Chapter Two: Meeting the Parents

Hope followed Klaw and Dewey outside of the large tree hollow that she had apparently been inside of this whole time. The first thing she saw when she stepped outside was a row of trees with leaves hanging so low they almost touched her head. They stretched out for miles ahead, as far as her eyes could see. A soft layer of moss caressed her paw pads, and the surrounding air was thick and damp.

 

Hope could feel her jaw drop loose with awe as she surveyed her surroundings. “This place looks almost endless!” she exclaimed. She then turned towards Klaw and Dewey. “How the hell are we going to get out of here?”

 

The brothers looked at each other. “W-where did y-you l-leave the b-bag, Klaw?” Dewey stammered.

 

“It should still be next to the Great Tree Hollow.” Klaw responded. He then flicked his tail and turned back, reappearing a few seconds later with the handle of a small brown leather knapsack clenched within his mouth.

 

Dewey sighed in relief. “T-thank Arceus you d-didn’t f-forget it.”

 

Klaw set the bag on the forest floor. “You know that I don’t tend to forget things easily” he replied with a small smirk on his face. He then reached into the bag and pulled out what appeared to be a very tiny piece of paper.

 

Hope tilted her head. “Seriously?” she asked. “How can that tiny piece of paper tell us how to get out? You’d have to have X-ray vision to read the print that can fit on a paper of that size.”

 

Klaw and Dewey both turned towards Hope and squinted at her. “I swear to Arceus, that girl’s sass is going to get her killed someday.” Klaw mumbled under his breath. Then he turned back to Dewey. “Help me unfold the map, Little Bro.”

 

Dewey quickly compiled, and soon the tiny piece of paper was unfurled into a sprawling parchment. Klaw then gestured to Hope to come view the paper, which she then did. On the parchment was a detailed map of the entire forest. A large white line was drawn through the map, showing the pathway to what Hope assumed was the Great Tree Hollow. 

 

As she surveyed the map, Hope noticed a strange logo printed on the lower right corner of the paper. It appeared to be a snowflake, but the edges of the snowflake looked sharp, almost like small blades. A skull was positioned in the center of the snowflake.

 

“Hey, what’s up with this logo?” she asked. “Does it mean anything?”

 

Klaw and Dewey shared an uneasy look. “Y-you’ll find o-out w-when we g-get h-home.” Dewey said, sounding even more nervous than he usually did.

 

“Anyways”, Klaw interjected. “The map was meant to show us the way from home to the Great Tree Hollow. But it’ll work for heading back as well.”

 

Hope nodded. “Alright! Let’s head back, then!”, she responded. Just as she started to walk away, however, Dewey interjected again.

 

“W-wait a m-minute! T-there’s o-one more t-thing we n-need to t-tell you.”

 

“And that would be?” Hope asked.

 

“W-well, t-this place is a-actually what w-we c-call a M-Mystery Dungeon.” Dewey responded.

 

Hope tilted her head. “What the hell is a Mystery Dungeon?”

 

“Mystery Dungeons are these really strange places that are scattered throughout our continent.” Klaw responded. “Nobody knows how they’re created, but they contain really cool treasures!”

 

Hope’s ears perked up. “Treasures? You mean like, money and stuff?”

 

“Y-yeah!” Dewey nodded. “B-but the s-strange t-thing about Mystery D-Dungeons is that the P-Pokemon that l-live in t-them tend t-to b-be… feral.”

 

“What do you mean, ‘feral’?” Hope asked.

 

“They a-attack every P-Pokemon they s-see. T-they can’t d-distinguish between w-wild and n-normal P-Pokemon a-anymore.” Dewey responded.

 

“So it’s very dangerous for many Pokemon to go into Mystery Dungeons, unless they’ve learned how to fight.” Klaw said. “Me and Dewey have been training since we hatched out of our eggs, so we’re fine. But if what you said was true, you won’t know how to use your moves at all. So you should just stay out of trouble and let the two of us take care of any feral Pokemon we come across.”

 

Hope was now a bit confused. “Why do these Pokemon become feral in the first place?” she asked.

 

“N-no one k-knows.” Dewey answered. “B-but there a-are a l-lot of t-theories.”

 

“Some believe that they revert to their natural instincts when they live in a Mystery Dungeon for too long. Others believe that the dungeons have these powers that turn the Pokemon that live inside of them violent, so that they can protect the treasures within.” Klaw said. “But we’ve been talking for too long. We should start now, so we can get back before sunset.”

 

Hope nodded, and the three began to set off. But just as they took their first steps, they heard a noise coming from the tree above them. 

 

Rustle, rustle, rustle …

 

The fur on Klaw’s back began to stand up. “Get away!” he yelled at Hope.

 

Hope barely had a second to question what was going on when a green blur dropped from the tree above them. It was another Pokemon, a green spider-like creature. It raised its abdomen, revealing a small pattern that looked like a frowning face, and hissed at the trio.

 

Klaw growled lightly. “Great. Another stupid Spinarak.” He then turned to Hope. “Just stand back. We can handle this easily.” 

 

As Klaw turned back towards the Spinarak, his teeth began to glow a bright orange. Soon they were ablaze with a bright orange flame. “Fire Fang!”, he called out as he charged towards the Spinarak. His teeth enclosed around the small spider, making a sound like the crackling of a firework.

 

The Spinarak was sent flying back from the impact of Klaw’s attack. A large burn mark was now present on its abdomen, covering up the majority of its frowny-face marks. It got up, let out another hiss, and discharged some sort of purple liquid from its mouth.

 

Klaw jumped out of the way, but the blob of liquid just barely hit his outstretched paw. He dropped to the ground, letting out a hiss of pain.

 

“Big Bro!” Dewey cried out. He then faced the Spinarak with a glint of anger in his eye. “Y-you’ll r-regret that! Water Pulse!” he cried. He then shot out a large ring of water from its mouth, nailing the Spinarak straight on its head.

 

The Spinarak looked even more badly hurt now, but as it got to its feet, a light green aura began surrounding it. With an even louder hiss, it launched itself at Dewey. The Sobble tried to move away, but the Spinarak easily caught him, sinking its small orange teeth into his tail. As Dewey cried out in pain, a couple of the Spinarak’s wounds disappeared, almost as if it was healing itself off of Dewey’s damage.

 

Hope stood there with a feeling of worry growing inside of her. What did they mean, they could handle it? They look like they’re getting hurt pretty badly! Suddenly, a burst of adrenaline began to surge through Hope. Without even thinking, she tightened her muscles and began charging at the Spinarak, who was still attached to Dewey’s tail.

 

“Tackle!” she cried out as her running turned into a leap.

 

Just as the Spinarak turned to look at Hope, she crashed into it, sending the spider flying. It landed with a loud THUMP at the base of the Great Tree Hollow, then dropped to the ground. Its eyes were now swirls, and it wasn’t moving anymore.

 

Hope blinked a couple of times as the surge of adrenaline slowly left her body. “What… was that?” she asked, feeling slightly dazed.

 

Klaw got back on his feet and shook himself off. “That was a move.” he responded. “How in the name of Giratina did you know how to do that?”

 

Hope shook her head. “I don’t know. I was just watching you guys fight, and then I felt this adrenaline surge, and then… that happened.” She looked between Klaw and Dewey. “Are you two okay?”

 

Dewey nodded. “W-we’re fine. That w-was a p-pretty w-weak Spinarak. W-we f-fought much s-stronger o-ones on our w-way to the G-Great Tree Hollow.”

 

Hope turned back to look at the Spinarak, which still wasn’t moving. “Is it… dead?” she asked. For some reason, the thought made her very uncomfortable. It was feral, but she still felt uneasy about potentially killing a living thing.

 

“It’ll be fine.” Klaw responded with a flick of his tail. “Pokemon don’t usually tend to die from the attacks of other Pokemon unless the damage is really, really severe. It’s just fainted. It should be back on its feet within the next hour.”

 

“W-well, n-now that you k-know how to a-attack, you s-should be a-able to h-help us h-handle any o-other w-wild Pokemon we c-come across!” Dewey exclaimed. 

 

“Yes, yes, that’s very good.” Klaw nodded. “Now let’s actually make it out of eyeshot from the Great Tree Hollow, shall we?”

 

Hope nodded, and so the three began their trek through the forest. It was a long and arduous trek, and they had to fight numerous wild Pokemon along the way. But eventually they exited the forest, and they began heading towards Klaw and Dewey’s home.

 

As the trio walked across the dusty pathway, Hope turned to Klaw and Dewey. “So, do you guys live alone, or do you live with your parents or something?”

 

Klaw and Dewey came to a screeching halt upon hearing that question. “W-why do y-you a-ask?” Dewey asked, shaking a little.

 

“Well, I don’t really know how Pokemon live. And I remembered that you guys mentioned your dads earlier. I was just wondering if you lived with them, or if all Pokemon live on their own or something.” Hope responded.

 

The brothers’ eyes darted back and forth. The three were silent for a few minutes. Finally, Klaw spoke up. “Yes, we do live with our dads.” he responded. “But we also live with a few other Pokemon as well.”

 

“So do Pokemon live in like, groups or something?” Hope asked. “And are you all of the same species, or is it a bunch of different species?” If she was going to be turned into a Pokemon, she might as well learn as much as she could about the ways that Pokemon lived.

 

“N-no. N-not usually. O-ours is a… s-special case.” Dewey stammered.

 

“We’ll explain it to you when we get you settled in, okay?” Klaw said tersely. “Now let’s get going. It should only be a few minutes from where we are now.”

 

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, they had arrived at their destination. “W-well, we’re h-here” Dewey said nervously.

 

Hope looked up in awe at the giant palace that stood in front of her. It looked like a cross between a mansion and a castle, and it was made of bright white, shimmering marble. The place appeared to have at least four floors, and the window frames were lined with gold. The roof of the center of the building seemed to resemble a moth. A large marble staircase reached down to Hope, almost inviting her to come walk up them and enter the building.

 

“You guys live here? ” she exclaimed. “This place looks amazing !”

 

“Yeah, but only on the outside.” Klaw mumbled under his breath.

 

“What was that?” Hope asked.

 

“Nothing.” Klaw turned towards Hope. “Listen, Hope. Only Dewey and I can set off the doorbell, so we’ll do that. Do not say a word  to whoever opens the door. Dewey and I will explain everything to them, and then we’ll have you settled in.”

 

“Why not?” Hope asked.

 

“Just don’t, okay?” Klaw hissed, causing Hope to jump back a little. Seeing this, Klaw softened. “Sorry about that. It’s just that these are some… temperamental Pokemon we’re dealing with. I just don’t want you to say anything that might get them ticked off.”

 

Hope was starting to feel uneasy. Now she was starting to understand why Klaw and Dewey were so anxious to return home. She didn’t want to live in fear of scaring the people she lived with. But this was the only place she had for now. So she followed Klaw and Dewey up the glowing marble staircase.

 

The doorbell was emblazoned with the same snowflake logo that Hope had seen on the corner of the map. Klaw swallowed and pressed it.

 

DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

 

The clanging of the bell made Hope’s fur stand on end. For a few minutes, there was only silence. Then the door began to open.

 

Two pokemon stood at the entrance to the door. One was a large, bipedal, red-and-black tiger. He wore two golden spiked metal bracelets on his wrists and a golden spiked metal collar around his neck, and a large, nasty-looking scar ran across his huge, muscular chest. The other was a slender, bipedal, blue lizard with a large yellow head fin. He also wore two spiked bracelets and a spiked collar, but his were silver. Another large, nasty scar cut through his fin and ran down his face, just barely missing his right eye. Both pokemon had the faintest traces of eyeliner over their eyelids, gold and silver respectively, matching the jewelry they wore. They stared at Klaw and Dewey menacingly.

 

Klaw and Dewey immediately flattened to the ground. “O-oh, hi t-there, P-Papa and D-Daddy” Dewey stuttered.

 

“We weren’t expecting you two to be on door-answering duty today.” Klaw said. His words sounded sarcastic, but Hope could detect a bit of fear on the edge of each word.

 

“Well, we wanted to be the ones to see our boys back from their big adventure.” the tiger spoke. His voice was incredibly deep and rough.

 

“Yes, indeed. This was your first big solo job, after all.” the lizard said, with a smooth, almost haughty voice. “So come on, boys. Show your daddies the gear.”

 

Klaw and Dewey looked at each other nervously. “I-it w-wasn’t t-there.” Dewey stammered.

 

The larger Pokemon stared for a few seconds. Then the tiger roared. “What in the name of Giratina do you mean, ‘it wasn’t there’?”

 

The lizard put a thin, black finger to the tiger’s lips. “Now, now, Scorch. What did I tell you about yelling at the kids?”

 

The tiger looked back at the lizard. “Sorry, Riptide.” But as he looked back at his sons, Hope could still see intense rage burning in his eyes.

 

Riptide turned back and raised that same black finger in the air. “Now, boys. Tell your daddies what you mean when you say that the gear wasn’t there.”

 

“W-we’re s-serious. I-it w-wasn’t t-there.” Dewey stammered.

 

“We got inside the Great Tree Hollow just like you told us to. But the only thing we found inside was… her.” Klaw said, gesturing to Hope.

 

For the first time, the adults noticed that there was another Pokemon with their sons. “Well, well, well. Who’s this charming little lady?” Scorch purred.

 

“Her name is Hope.” Klaw answered. “We found her inside the Great Tree Hollow, and she says that she doesn’t have any memories. So we’d thought we’d offer her a place to stay.”

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Hope.” Riptide said, raising his head in the air. “Now tell us, darling. Where did you put the gear?”

 

Hope blinked. “What did you just say?”

 

“Our boys are still young and gullible. But we know better than to fall for your tricks.” Scorch responded.

 

“What do you mean?” Hope asked.

 

“It’s quite obvious, dearie.” Riptide crooned. “You’re obviously working for some rival gang, who stole the gear and planted you as a decoy to trick our precious boys.”

 

“Gang? Decoy? What the hell are you guys talking about?”. Hope was getting angry now.

 

Scorch and Riptide’s expressions darkened. “Don’t play dumb with us, honey.” Scorch growled. That gear is very important for our mission. So just tell us where it is and you won’t get hurt.”

 

Hope raised her head and stared Scorch and Riptide straight in the eyes. “I’m telling you, I don’t know anything about your gear.” she snapped. “I woke up in that tree hollow this morning with no memories except for my name and the fact I was a human once. So if you guys would please stop interrogating me, it would be ver-”

 

Hope was cut off by Dewey slamming his hand against her mouth. She turned to look at him, and his eyes were now filled with fear.

 

“Why in the name of Giratina did you say that?!” Klaw hissed, his eyes also filled with fear.

 

Hope turned to look back at Scorch and Riptide, whose faces were now filled with shock. “Did you say you were once… a human?” Scorch asked.

 

Hope tried to answer, but no words came out of her mouth. She knew she had really gone and messed things up now.

 

Two creepy smiles began to form across Scorch and Riptide’s faces. Then, Scorch opened the door wider.

 

“Follow us, dearie.” Riptide sneered. “I think that the boss would love to have a little chat with you.”