*Music: Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 10F Tomb Suites Track 7
He awoke once again to the dark void of the dreamscape.
He looked at himself again, trying to get a feel for the sensations that passed through these place. He was a Snivy in these dreams, not human. That unnerved him; but less than he thought, as he wiggled himself about.
He began walking along the cliff that he always seemed to be near, but the voices didn’t take long to show up this time.
“Beasts”
That word echoed in various intonations and inflections.
“Discontentment…. of beasts…”
The word discontentment echoed around, and many of them, despite the ever-changing voices, all seemed to sound… satisfied, happy or amused. There were maybe one or two voices that would sound like crying, but it was impossible to discern consensus through any other means. Sanvu could at least tell that the voices were speaking and not just vibrating incomprehensible gibberish as they reverberated about.
Sanvu was simply committing them to memory and trying to ignore the rest. Eventually he could feel his consciousness slipping, but before he fully went, one more thing could be heard. It was one voice, loud, booming, but…. distant? It certainly sounded far away enough; perhaps one might describe it as sounding muffled.
“To gain control…. you must create discontentment…”
“In order to create discontentment… the leaves of vitality… will do the trick…”
~~
Before Sanvu could process that, he was already out.
The sky overcast with clouds, he awoke to Pachuku’s usual pittering across the floor. He idly wondered as he came to just how much sleep Pachuku was getting if he was always up before Sanvu was. Sanvu also wondered if he’d been a heavy sleeper as a human.
“Well?” Pachuku asked expectantly. Sanvu softly snickered at the display. Pachuku was really attentive, and had a face that practically radiated some hybrid of proud and childlike glee. His tail also slightly twitched.
And so Sanvu recounted the events, as best he could, once again.
“Seems like not much new was said, huh?”
“No… besides something about leaves but I didn’t catch that part in particular very well.”
“Leaves?”
“I hope it’s nothing cryptic. We need less of that,” Sanvu commented. It was almost rhetorical in his intention, but not quite. Answers would be desired no matter the time.
“Maybe it could mean something related to you? But that’s guessing. See if anything else happens later. Let’s just get the day started.”
The two got settled in and ate, and before long they were ready to go to Mindscape again, but as they were packing items for the dungeon that day, someone called out.
“Heeeeeeey! You guys in there?”
Then a couple of knocks were heard rapping on the door. Pachuku already dashed over, leaving some of the berries he was holding to fall to the floor. Sanvu picked up after him once he was done fixing the bag up.
Oshee was there, by herself, outside the home. Her expression was unreadable; she looked as if distracted, donning a neutral expression before they came out, when it quickly switched to something more focused when they did.
“There you two are. Wanted to stop by and congratulate you on yesterday’s mission, superb job actually getting somebody back again! Definitely won’t be worried about you anytime soon.”
Sanvu at that grew embarrassed, but Pachuku seemed to ignore it.
“Where are your buddies?”
“They’re getting stuff for our mission. I’m performing the other part of our mission by coming here. Didra needs you, like, now,” the Oshawott stated plainly, “I know you guys, like, get super quick about all that, but she told us to get you so I haven’t a clue why that is or what she wants.”
They both didn’t know what to say, as she went on.
“Mindscape’s closed and she needs your help somehow. We’re stuck preparing for a bigger mission soon, so I figured I’d tell you as you were passing. Now that I’ve done so, I’d better get going. Good luuuck!”
Pachuku seemed to ease up upon her exit. He’d been not very attentive, head looking away and distracted.
She then left. Both of them quickly decided to see what exactly the fuss was all about that Didra had decided to fetch them for.
When they got to Mindscape, they didn’t actually go into the building. Didra was simply waiting out the front. She appeared to be leaning against the side, eyes closed.
“Something up?” Pachuku wondered aloud, and she opened her eyes upon hearing him.
“I’ve had to keep the building in check. It’s fine, nobody is particularly hurt, but it’s, concerning.”
“Why’s that?” Pachuku looked at it. The building didn’t particularly look any different, asides from the door being closed. Sanvu supposed that she had to lock it, also speculating internally on what had happened.
“The Axew you rescued yesterday… his condition wasn’t able to improve.”
“So… what now?” Sanvu mouthed, both of them in awe.
“Normally, the room is supposed to be able to remove Amnesiac energy. We discovered that after removing it via psychic sensors, slowly, memory starts to return over time at a rapid pace. But the Axew… his energy is gone, but he is still unable to speak properly, and displays the same mannerisms as an infant, despite not looking anywhere close to one.”
She looked at them. “So, I have an idea, but you’ll need to do it quick, that way we can resume normal operation. I don’t want there to be any lingering remnant, you see, so everyone’s barred from entry, for the moment.”
“Is everybody okay?” Pachuku asked. Didra nodded, “I handled him alone. He’s still within the room, but the lack in development makes me wonder if something in particular is wrong, especially after what you mentioned with the Froslass wanting him for some reason.”
She stood and looked ahead in a random direction. “I want you to go to Stony Enclose. It’s been said that Dragon-types were appearing there, which should be useful. I have something to give you.” She pulled out a small jar-like object from her bag next to her. “When you defeat Pokemon, they often fade back into the floor. This is in essence, a Pokemon apparition reduced to its original state, since dungeons require Pokemon energy to create apparitions. Just find a Dragon-type, defeat it, and procure the energy in this jar. It can be used on top of the rest, and it might accelerate his healing, at least, I hope so.”
“Why will that help?” Sanvu inquired. Pachuku turned to him.
“Axew’s a Dragon-type himself. If he’s exposed to his own type’s energy, she’s suggesting it might work better with his body than just Psychic waves.”
“I found this out a couple of days ago that type-related energy may be the key in solving this mystery after some thorough reinvestigation of the places we’ve been. I’d like you to help prove that theory.”
“Sure!” Pachuku shouted immediately, taking the jar. He gestured to Sanvu, and they started walking towards their destination.
Once they were a sufficient distance from Mindscape, Pachuku had already placed it in the bag. But he still eyed the bag with a look of focus.
“You sure you’re fine with that? Not even, like, staying, or preparing?” Sanvu looked at him inqusitively, unable to get at the little squirrel’s meaning.
“Honestly, the jar gave it away more than anything else. You recognise it, right?” Pachuku held it up to Sanvu’s eye level.
“Oh, you mean like the-“
The jar resembled those they saw in the cavern. Only it was, in fact, empty.
“Yeah. I wanted us to leave immediately because I sort of wanted to say… this is why I worry. Didra seems to know way more than she lets us know about and that seems to include the other members as well. It makes me worried for the town, just a bit, especially after society’s crashed down a bit lately.”
Sanvu silently encouraged him to continue.
“It’s not that I think she’s behind it or anything, but, while I care for everybody, it just makes me a bit suspicious. They’re our best shot at helping everybody, but something’s totally messed up, and I’ve no idea where to start. Just… not being so alone with the weird stuff I’m seeing really helps me out a lot.”
“So your anxiety is coming from noticing things that others aren’t? So why not just tell her what you think is wrong?”
“It’s not quite as easy as just saying it.” Pachuku looked grim, and wasn’t looking at Sanvu with this. “The more you say, the more it gets messed up.”
“Like?”
“When Didra had me running about for an Amnesiac for her, she changed her mind the instant she saw you with me. I’d already brought in numerous non-Amnesiacs, and despite all that I’d say, nobody allowed her to treat me with the time of day that would allow me to join until I brought you along. Their sudden change in attitude had me anxious it was gonna happen again, like it was a facade.”
Sanvu silently mulled this over.
“So every word I say… I have to watch it because if I don’t, she’ll just change her mind in an instant, or if it isn’t her, it’ll be somebody else, and who knows what they’ll say back.”
Sanvu slowly began to understand. He’d sort of noticed how everyone else had been a little shifty, and if Pachuku had a point that this had been long-term, it would make the anxiety make sense.
“So, if that’s the case, what do you want me to do about it?”
“You’re already helping by noticing. Just understand there’s a reason, many reasons, why I’m so watchful. If what you said is true that a darkness of some kind is growing, then it won’t be long before it hits town, y’know? If that triggers something, I don’t know if I want to be responsible for that.”
They continued walking along the path, Sanvu taking in the forest when he noticed a bag lying by a tree. Its contents had been spilled open, leaving only a few berries and seeds.
“Someone’s bag?” Pachuku asked, having noticed it himself, wandering up to inspect it.
Sanvu meanwhile looked along the path they were going down, and noticed items strewn about haphazardly, littering the path. The atmosphere was slightly eerie, with no sound to be heard.
“Weren’t those guys on their mission yesterday? Did they come back?”
Pachuku picked the bag up. “I didn’t see them, but it’s not unheard of for a mission to take more than a day. What does worry me is how the bag was just… dropped.”
“Everything’s on the path. You think something happened?”
Pachuku put it down before picking the jar up. “Let’s find out.”
Both of them continued on the path, finding scattered items that seemed to decrease in quantity the further they proceeded along. The forest was hauntingly quiet; there was no sound save for their footsteps.
Eventually, they came to the entrance of Stony Enclose. But something was amiss, immediately.
*Music: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (3DS) – The Road Leading to the Secret (Inside Bowser)
“It’s gone!”
Pachuku slammed the wall that had used to hold the entrance hard with a dash, only serving to give him a headache upon doing so. Sanvu was in equal awe, stunned into silence, mouth agape.
“S-So, what, the dungeon’s gone, but what does that mean?”
“The others, they’re probably stuck in there, somewhere,” Pachuku worried, paws wringing as he stood up. “Why did Didra not mention them earlier…?”
Sanvu, in catching that, now began to realise what Pachuku meant earlier about the odd behaviour, as it began to click together. “So… they’re trapped?”
He looked around, noticing a glow near a rock to his right. Pachuku followed his gaze, and noticed the same thing.
An identical jar to their own, filled with a purple-blue liquid, was simply placed there. The liquid appeared to shimmer with some sort unknown substance. They looked almost like flecks of something that looked like scales.
“That’s… too convenient.”
Sanvu was worried, looking at Pachuku as he continued.
“The dungeon disappears, and what we need is right outside. I don’t like this.”
Pachuku’s voice was laced with caution, he crept closer, but nothing happened. Despite this, the Electric-type’s face didn’t change from a long frown as he picked it up, putting it in Sanvu’s bag.
“Should we leave the other one here?” Sanvu wondered, and Pachuku smirked. “I like that thinking. Whoever left that here, would be nice if we gave them nothing.”
Pachuku managed to bring it out, placing it down. The forest really was eerie quiet, it were as if everything else in the world were drowned out except for them and the environment.
“That was Dragon-type energy, just like if we were in the dungeon. Were the others meant to get type energy too? What happened to them…?”
Both of them stared at what used to be the entrance, Sanvu was looking about just after, just in case something would jump from the shadows. But nothing came, their wariness merely just to prolong the moment that was the revelation of the enclosed cave, in the most literal definition of the words now.
Pachuku whined; slumping over, “We should… get back before anything happens…” he managed to peep out.
They made their way quickly back through the forest. Sanvu could swear he felt like he was being watched, but nothing in particular happened on their way back, so he couldn’t help but feel like he was being paranoid for no real reason.
When they returned, they were heaped with praise from Didra, and she even laughed at how it was sitting right there in the open, seemingly unbothered by how easy it was to get. This was before they could get a word in about the dungeon.
Sanvu then spoke up first. “So… uh, the dungeon isn’t there anymore.”
“You did mention it was right at the entrance, where the dungeon wasn’t,” She reminded him, but he went on.
“No, like, it was just there at the entrance… or what it used to be. There were also a load of items out there. Do you remember sending the Treaders on a mission there? They told us about it, yesterday.”
“They’re probably trapped in there…” Pachuku mumbled almost to himself, and Didra’s face changed. To about the strangest face one could make.
She looked distant, and she looked as if lost for a second, her eyes widening, before she smiled. “I don’t remember sending them on a mission. They were to take a rest in town, yes, I think so.”
Pachuku wasn’t looking at Didra, instead at the ground, back tightly against Sanvu. Sanvu took note of her… very strange attitude.
“What’s with those faces?” She probed, genuinely curious. “You certainly can’t think I’m responsible for why they’re not around. After all, an easy dungeon going missing worries me very much about the safety of our town to this problem, and I’ll be calling on them tomorrow to fix things up, yes, I’m sure of it. They’ll be investigating it tomorrow, I imagine.”
Sanvu knew that wasn’t the case. Pachuku had even assured him the mission would be easy for them.
“We shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds, since this is, in fact Dragon-type energy. Perhaps the dungeon just merely collapsed in expending all its energy. It’s a shame, but we can’t be too upset. We’ll make it through.”
Sanvu at first thought she was just mourning, but her features belied that notion. She looked sad, but also very odd and bizarre. No hint of a smile, but something far and distant, as if something had been ripped out of her, and she was merely somewhere miles away in a distant mental haze.
She didn’t stay there for long, approaching the doors. “I’ll help the Axew, you two stay out here, in case anything else happens.”
And so they were left alone. Pachuku let out a breath Sanvu hadn’t even known he’d been holding, and they shared a knowing look, clearly, Didra had been lying.
Though they wouldn’t quite know just how bad they had it…
~~
*Music: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS) – The Road Leading to the Secret (Inside Bowser)
Caught in the bubbling of the darkness, the small creature tried wiggling and wriggling free, to no avail.
There was no light in this place, only sound, and even that was beginning to falter. Soon there would only be emptiness, nothing to remain.
Someone yelled a name.
Another one, barely standing, observed a dark creature that couldn’t realistically be described as anything, let alone a Pokemon, that it’d seen before. It looked almost like a Ditto, but comprised of black goop, with smaller circular indents to resemble a face, with blobs that bubbled off of its body.
And someone was caught inside, desperately wriggling free as the creature brought them further down to the ground. It was far too exhausted to do anything but struggle.
The other one was similarly exhausted. Not a single attack had even landed a hit on these creatures enough to cause a scratch. At first they’d assumed they were dark type, but that didn’t matter anymore.
They had everything thrown off them, and in the struggle, they’d tried to break free, but inside the cave was nothing but a circular room. No escape could be found, nor was there one to be discovered.
As the creature devoured its victim, the other was experiencing the worst possible pressure to its mind. It had been child’s play for the black goop to grab the small creature to consume for its meal.
One of them pounced in a fit of rage, readying an attack.
“Oh, don’t worry. You won’t have to worry for long.”
It tried to find the source of the voice, before it too found itself being hoisted up by-
By the same creature, as it had split off from the one devouring its friend, engulfing and absorbing its assailant, as screams rang out all across the enclosed space.
Everything that ever was, including the black creature itself, descended into the endless black abyss of the once unnatural cavern.
~~
*Music: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (3DS) – The Road Leading to the Secret (Inside Bowser)
Sanvu and Pachuku were both anxious as Didra returned, and she no longer looked lost and confused, the Axew was trailing behind her.
“It worked! We’re so much closer to solving the mystery now…” Didra beamed; her hands excitedly clasped in fists as she waved them near her head like an excited child.
The Axew walked up to them, solemn in demeanour.
“You were the ones to save me, yesterday, right?” He asked. Both of them nodded, Pachuku turned towards Sanvu.
“I’ll watch,” he whispered as his head twitched towards Didra, and Sanvu understood. “So, you are…” the Grass-type started.
“Maluw. That’s my name. I was trying for so long to speak to anybody, but it’s like I was unable to understand anybody or anything, everyone was speaking an alien language… so it was you that helped save me?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” Sanvu answered, naturally. Pachuku’s back was still at Sanvu’s side, his tail low curled around his own body, still watching Didra. Besides Pachuku’s suspicions, she otherwise looked normal, but both of them were well aware of her odd mannerisms just a second prior.
“So, um, I guess I’ve gotta go back home now, huh. Maybe I’ll find somewhere close to the dungeon to sleep,” the Axew mumbled, before Pachuku spoke up.
“You can’t go there anymore. The dungeon closed up, never mind how ridiculous of an idea that would be after you got to be Amnesiac inside of that place somehow,” Pachuku sternly retorted, which made Maluw recoil, but he nodded sadly.
“Oh, huh. Guess I’ll just stay here, somewhere. Maybe with you guys?”
“No room…” Pachuku murmured, “My house is, uh, kinda small. Sorry, just how it is.”
“I’ll find someplace then. Surely it won’t be that hard. With this entire ruckus about, surely there’ll be somebody nice around. Thank you again, you two.”
Maluw wandered down the path leading into Mentage Town to their left. Didra looked incredulously at Pachuku’s pouted face, despite that Pachuku hadn’t kept an eye off her the whole time.
“I told you, I thought it would work. No need to remain so suspicious. I’ll tell the Treaders tomorrow what their next mission entails. You two should rest today; an easy mission like that should let you take a little break in these… anxious times.”
~~
She gave them their monetary reward, as they wandered into town, aiming for home, but something caught their attention.
Sounds rang out from the far end of town.
*Music: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (3DS) – Fawful’s Stronghold (Inside Bowser)
They saw Maluw wander to the far end where the shops were. A commotion was starting up, that piqued their interest. They passed the Kecleon shop, turning left to where many huts of different sizes were visible along a winding path leading down before it weaved left and right. A crowd was outside a particularly tall one on the first offroad to their left, made of whitish-wood, shouting various things. Maluw seemed to wander into this without a bother to be seen.
“Haven’t seen another one of these appear in a while.”
“Yeah, who’d have thought this would happen again. An unclaimed house.”
The duo approached the murmuring voices of the crowd, following behind Maluw, Pachuku was increasingly growing worried, and soon enough, he stopped, leaving Sanvu to stop right beside him.
Most of the Pokemon didn’t notice them, and many had already wandered in and around it. The door was open.
“What’s… going on?” Sanvu queried, before Pachuku just sighed and frowned.
“It’s another ‘house appearance,’” His eyes rolled as he faced away from Sanvu.
“What?”
“Every so often, for about a couple weeks at a time, a house will just ‘appear.’ That’s what they say it is, in reality, none of the buildings here have changed. But for some reason or another, every Pokemon will just feign an interest in taking another’s home, despite that somebody may have been living there for one reason or another.”
“So they just… take another’s home, just out of the blue?”
“They say it’s ‘unclaimed’ so they can do what they like,” Pachuku motioned to the sign, which was just a couple of planks of wood. It seemed to imply there would be a name or number, but they were just plain slabs with nothing on them.
He side-eyed Sanvu, who was a bit stunned at the display. “Do you get why I’m so distrustful of other Pokemon, now? When nothing anybody does makes a lick of sense?”
Pokemon brought to the point that they wouldn’t even remember or know that a home was built for somebody. Just, coming in and taking another’s home. Changing what they said on the regular, and treating someone with contempt if they tried.
“I think I’ll take it,” Maluw proclaimed to the surroundings. Most Pokemon didn’t bat an eye, as he decided to wander in, without a second thought.
“Should we… see if we can find traces of anything in there?” Sanvu wondered, quietly, to Pachuku’s shock, before Sanvu clarified quietly “Maybe to see who it belonged to?” He clarified quietly, to which Pachuku sighed relievingly.
“We could try, but who knows if we’ll be allowed to look into the matter.”
They wandered closer, as Oshee was near the entrance, and the Oshawott beamed in recognition when they arrived.
“Hey! Here to check out the new house?”
“You could say that,” Pachuku scoffed, but Oshee didn’t particularly catch the meaning behind his words. They both entered; the door was wide open.
Sanvu looked around. There were some Pokemon who resembled birds flying about the tall structure.
But what bothered him as he looked about was just how… empty it was. Even the floor felt like it had been newly stepped on, as if it had just been built, with no dust or marks anywhere.
There was no furniture in sight, just one tall room and another slightly less tall room, completely empty. The windows had curtains, which were rounded in a shape resembling a pointed arch, devoid of any patterns, but they were completely open. The sounds of commotion were still outside, as they were inside, given that they weren’t alone in here, but if everyone were gone, he could swear they were in the forest.
“There’s nothing here…” Sanvu breathed, Pachuku just behind him, not deviating from Sanvu’s side.
“Yeah. Hence everyone’s excuse that it’s unclaimed. It’s as if it just appeared or was just built, hence why they’ve dubbed them ‘appearances.’” Pachuku explained, mockingly.
“So, you said it was ‘another’ one of these, how often has this happened?”
“It’s been a while since they started happening, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you when they started. All I know is that every time, it’s exactly the same. Then someone takes it, and it’s just ‘their house.’ No one bothers looking for the original owner; it’s like they believe they didn’t exist.”
They saw Maluw over in the other room next to some other Pokemon. He looked peaceful, just getting along with everybody just fine.
“So how do you ‘claim’ a house, anyways?” Sanvu wondered.
“First come, I guess. I’ve never stuck around long enough; eventually everybody arrives at a consensus. I’ve always left them alone though.”
They looked around, but any trace that someone ever lived here seemed to be gone. Pachuku shivered, unsure what to make of this. Sanvu was quite similar; it was as if the room was devoid of any life, despite the presence of many individuals all around them. Their breathing became noticeably shallower as their minds spiralled into the many questions that arose from such a scenario.
By the time they came outside, most of the crowd had dissipated, leaving only a couple of onlookers, who were no less bothered than before. Some gave looks that suggested they wanted to know why the Minders were so bothered, but these were fleeting.
Pachuku eventually sighed, “We should train, get our minds off… all that. I-I can’t just do nothing.”
Sanvu found it hard to disagree, as they proceeded to Pachuku’s little forest ring in an attempt to clear their minds.
~~
“So why not just… ditch everything if everyone’s going wild?” Sanvu had asked after a while. He didn’t feel like he needed to train much, so he was watching Pachuku fry the tree ring with four rays at a time.
“Dungeons surround the town on all ends, and as you’ve seen, most just end at some cave or likewise. No one knows what’s on the other side of any of these places, never mind that it’s not easy to pass the rumoured barrier anyways.”
“What about that Simmcinatto place?” Sanvu asked. Pachuku had to take a moment to register that thought.
“Oh, right, the place we did the escort mission for. To be honest, since Discipline Cave is now a frosted wasteland, that kinda wouldn’t help, and second, the warp might be totally busted. And there’s the risk of… the Froslass again.”
Sanvu winced slightly at the memory of the cold floating mistress, “I mean, it did seem like she knew me, somehow. What about going past Stony Enclose?”
“You’re still on about that? She could’ve just been weird like most Ghost-type Pokemon are. I’m pretty sure there’s a dungeon stuck past that area where that dungeon used to be too. We’re stuck here, in this dump.”
“You think they’ve noticed that we’re trapped?”
“If that’s supposed to be some justification for why Pokemon have lost all sense of civility recently, I dunno if I want to hear it.”
“It’s… not…”
Sanvu was trying to keep himself from getting too mad, since Pachuku was outright furious, and he didn’t particularly fancy being fried at the end of a lightning bolt today. “Cause the escort did, but no one else seems particularly concerned about it these days.”
Pachuku didn’t respond.
“Unless we could escape via the ocean…”
“Didn’t fancy you a Water-type.”
“Wh-what?”
“We’d need a Water-type to cross the ocean, one that could theoretically carry us, and that’d be if we could even get to one, nevermind if they’re willing to carry us.” Pachuku informed, soberly, “We’re never getting out of here, that’s why I said Mindscape’s our best shot. Cause we’re stuck.”
Sanvu mulled that over. Pachuku had wanted to join Mindscape before he met up with him, but it seemed like he held it in contempt. He voiced this to Pachuku, who slumped.
“Honestly, there’s no reason I’d have gone back to it if it weren’t for me being so utterly sick of this weird stuff going on,” Pachuku grunted, kicking a stick at his feet.
“Gone back?”
“Over and over, trying to find somebody to join it, instead of just running away. Cause the solution is just waiting around for an end otherwise, and that doesn’t particularly sound enticing, does it?”
Pachuku had turned around to face Sanvu directly as he said that, and Sanvu understood perfectly.
“So you want to find out what’s wrong, properly, because nobody else will?”
“Exactly. I don’t particularly trust Didra and the others because something’s… happening, and it feels like I’m the only one who can see it.”
“Well, you’re not. The way they acted back there was… weird.” Sanvu couldn’t help shuddering after he finished. The thought that these creatures didn’t have thoughts of which individual the house could’ve belonged to just sent all the wrong signals to him. He had his arms crossed, internally, he felt a strange kind of contempt that he couldn’t put into words. Of course he was mad and sympathetic for Pachuku, but he hadn’t felt this strongly about something in a long time.
He somewhat mused if the feeling was familiar, of being so particularly mad at so many people. For a second, Sanvu could swear there was something more to it than just pure rage, but he quickly handwaved that away when he met with a mental wall that prevented him from thinking any further about it.
“So why not-why not just, work in dungeons without being in Mindscape?”
“You don’t get the badges, which’re the only way to protect yourself as far as I know, otherwise you’d have ended up bawling when you helped Maluw yesterday,” Pachuku pointed out. Sanvu couldn’t exactly argue with that.
“So working with them is the safest option despite that they’re total lunatics?”
“Basically,” Pachuku confirmed.
“So I suppose you’re trying to work undercover, basically? Is that what you’re suggesting?”
Pachuku didn’t respond for a while, face pensive. “That’s basically what I want, but that sort of implies we’re working against them. I just want to solve the crisis, and for some reason, they don’t want to listen to me whenever I say certain things, and I never know what those are.”
“So you want to work for them, undercover, but not for personal gain?”
“Yeah. Working for them while not really working ‘their way.’ I dunno if I’m making sense.”
“It makes perfect sense. I’m with you.”
Pachuku and Sanvu shared warm smiles with one another, one they could only share with one another; that together, they would find out what happened to the others, in the absence of literally anyone else.
They woke up the next day in somewhat high spirits after their declaration. Sanvu’s dream that night hadn’t divulged anything of particular worth; just merely stranding him in the usual darkness with little actually said or seen.
Oshee came and visited them again, the both of them adopting more serious expressions when they saw her.
“Oh hi! Came to visit. Not sure why, oh yeah! Mindscape’s open now. Just wanted to let you know, and all.”
“Thanks,” was all Sanvu could muster.
Pachuku then wandered out next, doing his usual paw wringing, though he was attempting to hide it by keeping his paws close to his chest. “…Have you seen the Treaders around anywhere? We’re… worried about them, since last we spoke they were going to that dungeon that closed off-“
“I’ve heard no such thing as a team being sent to a closed-off dungeon; never mind one that doesn’t exist,” she reported, which didn’t change either of their expressions. “You know what we call Pokemon who engage in fantasies like that?”
“Why do you call them anything at all?” Sanvu inquired, before she frowned.
“Slacker teams. I’m sure you heard it from Tenab, but we’ve seen Pokemon get kicked out of Mindscape who engage in fantasies that they’ll be the ones to solve the glory of the mystery alone. It’s a team effort, and if you’re going to bring up nonsense that distracts us from the task, we’d rather just get to actually solving this problem by ourselves at that point.”
Sanvu figured it was some kind of reason, but was still extremely wary, especially since she wasn’t exactly answering his question. He didn’t voice his frustrations with anything but a silent glare and a frown, though.
“Anyway, if there’s a team in trouble, we’d know about it. We often have to get called to handle a lot of things around here,” she shrugged, sighing as she did, “But there aren’t any, so lucky us we can get right back to solving the problem of the town’s memory going up and out.”
Both of them glanced at each other, Sanvu slightly more sympathetic to Pavchuku, softening his expression a little, Pachuku displaying his usual anxious mannerisms in return. This didn’t seem to faze Oshee in the slightest.
“Well, uh, I gotta get back to my mission. Good luck, you two!” She waved as she wandered off.
It was the first time the Minders found solace purely in one another as the darkness within the town they called home began to rear its ugly head.
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