s not possible…» he replied, albeit with some uncertainty. «It’s on the other side of the region… and it’s said to be… the link to the Exiled’s Distortion World, right?»

«… And that’s correct too, Ardin…» Xatu replied.

The keen explorer bowed his head slightly, trying to put his thoughts back in order. He couldn’t get the logic behind those informations.

«I can’t understand…» he then admitted. «How can you tell that Groudon is over there? And why should he be enraged? We did nothing wrong!»

An exasperated sigh, soon attributable to Kangaskhan, rose from the crowd. The Pokémon had her arms crossed and didn’t seem to be in her usual good mood.

«Sweetie, if you don’t understand it’s because it doesn’t make sense» she said, though keeping a tone that could be either cheerful or angry. «As well as every of his other past predictions.»

In all of this, despite the various insults that Xatu had taken, the latter was totally unmoved. His expression was completely still, inscrutable, and unreadable. It was impossible to tell what was going through his mind.

«… Probably… Someone is watching over us…» he said, his tone as incomprehensible as his expression. «… That someone, however… can’t protect us now…»

Suddenly, Sparx, already agitated before, finally threw off his mask. His heart suddenly skipped a beat. An overwhelming sense of fear started to creep on him. He began to tremble, and with his body so did his voice.

«Ah… yes…?» he muttered, trembling like a leaf pushed by the wind.

Ardin and Yeaf gasped when they saw the Shinx in that condition. The Mudkip shook him gently with a paw.

«Sparx! Sparx! What’s going on?»

«I’m… fine…»

It was obvious that it wasn’t true. He was trembling even more than before and his breathing had become short and labored, his chest rising and falling at an extremely fast rate. He seemed terrified of something, almost to the point of having a panic attack. They had never seen him so scared.

Yeaf also shook him, although she was less gentle than her Mudkip friend.

«Ehy! No! You’re not fine, Sparx! What’s going on with you?!»

Xatu met the Shinx’s eyes again, maintaining his usual stony face as he stared at him. Yet, for the first time, the Mystic sighed.

«… Yes… You understood that too… didn’t you, Sparx?»

The young leader’s heart was beating wildly. He felt a gigantic sense of danger tightening on him as if he was in a strong vice. But why? He always had a good instinct, it’s true, yet… never and never had it been so hard on him.

“What… What is happening…?” he thought in his troubled mind, not knowing how to explain whatever his instincts were trying to tell him.

Even the rest of the inhabitants of Treasure Town, with the exception of the Mystic Pokémon, began to worry about the Shinx. They had the impression that he would just collapse at any moment.

As the situation worsened, Ardin slammed a paw on the ground, then he glared at Xatu.

«Quit it, Xatu! Don’t you see that he’s terrified?!» he scolded him, pointing at Sparx.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he flew up a couple of meters above the ground. He looked around, and only then spoke.

«… You… I was hoping that at least this time you would have listened to me…» he said, as he slowly got up higher and higher. «… To anyone who can fly… I strongly advise you to imitate me… Now.»

The Mud Fish shook his head and returned his attention to Sparx, who seemed to be even in a worse status than before. He called his name, as did Yeaf, but no voice came from the Shinx for a long time.

Until, with enormous difficulty, he found the willpower to utter a few words.

«Ardin… Yeaf…» he practically whispered, his voice drowned out by the compelling fear. «… I… I…»

Whatever the Shinx was about to say was interrupted by a powerful roar that reached everyone’s ears.

Even before they realized what it was… the earth instantly moved as if a giant hand had suddenly grabbed and shaken the entire continent.

All that immediately followed was panic and destruction. The tents, the houses, the structures, everything collapsed in a matter of instants. The deafening roar continued to sound in the heads of the Pokémon in total fear. They struggled to stand, and many failed at doing so.

It was like a nightmare, but that catastrophe was real. The Pokémon were tossed off the ground like helpless dolls, jumping as they were carried by the strong seismic waves. The blind fury of the calamity didn’t spare anything.

The last thing Sparx saw before losing consciousness was Treasure Town being razed to the ground within a couple of seconds amidst screams and terror. If his body had held out any longer, he probably would have puked due to the immense panic that had pervaded his mind. The realization of what was happening was too much for him. He couldn’t even scream, allowing himself to be tossed around by the earth that had suddenly become his enemy.

Then, nothing else…

{ ~~~ }

«Sparx! Sparx!»

The darkness before the Shinx’s eyes began to dissipate, hearing a voice calling his name and a pair of soft paws shaking him from his side.

He took a deep breath as if he had been in apnea for several minutes and he woke up with a start, then panting heavily.

«Sparx!»

Finally he saw who was talking to him. He immediately recognized the emerald eyes of his friend Yeaf, and such a thing reassured him a bit. He tried to move, but groaned as his body peppered him with pain signals coming from everywhere.

«Stay still! Don’t move, Sparx» Yeaf told him. «Don’t force yourself. You’re wounded.»

«Ugh…» he painfully moaned.

Only then did he realize that Yeaf’s brown coat was also stained red. A few drops of blood were dripping from the tips of her fur. She too was injured.

«Yeaf! You’re… bleeding…» he murmured, worried.

She shook her head. «It’s nothing. Don’t worry about me.» she answered him. «Ardin is… fine too; he’s more or less like me… but… you…» she interrupted herself, not having the heart to describe the situation to her friend.

The Shinx exhaled a deep sigh, then he tried to look around. He wished he hadn’t had said idea.

Around him, under a wonderful sunny day, there was nothing but devastation. He saw the entire Treasure Town… being no longer there. Just pieces and rubble scattered around, along with the other injured Pokémon who were being rescued.

He also noticed Ardin; despite his scrapes and cuts, he was doing his best to help by spraying fresh water on the wounds of anyone he saw.

Sparx noticed that his fur was also wet as he regained more and more consciousness. Evidently, Ardin must have given him the same treatment.

«Treasure Town…» he whispered, letting a tear escape from the back of his eyes.

«I know…» the Eevee murmured, as distressed as he was. «It’s been… so sudden…»

She was crying too. The shock of seeing their town destroyed, especially for kids like them, couldn’t be described with any words.

«You!» somebody shouted.

Chansey rushed to Sparx and Yeaf. She had been treating the most seriously injured Pokémon for a while. It could be clearly seen that she was already exhausted, yet her good heart prevented her from stopping.

She gasped when she saw the condition the young Shinx was in. He had deep wounds all over his body and, although he was not in life-threatening condition, he was losing tons of blood.

«For the Holy Crown of Arceus!» she exclaimed, bringing her stubby hands as close to her mouth as possible. «I’ll heal you immediately, Sparx!»

The Egg Pokémon took out another of her eggs and cracked it above the explorer’s body using Soft-Boiled. Sparx immediately felt some relief as his wounds stopped bleeding. He was still weak, but at least he no longer had that excruciating pain that prevented him from moving. He moved his head to look at his healer.

«Thank you, Chansey…» he said, finally managing to get up, albeit with difficulty.

She smiled faintly. «Don’t mention it… now I’m going to treat others…»

They didn’t try to stop her, even though she was visibly very tired. It would have been of no use to her and, in any case, her care was actually necessary.

With his senses completely back in place, Sparx was unfortunately able to confirm what he had glimpsed before: there really was nothing left of the little town.

He looked at Yeaf. Her green eyes were filled with tears, her face contorted by sadness. Their eyes met and they stood still looking at each other for a while, before Yeaf broke the silence between them.

«Sparx…» she muttered, her voice broken by tears. «SPAAARX!»

A scream of pure desperation then came from her mouth. She closed the little distance that separated her from Sparx and threw her front paws around his neck in a hug, burying her muzzle on his shoulder and wetting it with countless tears.

Ignoring the pain from his wounds, the Shinx raised his right paw and used it to wrap his foreleg around the Eevee’s neck as well. He held her in a comforting embrace that they both sorely needed, as Yeaf’s forlorn cry was getting more and more hopeless each second.

He didn’t say a word. What could he have said to her? That everything would have been fine? With what courage could he have done that? Instead he let her vent and scream as much as necessary, also crying as well in his friend’s thick fur.

Shortly thereafter, Ardin approached them. Needless to say, he was well worn out by that experience too. He didn’t join in the hug, but sat down just beside them and rested his head on Yeaf’s side. After keeping them inside for so long, tears finally came out from behind his eyes in a silent outburst.

If nothing else, they were happy to know that all three of them were good. Such relief wasn’t enough to sweep away the fear from their young minds, yet it was something to keep them sane.

Then, a familiar voice squawked down the street, getting closer and closer.

«Make way! Make way!» Chatot shouted, advancing through the rubble of the city and towards Team Spark.

The three turned to him. The Music Note Pokémon was dragging its left wing, which was limp and unresponsive, on the ruined ground.

«Chatot!» Ardin exclaimed, jumping to his feet. «You have a broken wing!»

«It doesn’t matter now!» he retorted, his face full of concern. «Are you three all fine?»

Sparx and Yeaf broke their embrace and nodded half-heartedly. «Yeah…» the Shinx muttered, then his eyes widened. «The Guild! Chatot! How’s the Guild? Is everyone… everyone…» he couldn’t finish the question, dreading the answer that may have followed.

The Guildmaster’s right-arm understood anyway, and he immediately tried to reassure the trio.

«It… it all needs to be redone… but at least everyone who was inside is safe… just a few injuries.» he said. «The Guildmaster… he took a lot of damage to save everyone, but… heh heh… he’s the Guildmaster. He managed to resist.»

All three young explorers took a deep breath. They couldn’t even imagine what they would feel if they knew that some of their fellow Guild members had got killed.

«O, father…» Sparx murmured, referring to Wigglytuff.

«Anyway… ugh…» Chatot continued, clutching his broken wing in the process. «The Guildmaster and the rest of the Guild are arriving… prepare yourselves for an emergency meeting here in the square…»

In the distance, Officer Magnezone’s siren could also be heard approaching. It was truly a situation bordering on the surreal, yet it was all true. It had really happened.

Yeaf wiped away her tears and turned to his two teammates.

«Here we are…» she simply said, in the attempt to get some of her composure back.

«Yes.» said Ardin, trying to collect himself.

Thus, exhausted by the load of emotions they were carrying inside, the three kids sat down, waiting for the Guildmaster. They had no idea what they would have done from then on. The place they used to call “home” was no more. It could be reconstructed, sure, but they realized that Xatu’s words, so derided before, were no longer to be ignored.

They had no guarantees. They had no guarantees that this couldn’t happen again… and that made them feel helpless.

There was nothing they could do, but waiting… and hoping…