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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Investigators of Soul/Heart/Spirit

a fanmade story

I was still tired when I woke up, feeling the extent of how much I did yesterday, but forced myself to get up and to get Aileen up.
We made sure to eat our fill for breakfast to make up for getting nothing last night, and headed on out into Crossroad City.
I understood that now that we know about Team Perial and their intents, we're going to have to stop them. And to do that, we'll need Cheren. I get that she's going through a really rough time right now…but I'm sure she'll understand if we tell her what needs to be done. And maybe we can do something more for Sky, if we can get P.A.I.G.E. into submission again…
I told Aileen my train of thought and suggested that we go look for them in their room at SnorMor Hotel, to which she nodded.
But when we got to the room, it was empty.
"That's odd…" I thought out loud.
"Maybe Snorlax knows where they went?" Aileen offered. "Let's go see him at the front desk."
So we did. "Hey, Snorlax," I said.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You know where Team Explorers of Sky went?"
"They checked out this morning."
"What?!" Aileen made sure she heard right. "They left?!"
"Cheren said they were heading home," he passed along, "to resign."
"To resign?!" I didn't believe it. "They're QUITTING?!"
"I'm in just as much disbelief as you are," Snorlax admitted, "but can you really blame 'em? Sky doesn't even remember who he is, and Cheren is in no condition to be doing much more right now. And they've been doin' it for fifteen years…I think that's a reasonable amount of time."
"I get that, I really do, but…" I said, "we're just beginning to grasp the crisis! They can't quit now!"
"Well, they left a half hour ago, I dunno if you'll catch them…or if Cheren'll even hear you out right now."
This is a disaster. Push is coming to shove, and the only one who knows what's going on and has the power to do something is resigning!
If we do so much as run into P.A.I.G.E. again on our own, that's it! And let alone whatever Carter might have in store!
We can't let this happen!
"Oh, by the way," Snorlax remembered something and interrupted my panic, "someone wanted me to give this to you two."
I took the note from his hands and read it. The writing was unprofessional and sloppy, but I could get the message.
"You two investigator chumps or whatever, you know who you are,
Rumor has it that atop Mechanical Mountain, to the west, there's a Pokémon called Magearna who can create so-called Soul-Hearts that are said to let you briefly relive your life from the very beginning when you use one. You should consider getting up there and getting one or two. I think you'll know what I mean. Chaw-haw-haw!"
Mechanical Mountain? Magearna? Soul-Hearts?
I read over it again to make sense of it. Magearna lives at the top of Mechanical Mountain and creates Soul-Hearts, which can let you relive your life from the beginning?
Relive your life from the…
It suddenly clicked. A Soul-Heart could, in essence, restore memory!
But how viable is this tip-off…?
"You know who wrote this, Snorlax?" I asked.
He shook his head. "The guy just showed up with two other Pokémon, said 'hold on to this and give it to those two who were with Cheren last," laughed, and walked away."
"Any distinguishing features?"
"They were all purple, and they sure as heck REEKED."
Skuntank.
So given what Sky said to him last, this is either a trap or a shot at doing the right thing while staying discreet.
I can't tell…
If we go to Mechanical Mountain and bring a Soul-Heart back to Sky, we could help him retrieve his memory and boost Cheren's morale, and enlist his help as well in defeating Team Perial…
But if we go and it turns out to be for nothing, we'll waste precious time and put ourselves at risk…
No, there's no more time to waste. We have to go straight after Cheren!
"You said the explorers were heading home?" I asked Snorlax. "Where do they live?"
"Sharpedo Bluff, near Treasure Town on the Grass Continent," Snorlax answered. "You thinking of going after them?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you're going to have to cross the sea, then," he said. "There's a Lapras Travel Liner in Noe Town."
"How do we get there?"
"It's a long way," Snorlax said, "but once you cross Mechanical Mountain, just head south."
"Wait, did you just say Mechanical Mountain?"
"Yeah. You gotta get over it to get there from here."
I facepalmed. HARD. So we're going to be crossing Mechanical Mountain anyway?
Well, I guess it can't hurt to check it out while we're there. See if we can bag a Soul-Heart.
"It's gonna be a long journey," Snorlax informed us again. "Make sure you're set for anything before you just take off."
"Got it," I nodded, and motioned for Aileen. "We gotta get that done right now!"
Once we were ready, we went through the left gate and were off to catch Cheren and Sky.
(Mechanical Mountain
20F
Steel types and Fairy types
Gabriel: 25 [+1]
Aileen: 25 [no change])
Mechanical Mountain Summit.
"Are we getting close?" Aileen asked me.
"I think so," I replied. "I think I see something just ahead."
"Let's go!"
When we arrived at the highest point of the mountain, I could make out what I saw; a Pokémon, almost entirely light gray, had its back turned to us, looking up at the sky above and its endless expanse.
"Hey!" I got its attention.
The Pokémon turned to face us. "Oh, hello there," she said with a little curtsy. "My name is Magearna. What brings you here? Is it to see me? Or to continue on to Noe Town?"
"Both, actually," I explained. "You didn't happen to see a Raichu and a Lucario pass through here, did you?"
"I did, in fact," Magearna said. "The Raichu seemed rather upset…are you friends of theirs?"
"…You could say that."
"What do you need to see me for?"
We told Magearna what had happened to Sky and how distraught Cheren really was right now.
"Oh…oh dear…" Magearna reflected on the truth. "That's just terrible…my own heart aches from that story…"
"Yeah…" I said. "But that was when we got a tip-off that you make Soul-Hearts? That can, quote, 'allow one to relive their life from the beginning'?"
"So that's it," Magearna understood. "You came here to collect a Soul-Heart and give it to Sky."
"Yes, that's exactly it," Aileen nodded. "I don't mean to be pushy, but…please? This may mean a lot more than you know."
"I'm sure I understand," Magearna nodded. "You will most certainly need assistance if you hope to end Team Perial's threat."
"Glad you do," I smiled. "So can we have a Soul-Heart?"
A light began emanating from the sphere in the center of Magearna's body, and shortly thereafter, the red and blue opening of it opened and dispensed a small little heart-shaped object into her "hands".
"Here," she held it out to me with both hands.
I took it and took a closer look at it. There seemed to be a hot-pink gel-like substance in the center, given shape by a flaky gray robotic perimeter.
"You have to crush it to use it," she explained. "Either in your hands or underneath your feet. Take it and deliver it to those poor Pokémon."
"We will," I nodded and put it into the Pocket Dimension. "Thank you so much."
I was about to leave when I realized something else.
"Actually…" I stopped. "I hope this doesn't sound like too much to ask for, but…"
"But?" Magearna was listening.
Aileen understood where I was going. "Thing is," she finished for me, "he also lost his memory some time ago and it hasn't come back to him yet."
"Oh, I see," Magearna nodded in understanding and dispensed another Soul-Heart. "Here you go."
Wait, what? She's just going to give me another one, no questions asked?
I mean…
"Ha…" I said in grateful disbelief. "Th-thank you again."
Magearna did another curtsy. "You are very much welcome, it's nothing at all. Now hurry, and take care on your way!"
"W-we will! Thanks again!" I gave the Artificial Pokémon a thumbs-up, and she waved as we went onward to Noe Town.
(Sprint of Spines
B14F
Many spiky or snakelike Pokémon can be found here, such as Sandslash, Ferrothorn, Milotic, and Arbok
Gabriel: 25 [no change]
Aileen: 26 [+1])
After another long stretch, we were in Noe Town. Noticing the classical stone architecture as we passed on through, but no sign of Cheren and Sky, we went on straight to the dock.
"Welcome to the Lapras Travel Liner," Lapras greeted us.
"Hi, uh, have you seen a yellow Pokémon with a blue one anywhere around here?"
"They just left for the Grass Continent a while ago."
"Darn it!" I tensed up.
"We need to go after them," Aileen explained. "It's more important than you know…"
"I wish I could help you…" Lapras said, "but you don't have a Grass Pass."
"A wha?"
"You need to buy passes from Kecleon's shop in order to go to other continents. It's part of the regulations."
I sighed. "We honestly don't have time for this. We're just going there and back, do we really need a pass for one trip?"
"Are you seriously going to fight with me over this?"
"I don't want to start a fight over this, no, but we don't have the time or Poké, and possibly everyone needs us. Please? Just once?"
An awkward silence.
Then Lapras sighed and gave in. "Alright. But just this once."
"Just this once," I nodded. "Thanks for understanding."
We quickly hopped on Lapras' back and were off for the Grass Continent.
The trip still ended up going through the night, so Aileen and I slept for most of it. In the morning, when we made land, Lapras woke us up and we went through Capim Town.
"Hey, excuse me," I asked around. "Does anyone know how to get to Treasure Town from here?"
"Treasure Town?" an Electrike near the gate responded. "Just stick close to the coast heading south."
"'Kay, thanks!" And we were off.
(Coastline Corridor
18F
Mostly the evolved versions of those beginning Pokémon in the main series, like Mightyena, Bibarel, Dustox, and Vivillon
Gabriel: 26 [+1]
Aileen: 27 [+1])
Running the whole way, we finally arrived at Treasure Town's crossroads and caught our breath.
But here the path split in three different ways. Which way do we go?
"Look!" Aileen pointed to the right.
I turned my gaze that way; at the top of a cliff, just up a few stairs, Cheren and Sky entered a tent shaped like a Pokémon.
"Holy moly, we actually caught up with them!" I said.
"Quick!" Aileen gestured. "We have to stop them!"
We climbed the mountain as fast as we could, and dashed for the te-
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" someone shouted from below the grate as I ran over it.
I stopped where I was.
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" someone else asked the sentry.
"The footprint is…Kirlia's? I think?"
A pause as a Noibat came up to see us at the gate.
"Huh, you're actually right for once, Stunfisk," Noibat said upon taking me in. "Enter."
We started to head on in when:
"Pokémon detected! Pok-"
"It's a Brionne, Stunfisk. I can see from here."
"Oh…"
"Anyway, come on in."
We hurried down the pole just inside the tent and went underground.
"Cheren! Sky!" I called out and dropped down.
"Huh?" Cheren saw us and stopped, and the amnesiac Lucario stuck with her.
I stood up and faced her, and Aileen climbed down the rest of the way and also met her eye-to-eye.
"You two?" Cheren comprehended. "You followed me…all the way here?"
"What choice did we have?" I asked.
"Wha- what do you mean? Why?" She didn't have the slightest clue as to why we were here.
I took one of the Soul-Hearts out of the Pocket Dimension and put it into Sky's paw. "This. Is why we followed you."
"It's a Soul-Heart," Aileen explained. "Go on…crush it."
"What?" Sky was confused. "I don't even get what's going on. What're you trying to do?"
"It'll help you with your memory," I said.
Cheren was even more lost. "Wha?"
"We're trying to help you guys," I said, "so that you don't have to just give up like this. I know you've got a whirlwind of emotions going on inside you right now, but the world needs us. We have to take Team Perial on, and to do that, we need you guys. So…nothing like this ever happens again."
Sky looked down at the device in his palm, and Cheren looked at him.
Cheren then turned to us, looking like she was about to cry all over again. "Y-you…I…you…"
She didn't know what she wanted to say.
"I mean…" Sky turned to her. "I don't really understand why you've been in tears the whole way here, but…if it makes you feel any better."
He smiled and crushed the Soul-Heart in his fist.
When he opened his hand again, the metal shards surrounding the device wavered and came back to the center like magnets. Then the Soul-Heart flew up to directly above the Lucario and began to grow, until it was even bigger than he was.
"THANK YOU FOR USING THE SOUL-HEART," a recording of Magearna's voice began to play. "LET US BEGIN."
Suddenly the Soul-Heart fired a laser beam at the ground behind Sky, that split into two and met back up in front of him, burning a pink circle around him. Plusle and Minun, who had been checking the Job Bulletin Board on the wall, panicked at the sudden light show and fled upstairs. Chimecho, at her little station, reacted similarly and went down a floor.
Cheren, Sky, Aileen and I also didn't expect this, but simply took a step back.
"PLEASE," the Soul-Heart said, "IF YOU WILL NOT BE USING THE SOUL-HEART, PLEASE REMAIN OUTSIDE THE GIVEN BOUNDARIES. IF YOU WILL BE, PLEASE REMAIN INSIDE."
We were already outside the circle, and Sky was already inside, so we stayed where we were.
Something's wrong, I thought. This looks very dangerous right now…
"YOUR SOUL-HEART EXPERIENCE…"
The Soul-Heart split itself into two equal halves with a loud BRRREEEEOOOM.
"…BEGINS NOW."
The two halves slowly floated away from each other, coming closer to the ground as they did so…
and after a few seconds suddenly accelerated back toward each other.
Then I saw where they were meeting up and gasped.
"Sky! Watch out!" Cheren warned. "You're going to be-"
Before he could do anything or we could reach him in time, the two halves met one another and solidified back together, crushing him and releasing a powerful burst of energy over a wide area, knocking us back into the stone walls of the guild.
"No!" Cheren quickly recovered from the blow and ran up to where the giant Soul-Heart floated now, pressing herself to the force field.
I slowly got back up, cramping, and helped Aileen back up, as we realized what had just happened.
"N…n-no…Sky…"
Cheren pried herself off of the barrier and buried her head in her hands, trembling violently.
"Oh, no…" Aileen covered her mouth, registering the new findings about the Soul-Heart. "What have we done…"
I had a hard time swallowing it myself. We had gotten our hands on that device hoping to bring back the old Sky…the one that Cheren had known and loved dearly as a companion. But instead, not even knowing for sure what it did, we had done the exact opposite; we broke the new one, even the shell of her friend was now gone.
We just killed Sky.
Right before Cheren's eyes.
My heart pounded in my chest when that thought finally took shape.
I took the other one we had received from Magearna out of the Pocket Dimension. Is this why she had just given me another without a second thought?
Not going to make that same mistake again, I thought, and threw it out the window.
If I even live to get the opportunity to, I realized.
I looked back at the distraught Raichu, who was now shaking.
Violently.
"Oh, no" is right, I thought.
We're next.
"B-bu…but…no! I…I-I…we…" Cheren couldn't think straight any more. "Y-you said…you…
"You…
"YOOOOOUUUUU!!!"
She turned to us, murder in her eyes. "You did this!"
"L-look, please," I tried, "you have to understand, we didn-"
"I'm through with understanding!" she screamed at us with fury. "I trusted you, and you do this to me?!"
"Please, Cheren!" Aileen begged for mercy. "We didn't know!"
"YOU DIDN'T KNOW?!" Cheren yelled. "You don't know a lot of things…and I take it sympathy isn't one of them! I was lost enough when he lost his memory…but THIS! This is insult to injury!"
Maybe this was what Skuntank was trying to do, I finally registered.
That…that heartless little-!!
"Rrr…rrRRRRRrrr…!!!" Cheren's cheeks were cracking with electricity in her rage.
She was just about to bring her wrath down on us.
We…we can't die now! I told myself. If we die here, then there'll be no one left to stop Team Perial and their ambitions!
We don't have a choice. We're going to have to fight Cheren and bring her to her senses. Either that, or she and everyone else we know and don't know are going to be brainwashed by P.A.I.G.E.!
I looked at Aileen quickly, and she nodded, knowing what had to be done.
"RrrrRRRAAAAAAH!!" Cheren completely lost it. "You can regret this in your afterlives!!"
World first, remorse later.
"Brace yourself!" I shouted to Aileen.
The Raichu came at us.
She immediately sped herself up as fast as she could go with three Agilitys, and unleashed Discharge. That in itself nearly finished Aileen.
I Dodged up to Cheren and used Magical Leaf, which ended up as a critical hit but still didn't faze her much at all. Aileen's Torrent kicked in to boost her Water Gun, which helped but didn't help. Cheren sped on over to her and defeated her with Psychic.
From where I was, I used Shadow Sneak in some effort to attack, but it still wasn't enough. She used Discharge and left it at that.
I just laid there on my stomach on the ground, too weak to do anything, until Cheren kicked my face and pinned me to the wall by my neck.
As beat up as I already was, I couldn't breathe. But I still had to defend myself with my words.
"Ch-Cheren…please…y-you don't have to do this…!"
"Just like you didn't have to go the extra mile to make me feel this MISERABLE!"
There was no reasoning with her.
She released her choke hold on me, but I still couldn't breathe, as the psychic pressure was now beginning to come on me from all sides.
She's going to grind me into nothing, I realized.
This…this isn't the way to go! Not here, not now, not like this! Do I…really deserve this?
…
Something in the back of my mind told me I did.
"Aileen…" I barely said. "R-run, Aileen!"
Knowing she had to escape and tell everyone about Team Perial, she gathered the strength to get back to her feet and begin climbing upstairs, not wanting to leave me behind but seeing she had to.
"KyyuuuuuAAAAAAH!!" Cheren let out one last cry of rage.
This is it, I thought.
The world now rests upon Aileen's shoul-
Suddenly a loud, 8-bit BAW, BAW, BAW-DO-BAH interrupted that thought.
I fell to the ground as Cheren's focus broke and she turned her attention to the Soul-Heart. Aileen stopped climbing and also looked at it.
"THANK YOU FOR USING THE SOUL-HEART," Magearna's recording once more said, while the Soul-Heart did a little 360. "DETONATING…"
I got back to my feet as the Soul-Heart, remaining suspended in the air, dropped its force field.
Then it suddenly pulsed.
And pulsed again.
And pulsed.
Pulse.
Pulse.
Beat.
THROB.
The machine was shifting into a slow, steady rhythm of expansion and shrinking.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in…breathe out.
Breathe in…
I noticed a ring of energy beginning to form at the top of the Soul-Heart, covering about the top third of the thing's mass.
Breathe out.
The ring spread out with force, knocking out the frames of the windows and shaking the ladder Aileen was on, causing her to cling to it for dear life.
Had she been a little lower, it would have hit her head-on.
"Aah…" Cheren witnessed the destruction this thing was causing to the guild and ran up to the Soul-Heart, seeing that the force field had been lifted.
Breathe in…
Another ring formed around the center of the Soul-Heart.
But Cheren only realized this until she had already jumped straight into the line of fire.
Breathe out.
The ring released, shaking the ladder again and nailing Cheren.
"Waaah!" she wailed as she was sent flying back to where she had come from.
I reacted and caught the Raichu like a dodgeball as the ring passed just over my head. I quickly put together that the explorer had fallen unconscious from the blast, due to her ragdoll limpness in my arms.
Breathe in…
This time rings formed around the top and the bottom of the machine, level with the ceiling and the ground.
Uh-oh.
Breathe out.
The rings spread out.
I didn't know what I was doing, but I instinctively jumped, with Cheren still in my arms.
She added a lot of weight, and it used the last of my energy, but I was able to successfully hurdle the beam and pass through the two unharmed.
The rest of the place wasn't so lucky. The pole, struck in two places at once, shook so violently that Aileen couldn't hold on and fell to the floor after the rings had dissipated. A sign over on the left was also leveled by the burst.
I set Cheren down and collapsed on the floor like the rest of us, but I still watched as the Soul-Heart finally began to short-circuit. The metal flakes began desyncing with the center, awkwardly and unpredictably forming around it, before finally getting back to where they were before as the Soul-Heart shrunk one last time…
and then split right in two.
The pink center split into perfect halves again, but on a jagged break down the middle. The pieces making up the metal exterior flew away from each other and exploded, filling the room with a blinding white light, broken only by the broken heart halves separately crumbling into pieces, and a silhouette suspended in the air and gently let down onto the pile of rubble as the light faded.
The figure, color returning to him, stood up and looked around, visibly shocked by the state of the room. "What happened here?!" he exclaimed.
Then he noticed Cheren unconscious on the ground and rushed over. "Cheren? Cheren, are you alright?!"
I suddenly understood now, and now my only regret was throwing the other Soul-Heart out the window.
I tried to get back to my feet, but to no avail.
He saw that I was actually awake and turned to me, seemingly having figured it out. "Gabriel…"
I hadn't even told him my name yet.
Then it's undeniable now!
"Sky?" I asked him to make sure.
"Don't worry," he said, "I remember now. All of it."
Huh…so the Soul-Heart DOES in fact do what it's said to do, but with a catch.
Sky helped me back up, and I helped Aileen regain her footing.
As he picked Cheren up onto his shoulder, the guild crew began to re-enter the room, seeing that it was now safe to.
They also saw the wreckage that had happened.
"Sq-squawk?!" a bird Pokémon just kind of said upon seeing it all, before facing Sky and asking "What on earth happened here?!"
"Sorry, Chatot," Sky apologized. "I think there was a huge misunderstanding that erupted into a fight…
"Here," he fetched enough Poké for reparations from his bag and gave it to Chatot. "We'll just see ourselves out."
And with that, we climbed up and out of Wigglytuff's Guild, and Sky took us through Treasure Town and to Sharpedo Bluff.
Sky set the unconscious Cheren down on a bed as we looked around.
"How did nature have it so there's a rock cliff that looks like a Sharpedo…?" I asked.
"Beats me," the explorer admitted, "but I've always found a way to live here. It's not much, but it's home."
"Huh…"
"By the way…" Sky got our attention, "I just want to say thanks. For everything."
I turned to face him. "No, you don't have t-"
"Really," he cut me off. "We've only known each other for three days, not even, and yet you still went to do all this just to help me."
He looked at his friend, still resting, and patted her head. "I'm sure once Cheren sees that I'm alright, back to normal, it'll mean just as much to her, too…I understand now. Sorry that she lashed out at you like that…and thanks again for saving me. I honestly can't say it enough."
This…this scale of sincere gratitude…it just warms my heart and puts a smile on my face. "Heh…y-you're welcome."
I looked over at Aileen and saw the same kind of inexplicable happiness pasted across her face. This must be that kind of feeling she's always strived for with her willingness to step in and help…and I have to admit, it feels really, really good.
"…unnnh…"
I looked over to just beside Sky and saw that Cheren was just beginning to wake up.
"Where am I…" her senses started to return.
"Cheren!" Sky made sure she saw him.
Seeing him again shocked her awake. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Sk-Sky?! Y-you're…"
"It's alright," he soothed her. "I'm alright. I remember now. Thanks to them."
"Y-you…I…I…"
She threw herself into him, crying all over again. "I…I'm so happy…I thought you were…bwaaaah!"
Sky just hugged her back. "Take your time…"
After we just sat there and let her let it out for a few minutes, she calmed herself down and turned to us. "I…I don't know what to say…"
"It's alright," I offered. "Then don't say anything. We know you didn't mean what you did. Right, Aileen?"
She nodded in agreement. "It's only natural to feel the way you did given the looks of the situation. We don't hold anything against you."
Cheren smiled and wiped away yet another tear from her eye. "Th-thanks, guys…I'm so happy…"
"But anyway," I changed the topic, turning to Sky, "enough of that. We need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
He nodded with a little shiver. "That was a terrifying experience…"
"I hate to bring back bad memories," I apologized in advance, "but…"
The Lucario shook his head. "Sorry, but other than just being left in the ball until Cheren let me out, I can't remember anything that might be helpful."
"Well, that sucks…" I said. "But P.A.I.G.E. DID say that she was going to be giving you to someone in Team Perial…"
I stood up. "We need to tell Lurantis about all this and get everyone together to storm the place if we're gonna take them down."
"Right," Aileen also got up. "There's no way we can do this on our own."
She turned to Cheren and Sky. "You guys coming?"
An awkward silence.
"I'm really sorry…" Cheren said at last, "but I really don't think I should…"
"What?!" I didn't believe this. "But we're so close! Why?!"
"Don't misunderstand," she said, "I do want to help, but…I just have so much going on inside me right now…"
"You feel you'd just get in the way?" Sky finished for her.
Cheren nodded.
"Oh…I see," I said with a sigh. "I understand why you might think that, that that might be risky…"
"But it certainly doesn't make me feel much better about our chances…" Aileen admitted.
"I'm sure you'll find a way," Sky smiled. "You came this far just coming after us…that takes courage and heart."
"Plus," Cheren said, "you'll have plenty of support from your investigation team, right? They'll help you on your way, won't they?"
I nodded. That's true…even without Cheren and Sky, we'll still have plenty of force…
"If it makes you feel any better, we'll come back when we're feeling up to it again," Cheren offered. "We just need to lay low for a little while. Is that a fair deal?"
"I suppose," I agreed.
"Then it's settled," Sky nodded. "Head on back and fill everyone else in on the current situation, and after a few days of just pulling ourselves together, we'll jump back into the uprising."
"Well, I suppose we better get moving, then," Aileen suggested. "There's no more time to lose!"
"Alright," I nodded.
"Best of luck! And thanks again!" Cheren called after us as we left.
And so we made the long hike back to Capim Town, and Lapras took us back to the Mist Continent we had come from.
Once we were back at Noe Town, Lapras warned us that we better have passes next time.
"If there is a next time," I replied.
By the time we made it to Crossroad City, it was well into the night, so we just climbed into our beds in the orphanage and fell asleep.
(Chapter 11 begins…)

Description
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Investigators of Soul/Heart/Spirit

a fanmade story

I was still tired when I woke up, feeling the extent of how much I did yesterday, but forced myself to get up and to get Aileen up.
We made sure to eat our fill for breakfast to make up for getting nothing last night, and headed on out into Crossroad City.
I understood that now that we know about Team Perial and their intents, we're going to have to stop them. And to do that, we'll need Cheren. I get that she's going through a really rough time right now…but I'm sure she'll understand if we tell her what needs to be done. And maybe we can do something more for Sky, if we can get P.A.I.G.E. into submission again…
I told Aileen my train of thought and suggested that we go look for them in their room at SnorMor Hotel, to which she nodded.
But when we got to the room, it was empty.
"That's odd…" I thought out loud.
"Maybe Snorlax knows where they went?" Aileen offered. "Let's go see him at the front desk."
So we did. "Hey, Snorlax," I said.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You know where Team Explorers of Sky went?"
"They checked out this morning."
"What?!" Aileen made sure she heard right. "They left?!"
"Cheren said they were heading home," he passed along, "to resign."
"To resign?!" I didn't believe it. "They're QUITTING?!"
"I'm in just as much disbelief as you are," Snorlax admitted, "but can you really blame 'em? Sky doesn't even remember who he is, and Cheren is in no condition to be doing much more right now. And they've been doin' it for fifteen years…I think that's a reasonable amount of time."
"I get that, I really do, but…" I said, "we're just beginning to grasp the crisis! They can't quit now!"
"Well, they left a half hour ago, I dunno if you'll catch them…or if Cheren'll even hear you out right now."
This is a disaster. Push is coming to shove, and the only one who knows what's going on and has the power to do something is resigning!
If we do so much as run into P.A.I.G.E. again on our own, that's it! And let alone whatever Carter might have in store!
We can't let this happen!
"Oh, by the way," Snorlax remembered something and interrupted my panic, "someone wanted me to give this to you two."
I took the note from his hands and read it. The writing was unprofessional and sloppy, but I could get the message.
"You two investigator chumps or whatever, you know who you are,
Rumor has it that atop Mechanical Mountain, to the west, there's a Pokémon called Magearna who can create so-called Soul-Hearts that are said to let you briefly relive your life from the very beginning when you use one. You should consider getting up there and getting one or two. I think you'll know what I mean. Chaw-haw-haw!"
Mechanical Mountain? Magearna? Soul-Hearts?
I read over it again to make sense of it. Magearna lives at the top of Mechanical Mountain and creates Soul-Hearts, which can let you relive your life from the beginning?
Relive your life from the…
It suddenly clicked. A Soul-Heart could, in essence, restore memory!
But how viable is this tip-off…?
"You know who wrote this, Snorlax?" I asked.
He shook his head. "The guy just showed up with two other Pokémon, said 'hold on to this and give it to those two who were with Cheren last," laughed, and walked away."
"Any distinguishing features?"
"They were all purple, and they sure as heck REEKED."
Skuntank.
So given what Sky said to him last, this is either a trap or a shot at doing the right thing while staying discreet.
I can't tell…
If we go to Mechanical Mountain and bring a Soul-Heart back to Sky, we could help him retrieve his memory and boost Cheren's morale, and enlist his help as well in defeating Team Perial…
But if we go and it turns out to be for nothing, we'll waste precious time and put ourselves at risk…
No, there's no more time to waste. We have to go straight after Cheren!
"You said the explorers were heading home?" I asked Snorlax. "Where do they live?"
"Sharpedo Bluff, near Treasure Town on the Grass Continent," Snorlax answered. "You thinking of going after them?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you're going to have to cross the sea, then," he said. "There's a Lapras Travel Liner in Noe Town."
"How do we get there?"
"It's a long way," Snorlax said, "but once you cross Mechanical Mountain, just head south."
"Wait, did you just say Mechanical Mountain?"
"Yeah. You gotta get over it to get there from here."
I facepalmed. HARD. So we're going to be crossing Mechanical Mountain anyway?
Well, I guess it can't hurt to check it out while we're there. See if we can bag a Soul-Heart.
"It's gonna be a long journey," Snorlax informed us again. "Make sure you're set for anything before you just take off."
"Got it," I nodded, and motioned for Aileen. "We gotta get that done right now!"
Once we were ready, we went through the left gate and were off to catch Cheren and Sky.
(Mechanical Mountain
20F
Steel types and Fairy types
Gabriel: 25 [+1]
Aileen: 25 [no change])
Mechanical Mountain Summit.
"Are we getting close?" Aileen asked me.
"I think so," I replied. "I think I see something just ahead."
"Let's go!"
When we arrived at the highest point of the mountain, I could make out what I saw; a Pokémon, almost entirely light gray, had its back turned to us, looking up at the sky above and its endless expanse.
"Hey!" I got its attention.
The Pokémon turned to face us. "Oh, hello there," she said with a little curtsy. "My name is Magearna. What brings you here? Is it to see me? Or to continue on to Noe Town?"
"Both, actually," I explained. "You didn't happen to see a Raichu and a Lucario pass through here, did you?"
"I did, in fact," Magearna said. "The Raichu seemed rather upset…are you friends of theirs?"
"…You could say that."
"What do you need to see me for?"
We told Magearna what had happened to Sky and how distraught Cheren really was right now.
"Oh…oh dear…" Magearna reflected on the truth. "That's just terrible…my own heart aches from that story…"
"Yeah…" I said. "But that was when we got a tip-off that you make Soul-Hearts? That can, quote, 'allow one to relive their life from the beginning'?"
"So that's it," Magearna understood. "You came here to collect a Soul-Heart and give it to Sky."
"Yes, that's exactly it," Aileen nodded. "I don't mean to be pushy, but…please? This may mean a lot more than you know."
"I'm sure I understand," Magearna nodded. "You will most certainly need assistance if you hope to end Team Perial's threat."
"Glad you do," I smiled. "So can we have a Soul-Heart?"
A light began emanating from the sphere in the center of Magearna's body, and shortly thereafter, the red and blue opening of it opened and dispensed a small little heart-shaped object into her "hands".
"Here," she held it out to me with both hands.
I took it and took a closer look at it. There seemed to be a hot-pink gel-like substance in the center, given shape by a flaky gray robotic perimeter.
"You have to crush it to use it," she explained. "Either in your hands or underneath your feet. Take it and deliver it to those poor Pokémon."
"We will," I nodded and put it into the Pocket Dimension. "Thank you so much."
I was about to leave when I realized something else.
"Actually…" I stopped. "I hope this doesn't sound like too much to ask for, but…"
"But?" Magearna was listening.
Aileen understood where I was going. "Thing is," she finished for me, "he also lost his memory some time ago and it hasn't come back to him yet."
"Oh, I see," Magearna nodded in understanding and dispensed another Soul-Heart. "Here you go."
Wait, what? She's just going to give me another one, no questions asked?
I mean…
"Ha…" I said in grateful disbelief. "Th-thank you again."
Magearna did another curtsy. "You are very much welcome, it's nothing at all. Now hurry, and take care on your way!"
"W-we will! Thanks again!" I gave the Artificial Pokémon a thumbs-up, and she waved as we went onward to Noe Town.
(Sprint of Spines
B14F
Many spiky or snakelike Pokémon can be found here, such as Sandslash, Ferrothorn, Milotic, and Arbok
Gabriel: 25 [no change]
Aileen: 26 [+1])
After another long stretch, we were in Noe Town. Noticing the classical stone architecture as we passed on through, but no sign of Cheren and Sky, we went on straight to the dock.
"Welcome to the Lapras Travel Liner," Lapras greeted us.
"Hi, uh, have you seen a yellow Pokémon with a blue one anywhere around here?"
"They just left for the Grass Continent a while ago."
"Darn it!" I tensed up.
"We need to go after them," Aileen explained. "It's more important than you know…"
"I wish I could help you…" Lapras said, "but you don't have a Grass Pass."
"A wha?"
"You need to buy passes from Kecleon's shop in order to go to other continents. It's part of the regulations."
I sighed. "We honestly don't have time for this. We're just going there and back, do we really need a pass for one trip?"
"Are you seriously going to fight with me over this?"
"I don't want to start a fight over this, no, but we don't have the time or Poké, and possibly everyone needs us. Please? Just once?"
An awkward silence.
Then Lapras sighed and gave in. "Alright. But just this once."
"Just this once," I nodded. "Thanks for understanding."
We quickly hopped on Lapras' back and were off for the Grass Continent.
The trip still ended up going through the night, so Aileen and I slept for most of it. In the morning, when we made land, Lapras woke us up and we went through Capim Town.
"Hey, excuse me," I asked around. "Does anyone know how to get to Treasure Town from here?"
"Treasure Town?" an Electrike near the gate responded. "Just stick close to the coast heading south."
"'Kay, thanks!" And we were off.
(Coastline Corridor
18F
Mostly the evolved versions of those beginning Pokémon in the main series, like Mightyena, Bibarel, Dustox, and Vivillon
Gabriel: 26 [+1]
Aileen: 27 [+1])
Running the whole way, we finally arrived at Treasure Town's crossroads and caught our breath.
But here the path split in three different ways. Which way do we go?
"Look!" Aileen pointed to the right.
I turned my gaze that way; at the top of a cliff, just up a few stairs, Cheren and Sky entered a tent shaped like a Pokémon.
"Holy moly, we actually caught up with them!" I said.
"Quick!" Aileen gestured. "We have to stop them!"
We climbed the mountain as fast as we could, and dashed for the te-
"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" someone shouted from below the grate as I ran over it.
I stopped where I was.
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" someone else asked the sentry.
"The footprint is…Kirlia's? I think?"
A pause as a Noibat came up to see us at the gate.
"Huh, you're actually right for once, Stunfisk," Noibat said upon taking me in. "Enter."
We started to head on in when:
"Pokémon detected! Pok-"
"It's a Brionne, Stunfisk. I can see from here."
"Oh…"
"Anyway, come on in."
We hurried down the pole just inside the tent and went underground.
"Cheren! Sky!" I called out and dropped down.
"Huh?" Cheren saw us and stopped, and the amnesiac Lucario stuck with her.
I stood up and faced her, and Aileen climbed down the rest of the way and also met her eye-to-eye.
"You two?" Cheren comprehended. "You followed me…all the way here?"
"What choice did we have?" I asked.
"Wha- what do you mean? Why?" She didn't have the slightest clue as to why we were here.
I took one of the Soul-Hearts out of the Pocket Dimension and put it into Sky's paw. "This. Is why we followed you."
"It's a Soul-Heart," Aileen explained. "Go on…crush it."
"What?" Sky was confused. "I don't even get what's going on. What're you trying to do?"
"It'll help you with your memory," I said.
Cheren was even more lost. "Wha?"
"We're trying to help you guys," I said, "so that you don't have to just give up like this. I know you've got a whirlwind of emotions going on inside you right now, but the world needs us. We have to take Team Perial on, and to do that, we need you guys. So…nothing like this ever happens again."
Sky looked down at the device in his palm, and Cheren looked at him.
Cheren then turned to us, looking like she was about to cry all over again. "Y-you…I…you…"
She didn't know what she wanted to say.
"I mean…" Sky turned to her. "I don't really understand why you've been in tears the whole way here, but…if it makes you feel any better."
He smiled and crushed the Soul-Heart in his fist.
When he opened his hand again, the metal shards surrounding the device wavered and came back to the center like magnets. Then the Soul-Heart flew up to directly above the Lucario and began to grow, until it was even bigger than he was.
"THANK YOU FOR USING THE SOUL-HEART," a recording of Magearna's voice began to play. "LET US BEGIN."
Suddenly the Soul-Heart fired a laser beam at the ground behind Sky, that split into two and met back up in front of him, burning a pink circle around him. Plusle and Minun, who had been checking the Job Bulletin Board on the wall, panicked at the sudden light show and fled upstairs. Chimecho, at her little station, reacted similarly and went down a floor.
Cheren, Sky, Aileen and I also didn't expect this, but simply took a step back.
"PLEASE," the Soul-Heart said, "IF YOU WILL NOT BE USING THE SOUL-HEART, PLEASE REMAIN OUTSIDE THE GIVEN BOUNDARIES. IF YOU WILL BE, PLEASE REMAIN INSIDE."
We were already outside the circle, and Sky was already inside, so we stayed where we were.
Something's wrong, I thought. This looks very dangerous right now…
"YOUR SOUL-HEART EXPERIENCE…"
The Soul-Heart split itself into two equal halves with a loud BRRREEEEOOOM.
"…BEGINS NOW."
The two halves slowly floated away from each other, coming closer to the ground as they did so…
and after a few seconds suddenly accelerated back toward each other.
Then I saw where they were meeting up and gasped.
"Sky! Watch out!" Cheren warned. "You're going to be-"
Before he could do anything or we could reach him in time, the two halves met one another and solidified back together, crushing him and releasing a powerful burst of energy over a wide area, knocking us back into the stone walls of the guild.
"No!" Cheren quickly recovered from the blow and ran up to where the giant Soul-Heart floated now, pressing herself to the force field.
I slowly got back up, cramping, and helped Aileen back up, as we realized what had just happened.
"N…n-no…Sky…"
Cheren pried herself off of the barrier and buried her head in her hands, trembling violently.
"Oh, no…" Aileen covered her mouth, registering the new findings about the Soul-Heart. "What have we done…"
I had a hard time swallowing it myself. We had gotten our hands on that device hoping to bring back the old Sky…the one that Cheren had known and loved dearly as a companion. But instead, not even knowing for sure what it did, we had done the exact opposite; we broke the new one, even the shell of her friend was now gone.
We just killed Sky.
Right before Cheren's eyes.
My heart pounded in my chest when that thought finally took shape.
I took the other one we had received from Magearna out of the Pocket Dimension. Is this why she had just given me another without a second thought?
Not going to make that same mistake again, I thought, and threw it out the window.
If I even live to get the opportunity to, I realized.
I looked back at the distraught Raichu, who was now shaking.
Violently.
"Oh, no" is right, I thought.
We're next.
"B-bu…but…no! I…I-I…we…" Cheren couldn't think straight any more. "Y-you said…you…
"You…
"YOOOOOUUUUU!!!"
She turned to us, murder in her eyes. "You did this!"
"L-look, please," I tried, "you have to understand, we didn-"
"I'm through with understanding!" she screamed at us with fury. "I trusted you, and you do this to me?!"
"Please, Cheren!" Aileen begged for mercy. "We didn't know!"
"YOU DIDN'T KNOW?!" Cheren yelled. "You don't know a lot of things…and I take it sympathy isn't one of them! I was lost enough when he lost his memory…but THIS! This is insult to injury!"
Maybe this was what Skuntank was trying to do, I finally registered.
That…that heartless little-!!
"Rrr…rrRRRRRrrr…!!!" Cheren's cheeks were cracking with electricity in her rage.
She was just about to bring her wrath down on us.
We…we can't die now! I told myself. If we die here, then there'll be no one left to stop Team Perial and their ambitions!
We don't have a choice. We're going to have to fight Cheren and bring her to her senses. Either that, or she and everyone else we know and don't know are going to be brainwashed by P.A.I.G.E.!
I looked at Aileen quickly, and she nodded, knowing what had to be done.
"RrrrRRRAAAAAAH!!" Cheren completely lost it. "You can regret this in your afterlives!!"
World first, remorse later.
"Brace yourself!" I shouted to Aileen.
The Raichu came at us.
She immediately sped herself up as fast as she could go with three Agilitys, and unleashed Discharge. That in itself nearly finished Aileen.
I Dodged up to Cheren and used Magical Leaf, which ended up as a critical hit but still didn't faze her much at all. Aileen's Torrent kicked in to boost her Water Gun, which helped but didn't help. Cheren sped on over to her and defeated her with Psychic.
From where I was, I used Shadow Sneak in some effort to attack, but it still wasn't enough. She used Discharge and left it at that.
I just laid there on my stomach on the ground, too weak to do anything, until Cheren kicked my face and pinned me to the wall by my neck.
As beat up as I already was, I couldn't breathe. But I still had to defend myself with my words.
"Ch-Cheren…please…y-you don't have to do this…!"
"Just like you didn't have to go the extra mile to make me feel this MISERABLE!"
There was no reasoning with her.
She released her choke hold on me, but I still couldn't breathe, as the psychic pressure was now beginning to come on me from all sides.
She's going to grind me into nothing, I realized.
This…this isn't the way to go! Not here, not now, not like this! Do I…really deserve this?
…
Something in the back of my mind told me I did.
"Aileen…" I barely said. "R-run, Aileen!"
Knowing she had to escape and tell everyone about Team Perial, she gathered the strength to get back to her feet and begin climbing upstairs, not wanting to leave me behind but seeing she had to.
"KyyuuuuuAAAAAAH!!" Cheren let out one last cry of rage.
This is it, I thought.
The world now rests upon Aileen's shoul-
Suddenly a loud, 8-bit BAW, BAW, BAW-DO-BAH interrupted that thought.
I fell to the ground as Cheren's focus broke and she turned her attention to the Soul-Heart. Aileen stopped climbing and also looked at it.
"THANK YOU FOR USING THE SOUL-HEART," Magearna's recording once more said, while the Soul-Heart did a little 360. "DETONATING…"
I got back to my feet as the Soul-Heart, remaining suspended in the air, dropped its force field.
Then it suddenly pulsed.
And pulsed again.
And pulsed.
Pulse.
Pulse.
Beat.
THROB.
The machine was shifting into a slow, steady rhythm of expansion and shrinking.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in…breathe out.
Breathe in…
I noticed a ring of energy beginning to form at the top of the Soul-Heart, covering about the top third of the thing's mass.
Breathe out.
The ring spread out with force, knocking out the frames of the windows and shaking the ladder Aileen was on, causing her to cling to it for dear life.
Had she been a little lower, it would have hit her head-on.
"Aah…" Cheren witnessed the destruction this thing was causing to the guild and ran up to the Soul-Heart, seeing that the force field had been lifted.
Breathe in…
Another ring formed around the center of the Soul-Heart.
But Cheren only realized this until she had already jumped straight into the line of fire.
Breathe out.
The ring released, shaking the ladder again and nailing Cheren.
"Waaah!" she wailed as she was sent flying back to where she had come from.
I reacted and caught the Raichu like a dodgeball as the ring passed just over my head. I quickly put together that the explorer had fallen unconscious from the blast, due to her ragdoll limpness in my arms.
Breathe in…
This time rings formed around the top and the bottom of the machine, level with the ceiling and the ground.
Uh-oh.
Breathe out.
The rings spread out.
I didn't know what I was doing, but I instinctively jumped, with Cheren still in my arms.
She added a lot of weight, and it used the last of my energy, but I was able to successfully hurdle the beam and pass through the two unharmed.
The rest of the place wasn't so lucky. The pole, struck in two places at once, shook so violently that Aileen couldn't hold on and fell to the floor after the rings had dissipated. A sign over on the left was also leveled by the burst.
I set Cheren down and collapsed on the floor like the rest of us, but I still watched as the Soul-Heart finally began to short-circuit. The metal flakes began desyncing with the center, awkwardly and unpredictably forming around it, before finally getting back to where they were before as the Soul-Heart shrunk one last time…
and then split right in two.
The pink center split into perfect halves again, but on a jagged break down the middle. The pieces making up the metal exterior flew away from each other and exploded, filling the room with a blinding white light, broken only by the broken heart halves separately crumbling into pieces, and a silhouette suspended in the air and gently let down onto the pile of rubble as the light faded.
The figure, color returning to him, stood up and looked around, visibly shocked by the state of the room. "What happened here?!" he exclaimed.
Then he noticed Cheren unconscious on the ground and rushed over. "Cheren? Cheren, are you alright?!"
I suddenly understood now, and now my only regret was throwing the other Soul-Heart out the window.
I tried to get back to my feet, but to no avail.
He saw that I was actually awake and turned to me, seemingly having figured it out. "Gabriel…"
I hadn't even told him my name yet.
Then it's undeniable now!
"Sky?" I asked him to make sure.
"Don't worry," he said, "I remember now. All of it."
Huh…so the Soul-Heart DOES in fact do what it's said to do, but with a catch.
Sky helped me back up, and I helped Aileen regain her footing.
As he picked Cheren up onto his shoulder, the guild crew began to re-enter the room, seeing that it was now safe to.
They also saw the wreckage that had happened.
"Sq-squawk?!" a bird Pokémon just kind of said upon seeing it all, before facing Sky and asking "What on earth happened here?!"
"Sorry, Chatot," Sky apologized. "I think there was a huge misunderstanding that erupted into a fight…
"Here," he fetched enough Poké for reparations from his bag and gave it to Chatot. "We'll just see ourselves out."
And with that, we climbed up and out of Wigglytuff's Guild, and Sky took us through Treasure Town and to Sharpedo Bluff.
Sky set the unconscious Cheren down on a bed as we looked around.
"How did nature have it so there's a rock cliff that looks like a Sharpedo…?" I asked.
"Beats me," the explorer admitted, "but I've always found a way to live here. It's not much, but it's home."
"Huh…"
"By the way…" Sky got our attention, "I just want to say thanks. For everything."
I turned to face him. "No, you don't have t-"
"Really," he cut me off. "We've only known each other for three days, not even, and yet you still went to do all this just to help me."
He looked at his friend, still resting, and patted her head. "I'm sure once Cheren sees that I'm alright, back to normal, it'll mean just as much to her, too…I understand now. Sorry that she lashed out at you like that…and thanks again for saving me. I honestly can't say it enough."
This…this scale of sincere gratitude…it just warms my heart and puts a smile on my face. "Heh…y-you're welcome."
I looked over at Aileen and saw the same kind of inexplicable happiness pasted across her face. This must be that kind of feeling she's always strived for with her willingness to step in and help…and I have to admit, it feels really, really good.
"…unnnh…"
I looked over to just beside Sky and saw that Cheren was just beginning to wake up.
"Where am I…" her senses started to return.
"Cheren!" Sky made sure she saw him.
Seeing him again shocked her awake. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Sk-Sky?! Y-you're…"
"It's alright," he soothed her. "I'm alright. I remember now. Thanks to them."
"Y-you…I…I…"
She threw herself into him, crying all over again. "I…I'm so happy…I thought you were…bwaaaah!"
Sky just hugged her back. "Take your time…"
After we just sat there and let her let it out for a few minutes, she calmed herself down and turned to us. "I…I don't know what to say…"
"It's alright," I offered. "Then don't say anything. We know you didn't mean what you did. Right, Aileen?"
She nodded in agreement. "It's only natural to feel the way you did given the looks of the situation. We don't hold anything against you."
Cheren smiled and wiped away yet another tear from her eye. "Th-thanks, guys…I'm so happy…"
"But anyway," I changed the topic, turning to Sky, "enough of that. We need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
He nodded with a little shiver. "That was a terrifying experience…"
"I hate to bring back bad memories," I apologized in advance, "but…"
The Lucario shook his head. "Sorry, but other than just being left in the ball until Cheren let me out, I can't remember anything that might be helpful."
"Well, that sucks…" I said. "But P.A.I.G.E. DID say that she was going to be giving you to someone in Team Perial…"
I stood up. "We need to tell Lurantis about all this and get everyone together to storm the place if we're gonna take them down."
"Right," Aileen also got up. "There's no way we can do this on our own."
She turned to Cheren and Sky. "You guys coming?"
An awkward silence.
"I'm really sorry…" Cheren said at last, "but I really don't think I should…"
"What?!" I didn't believe this. "But we're so close! Why?!"
"Don't misunderstand," she said, "I do want to help, but…I just have so much going on inside me right now…"
"You feel you'd just get in the way?" Sky finished for her.
Cheren nodded.
"Oh…I see," I said with a sigh. "I understand why you might think that, that that might be risky…"
"But it certainly doesn't make me feel much better about our chances…" Aileen admitted.
"I'm sure you'll find a way," Sky smiled. "You came this far just coming after us…that takes courage and heart."
"Plus," Cheren said, "you'll have plenty of support from your investigation team, right? They'll help you on your way, won't they?"
I nodded. That's true…even without Cheren and Sky, we'll still have plenty of force…
"If it makes you feel any better, we'll come back when we're feeling up to it again," Cheren offered. "We just need to lay low for a little while. Is that a fair deal?"
"I suppose," I agreed.
"Then it's settled," Sky nodded. "Head on back and fill everyone else in on the current situation, and after a few days of just pulling ourselves together, we'll jump back into the uprising."
"Well, I suppose we better get moving, then," Aileen suggested. "There's no more time to lose!"
"Alright," I nodded.
"Best of luck! And thanks again!" Cheren called after us as we left.
And so we made the long hike back to Capim Town, and Lapras took us back to the Mist Continent we had come from.
Once we were back at Noe Town, Lapras warned us that we better have passes next time.
"If there is a next time," I replied.
By the time we made it to Crossroad City, it was well into the night, so we just climbed into our beds in the orphanage and fell asleep.
(Chapter 11 begins…)