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Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Investigators of Soul/Heart/Spirit

a fanmade story

The next morning, I got myself out of bed, shook Aileen awake, and we ate what we could while we waited for Shiinotic to walk out. Once she did, we exited the orphanage and went out into Crossroad City.
"Y'know, now that I think about it," Aileen realized, "it'd probably be helpful for our investigations to browse around the shops here every day before going straight to the firm."
"Care to show me around?" I asked.
"I mean…I guess…" she said, rather reluctantly.
But she just shrugged and pointed. "Just across from the orphanage is, quote, 'Glorious Gold'. Cofagrigus offers some good stuff and some good money in exchange for Gold Bars we can find in dungeons…though he does go a bit over the top, much to his niece Misdreavus' distaste."
Then she looked over to the main plaza, the shop furthest to the right. "Kecleon Market is always known for good selection, good prices, and a good reputation. Though it's said that no one should ever steal from him…I mean, why? It should just be common sense…"
She mulled it over for a moment, then just shook her head and moved onto the shop just to the left. "That's Honchkrow's Key To Everything," she explained. "It's said that way back when, he and his band of thieves collected millions of keys that they never found the uses for. So he opened this shop where Pokémon could bring him their treasure chests from mystery dungeons to see if he had the key for it, for a small fee. It's usually well worth it."
"And this," she went on to the last shop, farthest left, "is Hypno's Move Therapy. You know how when you level up, sometimes you have to forget a move to learn a new one? He can bring it back with a quick hypnosis session, or even teach you new ones within yourself. It's really weird…you'd have to experience it yourself to fully understand."
"What's that box just beyond it, over there?" I asked.
"Oh," Aileen almost forgot, "the Deposit Box. We can store items and Poké in there if we can't keep it on hand. It's also safe and doesn't go anywhere if we get ko'ed in a dungeon, unlike what we might have on hand."
"Huh."
"That enough for now?"
"Yeah." I quickly put the Dawn Stone in the Deposit Box, and we hurried to the firm, having spent enough time here as is.
"Hi!" Lurantis greeted us upon entrance. "Heh heh, uh…y'know, I just want to say sorry about yesterday evening…"
"No, no, it's fine," Aileen forgave her. "You're under a lot of pressure right now, it's natural to lose your cool."
"It's natural, yes…" our boss admitted, "but I can't afford it. Not here, not now…"
She shook it off. "Of course, this isn't any time to be feeling sorry for myself, either. Not when there are Pokémon who need us…"
Aileen smiled. "So, let's stop wasting time and get right into today's task, shall we?"
"Actually," she stopped us, "before we get into that, I've got to teach you something, simple, I assure you, to help keep you intact should you find yourself in another tight spot."
"Okay," Aileen nodded.
"And no, this is NOT giving you permission to dive straight into said situations…yet."
"Darn it," I heard her say under her breath.
"So…" Lurantis began, "Evasive Maneuvers."
"Evasive Maneuvers?" I asked.
"Evasive Maneuvers can be essential elements to battling larger and more agile foes. Let's start with Dodging."
She made sure she had enough space and repositioned herself.
"To Dodge, hold the L button like you would to use a move, but don't press any other buttons. Instead, input a direction into the Circle Pad, and…"
She suddenly rolled sideways.
"…you'll lunge in that direction! You'll go two spaces on the grid, so it's an effective way to avoid attacks. You can even use moves during your Dodge…"
She lurched the other way, narrowly missing me with X-Scissor.
"…though your momentum might give it less power than usual, and it's certainly more difficult to hit with it. But it can still work to keep enemies guessing, if only for so long. It takes a lot of energy to Dodge, and even more to attack while doing so, so if you Dodge too much, you might find yourself getting really hungry really fast."
"Um, excuse me," I raised my hand.
"What's your question?"
"What 'buttons'? What 'Circle Pad'? You're sounding like Shiinotic here."
"Oh. You're not supposed to understand that."
"Huh?"
"That's for…hold on. One…"
She turned toward each of the walls, seemingly counting them, and after turning 270 degrees, she walked over to it and knocked on it, looking back at us.
"That's for the people behind here to understand."
I sighed. "Whatever…"
"There's also Jumping," she said, coming back to her starting position, "for different uses. To Jump, it's L and R at the same time."
She jumped straight up.
"You can also attack while Jumping; and that's sort of the point," she explained. "Depending on the move and how you size up against the enemy, you may find an advantage to attacking from above, or getting more reach on the giant."
"What do you mean?" Aileen asked.
"For example, if you're fighting, say, an Onix," Lurantis attempted to demonstrate in words. "Don't you think it'd be more effective to attack its head as opposed to its body? But, since you're so small in comparison, you'd never reach normally."
"Aaaaah, I get it!"
"Every Pokémon takes Jumping attacks differently, and every move is affected differently."
"So," I figured, "if you were to Jump and try to use Earthquake, it would be weaker, but if you were to Jump and use Sky Uppercut, it would be stronger?"
"Yeah…well, sort of. Larger and heavier Pokémon might have a harder time dealing with Jumping attacks, whereas smaller and lighter ones could avoid them with ease."
"It's like a whole 'nother type matchup!" Aileen concluded.
"In essence," Lurantis nodded. "You certainly have to know which move to use and on who, but also when. Like Dodging, Jumping takes energy and depletes your Belly with each use. It takes a lot of strategy to master."
"I see," I said.
"Anyway," she turned to her desk and grabbed a sticky note. "Here's what I want you two doing today."
I looked at the task at hand:
"Client: Slaking
Summary: Slaking's cousin-in-law Komala has sleepwalked into Deep Branches B6F…apparently not for the first time. Reach the scene and rescue Komala."
"Okay," I accepted the job and faced Aileen. "Let's get moving!"
She nodded and followed me to the location mentioned.
It turned out to be a part of the forest much further in than the Dense Streambank, not that far to the east. True to its name, the trees were thick and vibrant, the ground an exceptionally soft soil almost like you could sink into it. There was something else in the air that seemed to soothe us, despite it being a very dangerous place.
"Isn't there something about this place that feels…" Aileen's speech became slurred, "I dunno, a bit hypnotic?"
"It's…kinda weird, yeah," I acknowledged.
I kept looking ahead, waiting for a response…not really sure what kind I was expecting, but some kind of response.
Until I realized I wasn't going to get one; I looked back at Aileen just in time to watch her curl up and succumb to slumber.
That is, she would have slept, had I not slapped her across the face right then.
"OW-ooh…" she groaned, reeling from the sudden transition into alertness.
"See?" I told her. "This is exactly why we're not being put on the front lines yet; we don't have enough experience and/or resistance, to natural forces of all things!"
"Ugh," Aileen moaned, still mad that I slapped her. "Let's get this done."
(Deep Branches
B6F
Every enemy in the dungeon can put you to sleep, but most of them with either Sleep Powder or Spore
Gabriel: 10 [+2]
Aileen: 10 [+1])
After what felt like forever of trying to stay awake and navigating the jungle, we finally found Komala.
"Hey, kid," I called out to him, "you alright?"
No response.
"Uh…Komala? That's your name, right?"
Nothin'.
I waved my hand in front of his face. He's not gonna wake up any time soon, I thought.
Suddenly he just lunged and clung to me.
"Aah!" I reacted by surprise.
"Ahaha!" Aileen just laughed.
"You shut up," I said, more annoyed at her reaction than the fact that my mobility was now quite restricted.
"Whatever," she said with a smirk. "At least we got him. Now let's get out of here before one of us ends up taking another unneeded nap."
With a sigh, I "walked" with her back to the firm, where Lurantis, the team, and Slaking (the client) were waiting.
"Here," I made my way to Slaking.
He took his distant relative off of me, while saying "Thank you. Looks like the effort it took coming here was worth it after all."
"Wha?" Aileen didn't understand that last part.
"Ah, it's nothin'," the client assured her. "Here."
He handed me 700 Poké as a reward.
"Thank you," I accepted it. "Stay safe!"
"I'll see what I can do to just stay home."
"Heh. Well, that too. See you around."
It took him some time to get the two of them off the chairs and on the move, but he did it.
"Bravo, guys!" Lurantis applauded our efforts. "You two are coming along even quicker than I thought!"
"Guess you could say that," Aileen said, proud of herself.
I didn't even say anything.
Excadrill put his claws on his hips. "I know you're appreciating the newcomers, but we do have a more pressing obje-"
"Wut makes ye th'nk she dun't know that?" Dhelmise stopped him.
Lurantis groaned, getting tense. "It's a balancing act, okay? We're doing what we can for the disappearances while they're training, myself included."
"Which is amounting to nothing," Heracross pointed out.
"At the moment…" she sighed. "Look, the sooner they master the basics, the sooner we can put more focus than ever into it."
"And the sooner we put more focus into it, the more apt we are to find something, yadda yadda yadda." Talonflame dropped his wings. "We get it. There's just no more time to be wasting."
"No…" Lurantis corrected him, "there's just no more time you want to spend on this. Do you really think I'm an idiot? I can read you all like a book."
"Yeh," Dhelmise supported her, "So quit yer whin'n' an' buck up."
"Pfft. Easy for you to say;" Talonflame sneered, "you're slow as molasses, quite literally!"
"Dis be seaweed…dis be seaweed, ya flamin' chicken!"
"ARGH!!" Lurantis threw her head onto her desk and covered it with her arms, quaking, immediately silencing the room and getting all eyes on her.
"Dismissed!" she finally yelled out.
Once the shack was cleared, she slammed the door behind us and locked it. Even behind the door I could still hear "UGH!" loud and clear.
The men exchanged glances with each other for a few moments, and headed their separate ways home. Aileen and I, minding our own business and not wanting to cause any more trouble, followed our path to the orphanage. It just so happened to be the same road Talonflame and Dhelmise used to get to their homes, so we ended up keeping pace with them.
"Does she usually have that kind of temper?" Aileen asked.
"Nuh…" Dhelmise answered, "nut under norm'l c'rcumstances, dat poor lass…"
"Must be the pressure, then…" I figured. "It's taking its toll on all of you, huh?"
"You could say that…" Talonflame admitted.
"Ya showed up at 'bout th' right tahm, tuh be ahn'st," Dhelmise said. "It be tuff t' try 'n keep a crew mot'vated when yer the only one in th' mindset."
"I can imagine," Aileen agreed. "Well, we're doing what we can, trying to get access to more."
"'N' dat's good! Lurantis' right; fer 's young as ye are, ye got a lev'l 'n' smert head on ya. Ah like that. Dun't see that much mer these days…"
"Dude, tone it down a bit," Talonflame "elbowed" him with his wing.
We just kept walking a ways, until we made it to Crossroad City and Aileen and I turned to our stop.
We had supper and went to bed, discussing the day with each other.
"Something needs to be done," Aileen got right to the point.
"Huh?"
"I don't know how they've stuck together for fifteen years, but that group does NOT get along."
"Ha. Not much different than here," I brought up.
"Here is different."
"How so?"
"The chaos that always goes on here is really just three separate situations."
"Three? THREE? Just THREE?"
"Just three," she confirmed.
"1) Psyduck has headaches and reacts as such, which, sadly, not much can be done there…"
I nodded and listened.
"2) Elekid's Electricizer. It's the one thing he still has to remember his family by, but Togedemaru keeps getting into fights about it. I have no clue what he wants with it."
"Well, my guess is as good as yours."
"Yeah…and 3) Happiny's egg. Inkay always pursues her, trying to eat it and get something more in his belly, but she and Wimpod think it will hatch into something, and he gets involved."
I thought about all that. "How are these not dealt with yet?"
"Well, it would certainly help if Shiinotic was reliably around…which, she's been getting better about, but it's still not as good as it should be…"
"Yeah…but, explain again, how is this different from the investigation team?"
"…where WAS I going with that? I had a point…I swear I had a point…"
I shrugged and laid down. "Ah, forget it. For now, let's just keep doing what we're doing. Surely we'll figure out everything before long…"
"Guess that's all we can do…" Aileen agreed with a yawn. "Good night…"
And within seconds, she was asleep.
I laid there, waiting to fall asleep myself, listening as the ghost of the orphanage said, "It'll all make sense in time," and-
Wait.
WHAT.
I sat up. "Who said that?! Who are you?!"
The voice tried to hold back its laugh. "Now why would I reveal that?" Now that I finally had a better listen, I could tell it was a soft but playful, fairly young feminine voice. "Why make myself out to be more than I am?"
I folded my arms, unamused. "So now you talk with me."
"Well, hey, might as well, if you know I exist."
"Alright, then, by that logic, might as well show yourself!"
"Uh…" All of a sudden she sounded scared. "How about 'not now'?"
I groaned. Am I delirious right now? Might've been something else in those Deep Branches.
"But, come on," the voice regained its confidence, "that doesn't mean we can't get to know each other a little, huh, Gabriel? How does that sound?"
"Fine. Your name, if you have one."
"M-my name? Ah…alright, I'll give you SOMETHING to call me by. Stacia? How about Stacia?"
I sighed. I guess I can only get so far with her… "Sure, Stacia sounds good."
"Okay. So, uh…hi. I'm Stacia."
I just waved. "Hi."
An awkward silence, then all of a sudden Stacia burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, what am I doing with my life…"
"Hey, your guess is as good as mine." I forced a smile.
"Heh heh. You know, you're really adorable when you want to be," the invisible voice told me.
"…not sure how to respond to that."
"Hey, I'm not saying you HAVE to, I mean…"
It went quiet again.
Then I realized something.
"You know something, don't you."
"I know a lot of things," Stacia responded.
"I mean, about me," I specified. "About who I was…before I lost my memory."
"Maybe I do, I don't know, really," Stacia said. "It's kind of hard to tell, I mean, you've said you were human before, right? Like, I might've seen you at one point, but I'd never match a name with a face, especially when that face has since changed."
Though she made valid points in her denial argument, she obviously knew something.
"I don't know…" Stacia said. "I'll tell you if I think of something, okay? For the time being, I just want company. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah…I see." Maybe if I grew closer with her over time, she'd spill some beans about what she knows about me?
"Maybe for now you should just rest. You've got another busy day in the morning. And besides…" Stacia yawned, "I'm feeling pretty sleepy myself…"
"I guess," I obliged.
"Well, I won't bother you any more tonight, then. Just know that I'm here if you ever want to talk to me, and I'm sure you'll find what you need if you just keep at it."
"Alright, then…" I shut my eyes. "G'night…Stacia."
"G'night…"
Well, that was interesting, I thought. And promising. A friendly ghost who seems to know something about me…
I slept easier than usual that night.
The next morning, Aileen shook me awake, telling me it was time to go. She handed me a quick something on the way out to nibble at, we got anything else we needed done at the facilities in town, and hurried to the firm.
"Agh, we are gonna be SO late!" Aileen freaked out on the way.
We finally made it there, and the other investigators were grouped around the door.
Huh?
"What's going on?" I asked Heracross.
"The door's still locked."
"What?" Were we early after all?
Excadrill "turned" the knob, and it didn't budge. He just shrugged.
I knocked on the door. No response.
I tried again, harder and continuously for a full 3 seconds.
That woke Lurantis up, and after quickly freaking out, brushing her hair, and getting her bearings, she scrambled to unlock the door.
"Omigosh, guys, I am so sorry, I-I don't know HOW I slept so late, I-"
She was so out of it today, she almost seemed like she was panicking before everyone assured her it was okay.
It's like everyone's mental stability is collapsing, I realized, and by looking at Aileen, I saw she saw it too. If we don't find something - anything - soon, it's going to all fall apart…!
"Ah…" Lurantis collected herself. "C-come on in."
Once we were in the firm, she wasted no more time getting to work. "Let's see…uh, Gabriel and Aileen, you're taking this job today."
I took the sticky note from her and glanced over it.
"Client: Dedenne

Summary: Dedenne's boss Ampharos has never been great with direction, but he's really done it this time. Rescue him from Convergent Boundary B8F."
"I'll leave you to it," she said, turning her somewhat divided attention to her other teammates.
We didn't say anything more, not needing to break the already impaired focus, and headed off to Convergent Boundary to the south.
As soon as we felt the ground beginning to shake below us, we knew we were getting close. There was little vegetation at all; mainly igneous rocks scattering out and about. Cracks in the ground were becoming apparent; it wasn't exactly a place you wanted to stick around for too long.
All the more reason to get the heck moving, I thought.
I gestured for Aileen to come along and went in.
(Convergent Boundary
B8F
Abundant Rock, Ground, and Fire types here, with the occasional Fighting or Ghost type
Gabriel: 11 [+1]
Aileen: 11 [+1])
After venturing through easily our deadliest dungeon explored yet, we finally reached a clearing and saw the tall, yellow Pokémon bumping his way into the walls and smacking some device in his grasp.
"Come on," he was mumbling to himself. "I had it working just a moment ago…"
"Uh, excuse me!" I called out to the Pokémon before he got himself in any more trouble.
"Oh?" he turned to us. "Hello there. Who might you be?"
"I'm Gabriel and this is Aileen," I quickly introduced ourselves.
"We're here to get you out of here."
"Ah, thank you. I am Ampharos, the leader of the Expedition Society…also known as…"
He struck a flashy pose.
"The Dashing Wanderer!"
We just stood there, unamused. "You're a wanderer, alright…"
"Very well. Lead the way!"
He walked in the opposite direction and crashed into the wall.
"Uh, Ampharos…this way."
"Ah. Of course."
Aileen grabbed him by the arm and followed me back the way we came.
We were back at the firm before too much longer, and only Lurantis and Dedenne were there.
"Chief!" Dedenne saw Ampharos safe and sound. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright…then WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
All of us flinched at the sudden change of force and volume.
"We've been over this how many times now?! You don't go anywhere without someone escorting you!"
"Yes, yes, I understand…" Ampharos apologized. "It won't happen again. I promise this time."
Dedenne rolled her eyes and turned to us. "Here. Thanks for bringing him back."
She gave us a Reviver Seed and a Cheri Berry, which went into the Pocket Dimension.
"Now, let's get you home before you cause any more trouble, Chief."
"Indeed. Homeward bound!"
He walked facefirst into the wall.
"Chief!" Dedenne rushed to his side. "This way."
"Ah."
The two Pokémon made their way out, after some more confusion.
"Well…that was weird," I finally said.
"So…" Lurantis said, having seemingly recovered from the earlier escapade, "Congrats on that success! I think you're ready to start taking jobs on your own, now that you've been to and shown you can make it through the most common dungeons."
"Really?!" This was exactly what Aileen had been waiting to hear for days.
"Yeah! Starting tomorrow, just grab one from my desk and see yourselves off."
"Yes!" Aileen nearly bursted. "I'll do my best!"
"So head back for today," Lurantis insisted, "and rest up! You'll need all the energy you can get."
"I'm sure," I nodded. "See you tomorrow, then!"
We headed back to the orphanage for the night, chatting on the way there.
"It's honestly hard to believe that we're finally getting into investigating the disappearances!"
"Isn't that what you've been going for this whole time?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah, but…" Aileen admitted, "to be honest, I never thought I'd really make it this far. It's really a dream come true."
"Why the heck not?"
"…maybe some other time. Let's head back for tonight."
"I mean…oh, whatever…" I didn't push it. But I have to wonder…why is she dodging that question?
I shrugged, and we were back shortly anyway.
But we had no idea what waited inside.
Everyone was at the table getting dinner, and just looking at it, we saw an abundance of food! For once.
"Whoa…" was all Aileen could say upon witnessing the massive collection of berries and other fruits.
"Oh, hello!" Shiinotic finally noticed us. "You're just in time for dinner."
"Ha! Ya don't say!" I chuckled.
"Where did all this food come from?!" Aileen had to ask.
"I went out and got it all," the old lady said, "after I learned that everyone was practically starving with what we had. Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?"
"Ha," Aileen took it in, sitting down to eat, "this day just gets better and better!"
"Oh?" Shiinotic noticed. "What made today so great, hm?"
"A-ah…" the Popplio panicked, "s-stuff."
"Mm-hm," Shiinotic just went with it. "Well, dig in, kiddos!"
And we did. I only finished eating after I was full and satisfied, making me the last one finished, but hey; I hadn't ever felt full since I got here. It also made me feel sleepy, so I headed off to bed.
Aileen and Minccino were already fast asleep, and I was about to pass out after laying down, too, but Stacia had other plans. "Hey, Gabriel."
I freaked out for a second before I remembered. "Oh. Hey, Stacia."
"So how was it today?" my invisible friend asked.
"Overall, today was pretty good," I said. "The day's work was getting Ampharos out of the Convergent Boundary."
"Ampharos?" she asked. "The Dashing Wanderer, Ampharos?"
"I think that's what he called himself."
"Ha ha…lucky!"
"Lucky? What do you mean?"
"That Pokémon heads the Pokémon Expedition Society over in Lively Town on the Water Continent," she explained. "Pretty famous. I've heard good things about that guy - aside from his navigation skills, of course!"
We both laughed. "But yeah, getting him out of there was apparently the end of our training," I recalled. "Lurantis is letting us take our own jobs now."
"What?! That's awesome!" Stacia commented. "When do you start?"
"Tomorrow."
"Wow…you two are really climbing the ranks here!"
"Heh heh, well, yeah. I'm sure we'll do even better now that we're actually getting some food in our stomachs, too."
Wait a…
I just realized something.
"…you had something to do with that, didn't you," I accused Stacia.
Silence, that really left it open to interpretation.
But after a little while, she just laughed. "Okay, you got me," she admitted. "I tapped Shiinotic on the shoulder and got her attention when Minccino was complaining about the portions to herself."
"But why?"
"If I'm going to be haunting this place, might as well make it worthwhile for everyone, don't you think?"
I smiled. "That's really sweet of you, not even gonna lie."
"Y-you think so?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "It's great to see this place becoming more suitable, y'know? Even if I'm not here most of the time."
"Haha…"
It went quiet again, until I yawned.
"I probably better get some sleep," I told her. "I'll need it, now that I'm actually going to be investigating the disappearances…and, maybe, while I'm at it, search for clues to my past?"
"Maybe your memory will come back on its own," Stacia thought out loud. "Remember anything yet?"
I thought about it. I know I woke up in the Lycanroc Territory, I know my name, and I obviously know I'm a Pokémon now…
But…before that?
"Nope," I finally shook my head.
"Oh well…" the voice responded. "But maybe it's better off this way."
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.
"Like, what if you remembered everything, but realized you'd never get it back?" she explained. "Wouldn't it just break your heart and crush your will?"
I remained silent.
"It's strange…" Stacia pondered. "When you forget, you wish you remembered…but…when you remember, you wish you forgot…"
Her voice wavered as she said that.
"Is…something wrong?" I asked.
"N-no…" Stacia spoke up after a while. "Naw, I'm good. I'm…I-I'm going to sleep. You probably should too…busy day tomorrow."
"I suppose you're right…" I gave in, not knowing enough about her to know what to do next. "Good night, then…"
"G'night…"
I got as comfortable as I could, but that last discussion left me rattled. Even as Stacia's deep, sleeping breathing filled the room, I just laid there.
I laid there, thinking about what she said, trying to decipher the meaning behind it.
When you forget, you want to remember…but when you remember, you want to forget?
I don't know…
I tried thinking it through some more, but I ended up passing out in the middle of a thought.
When I woke up, Aileen was still asleep. Instead of waking her up, I tried to continue my thoughts from the night before.
When you forget, you want to remember, but…agh, it still doesn't make sense.
Aileen stirred right after that, anyway. With a yawn, she told me good morning, and I said good morning back. We got a hearty breakfast, even more refreshing than the hearty supper from yesterday, waited for Shiinotic to leave, and made our way to the firm, ready to spend our newfound energy.
"Hey!" Lurantis waved when she saw us come in.
"Hey," I waved back.
"So today, I'm giving you two more independence," she reminded us. "Just grab something off the desk, chances are it'll be in either the Lycanroc Territory - if you can really call it that anymore, so I've heard - the Dense Streambank, Marble Cave, the Deep Branches, or the Convergent Boundary. Take your pick."
"Got it."
(The next few jobs I'm setting here aren't set in stone. To advance in the story, three days' worth of taking and completing requests is required. All of them will be in any of the five mystery dungeons given so far, however.)
(Day 1
Client: [Alolan] Raticate
Summary: Raticate's son Rattata is experiencing true fear. Rescue him from Lycanroc Territory 3F.
Gabriel: 12 [+1]
Aileen: 11 [no change])
(Day 2
Client: Drampa
Summary: Drampa and Turtonator's long-lasting rivalry might be in jeopardy. Search for Turtonator in Convergent Boundary B5F.
Gabriel: 12 [no change]
Aileen: 11 [no change])
(Day 3
Client: Officer Magnezone
Summary: A criminal [Alolan] Sandshrew is on the loose in Marble Cave B6F, known for slick escapes. Apprehend Sandshrew.
Gabriel: 12 [no change]
Aileen: 12 [+1])
After dinner a few days later, Aileen and I nearly fell flat onto our beds. It was going well, but it was still tough work. And we hadn't exactly found anything major yet, either.
"Oh, man," Aileen moaned, spent. "This is even harder work than I thought!"
"It does take a lot of patience," I admitted. "Guess that's why everyone's so on edge with the disappearances; every second counts."
"Yeah…well, all we can do is keep at it."
"Yep. Keep at it, and everything will make sense in time, so Stacia says."
Aileen suddenly gave me a puzzled expression. "Who's Stacia?"
"I'm Stacia," she said, as if on que.
Aileen looked around, trying to see her. "Oh, you're not gonna see her," I told her.
"What?"
"I'm invisible," Stacia explained, taking on a sillier version of her voice. "I is ghost."
"Wha…what?" Aileen said, even more confused.
"OooooOOOOOOOoooooo."
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"But really," Stacia's voice returned to normal, "I've been haunting this orphanage for some time now. But in a good way. Like the changes you've been seeing?"
"You did that?" Aileen was curious now.
"To an extent. But enough about me; how have you two been doing? With your investigation work and all?"
Aileen jumped, suddenly throwing her guard up. "H-how do you know about that?!"
"Uh, hello?" the orphanage's ghost pointed out the obvious. "You two always discuss it here before falling asleep."
Just looking at her, I could see Aileen was absolutely terrified; not of Stacia, but of what she knew.
"What?" Stacia asked, noticing the Popplio's tension. "There's nothing wrong, is there?"
Aileen gathered herself, and finally: "No matter what, NO ONE ELSE is to know about what we do. Got it?"
"W-whoa, whoa, okay, okay!" Stacia clearly was shocked by the sudden threat. "C-cross my heart, this conversation never h-happened."
Aileen let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, we're good. Our little secret."
"O-our little secret. Yeah."
The silence was still unsettling.
"Well, I dunno about you two," I said, "but I'm gonna get some rest. Another busy day tomorrow."
"Yeah…" Aileen agreed. "I'm going to sleep, too."
"G'night, guys," Stacia said with a yawn of her own.
"G'night…"
Aileen got comfortable and fell asleep in moments.
"Why'd she lash out at me like that?" Stacia asked me upon her passing out.
"I dunno…it WAS a bit uncalled for…"
Another moment of quiet.
Maybe Stacia's not the only one not telling me something… I thought.
"I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run," she concluded. "I, at least, am cheering for you from the sidelines."
"At least we have some support," I nodded.
Stacia yawned. "Yeah…"
Silence yet again.
"Why does it always get quiet between us?" I asked.
"I don't really know…" the voice said. "I guess it's just weird for me…"
"How so?"
"To be honest…I haven't talked with anyone like this at all in forever," Stacia revealed. "It's just…strange, getting back into the habit, y'know?"
"I mean…well, I-I see what you're saying," I agreed.
"I can't really explain it…it feels so awkward…yet, so good to finally have someone I…I can really call a friend again."
"Me?" My eyes went wide. "A friend?"
"Y-you're okay with that, right?" Stacia hopefully asked.
I smiled. "Sure. I'll be your friend."
She didn't say anything for a moment, and I didn't see her, but I could tell she was smiling. "Heh…th-thanks."
"Any time."
Stacia yawned yet again. "Mm…I'm going to sleep now."
"Yeah, same here," I said, realizing how drowsy I actually felt.
"See you tomorrow…friendo."
"G'night…"
I got myself as comfortable as I could, as Stacia's soft breathing filled the room once more, in a deep, soothing, reassuring rhythm.
Someone who legitimately sees me as a friend…heh, I can't even explain how good that feels!
Lulled by the comforting sound and sensation, I fell fast asleep.
(Chapter 4 begins, and Special Episode 1 has been unlocked!)

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

a fanmade story

The next morning, I got myself out of bed, shook Aileen awake, and we ate what we could while we waited for Shiinotic to walk out. Once she did, we exited the orphanage and went out into Crossroad City.
"Y'know, now that I think about it," Aileen realized, "it'd probably be helpful for our investigations to browse around the shops here every day before going straight to the firm."
"Care to show me around?" I asked.
"I mean…I guess…" she said, rather reluctantly.
But she just shrugged and pointed. "Just across from the orphanage is, quote, 'Glorious Gold'. Cofagrigus offers some good stuff and some good money in exchange for Gold Bars we can find in dungeons…though he does go a bit over the top, much to his niece Misdreavus' distaste."
Then she looked over to the main plaza, the shop furthest to the right. "Kecleon Market is always known for good selection, good prices, and a good reputation. Though it's said that no one should ever steal from him…I mean, why? It should just be common sense…"
She mulled it over for a moment, then just shook her head and moved onto the shop just to the left. "That's Honchkrow's Key To Everything," she explained. "It's said that way back when, he and his band of thieves collected millions of keys that they never found the uses for. So he opened this shop where Pokémon could bring him their treasure chests from mystery dungeons to see if he had the key for it, for a small fee. It's usually well worth it."
"And this," she went on to the last shop, farthest left, "is Hypno's Move Therapy. You know how when you level up, sometimes you have to forget a move to learn a new one? He can bring it back with a quick hypnosis session, or even teach you new ones within yourself. It's really weird…you'd have to experience it yourself to fully understand."
"What's that box just beyond it, over there?" I asked.
"Oh," Aileen almost forgot, "the Deposit Box. We can store items and Poké in there if we can't keep it on hand. It's also safe and doesn't go anywhere if we get ko'ed in a dungeon, unlike what we might have on hand."
"Huh."
"That enough for now?"
"Yeah." I quickly put the Dawn Stone in the Deposit Box, and we hurried to the firm, having spent enough time here as is.
"Hi!" Lurantis greeted us upon entrance. "Heh heh, uh…y'know, I just want to say sorry about yesterday evening…"
"No, no, it's fine," Aileen forgave her. "You're under a lot of pressure right now, it's natural to lose your cool."
"It's natural, yes…" our boss admitted, "but I can't afford it. Not here, not now…"
She shook it off. "Of course, this isn't any time to be feeling sorry for myself, either. Not when there are Pokémon who need us…"
Aileen smiled. "So, let's stop wasting time and get right into today's task, shall we?"
"Actually," she stopped us, "before we get into that, I've got to teach you something, simple, I assure you, to help keep you intact should you find yourself in another tight spot."
"Okay," Aileen nodded.
"And no, this is NOT giving you permission to dive straight into said situations…yet."
"Darn it," I heard her say under her breath.
"So…" Lurantis began, "Evasive Maneuvers."
"Evasive Maneuvers?" I asked.
"Evasive Maneuvers can be essential elements to battling larger and more agile foes. Let's start with Dodging."
She made sure she had enough space and repositioned herself.
"To Dodge, hold the L button like you would to use a move, but don't press any other buttons. Instead, input a direction into the Circle Pad, and…"
She suddenly rolled sideways.
"…you'll lunge in that direction! You'll go two spaces on the grid, so it's an effective way to avoid attacks. You can even use moves during your Dodge…"
She lurched the other way, narrowly missing me with X-Scissor.
"…though your momentum might give it less power than usual, and it's certainly more difficult to hit with it. But it can still work to keep enemies guessing, if only for so long. It takes a lot of energy to Dodge, and even more to attack while doing so, so if you Dodge too much, you might find yourself getting really hungry really fast."
"Um, excuse me," I raised my hand.
"What's your question?"
"What 'buttons'? What 'Circle Pad'? You're sounding like Shiinotic here."
"Oh. You're not supposed to understand that."
"Huh?"
"That's for…hold on. One…"
She turned toward each of the walls, seemingly counting them, and after turning 270 degrees, she walked over to it and knocked on it, looking back at us.
"That's for the people behind here to understand."
I sighed. "Whatever…"
"There's also Jumping," she said, coming back to her starting position, "for different uses. To Jump, it's L and R at the same time."
She jumped straight up.
"You can also attack while Jumping; and that's sort of the point," she explained. "Depending on the move and how you size up against the enemy, you may find an advantage to attacking from above, or getting more reach on the giant."
"What do you mean?" Aileen asked.
"For example, if you're fighting, say, an Onix," Lurantis attempted to demonstrate in words. "Don't you think it'd be more effective to attack its head as opposed to its body? But, since you're so small in comparison, you'd never reach normally."
"Aaaaah, I get it!"
"Every Pokémon takes Jumping attacks differently, and every move is affected differently."
"So," I figured, "if you were to Jump and try to use Earthquake, it would be weaker, but if you were to Jump and use Sky Uppercut, it would be stronger?"
"Yeah…well, sort of. Larger and heavier Pokémon might have a harder time dealing with Jumping attacks, whereas smaller and lighter ones could avoid them with ease."
"It's like a whole 'nother type matchup!" Aileen concluded.
"In essence," Lurantis nodded. "You certainly have to know which move to use and on who, but also when. Like Dodging, Jumping takes energy and depletes your Belly with each use. It takes a lot of strategy to master."
"I see," I said.
"Anyway," she turned to her desk and grabbed a sticky note. "Here's what I want you two doing today."
I looked at the task at hand:
"Client: Slaking
Summary: Slaking's cousin-in-law Komala has sleepwalked into Deep Branches B6F…apparently not for the first time. Reach the scene and rescue Komala."
"Okay," I accepted the job and faced Aileen. "Let's get moving!"
She nodded and followed me to the location mentioned.
It turned out to be a part of the forest much further in than the Dense Streambank, not that far to the east. True to its name, the trees were thick and vibrant, the ground an exceptionally soft soil almost like you could sink into it. There was something else in the air that seemed to soothe us, despite it being a very dangerous place.
"Isn't there something about this place that feels…" Aileen's speech became slurred, "I dunno, a bit hypnotic?"
"It's…kinda weird, yeah," I acknowledged.
I kept looking ahead, waiting for a response…not really sure what kind I was expecting, but some kind of response.
Until I realized I wasn't going to get one; I looked back at Aileen just in time to watch her curl up and succumb to slumber.
That is, she would have slept, had I not slapped her across the face right then.
"OW-ooh…" she groaned, reeling from the sudden transition into alertness.
"See?" I told her. "This is exactly why we're not being put on the front lines yet; we don't have enough experience and/or resistance, to natural forces of all things!"
"Ugh," Aileen moaned, still mad that I slapped her. "Let's get this done."
(Deep Branches
B6F
Every enemy in the dungeon can put you to sleep, but most of them with either Sleep Powder or Spore
Gabriel: 10 [+2]
Aileen: 10 [+1])
After what felt like forever of trying to stay awake and navigating the jungle, we finally found Komala.
"Hey, kid," I called out to him, "you alright?"
No response.
"Uh…Komala? That's your name, right?"
Nothin'.
I waved my hand in front of his face. He's not gonna wake up any time soon, I thought.
Suddenly he just lunged and clung to me.
"Aah!" I reacted by surprise.
"Ahaha!" Aileen just laughed.
"You shut up," I said, more annoyed at her reaction than the fact that my mobility was now quite restricted.
"Whatever," she said with a smirk. "At least we got him. Now let's get out of here before one of us ends up taking another unneeded nap."
With a sigh, I "walked" with her back to the firm, where Lurantis, the team, and Slaking (the client) were waiting.
"Here," I made my way to Slaking.
He took his distant relative off of me, while saying "Thank you. Looks like the effort it took coming here was worth it after all."
"Wha?" Aileen didn't understand that last part.
"Ah, it's nothin'," the client assured her. "Here."
He handed me 700 Poké as a reward.
"Thank you," I accepted it. "Stay safe!"
"I'll see what I can do to just stay home."
"Heh. Well, that too. See you around."
It took him some time to get the two of them off the chairs and on the move, but he did it.
"Bravo, guys!" Lurantis applauded our efforts. "You two are coming along even quicker than I thought!"
"Guess you could say that," Aileen said, proud of herself.
I didn't even say anything.
Excadrill put his claws on his hips. "I know you're appreciating the newcomers, but we do have a more pressing obje-"
"Wut makes ye th'nk she dun't know that?" Dhelmise stopped him.
Lurantis groaned, getting tense. "It's a balancing act, okay? We're doing what we can for the disappearances while they're training, myself included."
"Which is amounting to nothing," Heracross pointed out.
"At the moment…" she sighed. "Look, the sooner they master the basics, the sooner we can put more focus than ever into it."
"And the sooner we put more focus into it, the more apt we are to find something, yadda yadda yadda." Talonflame dropped his wings. "We get it. There's just no more time to be wasting."
"No…" Lurantis corrected him, "there's just no more time you want to spend on this. Do you really think I'm an idiot? I can read you all like a book."
"Yeh," Dhelmise supported her, "So quit yer whin'n' an' buck up."
"Pfft. Easy for you to say;" Talonflame sneered, "you're slow as molasses, quite literally!"
"Dis be seaweed…dis be seaweed, ya flamin' chicken!"
"ARGH!!" Lurantis threw her head onto her desk and covered it with her arms, quaking, immediately silencing the room and getting all eyes on her.
"Dismissed!" she finally yelled out.
Once the shack was cleared, she slammed the door behind us and locked it. Even behind the door I could still hear "UGH!" loud and clear.
The men exchanged glances with each other for a few moments, and headed their separate ways home. Aileen and I, minding our own business and not wanting to cause any more trouble, followed our path to the orphanage. It just so happened to be the same road Talonflame and Dhelmise used to get to their homes, so we ended up keeping pace with them.
"Does she usually have that kind of temper?" Aileen asked.
"Nuh…" Dhelmise answered, "nut under norm'l c'rcumstances, dat poor lass…"
"Must be the pressure, then…" I figured. "It's taking its toll on all of you, huh?"
"You could say that…" Talonflame admitted.
"Ya showed up at 'bout th' right tahm, tuh be ahn'st," Dhelmise said. "It be tuff t' try 'n keep a crew mot'vated when yer the only one in th' mindset."
"I can imagine," Aileen agreed. "Well, we're doing what we can, trying to get access to more."
"'N' dat's good! Lurantis' right; fer 's young as ye are, ye got a lev'l 'n' smert head on ya. Ah like that. Dun't see that much mer these days…"
"Dude, tone it down a bit," Talonflame "elbowed" him with his wing.
We just kept walking a ways, until we made it to Crossroad City and Aileen and I turned to our stop.
We had supper and went to bed, discussing the day with each other.
"Something needs to be done," Aileen got right to the point.
"Huh?"
"I don't know how they've stuck together for fifteen years, but that group does NOT get along."
"Ha. Not much different than here," I brought up.
"Here is different."
"How so?"
"The chaos that always goes on here is really just three separate situations."
"Three? THREE? Just THREE?"
"Just three," she confirmed.
"1) Psyduck has headaches and reacts as such, which, sadly, not much can be done there…"
I nodded and listened.
"2) Elekid's Electricizer. It's the one thing he still has to remember his family by, but Togedemaru keeps getting into fights about it. I have no clue what he wants with it."
"Well, my guess is as good as yours."
"Yeah…and 3) Happiny's egg. Inkay always pursues her, trying to eat it and get something more in his belly, but she and Wimpod think it will hatch into something, and he gets involved."
I thought about all that. "How are these not dealt with yet?"
"Well, it would certainly help if Shiinotic was reliably around…which, she's been getting better about, but it's still not as good as it should be…"
"Yeah…but, explain again, how is this different from the investigation team?"
"…where WAS I going with that? I had a point…I swear I had a point…"
I shrugged and laid down. "Ah, forget it. For now, let's just keep doing what we're doing. Surely we'll figure out everything before long…"
"Guess that's all we can do…" Aileen agreed with a yawn. "Good night…"
And within seconds, she was asleep.
I laid there, waiting to fall asleep myself, listening as the ghost of the orphanage said, "It'll all make sense in time," and-
Wait.
WHAT.
I sat up. "Who said that?! Who are you?!"
The voice tried to hold back its laugh. "Now why would I reveal that?" Now that I finally had a better listen, I could tell it was a soft but playful, fairly young feminine voice. "Why make myself out to be more than I am?"
I folded my arms, unamused. "So now you talk with me."
"Well, hey, might as well, if you know I exist."
"Alright, then, by that logic, might as well show yourself!"
"Uh…" All of a sudden she sounded scared. "How about 'not now'?"
I groaned. Am I delirious right now? Might've been something else in those Deep Branches.
"But, come on," the voice regained its confidence, "that doesn't mean we can't get to know each other a little, huh, Gabriel? How does that sound?"
"Fine. Your name, if you have one."
"M-my name? Ah…alright, I'll give you SOMETHING to call me by. Stacia? How about Stacia?"
I sighed. I guess I can only get so far with her… "Sure, Stacia sounds good."
"Okay. So, uh…hi. I'm Stacia."
I just waved. "Hi."
An awkward silence, then all of a sudden Stacia burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, what am I doing with my life…"
"Hey, your guess is as good as mine." I forced a smile.
"Heh heh. You know, you're really adorable when you want to be," the invisible voice told me.
"…not sure how to respond to that."
"Hey, I'm not saying you HAVE to, I mean…"
It went quiet again.
Then I realized something.
"You know something, don't you."
"I know a lot of things," Stacia responded.
"I mean, about me," I specified. "About who I was…before I lost my memory."
"Maybe I do, I don't know, really," Stacia said. "It's kind of hard to tell, I mean, you've said you were human before, right? Like, I might've seen you at one point, but I'd never match a name with a face, especially when that face has since changed."
Though she made valid points in her denial argument, she obviously knew something.
"I don't know…" Stacia said. "I'll tell you if I think of something, okay? For the time being, I just want company. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah…I see." Maybe if I grew closer with her over time, she'd spill some beans about what she knows about me?
"Maybe for now you should just rest. You've got another busy day in the morning. And besides…" Stacia yawned, "I'm feeling pretty sleepy myself…"
"I guess," I obliged.
"Well, I won't bother you any more tonight, then. Just know that I'm here if you ever want to talk to me, and I'm sure you'll find what you need if you just keep at it."
"Alright, then…" I shut my eyes. "G'night…Stacia."
"G'night…"
Well, that was interesting, I thought. And promising. A friendly ghost who seems to know something about me…
I slept easier than usual that night.
The next morning, Aileen shook me awake, telling me it was time to go. She handed me a quick something on the way out to nibble at, we got anything else we needed done at the facilities in town, and hurried to the firm.
"Agh, we are gonna be SO late!" Aileen freaked out on the way.
We finally made it there, and the other investigators were grouped around the door.
Huh?
"What's going on?" I asked Heracross.
"The door's still locked."
"What?" Were we early after all?
Excadrill "turned" the knob, and it didn't budge. He just shrugged.
I knocked on the door. No response.
I tried again, harder and continuously for a full 3 seconds.
That woke Lurantis up, and after quickly freaking out, brushing her hair, and getting her bearings, she scrambled to unlock the door.
"Omigosh, guys, I am so sorry, I-I don't know HOW I slept so late, I-"
She was so out of it today, she almost seemed like she was panicking before everyone assured her it was okay.
It's like everyone's mental stability is collapsing, I realized, and by looking at Aileen, I saw she saw it too. If we don't find something - anything - soon, it's going to all fall apart…!
"Ah…" Lurantis collected herself. "C-come on in."
Once we were in the firm, she wasted no more time getting to work. "Let's see…uh, Gabriel and Aileen, you're taking this job today."
I took the sticky note from her and glanced over it.
"Client: Dedenne

Summary: Dedenne's boss Ampharos has never been great with direction, but he's really done it this time. Rescue him from Convergent Boundary B8F."
"I'll leave you to it," she said, turning her somewhat divided attention to her other teammates.
We didn't say anything more, not needing to break the already impaired focus, and headed off to Convergent Boundary to the south.
As soon as we felt the ground beginning to shake below us, we knew we were getting close. There was little vegetation at all; mainly igneous rocks scattering out and about. Cracks in the ground were becoming apparent; it wasn't exactly a place you wanted to stick around for too long.
All the more reason to get the heck moving, I thought.
I gestured for Aileen to come along and went in.
(Convergent Boundary
B8F
Abundant Rock, Ground, and Fire types here, with the occasional Fighting or Ghost type
Gabriel: 11 [+1]
Aileen: 11 [+1])
After venturing through easily our deadliest dungeon explored yet, we finally reached a clearing and saw the tall, yellow Pokémon bumping his way into the walls and smacking some device in his grasp.
"Come on," he was mumbling to himself. "I had it working just a moment ago…"
"Uh, excuse me!" I called out to the Pokémon before he got himself in any more trouble.
"Oh?" he turned to us. "Hello there. Who might you be?"
"I'm Gabriel and this is Aileen," I quickly introduced ourselves.
"We're here to get you out of here."
"Ah, thank you. I am Ampharos, the leader of the Expedition Society…also known as…"
He struck a flashy pose.
"The Dashing Wanderer!"
We just stood there, unamused. "You're a wanderer, alright…"
"Very well. Lead the way!"
He walked in the opposite direction and crashed into the wall.
"Uh, Ampharos…this way."
"Ah. Of course."
Aileen grabbed him by the arm and followed me back the way we came.
We were back at the firm before too much longer, and only Lurantis and Dedenne were there.
"Chief!" Dedenne saw Ampharos safe and sound. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright…then WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
All of us flinched at the sudden change of force and volume.
"We've been over this how many times now?! You don't go anywhere without someone escorting you!"
"Yes, yes, I understand…" Ampharos apologized. "It won't happen again. I promise this time."
Dedenne rolled her eyes and turned to us. "Here. Thanks for bringing him back."
She gave us a Reviver Seed and a Cheri Berry, which went into the Pocket Dimension.
"Now, let's get you home before you cause any more trouble, Chief."
"Indeed. Homeward bound!"
He walked facefirst into the wall.
"Chief!" Dedenne rushed to his side. "This way."
"Ah."
The two Pokémon made their way out, after some more confusion.
"Well…that was weird," I finally said.
"So…" Lurantis said, having seemingly recovered from the earlier escapade, "Congrats on that success! I think you're ready to start taking jobs on your own, now that you've been to and shown you can make it through the most common dungeons."
"Really?!" This was exactly what Aileen had been waiting to hear for days.
"Yeah! Starting tomorrow, just grab one from my desk and see yourselves off."
"Yes!" Aileen nearly bursted. "I'll do my best!"
"So head back for today," Lurantis insisted, "and rest up! You'll need all the energy you can get."
"I'm sure," I nodded. "See you tomorrow, then!"
We headed back to the orphanage for the night, chatting on the way there.
"It's honestly hard to believe that we're finally getting into investigating the disappearances!"
"Isn't that what you've been going for this whole time?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah, but…" Aileen admitted, "to be honest, I never thought I'd really make it this far. It's really a dream come true."
"Why the heck not?"
"…maybe some other time. Let's head back for tonight."
"I mean…oh, whatever…" I didn't push it. But I have to wonder…why is she dodging that question?
I shrugged, and we were back shortly anyway.
But we had no idea what waited inside.
Everyone was at the table getting dinner, and just looking at it, we saw an abundance of food! For once.
"Whoa…" was all Aileen could say upon witnessing the massive collection of berries and other fruits.
"Oh, hello!" Shiinotic finally noticed us. "You're just in time for dinner."
"Ha! Ya don't say!" I chuckled.
"Where did all this food come from?!" Aileen had to ask.
"I went out and got it all," the old lady said, "after I learned that everyone was practically starving with what we had. Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?"
"Ha," Aileen took it in, sitting down to eat, "this day just gets better and better!"
"Oh?" Shiinotic noticed. "What made today so great, hm?"
"A-ah…" the Popplio panicked, "s-stuff."
"Mm-hm," Shiinotic just went with it. "Well, dig in, kiddos!"
And we did. I only finished eating after I was full and satisfied, making me the last one finished, but hey; I hadn't ever felt full since I got here. It also made me feel sleepy, so I headed off to bed.
Aileen and Minccino were already fast asleep, and I was about to pass out after laying down, too, but Stacia had other plans. "Hey, Gabriel."
I freaked out for a second before I remembered. "Oh. Hey, Stacia."
"So how was it today?" my invisible friend asked.
"Overall, today was pretty good," I said. "The day's work was getting Ampharos out of the Convergent Boundary."
"Ampharos?" she asked. "The Dashing Wanderer, Ampharos?"
"I think that's what he called himself."
"Ha ha…lucky!"
"Lucky? What do you mean?"
"That Pokémon heads the Pokémon Expedition Society over in Lively Town on the Water Continent," she explained. "Pretty famous. I've heard good things about that guy - aside from his navigation skills, of course!"
We both laughed. "But yeah, getting him out of there was apparently the end of our training," I recalled. "Lurantis is letting us take our own jobs now."
"What?! That's awesome!" Stacia commented. "When do you start?"
"Tomorrow."
"Wow…you two are really climbing the ranks here!"
"Heh heh, well, yeah. I'm sure we'll do even better now that we're actually getting some food in our stomachs, too."
Wait a…
I just realized something.
"…you had something to do with that, didn't you," I accused Stacia.
Silence, that really left it open to interpretation.
But after a little while, she just laughed. "Okay, you got me," she admitted. "I tapped Shiinotic on the shoulder and got her attention when Minccino was complaining about the portions to herself."
"But why?"
"If I'm going to be haunting this place, might as well make it worthwhile for everyone, don't you think?"
I smiled. "That's really sweet of you, not even gonna lie."
"Y-you think so?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "It's great to see this place becoming more suitable, y'know? Even if I'm not here most of the time."
"Haha…"
It went quiet again, until I yawned.
"I probably better get some sleep," I told her. "I'll need it, now that I'm actually going to be investigating the disappearances…and, maybe, while I'm at it, search for clues to my past?"
"Maybe your memory will come back on its own," Stacia thought out loud. "Remember anything yet?"
I thought about it. I know I woke up in the Lycanroc Territory, I know my name, and I obviously know I'm a Pokémon now…
But…before that?
"Nope," I finally shook my head.
"Oh well…" the voice responded. "But maybe it's better off this way."
"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.
"Like, what if you remembered everything, but realized you'd never get it back?" she explained. "Wouldn't it just break your heart and crush your will?"
I remained silent.
"It's strange…" Stacia pondered. "When you forget, you wish you remembered…but…when you remember, you wish you forgot…"
Her voice wavered as she said that.
"Is…something wrong?" I asked.
"N-no…" Stacia spoke up after a while. "Naw, I'm good. I'm…I-I'm going to sleep. You probably should too…busy day tomorrow."
"I suppose you're right…" I gave in, not knowing enough about her to know what to do next. "Good night, then…"
"G'night…"
I got as comfortable as I could, but that last discussion left me rattled. Even as Stacia's deep, sleeping breathing filled the room, I just laid there.
I laid there, thinking about what she said, trying to decipher the meaning behind it.
When you forget, you want to remember…but when you remember, you want to forget?
I don't know…
I tried thinking it through some more, but I ended up passing out in the middle of a thought.
When I woke up, Aileen was still asleep. Instead of waking her up, I tried to continue my thoughts from the night before.
When you forget, you want to remember, but…agh, it still doesn't make sense.
Aileen stirred right after that, anyway. With a yawn, she told me good morning, and I said good morning back. We got a hearty breakfast, even more refreshing than the hearty supper from yesterday, waited for Shiinotic to leave, and made our way to the firm, ready to spend our newfound energy.
"Hey!" Lurantis waved when she saw us come in.
"Hey," I waved back.
"So today, I'm giving you two more independence," she reminded us. "Just grab something off the desk, chances are it'll be in either the Lycanroc Territory - if you can really call it that anymore, so I've heard - the Dense Streambank, Marble Cave, the Deep Branches, or the Convergent Boundary. Take your pick."
"Got it."
(The next few jobs I'm setting here aren't set in stone. To advance in the story, three days' worth of taking and completing requests is required. All of them will be in any of the five mystery dungeons given so far, however.)
(Day 1
Client: [Alolan] Raticate
Summary: Raticate's son Rattata is experiencing true fear. Rescue him from Lycanroc Territory 3F.
Gabriel: 12 [+1]
Aileen: 11 [no change])
(Day 2
Client: Drampa
Summary: Drampa and Turtonator's long-lasting rivalry might be in jeopardy. Search for Turtonator in Convergent Boundary B5F.
Gabriel: 12 [no change]
Aileen: 11 [no change])
(Day 3
Client: Officer Magnezone
Summary: A criminal [Alolan] Sandshrew is on the loose in Marble Cave B6F, known for slick escapes. Apprehend Sandshrew.
Gabriel: 12 [no change]
Aileen: 12 [+1])
After dinner a few days later, Aileen and I nearly fell flat onto our beds. It was going well, but it was still tough work. And we hadn't exactly found anything major yet, either.
"Oh, man," Aileen moaned, spent. "This is even harder work than I thought!"
"It does take a lot of patience," I admitted. "Guess that's why everyone's so on edge with the disappearances; every second counts."
"Yeah…well, all we can do is keep at it."
"Yep. Keep at it, and everything will make sense in time, so Stacia says."
Aileen suddenly gave me a puzzled expression. "Who's Stacia?"
"I'm Stacia," she said, as if on que.
Aileen looked around, trying to see her. "Oh, you're not gonna see her," I told her.
"What?"
"I'm invisible," Stacia explained, taking on a sillier version of her voice. "I is ghost."
"Wha…what?" Aileen said, even more confused.
"OooooOOOOOOOoooooo."
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"But really," Stacia's voice returned to normal, "I've been haunting this orphanage for some time now. But in a good way. Like the changes you've been seeing?"
"You did that?" Aileen was curious now.
"To an extent. But enough about me; how have you two been doing? With your investigation work and all?"
Aileen jumped, suddenly throwing her guard up. "H-how do you know about that?!"
"Uh, hello?" the orphanage's ghost pointed out the obvious. "You two always discuss it here before falling asleep."
Just looking at her, I could see Aileen was absolutely terrified; not of Stacia, but of what she knew.
"What?" Stacia asked, noticing the Popplio's tension. "There's nothing wrong, is there?"
Aileen gathered herself, and finally: "No matter what, NO ONE ELSE is to know about what we do. Got it?"
"W-whoa, whoa, okay, okay!" Stacia clearly was shocked by the sudden threat. "C-cross my heart, this conversation never h-happened."
Aileen let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, we're good. Our little secret."
"O-our little secret. Yeah."
The silence was still unsettling.
"Well, I dunno about you two," I said, "but I'm gonna get some rest. Another busy day tomorrow."
"Yeah…" Aileen agreed. "I'm going to sleep, too."
"G'night, guys," Stacia said with a yawn of her own.
"G'night…"
Aileen got comfortable and fell asleep in moments.
"Why'd she lash out at me like that?" Stacia asked me upon her passing out.
"I dunno…it WAS a bit uncalled for…"
Another moment of quiet.
Maybe Stacia's not the only one not telling me something… I thought.
"I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run," she concluded. "I, at least, am cheering for you from the sidelines."
"At least we have some support," I nodded.
Stacia yawned. "Yeah…"
Silence yet again.
"Why does it always get quiet between us?" I asked.
"I don't really know…" the voice said. "I guess it's just weird for me…"
"How so?"
"To be honest…I haven't talked with anyone like this at all in forever," Stacia revealed. "It's just…strange, getting back into the habit, y'know?"
"I mean…well, I-I see what you're saying," I agreed.
"I can't really explain it…it feels so awkward…yet, so good to finally have someone I…I can really call a friend again."
"Me?" My eyes went wide. "A friend?"
"Y-you're okay with that, right?" Stacia hopefully asked.
I smiled. "Sure. I'll be your friend."
She didn't say anything for a moment, and I didn't see her, but I could tell she was smiling. "Heh…th-thanks."
"Any time."
Stacia yawned yet again. "Mm…I'm going to sleep now."
"Yeah, same here," I said, realizing how drowsy I actually felt.
"See you tomorrow…friendo."
"G'night…"
I got myself as comfortable as I could, as Stacia's soft breathing filled the room once more, in a deep, soothing, reassuring rhythm.
Someone who legitimately sees me as a friend…heh, I can't even explain how good that feels!
Lulled by the comforting sound and sensation, I fell fast asleep.
(Chapter 4 begins, and Special Episode 1 has been unlocked!)