The Recruits

Chloe heard the sound of curtains being drawn, gently waking her from her rest. She felt uneasy. She lived alone, didn’t she? She opened her eyes a fraction, trying to squint through the sunlight filtering into the room. She saw… something by the curtains. Some kind of floating blob? What was…

“Good morning, good morning?” the thing whispered in her direction. Chloe opened her eyes a little further, and she saw a milcery smiling at her nervously.

She inhaled sharply as the events of the previous day came flooding back to her.

Right. She was a ledyba now.

She exhaled, and dragged herself out of bed. “Good morning, Celes,” she replied groggily.

“How, how are you feeling?” Celes asked gently. Chloe groaned inwardly. She knew Celes was just trying to be nice, but still…

“I’m okay!” she said, trying to sound cheery. “I’m over what happened last night, so don’t worry about that.”

“Oh, okay!” Celes said brightly. “So…”

There was an awkward silence. Eventually Chloe decided to break it. “So?”

“Umm…” Celes seemed nervous, but there was a determined edge to her voice. “So I, I realise that what happened last night was a very personal thing, and that at the moment, I am still, a stranger, stranger to you.”

“Yeah…” Chloe agreed hesitantly, wondering where she was going with this.

“Well, well I just wanted to tell you, you, with my own words and not Enigma’s, I am not going to go about telling everyone about last night,” she continued earnestly.

“Thank you, Celes,” Chloe said, but Celes had more to say.

“And, and though we are strangers at the moment, I, I would really like it if we could become friends?” Celes asked, her eyes glittering. “As friends, then you would have, would have someone to talk to about your unique problems, and, and I could teach you about the world as well!”

“I-” Chloe faltered before her eagerness. “I really appreciate that you’re being so thoughtful, but- but I can’t just become friends with someone…”

“Well, well, would you like to start becoming friends?” Celes asked sweetly.

Chloe sighed. It was awkward being put into a position where she couldn’t exactly say no, but…

She had to admit it would be nice to have a friend, and Celes seemed like a good pokémon.

“Yeah, okay then,” she agreed with a nod.

“Yayyyy!” Celes cheered, grinning and spinning in the air. Chloe forced her own smile. This is a good idea, she thought. Making friends is hard, here’s someone who’s nice and wants to be your friend. It’ll be fine!

“So!” Celes said suddenly, moving to float right in front of Chloe. “So, first of all, if you need any help telling everyone else about your issue, I am more than happy to help!”

“My- it’s, uh, not an issue,” Chloe said uncomfortably, trying to find the words “and I- I was thinking it over last night, and I decided I actually don’t want to tell everyone about it.”

“Oh? But I thought we all agreed to it last night?” Celes asked.

“We didn’t,” Chloe said, a little too sharply. She caught herself, and explained further. “I mean, Enigma only suggested it. He said he wouldn’t force me, and I decided I don’t want anyone else to know.”

“Ohh…” Celes looked uncomfortable now. “Can I, can I ask why?”

“I-” Chloe started, still being careful not to snap. “To be honest, I’d rather not talk about that stuff right now.”

“Well I respect your decision!” Celes said, perking up suddenly, “And, and again, your secret is safe with me!”

“Thank you,” Chloe smiled weakly. At least Celes hadn’t pressed the issue. She wasn’t sure if she would have understood her reasons, and she really didn’t feel like justifying herself.

“So if you won’t, won’t tell the others,” Celes said slowly, deep in thought, “I will try, try to cover for your amnesia, if you want?”

“Uh, what do you mean?” Chloe asked, squirming a bit.

“Well, say if, if that charcadet asked you, ‘where are you from?’ I would, would cover for you, and tell him you’re from Goldenleaf Village!”

“I… Y- yeah, maybe,” Chloe stammered, a bit put out by her enthusiasm. “But only if I’m really obviously in trouble. I can make up a lie like that by myself, I think.”

“So I’ll count to, to five? Before I help you?” Celes asked.

“Sure…”

“It’s settled. Yay!” Celes smiled happily. Chloe tried to feel grateful, but Celes was being really full on about the whole situation. What Chloe wanted was for it to just fade into the background, for it to not be a big deal.

“Maybe if it’s getting complicated, we could tell the others about my amnesia,” she thought out loud. “Just not that I’m- that I used to be human, if that’s okay.”

“Oh! I see!” Celes looked serious again. “That is a good idea, Chloe!”

Chloe nodded and stretched, glancing around the room. It was still the same as it had been the night before – a little small, with nothing but the chests and the beds standing out. She scuttled over to her chest, and checked the contents. It was empty.

“I can’t wait to collect lot of belongings, of belongings, I want to fill my chest up right to the tip top!” Celes sang, spinning slowly in the air.

“Yeah,” Chloe answered with an awkward laugh. She still wasn’t sure what to think of Celes. She was unusual, but she seemed very earnest. They were going to be room-mates, and she wanted to try and make an effort to be friends, but she didn’t really know where to begin with the milcery.

“Oh, by the way!” Celes said, floating to her chest. “There was a letter, a letter, posted under our door in the night! I put in here for safekeeping!”

She reached right to the bottom of her chest (she practically floated inside of it), and pulled out a piece of paper. It still had the fold marks where it had been folded into thirds, and Celes brought it over for her to read.

Except she couldn’t.

Chloe’s heart sank when she realised that the whole letter was in that unknown script she’d faced on the doors to the rooms the previous night. The page was covered in what looked like little footprints, in different types and orientations. She groaned.

“I can’t read this,” she was forced to admit. Celes gasped.

“You never learned to read, to read?” she exclaimed, shocked look on her face.

“Not in the one day I’ve been here, no,” Chloe replied sarcastically. Realisation dawned on Celes’s face.

“Oh, oh, you have a different way of writing?” she asked, brimming with curiosity. “How do you write in human? You must show me, you must!”

“N- Not right now,” Chloe stammered. “I’m not even sure how I’d write with this body yet. Anyway, can you just read the letter to me?”

“Oh, oh of course!” Celes was suddenly serious again. She cleared her throat, and spoke in a deeper, somewhat silly voice.

“’Good morning, Delvers. Today, you will introduce yourselves properly to the other new recruits. Please, make your way to the meeting room as soon as you wake up.’ And then there are some, some directions.”

Chloe waited for a beat before speaking. “That’s everything?”

“That’s everything!” Celes repeated, beaming.

“Okay. We woke up a little while ago now, so shall we uh, go to the meeting room?” she asked awkwardly.

“Oh, yes, yes!” Celes said excitedly. “We can get to know each other some more another time. I wonder what sort of pokémon we will be meeting at the meeting?”

Chloe watched her float in a happy zigzag to the door. She followed her room-mate, and they exited the room together.

---

Chloe and Celes were definitely not the first to the meeting room – in fact, they seemed to be the last. As they passed through the entryway, Chloe found herself in a large room dominated by a conference style table. There were a lot of pokémon already at the table, but before she could get a close look they were intercepted by the glaceon.

“Good morning!” she greeted them. “You can call me Cinnamon. Take a place at the table anywhere there’s space!”

“Thank you, thank you!” Celes smiled, floating towards the nearest empty seats. Chloe smiled and nodded at Cinnamon, following close behind her friend. She looked around the room, now, picking out the species of each pokémon.

Everyone was gathered on one side of the table, opposite a blank chalkboard that was hung up on the other wall. Celes took a space next to a pink frillish. From there, around the table there was a teddiursa, charcadet, staryu, mienfoo, and at the end was a tyrantrum, who was unintentionally dominating the room. Is that everyone? Chloe craned her neck, trying to see past the huge dinosaur. Sure enough, she spotted Piper one space over, keeping to herself.

“That’s nine of us…” Chloe mumbled. Everyone else was mingling, getting to know each other, and Chloe realised she was feeling extremely nervous. What do you even say to a pokémon? What did pokémon do for hobbies? Did they talk about the weather?

“Ahem,” Cinnamon cleared her throat from near the chalkboard, and the low hum of chatter died down. Looked like she’d be spared from having to chat to the others for now.

“This makes nine of us,” the glaceon continued, “which is strange, because you should have been in pairs of room-mates. Whose room-mate is missing?”

There was an uncomfortable silence, and the sounds of shuffling feet.

“Well, my room-mate is here,” the teddiursa offered after a few beats, glancing at the frillish.

“Oh! Same, same with me!” Celes sang, floating a ring around Chloe’s head.

“I am room-mates with Meteor,” the mienfoo said quietly.

“And it’s me and Spiral,” the starmie finished.

“So…” the glaceon continued, expectantly looking past Meteor, the tyrantrum. At Piper.

There was another awkward silence, before Piper realised that everyone was waiting for her.

“Huh? Yeah?” she said, confused.

“Have you not been following?” Cinnamon asked, frowning.

“Yeah, but what’s the problem?” Piper asked.

“Where is your room-mate?” the glaceon asked.

“Why’s she my problem?” Piper shrugged.

“I-” Cinnamon faltered. “Well, you were likely the last one to see her. Do you know where she went?”

“She was still asleep when I left the room,” Piper explained. “I was just following the directions on this letter.”

“You still have the letter?” Cinnamon asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“We only posted one letter to each room.”

“And?”

“And,” the glaceon said, clearly trying not to lose her patience, “that means she has no idea what she’s supposed to be doing, since she has no letter to explain that to her.”

“Huh,” said Piper.

No one said anything for a few more moments, and Cinnamon sighed. “I will return shortly. Please, wait here, everyone.”

She left them all alone together in the room, as small talk picked up again.

“So, so that is Piper?” Celes whispered to her. “I can see why you don’t like her, how thoughtless!”

“Heh, yeah,” Chloe agreed. “I guess she just thought there was a letter for each of them.”

“You don’t need to defend her, you know,” Celes chastised. “They were posted under the door, so it should have been obvious that there was just one letter!”

“I- I guess,” Chloe admitted. Why had she jumped to defending Piper, anyway?

“What’d you say, hot-head?”

Piper’s voice rang loud through the room, causing a freeze in conversation. The charcadet, named Spiral, responded, but not to her.

“Ah, and an eavesdropper, to boot!” he directed towards the starmie, but was loud enough for the rest of the room to hear, too. “Definitely one to avoid, Arlo.”

Spiral’s demeanour seemed more than a little stuck-up to Chloe, and she had to admit it got on her nerves. It definitely got on Piper’s nerves, and Chloe wondered what Spiral had said in the first place to rile her up so much.

“What, too scared to say the first thing to the rest of the class?” Piper said hotly, trying (and failing) to squeeze past the huge tyrantrum to get at Spiral. Just as things looked like they might get out of hand…

“Is everything alright in here?” Cinnamon said, rejoining the room with the helioptile in tow, as well as the empoleon. The whole room stopped.

“Piper?” Cinnamon warned.

Chloe expected her to bite back the way she usually did, but when she looked back to the nickit, she saw that Piper looked like a deerling in the headlights. Then, she seemed to deflate, turning from the rest of the group and muttering to herself.

Weird...

“Anyway,” Cinnamon continued professionally, “now that we are all present, we may begin. Shuca, find a space, please.”

“Aye aye, captain!” she said jovially. “Hey all, sorry I’m late! I guess I missed the memo!”

Shuca the helioptile took a space next to Chloe, at the end of the table.

“Hey, I’m Shuca!” she whispered to her. “It’s nice to meet you! Isn’t this amazing? We actually get to be Delvers!”

“Ah, yeah!” Chloe whispered back, surprised that Shuca had chosen to speak to her at a time like this. “I’m Chloe, I-”

“Ahem. Let’s get started,” Cinnamon brought everyone’s attention back to her. Chloe glanced at Shuca, who gave her a look as if to say, let’s catch up later!

“So, first of all, Empoleon’s here to give us a few words, then we can get on with our first task,” she explained. “Cobalt?”

The empoleon stepped forward, taking the floor.

“Thank you, Cinnamon. Cobalt, that is my name,” she confirmed to the group. “Thank you all for stepping forward yesterday afternoon. It took great courage to upend your lives and dedicate yourselves to our cause, but I assure you it will not be a decision you will regret.

How many of you have been inside mystery dungeons?” she asked abruptly. Chloe slowly raised a hand, looking to her left to watch everyone else. She was shocked to see that the only other pokémon who had been inside a dungeon was Arlo, the starmie.

“Three of you,” Cobalt said, as the others put their hands (or other appendages) down again. “I see. The rest of you will soon understand first hand the true dangers the dungeons pose to our society. But you will not face the danger alone – once we have formed teams, you will each be assigned a mentor, and they will teach you everything you need to know about Delving, and keep you safe.

Ah, but I am getting ahead of Cinnamon here,” she smiled, nodding to the glaceon. “I will wrap it up now then. Thank you again for your dedication, and enjoy today. Because after today,” she was suddenly serious, “your days will be filled with hard work and hard training. For that is what it takes to be a Delver.”

With that, Cobalt made a swift exit, and Cinnamon took her place.

“Thanks to our leader for those inspiring words,” she smiled. “Cobalt can seem very full on, but that’s just her passion coming through. Try not to feel intimidated by her!”

“That’ll be tough, she seems pretty scary to me!” Shuca whispered to Chloe, who had to agree. If nothing else, Cobalt was fiercely dedicated to her society, and seemed like a no nonsense kind of pokémon.

“Okay, so,” Cinnamon said, brightening up. “Let’s start by getting to know each other. I want each of you to come up here, share your name, and why you decided to join the Delvers yesterday. Just a few words. Who wants to go first?”

“Sure!” Shuca chirped, jumping straight up to the front. She cleared her throat. “Hey everyone! I’m Shuca, and I’ve come allll the way from the Thundering Expanse!”

“No way! That’s so far!” the frillish interrupted, and there were some murmurs among the group.

“The Thundering Expanse is on the other side of the continent, continent,” Celes whispered a quick explanation. “About two weeks travel by foot!”

“It’s true!” Shuca insisted. “I’ve always wanted to be an adventurer, so that’s what I did, I set out on an adventure!”

“What brought you all the way here?” Cinnamon asked.

“Stories of the Delvers have been spreading everywhere lately,” she explained, grinning. “I wanted to see for myself, because they sounded like the most awesome adventurers ever! And I TOTALLY lucked out, or maybe it was DESTINY, because how else am I gonna arrive in Goldenleaf three days before the announcement that would change my life?”

“I see, so you wanted to join because of our reputation?” Cinnamon probed.

“Yeah! What better way to become a master adventurer than to join the greatest adventurers of them all?” Shuca cheered. Chloe couldn’t help but smile at her energy. Shuca seemed really nice!

“Pah, what a foolish reason!” Spiral interrupted. Chloe suppressed a groan as the rest of the group turned to look at him.

“Oh, yeah?” Shuca goaded him. “Why don’t you come up and share your reasons then, they must be super awesome if they’re better than mine!”

“Gladly!” Spiral said, walking purposefully around the table. Shuca shrugged and returned to her spot.

“I did good, huh?” she whispered to Chloe.

Chloe smiled. “Yup! That’s pretty amazing, how far you came to be here!”

Shuca beamed and nodded, but didn’t answer. It was Spiral’s turn.

“Ahem. I am Spiral. Pay attention, all, and you may learn a thing or two about what the Delvers really are today,” he stated brazenly.

“Uh,” Chloe noticed Cinnamon almost interrupt, but it seemed like she decided against it.

“The Delvers are not adventurers, they are heroes,” he explained.

“What’s the difference?” Shuca shouted, getting a few giggles from the group.

“If you’d let me finish, adventurer, I was about to explain that,” Spiral spat angrily. Chloe really didn’t like this guy.

“The Delvers are not common rabble, doing things for the fun of it. They do not adventure. They are combatting the Mystery Dungeon Epidemic, protecting the common folk, the weak. That is what it means to be a hero, not some petty adventurer!”

“I still don’t get it,” Chloe goaded, getting a nudge and a grin from Shuca, and a stern look from Celes.

“You see, fair ledyba,” Spiral patiently explained, “an adventurer does things for himself, seeking only cheap thrills and to make a quick profit. A real hero, he does things for others. He protects or rescues the weak, looks into worldwide threats, expecting nothing in return.”

“And that’s why you joined us?” Cinnamon asked, trying to get things back on track.

“But of course!” he exclaimed, palm to his chest. “It is a most noble pursuit, befitting of one such as I!”

“Wonderful!” Cinnamon praised. “Who’s next?”

“Oh? Did you not want me to explain from where I hail? My lineage, perhaps?” Spiral pouted.

“We’re mainly just giving our names and why we joined today,” Cinnamon explained quickly. “That said, who’s next?”

“Very well,” Spiral said, returning to his space with his head held high.

“Fair ledyba?” Shuca smirked, nudging Chloe.

“Shut uuuup,” Chloe moaned.

“Come now, you two,” Celes whispered, with a disappointed look. “Let us allow, allow everyone their fair turn!”

“Come on Celes, you have to admit he’s kind of a jerk,” Chloe whispered back.

“Wellll…” Celes looked split, and Chloe had to hold back her laughter.

“Alright, I’ll go next,” the teddiursa said loud enough for everyone to hear, and moved to the front.

“You can call me Sticky. I’m from Xernia, I travelled here to hear the announcement.” he explained cordially.

“What made you want to join after hearing it?” Cinnamon asked curiously.

“Well, not my strength, truth be told. However, I do have some confidence in my intelligence, and so I’m hoping to be more of service in that regard,” he explained. “It’s like Cobalt explained yesterday – the Mystery Dungeon epidemic is the single greatest threat to pokémon-kind. If I can do something about it, I feel that I should try.”

“That’s wonderful to hear!” Glaceon beamed. “I guess you could call me the intelligence officer of the Delvers, there’s definitely a place for us here!”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Sticky smiled, and went back to his spot. As he did, the starmie moved to take his place.

“I want to go next,” they said, and Cinnamon nodded. “Hey all, I’m Arlo. I’m also from Xernia, here for the same reason as Sticky was, pretty much. And I’d say I decided to join for the same reasons as Spiral, though I… I wouldn’t have put it the way he did.”

The group laughed, and Spiral huffed.

“I’d rather just say something like…” Arlo seemed to be trying to find the words. “I’m pretty strong, right? I know what it’s like in a dungeon, and I can hold my own in there, but not everyone can. Getting stuck in one of those places would be horrible, and so if I can do anything to prevent that for others…”

They trailed off again, trying to find the words. “Well, I just think that’s a good use of my time, you know?”

“I do know,” Cinnamon smiled. “Thank you Arlo. Who’s next?”

“Two people from Xernia, what are the chances?” Chloe whispered to Celes.

“Higher than you think!” Celes explained quietly. “Xernia is the capital, the capital city, and it is nearby. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the pokémon here are originally from there!”

Chloe nodded in understanding.

“You know, you know…” Celes was suddenly nervous. “I think I will volunteer, I don’t want to end up last!”

“Good luck!” Chloe wished, as Celes floated up to the front.

“I would like to go next, please!” she asked Cinnamon.

“By all means!” Cinnamon let her take the stage.

“Okay, okay!” Celes cleared her throat. “Hello, hello to everyone! My name is Celes, Celes!”

“Don’t be nervous, Celes! We’re all guild-mates now!” Cinnamon encouraged.

“Oh, I’m not too, too nervous,” Celes smiled. “If you’re wondering about my words, my words, well this is just how I speak!”

“I see,” the glaceon nodded.

“Well, well…” Celes started, but then stopped, swaying from side to side. “Actually, I am a little bit nervous, I admit, admit. I do not usually talk about this with anyone, anyone else…”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to, Celes,” Cinnamon started, but Celes shook her head.

“No, I think, I think I should share this with my guild. I think it is important, important.”

Celes took a deep breath.

“I am originally from, from Redcap Hollow.”

The room took a collective gasp, though Chloe couldn’t possibly know why. Had something happened to this Redcap Hollow?

“Wow, that’s- that must be tough,” Cinnamon sympathised.

“Indeed, you have my condolences, sweet Celes,” Spiral added.

“Yes, yes,” Celes said sadly. “I was blessed, blessed enough to be away from town when it happened. But I did lose my, lose my family, you see…

But!” Celes said suddenly and intensely. “That is why, why I am here. We are going to conquer mystery dungeons. I dream, dream to one day recover Redcap Hollow!”

“We won’t rest until we do,” Cinnamon agreed seriously. “Thank you, Celes. That must have been tough to relive.”

“Oh, it’s okay, okay!” Celes answered brightly. “Like we said, we will recover Redcap Hollow, so there’s no need to be sad! Thank you everyone!”

The room was quiet now as Celes took her spot at the table. Chloe had no idea what was going on, so she had to ask.

“Celes…” she whispered. “What happened to Redcap Hollow?”

“Oh, of course, of course…” Celes whispered back. “You wouldn’t, couldn’t know. It was swallowed by a mystery dungeon. The first mystery dungeon.”

“Oh, geez…” Chloe winced, finally putting it all together.

“I’ll tell you more about it later,” Celes nudged her, pointing to the frillish who had moved to the front of the group, and was now speaking.

“Uh, hey all, I’m Deeps. First things first, you should all know I’m a guy,” he said with a smile as a few confused murmurs rippled through the group. “Yup, I know, pink, woah. Just trust me on this one, alright? Okay, onto the question, why’d I join…”

Chloe immediately felt a deep respect for Deeps, but it was mixed with another, unpleasant feeling, that she couldn’t figure out. The voice inside her head, however, was all too happy to let her know what it was.

This guy just stood up in front of the whole group and came out as trans. Effortlessly. You should be ashamed of yourself, Chloe.

What? Why? What have I got to be ashamed of

Isn’t it obvious? You don’t even have the guts to tell everyone you’re human. What a coward.

It’s- It’s a completely different situation! He has no choice, pokémon aren’t going to see him for who he is unless he tells them!

And pokémon aren’t going to see YOU for who you are – a human – unless you tell THEM, either, but you’re too cowardly to admit the truth.

What truth? I’ve decided that I want to be a pokémon, now! I want to live my life as a ledyba, here in this new world. A fresh start. There’s nothing wrong with that!

But you’re not a ledyba. You’re a human, and you always will be. That’s the truth you’re so afraid of.

The truth can- the truth HAS changed. I don’t care what you say, just look at me. I’m a ledyba now. End of conversation.

With a small nod to herself, she brought herself back to reality, hearing the tail-end of Deep’s introduction.

“…so yeah, I pretty much had the same reason as Shuca. Which almost feels like it’s in bad taste after hearing some of your reasons, especially Celes, eheh…”

“Oh, no, no!” Celes shook her head firmly. “There is no bad reason. As far as I, I am concerned, any reason that brings a pokémon to this kind of work is a good, good reason, as it is good work regardless!”

“Wrong,” Spiral spoke over her, “one’s motivations, nay, convictions, must be strong, true and just, lest the pokémon fall into inadequacy. One who fights to save a life will always outperform one who merely fights for fun.”

This made Celes pout, and it was the first time Chloe had seen her look upset.

“Hey, come on, man,” Deeps said, frowning at Spiral. “You shouldn’t talk over someone like that. You should say sorry.”

“I will not apologise for stating the truth,” Spiral replied haughtily.

“Hey, but isn’t that kind of- What’s the word when you’re like, rude to a girl?” Shuca said, tilting her head and scrunching her face deep in thought.

“Oh- oh- unchivalrous?” Chloe jumped in. “Yeah, Spiral’s being unchivalrous!”

“How dare-”

“He’s totally being unchiv- unsh- he basically hates girls,” Shuca interrupted the charcadet, trying to contain her laughter.

“Alright, enough!” Spiral whined. “I admit, that while I spoke true, it was perhaps uncourteous of me to interrupt sweet Celes. For which I apologise unreservedly for.”

“Oh, thank you, Spiral!” Celes beamed at him. “You are most kind!”

“Er…” Spiral looked away bashfully, as Chloe and Shuca shared a look, as if in silent agreement to mess with this guy as much as possible.

“Uh, anyway,” Deeps said, “that’s me done. Thanks for listening!”

“Who’s next?” Cinnamon asked as Deeps returned to his place. She had been quiet during the whole exchange, seemingly content to just let things play out.

“Alright, I’ll come up…” Chloe heard a timid voice, and was surprised to see it belonged to the tyrantrum, who was making his way to the front.

“H- Hello,” he said nervously. “M-my name is Meteor, and-”

He was cut off by a great crashing noise, as the flygon hurtled into the room.

“HEY, everybody!” he shouted, skidding to a halt at the front of the room, next to Meteor. “Guess who’s back?”

“Kite,” the glaceon said icily.

“A- Ah, Cinnamon!” Kite the flygon jumped. “Didn’t realise you’d be here.”

“Someone had to be, after you failed to return to base until this very moment,” she confronted him. “You’re well aware handling the recruits is meant to be your responsibility?”

“I know, but!” he said, tapping her on the nose, “a new dungeon has to take priority, surely?”

“Do not touch me right now,” Cinnamon growled, “and Crooked Grove is a half hour walk from here. ANY of the others could have handled it.”

“But that’s my job-”

“Not when you have ten new recruits to manage!”

“Sheesh,” Kite sighed, rubbing his neck. “Remind me not to get on your bad side!”

“You are very much on my bad side right now.”

“Ah. Well, anyway!” he clapped his hands, and pulled a sheet of paper out of the satchel he was wearing. “I just came to drop off the team pairings. I wrote these up on the way back from Xernia!”

“And what were you doing in Xernia, that was more important than this?” Cinnamon asked, snatching the paper in her mouth.

“The usual, Cinny! Rumour-gathering!”

“Again, ten recruits to manage. That couldn’t have waited until after this?”

“If it had, I wouldn’t have got a juicy tip off about a potential new dungeon north of Lunatone Lake! And on that note!”

“I swear, if you-”

But before she could even finish, there was a loud CRACK, and Kite was gone.

Cinnamon slammed the paper down on the table in front of her, muttering. “I will be having WORDS with Cobalt about this… Highly unprofessional…”

“Aaaaa that was KITE,” Shuca whispered excitedly. “He’s like, my hero! He is THE face of the Delvers I can’t believe we get to work with him!!”

“He seems kind of gung ho,” Chloe laughed quietly.

“Yeah…” Shuca had a dreamy look on her face. Meanwhile, Meteor had been standing at the front quietly, trying to figure out what to do.

“Err…” Meteor looked extremely lost. “Should I…”

“Oh,” Cinnamon took a second to compose herself, and continued. “Yes, sorry about that. Please, continue.”

“O-Okay, then. I’m Meteor. I’m also from Xernia,” he said quietly, eyes downturned. “I- I was very nervous when I decided to join, I almost didn’t but… It- It’s like Arlo was saying, I’m r- really strong, so if I can use my- my strength to help, then…”

He trailed off, and didn’t say anything else.

“That’s a good reason, Meteor!” Cinnamon said eventually. “Some heavy hitters will do the Delvers good!”

“Th- Thank you,” Meteor smiled, then hurried back to his spot, relieved.

“Alright, three of you left!” Cinnamon said, as the mienfoo stepped forward, volunteering himself.

“I am Balance,” he said, quiet but confident. “I, too, am here because I am strong. I will train myself in the dungeons, and become stronger.”

The room went silent. From the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Spiral lean forward, as if to say something, but he didn’t. The way Balance held himself, the way he spoke, it seemed to demand a certain amount of respect from the rest of them. The mienfoo went back to his space without another word.

“Alright, guess I’m up,” a familiar voice sighed, and Piper stepped to the front. “Call me Piper. I dunno how many of you heard this yesterday, but I’d breezed through a brand new dungeon right before hearing the announcement. So… yeah. Obvious fit.”

“All by yourself?” Cinnamon asked, curious.

“Basically, yeah,” Piper explained, refusing to look in Chloe’s direction. “I know, I know, first rule of Delving: never enter a dungeon alone. Thing is, this one literally appeared on top of me. So what could I do?”

“That’s incredible,” Cinnamon agreed. “I’m glad you’re safe, Piper, and I’m sure we will appreciate your experience!”

“Heh, of course you will,” she smirked, head held high as she went back to her spot.

“Well, I wonder what she will say, say, when you go to the front to tell your side?” Celes whispered to Chloe. “She must, must know that you are here too?”

“Yeah, I wonder,” Chloe agreed, before making her way to the front.

Half way there, she realised how nervous she was.

She wasn’t going to tell them that she was a human – that was decided. But should she tell them all she had amnesia? After talking with Celes that morning, she was starting to think that that would be a good idea.

As for the dungeon, Piper had made that a tricky topic too. She figured she’d just start with that and get all the arguing out of the way. She took a deep breath.

“You can start any time, don’t be shy!” Cinnamon said, and Chloe realised she’d been standing at the front without speaking for a little longer than was comfortable.

“Y- yeah! Okay,” she took another deep breath. “Hey everyone, my name is Chloe. I- So I also, uh, came from that dungeon Piper was talking about before the announcement. I’m not sure why she didn’t mention that, to be honest…”

“I wondered that too, but I thought I’d let you be the one to bring it up,” Cinnamon said, as all eyes turned to Piper.

Piper sighed dramatically. “Well, I for one hoped that you would take the hint, Chloe…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chloe asked hotly.

“Well, I mean… You didn’t exactly do anything in the dungeon, did you?” Piper smiled. “I did all the work in there, so I might as well have been alone, that’s what I meant. I didn’t want to humiliate you or anything, but…”

“You-” Chloe choked on her words. As if waiting until she was in the spotlight to tell everyone that detail was less humiliating!

“Preposterous,” Spiral chimed in, causing a ripple of quiet conversation. “I wouldn’t trust a word out of that nickit’s mouth, folks.”

Oh great, her knight in shining armour was here. She had to say something, anything, before things started getting out of hand.

“Alright!” Chloe raised her voice, and the room went silent again. “Okay, it’s true I wasn’t as useful as I would have like to be-”

“Got that right,” Piper smirked, as Chloe powered on.

“And that’s because…” Chloe steeled herself. “It’s because I have amnesia. I woke up in that forest with amnesia, right as the mystery dungeon appeared.”

The group all started talking again. “Amnesia!” “Well that explains it!”

“Chloe,” Cinnamon had moved to her side, and was speaking to her quietly. “Are you sure about this?”

“Y- Yeah, I am,” Chloe replied.

“Because,” Cinnamon continued very seriously, “that is one hell of a coincidence. I’d go as far as saying that a pokémon waking up with amnesia in the exact same location as a newly emerged mystery dungeon, could not be a coincidence.”

“I- I hadn’t thought about that,” Chloe stammered, suddenly extremely nervous.

“Can you remember anything else about your past, Chloe?” Cinnamon probed. “Anything at all? It could be useful information, no matter how small.”

Chloe gulped.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I buy it,” Piper said loudly from the corner, drawing all attention to her. “I mean, if she had proper amnesia, she wouldn’t know her name, or-”

“Piper!” Chloe shouted, realising what she was about to say, but it was too late.

“-or that she used to be ‘human’, whatever that is,” Piper shrugged. “If you ask me, she was just making an excuse so she didn’t have to fight.”

Okay, she could salvage this, it was like Spiral said, Piper is just a liar, she-

“Piper!” Celes shouted crossly, as Chloe’s heart sank even further. “That was not, not for you to tell! You should be ashamed, ashamed!”

Oh, Celes…

The room was deathly silent now, and all eyes were on her.

What could she say? She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Everyone knew. It was too late, now. She’d never be able to just be a ledyba. Now, she was the human-turned-ledyba, and everyone knew.

Everyone knew.