DarkerShining
Well-Known Member
Hey again! After that cliffhanger in the last chapter, I bet you're all wondering what's going to happen to Bow, right? Well, luckily, I've managed to finish chapter 31, although I originally intended to have a lot more happen in this one. However, I realized that it would probably be best to split it into two chapters. Anyways, as usual, I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter, and that you'll look forward to seeing what happens next.
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Chapter 31: You… did it because you were bored?
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A new day had begun, and the shop owners and rescue teams of Fenix Town had plenty of work to do as usual. It was looking to be a somewhat cloudy day, but still fairly bright and sunny. Blitz was currently talking to Lionel over at the item warehouse, trying to sort out the items in the treasure bag so they would have the necessary items for exploring, while also having enough space for more items they might come across while exploring the dungeon.
While waiting for Blitz to finish organizing the items, his teammates were talking amongst themselves about the weather.
“So, your sister says it’ll be even cloudier tomorrow?” Azure asked.
“Uh-huh,” Sera said, nodding her head. “And she also said there’s a chance it might rain the day after.”
“Huh, interesting,” Azure responded, tilting her head slightly. “Does Amethyst usually get these weather predictions right?”
“Yeah, most of the time,” Sera replied.
“Wow, that’s really cool!” Chiaki commented.
“All right, I think that should do it…” Blitz said, closing the lid on the treasure bag. “Now, let’s go see Bijou to get that treasure box we found yesterday opened!”
“Okay!” Blitz’s teammates responded in unison.
“Don’t worry; your items are safe with me!” Lionel said, with a determined smile. “Just leave it to me!”
“I like your attitude,” Azure commented, looking somewhat amused. “But you do know that the rescue teams are the ones going out on the exciting adventures, right?”
“You have your definition of “exciting”, and I have mine,” Lionel responded, shrugging slightly.
“Right,” Azure replied, waving good-bye to Lionel as she followed her teammates.
Blitz and the others went up to the locksmith stall, where Bijou the Sableye was currently polishing one of her gemstone eyes. Once she noticed that she had customers approaching her booth, she put away the rag and smiled at the rescue team.
“Ah, hello there,” Bijou greeted them. “Do you have a treasure box that you need opened?”
“Yes, we do,” Blitz responded, taking out the red treasure box they had picked up in a mystery dungeon yesterday and placing it on the booth. “Here it is. We need to pay 150 coins for you to open it, right?”
“Ooh, what a cute box you have there!” Bijou exclaimed, her gemstone eyes literally sparkling as she admired it. “And yes, that is right. Want me to open it?”
“Yes, please,” Blitz replied, handing over the coins.
“Ah, thank you for the shiny coins,” Bijou responded, grinning as she pulled out her lockpicking tool. “All right, here I go!”
With much glee, she began picking the lock on the treasure box while giggling maniacally for no apparent reason. Chiaki couldn’t help but stare at her, since he had never actually seen her open a treasure box before. At least it seemed as if she really enjoyed her job, and didn’t care if she got any strange looks from onlookers. After a few moments, they could clearly hear a click as the treasure box was unlocked.
“Ooh, here’s the best part!” Bijou said, giggling gleefully as she opened up the treasure box and looked at its contents. “Here you go! It’s… a Vile Seed!”
“Oh, thanks,” Blitz responded, taking the seed from Bijou and putting it in the treasure bag.
“Is that it?” Azure commented, crossing her arms. “I mean, a Vile Seed is good and all, but… I hoped it’d be something you usually don’t find lying around in dungeons.”
“Come back when you have more treasure boxes!” Bijou said, grinning. “I’ll be waiting!”
After finishing up the rest of their preparations for the day, Blitz and his teammates began heading over to the rescue team HQ. However, when they got there, they noticed that several of the rescue teams were standing around discussing something.
“What’s going on?” Blitz asked, walking up to the gathered rescue teams.
“Oh, you see, Stella stopped by her earlier,” Regina the Servine responded. “Apparently Bow has gone missing.”
“What?” Blitz replied, looking rather shocked at this. “What do you mean she’s missing?”
“Well, apparently she was nowhere to be found this morning,” Regina explained, looking rather concerned. “Stella is really worried about her… Of course, we’re worried too, so we’re going to try to find her.”
“I see,” Blitz responded, nodding his head and narrowing his eyes slightly. “What’s the plan so far?”
“Well, so far we’re basically just going to go to different mystery dungeons nearby to search for her,” Mirage the Zoroark said. “We figured she can’t have gotten too far away from the town.”
“So, basically, your big plan is just look around and hope you find her?” Azure asked.
“I know, it doesn’t sound like the best of plans,” Sting the Beedrill responded. “But we have to try something.”
“Can’t Stella use her powers to try to find out where Bow went?” Chiaki suggested.
“I don’t think she can really focus in a time like this,” Floretta the Bellossom responded, tilting her head slightly. “Maybe once she’s calmed down a bit?”
“That could take a while, though,” Calder the Wartortle commented, looking over at Blitz and his teammates. “And I doubt you guys have any better ideas?”
“… Actually, I may have something,” Blitz said, turning to his teammates. “Guys, we need to find Frederick and Elina!”
“Huh?” Sera replied, tilting her head slightly.
“I’ll explain later!” Blitz responded, seeming somewhat impatient. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Okay, I guess,” Sera replied, shrugging slightly.
“I guess he thinks they can help somehow?” Chiaki commented, looking a bit confused.
“I don’t know what he has in mind, but I’m totally on board with it!” Azure said, grinning.
The other rescue teams watched Blitz and his teammates hurry out of the room, just as curious as to what Blitz had in mind as his teammates.
“… Well, that was strange,” Calder commented.
“I don’t know,” Mirage said, thinking for a moment. “Did you see the look on Blitz’s face?”
“Yeah,” Megara responded, nodding her head. “He looked really serious.”
“So, you think he might really have a plan of some sort?” Regina asked.
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Calder said, crossing his arms.
“I wouldn’t underestimate them,” Sting buzzed. “Remember, that rescue team has brought back four of the missing crystals from Axis Tower so far!”
“Weren’t they just lucky?” Calder responded, shrugging slightly.
“Good luck… bad luck…” Arbolith said, swaying back and forth a bit. “But there are still plenty of trees in the forest… and also plenty of rocks… until some Larvitar come along and eat them.”
“… I don’t even know how to respond to that,” Calder replied, staring blankly at his Sudowoodo teammate.
“The mushroom suggests we resume discussing our own plan for finding the missing Gothorita known as Bow,” Cordyceps said, raising a claw.
“Ah, yes,” Sting buzzed, looking around. “So, which rescue team should we send where?”
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As she woke up, the first thing Bow noticed was that everything looked darker than usual. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized she was trapped inside a dark force field of sorts. She tried using her psychic powers to free herself, but it seemed her powers did not work while trapped inside this dark bubble. Perhaps it was just as well, as a look down revealed that the bubble seemed to be floating in mid-air and that it would probably be a long way down. So, Bow tried instead to figure out exactly where she was.
“Hmm… It looks like I’m at the top of a hill,” Bow said, tilting her head. “But which hill is this?”
“Oh, you’re finally awake!” a voice called out, and Bow turned to see a certain Sigilyph looking at her. “Good morning, Bow! Sleep well?”
“You!” Bow shouted, pointing at the Sigilyph. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Aw, is that any way of greeting someone?” the Sigilyph responded, hovering around the bubble Bow was trapped in. “I even made sure that oxygen could get inside the force field so you wouldn’t suffocate in there! Wasn’t that nice of me?”
“W-What do you want from me?” Bow asked, keeping her eyes on the Sigilyph as he slowly flew around in circles around the bubble. “Are you going to cast an evil curse on me, or something?”
“Hmm… That’s not a bad idea,” the Sigilyph replied, snickering. “But, luckily for you, I have no such plans for you.”
“Then why’d you capture me?” Bow asked again.
“I was bored,” the Sigilyph responded. “I figured that if I captured you, I could lure in some rescue teams that I could have some fun with!”
“You… did it because you were bored?” Bow asked, staring at the Sigilyph in disbelief.
“Yes, I did!” the Sigilyph replied, chuckling. “Also, I wanted revenge on all the Pokémon who live here. So, I stole the crystals from Axis Tower, so that they would all disappear!”
“But… you’ll disappear too!” Bow exclaimed.
“I’m not so sure about that,” the Sigilyph responded, snickering. “But if I do disappear, I don’t really care as long as I take all the other Pokémon on this continent into oblivion with me!”
The Sigilyph began laughing maniacally, while Bow just watched in horror. This Pokémon really was insane.
“Somebody… rescue me…” Bow whispered, shivering in fright.
Bow hoped that a rescue team would come for her soon, but then again, this was also what the Sigilyph was hoping for. Just what kind of “fun” was he planning on having with whichever team that would eventually come to her rescue? It seemed all she could do for now was to wait and see what would happen…
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After heading over to the café and telling Frederick to help them out, Blitz and his teammates were now looking for Elina. Since they didn’t know where to find her, this would likely be a bit more difficult. However, since Chiaki was usually involved whenever she showed up, Blitz was hoping that Elina would appear upon hearing the Mienfoo call out her name.
“Thanks for inviting me along, guys,” Frederick said, following the others. “Although, I’m not entirely sure if you even need my help for this…”
“Your sense of smell is stronger than mine,” Blitz responded. “While I probably could’ve done this myself, I have a feeling you’ll do a better job under these conditions.”
“Oh, you really think so?” Frederick replied, smiling. “In that case, I’ll do my best!”
“Any sign of Elina yet?” Azure asked, looking around.
“I don’t see her,” Sera replied, looking over at Chiaki. “Try calling out to her again!”
“Okay!” Chiaki responded, nodding his head. “Elina! Elina, are you here?”
They kept searching, until Chiaki suddenly heard a voice.
“You were looking for me?”
Chiaki turned around, noticing a certain Elgyem behind him.
“Oh, there you are, Elina!” Chiaki exclaimed, smiling at the Elgyem.
“Hi there, Chiaki,” Elina responded via telepathy, happily waving at Chiaki.
“… Elina, you can talk now?” Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Well, sort of,” Elina replied, shrugging slightly. “I’ve been taking lessons from Kala in order to learn how to communicate via telepathy.”
“Really? That’s great!” Chiaki said, happily hugging Elina. “You can finally talk to me!”
“Yes… I have wanted to be able to speak to you for some time now, Chiaki,” Elina responded, returning the hug.
“What’s going on?” Frederick asked, seeming confused.
“I think Chiaki and Elina are in telepathic contact with each other,” Blitz said.
“Oh? You guys can’t hear her?” Chiaki asked, looking over at his teammates.
“I’m afraid I can’t form a telepathic link with more than one Pokémon at a time,” Elina responded, breaking off from the hug.
“Oh… I see,” Chiaki replied, nodding his head slightly.
“I should be able to communicate with multiple Pokémon at a time once I have had more training,” Elina said. “But for now, this is the best I can do.”
“I understand,” Chiaki responded, smiling at Elina. “So, I guess I should tell the others what you’re saying if they want to know, then?”
“Yes, you should do that,” Elina replied, tilting her head slightly. “Anyways… Was there any particular reason why you were looking for me?”
“Oh, right!” Chiaki said, turning to Blitz. “She wants to know what we needed her help for.”
“Thank you,” Blitz responded, nodding to Chiaki and taking a step forward. “Elina, can you use your psychic powers to help us find Bow, who has gone missing?”
“Huh?” Elina replied, thinking for a moment. “Well… I was able to use my psychic power to track down Chiaki, leading me to this town. So, I suppose I should be able to use my power to find your missing friend.”
“Good,” Blitz responded, with a determined look in his eyes. “Let’s go, guys!”
As they made their way over to Stella’s house to begin the search, Sera couldn’t help but think about how Blitz was acting very different from his usual timid self. She figured it was because of how Bow had been able to relate to how he felt about destiny to some extent, and the possibility that something may have happened to her had caused Blitz’s instincts to take over so he could find her as soon as possible.
Outside Stella’s house, Frederick started investigating by sniffing the ground. It didn’t take long for him to pick up on Bow’s scent, and lead the group in the direction she had most recently walked in. Eventually, he stopped.
“Hmm… I followed the scent of psychic energy and absent-mindedness, but the trail seems to end here,” Frederick commented.
“… How can you smell either of those?” Sera asked, tilting her head slightly.
“Well, it’s not that much different from being able to smell fear, is it?” Frederick replied.
“Um… I guess?” Sera responded, still seeming a bit confused.
“Sorry I couldn’t do more to help find Bow…” Frederick said, looking over at Blitz.
“It’s okay, you did well,” Blitz responded, before turning to Elina. “Elina, it’s your turn.”
Elina nodded her head, and walked up to the spot where Frederick had lost the trail. She touched the spot with her hand, and began focusing her psychic energies. Since the Pokémon they were trying to find was also a psychic type, it would probably be a bit easier for Elina to track her down. After a few moments, Elina managed to pick up on Bow’s psychic signature, but she also picked up on something else... something which sent a chill down her spine.
“Elina, are you okay?” Chiaki asked, noticing that she seemed a bit shaken.
“Y-Yes… I’m fine,” Elina responded via telepathy, nodding her head slightly. “It seems Bow has been taken somewhere…”
“Taken somewhere?” Chiaki replied, partially repeating it so that his teammates could get an idea of what was going on. “What do you mean?”
“In addition to Bow’s psychic signature, I can also feel a sinister presence,” Elina explained via telepathy. “I believe this Pokémon has likely abducted Bow.”
“She’s been abducted?” Chiaki exclaimed. “We have to rescue her right away!”
“How far away do you think they went?” Azure asked.
“I’m not sure…” Elina responded, shaking her head slightly. “Travelling by foot would probably take too long.”
“She says she isn’t sure, but that travelling by foot would take too long,” Chiaki repeated to the others.
“Well, what do we do, then?” Sera asked, looking concerned.
“Hmm… I might be able to teleport to her location, as long as I keep her psychic signature in mind,” Elina explained to Chiaki. “However, I’ve never tried teleporting this many Pokémon before, nor have I ever tried teleporting such a long distance.”
“She says she might be able to teleport us,” Chiaki said to the others. “But she’s not sure if she can pull it off.”
“You have to try, Elina,” Blitz responded, placing a paw on her shoulder.
“I’m sure you can do it!” Azure said, grinning. “Just give it your best shot!”
“Yeah, you can do it, Elina!” Sera added.
“… What they said!” Frederick responded, nodding his head slightly.
“We all believe in you, Elina!” Chiaki said, smiling.
“Oh, I… t-thanks…” Elina responded, blushing slightly. “All right, I’ll try my best!”
Elina took a deep breath while the other five Pokémon gathered closer to her. She began focusing her psychic power, trying to gather all her energy so she could teleport to where Bow was. A psychic aura began surrounding Elina, and slowly began to expand. However, as it kept growing, it became more and more difficult for Elina to keep it going.
“Don’t give up!” Chiaki shouted, smiling at Elina. “You can do this!”
The psychic field kept growing, and began to envelop the other five Pokémon present. In a bright flash, the six Pokémon were teleported to a different area.
“Elina, you did it!” Chiaki said, hugging the Elgyem.
“I… I did?” Elina asked, leaning against Chiaki.
“Well, you managed to teleport us all somewhere, at least,” Azure replied, looking around. “Anybody know where this is?”
Blitz, Sera, Chiaki and Azure began looking around at their surroundings, while Frederick simply sniffed around to see if he could get an idea of what kind of area they were in from that. There were two things that stood out in particular, a nearby hill and a Kangaskhan rock close by.
“There’s an entrance to a mystery dungeon here,” Blitz said, thinking for a moment. “Judging from the looks of it, this is probably Turmoil Hill.”
“I don’t see Bow anywhere, though,” Chiaki commented, tilting his head slightly.
“I can feel it…” Elina communicated to Chiaki via telepathy. “Bow is definitely here…”
“Are you okay, Elina?” Chiaki asked, looking a bit concerned. “You look really tired.”
“It took a lot of energy for me to teleport you all here…” Elina replied, holding onto Chiaki for support. “Don’t worry… I’ll be fine…”
“If you say so…” Chiaki responded, glancing up at the hill. “So, Bow is on top of that, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is,” Elina replied, nodding her head slightly. “However… There is also another presence… It might be dangerous to go…”
“Elina says that Bow is up there, but there’s someone else there too,” Chiaki said to the others, letting them know what Elina had told him. “She said it might be dangerous to go up there.”
“I assume that “someone else” is the Pokémon who kidnapped her?” Azure asked.
“Most likely…” Sera commented, looking over at Blitz. “What should we do?”
“Well, first we need to make sure we have everything we need,” Blitz responded, looking up at the hill with determination in his eyes. “Once we’re ready, we’re going to rescue Bow.”
“You sure are serious today,” Azure commented, grinning. “I kind of like that!”
Blitz, Sera, Azure and Frederick went over to the Kangaskhan rock to discuss which items to bring. Having the necessary healing items were definitely the first priority, although Frederick seemed more concerned about the food, reasoning that they couldn’t fight on an empty stomach.
“Chiaki… I… I don’t want you go…” Elina said to Chiaki via telepathy, while clinging to his arm.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Chiaki asked.
“I don’t want you to put yourself in danger…” Elina replied, looking away.
“But, my teammates are going,” Chiaki said, looking over at his teammates who were still making their preparations. “And Bow is one of my friends too, so I want to help save her!”
“Are you sure about this…?” Elina asked, looking into Chiaki’s eyes.
“Of course I am,” Chiaki responded, nodding his head.
“I see…” Elina replied, looking down.
“You’re really worried about me, aren’t you?” Chiaki asked, smiling and pulling Elina into another hug. “It’s okay. My friends and I will rescue Bow, and then we’ll be back!”
“I… I want to help too,” Elina responded, returning the hug. “But… I’m scared, and… I used up most of my power to teleport everyone here… I’m sorry…”
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to,” Chiaki replied, giving Elina a supportive pat on the shoulder. “Maybe there’s another way you can help?”
Elina thought about it for a few moments, before she realized something.
“You can use the rescue team badge to send me back to town, right?” Elina asked. “I could go find some back-up for you guys.”
Chiaki nodded his head, and walked over to the others with Elina.
“Since Elina doesn’t have enough energy left to fight, she wants to go back to town and find more help,” Chiaki explained to the other four Pokémon.
“Good idea,” Blitz replied, nodding his head. “I don’t know what kind of opponent awaits us, but chances are we might need some extra help.”
“All right, I wish you and your friends good luck, Chiaki,” Elina communicated to Chiaki via telepathy. “I’ll do my best to help you as well.”
“Okay, good luck to you too!” Chiaki responded, smiling at Elina.
Blitz took out the rescue team badge, and held it in front of Elina. Soon, the badge’s magical power sent Elina back to town in a flash of golden light.
“There,” Blitz said, putting the badge back onto the treasure bag. “Okay, is everyone ready?”
“I’m always ready for adventure!” Azure responded, smirking.
“I’m ready!” Sera replied, nodding her head.
“Um… I guess I’m ready,” Frederick said, tilting his head slightly. “How much food did we bring again?”
“So, we’re all ready to go, then?” Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly. “But, wait… There are five of us here… Don’t the rules say that rescue teams should only go into dungeons in groups of four?”
“Screw the rules, we need to save Bow!” Azure responded.
“… What she said,” Blitz said, rubbing his forelegs together. “Everyone, let’s go!”
Blitz stepped inside the dungeon, his teammates following closely behind. This mystery dungeon was at about twenty floors, if Blitz recalled correctly. He hoped they could get through the dungeon quickly, and not use up too many of the healing items they had brought in the process. After all, a difficult fight likely awaited them once they got out of the mystery dungeon, and if they still had a decent amount of healing items left, then they probably had a chance.
Hopefully, it would be enough to save Bow, or at least to handle the situation until help arrived.
“I don’t know what awaits us at the end of this dungeon,” Blitz thought to himself. “But… I will do whatever I can to save you, Bow.”
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As she was sent back to the entrance of the town, Elina couldn’t help but worry about what was going to happen. She was still worn out, but still moved as quickly as she could into town to search for help. She tried to reassure herself that there was nothing to worry about, but she knew there was really no telling what might happen.
“There’s no way either of them would realize…” Elina thought to herself. “But… could the encounter change something inside Chiaki? After all… back when Chiaki and I met here in town, something really strange happened…”
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End of chapter 31.
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Chapter 31: You… did it because you were bored?
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A new day had begun, and the shop owners and rescue teams of Fenix Town had plenty of work to do as usual. It was looking to be a somewhat cloudy day, but still fairly bright and sunny. Blitz was currently talking to Lionel over at the item warehouse, trying to sort out the items in the treasure bag so they would have the necessary items for exploring, while also having enough space for more items they might come across while exploring the dungeon.
While waiting for Blitz to finish organizing the items, his teammates were talking amongst themselves about the weather.
“So, your sister says it’ll be even cloudier tomorrow?” Azure asked.
“Uh-huh,” Sera said, nodding her head. “And she also said there’s a chance it might rain the day after.”
“Huh, interesting,” Azure responded, tilting her head slightly. “Does Amethyst usually get these weather predictions right?”
“Yeah, most of the time,” Sera replied.
“Wow, that’s really cool!” Chiaki commented.
“All right, I think that should do it…” Blitz said, closing the lid on the treasure bag. “Now, let’s go see Bijou to get that treasure box we found yesterday opened!”
“Okay!” Blitz’s teammates responded in unison.
“Don’t worry; your items are safe with me!” Lionel said, with a determined smile. “Just leave it to me!”
“I like your attitude,” Azure commented, looking somewhat amused. “But you do know that the rescue teams are the ones going out on the exciting adventures, right?”
“You have your definition of “exciting”, and I have mine,” Lionel responded, shrugging slightly.
“Right,” Azure replied, waving good-bye to Lionel as she followed her teammates.
Blitz and the others went up to the locksmith stall, where Bijou the Sableye was currently polishing one of her gemstone eyes. Once she noticed that she had customers approaching her booth, she put away the rag and smiled at the rescue team.
“Ah, hello there,” Bijou greeted them. “Do you have a treasure box that you need opened?”
“Yes, we do,” Blitz responded, taking out the red treasure box they had picked up in a mystery dungeon yesterday and placing it on the booth. “Here it is. We need to pay 150 coins for you to open it, right?”
“Ooh, what a cute box you have there!” Bijou exclaimed, her gemstone eyes literally sparkling as she admired it. “And yes, that is right. Want me to open it?”
“Yes, please,” Blitz replied, handing over the coins.
“Ah, thank you for the shiny coins,” Bijou responded, grinning as she pulled out her lockpicking tool. “All right, here I go!”
With much glee, she began picking the lock on the treasure box while giggling maniacally for no apparent reason. Chiaki couldn’t help but stare at her, since he had never actually seen her open a treasure box before. At least it seemed as if she really enjoyed her job, and didn’t care if she got any strange looks from onlookers. After a few moments, they could clearly hear a click as the treasure box was unlocked.
“Ooh, here’s the best part!” Bijou said, giggling gleefully as she opened up the treasure box and looked at its contents. “Here you go! It’s… a Vile Seed!”
“Oh, thanks,” Blitz responded, taking the seed from Bijou and putting it in the treasure bag.
“Is that it?” Azure commented, crossing her arms. “I mean, a Vile Seed is good and all, but… I hoped it’d be something you usually don’t find lying around in dungeons.”
“Come back when you have more treasure boxes!” Bijou said, grinning. “I’ll be waiting!”
After finishing up the rest of their preparations for the day, Blitz and his teammates began heading over to the rescue team HQ. However, when they got there, they noticed that several of the rescue teams were standing around discussing something.
“What’s going on?” Blitz asked, walking up to the gathered rescue teams.
“Oh, you see, Stella stopped by her earlier,” Regina the Servine responded. “Apparently Bow has gone missing.”
“What?” Blitz replied, looking rather shocked at this. “What do you mean she’s missing?”
“Well, apparently she was nowhere to be found this morning,” Regina explained, looking rather concerned. “Stella is really worried about her… Of course, we’re worried too, so we’re going to try to find her.”
“I see,” Blitz responded, nodding his head and narrowing his eyes slightly. “What’s the plan so far?”
“Well, so far we’re basically just going to go to different mystery dungeons nearby to search for her,” Mirage the Zoroark said. “We figured she can’t have gotten too far away from the town.”
“So, basically, your big plan is just look around and hope you find her?” Azure asked.
“I know, it doesn’t sound like the best of plans,” Sting the Beedrill responded. “But we have to try something.”
“Can’t Stella use her powers to try to find out where Bow went?” Chiaki suggested.
“I don’t think she can really focus in a time like this,” Floretta the Bellossom responded, tilting her head slightly. “Maybe once she’s calmed down a bit?”
“That could take a while, though,” Calder the Wartortle commented, looking over at Blitz and his teammates. “And I doubt you guys have any better ideas?”
“… Actually, I may have something,” Blitz said, turning to his teammates. “Guys, we need to find Frederick and Elina!”
“Huh?” Sera replied, tilting her head slightly.
“I’ll explain later!” Blitz responded, seeming somewhat impatient. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Okay, I guess,” Sera replied, shrugging slightly.
“I guess he thinks they can help somehow?” Chiaki commented, looking a bit confused.
“I don’t know what he has in mind, but I’m totally on board with it!” Azure said, grinning.
The other rescue teams watched Blitz and his teammates hurry out of the room, just as curious as to what Blitz had in mind as his teammates.
“… Well, that was strange,” Calder commented.
“I don’t know,” Mirage said, thinking for a moment. “Did you see the look on Blitz’s face?”
“Yeah,” Megara responded, nodding her head. “He looked really serious.”
“So, you think he might really have a plan of some sort?” Regina asked.
“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Calder said, crossing his arms.
“I wouldn’t underestimate them,” Sting buzzed. “Remember, that rescue team has brought back four of the missing crystals from Axis Tower so far!”
“Weren’t they just lucky?” Calder responded, shrugging slightly.
“Good luck… bad luck…” Arbolith said, swaying back and forth a bit. “But there are still plenty of trees in the forest… and also plenty of rocks… until some Larvitar come along and eat them.”
“… I don’t even know how to respond to that,” Calder replied, staring blankly at his Sudowoodo teammate.
“The mushroom suggests we resume discussing our own plan for finding the missing Gothorita known as Bow,” Cordyceps said, raising a claw.
“Ah, yes,” Sting buzzed, looking around. “So, which rescue team should we send where?”
----
As she woke up, the first thing Bow noticed was that everything looked darker than usual. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized she was trapped inside a dark force field of sorts. She tried using her psychic powers to free herself, but it seemed her powers did not work while trapped inside this dark bubble. Perhaps it was just as well, as a look down revealed that the bubble seemed to be floating in mid-air and that it would probably be a long way down. So, Bow tried instead to figure out exactly where she was.
“Hmm… It looks like I’m at the top of a hill,” Bow said, tilting her head. “But which hill is this?”
“Oh, you’re finally awake!” a voice called out, and Bow turned to see a certain Sigilyph looking at her. “Good morning, Bow! Sleep well?”
“You!” Bow shouted, pointing at the Sigilyph. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Aw, is that any way of greeting someone?” the Sigilyph responded, hovering around the bubble Bow was trapped in. “I even made sure that oxygen could get inside the force field so you wouldn’t suffocate in there! Wasn’t that nice of me?”
“W-What do you want from me?” Bow asked, keeping her eyes on the Sigilyph as he slowly flew around in circles around the bubble. “Are you going to cast an evil curse on me, or something?”
“Hmm… That’s not a bad idea,” the Sigilyph replied, snickering. “But, luckily for you, I have no such plans for you.”
“Then why’d you capture me?” Bow asked again.
“I was bored,” the Sigilyph responded. “I figured that if I captured you, I could lure in some rescue teams that I could have some fun with!”
“You… did it because you were bored?” Bow asked, staring at the Sigilyph in disbelief.
“Yes, I did!” the Sigilyph replied, chuckling. “Also, I wanted revenge on all the Pokémon who live here. So, I stole the crystals from Axis Tower, so that they would all disappear!”
“But… you’ll disappear too!” Bow exclaimed.
“I’m not so sure about that,” the Sigilyph responded, snickering. “But if I do disappear, I don’t really care as long as I take all the other Pokémon on this continent into oblivion with me!”
The Sigilyph began laughing maniacally, while Bow just watched in horror. This Pokémon really was insane.
“Somebody… rescue me…” Bow whispered, shivering in fright.
Bow hoped that a rescue team would come for her soon, but then again, this was also what the Sigilyph was hoping for. Just what kind of “fun” was he planning on having with whichever team that would eventually come to her rescue? It seemed all she could do for now was to wait and see what would happen…
----
After heading over to the café and telling Frederick to help them out, Blitz and his teammates were now looking for Elina. Since they didn’t know where to find her, this would likely be a bit more difficult. However, since Chiaki was usually involved whenever she showed up, Blitz was hoping that Elina would appear upon hearing the Mienfoo call out her name.
“Thanks for inviting me along, guys,” Frederick said, following the others. “Although, I’m not entirely sure if you even need my help for this…”
“Your sense of smell is stronger than mine,” Blitz responded. “While I probably could’ve done this myself, I have a feeling you’ll do a better job under these conditions.”
“Oh, you really think so?” Frederick replied, smiling. “In that case, I’ll do my best!”
“Any sign of Elina yet?” Azure asked, looking around.
“I don’t see her,” Sera replied, looking over at Chiaki. “Try calling out to her again!”
“Okay!” Chiaki responded, nodding his head. “Elina! Elina, are you here?”
They kept searching, until Chiaki suddenly heard a voice.
“You were looking for me?”
Chiaki turned around, noticing a certain Elgyem behind him.
“Oh, there you are, Elina!” Chiaki exclaimed, smiling at the Elgyem.
“Hi there, Chiaki,” Elina responded via telepathy, happily waving at Chiaki.
“… Elina, you can talk now?” Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Well, sort of,” Elina replied, shrugging slightly. “I’ve been taking lessons from Kala in order to learn how to communicate via telepathy.”
“Really? That’s great!” Chiaki said, happily hugging Elina. “You can finally talk to me!”
“Yes… I have wanted to be able to speak to you for some time now, Chiaki,” Elina responded, returning the hug.
“What’s going on?” Frederick asked, seeming confused.
“I think Chiaki and Elina are in telepathic contact with each other,” Blitz said.
“Oh? You guys can’t hear her?” Chiaki asked, looking over at his teammates.
“I’m afraid I can’t form a telepathic link with more than one Pokémon at a time,” Elina responded, breaking off from the hug.
“Oh… I see,” Chiaki replied, nodding his head slightly.
“I should be able to communicate with multiple Pokémon at a time once I have had more training,” Elina said. “But for now, this is the best I can do.”
“I understand,” Chiaki responded, smiling at Elina. “So, I guess I should tell the others what you’re saying if they want to know, then?”
“Yes, you should do that,” Elina replied, tilting her head slightly. “Anyways… Was there any particular reason why you were looking for me?”
“Oh, right!” Chiaki said, turning to Blitz. “She wants to know what we needed her help for.”
“Thank you,” Blitz responded, nodding to Chiaki and taking a step forward. “Elina, can you use your psychic powers to help us find Bow, who has gone missing?”
“Huh?” Elina replied, thinking for a moment. “Well… I was able to use my psychic power to track down Chiaki, leading me to this town. So, I suppose I should be able to use my power to find your missing friend.”
“Good,” Blitz responded, with a determined look in his eyes. “Let’s go, guys!”
As they made their way over to Stella’s house to begin the search, Sera couldn’t help but think about how Blitz was acting very different from his usual timid self. She figured it was because of how Bow had been able to relate to how he felt about destiny to some extent, and the possibility that something may have happened to her had caused Blitz’s instincts to take over so he could find her as soon as possible.
Outside Stella’s house, Frederick started investigating by sniffing the ground. It didn’t take long for him to pick up on Bow’s scent, and lead the group in the direction she had most recently walked in. Eventually, he stopped.
“Hmm… I followed the scent of psychic energy and absent-mindedness, but the trail seems to end here,” Frederick commented.
“… How can you smell either of those?” Sera asked, tilting her head slightly.
“Well, it’s not that much different from being able to smell fear, is it?” Frederick replied.
“Um… I guess?” Sera responded, still seeming a bit confused.
“Sorry I couldn’t do more to help find Bow…” Frederick said, looking over at Blitz.
“It’s okay, you did well,” Blitz responded, before turning to Elina. “Elina, it’s your turn.”
Elina nodded her head, and walked up to the spot where Frederick had lost the trail. She touched the spot with her hand, and began focusing her psychic energies. Since the Pokémon they were trying to find was also a psychic type, it would probably be a bit easier for Elina to track her down. After a few moments, Elina managed to pick up on Bow’s psychic signature, but she also picked up on something else... something which sent a chill down her spine.
“Elina, are you okay?” Chiaki asked, noticing that she seemed a bit shaken.
“Y-Yes… I’m fine,” Elina responded via telepathy, nodding her head slightly. “It seems Bow has been taken somewhere…”
“Taken somewhere?” Chiaki replied, partially repeating it so that his teammates could get an idea of what was going on. “What do you mean?”
“In addition to Bow’s psychic signature, I can also feel a sinister presence,” Elina explained via telepathy. “I believe this Pokémon has likely abducted Bow.”
“She’s been abducted?” Chiaki exclaimed. “We have to rescue her right away!”
“How far away do you think they went?” Azure asked.
“I’m not sure…” Elina responded, shaking her head slightly. “Travelling by foot would probably take too long.”
“She says she isn’t sure, but that travelling by foot would take too long,” Chiaki repeated to the others.
“Well, what do we do, then?” Sera asked, looking concerned.
“Hmm… I might be able to teleport to her location, as long as I keep her psychic signature in mind,” Elina explained to Chiaki. “However, I’ve never tried teleporting this many Pokémon before, nor have I ever tried teleporting such a long distance.”
“She says she might be able to teleport us,” Chiaki said to the others. “But she’s not sure if she can pull it off.”
“You have to try, Elina,” Blitz responded, placing a paw on her shoulder.
“I’m sure you can do it!” Azure said, grinning. “Just give it your best shot!”
“Yeah, you can do it, Elina!” Sera added.
“… What they said!” Frederick responded, nodding his head slightly.
“We all believe in you, Elina!” Chiaki said, smiling.
“Oh, I… t-thanks…” Elina responded, blushing slightly. “All right, I’ll try my best!”
Elina took a deep breath while the other five Pokémon gathered closer to her. She began focusing her psychic power, trying to gather all her energy so she could teleport to where Bow was. A psychic aura began surrounding Elina, and slowly began to expand. However, as it kept growing, it became more and more difficult for Elina to keep it going.
“Don’t give up!” Chiaki shouted, smiling at Elina. “You can do this!”
The psychic field kept growing, and began to envelop the other five Pokémon present. In a bright flash, the six Pokémon were teleported to a different area.
“Elina, you did it!” Chiaki said, hugging the Elgyem.
“I… I did?” Elina asked, leaning against Chiaki.
“Well, you managed to teleport us all somewhere, at least,” Azure replied, looking around. “Anybody know where this is?”
Blitz, Sera, Chiaki and Azure began looking around at their surroundings, while Frederick simply sniffed around to see if he could get an idea of what kind of area they were in from that. There were two things that stood out in particular, a nearby hill and a Kangaskhan rock close by.
“There’s an entrance to a mystery dungeon here,” Blitz said, thinking for a moment. “Judging from the looks of it, this is probably Turmoil Hill.”
“I don’t see Bow anywhere, though,” Chiaki commented, tilting his head slightly.
“I can feel it…” Elina communicated to Chiaki via telepathy. “Bow is definitely here…”
“Are you okay, Elina?” Chiaki asked, looking a bit concerned. “You look really tired.”
“It took a lot of energy for me to teleport you all here…” Elina replied, holding onto Chiaki for support. “Don’t worry… I’ll be fine…”
“If you say so…” Chiaki responded, glancing up at the hill. “So, Bow is on top of that, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is,” Elina replied, nodding her head slightly. “However… There is also another presence… It might be dangerous to go…”
“Elina says that Bow is up there, but there’s someone else there too,” Chiaki said to the others, letting them know what Elina had told him. “She said it might be dangerous to go up there.”
“I assume that “someone else” is the Pokémon who kidnapped her?” Azure asked.
“Most likely…” Sera commented, looking over at Blitz. “What should we do?”
“Well, first we need to make sure we have everything we need,” Blitz responded, looking up at the hill with determination in his eyes. “Once we’re ready, we’re going to rescue Bow.”
“You sure are serious today,” Azure commented, grinning. “I kind of like that!”
Blitz, Sera, Azure and Frederick went over to the Kangaskhan rock to discuss which items to bring. Having the necessary healing items were definitely the first priority, although Frederick seemed more concerned about the food, reasoning that they couldn’t fight on an empty stomach.
“Chiaki… I… I don’t want you go…” Elina said to Chiaki via telepathy, while clinging to his arm.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Chiaki asked.
“I don’t want you to put yourself in danger…” Elina replied, looking away.
“But, my teammates are going,” Chiaki said, looking over at his teammates who were still making their preparations. “And Bow is one of my friends too, so I want to help save her!”
“Are you sure about this…?” Elina asked, looking into Chiaki’s eyes.
“Of course I am,” Chiaki responded, nodding his head.
“I see…” Elina replied, looking down.
“You’re really worried about me, aren’t you?” Chiaki asked, smiling and pulling Elina into another hug. “It’s okay. My friends and I will rescue Bow, and then we’ll be back!”
“I… I want to help too,” Elina responded, returning the hug. “But… I’m scared, and… I used up most of my power to teleport everyone here… I’m sorry…”
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to,” Chiaki replied, giving Elina a supportive pat on the shoulder. “Maybe there’s another way you can help?”
Elina thought about it for a few moments, before she realized something.
“You can use the rescue team badge to send me back to town, right?” Elina asked. “I could go find some back-up for you guys.”
Chiaki nodded his head, and walked over to the others with Elina.
“Since Elina doesn’t have enough energy left to fight, she wants to go back to town and find more help,” Chiaki explained to the other four Pokémon.
“Good idea,” Blitz replied, nodding his head. “I don’t know what kind of opponent awaits us, but chances are we might need some extra help.”
“All right, I wish you and your friends good luck, Chiaki,” Elina communicated to Chiaki via telepathy. “I’ll do my best to help you as well.”
“Okay, good luck to you too!” Chiaki responded, smiling at Elina.
Blitz took out the rescue team badge, and held it in front of Elina. Soon, the badge’s magical power sent Elina back to town in a flash of golden light.
“There,” Blitz said, putting the badge back onto the treasure bag. “Okay, is everyone ready?”
“I’m always ready for adventure!” Azure responded, smirking.
“I’m ready!” Sera replied, nodding her head.
“Um… I guess I’m ready,” Frederick said, tilting his head slightly. “How much food did we bring again?”
“So, we’re all ready to go, then?” Chiaki asked, tilting his head slightly. “But, wait… There are five of us here… Don’t the rules say that rescue teams should only go into dungeons in groups of four?”
“Screw the rules, we need to save Bow!” Azure responded.
“… What she said,” Blitz said, rubbing his forelegs together. “Everyone, let’s go!”
Blitz stepped inside the dungeon, his teammates following closely behind. This mystery dungeon was at about twenty floors, if Blitz recalled correctly. He hoped they could get through the dungeon quickly, and not use up too many of the healing items they had brought in the process. After all, a difficult fight likely awaited them once they got out of the mystery dungeon, and if they still had a decent amount of healing items left, then they probably had a chance.
Hopefully, it would be enough to save Bow, or at least to handle the situation until help arrived.
“I don’t know what awaits us at the end of this dungeon,” Blitz thought to himself. “But… I will do whatever I can to save you, Bow.”
----
As she was sent back to the entrance of the town, Elina couldn’t help but worry about what was going to happen. She was still worn out, but still moved as quickly as she could into town to search for help. She tried to reassure herself that there was nothing to worry about, but she knew there was really no telling what might happen.
“There’s no way either of them would realize…” Elina thought to herself. “But… could the encounter change something inside Chiaki? After all… back when Chiaki and I met here in town, something really strange happened…”
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End of chapter 31.
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