Dungeon 14 – Unnatural Selection: Part 2

Nick was already used to receiving letters his children sent to him while he was on one of the missions with his team. But what he didn’t expect was to receive the news that Lance had disappeared. Sweating, he was walking on the road to the city where he lived, next to his Swampert friend and a Sceptile following right behind them.

“Nick… are you ok?” The water-type asked his friend. “We’ll find him…” He ensured,looking upwards, trying to decipher the Lucario’s expression and maintaining his eyes at the level of his friend despite walking on four legs.

“Dude, Shiron’s right, we’ll find him!” The Sceptile said, approaching the Lucario.

“Says Yukino, the laziest Pokémon on our team.” Nick paused to take a deep breath, before continuing; “I’m sorry, this is making me stressed.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Rolling his eyes, the Sceptile kept walking.

As the trio approached the village, a small Zorua came into their view at the exit. When he noticed the team, Brian ran towards them with tears in his eyes. Spotting his son, Nick ran to him too, getting down on his knees and hugging him tight.

“Dad! It’s my fault, I left him alone! And now Lance is gone! I’m sorry!”

“It’s gonna be okay… we’re gonna find him, alright?” He caressed the little one, rubbing his hands through the boy’s hair.

“But it’s been a week! What if he’s… dead?!” Brian was sniffing and his body trembled at the thought.

“He’s not dead… you can leave it to us, we will find him!” The grass type got near them, smiling and showing his teeth to try and calm Brian down.

“Son, I need you to trust us on this, right? We’ll find your brother…” Getting up, Lucario let out a sigh.

“Ok…” The boy lowered his ears and tail, lost in thoughts of what could be happening to his sibling as they spoke.

“We can go to your house and you tell us what happened right, what do you think?” This time, Shiron brought his face closer to his son’, forcing a smile.

“A-Alright…” The Zorua just nodded.

The four of them followed, entering the city, being greeted by some looks of concern from the Pokémon who lived there. Feeling a knot of sorrow in his chest, Nick continued walking, trying to hide how distressed he was. His companions weren’t unaware of this, and they continued to think about what they could do for him. Behind the group, the Zorua pondered the events inside of his mind.

It’s my fault, I should have protected him… what kind of brother am I?!

After they arrived at Nick’s house, the group sat on the kitchen chairs. The Lucario put his face behind his hands and took a deep breath, paying attention to what his son had to say. The other two members of the team turned their eyes to Brian, waiting.

“On the day we went to start the training, the Heracross who was taking care of the guild signed us up and after that he said he had to talk some things with Lance…” He sniffed, trying to calm himself down. “…and that was the last time I saw him!” Looking at the floor, the child was almost crying, but he was still trying to hold back his tears.

“Shit! I trusted him!” The voice came from the steel Pokémon, who hit the table with enough force it had a fist-shaped crack on it.

“Look, we should start looking through the forest near here… Yukino and I will go there, you can interrogate the guild members.” The Swampert got up and sighed.

“We’re gonna find your son, Nick…” This time it was the Sceptile who stood up.

“Please…” He trembled in fear.

Lance woke up in the same room as before, with no one around and nothing but the bed and to the previous attack from the Houndoom, he now had a claw-like scar on his torso, which covered most of the Riolu’s chest.

“Please get me out of here…” He sniffed with a hoarse voice.

“I hope you enjoyed your rest, number ten.” The Gallade said through the speaker, giving him a small laugh.

“I want my father…” Lance fell on his knees, covering his ears with his paws as he screamed out his suffering, fed up with all of that.

The device in Lance’s neck activated, giving him a shock that ran through the child’s whole body, making his screams grow stronger, mixing with the crying, until the sensation passed and he fell to the floor, groaning in pain.

I won’t be able to see my family? Arceus, I want to leave…

Lance punched the wall, but regretted it as he heard his bones cracking. He tried pushing the thoughts away, but they crawled deeper and deeper into his mind, so he continued to punch, until his fists bled out.

They hurt me every time I resist, maybe I should give up… no one will save me.

“You’re misbehaving, number ten. I guess you’ll have to stay here a little longer…”

Two weeks later, the Gallade was inside his office, watching the boy’s development reports, tapping the table with his fingers and gnashing his teeth. Behind him, the Blaziken coughed to draw the psychic type’s attention.

“He’s not evolving.”

“Doctor Morgan,” The fire type leaned against the wall. “you didn’t even give the necessary item for that, what’s the surprise?”

“Item? In this world, Riolus evolves with items?!” He snarled, staring at the Blaziken. “And nobody warned me?!”

“I thought it was common where you come from. How do they evolve there?”

“A strong bond, or rather, happiness. I’ve force fed one with Rare Candies and eventually it worked.” Morgan took a deep breath and went back to analyse the report.

“Well, you need a Sun Ribbon for him to become a Lucario here, I can get one if you want…”

“No. I’m determined to do it without an item,” The Gallade kept staring at the paper. “But get me one more prisoner, a Pokémon in the second evolutionary stage.”

“Okay, boss.” Turning around, the Blaziken left the room.

The efforts to find Lance were not over. The trio of explorers had left the village to search the nearby places. They searched in the forest, in caves and in neighboring towns. However, nobody seemed to know the whereabouts of the Riolu or the two kidnappers.

They all wanted Lance to be okay, to be alive and well, so he could return to them, but… with three weeks of disappearance, hopes had greatly diminished. Upon returning home, Nick went straight to his room, before lying down on his bed. He stayed there until, suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.” His fur was pale and messy, a clear sign that he hadn’t been paying attention to it for a long time.

“Dad…” The Zorua came in, jumping on the bed with his ears lowered.

The Lucario sat down, looking at his son, having no idea what to say. Nick wasn’t able to keep his promise and that hurt him a lot.

“We… won’t see him anymore? Sorry, I should have stayed with him!” Brian started hitting himself in the face, frustrated for not having stopped it from happening. Until he was wrapped in a hug from his father.

“Hey, hey! It wasn’t your fault! We’ll find him, calm down…” both stayed like this for a few minutes, neither wanted to say anything about the situation.

After an hour, Nick had fallen asleep, lying again in his bed. His son was watching him in silence. The Zorua then created an illusion that he was invisible and left the house, determined to find his brother. Brian kept walking on the village, studying every detail that could help him.

“This is gonna be hard,” Looking at the sky, Brian lowered his ears, still blaming himself for what happened. “Dad’s team is an expert in this and they failed… but I have to try! Maybe if I can convince Uncle Shiron…”

The boy had an idea. Deciding to go to the local bar, he ran out. He knew that the Swampert used to go there to eat and chat with the other citizens. Even without knowing if his uncle would be there because of the search, Brian decided to take a chance and enter the place.

Inside, Brian saw that his uncle was in fact there, sitting at a table with two other Pokémons. To Shiron’s left was a Sableye, a biped and purple-bodied Pokémon, with eyes that looked like gems. To the right was a Slowking, which took a sip of what appeared to be berry juice. Getting closer without them noticing, the fox paid attention in the conversation.

“You found no sign of him? Not at all?” the Slowking asked, taking another sip.

“Not really, we put up posters here and in three other cities, we even went to Bright Dawn and found nothing there. Nick is going crazy with this…” Sighing, the Swampert sipped a strong, alcoholic beverage.

“I can try to ask my team for help. A tragedy like this needs to be solved.” The Sableye nodded.

“I guess that would be helpful, thanks.” Shiron said, taking a deep breath.

“You have to consider the option that… he didn’t survive, you know?” The Slowking stared at Shiron.

Upon hearing what he had said, Shiron punched the table. Brian screamed, shattering his illusion. The three adults turned to the little one, who ran out of the place as fast as he could. Eyes widening, Shiron opened his backpack, put some coins on the table and left to follow his nephew.

“Leave me alone Uncle! I want to be alone!” The boy ended up stumbling, rolling on the floor. After stopping, he coughed, shaking his body to take the dust off.

“I’m sorry… Are you okay?” The Swampert rubbed his own head, staring at Brian.

“Of course I’m not okay! My brother is missing for three weeks. Nobody can find him! And they say he’s dead!” Without even breathing properly.

“I know, we’re not doing a very good job on this…” He sat on the floor.

“And the worst thing is that it’s all my fault! Dad said no, but I know he’s just saying that so I don’t feel guilty about it!” Brian snarled, kicking the ground while walking in circles.

“You look like me when I was your age,” Shiron gave a small laugh. “I mean, I think I was 15 instead of 8? Honestly, not remembering my past can be hard sometimes.”

“How can you laugh in a situation like that, Uncle?! I… don’t know what to do…” Feeling his legs shake, Brian fell to the ground.

“Brian, you’re 8 years old, there’s nothing you can do about your brother,” The Swampert turned his gaze to the starry sky. “But there’s one thing you can do.”

“What?” Getting up, Brian stared at his uncle.

“If you think you’re not strong enough, train. By having the experience, you’ll prevent it from happening again. And you will be able to keep Lance safe.”

“Train… I couldn’t protect him this time, but… from today I will!” The Zorua puffed his chest to show that he was serious.

“Ok, let’s go to your house… your dad will think you’re gone too.” Shiron yawned and got up.

In the same city, a Pokémon looked at the guild missions, thinking about which one to accept. A Typhlosion, with bursting flames around his shoulder. He scratched his chin in thought.

“A kidnapped boy… James, it would be very good if you found him. Well, I have to stop talking to myself…” Typhlosion commented to himself, seeing a Riolu’s picture on the missing part of the job board.

“Congratulations, number ten. You’ve been here for three weeks. Now, rise and shine” The Gallade was once again talking on the radio, waking the boy up.

“Again… what does he want me to do this time?” Lance got up, exhausted from everything he had been through for the four weeks he was in prison.

“Today’s your final test.” the voice had a rigid tone to it. “You will have to face another Pokémon… I presume you are aware of the consequences if you fail, correct?”

“I’m gonna die…” growling, he took a deep breath. During the time he stayed in this unknown place, Lance had already faced several opponents and, unfortunately, he had to kill all of them, or the Riolu would be someone else’s food. No matter what happened, survival was his goal.

The door of the room opened and the Heracross from before entered, crossing his arms. Lance offered no resistance at all, he went with the kidnapper without saying anything on the whole path. After a few minutes, they arrived at the arena, Riolu was already getting used to that place. Sighing, he went inside.

“Look at him! Our little subject seems to be very excited today, you’re not gonna complain or anything? – Laughing lightly, the Heracross watched the boy from afar.

“It’s not like it worked the other times.” Looking at the other side of the ring, he sees a slender Pokémon, with a cream-colored belly and a green-colored back. In its neck there was a yellow V-shaped structure, next to a collar. The Pokémon’s red eyes stared Lance in silence.

“Very well, number ten. This is your last chance to redeem yourself. This Servine is called Maya and she will be your opponent today.” the scientist said on the radio.

“I’m sorry kid, but I need to get back to my family…” the female said seriously, putting herself in a combat position.

“Wait, if I win, can I go back home?!” Gasping, Lance stared at the speaker.

“Who knows? If you lose, you die, but if you win, maybe something good will happen.” Morgan let out a laugh.

“Then I won’t lose…” He closed his fists, breathing deeply.

“You can begin.” The Gallade said.

After the doctor’s speech, Lance ran forwards as fast as he could, getting ready to hit the Servine. However, the female’s speed was greater than his and she jumped over his head, deflecting, soon, turning around and shooting a gust of leaves at the boy, who was cut at several points thorough his body, sending the Riolu to the floor on his knees.

When Lance looked up he saw that the girl was falling, her tail had a metallic glow. Thinking fast, he crossed his arms, hitting her tail hard and letting both be dragged in opposite directions.

“Leaf Tornado. Iron Tail… this is no joke, but she has family too, I… can I really do this?”

“Hey kid, how old are you?” The grass Pokémon took the sweat off her face, staring at Lance.

“Eight… or I was when I was out of here, I don’t know how long… Argh!” He stopped talking, feeling the shock coming from the collar again, causing him to stagger and fall.

“You’re a child, I’m sorry, I don’t want to…” her collar activated as well, making her also fall to the ground, moaning in pain.

“You don’t seem to understand the purpose. It’s a fight to the death, you don’t have time to talk to each other.”

“Sorry, lady…” Lance said, panting and tired from all of that.

“I can say the same to you… Aerial Ace!” As she ran towards the Riolu, her tail swung in small slashes through the air, sending wind blades towards Lance.

Endure! Lance braced himself and took the hit.

After he received the slash, Lance survived, and remained where he was, his body shining in a red tone. Pondering his chances, he decided to end that battle right there.

“I’m sorry!” Then, with his hand wrapped in a blue aura, he struck his opponent right in the neck, giving out twice the damage he had received. Throwing the Servine against the wall, the boy was able to hear the noise of bones breaking and the shattering of the collar.

The girl’s body collided with the ground, without moving at all. That’s when Lance realized what he did. He had just killed an innocent. Someone who had dreams and hopes like him, who had disappeared like the boy and whose relatives were likely searching for.

When he realized what he had done, he opened his mouth, vomiting on the floor and crying. The Riolu started to punch ground, desperate and wishing with all his strength that Arceus would reverse what had happened and ended up fainting. The Heracross looked at the scene, feeling a little sorry for him, but not enough to do anything about it.

“It seems that, despite the victory, the experiment was a failure. Well, he didn’t evolve.” The Gallade sounded disappointed, his sigh could be heard from the speaker.

“What are we going to do with him?” The bug-type said, approaching Lance.

“One final test. Ask Blaze to make preparations, I’m putting him in charge of this test.”

Heracross raised a brow. “What test will it be this time?”

“Sadly, we couldn’t get him to evolve with those rare candies, so I’m interested in seeing how he handles himself in the wild.”

“Right.” The bug caught Lance on his lap, being greeted with protests from him, sneezing and trying to let go, but without the strength to do so. They left the area until they got to Lance’s room, when Heracross threw him inside.

Curling into a fetal position, the little Pokémon cried uncontrollably again, thinking what his family would think of him from now on, when he realized. If he had been stronger, this would not have happened to him. That little boy, that Pokémon Lance used to be, he died there. And now, the Riolu promised to get stronger.

If I survive this, I will get revenge on them… I swear… he thought, falling asleep due to fatigue.

“James, you only get the strangest missions, having to find an item here was not exactly what you wanted to do today, but it will have to do.” he pondered while entering a forest.

The Typhlosion walked calmly, he was not in a rush in any way. Moving his ears around, he heard a noise, hiding behind one of the trees. On the other side there was a Blaziken, who threw a little Pokémon on the ground.

James gasped, tumbling back when he noticed that it was the same of the missing poster he had seen before. Thinking fast, he ran to rescue him. The red Pokémon noticed, quickly taking a sphere out of his backpack and breaking it on the ground, disappearing into a strong glow that followed the shattering. The boy, confused with what had just happened, remained on the ground when he saw Typhlosion approaching.

“Hey… boy…”

“Get away from me!” Lance shouted, growling at the adult who was right next to him.

“Hey! Take it easy! I’m an explorer! Look here!” James took the badge from his bag, showing it.

“Explorer…?” Moving his ears, the Riolu slowly approached.

“I saw the mission.” James got on his knees. “I was here for something else, but I’ll take you home, ok? You must be tired, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but it must have been hard.”

“Home…” sniffing, Lance ran to hug the Pokémon, trembling and crying. Even with the tears, he was at least a little bit relieved, and was smiling.

“It’s okay… it’s gonna be okay…” James got up, holding the child on his arms and left with him.

After half an hour, they arrived in Lance’s hometown, walking towards the boy’s house. The villagers looked at the duo in silence as they advanced through the streets, before starting to clap their hands, some of them cheering, glad that he was found. At his house, his brother was asleep when he awoke after hearing the commotion.

“What’s all that noise?” Yawning, Brian looked out of his bedroom window and gasped, running to call his father.

Stopping at the door, James carefully put Lance on the floor just as the Lucario and the Zorua appeared on the entrance. Words were not necessary to describe how happy they were to be reunited, so the three of them simply hugged each other with strength.

“Lance” Lance! You’re okay! Oh, I was so worried!” The boy’s brother was wagging his tail as hard as he could.

“I’m… back…” The Riolu forced a smile.

“Welcome home, son…” Nick spoke, unable to contain his joy, turning his eyes to the Typhlosion who had made the rescue.

“No need to thank me, it was nothing.” James blushed, looking elsewhere.

I survived… and now, I’m going to make nothing like this happen again. Pokémon like them have to pay… Lance was thinking about what the future would bring. Even so, he allowed himself to be happy that he was finally reunited with his family.

Six years after it happened, the boys’ lives seemed to have returned to normal. But this was not the case. Now that they were officially enrolled in their father’s guild, the siblings went through rigorous training to graduate and thus be explorers.

That day Lance and James were in the combat arena, watching a fight between his brother and another Pokémon, an Electrike. From his body came some sparks, while Zorua was invisible, using his illusions to conceal his location. The electric Pokémon smelled his opponent, running to where he had found it.

“It won’t be that easy, Blitz!” Undoing the trick, Brian wrapped himself in a dark aura and collided with his opponent’s body before the Electrike could do anything.

“That’s where you’re wrong!” After Blitz was hit by the dark type, he quickly charged electricity in his body,before releasing it on the Zorua, throwing him away and at the same time giving him the paralyzed status.

“Argh!” crawling on the ground, Brian coughed, getting up as he felt the electricity running through him.

“You seem to be losing it, brother.” Lance said, crossing his arms.

“Hey! You should be cheering me on!” Brian stared at his brother before turning to face Blitz again.

“Well, I like to entertain the audience…” The Electrike laughed, staring at the Riolu.

“It’s not my fault if he’s good at it!” Lance looked away quickly, his face turning red like an apple, wagging his tail lightly.

“I’m glad to have such a fan.” Blitz then turned his gaze to Zorua, d against him, firing a ball of electricity at him.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel like getting hit…” Jumping, Brian copied the movement, shooting the same attack as his opponent.

The collision of the two attacks caused a small explosion, filling the area with smoke. Growling, Blitz was paying attention to his surroundings, but he couldn’t see or smell properly, so he focused on the noise. Even so, the boy was surprised with a black ball that hit him.

“Okay, the fight is over!” James spoke, approaching them

“You were good, Zorua.” smiling, Blitz took a deep breath.

“I can say the same about you! Hehe!” Giving a broad smile, Brian showed his teeth.

“You guys aren’t hurt too bad, are you?”Lance questioned them both as he got near.

“No, it’s just a friendly session, there’s nothing to worry about… Well, I’m hungry, so, see ya soon!” The Zorua ran away to the cafeteria.

“I’ll see you two there as well?” The Typhlosion looked at them with a smile.

“We’ll be right there!” The Riolu said, helping the electric type stand up.

“Okay, see you later.” The Typhlosion left.

“Thanks for your help, Lance.” Wagging his tail, Blitz gave him a toothy grin. “I’m impressed, I heard you were very unsocial, but it seems like we’re friends.”

“Haha… yeah, they say that about me… but I… I liked you. That’s it.” He laughed, trying to calm down as he blushed.

“I mean, you’re really cute. I like you.” Blitz said with a nod.

“I’m not cute…” lowering his ears, he covered his face, embarrassed.

“That just makes you cuter… not that I mind. Try me. Maybe you’ll get what you want. You’re making this very obvious.” The Electrike went out the door, leaving Lance alone, but winked at him before leaving.

“Ah… that wasn’t as bad as I thought, he thinks I’m cute!” Trembling with nervousness, he started walking, but soon stopped. “That makes me feel good, it’s been… a long time since I’ve been happy like this… ”

Breathing deeply, he walked again. Remembering the promise he had made to become stronger, he was not so sure that he would be able to be happy with another Pokémon, but at least in the moment, he would take the chance. And if it didn’t work out… maybe it wasn’t the right thing. While approaching the door, he felt an enormous tremor. Scared, the Riolu started running, the ground crumbling behind him, until he fell into the limbo, screaming and pawing back at the darkness.