Dungeon 6 – The Dawn of a new day
by NavarThe Pokémon saw himself in an empty and tight space, the walls seemed to be made of metal, and there was only one door. He tried to open it by pulling the handle, but it was locked.
“Dad?! Mom?! It’s Lance! Get me out of here!” he started knocking on the door, desperate. His eyes began to tear up as he tried to escape.
Suddenly, a loud bang sounded and the boy fell to the ground. The door crumbled, leaving only darkness. The Riolu moved away, trembling with fear. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.
“Lance!” he heard a voice screaming his name.
From the darkness, two red eyes appeared, staring at the crying boy.
“Lance!” the voice repeated.
The eyes seemed to approach Lance, and with that, more of the room disappeared into the darkness, which seemed to close in on the Fighting type.
“Stop it! Please!” he placed himself in a fetal position, crying and waiting for it to end.
Finally, the room was covered entirely by darkness, with Lance screaming as he was swallowed by the emptiness.
“LANCE!” the voice screamed again.
The Riolu woke up screaming, almost falling out of bed, and looked around. His brother was on his side, looking at him with a worried expression on his face. The two of them remained that way for a few moments, neither wanting to start the conversation. But Brian, gulping, decided to try.
“Did you… have a nightmare again?”
The Zorua’s brother only nodded, placing a hand on his chest, right over his scars. He looked around the room, seeing that he was in the hospital of the village where they had arrived one day before.
“We beat that Luxray, didn’t we?” Lance pondered, sitting up in the bed.
“Yeah, you got hurt pretty bad, and I had to bring you here!” he lowered his ears, worried about his sibling.
“Where is that Pokémon?” Lance took a deep breath, looking at his brother seriously.
“I sent a letter to our village and… half an hour ago, someone from dad’s team came and took them. They’re already out of Heavenwind.”
Lance looked at the ceiling. He was still exhausted from the fight. Looking out the window, he saw that the flying Pokémon who lived in the village seemed to be happy, and the streets were peaceful.
“Hey, Brian…” the Fighting-type spoke, still distracted by the landscape. His face started to redden as he thought about what he was going to say.
“Hm?”
“I was going to end up beating that Luxray without your help, but thanks,” he said, blushing and looking away.
“No need to thank me, dork… I’m your brother! And your teammate!” he gave a slight laugh.
The morning passed quietly for the duo, who remained in the hospital beds. At noon, the two of them left, fixing their backpacks on their backs. In front of them was the mayor, with splints on his wings and his body bandaged. He looked at them with a smile on his beak.
“Thank you on behalf of everyone that lives here… we couldn’t have thrown them out without you.”
“We were just doing our jobs,” Lance crossed his arms, staring at the Corviknight sternly.
“I’m glad you think so, but I can’t let you leave without saying thank you at least a little!” the bird walked closer, showing a bag full of Oran Berries.
“Oh, we ran out of those! Thank you!” Brian accepted the fruit, putting it in his bag.
The two brothers waved goodbye to the village and went on their way to the road. The two continued along the trail surrounded by trees. Lance looked at the map he brought for the trip.
“Here, look,” he called his brother.
Surprised by the gesture, Brian approached the Riolu, looking at the map. On it, there was an X marking a large city with several buildings drawn around it.
“Dad’s team goes there from time to time,” The Zorua commented.
“There is a local guild there. We can register, not as apprentices, of course, but just to get missions, nothing much. They are a means to an end,” He said with a neutral tone.
“How long will it take us to get there?”
“Thanks to the wonders of technology, we took a ride and that shortened a lot. I think by the end of the afternoon we will be in town,” he said, continuing in silence.
After an hour of walking they could see, in the distance, smoke coming from a series of buildings. The factory was a sign that they were arriving in town, and that they would be able to have a little rest from their hectic journey. Continuing forward, they saw a tall gate in front of the city, with a cabin. In the compartment, there was a wide Pokémon with brown fur and a yellow circle on his chest. When he noticed the duo approaching, the Ursaring turned on the speaker.
“Freeze! Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Team Liberators. Formed in the exploration guild Hero. We moved here,” Lance said, showing the team crest.
“Tsc,” the bear grumbled, taking a paper and looking at a list of names. He, at last, opened the gate for the duo.
The two made their way inside the gates of Bright Dawn, and already they could see the difference. They were on a bridge that connected the entrance to the insides of the city. As he walked, the Zorua gazed on the sides of the overpass they were on, seeing a few pipes passing below. Brian could only look in awe at the city, where most of the buildings were made of with chimneys releasing fumes filled the area; setting a tone of industrialism.
“This place… is incredible!” Brian said as his eyes shined, impressed with the city. “Although I can’t see the sun with all that gas. The Koffing must be having a party in those factories!”
“This is where we will spread our wings, brother,” Lance said with a smirk. “Well, metaphorical wings anyway.”
“I kinda wanna explore! I need to!” Brian couldn’t contain his excitement, his tail wagged so hard it could break.
“We’re going to the upper levels of the town. That’s where the guild is,” Lance said. “I can go by myself. You can go, just stay in the higher areas, and meet me in front of the guild. Okay?”
“See ya, Lance!” he smirked, dashing to the upper area.
Brian followed the streets of the city, looking at everything with rapt attention. He could see some light poles with what he believed were several Luminous Orbs on each of them, causing the Zorua to chuckle. He was always a fan of technology, after all. As he walked, Brian gazed on the wide street, where most Pokémon were walking to do their everyday tasks, coughing a little due to the vapors from the large factories in the background. The explorer finally stopped, staring at a store with a sign that read: “Watchog’s Wares”.
“If I’m not mistaken, Riolu evolves with the help of an item.” Brian had an idea and decided to go inside.
“Hello young man, how can I help you?”
Looking where the voice came from, he saw the owner of the store: a Watchog wearing an apron. He had a toothy smile and waited for the boy to answer.
“I came to see some evolutionary items. Well, to see things in general, this store seemed interesting… sir…”
“Lumi,” the Watchog answered with a smile. “And I have plenty of items. What are you looking for specifically?”
“Would you happen to have a Sun Ribbon?” he asked, sitting.
“Hmm… I think I do, wait here,” Lumi left, entering a room. On his way back, he was carrying a chest. Placing it on the table, he opened it, showing a golden ribbon.
“That’s exactly what I was looking for! How much will it cost?!” Brian gasped and stared at the ribbon.
“Considering it’s a somewhat rare item… I’ll make it for you for two thousand Poké.”
“Two thousand?!” his eyes widened at the expensive price.
“Well, I bought them for four thousand… I’d say it’s a reasonable price.”
Brian opened his backpack, throwing the coins on the floor and grabbing the item. He ran, grumbling a little. Outside, he thought about what he would do with the rest of his free time.
At the guild headquarters, Lance was in the boss’s room, sitting on a chair and drinking tea. Opposite him, also seated, there was a Swalot, who rubbed his yellow mustache. The room had a large bookshelf and a table filled with papers.
“Mr. Robert, I hope you understand my situation,” Lance said after taking a sip of tea. “I heard about your guild while I was looking for where my brother and I were going to settle and I thought about coming here.”
“But of course boy! You will be welcome!” the Poison-type laughed as he patted his large belly.
“Well, about our home, do you have any recommendations?” he put the glass on the table.
“In the building next to this one there is a condominium, I’ll tell the landlord that you’re coming, ok?” Robert grinned, looking at the Riolu’s eyes.
“Right… so our discussion is over. I have to meet my brother and then we’ll go there,” Lance got up.
Robert extended his hand to the boy, who instinctively moved away from him. Despite finding that strange, the Swalot sighed and let the boy go his way.
As night came, clouds formed in the sky, and with them came the rain. Lance walked in silence, the water droplets fell on his fur. As he strolled, an Aggron passed right by him.
“Being Steel-type would be really useful with all this smoke,” Lance sighed. “I can’t wait to evolve.
“Hey! This is discrimination against me!” a voice said, coming from an establishment two blocks away.
Lance, recognizing the voice, ran to get closer. He saw his brother and in front of him, a Pangoro who had its arms crossed, looking at the Zorua.
“It is written here that Zorua and Zoroark cannot participate in the game to avoid cheating. Your illusions aren’t allowed.” the Pangoro pointed to a plate.
“So, that’s discrimination!” the Zorua grumbled.
“We’re here less than a day, and you’re already getting into trouble…” Lance said, his arms crossed.
“Hey, Lance! This guy doesn’t want to let me in just because I’m a Zorua.”
“Sorry for my brother, sometimes he doesn’t have a clue… come on, Brian, I’ve already talked with the guildmaster.”
“Damn it,” he grumbled, walking away. His brother was following right behind him.
“I got an apartment, well, the Swalot who runs the guild did, but that doesn’t matter. Where did you go?”
“Well, I have a surprise for you,” he laughed a little. “And I wanted to go to that casino, but they wouldn’t let me in.”
“A surprise? Okay, you can tell me inside our new home…”
After he said that, Lance stopped. They were in front of the building that would be their home for the foreseeable future. It was wide and like all the other places in the city, metallic and tall. The duo entered the building, going to the reception room. The receptionist was a Weavile, who stared at them.
“Lance and… Brian, right? Robert warned me that you would move in here. My name is Noir, and I’m the landlord of this condo,” the Weavile told them.
While Brian looked at the place carefully, Lance nodded, waiting for the Pokémon to hand over the keys to the apartment. Noir then opened a drawer and threw the key to him, who took it and went to the stairs, looking at the number on the key. Brain trailed close behind. Their apartment was on the second floor, number 102, right at the beginning of the hall.
“Hehe, it looks like we found someone else who doesn’t like to talk!” Brian said looking at his brother, laughing.
“You got the comedian of the year award…” he said as he opened the bedroom door.
The team’s new home wasn’t big, but it was comfortable. There was a sofa in the living room and on the left side was the kitchen, with a refrigerator turned off. At the end of the apartment, some doors led into the bedrooms and bathrooms. Lance locked the door behind them and threw the key on a table, stretching himself.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
“Oh! They have a phone here!” Brian pointed to the table in the living room.
Ignoring his brother, Lance put his backpack on the floor and went to the bathroom calmly. Meanwhile, Brian put the item he had bought in his brother’s backpack and laid down on the sofa, sighing with relief.
“Ah… that was a wonderful decision we made.”
After turning on the shower, Lance sat on the bathroom floor, hugging his knees in silence. He hadn’t demonstrated this to his brother, but the nightmare he had hadn’t come out of his head yet.
I’m fine… I’m safe… I’m fine… I’m safe…
He remained wrapped in his thoughts for a while, crying alone and silently. The moon in the sky contrasted the rainy night and time seemed to stop for the boys, who had begun a new stage of their lives.
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