Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Immersion Of Shadows

Wellington: Wow, this place seems more lively than I thought. Can we go a little slower? My shorty legs are tired of walking so fast... *Sigh*

Shiki paused and waited for Wellington to catch up. "Sorry. I'm not used to walking with other people." She tilted her head to the side for a second.

'It's kind of strange...almost...nice, talking to someone other than myself for once.'

Shiki shook her head and dimissed that train of thought. "This place is quite popular during the day, it's the only town for many miles, so it means people often come here to stock up or request a rescue team."

They passed through the town together; strolling at a leisurely pace.

Wellington: Rescue Team? What kind of rescues do they realize?

"Ah. Later, now however...welcome to my humble abode." It was large and dome shaped, not extravagant, yet not horrible either. There was a letter box out the front, and a camp-fire circle to the side.

"Come on." Shiki padded up to the door and pushed it open with her paws, entering without a glance. The furnishing was simple, a large wooden chest; her bed of hay; some odd nicknacks here and there. It reflected her personality.

She paced across the floor - leaving Wellington to himself - and opened the chest. She rummaged around in it for awhile.

Wellington: It's not like what I'm used to inhabit, but your house is nice, Shiki. Food, water and a pile of hay will be enough for me.

'I...never said he could stay with me...but I don't mind.' Shiki thought to herself.

Outwardly she remained unfazed, digging noisely through the box. "Ahah! Here it is." She struggled out of the box - she had to get in it to look around - and loped over to Wellington. A large cloth object was held in her mouth.

She dropped it to the floor infront of him. It unravelled and revealed numerous berries of all types. "Dig in." She said, nudging him over towards the food with her head.

Task accomplished, she wandered over to her bed of hay and collapsed down onto it, sending small bits of it flying up - narrowly missing her eye - into the air.

Wellington sat in front of the berries and picked an Oran Berry, but turned his head onto Shiki...

Wellington: How can I repay you for all these favors? I couldn't have done anything without your help.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." Shiki waved her paw off-handedly. "Now, about a place to stay. You can stay with me until we find you somewhere to live. If you want?" she added hastily.

Wellington: That's fine. I don't want to bother you so much.

Shiki gave him a rare smile. "It's fine, don't think of yourself as such a bother." She shifted slightly to the side, making room for him to sit with her.

"Have a seat" she motioned to the emptied spot. "Now, I believe I promised you an explanation."

Wellington grabbed two berries, stood up, and headed towards the empty space on Shiki's bed and handed her one of the berries...

Wellington: I'm listening you.

She thanked him and took a nibble of the berry. "So, Rescue Teams. They're a group of people who attempt to help others do various things, such as rescue those who are stuck or have collapsed somewhere, or someone wants an item, and you must deliever. Each mission - the team is recruited through a mail request - results in a certain reward upon completion. For each mission you finish you'll be awarded points, which go towards your overall rank. Bronze, the lowest; Silver, great team; Gold, most powerful." Shiki paused, allowing Wellington to take it all in.

"Got it? Good. So, in each team, it is vital that the members work together; a disfunctional team is useless in the long run. You may be forced to rely upon each other for your lives. It's a dangerous, noble profession to take up. To save others at the risk of yourself." Shiki sighed and stared out the window. They had been inside for longer than she'd thought, the sky was dark and a full moon stood high in the sky.

"Any questions?" She asked, without looking at him. 'I wonder what it'd be like to be loved by all those people.'

Wellington: It sounds exciting! A little dangerous, but exciting! It might be nice to travel around the... world helping people, have lots of admirers...!

You might be tired right now, it's late. I won't go to sleep soon, as I was unconcious for a long time.

"Yeah." Shiki murmured, yawning quietly. "I think you're right. I'm gonna go to bed now." Her single, visable eye drooped closed.

"Night." She whispered. Curling into a tight ball, she hugged her busy white-tipped tail around her body for extra warmth.

'I wonder...what it'd be like...to be on a...rescue team...' She thought as she faded into the land of dreams.

Wellington went outside the house and gazed at starry night sky.

Wellington: A rescue team... Maybe I need to try something new... But what brought me here? Why I was converted into a Pokémon? Oh, well... I guess I'll try to sleep a bit.

Wellinton entered again to the house, walked towards Shiki's bed, and then layed and curled his tail around him. He became asleep much faster than he thought.

Luke the Treecko was running on the rooftops above.

He was a little bigger than normal Treeckos, and had a big vertical scar on his left eye.

"Whew, I finally escaped from that Houndoom. I hope I can find an acceptable place to spend the night."

He stopped on a roof and through an large crack he saw Wellington and Shiki, both comfortably sleeping below.

"I wish my life could be as simple as that. Hum."

He turned back to run away, but he slipped and fell through the crack. He landed with expertise; standing and without making a sound. He smelt the berries and remembered how hungry he was.

"I need to eat something. They probably won't mind."

So he pushed the box and took out some berries from the bag.

"These are so good!"

He opened another bag that was in the box, and saw a sparkling dust.

"Must be Berry Powder!"

He grabbed some and ate it. He suddenly became sleepy.

"Oh no! Sleeping Powder!"

He fell asleep right there instantly.

Wellington heard Luke falling on the floor and awoke slowly.

"Who is there?"

He headed towards the sleeping Treecko and patted him with his paw.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Luke slowly opened his eyes and yawned. Then he remembered everything and quickly got up in panic.

"Eh...eh...I-I was...BULLET SEED!"

Luke started spitting seeds at Wellington at a very high speed.

Wellington defended with Defense Curl, and then made a Quick Attack against Luke.

Luke backed away a bit, jumped and started crawling in the ceiling while shooting seeds at Wellington.

Wellington kept using Quick Attack to avoid Luke's Bullet Seeds.

"You are quite a formidable opponent."

Luke stopped shooting, he was too tired to fight.

"I'm still famished...would you give me some berries...?"

He went back down, awaiting Wellington's answer.

Shiki, meanwhile, had been watching the events unfold with calculating eyes. She sat in silence and watched the various emotions fly across their faces at top-speed.

At the scarred Treecko's question, she emerged from the shadows that had engulfed her body, hiding her small body within them.

"I've seen enough. Wellington," She said, tilting her head to regard the Sentret with a thankful expression. "Thank you for being so quick to defend. And you," She turned to Luke and couldn't stop the smile twitching at her lips. "Have all you need. I'll go scavange for some more in the morning."

Her azure eyes grew serious however, as she pushed the berries over to the Treeko. "On another note, could you please share with me, what you're doing in my house?" Shiki stared deeply into his eyes, her gaze unwavering and demanding the truth.

'Why does this stuff keep happening to me?' She inwardly wondered.

"My goodness! I'm sorry for awaking you... But this guy entered and I couldn't leave a burglar running out there harming people."

Luke gave a thankful look to Shiki and ate some berries without chewing them at all.

"Well, I'll tell you the whole story..."

He sat down.

"See this scar?" - He pointed at his eye - "The Zangoose Tribe at the Silver Mountains did it. I don't remember my life before that at all. I woke up a few months ago in the mountains, I only remember aurora lights..."

He ate another berry.

"So, when I woke up, I was very hungry. I felt weird being a Treecko, as if I had been someone else before...I went down the mountain and there was food there. I started eating, but then the Zangoose Tribe came back and...you can imagine."

"I was wounded, I was about to collapse when a Wooper found me. He was so kind, he brought me to Treasure Town. After staying a few days with him, I did not want to abuse more of his hospitality, and ran away. I've been on the streets since then."

"I didn't want to steal from you, but I fell from the roof. And I was hungry. I apologize."