ARC 1, CHAPTER 3

“…Uh, was it this empty before?”

“I don’t think so…” the Vulpix responded to her Froakie friend.

After leaving the guild building, the newly-made rescue team made their way to the billboard to go on their very first rescue mission. However, when they got there, the board was all but empty! When they passed earlier, the board, while still somewhat barren, did have a few jobs they could have picked up. But just their luck, someone must have taken them while they were setting up their team. There were a few jobs left, including the wanted poster Zari was looking at earlier, but they were all five star jobs; something the Dreamsavers knew they weren’t ready for.

“N-Now what?” Zari asked, even though she knew very well her teammates didn’t have an answer either.

“I… don’t know,” was Stella’s expected response. The day was still young, and they were left without anything to do. With no money, and nowhere else to go, what can they do?

“I… guess we should head back to base…” Irima said after a long silence. “No point in staying here, after all.”

“You’re right,” Stella said. “Let’s-”

“Shh!” Zari suddenly hissed, something neither of her teammates expected. “Do you hear that?”

The three became silent. This area of town, as usual, was very quiet. However, listening closely, the three could pick up a very faint sound amidst the silence. It sounded like… crying.

“This way!” Zari shouted as soon as she was certain her friends could hear it. Zari then ran off, her friends following close behind.

While the city was indeed very busy, their pursuit led them to another empty part of town. There weren’t many buildings around, and it was a flat clearing. That explained why this part was so empty.

Well, almost empty.

When the Dreamsavers got to the clearing, immediately they spotted the source of the noise. It was an Audino with larger than normal ears and a poofy tuft of hair on its head. It wore a pink scarf as well. The Audino looked distressed, and was crying as the sounds the team heard suggested.

Immediately, Stella took action. Her companions hesitated, but followed her soon enough.

“Excuse me?” Stella politely asked, approaching the Audino. “Are you okay?”
The Audino looked at the team. It didn’t look too alarmed, but it did look worried.

“W-What’s wrong?” Zari asked.

“I…” the Audino hesitated, both from trying to calm down, and trying to find what to say. “I’m just so worried…”

“Worried?” Stella echoed, concern filling her.

“M-My friend,” the Audino continued, but paused trying to think on how to explain her situation. “She… she’s gone…”

“Gone?” Irima questioned. “What do you mean ‘gone’?”

“Sh-She’s gone missing!” the Audino blurted out, and at that point, she started crying again.

Zari’s hidden eyes widened. “Missing?”

“Sh-She went out a couple days ago,” the Audino shakily explained. “A-And she hasn’t come back…”

The Dreamsavers were stunned by this info. This poor Audino’s friend was missing in action, and she was worried sick. The three exchanged glances amongst each other. It didn’t take long for Stella to step up to the sobbing pokémon.

“Don’t cry, ma’am,” Stella said, using her soft tails to pat the Audino’s back. “We’ll find her.”

The Audino looked up at the Vulpix, still teary-eyed. “Y-You will?” she said.

“Of course,” Stella reassured her. “Anything to help.” Stella looked back at her teammates. They both thought about it for a second. It’s true this wasn’t an official mission they were assigned or picked up, but that hardly mattered. This pokémon needed their help. That is what they set out to do in the first place. So after a moment, they nodded in agreement.

Stella turned back to the Audino. “Where’s the last place you saw her?” she asked. She hoped the Audino at least had a lead they could follow, and lucky for her, she did.

“I-In the forest out that way,” the Audino pointed her directions. “Her name is Elliana.”

“Okay, thank you,” Stella said, turning to her teammates. “Let’s hurry, quick.”

The Dreamsavers hurried off into the forest, to their first rescue mission.

---

The team wasted no time searching the forest. They hoped they would find more clues as to the missing pokémon’s whereabouts. While they didn’t find anything directly associated with any sort of missing pokémon, they did eventually find something that caught their attention.

It was a hole in the ground. It inclined quite steadily downward, but it looked very deep. From here, while they couldn’t see much, it looked like a sort of cave system. Immediately, Stella knew what it was.

“I think,” Stella said, “this is a mystery dungeon.”

“A mystery dungeon?” Irima asked. Having no memories, he wasn’t exactly familiar with something like that.

“They’re everywhere around here,” Stella explained. “The layout of the dungeon changes every time someone enters…”

Zari thought for a moment. “Do… Do you think she could’ve gotten lost in there?” she asked. She was voicing exactly what everyone else was thinking.

“Maybe,” Stella said. “Only one way to find out.”

“W-Wait, you want to go in?” Irima said, skepticism in his voice. “But… what if we get lost too?”

“Y-Yeah,” Zari agreed. “We don’t have our badge yet. H-How are we going to get out?”

There was a pause. “I… I don’t know,” Stella said honestly. “But I do know one thing… there’s a pokémon that needs my help… that needs our help. And if they’re down there… then I’m not going to leave them.” With that, Stella jumped into the hole.

Once again, Stella’s teammates hesitated. Was Stella being too reckless? Was she being irrational? Was there a better way to do this? They didn’t have time to think about that though, as they jumped in after the Vulpix.

---

The team made their way deeper and deeper into the mystery dungeon. They made certain to scout out every floor and make sure no one was there before moving onto the next. Luckily, the team didn’t have any issues. Getting lost, attacked, or tired didn’t happen once for the trip. In fact, there was no sign of life at all, besides the company of each other. Hope was dwindling as they neared the end, however, their luck hadn’t run out.

They were making their way through the last rooms of the dungeon. It was going the same as before, until at last, they came across the first signs of life in this cave. Or rather, it came across them.

Two pokémon suddenly bolted past the small team. Though unharmed, the Dreamsavers were shaken up by this sudden interaction. They looked back and saw that it was a Granbull and a Clefairy that passed them. They seemed to be in a hurry, mostly because they weren’t able to get a good look at them before they vanished from view. After that, the team just stood there, trying to process the event that whizzed by them.

“What… was that?” Irima finally spoke up, though his teammates likely didn’t have a solid answer. That was certainly a bizarre moment. However, that did mean something. With how fast they seemed to want to leave, that meant there was a high chance that there would be something in the room they came out of!

“Come on!” Stella shouted, running into the room the two pokémon came out of. Zari and Irima didn’t hesitate this time, and followed close behind. And in that room, they didn’t find something.

They found someone.

Lying on the ground, clearly weakened, was an Eevee. The Eevee’s fur was much fluffier than usual, and she wore two bows on her head, and a gold necklace around her neck. The team immediately ran over to the Eevee. Thankfully, she was alive, and didn’t seem to have any physical injuries, but she was unconscious.

“Is… Is this Elliana?” Zari asked.

“I’m willing to bet it is,” Stella said. There was no way to be certain it was, but the evidence they saw made it likely. “Come on, let’s get her out of here!”

But before the group could do anything, they were cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

“Well, well, well,” the voice said. The sudden presence was quite unsettling to the young team, especially since they had thought they were alone. “What do we have here?” That’s when the voice made itself known. Rising up from the ground, came a menacing looking Dragapult. “A couple of little heroes?”

“Hey, I remember these runts,” another voice spoke up, and a moment later, a familiar Ditto materialized behind the group. “Those are the guys that helped me escape the fuzz today.”

“Is that so?” the Dragapult said. “How do you think we should repay these kind people, then?” The Dreamsavers did not like his tone when he said that. Or his sadistic smirk.

“I say we take them on a little… trip,” the Ditto said, smirking as well.

“W-What do you want from us?” Stella asked, stepping in front of her allies.

“D-Did you do this to this poor Eevee?” Zari said, her emotions stirring in all directions.

“Our business is nothing of your concern,” the Dragapult responded. “This little Eevee has merely become an accessory to our plans,”

“And that makes you witnesses,” the Ditto said, now in a much more serious tone. “Let’s take care of them, shall we?”

“It’s a win-win!” the Dragapult said. “For us, anyway,” that sadistic smirk turned into cruel laughter that deeply unnerved the Dreamsavers. But what was even more unnerving was what was on his head. Instead of Dreepys resting on his head, they now noticed what looked like actual missiles. “Kill them.” Without another word, the Dragapult fired the missiles towards them that Stella had to jump backwards to avoid. She knew a fight was about to break out.

The Ditto then changed its form into another pokemon; a thin, black, lizard-like pokemon. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?” the Ditto, now a Salazzle, said, right before firing a Venoshock at Irima, who quickly ducked to dodge it.

“G-Get away!” Stella shouted, blowing an Icy Wind at the offenders. The Dragapult disappeared momentarily to effortlessly avoid the attack. After reappearing, he chuckled at her.

“A feisty one, are ya?” he mocked her. “Those are always the fun ones,”

While he was speaking, Zari stepped up. She shot a Psybeam out of her antenna at the Dragapult. It hit him, but that only served to mildly annoy him.

“Caught me monologuing, eh?” he said. “Let’s see how you like this then!” The Dragapult shot a Shadow Ball, but he didn’t shoot it at them, he shot it upwards. This distracted Zari long enough for him to sink into the ground, undetected. By the time Zari realized what was going on, it was too late. The Dragapult appeared right behind her and hit Zari hard; Phantom Force.

Zari tumbled from the attack, but it wasn’t over. The Shadow Ball he shot earlier was now coming down, straight towards the now vulnerable Zari. However, Irima suddenly jumped in front of her and shot a Water Pulse at the dark blob. The pulses caused the shot to fly off course, and it landed and ruptured just in front of them.

Afterwards, Irima sighed, but didn’t get a moment more, as he was struck with a Fire Lash from the Ditto immediately. Despite the uneffective hit, Irima got knocked off his feet, and landed near where Zari was struggling to get up.

Stella knew they were in trouble.

“You put up a fight, didn’t you?” the Ditto said, him and the Dragapult closing in on the group. “Most people just give up.”

“I like when they fight back,” the Dragapult said. “I love watching them struggle.” He grinned, sending chills up the team’s spines.

“I’ve had my fun, but I think it’s time we end this,” the Ditto grinned also, though he had a bit more of a serious tone.

“Goodbye, pathetic wimps,” the Dragapult said dryly. Stella was terrified at what they were going to do.

Luckily, she never found out. Before anything else happened, the Dragapult was suddenly struck from the side by a black-colored slash from a dark blur. He was thrown off balance, but quickly recovered.

“What the hell?” the Ditto shouted, veering to the direction the blur went, but by the time he looked, he was immediately knocked down by an attack to the neck, a Throat Chop. He turned back into a Ditto after the tumble.

Their attacker paused for a moment while they were getting their bearings. It was a Zoroark that attacked them. It turned to the Dreamsavers, who were just starting to stand back up. Stella backed away from it. Was it friendly? Did it want a piece of them too?

“Are you guys okay?” the Zoroark asked in a friendly, but concerned voice.

Stella looked to her teammates before confirming with a nod. They were injured, but had no physical wounds.

By that point, the Dragapult and Ditto had recovered, and they weren’t happy. “You’re defending these wimps?” the Dragapult angrily shouted. “Get lost, freak! This is our kill!”

“You aren’t getting to them on my watch!” the Zoroark said to them.

“Watch us!” the Ditto shouted angrily.

The Zoroark backed up to the Dreamsavers. “Quickly,” he whispered to them. “Use this,” the Zoroark quickly handed a blue colored orb to Stella.

“W-What’s this?” Stella asked, warily taking it.

“An escape orb,” the Zoroark hastily responded. “Hold it upwards, and it’ll teleport you out of here.”

“B-But what about you?” Zari asked, worry filling her voice.

“I’ll hold them off. Just go, get out of here!”

Stella hesitated for a moment, but she knew she didn’t have time to. “Okay everyone, grab onto me!” Stella shouted, running back to the Eevee. Zari and Irima followed suit. A fight was breaking out behind them, but they didn’t have time to pay attention. Zari and Irima held onto Stella, while she grabbed onto the Eevee’s tail. After everyone was secured, Stella immediately held up the orb with her other paw. The orb started glowing, and in just a few seconds, the four pokémon blinked out of the dungeon.

---

Before they knew it, the team was back on the surface. More than that, they were back in town. The three took their time to take in their surroundings, and they soon realized they were near the guild. All three of them were relieved to know they weren’t teleported to a place they would get lost in.

“N-Now what?” Zari asked after they all got their bearings.

“We’ve gotta make sure this Eevee’s okay,” Stella said. “And find that Audino and tell her we found her.”

“But… we don’t know for sure this is who she was looking for,” Irima stated. He was right. With no name tag and no clue as to what pokémon they were looking for, there was no way of knowing that this was the missing pokémon.

“I know,” Stella voiced this fact. “But there’s not much we can do about that. We can only hope this is who she was looking for.”

“I-I’ll go find her,” Zari said. “I know the city best.” Without another word, Zari hurried off.

“I’ll keep her company until she comes back,” Irima said, kneeling at the Eevee. “Uh, you go to the guild and tell them what we did today.”

“Got it,” Stella responded. “I’ll go to base after that. Meet me there, okay?”

Irima nodded, and with that, Stella walked off toward the guild. She told the people currently at the guild about what had happened. However, they did not look pleased about it one bit. Their rescue wasn’t written on paper as most requests are, so it wasn’t considered “official” to them. Stella attempted to reason with them, saying that they needed help desperately, but it didn’t work. The guild members brushed Stella away as soon as they felt they heard enough. No rewards for their rescue, nothing.

Stella walked to base after leaving the guild. Saying she wasn’t even a little disappointed would be a bluff. The guild didn’t even acknowledge the fact that her team rescued someone from possible death! And of course, she didn’t get anything for said rescue. It was frustrating, but in the end, it didn’t matter. They saved someone’s life, and that’s all that truly mattered to Stella. Even so, Stella just couldn’t shake the bad feeling she had. Maybe it was just the way those guild members treated her. She couldn’t really do anything about it though. Even if she could, she wouldn’t. She was too nice.

Stella had been waiting at base for about half an hour before Zari and Irima approached her. And they seemed to be in a good mood too.

“S-Stella! Good news!” Zari said, clearly excited.

“W-We found the right pokémon! That was her!” Irima followed up.

“A-And she’s going to be okay. She said she’s able to heal her.”

“Really? T-That’s great to hear,” Stella said, though her tone wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic. This didn’t go unnoticed by her friends.

“A-Are you okay, Stella?” Zari asked her. Stella just nodded, mostly because she didn’t know what to say at that moment.

“Um, did you tell the guild about the rescue?” Irima asked, hoping a change in subject would lighten the mood. It had the opposite effect.

“Y-Yeah, I did,” Stella said, turning away slightly. “They, uh… didn’t give us anything for it.”

“They didn’t?” Irima said. “Oh, that’s a shame,”

“I-It’s okay though!” Zari said, trying to stay cheery. “We helped someone, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Stella said. She had thought about that all the way home, but her thoughts wandered as she thought about it, and now many things were on her mind. “I-I don’t know… this is really tough… what if we’re not cut out for this?”

“H-Hey, it’s okay…” Zari said, waddling up to her. “I-It’s only our first day. We’ll get the hang of it. Tomorrow will be better.”

“Zari’s right,” Irima said. “Let’s get some sleep now, we’ll feel better in the morning.”

Stella looked at her companions, who were both smiling. There was a pause of silence. “Y-You’re right,” she finally said. Soon after, her depressed expression was replaced with a small smile. “Thanks.”

---

Elliana laid in an isolated spot near the center of town. From here, she could see the billboard of requests from the Capital of Rescue Teams, and she just stared at it. Her Audino friend had helped heal her, but she was still weakened. She couldn’t stand, she could barely speak. And yet, she was restless. She knew who drained her physical energy. She knew who tried to kidnap her. No one would believe her if she told anyone though. So, she just laid there, hoping to regain her strength soon.

All she could do was think. Think about all that had happened. She knew she got rescued from that mystery dungeon, though she didn’t know who. She thought about everything that happened to her before then. She wasn’t really saddened by it. She was just… confused.

But then, she was shaken out of her thoughts. She felt something, and it didn’t feel normal. Although she could not move her legs, she was about to slowly turn her head. And that’s when she spotted it. That confirmed her suspicions.

She was not alone.