ARC 1, CHAPTER 4
by zuperZACHThe next morning was quite peaceful. The sun slowly rose, giving everything it touched a golden tint. Stella was awake early, sitting outside the stump she now called home, taking in the morning breeze and observing her surroundings. After the chaos of yesterday, she thoroughly enjoyed this moment of peace, taking it all in, letting it soothe her mind and body.
A yawn from inside signaled to Stella that one of her friends was waking up. After a brief moment, Zari poked her head outside.
“O-Oh… good morning, Stella,” the little Hatenna said to her companion, not expecting her to already be awake.
“Good morning,” Stella greeted back.
Zari slowly crawled out of the log’s entrance, but due to her short stature, ended up tumbling out, head first. This didn’t bother her, that was usually how she exited.
“A-Are you ready for a better day?” Zari asked after standing back up.
Stella nodded. “Let’s wait for Irima to wake up, then we’ll head to town and find some missions,”
Zari nodded in agreement. She had a strangely good feeling about today. Perhaps it was just the sun’s glow that made her feel this way; it had an unnaturally pleasant effect on her.
“H-Hello?”
“…”
“T-Thank you…”
“I-I’m Elliana. What’s your name?”
“…”
“O-Oh, can you not speak?”
“Uhm… can you… spell it out then?”
“…”
“L…Luna? Your name is Luna?”
“…”
“Nice to meet you, Luna. A-And… thanks again.”
It was late in the morning by the time the Dreamsavers had reached the plaza. The sun had risen well up into the sky by now, and the atmosphere seemed normal.
That is until they actually reached the plaza. They were on their way to the rescue hub when they noticed a commotion in the plaza, one that was abnormal. Curiosity overcame the small team, and they decided to take a detour to see what was going on.
It didn’t take long to see what was happening. There appeared to be a speech going on. Although a large crowd had gathered, the team was able to see a stage from where they were at. Up on the stage was a Sylveon. It appeared to have fairy-like wings on its back, though those were likely just a prop for show. Evidently, it was the one giving the speech, judging by the stand mic in front of it. And apparently, they had arrived late into the speech, because the next thing it said was:
“And here they are! Team Ace, the strongest rescue team in Anonami!” The crowd erupted into cheering as four tough looking pokémon entered the stage: a Kommo-o, a Toxtricity, an Aegislash, and a Charizard. The Charizard was in front of them all, so the Dreamsavers could only assume that he was the leader.
The Charizard started speaking into the mic, though the team barely heard it. They were lost in their own thoughts now.
“So, that’s Team Ace…” Stella said.
“The… strongest team in the region…” Zari followed up. It was true that they did look strong, certainly stronger than any of them. However, the team got a bad vibe from them. It was easy to see why, with how the Charizard was speaking into the mic. Very egotistical and dismissive.
After he was done, the Sylveon stepped up to the mic. “I will make a promise to you all!” she said. “Team Ace and Team Moonlight will do everything in our power to recover every last missing pokémon in this city! And we will not rest until we find them all!” The crowd broke into cheers again.
Team Moonlight? So that’s who the Sylveon was representing. She must’ve been the leader with how flashy she looked. However, there was one other, more pressing matter on the team’s mind now.
“M-Missing pokémon?” Zari timidly said after the cheers died down a bit.
“What does she mean by that?” Stella asked. Zari was thinking the exact same thing.
“Uh, guys?” Irima called out to them from a distance. “Y-You might want to come look at this…” Stella and Zari ran towards the direction of their friend’s voice. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long to find him. While Stella and Zari were listening to the speech, the Froakie decided to go off to the bulletin board at the rescue hub. When Stella and Zari made it there, they were not prepared for what they saw.
The bulletin board was completely filled up with requests. There had to have been hundreds on there. But that wasn’t all. Nearly all of the requests were about pokémon who have gone missing. None of them had any leads to their whereabouts. It was like they vanished without a trace.
The three couldn’t help but stare at the board, their mouths hanging open. They had never seen anything like this before. All of this in a matter of hours. For a long while, there was dead silence. The team didn’t even hear the commotion from the plaza. They just couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
They were so focused on this massive issue that they didn’t notice that they weren’t alone. That is, until they heard a sigh. They didn’t exactly snap out of their thoughts, but they did turn their focus toward the sound.
There was only one other pokémon at the rescue hub with them. It was a Gallade. He was staring at the billboard too, his arms crossed. However, his expression wasn’t that of bewilderment or shock. It was more so… disappointment.
He was there when the Dreamsavers approached, but paid no mind to them. But then he turned to him, and realized that they were not only looking at him, but that they’ve also been there for a while. There was a tense silence as they stared at each other. Zari felt compelled to apologize for staring, but the Gallade spoke up first.
“Are you three a rescue team by chance?” There was a slight pause. They weren’t exactly shocked by him speaking up first. They weren’t exactly confused by the question he asked. Maybe it was their shock of the missing pokémon situation that kept them from answering the question right away.
“Uhm… y-yes sir, we are,” Stella finally said.
The Gallade looked at them for another moment in silence. So, they were a rescue team. From the looks of it, they were still a young team. How they spoke showed that they were unlike most rescue teams in the area. They seemed compassionate and kind… at least for now. He closed his eyes, thinking for another moment before speaking again.
“I wish you the greatest of luck on this endeavor,” he said. “I can only hope that you don’t become like the rest of them.” The Gallade then walked off without another word.
All the Dreamsavers could think to do at that moment was stand there in shock. There was a lot to take in, and none of them knew how to react to it all. What could all of this mean? What did this say about their future? They could only think about it. And thinking about it only raised more questions.
Two figures enter a darkened room. It’s impossible to tell who they are, but for their purposes, it was plenty of light. They slowly approached another figure, who had been in the room beforehand.
“Cascal, Darmur. What took you so long?” Apparently it had noticed the two come in. They weren’t surprised, but that didn’t unnerve them.
“My apologies, sir,” one of them said.
“Did you make any progress on them?”
“Yes sir, the mission was a complete success.”
“We just got held up, is all,” the other said.
“Held up?” the first person, evidently the boss, asked, curiosity in his voice more than hostility. “By what, may I ask?”
“Oh, just some little troublemakers, trying to defend the pawn who got kidnapped,” the third voice said.
“They weren’t anything special,” voice 2 said. “Just a Vulpix, Hatenna, and Froakie. Nothing but a bunch of weaklings.”
“Hold on a second,” a fourth voice chimed in. “Did you say… a Froakie?”
“And a Hatenna?” a fifth voice added.
“Yeah. Those little shit stains got away though. They aren’t out of my sights though. I’m gonna take care of them reeeal soon.” voice 3 said maliciously.
“You aren’t getting permission to do anything to them” the fourth person cut him off.
“Because we’re gonna be the ones doing it,” voice 5 said. “And we’re gonna make it hurt.”
“Hm, very well then,” the boss said. “Since we have nothing planned currently, you may go out and give them hell. As for you two,” he turned to the other two, “find out more about this ‘pawn’ you mentioned. There must be a reason they were after them. But do not engage in anything, or else.”
The third person groaned. “Fiiine,” he said. “But I’m finding another orphanage to burn down after this.”
The fourth and fifth persons exited as soon as they were dismissed. They had some personal business to take care of.
Ellie couldn’t sleep. She had a bad feeling in her gut. Physically, she was feeling much better, it was her intuition that was ailing her. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was though. Just a sense of bad things to come.
She knew she couldn’t shake these thoughts if she tried. All she could attempt to do was sleep. Maybe these thoughts would pass over her. So, she forced her eyes shut and tried to relax.
Next thing she knew, Ellie found herself in a dark place. She looked around, but all she could see were clouds, mist, and swirls of pink and purple. It was bizarre and unfamiliar, yet Ellie didn’t feel scared. In fact, it was… somewhat soothing.
For a minute, this was all she could see here. But then, she saw something else, and had to do a double take to make sure she saw correctly. Indeed she did; it was a silhouette. It appeared to be a pokémon, a little smaller than her, but in the darkness, its features were indiscernible.
She was alarmed at the sudden presence, especially when she realized it was coming toward her. Yet despite everything her head was telling her, she did not back away. After a tense silence, the figure eventually came almost face-to-face with Ellie. It did not move for another moment, unnerving Ellie for that moment. And then, it made a move.
It… hugged her.
Suddenly, all of Ellie’s fear melted away. She didn’t know who it was that was hugging her, but it felt sort of familiar. Comforting, even. Even her previous thoughts that kept her awake began to drift away. She felt… secure. As if nothing bad would truly happen.
Then, Ellie heard a voice. It too was unfamiliar, but just as comforting as the hug.
“Don’t worry. I will protect you.”
“You are safe.”
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