Chapter 2: Sparkling Hope

More than part of a village, Treasure Town’s main square seemed to have become an abandoned battlefield.

The earthquake had destroyed everything without distinction, leaving behind nothing but devastation.

As all possible authorities arrived, the news only got worse. Wigglytuff, though he held up well, was visibly injured; he even struggled to walk properly. The baddest news, however, were still about to come.

Spinda’s Café had collapsed, creating a huge sinkhole that took the place of the Crossroads. Whoever was inside was buried under the rubble. It took a while before the survivors could be extracted.

Fortunately, if one could say so, Spinda and his co-workers, although seriously injured, were still alive. The same couldn’t be said for four other explorers who were simply having breakfast in the wrong place at the wrong time…

They actually weren’t known faces in the city, except by sight or fame, however their premature death was still received with strong bitterness by everyone.

Even worse was the Marowak Dojo, full of volunteers who helped the explorers train in the mazes. Several Pokémon were extracted from the demolished building. Unfortunately, many of them didn’t make it.

Meanwhile, Team Spark still struggled to process everything. They no longer even had the will to cry. They simply sat there, supporting each other, staring blankly at whatever was happening in the chaos that once was Treasure Town.

Chatot, unable to help due to his broken wing, had remained with the young trio, as if to give them a minimum of moral support in such a delicate moment.

Around them, the city was moving more than ever. Pokémon ran here and there, carrying the wounded, saving other citizens and others left under the rubble, shouting orders and help requests.

Furthermore, with so many wounded, Chansey could no longer take it. She was forced to stop, otherwise she would have collapsed from exhaustion and no one else would have been able to be treated anymore.

Finally, there was the last knot to untie: the explorers in the Dungeons. For those who were on the surface, theoretically, there shouldn’t have been any big problems, but for those who were in an underground Dungeon? An earthquake of that strength must have reached almost every zone of ​​the Continent, and Sunflora and Bidoof had already left well before Team Spark to do their work…

How could this have happened? How was it possible that for Sparx and his team that wonderful sunny day, which had started so well, had become their worst nightmare in the span of just three seconds? Three damned seconds, in which they saw their little world crumble before their eyes.

Since they had sat down to await the emergency meeting, the three had not exchanged a single word. Not that they had much to say to each other in their state.

Not even Chatot knew exactly what to say to them. Any words of comfort would have only rang as false. So, eventually, he too perched on the ground with a defeated look on his face.

Sparx turned to him. He had never seen Chatot so dejected, and he certainly couldn’t blame him for that. Seeing his superior and, in some ways, adoptive father in those conditions also swelled his heart even more with sadness.

«Chatot…» he murmured, trying to get his attention.

The Music Note Pokémon didn’t even look at him, but listened anyway. He weakly replied.

«What is it, Sparx?»

The young Shinx sounded rather uncertain. «… What… do we do now?» he then asked him, looking for something, anything that could give him a minimum of hope.

But the bird didn’t answer for at least five seconds, after which he shook his head.

«I don’t… I don’t know…» he admitted, almost whispering.

It was truly the end if not even the smartest Pokémon in the Guild had clear ideas. Sparx bowed his head, clinging even closer to his friends while doing so.

Among his thoughts, then, there was another much more disturbing one: he knew. He knew something was going to happen, he truly felt it under his skin.

The Shinx then looked up, looking for the only Pokémon who had understood him so far, but he couldn’t find him.

«Xatu… where is Xatu?» he asked.

Ardin shook his head, saying his first words after several minutes. «I’ve didn’t see him again after the quake…»

Yeaf did the same. «Me neither…»

Chatot looked at the trio, a little perplexed by the Shinx’s question. «Xatu? I haven’t seen him around. Why?» an instant after his question, however, he realized the reason behind the interest in the Magical Pokémon. «Wait a moment! Are you by chance implying that Xatu… knew?!»

At that point the Mudkip nodded. «Yes, Chatot. When we arrived in the city he was telling everyone that there would have been a cataclysm, but… no one believed him. We thought it was just another one of his fake predictions… and instead…»

Yeaf joined in, her soft voice still cracked from despair. «He also said that Groudon caused the tremors, that he is angry because of… an unknown force or something similar…» she added. «And that… he’s in the World Abyss, instead of in the desert…»

The Music Note Pokémon rolled his eyes, then took on a very strained expression.

«It’s true that Xatu has rarely “nailed” a prediction, but, as I’ve always said, Pokémon of his kind are capable of seeing futures destined to come true if no one takes action to prevent them.» he explained. «Evidently, someone else knew and acted, foiling the futures predicted by Xatu. Like the case of the meteor in the Air Continent, or even that of the Time Catastrophe: Xatu had also warned us about it. You were still very young at the time, but do you remember it?»

The Eevee sighed sadly. She remembered it, and how if she did. Six years earlier, Xatu had warned everyone that, in the near future, the entire world would have suffered an unspeakable disaster due to a time malfunction.

One year later, in fact, Amber and Grovyle appeared out of nowhere, declaring that they wanted to stop the planet’s paralysis that was slowly advancing. It was also thanks to Xatu’s premonition that the Guild let and helped the two heroes take the Time Gears, well aware of the risk that it would have caused.

Fortunately, the Heroine of Time’s intentions were far from evil, thus the world avoided the certain catastrophe.

«Yes, I remember…» she replied.

«As silent as it may seem» continued Chatot. «his contribution was fundamental for averting the Time Catastrophe. But yet for people… remembering mistakes is much easier than remembering successes…»

The Evolution Pokémon lowered her gaze and ears, feeling tears beating behind her eyes once again.

«If only… we had listened to him…» she whispered, keeping herself from bursting into tears.

Ardin placed a paw gently on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

«Nothing would have changed. It was already too late…» he told her, then looking at Sparx as if seeking support.

The Shinx stood up. His wounds still hurt a little, but thanks to Chansey’s powers they were healing quickly. He tried to think.

«If it was already too late… then why didn’t Xatu warn us before?»

Chatot immediately readies his answer. «I can’t say for sure, but from what I know the Xatu have very little control over their visions. What they see could belong to a very distant future or past, as happened with the Time Catastrophe, or be very close to the present, as most likely happened today.» he clarified. «This is also why they are on average… bizarre Pokémon, to say the least. Living in their head mustn’t be, well, easy.»

The trio absorbed the information they received. It was amazing how many things Chatot knew. In fact, Ardin admired him greatly due to his huge general knowledge. Suddenly, the Mudkip himself remembered something that all that chaos had almost made him forget.

«Xatu may have warned us too late…» he said, slowly turning his head towards Sparx. «But you, Sparx… » he murmured, looking straight at the young leader.

Yeaf widened her green eyes too, also remembering the Shinx’s behavior since the night before.

«It’s true! Sparx, you… knew…»

«I-me?» said the Shinx, then jolting. «Oh. Well… I don’t know if… but…» he stammered, not really knowing how to explain himself.

Of course, Chatot heard everything and stared at the three young Pokémon with a confused look. He was unaware that Sparx had strange sensations the night before. He even wasn’t present at the time of the Shinx’s near-panic attack earlier in the city square.

«Uhm? What are you talking about?»

The conversation died there, as Officer Magnezone began to sound his siren very loudly to get everyone’s attention. He and a couple of his Magnemite agents spoke in unison, making themselves heard by everyone.

«ZZZT! PLEASE, ALL OF YOU GATHER HERE TO ME AND THE GUILDMASTER IMMEDIATELY! WE REPEAT: PLEASE, ALL OF YOU…»

As the Magnet Area repeated himself, Team Spark took a deep breath, mentally preparing themselves for their encounter with the Guildmaster. Chatot stood up and walked ahead of them towards Wigglytuff and Magnezone, dragging his broken wing behind him.

«Come with me.» he urged them.

The trio quietly followed him.

{ ~~~ }

Most of Treasure Town’s citizens gathered around the Guildmaster. Seen up close, he was also in pretty bad shape, though not bad enough to be worrisome.

Behind him, in the distance, what appeared to be bodies covered by sheets made of the tents that the earthquake had knocked down. Nearby them there was Marowak crying desperately while saying something they couldn’t hear. With him there was Vigoroth, who was strangely silent. He was keeping a hand on Marowak’s shoulder, giving him small pats of comfort.

For the rest, the others stared at Wigglytuff and Magnezone with devastated expressions. The Magnet Area took quick glances at the crowd, then moved his magnets-like hands upward.

«ZZZT! I’d say they’re all here, Guildmaster. ZZZT!»

Wigglytuff nodded. It was such a tragic situation that he didn’t even feel like smiling, he, the joyful and childish Guildmaster that everyone knew as such.

«Friends» he then said, in a voice they had never heard coming from him. «Today… something unimaginable happened. We have not seen such a disaster even at the time of the Time Catastrophe. I’m… honestly speechless…»

Noticing that the Guildmaster seemed to be in difficulty, which was understandable given the anomalous and difficult scenario, Magnezone tried to take matters into his own hands.

«ZZZT! There’s no point in going around it. The extent of the damage is critically serious, as is the number of victims. We are sincerely dismayed by every loss which occured. ZZZT!» he spoke, without too much delicacy. Not that it would have been of any use. Also, Officer Magnezone wasn’t really known for his soft demeanor. He then diverted the conversation, moving on to another important topic. «ZZZT! We learned that this earthquake had been predicted by Xatu, but he wasn’t believed. Do you confirm? ZZZT!»

A faint chorus of affirmatives rose from the crowd. Chatot, immediately after it, joined Wigglytuff and spoke, glaring at anyone who came before his eyes.

«People… Now we don’t know where Xatu is, but whenever he’ll comes back I expect you all to apologize.» he coldly scolded, absolutely not hiding the irritation in his voice. «Do I need to remind you that part of the credit for averting the Time Catastrophe is to be attributed to him? His prophecies are NEVER random! I’ve always said it! Even today, he was just trying to warn you!»

The Guildmaster placed a hand on his friend and subordinate’s head.

«Chatot. Not now, please.» he said, in an attempt to calm him down.

Before anyone could reply, however, a familiar voice came from behind the three authorities.

«OH MY GOSH! GUILDMASTER! GUILDMASTEEER!»

There was no doubt that it was Sunflora. Bidoof was also with her. Both appeared to be slightly injured.

The members of Team Spark’s eyes lit up when they saw that those two were fine. The same could have been said for the other Guild members.

«Guys!» exclaimed Chimecho, the closest to the two, floating towards them. «Holy Arceus, I was so worried for you…»

Bidoof shook his head, breathing heavily as he did so. «Yup yup. I’m happy to see you too, friends, but… there is something important to give to the Guildmaster…»

«Uh?»

Firmly held by Sunflora’s leaves there was an envelope closed with a wax seal, the latter being still slightly warm. Looking at it, Chatot recognized the symbol on the seal and jumped in shock.

«The Exploration Team Federation?! Where did you find this letter?» he asked the two apprentices.

The Sun Pokémon handed the letter to the parrot, explaining everything in the process.

«Oh my gosh! After we escaped the Dungeon we were exploring, we immediately ran to the Guild. But gosh, it was all destroyed! However there was this envelope hanging from one of the totems!»

Bidoof nodded, as if in confirmation. «Yessir. That’s exactly how it went, yup yup! I wonder who put that envelope there, though…» he added, then softening his gaze. «But… I’m happy to see that you’re all safe, by golly…»

«ZZZT!» said Magnezone. It was his way of “taking a breath” before speaking. «It’s rare that the E.T.F. decides to directly communicate with us. It must be even more important than we thought. ZZZT!»

As much as they were the ones who kept the entire world of exploration running, the Exploration Team Federation, or E.T.F. in short, was still a very mysterious organization.

Nobody knew where their physical headquarters were, nobody knew who was in charge of it. It was only known that they ran all the Guilds and other similar structures around the world. Also, they produced the Orbs and, probably, the TMs and HMs too. But how those ended up in the dungeons was yet to be discovered.

Chatot turned the envelope over on his functioning wing as if to make sure it was authentic, then, using his beak, he broke the seal and extracted the letter with his talons. He grabbed it again with the wing and began to read it.

The Guild members gathered around him, Team Spark included. They noticed that the more the Music Note Pokémon read, the more his expression sank into panic, until he let out a squawking bird-like shriek.

«SQUAWK! Those of the E.T.F. they must have gone crazy!» he exclaimed, almost in disbelief.

The reaction of the Guild’s head of intelligence alarmed the apprentice explorers. Ardin stepped forward.

«What does it say, Chatot?» he asked him.

The superior gulped down a knot of saliva, perfectly knowing that he couldn’t hide anything. He began to speak in a slightly shaky and worried voice.

«The E.T.F. has detected anomalous activity… at the World Abyss…» he said, with a serious tone.

Sparx and his teammates jumped instantly. It was the place indicated by Xatu. They had a strong feeling that they knew where the point of the letter would end up. Chatot resumed his speech.

«They started last night shortly before tonight’s earthquake. Later, they discovered that these activities are extremely likely linked to…» he stopped, even though many already knew the answer. «… to… Groudon.»

This immediately sparked a strong buzz among the apprentices. The Pokémon of Treasure Town, however, began to advance towards them so they could listen too. It didn’t prove to be much useful, as Loudred made himself heard very clearly.

«G-GROUDON?! THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON?!» he shouted as usual, if not even louder. «AND WHAT ELSE DOES THE LETTER SAY? WHY DID YOU SAY THE FEDERATION HAS GONE CRAZY?»

Once recovered from the deafening voice of his apprentice, Chatot breathed a very long sigh. He reread the letter once again, as if by doing so the words on it would change, but unfortunately those were still there, exactly the same as before.

«The E.T.F. wants to … » he began to say, keeping his eyes closed and his beak grinded in anguish. «… wants someone to go… to… well… “appease” Groudon…» he finally revealed.

At those words even Officer Magnezone robotically gasped. Appease Groudon? A Legendary? It was practically a death sentence even for the most experienced explorers.

Wigglytuff immediately shared the news with the rest of the citizens and explorers present, already sparking quite an uproar. As to complete the picture of the situation, he added the last straw with the most difficult question possible:

«So, friends… who volunteers for this?»

A dead silence fell over the entire city. It lasted only a few moments, after which the crowd, especially the explorers, exploded.

«No, Guildmaster! There’s no talking about it!» Scyther of Team Razor Wind exclaimed.

«Dealing with Groudon?!» Camerupt of Team Flame protested. «Why doesn’t the Federation take care of it instead of asking us to go and die?!»

Contestations of similar caliber came from everywhere. Rightly so, no one liked the idea of ​​having to face a Pokémon strong enough to have single-handedly extracted all known lands from the sea. Even Chatot chimed in, turning to Wigglytuff.

«Guildmaster… I have to stop you too. Even if someone agrees to go… it would certainly be a suicide mission.» he told him, trying to stay as calm as possible.

The apprentices, meanwhile, spoke to each other more calmly, although they were still pretty scared themselves. They were of the same opinion as practically everyone else: it was unthinkable for them to hold a candle to the Continent Pokémon.

Nevertheless…

Within Team Spark, something was stirring in Sparx’s mind. He thought about everything that had happened; his sense that something was wrong before the shock, the way Xatu had looked at him… and that new, inexplicable sensation of heat he felt rising up in his chest.

There was also the immense trust in Wigglytuff to consider. He was fully aware of the fact that his adoptive father would have never, ever asked for something like that without thinking about the consequences.

He knew the Guildmaster better than anyone else, even better than Chatot himself. Sparx knew how to distinguish when he was joking regardless of everything and when, instead, he was driven by serious motivations.

In that moment, he surely was dead serious.

The Shinx’s heart beat wildly, again. He was afraid, but at the same time a strong determination was building in him, going against his own instinct of self-preservation too.

If Wigglytuff had asked for someone to go for Groudon… then it meant that the Legendary could have been stopped. Wasn’t it like this?

He exhaled a short puff to release the tension, then, ignoring his companions, he turned towards the citizens and took a step forward, looking at Wigglytuff as he did so.

He took a breath to speak. Those few words were so heavy that he felt as if they were gripping his throat on their journey outward.

«I’m going.» he said in a loud voice.

For the second time, silence fell inexorably. Silence that lasted several moments longer, as if everyone was processing what they had just heard.

The Guild apprentices stared at Sparx in total shock. Did they understand correctly? Did he want to face Groudon? He?! They couldn’t say a word. Nor Ardin nor Yeaf were able to, completely stunned by their leader’s words.

Wigglytuff looked at him with an unreadable expression. Chatot, on the other hand, seemed to be on the verge of fainting from the load of emotions he was feeling. It was instead difficult to say what Officer Magnezone was thinking, given his inability to express himself with body language.

It was as if time froze after those words pronounced by the Shinx. Until, a few seconds later, Zangoose started yelling at him.

«Are you completely stoned, Sparx?!» he shouted. «How do you even think you can stand up to Groudon?! He’s a Legendary Pokémon! A God! And if we really have to be picky, he should also be of the only Type you are weak to!»

It was true. The Shinx had neither a plan nor much chance of succeeding, at least on paper. But deep down, he felt he had no other choice. Something tied him to Groudon. He had to find out what, otherwise he would never have been able to explain the sensations he felt before the quake.

Also, more importantly, it was a request from his adoptive father. In his mind, he had to at least try, or the world would have suffered another catastrophe. Of this he was sure.

«You’re right, Zangoose.» he replied to the Cat Ferret. «But do we have any other choice? It’s clear that Xatu was right this time. This won’t stop here! »

«Bah! Even if it were, Groudon would annihilate you just by looking at you badly! I know you’re a great explorer, but you’re still merely a kid!»

The Shinx frowned, his expression growing more and more annoyed.

«So you’re saying it’s better to stay here and do nothing while our city gets destroyed?»

«I’m saying if you go, if any of us goes, the only outcome possible is coming back here inside of a bag!» he replied immediately. «Don’t look at me like that! I’m just trying to protect you, Sparx!»

The young leader was about to start retorting, however, the words died in his throat when Chatot placed a wing on his shoulder. The Music Note spoke to him in an extremely serious tone.

«The Guildmaster and I would like to have a talk with you. Privately.»

Zangoose nodded, huffing in satisfaction. «Good. Pour some sense back into this kid, before he gets himself killed!»

Yeaf and Ardin, meanwhile, were still astonished. However, they recognized that trait in their friend; Sparx was actually quite a shy one, but when he started with the speeches he seemed like a completely different Pokémon.

He was always able to find the right words on any occasion, even on this one. Although the speech had been cut, the message had come through all too clearly. The Eevee glanced at his friend, sighing loudly.

«Ardin, what do we do with Sparx?» he asked the Mudkip.

He shook his head. «What he said is right, but… Groudon is… Groudon. You do understand that, right?» He told her. «We are not talking about “S” rank criminals or even higher; we’re talking about a literal God. I’m… honestly not sure at all, Yeaf…»

«Mmm…»

The Evolution Pokémon was lost in thought. Sparx almost never made mistakes, but this was probably one of his exceptions. To be honest, no one had any idea how strong Groudon really was. Also because no one, obviously, had ever faced him before.

Was Sparx really wrong? After all, he had predicted the earthquake and that phenomenon was still inexplicable. Never before a Shinx had been able to do something like that. Something was clearly fishy there, and both she and the Mudkip were well aware of that.

They then saw him and Chatot walk towards a slightly more isolated area, where Wigglytuff was already waiting for them. The Eevee had heard that the two superiors wanted to speak with him privately.

Who knows what they had to say to each other…