Chapter 15: Shimmering Sands

The rest of Team Sunrise’s stay with Melody’s family passed by relatively uneventfully. Though, that wasn’t to say it was boring. Velvet and Silver shared a few more amusing anecdotes from the Skitty’s childhood, much to her embarrassment. Aria kept up her curious barrage of questions about everything her older sister had been up to, along with a healthy amount of questions being thrown Flynn’s way as well. When evening came, the group even got to hear Velvet sing for a while down at the theater.

All in all, Flynn had enjoyed the team’s time here. It had been nice to get to see a bit of where Melody had grown up. Petalfall Village, for as different as it felt compared to Treasure Town, was quite cozy in its own way. And while he’d admittedly felt just a little nervous at the prospect of meeting Melody’s family, things had generally gone quite well. He found himself looking forward to whenever they would eventually visit again.

After another simple dinner, and a thankfully peaceful night’s sleep, it came time for Team Sunrise to start preparing for their trip home. The long journey out to the village had drained most of the food they’d packed, so they needed to refill their treasure bag a bit.

Flynn opted to volunteer for the task, giving Melody a bit of time to pick through her old belongings for anything she’d want to bring back with them. He imagined there had to be at least a few things in there that she was really attached to from when she was younger.

Velvet ended up accompanying Flynn into town. Apparently, the family’s pantry was also beginning to run low, so it was a convenient time for her to replenish that too. It was probably just as well; she would know her way around the village far better than Flynn. He thought he remembered where Silver had pointed out the shops yesterday, but it didn’t hurt to have a guide along again.

The Delcatty quietly hummed to herself as she led the way, her tail gently swaying back and forth like a metronome in time with the relaxing tune. Flynn didn’t know the song by name, but something about it definitely sounded vaguely familiar. Likely one of the many tunes he’d overheard Melody humming in the past.

Flynn chuckled softly to himself. “…Wondered where Melody got that habit.”

“Hm?” Velvet perked up a curious ear at that, an amused grin quickly appearing on her face. “Yes, I suppose it’s one of the many things she’s picked up from me, over the years. I simply find it relaxing.”

Flynn nodded. From what he’d seen, it seemed to be much the same for Melody. Though, in their early days as a team, she would often get embarrassed whenever she realized that Flynn could hear her.

“What about you, Flynn?” Velvet asked after a while. “Have you ever given music a try? Perhaps simply followed along with a tune from Melody?”

Flynn hesitated a bit. “…Not very good at it,” he eventually answered, a faint blush on his face as he recalled the one time Melody had gotten him to try.

“I see,” Velvet said, her amused smile growing wider.

The conversation petered out for a short while after that, the two continuing along the path in silence. Flynn glanced around, committing more of the village’s sights to memory while he was still here.

Eventually, Velvet spoke up once again. “I really must thank you, you know,” she said, her voice taking on a softer and more heartfelt tone. “For helping Melody fulfill her dream, and for always having her back out there.”

“We… have each other’s backs,” Flynn replied. “She’s pulled me out of trouble countless times too. It’s… what partners do.”

“Oh, I understand that. And it’s clear to see just how much Melody has grown, during your travels.” Velvet smiled, her face full of pride. “But neither of you could have gotten nearly this far on your own, could you?”

Flynn couldn’t deny that. He struggled to even imagine where he would have ended up if he hadn’t crossed paths with Melody in the beginning. And Melody had told him more than once about how much his own confidence had helped her to draw out her courage.

“More than all that, though…” Velvet continued, “…you make her happy. The stark contrast in her mood from the last time we got to see her is a testament to that.” The Delcatty smiled warmly down at Flynn. “As her mother, I’m just thankful that she’s found someone she can rely on who makes her feel that way.”

“I’m… thankful to have met her, too,” Flynn replied, a faint blush on his face as he returned Velvet’s grin.

Another brief silence fell over the pair for a moment, Velvet visibly thinking over her words a bit before speaking again. “I take it that, given your unusual circumstances, you… don’t really have any family of your own?”

Flynn shook his head. Even Grovyle had never mentioned anything about Flynn having a family. Which likely either meant that even Grovyle didn’t know anything about them… or that it wasn’t a very pretty story. Given the condition that the dark future had been in… Flynn preferred not to dwell on the thought too much.

“Well,” Velvet continued, “I want you to know… as far as I’m concerned, you’re one of us now. If you ever need another pillar of support, or even just someone to confide in, we’re always here for both of you, alright? We’re just a letter away.”

Flynn blinked up in surprise at the Delcatty, caught off-guard by her words.

He had to admit, outside of Melody and the other guild members, he didn’t know that many other pokemon all that well. That was generally fine with Flynn, though. He wasn’t the most outgoing sort of person by his nature. And the friends he did have, were all pokemon Flynn knew he could rely on when he needed them. Still, an offer of family… even if it wouldn’t truly be the same, the sentiment was… appreciated.

“I… um, thank you,” he eventually managed to say. Velvet did not say anything in reply, but her gentle smile spoke enough on its own.

---

By the time Flynn and Velvet returned from picking up supplies, Melody had picked out everything she wanted to bring back with her. Mostly a couple of her old favorite books, along with a toy replica of an explorer’s badge she’d treasured as a child… and a small plush Skitty that her mother had given her when she was little.

She nearly decided against bringing that last one, feeling slightly embarrassed. It didn’t help that Flynn visibly had to hold in a chuckle when he saw it, though she knew he didn’t mean anything by it.

After finishing their preparations and saying their farewells to Melody’s family for now, Team Sunrise set out for home.

The return trip took about as long as the initial journey to the village. The pair arrived back at Treasure Town around late afternoon the next day, just as some of the other exploration teams were beginning to return from their work for the day.

Melody and Flynn’s plans for the rest of the evening had been quite simple. Just a brief stop at the guild, to ask Chatot about the odd figure that had been appearing in their dreams lately, and then hopefully back to Sharpedo Bluff for a quiet dinner together at home.

But as they reached the crossroads at the edge of town, the sight of a small crowd lingering just outside the entrance to Spinda’s Cafe made the duo stop and stare in confusion.

It was a little unusual for Spinda’s to be busy at this hour, since the dinner rush likely wouldn’t have started just yet, but on its own it wouldn’t be that odd. However, most of the pokemon gathered outside the entrance didn’t even seem focused on the cafe itself. The group chattered excitedly amongst themselves, a couple of them proudly waving small pieces of paper or other objects in the air while the others looked on in envy. Melody even noticed Bidoof and Sunflora amid the rest of the crowd, as well as a few other faces who she knew tended to frequent the cafe.

After sharing a brief glance, Melody and Flynn nodded to each other, deciding to investigate.

They slowly made their way into the crowd, beelining for the pair of their former guildmates. Bidoof and Sunflora quickly took notice of them approaching, and both raised a limb in greeting. “Oh, howdy Team Sunrise!” Bidoof called out.

“Hey guys,” Melody replied. She couldn’t help but cock her head a bit as she glanced around at the crowd. “What’s going on?”

“Oh my gosh, you haven’t heard?” Sunflora gasped. “Team Charm’s in town!”

Melody’s ears perked up ever so slightly. “Really? Team Charm?” She noticed Flynn giving her a curious look, so she turned to face him. “They’re an extremely popular and successful exploration team. They’ve been hunting down treasure for… almost as long as I’ve been alive, I think.”

“They’re also incredibly beautiful and cool!” a nearby Pachirisu chimed in. She waved a small piece of paper in the air. “Look! I even managed to snag their autographs!”

Bidoof blushed a bit as he shuffled in place. “G-Golly… I was hopin’ to see if I could get them to sign something for me too, but I haven’t even been able to work up the nerve to go in and see ’em yet.”

“You totally should!” Sunflora said. “Oh my gosh, the three of them were super nice when I talked to them earlier up by the guild. And you never know when you’ll get another chance like this!”

Flynn let out a quiet hum. He glanced out at the rest of the crowd for a moment, before turning to Melody again. “…Are you a fan of theirs too?”

“I mean…” Melody paused for a moment. “…Not as much as a lot of these pokemon, apparently. But I did look up to them quite a bit as a kid.”

“Do you want to go in and meet them?” Flynn asked.

Again, Melody hesitated briefly. But her faint smile and the gentle swaying of her tail gave away her excitement. After a moment, she nodded. “Y-Yeah, we may as well. While we have the chance.” She cast an uncertain glance at the lingering crowd, before turning to Sunflora. “Is there any trouble with us just going in?”

Sunflora shook her head. “Pretty sure it’s fine. Just try not to hang around too long unless you plan on ordering something. Spinda wants to make sure it doesn’t get too crowded in there.”

That seemed fair. Melody supposed she and Flynn could stop to eat here rather than having dinner back at the bluff like they’d planned… but given how busy the cafe clearly was, it would probably be far more convenient to simply stick with their plan.

Team Sunrise stepped over to the entrance and slowly made their way inside. As expected, the cafe was fairly packed. Most of the tables were already taken, with various exploration teams chattering amongst themselves over food and drink. But everyone’s attention was focused towards one table in particular, where a Lopunny, Gardevoir and Medicham sat. A couple of other pokemon currently stood near the trio, eagerly chatting them up.

The cafe’s staff looked to be in quite a bustle, trying their best to keep up with the rush. Spinda hurriedly shook a glass between his paws, mixing the drink inside this way and that before setting it down for his waiting customer. Past the door to the kitchen, Melody could see the Ludicolo chef and his Bellossom assistants trying to balance their focus between several different dishes they were trying to prepare. Meanwhile, Wynaut and Wobbuffet had left the recycle stand temporarily empty, helping out where they were needed and making sure everyone in the cafe stayed orderly.

As Melody and Flynn looked closer at Team Charm, they quickly noticed that the trio’s reactions to their eager fans varied significantly. The Medicham seemed to absolutely live for the attention, a boisterous grin on her face as she showed off for one of the pokemon. Lopunny kept a much more calm and refined air about her, but she still wore a pleasant smile as she signed what looked to be a poster for the other fan. Gardevoir, by contrast, sat on the far side of the table with her back to the wall, and seemed content to not interact with the fans if not directly spoken to. Her face still maintained a polite, even expression, but Melody got the impression that she would rather be somewhere a little quieter.

After about a minute, the pair of fans finally moved on, turning back to head for the exit. Melody noticed Gardevoir give a small, inaudible sigh once they were gone. “I still don’t see why we couldn’t have come earlier in the afternoon,” the psychic-type said, her voice partly drowned out by the din of the cafe. “We could have been in and out of town without nearly so much fuss if we’d simply come when all the other explorers were still gone for the day.”

Lopunny gave a wide grin. “With all due respect, darling, the ‘fuss’ as you call it is half the fun of stopping in town.”

She paused briefly as Spinda wobbled up to their table and dropped off a fresh round of drinks for the trio. Lopunny turned to the cafe owner, mouthing a silent ‘thank you’ as she batted her eyelashes coyly at him. Spinda’s footing grew even more unsteady, a lovestruck grin plastered on his face as he nodded to Lopunny and started back towards his counter again.

After letting out a soft laugh at Spinda’s reaction, Lopunny returned her focus to Gardevoir. “We’ve earned every bit of the reputation our team has built up, haven’t we? What’s so bad about a little attention?”

Gardevoir glanced to the Medicham sitting to her other side, only for the fighting-type to give a dismissive shrug. “Sorry, Gardie. I still agree with Lops on this one.” She took a long drink from her glass before letting out a pleased sigh. “Like she said, we’ve earned our fame with all the hard work we’ve put in over the years. Nothing wrong with getting to live it up a bit, every now and then.”

The psychic-type still looked unconvinced. But after a moment, Gardevoir let out a resigned sigh and nodded. “Very well. Since it makes the two of you happy.” She gave her team leader a sidelong glance before quietly adding, “…Even if I still think you enjoy certain aspects of our… ‘reputation‘ a little too much, Lopunny.”

Lopunny looked like she was about to respond to that, when she finally noticed Flynn and Melody. She looked down at the pair, a hint of surprise flashing on her face, before she drew her teammates’ attention to them as well. “Well, it seems we have another couple of guests.”

Melody nervously raised a paw in greeting. “Uh, h-hi there.” She and Flynn had been standing there for a few seconds before Team Charm had noticed them, but even with the extra time to think, Melody still wasn’t sure what to actually say.

“More fans, huh?” Medicham guessed. She gave a wide smile as she leaned back a bit in her chair. “No problem. You two got something you want signed? Or did you just want to say hi?”

Gardevoir, on the other hand, gave the pair a much more analytical gaze. “Hm. A Cyndaquil and a Skitty.” She glanced at the badge fastened to the team’s treasure bag. “And a fairly accomplished exploration team, as well…” She turned to her side, sharing a look with Lopunny. They both nodded.

“Hello there,” Lopunny greeted. “You two must be Team Sunrise, I take it? It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Across the table, Medicham perked up at that, silently blinking at the duo for a moment.

Melody’s eyes widened a bit, but she nodded. “Y-Yeah. That’s us. You’ve… heard of us, then?”

“Of course,” Lopunny said. “It’s not every day that you hear about an exploration team saving the world, after all.” She hid a chuckle behind a paw. “Not to mention graduating from the toughest explorer’s guild on the continent, for that matter. Our old friend Wigglytuff had quite a lot to say about you two, when we stopped in with him earlier.”

Now that caught both Flynn and Melody by surprise. The pair shared a look for a moment, before Melody voiced the question for both of them. “Y-You three are old friends with Wigglytuff?”

Gardevoir nodded. “He explored alongside us for a while, back before we all got famous. He went his separate way not long after meeting Chatot, but we still keep in contact with him when we can.”

“He called you two his star recruits!” Medicham chimed in, an intrigued look in her eyes as she sized up Team Sunrise. “Then again, ol’ Wiggles is probably the sort of guy who’d call all of his apprentices his ‘star recruits’. But still, your reputation speaks for itself.”

Melody couldn’t help but blush a bit at all of the praise, especially coming from pokemon she’d looked up to as a child. “I-I er… t-thank you? That’s… flattering to hear.”

Lopunny let out a chuckle at the Skitty’s response. “Yes, there has been quite the buzz over all of your team’s accomplishments. And as such a relatively fresh team, at that! Why, just think; if you two keep up your pace…” She gave Melody a wink, before gesturing back at the cafe’s entrance. “…you could have your own crowd of adoring fans any day now.”

Melody’s blush deepened a bit at that thought. She… wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of ever becoming that famous. And she knew Flynn would appreciate the attention even less.

Of course, the Skitty’s reaction only further amused Lopunny. Searching for a change of subject, Melody quietly asked, “S-So, um… what brings you three to Treasure Town, then?”

Lopunny turned back towards her teammates for a moment. She raised a paw to her chin, a look of exaggerated thoughtfulness settling on her face. “Hm… What do you two think? Should we tell them all about our upcoming expedition?”

Medicham blinked in surprise for a moment, seeming a bit put off at the mere suggestion. “Wh… no!” Her expression hardened. “After all the work we’ve put into finding this place, the last thing we need is to go telling everybody else where it is!” She glanced down at Team Sunrise. “No offense to you guys, but I’d rather not have other explorers trying to snag the treasure out from under us, you know?”

Gardevoir let out a thoughtful hum, her face perfectly calm and collected. “Hm… I agree it would be prudent to keep the dungeon’s location to ourselves,” she said. “But I don’t see any harm in at least sharing the general details of our mission.”

Lopunny nodded. “Does that seem like a fair compromise, Medicham?”

The fighting-type silently eyed her teammates, before letting out a sigh. “Alright. I guess that’s fair. As long as Team Sunrise agrees not to try and follow us or anything.”

“W-We promise,” Melody quickly responded, turning to share a brief look with Flynn. “I-I mean, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested…” She noticed Medicham’s face hardening again, so she cut herself short with a shake of her head. “B-But we wouldn’t think of trying to steal your hard work away. Besides, we already have… a couple things we need to look into as it is.”

The answer seemed to satisfy Medicham well enough. She turned to nod at her team leader. Lopunny reached for Team Charm’s treasure bag, which had been set on the floor next to her chair. After a moment, she pulled out what appeared to be a rather odd-looking black key, with an eye-shaped piece for a handle.

“We found this old thing ages ago, back when we were still exploring with Wigglytuff,” Lopunny said. “We let Wigglytuff hold onto it when we went our separate ways, but we’ve always wondered just what it might have gone to. And just recently, we believe we’ve finally tracked down the right place. So we came back to town for today to get the key back from Wigglytuff.”

“I’m just glad ol’ Wiggles hadn’t lost the key in all that time,” Medicham chimed in. “Seemed like he’d pretty much forgotten the thing, though, buried under the rest of his old stuff like it was. Thank goodness a perfect apple was all the motivation it took to jog his memory.”

Melody, who had been staring curiously at the key up until now, couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle at that mental image. “Yeah. That… certainly sounds like the guildmaster, alright.”

Lopunny gave a chuckle of agreement. “Yes, it seems he has not changed much, as the years have gone by.” She put the key away. “In any case, we have high hopes that this key should lead us to some very valuable treasure. After we’re done here, we plan to set out again right away, and try to get at least partway back to the dungeon while we still have some daylight.”

The sound of footsteps on the cafe floor behind her caught Melody’s attention. She briefly turned back to look, and found that a few more pokemon had just begun waiting behind them to talk to Team Charm. “Ah… I guess we should probably get going, then,” she muttered quietly, before smiling up at Lopunny again. “It’s been nice to meet you three, though! And we wish you luck with your expedition.”

“And the same to you, Team Sunrise,” Lopunny said, an approving grin on her face.

With that, Melody and Flynn turned to walk away, allowing the new set of autograph-seeking fans to take their place next to Team Charm’s table.

As Team Sunrise started to head for the entrance again, Melody allowed her gaze to wander the cafe a bit. She was mostly just curious, and didn’t intend to actually stop and say hello to anyone else while they were here. But she couldn’t help but perk up an ear when she noticed a particular red and metallic pokemon sitting alone near one of the corners. “Hey… isn’t that Scizor?”

She turned to look at Flynn. The Cyndaquil paused for a moment, before giving a nod. This was as good a chance as any to ask about the dimensional scream Flynn had had the other morning. Their other plans could probably afford to wait just a little bit longer.

Scizor raised a pincer in greeting as the pair approached. “Hey there, Team Sunrise.”

“Hi, Scizor,” Melody called out quietly. “I didn’t expect to run into you again here.”

The steel-type shrugged, gesturing down at the plate of food resting on the table in front of him. “I only came here for a bite to eat. Didn’t realize anything special was going on until I got here.” He turned to glance over at Team Charm’s table, an odd mix of emotions on his face. “I think… I am suddenly glad that few pokemon know who I am, anymore. I do not think I would handle that kind of fame very well.”

Melody couldn’t help but shudder a bit. “T-Tell me about it,” she said with a nod. After a moment, she shook it off. “A-Anyway, it’s actually pretty convenient we bumped into you here. We were actually hoping to talk with you about something.”

She turned back towards Flynn again. The Cyndaquil reached into the treasure bag on Melody’s back and started to look through it. After a moment, he pulled out the stone tablet that Scizor had given them. “We… think we know where one of the treasures is.”

Scizor’s eyes widened a little at that. “Really? Where did you happen to learn more about the Seven Treasures?”

“It’s… a little hard to explain,” Melody said. “But, um… Flynn sometimes gets these weird visions after touching something. They’ve… helped us locate a number of things across our journeys.”

Scizor cocked his head in confusion. “That is… somewhat hard to believe. But I suppose it is not the craziest thing I have heard since you thawed me out.” He leaned in to take a look at the secret slab. “What exactly did you see?”

“We were… searching the desert,” Flynn said. “Found an indent in a rock where the tablet could fit. When I put it in… something seemed to rise from the sand.”

“Hm… that all does seem to line up with some of my research,” Scizor said, nodding faintly. “Could you tell where precisely in the desert you might have been, in the vision?”

Flynn tried to think for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. “…There weren’t many landmarks to go off of.”

“Let me rephrase, then. What was the weather like? Was there a sandstorm at the time? Or if not, how harsh did the sunlight seem?”

“…The sun was very bright, now that you mention it.”

“I had a feeling.” Scizor reached for his own treasure bag, pulling out a very old and somewhat faded wonder map and spreading it out in front of him. “Amid that sprawling expanse of sand to the north, there is a particular section that pokemon refer to as the Shimmer Desert.” He pointed a pincer at the spot in question. “It is excruciatingly hot there, and the wind very rarely ever blows hard enough to cause sandstorms in that region.”

“So you think one of the Seven Treasures might be out there?” Melody asked.

“My research already gave me a suspicion that it might be the case, yes,” Scizor said. “But as harsh as the area is, I would have wanted to be a little more confident before suggesting an actual journey there.” He glanced at Flynn. “You… are certain that this vision is accurate, yes?”

Flynn nodded. “…Hasn’t been wrong before.”

Scizor shrugged. “Alright. If you are certain.” He looked back down at the map. “If you two do decide to give the area a look… I’d appreciate if you could let me know what you find.”

“Of course,” Melody replied.

“Thank you.” A wistful sort of half-smile started to settle on Scizor’s face as he examined the secret slab one last time. “It would be incredible to see all of the time I spent researching the Seven Treasures finally bear fruit, even if I cannot be the one to uncover them now.”

Melody and Flynn shared a brief look, silently considering the same thing. Melody was the one to voice it first. “Actually… if you’re still that interested in the treasures… why not come along, when we go to check out this desert?”

Scizor hesitated a moment, clearly tempted at the offer, before shaking his head. “No, no. I gave you two that tablet as thanks for saving my life. It is your treasure to pursue now, not mine. It would be… improper for me to try and go back on that now.”

“But I mean… it was your quest originally,” Melody replied. “You’re the only reason we know how to go after the treasures at all. And besides…” She gestured towards the secret slab. “We still can’t read the Unown script without your help. That might end up being important.”

Scizor paused for a moment, thinking it over. “…I suppose the extra monpower wouldn’t hurt either. I’m sure the dungeon will likely be quite challenging.” Eventually, he gave a nod. “If you truly don’t mind having me along, I would be glad to accompany you. Do you plan to set out tomorrow?”

Melody opened her mouth to respond, only to hesitate as she remembered her and Flynn’s recent dreams. She nervously turned to meet Flynn’s gaze. “We, u-um… There is one other thing we still need to look into, which should probably take priority. But if we don’t have any more leads on that by tomorrow, then uh… s-sure.”

“Alright. Should I check in at Sharpedo Bluff tomorrow morning to confirm things, then?”

“That should be fine, yeah,” Melody said with a nod.

Their plans decided, Team Sunrise and Scizor bid their farewells for the moment. Scizor resumed his meal, while Melody and Flynn finally left the cafe.

Melody’s stomach let out an angry growl. All the food in there had been quite the reminder that the two of them still hadn’t had dinner yet.

They still had one more thing to take care of first, though. So, after sharing one more silent nod, the pair started climbing the hill up towards the guild.

---

“…Alright, can you describe the pokemon you saw for me again?”

Melody shivered a bit. “She had… a m-mostly blue and yellow body. But with these shimmering pink, crescent-shaped wings.”

Chatot nodded as he continued to flip through his book. “And you said you both have only seen this pokemon within your dreams, yes?”

“T-That’s right.”

“Hm.” After a few more moments of searching, Chatot found the page he was looking for. He scooted the book towards Team Sunrise a bit, tapping a talon on a particular image for emphasis. “Did she look something like this?”

Melody leaned down to look. The image was clearly an artist’s interpretation, and a few of the proportions were just a little bit off, but… “Y-Yes. That’s the pokemon we saw.” By her side, Flynn gave a silent nod of agreement. Both explorers glanced up at the words just above the image. “…Cresselia,” Melody muttered.

“Stories call her the ‘maiden of the crescent moon’ and ‘the bringer of peaceful dreams’,” Chatot said. “Though, from what you are saying, the latter part does not seem to be holding up for you?”

“N-Not at all,” Melody said with a shudder. “The dreams that she’s brought with her are… a-anything but peaceful.”

Chatot gave a pensive hum. “Well, stories about Legendary pokemon certainly can be prone to becoming distorted over time, as any folklore can. But it is strange for the reality to be so completely opposite from what the legends claim.” He cocked his head slightly. “What exactly did she say to the two of you?”

Melody couldn’t help but flinch a bit at the question. “O-Oh, um… n-nothing specific,” she stammered. “C-Couldn’t even understand her the first couple times. A-And even when we could, most of the things she said j-just… um, d-didn’t make much sense.”

Judging by the unamused look on his face, Chatot didn’t seem to buy that. “Any information you could provide may prove helpful in figuring out what exactly is going on with her. Are you certain you do not have anything to share?”

Melody turned to look at Flynn, trying to gauge his opinion on the matter. From the pensive frown on his face, he didn’t seem to like the idea of hiding the truth. But he stayed silent, as if to leave the decision to her.

After taking a moment to think through her words, Melody nervously spoke up. “S-She, um… she left us with more questions than answers, to be honest. If… W-When we see her next, we’ll tell you w-whatever we can manage to learn.”

Chatot kept up his glare for a few seconds longer, before he sighed and shook his head. “Very well. If you truly think it better to wait to share what you’ve heard until you have more clarity about it, then I suppose I’ll trust your judgment.” He closed the book of Legendary pokemon and picked it up in his talons. “You two are the ones losing sleep over it, after all,” he added, just before he turned back to flutter towards the Guildmaster’s office again.

Melody was glad that Chatot couldn’t see her wince at those words.

---

Cresselia did not show herself in Flynn or Melody’s dreams again that night. On the one hand, Flynn was glad for another peaceful night without her threatening them in their dreams. But on the other hand, it also meant they couldn’t learn any more about what was going on for now. Even without the odd Legendary’s interference, Team Sunrise probably weren’t going to have a good night’s sleep until this situation was properly resolved.

In any case, since they still had no leads on Cresselia for now, Flynn and Melody chose to meet up with Scizor like they’d discussed yesterday. After confirming their supplies were all in order, the trio plotted out their course and set out.

To help fill the silence of the long journey, the group eventually took to catching up on how things had been. Flynn could tell Melody was carefully skirting around mentioning Tempo or his egg as she described Team Sunrise’s trek through the Surrounded Sea. Not that he could blame her. Still, Scizor seemed quite interested in everything else they had managed to find there.

When the topic switched to Scizor himself, the older explorer hesitated a bit, before giving a non-committal sort of shrug. “…It’s still a lot to get used to,” he admitted with a quiet sigh. “But I’m getting there. Managed to find a little home on the edge of town that wasn’t taken. Not very well furnished, but that can be fixed once I’ve had time to save up a bit from my work.”

“That’s good to hear,” Melody said. “I take it that exploration work has been going well for you, then?”

Scizor nodded. “About as well as can be expected. I can still fight and navigate through mystery dungeons as well as ever, at least, even if some of the missions are a little more mundane than I was used to. Though I’ve definitely gotten my share of odd looks over the fact that I explore solo. Seems to be considered somewhat foolhardy now, which…” He paused, a frown on his face as he stared down at a pincer. “…I suppose I cannot argue with.”

Melody winced a little at that. “Have… Have you gotten to reconnect with anyone who remembers you?” she asked after a moment.

“…A few,” Scizor quietly answered. “Mostly acquaintances, but still. Torkoal in particular has been… nice to get to talk with again, once he got over the obvious shock.”

Melody gave a short nod. She opened her mouth as if to ask something else, but then closed it a second later, seeming to think better of it. Flynn suspected it was about Scizor’s family; he remembered her guessing that the Scyther from Team Razor Wind might be one of Scizor’s relatives. But as personal as the topic was, perhaps it was best not to pry further.

Eventually, the group reached the start of the Shimmer Desert. Just as Scizor had warned, the weather here was absolutely scorching. Not even a single cloud hung in the sky to help block out the sun’s blazing intensity.

Flynn was relatively unbothered by the heat – though trudging through the sand was unpleasant in its own way. But he could tell that Melody and Scizor were both struggling. There was hardly anything around to provide even a hint of shade, and the wind was completely still. The trio had made sure to pack plenty of water, but all the same, they would only be able to keep searching for so long like this.

“What…” Scizor coughed. “What exactly did you say we were looking for again?”

Flynn tried to think back to what he’d seen in his Dimensional Scream.

“…Should be a rock around here somewhere,” Flynn said. “Around… Golem-sized, probably. But flat on one side, with an indent for the secret slab.”

Scizor nodded. With a faint grunt of effort, he started to lift off from the ground. His wings could only lift his metallic body a mild distance off the ground, but it helped give him at least a slightly higher vantage point to look out from. After a moment, he pointed a claw out towards the west. “…I think I see something. Just past that dune over there.”

Once Scizor had landed, the group continued their trek in the direction Scizor had indicated. Silence hung in the air for a while, as none of the trio had much energy for small talk.

Thankfully, after a few more minutes of trudging through sand, the group found what they were looking for. The large stone looked just as Flynn remembered from his vision. He turned to his side, sharing a brief nod with Melody before reaching into the team’s treasure bag to retrieve the secret slab.

A faint click rang out as the tablet slotted perfectly into place. For just a few tense seconds, everything was silent.

Then the ground started to rumble. The shifting sand underfoot nearly knocked the explorers off their feet despite their best attempts to brace themselves. Mounds of sand began to pile up and then flow out of the way as a large sandstone spire gradually rose from beneath the desert. Flynn had to raise a paw to his face to help keep the dust out of his eyes.

Eventually, the shaking finally stopped. Its full height now revealed, the tower loomed tall over the flat terrain of the rest of the desert. An ornately carved entrance was visible near the tower’s base, and windows spiraled all the way up the spire’s sides. The telltale shimmer of a mystery dungeon made it impossible to see anything inside from out here, however.

Flynn stared up at the massive structure for a moment, before turning to face his partner and Scizor. The group silently exchanged a nod. After quickly retrieving the secret slab from the rock and placing it back in the treasure bag, the trio advanced forward into the dungeon.

---

Melody couldn’t help but sigh with relief as the group entered into the tower. The dungeon’s walls provided some much-needed shade from the desert’s harsh sun. The air was still very hot and arid, but at least now it was a little more bearable.

She took a look around. The dungeon seemed to have started them out in the middle of a long, winding corridor. Torches lined the upper parts of the walls on either side, helping to provide light. In addition, a message in Unown script had been carved into the sandstone walls.

“‘Seekers of the Seven Treasures’,” Scizor read out as he examined the markings. “‘Herein lies the Terra Cymbal. All who wish to wield its power, be prepared to prove your worthiness’.” He turned back to look at Team Sunrise. “I suppose I should have expected some kind of warning like this. We would do well to be careful, going forward.”

Melody nodded, her ears perked up attentively as the three of them formed up and started down the corridor. A part of her couldn’t help but grin with excitement, though, as she glanced at the inscription on the wall.

This sort of ancient temple, hidden away for ages, with writings in an ancient language telling of the treasure waiting within… this place may as well have leapt straight out of her childhood fantasies. The appearance reminded her a little of the ruins they’d seen scattered all around the Hidden Land. But back then, she’d been far too focused on the stakes behind why they were there to gawk at it all.

She didn’t realize quite how distracted she had gotten until she nearly walked right into Flynn’s back. Melody shook her head to clear it, before turning to follow Flynn’s gaze. The Cyndaquil had stopped in place, his eyes pointed down at a small, slightly discolored tile on the floor. A hidden trap, Melody realized. There was no telling what kind of trap it was, but she knew she’d rather not find out.

After carefully stepping around the spot on the floor, Melody took a deep breath and redoubled her focus. Scizor was right, earlier; they all needed to stay alert. There was no telling what this place might throw at them.

Oddly, however, the trio still had yet to encounter any wild pokemon. Even as they continued to make their way through the first floor’s winding corridors, the dungeon remained disconcertingly quiet. Melody supposed it made a sort of sense; this tower had been buried below the sands for who knows how long. Not many kinds of pokemon could survive staying here to guard the place. Still, it didn’t make things any less unnerving.

The corridors themselves weren’t entirely featureless, at least. The same inscription from earlier periodically repeated along the walls on either side. And each one was completely identical, even down to a small crack in the wall between the second and third lines. Melody guessed it had to be the dungeon’s distortion at work, duplicating the same pattern all across the walls.

After a few more minutes of trap-lined hallways and small, dead-end rooms, Melody was starting to think that this tower really might not have any pokemon left in it at all. But eventually, the dungeon proved her wrong.

Directly in front of the stairs, standing with its arms and legs spread out to block the way, was a Gabite. Or… rather, a clay statue of one, Melody realized a moment later. Most of its body was still painted to resemble the pokemon in question, but time had clearly taken its toll on the statue, even leaving a noticeable gash in one of the statue’s arm-fins.

Just above and behind the Gabite, a small alcove had been carved into the wall above the stairs, with a stationary Baltoy perched inside. Melody briefly thought it might just be a statue too, but as she took a closer look, she realized that didn’t seem to be the case. For one thing, the Baltoy seemed to be in much more pristine shape than the Gabite. If they were both merely statues, it would make more sense for them to be in similar condition.

And for another thing… the Baltoy’s face had turned to follow the three of them as they made their way closer.

When Flynn was only a couple steps away from the statue blocking the stairs, the Baltoy suddenly let out a high-pitched, unintelligible whine and began to spin in place. All three explorers jolted a bit at the noise, before glaring up at the ground-type as they braced for a fight.

The Baltoy launched a bright pink beam of psychic energy from its face. To Melody’s surprise, however, it didn’t aim the beam at her or the others… but instead at the Gabite statue. As the beam died down, the Baltoy appeared to go limp, slumping against the back of its alcove.

Then, a second later, the Gabite statue’s eyes lit up with that same psychic energy, and it suddenly began to shift in place. It relaxed its stance, its body audibly creaking as it tested its earthen limbs.

Melody watched this all unfold with a wide-eyed look of puzzlement, too caught off-guard by the sight to do much else. Only when the statue turned its gaze on her and the others did Melody manage to snap out of it. Faint sparks began to gather in her fur as she tensed for an attack.

The Gabite suddenly leapt forward at Melody. The Skitty let out a yelp and hastily dodged to the side just as the statue brought its arms down where she’d been. A small piece chipped off one of the Gabite’s pointed claws on impact with the floor, though it didn’t seem to notice.

Before the statue could ready itself for another strike, a blazing Flame Wheel suddenly slammed into the side of its leg, nearly causing it to stumble as Flynn rebounded a short distance away. Then, just as the Gabite tried to turn to see what had hit it, Scizor bashed it in the face with one of his metallic pincers. The statue toppled over hard, another chunk of clay breaking off from its chin as it hit the floor.

Melody continued to cautiously glare at the fallen statue. As soon as she noticed it starting to move again, she loosed the pale-gray electricity in her fur. The Normalized Thunderbolt struck hard, causing a large crack to form in the faux-Gabite’s chest. The glow finally faded from the statue’s eyes, and it slumped to the ground, lifeless once more.

A moment later, a ball of psychic energy left the statue. It floated gently back up towards the Baltoy, who had remained seemingly unconscious through the entire scuffle. As soon as the energy entered into the Baltoy, though, it started to stir. It weakly lifted its head a bit, appearing more than a little dazed as it started to look around.

Then it spotted the trio of explorers. Instantly, it let out another high-pitched whine, and it darted for the stairway as fast as its weakened body could allow.

Melody blinked. Her gaze slowly drifted from the stairway to the fallen statue and back, before she turned to face Flynn and Scizor. “Well. That was… s-something.”

Scizor nodded. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a Baltoy learning to do something like that. It’s certainly an interesting little trick. Though I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we see it here.”

For better or worse, Melody couldn’t help but agree with that as the three explorers slowly started towards the stairs.

---

Just as Scizor had suspected, the team found a similar statue waiting for them as they explored the second floor. This time, however, the Baltoy that accompanied it didn’t simply wait for the explorers to get near before it took control. The animated Marowak statue managed to catch Flynn by surprise just as he’d been rounding a corner, sending the Cyndaquil tumbling to the floor with a sudden Bone Club to the head. Team Sunrise still defeated the statue in the end, but Flynn made sure not to let his guard down like that again.

On a less painful note, the Unown writing from the previous floor had also stopped appearing. In its place, the second floor’s walls had been decorated with an intricate pattern depicting a set of seven musical instruments in a circle. One, which appeared to be the Terra Cymbal that the earlier text had mentioned, was displayed just a little more prominently here than the others.

As the team continued to climb higher in the tower, the Unown inscriptions and picture carvings continued to alternate with every floor. Gradually, it all started to provide a bit more insight into what exactly the Seven Treasures were.

According to the writing, each of the instruments carried quite a bit of power. Any pokemon who heard their music gained a noticeable boost in their abilities for as long as they continued to listen. However, each instrument could only be heard at all by pokemon of a particular type. In the case of the Terra Cymbal, ground-types.

As for how a set of mere instruments could carry power like that… the inscriptions also claimed that the Terra Cymbal had been carved from a loose scale from Groudon himself, and carried just a hint of the Legendary titan’s power as a result. It didn’t specify anything about the other six instruments, but Flynn suspected they were likely similar.

The dungeon didn’t get any easier as the team progressed. Traps continued to litter the ground, noticeably more common than in most other dungeons, and each floor had at least one more statue ready to guard the stairs. Many of the Baltoy even tried to fight the explorers themselves after their statues were broken, though for the most part they failed to put up as much of a fight that way.

On one occasion, Flynn tried to stop a statue by simply attacking the Baltoy controlling it. But it didn’t work. All it seemed to accomplish was preemptively knocking out the Baltoy when its consciousness returned to its own body. It seemed that taking down the statues themselves was the only option. Which Flynn supposed might be part of the point, given what the first floor’s inscription had said about ‘proving your worthiness’.

After the fifth floor, Claydol began to take the place of the Baltoy, and the statues grew tougher to match. Hippowdon, Rhyperior, even a Garchomp… and not every floor limited itself to only having one statue. Still, the team managed to hold their own, and slowly but surely continued their ascent up the tower.

As the team climbed the stairs to the tenth floor, Flynn noticed a subtle shift in the air, signaling that they’d reached a stable zone. For a moment, he thought it might be merely a midpoint; after some of the other dungeons they had been through lately, he would not have expected this one to be so relatively short. Once he got a good look at their new surroundings, though, two things quickly became abundantly clear.

First, this almost certainly was the dungeon’s end. They’d emerged into a large, circular chamber, with no apparent exit aside from the stairs back down as far as Flynn could see from here.

And second, judging by the absolutely massive statue of Groudon himself that stood ominously in the center of the room… the hard part had yet to even begin.

For a long moment, all three explorers could only stop and stare at the looming clay figure. Melody was the first to break the silence. “I-Is… is it j-just me,” the Skitty stammered, a mix of awe and dread writ clear on her face, “o-or is that… even bigger than the Groudon that U-Uxie made us fight?”

Scizor tilted his head slightly, surprise briefly overtaking his concern as he turned to glance at Team Sunrise. Both Flynn and Melody were too distracted to answer his silent question, however.

In contrast to most of the previous statues, this one had clearly been very carefully maintained. Even its color was still largely intact, a deep ruby red hue decorating most of the fake Groudon’s body. Its eyes, thankfully, were devoid of any glow for now. Though Flynn couldn’t say how long that would last.

Ever so slowly, the trio began to circle their way around the edge of the chamber, their eyes warily watching for any sudden movements from the statue. Eventually, they were able to peek around the Groudon’s side to see what lay on the far side of the room.

A red and gold object that could only be the Terra Cymbal had been set up atop an ornate stand. Just beside it stood a statue of a Marowak, one arm raised as if to strike the cymbal with its bone. Behind them both, the distant wall appeared to have all of the Unown inscriptions and carved images that the team had seen throughout the dungeon so far.

And waiting directly in front of it all, a pair of Claydol floated silently in place, their watchful eyes locked on the group of explorers.

No one on either side made a sound. They didn’t need to. Everyone present knew exactly what was going to happen if the team of explorers got any closer.

Flynn glanced back at his partner. Despite a faint tremble in her stance, Melody nodded. Flynn looked up to meet Scizor’s gaze, and the steel-type responded with a determined nod as well.

After taking a deep breath and stoking his inner flame, Flynn turned back towards the distant psychic-types and took a single step forward.

Instantly, one of the Claydol fired its beam at the statue. The Groudon’s eyes quickly lit up, and the floor itself shook a little under Flynn’s feet as the titan began to come to life.

Team Sunrise didn’t waste any time, launching a quick flurry of attacks before the Claydol could fully take control of the statue. Melody struck the faux-Groudon’s chest with a Thunderbolt. Scizor rushed in to pelt its foot with a series of Bullet Punches. And Flynn launched an intense Flamethrower that engulfed the titan’s head.

Groudon’s earthen body cracked slightly under the assault. Enraged, it swung a massive claw along the ground, forcing the three explorers to scatter.

The harsh groan of stone sliding against stone sounded from the ceiling. Flynn looked up to see a portion of the tower’s roof slowly slide open, allowing the fierce desert sun to shine in. A faint brown glow started to envelop the Groudon’s body, and it raised its head to let out a fierce roar.

Flynn felt his inner fire flare up even stronger as he soaked in the harsh sunlight. He took in a deep breath, preparing to let loose another burst of fire at the statue. But before he could line up for his attack, Groudon raised a foot and stomped the floor hard enough to make it quake. The sheer force jolted Flynn a short distance into the air, only for him to tumble back down a split second later. A startled yelp and a pained grunt from elsewhere in the room told him that Melody and Scizor had been caught off-guard by the tremor too.

The Cyndaquil gritted his teeth against the pain as he forced himself back to his feet. He managed to raise his head just in time to see Groudon beginning to reach down to grab him. Flynn hastily tried to scramble out of the way, but the statue was shockingly quick for its size. Flynn just barely managed to roll out of the way of one of Groudon’s arms, only to put himself right in the other arm’s reach. It snatched the Cyndaquil up with a crushing grip that threatened to squeeze the air right out of his lungs.

Through the barrier of Groudon’s claw, Flynn could dimly hear Melody cry out his name. A moment later, Groudon’s grip suddenly loosened, dropping Flynn roughly on the ground as a pained roar filled the air.

For a couple of seconds, Flynn could only lay there on the floor, catching his breath as the sound of combat continued to ring out.

Another faint tremor shook the floor, sending another jolt of pain through Flynn as it jostled him about. His head was swimming, and his body ached. He wanted, needed to keep fighting, but at the moment it took all of his willpower just to keep himself from fainting.

Then a blur of blue and red entered Flynn’s vision. He felt something cold and metallic gently push his head up and shove something into his mouth. On instinct, he started to chew, and the familiar restorative taste of an oran berry greeted him in return.

Once the berry’s effects kicked in enough for the room to stop spinning, Flynn slowly cracked open his eyes again. Scizor crouched low just in front of him, another oran berry clutched in his pincer. Flynn graciously accepted it, quickly popped the berry into his mouth, and turned to look for his partner.

Melody seemed to be successfully distracting Groudon for now. The statue’s furious gaze remained locked on the Skitty as it repeatedly swiped at her with its giant claws. All the while, Melody managed to narrowly evade each strike, aided in part by her usual detect band. The scarf shimmered slightly from its place around her neck, boosting Melody’s speed and leaving faint afterimages of her behind with some of her dodges.

Flynn also noticed a sizable crack just under one of the statue’s eyes, which hadn’t been there before. He supposed that explained how Melody had gotten the thing’s attention so well.

Even as fast as Melody was, however, it was barely enough to keep up with Groudon’s relentless onslaught. Between the physical strikes from the titan’s claws and the quakes it sent through the floor with its stomping, Melody could barely find any time to counter attack.

Flynn grimaced at the fake Legendary. “…Doesn’t make sense,” he muttered under his breath. This thing shouldn’t be this fast. The previous statues had been relatively slow and clunky in their movements for the most part, and with this kind of size, this one should be even slower. Not to mention how hard it hit; Uxie’s illusory Groudon had been a cakewalk compared to this.

Worst of all, Flynn could tell even from here that Melody was tiring. She wouldn’t be able to hold out like this forever.

Nodding to himself, Flynn let his back erupt with flames. He was just about to rush in and defend his partner when Scizor suddenly called out to him. “Wait.”

Flynn turned back to look, impatience clear on his face.

Scizor gestured a claw toward the back of the room. “I think I know why this thing’s so strong.”

Flynn glanced in the direction that Scizor had pointed. Both of the Claydol had gone dormant, with the second one having evidently taken control of the Marowak statue they had seen earlier. Rather than try to fight, the Marowak was periodically striking the Terra Cymbal with its bone, causing it to silently rattle about on its stand.

More importantly, the same faint glow that had surrounded the Groudon since the fight started, was also visible around the Terra Cymbal. As well as the Marowak statue, and both inactive Claydol.

Flynn recalled what the Unown writings had claimed about the Seven Treasures’ power. He turned to look at Scizor again. “…You stop the cymbal,” he spoke quietly. “I’ll help Melody.”

Scizor nodded. “On it.” With that, the steel-type took to the air, hovering steadily towards the back of the room.

Just as Flynn began to turn to face the battle again, another tremor shook the floor once again, throwing off his footing slightly. He felt his heart skip a beat as a sharp yelp rang out from Melody. Without a moment’s hesitation, he forced himself back to his feet as quickly as he could and began rushing across the room.

By the looks of it, that last quake had hit Melody a bit harder. Her guard finally down, she could no longer dodge in time as the statue swatted her towards a wall with one of its massive arms. She shakily started to push herself back up, but it was clear she was nearly out of steam.

The Groudon raised its head upwards, soaking in the sunlight from the opening in the ceiling and gathering it in its earthen maw. A brief moment later, it lowered its head again and fired off a Solarbeam. The powerful blast of energy washed over the Skitty, pushing her back against the wall again. By the time the light from the beam faded, Melody was out cold.

Flynn felt his inner fire flare up even more intensely. He scowled at the fake Groudon, his body wreathed in flame as he curled up and rolled forward at full speed.

Before the statue could even turn to look for him again, Flynn barreled into one of its legs, breaking off a small chunk as he rebounded a bit. The Groudon groaned in pain, raising one leg for a stomp as it began to turn around. Flynn quickly uncurled from his Flame Wheel, before leaping into the air to try and avoid the quake. It mostly succeeded, though some lingering shaking nearly tripped Flynn as he landed.

A loud crack rang out from the direction Scizor had gone, which Flynn took to mean that he had started fighting with the Marowak statue. And without anyone to play the Terra Cymbal, the dim glow of its power began to fade away from Groudon’s body a moment later.

With the cymbal’s power boost gone, the fake Groudon became much easier to outmaneuver. Each swing of its arms came far more slowly, and its stomps no longer packed quite as much room-shaking power behind them. The slower rate of attacks also allowed Flynn to easily find openings to counter.

After just a few rounds of exchanging blows, the titanic statue was beginning to look significantly worse for wear. A couple more targeted Flame Wheels had managed to break off more from the statue’s right leg, while a large portion of its body had been scorched a shade darker by a plume of fire from the Cyndaquil’s back.

For just a moment, the psychic glow in the statue’s eyes flashed brighter. Unsure what it was doing, Flynn tried to keep his guard up, only to be caught by surprise as a large burst of energy suddenly erupted from the floor under his feet.

The Earth Power sent Flynn tumbling backwards along the floor until he thumped painfully into the wall. After a moment to shake it off, he quickly righted himself and glared back at the fake Groudon. Even weakened as it was now, that one had stung. Flynn wasn’t certain he’d be able to take another one very well.

He supposed he’d just have to make sure the statue didn’t get the chance to try that again.

With the adrenaline from his Blaze ability bolstering his inner fire, along with the harsh desert sun shining down from overhead, Flynn took in a deep breath, before letting out a massive stream of intense flames directly at Groudon.

By the time the fire had finally died down, the statue’s head had been heavily burned. Most of its former color was left unrecognizable. The glow in the statue’s eyes flickered briefly, before it finally faded out, and the giant toppled forward onto the floor.

For a long moment, Flynn just stared ahead silently, panting slightly with exertion as he eyed the fallen statue. Only when another crash came from a different part of the room did Flynn snap out of it. He turned to look, finding that Scizor had just finished up with his own target as well.

“Well done,” Scizor said as he made his way over. “I apologize for not being able to help out more. The Marowak statue fought much more defensively than I had expected, and it took me some time to finish it off.”

“…’s alright,” Flynn said quietly. Scizor had quickly put a stop to the Terra Cymbal’s boost, at least. That had made all the difference.

The treasure could wait, though. First things first, Flynn started to head for his fallen partner. Melody was still collapsed against the wall, completely out cold.

Reaching into the treasure bag on the Skitty’s back, Flynn pulled out a reviver seed and gently placed it in Melody’s mouth. After a few moments, she finally started to stir.

“Ugh…” Melody coughed out the now-plain seed before glancing dazedly at her surroundings. “What… Where…” She jolted a bit as the events of the battle started to come back to her. “…Groudon! What happened with…”

“…He’s down,” Flynn said, gesturing at the fallen statue. “We won.” That seemed to reassure Melody and she settled down a bit in her spot. After a moment, Flynn leaned down to give the Skitty’s forehead a quick nuzzle before adding, “…Thanks for the save, by the way.”

Melody let out a soft giggle at that. “Y-You’re welcome.” Slowly, she got to her feet, still feeling a little bit out of it despite the reviver seed’s effects. She looked at where Groudon had fallen, before trying to angle her head to peek around it. “So, with that fight over, we… should be able to get the cymbal now.”

Flynn nodded. Once Melody had fully shaken off her dizziness, the pair started for the far end of the chamber, where Scizor looked to be waiting patiently for them.

The duo of Claydol were once again floating right in front of the cymbal, having regained consciousness now that their statues were broken. Neither of them looked to be planning to fight any more, though Flynn still made sure to keep a close eye on them both as they approached.

Once the trio of explorers were just a couple steps away, one of the Claydol used its telekinesis to float the Terra Cymbal down from its stand, holding it out for them to take. As Flynn reached out to grab the treasure in a paw, both Claydol tilted their bodies forward slightly in what Flynn took to be either a nod or a bow.

Scizor leaned down to closer inspect the cymbal. “After all this time… I’ve finally uncovered one of the Seven Treasures.” He couldn’t help but grin as he marveled down at the instrument. “To think that this little thing could hold some fraction of the Legendary Groudon’s might… incredible.” He turned his gaze towards Team Sunrise. “I cannot thank you both enough for allowing me to come along.”

Melody returned the steel-type’s smile. “The pleasure was ours. This whole expedition would have likely been far more difficult without your help.” Flynn nodded firmly at that. As Flynn started to pack the cymbal securely away in their treasure bag, Melody continued, “If we ever happen to find any more clues about the Seven Treasures like this, we’ll be sure to let you know.”

“I appreciate it,” Scizor replied. “I will do the same, if I can narrow down the locations of any of the other treasures enough. My research has given me at least a vague idea for most of them, though the finer details can be difficult to deduce for certain.”

With that, the trio of explorers used an escape orb to warp themselves out of the tower, depositing them back in the barren sands outside. None of the group were all that enthused at needing to cross the scorching desert once again, but the success of their mission was enough to keep their spirits reasonably high as they started the long journey back home.

---

Nothing much of note happened on the trip back to Treasure Town, aside from Team Sunrise passing the time by swapping a few more stories with Scizor. The trio arrived back in town shortly after sunset. Scizor parted ways with Flynn and Melody near the town’s outskirts, as the explorers made their way back to their respective homes for the night.

While it felt a little improper to simply put an item as valuable as the Terra Cymbal into storage, Team Sunrise ultimately decided that was probably the most secure place for it for now. At least until they could get some kind of a safe to put in Sharpedo Bluff. Thieves hardly ever managed to swipe anything out from under Kangaskhan’s watchful eye. And even if one did, few would likely recognize the cymbal for what it was,

For the third night in a row, Cresselia refrained from visiting Flynn and Melody’s dreams again. At this point, the nervous wait for more information was nearly as bad as the nightmares had been. Flynn almost wondered if Cresselia was just toying with them on purpose. The way she’d acted so far, he wouldn’t put it past her.

The next morning seemed to start out relatively normal. But as Team Sunrise headed into town, Flynn started to notice a subtle unease in the air. The streets didn’t seem to be any more or less busy than usual, but several of the pokemon they passed were talking in hushed whispers with each other, concern evident on their faces.

“T-Team Sunrise!”

A familiar-sounding voice calling out to them suddenly caught Flynn and Melody’s attention. The duo turned towards the sound, finding Marill rapidly approaching them. He looked to be on the verge of tears. “O-Oh, I was hoping I’d find you two. I-I don’t know who else to try and turn t-to at this point.”

“What happened, Marill?” Melody asked. She glanced around at the panicked water-type’s sides, her face growing a bit more concerned at a certain pokemon’s absence. “Did… something happen to Azurill?”

Marill visibly shuddered, before giving a shaky nod. “A-Azurill… he… h-he’s been asleep for over an entire d-day now. He j-just keeps tossing and turning like he’s s-stuck in a nightmare, and nobody can figure out how to wake him up.”

Flynn’s heart steadily sank the more Marill spoke. Flynn turned to his side, meeting Melody’s grim frown with one of his own.